My publicist knows where I am, but my managers are often left in the dark. So they ask that I send my itinerary each week. At the beginning of sweeps, I'm fresh, and pretty good about sending out my itinerary to those who need it. In fact, it feels kind of exciting to see four cities in five days, twelve TV segments, press interviews and radio shows squeezed in to every waking hour, etc. But as the weeks go on, I'm in survival mode. Trust me. It's not glamorous. The excitement has turned into drudgery. No itineraries go out. I'm bedraggled. Look away. I'm hideous!

"Where's Waldo?", Judy will email managers in the company. I'll tell you where Waldo is... Waldo is home! I'm only here for four days, but awww... life is good... My favorite is my morning routine, making Christian's breakfast, packing his lunch, and seeing him out the door. He's sixteen. So it doesn't seem to mean a thing to him. But being a mom is my favorite role... Tonight, I'm doing laundry, tidying up, playing house...

Late last night, at the end of a twenty hour day, four TV segments, a bumpy flight, and miserable traffic from LAX, I turned into my driveway. And when I saw the lit front porch and the glow from inside, I smiled. It was like salve to my soul. I was reminded of the sweet lyrics from a country song, "My Front Porch Looking in". My sister shared this with me awhile back. She said this band, Lonestar, travels the globe, and sees the most spectacular sights across the land. But when it's all said and done, this is what it's all about:

The only ground I ever owned was sticking to my shoes
Now I look at my front porch and this panoramic view
I can sit and watch the fields fill up
With rays of glowing sun
Or watch the moon lay on the fences
Like that's where it was hung
My blessings are in front of me
It's not about the land
I'll never beat the view
From my front porch looking in

There's a carrot top who can barely walk
With a sippy cup of milk
A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong
'Cause she likes to dress herself
And the most beautiful girl holding both of them
And the view I love the most
Is my front porch looking in, yeah

I've traveled here and everywhere
Following my job
I've seen the paintings from the air
Brushed by the hand of God
The mountains and the canyons reach from sea to shining sea
But I can't wait to get back home
To the one he made for me
It's anywhere I'll ever go and everywhere I've been
Nothing takes my breath away
Like my front porch looking in

There's a carrot top who can barely walk
With a sippy cup of milk
A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong
'Cause she likes to dress herself
And the most beautiful girl holding both of them
Yeah the view I love the most
Is my front porch looking in

I see what beautiful is about
When I'm looking in
Not when I'm looking out

There's a carrot top who can barely walk
With a sippy cup of milk
A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong
'Cause she likes to dress herself
And the most beautiful girl holding both of them
Yeah the view I love the most

Oh, the view I love the most
Is my front porch looking in
Yeah
Oh, there's a carrot top who can barely walk
(From my front porch looking in)
A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong, yeah
And the most beautiful girl
(Beautiful girl
From my front porch looking in)
Holding both of them
Oh, yeah

Sing it to the tune of "Deck the Halls": Tis the season to be hectic! Fa la la la laa, la la la laaaa...

I'm hearing it from everyone... chatting with an employee by email who happens to have  5 or 6 kids, I confessed I had been stressed to the point of tears, she too was out walking her dog, sobbing in public... nothing but stress. Moms are burning the midnight oil making Halloween costumes. Karen (my awesome sister and Grocery Game General Manager) sewed 8 costumes for all her young adult children and their friends. Then Thanksgiving is eminent (my favorite holiday because we do it laid back and potluck with paper plates, yay!). And Christmas and Hannukah! And presents and preparations...

All that is the fun stuff really. My stress is work and our company party right now. I LOVE our company party. And I look forward to it from the day it's over for 364 days until it rolls around again. But the trouble is I've had so much press and press travels, the book and all the extra press with that, plus the move, that I am behind on my schedule for the party. I have files that I keep from last year with a schedule of when we do everything. And it's alot. But I haven't been able to stop regular work to even go through my party checklist. Admitedly, I'm afraid. I'm "ostriching". So I started rolling over lots of my work stuff and party stuff onto Judy, my dear friend, and our Customer Service Manager. I made her promise to cry uncle before she cracks.

