Sprite's Keeper

Spin Cycle: Doorbuster Thanks Good until 10AM!!!

 

All right, these sales better be good for me to get out of bed before dawn..

 

Does the Disney Store have any sales going on?

 

Wow, these prices ARE good! Minnie's are discounted! I can now collect all ten for under $10!

 

Yes! Exactly what I was looking for! I am so there! Hm, supplies are limited, camping out may be necessary...

As you can guess, I am right now (probably now if you're reading this before Noon) (probably sleeping if you are reading this beyond Noon) (drooling may be involved..) participating in Black Friday. For a taste of what I usually deal with, check out this ode to Black Friday from last year.

Any Spins added today will be linked when I get home in a responsible fashion until I keel over from exhaustion. (and possible wounds if you have any clue about the caliber of women I will be shopping with..)

Hope your day is full of thanks, great sales, and leftover turkey sandwiches!

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Here are the other Spinners just bursting with gratitude! (And maybe some gravy, but definitely gratitude..)

Stacy over at Stacy's Random Thoughts

Jan over at Jan's Sushi Bar 

Stacy over at Stacy's Random Thoughts 

Jen over at Sprite's Keeper (Totally allowed.)

Raven over at Superhero Extraodinaire 

Vandy over at The Testosterone Three and Me 

Mama Badger over at Out of the Boondocks and Into the Burbs... 

Erin over at It's Only A Movie 

Rikki over at Cowgirls Like Me 

Mary Anne over at The Stiletto Mom 

Maureen over at IslandRoar 

Stacy over at Stacy's Random Thoughts 

Jan over at Jan's Sushi Bar 

Jen over at Sprite's Keeper  (This one may be pushing the limit a bit..)

Erin over at It's Only A Movie 

Rachel over at The Ramblings of Rachel 

Lisa over at Boondock Ramblings 

Stacy over at Stacy's Random Thoughts 

Jan over at Jan's Sushi Bar 

Mama Badger over at Out of the Boondocks and Into the Burbs... 

Kendra over at Life in the Slow Lane 

Erin over at The Locals Love It 

Ginger over at When Ginger Snaps... 

Meli over at Randomosity - Mommy Style! 

Jan over at Jan's Sushi Bar 

Stacy over at Stacy's Random Thoughts 

Gretchen over at Second Blooming

Pseudo over at Pseudonymous High School Teacher

Stacy over at Stacy's Random Thoughts -Updated today! Fresh Spin!

Makes you all warm inside, huh? (You may want to check the oven to make sure you remembered to turn it off..)

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Next week's Spin assignment: Holiday Newsletters

We did it last year! We're doing it again this year!

Time to bust out your calendar and take a look at all the great things that has happened to your family this year. Brag about your accomplishments! Gloss over the negatives! Take a picture of your green grass so your relatives have a visual aid while they silently curse your good fortune!

Anyway, Spin out your holiday tribute! Make it serious, funny, (snark always welcome here) or even full of pictures!

Just have it here at the Spin Cycle by Friday, December 4th!

(Sorry, COD's not accepted.)

Week of Thanks: Thankful for today. (And last year too..)

(Yes, I am phoning this one in. I looked over last year's Thanksgiving post and we're doing the exact same thing THIS year, so there you go! Only this year, Sprite is old enough to reach for the appetizers without my help, so instead of standing guard over the breakables, I'm going to be defending the m&m's since she will most likely try to make a three course meal out of them.)

(On behalf of John and Sprite, let me steal this quick tangent to say "thank you" to you all. Thanks for reading, and thanks for allowing me to follow some of your journeys. Your words and comments have saved me a lot of money in therapy..)

Culture Clash (Originally published November 27, 2008)

Gotta love the holidays.

I'm on the other side of the state, John and Sprite in tow, for Thanksgiving with the family. We'll start the festivities at my parents' best friends' home which we've been going to for years. The shindig over there begins at 1pm. Around 8:30PM, we break away from the party as it begins to wind down and head over to John's parents' for their celebration which begins at 9PM and lasts until the final reveler is down for the count.

This is the only holiday during the year which lets us be with both sides of the family on the same day and also lets the familial feathers stay unruffled.

It's almost pure poetry the way one party segues into the other one with nary a burp to disrupt the merriment. For our little entourage of 3, it's nonstop chatter, hugs, and pie from the earliest of the afternoon to the latest of the night. It's a blessing. It's also a curse.

You see, while both sites today will be hosting a Thanksgiving meal, the title of the feast alone is as far as the similarities go. John's family lays out the Thanksgiving spread quite differently from the average American buffet. This can lead to an often humorous culinary culture clash.

At our first stop, the menu includes one big turkey, stuffing, potatoes, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, rolls, and of course dessert which embraces pies of the pecan, pumpkin, and apple descent. You're probably going to or just did look at the same food yourself.

At our second stop, things change. A lot. Sprite and I are the only non-pork consuming people at the second stop, so my father-in-law makes the effort to have a little turkey available, but MAKE WAY FOR THE HAM! It conquers the table, but is gracious enough to make room for caesar salad, beans and rice (the purple variety), plantains (fried or baked until it's carmelized, YUM!), yucca, and heaven forbid we leave out the dessert. Maybe one pumpkin pie might be present, but the main guests' names begin with "Tres" and end with "Leches". Of course, flan is always invited because they have to invite it, but no one really makes any time with it. You would think that gelatinous goop would get the hint, right?

