A Country Christmas Eve

'Twas the night before Christmas & out on the ranch

The pond was froze over & so was the branch.

The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule. The kids were all home on vacation from school,

And happier young folks you never did see-

Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.

Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,

There came a surprise that gave them a shock!

The power went off, the TV went dead!

When Grandpa came in from out in the shed

With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.

"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.

"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.

Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."

"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom.  "With their light,

And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."

The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.

Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,

Uncased his old fiddle & started to play

That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.

Mom started to sing, & 1st thing they knew Both Pop & the kids were all singing it, too. They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"

Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.

They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,

And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.

They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe, The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve. Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;

And when the kids wakened, the power was on..

"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"

Said Grandpa - & no one suspected his trick.

Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,

He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

-anonymous

Penguins are Everywhere

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1 Imports. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love Penguins.  Really I do.  I think they are cute, darling and love to see them waddle.  Sorta reminds me of. . . well, ME!  I have been looking online for my Christmas ornament for this year.  I thought that it would be great to see what Pier 1 would have.  So I popped on over to look at their holiday gifts.

The first thing I saw that was darling was a Penguin Cocktail Shaker.  So cool looking.  I think I would love it in my bar set. 

There was also a Penguin Cookie Jar and Penguin Mug.  All darling. 

But I did find several Penguin ornaments to choose from.  Perfect.  

They even have a Holiday Lookbook for you to find great ideas on decorating and gift guides.  But even better than that.  All through November and December they are helping with the Toys for Tots program.  You can drop off any unwrapped toy at the register at any Pier 1  and it will be donated.  They also accept monetary donations too.  You can also help by spread holiday cheer by liking Pier 1 Imports on Facebook. For every new fan they get, they will donate $1 to Toys for Tots.

McLinky Monday Question

Georgie over at Decisionally Challenged put up her McLinky Monday challenge question.  One that makes me do the full body shudder.  It has to do with Christmas Decorations.  This is a personal downfall area for me.  The original grinch I am...or so I feel most of the time.

The question is:  "So tell me how much decorating do you do?"   or put better by RHOK star  Mrs. Edwards..."Are you an early bird or late to the party? Do you have a traditional day that things get put up or are you just a go-with-the-flow kind of person?"  


I am not a holiday kinda gal.  I like holidays simple and quiet.  Why?  Well I was raised in a large family.  Granny M (aka my mom) loved the holidays.  She decorated everything and in every room.  Me being the baby of the family...saw this year after year after year.  The day after Thanksgiving til right after New Years Eve it was Christmas in our house.  And that took lots of work to get done.  All the boxes, decorations being put up, cleaning as you go....til finally after 12 or more hours of hard labor you had all the razzle dazzle of the holiday.  The only thing was it did not make me feel happy or joyful or even excited.  It made me feel tired and dreading the putting up of all of the decorations.  

Also large holidays in large families means large meals.  Expensive time consuming meals.  Thanksgiving this year had 20 people at the tables.  A whole 12 hours of non stop cooking by College Girl and I.  And tons of preparing, cleaning, setting up and tearing down.  All for a meal that I did not get to visit with 1/3 of the people very well.  I love my family and extended family very much.  But gosh, in mass it is overwhelming.  Am I the only person like this?   Maybe having only had one child and a ex hubby who worked every holiday spoiled me too.  With me and my now College Girl we could have holidays as our special time for just us.  Eating finger foods that we normally did not get to have.  Watching movies while painting our nails and toes.  Wonderful afternoon naps cuddled together like a mommy and daughter can enjoy.  Enjoying an afternoon walk with the dogs while we talked about the ideas floating in our head.  Just 'us' time.  

This year Dear Hubby is having another foot surgery at the beginning of December.  I have informed all the family....no big meal here.  No big holiday thing here.  No big celebration here.  This will be a calm quiet home while he is recuperating.  He will be laid up for 3 to 4 weeks healing.  If folks wanna bring a dessert and have coffee and visit.  Great!  If friends wanna share a drink and play some Wii or watch a movie...fantastic.  But if you want me to bust my ass to fix you a big ol meal while your sitting on yours.....no way....this mom is taking her time out.  And going to enjoy the peace and quiet with her husband. 


