Time for Some Music

Christmas music that is! Frosty the Snowman and Bing Crosby and Trans-Siberian Orchestra and The Little Drummer Boy and I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas. It's also time for Elf and A Christmas Story and Home Alone and all those other fabulous Christmas movies. Yay! Plus, I get to start baking. Happy Happy Joy Joy! I love making holiday treats!

Hope you all enjoyed Black Friday without injury and were able to get your items with nary a tug-o-war over the last one.

We are busy here cleaning and rearranging to be able to put up our Christmas decorations. I cannot put up the decorations if the house is messy so I do almost a spring cleaning and get in all the nooks and crannies before I decorate. I've actually got four boxes of books on my floor that the kids need to go through to see if we want to sell any then I will take them to the storage unit. I need to make room in the storage closet on my patio for the empty decoration boxes.

So we tried a new church last week and it seems that every time we do, they have communion which is a little awkward your first time there. Well, service went along and we liked it and decided we would try it some more and then the pastor of 18 years - RESIGNS! AWKWARD!!!! So while he reads his resignation letter then a board member explains the process of finding a new pastor and they pray over the leaving pastor and people around us are crying, we just had to sit there because there wasn't any inconspicuous way to sneak out. Did I mention it was AWKWARD?

My mom's cousin and her family are small business owners so they are up to date in regards to politics. I have a more cavalier attitude because I am just a small fish and don't feel my little opinion matters much. I usually get frustrated about the way things are going but again, being the small fish, feel pretty powerless to effect change. Due to this feeling of inadequacy I typically don't follow or even bother to educate myself on the current political topics. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's apathy like mine that have gotten us where we are now...blah, blah, I've heard it all and have probably chastised myself for it much more strongly than you will. I'm not telling you this to tick you off or make you mad at me. I'm just giving you a little background as to why I shy away from political talk. Karen and Greg and I were talking politics brought about because of the health care issue which stemmed from Jordan and Devan's college and career goals. A sort of backdoor entry into the health care field is biological engineering which is the way Jordan is leaning. If she decides not to go into health care there are plenty of jobs out there and she isn't stuck just going into teaching or having to go directly into practicing medicine. With the political talk they told me they went to march on Washington DC. The march was not about the health care reform but about out of control government spending. Now there is something I can get on board about! Bail out schmail out - where's my money? Who's bailing me out? Who is holding congress accountable for their overspending? Isn't that supposed to be us? How can we let them know that we don't like the way they are spending our tax dollars and take away the power that the special interest groups and lobbyists have over Congress? Throw them all out. Yep, throw them out and start clean. Get some fresh ideas and new blood in there. http://www.throwthemalloutamerica.com/

I'm not telling you what to do, I just like to post things that are going on in my life and things I find interesting or things that I think many of you will find interesting or will enjoy. Some posts are educational and some are silly. Most of you probably don't even click on the links I post to watch the videos or look up the cool things I reference like animusic (okay, if you didn't look it up, you seriously need to -its just super cool). To each his own but if you stick with me kid, you just might learn something....like that Jesus works for my apartment complex and I have his signature (on the Christmas card they sent us). I wonder if he is a carpenter...

The Countdown Begins

I am totally jones-ing to listen to Christmas music but I will not break the rule - No Christmas music or movies before Thanksgiving! Some of the radio stations have already begun the 24/7 Christmas playlist and we have had to stop going to Kroger (Safeway of the South) since they are playing the music. I love the music and the movies and the decorations but give Thanksgiving its due! It deserves to be recognized and honored too.

I am doing really well in my popularity contest. I have gotten 4 Thanksgiving Dinner invites. I am staying in town since I have to work on Black Friday so no trip to Chicago. Sorry Keely and Oz. I'm pouting just a little about having to work that day. I haven't worked the day after Thanksgiving for 16 years. And of course it's payroll week so we have to be there to answer questions for the facilities. Two other people from work invited me and the kids over. One would be kinda fun and one I am crazy for not accepting since I have a huge crush on him and he is the one being deployed soon. But, we decided (they didn't actually give us a choice) to spend Thanksgiving with my mom's cousin and family, the Groves. It's nice and simple and just fun to get together. Plus, these are the ones who end up singing after our meal. They have a fun tradition of where we all write 3 things we are thankful for and 1 thing we are not thankful for. We put them all in a bowl and then draw out four items to read and then try to guess who wrote what. They are not big sports fans so its a little more fun for us since we play games and talk and enjoy each others company instead of trying to see how much we can eat and who can stay awake the longest in front of the football games.

