Hey Mom, Are you thinking about making a Turducken? Nope, I'm not.

* See that question mark up there.  Pretend it's a cartoon bee preparing to carve a Thanksgiving turkey. It's a smiling bee and deliciously roasted turkey.  It's totally random..... now, go ahead.  Read.

I'm probably so not supposed to be using this image.  You know because it's so cool and it makes so much sense.  Can't you hear the creative department, " We should totally draw a bee showing off the turkey it cooked all day, the bee should have a big grin.  It's awesome.  I love this.  It'll be a huge seller."

Okay random, while flipping through images attempting to be inspired I found it.  I am most likely the ONLY person that has looked at this image and thought, "Well, that would work."

Whatever, the damage is done.

Happy Thanksgiving.  I can't believe we are here already.  Sooooo,  thankful.  Hmmmm.  I am thankful.  I have so much. 

House- love it and hate it all at once.  It's cute, it keeps us dry and comfortable.  It's expensive to maintain.  It's always dusty.  We are so lucky to have it.  I like it, I love it, it's alright.

Family- We have family nearby.  Mr. Handsome's family and my family live within 20 minutes of us.  We are lucky.  So many of our friends rarely see their families.  Our parents are healthy and alive and available to engage their grandchildren.  That's cool.  Brother and sister-in-law are rocking in Southern USA.  Wish they lived closer.  Thanksgiving would be different.

Friends- love them.  We have great friends.  Jen and Ker, hilarious.....laugh out loud at 1:00 in the morning.  Fuzz and LeeAnne are steady, solid and FUNNY!  Hil and Jay, she's my personal physician.  He's my social media guru.  Their kids... my kids besties.  

Pets- Emma is old.  Old, old, old.  I worry.  She misses "That Naughty Dog."  I miss "That Naughty Dog."  Sheba, the cat with mange because she is too old to clean herself , is dear to me.   I love her but honestly when is she going to kick the bucket?

Mr. Handsome and my children- probably should be at the top of the list.  love his patience, his tolerance, his understanding that he's the luckiest lucker in the whole lucking world.  Little bees.....Ladycakes - perfect.  Q - challenging beyond challenging but just because he's perfect too.  Elvis-hilarious, silly, strangely out there... but only because he's perfect.

Blog-  I love my dear blog.  I dig the folks that read, watch, wonder, question, criticize, encourage, laugh, point, barf or just show up.  This is fun.  

A few other things I am thankful for....Tervis Tumblers, Dansko clogs, Jolly Ranchers, Advil, Rubber Cement, gumballs, bird feeders, hashbrowns, Adam Richman, Seagram's 7, talcum powder, the ability to forget, a sense of humor, almonds, jeggings (not because I wear them, just because they exist and it's hilarious) Crest Pro-Health toothpaste, Phineas and Ferb and any kind of platypus, i phones, popcorn, slippers, corks, hot glue guns, words, spelling and playing with words, big televisions, imagination, very dark nail polish, loud music (Nelly is a fav.)  ohhhhh, sooo many things for which to be thankful.

My family wishes your family a very happy Thanksgiving.  If you are reading here, you some how relate and we relate right back at you.  It's not always easy, we know.  We live it daily.  Here's to being thankful for what we have, it's way more than we realize!

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

He left us last night at 7:30.  We loved him desperately.  He was ours for only a year and half.  He made a difference to all of us.  Emma is heart broken.  He was her soul mate.  The one she woke up in the morning.  The one she waited for at the bottom of the stairs.  The one who shared meals with her.  He gave her life.  

He was my pal too.  I loved him.  I miss him and it's only been 24 hours.  It sucks.

That Naughty Dog was our dog.  He was the best and the worst and we loved everything about him.

Goodbye Titus, you know "Titus" with one "i".

Rest in peace sweet friend.

WARNING: These images are not flattering!

Mr. Handsome and I are always up for some cheap thrills. We aren't, generally, ones to pay for entertainment. We figure we can create our own. This is what we do when the little bees have been tucked in here at the hive.

I lay down on the floor with my camera in hand. This is not sexy despite that sentence, in fact as the title suggests, it's VERY unflattering. And Mr. Handsome busts out the beef jerky. Again, it may sound provocative but in that sentence "beef jerky" really means beef jerky.

He places the beef jerky on my forehead. Wow, this is sounding really bad.

That Naughty Dog and his Accomplice begin to swarm. I am trying to keep the camera at the right angle.

The Accomplice makes the first move. Who would have thought That Naughty Dog is a bit intimidated by the flash.

