5 things

I'm challenged to list 5 things I have enjoyed today........
1. Camden ate spaghetti at dinner. He even said "spaghetti" and not "skapetti".
2. "The Office" cracked me up! (NBC, 8:30 p.m.)
3. Benjy told me I was an angel and sang a song to me about Jesus.
4. Almond M&Ms. Need I say more?
5. Christmas lights everywhere.

manifesto

Manifesto: Noun. A declaration of one's intentions.

Starting December first, I will keep a Christmas journal. In it, I will write something every
day to reflect on the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream
about the holidays of my future. To some, this will be a stack of papers and trivial
scribbles, but not to me. I am taking back my Christmas, I am letting it be something I
relish and, most importantly, I am giving at least fifteen minutes every day to myself no
matter how crazy this season becomes. I hope you will share, encourage and understand
as I make something with my own hands, my own words and my own memories.

I may post some or all of my entries here. Other artists are doing this with me, and you
can see there work here.

Who's got my attention???

I admit it. I'm becoming more and more conservative. Scary, huh?

This epiphany of sorts comes as I realize that as a Christian, I am definitely in the minority.
Not only do Islamic extremists want my faith wiped out, but Americanism, or whatever you call it, wants it obliterated, too. Is it such a bad thing to be a Christian? To be a follower, a believer, a disciple of Jesus Christ? Why is it that in this country, being a Christian is worth ridiculing? Worth dismissing and being sent to the corner? Why is it that we can't say "Christmas" when we celebrate the birth of JC? As the youth minister at my church says, "It's the economy, Stupid!"

So, who's the new man in my life that has my attention? It's Glenn Beck. SHOCK! (Go ahead, gasp and fall down, then get up and read on.) He's on CNN Headline News at 9 pm on weeknights. This is a man who's not afraid to say what he's thinking. Now, I might not always agree with everything that he says, but I do think he's right on with his passion in saying it. I think in America, we've forgotten exactly what it is that we stand for. We're so concerned with not offending anybody that we've forgotten what it is to be offended. To be persecuted. We're so busy being politically correct that we've forgotten what it is to believe in something. Heck, we just believe in "whatever." And we wonder why this country is in decline........

In other news...

We're bigtime into the lights this year. We've got a tree in almost every room. Well, one big tree and lots of little trees. The boys are so proud of their tiny trees with multi colored lights. I'll have to get some pix and post 'em.

Camden had a PERFECT math test yesterday. :)

Thanksgiving - beautiful. Just beautiful. Mom and Dad and home. Can't quit remembering where I was a week ago right now. :)

Thankful for what?

Thankful for home.
Home.
Where I grew up.
Where I could go for a jog at midninight and not worry about a single thing.
Where Mom and Dad were always there.
Where the train whistle soothed me to sleep.
Where Magic Mart could stand up to Walmart.
Where the mountains embraced you.
Where everything seems so small now, but so comfortable.
Where small is good.
Where time seems to stall for just a bit, long enough for one to stop and appreciate its passing.
Where memories flood one's mind, one's heart, one's very soul.
Home.

Christmas Parade - not "Holiday" parade

Not even Thanksgiving, and we've spotted Santa twice. Once at the mall and today in the town Christmas parade that they aren't even allowed to call Christmas.

Your Ideal Pet is a Cat

You're both aloof, introverted, and moody. And your friends secretly wish that you were declawed!

What's Your Ideal Pet?

I swear, that's what this stupid quiz says. Of course it's wrong. I hate cats. I thought it might spit out polar bear or something interesting. But never in a million years CATS!
Check this out:
take the ideal pet quiz

Grateful

Today I start my Grateful art journal. I made it yesterday to help me focus on the little things I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Not the biggies, the obvious ones, like my kids, my dh, God, etc. But the *small stuff* little things. God is in the little things. I'm convinced of it. I want to focus on those, to look for them and expect them.

So, I woke up this morning, a wee bit late, and got myself ready for school. Camden and Benjy's alarm clock rang and I walked to their room to drag their sleepy bods out of bed. What I saw made me giggle. It wasn't really all that funny, but I could see the humor in it, the blessing of the *small stuff*, the not-so-innocent but oh-so-silly side of my boys. I'm grateful they're friends and that they can entertain each other.

