Where did the year go?

Time keeps on slipping, slipping into the future...

When Kent e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to blog this week he told me to catch you guys up on my year. He also wanted a death watch update. Well, I did the death watch update, but not my year update. The reason is, I don't remember much about it.

This year has been the fastest of my life. It started out simply enough. I was the mother of a kindergartner, daughter of my employers, wife of my college sweetheart. Then came soccer season, my mother-in-law's annual summer visit, the start of first grade, cheerleading, Olivia's birthday party, and finally my brother's wedding. It all seemed to happen that fast. I am exhausted and at the same time have no real reason to be.

My husband swears that life eventually slows down. He's 42 and he says he feels like he's been 42 for about three years now. I'm 28 and I honestly don't remember much about 26 & 27. So, that's my year in a nutshell, a whole bunch of nothing.

The Wedding of the Century

I will say that the highlight of my year was the wedding of my wonderful baby brother Keith to the darling Bethany Hope Craft Grisham. It was a wonderful wedding and I was honored to be such a big part of it. Bethany's sister Charity and I were the sisters of honor, meaning we stood right beside the bride and groom. I wept the entire time. It was amazing and I'm so glad that they have found each other. The picture above is of me and the groom. I don't have any of the bride yet, I spent all my time before the wedding on the groom's side. She was radiant and gorgeous, I can't wait to see the official pictures.

It's so sweet to see them "get started" together. When I married Mike he was 35 and well established in the world of adulthood. We had a house, two cars, and I went to school while he worked. He already had all of the "grown up" things done, I just slipped into the picture. It's fun to see them make decisions together for the first time.

Farewell, again, my friends

Well, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. If Kent wants, I will be glad to sneak in one day after the new year and give a final tally on "Death Watch 06". I might even publish our picks for 07. Until then, be blessed and enjoy every minute of this crazy life.



Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Baa Humbug!

I'm holiday bi-polar!

Well, as you already know, my Christmas spirit was in full swing last night. I gave my dear sweetheart his chair, he loved it, and all was right with the world.

Then today happened. It started off okay. I had to work, but I work with my wonderful family. It was a slow-ish retail day at our paint store. Then, at 4:30 p.m. (30 minutes before closing), a painter comes in and orders 30 gallons of paint to be tinted. Not a big deal, but all the employees were gone except one. So here I am in my administrative gear (4 inch heeled boots and dress clothes) tinting paint. But, thank God for the business, it's been a booming year!

So, after I leave work, I head out shopping. I've done all my Christmas shopping but the men in my life have not. So, I had to go get my mom's present from my dad and my sister-in-law's present from my brother! Grrr, they had all year to do this, why wait until now and then ask me! In their defense, they picked out the gift, I just had to pick it up. But still, I was not amused. Especially since their gifts were heavy.

Well, the crowds were crazy, my feet were aching, and my Christmas spirit was low. Then, at Kohl's, I did something very silly and it made me happy. My poor feet couldn't take my boots one more minute so I bought some house shoes and put them one. I finished my shopping in slippers. It made me laugh so hard. I called my best friend just to tell her about it. She was amused and mocked me. Secretly, I think she's jealous that she's not confident enough to style about in house slippers. :)

You know, I really learned a lesson tonight. Life is about the small stuff. Little things can make you so mad (like last minute shopping for OTHER people) or happy (like house slipper shopping). You just have to decide which direction to go.

Footed PJs

Another thing that made my happier tonight was my child in footie pajamas. You know the kind, they zip up the front and have little built in feet. Are those not the epitomy of childhood innocence? For the longest time, I haven't been able to find any in her size. She is very tall and very thin. I found some tonight! They are so cute, with little penguins on them. She jumped up and down when she saw them. Oh, the simple joys of life!

Yuletide Advice

After my awful experiences tonight, I've drawn up a to do list for shopping tomorrow (if you must).

1. Pray, you will need divine intervention (and comfortable shoes).
2. Be patient, you will not be able to get done with anything quickly.
3. Be nice to sales people. This is the worst time of year for them. They deserve your love.
4. Don't kill yourself and your wallet trying to find the "perfect" gift. I only remember one or two things I got for Christmas last year. Your family wants your time and love, not just your gifts.
5. Remember why we celebrate Christmas. Take a moment and thank God for the ultimate gift, Jesus.
6. Once you get home, and you are shell shocked and shaking, repeat the following mantra. "Next year I will buy all my gifts online in August, next year I will buy all my gifts online in August".

Merry Christmas everyone, I'll check in tomorrow!!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Hectic Holiday Happenings

I've caught it, I hope it's contagious!

Today, finally, I've caught the Christmas spirit. I was beginning to think that my little heart had hardened, helped along by a healthy dose of retail madness. But, last night, there was a little stirring in my soul. I started thinking about the holiday dinners coming up, the family I would see, the church service I would attend Sunday, the true meaning of Christmas.

Well, I got so warm and tingly that I wanted to shout from the rooftop! "NOEL, NOEL" or something like that. That's not really feasible, I have vaulted ceilings, making my roof very steep. Therefore I made sausage balls instead. A weird, but yummy compromise.

