How much can you do in one day?

First of all, I do not believe that I will ever watch regular TV again. What I mean is TV without Tivo. Outside of a few bits and pieces of shows I catch with the hubby while I'm going to sleep I really can't remember the last time I watched regular TV and let me tell you why...Today while I was working diligently on the kick butt laundry challenge, I thought I would catch up on my kick butt watch TV challenge. Oh wait...I never made that a challenge. Anyway, miraculously enough today I have watch 8 episodes of Young and the Restless the entire CMA's, 1 episode of Private Practice, 4 episodes of Gray's Anatomy...and the only thing that awaits me now on my Tivo is 5 episodes of Brothers and Sisters. I have decided to not watch Boston Legal this season since I just really can't fit it in. So...all told I have watched 16 hours of TV today...in about 8 hours, dropped my son off and picked him up from his tournament, and cooked breakfast and lunch. In addition to that I have completed 9 loads of laundry. Only 3 to go to complete my kick butt laundry challenge for this week one of which is in the washer right not. Sadly, I believe I'll need to do 20 loads of laundry each of the next two weeks to be caught up. Ugh! The good news is I have 5 large bags to go to Good Will...hooray....things I will never wash again. and I am just about to the point where I can sweep the basement floor and organize my Christmas decor, just in time to get it out again! So...TIVO is the way to go...if you don't have it...get it! It's for real the best $12 a month I've ever spent. For this free plug I'm thinkin they should give me about 6 months free!

I just have to make a comment about the CMA's...WOW, Trace Adkins, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban really outdid themselves this year. If you haven't seen their performances on the CMAS's this year and you are fans...check them out on you tube. Did I mention that's another great thing about TIVO? Rewind...I can watch my favorite parts again and again...like when Kenny won Entertainer of the Year for the fourth year in a row!

I finally got started on this list... Making Christmas cookies is the highlight of my Holiday Season. I make about 200 dozen every year and man do we get fat! Just kidding! Most of them I give away as gifts and of course we do eat a lot as well. I've added a new goal this year after I've read the chapter on 'shipping' in this new book I got. I hope to send some off to my cousins this year to let them know we miss them at Christmas. Last year I took a large box to my friend Sandi who spent Christmas in the hospital. It is a tradition that goes back to my Grandma Stockenburg who had the most amazing kitchen ever. Each year she would make hundreds of Swedish Christmas cookies and homemade pies. She would give me my own little (6") pie tins to make my own pies and then of course I'd get to take yummy cookies home. Most of my favorite holiday memories revolve around Gramma Stockenburg. This babe had 4 Christmas trees and the one I got to decorate was 4 feet tall and I swear it had 200 balls on it. You couldn't see a pine needle anywhere! The house was always amazingly decorated with table of food in each room. People came from all over to share in the holiday. No body missed it. In pure Swedish tradition you never really got a chance to eat: Just as they finished passing the last dish, they began passing the first dish again! We all dressed up and each year Santa made a visit. She and Grandpa Stockenburg truly hosted magical holidays. That is a tradition I long to establish in my family. This year...if you got no where to go...head on over to the Ruchus...the more the merrier! I think I'm having 19 for Thanksgiving this year which is super fun! If you're on the invite list...The Moffitt's, The Fritz's, Tracey & kids, Tara & kids, Grandma, the Olson's, we're gonna gather about 3 or so. Please call to see what you can bring...k? ;) Thanks! It's so exciting to finally have my Christmas cookie list made. This year I will be sharing recipes here of my favorite cookies. Stay tuned! I use a system that makes the cookies over 5 days. On the first day we shop for ingredients and scrub the kitchen so everything is ready. On the 2nd day we make all the dough and throw it in the fridge (as most needs to be refrigerated anyway), on the 3rd day we bake and bake and bake, on the fourth day we decorate all the cookies and on the 5th day I make anything miscellaneous that cooks on the stove like fudge, rice crispy treat snowmen and corn flake wreaths. Yum.my! Those are my favorites. I like to make those the day before Christmas so they are nice and fresh. With the new goal to mail out some cookies this year, we may have to do two baking batches. I am gloriously off work the 21st of December until the 5th of January so that makes things a whole lot easier! I just can't wait to get started!

Today in N. Illinois it has been doing this off and on. I for one love a change in seasons as it gives me a renewed boost of energy to clean out some closets, make some lists, and put up some decorations! Today is snowed big clusters of flakes, my favorite kind and tonight it is beginning to stick. What this means for me is that I better get 'clean out the garage' on one of my lists so that my car can fit inside. How I hate to scrape windows!

I really must run now...that laundry challenge is still calling my name!

Until next time...

The kick butt laundry challenge

So far not so good. One of my readers commented that 20 loads a week wouldn't be too bad since that's only 3 loads a day. Here's the problem...I did 5 loads on Monday, 0 Tuesday (when I worked 14 hours), 0 Wednesday (when I worked 15 hours), and so far today, yep, you guessed it...goose egg. Today I only worked 12 hours, but then I had an errand to run with my daughter and now I am just too exhausted. So...here I sit, only 5 down...15 to go. Tonight my precious one said...gee...maybe I should help! Now we're talking. So...to meet my goal I'll have to do 15 loads on Saturday and Sunday. Possible...very possible.

Now...on to the latest with the job search. I had my 4th interview on Wednesday (because after all I am interviewing to be the CFO of microsoft...no wait I'm not...I'm interviewing for a plain old educational coordinator position that is beginning to seem like something much larger) -- anyway they believe I need to come back yet again for one more observation on Tuesday. I told him...that was the last time I was stepping foot inside the building without an invoice in my hand. I would be submitting a bill for my time in the future! I mean really! 5 interviews?!? Personally, I think interviewing people is like throwing mud against a wall...some sticks, some doesn't. I have hired people that have interviewed beautifully that turn out to be the biggest flakes of all time, and others whose interviews were a bit questionable have turned out to be fabulous employees. So...pulllleeeeezzzz Mr. interviewer, could you possibly make a decision so that I might get on with my life? He assures me I will know if I got the job before the Thanksgiving holidays. Then...of course there's the 60 day notice at my current job, lots of training for my replacement, saying goodbye to a job I absolutely love and I may end up at the new joint say by Feb. Unbelievable. And then, even if I get the job we still have to negotiate salary and benefits. How the heck long do you think that may take? I might not start til June! Oh alright...perhaps I am exaggerating just a bit.

On a more serious and less petty note...I spoke to the mama today and her angiogram went well yesterday and she was quite chipper and bubbly today. She has a few more procedures coming up over the next month to clear some blockages in her carotid arteries, so please keep my mama in your prayers. Hopefully she'll be feeling like her old self or her new better self by Christmas :) Love you mama!