* I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving so much. Really. I am excited about seeing all the family together, eating delicious food, chatting the day away, no place to be, no deadlines to worry about, just hanging out. I love just hanging out. Eric doesn't, he likes to have a plan and accomplish something (which is why none of our dates ever consist of going to a coffee house because he dreads the phrase "just to talk"). Me, on the other hand... Well I think you can all imagine what I must be like from my consistently loooooong blogs and my chatty videos. :p

* I'm looking forward to Christmas too. I've been excited about Christmas since October! I can't wait to pick out our tree. We decided we need to deck the house this year, so I'm looking forward to that as well. And I might even be hosting a small all-ladies get together as well, so that will be fun and social and stuff. I want to make gingerbread men with my kids because I've never done that with them before. I thought about doing the gingerbread HOUSE, but then I lost my nerve. Eric's "researching" a gift for me, which makes me excited because in the past he hasn't put a whole lot of thought into my gifts, once we got married. Not that they were stupid gifts or anything-- I enjoyed them! But they weren't really well-thought out, yknow?

* I love giving gifts, but I'm not very good at it.

* Speaking of looking forward to the holidays, I'm a little surprised that I'm this excited about them. I would have thought I'd be dreading the emotional rollercoaster they will inevitably take me on. First set of holidays without my dad and I'm totally fine, so far. I mean, I expect I'll cry at some point (or several points) and I've thought of the many, many changes that we'll experience...but I'm not dreading it. Maybe because I know I won't be experiencing them alone? I'll be with my family and we'll all feel it together, so it's not as bad? I don't know. I'm trying not to over-think this. Just go with it.

* My house has been looking fairly clean for about three days every two weeks. ...Yeah... I'm workin' on it. I've been doing maintenance cleaning for the past three days (*is secretly impressed with herself*) and Eric asked if I could make another step forward by cleaning our bedroom. I don't think he knows what's involved with that. I got stuck in the middle of switching all the seasonal stuff, so there's an explosion of laundry and also of items that need closet storage--but we don't have shelving in our closet yet... Ugh. I hope I can at least take care of the clothes...

* I've been doing a women's Bible study on Monday nights. I talk too much, but I have trouble NOT talking because there's often an awkward silence after the leader asks a question. I don't like awkward silences and I have no problem sharing my life with people. I like it, though. It's pretty basic stuff, but that's what I need right now. Back to basics. Always back to basics.

* I wish I wanted to lose weight. I wish I wanted to exercise and make healthy eating choices. I don't know, maybe I do, I just want to feel comfortable and happy MORE than I want to work for a healthy life. I put most of my effort into corralling my kids into acceptable behavior, but that's not because that's all I have energy to do. My kids are not THAT bad! I just don't really pour energy into anything else right now. I have it, somewhere, or I could generate more of it. But I don't.
I have difficulty not living in guilt because of this.

* I hate having to think about things like weight around Thanksgiving.

* My baby is crying, the grapes I gave the other two are quickly disappearing, and my new resolution to make better choices overall is waiting to be implemented.
I gotta go.

~V

The following is for THIS contest. And you can vote for me, or someone who is cuter than me...you know...if you really want to--I can't stop you...no really, it's okay...*sniff* I'll just h-have to be b-brave about it..., HERE.
____________________

I am unintentionally cute. I have been this way my whole life. I have not appreciated it for most of my life, but that's not to say I haven't used it! I would often utilize my cute factor when I was caught watching TV after bedtime. My parents would put me to bed and then chill out in their bedroom down the hall watching late night TV like David Letterman or old Hollywood musicals like That's Dancing. I would wait until I thought they were totally engrossed in the show and then sneak down the hall to their room. I'd crawl on my stomach to the foot of their bed and curl up under the extra blankets there. I would sometimes manage to stay there for a couple hours until they decided to go to sleep. When they caught me, I'd play up the cuteness--rubbing my eyes sleepily and talking in a quiet, slightly high-pitched voice. I never really got in trouble for doing it that I can remember. I just went back to my room to bed.

But now that I'm "all grown up" (ha!), I use it on my husband. A lot. Usually it's to spark some kind of interaction.
...That didn't sound right...
What I mean is I get bored waiting for him to notice me after work and after the kids are in bed, so I start being cute, and that at the very least gets some kind of positive reaction out of him. Some people tell jokes, I pout. Whatever works, right?
Normally it's the pouting that really does it. Drop that lower lip, widen those eyes, and do half-glances till he just can't take any more. He usually takes that opportunity to wrestle me. I know that sounds all exciting, but believe me--with Eric it means JUST wrestling. Just because. He's never going to outgrow being a kid, I swear! But it's all good. I just need SOME interaction; I don't always need THAT interaction. :p

I also use cuteness to deflect embarrassing situations because I HATE HATE HATE feeling embarrassed. So I deflect by getting people around me to focus on the cute act instead of whatever just happened. (Has anyone else noticed that this is my favorite smiley face?)

PIK-CHOORS! :D
It took me awhile to "warm up" to my real cute face...




...but I finally found it! Checked with Eric and everything, and the following photo is a genuine cute pouty face:



I'm out.
~Charmingly Victoria