A Circle of Friends

I have been thinking a lot lately about how this little circle of friends has grown and how far it reaches. I was reading in my Bible and found a great verse to encourage us in our quest for friendship:

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12
Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion,
But woe to him who is alone when he falls.
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken

Frienship is a blessing in any form.
Thank you God for our circle of friends:
Susie, Seeker, Saur,Slick, PrayerfulMom, Anne, Cheryl,JamieDawn, Jennifer,Ted, and all our visitors.

I pray that I am an encouragement to you and maybe make you laugh a little. I hope I haven't offended anyone with my strange sense of humor. Thank you for encouraging me and sharing your gift of friendship with me and mine.

Hoping everyone has a wonderfully long weekend.........


PS When I spellchecked this , the computer wanted to replace JamieDawn with "comedian". How funny is that?:o)

Lunch

I just spent my lunch break in a parking lot hooked up to someone's wireless internet blogging. How pathetic is that?

Blog more? YESSSSSSSSS

New Year/ New Adventures

Now announcing my wishes/prayers/desires for 2006:

Pray every day
Memorize a verse a month
Read every day
Stop and LISTEN to my kids
Fold my socks
Throw away the mismatched ones
Clean out my closet
Aggrevate my husband more
Blog every day
Bug Slick every day
Hug my kids everyday
Hey so far this is pretty fun and sounds pretty easy!
Drink more coffee! ( I can't believe I missed out on this for so long! YUM!)
Buy stock in Mack's Ear Plugs
Don't forget to spellcheck
Get movin more (that dreaded "e" word...exercise!)
Be on time to work
Shop the ads
Ask Joe to shop the ads for me
Clip coupons
Cut off cable
Fix my front door
Learn to make pie crust from Joe
Go to more music practices
Try not to sweat the small stuff
Remember it's not about me
Remember to say please and thank you
Sing a special in church
Learn to play something besides "Winter Wonderland" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" on the piano
Learn how to change my blog template
Be a better friend .
Don't interrupt
Listen more and talk less
Laugh at life more
Be a good example for my daughters.
Eat at a Thai restaurant
Sew something
Stop hiding the mouse from Joe


I reserve the right to change/delete/edit this list at my discretion.

New Blood

Hey y'all....please go check out:

slick's blog

He's new.

BINGO!

Got an email from G-mom. She is hosting a BINGO game for all the little girl cousins today! What fun that will be. Anything at G-moms is always fun. She is a really fun grandmother. She is so nurturing and sweet to the girls. She showers them with love an affection and gives such neat gifts! The prizes will be interesting and fun.....

My 16 yr old niece is in from Texas so they are going to have a fun day with her and spend the night. That will be a treat for me and Joe! BINGO! I smell a date night......

Last night Joe called Ted. Ted is remodeling his house. Ted needed help. We went to Ted's. Ted was half-nekid. Ted made a mess. Joe and Ted cleaned it up. Josie, Carly and Cassi left Joe there and went to the mall. :) I don't think they missed us.

Cassi has a loose tooth. Front left tooth. It is so loose, yet hangs on for dear life. I have pulled and pulled on it and can't get it out. She is a brave soul too...she will let anyone yank on it. She will be so cute when they are both gone! One of my favorite pictures of Carly is one when she has her two front teeth missing.

Why Cassidy Loves Sugar

Today when I came home for lunch Cassi was bouncing on the bed with sweet abandon and saying, "Guess what I had for lunch today Mom??!!! Cereal with SUGAR!!!"

Uhh. I left shortly after that.

ZZZZZZZ

I need an iv push of coffee this morning. My late night job is catching up with me quickly. I predict an early bed-time for Josefina tonight. :o)

Joe is cooking supper tonight....way to go Joe! Pasketti. One of my faves, and he will doctor it up right. (usually with a secret ingredient that I have to guess...I hope it's chocolate!!)

gotta get back to work
z
z
z
z
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Bed Head

I realized this morning at 8:05am that I forgot to change the message on the clinic's voicemail. You can hear my sleepy voice say, "Thank you for calling Muskogee...blah blah blah" you can also hear Cassidy in the background calling the dog with kissy sounds.