Our company party is really a weekend event centered around a 10 hour festival on Sat. at my house with petting zoo, pony rides, bounces houses, obstacle course, face painting, crafts, live shows, carolers, food tents, on-going buffet, popcorn machine, margarita machine, hot dog cart, etc.... SO fun! But it all starts with me booking all the flights for eveyone from all over the country to fly in Fri. and Sat (done), booking the hotel (rolled onto Judy), booking all transportation (done), a breakfast on Sunday before they fly back (rolled on to Judy)... It's a great weekend. But still need to book lots of stuff mentioned above, plus shop for party supplies. After all, I have 200 people coming. Oh, maybe I should unpack some boxes from my move and clean house too!

So... in order to get it all done and my regular work, for the last few weeks, I work until midnight, and back at it at 4:45 AM. When I woke up this morning, I realized I never sent the invitations. I like to print up nice ones on card stock. But I don't know when that will happen. I'm leaving for a press tour Sunday AM, and not scheduled to come back until the following Sunday. Oh well. The party will be what it will be. Worry doesn't help. Besides, it will be just as fun, even if I have to resort to Evite!

With all that said... let's remember the purpose of the holidays. Let's enjoy being with those we love. Try to keep it simple, and don't sweat the small stuff.

I've been having lots of emails flying around from classmates, as they just had a reunion. I just got an email from a classmate who told me something pretty cool. He said, "We bought a house with our oldest daughter and her husband 5 years ago and its working out great." So now he and his wife are living with their daughter, son in law, and 2 grandkids (1 year old and 3 year old). So wow! They pooled their family funds and are homeowners!

From what I can see, this pooling of family funds has lots of long term benefits. In other cultures, it's not uncommon for grandparents to live in the same house as their kids and grandkids. Kids who grow up with their grandparents in the household or with grandparents who are very much a part of their life, as in caretakers while parents are at work, etc. have an advantage. They get so much more "family" nurturing, which has to be a good thing. And I do know that teens having close relationships with other adults is a huge protective factor from the potential for drug abuse. Something I've learned from my brother's website: www.BreakingFreeDaily.com

So they're homeowners, and the kids get the benefit of growing up with their grandparents, and all that has to offer. Sounds like a fun and lively household to me, AND a win win situation!

Ok. We're back to swallowing sox whole. Last night he swallowed 2. And came up with one in the night. Then, this morning, I heard him trying to get a second one up. Fortunately, I was there to help. He was having trouble with the second one. It's like giving birth, I guess. There was about 6 inches of it out of his mouth, and he was struggling to get the rest out. So I pulled on it. Out it came, a long knee high, altogether about 2 feet long! And it's a knee high that I don't even recognize! OK. It's not even funny anymore. I know I'm going to have to enlist the help of a professional. Some people have said, "Just don't leave sox around." Well, Christian's friends take their shoes off. Marley also manages to sneak into laundry hampers when we're not looking, finds them under a bed... who knows? In this wacky busy household, there is no way to guarantee that Marley will never be able to get ahold of a sock.

Any suggestions? It's getting scary!

On another note, I am absolutely exhausted! I had a whirlwind press trip in NY with three tapings for three different productions, plus four press interviews, all in one day, followed by live Mike and Juliet Friday. Flew home Friday night, had a 10 hour video shoot on Sat., went to Christian's football game Sat. night, threw Greg a birthday party Sunday, been hitting the work load today. All after being up since 3:45 AM with puppy-rama! I'm pooped!

Last night, Christian and I made a chicken fried steak dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy. I decided to do something easy with the zucchini. I sliced the zucchini lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick. I poured a little olive oil onto a cookie sheet. And I coated all sides of the zucchini slices with oil. Then laid them all out in a single layer, and sprinkled with pepper, a teeny bit of garlic powder, and italian seasoning. I baked them for 10 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven. Then turned them for another 10 minutes.

This is also an easy "do ahead" veggie.

They looked pretty on a platter. And tasted delish! SO easy!