Queenies Little Kingdom

You know those restaurants that are famous for their BIG something or another that challenges their customers to "eat it all" at one sitting?  Well, that's how I'm feeling about my house packing.  I took a little nibble last night and began packing the main upstairs bathroom.  I wasn't prepared for the linen closet.  It was packed full of 12 years worth of stuff.   I started pulling out sheets for beds I don't even own anymore and then I found endless cosmetic bottles 3/4 full.  After only working about an hour….I had to walk away!

I was teetering on the edge of a panic attack!

I have a friend who literally shuts down when her family has to move.  Over the years they have experienced some not so pleasant situations involving moving.  I can't even count how many times they've loaded up and unloaded.  So, I certainly understand her stress.  She would completely sympathize with me right now especially with my move being at Christmas time.

Moving is hard!

After I took a break…I went back in and really got busy packing.  I sorted through piles of garbage, created tons of bags for Goodwill and boxed up the treasured items I knew I would need in my new house.  The mess was just a taste of what kind of work awaits me.  I realized pretty quickly that if I'm going to survive this move…I am going to have to pace myself.

Every day, pack something!  Right?

Baby bites….

Thanksgiving morning was very sad this year.  As I snuggled with my girls before the turkey went in the oven news came from another friend that a classmate had been killed in a car accident.  Disbelief and shock filled our world and our hearts were broken.  Both of my girls spent countless hours with Michael in shows and in class.  He was fun, loving and a genuine friend.  He also wasn't afraid to march to his own drum.

Today I'll say goodbye (along with my girls) to a friend that knew how to make us smile.  We will never find another fashion savvy friend like him. 

~~ Goodbye Michael!  We know you are dressed for success today and we will never forget you!

It's not going to be a typical Christmas season for my family and me.  We close on our current house this Friday.  Which means the official MOVE OURSELVES OUT countdown has begun.

Decorating our house…..not going to happen this year.

So, we decided to take our Christmas fun to our girls' apartment.  Since they live downtown and have huge beautiful windows….it seemed the perfect place to put our giant family tree for Christmas.  They love it and will enjoy it (while we're here living in chaos, hehe).

We close this Friday on our house here in North Vernon.  It's literally crunch time.  Christmas is non-existent!  Packing up and organizing to move 2 hours away is number 1 priority!  I'm scared, excited, anxious and a total basket case. 

Will I make it?

I blame my hubby for my current bout of morning exhaustion.  Clearly, his waving the 2014 Ducks Unlimited calendar in my face last night as I was about to head to bed affected my REM.  Since our beloved lab Maggie passed away a few years ago our home just hasn't been the same.  The addition of our son's mixed lab pup Gracie filled our hearts in a great way but she was never really ours.  Especially since he moved out and took her with him to live the batchelor life.  Moment of silence.

Our hearts beat hard for a new lab.

The pictures in the calendar are phenomenal of course.  Beautiful, trained and poised labs loaded down with hunting gear and glistening from the water and lighting have a way of igniting that fire from within.  Neither of us needed the reminder of our love for all things lab.  But this flip through the candy store calendar got both our desires rustled.

So, this is where my lack of good sleep comes in to play.  It seems that in my dreaming last night, I spent the majority of my time hanging out with Nana (and no, she wasn't my Nana….I don't know who's Nana she was) and Nana had a whole kennel full of Labradors.  She drove a huge Suburban and all of our time together revolved around caring for all these dogs.  Mainly, me caring for them.  (Sounds like the Holy Spirit working, huh?)  She would drive up to the kennel compound and I would get out and help the big furry dogs out of the car and take them into their beds for the night.  The whole ordeal took forever because these were mellow laid back dogs who took their sweet time doing anything.  The Nana, she just sat in her big Suburban and watched while I did all the lab corraling.

I woke up dead dog tired!

The funny thing is….I still want a lab!

I mean really……look at them!

Somebody slap the check out of my hand!!!  I'm too tired to do it myself!

                                      Our sweet MAGGIE!!!

I made a huge pot of soup this weekend and forgot to make cornbread.  That's a no-no in my hubby's mind.  He loves to crumble it up and turn his bowl of soup into a big mushy delicacy.

Oooo, I have to look away!

Last night I served the soup again and this time made the cornbread.  As we chatted and slurped, I somehow sucked some dry cornbread down my windpipe/lungs/life-giving & taking hole and for the first time in my old lady life realized just how easy it is to KILL YOURSELF BY CHOKING!!!

I coughed and coughed, nothing!  I tried everything to get it dislodged from wherever it was hiding and wreaking havoc.  I seriously felt like this was how I was going to check into glory.  With watery eyes & nose….I coughed for the rest of the night and my chest rattled like I had a killer case of bronchitis.  This morning, I sound like a smoker and still have the congested chest thing going on.

I am suffering.  So, if you ever wondered (which I'm 99.9 % sure you haven't) if you can die by cornbread inhalation….the jury is still out.  If you don't hear from me over the next few days there is a possibility that the cornbread won!

Happy Tuesday/Thursday folks!  Don't forget to be thankful as you rush around preparing goodies for your loved ones!  I'll be loving it all and watching the snow fall here in Indiana!

I'm really excited that this week is finally here.  No, not because of Black Friday either.  I'm stoked for Thanksgiving!  My whole family is, it's our favorite meal all year long.

This year, I'm adding in a few new things.  Appetizers!

We wait all day long for the food to get finished and practically starve to death…so I thought I'd throw in a couple goodies to hold us over.  Strictly for low blood sugar reasons, ya know.

I'm definitely making these –>

Garlic Chicken Cheese Puffs

and some of that  –> Shrimp Cocktail (of course)

and perhaps something for my NON CHEESE loving hubby!  I don't want to fill everyone up just give them a little something to enjoy while we wait.

Got any ideas?  I'm open for suggestions.  Until then, I wish you a great 3 day week wherever you are!