Today is Room Cleaning Day for Cassidy Faith. Her room looks like a cyclone hit, and that doesn't even include her loot from yesterday. After we get that cleaned up we plan on going to a movie with the whole bunch. That should be fun. We will smuggle in some kettle corn and go the Dollar Tree for candy too. :o)(if BigMouth Cassidy will keep her mouth shut!)

Last night while laying in bed Cassi was trying to figure out what all had happened this weekend. She kept saying, "Santa hasn't come yet. When is he coming? I saw you with all those presents we opened. You bought them." I replied, "So what does that tell you?" She said, "SANTA HASN'T COME YET!!" My poor little innocent baby. She is so confused. I will never do this again.(Have Christmas with them on Christmas Eve morning) Other people will have to wait, not our family.

Bloggin for Christmas

I think this has been the "funnest" Christmas I have had in a long time. We spread the joy out over 3 days so it was not so stressful trying to get everywhere we needed to be, and I had a good time shopping for everyone.

Joe's mother has Christmas on a different day so schedules are a little more cooperative. We started this tradition about 5 years ago after we all went to The Nutcracker ballet in Tulsa. We had an epiphany trying to schedule our get-together and had a spur of the moment gift exchange and supper. The only thing G-mom had on hand was tomato (look joe no 'e'!) soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was a fun day! So a tradition was born. We have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for supper then open gifts on a non Christmas day. It has worked for us and G-mom gets us all to herself.

My family has a different situation. My brother and aunt's birthday is Dec 24th so we go out to the local "Sizzler" for lunch to celebrate their birthdays. They really get jipped. No birthday cake or party for them,just a steak, but I think they like it that way.

We had Christmas with our girls yesterday morning and that confused Cassidy, the little one, a bit. She was actually surprised when she woke up this morning that there was no new toys, only stocking stuff. I didn't make a big deal of it and she didn't ask too many questions.

We have another Christmas get t0gether with my family on 24th afternoon. We don't draw names or anything, we just bring a woman/man gift and draw numbers. I wanted what I brought but didn't get it. (two really nice bracelets--I love jewelry) I got a huge pillow and some ornaments. I bet I will have to fight my husband and daughters for the pillow. It is a large oversized pillow and very very soft. I imagine it will end up under Joe's butt while he is blogging. I hope he covers it with a towel or something. Who wants butt-cooties on their pillow? Not me. How disgusting!

After all that partying we have yet another get t0gether to go to. It is a appetizer supper along with good company with my paternal aunt and her family. Between all of us (5) cousins we only have 4 kids so it isn't too hectic, although Cassidy makes enough noise for two or three kids! We enjoy getting to visit with them and only let the kids exchange gifts.

This morning we got up and went to church. It was PACKED!! We got there during the "Greeting Time" and had to sit on the front row! We sat by the preacher and he is such a goof ball. I was just singin' my heart out on the Christmas songs and he leaned over and said, "Since I am sitting by you and I can hear you sing,you are now in the choir." I think I blushed. I felt sure that with so many people singing no one could hear just me (other than Cassidy who was on my lap the entire time) We had a nice service and shared the Lords Supper. That is always a special time.

Joe got me some nice onyx earrings, a Wizard of Oz tin and plate, a movie and some custom made lotion. I will be smelling good, looking good and having a good time later. :o) Watchin' the movie!!

I asked Joe what his fave gift was and he said it was the Batman puzzle I found for him and Cassidy to put together. (ages 4+) I quickly lost out to a Jazz CD collection from my father in law. Hmmph. I can't compete with a guitar, never have won and never will I guess. haha

Has anyone heard of Michael Buble? He is a "crooner". I got Joe his new cd and it is so fun! I totally recommend it. It has a great song called "Home". We all got in the kitchen and had tag-team dancing to an upbeat one. Joe really got his heart rate up on that one!

Well that is about all I can afford to blog today. We are at my parent's house right now and Joe is about to leave me here. He is such a bosses butt.

