Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Losing Weight

Losing Weight: This is a biggie. It's probably going on most people's resolution list somewhere, even if you are like Betty and are already perfect (look at that woman's BMI at the bottom of her blog!), but you still want to lose a couple more pounds.

I think I've told the story before, but the impetus for me to lose weight came last January when I had to renew my driver's license complete with new photo. My kids were with me that day, and once I looked at that photo I ask in despair if that is what I really looked like. My little ones just answered yes, but Amber being older and wiser said that it really wasn't that bad of a photo. Yes it was, and I was determined to lose weight, but I wanted to do it healthfully.

I listened to Jack Stockwell's morning talk radio shows about losing weight. As I listened I learned that the books they were working with was Fit for Life and Eat Right for Your Type. I found the Fit for Life book and skimmed the Eat Right for Your Type.

I was impressed with what I read in the Fit for Life book:
Eat as much fruit as you want before noon, but ONLY eat fruit.
Quit eating at 8:00 p.m.
Between Noon & 8 p.m.: eat as many vegetables as you want, but eat meat separately from carbs. Wait 4 hours after eating meat to eat carbs, and 3 hours after carbs to eat meat.
If you are trying to digest easily, don't eat or drink dairy products with your food. I haven't figured out how to inlude dairy products in my diet yet, because dairy has an entirely different pH from carbs and meat.

The reasoning of eating meat & carbs separately is because they break down in different pH's. If you eat them together, it will take several mores hours to digest and your food will rot before it is digested. A great realization for those suffering from reflux! Eat the foods separately and let them move out of your stomach quicker and lessen the reflux problem!

There are great calorie counters out there, too. You can look on food labels, but if you are cooking from scratch like I mostly do, I regularly used websites like this one to help me. I used a microsoft excell sheet and wrote down everything I ate along with the calories I consumed. At the top of each day's entry I dated it and put my first-thing-in-the-morning weight. As I started losing weight I noticed the pattern of how many calories I needed to maintain my weight and how many I needed to lose weight. It was a wonderful "aha" moment.

After I got ulcers from my GERD, the only thing I changed was to stop eating at 6:00 p.m. That gives me 3-4 hours for my food to digest completely before I lay down flat in bed. If I haven't digested completely I have to use a big bed pillow to sleep sitting up in bed until I have digested, and that stinks!
So far so good though. My ulcers have stopped hurting, which is a huge blessing.

So, for a recap:

1) Eat only fruit, and as much fruit as you want, until Noon.

2) Stop eating entirely at 8:00 p.m.

3) Eat as many vegies as you want from noon until 8:00 p.m.

4) Eat Meat & Carbs separately: Wait 4 hours after eating meat to eat carbs, and 3 hours after carbs to eat meat.

5) If you are trying to digest easily, don't eat or drink dairy products with your food because dairy has an entirely different pH from everything.

6) Watch caloric intact and look for patterns of how many your body needs to maintain its weight and then how many fewer you need to lose weight.

And most of all: Eat healthy. Eat more whole foods. Eat fewer processed and refined foods. Take your vitamins. And drink plenty of Water.


Thirty pounds lighter, these are the things I've learned, and I share them with you along with much love and good wishes for your feeling of well-being and for your health.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

What's on your resolution list?

I'm still pondering New Year resolutions. Getting my Amber's sewing machine fixed is on there! Yesterday I cleared off my desk, put the sewing machine on it, got out my patches for my quilt, made a pattern with the patches, sat down to sew and......the needle didn't go up and down. There is just a revving sounds. Dang! Don't you hate it when you have psyched yourself up to do a project and gone to all the trouble to start and then something happens where you can't?

I bought some more material yesterday even though I know the sewing machine is broken. I am having faith that it will be something small and I can get back to work. I am going to make another little quilt. This will be the top:



I know, I know, I should be working on Josh's quilt, but something about the enormity of that project has me paralysed. I will work through that issue, this year too. There we go! My second resolution: Finish Josh's Quilt. Talking this through is therapuetic.

Yesterday I also bought some felt to make some Christmas Cookie Ornaments that I saw on Bloomin' Workshop's Flikr Pics. Take a look at #30 Sugar Cookies when you get there. Jared told me how cruel I'd be to make something that looks so good to eat when they aren't edible. (That kid's life revolves around food!) The pics came from this blog post.

