In Which there are Injured Legs, Crazy Family Members, Tired Castle Keepers, Intense House Cleaning, a Crazy Writerly Daughter, and Many Dead Bugs

Hello, good readers of the Faerie Castle. This is Jenna, of As the Plot Thickens and The Delusional (loving that shameless blog promoting, eh?), Tracy's kickass and oh-so-modest (heh) daughter, here today (erm, tonight) with none other than a GUEST POST! Because Mother has all but LOST HER MIND!

(Which isn't exactly a good thing, but it does provide me with endless hours of amusement, so there ya go.)

Mah Mommeh has been a bit occupied these past couple of days. I succeeded in busting my knee on Thursday night and pulling a muscle, which caused me not to be able to walk for a day (which meant I, unfortunately, had to miss school and TWO TESTS AND A PRESENTATION). So she had to wait on me and take me to the doctor. But I'm fine now, so no worries there.

My grandma, nana, and cousin all got into town from sunny Florida on Saturday afternoon, and Mother-of-Mine and I spent most of that day cleaning the house from top to bottom. I spent three hours up to my elbows in bleach water, scrubbing my bathroom from tub to toilet. Most definitely NOT my favorite task in the world.

Over the past few days, I have been frantically trying to finish this year's National Novel Writing Month novel, which I have titled The Endless. It's a murder mystery, and it's hard work. I've met the official goal of 50,000 words, but I'm shooting for 90,000 total. Meaning that I've been holed up in my room for the past two days doing not a whole lot with the family unless they make me. Which irritates Mother-of-Mine. But hey, last year I typed through Thanksgiving dinner. I don't think much can top that level of irritation. But don't worry, I won't do that this year.

Maybe.

Anyway, we fumigated today (again) and killed some bugs (again). They're still sort of...everywhere...but we did manage to put a dent in the scurrying, many-legged, icky population. For a few days. Maybe.

Icky, icky, grosstastic, ucky, yucky, absolutely disgusting little creatures are bugs. Ugh.

Before I leave you to go do your thing, I'll toss a funny lil' video at you:



(Be sure to check out my blogs, kthnxbai.)

Love and hugs and stuff,

Jenna.

:P

Laptop Envy

I really need a laptop. My PC has been acting up lately and really causing me loads of angst and anger. My husband has a laptop that I could use but I really don't care for it. The space bar sticks and the way the keys clack isn't nice. sigh.....

I love my daughter's laptop. I totally want it. And I was just getting ready to start trying to use it when she was at school and she decided to start taking it with her! How dare she! She takes notes with it in class and write sin her spare time..... so. I could be using it to read blogs, dammit! (LOL)

My plan is to get a laptop for myself next year. I think I will end up with one similar to Jenna's since, ya know, I like hers and stuff.

Meanwhile, I haven't really been on the computer much for the past few days because it hates me. And wants me to go insane from dealing with it's slow and irritating ass.

I'll try to catch up with everyone soon!

Thanksgivings for Good Behavior

I'm pretty sure the bug is gone so everyone can stop being all grossed out now. That includes me! LOL

My 4 yo had his Thanksgiving Program today. This is, of course, my 4 yo with interesting behavioral issues. I was dreading this as I had NO IDEA how he would react to #1 riding a bus for the first time and #2 being on a stage in front of a large audience. Oh yeah, not to mention #3 wearing a paper hat/ Indian headband and #4 singing (he does NOT sing).

I was honestly very pleasantly surprised. He stood on the stage and did not run away. He wore his headband and did not tear it up. And he listened to the teachers while getting there and back on the bus. He did not sing but that's okay! I think he did a wonderful job anyway. He is growing up fast and is actually making great progress at school with his behavior. We have started making absolutely sure that we follow HIS routines int he morning to get him ready for school and to school. That way he starts off the day feeling comfortable. And I have been picking him up each day before nap time so that he is not tortured with having to lay still for no reason. He starts his therapy sessions this week and we are still waiting to hear back from the psychologist for his appointment there for evaluation. Right now, we are going day by day. Once I have met with the psychologist we will know whether we are on the right trtack or need to go another direction.

Isn't it hard being a parent sometimes? Making decisions that could affect the rest of your child's life is scary.