Hope you all are having fun and not reading this silly post. (I can say that to myself, but none of you can.)

Merry Christmas to all! (Or should I say, Disgusting Fingers?! Check out Jamie Dawn's blog for an explanation on that one.)

Moobie Night

I think Joe and Susie stumbled onto a good idea. A Blogger Movie Circle. A circle of blogger friends could all watch the same movie on the same night and discuss/pick apart/slam/praise the movie in blog-land.

We could rotate the movie selector....that should give us an eclectic selection of movies.


Who's in?

Tap Dancing in Hades

Cassidy's dance class held their annual Nursing Home Christmas Program last night. Oh.My. Goodness. It was SO flippin' hot in there!! I know that the little old people need it warm due to their poor circulation, but please think of the healthy visitors! Whenwe got done we rushed out of there to the frigid night air to catch out breath. Our cheeks were all rosy and Joe and I were parched. We came home and drank a whole container of orange juice!

My sweet sister in law tacket tinsel to the bottom of our girls dance skirts and they looked adorable. I hope to have a picture to post soon. Alli (her daughter) and Cassidy aren't in the same class, and they were of COURSE the best dancers in their respective classes. Cassi is the oldest in her class and is pretty good! It was just so sweet to watch them.

After the dance we went around the room and shook hands with the residents and said Merry Christmas! I was surprised at the children for doing it because some of the residents were a little scary looking, but very sweet and grateful for the attention.

When we got outside, Carly said, "Mom when we leave Nursing Homes, Nana says we always have to wash our hands." Funny, but true.

So, who knows what Joe is getting me for Christmas?? :0) heehee

Cassidy AKA Rachel Ray

Today while I was making Christmas cookies, Cassidy was having some play time. She was Rachel Ray,of the Food Network's 30 Minute Meals. Apparently there was a taping right at my kitchen table.

What was the menu you ask? Toe Jam. (Yes Toe Jam.) Here is the recipe:
First you mush it up, then pinch it up.
Put it in the oven til January a month ago and then it is done.

Tell me my baby's not gifted. Can your child cook toe jam?! :o)

I am still laughing!!!

She even had commercial breaks! She would go back to the table and say, "We're back cooking toe jam....."

I am a little off today

Ha! A day off! So, why was I up at 5:30 watching Batman Begins? Because Cassidy, otherwise known as Sleeping Taz came to our bed this morning at 3am. She doesn't do well in group sleep settings. She requires a lot of room. Did I also mention that she suffers from nocturnal voice emodulation? Yep she talks and sometimes yells in her sleep. Needless to say, Mom was not getting a good night's sleep. This may be the day that a nap takes me as Joe says.

I have some big plans for today if I can find some wonderful soul to watch Cassidy. Grandma is contagious with an eye infection and we really don't care to share that wonderful affliction with her so we will have to make alternate arrangements for her. Joe wants to date me today and go to a movie. I hope it's not King Kong. I heard large apes are from the devil so I am scared to go.

We got a light dusting of snow last night. Just enough to make all the cars/rooftops white. :o)

Most Excellent Weekend!

Got my shopping done, now I just need to wrap it all. There is not ONE gift under our tree yet. That is worrying the girls a bit. :) I have all their stuff hidden. You know I never know whether to wrap their gifts up or not. One year I did and they wanted them not wrapped, so the next year I left them out and what did they want? Wrapped. I can't win.

The girls and I went to my niece, Salani's Christmas program last night. I hated missing our adult's program cause my friend, Shannon had a big ad-lib singing part. The choir director asked her not to "growl" during the ad-lib and I was sure hoping she would do it anyway. She is such a rebel. Joe said she did it a little and it was good.

This is the first day of Joe's Two Week Torture with Carly and Cassidy. I tried real hard to get the living room cleaned up last night so it wouldn't seem quite so bad. Almost got it done, just needed to vacuum, and I thought that would be a good day-time job, not an eleven pm job. :)

Well I got to work early, so I guess I will get to work early.