I've got to go make breakfast...the kiddos are all awake now. Drop me a line in my comments and let me know what is on your own list of resolutions. Perhaps I can get inspired to finally finish mine!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Baby It's Cold Outside

Steve & I were listening to my playlist when "Baby It's Cold Outside" came on. He looked up the YouTube video to go with it. It is from Neptune's Daughter. I'll have to watch the movie sometime!

Anyway, the first video is the one with Ricardo Montalban and Ester Williams, the second with Red Skelton and Betty Garret. Don't leave without watching the one with Red Skelton and Betty Garret though, it is my favorite!




Saturday, December 27, 2008

It's that time again.....

It's time once again to think about New Year's Resolutions: Weight to lose. Will-power to gain. Projects to make. Organization to do. All leading to one goal: being a better you & me.

So over the course of the next few days leading up to New Year's Day, those are the things my mind will be mulling over.

Sometimes it takes me a couple of years to finally get my act together. Sometimes necessity is the impetus. Sometimes a nagging spouse, not that mine ever nags, do you dear? And not that I nag him, (shush dear, not now) but I've heard that some spouses nag. And sometimes we fight through the desire to quit and find the drive to do what we should. And whatever the reason, we are glad for those successes that drive us to do even better.

So throughout the next week, I will be examining myself and looking for things I'd like to change and do better. Then on New Year's Day I'll be ready to make a list of resolutions.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!





Take a look at Steve's & my new toy!



Steve & I happened to be at WalMart and saw this clearanced for $99! Steve looked it up online and found that it is a $240 camera. I like those kind of deals! You will now be seeing pictures from an 8.1 pixel camera instead of my old 3.1.

The Christmas presents are opened, the wrapping paper and boxes are bagged up for the trash, and the kids are off reading their new books or playing their new games, which leaves a couple quiet moments for me to blog.



I hope that your Christmas morning went wonderfully well and that you received love and appreciation for your efforts to make your family's Christmas happy. I also hope that you received a gift that makes you excited and that you are spending Christmas with those that you love.

My family will be having my Pot Roast today for dinner. I was the one who chose it and I'm very excited for it! So...I'd better go get cookin'!

Have a wonderfully merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Waiting for Santa


This was as close to Santa as my kids got. The line wrapped around the mall's court. So we waved at Santa, took a picture as close as we could to him, and played for awhile.



Tonight they will wait for Santa's visit.



And to all a good night.

Christmas Eve Day



Christmas Eve Day. An organized chaos will abide at my house for the next two days.



My wish for you is that you can find the magic of Christmas this year! Have a wonderfully Merry Christmas!



I will leave you with my dd's version of "Christmas Cookies" sung by George Strait and lip synced to by Jeremiah the Bullfrog.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

2 Days Before Christmas

Two days before Christmas! Yikes! I still have to finish shopping (just a couple of presents left!), finish baking goodies for others and for my family, take the kids to see Santa (I didn't get to the other day because he was outside, there was a long line, and it was freezing!), finish wrapping presents, help my mom with her Christmas presents and maybe even take her to the store, and then I get to spend time with a friend visiting from out of state that I haven't seen for about 12 years. It will be a wonderful, but full, day!

What do you have left to do before Christmas?

Monday, December 22, 2008

TAG!!

I was tagged by Fox from Copper's Fox to write 7 weird/random things about myself. Hum, let's see....

7) My favorite Christmas candy is Bars.

6) My all-time favorite movie is The Lakehouse. I have many other favorite movies, but this is the tops!

5) But I can't forget to mention A Walk in the Clouds. I loved that one too!

4) When I was a kid, every year The Wizard of Oz was on tv and every year I watched it. When I was in high school, I had a boyfriend who would, with his dad, recite word for word the scene where the neighbor lady came to talk to Henry about Dorothy's dog. It made me laugh every time. Take a look at the clip below. My favorite part starts at 8:oo minutes and lasts until 8:35 minutes.


3) I have lost 30 pounds since January!! I *was* trying to lose weight before my esophogeal ulcers started hurting, but since September is when I lost the last 10 pounds. It all started when I had to get a new picture on my driver's license last January....
I would like to lose about 10 more pounds, but I'm not working on it very hard.

2) I love making crafts. I just haven't gotten around to it much lately, though. I like the crafts that I can make in 1 day, because I'm impatient like that.

1) My favorite flower is an Iris.

I tag: Anyone who wants to participate! Really. I mean it. So if you want to do it, YOU are TAGGED! If you do the tag, let me know. I really like to read them! (I also really like to write them. That is a bonus random/weird thing about me. ;-) And then I will link to your 7 random things from my blog.

Here are the rules:


• Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules in your post.


