Happy New Year!

I hope 2013 was a good year for you and yours!

Wishing all my lovely readers and your loved ones,

A VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS 

2014!!!!!!!

I want to thank you all for your comments and friendships. You inspire me to keep blogging.

And may I please encourage you to visit the blogs in my blogroll to the left. Thank you!

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More on the meaning of this....

Very soon!

Hi again!

I didn't mean to take the week off from my blog, it just happened.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was nice. The kids got some nice stuff. We didn't do anything big or elaborate, just kind of laid back. The Mr. wasn't feeling real well on Christmas Day, but seems have bounced back.

We went to St. Louis this past weekend. The Mr. and Junior Mr. went to the Hawks game down there. The weather was gorgeous down there on Saturday - 55 and sunny. We played outside as much as we could. Then, I spent the evening in our hotel room with a pukey kid (that was fun...) Yesterday - the weather was NOT so nice! We took Lil Miss to American Girl there (she had a GC burning a hole in her pocket...). Then we had an interesting drive home. (Thank you truck driver who almost killed us - jerk!)

I woke up this morning to a very exciting e-mail.  I won a giveaway over at The Artsy Cajun's blog.  You should go check out her blog - she's a great lady and very creative!

I will post some pictures from Christmas and our weekend, soon.

Wishing you all a great week!

Book review-The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle
by Jeanette Walls

5 out of 5 stars
Genre: Memoir

Pub. Synopsis:
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town—and the family—Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.

My thoughts:

	Wow! This is a dysfunctional family! There were times I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry. I appreciate my nutty family tree even more. Ms. Walls, you kept me turning the pages!

Merry Christmas!

This was made a year or two ago at a mall not far from us.

It's SUCH a cool commercial, though.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

I hope you have a joyous holiday season.

 

Friday Fun

Thanks for the link, Mom!

Merry Christmas!

Pictures!

I got to 'shoot'  The S Family on Sunday evening. It was SOOOOO cold (wind chill of 0, the girls were crying within 2 minutes), so we went to their house (where it was much warmer!) and had a lot of fun!

Thanks for looking!

Friday Fun-Winter edition

In honor of the bitter cold we are having here, I give you a few funnies.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Friday, we took two busloads of clients to Chicago for shopping day. It was plenty cold (high of 20F). I went with my mom. We met my sister, a friend and her mom (who are longtime family friends) for lunch. It was great to catch up with all of them!  PS: For those of you in the Chicago area - my sister is telling a story at Mrs. Murphy's on Lincoln Ave. tomorrow night. Check it out!

I worked at the library on Saturday.

Yesterday, we got almost 4 inches of snow. Lil Miss & I hung out most of the day until we had a Christmas dinner to go to. It was nice and got to meet some new people.

I have to brag about my Lil Miss....she told me yesterday that the little note (I print out little lunchbox notes and put them in her lunch now & then) that I gave her Friday, she passed onto a little girl at her lunch table because she was crying that her friend wouldn't sit with her. Lil Miss just said to me, "I think she needed it more than I did". I love that she has such a big heart!

Happy Monday

Key to the Twelve Days of Christmas

The "Twelve Days of Christmas" refer to the eight days of the Christmas Octave from December 25 to New Years Day, and the four additional days up to and including the eve of January 6, the traditional date of the Epiphany.  In the USA and many other countries, Epiphany is now celebrated on the first Sunday after New Years, so the exact number 12 does not necessarily apply.  But the point is, don't throw out the tree on the 26th--the birth of the Savior can't be celebrated adequately in one day.  Let the celebration continue through at least through the Feast of the Epiphany--if not through the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

According to the Handbook of Catholic Sacramentals by Ann Ball, the famous song about the 12 Days of Christmas was written in England as a catechism song for young Catholics in the days when it was illegal to practice or teach the Catholic Faith.  It contains hidden meanings intended to help children remember lessons of faith.  Instead of referring to an earthly suitor, the “true love” mentioned in the song really refers to God.  The “me” who receives the presents is symbolic of every baptized person. 

There appears to be no conclusive historical evidence to prove this origin of the song,  Nevertheless, the traditional association between the gifts mentioned in the song and various spiritual gifts is a fun way to turn a seemingly secular Christmas carol into a valuable catechetical tool.  So let's have fun with it!

Partridge in a pear tree           Jesus Christ, symbolized as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from helpless nestlings.

Two turtle doves                     Old & New Testaments

Three French Hens                 Faith, hope, charity

Four Calling birds                    The Four Gospels

Five Golden Rings                  The Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy)

Six geese a laying                   Six days of creation

Seven Swans a swimming     7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Eight maids a-milking             8 Beatitudes

Nine Ladies Dancing               Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Ten Lords a-leaping                10 Commandments

Eleven pipers piping                The 11 faithful disciples

12 drummers drumming         12 articles of the Apostles Creed

Merry Christmas!