'Tis better to give than receive

You know what, it really is better to give than receive. Due to the fact that I am spoiled rotten, it's taken me 28 years to figure this out, but better late than never. This year, I got my husband everything he wanted on his list. It was pretty boring: a mitre saw, clothes, cologne, Mission Impossible III (which I morally oppose because I despise Tom Cruise), etc. But, I felt like it was missing something.

My husband is the most generous men you will ever meet. I am one of those lucky women that never has to tell her husband how much she spends on anything. If I buy our daughter a new outfit, he thinks I'm a great mom. If I buy myself something, he says "Good for you, you deserve it". Fortunately, I'm cheap, or I would bankrupt us.

Anyway, he never spends money on himself. So...yesterday I bought him a new leather recliner!! It gorgeous, he hasn't even asked for one, but I know he will love it! It's a great "daddy" chair. I've got it sitting in the living room now with a big bow on it waiting for him to come home. I can't WAIT!!

I am way more excited about him getting this gift than any gift I've ever received (except the Holy Ghost and Olivia).

Holiday Memories

This Christmas is my brother Keith's first Christmas as a married man. He has grown up a lot this year. In a span of two months he got his first "real" job (read: Daddy doesn't sign his paycheck), married his soul mate, and graduated from college with honors (3.95 GPA, but who's counting?). Anyway, he and his lovely wife have made their home in Nashville and will be traveling "home" to Jackson this weekend.

This all has made me a little morose, as I have doted on Keith from day one. He is my best friend and I miss him terribly. We talk on the phone several times a day and text often, but it's not the same. Anyway, missing him has made me think of our childhood Christmases. Everyone has a favorite Christmas memory, and I am no exception.

My favorite has got to be from when I was 14 or so. Keith would have been 10. Mom and Dad had gone to a Sunday School Christmas party and left us at home alone. I decided to "peek" at some of our packages under the tree. Basically, I would slice the tape open on the package, unwrap it, see what it was, and then rewrap it. Keith, who was the "good child" would stand over me and wring his little hands saying "I don't think we should do this". But, after I had discovered a few treasures, he pushed one of his presents over and said "Could you do one of mine?". After that day, we were no longer good and bad, we were partners in crime. We were pretty bummed on Christmas though, there were no surprises.

Share with me your favorite memory, I would love to hear them!


Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

If you can't overcome death, make it a game

Well, I will have to admit, among all of the topics I talked about in January 06, Death Watch was the most popular. For those of you that don't remember this, Death Watch is a sick little game that my family plays. Every year at Christmas, we each submit a list of 20 celebrities we think will die in the upcoming year. For every person who dies, you get a point. Obviously, the person with the most points wins. They just win bragging rights, but in a large family, what could be better?

This year has been a rather slow year. My brother Keith and uncle Tim are tied with four points each. Tim's picks were Al Lewis (g-pa from Munsters), Byron Nelson (famous golfer), Casper Weinberger, and Lou Rawls. Keith's picks were
Al Lewis, Byron Nelson, Aaron Spelling, and Joe Barbara. Yours truly only has two points, Don Knotts and Jack Palance. Sadly, I am not good at predictly death.

Well, as if our game was not sick enough, we've decided to add a twist to it next year. Now, when we pick our names we have to provide the celebrity's current age. If that person dies, you subtract their age from 100. The balance is your points. For instance, if I were a celebrity and I died, you would subtract 28 from 100, leaving a point balance of 72. This makes it more difficult to choose your celebrities, as really old ones don't help much. Sure, they're almost dead, but what good does it do you? You want young, reckless celebrities instead. Lindsay Lohan, perhaps??

One a different note, I saw an article on MSN today that was interesting. It said that 9 out of 10 Americans have engaged in premarital sex. It went on to say that this number has not changed in years. This makes me think that I live in a very sheltered world. When I was growing up, NO ONE did that, except for the "wild" kids. But, then again, in my area, people get married pretty young, so I guess if they had waited until they were 30 the chances of that happening would be higher. Obviously, not everyone I knew waited, but I think more than 10 % of them did. What do you guys think about that number, is it accurate?

Well, tonight I am hosting our children's Christmas party at church. I will let everyone know how that sugar induced fest goes tomorrow. I co-directed our children's musicial this past weekend and it was great (if I do say so myself). I had a nightmare the night before that the puppeteers didn't show up and I had to do all of the puppets. This is what my life has become, dreams about puppets. Motherhood sure does change a gal.

Well, everyone, call your loved ones and plan your own game of "Death Watch". It sounds sick, but it's good, clean fun. Have a great day!


Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Technology is cramping my style

Hello, my old friends. It's me, Andrea, your January 06 blogger. I was supposed to start my blog yesterday, but my internet would not cooperate. Sorry about that, now it's all better.

So much has happened in these last 11 months and most of it is completely boring to you guys. My baby brother has gotten married and moved to Nashville. My baby daughter is now a first grader. My sick family has accumulated points in our Death Watch game.

I will update you guys on all that and more this week, stay tuned...
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!