Happy New Year

I stole this from Smarty Pants Rants...who stole it from someone...who stole it from someone else. So who knows who get original credit!!

What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? I started blogging! Woo hoo Yee Hoo!

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I stopped making resolutions a few years ago. So far, it has worked out great!

Did anyone close to you give birth? Miss Blessed Beyond gave birth to a little bity boy. And Miss Absence Makes the Heart grow fonder had a sweet little girl. And by the way, that little girl already has her dad wrapped around her little finger!

Did anyone close to you die? Sadly Miss K lost a two year battle. I will dearly miss her sweet spirit!

What countries did you spend time in this year? No passport and no traveling outside of the US. But I’m totally ok with that!

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Oh there are things that I would like…but I have everything I need!

What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? My youngest started High School. Pretty tough on poor OLD Mom!

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Perseverance! keeping a smile on my face.

What was your biggest failure? Allowing someone to steal my joy.

Did you suffer any serious injury or illness? I had surgery…but everything is great now. Just a few jammed toes and fingers.

What was the best thing you bought? Hubby got me a digital camera that I just love!!

Whose behavior merited celebration? Hubby and the boys have been great this year. They treated me like a Queen during my recovery. Couldn’t ask for better!!

Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed? I prefer not to answer this one. I wish things were different…but they are not…and probably never will be.

Where did most of your money go? Feeding and clothing teenagers!

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Going on vacation!

What do you wish you'd done more of? Reading…I love to get lost in a good book.

What do you wish you'd done less of? Laundry. But with teenagers…it is a fact of life!

Did you fall in love in 2008? No, but I’m working on falling out of love with chocolate!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No, I don’t hate anyone.

What was the best book you read? Quaker Summer was great! I liked Sunday at Tiffany’s too.

What did you want and not get? Snow and Botox (or something) to get rid of my 11’s (wrinkles between my eyebrows). Hey, you asked.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Let's see, I was 29 on my last Present day. And I went to a high school football game.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A whole lot less drama!

What political issue stirred you the most? Very interesting year. I think I will have to wait to see whether the elected officials keep their campaign promises.

Who did you miss? My mom…everyday for the last twenty years. And my sister. (Hi Trunie!)

Who was the best new person you met? I guess I would have to say my new work family. I spend so much time with them! We are all quirky…but it works.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Pick your battles. Sometimes there is not anything you can say to change someone’s mind. You just have to disagree and walk away.

What sums up this year? Blessed beyond belief!

DSL (again)

Sorry about the interruption in service, folks. We just are not having much luck with DSL. In six months, the tech has been out four times. And now we are on our second wireless router. Cletus and I have decided to throw it all out in the front yard if we have to call a tech one more time!!

All Packed Up

I love Christmas! But the packing up is NOT my favorite part. Must be because I have ten or so tubs of Christmas decorations! It is my own fault. And I suppose I should whittle down a bit. I'm just too sentimental to part with anything. So, I spent two days packing and packing and packing. Then I thought I had everything settled. But Cletus and I decided to spend our Christmas loot on a big screen tv. Of course, our entertainment center is too small. So we had to move the entertainment center to another room and find something else to put the new tv on. Cletus and I decided to make our purchase the day after Christmas. We were not thinking...we hate crowds. The day after Christmas looked worst than the day after Thanksgiving!! And returned home with no tv. Who knew that there were so many choices and so many pushy sales people? So, Monday...we went out again to purchase...and again came home empty handed. We found out that there is going to be a $300 coupon coming our way. Ok, we can wait another week! Tdawg was disappointed...he is not so long in patience. But surely in time for the National Championship and the Superbowl we will have a ginormous tv to watch it on.

Is Everything Made in China?

Um, did I miss something? I never noticed before that our little twirling nativity has Chinese angels and a Chinese Mary and Joseph. Maybe everything should not be made in China!

Musing

I don't know if it because I'm getting older (I'll be 29 next year) or if it is current set of circumstances...but Christmas just was not the same this year. I felt ill prepared...almost like Christmas passed me by. I usually start shopping in October because I'm so excited. I have tons of lists and everything rocks along smoothly. But not this year. Yes, it had it's highlights. But I just didn't have the joy and anticipation that I usually do. I just feel depressed and melancholy. I feel guilty because I have so much to be thankful for!!

Clampett's

I am not a professional photographer. And it is really hard to get six kids to all look at the camera and smile at the same time. My niece (age 19), my nephew (age 6) my other nephew (just turned one), Buddy (age 16 & frowning) was not happy and would not even stay for the third attempt, and Tdawg (santa hat age 14) was a good sport about it.

