I Said A Naughty Word...

So, my friend invited me to a book club party the other week. I'm a big fan of reading and I thought it would be a great way to get to know some women my age. I was also told to bring a Christmas tree ornament....easy sneezy, right? Well, I picked one out (shh...from my very own tree)....that I absolutely LOVED. I would stare at it when it was hanging from the needles and revel over its beauty. Since Joel and I are trying to save money and because the ornament did not have any sentimental value, I decided to bring it in all of its glory. I would have been thrilled to receive this Christmas tree ornament, and frankly, I was very sad to give it up...but since I'd rather be able to go on vacation again (preferably before I'm 90) and also pay off my school loans...I've taken to cutting a few corners. This happened to be the corner I chose that day. (Usually, I just say no to Diet Coke or bring a bagged lunch to work). Anyway, fast forward to the book party. It was a great gathering of ladies. Lots and lots of ladies...we talked about the book we all read and then moved onto playing the white elephant Christmas tree ornament game. Things were going well....until I noticed that all the women would ooh and ah over all the ornaments and then enquire "Where did you get that from?" Answers such as "Pier One, the Christmas Store...the_____ kept being tossed around the room. I began to panic! What was I going to say? I couldn't very well tell them that I found it on my tree. I also could not tell them that a friend bought it for me, because someone who previously lived in our house had bought it and left it behind. I briefly thought about lying...but I can't lie about anything and the guilt would have plagued me to my death. Then it happened...and I told the truth which happens to be the "naughty" word I said. That's right...the R word. I know you've all thought it and many have even used it. REGIFT. That's right. I regifted. After I let the whole group of women know my terrible deed, I was HUMILIATED! Way to make a first impression on 20 women that just so happen to go to my church! Yikes...I'm turning red as I write this. Anyway, I learned my lesson...because I really miss my gorgeous ornament and the pride I gave away with that r word!

Boys Don't Defer

Boys don't defer. This is a very simple fact that has taken me years to comprehend. You see, I've been living in a girls world all my life. I grew up with three sisters and my high school class was 80% female. Naturally, I articulate "girl language" quite well. Thus,boy language often seems quite foreign to me. You see, girls have these known rules that we ALL follow...and if these rules are broken...it makes girls upset. Here are some different unspoken rules we girls usually follow.

1. Girls must defer to one another at least 3 times.

2. If you have both deferred at least 3 times...then the girl with greatest need wins....no matter how vehement her deference is. (For example, if one girl has only eaten a skinny cow all day and there is only one piece of lasagna left for supper..they would both defer until the girl who only ate the skinny was eating the piece of lasagna).

3. The girl who wins the deference ALWAYS thanks the girl who deferred.

You are probably wondering where this "boys don't defer" post came from. Yesterday our fridge did not have a lick of food in it. We just got back from vacation and had not had time to restock. My husband gets up earlier than I do and packed his lunch with the last two pieces of bread. I was therefore left with some fruit, a hot red pepper and a skinny cow (and no car since we share one). I chose to eat the skinny cow. We did have one large piece of lasagna left for supper. I was expecting my husband would defer to ME since he had had a sandwich for lunch. And he did...2 times..and then ate it. I was shocked! Obviously I was the one in greatest need! He had a sandwich for lunch and I had a measly skinny cow! (This is a reduced fat/calorie dessert for those of you who do not know). I was the one in greatest need! He did not even follow the last girl deference rule and thank me as he was eating it. He believed me when I said it was okay if he ate it. Naturally, I was quite upset! How RUDE! After stewing about how hungry I was and how inconsiderate he was, I remembered a side comment my mother-in-law made this past weekend "boys do not defer." I then realized that I was speaking in my silly girl language...and of course my husband did not understand these silly girl rules I follow! I then forgave him for eating the last piece of lasagna, and decided my girl deference rules are rather silly!

Back to Life..Back to Reality....

Have you ever noticed that you and your family get a little cranky when returning home from a wonderful vacation? Well, I DO...here's some phrases that may indicate that you just returned or are returning from vacation...

1. Why are you going so slow? You REALLY need to speed up...Ohhhh...look, we just missed that light. Hmmpph...(I won't say who said this one)

2. Me-"Back off you big Galute!!" (yes, I do call Joel a big galute when I'm only partly annoyed with him...he thinks it is kind of funny).

3. Me-"What do you mean we spent too much on ________? I did NOT! I promise you...scribble, scribble (that's me calculating what I spent)....see...way under what you said!"
Him-"Well, we spent it on something!...we spent it on living...it's fine."
Me-"Well, maybe we shouldn't get a___________, and we don't have to buy _______."
Him-"Caron, stop worrying about it....we are just fine."
Me-"Well, lets not go out to eat again until next Thanksgiving...and we can skip Christmas presents for us and we can walk to work and...."
Him-"Caron, seriously, things come up sometimes..."
Yeah..I'm a bit of a worrier sometimes...:)

4. Me-"I forgot my purse"
Him-"What?! But it was right there on the ________-?"
Me-"Well, I still forgot it...with my phone and my wallet, which has my license and credit cards....and btw..I need money tomorrow for ________"

ohh...money! and driving.... the perfect topics for fighting! (not that Joel and I ever fight :)!!! just discuss..;)

I'll Always Be a Minnesota GIRL!

