Raise Your Hand if You Feel Inadequate? (I'm raising mine!)

So, I was thinking today how I feel a litle inadequate when it comes to what is thought to be typical wife traits (cooking & baking). My mom didn't want to cook the turkey for Thanksgiving this year so I instantly said, "Let me ask Nathan if he can do it?" However, before I even had the chance to ask him, he offered to cook it since my mom wasn't up to it this year. I didn't even have to ask. And he said it's not the first time he's cooked a turkey. There is no way in heck I would have tried to cook it. It it were left up to me, I'd buy an already prepared/cooked one that I'd just have to heat up or something.

Then, this weekend, Nathan told me he wants to get a recipe online for a pumkin cheesecake to bring over to his parents' house for Thanksgiving (we are heading over there for dessert after we host my family). Have I even ever thought about attempting a cheesecake? No!!! I would buy one rather than make one. (Do you see a pattern here?)

So, this brings me to the inadequacy. I started thinking how my wonderful husband is totally showing me up this Thanksgiving. I might have to don a turkey suit or come up with a extra special Thanksgiving prayer to compete with Nathan, aka. Mr. Martha Stewart!

***Please don't take this as complaining though. I got me a good one, didn't I, ladies? :)

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You know I also have to give you our weekend recap. It was a good but busy one. Friday, we went to dinner at The Drunken Fish and then to the Funny Bone with some friends. Sat. I met up with Kelly and Abby for a special screening of the movie Bolt through my work and then we went to lunch. Then I headed to Chrissy's to help her load up her kids and we made our way to Alivia's 1st bday party. I had fun helping with the triplets and Allison but it was crazy to see a little of what Chrissy goes through on a daily basis. Sunday, my mom, Nathan and I went to the mall and actually got a little Christmas shopping done already!

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One more thing. I must be a little crazy but I signed up for 2 classes next semester so I can graduate in March instead of Jan. I'm taking my last cluster (3 classes in one) and my capstone class (a class that reviews everything we've learned and has a lot of group work). Therefore, eveyone may not see me a lot from Jan. - March. I apologize in advance if I'm a bad friend, wife, stepmom, daughter, sister, cousin, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, etc. for those 3 months. It will suck but I just have to keep telling myself, "3 months of this and I'm FINISHED FOR GOOD!"

If I can survive this, maybe I will feel a little less inadequate! ha!ha! Joking! :)

Dawn

Nothing New

Not much is going on lately. The weekend was good though. Nathan, Graham and I went to dinner at Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant on Friday night with Mike, Erica, Monica, Deeter, Ava and Victor. It was a good time and I LOVE that place. I think it's some of the best Mexican food in town. We also got presents from Mike and Erica from their trip to Europe so that was cool! It got a very soft cashmere scarf and a wool sweather. Graham got a very nice soccer ball and a soccer jersey and Nathan got this cool frog to hang on the wall. Thanks guys!

Saturday we went to Toni and Andy's house and then to Fast Eddies to celebrate the birthdays of Toni, Andy and Janet. It was a good time. I didn't bring my camera though so there are no pics to post. There were A LOT of people there and it was nice to be out and about. My mom watched Graham for us.

Sunday I worked on my take home test. You'd think a take home test would be easy but it was not! I have no idea on the answers to some of the questions. I just had to guess on a lot of them. That grade should be nice and scary to get back.

On another random note, I am so hungry lately that I can't figure out what's going on. I keep thinking that maybe it has to do with the colder weather. Is anyone else experiencing this? It's getting very annoying, especially at work since we are not supposed to eat at our desk.

Anyhoo, like I said, nothing too exciting going on. Just looking forward to the holidays and some time off. Hope everyone is doing well!

Dawn

Early Thanksgiving Thanks!

There are many things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving including my new husband, my new stepson and my family and friends. We are very fortunate is so many ways.

