A few good gems

Friday greetings! It's been cold here this week (lows in the 30s), so we've finally, officially gotten our Fall on. I even made soup last night, which I served with little ciabatta toasts covered with melted gouda. It was kinda fancy, but required only a little effort -- which is my favorite kind of cooking. I did play around a bit too much this week, so I'm going to be working through the weekend, with just a little time off to celebrate some birthdays. Hope your weekend is more relaxed! Here's a few good gems to get you started:

My sister linked to this hilarious Pinterest list of projects 'Ain't nobody got time for.' Thanks Jenny!

Did you guys know you can opt your kids out of standardized testing? I'm a bit of a rule follower, so apparently I need a national publication to point this out to me. I'm on board with the hype that standardized testing has taken over public education, but I'm also apt to want to know how my kids measure up -- so that I can worry incessantly and read them Harry Potter books as supplement.

I think I might need to make a bevy of Winter Wonderland DIY Snow Globe Necklaces. You see, I have this thing . . . for snow globes.

We'll be printing these babies up for Thanksgiving Day. Nothing like a little bingo to warm the soul. (Stitch that on a pillow.)

Also, these turkey treats are alluring to me in some strange, net-ty, Reeses Pieces kind of way.

This is a favorite story of mine. I read it a year or so ago and then, after closing my browser, couldn't remember exactly where it came from (my kids moved away with my short-term memory). But then I happened upon it again this week. It's so moving -- full of hope and replete with despair. My favorite line invokes this familiar sense of wanting to MAKE THINGS RIGHT, which is sort of impossible -- and yet beautiful in its sentiment: "But maybe there was something he could do. And then she would remember why she chose him. Then she could be happy."

I saw this quote in more than one place this week. Yes. That's who I want to be. By the way, who is J. A. (NOT Jane Austen) ? I've looked around and can't find an attribution. Help!