Sometimes Things Get Worse With Practice

I'm not going to lie to you. I am pretty even with Martha Stewart when it comes to decorating, cooking and crafting. And I don't have a full staff to make me look good. I'm also poor. And I need to exercise... But I digress, sorry.

I found the cutest marshmallow treats and had to try them for Christmas. Here they are in all their beautiful imperfect-ness. Look how cute those sticks are. I know

Well they were not quite as beautiful as the ones in the picture so every day I made a few more and tried to perfect them. And every day they looked more perfect but tasted worse. Moral of the story? Shove it Martha.

Here's how they are supposed to look


http://onecharmingparty.com/2010/12/09/holiday-treats-chocolate-and-caramel-dipped-marshmallows/

Chirp..........Chirp

A couple of nights ago a smoke detector started chirping. We changed the battery, read online all about chirping, pushed buttons all over. The chirping stopped only to begin at 12:00 midnight. Chirp.......chirp............chirp,.,.,.,.,,..........chirp

We tried everything we could and it stopped chirping at 5:00 am. Good , okay. But at 11:23 the next night it started again. Oh the absolute and utter horror. Drew finally tore it out of the ceiling. But the freaking thing kept chirping. We read online that they can take 3 days to stop even if disconnected from a power source. Help us. Now the stinking thing was chirping where the wires were still dangling, somewhere in the gaping abyss that used to be the smoke alarm. I kept blathering that it was impossible , it would be like having your head cut off but you could still speak. What was the damn thing chirping out of?????We suffered through another chirp filled night deciding to call a professional the next day.

Drew decided to check it again and mess around with it before we called. He messed with it for some time before discovering it wasn't the one chirping. The one at the top of the stairs was chirping and it echoed into the downstairs. Smoke alarm bastard thinks he can fool us huh? We changed its battery and no more chirping.

Answer to your question: yes we are dumb enough to call someone out to fix the wrong smoke alarm. It would fit in wonderfully with the time we called someone out to fix our washer only to be told we were overfilling it, it wasn't broken. And the time the electrical outlets wouldn't work and the service guy told us to press the reset button. Yes, Virginia, we really are that dumb.

Christmas blessings to you all!

The Chain of Trust

This Thanksgiving we tried something new. On a holiday that is all about tradition I took a giant step. I decided we would all write down something we were grateful for and make a paper chain to celebrate. I always read about making a grateful tree or other similar things and so the time was now.

My family is not your average gushy love family. No feelings are ever spoken of and actually examining a feeling even as benign as thankfulness might push some over the edge. I pressed forward and most did very well. No one flat out refused which is shocking in itself. We assembled the chain and hung it from the mantel.

Later my Lean wrote something she is thankful for and added it to the chain. She didn't want anyone to read it. I respect that. But. I really want to know what she wrote. So far I haven't peeked. I so want to know what hides in the mind of a nine year old that she wants to be anonymously thankful for.

This is something I've always wondered about myself. Will I read her diary during the tumultuous teen years? Will I monitor her phone calls and internet useage? I'm pretty sure I'll have to. It's almost a given. Something I do not look forward to. Something to dread, that invasion of privacy. Even though it's to keep the love of my life safe.

But right now she's writing good things, safe things, thankful things. And even though I wish so much to read her thoughts I am so Thankful that right at this point in time I don't need to.