I am especially thankful for something this week though! My cousin told me to avoid a certain teacher for the current cluster I am taking at school. I heeded his advice and decided to take classes at the North County campus instead of the St. Charles campus like I usually do so I could avoid the dreaded teacher. It has paid off in spades. The teacher that I have is AWESOME! And last night he proved it again. He cancelled class on Thanksgiving Eve, he agreed to no longer send us anymore homework questions AND (drumroll, please) . . . he CANCELLED our 10 page research paper!!!! We already did a 12-15 page paper but not having to do this one is a true blessing. We have a pretty big project about to start and he recognized that it was a lot to do all at once. Bless his heart. This will help me enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday a lot more and help me to not stress out as much as we prepare for Christmas.

So, I am thankful this Thanksgiving for my teacher, Mr. Hayes!


FYI, be sure to read the previous post if you haven't yet. We are selling an elliptical machine! We need a buyer!!!

Dawn

For Sale!!!

My mom has been wanting to sell her eliptical machine for a long time (and so have I since it's currently housed in my basement). It's about 5 years old but it's a good brand and still in good condition. I think she originally paid around $1500 for it so it's definitely a quality piece of equipment. I've posted some pictures. If anyone is interested in buying this, please let me know. You can email me at dawnwaller413@yahoo.com or call me at 314-609-9381. Remember . . . Christmas is coming up. . . this would be a good gift!!!

Zoom Zoom!

I mentioned briefly that I got a new car. Here are some pictures from google of what I got since I haven't had time to take a picture myself. It's a 2009 Mazda 6 (Black) and it's very nice. I got it a week ago today, on Halloween (is that bad luck?).

The sad news is that the dealer changed my license plates over and put an "As is" sticker in my Vue so fast that I didn't get to say goodbye to her. Her name was Jade. She was a decent vehicle but she had 110,000+ miles and was starting to sound like she wanted to just fall apart. I didn't feel comfortable going through another winter with her. I drive 30+ miles to and from work everyday and didn't want to take the chance at breaking down. Plus, Jade, didn't handle the snow too well and I was scared as hell driving in any amount of the white stuff. And with the poor economy, this was a good time to buy a car and get a good deal.

I need a new name for my new car. If you have suggestions, leave them in the comments section. I can't decide if it's a boy or a girl. At first, I thought a boy but I'm starting to change my mind on that. You can suggest any gender of name. (This is all my cousin, Kim's, fault because she makes everyone name their car and I know the next time I talk to her, she will ask what its name is!). Be creative, folks!

I'll still try to post pictures of my actual car soon!

Dawn

Did YOU vote???

I did! I didn't have to work today until 9 am so I woke up at 6 am and headed up there around 6:30 am. The line was out of the door and it took me about 45 minutes total. As I was walking out, there was barely a line. And as I was driving to work today and passed by again, I didn't see a line. So. . . I could have slept in today!!! Oh well. At least I am not standing in the kind of line that one of my co-workers is currently standing in in North County. She got there at 6:25 am and is still waiting (it's currently 9:41 am). That's what I call dedication! Anyway, I hope you all exercise your right to vote today!

On a sidenote, I know it's supposed to be 75 degrees today but when you are standing outside at 6:30 am waiting to vote (and we all knew they were predicting long lines and waiting outside!) maybe you should wear a coat over your sleeveless shirt and warmer shoes than open-toed heels! You wouldn't look like such an idiot shivering while you wait! It is November, people. Be smarter than that!

Peace out,
Dawn

Halloween!

As promised, here are some pictures of Nathan and I dressed up as Amy Winehouse and her hubby, Blake "incarcerated" Fielder-Civil. For those who don't know who they are, she's a Grammy-winning British singer and he's her jailbird husband. They are both basically junkies and they are known for some pretty crazy behavior. She punches people a lot, has been caught on camera doing drugs and got into a fight one night with Blake and scratched the hell out of his face and neck (hence the scratches on Nathan's face for his costume).

We went to a party at our friends' Tim and Ann's house on Oct. 25th. We were supposed to go out again on Halloween but I ended up buying a car that night instead (more about that in the next post!).

Anyway, we hope you had a Safe and Happy Halloween!

Dawn