Thankful for Thanksgiving

So I had big plans for November. They involved posting every day, and lots of eating. The results are manifested in my waistline, and on this blog. :(  I thought it would be great to write a post every day about something that I'm grateful for. I'm going to start now.

November 1st - I was thankful that it was finally November so I could be at least a little justified in watching Elf. Favorite movie ever made. :)

November 2nd - I was thankful that I decided to make dinner on the 1st, because I ate it all week long.

November 3rd - I was probably thankful that I had the night off of work. I went to book club - where I was thankful for cinnamon rolls.

Novemebr 4th - I was thankful for Chantelle who helped me run (waddle, walk, run, jog - it's all the same here, right?) off the cinnamon roll from the night before. Oh who am I kidding, she helped me run off BOTH of the cinnamon rolls I ate the night before.

November 5th - Thankful I wasn't called in to work at the Roof. I love not working on Wednesdays.

November 6th - I was thankful I didn't have to work late - I had a 9:30 a.m. meeting on the 7th.

November 7th - I was thankful for a great committee meeting. Really awesome women who made some great decisions and shared a lot of ideas.

November 8th - I was thankful it was Sunday. Sunday naps are the bomb!

November 9th - I was thankful for my home warranty. I'm pretty sure that this was the day I discovered my oven was broken, despite the fact that it malfunctioned the week before. I wasn't convinced it was broken until the 9th.

November 10th - Hmmm, a Tuesday. I was probably thankful I work with the best people on earth on Tuesdays. I ♥ Tuesdays at the Roof.

November 11th - I was thankful for your comments. No really, I was.

November 12th - I was thankful to only have one violin student that night!

November 13th - Ooh...Friday the 13th. I was glad I didn't die, or mortally wound myself. I'm already clumsy, and Friday the 13th could have been worse - even if there was a bit of a mix up at work, and I got lectured.

November 14th - I was thankful for Megan. She drove to and from our work meeting, so I wouldn't have to. (There was a car/badge/hangtag mix up at my house that morning). Also - I was thankful for a lazy day where I didn't have to get out of bed until noon. :) Oh, and snow. It snowed that Saturday and it was lovely.

November 15th - I was thankful for the fun Lewis side of the family that got together for dinner at Brian and Amy's house. I was thankful that Brian and Amy let us all come to their house so we wouldn't have to eat in the snow at my parents' house. That would have been cold to say the least. *brrrrrrr*

November 16th - Thankful for lovely Gayle. She cuts (and colors) my hair, and always does a fabulous job and I love her dearly. Did you know she used to do hair for the Donny and Marie show? Yeah, she's that awesome. And, she teaches Aesthetics at the DATC. AND - she fit me in on Monday night so I wouldn't have to get up at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday!!

November 17th - I was thankful for my shorter, sassier haircut.

November 18th - I was SO grateful to Craig for picking up my shift at The Roof. I would have had to work, and it would have been disasterous. I needed that Wednesday off.

November 19th - I was grateful to an awesome committe, and to Liz McConkie for making our Relief Society dinner a success, and so much fun!

November 20th - I was thankful the Relief Society dinner was over. :)

November 21st - I was so happy that my cold weather running pants I ordered came early! They were on clearance for a LOT less than they cost originally, and the shipping was supposed to take 8 days. I got them in 3! woo hoo!!!

November 22nd - I was so happy about the snowfall. I was thankful for the beauty of the snow, without having icky roads! It was fantastic!!!

November 23rd - I was thankful to get my new oven. But oh so sad to see my old oven go. :(

November 24th - I was thankful that I made a good choice when we took a co-worker to the Olive Garden for lunch. I could have left thousands of calories chubbier - but I didn't. I picked a lunch that was only 310 calories, and stuck with it.

November 25th - Today I'm thankful for a day off of ALL jobs tomorrow.

