So much for a peaceful Thanksgiving....

We were all ready to sit down and eat dinner when my son had a seizure. It's a horribly scary thing to see your own kid get all rigid, and just shake, and drool, and seize.... The thing is, we've had tests after tests done, and it's inconclusive. It's just a fact some kids w/autism(doesn't matter if they're high or low functioning) just happen to have occasional seizures. It only lasted about a minute and a half, but it was a grande mal(IE, a big one) and it's still scary. He felt somewhat OK despite having a headache, being crabby and being a bit groggy. We eventually did eat with my son coming up to us asking for dinner, so we were kind of along the lines of that episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where Debra and Marie made the soy turkey and Ray ordered Thanksgiving dinner from an outside company and they all got up late and ended up having a second Thanksgiving dinner late at night, everyone in their PJ's...it was a great moment! For us, that is; we were in our PJ's as well, ate after 8:30PM(not quite ideal if you're somewhat watching what and when you're eating, but then again, along the lines of the ever wise and absolutely amazing Erma Bombeck:

"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? No One Diets on Thanksgiving, 26 November 1981

I really hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! And no dieting....

OK; for some reason...it ain't here...

IE; the "Black Friday" post I worked so hard on over the weekend. It was just a blurb from the Chicago Tribune and research on my behalf(and behind) re: the HAPPS/411 on what's goin' down the day after Turkey Day with various stores. There will not only be specials at various retailers that day as you go in person all bleary eyed and lacking caffeine, but their online sites will have tons of goodies too!

Well, how 'bout I just give you the link so you can see yourself, as I really don't feel like typing all over...and it's coupon day for me.

For the most part most stores along the lines of department stores will have amazing door buster specials, like a certain percentage off electronics, gift card bonuses, and amazing deals on DVD's, PLUS, Ikea is giving free breakfast starting Friday when they open(no special hours, btw..as far as I know) until Sunday morning...they usually stop this freebie just before 11AM, but get there early! It's as if the customers are starving and standing in a Soviet bread line...

RE: crowd control; most stores will have some sort of queuing system where you'll feel like the mouse looking for the cheese in a maze; but just be patient; they're doing that for most of the idiots who have no consideration for others. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.....LOL! Anywho....here's the link HERE FOR BLACK FRIDAY NEWS

Be safe! Have fun, stay warm(if you're near or in the Chicagoland area) and drink coffee!!!

AAAAARGH!!!

I cannot find my kid's backpack! It feels like a Manic Monday! And my kid is off school after today until next week!!!!!!!! Oy VEEEEY!

I just felt like venting......thanks!

BONUS "Cheap and Easy" of the week

Yes, my little babies! I've found a doozy of a freebie for ya!

A free $3 MP3 credit on Amazon.com! You can use it for a couple of songs or add to it for an entire album...

Go to this itty bitty link HERE FOR A FREE $3 MP3 CREDIT

The code word to use is GET3MP3S. You have until November 29th to redeem! Enjoy!

Elf, a heck of a story...

Well, I don't know about you, but "ELF" has got to be one of the most original Christmas movies/stories to hit the screen since the original "Santa Clause" w/Tim Allen. Already, within one week of Turkey Day we're watching for the second time tonight on basic cable Will Farrell as the deranged elf man. A semi-all star cast with Ed Asner as Santa, Bob Newhart as "Poppa," James Caan as Buddy(aka the deranged elf man) the elf's real father Walter Hobbs, Zooey Deschanel as Jovie and Mary Steenburgen as Buddy's nurturing step-mother, ELF takes the whole Santa's workshop homies to another level.

