Monday Malaise

Hmmm... Catchy title.

I may just make this a link up. ;)

I'm caught up in the "betwixt the holidays" boredom. You know... The place in time when Halloween is finished, but you haven't yet been steamrolled by Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It's that weird place where you know you should be doing something but, goshdarnitall, the tasks that lie ahead seem overwhelming and costly, so it's easier to just mope around.

Yes, even us moms of large families find ways to mope around. Only... No one really notices.

Where the heck am I going with this? Darned if I know.

Sort of...

Let's play a game: I'm going to throw out a few ideas I have and you let me know if they're "crazy", "doable", or a "waste of time". 

What do you win? 

Well, you get to judge me -- which is not something I usually allow. And, if any of my ideas are great, you can steal them!

Ready, set, GO!

1) I'm toying with the idea of buying all matching, inexpensive Christmas stockings to replace our semi-matched set. AND, I want to embroider our names on them. I used to embroider when I was in grade school and jr high, but haven't done it since then. Crazy, doable, or waste of time?

2) Kyle and I are mulling over starting a LifeTeen group in our parish. We have no existing youth/teen group now, so this is only partially selfishly motivated. Crazy, doable, or waste of time?

3) I'm having Thanksgiving in my home for the first time EVER in our marriage! It will be only our family of nine, but I want to "do it up right", so I want to buy new cloth napkins and new glassware to go with my good china. Crazy, doable, or waste of time?

4) Stuffing from scratch?  Crazy, doable, or waste of time?

That's all I gots today. 

Weigh in!

And, don't forget to enter my giveaway for Pope Awesome! It ends this Thursday!

7 Quick Takes: Complete With A Giveaway!

Joining Jen for this week's takings of quick!

1) My friend, Cari, wrote a book! (Yes! I'm THAT famous! I know an author!!) She wrote a fantastic account of her conversion to Catholicism. It's chockfull (that's a word, autocorrect?) of hilarious and beautiful stories of her journey to motherhood and Jesus. It's titled "Pope Awesome and Other Stories". But don't believe me when I say it's a must-read; go check out her many awesome reviews on Amazon! Or, better yet, just ask Kyle. He loved the book so much he read it right-side up, then upside-down.

2) What's that? I convinced you? You want a copy? Well, lemme hook you up, my brutha (or sistah)! I am giving away one copy of Cari's book for the price of one comment! Yes, that's right! I believe so much in Cari's story, that I'm willing to pay postage to send it to one lucky winner (you're welcome, Cari!). Just leave me a comment below and Sweet William will choose the winner on next Thursday (11/14)!

 Now, on to Life With The Dempseys! 

3) Maeve is in the process of choosing high schools to attend next year. Although we aren't newbies to this process, we haven't had to look at girls' schools until now. Due to a scheduling snafu, Joe had to attend one of the open houses with us last night and declared that, while the school "still smelled like tears and pencil shavings", it also smelled "a lot better --more colorful-- than a boys' school.".

 
Amen to that.

4) My running class was going really well! I even started running a solid 3 miles --albeit r e a l l y  s l o w l y-- without stopping! But this weird pain in my knee kept bothering me on non-running days.  Turned out, I have a bruised meniscus. This means that I had to stop running and walking immediately, rest the knee, ice it, and take ibuprofen. It also means that I will never again be able to run on cement or asphalt, only a cushioned track or dirt. Boo. But.....

5) Kyle to the rescue! Since my esteemed physician suggested swimming and cycling as safe alternatives, Kyle encouraged me to sign up for the Fall special at our local hospital's fitness center! They have 2 pools, recumbent bikes, the whole shebang! Now, I'm kickin' it with all the local grannies in the locker room as we prep for our aqua classes. 

6) Thanks to good ol' Jessica, I tried out this recipe for Brazilian Black Bean Soup this week. I thought, "2 different pork products in the same soup CANNOT be wrong", and I was not disappointed. Because I'm (obviously) in a generous mood today, I'm sharing the link with you.

