Snapshots of Christmas 2009

As I wait for my car to warm and snow on the windshield to melt I thought I would post some Christmas memories.

Dad and I loaded up his truck with Kruta donuts for the nursing staff at Memorial Convalescent Center, Christmas gifts and Miss Molly (who was very excited to go see her grandma). We arrived at MCC about 9:15 and proceeded to unload the truck. Jeff arrived soon after Dad and I so we all just visited for awhile.

After Jeff left we did our gift exchange. Every year since I have lived on my own it is tradition for me to go to mom and dad's Christmas morning. No matter when we do our big family gathering & exchange, our gifts to each other are always saved until Christmas morning.

Dad and I left about noon so he could let their puppies out. I immediately began to unpack my favorite gift and set it up. It is a Keurig Special Edition Single Cup Coffee Maker and I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread!!!!

Here are some photos from our morning.

Mom being silly!

Have you ever seen BLUE mistletoe?? Mom is so happy with her Chanel No.5

A Christmas shot of me, Mom and Molly-Magoo!!

A photo of my new Keurig preparing a fresh cup of coffee of my personal enjoyment!

Happy Birthday Jesus

Luke 2:1-20

Christ Born of Mary

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,[a] who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Glory in the Highest

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold,[b] an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

[c]15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely[d] known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Merry Christmas

The Day After

Like most I spent yesterday celebrating Thanksgiving with family and all the trimmings. It was very odd not having Brian, Andrea & Trevor with us this year. Caiden was in a full swing good mood and him and big brother, Blake, went straight for the "toy closet" and proceeded to entertain themselves. We ate about 4 and then came clean up. I tried to do my part to help since after all Julie was up at the crack of dawn preparing the meal for us. I was home by 7:30 and it seemed like it was one of the "fastest" Thanksgiving I can recall having.

I thought I might get up and go to Target about 5 a.m. but yeah, THAT didn't happen. Nope, I chose to sleep until 7:45 thank you very much!

And, following my usual day after Thanksgiving tradition, I ate a piece of pumpkin pie slathered in Cool Whip for breakfast and enjoyed a cup of Starbucks via instant coffee.

At 9:30 a.m. I grabbed a trash bag, some boxes, my black Sharpie, my phone, and all sizes of ziploc bags and headed down to the basement. Can you guess what I was geared up to do? No? Well, I decided to tackle the dreaded Scrapbook Room. I taped up several boxes and stood in the doorway for several minutes just trying to decide where to start. Folks, believe me when I say it looked as though a tornado had blown thru that little 6x8 room. After about 30 minutes I got my organizing groove on and soon was separating the items I was keeping from the items I wanted to craiglist as well as fill up another 30gal trash bag of junk. It took me a good 2 1/2 hours or more to sift through it all. The room is by NO means cleaned & organized. All I really did was fill up 3 average sized boxes of scrapbooking supplies to sell on craigslist. What was left over is still all just sitting down there without much order to it. I seriously need to borrow my dad's super-sucker to go over the carpet before using my real vacuum. I have so many little buttons, brads, staples, etc all over that floor. It would kill a normal vacuum cleaner in about 2 seconds.

At 1:30 I started to Craigslist all the goods. In addition to the scrapbooking items I also listed 5 other items. Hoping now that I get some hits.

