7 Quick Takes about Reasons to Get Excited, Someone Other Than Me Changing a Toilet Paper Roll, and a Thanksgiving to Remember

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

Amazing news! Phillip and I are taking a spur-of-the-moment trip and I'm so excited about it. The night we bought the tickets I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. I couldn't even sleep.

In December, he's going to a conference for work in Florida and asked if I wanted to tag along. At first I was like, "Oh, I don't think so. We'd have to find someone to stay with the kids and reschedule some appointments and it's so much prep work for a short trip I'm not even sure it would be worth it..."

A few days later the weather got cold, and I was like HECK YES I AM GOING TO FLORIDA.

Even better than the 72-degree weather forecast is the fact that Phillip's ticket and the fancy resort is already paid for by his work, and we used airline miles to buy my plane ticket so our total out-of-pocket cost was $11.50.

We'll be paying someone to stay with the kids for 3 days which will be pricey, but even so, the cheapskate within me is jumping for joy.

—2—

While we're gone, a friend's young adult daughter and her husband are going to stay here with the kids, drive everyone to their activities, and make sure everyone stays fed and alive.

I'm only slightly worried that spending 3 days immersed the chaos of our daily life will make them never want to have kids.

When I mentioned my concern to Phillip, he shrugged and said "They'll be fine, they just have to take care of the kids. They don't have to register for soccer."

That's true. Outlining the realities of soccer season would do WAY more to deter teen pregnancy than that high school project where you have to carry around a baby doll for a week, no contest.

—3—

Sometimes I feel like I'm running a little too behind on everything, but every now and then I'll be too far ahead, and that messes things up, too.

A while ago, I applied online for a credit card. I hadn't received the cards in the mail yet, but I'd been getting emails with titles like "Don't forget to activate your card!" and "Activate! Shop! Earn 2% cash back!" and "Have you activated your card yet?"

After several weeks of the emails I called customer service to tell them I'd never received the card, figuring it had probably gotten thrown out with the junk mail by mistake. So they cancelled the account and sent out a new card with a different number.

The original card arrived in the mail the next day. Of course it'd been cancelled, so that did me no good.

—4—

Our family was talking to the bishop at our end-of-year tithing settlement at church, and when my 8-year-old mentioned buying a bunch of sweets with her birthday money, the conversation turned to candy.

She went on an on about how she loved candy, so the bishop asked, "If a carnivore eats only meat and a vegetarian eats only plants, what is someone called who only eats candy?"

"Diabetic," my 13-year-old piped up.

It's not like she's wrong.

—5—

This week's Twilight Zone moment is brought to you by my 3-year-old:

When my 5-year-old called from the bathroom that we were out of toilet paper, I asked the 3-year-old to bring him some, which he did.

A few minutes later I went up to the bathroom to make sure everything was okay, and was really puzzled to see the new roll of toilet paper installed on the holder.

"How did that get there?" I asked my 3-year-old.

"I brought it here."

"But who put it on the holder?"

"I did."

I just stood there, thinking about the Berenstain Bear book where Brother and Sister Bear broke a vase and concocted an elaborate lie blaming it on a colorful bird that flew in through the window, and wondering if something similar was going on here.

Honestly, I think I'd have been quicker to accept a story about a colorful bird coming in and changing the TP roll, but whatever happened, I suppose I should just be thankful that it did.

—6—

Speaking of thankful, we still haven't put away all our Halloween decorations and may have pumpkins frozen to our front porch, but our Thanksgiving was still fantastic.

Not having family nearby, we've done our own Thanksgiving dinners for 10 years and let me tell you, cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner from scratch is quite an ordeal. But now that the older kids are getting old enough to be really helpful (both with the cooking and the cleanup,) it was really enjoyable.

We usually go around the table and say what we're thankful for. I wanted to start with the youngest so he wouldn't just repeat whatever the other kids said, so I asked my 3-year-old "What are you thankful for?" As expected, I got a blank stare so I rephrased the question: "What makes you happy?"

He thought for a minute and answered, "If I go up to Jesus, he'll be happy."

My 11-year-old, on the other hand, is thankful for mashed potatoes. So we had it all at our table, folks.

—7—

After dinner, we got a fire going in our pellet stove and, since the couch cushions spend more time on the floor than they do on the couch, we just arranged them in front of the fire and took a nap.

It started out just Phillip and I, but then the younger three kids all zoomed in like heat-seeking missiles.

There wasn't much sleeping going on after that, but I enjoyed cuddling with my little people by the fire more, anyway.

Picture taken by Phillip.

After this, I got up and ate homemade pie that I didn't even have to make myself, so it was pretty much the best day ever.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend and don't forget to enter my Christmas giveaway if you haven't already! (It ends tomorrow.)

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