There It Is...Excalibur

Ok, not really. But isn't it beautiful?? I named it Red Ryder - after the Red Ryder BB Gun from "A Christmas Story." I absolutely love this thing. It plays so beautifully and it is just so pretty. I look forward to rocking out on it, either at church or elsewhere.

Pardon all the weird stuff in the picture - our house is pretty cluttered and I couldn't find a spot of bare wall to take the picture.

Happy Birthday Mom and Aunt Gail!!!

Today is a very momentous occasion. My mother turns 50!!! That's right, 50, the golden year. She is officially over-the-hill. But yet, you would not believe it if you saw her! Most people don't believe that she has a 25 year old daughter who has been married for 3 years. Which brings me to my next point, this is the ONLY year that I am half of my mother's age. She is 50 and I am 25. Isn't that cool?
Here's a pic of my lovely mommy holding up a bracelet that Frank got her.


Today is also my Aunt Gail's birthday. Now, she is not my real aunt, she is actually just a good friend of our family. She is also my mom's godmother. I'm not really sure how old she is, but she doesn't look a day over 60! In this picture, Aunt Gail is on the left, her daughter Dawn in the middle, and Aunt Gail's husband Uncle Walt on the far right, who passed away earlier this year. I give Aunt Gail a lot of credit because this was the first holiday season without her husband, and it sounds like she is doing very well.


Love you both so much!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

And Just Like That, Christmas is Over

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas yesterday. I know I did.
We opened presents in the morning when we finally managed to straggle down the stairs. Evan played Santa handing out the gifts one by one. We opened all our gifts within about 15 minutes, and then it was over....sort of.

I devised a clever scavenger hunt for Evan to go on for his presents. I sent him all over the house, and even out to my car to retrieve his gifts. He thought it was silly, but I'm sure he had fun.
Now, we were all done opening gifts, and I was feeling a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the gifts I got and was extremely thankful. But you see, I had asked for a new bass guitar. That was the one thing that was not under the tree. I wasn't too disappointed because I understand that is an expensive gift, and it may not be feasible this Christmas. So, I made peace with it.
Then, all of a sudden, Evan comes out of the spare room with another gift, shaped remarkably like a bass guitar! It was a total Red Rider BB Gun moment. I even cried a little. I opened it up, and sure enough, there was my shiny new bass. It is a red wine color and it is a Fender Jazz Bass. So nice. Just what I asked for. It was perfect.

Evan and I went over to visit Grandpa W. and Aunt Mel, and chatted for a while. That was nice. He was really happy to see us. Then I came home, cooked a splendid ham dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was a nice quiet Christmas. We even got a brief, but nice visit from Uncle Brian and Aunt Debbie.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Day is Almost Here

Usually, around the holidays, I find myself feeling very sad. Last year, I was actually deeply depressed due to some bad seasonal affective disorder. This year, I feel like I am ok. I am feeling a little disappointed, but overall, pretty good.

The reason I usually feel sad is because the true meaning of Christmas has gotten so lost over the years, that no one really knows what we are celebrating anymore. Lately, it seems that we are celebrating the willingness to kill other people just to get your Christmas shopping done. The commercialism of Christmas has gotten so bad. It's starting to butt it's head into Halloween for goodness sake! It has also gotten to the point where you can't even wish anyone a Merry Christmas anymore because God forbid you "offend" someone. You have to be PC and say Happy Holidays. Bah humbug.

The real reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This helpless little baby, who can't even talk is born to a couple who are poor and giving birth to their child in a stable. This helpless baby will one day grow up to be the greatest man who ever lived, and will die on the cross to save the sins of the world.
Now, this is Jesus we're talking about here. He could have been born in a palace, on a warm day in a warm bed, to a rich couple who would raise him like a prince. He could have chosen ANYONE to give birth to him. But no. He chose sweet, innocent Mary. Her being a virgin made his birth that much more miraculous. He didn't choose to be born with pomp and circumstance, but humbly and quietly in a manger. Sure, people knew he was being born and traveled miles and miles to come see him. But that night, Jesus was born so that one day, you and I could come to know him as our personal Lord and Savior.