I have enjoyed my 2nd of 4 days off work. It's nice to be able to say I accomplished something besides sitting on my bum eating left overs.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are some of the things I am thankful for...

~~~Family
~~~Accomplished Tasks
~~~The puzzle time Blake & I had yesterday
~~~Sweet kisses from Caiden
~~~Tastebuds....oh how boring life would be without them!
~~~VOD - Video on Demand - I rented The Proposal while sitting on my couch in my PJ's last night...how cool! (cute movie by the way but not as good as I expected to be honest)
~~~Memory Boxes - I took a few moments to look inside one of mine downstairs today and smiled as I read some of the old cards/notes I had saved over the years.

Tuesday's Thankfulness

So, as usual, I exited the house later than I should have. One of the new traits I developed since March of this year and one I am not liking since I ALWAYS used to be a girl who arrived at her destination 10-15 minutes early. Sometimes more. I was known to arrive so early at times that I would just sit in my car because I was embarrassed to walk in that much in advance, hahahaha.

Anyway, I really wanted a Starbucks coffee drink and blueberry scone so I decided I could swing it even though I was running late. It's amazing how I can justify something for a SB coffee & scone :) On the way to my little piece of heaven-on-earth I was thinking that I didn't want a Mocha this morning but didn't know what exactly I did want. I pull in the drive-thru and I hear the attendant come over the speaker to the car in front of me and asked "would you like to try our new Caramel Brulee Latte?" The woman asked what was in it and I strained to hear the ingredients and OMGosh.....I knew what I wanted. So, with anticipation I pull up to the speaker and eagerly wait for her to ask ME if I wanted one, too. I can't believe I am this excited at 7:10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. I truly am an addict!!

I think you can guess what one of my 3 thankful for's will be...so without further ado

1. I am thankful for Grande Caramel Brulee Latte's

2. I am thankful for my body being able to "so far" fight off what I think is a sinus infection trying to flair up.

3. I am so very thankful for the relationship I have with my brothers. We don't always see eye to eye about things but they are still my big brothers and I know I can count on them to be there if I need them.

Thankful Thankful Thankful

So, it is not even 9 a.m. and yet I thought I would jump on and list what I am thankful for today.

1. My new 3" thick memory foam mattress topper. It has made all the difference in the world in me being able to sleep in my bed. This morning I literally kept resetting the alarm and staying comfy cozy under the covers.

2. McDonald's coffee.......if I can't have or don't want to spend the $$ on Starbucks then McD's is the next best thing in my opinion. And oh how I need it this morning.

3. Having a job. I may not always want to be here but I am so very grateful I have it. God has been so good to us and our business over the last 20 years. He has seen us through very lean times and blessed us with some wonderfully abundant years, too.

Between Scary and Sacred

This morning at church Dr. Hufty spoke about what lies between the Scary and the Sacred a.k.a. Halloween and Christmas. That, as most of us know, is Thanksgiving......the forgotten holiday. From Sept 1st through Oct 31st we are subjected to stores filled with ghostly gobblins making wretched noises as we pass them by, all our beloved candies recolored in orange and black, racks of itchy costumes all in disarray. Then, on Nov 1st we walk in those same stores and the oodles of "scary stuff" is carted off to some distant corner of the store almost hidden away like a despised step-child and in it's place are "the sacred items" such as Christmas trees (prelit of course), aisles filled will red, green, blue, silver and gold glass ornaments, Nativity scenes of varying sizes and prices, and enough wrapping paper and Scotch tape to gift wrap the planet earth.

On Nov 1st the leaves on the trees are still holding on....still changing from luscious green to the warm tones of autumn. The crispness in the air is finally letting us know it just may be here to stay. It is such a sensational time to stop and reflect on yet another season of thanksgiving but WAIT, where did it go???

Dr. Hufty paralled this worldly transition from the scary to the sacred by using the scripture out of Luke where Jesus healed the 10 Lepers. With just His words he healed them and as those 10 outcasts went from the scary (the leper colony where they lived) to the sacred (to see the priests who would ritualistically cleanse them for entry back into normal society) only one count them, ONE, came back to Jesus and gave thanks for the healing. WOW!!!

So, my challenge to myself and anyone reading who wishes to take it on is this: While the world sees the need to skim over "the thankful" in an effort to do what they feel has to be done for the economy (pah-lease) I am going to take this time to stop and offer up my thanksgiving for the blessings in my life. I may not blog it everyday but at some point during the day I will quietly reflect on 3 things I am thankful for.

I will start with these 3 things:

1. Thank you Jesus for second (third, fourth, one hundredth) chances. Your mercy is amazing.

2. Thank you Jesus for my hilarious little Molly-dog who has rediscovered her toy box.

3. Thank you Jesus for Autumn colors and the eyes to behold them.

Photo by: Andy Cook

Image is linked to Rocky Mountain Reflections Photography, Inc. where you can view more awesome photos by this amazing photographer. I chose this photo for my post because I loved how it shows a gorgeous sunset, glowing Aspens and the snow-capped mountains.