Please say a prayer for Jimmy's grandmother, Delores Atkins. There are some health concerns and we would appreciate prayers being lifted up for her. She is an amazing woman whose faith and strength is a huge inspiration to me.

I am on a countdown to the big day. Jimmy's parents, grandparents and a friend of his from work will be joining us for our meal. Today is major shopping for food ingredients and tomorrow is major cooking day.

Our menu will include:

Turkey (thawing since Saturday)
Gravy (This is Diane's job, I stink at gravy)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole
Macaroni & Cheese
Broccoli Casserole
Cornbread Stuffing
Grape Salad
Cranberry Sauce
Bread

Dessert
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Sheet Cake
Fruit Pie (Jimmy's friend, Troy, will be bringing this)

Looking forward to spending sometime good family time and good food. What's on your menu? Are you cooking?

Shhhh! It is a present for Jimmy's grandparents.

**Thank you for all the *advice* for dealing with Jimmy. We had a nice long talk over the weekend. I bought him some materials to be better organized. The word of the week is ORGANIZATION!! For him and me both!

**Having a purse open house tonight. Major cleaning going on today!

**We are hosting Thanksgiving again this year with Jimmy's parents, grandparents and possibly his brother. Any requests, Pawpaw?

**We had beef stew on Saturday night. It was quite yummy!

Old Fashioned Beef Stew

2 pounds beef stew meat
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon salt
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash of ground allspice or ground cloves
6 medium carrots, scraped and quartered
5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 pound pearl onions, peeled
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Brown beef on all sides in hot oil in a Dutch oven. Add the 3 cups of water and the next nine ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and discard the garlic clove and bay leaves. Add the carrots and potatoes, cover and simmer 30 to 45 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Carefully remove beef and vegetables with a slotted spoon. Cover and keep warm. Drain off or skim fat from drippings, reserving 1-3/4 cups drippings in the Dutch oven.

Combine the 1/4 cup water with the flour, and stir until smooth. Stir a few tablespoons of the drippings into the flour mixture, and stir again until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the drippings in the Dutch oven, stirring constantly, until smooth. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Return meat and vegetables to Dutch oven, and stir to combine. Makes 9 cups.

I am at a loss as to what to do. I solicit your advice.

My son, Jimmy, is extremely disorganized when it comes to school. I think he is so distracted by the social aspects of class that his schoolwork is suffering. He is a good student, but his grades are not reflecting that right now. They give each child an assignment book at the beginning of the year and it has to be signed each day by the parent. The problem is there is no real consequence at school for not having it signed. Maybe a "demerit". I don't even know what that means for them.

He will have a test and "forget" to bring home his study guide. He will have homework and "forget" the page(s).

The control freak in me just wants to go to school everyday, write down his assignments, pack his bag up and take him home. Obviously that isn't realistic.

We have taken things away. And there are more things on the line right now. I think it bothers him, but for some reason it doesn't motivate him enough to get it done.

Help me. What can I do to help this child *want* to do his best and do his *job*?