Fried Turkeys and little bugs

The one redeeming quality of Thanksgiving is fried turkey. If you have never had this delightfully Southern delicacy for your Thanksgiving main dish, you are missing out. There is nothing better than a deliciously seasoned, brown and crispy outer skin and a gorgeous white and juicy meat that just melts in your mouth. Todd would say the dark meat is more delicious, but I am partial to the white meat. I must admit, when my mom said that we were not doing a turkey this year and were opting for Prime Rib instead, I was not complaining. But when they changed their mind because Joe bought an infrared turkey fryer ( it doesn't use any oil, which can get expensive) we were all very excited and the disappointment about no prime rib was minimal.
The dinner was delicious, as many of you know, my mom is quite the cook and she never disappoints. Our family does not watch football on Thanksgiving but rather, basketball. Gonzaga Basketball to be exact. The Mormons cheering on the Catholics. Seems rather strange but we love our hometown team and John Stockton played there.
I got started with my Black Friday shopping a little early. Michaels' opened at 6pm on Thanksgiving and the cartridges for my Cricut (aka my little bug) were on sale for $30. This was a smokin' deal. At Michaels' they retail for $90, at Wal-Mart they are $70, so you can imagine my excitement. I never imagined the line. It was crazy, apparently a lot of people have nothing better to do Thanksgiving evening. I did end up getting three cartridges I wanted, for the price I would have paid for one, so I was very happy and Christmas came a little early. I bumped into quite a few people I knew and thanks to Joann Maughn I was able to get one cartridge I wanted, but didn't get in time. Luckily she was the first one in and grabbed one too many which she passed on to me. I am thankful for her!!!
And so ends another Thanksgiving, admittedly not my favorite holiday (shouldn't we be thankful all the time, not just one day?) but I survived it nonetheless.

Go Utes!!

Here it is...Todd is the greatest, Todd is the best, Todd still owes me for losing the Christmas Tree bet even though he won the bet for the Utah - BYU game. What was up with my Cougars? Max Hall threw 5 interceptions...he's killing me!!! I will have to listen to the Utah fight song for the rest of my life because of him. (Did you know you can hear it on You Tube?) MH better watch out. If I ever run into him he is a dead man!!! Well, at least one Mountain West team is going to a BCS bowl, unfortunately it probably won't be the National Championship Game. It could be interesting if Utah gets to play Florida and their former coach Urban Meyer. I'll be watching and not just because Todd is making me.

Can you have withdrawl symptoms for this?

I think I am. I am having fly for free, former airline employee withdrawl. I can't say that I had it with any of my other jobs. I certainly don't even miss the apartment manager thing, but I do miss working at the airline. This is the busiest time of year and usually the most challenging, yet at the same time it is very rewarding. Knowing you're helping people to go be with loved ones, or doing something fun for the holidays is great. The best part is that when all the hubbub of the holidays is over, you can load the whole family up and head out without worrying whether you are going to get bumped. I miss it so very, very much. Not enough to go back to work, mind you, but enough to have little worksickness pangs every now and again. I know a quick hop on a flight to Disneyland for the weekend would cure me.....

HOLIDAY GIFTS

Okay, this is my first post on here. I had to get on and let people know a little about our blog site here. If you go down on the right hand side you'll see a link to "Marys Mints", you have to visit. If you are looking for that perfect holiday gift, you can't go wrong with Marys Mints. On the site they offer homemade butter mints that are to DIE for. They are so good. There is also offered Toasted Coconut Chocolate Marshmallows, how can that be bad?? I'm here now to tell you that you can also get Holiday Chocolates shipped!! You name it, you can get it pretty much. She makes turtles, chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, etc. Caramels and the works. I believe any order made before December 20th can probably arrive by Christmas. On the Marys Mints site there is an email address to ask questions or make orders, you can also email Ally to ask questions. This business is just getting started and I'm telling you, you won't be disappointed. You'll get an original, inexpensive gift that people will talk about. This is probably what my siblings are getting for Christmas so.....surprise!! That's all I have to say, if you're having a hard time thinking of that perfect gift for in-laws, neighbors, co-workers, loved ones that live far away, visit Marys Mints, you'll be glad you did.

BYU vs. utah

For those of you who follow college football in Utah, the big game is this weekend. I am asking for predictions. Who will win? The Lord's school or those heathens on the hill? Leave me a post and let me know who you are rooting for. We'll see who wins the Devenish informal game. I got a quick joke for you...Why isn't the U having a nativity this year? Give up? Because they couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. In case you're wondering, Ally is rooting for BYU and Todd (and Ally's whole entire family) is rooting for the U. I'm a little outnumbered here. Show me some love and then pray for those BYU cougs.

Do I have anything to say?

The other night Todd was saying that I had not blogged anything for a long time. I said that I haven't done anything fun lately. He reminded me that I don't necessarily have to do anything fun to have something to say, and that I should treat it more like a daily journal. I think many of the things I do on a daily basis are terribly mundane, I do have opinions and sometimes I wonder if others share (or care) about these things. So here it goes... a couple of Ally musings:

1. Is the decorating talent something you learn or something that is inbred? I know I certainly don't have it, nor did I learn it. Am I going to HE** for that?

2. Why am I, a really not creative person, continually called to be involved on the RS enrichment committee, or in some other capacity involving the enrichment committee? Is somebody trying to tell me something...like I'm not getting it and maybe that's something I should be working on?

3. What is the infatuation with Twilight? I understand enjoying a book, but I don't understand the total obsession that tons of people have with these characters. I am really not a hater, I just don't get it.

4. I have to confess...I have a strange love/hate relationship with reality TV. I hate it because it's mindless and contrived and I love it because it's mindless and contrived. It's a dilemma that I can't solve. I have to admit that I watch the really "good" ones also like Real Housewives of Atlanta ( These women give *itchy new meaning). I watch Dog the Bounty Hunter and Repossessed and Cops. I laugh at stupid people. It's weird, but I think part of the reason is that I don't have to put any effort into watching. It just goes in and rattles around a bit. Then it goes away. Whatever.

5. Why does the school district still do late start during conference week? If it isn't bad enough that our kids go one hour later on Thursdays, you throw in conferences when they get out at 12:30 and they are in class for 2.5 hours, and yes this includes lunch and recess. You make me get them up for what? What is the point exactly?

6. Why do children think your furniture is a jungle gym? Maybe that's just my kids!!

7. Why can't I ever win anything? I enter all sorts of fun contests. People win, me...not so much. Is my luck really that bad?

So there you have it. I wish I could say I have profound and witty things that I contemplate and then post, but no!! Feel free to comment. It's always nice to get confirmation of my mental illness!!

Dancing Queens?

There is one thing I forgot to mention in my previous post and that was video night. Anthony showed us the most watched video on You Tube, which for some reason I had not seen. It has some great (classic) moves and the middle reminds me of our cruise to Mexico. (It's a long story, let's just say it involves Todd, Freddie, Robert a lawn mower and a dog) Just in case you haven't seen it, I am including it here for you. My kids love it and are trying to master all the moves as we speak!! I hope you enjoy it like we did.