I guess this is not what most people expected....dang it.....I love the idea of Christmas.  Just want a quiet one this time around.  How do you feel?

You know the drill...
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6. Enjoy and have some fun!

It's a Monster Mash

Ready to carve the pumpkin? I know I want all the innards to cook so I am more than ready. But if you need a lil artistic help the use the scary looking guides that are on BHG.  I know that I am not very artistic so I have to use the lil cheats to make things look really good.

And I love this idea.  I was thinking it would be great for the theater group that my College Girl is with. One of them dresses like the celebrity, all ready for the red carpet. And the others follow the celebrity around, snapping photos and yelling "Over here!" and "Look to the right!"   Of course they would all want to be the celeb while CG would be the only paparazzi. 

Of course it is time for bake sales too.  Always happens in the fall.  Those are some easy cupcakes to decorate.  Even I can do that.  Some white icing and red drops.  Mummies for all.  You can find more of these ideas at BHG too.

I even carved a virtual pumpkin.  But I did miss the goodies inside that could have become pumpkin bread.  But he is a nice ol pumpkin in my thought.  If your having a party for the kids and grown ups, then you might want a drink bar just for the kiddos.  I love the thought of a mad scientist lab for mixing juice drinks.  A few interesting glasses and beakers if you can get them.  A lil dry ice for atmosphere and voila' you have the makings of a lab.  The kids could really get into mixing up different flavors.  But here are some more ideas for drinks that are fit for the whole family.

I know that the kiddos here are looking forward to some of the specials on TV.  Now I know there are the ol time favorites.  But for the littlest ones I am looking forward to showing Timmy Time.  It is on Playhouse Disney where I can be real sure that it is age appropriate for them.  And Timmy Gets Spooked is just scary enough for a 2 year old, I promise.  You can check show times to see when it is on in your area.  A good way to monitor TV time too!

So what are some of your plans for this season.  Make sure you don't just run into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays without having time to enjoy fall.  It seems that they try to make things happen just way too fast now.  Halloween items were in the stores next to back to school.  And they already have Christmas decorations going up.  I just do not get that at all.  Do you?  I think that is why I am often a Scrooge by the time Christmas does roll around.  

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Back in the Saddle Again

Image by feastoffun.com via Flickr

Well today has been a lil different for me. And I am going to have to take some time to adjust again. You see, once again I am childless. No not my own who is in college. But no longer watching lil ladies at my home again. It is so hard to have had them here and now gone again. My best thing is that they are only across the street. So I can go and see them every day! Whoo Hoo!
It is another long story that is never short so let's just suffice to say that due to unforeseen circumstances I have had to step away from childcare once again. It is hard but will give me time to focus on myself and my health. That is a positive. I lost 30 lbs last year and then took a long nose dive down and gained it all back. So I am step one once again there. Today was the first step to getting back on that exercise band wagon. Otherwise had a great Easter weekend with my grandbabes once again. I feel so blessed to have had them for 3 weekends in a row. What a lovely step daughter to have done that for us.
So now it is back to some serious focus on my blog, budgets, health and home. Wish me well y'all.

Buried in Tissue

Image via Wikipedia

I can not crawl out of all this paper, ribbons, tape and gift boxes.
I know that somewhere out there someone is excited about Christmas.
But right now I am not one of them.

I have skimped and hidden this and that for a year now.
Yes I am one of the ones who starts at the day after Christmas getting next years gifts.
And after hiding booty everywhere, I had to dig it all out.

Then comes out the list.
Name every family member, friend and neighbor that I need to give the presents too.
Next go through each bag and match up the gift to the person and mark who it is for.
And place name of present with name of person.
Lastly on the list, I have to see who I have missed.

That brings me to sacks of merchandise with family names on the outside of them.
I get to wrap them, label them and place them back in said bag.
Finally comes the "HO HO HO" time to deliver gifts all around.
Leaving bags, ribbons and bows in my wake.

