Happy Thanksgiving...

It's been a busy two weeks here at the Ruchus. Last week I spent 5 count them 5 days in Chicago. For me, that's about 4 too many ;) The first two days were at the Illinois State Board of Education Non Public School Conference. Because I love the people I work with and they were there...it was ok. I learned a lot: that's a plus! The last 3 days were at the Illinois Association of School Boards conference where I also learned a lot.

There are 85 thoughts I want to put down here that are all in a jumbled mess, so let me be brief..

~My very first career goal was to be an attorney. I went to beauty school instead. (Similar I know)

~I soon will have two Master's Degrees and really do not anticipate going to school any more.

~I am fascinated with Special Education Law and cannot tolerate when children's rights are violated

~If I ever get another degree...perhaps it will be a law degree.

Pretty concise huh? OK, what does this have to do with Thanksgiving? Nothing really, I just had to say it. L-A-W Degree...maybe? Who knows. How the heck long does that take anyway? Sheesh, I'll be 108 and still in school at this rate.

Anyway...a definite plus to the weekend was the fact that the Holiday-miracle mile kick off parade was happening while we were there...

Mickey Mouse was the king of ceremonies...

Chip and Dale were there...along with many other Disney folks...

I loved the big tethered balloons. It was the first time I had ever seen these and I especially loved to watch them bump into things ;)

The parade was followed by fireworks...

This picture is a bit phenomenal...

My sonshine has Autism and a pretty healthy dose of sensory integration dysfunction to go along with it. What that means to the lay person is that he HATES fireworks. In fact, I am most certain this has been the first time in his life he has seen them, not from a building or a car and without earplugs. I mostly stood and watched him and not the fireworks. Finally the lights and the smell, and the sound got the best of him. He sat down in the middle of the enormous Chicago crowd and took a break.

He is the reason why I am such an advocate for kids. He has been such an inspiration to me as I find myself learning constantly from him. I find kids with Autism to just be amazing and awe inspiring.

After a busy weekend, we headed home and Sunday afternoon I was in the 'Light the Parks' Parade. I was so thrilled to have my little friends be able to join me...

Can you even believe how big Zoe and Jason are getting?!? Check out the picture of them over yonder on the left side of my blog...Amazing! Anyway, I had not seen them in so so long, so it was a great time having them with me. We rode on a school bus... and threw candy out to all the kids that were lined up to watch the parade. Jason yelled "Happy Hanukkah!" at the top of his lungs (and no he's not Jewish) While Zoe tried to ensure that every child got a piece of candy. We had so much fun...and I was SOOOOOO pooped by the time the weekend was over!

Finally...on to Thanksgiving...True to form I took several before and during pictures of the turkey...

but no after picture...it's becoming a regular tradition around these parts.

We brought back an old tradition... Fudge stripe turkey cookies. My Gramma Bee used to make these when we had Thanksgiving at her house...It was nice to have a part of her with us :) We had Aunt Ruth's Cheese ball and Uncle Leo's prayer..."Good Food, Good People, Good God, Amen"

After dinner, Aubrey tried on Honey's (that's what she calls my husband) shoes for size...

Those are some big shoes to fill precious girl!

We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on Tivo...

and enjoyed the newest member of our family...

Finally, we all took part in a Turkey Induced nap...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The best $5 you'll ever spend...

Are you sick and tired of the absence of photos on the ole blog? I'll tell you what, SO AM I!

Over here at the Ruchus, it's been one fiasco after another. First the virus, then the antivirus that removed the internet drivers, then the repair shop (my wonderful brother), then of all things...in the absence of my computer I had put away my camera usb cable so as not to lose it while I wasn't using it and...you know what happens next...I LOST IT!! So, I finally have a beautiful camera, a fixed computer, a thousand pictures and no way to share them. What's a picture if you keep it to yourself I ask? Well, today I could take it no more! I just happened to be at Target and thought to myself..."Self, today is the day you find a stinkin new cord for your camera!" So, I was looking all over for a cord, none of which was to be found of course, but then I stumbled upon this...


Now, I for sure didn't know what it was, but it seemed like I could use it to transfer pictures without a cord and by the way it was only $5 so really, what did I have to lose? Can I just say that I am happier than a pig in mud? So happy in fact that I scrubbed my kitchen floor on my hands and knees with spic and span tonight? I'm not really sure what being happy has to do with me scrubbing the floor, but let's just say that floor hasn't seen hands and knees and far too long! I was downloading pictures, scrubbed some of the floor, edited some pictures, scrubbed some more floor...you get the picture (boo hiss, bad pun I know) However...I am now fully able to share such pictures with you such as this... My beautiful daughter and her boyfriend at homecoming. I know it looks like they were in Sears, but really...we were at the park and the background is real...


Or this...my new beautiful baby great-niece Ashlyn...oooooohhhhh is she sweet. She's already become quite accustomed to the flash of my camera ;)

Then of course there's this...It can't really be autumn without at least one beautiful picture of the maple in my front yard...and this year with my new Digital SLR, the photo is more beautiful than ever (if I don't say so myself!)

And then finally there's this... My big girl turned 17 last month. Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? I just got a peek at the proposed school calendar for the 2010-2011 school year and [gulp] there in black and white is my big girl's graduation day...oh dear, let me breathe a minute. Whew, I think I'm ok now. There'll be no more speaking of the G word...at least for a few months.

A-N-Y-W-A-Y....my point is...if you don't own one of those whos-a-ma-jig-its...and you want a super convenient way to transfer your pictures...get yourself one of those! It's the best $5 you'll ever spend! Until next time...

What an awesome place the library is...

First of all, please excuse me for ending the title with the word is. It doesn't sit well with me as I'm sure it doesn't sit well with some of you...but that is the way it is today.

I have discovered...that I really must get out more. I mean really. It has also occurred to me that I have missed so much being in graduate school for what seems like forever. Between the 3 jobs, the internship, and the first round of graduate school...there are things in life I missed. Like being at home.

Today's post isn't about being at home however, it's about going out. Tonight the big girl, the sonshine and I went to the library, then to Big Lots, and then to the pet store. I, for one, could fart around (not literally, ok, maybe sometimes literally, no not really, well maybe, not) ANYWAY, I could wander around endlessly in stores and look at stuff, and marvel at how cheap the prices are at the Big Lots, and how I thought this pet store went out of business, but lo and behold, here it is in a new location in a mall, and I could REALLY marvel at all the goings on in the library...families playing games, youth groups in the computer lab, classes going on, families with young children reading and checking out books together, local history...I was amazed! Evidently it had been MUCH too long since I had been experienced the splendor of the library. It was a wonderful day to stop and smell the roses, or the books if you will. I'm so glad not to have missed it!