So, from one destination to the next, we trounce along, getting more stuffed with every passing "You have to try the sweet potatoes!" and "I made this just for you! I know how much you like (insert weird food combination you thrilled over five years ago just to be nice)!".

Through it all, we will be surrounded by the ones we love the most.

We're going to try to be good, resist most of the bad things, but you know what? It's Thanksgiving. So, today, we're giving thanks for stretchable fabric, Tums, and hopefully a nap somewhere along the way.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you're spending it exactly as you want to, whether a quiet meal with a select few, or jockeying for space at the kiddie table where the food fight always starts. Whichever way you celebrate, I'm raising a glass for you tonight and adding you to my prayers.

Gotta love the holidays.

I'm on the other side of the state, John and Sprite in tow, for Thanksgiving with the family. We'll start the festivities at my parents' best friends' home which we've been going to for years. The shindig over there begins at 1pm. Around 8:30PM, we break away from the party as it begins to wind down and head over to John's parents' for their celebration which begins at 9PM and lasts until the final reveler is down for the count.

This is the only holiday during the year which lets us be with both sides of the family on the same day and also lets the familial feathers stay unruffled.

It's almost pure poetry the way one party segues into the other one with nary a burp to disrupt the merriment. For our little entourage of 3, it's nonstop chatter, hugs, and pie from the earliest of the afternoon to the latest of the night. It's a blessing. It's also a curse.

You see, while both sites today will be hosting a Thanksgiving meal, the title of the feast alone is as far as the similarities go. John's family lays out the Thanksgiving spread quite differently from the average American buffet. This can lead to an often humorous culinary culture clash.

At our first stop, the menu includes one big turkey, stuffing, potatoes, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, rolls, and of course dessert which embraces pies of the pecan, pumpkin, and apple descent. You're probably going to or just did look at the same food yourself.

At our second stop, things change. A lot. Sprite and I are the only non-pork consuming people at the second stop, so my father-in-law makes the effort to have a little turkey available, but MAKE WAY FOR THE HAM! It conquers the table, but is gracious enough to make room for caesar salad, beans and rice (the purple variety), plantains (fried or baked until it's carmelized, YUM!), yucca, and heaven forbid we leave out the dessert. Maybe one pumpkin pie might be present, but the main guests' names begin with "Tres" and end with "Leches". Of course, flan is always invited because they have to invite it, but no one really makes any time with it. You would think that gelatinous goop would get the hint, right?

So, from one destination to the next, we trounce along, getting more stuffed with every passing "You have to try the sweet potatoes!" and "I made this just for you! I know how much you like (insert weird food combination you thrilled over five years ago just to be nice)!".

Through it all, we will be surrounded by the ones we love the most.

We're going to try to be good, resist most of the bad things, but you know what? It's Thanksgiving. So, today, we're giving thanks for stretchable fabric, Tums, and hopefully a nap somewhere along the way.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you're spending it exactly as you want to, whether a quiet meal with a select few, or jockeying for space at the kiddie table where the food fight always starts. Whichever way you celebrate, I'm raising a glass for you tonight and adding you to my prayers.

Week of Thanks: I'm thankful for a healthy child.

Being your oridinary average run of the mill (redundant much?) three year old, there's not much going on in Sprite's World that can throw me for a loop.

She mostly suffers her colds in cheerful silence, never complaining about the sniffles or coughs that come her way. Most of the time, we learn of her illness through her sneezes and the resulting color of the dangling participles (sorry for the visual, but that is our child's way. We've learned to stop gagging. You should too.) (Veteran parents are probably rolling their eyes, thinking, "You want disgusting? I can show you disgusting.") (No, thanks though.)

She scratches the hell out of her skin thanks to Eczema, but oh well. Here's a band aid and long sleeves. Stop yer bitching. (We're talking about my bitching of course.)

She feeds off the energy of her older cousins, but what kid doesn't? It's attention! From an older kid! Let it go unless you start to hear the older role models practicing their cursing skills, then remove the sponge-like small one from their presence. (We're talking about- yeah, you get it..)

Here's the point. I can't complain. She's a textbook child. (The attitude may be abnormal, but the pediatrician says I have no case.)

Most of the time, if you watch a child on the playground for about 10 minutes or so, (keep in mind, obviously watching a kid who is not yours may mean the child's parent is probably watching YOU, but we all do it.) you can get a good clue about how that child is in general. Factors will pop up and notify you of a possible physical or mental condition because the child is acting normally and some of these conditions will present themselves naturally.

But what about the kids whose conditions are invisible?

You wouldn't be able to tell if someone has Epilepsy unless they say something, right? Or unless they have an episode.

It is National Epilepsy Awareness Month and Kirsten over at Gone Bananasis promoting the hell out of it. Of course, her reasoning is close to the heart. Her daughter Meg was diagnosed with Epilepsy at a very young age, and while she lives the life of a normal child and loves everything about Hannah Montana, (By the way, is it just me or does Miley Cyrus slur her words? Oh, sorry, back to the more important topic) Epilepsy still is a very foreboding shadow on an otherwise sunshine day.

Kirst makes it her mission to keep Meg's life as carefree as possible (although she can't shield Meg from homework. That always sneaks in somehow.) while also educating others and raising funds to find a cure for (or at least a way to prevent) Epilepsy.

She's hosting a give away to drum up some buzz about getting the word out about epilepsy and the little known facts.

So go on over, say hi, and get acquainted with a cause that needs more support.

And be thankful for the health in your body, your child's body. Suddenly, childish angst doesn't carry so much weight, does it?