Buddy, as a toddling orphan ends up in Santa's bag on Christmas Eve as Santa was visiting an orphanage. He then ends up taking "Buddy" home with him to the North Pole and letting him stay with one of his chief elves, who is the crew chief for his sled. Poppa, crew chief extraordinaire raises Buddy the best of his ability, but still has to tell Buddy the truth. After all, Buddy is well over 8 feet tall(not really, but he's huge) and has had a beard since he was 15 years old(according to Leon, the Snowman who resembles Sam the Snowman from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Leon is spoken by Canadian singer Leon Redbone). So Poppa Elf gives it to Buddy straight basically telling him his mother placed him for adoption as Walter was unable to take care of both of them, and she subsequently dies. Santa also informs Buddy that due to Walter's self-absorbed nature(which we see throughout the movie), he IS therefore, on ....the dreaded, "naughty list." So, armed with this info, Buddy decides to make the trek to NYC to meet his father, eventually showing up at Walter's high-rise white collar office and get's into all sorts of trouble, IE, gets himself thrown out of the Empire State Building office repeatedly with his goofy antics, he's mistaken as a Gimbel's employee due to him wandering in the store and of course; his attire(Another one of the former and famous huge department store fixtures of NYC and larger cities across America back in the day. It was once a part of Saks 5th Ave as it once owned Saks, but Gimbel's finally went bankrupt in '87, thus selling Saks) which is where Buddy first meets Jovie, a part-time/seasonal employee of Gimbel's who catches Buddy's eye...and then some. A huge mistake on Buddy's part as he literally beats up a store Santa after freaking out that this man is a fake and smells like beef and cheese as, well, he still has not realized he's a grown up and not a 10 year old child...nor an elf! So, the rest, as you know, has the movie up with enough insanity to make you thank God you're not a member of the Hobbs family or a Christmas elf, there's a hilarious snowball fight scene that finally bonds Buddy with his half little brother Michael! They bond, they jump on the beds at Gimbel's, they end up decorating the house for Christmas together and Michael ends up giving Buddy advice on how to ask Jovie out on a date(with Michael telling Buddy to take Jovie out for food, and not just candy. Real food, on a date), which ends up being as ridiculous of a first date as you've ever seen...or been on...maybe. The movie ends up with a decent moral ending, and Walter giving in to the deranged elf man and realizing that his corporate "who cares" attitude needs to be checked and he needs to think of others. It does have a great message; "The way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear." Very nice, and quite true!

It's funny for all ages, doesn't discriminate and isn't the typical sugary, cavity inducing family movie one would expect for a Christmas movie. It's energetic, funny and actually really good!

Directed by Jon Favreau("Iron Man," "Swingers") and you'll see an unexpected cameo that's uncredited; Peter Billingsley, aka Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" plays one of the head elves, Ming Ming. See if you can catch him!

BTW, Black Friday is upon us, and fyi I've got the link to all stores that are participating with Black Friday sales....just check this link RIGHT HERE, YEAH?

I shall be on at least two more times before Thanksgiving. FYI; it's supposed to be near 70 degrees tomorrow in Chicago, so I will be out w/the kiddies for a good part of the day. Also, re: Thanksgiving and Black Friday weather? It's going to be in the high 20s for both the parade and shopping, so dress warmly, keep your wallet and purse near you and be safe; but most important....have fun! It's the most wonderful time of the year, after all!

...and now for something completely different.

Sorry, there is no further reference to Monty Python in this post, however; there is something you may be interested in:

One of the buttons on my blog is "The Ethertons," and adorable young family from Michigan but are moving to Arizona(bless them! Winters in Michigan or Arizona? Hmmmm...)who have some really great ideas, tips, etc...in particular from trying out items and products and giving their opinion for busy parents like us.

They also give away some really cool prizes, including some Wii games(Thinksmart and Cosmic Chaos, to be exact). Check them out!

Check their button out on the top right or HERE!!!

Now, I am off like a prom dress to tend to my grazing-all-day toddler, who will soon turn into the girl who ate the world....

Watch out, world!

Yeah, Harry Potter not happening tonight...

Why? Well, seems several of the theaters we were going to use Fandango.com to print tickets at home don't accept online ticketing...and several are sold out. No biggie; we'll go Tuesday as that's my boo's last day of school before Turkey Day.

I did want to see it tonight, though....

My son wants us to dress up, so he'll be "PoA" Potter, and I'll be a healthy Hermione....very healthy. Anyway...if we dress I'll post pics.

I'm thankful for my local ABC channel.....

Why? Well, I'm not too thankful for ABC Family Channel, who has the nerve to show ridiculous Christmas movies and loads of commercials, including that terrible DSW Shoe one w/the obnoxious "B" word giving an earful of a complaint to the tune of "Jingle Bells." I am, however, quite thankful that they aired "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" the week before Thanksgiving. I'm so tired of having Christmas shoved down my throat via retailers, TV, and whatnot;(in Chicago, a local radio station has started to play Christmas tunes on the 12th this year...and that's ALL they play. There's not even a decent variety as they seem to have the same, exact playlist EVERY single....daaaay. Bleh...anyway. We are in the midst of a season of giving, the beginning of the holidays(which some say now starts w/Halloween). While the stores are overflowing with Christmas cheer(and decor...some up since July), Thanksgiving can sometimes get swept under the rug. And that makes me very sad, actually. Sure, we all know the story of the First Thanksgiving -- or do we? -- in fact, did you know that they most likely ate fish and broke bread with the American Indians instead of turkey? In fact, Squanto was instrumental in the survival of the Pilgrims that winter of 1621. He was a Patuxet Indian which was a Native American tribe of the Wampanoag tribal confederation. They lived primarily in and around the area of what has since been settled as Plymouth, Massachusetts and are now extinct. So much for helping out, yeah?