10:45am: I really need to spell check these posts before I publish. I found funny errors. The girls are worring me. Yep that's true. They drive me crazy. And Shannon was asked not to "grow" haha!!

Yummy Dessert

Here is a yummy dessert I had recently. Thought someone might like to try it for Christmas. :) Let me know how it turns out.

Philadelphia Cherry Danish Dessert

2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls, divided.
2 tubs (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese Spread.
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided.
1 egg white.
1 tsp. vanilla.
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling.
1 to 2 Tbsp. fat free milk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll one of the cans of crescent dough. Place in greased 13x9-inch baking pan;press onto bottom of pan to formcrust, firmly pressing seams together to seal.Beat cream cheese spread, 3/4 cup of the sugar, egg white and vanilla withelectric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Spread onto crust;cover with pie filling. Unroll remaining can of crescent dough onto largesheet of wax paper. Pat out dough to form pan, pressing seams together to seal. Invert over pie filling to form top crust; discard wax paper.

Bake 30 to 35 min. or until golden brown. Cool at least 20 min.

Gradually add milk to remaining 3/4 cup sugar, beating until will blended and thick. Drizzle over warm dessert. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

My name is Josefina and I am a re-gifter

I went to the "Sister Party" yesterday (My mother and her 6 sisters host a party for all the daughters/daughters in laws at Christmas and Mothers day each year) and I ended up with the gift I took. It was my own doing. I didn't like any of the other gifts and decided I would just take mine back and get something for someone else. I also got some unwanted booty from my sister in law to regift to my step-mother in law. Hey every penny I can save helps me out, and just why would I want to keep something I will never use? I wish I had thought of re-gifting those nose hair clippers.

I got to feeling a little bad at the party and left as soon as it was over. I thought it was from the 5 cheese balls that they had and went home to lay down. Turns out I had a slight fever. Joe snuggled with me till I fell alseep and I felt much better after a short nap. I like naps. I don't get to enjoy them much any more though.

We have found a nice circle of blogger friends over the past few weeks. What fun you all are! I was afraid of blogging at first because I was afraid of some random creepy person reading/commenting on my posts. You all are nice, normal (well mostly normal) people and I am glad to have you! You all keep me laughing and thinking all the time! I actually miss it when I am at work and sneak off to the ONE computer in the building that has internet and blog a line or two. :o)

Only ONE week til Christmas!! I can't wait for Joe to see his gifts! I am planning another early morning trip to Walmart tomorrow to try and finish up my shopping. The kids are out of school and they will be asleep when I leave. Joe will be stuck with them for two whole weeks. Please pray for them! (really. they wear him out. )

Joe is behind me on our bed indulging in a nap. I think I will join him for a little rest before church tonight.

Random Things About Josefina

1. My first wedding was the first civilian wedding in the fort at Ft. Gibson. My first marriage ended in the first divorce at the fort too.

2. I hear voices that tell me to steal my husband's mouse.

3. I peel the top off pizza and eat it first, then the crust.

4. I hate celery but will eat it for $100 per stalk. Joe paid me once and I choked it down. :) $$

5. I have a terrible weakness for toilet humor.

6. I sleep with ear plugs because someone in my bed snores.

7. I have had three broken bones.

8. I have never taken drugs or smoked. Well once I had one drag and nearly choked.

9. I share my given first name with my mother and my paternal grandmother.

10. I am ditzy and I know it.

11. I don't like reality shows. They aren't reality.

12. I saw a tornadoe once. Joe and his friend stood out in the yard and watched it. I stayed inside.

13. My favorite movie is Joe vs the Volcano.
Just kidding. It's The Wizard of Oz.

14. I worked as a waitress once. (See #10 to know why I quit)

15. I twirled a rifle in high school.

16. I am the oldest of three siblings (brothers)

17. I won a waterbed in a radio contest once.

18. I met Joe two weeks after I got divorced. We have been together since. (14 years)

19. I have never met anyone famous (that I can recall.)

20. I have three jobs, one of which involved collecting urine for drugscreens.

Lunch-time shopping

Hey I have a new diet: Lunchtime Shopping Diet. It is very easy. Shop your whole lunch hour away and don't eat! I even tried to go to McD's but had to abandon my order because we not only have a drive thru, but one with TWO lanes so I got behind about 4 people and only 3 minutes to get back to work. I settled for a tuna-pack and some left-over cheese-ball from the party.