I had dinner with one of my mom's aunts - Aunt Lois and she told me she was dead. Well, according to the Social Security Office she is. And just so you know, it's a lot easier to die than to be resurrected. Oh, and the Social Security Office does care. They will send you a condolence card/letter when you die. Nearly a month after her "death" she is still trying to get fully resurrected. She is nearly there. She once again has medicare so she can get her medicine which is very important and she got to meet the helpful people at the Social Security Office who thanked her for coming in and for not being a Zombie. Okay, they didn't think she was a Zombie, but she is kinda pale and she does have a lot of wrinkles, so she could resemble one. A sweet little smiling Zombie that uses a cane to walk. Those are the most dangerous kinds. :) I gave her a big hug and told her that I was glad she wasn't a Zombie.

There's Just Something About A Man In Uniform

I know, it's about time. But look how handsome he is. Wasn't it worth the wait? (that was a rhetorical question) For those of you who haven't seen my handsome boy in so long - he's the farthest left looking awfully cute and tall.

Oh The Weather Outside Is...

BEAUTIFUL!!! Nya, nya!!

Hope you all had a safe Friday the 13th. A day free of black cats crossing your paths. A day free of tall ladders that you had to go under. A day free of freak accidents. A day free of abnormal activity. A day free of paranormal activity. A day free of having to knock on wood. A day free of throwing salt over your shoulder. A day free of breaking mirrors. A day free of guys named Jason wearing hockey masks with machetes.

Happy Veteran's Day

Many of our companies facilities have gotten recognition for being a military friendly employer. Veteran's Day is one of our holidays. Of course, since our facilities are open everyday some people may have to work on the holiday. Count me as one of them. Actually, count our whole department. This week happens to be payroll week so we didn't get the day off. We did have bagels in honor of our vets. One of my friends at work is going to be deployed soon. Well, maybe soon. I don't really know. He can't tell us when. It will just be a surprise (not a surprise that makes you smile) when we come in one day and he's not there. I'm hoping he will get to stay through the holidays but who knows. I guess working at one of our facilities is a bit like the military since you still have to be in uniform and everyday is business as usual - holiday or not.

The upside to it? I have always wanted to be able to write to someone in the military. Yeah, yeah, I know there are groups that could get me the name of someone to write to, but who wants to write to a stranger? Not me, I want to be able to encourage and cheer up someone I know. Selfish of me? Duh! Of course it is. But the key there is me...because as everyone knows...it's all about me. :) Nothing like turning Veteran's day into a day all about me...

One final thing to all you veterans...

THANK YOU!

Can You Tell Me How To Get

How to get to Sesame Street? I wanna wish them a Happy Birthday!!! Today Sesame Street is 40! That is impressive. I think almost everybody I know can quote a Sesame Street skit or saying. It's amazing to think of all the things we have grown up with - or without. Neither me or my kids don't know a world without Sesame Street. Devan's first birthday cake was Ernie and a rubber duck because..."rubber ducky, you're the one. You make bath time lots of fun. Rubber ducky I'm awfully fond of you." Because of Ernie we had lots of rubber ducks around the house which is why Jordan likes them so much now. That is also how Devan got his nickname. Yes, Devan has a nickname. If you want to know, you will have to ask him. I'm not gonna tell you, but you know it can't be good since it was given to him from his loving sister when she was one year old. :)

Band is over - can I get a WHOOP, WHOOP!?! Devan is just as excited. Their last performance was on Halloween. They had a competition at Middle TN State University. When all the schools were done performing, the MTSU Marching Band came out and performed for all the students. It was really fun to see them. They were all in costumes as well. Some of the best ones were: Velma (from Scooby Doo), Taylor Swift and Kanye West, the dance team girls were all dressed in the Tom Cruise from Risky Business white men's dress shirt and white socks, the baton twirlers were all Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the snare drummers were all Mariachi guys with big ponchos, sombreros and thick heavy mustaches. They all looked great and it was just so much fun for the kids to see how it could progress. It was a really nice way to end the season.

There are some amazing videos on youtube. You need to do a search for animusic and watch a few of them. It's incredible. It's like nerdy science geeks made music from science. Google is or Yahoo search it or whatever but get to a video example of how animusic works and prepare to be amazed! DO IT - DO IT NOW!!!!!