• Share seven random/weird facts about yourself.


• Tag seven random people and link to their blogs.


• Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

Have fun with it!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Easy Fudge


A few years ago I was introduced to this wonderfully tasty and wonderfully easy-to-make fudge. It only takes a few minutes to make...just long enough for the chocolate chips to melt, and then you're done!

So here is the recipe:

For an 8" or 9" square or round pan:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla

For a 9" x 13" pan double the recipe, then:

In a medium saucepan combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate chips are melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour mixture into greased pan and refrigerate until set up.

There you go! The simplest fudge you'll ever make!

Friday, December 19, 2008

And the Winner Is......


I have found the winner of my Blogiversary Giveaway!!!

I printed out a list of all of your names, cut them out, making sure they were the same size, and then folded them all in half.


Then I put them all in a bucket and...

I had Matt close his eyes and pick one name.

And the winner is......


Eternal Sunshine!!! Congratulations!!!

Eternal Sunshine, email me with your addy and I will send the book of your choice to you!

Thanks to all of you who participated in this give-away! And especially thank you for reading my blog and listening to all of the rambling roads of my mind during the past year! I value each of you as a friend.

Sincerely,

"Bar" Recipe


Don't forget to comment on each days' post to increase your chances of winning in my blogiversary giveaway!!
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I made Bars yesterday morning. YUM! It is my very favorite Christmas Candy. As I made it, I paid special attention to the amounts of the ingredients I added, temperature of the oven, and time baked. So here is the recipe:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
3 cups crushed graham crackers

Combine and press onto a 9" x 13" cake pan to form a graham cracker crust.

Layer the following (making sure each layer spreads out to cover the entire pan):

2 cups coconut
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into small pieces and Enjoy!

What is your favorite Christmas Candy?

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Christmas Magic


Don't forget to comment on each days' post to increase your chances of winning in my blogiversary giveaway!!
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I'm feeling a bit meloncholy today. The world outside my windows is wet, white, and wonderful! Inside I need to tidy up, but can't seem to find the umph I need. I also need to cook some food for the four of us to eat. Bah. I was *not* a born homemaker.

Instead, there is a lot that has been going on in my head instead. Visits to Christmases past, listening to my little ones talking with each other, thinking about what made Christmas so... so... sparkly...and so..magic, when I was a child. I'm trying to think if it was events leading up to Christmas, or traditions that made Christmas seem more exciting, or if it was just because I was a child. But I am missing and longing for that magic again.

What about you? Are your Christmases still magic? What traditions do you have that make your holidays sparkle?

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It's My 1st Blogiversary! Give-away


It is my 1 year Blogiversary today! My blog shares a birthday with April. Happy Birthday, April!!

I've been trying to decide how to celebrate my blogiversary all week, and I have finally decided to do a giveaway!



I have some books left over from when we had our little feed store, so these are brand new books.

For this giveaway, the winner will be able to choose 1 book from the 3 books I have for them to choose from. Here are the choices (you can click on the link - on the title - and see what the book is about):



Chickens in Your Backyard - A Beginner's Guide by Rick and Gail Luttman (my cover is different, but you can at least read about it.)

Seed to Seed - Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth

or

Taste of Home's Pasta Cookbook (I cannot find a link for this, so I will tell a bit about it. It is a 112 page hardcover book. It has recipes for soups, salads, side dishes, stuffed shells & manicotti, lasagna, spaghetti, fettuccine & linguine, casseroles, and skillet dinners.)

To be clear: the winner will be able to choose 1 book from the 3 books offered. To enter, simply leave a comment between now and Friday at 6:00 p.m. The winner will be randomly selected. There will be one entry for every comment, so the more often you comment, the more entries you will get in the drawing. Good luck!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas Tag


Kate the Great from Dear Goodness tagged be yesterday with a Christmas Tag:

1. Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags Wrapping Paper - I'm gift bag impaired! I can't ever get those things to look cute and hide what is inside.


2. Real Tree or Artificial Artificial - no sap, no pine needles, no worry of fire. But I do miss the Real Tree smell. :-(



3. When do you put up the tree I'd love to be able to say that I am organized enough to have a set day, but.... it is whenever I get around to it. In past years I grouch at the kids about leaving the tree alone until it is finished, so I have put off setting up the tree until I am in a really good mood. This year I just braced myself and let them help. Progress! (and they're older)

4. When do you take the tree down After New Year's

5. Do you like eggnog I love eggnog, but it makes me sick. I am going to ask Amber to make some homemade eggnog and see if I can drink that, though. She & Josh are our family eggnog makers.