Went to do some shopping for Uncle Joe and found some treasures. I can't wait for Christmas morning! :)

My mother is taking my 6 yr old Christmas shopping later. This should be interesting. They let the grandchildren buy whatever they want for their parents. One year I got purple measuring spoons. My daughters are very practical gift-givers apparently. (hey measuring spoons are better than nose hair clippers any day!)

The Office Christmas Party

We went to the boss' house for our annual Christmas party tonight. It was actually one of the more fun parties we have had. We have some party-poopers at work and some who think a party must involve alcoholic libations. The latter indulged in their libation of choice prior to their arrival at the party. The former didn't come and I am glad. (She is a buttinski-meanie-know-it-all) Some of our past parties have gotten pretty wild after we left of course, so I was glad this one was fun but tame.

Uncle Joe accompanied me to the affair and assured me he could turn on the charm at will if needed if the party got dull. Thankfully he did not have to.....we all had a good time visiting.

We have 13 employees and most came with their spouses. A drug rep sponsored the food, so we had some nice appetizers and desserts. We had been rat-holing money away all year for the party and since we didn't have to spend it, maybe we could talk the boss into another party!

We drew numbers for the gift exchange and I got a wonderful man-gift: a rechargable spotlight. (There was only one man who participated and he wouldn't listen to me telling him to choose his own gift....so he ended up with some nice Freesia scented bath products. haha) I think I will re-gift it to Uncle Joe. Who cares that he saw me open it up?

As I sat enjoying my newly discovered treat....coffee with vanilla creamer, Uncle Joe accused me of only starting to like coffee to get on his good side. How absurd! I have always loved the smell of coffee. I discussed with my friend, Murff, that we should make an alarm clock that emitted coffee scent to wake you up. Doesn't that just sound devine? I have even gone so far as to pour a cup and just set it on my desk for the aroma before I discovered this wonderful vanilla creamer!! When Joe was the Coffee Man I was turned on to cappaccino, and as the time has passed, I mixed more and more coffee in it till I can drink just coffee. When I arrived at work one day this week and poured a cup before I went to my desk I had a revelation: I am finally grown up! I like coffee! It was a good day. Joe, you should be proud of me. :) That is also why I am still blogging at 11:30pm! haha Maybe I should think about some decaf next time.

Why Santa Really Won't Visit Uncle Joe

The day before yesterday, before I went to bed, Uncle Joe told me, "I think I will fast from blogging tomorrow."

Yesterday, when I got up I took a shower and then checked email and popped in on Jamie Dawn and Saur to see what they had posted for the day. I had a feeling he was going to cave in and I had a naughty thought: Take the mouse so he CAN'T blog. I pushed the thought away because it sounded a little mean.

I went on my merry way to work and left him to deal with the Two Drama Queens and get them off to school.

I had a break at work mid-morning and thought I would check in and just see if he was being strong. WHen I called I heard the most annoying sound...booop-booop-booop. THe line was busy. I thought to myself, "I have a sneaky feeling he is cheating on his fast" so I logged on to Jamies blog and lo and behold he had been there and told her not to tell!!!! He was busted. (See her post for 12-14-05)

I wrote a very "stern" :0) email to him and before I could hit send he was calling me at work. "Research" he says, "I was doing reasearch." I responded that comment on blogs was blogging.

When I went home for lunch he was watching t.v. When I got ready to leave, I just quietly went into the bedroom and put the mouse in my pocket, kissed him goodbye and went out the door. Just before I left he said he was needing a nap so he would feel good for our RoadTrip that evening. (More on that wonderful experience later)

I got in my car, put it in reverse and DID NOT EVEN MAKE IT OUT THE DRIVEWAY when my phone rang. All he said was, "You mouse stealing Bitty." I laughed all the way back to work and laughed the rest of the day. :o)

I just helped a soul in need afterall. He did get to rest a little. He said he could get the icons to work a little without the mouse, but he couldn't navigate very well, so he gave up and did something else.


