You know all those annoying people from Texas who are always going on and on about how great their state is?

Well, this is why:

 It's the last day of November, and nearly 80 degrees.

You can't argue with that.

 There's a little Emotional Eating going on here.

This morning, I had my annual physical (ladies, you know what this entails - NOT my favorite).  I ran into Walmart afterward for Coke Zeroes (also necessary for my mental health) and couldn't resist buying these babies.  I intend to eat them all before my kids are home from school.

 

A bunch of guys like to get together at the church every Tuesday and Wednesday night to play basketball, and Brad likes to go and take Pepper and Adam.  They usually go a little early, so the boys can get some play in before all the big men arrive.  Pepper, especially, lives for it.

I am officially in mourning.

Tonight was the DWTS All-Stars finale.  I don't know what to live for now that this season is over.

You think I'm exaggerating.  I'm not.

To further kick me while I'm down, my favorites (Shawn and Derek--or as I prefer to call them, DEREK and Shawn) did not win.  Melissa and Tony took home the Coveted Mirrorball Trophy.  Melissa = meh, but I guess I can live with Tony finally getting a win.  Anyone who could put up with Kate Gosselin for as many weeks as he was forced to in season 10 deserves something big and shiny for his mantel.

 Yep, toaster waffles and heat-n-serve sausage is as fancy as breakfast gets around here most days.  If you're lucky, I will arrange it to look like The Fly.  Because everything is more appetizing when it looks like Jeff Goldblum.

 I am happy to report that no husbands were harmed in the hanging of these Christmas lights.  We got smart this year and hired some guy to do it.  After years of watching Brad navigate an icy roof in Michigan (and let's not even bring up the lame Christmas light attempt in Berlin), I was glad to leave this to the professionals.

Highlights of our last day together:

 

We went to lunch at the Fort Worth Stockyards, where one of the featured attractions was a mechanical bull, which anyone could ride for $10.  Bailey got the same thrill for 25¢ on this little ride.

Everybody say "Chili Cheese Fries!"

We are doing our part to keep the local movie theater in business.  This afternoon, all the grown-ups went to see Lincoln, and tonight all the kids are at Rise of the Guardians.

In between the movie-going madness, this puzzle has been the obsession.

 I am not ready for everyone to leave tomorrow.

This has been a fine, fine Thanksgiving.

Some of my favorite faces surrounded a yummy turkey dinner.

I didn't have to do the dishes.

And Jode, Jess, and I finished the evening with our favorite sparkly vampires.

(Don't mock.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again--just 'cuz it's stupid doesn't mean we can't love it.)

Today, we have thoroughly enjoyed having house guests.

Bailey Boo wrapped us all around her little finger.

Cousins got reacquainted.

Dad and Bust picked up and assembled some garage shelves.

And everyone helped us clean and organize the garage.

What's that you say? 

 Most house guests aren't expected to clean out garages?

This is awkward . . .

Well, the good news is that it is now done, so it is safe for y'all to come visit us.

Look who's in my living room!

 Today, my parents and Bust arrived from Utah, and Jodi and Jeff and their kids came from Amarillo to spend Thanksgiving with us.  

YAY!!!

My living room has never looked better!

 I ran across this video on YouTube, and I am pretty sure this is the best dance ever in the history of the universe.

It is Derek Hough (DWTS) and Allison Holker (SYTYCD) doing an Argentine Tango, which reads exactly like my wish list to Santa.  Finding this today proves that I have been a very good girl this year.

Watch and drool here.

Hey, remember when I was so excited about the hooks I put up so there would be a Place to hang jackets and backpacks?

Look how well that's working out.

Tonight, I pulled a book off my shelf that I have been dragging around the world with me for twenty years, yet have never read.  I bought it when I was in college for a course I ended up dropping, so I didn't even read it then.  But for some reason, it has made the cut whenever I clean out my bookshelves, and it has followed me through every move since then.

Inside the book, I ran across the receipt from when I bought it at BYU Bookstore on August 24, 1992.

The thing that really caught my eye and got me thinking is my signature on the bottom.  I can sooooo remember signing my name like that.  I'm no handwriting analyst, but I can tell you exactly what I thought that signature portrayed.  The Jill who signed that in 1992 liked being feminine without being overly precious.  That is why the capital 'J' is big and graceful, but the capital 'L' is a modified print version.  I couldn't make myself write a big loopy cursive capital 'L' because it was just too much.  The print 'L' was my way of keeping it real.  And yes, I took myself just that seriously.

Compare that to my signature nowadays.

This is from one of the millions of papers we signed when we closed on our house in September.  Almost exactly 20 years have passed between the two signatures.  Again, I am no handwriting expert, but I can tell you what the Jill who signed this was thinking.  This Jill is just trying to get the job done with the least amount of work.  And Current Jill wants you to think she doesn't care what people think, but she wants you to think she doesn't care what people think--secretly she still does, she just likes the persona of a confident person who doesn't (yes, I still take myself just that seriously).

