Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts

12.16.2010

Friday Fragments: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly


I'm working hard at keeping in the Christmas spirit, even though Scrooge herself crawled out of her hell-hole and made an appearance this week.
Really, I shouldn't insult Scrooge like that. Anyway, Andrew's "biological mother" (I think I just threw up in my mouth) came out of the woodwork again, this time through the court system, lying & manipulating as usual. We have plenty of defensive measures, including his psychiatrist who has said many times that she would testify on our behalf if this ever happened, that it is not in A's best interest to see Satan's Spawn. Not to mention emails between the two of us, because I save EVERYTHING. I am just sick that she is so selfish that she wants to shake up his stable, secure life. But, your good thoughts & prayers are deeply needed and appreciated, and I will update you all as things progress.
(For those of you who aren't regulars and have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read here or here for some background, or search "Andrew" and/or "Spiderman" ([when I first started blogging, I used pseudonyms]).

OK, that takes care of the bad and the ugly! Moving on to the good.....


My oldest daughter Shelbie will be 15 on Sunday. We're having her party tonight. My house will be full of teenage girls! *SQUEEEE* *OhEmGEE!!* and all that stuff! We're having a bonfire and pizza (that's what she wanted, whatever!). Hopefully I will still have a little bit of sanity left when it's all over!




The weekend will be a busy one; church play practice, parades, Christmas lights tours, our church's Christmas program, making crafts, baking, etc. Possibly even seeing my parents, who I haven't spent time in with in months, but that's a whole 'nother blog post.
Oh, and? Almost all of my Christmas shopping still has to be done.
I am SO glad John loves shopping and will help me with all of it!
Then on Sunday evening, the kids will go to their Dad's and be gone for a whole week. *sniffle*




Anyway! Back to the Good! This is the first year in probably 8 or 9 years that my family has been unable to choose a name from the Angel Tree and buy gifts for a child or family in need. I still planned to but as Christmas came closer, I realized there's just no way to do it. I did give Shelbie money to fill a shoebox for a program with the youth group, and we still put change in the Salvation Army buckets, and I resigned myself to that being as much as we could do this year.
How is this good, you ask? Because of OHmommy, that's why. OHmommy and her worms, manure, and crabs. Seriously. Check it out. Through OxFam, OHmommy gave away "a card that announces you purchased a school desk and chair, in your recipient's honor".
And guess who won? ME! My family. I am so happy! We couldn't do much this year, but through OHmommy & OxFam, we're doing something wonderful, that will make a big difference to someone in need.




I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and don't lose your mind in the holiday rush! Relax and enjoy yourselves. And give yourself a break! You're running around like a crazy person and kicking yourself for not having everything done. RELAX. There's only one of you, and you know what? You're doing a GREAT JOB.



Oh um, one more tiny little thing. I honestly don't usually pay a lot of attention to my follower numbers, but lately it's been hovering just under 400 and it's driving me batty! If you're not a follower, if you would take 5 seconds and follow me and get me over that 400 mark, I will follow you back AND love you forever!



Please visit Mrs 4444's for more Fragments!



ETA: Crap! 3rd week in and I forgot to post my Song of the Week. The first thing that came to mind is this gem, another one from Miranda Lambert. (although Gunpowder & Lead is another good one of hers, as well. Just saying.)




Mommy's Idea

12.14.2010

Snail Mail ShoutOut!

Happy Holidays, Snail Mailers!





I just wanted to remind y'all that when you're sending out your holiday, Christmas, or ChristmaHanuKwanzaAkah cards, please don't forget your Snail Mail Friends!




Also, if you contacted me about anything Snail Mail Project-related and haven't heard back, please just email me again. I was without consistent internet access for over a month, and I'm still catching up.

I hope you're enjoying the Snail Mail Project, and I hope that you don't view it as a chore. It's intended as something fun to do when you have extra time, and a way to get something fun in the mailbox instead of boring bills and junk mail!

Joy to the World!

12.02.2010

So Much to Say, So Many Frags




~*Friday Fragments*~



~* In case you didn't notice, I decorated my blog for the holidays. My header is all festive, my footer is a holiday message, AND....it's snowing! On my blog, that is. It's cold enough to snow here at home, too. Ugh! I thought I lived in Florida?!




~* I started decorating the house, too. I'm all done inside except for the tree, which we'll get this weekend (we always get a live one). We'll decorate outside this weekend too. This house is the biggest we've lived in, and I've decided we need more Christmas deco! I will be doing some after-Christmas stocking up for sure.




~* I almost let my kids stay up late watching TV last night - on a school night! - because I thought it was Friday. They weren't about to say anything, but I saw them exchange a weird look and then it hit me - d'uh! It's Thursday!




~* There's a great giveaway going on at I'm Living Proof that God Has a Sense of Humor. It's for a Reverse-a-Purse, and I want it! Check it out.




~* Speaking of giveaways, a while back I won a credit to have a custom piece made at Stamped Under the Moon. I just got my necklace in the mail, and I LOVE it! It is stamped with my kids' initials, which spell the word EAST in order of youngest to oldest (Elayna, Andrew, Shelbie, Timothy). I LOVE my necklace!







~* I got an award this week on my food blog, Southern Loving. I was so shocked! I am on a list with some real, GOOD food bloggers! I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll take it!




~* I am SO happy to be back to blogging regularly. I hated feeling so out of touch, and I NEED my outlet of blogging! I've been getting caught up on some of your blogs, and I've even had time to get on Twitter a little bit. I actually blogged every day this week, which is unusual for me, but I just had so much to say and had been out of the loop for so long! Thanks to all of you who stuck with me through my hit & miss blogging & visiting.




~* If you've never seen this site, check it out when no kids are around, and you're not eating so you don't (a) choke or (b) spit food all over your screen. Seriously, I have laughed myself SICK the past few nights reading this site! Hilarious! Damn You Auto Correct




~* If you are one of the people who gets upset when you see someone shorten "Christmas" to "X-mas", read this information that my friend put on Facebook. It's actually not an offensive thing!

"X-mas" originated due to the fact that "X" is the greek letter for "chi." What does "chi" mean?

You guessed it, "Christ."

So when you see "X-mas," the word Christ is still in it and the reason for season has not been forgotten!




~* Last but not least....I'm going to start ending my Friday Fragment posts with a favorite song of the week. Listen if you're interested. This one reminds me of myself & the hubby!








Visit the Fabulous Mrs 4444's for more Friday Fragments!


Mommy's Idea