 

7) Finally, this has been the best video I've seen all week. Takes me back to 8th grade gym class with Mrs. Barnish and her Jane Fonda workout videos:

 

It's Worth It....Always.

If you're a mother of teens, find yourself expecting a new blessing, and wonder "How will these older kids relate to a much younger sibling? Will the baby ever really know his big sister?", fear not!

There is a beauty in a wide span of ages amongst siblings.

Rough and gruff teens are gentled by their toddler siblings....

Younger siblings realize that big people can be crazy-fun....

And, throughout their entire lives, they always have loving companions for the journey.

Theme Thursday: Secret

Linking up with the famous Cari (did you know she has a book coming out next month and it's been endorsed by Jim Gaffigan?!)...

I thought I hid the ginormous bag of Costco chocolate chips in such a good place:

But, no, he was in on my secret as soon as my back was turned. Good thing he's so stinking cute!

Theme Thursday: Out

As in, he's finally out like a light!

It's been a long week over here; go see who else is out over at Cari's!

7 QTs: The Fast, The Furious, and The Faithful

:::crickets chirping::::

Yes, I'm still alive and linking up with Jen, you lucky ducks!

1) The South Beach Diet works, yo! I've lost 13 pounds, nearly 7 inches from my waist, and discovered a gluten intolerance in only 6.5 weeks! (I've always wanted to sound like an infomercial!) Now, if only it was noticeable to anyone except for me and my pants.....

2) Don't laugh, but I joined a beginning runners' class. I know, I know: put one front in front of the other. You can't tell me anything my teen sons haven't already declared loudly in my presence. But, for me, even signing up (the class starts on the 30th) is huge. I am hoping the motivation and tips will encourage someone who hates running as much as I do to keep going. I'm also hoping the weight loss speeds up even more. Kyle says I will surprise myself. Easy for a guy who doesn't need 2 sports bras, "running Spanx", and an inhaler just to do a quick 1 mile walk. 

4) Another freaking tree fell on our lake house!

That's 2 trees in 14 months! This time, at least, it was only the electric meter and front porch overhang that was damaged, but it still necessitates dragging in our bozo insurance company, loopy contractors, and lazy code inspectors. All in all, no one was hurt so I'm trying to be grateful and look on the bright side.

4) I hosted a Back to School Rosary this week and some really wonderful women came to pray with me, including Jessica! She brought these insanely delicious  mini-frittatas that Will (and everyone else!) scarfed up. I'm not one to tell someone what to blog about, but sharing that recipe would be the Christian thing to do. 

5) Maeve is visiting ("shadowing") various Catholic high schools this fall. Unlike her 2 older brothers, she is very sure that she wants to attend a single-sex school. I'm learning that girls make decisions much more quickly and matter-of-fact-ly than do boys. Well, at least that's how it's looking in our family. Kyle dropped her off at her most recent Shadow Day and lamented the fact that she "easily looked like one of the Freshman". Her high school career is going to be rough on both of them. 

6) We went apple picking last weekend and it was so much fun! Last year, most orchards weren't offering U-Pick due to crop shortages caused by the drought, so we missed out on this favorite family activity. We go to a really cool orchard that uses 1/4 less commercial pesticides, which makes eating a freshly picked apple that much tastier!

Plus, they have apple doughnuts, cider slushies, a hayride, corn maze, apple slingshot, petting zoo, and a big haystack to climb!

In 15 years, when these 3 start a band, this will be their album cover.

7) This last QT is a picture that I will save and show at Will's wedding. It perfectly highlights what happens when you are the 5th brother and your two teen brothers are left in charge of you:

Hasta la Vista! Ah'll be baaahck!

Theme Thursday: Recess

Linking up with the much bloggier Cari for Theme Thursday: Recess!

I only have one at home for "morning recess" time!