When all that is done...the fun really begins.
Clean all of the house tip top to very bottom, in and out.
Gather the porridge, pies and pork to cook up a storm.
Then feed the hoards of these and thems.
Just to finish up with dishes massed above the sink.

Oh, to put up the feet afterwards, rest, relax and plan for New Years Eve!

Redneck Christmas

What constitutes a Redneck Christmas?
Well, different things for different folks.
But we did a special treat for my mom.

You see she lived in West Texas for the majority of her early life.
And she has seen many a tumble weed too.
As a matter of fact, she has had tumble weed Christmas trees.

And we just so happened across one here in Central Texas.
So my Dear Hubby loaded it up and brought it home.

Then we spray painted it silver.

Put it on the front porch on our patio table.

Strung lights, decorations and even a hat on top.
We also put our holiday decorations under the tree as if they were gifts.

And that is how a Redneck Christmas is done!

A Day to Honor

Thanks to the Dept of Veterans Affairs for the poster.

Today is Veterans Day.
Today we will have such an honor.
Today we remember.



In our lil town here in Texas we have a yearly ceremony to honor the veterans. It is not fancy but it is moving. At our local high school there is an assembly. Where the students pay tribute to the veterans. We sit quietly and watch them file in. Many old and stooped over. Often with canes, wheel chairs and aids. But there is also the mid age coming in too. Standing tall with a hat or a pin or a vest on, reminders of their time served. And now we have young men and women attending. Dressed in full uniform. Home for a visit, just beginning their tour or having returned from doing their duty.

You see students wipe tears. Others quietly move down the bleachers to hug one they honor. Many place their hands over their hearts. Most hold their breath. It is a quiet time to see so many file in.

Then there is introductions, speeches and much much music. Tributes are paid and a flurry of kids who rush the men and women to say they love them. I am telling you it is quite moving.

Today, I get to help. My Dear Hubby is the commander of our local AmVets organization. And it is arranged to help transport the 20+ veterans from the local nursing home. Half are in wheel chairs. Thankfully the school district is helping provide a handicap bus for them to be transported in. Afterwards we will travel to the local DAV building. There members are putting together a lunch for these folks. Then we will help them return to the home they now have. I hope I can do a service today. I hope I can convey how proud I am to be able to help in a small way. I hope I can let them know how much I honor their service.

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Grandparents Handbook Give Away

With the holidays coming up I am getting excited about seeing my grand babies. Well, I guess they are not really babies anymore at 1 and 5 years old. It was fantastic to visit with them at our family reunion on Halloween. But we still have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up.

I love any time I can have with my two dears. But I also like that I have a secret weapon when it comes to ideas to keep them entertained. And I am willing to share my secret weapon with you too. Yes, I am going to give one away! All thanks to Quirk Books for sending me one and providing a book for the winner.

The Grand Parents Handbook is filled with all kinds of ideas. It was created by 3 different people. ELIZABETH LABAN a Philadelphia-based writer, editor, and mother of two. Along with her mother and father, BARBARA TROSTLER the grandmother of two. She lives in Philadelphia, about four blocks from grandchildren Alice and Arthur. DR. MYRON LABAN is Elizabeth’s father-in-law and the grandfather of five. He hops on airplanes whenever he can to visit grandchildren Eli, Dahlia, Alice, Arthur, and Logan. So you know that they put their own personal games and ideas in here for us to learn from.

The Grandparents Handbook features dozens of activities that will guarantee hours of fun, educational quality time-from building dollhouses and catching fish to flying kites, baking bread, making your own mini golf course, creating a family newspaper, and much more. These illustrated instructions will lead grandparents down surprising paths of discovery as they teach the youngest generation about family, friendship, and the world around them. It’s the perfect gift for any grandparent and grandparent-to-be!