In all seriousness, I'm thankful for great families, and wonderful friends. I love that you people read this silly blog, and contribute with your comments. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and/or friends!

xoxoxo

Braindead

This is my oven. I love my oven. I love that it is vintage and oh-so-retro. I really do! Sure, the self cleaning lining thing is shredded, but that doesn't matter. It can be completely amusing when the little timer and clock start buzzing as if the ghosts in my kitchen are prepping for a Bake Sale in the middle of the night. (Tip: Just slap the side of the oven, and it usually stops). I'm 100% serious by the way.

 I LOVE my oven.

Unfortunately, my oven is "brain dead". Thermostat = no worky. Any guesses how many replacement parts there are for an oven this old? Lucky for us, this (unlike the leaky roof - remedied by the way) is covered under the home warranty, and voila! We'll most likely be getting a brand new replacement oven.

Feelings = Mixed.

New Oven = Great.

Old Oven = Will be missed.

I really am bummed about this. Maybe Holly can sell this in her vintage (She's Fancy) etsy shop?? Does it have to be functional? I'll throw in the vintage oreo the repairman found on top of the oven too.

Unfortunately, not just my oven is brain dead. Despite the fact that my oven is not working, I have baked a total of 5 loaves of bread since Saturday (thank you out-of-town in-laws!!)

I made 4 loaves of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (with Whole Wheat Flour) out of 6-loaves worth of batter. Apparently, the recipe forgot to indicate it yields 2 loaves. :) It was pretty tasty, but it turned the plates yellow...which scared me. Not enough to not eat it though. Plus, I added extra chocolate chips.

Tonight, I thought I would hurry and throw a loaf of Wheat Bread in "my" breadmaker. (I borrowed it from my Mom MONTHS ago...)

I was cleaning the pan to prep it for a new loaf. Then my student (who was already late) showed up, so I hurriedly threw everything together before their lesson.

Then I saw this:

Ready for baking. Err...

Spot the error?

That little funny shaped metal thing on the bottom right of the picture? Yeah, that goes in the bottom of the pan - as in - UNDERneath all the ingredients.

KRAP! 

(Don't worry mom - I spelled it with a "K". Krap = NOT a $ word)

I ran out to teach my lesson. Then I dumped the contents and had to start all over again.

See, my oven isn't the only thing that's braindead.

At least "my" breadmaker is functional. Look what I'm having for dinner:

Winners!!!

Thanks to everyone for entering my little giveaway, and thanks to CJane for hosting such a fun giveaway!

I finally got to use Josh's Russian bunny hat for something other than a form of embarrassment. I wrote down the names of everyone that entered and dumped them in the rabbit.

Here are the lucky winners:

Charlyn and Wkiskizt (Mika)

Proof I'm not lying!

Yay!! Congratulations ladies!!! I can't wait for you to have this print in your homes. It is lovely!

Thanks again for stopping by, and for entering!! It's fun to give things away!!!

A Disjointed Post/Giveaway Reminder

Yesterday was one of those perfect days!! Luckily, we didn't stay out too late on Saturday night, so I didn't waste my entire day in bed on Sunday. Of course, it helps that we finished Daylight Savings and got to "fall back" an hour.

I love those days when even after it's over, you still feel the warmth of it. I am feeling refreshed, renewed, and ready for another week. I feel like I was able to regroup and get my life ready for another week of adventures.

We welcomed in the "Holiday Season" by watching (or sleeping through...) Elf. My favorite movie in the whole world! It makes me so happy!! I made dinner, and while we thought it was cooking (turns out our oven is on the fritz - makes sense though - it's from the 1970's - or close to it) we drove around and clocked how far I ran on Saturday. 3 miles exactly. Which makes a total of 23.5 miles last week. :) That makes me feel good. I'm going to see if I can do even more this week.


In other news, I'm still accepting entries for the giveaway in the previous post. All you have to do is leave a comment - before midnight tonight. I'll announce the winners tomorrow morning, and get everything mailed (hopefully) this week.