Being that this Love Thursday falls on Thanksgiving, I think it’s only fitting that I show something that I both love and am thankful for. And that is my kids.

I took this photo last weekend. It is for an assignment in my Photo I class. Caleb and Skyler will willing to help me out by running down the railroad tracks. Although they were scared at first because we’ve told them a million times not to play on railroad tracks and then here I am encouraging them to do just that. Talk about mixed signals.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

On my way in the office Monday my cell phone started to buzz. It was hooked to my hip so I tried to maneuver my way too it, pushing the seat belt aside, pulling up my jacket, yanking it off my pocket…all while driving 60 mph down the interstate. (I bet all of these driving stories make you happy you don’t live in my hometown…and probably scare the hell out of Wendy.) And after all that I missed the call anyway. But I recognized the number. It was the kids’ school.

I hate it when the school calls me. It’s never good news. It’s usually somebody with a syrupy sweet voice saying, “Hi Christine. So and so vomited all over their 1st grade class” or “So and so didn’t quite make it to the bathroom quick enough and had a little accident. Can you bring dry clothes.” They never call just to see how I’m doing. There’s never any love.

So I checked my voicemail. “Hi Christine. This is Cindy from [the schoo]. We have Caleb in the office. He had a little accident on the playground. He was playing soccer with some friends and bonked heads with another little boy. He’s doing ok, but he’s got a big goose egg on his head. Can you give us a call back?”

My thought was oh great, now my kid has a concussion and we will be spending the day in the emergency room…right before vacation. But he was fine. By the time I got in to the office and called them back they had already sent him back to his classroom.

I checked him out when I got home that night. He had a HUGE bump on his forehead, right over his eyebrow. Huge. It wasn’t a goose egg. It was like a dinosaur egg. But it didn’t seem to bother him.

Two days later it looks like this.

It’s barely black and blue. Well, at least it looks like that when his eyes are open. It looks much worse when his eyes are closed.

Ouch! But he’s doing ok. So that’s all that matters.

I asked him if he at least won the soccer game. He said, “I don’t know.” I guess he had other things on his mind.

Biggest Loser: Last week it was like white versus black. Good versus evil. It was Coleen versus Vicky. And evil won. I had such high hopes. The week before Amy did the right thing and voted out Brady. Not only was it smart for her to vote out a guy who can put up numbers and threatens her “biggest loser” title each week. But it was smart for her to break of the force of Brady, Vicky, Heba and Ed. If it came down to it Amy would have to continue to be above the yellow line, because she’s the fifth wheel in that alliance. Which she is the first one to be voted out. Has she never watched Survivor?

But this week she let Vicky’s abuse and classless school girl taunting get to her and she succumbed to the peer pressure. Vicky’s like the bully on the playground stealing everybody’s lunch money and Amy decided she didn’t want the bully to be mad at her. I’m so disappointed in Amy.

Vicky makes me almost want to stop watching the show. Yes, Biggest Loser is a reality show with a cash prize at the end. But it’s never been about backstabbing (well rarely ever). The main goal has always been about getting healthy, learning how to stay healthy, and feeling good about yourself. But Vicky has completely tainted that. She brings back nightmares of the evil “friendship” alliance [worshipers of Cappy] on Big Brother. And I HATED that season of Big Brother.

Grey’s Anatomy: Shonda, What the hell?!? You’ve come out and said Izzy does not have a brain tumor. And we need to wait and see where you’re going with Izzy and Denny. Well you need to get there quickly because I’m ready to remove Grey’s from my TiVo Season Pass list.

First, this season sucks. And second…well there is no second. Does there need to be a second when #1 is the season sucks? I think not.

How in the hell does anybody still have a job at this hospital? First Izzy cuts Denny LVAT wire (or whatever the heck it’s called) and steals a heart from another man. But we forgave her and moved on. But then the residents completely ignore their interns. They don’t teach them a damn things even though it’s, you know, a teaching hospital. Then the interns go and perform surgery on their perfectly healthy co-workers to get more experience. Seriously?!?

And then there’s the Izzy and Denny story. I hated the original Izzy and Denny story. At least in the beginning. I like Izzy and Alex together. I think Izzy has always brought the best out of Alex. But they went and screwed up that relationship by having Izzy fall in love with a patient. I thought that was so irresponsible of a doctor and completely unbelievable [but if I had known that later interns would be cutting open other interns I may have found this storyline a little more believable.] And frankly, it pissed me off.