So, while I am dealing with all of the wonderful and time consuming parenting business, cleaning my house in preparation for the holidays, doing meal planning and holiday meal planning, trying to juggle all of my other mom and wife duties, I am also trying to plan Christmas presents. And Cards.

I love sending Christmas cards every year. I really do! I try to have my addresses ready and get the cards ready to go as soon after Thanksgiving as possible. If any of you lovely people would like a Christmas card from em this year, I would love to send one! You can email me your mailing info to faeriecastle@yahoo.com and I will add you to my list!!

I could use ideas for unique and inexpensive gifts for The Girl as well. We have some ideas and plans going right now but other ideas are always welcome! SO, gift ideas for teen girls who enjoy writing, reading, blogging and being a dork would be great!! LOL

I don't have a whole lot going on right now to write about, so that's it for today. I have to go hang out some laundry to dry and put my 2 yo back in bed. He thinks naps are for wimps....

Let Me Put A Bug In Your Ear

First, I have to thank several bloggers for some great awards! Thanks to Kat from Kat's Confessions for awarding me the Lovely Blog Award again! I really love that people appreciate the work that went into this little spot on the blogosphere....

Second, I have to thank Feliciae from Living Just Like Grandma for giving me a special little award: This award is given to blogs that warm your heart and give you that fuzzy feeling. Unfotunately, I do NOT have time to pass out award today. I promise to post who both of these are going to just as soon as I can.

Right now I am dealing with an issue. A little bitty one. I have a bug in my ear. Yes. Gross. I woke up at about 4:30 this morning and I could hear it running around and FEEL IT!!!! GAH!!!!! Nastiest damn thing ever. So, I tried to beat it out and when that did not work, I turned to the trusty interwebz. I poured some oil in my ear and it smothered the bug. So, after it's death throes (totally freaky feeling and sound) it stopped moving and I was able to stop screechinga nd running in circles. Now the challenge is to get it OUT of my ear. We tried pouring a little water in hoping that it would flush it out. No luck. I have a doctors appointment next week before Thanksgiving so if nothing else works, I will see if I can get her to remove it! It's driving me crazy. That's all I can think about.

Do you think this is revenge for fumigating and killing so many of the bug's brethren?!?

Send chocolate. I need it.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

It's been busy here! Normal.... I got distracted on Wednesday and then was consumed with fumigating my house yesterday. So.Much.Fun.

Honestly, I have my Mother, My MIL and my nephew coming to stay for a week for Thanksgiving. And I have about four other people who will be here on Thanksgiving. So, it was necessary for us to take care of the yucky roach issue we have been facing. Now, I am in the midst of having to wash every dish and surface in my home to make sure that the yucky bug spray is gone from them. Again.... so.much.fun. At least my house will be clean when I am done! LOL

So, speaking of Thanksgiving.

Being married to a chef can make for interesting holidays. Luckily, over the past few years, my husband has worked at a restaurant where they are closed for both Thanksgiving and Christmas days. That means..... he cooks! I love that I am able to have him cook holiday meals and he loves doing it. In addition to that, we usually end up with several other cooks coming over to join us. This year we will have two or three line cooks from the restaurant coming over and helping with the cooking and joining us for the meal. Fun!!!! (That means I will get to hand over my title of sous chef to someone else and spend time sitting on my butt.... LOL)

Anyway, we have quite a few traditional dishes that we cook every year and Steven always adds one or two new dishes. This year, we may end up switching out some of our regular dishes. We haven't planned the total menu as of yet. I am going to link to articles I wrote that share the recipes for some of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes. Feel free to pop over and read them, I get paid per view on these articles. Don't feel obligated, though! I am just too lazy to repost them here or I would.

Tea Brining A Turkey
Green Bean Casserole with A Twist
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Zesty Cranberry Sauce
Marinated Butternut Squash
Cucumber Salad

Of course, we also have sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes as well. Along with many other foods! What are your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes? I would love to get links or recipes to some new dishes to try this year! Do you plan your menu well in advance or just a week or so? And how many people do you usually end up cooking for?

I am also trying to find some good, easy Thanksgiving crafts to do with the boys that week. We get the entire week off of school here so we will have plenty of time to craft and color.... if you have some great crafts or traditions I would love to have you share them with me!

Alright, back to post-fumigation clean up....