let's see if i can sum up thanksgiving week for you without photos. several times i wished i had a video camera to just hold up in the air during thanksgiving at aunt deb's house. you people truly have no idea what 50 people and 11 dogs look like in one place. it makes me just sit there and giggle. you don't really get to talk to anyone because the overall chaos overrides everything...i had an idea about "speed conversations" with each member of the family. we all rotate and get to talk to each other one-on-one for about two minutes, just cover the basics. how are you? any accomplishments this year? how's the job? new hobbies? fun vacations? BZZZZZ. time's up...next person.

it's getting to the point where uncle rick (host to all this madness along with aunt deb) calls the kids by the parent's name. "one of jason's kids just fell down the stairs."

that also makes me giggle.

all the men and some of the kids hunted most of the week. we also rented out the ice rink for some serious hockey. twelve of them actually play competitive hockey so we had enough for full teams. there was also a 5K turkey trot, a family nature walk, the muppet movie, cut-throat card games, a wii dance-off, shopping and much eating and drinking.

it passed by in a blur. my kids had a blast with their cousins--i can't believe it's possible to have this many CUTE kids in one family. a lot to be thankful for this thanksgiving...

and just enough time to gear up for Christmas.

it is crazy week here in the heart of pheasant country. the husband's family descends upon us from near and far to take a crack at the redneck pheasants (little j calls them that and it actually seems more fitting when you see this crew hunt).

let me just share the brilliant hunting tactics of these skilled outdoorsmen. these yahoos play cards ALLL night. then get up in the morning bleary-eyed and tired. they walk fields ALLLL day and when they get back at night, they are too tired to move. but what do they do? they play cards ALLLL night again. repeat the process. add more beer. tell stories that are not true. drink more beer. eat more chips. walk more fields. shoot and miss. shoot and hit. play more cards. repeat.

at least when women get together like this, they come home with new clothes and shoes. these guys get back and fight over who has to keep the pheasants, because no one wants to eat them OR clean them. the word "neanderthal" is the only way to describe it.

so i sent my half-bearded husband off today with his little bag of sandwiches, his bone-tired hound dog and his motley crew of comrades. i told him to be at little j's musical at 6 pm or else. he said "i thought that was tomorrow." i said "it's today." he says "but you said Tuesday." I said "it is Tuesday." he looks around confused and says, "Oh." and stumbles out to the trusty green truck.

don't worry redneck pheasants. i don't think you have a thing to worry about.

i just pulled a bunch of crunchy brown plants out of my pots and as i was carrying them to the trash can, realized their roots look exactly like potatoes. how strange.

then it hit me. sweet potato vine? could those possibly be sweet potatoes?

the idea that i may have actually grown a vegetable in a pot makes me feel so proud and earthy.

i may even have enough confidence to tackle tomatoes next year. who knew?

all my life i have loved the mountains. i grew up in them and i miss them often. i love hiking and wish i had a place for trail running.

this weekend we found a buried treasure right here in mitchell.

the husband ran into a die-hard mtn. biker who told him his club has been making trails all around the lake through the trees. they are even marked with signs, we just had to look. well, we hopped on the trail this weekend and it was way more than i expected. it seemed like a little slice of the black hills and the trails were really impressive. probably ran for about 4 or 5 miles through the trees around the lake, twisting all around with switchbacks and cool bridges. it was totally awesome...and to think it's been here just a couple miles from our house all this time! i visited the trail twice this weekend and took crosby and the whole family yesterday. we were the only people hiking it and the hound had a blast. we walked for about 2 hours. a little slice of the mountain life. amazing.

and there you have it. one more reason to come visit me. :)

100 little kids learning how to skate. that's what we're doing every tuesday and thursday night. it's a program called rink rats, and the husband and i are some of the people out on the ice helping the kids. he is in the advanced "pro" group and i am down with the "rookies."

i love the rookies. pretty much in everything i do, i love the rookies. i cheer for the underdogs. i bond with the runts of the litter. i cry when the struggling movie character achieves greatness. so, yeah. send a rookie my way and i am in heaven.

thursday night i had about 10 of them all to myself. all girls, by the way. one of them just could not figure out how to stand up from a fall. the key is to push off on your one bent knee, but she could not figure it out. i did not want to pick her up.i wanted her to do this on her own. her frustration level was high, even after we dubbed her princess katie and i went down on my belly time and time again to talk to her as she lay on the ice.

somehow inspiration struck, and i grabbed a plunger from our box of tricks and had her use the stick end as a crutch to help her get up. it worked. princess katie's smile pretty much melted the ice. after that, she and that plunger were inseparable. she could skate all over as long as she had the plunger in her hand. i am not sure what's going to happen when we take the plunger away...but in my opinion, it can easily be replaced with a hockey stick, right?

i am sure there is a metaphor in here somewhere about plungers and life and never giving up. anyway, there should be.

happy weekend.

i spent the last two days directing a video for one of my clients. it all went pretty well, despite quickly disappearing tree leaves, a kid with a concussion and freezing my fingers off.

earlier today i told a funny story here about a guy on the shoot who did something really kind of funny, but decided it was not very nice. i felt bad for telling the story, and i know by now that when i don't feel right about something i did, it's probably God telling me i shouldn't have done it. ha.

thank you Lord for watching over my shoot. thank you also for that last minute sunset, the two girls who could actually speak on camera and the cutie pie boy who knew all his lines at the end of the day.

amen.

now that it's november, i'm a little bit excited about one of my favorite winter things: hats. i LOVE my winter hats. i could, and probably do, wear one every day--sometimes even in the house when i need an instant comb.

when i was in junior high, my mom would make me wear a hat up to the bus stop. you can bet it was off and stuffed deep into my backpack three seconds after i started walking. same with the boots. and maybe even the socks. what was i thinking? a hat is the difference between a cold day and a great day. i'm totally convinced of this. i can go outside in a sweatshirt and hat and feel warm, or i can go outside in a big coat and mittens and NO hat and be cold.

it's all about the hat, ladies. not the earmuffs or the earbands. the hat.

this is not just a post about hats. it's also a hint to anyone who can't think of what to get me as a gift. you like shoes? well i like hats. lots of them. fuzzy inside, not too tight, can't look like a mushroom.

makes me happy just thinking about it.

happy hat season.