So, this is the first year I will not be spending any of the holidays in Minnesota. I didn't think I would be sad about that fact, but I really am. I love seeing my nieces and nephews every year (and their parents too, of course!)....but since I'm a workin' woman now, I can't! I will probably never live in MN ever again... but I will always be a MN girl at heart! I wear my U of MN sweatshirt proudly and always cheer when we win a football game (even though I could really care less about football!) But, since I've moved down south, I've been asked a lot of funny questions about my home state...I think some southerners think that Minnesotans are close relatives to the Eskimos or something...:)!

1)Here's the most popular question asked of me.
"Do you miss the snow?"

My answer-
"Only on Christmas day!"

2)Another very popular question
"Do you miss the cold?"

I always say "NO!!!"

3) "Do you ice fish?"

I think to myself..."hmmm...do I look like an ice fisher?" but I answer..."no, but my brother-in-law does...he pretty much hunts and fishes any animal that moves."

4)"Can you say _______" again?" (insert nose, bag, rag, sag, bob jones, or anything with an O in that blank."

I say "Shut up...Minnesotans actually have one of the purest forms of English in the USA."

5) "Do you remember the coldest temperature you lived through in MN?"

"I don't really remember...I do remember my breath crystallizing on the dashboard on the way to school some mornings. Once my father took a cup of hot coffee and poured it over the snow and it turned to ice before it hit the ground."

So there you have it folks...a short synopsis of my background...I'm now off to pack for my Thanksgiving trip to SC!

Daily Shower Cleaner

Lately I've been going a little Daily Shower Cleaner CRAZY! I just love coating my shower walls with the stuff (don't ask me why?!? I have this new found obsession with squeaky clean grout). Unfortunately this concoction is not cheap, so I decided to look up a recipe on google. I found one that costs about 35 cents a bottle. I didn't want to keep the secret to myself...so I thought I'd post it (a recipe is a essentially a list after all!!). Kudos to "What She Said" for the great recipe! I can't wait until my store bought cleaner is gone so I can try it out! (I know..I'm such a nerd!)

4 cups of water
1 cup of Hydrogen Peroxide
1 cup of 70% Isopropyl Alcohol
4 tsp. Dishwasher rinse agent
1/2 tsp. dishwashing liquid

Little Miss Domesticated....

Lately, I've been trying to work on my housecleaning/organization skills. My mother-in-law is always, forever inspiring me in this regard. I do believe she is the ultimate hostess/house cleaner/planner! I aspire to be this way....here's a peak into the way I used to clean as a teen....

1. Throw everything in a pile...shove it all in the closet.
2. Throw it all in a pile...hide it under the sink.
3. Clear a space off my bed...go to sleep...
4. Friends coming over? Throw all of my clothes in the wash...(then I wouldn't have to fold them and put them away into my very messy drawers..ahh..my poor mom!)

Yep...you got it...I was pretty much a BIG MESS. Then I met miss Abigail Annie in college. She always knew where her keys were. Her notebooks were nicely organized. Her clothes were always neat and folded and she always had matching socks. I began to think that maybe my throw in a pile method wasn't so stellar. (although I always told my mom that I was organized in a pile sort of way-she always told me I would wish I were more organized in the future...but who listens to their mom at that age?:)

Over the last few years I've worked on my cleaning skills, but I've still been feeling like I was playing grown up. I do the dishes, iron and vacuum, but I never had much time to SCRUB my floor and the grout in my bathroom (don't worry, I cleaned them...just not as well as I do now) Plus, since I wasn't bringing home ANY of the bacon....I really felt young. Hopefully, that will change soon:) Maybe someday I'll even be as organized as Miss Abigail and my mother-in-law. I can dream, right?

It's Time to STOP Wearing American Eagle When...

So, I love AE. I think they make the most comfortable clothes in the world and they aren't as expensive as J. Crew or Anne Taylor. The problem is that I'm 27...almost 28 *shudder*.....I've decided I CAN'T even step foot into AE anymore. Plus, I'm a principals wife....I don't really know what clothes I'm supposed to wear for that role...but probably not AE ones:) I have been asked when I was going to start wearing ugly, frumpy principal wife clothes...hopefully I'll never have to do that.
So, You know it's time to stop wearing AE when...

1. A 15 year old asks you to dance at his high school homecoming (I'm not even making this up....this really happened to me)

2. Your patients continually question if you are old enough to care for them.

3. You are married to a principal...who doesn't recognize that you are not one of the high schoolers when you surprise him and drop by the school (yes, this did happen once).

4. The rest of the staff at your husbands school also thinks you are a student when you first meet them (when Joel is not around of course). They also question why you are going to the principals office....They then look really surprised when I call Joel by his first name :)

5. Your husband won't give you a hug in public because he's afraid someone will mistake you for a high schooler...making him look like a bad principal (I'm glad he's sooo careful!)

6. You're 27...yep...I guess that's really the real answer here....time for me to move on to the adult clothing stores.