She goes in, jowls and all. And takes the prize. It's beef jerky for heaven's sake.

Clearly, I have no pride here. But it's hilarious. I laugh, Mr. Handsome laughs. The Accomplice lays down by me hoping that more beef jerky will magically appear on my face. Mr. Handsome is threatening to put some right on my lips....you can see his hand there, moving in.

The dogs are psyched. Turns out they like cheap thrills too.

We need to get a life!

Now he can do this Do you think that you could? And he can do that Which is more than any old cat could

Are you familiar with Kipper? I LOVE Kipper. He makes me so happy. I wish I lived where Kipper lives. I wish I talked like Kipper. If I said, " We are having leftovers for dinner," in Kipper's voice, my whole family would hip, hip, hooray for leftovers. Kipper is calm, methodical and terribly naive. I'm cool with that. He's a dog, a dog with a slipper. He's Kipper, Kipper the dog. And btw, that's a toad not a frog.

Here Kipper is investigating hedgehogs. That in itself is so tantalizing to me. Who wouldn't love to own a hedgehog? That Naughty Dog (not Kipper!) would eat a hedgehog and then blame it on his accomplice (also not Kipper) ...but still, they are little and prickly.

January 6th has been a Kipper kind of day and that's a good thing. We shall see what tomorrow brings!

I got caught crafting in public and I LIKED it.

Those of you who have been tuning in have noticed I enjoy craft blogs. Have you been wondering about my crafting skills? Have you been asking, "Does this woman have any creative abilities?" Well, I don't know because my self-esteem is not what it should be, but here we go anyway. Meet my sewing machine. It's a Pfaff 1222. I love this thing. It was my Grandma's. It's amazing. I think she would be proud that I use it.

Meet what I have been working on this week. Dog toys. I love dogs. I love to sew. I got caught crafting in public. Mr. Handsome tolerated me taking a bag of fiber-fill into a swim meet so I could stuff dog toys. He tolerated a conversation between myself and a voyeur crafter (some lady staring at me while I stuffed dog toys at the swim meet.) I will admit when it comes to being creative and talking crafts, I'm pretty passionate. Mr. Handsome has gotten used to this, he puts up with me. I think he thinks it's sexy. This is how my conversation went, in abbreviated form.

craft voyeur: "Excuse me, what are you making?"

me (a bit shocked): "Oh, they are dog toys."

C.V.: "I thought so, but then I wasn't sure. They're cute."

me (still a bit shocked): "Thanks, they are really fun to make. Do you sew?"

C.V.: "Yes, I do. I just finished hand-piecing quilts for my boys for Christmas."

me: "Wow, that's impressive. Will they like that for Christmas?"

C.V.: "I sure hope so."

me, thinking to myself: "My boys would be totally pissed if I gave them hand-pieced quilts for Christmas. Q would want to know how his Wii remote plugs into the quilt and Elvis would be looking for how it becomes a Transformer."

C.V.:"Do you sell your dog toys online?"

me (embarrassed because how many times has Mr. Handsome said, "you should sell those online"): "Oh no! I just have friends who buy them from me."

Mr. Handsome: SCOWL!

me: "Have fun sewing!"`

So after recycling Calvin Kleins that I have been saving since 1987. And loving every minute of it. Here are the personalized dog toys, complete with squeakies inside. The luckiest dogs in all of Oregon are receiving these as Christmas gifts because of my cute friend, Geri. And while we are at it. Meet the Wonder Dogs. Our dogs. We love them as much as we love our children. They are amazing.

Left, is Titus, the one-eyed Wonder or "That Naughty Dog (TND)". On the right is Emma or "TND's accomplice". She's as naughty as he is, only she comes off as innocent. Just like Mr. Handsome! TND is new to us. Adopted at 8 years old. We are just getting to know him. He LOVES to eat. Want to see what he loves to eat? Here we go.....

One bag of Generic Frosted Flakes. I buy bag cereal. It's cheaper.

Bread, any kind of bread. Bread off the counter is the best. White, wheat, rye. Doesn't matter.

A little frozen chili with some Ziploc bag to go with that bread? Even better. No matter that it's frozen. TND loves a challenge. He has also eaten 2 lbs. of raw ground beef with the styrofoam tray, 23 cupcakes and 18 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (That's a whole story in itself, Hey Jay!) I have a new list on my sidebar. It's what TND has eaten and survived. I love that dog so much I'm making him dog toys for Christmas. He'll probably eat them.

Add to My Life Soundtrack: "What you waiting for?" sung by Gwen Stefani