But by the end I warmed up the story line. Especially when Denny died. No I’m not morbid. I just thought there was some serious good acting during the grief period. With Izzy laying on the bathroom in her prom dress and then baking cupcakes 24/7. And one of my all time favorite scenes on Grey’s was when Alex lifted Izzy off of Denny’s bed (and his dead body) and rocked her in the chair. I fell in love with Alex right then.

And now Izzy and Alex are back together and Denny is back to screw up their relationship. DEAD Denny is back. Izzy is having sex with a DEAD guy. Seriously?!? I cannot stand it when great shows try to pull this “bring somebody back from the dead” bullshit. This is not As the World Turns. This is Grey’s Anatomy. Can we please put on big girl panties and write a show that women (and men) can actually relate to? ‘Cause I can’t think of a single time I’ve ever had sex with a dead man. Nor do I want to.

Survivor: I’m not a Survivor fanatic like some. In fact I’ve only watched the last couple of seasons. I never followed the first several seasons. It just never really got my attention. But now I’m a fan and I’ve added it to my TiVo Season Pass. On a trial basis.

And this season is really ticking me off. Normally I’m all about rooting for the underdog. I love to see the weak come out strong. I love to see the hated work their ass off to stay. But this season? Not so much.

I cannot stand Kenny. Or Crystal. CAN. NOT. STAND. THEM. And it’s really irritating that they keep convincing all of these other losers to vote with them. Eventually we’ll have Kenny, Crystal, Susie, and Sugar left and challenges will take all day because none of them are strong enough to do a damn thing. [It was just a complete fluke that Susie and Sugar were the only ones who could make fire in the previous challenge.] Challenges will turn in to “whoever can swim 10 feet without drowning wins immunity.” Please. Give me a break.

Amazing Race: I really have no gripes about Amazing Race. Why? Because I never get to watch the show. CBS insists on ALWAYS running late with the damn football game. And they refuse to put the show on their website. Why CBS? Are you trying to get the show cancelled? Do you not want people to watch? Because I’m about to stop putting forth the effort since you can’t even meet me half way. I can’t record the show after Amazing Race because I record Desperate Housewives. Sure I could not record Desperate Housewives since ABC PUTS THEIR POPULAR SHOWS ON THEIR WEBSITE, but why should I? Desperate Housewives is on time every week. Why should I punish them for your stupidity, CBS? Get your shit together CBS!

Desperate Housewives: What the heck is up with Lynette’s hair? It’s been 5 years since chemo. Surely her hair has grown back by now. So why is she still wearing that wig? That is a wig right? And not really Felicity Huffman’s hair. ‘Cause if it’s her real hair she needs to fire her stylist yesterday.

What TV shows are pissing in your Cheerios?

1. IM them and tell them to call you.
2. When they ask for your number refuse to give it to them and tell them “you should know that by now.”
3. If they don’t answer your message, IM their co-workers to see where they’re at. God forbid they need to visit the restroom.
4. Don’t try to fix errors. Instead point fingers and berate anybody who made an innocent mistake.
5. When they come to you with a question, don’t only NOT answer the question, but completely take over the project.
6. And then when you’ve taken over the whole project, complain to said employee about how damn busy you are.
7. Send them call information mere minutes before the call and then berate them when they don’t attend the call.
8. When they tell you they will be out for an hour for an appointment don’t get all up in their business. “Are you feeling ok?” “What kind of appointment?”
9. Tell them everything last detail about your personal life. Unless we are friends who share beers during happy hour on Fridays I do not give two squats of shit what your daughter’s boyfriend does for a living or that her unmarried friend is pregnant.
10. Keep them on a short leash and give them no authority to make any big decisions.
11. And then when they come to you because they can’t make the big decision, again tell them how busy you are.
12. Lie to them. I so love it when my teenagers lie to me. Why not my boss to.
13. When they write you a two page email outlining all of their accomplishments for the last couple of years and ask for a raise since you did promise “a lot of room for growth” when you offered them the job with no pay increase tell them, “all good things come to those who wait.” ‘Cause when you haven’t had a significant pay increase in more than three years what you really want to hear is “all good things come to those who wait.”
14. Make sure you always have the last word. Even when your wrong. Actually, especially when you’re wrong.

Man, I can’t wait for vacation.