6. Favorite gift received as a child Probably my Inchworm Riding Toy. They are making a comeback!

7. Hardest person to buy for This changes from year to year. There is always one child who is in an in-between stage, and even they don't know what they want for Christmas. As a side note, Emily has outgrown dolls. I am so sad that my last girl has outgrown dolls. It is a change for me that I'm not ready for.

8. Easiest person to buy for Michael. If it makes music, he is happy with it!

9. Do you have a nativity scene Yes, I have one full nativity and two of the Holy Family. I'd love to get a stable for the nativity, though.


10. Mail or Email Christmas Cards Mail. I like to send a Christmas collage pic in it so that family can see our family doing real life "stuff".


11. Worst Christmas Gift you Ever Received I don't remember.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie I'm not sure. I love them all! Holiday Inn was a new favorite this year. And I just watched The Christmas Card for the first time last night; I have every intention of buying that one! It is a romance, and I am a sucker for a good romance! I love Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life, too.

13. When do you Start Shopping for Christmas Officially? The Day after Thanksgiving. I love, love, love the prices! BUT, it has to be something that is really wanted for me to get up at 5:00 a.m.!

14. Have you Ever Recycled a Christmas Present Yes. The year Michael was born we were beyond broke. We took toys that hadn't been played with for a long time and had been in boxes since our last move and gave them to the age appropriate child. Many family members and our church supplemented with more Christmas presents than we knew what to do with! And the recycled toys were loved again, too.

15. Favorite Thing to Eat at Christmas "Bars". My mom made these the whole time I was growing up. You probably know them by some other name. They have a graham cracker crust, with a layer of coconut, walnuts, chocolate chips, and condensed milk poured over the top. I'll post a recipe for them. They are YUMMY!

16. Lights on the Tree Yes, colored.


17. Favorite Christmas Song I love them all!

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home Stay home, always. I am such a home-body!

19. Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer yep!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star Star

21. Open Presents on Christmas Eve or Morning in the morning

22. Most Annoying Thing About this Time of Year Shopping crowds. Money stresses.

23. Favorite Ornament Theme or Color My only theme is "cute". I love colored lights with all of the colors, and everything Christmas-y.



24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner I don't really have one. My growing up family tradition was turkey, and I've done that, but I've also done ham. This year, I think I'm doing a pot roast.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year World Peace. Or a cute pair of jeans. I shouldn't be so flippant. I really do want world peace. I yearn for it. But it is out of my control, so wrap up a pair of jeans for me and I'll call it good.

26. Favorite Christmas Memory I have too many to narrow it down to just one. Doing the Twelve Days of Christmas for loved ones. Traveling & seeing the lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake. When I was a little girl we drove to my grandma's house after dark when I could see the stars and everything was *so* dark; I shared my HubbaBubba Bubble Gum that I got in my stocking with cousins every year. Watching the lights on the Christmas tree blink on and off with the lights turned off.

I tag....all of you!!! I'm looking forward to reading your answers, so let me know when you post it!

Monday, December 15, 2008

I WON! and a Tag, too


As I was visiting all of my blogging friends' blogs today, I went to Bloomin' Workshop and found that I WON HER GIVEAWAY!!! Yahoo! Take a look at these cute, cute, cute! pillowcases! I am in love with those things and am looking forward to sleeping on them and dreaming of sugar plums on Christmas Eve! Thanks, Anita!!

Betty, at Keeper of the Skies Wife did this Tag and invited her readers to join her if they wanted to. I thought it might be fun, so I decided to play too!

8 TV Shows I Watch:
I have to tell you that I am not much of a TV watcher, so I have included my favorite TV shows throughout time that I still watch (some on DVD, some re-runs, some new stuff):

1) Legend of the Seeker (My newest addition.)

2) Smallville (I am sooo sucked in. Love Chloe!)

3) Chuck (Great, great, great!)

4) 7th Heaven (Love the messages. I heart the Camdens!)

5) Mad About You (Love that show! It always makes me laugh!)

6) The Cosby Show (Can there ever be a show this good again?!)

7) The Andy Griffith Show (I'd love to live in Mayberry!)

8) Dr. Who (Very exciting sci-fi!)


8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1) Got up on time! Hurray!

2) Went to my church's choir practice...I had to, I'm the director! In my church you don't have to have talent so much as just show up, so don't be too impressed!

3) Took Michael to his primary class (I sit with him during his 2 hours of primary.)