Galaxy of Lights

Welcome to the Galaxy of Lights. Come along for a Clampett tradition, for at least ten years now. It was even featured on HGTV!

The fat man with the bag heading to my house (even though I'm still on the Naughty List).

Gawgeous wreath!

Very nice Nativity scene. It is so big it is hard to get it in one shot. Nice peek at Betty, our Explorer.

Lady Liberty. Only Tdawg would want to know why it isn't Liberty Dude!

Soldier on a Harley! Nice touch!!

Bear fishing. The fish actually jumps up stream! Reminds us of Alaska.

A dinosaur, just to prove that there is a little bit of everything!

Lots of nursery rhymes...This is the Little Old Woman who lived in a shoe...

Hey Diddle diddle...

Cinderella's castle...

An Owl...

And Old Man Winter...

This is by no means comprehensive...there is lots lots more. They are so talented and added at least ten new displays for this year!

Yoo-hoo

Well, I try to be 29 years old...but sometimes my blonde roots give me away. I was trying to look up something on youtube. Well, except I thought it was: utube! Maybe I'm not quite as hip as I thought I was. I suppose if I were really hip, I'd not only know how to spell it...I'd be ON it! Poor Tdawg. His mother is crazy! I know he really wishes that he were from a normal family...NO chance of that! The superior genetics on both sides are statistically against him.

Memory Lane

This story has been told and told by my Dad until it became legend. My brother is five years older...so I'm guessing that I was four and he was nine at this time. I have no recollection of this and never knew what it looked like but I found the picture on Google. (I know, heaven forbid I use the Internet for something educational!) Years ago my brother got this for Christmas. You could hit it and the bear would growl and turn around and charge at you. LR (rotten brother) thought it would be oh so funny to try and scare me with it. So he made it charge after me. Well, instead of runnning away crying, I hit it as hard as I could and sent it flying into the corner. Sadly it broke beyond repair. I showed him! I would bet the the reason that is no longer sold is that it is a totally politically incorrect toy.

Oh by the way, when I say rotten brother...I mean it. He tried to shut me into the fridge (to see if the light would stay on). One day, he fed me Crisco and unsweetened chocolate! He didn't exactly lie: he said that Mom made cookies with them! Like I said...ROTTEN!

Missing Karen

Back in the spring, Karen invited us to go to a Passover dinner. MJ, Mrs Goofy and Karen are pictured here. Karen (right) has gone to be a Heavenly Citizen. Your sweet spirit was a beacon of light and an example to us all!

No Fair!

I measured the boys yesterday. Buddy is unofficially 6'4 & 1/2". Wow!! Tdawg is unofficially 5'10". So, I am the only one short enough (5'6") to still be on the Power Ranger growth chart! (sniff). I can not believe that Tdawg has grown four inches since last year! But that is pretty typical with teenage boys! I think (hope!) that Buddy is done growing. Tdawg will probably top off at 6'2" or so. Only time will tell.

Favs

I was so inspired by V, that I decided to post my favorites:
My favorite Nativity scene...of course it is personal because I painted each piece...

This is my absolute favorite. It is an elf that was in my grandmother's house. I miss her dearly and seeing this elf always makes me smile.

This ornament was my parent's before they had children. There was a whole set but only a few remain and my mom gave me one of them before she died.

My brother and I fought over this elf every year.

I made this ornament out of a milkpod in Girl Scouts. It has survived moving from Colorado to Alaska to Alabama and then a few moves after that. I wonder if anyone else in the troop still has theirs...

I wonder what ornaments my kids will treasure and why...

Christmas...1977?

Still trying to get a Lite Brite. Ha ha. Just thought maybe Santa could help me get a Jaguar. Didn't happen. Oh well, I still dig the fat man with the bag!

Flashback

What a precocious looking child! Poor Santa, he looks bored. I was obviously happy to have my picture taken! I learned two lessons that year. First, never ever let your best friend cut your hair. My mom loved having me in a pixie cut...but Tammy took the bangs to a whole never level of short. Secondly, if you ask Santa for something, tell your Mother as well. I asked Santa for a Lite Brite. And sadly it took him about twenty years to deliver it.

Flash Back Friday

Who are these people? Yes, Cletus and I, BK (before kids)...about seventeen years ago. We were up at Burritt and I was extremely pregnant. Cletus was trying desperately to cheer me up.

