Thursday, 10-10 (Tacran)

OK, I just realized how idiotic I sounded there, complaining about my headache and my workload, two seconds after talking about a girl 30+ years younger than me who faces far more hardships and makes zero complaints.  I need to emulate her attitude and behavior.  What a dope I am.

Tracy - you are not a dope and I didn't read what you said about your headache in any parallel to Malala. I agree that she's an amazing young lady and I'm in awe of her courage. That doesn't mean your head doesn't hurt though. :)

I didn't realize that it was okay to allow a year to pass to send thank you notes for wedding gifts. Geesh, I'd have long forgotten I sent anything by then. When my nephew and his wife got married, it took a lot longer than I'd expected to hear anything but that was only a couple months. If I were a newlywed, it'd be on the top of my agenda to get done but I know not everyone thinks that way.

From the discussion yesterday about Halloween/fall decor, I did go to the $1 store on Monday and picked up a few things for the dining room table. The woman who rang me up said her daughter had been in the day before and spent $48 on decorations. Some of the stuff they had was really cute but more like for a party or something. I'd like to have some stuff that I'd want to hang on to and put out year after year. I do like the idea of having some bales of hay with pumpkins, gourds and the like around it but then I'd be stuck with the hay. See why I don't get anything done? I overthink everything.

There's a house around the corner from us that has gone all out with Halloween decorations. This is a large property and they've got spider webbing covering almost all of it, including the garage. They've also got the yellow crime scene tape and ghoulish heads hanging from the trees. Kids probably love seeing all that but it's not my taste and looks kind of tacky.

I was going to bbq tri-tip and chicken for the bbq Sunday but with the chicken recall I'm wondering if anyone will want to eat it. Hmmm...what else is inexpensive and easy to cook?

I'm not the chef (BBQ or otherwise) in my house, Cathy, but one of DH's favorite cheap and delicious recipes is pulled pork.  It requires lots of time (at low temps), but a pork shoulder is very affordable.  Some buns and BBQ sauce, some coleslaw and another veggie and you've got a tasty meal!

I agree that there's a point where the holiday decor is tacky.  I love the hay bales, cornstalks, gourds, pumpkins, etc. -- but like you said, where do you get all that stuff, and where to you get rid of it later?  Another big reason I skip the hay bales is my friend brought one home from some farm one year and there was a snake in it!  

RE:  the pulled pork -- you can also do that in a crock pot if you don't want to watch a grill for a few hours.  The key is cooking at a low temperature for a long time.  No basting or anything, just keeping an eye on the grill to make sure the temp stays steady.

My bro & SIL didn't send thank you notes until nearly 2 years after the wedding. I didn't have a normal wedding, but even I had them out w/in a month.

Cathy, I'm not a big holiday decorator either. The inflatable yard ornaments are very popular here and they strike me as cheesy. Last year at Christmas I counted 16 inflatables in one neighbor's yard, and that was in addition to everything else they had out. I thought maybe they were recreating National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

I don't have any suggestions what to cook instead of chicken, but if I bring a dish to pass, can I come eat some tri-tip?

Oh, you mean people still send thank you notes?  My nephew is on his second marriage and I never got one for either one.  On the otherhand, his sisters were both prompt about it.  

I have gotten some really cute decorations from Pier 1, and if you wait till the week before Halloween, they are marked way down.  I never used to decorate for Halloween, but the coming of grandchildren had me doing a little bit of it.  Not much...because then you have to take it down and put it away...  :)

I don't care if I ever get thank you notes or not. I am not big on doing things for etiquette sake. Sure it is super nice to get a thank you note but I don't give a gift expecting to. Get a thank you note (and within a certain time frame). I realize this is not the norm though. It is just how I feel about it. There are way more important things in life. (don't get me wrong, I am not belittling your question or concern)

The weather has been so awesome this week.

I went shopping for a wedding shower card at lunch today. Every card is all gushy about how in love the couple is and all that. I kept thinking where is the card that says your fiance is a loser and your marriage is going to end in divorce? Or if you were so in love with each other why have you already cheated on each other? Or how about you told me you didn't  want to marry him until you saw the ring. The writers at hallmark need to get more creative Imo.

Tracy - thanks for the pulled pork suggestion. I love making that and just made it last weekend :). It's super easy and yummy in the crockpot and we both live on the leftovers for days and days. DH isn't an awesome bbq'er, so I need quick and simple stuff. I always have everything ready to go and just hand it to him to put on the grill. I'm kind of wishing I'd just gone with burgers and brats but I did that last time and many of the same people will be there.

I'm a big thank you card person. I grew up writing them when I could barely spell my name and loved the whole idea. I don't care if someone sends me a card if I was there to give them the gift and they thanked me but if I mail something, even if it's just $$, I expect to at least have it acknowledged. I even send a thank you sometimes just for someone having us over for a nice dinner. It's easy and cheap and who doesn't like getting something nice in the mail?

Glenda - with the way you cook, you can absolutely bring a side dish and join the party. :)

@cakana

Glenda - with the way you cook, you can absolutely bring a side dish and join the party. :)

That was me, Cathy.

I'm with you Cathy on the thank you notes, mostly in the situation of mailing something. At least say "I got it" so that I know the item wasn't lost or stolen.

Tina

Julie, I totally agree about the sappy wedding cards.  How about one that says

"here's to many miserable years of infidelity and shattered dreams!" lol  

I usually send thank you note or call to say thanks.  If I am wondering if something I sent arrived, I call and ask.

Cathy, if people don't eat the chicken that's just more for you and your DH.  Don't sweat it.

My Husband's Niece got married in July, just got her Thank you Card last week.

Tina - Hop on a plane right now. I'd love to have you come visit.

I'm trying not to stress over the party and mostly look forward to it. Last time Shane was really obnoxious with his barking and the humans did nothing but make it worse, including DH. I'm hoping to have a better handle on things this time or maybe I'll just start drinking wine earlier.

Huh?  Did I just get invited to something?  When, where and how much cooking do I need to do?  And, oh, by the way, will the Red Sox game be on and can I bring the birthday boy hubby (Sunday) with lasagna with a hot dog sticking out the top?  DH insists on hot dogs when the Sox are in the playoffs, but he also always wants lasagna for his b'day, so he's getting both.  Will have to place the hot dog carefully so it doesn't wreck the rest of the meal though!

Lol! Here's to years of infidelity and shattered dreams hahaha. That's perfect. You missed your calling jackie