Thank goodness he wasn't too mad at me. :) It was all in good fun afterall. He has dished out some doozy practical jokes in his time, so it is high time he get some thrown back at him. Keeps him on his toes don't you think? HAHA

P.S. Thanks for keeping him honest Jamie!

Encore!

The Girl Scout's play went off without a hitch....and the District Leader was there. She is in charge of entertainment for the Area/District Christmas party in Tulsa and was scouting for entertainment. Our girls may get to perform for all the District Leaders. What an honor that would be! The night was great.....except those giggly squealy girls wouldn't be quiet while we were waiting for the curtain to open, but as soon as it did they put on their best manners and performed the best they ever have. I think we had 20+ people there, so that was good in itself.


Hubby had to miss the play. He had one of those naps where "the nap takes him" and has a vague recollection of my call to wake him up to come to the play. I know he felt bad for missing it. When we got home he said, Bad Dad!" We did get it on video so he will have to watch that today and probably go to Tulsa if that pans out as pentance don't you think? :) haha

Cassidy

Last night while Hubby and I were snuggling in Cassidy's bed (the 6 yr old) she said something funny.

Hubby and I were snuggled together and she got jealous and said, "Dad get your hand off Mom's breath."

He looked at me and we just cracked up. His hand was not on my breath....

I am a little worried about that statement .....

Monday Monday

I have to get up at 5 flippin 30 in the morning to get a turn on the computer! My hubby is addicted to the BlogWorld! :) I teased him yesterday about all his BlogBuddies.....don't y'all work??

We had our Christmas program last night at church. Both our daughters were in it and let me tell you it was so cute!! My oldest daughter had to stand in the back row because she is so tall so I could hardly see her...but I could see that she was right where she wanted to be where she could hide. I saw her pretty fact peeking out at me several times and would smile at her. I don't know if she saw me or not, it was hard to tell. My baby (Who turned 6 yesterday) was in the elementary choir so they were in the front. She is also tallest so she was easy to spot. She on the other hand is a ham.

I am ready for a day off. I need a day to do some shopping before Christmas, but I have to wait for payday! I think I will ask for Friday off and finish up. We don't have a lot to buy for this year so that is nice since we really don't have the funds. It will help us remember what Christmas is really about.

Our Girl Scout play is tonight. I will be glad for it to be over. The girls have worked hard, but I am just ready to get on to something else.

My weekend was very full. Saturday we had company all day and I got stuck at home with 4 giggling, squealing, dancing, mess making girls and had to miss a fun time with Hubby and his band members and their spouses. Then Sunday was full of church activities including the program above, the prep for the play with the Girl Scouts. It was a fun but tiring weekend.

That's My Man

Yep, I get to go home with that cute guitar player! I just love hearing my man play guitar with the band. I know I am guilty of taking him for granted because I hear him play alot at home, and I am reminded of that when I hear him play &/or sing in public.

We went to a benefit for a fellow church member who has been diagnosed w/ a rare brain cancer. He was originally diagnosed in 1998 and has had several surgeries, and one of the more recent surgeries required removal of his right eye and a portion of his facial bones. He is a deacon in our church and has led us all by his example. He is very young, 31, and having to deal with all this illness has brought on his family has been devastating. He and his wife, Amy, have two young children and there was a time before the last surgery that we didn't know if he was going to make it or not. Thank God he was a surgical candidate and they got all the tumor. He had developed terrible headaches and seizures recently and had to return to NYC for more surgery, not even knowing what they were going to find. Thankfully, it was all scar tissue causing those problems and now that is has been removed, he is on his way to recovery.