My New Boyfriend

Duke is my new boyfriend. He is my kind of guy (ha ha)...he loves to eat (he tried to eat my camera case) and I hear that he likes beer! He stole my heart...even though he did try to knock me down. And he tried to chew on my hair and fingers. I have always been drawn to the "bad boy" and how could I say no to such a pretty face?!

Bargain Hunting

My new fav sport is bargain hunting. I roadtriped today and picked up my boss. She lives about an hour away in the middle of no-where. Well, almost the middle of no-where. I got to meet her horses. They are a hoot! I didn't realize that horses had such personality. I think Duke liked me...or thought I had something to eat.

Shadow was not sure if he liked me.

After a tour of the farm and her new remodeled house. We drove to another city to bargain hunt. This place is a treasure trove. We probably never would have known, but a co-worker, who had gasteric bypass and had to get a whole new wardrobe, let us in on the secret. It is a very large consignment shop with every brand name you could imagine: Abercrombie, Talbots, Coldwater Creek, Liz Clairborne, Parisians and more. The items looked hardly worn and a lot of them still had the original tags on them. I found two sweaters, two pairs of dress pants and a wool peacoat. The coat was only $20. That is a whole lot better than five times that much at a discount store! I thought I did very well. My boss got two armloads of clothes! We shopped until our feet hurt and then we had lunch. It was a good day! Best of all, I had a great time hanging out with my buddy! All in all, it does not matter what you are doing...it is who you are with!

Christmas Movie Traditions

I love Christmas movies. Some I have been watching since my kiddie days, while others are started more recently. Each year, I have to see Frosty (yes, I still cry when Frosty melts). And a A Charlie Brown Christmas..."it's not such a bad tree. maybe it just needs a little love" (pass the kleenex please). White Christmas and Holiday Inn and National Lampoon Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story. Now that I think about it, I cry at all of them. But some of them, because they are so funny!

Santa, Reindeer and Snow!

We went to Santa's Village.
Buddy had such a good time. Frosty's maze wasn't too challenging!

We saw reindeer in flight school training!

It snowed (sort of) in Alabama!

Buddy and Cletus sang with the elves!

Buddy makes a cute snowman!

Buddy sat on Santa's lap!

Sadly I am still on Santa's naughty list. I thought I was pretty good, kind of... for most, ok, part of the year. Well, there is always next year?

Flashback Friday

Has everyone has a Thanksgiving dinner that goes something like this...? Years ago, Cletus and I fly 1,200 miles in holiday mayhem to see my Dad for Thanksgiving. Upon arrival, I find that: Yes, they did buy a turkey...um, 20 plus pounds for five people! Wow that's a lot of turkey! However, they did not take it out of the freezer. So, I am madly trying to quick defrost and put the bird in the oven. Then I start on the dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, bread, and pie. Somewhere along the way, my brother gets mad and eats a turkey tv dinner in protest. That leaves four people to eat twenty pounds of turkey. So, shortly before we are supposed to eat, I realize that the turkey is not getting done. I end up whacking off parts of the turkey and throwing it into the microwave. Some two hours after the original dinner time, everyone is quite hungry. We finally sit down to eat. Dad announces that he doesn't really like turkey and he would prefer a nice ham. For twenty-some years we ate turkey every year and Dad never said a word to Mom. Then Dad's girlfriend announces that she is a vegetarian and does not eat turkey. What? Are you kidding me? Could this not have been made known to me earlier? We could have gone out to eat!! Not long after, Dad called and said that the element on his oven died and that must be why the turkey was not cooking. Well, at least we can all laugh about it now...almost.

At least I know my Mom had some times like that too. I remember one year we were done eating and we were getting the coffee and dessert... when Mom discovered the green beans still sitting in the microwave. Hey, would anyone like green beans with your pie and ice cream? And there was the year when she left the papertowels in the bottom of the salad bowl. Well, at least it makes for a good story. I have many more Thanksgiving tales but I'll save them for a later date.

Yummo!

I'm not much of a turkey fan...so this year: rock cornish game hens. It may be a new tradition. Of course, I had to make some traditional favorites: Mom's mashed potatoes, rolls, and apple pie. The fam thought it was terrific! We have been blessed beyond this measure. And now...time for a nap!

Really?