That is why we celebrate Christmas. To quote Linus from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special (or more realistically, Luke 2:8-14):
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

10 Things....

10 Things I Love About Christmas:
(In no particular order)

1. Celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior
2. Getting pleasantly surprised by presents I didn't ask for
3. Being with my family
4. Snuggling with Evan after all the presents are unwrapped
5. Cooking an awesome meal
6. Watching Christmas specials (The Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty, etc.)
7. Singing Christmas carols
8. Watching "A Christmas Story" for the millionth time
9. COOKIES!
10. The joy of seeing other people open the gifts you got them

10 Things I Hate About Christmas:
(In no particular order)

1. The commercialization of everything
2. The fact that Christmas starts showing up before Halloween now
3. People willing to kill each other over a Christmas gift or a spot in the checkout line
4. Santa Clause
5. Feeling fat after just eating that awesome meal
6. Wrapping gifts
7. Faking a smile after you just received a hideous gift
8. Shopping
9. When Christmas is in the middle of the week (guess there's not much I can do about that though)
10. Seasonal affective disorder

Merry Christmas?

OK, maybe I'm wrong, but isn't Christmas supposed to be a season of joy and happiness? If it is, I met one lady who is sorely mistaken.

So, I'm in Bed Bath & Beyond shopping for some presents. I am all done, and I proceed to the checkout counter. I see a line that only has one person in it, and she only had two things in her basket. Sweet! I thought to myself as I hopped in line. Then, from out of nowhere, I hear this lady going "'Scuse me...SCUSE ME!" So I look, she was talking to me. She points behind her and says, "Uh, there's a line and people are waiting." I pointed to the line where I was standing, and said, "I'm in this line." (duh). She says, "No, there is a line where people are waiting to be called for the next person," - insinuating that there was this imaginary line that people just started and were waiting for the next open register. I replied, "Are you sure? They don't usually do it that way here." To which she said, "Mmm hmm, you have to get back here in line." 

Wow, I didn't realize she was the president of the line. I reluctantly shuffled to the back of this retarded line where she apparently was first. All the while, she is glaring at me as though I had murdered Santa Clause. She was called up next and began to check out. At that same time, I got called over to the customer service desk where I was helped by the nicest checkout clerk I have met in a long time. Bada-bing, bada-boom, I checked out and made it out of the store before that crazy line lady. 

Bah humbug. 

Merry Christmas - That's right, I said it.

Love to play along with Beth! Enjoy!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Neither - Since Evan and I have been doing our best to "Go Green," we have agreed not to wrap our gifts. They already come in a bag when you buy them - use that. 

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial - sadly. No clean up afterwards. Although you do have to be careful of the cats climbing the tree :)

3. When do you put up the tree? We don't have a tree at our house - no room. But typically, after Thanksgiving. And we MUST watch A Christmas Story while decorating the tree.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually after the new year.

5. Do you like eggnog? No - and why does this stuff only make an appearance around the holidays?

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My own phone line. Funny story actually. My mom had gotten me a leather jacket. I was about 13. Not quite ready for a leather jacket. She thought I would be thrilled, but I was not. She even saved that gift for last because she thought it was the best one. Nope. So, she took me back to the mall to return it, and I got my own phone/phone line instead.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My step-father Frank.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Oma. 

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - but it is packed away at the moment.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail mail, but I don't think I am doing those this year since I haven't even ordered them.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I once got a twin set (sweater & tank top) from my aunt. It was PINK. She knows I hate pink, and yet something compelled her to buy this for me. Since I was a bit bratty at that age (about 11 or 12), I told her exactly how I felt about it. Maybe not the nicest thing I ever did, but since then she has not gotten me anything pink.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Frosty the Snowman

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Throughout the year, really.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Kugel!

16. Lights on the tree? Yes - I'm particularly fond of blue lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night", and "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? STAY HOME!!! I love it when the holidays are quiet.

19. Can you name all of Santa's? SANTA IS NOT REAL (sorry kids)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Although angels are beautiful, I really like stars.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning. Although, our tradition is that we get to open one gift Christmas Eve. 

