Control. Freak.

I've had to come to terms with the fact that I, I am a control freak. This is one habit I had hoped not to inherit from older generations in my family, and it's obviously something I need to work on. But that's for another time. Now, though, I have to just deal with it and learn to RELINQUISH CONTROL. (Can't do it, just can't!)

That said, I'm only a control freak about certain things. Travel plans, for one. I have a really hard time just letting someone else make plans and arrangements for me...whether it's camping or going on a cruise or whatever. I am so detail-oriented that I NEED to make the plans...but better yet, I LIKE making the plans, and I realize I a lot of people DON'T like that kind of stuff...so it usually works out in favor of me making arrangements anyhow. :-)

But, probably the number one thing that brings out the control freak in me is cooking. For instance...we're hosting a Thanksgiving dinner next week, and I'm super-excited about it. Good friends, good food, a fun holiday, what else could you ask for? The only thing is...I just about literally had to pry some of the control out of my death-gripped fingers for this one. There's just no way I could cook the ENTIRE meal (turkey, sides, desserts, everything) for 14 people on my own, especially when I only have one oven and I have to work on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So, I had to let go just a little bit and delegate some of stuff out and make it somewhat of a potluck. I'm still making the major stuff (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Aaron's favorite corn casserole), but everyone else is bringing all the other sides, including all the desserts and salads and vegetables, etc., and that's okay with me. At least, it has to be okay. My inner control freak is screaming, but I'm just having to ignore that right now. (Also? This is not a reflection on my guests' cooking abilities...I'm sure everyone can make [or procure] some TASTY goodies to bring to the table...it's just my freak-of-nature personality that turns me into the nutjob that I am when it comes to this kind of stuff.)

So, Happy Early Thanksgiving, everyone! What are your culinary plans for this holiday season? (And someone please chime in and tell me I'm not the only kitchen control freak out there!) :-)

A Meme

This one sounded fun (Thanks, Sus!), so here goes...

You just type "(Your Name) wants" into Google and then see all the fun things that come up.

Jimmie wants to be.
Yes, yes I do. Being is good.

Jimmie wants you to focus on what (s)he says and not have to worry about taking copious notes.
Oh, how nice. Although, true. Note-taking is overrated.

Jimmie wants to share (her) family history with you.
Actually, that would be kinda cool. There are some pretty amazing people in my family.

Jimmie wants to go back to the beach.
OMG, YES! (Read: It's cold and snowy here...in about two weeks, I'll be sick of it and ready for warm weather again!)

Jimmie wants to be a pitcher but can't get the ball over the plate.
Hey, I'm not that bad of a softball player! (Plus, I rather enjoy playing 1B.)

Jimmie wants to get right down to business.
Sure, why not?

Jimmie wants to get married straight away.
Been there, done that, lovin' it. :-)

Jimmie wants to take dance and go out for cheerleader.
Well...being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader has always been a secret dream of mine. :-p

Jimmie wants to crawl back seven years and live there.
Let's see...seven years ago I was 19...I much prefer where I am now, thank you.

Jimmie wants more munchies.
Actually, I'm full from lunch. Ask me again in an hour or two.

Jimmie wants to thank our brave military for keepin' us safe.
Yes, I sure do.

Jimmie wants to be Brady's next kid's mother.
This one made me laugh...it was from a message forum regarding Tom Brady (NE Patriots QB). Ha!

Jimmie wants to ride on the roof of a golf cart.
Might be fun!

A couple of weeks later...

Yeah, so besides failing NaBloPoMo miserably (sorry!), an unexpected trip back home to Oklahoma for my grandmother's funeral, and then battling a horrible cold that kicked my ass (thanks for that, honey!), I'm back.

Since it seems the month of November is FLYING by at an ever-increasing rapid pace, I thought I'd just share my favorite things about this time of year:

• It's snowing outside. Big, beautiful flakes, and it's like, no big deal, whatever. I love living in the Great White North.
• Russell Stover's chocolate-covered marshmallow Santas. Thank you, Wal-Mart, for having these in stock since November 1. Unfortunately, Aaron and I have already met our candy quota and can't buy any more. :-p
• Thanksgiving cooking. If plans come together, we may actually be hosting Turkey Day dinner at our house this year. How fun!
• Christmas decorating. If it were up to me, the tree would already be up, but because I don't want to look like a looney (especially if we end up hosting Thanksgiving at our place), I'll wait till November 28. Also, I have actual reason to decorate this year--we're hosting the departmental "holiday" party for IDT (my master's degree) sometime in December.

Another quick post...

This is just another quick post to fulfull my NaBloPoMo requirements (I know, defeats the purpose, right?), but I have an excuse tonight. I got the sad news this morning that one of my wonderful grandmothers passed away late last night. So, I'm going to be leaving early tomorrow morning to fly home a few days earlier than planned so that I can be with my family. Good night, everyone -- have fun watching the election coverage!

Vote!

Not much to say tonight, except that please, please, please just get out and vote tomorrow. Don't think that your vote doesn't count, and don't think that you shouldn't take the time to vote.

Tomorrow night, I'll be watching Comedy Central's election coverage and hoping our next President is Barack Obama. (I am that tired of the regular media's election coverage.)

Wherever you are, whoever you're voting for, Happy Election Day 2008!

NaBloPoMo, a day late

So. I was just straight up lazy yesterday and didn't post for the first day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month, for those of you not familiar). But, here I am, albeit a day late, and hopefully I'll make it for every day of NaBloPoMo.

I also have to say this: I have now tried THREE TIMES to sign up "officially" for NaBloPoMo, with no avail. I first tried about a month ago to get "ahead of the game" so I can get the nifty little logo and join the party. Well, the site was down for maintenance. Okay, fine, I'm sure that the other Mrs. Kennedy was gearing up for November's NaBloPoMo madness. The second and third times were both today. I'm not dumb, I swear I'm not. I know how to use the Internet. But, both times I typed in my information, did everything the sign-up form asked me to do, and both times, nothing. No error message, no telling me my username was already taken, nada. So, I gave up for the time being. Maybe one of these days soon I'll remember to try again.

So, I will leave you with a picture of the Aaron and I at the UND hockey game on Friday night celebrating Halloween in style. (Incidentally, this is also a picture of my new hair cut, a la Hayden Panettiere. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!)

Who would have thought that a vacuum cleaner would put me in such a good mood?

I actually don't hate vacuuming...I really don't. I've just been frustrated over the past two years of home ownership because I never, ever feel like my carpets and rugs get clean. Even though we've had most of them professionally steam-cleaned, I just felt like the cat hair was getting unmanageable.

Then...Aaron's parents to the rescue. They asked us what we wanted for Christmas, and since Aaron and I had already been considering buying a new vacuum in hopes that it would work miracles, we just told them we wanted an upright vacuum that would pick up the pet hair. Well...Aaron's dad made it a mission to find us a vacuum, and needless to say, we got a text message yesterday telling us our order was ready to pick up at Sears. :-p

Santa came early, and we wasted no time in putting that thing to the test. Holy crap, that thing has some power...my rugs and carpets look brand-new! This totally made my day! :-)

(P.S. It's a Kenmore. I've always, always had good luck with Kenmore stuff, and I'm happy to see that this won't disappoint.)