Check out these 5 ideas from The Grandparents Handbook. Pick your favorite and tell me about it in the comments. That is your first entry (and mandatory) to win your copy.
You can comment again with your favorite game or activity for you kids or grand kids. That is a second entry.
Additional entries can all be done with a separate comment for each for following, having my button, twittering, links on face book, sending others to the giveaway (they have to credit you) and blogging about this great giveaway. Make sure that I can contact you some how in order to let you know if your the winner.

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MY DAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME TODAY!

Image via Wikipedia

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Off and Running again

Well we are off to San Saba with our neighbors Nessa and Dan tomorrow morning. They were so kind to invite us to visit the family "haunted" house. Whew! I am so excited. I wonder what spirits we may encounter?

Image via Wikipedia

It will be great to have some time with just the adults. Nessa's kids are with their grandparents. College Girl is really glad to have some time without the "parental units" around too. So it is going to be great to have this weekend get away. I am also hoping we get to pop over to Llano. I am so hot all of the time here. Without any a/c on I sweat all of the time. There is not one chore I can do without big droplets of sweat falling from me. Honest! It has even happened when I brushed my teeth. I really want to just have some time to sit in some cold water and hydrate.

Well, I am taking my new lil net book with me and see if I can pick up a signal from anyone. If so then you will get a blog or two from me. If not I will see y'all back on Monday. Have a great weekend, We should have a spooky good time.

HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE

**I am leaving in the morning for a 4 day vacation. Nessa will guest post for me. She will be doing a "Where in the World is Lynette?" Who ever guesses where I went will win a special give away when I return!! Good Luck!**

Today is the celebration of our great country with a kickoff of fireworks and parties.

Image by cheukiecfu via Flickr

I wish to say Happy Birthday to the good Ol' USA also!
But I want to share why the 4th of July is especially good for me.

I have shared that this is the 3rd marriage for my Dear Hubby and I.
Well we meet in unusual circumstances.
I had traveled to my mom's lil town in the middle of Texas to say goodbye to my 2nd cousin.
His death was very hard on Granny M as they had been more than relatives, they had been close friends for over 25 years.
Deaths often make us look around us and see how we and our family members have aged.
And I was not any different.

At the funeral there was a "honorary pallbearer", a man who was more than rail thin.

Image by BL1961 via Flickr

He looked as if the wind would knock him over.
He was young (well my age compared to the others around) but using a cane to move around.
I noticed that when it was time for the lowering of the casket this gentleman stood tall and gave a solitary salute.
Afterwards there was the usual meal hosted by the local AmVets as my cousin had been their commander at the time of his death.
I had helped my great Uncle get his plate and sat with him sharing some stories.
(He was always a great flirt with the ladies, even I was under his charms.)
I noticed the same rail thin gentleman helping an elderly lady with her plate too.
They joined at the end of our community table.
And then I heard him talk, laugh and I looked up at him.
His eyes where shining.
His voice sounded like a deep treble ringing.
I was enthralled.
I knew I wanted to talk with hm and worked up how to join in on their conversation.

When it was time to leave I joined my mom, Granny M, at her local cafe.

Image via Wikipedia

I could not stop thinking of the gentleman with the cane.
"Mom", I asked?
"Would I be too forward to call him and ask if he would join me for a cup of coffee?"
"Mom? Do you know his name?"

So I worked up the courage to call this stranger and see if he would like to continue our conversation?
Only to receive the answering machine.
It had been so hard to get the nerve up to call already.
But I could not stop thinking of him.
So finally I tried again.
He answered, surprised to find out who was calling.
"No" he said.
I was embarrassed.

He was going with his family out to celebrate the 4th of July.

Image via Wikipedia

The towns party had been rained out on the 4th so it was being re staged tonight.
Would I like to join him?
I did not even think.
I said Yes!

That night we sat in the middle of the football field in small town Texas.
And we talked, smiled, flirted and our relationship blossomed.
All under a sky filled with Fireworks.
The same fireworks that was bursting inside of me....and within my Dear Hubby too!

So as you can guess, Dear Hubby and I share every 4th of July together.
We sit on the same football field every year.
We sit, talk, laugh and every year we still watch the fireworks.
And every time we still feel the same fireworks within us too!

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