TGIF!

Thank you to my guest blogger yesterday, Nicole! I love your holiday memories and traditions.

I'm looking forward to spending the day with my mom and meeting my sister and a friend for lunch.

What are you doing this weekend?

I am working at the library tomorrow. I am supposed to have a photo shoot on Sunday (weather permitting...) and we have a holiday party to go to Sunday evening.

Have a great weekend!

Guest Blogger - Nicole

Hello readers!

Today, beautiful and funny Nicole from PRAIRIE PRINCESS is sharing her holiday traditions. Please make sure you visit her blog!

Without further ado - here is Nicole's traditions.


Ok here are my Christmas traditions...

When I was young, before the age of 10 my family lived in California. On Christmas mornings we would open gifts, then head out to my aunt and uncles house about half hour away.

When I was 10 my family moved to Montana where life was quite a bit different. We had no family here, so our Christmas traditions centered around the 6 of us-my parents and 3 siblings. Our traditions evolved over the years, but essentially was this:
-Christmas Eve service at church, then we would go out to dinner as a family. Nothing fancy either-I'm talking Chinese buffet or Pizza Hut.
-get home and mom would prep Christmas morning breakfast.
-all the kids would go to bed. I was the WORST at getting up in the middle of the night to see all of the gifts "Santa" put out. Sometimes I would get up several times!
-usually I was the first one awake (and I'm the oldest of the 4 kids!). I'd wake my siblings up and we'd go jump on our parents bed.
-my dad would get up, but wanted to drive us crazy. So he'd put his coffee on, then go outside to feed the cows and horses. It probably only took about 30 extra minutes but it felt like an eternity!
-we would destroy the presents and ball up the wrapping paper and throw it all over the room.
-we also have a really odd tradition with our stockings-in them we get bottles of baby apple juice, a can of olives, a mini bear filled with honey and peanut butter. And my dad always gets cashews and my mom microwave popcorn.
-we'd eat breakfast, which included an egg and sausage bake and sweet rolls.
-after breakfast we'd open all of the DVDs we received and watch movies in our pajamas all day long. I think my mom was the only one who showered and got dressed.
-for food we would snack on little smokies, cheese balls and crackers until we ate a dinner of prime rib, potatoes and salad. My favorite part of the meal though was the cake we always baked. My family is fairly religious, so we baked a birthday cake for Jesus, and sang happy birthday to Him. Kinda different, but I loved it. Helped keep us on track for the real celebration of the day.

Now that we live near my husbands family, Christmas has changed a little. His extended family lives around here so we spend the holiday with them. My first holiday with them was difficult because I actually had to get dressed! Ha ha ha. But no fear, I'm rubbing off on them...my mother in law officially declared that this year we are having a sweatpants Christmas :)

With the birth of our first child coming up in the next couple of weeks, I can't wait to start many of these traditions with him :)

Thanks Jen for letting me share my Christmas memories with your readers!

Thank you for sharing with all of us Nicole!
Merry Christmas!

PS  I still have a couple of guest spots open

Welcome Wednesday

Hump Day again - come on Friday!

So after an incredibly busy and insane Monday (I hate the day after holidays...). My "fantastic" week continued yesterday when I choked on a chip at lunch. Fortunately one of my co-workers knew the Heimlich. He got the chip up and I was good to go.  Whew!

Come back tomorrow - I have a guest blogger.

Happy Wednesday!

It's not Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Come back Thursday - I have a guest blogger posting!

Happily but sadly, our number FINALLY came up on the Cubs season ticket list.  BUT - our money is tied up in our vacation for next year. Soooo - I'll be calling them today to move us to the bottom of the list again.  (Plus I don't want to spend the money to watch a crappy team...)

Have a great Tuesday!

The Legend of the Candycane

Happy December! I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, whatever you celebrate!

We celebrate Christmas at our house.

THE LEGEND OF THE CANDY CANE

Look at the Candy Cane

What do you see?

Stripes that are red

Like the blood shed for me

White is for my Savior

Who's sinless and pure!

"J" is for Jesus My Lord, that's for sure!

Turn it around

And a staff you will see

Jesus my shepherd

Was born for Me!

Many years ago, a candy maker wanted to make a candy at Christmas time

that would serve as a witness to his Christian faith.

He wanted to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry

and death of Jesus. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy;

white to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus;

hard to symbolize the solid rock, the foundation of the Church;

firmness to represent the promise of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J"

to represent the name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior.

He thought it could also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd,

with which he reached down into the ditches of the world to lift out

the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker

stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes

to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received,

by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the

blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the

promise of eternal life. Unfortunately, the candy became known

as a candy cane - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time.

But the true meaning is still there for those who have

eyes to see and ears to hear