The difference between the two signatures is also significant because it testifies of the end of my handwriting days.  In 1992, I didn't own a computer, and I only used one for final copies of college papers.  I did almost all my writing by hand, so it had to legible.  Now, I almost never write anything with a pen and paper; it is all computer.  In some ways, this is easier, because I can fix and modify and delete with the press of a backspace button.  But, it is also harder, because I have to rely solely on the power of words to get my meaning across.  

In my handwriting days, you could tell a lot about what I was feeling simply by looking at my handwriting.  My old journals sometimes scream at me with big, messy writing, even though the words aren't all that descriptive.  I can tell I was feeling something, though.  But, there are also pages of neat, perfectly crafted letters that tell me I felt in control of my life at the time (this is also the writing I used when I fancied myself waxing poetic or particularly wise--I sort of hate myself on those pages).  My favorites are the pages of breezy, flowing cursive.  I can remember writing like that, and that was usually when I wanted to write for writing's sake.  It just felt good.

Reading back over what I've just written, it occurs to me that if I had written this by hand, it would be in the measured, perfect handwriting of my self-righteous, wise self.  But the nice thing is, I have done this on a computer, so if I hate myself tomorrow for writing this, I can just delete it.

 Tonight, Brad and went on hot date to see Skyfall, the new James Bond movie.  

I was surprised by how much I liked it.  This is actually the only Daniel Craig James Bond movie I have seen.  I may have to remedy that.

My friend Vivien posted on Facebook that she also saw it with her husband, and that she loved it as well.  As she put it, "Skyfall delivered all the skop, skiet, and donder you could ever wish for."

I should mention that Vivien is originally from South Africa, and the "skop, skiet, and donder" she refers to means "kick, shoot, and fight."  I prefer Vivien's words.  It just sounds way more fun.

I made the mistake of inviting Jess to accompany me on my trip to Target this afternoon.

She found this hat when we first walked in and insisted on wearing it the whole time we were there.  You can't see them very well, but there are little ears on top.  

She was unusually goofy today, too.  I wish I'd gotten a photo of her hula-hooping in the hat.  

It was stunning.

I can see why so many country songs say something about the big Texas sky.

 Since we've moved here, Jessica has become a hard-core sky fanatic. She takes pictures of the sky daily, usually as we're driving home from seminary and the sun is just coming up.

 We heard when we visited Salsburg, Austria, that the director of The Sound of Music was so taken by the city that he made a huge effort to feature it prominently in the film.  He said that he felt like Salsburg was one of the characters in the story.

That is kind of how the sky feels here.  With all the flat space out here, the sky can be overwhelming--it is a real presence.  I guess I could copy Robert Wise and say it is like a big, silent character in our Texas chapter.

Tonight was Jessica's Young Women in Excellence program in our ward, so she and I got dressed up and headed for the church.  Before we left, I made sure I had my camera in my purse so I could snap a photo of Jess with the collage she'd made showcasing the cool stuff she's done this last year.

But, instead of being Mom-Who-Proudly-Takes-Picture-of-Accomplished-Daughter-at-Lovely-Young-Women-Event. . .

. . . I am  Mom-Who-Forgot-and-Hurriedly-Took-Picture-of-Hungry-Daughter-in-Taco-Bell-DriveThru-After-Lovely-Young-Women-Event.

It's really not the same, is it?

 It's no secret that I am a Dancing With The Stars junkie. I am loooooooooving this season, in which they have brought back past winners and favorites to compete.  It is a serious highlight of my week, because the dancing this season is out of this world, and I feel like I have a personal relationship with these people.  

It might be a little sick.

Tonight, the contestants had to do a trio dance, which meant they danced with two pros--TWO PROS!--for one of their routines.  Shawn Johnson's samba with Derek and Mark blew my socks off.  I was watching it in my room, tucked into my bed, and my reaction went something like this:

Watch.  Scream. Scream again. Rewind. Watch again. Scream again. Wish Brad wasn't right there looking at me funny so I could watch and scream yet again. 

IT WAS TOO AWESOME FOR WORDS!!

Len, the mean judge,was...well...mean, and he gave them a 7.  A stupid 7!  My disgust knows no bounds.  If Shawn gets voted off tomorrow, I am going to need therapy.

You know you want to watch it.  You also know I'm going to watch it again--again.

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9w0W3kuQI

You're welcome.

(Also, if you are junkie like me, you must read Annie Barrett's DWTS recaps on ew.com.  They are almost as much fun as watching the show.)

This evening, Brad and I are in our full-glory Sunday Selves.  