Anyway, Hubby and two different bands played tonight and it was very nice. I look at him up there and I get a big smile on my face. That's my man and I still think he is very handsome and you know, he can still make me get weak kneed and have butterflies in my stomach. I guess that's a good thing after being married 12 years

You know, they (and I have no clue who THEY are) always say that the toughest year being married is the first. I didn't find that to be true. I think it is different for every body, but that first year was the best! I think it was a few years after our second child was born that it got tough. I feel so wrapped up in daily life that we neglect each other and our relationship. I have made a conscious effort of late to let him know how I feel and show him more respect and consideration. Let's face it our life is not wonderful, but it is ours and we have to make the best of it TOGETHER. God please help us to remember that we will be long after our children are gone from our nest and not to lose sight of each other and what we mean to one another.

Favorite Christmas _____

What is your favorite Christmas______________ ?

You fill in the blank. Could be fave cookie recipe, fave ornament, fave memory, fave activity.......whatever.

My favorite Christmas decoration(s) is a pair of penguins I got at a Secret Sister gift exachange 6 years ago. We were playing Dirty Santa and the number I drew was 27 out of about 30 women, so I had a long time to ponder whose gift I was going to go for. I saw what I wanted and who had them and kept my mind on that. I was pregnant at the time and was about to burst. My belly was hurting a little and I just didn't feel all that good, but I wasn't leaving without those penguins! (My husband loves penguins and I wanted to surprise him)
When my number came up I got tears in my eyes and said, "I want the penguins that Carol has and I am going home because I don't feel good!" I took my penguins and left. I went into labor that night and my baby girl, Cassidy, was born the next morning. :) I still have the penguins and I think of that night every time I pull them out for Christmas.

My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas my husband proposed to me. We had been dating for a year and I had hoped he would propose. I was living in a little one bedroom apartment at the time and was just so pleased that I had made it on my own that year after my divorce. He came in with a little Christmas tree and in the middle of it was a box. It was wrapped in Christmas paper with a picture of Santa on it. He had written on the beard: Will you marry me?. I have a picture of our kiss after I said yes. It is one of my favorites. We look so young! We have been married 12 years now. :)

One of my favorite things to do for Christmas was prepare a secret stocking for my grandmother, Nan. All the grand-kids would pitch in a little something for this huge red stocking and we would put in on her door for her to open the next day when she went out to get the news paper. We put all kinds of things in it....some silly some practical. She was 91 years old and had what she needed. We just made it fun for her. She always loved it and told my aunt that she looked forward to seeing what Santy Claus would leave her. She died this past October. I suppose I will have to find another sweet little lady to pass the stocking to. :)


My favorite Christmas Carol is Holy Night. I sang it in a duet at Church years ago and I loved the harmonies.

Strange Christmas Gifts

What is the strangest Christmas gift you have received over the years??

Mine was a nose-hair clipper from my husband's grandmother. Sad to say I actually tried them out too. :) ha

Making a dent

No, not on my car or on Hubby's head, although he deserves one. (Love ya Joe!)

I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn (as my niece erroneously said one time) this morning and got a wild hair to go to Walmart at 6am. I totally recommend early shopping and vehemently discourage late night shopping after I saw a drug deal go down right in front of the store while I had my daughter and two of her friends with me at a midnight escapade. (It was a slumber party and we wanted to go in our pj's) Early shopping in a crazy store like that is the way to go and avoid all the crowds. I used to love our little Walmart and since we have gotten the Super Center I HATE HATE going there. I hate it that they have the lowest prices and there is little other choice, unless you want to make numerous stops and still not get what you want. ( I even heard they are putting in a medical clinic there! Now tell me who wants to go to Walmart and go to the doctor!!?? I have a real problem with that but we'll save that for another post)

I have two daughters as you well know and I went in the store with a few ideas and came out with their Christmas mostly purchased. I was very pleased with myself. I even purchased a few things for Hubby while I was there. I really agonize over gift giving. I want my choice to be well thought out and the perfect gift. Sometimes I hit the jack pot and sometimes I flop. I found some boots my youngest daughter wanted and a cd player for my oldest, and _____ for Hubby. (sorry he might read this and I can't give away the secret!)