4) Set up the Christmas tree.

5) Picked up (& took home) Josh and his girlfriend to come for his birthday party.

6) Made the boys' birthday cake. (They shared one. I know, I know, it's cheating.)

7) Worked on some PJ pants I'm sewing for Josh. (Please remind me that I am not a seamstress! No, you'd better not to that or I might give up altogether. Just encourage me.)

8) Watched It Happened One Night, with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. (Loved it when he blew the toy horn to bring down the walls of Jerico!)


8 Favorite Places to Eat:

1) The Outback (Their Caesar Salad! Baked sweet potato w/ brown sugar! Prime Rib! Cinnamon Oblivion (they don't have this anymore, dang it!)

2) Los Amigos (Smothered bean burrito!)

3) Cracker Barrel (Pot Roast! Cooked baby carrots! Fried apples! Have you tried their Coca Cola Chocolate Cake? YUM!)

4) Taco Bell (Bean burrito, minus onions. Taco Salad.)

5) Taco Time (Crisp bean or meat burritos! Yum, yum!)

6) Hunan City (General Tsao's Chicken. Chow mien. Sweet & Sour Chicken. YUM!)

7) Sensuous Sandwich (oh how I love that place! They have sauces that make their sandwiches taste heavenly! So much better than Subway!!!)

8)Home. I love to eat my own cooking even though I don't really love to cook. I love that it is cheaper and I love my tried and true recipes. I love knowing exactly what I'm eating. I like to cook in extra-virgin olive oil, to add Real Salt, to avoid yucky preservatives and unnatural seasonings.


8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1) Being a grandma (but not too soon, kids!)

2) Being a pre-school teacher, and running the pre-school out of my home. (I have plans on going back to college for my one-year degree and then follow up with my associate degree soon. That way I can be home with my kids and grandkids and still make a little money besides. I really love this age of kids!)

3) Finishing Josh's quilt.

4) Being a proficient seamstress/quilter.

5) Lavender days in June. I would travel hundreds of miles to go to this! There is a horse-drawn wagon ride that takes you around the herbal fields while the herbs are flowering. As I rounded the chamomile patch last year it smelled like warm honey. I love the booths that sell lavender lemonade, shredded meat sandwiches, all-natural (w/ agave as the sweetener) granola bars, and all kinds of unique foods. Climbing towers and the big blow-up/bouncy slides for the kids. Jousting. Medieval man operated carnival rides. Paddle boats. Great stuff!

6) Learning more about herbal/natural remedies & muscle testing. Very cool stuff.

7) My family reunion. I haven't attended for 10 years! I am going this summer.

8) Growing old with my husband.


8 Things on my Wish List:

1) A Zune! I have coveted those little things since Pioneer Woman had Zune Day Giveaways last June!

2) A super cool camera. I'd love to take awesome pictures, frame them, and sell them. Wouldn't that be cool?!? And you all could say that you knew me before I was famous! ;-)

3) To be out of debt! Hate, hate, hate that stuff!

4) To become a really great budgeter and be really great with numbers!

5) For my house to look like a Better Homes & Gardens house.

6) To live in the country in a house with its own well or spring & a wood cook stove.

7) A soapstone wood stove. I had one of these in Kentucky and I loved it! They are sooo beautiful.

8) To build a stackwood/cordwood...um, something. I don't know if I would have the stamina to build a house, but a shed or something would be awesome!

If you decide to do the Tag, let me know when you post it because I'd love to read it, okie dokie?

Have a great day!

Friday, December 12, 2008

It's is beginning to look a lot like Christmas ¯


>

I finally got my wreath up! I secured and glued those loose berries back on and voilĂ ! The Christmas season can officially begin...NOW! I also got all of my decorations except the tree put up too. Now.... ¯It's is beginning to look a lot like Christmas¯.

Last night was Cub Scout Pack Night, and Matt got his Wolf Badge, a gold arrow, and two silver arrows. Way to go, Matt! It was very sweet last night, right before bed he told me that he never could have gotten his Wolf Badge without me. Ahhh! I'm glad for his gratitude.

>

Tonight there are some Christmas festivities nearby that I think I'll take the kids too. They will love seeing Santa, and I will love getting that picture!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Only 14 Days Before Christmas?!?


