I love this show....

Survivor is one of my all time favorite shows. I watch it every year. Each year the show tries to come up with a unique way to divide the tribes. They have divided by gender. They have divided by age and this year they divided the tribes into groups based on race. I like many others thought this was in bad taste. Why bring focus and competition to an already very competitive and sensitive topic? But since I really love survivor, I watched anyway. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that while the tribes were divided by race, it wasn't a racial issue. It is still the same survivor I've always known and loved. I am now glad that survivor did this. It is important for people to see that while you should be proud of your heritage, the color of your skin does not matter. Now having said that, back to the game....

Can you believe that silly Aitu tribe? How could they be dumb enough to purposely loose already? What were they thinking? That was one of the dumbest moves I have ever seen on survivor. I could understand if they lost to get rid of a threat but to get rid of someone they knew they all could beat... I honestly can't believe they did it. The only thing dumber than that was when Billy said he and Candice had a love connection... How embarrassed is he going to be when he realizes only he fell in love? What a goof ball... (I feel kind of bad for him)

It is too soon in the game for me to choose a winner. I will wait until the two tribes merge into one. I have never choosen the winner, but hey, this could be my year....

The best part of fall is...

Writing Collaboration Number 8:
The best part of Fall is...

There are so many wonderful things about fall. The weather is great, the trees are beautiful the air smells crisp and clean, but the thing I think is best about Fall has nothing to do with the weather. The best part of fall for me is the return of routine. You see I am a perpetual procrastinator. I don't want to be one but I am. All summer long I am able to indulge in my procrastination, because in the summer there is never anything to do later, so I might as well put things off until then. In the fall I have so many things that must be done: four kids to see off to school, volunteer work, all the childrens extra-curricular activites and maybe this year a part time job. My procrastination can not (no matter how hard I try) work in the fall. Things must be done and they must be done now. I absolutely love the feeling of having a smooth running home. I love being so empowered by being so prepared, but if I am not forced to take charge then I will procrastinate. I am just that way. So for me the best part about fall is the return of routine and the end of my procrastination.

Wordless Wednesday

What is your back to school tradition?
Writing prompt from The crazy hip blog mamas

We have so many things we do every year at back to school time, but I am not sure any of them would be considered a tradition. Of course we go school shopping. We always go to orientation to meet the teachers. We get back on a regular bedtime schedule. But these are just things we do because we have to. I do not consider these things to be traditions. So with no inspiration what so ever for this topic I called on the experts. I asked the children what they considered to be our back to school tradition, and with no problem they gave me one… Dinner and Shoe Shopping.

We have five daughters. Four of which need to go shopping for school clothes. To make things easier on us all I always divide the shopping into (at least) two trips. I do this for cost reasons as well as sanity issues. First we shop for shoes and then we go for clothes.

Before shoe shopping we always go to dinner at Lone Star. Going to dinner is not something unusual for us but this dinner is special. It is always relaxed and fun. The anticipation of getting new shoes has everyone in a good mood (well everyone except Dad). We talk about what we are going to buy and laugh about previous school shopping trips. We discuss the upcoming school year and tease each other about the boys at school.

Getting shoes for four girls is a huge undertaking and it always takes several hours. It is never a secret as to what will happen on this shoe shopping trip. Ashley (the oldest at 17) will want shoes that are over her budget (which this year is $80). Debra (age 12) will want the shoes everyone else is wearing regardless of how the shoe fits or looks on her. Jessica(10) is never any trouble and usually gets the standard pair of reeboks and Megan (5) will drag us from store to store looking for the “prettiest shoes ever”.

On this shopping trip we will go to every shoe store in the mall (some stores twice). We will get irritated and argue. We will laugh with and at each other and someone always ends up crying (sometimes me). This is the only time of year that all the girls get to buy shoes at the same time and this shopping trip is the reason for that. It is such a hectic shopping trip that each year after shoe shopping I promise myself to never again bring four girls shoe shopping at once. All through the fall, winter spring and most of summer I keep that promise. But when school time rolls around I break the promise and we all pile in the van for dinner and shoe shopping…..