But sometimes these days and weeks before the holidays can leave us feeling anything but thankful. We're stressed, over-extended, broke, unhappy, unfulfilled, angry, frustrated...to name a few.

Maybe I'm talking about myself....no, I'm not....

What do you forget to be thankful for? What should we thank God for? I'm sure we can all think of a long list of things we ought to give thanks for.

I'm thankful for my family, a roof over our head; food we have. I'm thankful my husband still has a job(w/the economy the way it is? It's a good thing), our son's school is right down the street is a thankful thing. My health, winning $10 in the lottery, JK Rowling, Brian Epstein for discovering the Beatles, HD TV, a Stanley Cup Championship, my friends....

I thank God for it all. I thank God for Jesus as well!

Just to name a few things I'm thankful for.....

What SAY you? What are YOU thankful for?

BTW...did you notice the picture from "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?" Notice someone is missing? Yup! That crab-arse Lucy isn't in this show. Anyone know why? Just wondering...

OK, time to talk "turkey" and this week's "Cheap and easy."

Wow, it's actually here w/in a week! Thanksgiving! I'm sure you have plans to either cook or go somewhere to eat, cook, etc...us? Well, my "ball and chain" is on call so we'll just hang here, and hopefully he won't get a call. It's a bit "bleh" as I really wanted to go to the Macy's parade on State Street, but...oh well.... And our families? We don't hang w/our families as...well, his mother is always working on Thanksgiving(I think I can remember one Thanksgiving where she didn't work...and this is after being together for 18 years), and my mother hates my husband. Why? Oy, don't ask! I just want to avoid all negativity, and she gets so riled up at the mere presence of my husband; and there's no reasoning with her much less him, so I leave it alone. Who needs to raise your blood pressure and get all pissy over...nothing, really?

Did you all get everything you need? I have to get the turkey, ASAP. I do have some decent coupons for a Butterball and Target has a pretty decent sale on Butterballs. Yup! I have to get everything!

Defrosting your turkey will take 24 hours per 4/5 lbs per bird. If I were you and you had you a 30 lb turkey, pull him out NOW and keep it in the 'fridge on the bottom shelf in the back.

Speaking of coupons and turkey, here's the link to Butterball's website, where they also have a nice selection of coupons including a rebate if you're into that...I used to be but I always forget, I'd have receipts, etc...piling up and then the rebates would expire. Anyway...click on this link HERE for turkey savings!!!

Happy Thursday, everyone!!!

Eva's in Oak Lawn no more....

Well, for now. I really wonder if the building needs to be destroyed. Located at the southwest corner of Cicero and 95th, a huge fire broke out in Eva's Bridal shop, causing damage to the other businesses, including the Radio Shack. Fire officials I just heard a mother of a bride going off on the owners as the owner set up a "hotline" and hasn't heard from the owner. Doesn't she realize this owner lost EVERYTHING! Not only her clients and their dresses, as only 6 dresses survived; BUT..this is her livelyhood; her "bread and butter." I understand you're upset about your daughter's dress, but it'll be taken care of as insurance and the owner's will surely contact other businesses to help out....I'm assuming. She's probably just upset, but dang, woman! What about the owner? And before the holidays? I hope the owner has great insurance....

Making national news, I found this on CNN's site:



Eva's fire

....AND THEN ALONG COMES MARY....

Mary, huh?

So, I was sitting here last week watching "Pretty in Pink" which is John Hughes at his typical(poor girl, rich boy; heartbreak, bullying, cool cars and clothes, 80s hair and kiss/make up; you babies of the 80s know whatta mean)....and it's the part where Iona put on her 1960s prom dress and put her hair up in a big ole' beehive and is dancing to the song "Cherish" with Molly Ringwald. I was thinking of all the songs by the Association(as...I have no life and that's just what I do; I love the dusties, git over it) and just wondered what other tunes they had so there was "Windy," "Never My Love," and of course: this song:



"Along Comes Mary"


Turns out, this song is about marijuana. The producers mentioned how some of the band members loved to party, and one of the guitar players died from a heroin OD in 1972.


Here are the lyrics....



