The calm before the (very happy) holiday storm

Outside my window... Leaves are everywhere (beauuutiful!) and it's not raining, at least for now. It almost makes me consider an afternoon run. Almost, but not quite :)

I am thankful for... We know lots families welcoming - and getting ready to welcome -brand new, precious babies this fall season. I'm thankful for parents who want to be parents, who can't wait to meet these new little ones, and who will love them to pieces as they grow.

I am learning... to control my irritation when I go through self check-out at Safeway. The computerized voice that always says "Have you scanned your club card?" makes me madder than a wet hen. Jan Michael has had to correct me several times about the absurdity of getting angry at a silly machine.

From the kitchen... The kitchen is about to become a crazy flurry of activity; Thanksgiving is 10 days away!! Very soon I'm going to make a list of when to make what (three cheers for make-ahead mashed potatoes!) - I think the frenzy will begin Saturday.

I am wearing... nothing fancy & nothing special. The usual :) In just a bit I will be wearing a big pile of blankets while I take a nap.

I am creating... Our Thanksgiving table has jumped out of my idea notebook and into real life. I have made - and I'm quite pleased with my ingenuity - chargers to sit underneath our dishes. I used pizza pans from the dollar store and covered them with three cans of gold glitter spray paint, and if I do say so myself, they are a far cry from the cheap-o, scuffed, scratched, unevenly painted jobs I've seen in stores.

I am going... to fold a pile of laundry that has been growing exponentially. I am going to make the beds and clean the bathroom (but probably not today.) I am going to clean out the refrigerator to make room for a Thanksgiving feast (but definitely not today.)

I am reading... In my read-the-Bible-in-one-year schedule, we are in the middle of Ezekiel and John. Actually, we're at the end of Ezekiel and will begin in Daniel tomorrow; I'm looking forward to that. Also, I just started re-reading (for the 700th time) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I am hoping... that we do not have any unwelcome company for Thanksgiving. (See below.)

Around the house... There is, and I hesitate to say this in case we never have visitors again, a mouse in the house. Actually, no - there is a RAT in the house. We thought it was a mouse, but a very nice, helpful exterminator confirmed just last week that we have a rat. Then, not two days after he showed us the hole that the rat is using as his front door, I SAW IT RUNNING THROUGH THE COMPUTER ROOM. I've said before that finding a slug in the house was the last straw, but a rat darting around in broad daylight is outrageous.

I am hearing... the clack of the keyboard and not much else.

One of my favorite things... on a Thanksgiving relish tray is a pickled beet.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
- A date with our favorite 3-year-old girlie
- Cooking and baking, baking and cooking
- On Friday we pick up Soren at the airport, which is the official kick-off to our second annual week-long, we-hardly-ever-get-to-see-Soren party.
- On Saturday there will be football and board games, and a house full of boys. I can't wait!
- Also on Saturday, I'll run in the Poultry Predictor race. If I run 4 miles in the time I predicted when I registered (42 minutes, which is a gross under-estimation; I don't know what I was thinking), I'll win our Thanksgiving turkey!