I made a really stupid mistake. See, I have a Bucky, which you can put in the microwave to heat up and keep you warm. And Wesley is ALWAYS stealing it. Which doesn't work for me because I am ALWAYS cold and need it! So I remembered when I went to this local spa last year, seeing that the same company sold monster shaped ones. For some reason I didn't buy one for Wesley (probably because we were watching our money) so this year I thought it would be the perfect gift! Only when I went there to get one I learned they didn't have any and weren't planning on ordering more. So I went online and found them on the website, on sale at that, and ordered this greenish guy. I was really excited, thinking I found the perfect gift for Wes.

Well, it just arrived and as I was reading the tag I noticed the words "DO NOT MICROWAVE" on it. I went to look at the website and sure enough, it's just meant to be a little pillow. UGH. I was reading more about it and it says not to microwave because "the cover has metal zippers which can cause fire when microwaved." Only the one we just received has no metal zipper anywhere, it's just an overlapping flap. So. I was wondering if I could just cut open the inner liner and replace the filling (buckwheat hulls) with something else that could be microwaved to hold heat. What do you guys think? Is that a good/safe idea? And does anyone know where I could get buckwheat seeds (which is what is inside my bucky)?

The winter mess that has been traveling across the country has finally arrived here. I can't even see across street. It's so cold and so windy. Yuck. Wesley still had school today, though most the other schools in the area were canceled. Brock's classes were even canceled, so he's home today. Yay!

It should calm down a bit tomorrow and then I think he's going to go get all our Christmas stuff out of storage so we can FINALLY decorate this weekend. Yay again! I need some cheerfulness in the middle of all this gloomy weather. Christmas is what gets me through winter! The first half, at least.

Taken from the best weather site ever.

I know I shouldn't be complaining, it's worse in a lot of places, plus this is the sort of weather we are used to. In fact, it hasn't really done any snowing here and hasn't been that cold, so we are WAY due. It's actually concerning that it has been so "nice". Usually we are one of the first to have crazy snow. And then it lasts all winter long (and then some). I felt bad sending Wes out in it to go wait at the bus stop. Oh, and he doesn't have any snow boots! My mom picked some up for us but we haven't gotten them from her yet, and with Wes being sick for the past week it just never occurred to me. Poor kid.

My headache yesterday got way worse as the day progressed and then I woke up with it STILL HERE this morning. Ugh. I really hate my head. It leads me to believe maybe it wasn't so much from lack of coffee as just another one of those migraines I like to get. I managed to get Wes ready for school and out the door and took some painkillers, made some coffee and laid down for a bit. It's not gone, but it has eased up, thank goodness. I have things to do! I already spent most of yesterday not getting anything done because of my dumb head.

And we need to decorate for Christmas!! All of our decorations are still in storage. We were going to do it last week, but you know, sick Wesley. We are trying to figure out where to put the tree and the only place we can think of is sort of in the way. But it's the least in the way place there is. It's either that or we put it smack in the middle of the room, and that's not going to work. We can deal with it being in the way for a month. It will be a cheerful inconvenience!

Wesley finally went back to school today, and he brought home his school pictures! I was expecting crazy, frizzy hair in the eyes and a really cheesy smile! These actually aren't that bad. ;)

I've been fighting off a headache all day. I'm guessing it's because I completely skipped coffee today. My coffee pot was dirty and I woke up so sleepy and did not feel like cleaning it. This is why I try to make sure my pot is all cleaned and ready to go the next day before I go to bed! Then as more time passed I told myself that I didn't need coffee and I shouldn't be so addicted to it and it would be good for me to skip it. And now I am paying for it. :p

Brock's been gone all day and I'm not sure when he's coming home. He won't be home for dinner, so I think I'll make Wes and I some simple pasta. YUM. Just what I need on a day when I am feeling crappy. Pasta always helps!

Wes in bed last night with a glow stick.

He's feeling better, but hasn't been back to school yet. We're going to see how he sleeps tonight before we decide if he'll go back tomorrow or not, but I'm thinking he won't. He's always so much worse at night and we haven't been sleeping too well around here lately. I want him to be 100% before he goes back, I don't want him getting worse again. I just hate to have him miss so much school!

He also needs to get better because we need to go see The Fantastic Mr. Fox!! We've been so excited for it and I hate waiting now! I know he is impatient to see it too.

And there was something else I wanted to say, but then I got up to get Wes a drink and now I have no idea what it was. That's how my brain rolls.

Poor Wes is sick with strep throat. He is absolutely miserable. It's so sad. I think he might have a virus as well because he has a really awful cough too. We took him to the doctor's yesterday and he's on an antibiotic and all cuddled up on the sofa next to me, watching tv right now. Hopefully he'll start to feel better soon. I hate seeing him so sad and pathetic. :(

Cute Berry.

She's been sneezing all day and keeps itching her nose. I really hope she's not coming down with something! She was out of water and wasn't even yelling at me to get her some more. When I noticed I did get her more and refreshed her food and she did drink and she even ate a little bit. Then I brought her two carrots and she ate those up. A little slower than usual, but still seemed to enjoy them, and then I saw her playing with her toys a bit. So hopefully she's not getting sick. Her last vet appointment cost us so much! And I don't want to see her not feeling well again. It was too sad the last time.

I can't wait until bedtime tonight. I am SO tired from not being able to sleep last night. I better be able to sleep tonight! We got Funny People in the mail from Netflix and I've been really excited to see it, but I don't know if I'll be able to focus on it tonight. Maybe I'll just watch Glee and save the movie for another time.

Here's some food I made for Thanksgiving dinner!


Butternut squash with browned butter and thyme.


My attempt at pumpkin pie.
I burned the pie (though not as bad as I first thought)
and my finger (worse than I thought.. it still hurts)!

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On Thursday we had a last minute invite to Brock's brother's for dinner and then after that we already had plans to go to my sister's for dinner. That's what I made the squash and pie for, though no one there really likes squash.. But we do and we loved it! Also, someone else brought a pumpkin pie that looked better than mine (not a hard task, haha) so mine didn't get cut into, but that was fine because then we got to bring it home and enjoy it here. :) Saturday was Thanksgiving with my family at my grandma's house. I made a corn casserole for dinner there, but I was in a great hurry that day, so no pictures of that! Sadly, Brock ended up really sick that day so he didn't get to go. Also, I was sort of mad at him the entire day, due to a misunderstanding, but all was worked out and the day ended well. :)

Hello all! I haven't been around much at all. It was a busy Thanksgiving and then I was very distracted and thoughtful, these past few days especially. Rethinking life and how I want to live it and what I should be accomplishing with it. I'm still pretty distracted. But I thought I should come back and write a little something and I am going to start going through some of my photos and playing catch up with everything. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and is doing great in general! xoxox.