I agonized most over a gift to take to my Mother/Daughter Christmas party. It is all of my mothers sisters and their daughters and daughters-in-laws, and we play Dirty Santa. Let me tell you they get pretty nasty in the gift snatching. I hate playing that game because:
1. I always get my gift snatched
2. I hate snatching someone elses gift
3. I get way too emotional about it, and get mad if someone snatches a gift that the recipient really likes.
4. I am sad if my gift is not the one getting snatched. Lets face it you are judged somewhat by the gift you
bring...we all want to bring the gift that gets snatched the most!

That's why I always bring a gift I want, that way if it is getting too out of hand by the time my turn comes I will just pick mine. This year I chose a themed gift: Making Cookies. I got a cookie sheet, a silicone baking pad, a scoop to measure the cookie dough, a "Spoonula", a spatula, a serving tray and some cookie mixes. Not a bad gift. If I get it I am taking some of it back though....is that wrong? Too bad if it is. Haha you have no control over me and who would know what you think anyway since I rarely get comments! HA so there!

We went to our Sunday School Class Christmas party last night at a friend's house. Boy what fun that was! I was worried because I hardly know any of the other wives and when faced with situations where I don't know the people very well, I tend to turn into the Hostess' Helper. Hey, I may not make good conversation but I know how to get set up or clean up! I made myself just pick a group and talk....and it went fine. I just feel so weird sometimes......

We played Dirty Santa with White Elephant gifts. ( a "gift" from your house that you don't want any more) The funniest thing to me was a welding hat. I took (on behalf of Hubby) a Viagra clock and pen that seemed to get a lot of laughs, especially since the newly wed husband got it! I (0f course) got my gift stolen and stole Bethany's gift and almost managaged to keep it the rest of the time until a Big Mouth said to the last person, "Hey Josefina has something cute!!" I had been at the back of the group being real quiet like a mouse and had the cutest little church candle thing, but alas, some Ding Bat stole it! I ended up with a cute Santa and a candle so it wasn't all for naught.

The best part of the party was after most everyone left and the only people that were left were the "funny ones" (with a weakness for toilet humor apparently.) I am ashamed to admit it but our conversation got stuck on farts, being accidentally nude in front of someone, and peeing outside. I got one of our substitute teachers SO good. He was laughing about the fact that he and his two sons pee out the back door every morning (no matter how cold it is ...yikes!) and I mentioned the fact that at his last visit to our house I was at the computer by the back glass door and saw him go behind our garage to take a leak. The look on his face was priceless! I had told Hubby about it but he failed to mention it to Sub-Teacher! I laughed so hard my jaws were sore from smiling so much! That is a good feeling.

I actually got our Christmas tree up early this year. Usually I am having to force myself after Cassidy's birthday on 12-11 to get it up in time to enjoy it for a while. I just love to look at the lights in the dark. It is so relaxing. Wish I had a big furry blanket to lay on with my hubby under those lights.......

I really want to focus on what Christmas is really about with my daughters this year. Partly in cause by the fact that the pickings will be slim and I want to teach them that it is not about GETTING. I want them to know that it is about GIVING. God gave us His only Son at Christmas time and we should follow Him and give also. I am not sure how to get the point across to each daughter since they are quite a bit apart in age. This will take some thought, I will need to employ the thoughtfulness of my husband for this one.

I am grateful this season for my job. We got to cash in some vacation time and that funded my fun day today. I sure was going to hate not having any money, but praise God we are going to be ok.

Inferior Blog

I must be the most boring person in the Blog World.

I don't ask for much just a little attention now and again, just to let me know you're out there.

Is anyone out there?

HELLOOOOO!

Oh, there you are Peter.......(my favorite line from Hook)

I must have insomnia tonight. Stayed up paying bills and now I am awake and poor. What a sad state that is.

Is the Blog World real? Are you people who/what you say you are? I have often wondered how honest people are on their blogs. I think my blog is a true reflection of me. I am simple, but not simple minded! I don't lead an exciting life to some, but I enjoy seeing my life in print. I am not the most versed writer, but I enjoy blogging....just looking for new friends.