Feast Day

When Michael and I arrived in Manassas on Tuesday night, the first thing Brianna asked me was, "Are you coming to my Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow???" I had no idea she was having a feast that day so I was delighted to visit her classroom.  It was fun for many reasons 1) I went to Baldwin Elementary 10 years ago 2) She's my sister and I love to be a part of her life 3) I really like her first grade teacher 4) I got to eat an additional thanksgiving meal.

Here are some photos of Mrs. Dufrene's Thanksgiving Day Feast:

Mom got to carve the turkey, most of the little latino boys called it "chicken"

Brianna being a little camera shy

Unas fotos

Special tour now that Travis works at Keswick Vineyards:

Michael was our special musical guest one day:

Thirty gallons of water in your AC ducts looks like this:

I got called Shrek today in the grocery store. A little red-headed kid sitting in his mom's cart stared me in the eye, pointed, and shouted "Shrek! Mommy! Shrek! Look!" I was embarrassed. But sure enough it wasn't me who resembled Shrek but rather a cardboard cutout directly behind me.  

That's enough randomness for the moment. It is time to hit the sack.

Follow Up

Apparently the "Salvia" I brought back from Italy just might be sage. Lame. BUT good because that way I am not a bad person any more. But I will never know for sure unless my Mom tests it out....

Busy week ahead:

Monday: work, dust house, and bake cake for hubby's birthday

Tuesday: First day of Ethan Allen Liquidation sale, Young Life banquet

Wednesday: Michael's Birthday! (We are pulling for Parks to pop out)

Thursday: Parent/Teacher conferences, Ladies night of wine and jewelry selling

Friday: not sure

Saturday: UVA football game - to the corner I go!

Sunday: Drive to Williamsburg to visit friend from Spain

Did I really buy this...

I was kind of watching Dr. Phil the yesterday while I was working out at Gold's.  He had an episode about risky teen behavior and the big deal was this drug called Salvia. Salvia is completely legal in most of the US but is as highly dangerous as heroin or LSD. And hundreds of thousands of people abuse this drug. All of a sudden this rang a little bell in my head...

This summer while Michael and I were in Cinque Terre, Italy, I was in a tiny shop on the coast picking out goodies to bring home. I found these precious little pieces of pottery that had herbs and spices painting on them and even contained some inside! I picked out two - a red one and a blue one - thinking I'd keep one and give one to Mom. The red was "Timo" or thyme and the

 blue was "Salvia" and I didn't know what that meant in english. I was delighted with my

 pleasant purchase and kept them wrapped up for safe keeping until we set foot again on American soil. 

We returned to the states and distributed gifts to all our loved ones. I let Mom pick between the blue and the red, knowing full well she'd pick the blue. She didn't know what "Salvia" was either.  Up until yesterday I hadn't thought much more of our little italian herbs. And the more I listened to Dr. Phil, the more I began to think, "Oh my word. I gave my mom heroin!" Now that I think about it, the "spices" are packaged in a peculiar fashion. 

Here is the product that captured my affection in the little italian village. See? So cute!:

And above is the oddly packaged spice.

Now, I know this is a picture of my thyme but that is because the Heroin is sitting on top of my mother's kitchen sink!?!? There has been a terrible drug just sitting in her house for months and we didn't even know it. I shall leave no temptation sitting in my family's house - especially with a teenage brother!  Can I get in trouble for this? Did I break the law? I smuggled in drugs to the Americas and I wasn't even aware of it. I gave it to my sweet mom as a gift!  We can't burn it cause then someone may get high. We can't just throw it away for fear of others finding it. We can't bury it in our yard because then an entire Salvia tree will bust out of the ground! Dear me. What have I gotten us into?

No ordinary Monday

This morning a giant hot air balloon almost ran into our next door neighbors house. Michael got home from the gym and said "hey, did you see the hot air balloon?" I said "No? Where is it?" Then I heard the scary sound of the fire blowing, which I think resembles a transformer, and I looked up in the sky lights in our bed room and saw big orange and blue stripes. The air balloon was actually landing in the parking lot of our townhomes! Had our neighbors been home, their cars would have been crushed. 

I thought it was so neat to see the huge thing land right next to us. Seeing a perfect blog image, I ran to get my camera - but the battery died immediately. I ran to get Michael's camera - but his wouldn't even turn on. So then I got the video camera. That worked just fine, but I still don't know how to share the footage with you all.  The balloon men then began to deflate the huge sphere. It was so crazy looking because the balloon was sweeping up against our house and all you could see through the windows were the blues and oranges stripes! I felt like I was a child in a tumbling class playing inside a parachute. I ended up being late for work, but I felt great because I saw a hot air balloon up close! 

Why is gasoline in Charlottesville so expensive? In comparison to every other city in the US, we have such high gas prices. $2.03 is the cheapest price I have seen here. We were in Harrisonburg on Saturday and their prices were $1.95. I ain't tryin' to be greedy, but I do like to see gas be $1.something. 

Michael and I split a Peppermint Chocolate Chip Chic-fil-a Milkshake tonight. It was so good. I felt like Christmas. What's so wrong with wanting to decorate for Christmas already? I can't wait to put lights up, and wreathes, candles, trees, holly, snowmen, etc. But Michael adamently insists that we cannot decorate until after Thanksgiving. So I shall withhold my eagerness. Michael's Crafts Store just ushers in the season so well....

Update

A few months ago I wrote about needing to find a job. Well, I'm back in the arena again. Ethan Alllen of Charlottesville announced to us on Friday that they were closing our store. We didn't know that was coming. They are consolidating to just the Richmond/Short Pump store and closing ours within the next month.

Not only do I loose my job at the Allen, but I'm afraid that I will have to give up preschool because who else will hire me for the same hours? Unfortunately, I will have to find another job to make up for loss. I have no thoughts so far as to where to even begin looking. 

But I do know that this is all for a reason and the outcome is in Christ's hands. I have peace about it, I'm just a little sad.  So thank you for your prayers and keep your ears open for something!