Thinks By Me

Antique Mommy had this meme and I liked reading hers, so I figured I'd take the easy way out this last day of 2007 and do my version. Still amazed : that God blessed me by making me a mom. Still getting used to : the fact that college kids think I'm old. Still loving: my laptop computer. Still proud of : having my employer ask me to take a temporary assignment on a permanent basis. Still not proud of: the way I get grouchy and impatient when my To-Do list gets overwhelming. Still hoping : that I'll start liking my body the way that it is. Still worried: about being enough of a Godly influence on my kids to equip them to handle the world they live in. Still never going to: sky dive. Still pretending: that I'm going to be a competent digital scrapbooker some day. Still reading: my Bible through, which I had hoped to finish by the end of 2007. Still wanting to read: the rest of the C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia. Still interested in: learning how to u...

....to catch my breath?! While grabbing a few items from the store, I nearly tripped over the Valentines cards and Yellow Peeps they have out for Valentine's and Easter. Good grief, People. Let me get my tree down first.

Muh Main Man desperately wanted to get himself Brainy Boy the nifty Schwitzer 300 RC helicopter that was for sale at the mall kiosk. It was way overpriced, I might add. In Nice Mom & Cool Wife form, I agreed, but through gritted teeth. You see, we've been buying RC vehicles, helicopters and planes since, well...since we found out a boy was in the womb. And they work for about the first 15 minutes until one flies it into the woods. Or crashes it into the pavement. Or some mystery malady hits the battery. Then we sit the ailed aircraft on the kitchen counter until Easter, fully intending to fix or buy some new part for said toy. Eventually the piece of junk becomes part of the scenery and I can safely throw it out without anyone noticing it disappeared. But anyway. We bought this one. And I cautiously admit that it has worked so far. It appears we've made a record because now we are three days post-Christmas without any permanent destruction. UPDATED: I take tha...

With all our family living scattered near and far, it's a rare occurrence for us to spend the entire Christmas vacation at home. But this year we are, and we're actually excited about it. It was awesome to attend Christmas Eve service at church last night, come home and do the Christmas Eve traditions and then get up this morning with no place to go! After we attended our annual candlelight service at church (in which Little Chic sang), we came home, sipped a little Purity Egg Nog, read the Christmas Story from Luke 2, opened our new Christmas jammies and settled in for a traditional viewing of Little Lord Fauntleroy. When the movie was over, Little Chic was initiated into the world of "non-believer" since this is her first year of officially not believing in Santa. She has been on the fence for a while, but she was never really ready to admit it before this year. We live in a family of skeptics and realists, so it's amazing that she held out as long as she di...

During his sermon yesterday, our pastor related statistics about how many people, including pastors, don't enjoy the holiday season because of all the commercial pressure we put on ourselves. One woman, in the middle of a hectic shopping trip, remarked that whomever was responsible for Christmas should be shot. A fellow shopper responded, "Don't worry, they already crucified Him." I'm sorry to say that I've had my frazzled moments this season, but I hope you'll join me in getting your perspective back and remembering why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Enjoy your family, enjoy your traditions and enjoy your moments reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas. "Thanks be to God for His Unspeakable Gift." II Corinthians 9:15

We all know that I can procrastinate along with the best of them. But I do consider myself a realist nonetheless. Do the online companies really think that I will swallow their line when they promise that if I order in the next 4 hours, they will, in fact, deliver the perfect gift to its recipient by Christmas day? I mean, seriously, enough with the marketing emails every time I open my in-box. It's down to the wire, now, People. And checking out all your ads is putting me way behind. Just give it up and send a New Year's gift if you weren't on the ball. That's what I'm gonna do.

Okay, so Little Chic and I went to NYC last Saturday. This was a long-awaited trip as we are both city girls at heart, and we were psyched to see the Big Apple in all it's sparkly Christmas splendor. We were gettin' a little worried about the big bad Nor'easter that was supposed to come, but luckily our trusty weathermen were completely wrong. As usual. But so. We got on the bus bright and early, which was an exercise in determination for me in the first place. We made the trek into the city, got dropped off at Bryant Park and the day started.We decided to start out with a bit of education, just to make the bus fee worth our while. As if it weren't already! We headed down to the United Nations all excited to see the national flags for ever member nation. It would have helped if it had been a weekday so the flags would have been actually flying. Disappointing. What was not disappointing is the fact that once we entered the building, we found out we were in intern...

Okay, so I'm at my local Walmart this morning. The one in rural upstate New York. I hear them making their morning announcements, sending out a special thank you to the employees for their hard work this past Saturday. According to Walmart officials, my small-town Super Walmart was #1 in sales for the Entire Company on Saturday. For real? From what I hear, it was a madhouse but I would've expected stiffer competition from say, the City?