Well, I suppose you wanna see what I saw:

Christmases past

The question for the day on 3 Scrappy Boys was to recall a favorite Christmas. Well, I don't have a favorite. Mine are all rolled up into one wonderful, happy memory.

My memories don't involve a specific present either; although the smell of Barbie plastic still makes me smile as I recall the cool Barbie case, house, and dolls of my past......

We always attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church, drove home the long way to see all the Christmas light displays, and came home where my two grandmothers spent the night with us. We snacked on Grandmomma Stapleton's peanut butter rolls and party mix and stayed up till around midnight to watch Johnny Carson. (It was always the NBC Orchestra and Doc Severson on the Christmas Eve show. I have no idea why I would have liked it at that young an age. I guess it was just that I was up with the grown-ups, with them as they watched and listened and giggled at my sister and me as we opened up a special gift reserved only for Christmas Eve.

The Christmas tree had gold tinsel and fat blue bulbs that got hot to the touch - you could even smell the heat! It's a wonder it didn't go up in smoke. On Christmas morning we always jumped out of bed after waking up one grandmother by knocking on her wall from our beds next door. My sister and I had been counting the presents and rearranging them under the tree for at least two weeks, so we knew full well whose name was on what box. Passing out the presents was speedy and opening was chaos at best. Candi, our German Shepherd Elkhound was always afraid of the din of ripping paper and squeals of delight, so she hid away with her Christmas rawhide bone.

In the few precious minutes it took to dispense with the opening of presents and insane shrieking over the Santa goodies, Christmas morning was over. My favorite breakfast of scrambled eggs - dry, not runny - buttermilk biscuits, white gravy, and chewy bacon - followed, and the rest of the day was spent playing, playing, playing. No wonder my kids can't wait till Christmas. I wonder now what smell will take them back. Does Star Wars have a scent???

Camden's trophie for following directions at his tournament last weekend. He came home and gave it and his other one a bath. So cute!
I've been counting Weight Watchers points since Thursday, and I'm almost starving. I remember the last time I did this I felt the same for the first week of counting and cutting back on my intake. I also lost 10 real pounds - not just water - so I am willing to feel starved for a bit in hopes that it'll work again. I did go over my points tonight, though. Curt made chili and cornbread. Man, that stuff gets better every time he makes it! I figure the chili is really good for me - beans, tomatoes, green peppers, and protein. Yeah, that's what I think. At least I skipped the cheese. I think I can feel a pound missing from my tummy!

I had the most relaxing day - after church, that is. This morning I had three things to accomplish: load the powerpoint for the church service, substitute for Camden's Sunday School class, and help serve and clean up after the coffee hour, which was PACKED since we had two baptisms today. Sweet little babies. :) Once we got home I changed into my pj pants and took a two-hour nap. I woke up happy, the scent of chili filling the house. I was bummed, though, because I had wanted to get with my friend Alecia to catch up. Drat - missed that. If you're reading this, Alecia - I swear I didn't mean to sleep for soooo long! Let's get together this week or over the weekend. :) :) :)

Here's my least favorite thing that one of the boys said this week:
Benjy - "I want that! I WANT THAT THAT THAT, MOMMY! I WANT THAT! MOMMY I WANT THAT!!!!!!" when a commercial of ANY TOY comes on.

I'll be on the lookout for my favorite this week.

What Halloween picture?

Trick or Treat was last night. We took Camden and Benjy to a few houses in the steady rainfall. They still managed to get a load of candy which the good Halloween Fairy traded for a couple of Star Wars guys each. Good deal I think. Still, not one single solitary picture of the whole shabang. A crazy night it was. And I'm so glad it's behind us. Time to move on with November. Here's what I LOVE about this month:
Cold temperatures and the smell of heat in the house.
Candles lit each evening - well, when we're HOME, that is.
Sweaters and turtlenecks.
Thanksgiving Day - the parade, the dinner, the time to focus on blessings
Christmas decorations that go up after Thanksgiving.
Football.
Christmas lights in town.
Snow. Wishful thinking.
Hot cocoa at Barnes and Noble's Starbucks. It's just different there than when you get it in the drive through at the real Star Bucks.
Turkey and dressing.