Shelley wrote that she thinks the everyone is more cheery this season. Really? I was in Wally World yesterday and people there were just flat out rude! The workers were very nice and helpful...actually going out of their way to ask if you needed help. I have not seen that customer service attitude at Wally World in years! But the shoppers were awful!! I know that you are stressed, money is tight, the check-out lines are longer than your to-do list, but don't take it out on the cashier! Be the exception! Be especially nice and thank them, and wish them a blessed day! Small things can make a big difference!

Fun and Games

Poor G had to have her ankle operated on. But she got a really cool scooter to play with. I have been told not to play on the scooter...who me? Of course, that does not stop me from playing with a chair in the conference room. Anyway, I had to add something to G's boring white cast. A smiley face on her big toe (in permanent marker), some pretty blue and orange Auburn colors and my last contribution pictured below. You have to admit, it is funny!

Too Short

The weekends are just too short! I don't even know what happened to mine. I had grand plans of getting lots done. Oh well. TDawg had an 8pm b-ball game on Friday night. He made two amazing three point shots (who knew?). He also had to shoot a free throw. I closed my eyes! I was nervous enough for both of us. Then Saturday, I was going to whip around the house and get much needed stuff done...instead I ended up working from 1p to 4p in the concession stand at the gym. so I cleaned some early and then I got caught up on some paperwork Saturday night. Today, nine am:church, noon:lunch, one pm:make a dessert, two pm:jewelry party, four pm: make a side dish, five pm: run back to church for dinner. Wow! I need to go back to work and rest!!

Global Warming?

Global warming? Are you kidding me! I know we have had Thanksgivings where we ate outside! Not this year, it is about 19 degrees and I'm freezing my assets off! I thought I left this crap in when I moved out of Alaska! I'm beginning to think that Mason's idea of moving to Mexico is not a bad idea. Let all of them come north: they can start with North Dakota, Maine and the UP of Michigan. We will all move south and be beach bums! Who is up for a road trip?

Flashback Friday

From about 1998, my Little Pilgrim (Buddy) and my Little Indian (tdawg). Tdawg's name was Grey Fox but we always joked that it should have been Running Mouth.

Huh?

Have you ever been misunderstood? I know you believe you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. Except my situation is way beyond that. I still don't know what to do. But maybe that is the answer: there is not anything I can do. I am not sure that I'm ok with that answer. I am a people pleaser and a "goodwill ambassador". Those are not always the best traits to have. So for right now, I am grumpy, unsure and my stomach is upset. I want to run away...but as M says the only problem with escaping reality is having to come back. I am old enough (29, for those of you counting) to know that running away from problems is not the answer. Maybe it just is what it is.

Basketball Season

Amazingly enough, dribbling into buckets is a lot harder than it sounds (hee hee). Tdawg drained a beautiful three pointer but it was an overall losing effort tonight. Ah well, it is only the first game of the season. They are bound to improve! I really don't know enough about round ball to understand the fouls and strategies. I have just enough knowledge to make me dangerous. I like rec ball though. Unlike school ball, everyone gets equal playing time (unless they get into foul trouble) and the coach doesn't play favorites. I really wish that there was a 14 and up team for Tdawg to play on next year. Just at the time when kids need good activities to keep them out of trouble, they quit offering rec ball! In the meantime, GO KINGS! (hmm what did I do with my cowbell?) jk!

Paducah or Bust

I know y'all think I have lost my mind. Actually, many of you have had that thought for years. But...I really want to go see Superman! Isn't it fabulous? He is enormous!! I am thinking this is the perfect spot for Thanksgiving. Moreover, it is over 200 miles from here, even better!! By the way, remember at the competency hearing that I've always been like this! Right Smarty Pants?!?

The Spoken Word

I was on the phone on Monday...attempting to make plans. The conversations did not go as I had hoped and planned. The whole experience left me literally stunned with my mouth hanging open. I have been noodling on this all week. Whether it was meant or not...the words are hanging out there and the damage has been done. I remember the old adages what is done cannot be undone and think before you speak. The power of the spoken word is quite amazing. I ask for your prayers on this matter. I am still unclear what, if anything, I am to do now.

Showers of Blessing for Blessed Beyond

Pictures of RJ and all of the food goodies.

The guest of honor with some really cute footie pjs. Premie clothes are so cute!

Grandma (looking rather skeptical)

Precious' mother and a wonderful mother of 5 boys!

K, M and M admire the gifts.

S gives a quilting class to P (aka our Sarah Palin)and M

S's gorgeous quilt. I love the dish and the spoon!

I had a great time at Shawna's shower on Sunday. I can't wait to meet little bitty R.J. Hopefully, he will be big enough to come home this week!