Work and life stuff have been crazy which means very little time for fun things… like blogging and stitching and lying around for hours mindlessly scrolling though Pinterest. Le sigh. What’s a girl to do?

This week I had to commute two days to NYC in the rain [equal parts boring (long train rides with dead cell phone battery) and stressful (meetings with angry people)], get a mammogram, AND go for my annual exam (if you know what I mean). It that isn’t the trifecta of an icky week, I don’t know what is. But enough complaining, let’s catch up on the fun stuff!

Thanksgiving was delicious. Tom’s parents do all of the hosting and cooking, so we just show up and eat. I used to mind this because I love hosting events, but have come to appreciate the benefits of this arrangement!

Our elf on the shelf returned from the North Pole on Thanksgiving night.

The boys were pretty excited, but Sammy wasn’t so impressed with his arrival.

We spent a few days at the beach house. The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny.

We discovered this new-fangled version of Pac-Man on the boardwalk. Not to brag or anything, but I was kind of a Ms. Pac-Man legend in the day. Isn’t it funny that when people say “not to brag,” they are totally bragging. But since I’m already bragging, I will tell you that I once had the high score on TWO separate Ms. Pac-Man machines at the same time on the boardwalk. Does that make me cooler in your eyes?

Tom made me DO WORK while we were away, so I took this picture to show how totally hardworking and techie I am (nothing could be further from the truth) with two computers going at once!

We made it out for dinner one night at our favorite shore spot. We always go for the Early Bird special and I always “pretend” that I don’t realize there is an Early Bird special when the waiter tells us about it.

When we got home, Littlest was determined to learn how to skate board.

I didn’t stitch at all, which gave Charlie ample opportunity to really get comfortable in my stitching basket.

First he just sat in it.

Then he napped in it.

Then he cleaned his you-know-what in it. UGH! CHARLIE!!!

We had a strange bird meeting on our patio. There were more birds, but I couldn’t get them all in the picture. So weird, right? Can someone who knows more about birds than I do, tell me what they are doing?

And, oh happy day(!), I found some cool cross stitch stuff at the thrift store.

What’s new with you? Happy Thursday!