I'm so behind in my reading. It doesn't take long for that to happen during the week. I was all caught up during the weekend, the slow blogging time, just waiting for someone to post. Now it's like, slow down please? I can't keep up with you! I woke up way too early this morning. It must have been thoughts of Emily asking me to drive her to school so she could sleep longer. I said no, because I don't want it to become an everyday thing. She said something to the effect of, you suck. Well, yeah. So, I woke up at 5:00 AM, woke her to say I'd drive, then laid in bed for a half hour before getting up. I tried to think of what to do with my extra morning time. Try to fall asleep (not happening), get up and wrap presents, start cooking, write an entry? Write an entry won. It's 6:00 now and Emily's up and getting ready. School starts so early!

Thank you for the response to my word verification query. I only heard from people that don't use it, and everyone had the same feeling...they don't like it and don't use it. I'm in agreement. Still, it's available for a reason, and I respect the bloggers who choose to enable the feature.

So, it's Thursday, and a lot of you know it's my day off. I had big plans. Bon was coming over to spend the day. We were going to be cooking and hanging out. See, this Sunday is my father's 80th birthday, and I'm hosting a dinner in his honor. He did not want a party, so it's all family (except for the GA ones...too close to Christmas to travel; they will be missed) along with an old family friend, a nephew's girlfriend, and JD. There will be 15 in all. The usual thing to do when we all get together is for everyone to bring something, but I've been in the mood to cook lately, and want to have everyone over as a guest for a change. I thought that would be nice. All the cookbooks I've been reading, along with the new KitchenAid have put me in the mood to cook. I'll be making Hot Artichoke Dip and serving cheese and crackers for appetizers. I'll be serving Baked Ziti, Lasagna, mixed veggies, homemade Rosemary Focaccia bread and salad for dinner. I'm making The Pioneer Woman's 4th of July cake for dessert (minus the 4th of July topping. You have to read this recipe!). Did I mention that today was the day to prepare everything? With Bon? Right. Oh, I was also supposed to drive to Annapolis to pick up the DVD we've had made for my parents from all their 8mm film. It's a surprise, and we're presenting it to my father in honor of his birthday. Well, there's that 'best laid plans' thing. We all know it. While working yesterday, someone asked if Thursday is the day of the salon gift exchange. I said, oh yeah, and I meant to bring my gift in today because I'm not in on Thursdays. She looked kind of skeptical and said, I'm pretty sure I saw you on the books. I said no, that can't be, I'm off on Thursdays. I excused myself from my client to go look, and you can guess the outcome. Booked solid from 11-7. I'll just say that put a dark cloud over my head for a while. It was totally my doing. Our appointment book is on the computer, so I could see that I marked myself to work that day way back in May. I must have done it to accommodate more clients right before the holiday. Still...I was bummed. I'm over it now. I sent an e-mail to my siblings asking for someone else to pick up the DVD. I looked over my recipes and will have time to do all the cooking on Saturday after work and Sunday morning. It will all get done, just not how I planned it.

With that said, I'm ready to get busy. Have a great Thursday!