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercialism. And the fact that there are people trying to sell cars as Christmas gifts. If my husband got me a car as a gift without telling me, I would be pissed!

23. What theme or color are you using? Umm, the theme is Christmas. Duh.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham, potatoes, cranberry sauce. You know, Thanksgiving, except with ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new bass guitar.

Passed Over - This has nothing to do with Easter

I just got a phone call from my boss telling me that she had some exciting news and she thought that I would be excited about it too. When I get a phone call from my boss saying things like that, I get very excited because it usually is good news. Last time I got a call like that, I got asked to make the presentation about my trip to Mexico in front of all my colleagues. So naturally, I was excited.
Then she laid it on me - my co-worker (and professional "other-half") has been promoted to "Product Team Supervisor." She is now my boss. Along with two of my other colleagues. Don't get me wrong, I like her as a person. But now that she will be my boss, our relationship will be different. She is the type of person who loves to impress people. She loves the spotlight to be on her. She loves management to be watching her and seeing "what a good job she's doing." I don't like working with people like that. It makes the rest of us look bad. We are a team and should work as such.
My boss asked me how I felt (I'm sure she could hear in my voice that I was not cool with this decision). I reluctantly told her that I was OK and that it would be good. I lied. But I went on to say that I feel that I would like to eventually get away from what I do now to move on to other things where I feel more comfortable and most confident. She accepted that...good.
It was clear, also, that I was not even a consideration for this position. I am not happy right now.

I'll just keep saying it: Greater things have yet to come.

And We're Done

Thank the good Lord - the house drama is officially behind us. Allow me to set the stage a bit before I go any further.

We had met with our mortgage guy a couple weeks ago, and it was then that we realized that we really couldn't afford this house like we had originally thought. So after taking some time to think about it and pray about it, we decided to stop the contract and not buy the house after all.
So, we let the owner of the house know so that he was aware, and we also let our mortgage guy and our lawyer know the story so that everyone was in the loop. Bottom line: We don't want the house anymore.

So, our fabulous lawyer wrote a letter to the other guy's lawyer stating two things: We wanted the owner of the house to make all the repairs listed in the inspection report (like fixing the foundation of the house, replacing the windows, replacing all the outlets, etc.), and, that our mortgage application was receiving "unfavorable attention."
The other guy's lawyer came back and said that we should be more clear in what exactly we wanted repaired, to which our lawyer responded with a clearer answer.

All that being said, yesterday, we got an e-mail from our realtor saying that the other guy's lawyer signed off on the request and said forget it. The deal is off. PHEW!

So...while we are disappointed that this was not our time to finally have our own place, we know that "greater things have yet to come" (are you seeing a theme here?). God is awesome and He will be faithful in whatever He has in store for us next.

Here's a little cartoon for your giggling pleasure.

Not Unlike Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"

So, I was not home when this happened, but Evan told me that now three times in two months there have been these giant turkey buzzards that fly down by our house and just hang around for a while and then leave. Like this guy right here:


Something must have been dead near our house in order for these guys to fly down like this. The funny part is, they freak the heck out of the dogs - they don't know if they should bark or run and hide. Especially when they land on the house like this:

I'm getting a little nervous that these birds have been back three times in the past two months. Is there something going on that we don't know about? I'm feeling slightly like Tippi Hedren here. Scary huh? (Hint: I recommend clicking on the photos to get a good close-up look at these crazy birds)

The Dresser Project

Ok, so here is the dresser BEFORE:

And here is the dresser AFTER (with paint job and new knobs):

Pretty nice eh?

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

People who use the handicapped stall in the bathroom who are NOT handicapped.

Now I understand if you are a "large" person and you need to use the handicapped stall because you don't "fit" in the normal ones...that's tolerable. Or if you have such a severe case of claustrophbia that you have to go in there, by all means, go ahead. But if you're going in there simply because you like the roominess of the stall...now that is inexcusable. What if a handicapped person rolled into the bathroom while you're in there, and they are forced to wait simply because you like the space.

Sorry, just had to get that out. I see it all too often.