Thanksgiving break is here!

It's Friday, and it's official! Thanksgiving break at the U of I has begun! The undergrads are leaving in droves, my department is sparse, and the stores are selling canned pumpkin en masse! Yippee! I can't wait to make pies and relax!

Mom wants me to make this list...

8 favorite TV shows:

1. Chuck
2. Bones
3. Pushing Daisies
4. The Office
5. House
6. Colbert Report
7. What Not to Wear
8. Law and Order: SVU

8 favorite restaurants:

1. Siam Terrace (Thai food)
2. Chilis
3. Radio Maria (Caribbean Fusion Cafe)
4. Courier Cafe (down-home cafe)
5. El Torro
6. Perkins
7. Macaroni Grill (don't have one here)
8. Fortune Palace

8 things I did yesterday:

1. went to church
2. accompanied a musical number
3. got a new calling: enrichment committee member
4. made dinner: Hungarian Goulasch
5. sat on the couch in my pjs
6. talked to Mom and Dad
7. remembered to move my laundry from Saturday into the dryer
8. started re-reading "The Scarlett Letter"

8 things I look forward to:

1. Sundays
2. meals
3. sleep
4. finishing my PhD
5. eating lots of pie on Thanksgiving
6. road trips
7. the next time I'll be in Europe
8. going to the gym

8 things I love about fall:

1. the leaves changing
2. no more hot and humid days
3. mosquitos dying
4. fall-smelling candles: Salt City's Pumpkin Spice
5. all things pumpkin: pie, cookies, bars, jack-o-lanterns, seeds
6. Thanksgiving break
7. apple donuts from Curtis Orchard (and picking my own apples if I want)
8. corduroy pants

8 things on my wishlist:

1. a ticket to visit Ashley in Utah
2. a maid to clean my house
3. winning the annual family Turkey Shoot Out
4. weight loss
5. more free trips to Europe
6. free reign of my car
7. did I say maid? how about personal assistant?
8. I wish I could play the piano better

8 People I tag: (mom had to explain to me what tagging meant)

1. Mom
2. Marisa
3. Ashley
4. Caitlin
5. Shelby
6. Joanie
7. Genevieve
8. ??

Thanksgiving is on its way!

I've been trying to think of something worthwhile to post for some time now, and still don't have anything. I suppose it's that time in the semester when I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break with anticipation and dread. Anticipation because it's a full week off of school, dread because I know the second I get back from Thanksgiving we are in the throes of end-of-semester papers, presentations, and exams.

Although Thanksgiving is still a little bit away, it is the topic of most conversations around here. The professors talk about the work we have to get done before Thanksgiving. The bishop talks about making sure everyone has somewhere to go for Thanksgiving. I keep asking Logan if he actually has time off for Thanksgiving.

Here is what I would like to get done over Thanksgiving break:

• write half of my paper for my Weimar Republik class (8 pages)
• transcribe my data for my Conversation Analysis paper
• road trip to Chicago with Dave
• clean my apartment--like deep clean--dusting and everything!
• watch lots of movies in my pajamas
• make pies
• chill with the fam in NE

Do you think all of this is possible? We'll see...

To-Do List

I really like to-do lists! Today I wrote one with about 15 things on it, and I got them all done! That gave me this huge sense of accomplishment, although I'm sure I have way more things I can add to it. Nothing beats scratching out items off a list. OK, I can think of a few things that are better, but you get my point.

Also, have I mentioned how much I love the fall colors this year?

The Evolution of the Bavarian Creamer, Teil 2

Logan was Michael Phelps for Halloween. I thought it important to show the evolution of his costume as well. This is him getting ready for a swim meet! Just relaxin', listening to my ipod that he loaded "motivational, swim-music" onto.

Um, couldn't figure out how to delete a pic, so you get this one twice...but horizontal this time. :)

Logan went all out...8 gold medals, swim cap, my flip flops, etc. He even shaved his legs and arms!

Logan also had last minute preparations on Thursday night...he had to "earn" his gold medals...by cutting them out and stapling them to ribbon. I couldn't get him to carry a bouquet of red roses like what the Olympians got on the medals stand...oh well. He did commit to the costume in every other way possible!

Here's more of a close-up of my Roller Girl make-up, thanks Doug!

And, my favorite part...my hair! I'm totally keeping these!

The Evolution of the Bavarian Creamer, Teil 1

This is the story of how I actually finished my Halloween costume. I started on Thurdsay, October 30th at 9 pm. Thankfully, Mom had visited in July and cut out my costume then. (Somehow I knew I could never finish a project without her help.) I, however, did not touch the fabric again until the day before Halloween. So, after helping Logan with his costume, having voice lessons and watching "the Office" with Amanda I embarked on sewing my costume.

I think it was about 1 am when I had gotten to this point. I had called Mom a few times, asking for some help on inserting a zipper. I had never done it before, and for some reason I thought this was a good project on which to learn! I followed Mom's advice and didn't follow the pattern instructions. That's why my costume looks like a cape at this point. Logan and I had just returned from McDonald's...I had the sewing munchies that only a Big Mac can cure!

After chilling with Logan for a bit, I got down to business. A few seams had to be picked apart and re-sewn, but things were going well. Until at 4:30 in the morning I sewed a sleeve on inside out. It was then that I realized I should go to bed and finish in the morning. I only had to be to work at 9 am!

Luckily, this story has a happy ending. I came home from work and sewed the rest of the afternoon. I finished at 4 pm, just in time to make it to my 5pm hair and make-up appointment. My stylist was gracious enough to offer to put in my hair extensions, and do my roller derby-esque make-up. I was in complete heaven when I found a ghetto beauty supply store with cheap weaves for only $1 a strand. Here is the final result:

In the end I couldn't get my helmet on over my braids, nor could I find roller skates that were worth buying. (I wasn't going to spend $145 on a pair that I would only wear for Halloween, and it's hard to find skates anywhere else!)

Tuesday French Toast

I forgot how much I like French toast. Caitlin came to visit this weekend, and we got to go to the temple in St. Louis and to chill. It was fun to see Caitlin again. She claims I am a bed hog, I maintain that whoever falls asleep first gets free reign of the bed. I fell asleep first! Caitlin went home yesterday, and since we were too tired Sunday morning to get up and make coffee cake in true Luke fashion, I made French Toast for breakfast. I know according to the old Luke family breakfast schedule that French toast is traditionally eaten on Wednesdays, but I made an exception. It was worth it! I forgot how good French toast is with a little (or a lot) of mapeline syrup. Why don't I eat it more often?