Every time I think that I'm the only one who's lonely

Someone calls on me

And every now and then I spend my time in rhyme and verse

And curse those faults in me

And then along comes Mary

And does she want to give me kicks , and be my steady chick

And give me pick of memories

Or maybe rather gather tales of all the fails and tribulations

No one ever sees

When we met I was sure out to lunch

Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

When vague desire is the fire in the eyes of chicks

Whose sickness is the games they play

And when the masquerade is played and neighbor folks make jokes

As who is most to blame today

And then along comes Mary

And does she want to set them free, and let them see reality

From where she got her name

And will they struggle much when told that such a tender touch as hers

Will make them not the same

When we met I was sure out to lunch

Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

And when the morning of the warning's passed, the gassed

And flaccid kids are flung across the stars

The psychodramas and the traumas gone

The songs are left unsung and hung upon the scars

And then along comes Mary

And does she want to see the stains, the dead remains of all the pains

She left the night before

Or will their waking eyes reflect the lies, and make them

Realize their urgent cry for sight no more

When we met I was sure out to lunch

Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch



What say you?

Look out, Chris Cognac!

...aka Food Network's "The Hungry Detective;" Sgt. David Haynes of the Chicago Police Department is giving you a run for your money, and bringing Chicago food back to the table! If you want to know where to get really good food, just ask a cop!

Check his book out! It's full of great restaurant suggestions, stories(under the "Street Wise" section) and coupons!

Check the article out HERE to eat like a cop

...tears of a clown-mom?

So, I start to read "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein to my daughter and I started to cry at the part where the little boy grows up, and the tree is lonely.

Uh, PMS anyone?

...tis, the season to be ungrateful....

Yeah, whilst watching my hours of mind-numbing to some Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family Channel to "celebrate" the release of part 1 of the last film of the franchise, I was somewhat numbed in the mind at all the Christmas commercials already airing...and disgusted at this one in particular;

It's for DSW. You know, the shoe warehouse w/designer shoes but warehouse prices? I've yet to go there as despite I love war movies, war reenactments, NASCAR, pretty much every other sport, used to be a goalie for an ICE hockey team and other butch-sorta stuff, there is a soft spot in my heart that LOVES purses, and SHOES! Yup! I am woman, dangit!

So, I figured it was a DSW because they have those human-sized shoes that talk and gossip and the commercials are actually quite funny, if not silly as all let go.

But this commercial disturbed me a bit.

It basically has one boot(not a very sexy or attractive boot; more of a useful old school waterproof and slip-proof "duck" boot) arriving to another boot's house(now THIS one is pretty cool actually; similar to a mukluk, and high w/lambswool. Told you I'm a shoe gal) and ringing her bell, then proceeding to return her friend's greeting w/a rude and sarcastic version of "Jingle Bells," basically telling her friend her Christmas gift smells and how she'll be standing in line at the store returning it...

Anyone else think this is nasty? Terrible? Awful? Ugly? Ungrateful? Beyond rude? I mean, I know it's just a commercial but give me a break! It's repelling, or is it repulsive? Didn't Jill's momma(btw, that's the name of the rude boot, Jill as when Mukluk answers that's what she calls her) teach her any friggin' manners? I mean, is this what the general public thinks is funny? I know it's a general public thing as I myself have been in focus groups where we rate commercials and explain the whats, whys, wherefores, etc... of a commercial. And you're going to tell me the advertising department and focus group moderators accepted this as funny from panelists opinions? I mean, who did they recruit, the cast from Jersey Shore and the Bad Girls Club? A bunch of popular and spoiled high school girls from the North-shore of the Chicagoland area?

Honestly, I don't want to sound prudish, too old-fashioned snobby or a "stick in the mud," nor a "buzzkill," BUT... I find this commercial appalling, foul, disgusting, and just not at all a representative of the Christmas spirit. I also find it quite stupid.

It infuriates me that many think being a rude jackass to someone who was being nice to you.... is funny. It most certainly is not funny! It's awful. I know this whole WIIFM(What's In It For Me) mentality is from various companies who wish to reward their workers with incentives to spike up work production, but now it's trickling over to the rest of us.

Listen, I was raised to be thankful for whatever you got, gift wise. Now granted, if someone sent me a box of cow manure, I'd be upset, angry, etc....and would not be too grateful, unless I had a garden in desperate need for fertilizing and not a vengeful kind of thing. But I was always told when I'd receive a gift from someone, to be gracious and accepting of it; despite how icky, or vile, or how much it sucks, etc... Now this is funny coming from a mother who raised us w/such scruples that she herself doesn't follow them. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times we've gotten her gifts that she's rejected, in our faces or at a restaurant as they were presented to her. It's at the point where I don't even want to give her a gift card, as one time when I, as I'm unemployed and a SAHM gave my mother a $10 gift card to her favorite grocery store, she looked at me blankly and asked, "that's all?" ???? Uh, yeah; that's it. You lucky you got a darn thing from me(Remind me later to tell you the "underwear" story!).

