There's a reason my Dad is grinning.

After just a few years of working, my Dad is officially retired!!

I remember living in the UP and my dad was commuting to MN to work. He'd leave for who knows how long. When you are little, it felt like forever. In reality, it was probably a week or two. I'd wait and wait for him to come home. He would give me whatever he got from work- a little day planner, a pen, or some other little treasure. Chances are, it only happened a couple times. But when you look back, those couple things are remembered as "always".

One time, I was lucky enough to hitch a ride to MN with him. I wasn't it school yet and I'm sure my mom was glad to have a little break from me. Even though I was a perfect child. ;) Anyway. I spent the week with my cousin Hannah while my dad worked. On the trip there, we were lucky enough to stop and eat at McDonalds. A very rare treat. I can picture this clearly to this day. My dad and I were sitting at a two-seater table against the wall. I was eating my cheeseburger meal. (orange pop, of course. I loved and still love anything that smells or tastes like orange) And I looked over to my right and there was a big guy eating his meal. He had his back to me. He was wearing a green jacket. And much to my dismay, his big, hairy plumbers crack was on display. And I quickly looked back at my food. But instead of seeing my cheeseburger, I saw his crack. And I could not stomach another bite of it. My sweet Mickey D's burger. Half eaten. And I remember my dad wrinkling his forehead and asking me if I was going to eat that. I didn't dare tell him why I couldn't eat it. He tried to coax me, but it was useless. That burger was forever a plumbers crack in my mind. There you go, Dad. That's why I didn't finish my burger.

You are welcome for that story.

So, obviously, commuting to MN wasn't going to last forever and we moved to MN. And we got to see my Dad come home every day. I remember just waiting for him to get home. And when the front door opened, we'd go running to see Dad. And we'd take his gray lunchbox from him and bring it into the kitchen. I always hoped I'd find some kind of uneaten treat, like a candy bar, just waiting for me. My dream never did come true.

And today. He no longer needs to wake up at the crack of dawn, make himself a pot of puuroa and head off to work. He can sleep in, go for coffee at Daniels and then spend the rest of the day restoring his truck or fishing. Or whatever he wants. He worked hard. He provided a good life for us. He deserves to be retired.

Enjoy it, Dad! You deserve it. The kids can't believe their luck that you will be around during the day when we come to visit. They are already scheming the things they will do with you. Just to warn you.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Thank you to those who participated.

The winner is JAN!!!! Yay!!!

Walking in a winter wonderland.

I love a snow like this. Where the snow clings to anything that it can grab a hold of, like glitter to glue. Where the wind doesn't whip the beauty out of it, creating an uneven landscape. Especially this time of year, where it brings with it the Christmas spirit. I love it so much that I even forgot about my morning cup of coffee. Skipped over that, but inserted an hour of vitamin d with the little ones. *happy sigh* It is the most wonderful time of the year.

Me and the rockstar. Hanging out. With our drying rack. And iphoto.

Unforgettable

I knew I could count on you. You hit 20 comments, el magicalo numbre. (I'm bilingual. English. Spanglish.) Thank you for your comments. I hope I don't have to pull teeth to get you to talk again.

I hope your Thanksgiving was a success. Mine was, well, memorable. That's really the only word that I can come up with to describe it. It wasn't good, wasn't bad. It was memorable. We had made plans to spend the night at the Marriott in The Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Then we were going to wake up and watch the Thanksgiving Day parade. It was a perfect opportunity to do our own thing with no family around to share the holiday with. But things don't always go as planned, do they?

That was painfully obvious when were awoken by fire alarms screaming at 1:45 am. Well, that's not the complete truth. I was still laying awake at that time. But everybody else's snores came to a screeching halt.

Long story short, there was an electrical fire on floor 51. They were experiencing problems all the way up to the 60th floor. Rumor has it. We were on floor 31. So we were safe all along, but I can tell you this much: You don't fall asleep and sleep peacefully after something like that, never mind the firetrucks outside and the foot traffic in the halls. So we packed it all up and headed home. They were not sad to see us go, as they really needed rooms for the guests who were stuck there. And we never did see that parade.

ZZtop, however, did see Lauren Alaina in the stairwell. She was complaining to him that she was supposed to be up in a matter of hours to sing the national anthem at the Lions game, which she flubbed. (Poor girl, she's only 16. I couldn't get the words right myself. Much less running on basically no sleep) Anyway. He didn't know who it was until he was reading the news online and saw a clip of her. (Not available anymore, sorry.) I couldn't believe he didn't recognize her. I guess when you are running up to the 31st floor, you probably don't look back at the person chattering away behind you.

So. We were back home by 4:30am. Missed the parade. But had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel where my kids really did behave perfectly. Not even lying about that last part. Although, it is admittedly a little lonely when the extent of your Thanksgiving plans (that work out) are hitting up a local restaurant. Regardless, I was counting my blessings. (And I'm not complaining. We had invites.)

So. There it was. Thanksgiving 2011: Unforgettable. Here's to Christmas being a little less memorable. In a good way.

Tell me something funny. Or anything, really.

I don't think that I am going to talk to you until you start talking to me. The lack of commentating on this blog makes me a little sad. I'm not blogging again until the comments hit a certain number in my head. I'm on strike.

Ideas:

1.) If you could move anywhere in the world (and not have to think about the consequences), where would you move?

Me? Alaska. Without a doubt. Second choice? Hawaii.

2.) If you could go on vacay anywhere, where would you go?

I could go on and on. But mostly: Italy, Greece, Fiji, Germany. I just came up with Fiji. Just now. In case you were wondering.

3.) If you could be granted one wish right now, what would it be? (I'm not talking world peace here- something more selfish than that.) Me? I'd be living in a smaller house, closer to my family.

4.) What do you want for Christmas? I want a bouquet of flowers each month. It's true. And. I want to be able to afford to buy presents for every foster child in the country. I'd also love to provide them homes.

5.) What is your favorite thing about winter? Christmas. It can be spring after that, thankyouverymuch.

6.) What is scarier, a shark or a lion? Depends where I am at the time. From right here? A lion. The shark might take a bite of me, find me disgusting and leave me alone. The lion would think I'm delicious. You can never trust a cat. Ever.

So there you go. Talk to me!

The strike officially starts........ nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnow.

I've got it!

I *finally* decided on a prize for my Thanksgiveaway!!

And I hope you will like it. No. Scratch that. You will like it.

I am giving you options. If I draw your name, you can pick from one of the following:

1. Andean Nation music songs of winter: (cd) It reminds me of New Mexico, where I saw these people performing at a craft show. It is really beautiful music. No words, just a different type of music.

2. Kenny Rogers, The Gift: (cd) with my very favorite Christmas song ever, Mary Did You Know?

And if neither of those interest you, well, then...

3. Tell me your favorite Bath & Body Works scent and I'll send you something!

How is that? I know I mentioned Pampered Chef, but I have always wanted to give away #'s 1 & 2, so.... Trust me. It's a better prize this way! If you really had your heart set on Pampered Chef, we can chat. If you win. Get your entries in! I'm getting responses and I'm loving it. You can enter here, on the original post or email me at mindijo1 @ live . com. If you emailed me and I did not respond, then I did not get your entry. Thank you! As for the rest of you who haven't emailed me, don't be a stick in the mud! Join in, it's fun.