Melanie is always good for some interesting memes that get-to-know-ya better, so I figured I'd steal this one from her. 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? All different prints of wrapping paper. 2. Real or artificial Tree? Totally fake, but pre-lit, so no light aggravation for me, Baby. 3. When do you put Christmas tree up? I try as soon as possible after Thanksgiving. Sometimes a little later than sooner. 4. When do you take the tree down? I always feel very self-satisfied when I have it down before the end of January. It was very embarrassing the year February came and I hadn't packed it away yet, so I try not to let that happen any more. 5. Like egg nog? I'm an egg nog snob. I suppose I don't like it enough to drink just any brand. But Purity from Ithaca, NY . Well, let's just say it's more like melted ice cream than egg nog. In calorie count as well as taste. I promise you, my favorite brand will totally beat up your favorite brand. 6. Do you have...

This is about the sweetest thing I've heard in a while. Just right for Christmas-time. *Sniff* Credits: Stolen from my brother , who is always good for scouting out those funny, touching or generally interesting web videos.

I'm well aware that although we're alive and well, Blogdom has not kept you properly updated on all the comings and goings. And coming and going we've been. For one thing, Brainy Boy shot his first deer this week. It was unplanned, downed from the back yard, but thrilling nonetheless. Or so I've been told. I have to say that I've not quite witnessed Muh Main Man be such a proud Papa. Not even on the birth-day of his own offspring. You'd-a-thunk Brainy Boy was proving his manhood. Apparently the guys thought he was. It was a button buck, so all the males in the household are feeling extra test-os-teroney. Although Little Chic has by far been the more enthusiastic of the hunting-champs-in-training, Brainy Boy has a newfound interest in the sport. We'll see how that goes when he spends hour upon cold hour in the tree without seeing anything. That's not generally down his alley. But we'll see. As for my own whereabouts, I started subbing yest...

There just aren't many things that warm the heart of one like me more than when I get invited to a party dedicated entirely to gadgets. And how much better is it when I can legitimately profess that I ne-e-e-e-d to go because it furthers my never-ending and generally unsuccessful quest to become a domestic goddess. Really it does. Now what man can argue with that? Not Muh Main Man. Or perhaps he's just indulging me. So I bounced gleefully off to a Pampered Chef party a couple of weeks ago and have been checking my doorknob each and every day for the delivery of the u-tin-suls that are now gracing my kitchen utensil caddy. I just love it that they have their own caddy. Oh, it makes my heart uh-flutter, it does. Now at this time of the year, many a party-goer is looking for gift items for their loved ones who are all cook-ey and bake-ey and all. That is a bit much to ask of me. I get within catalog-view of the loveliness and my wish list just grows ever longer. Unfor...

Winter has hit us a bit earlier than usual this year, and yesterday we christened the season with the first snow day off school. Since DogSpot is only eight months old, this was her first experience with piles of the stuff and she doesn't seem to mind it one bit. DogSpot has also taken full advantage of Muh Main Man's hunting prowess and has fulfilled her dream of smelling a deer's butt. This is something she has always wanted to do but up to this point, has never gotten up her nerve. It was very considerate of the deer to stay completely still so as not to spook Her Wimpiness. DogSpot is freakishly afraid of everything including her own shadow. Of course, all the cold and activity wears on one's furry energy level, so a snooze with Sissie by the fire is always in order once you come back inside. I have not enjoyed the snow deal as much as the Short People and Muh Main Man. My idea of winter activity is skiing or snowmobiling on the days when your jacket is actua...

I'm feeling indulgent to my readers today ;) This is by popular request. Enjoyment at my expense. I'm nice that way.

To indulge those who weren't present and who haven't seen my family for a while, here are some other pictures of our week away... My Sis, My Mom's Sis & Me Amy, Dale, Brooke,Connor and Liam (turning two while we were there) Uncle Dave (my dad's youngest brother and his family) From lt to rt (Josiah-15, Dave, Jonathan-21, Martha-18, Aunt Susan, Emma-10) Aunt Susan with her eyes open ;) Bravo to Ken who suggested that the men do all the Thanksgiving dishes. They even kept their smiles on to the end!

....we really did have a Thanksgiving celebration with some of my family. Indeed, I've been home a week without giving all the juicy details, but that's because I've been unpacking the eight over-the-weight limit bags we hauled back & forth, working at school and intending every day, yet failing to get my Christmas tree up. So though I've kept you in desperate suspense up to this point, I assure you, I have lots to tell. I can't begin to describe how overdue I was to spend some family time with my own flesh & blood since I live so far in the nether regions away from them all. Bonuses always come with that sort of rare family get-together and this time was no exception. First and foremost was my chance to meet my very first blog friend. Sort of. She's a friend of my sister's, she reads my blog, so wah-lah. Blog. Friend. There ya go. Since her name's the same as mine, you know she's gotta be cool. And she likes the same kind of TV s...