Poor Brad is sick--he has a cold that was not improved by accompanying Adam to the Cub Scout jamboree campout this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway (seriously, who thinks these things up?), so he is currently in bed asleep with a pillow over his head, snoring and snorting through his congestion.

I am not much better, having just awakened from a killer nap, made necessary by my 3:00-4:30 AM insomnia (during which I spent some quality time on Amazon buying an office chair to replace the one Joey ate, so there is that).  My face is puffy, my make-up is beyond smeared, and my hair is a travesty since I didn't wash it this morning (hello--8:30 church!) and the pony-tail that contained it this morning is no longer.

So, what I'm saying is, we're not cute.

I was in this state looking through some photo albums when I ran across this picture:

 This was taken in the summer of 1994, when we were newly engaged.

And still cute.

Not snoring, snorting, puffy, smeared, or greasy-bed-haired.

I needed that.

Tonight, our ward hosted a two-stake dance for the youth.  It was a 50's theme with a live band, cute decorations (see above), and the opportunity to dress up if you wanted.  They asked me to come do a little dance workshop at the very beginning, which of course I was thrilled to do (seriously, my favorite thing.  Too bad it can't be a calling).

Brad was there to be my dreamy partner, and Jess and Pep came, too.  Since he just turned 14, this was Pepper's first stake dance, and I think he was a little overwhelmed.  Jessica was just bummed.  There was a really big turn-out, and as the gym filled with all these cute kids from two stakes, she leaned over to me and said, "This would be sooooo fun if I had friends."  But, without a wingman, she didn't feel like she could stay, so we left about 45 minutes after the workshop ended.

Walking out of the gym, I put my arm around her and told her I wish she had someone there she could hang with.  She just told me not to say anything, because it would make her cry.  

Me too, Jess, me too.

 This afternoon, Lukie convinced me to brave the garage and find his bike (our one garage is The Hideous Place Where We Dumped Everything We Didn't Know What Else To Do With).  

He has been riding now for three hours.  Even though it is 80 degrees, he insists on wearing this jacket because it is his "motorcycle jacket".  You can tell by his posture that he's got some super-cool motorcycle scenario going on in his little head.

 I know, I know.  To the average person, stuff like this is super boring.  But I love it!  What can I say, hooks rev my engine. 

Some friends that Brad works with gave us a Pottery Barn gift certificate as a house warming gift, and this is what I bought with it.  Now there is a Place for all the jackets and backpacks that used to get dumped by this door every afternoon.  I love it when stuff has a Place!

 One culture shock issue we did not see coming was commercials.  In Germany, we watched downloaded TV, so there were no ads (yes, it was awesome).  But here, of course, we are back in the land of commercials.  Luke especially is enthralled by them, which make sense since they are completely new to him.  He is like a little sponge for all the advertisers.

The other day, he was watching some ad and salivating over whatever it was plugging.  He turned to me and said, "Mom, if you ever see something that I might like, but I'm not here, just go ahead and buy it for me."

I wonder what color the sky is in his world.

 Yup.  We added our red votes to everyone else's here in the great state of Texas. 

 It was the ideal voting scenario--zero lines, beautiful Fall day, and lunch with my hubby.  Up until the results were announced tonight, it was the best voting experience I'd ever had.

This morning, I found this little note Luke wrote to himself by the computer.

Sometimes I just really like being a Mom.

 So, tonight at about 7:00 PM, this is what I found happening on my bathroom floor.  Apparently, this is how desperate my kids were to find something to do at the end of our Day of Rest.

It brought to mind an incident from my past that also happened around 7:00 PM on a Sunday evening, and also involved some brother/sister hair-doing.

As I remember it, we were sitting around that night and we noticed that my mom and my brother Jeff had about the same length hair.  So, we determined that with the help of a curling iron and some hairspray, we could give him my Mom's hairstyle.   You can see that we pretty much nailed it.

The scary thing?  I bet if Jeff were here right now, he'd let me do it again.

Today, I took the boys to a little barber shop near my house for haircuts.  It was awesome for three reasons:

 1.  My boys no longer look like hobos.

2.  There is just something so Country about watching my boys' hair fall all over the barber's cowboy boots after he'd fished his clippers out of a Craftsman tool chest.  Brad Paisley should write a song about it.

3.  I got to chat with a white-haired cowboy while I waited, who gave me his take on the upcoming election.  The best was when he told me all the reasons I should like Mormons, and to not let that color my opinion of Mitt Romney.  He must have been pretty convincing, because I DO like Mormons, and I'm planning to vote for Mitt.

Oh yes.

He's in trouble.

 Jessica took this picture on the road to school this morning.  Is that something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie or what?

There are so many birds around here.  We have decided that this is where all the birds go when they fly south for the winter.