But what this tells me is that being nasty and rude, ungracious when someone presents you with a gift that they went to the trouble of buying and wrapping is alright. It's alright, to make someone feel like absolute crap because YOU felt they didn't use their heart and mind and WALLET to get you that amazing gift you wanted. It's alright to be mean, nasty, ugly, etc...as you're probably in either a bad mood or have PMS(in every way that acronym is used, btw) and since you didn't get what you want from everyone else...or didn't get anything from anyone, your friendship should suffer as your friend didn't get you what YOU wanted. Hell, Jill; she's just a friend, she is NOT your mother, nor beau/husband/sig. other, or your father, nor your kids! She's a friend...well, I'm sure after that stunt Jill won't have a friend in Mukluk anymore. You're probably like, "uh, ChiTown Momma, it's not that BIG of a deal." Uh, yeah it is. It's bothering me that Christmas commercials like this which are viewed all over by not only adults but children, including mine; and are telling everyone it's OK to be a jerk, ugly, rude and nasty to someone you supposedly care about, and even possibly love. I really try to limit the kid's TV watching to family shows, and channels, so PBS is on constantly, which may end up being the case for now on as this was on ABC Family.

You know, right now, the way things are, IE, horrible economy, people out of work and their homes, mortgage fraud left and right and just inflation, period, this is not a time for ugly, rudeness, hurtfulness, anger, and just plain stupidity in regard to your actions to someone, as a lot of people can't even afford their own Christmas, much less spending so much money and time on yours. You don't know what is really going on in someone's life and it's most certainly not up to you to be judgmental, ugly, repulsive and just plain old mean. God don't like ugly. God don't make ugly, and He don't like ugly. If a friend of yours took the time out of their busy schedule to think of you, buy something for you, wrap it for you and present it to you for the holidays and it turns out to be something you really didn't like that big of an issue? So big of an issue you end up possibly losing a friendship over your own ire, ugliness and tackiness? I'm telling you, I would not be Jill's friend after that. In fact, I'd tell Jill, "tell you what? Why don't you bring back the gift, I'll return it for you, take that money for your gift and donate it to charity...but not in your name?

I'd do that, as..well, the friendship is over at that point. And who wants to be friends with such a selfish, ugly-hearted bitch? I have so much to worry about, last thing I need to care for is a temper-tantrum throwing female peer to freak out over a "bad" gift I've given her. I already have someone like that in my life but she doesn't realize things aren't all about her yet as she's a toddler.

FYI: I have no desire to shop at DSW, ever.

Wow, I feel a bit better now....

...that I've seen Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and how gosh darn CUTE he was back then!!!!

BAH! I AM FRUSTRATED, CRABBY, ETC...WHY? Well....

Why is it everytime I scrub down the toilet, disinfect it, mop, etc...SOMEONE always has to go...and then they stink it all up....? What The Fig?

Just when you thought you had heard everything....

The BBB is currently under investigation for taking money, IE, bribes from businesses in order to give them that so coveted, entirely researched high BBB rating.

Nice, huh?

BAD BBB! Bad, BAD!!

It was a terrible Halloween....sorta...

BUT...it didn't rain, and instead of going to our usual haunt in LaGrange, IL; we ended up at Garfield Ridge w/wonderful friends(family, actually) and had a blast! My DH's King Arthur costume didn't come out as well as I wanted as we're STILL being bothered by our landlady(she's no lady, I tell you!). She still is making bizarre and unreasonable requests, telling us what we can and can't have in our apartment, saying I'm the reason, IE, the clutter(as that was the first month of our move-in) is causing my son's autism and seizures, ARGH! She's just a meddling moron who's on a power trip.

But I digress....

The reason Halloween was not what I wanted was the landlady kept sending people to "fix" the heat which really sucks in more ways than one as we(IE, we, me/Joe, etc...) are the ones who control the heat for the entire five unit building so of course, we had to be there at their beckoned call w/them not giving us the usual 48 hour notice...it was a very aggravating month.

On a lighter note, I will post a preview of "Morning Glory" as I'm going to a pre-screening for a market research company. I just have to blog about it w/in 24 hours.

This week's "Cheap and Easy" is a free sleep kit from the makers of Tylenol PM. Just fill out the form and you'll be treated to coupons, a satin sleep mask, a CD w/peaceful music just to name some of the goodies you'll get. The link is right HERE!

Off to Bedfordshire.....good night!