Steve IMed me this joke yesterday, making me smile and realize that maybe it is a good thing at 39 that I'm not having more babies, 'cause this just might be me! ;-)

Giving Birth at 65
Date: Sent Wednesday, December 10, 2008
www.gcfl.net (The Good Clean Funnies List - get it emailed to you, or just go to their site for the joke of the day--
I've added a button linking to them, so just look on my left-hand side column)

With all the new technology in fertility recently, a 65-year-old friend of mine was able to give birth. When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, I went to visit.

"May I see the new baby?" I asked.

"Not yet," she said. "I'll make coffee and we can visit for a while first."

Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, "May I see the new baby now?"

"No, not yet," she said.

After another few minutes had elapsed, I asked again, "May I see the baby now?"

"No, not yet," replied my friend.

Growing very impatient, I asked, "Well, when can I see the baby?"

"When he cries," she told me.

"When he CRIES?" I demanded. "Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?"

"BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM, OK?!"

Received from Diane Berry.



My goal for the day is to make a list of everything that needs to be done before Christmas and organize it so that it isn't so overwhelming. Yesterday was a great shock to my system when I realized that 2 weeks from yesterday is Christmas Eve! 2 weeks from today is Christmas Day! I need a Universal Remote (think Click). I want to pause for a minute and figure out how, when just yesterday was the Day After Thanksgiving and I started my Christmas shopping, today could *possibly be* 2 weeks from Christmas. I haven't even set up my tree (which I've been putting off because I'm so grumpy when I'm setting up the tree) or hung my wreath (which needs repairs - my berries are falling off).

It goes like this every year. I am never emotionally ready for Christmas until a week after Christmas, and then when the rest of the world is done it is then that I'm in the Christmas mood.

Thank you for letting me lie down on your couch and tell you my woes this morning. Now where is that pen....

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The True Joys of Christmas

There are a lot of bloggers talking about their Christmas trees right now, and a lot of them are not happy campers! Here are a few topics being discussed right now: Kids having to play with the tree ornaments. Dogs tipping over the Christmas tree. Broken tree ornamants. Frustrated Mom's having to redecorate the tree. True, simple Christmas joys.

So I began remembering Christmases past:

My cats tipping over my Christmas tree every day for the entire season when they were kittens (I say "kittens" loosely, as they were 8 months old).

Babysitting for other moms while they worked, and having three two year olds fondling my tree ornaments and undecorating the tree constantly.

Having little ones trying to unwrap the presents the minute they were under the tree.

Because I had at least one little child in my home for 17 years, last year was such a treat when I could actually decorate the tree the full length and put wrapped presents under the tree. You see, typically I decorated my tree on the highest 2/3 of the tree and left the last little bit bare. I figured that is what was going to happen anyway, and I might as well spare my ornaments in the first place. AND I stayed up wrapping all of the gifts that had been hidden in cars, trailers, under the bed, etc. on Christmas eve, when I could finally put the gifts under the tree. It didn't really make for a very awake Mama on Christmas day.

But you know what? I'm not really out of the woods yet, and probably never will be. My oldest just turned 18. I have a 16 year old daughter, too. I will be able to enjoy the Christmas tree and presents for now, but in just a few years there will be grandbabies and I will start all over again. Hurray! Because you know what? Children are more adorable at Christmastime than any beautifully decorated Christmas tree will ever be. Remind me of that in about 5 years, will you?? ;-)

Sunday, December 7, 2008

10 Things I love that begin with the letter "E"


Betty over Keeper of the Skies Wife gave me the letter "E" so I could play along with the game thats going around. The game is simple: Leave a comment either here or at Betty's blog saying that you want to play along, and we'll send you a random letter. Then make a list of your ten favorite things that begin with your assigned letter. Easy!

(Not in order of importance)


10) Eclairs. (picture from atetoomuch.blogspot.com) Click here and go take a look at the amazing food that this person has on their blog!



9) Evenings.


8) Emily, my sweet daughter.



7) Ellen, my grandma. Do you see the quilts behind her? Those are the lap quilts that she made for the elderly in the nursing home. On the left, she is getting an award for her contribution in making all of those quilts. I hope that I can be like that when I am older.



6) Eternal Sunshine
, one of my favorite bloggers.




(pic from amazon.com)
5) Enchantment, a wonderful story written by Orson Scott Card. Get a synopsis and take a look inside the book at amazon.com



4) Ellie, my nubian goat.



(pic from Kodak.com)
3) EasyShare by Kodak, my favorite camera that got lost last summer. :-(



2) Enchilladas (picture from inmykitchentoday.blogspot.com. Go take a look at her beautiful looking food and get the great recipe, too!)


1) Everyday Joys. Everyday Moments. Because every day, is a gift.