I'm a bad blogger...

It's so ridiculous that I think about blogging EVERY DAY, and don't. And then I get overwhelmed thinking about how long it's been and what has happened and what I've missed writing about. And then I turn around and it's been almost a month since my last post which was just a filler anyway. When I saw that NaBloPoMo was this month I thought perfect, that's what I need. Then realized that I will be gone for a week over Thanksgiving and why even sign up for it if I already know I won't be able to do it. Excuses, excuses...I know.
So, what HAS been going on? I'm sure I'll forget something, but here goes...

• Since the sudden loss of her much loved chinchilla, my girl has adjusted to her new normal with a lot of tears and an admirable strength. We cleaned out Noel's cage, but it still sits in my girl's room. She isn't ready for it to go yet, and that's okay. She talks about her a lot and misses her fiercely, but she's moving on. It's been very hard, and I'm so proud of her.
• Halloween was fun. My girl went as a dragon lady with decorated kimono & sash and Chinese fan. Her hair was crimped and she looked great. My boy was The Joker and absolutely loved his costume. We trick or treated for about an hour and a half and they got a good amount of candy. My girl had a friend over who went with us and stayed overnight.
• November 1st we saw "This Is It". Shell, Dana, my kids and I all went and we loved it. I cried a few times, not because the film is sad but because of the loss of all that talent. It's a wonderful film. When we walked out of the theater I told Shell I wanted to see it every day until the run ended. She had no doubt that I was serious. But since I have neither the time or the money to do that, I waited until my parents went on the 7th and tagged along. I didn't cry as much the second time. I left that to my mom. I still wish that I could see it in the theater one more time, but if I don't I'm happy that I got to see it twice and I will eagerly await the DVD release.
• F*cebook is taking over all my free computer time. The applications that I participate in are growing and I love them. And I love the connections that I've made on it. But I need to find a way to share my extra time with my blog as well.
• Went to a fun book signing in Denver on the 2nd. Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) was here to sign her new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I was there about 2 hours before it started, and it was already filling up by that time. The bookstore was not prepared for the turnout she got, and it was packed. But I got my book signed and chatted with her for a few minutes. She is adorable and sweet and courteous and genuinely appreciative of her followers. I met interesting women and just had such a nice time. Definitely not my typical Monday night.
• Shell and I have fallen in love with two new shows this season. The Good Wife and Modern Family. They are both very good. We are about halfway caught up with the episodes that are in the DVR of both and can't wait to catch up. But we are on a mission to get as much watched as possible before we leave for vacation.
• Ah, vacation. We have 2 weeks left before we'll be in California. We are driving (rented a car) and will leave Monday evening on the 23rd, arriving midday on Tuesday. We are taking the kids to D*sneyland on Wednesday, Turkey dinner with Shell's family on Thursday, visiting with my grandparents and other casual visits on Friday, Turkey dinner with my family on Saturday and a fun excursion to Los Angeles and Hollywood on Sunday before heading home Sunday evening. We will be exhausted, but it will be so worth it.
• 2 weeks after we get home, I will hop on a plane back to CA for my little sister's graduation. She has worked so hard to become an R.N. and I'm so glad that I get to see her achieve it. I'll only be there Wed-Sat, but I'm looking forward to it so much.
• And that will take us right to Christmas. Of which I can't deal with thinking about too much. I think we are somewhat in denial, because we really have no plan of action. Usually we tackle a big portion of our shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but we won't be home on that day and certainly aren't shopping while in CA. Should be interesting.
• I will be on vacation when my company does it's year-end inventory. So, we are going to do a preinventory in my office before I leave to try to pinpoint any problems ahead of time. Which means that I have about a week to get prepared for this. Plus knowing that I'll be gone for a week, I want to get my desk in order. I have A LOT of filing that needs to be done. A soon as I get done posting this, I'll start to tackle the August filing and make my way to the October stuff. Fun times!
• We are going to see Wicked this Sunday with Dana & Jeannie and are so excited. We love it so much and can't wait to share it their first time with them.

I'm keeping up with the blogs I read, but sometimes am a few days behind. I have pictures on my hard drive at home, so maybe now that I've updated I'll just do a post of pictures to accompany it. I do appreciate whoever reads my blog and love the comments, so thank you.