To Finish Out 2010 . . . (Updated)

I thought I'd leave you with a little smile . . .

A couple of weeks back (December 18th to be precise), I reminded a few of my friends that it was "Wear A Plunger On Your Head Day" (to be fair, I did caution them to use a clean, preferably new one & not the icky thing sitting next to the toilet). Anyhoo . . . "somebody" assured me that when I took a picture of myself with a plunger on my head that she would, too.  It's not the greatest photo of me, but how good can a person look wearing a hat like this?  Oh, K-A-R-E-N - it's your turn . . .

UPDATE: Nobody better ever try to tell me that I don't have THE best friends!  Eventhough she had to make a special trip to the hardware store on the last day of the year, lookie-look what I have . . .   If it isn't my dear cyber-friend, Karen, wearing a hat just like mine :-)  I love you, Karen!

And just in case nobody wants to miss out on any more of these oft-neglected holidays, here are a few January dates that I plan to celebrate & you might want to slap into your calendars:

1st - National Bloody Mary Day (I may start this one early)

5th - National Whipped Cream Day

9th - National Static Electricity Day

11th - National Step in a Puddle & Splash Your Friend Day

18th - National Winnie the Pooh Day

21st - Squirrel Appreciation Day (guess this one's international!)

23rd - Measure Your Feet Day (another international one apparently)

27th - I'm TOTALLY pumped about this one.  It's not only National Chocolate Cake Day but Thomas Crapper Day as well.  I guess if you celebrate the first one too much you might end up celebrating the second one whether you planned to or not.  You might even need to use your "hat" to clean up!

Anyway, regardless of what holidays you plan to celebrate in 2011, I truly hope it's an AWESOME year for you!!

Everybody's A Winner Here

Most of us know how wonderful it feels to receive a compliment or how a kind word can brighten someone's day, but I have to admit that I'm guilty of not doing it nearly often enough. Especially when it comes to blogs and online forums, I tend to just "lurk" . . . enjoying the experience but never really saying much even when I think something I've seen is awesome.  Partly that's because I don't think I have anything particularly worthy to say - but, still, we should all do it more often.  Besides making the other person feel good, it's a great feeling to do something nice . . . plus, as I discovered recently, it can even have added benefits!    

Quick background . . .  a couple of the blogs I visit regularly are Gypsy Chick (aka Jodie Patterson) and Pink Paislee.  Both of these sites provide their readers with a steady supply of eye candy, inspiration, and terrific products.  To my delight, they recently joined forces & their first collaboration resulted in a simply yummy line of vintage (Jodie's forte) holiday papers called Father Christmas.  One of the cool things PP did earlier in the month was to sponsor a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway . . . with daily product tips, digital downloads, and lots of opportunities to win some of this scrumptious paper.  

Of course, I downloaded every single digi piece they offered.  And I bookmarked (and/or printed out) almost all the product demos.  I even used one of the items to create a quick layout for the Holiday Bingo contest I've been running at Scrapadilly.  Last, but not least, I was so taken with the line that I actually took the time to tell Jodie on her blog how much I love it.  

No, I wasn't one of winners - exactly.  But Jodie was so appreciative of the positive feedback that she made sure I got a prize anyway :-)  Helloooooooo, people . . . check out what I found on my porch on Christmas Eve:

We're talking the jackpot, folks . . . full sets of 12 x 12 papers AND 6 x 6 papers, plus two gorgeous Petaloo products - flowers from their Chantilly Collection & FloraDoodles Velvet Leaves!!  

I've already told both Jodie and Rebecca at Pink Paislee how totally thrilled I was to receive this most generous package, but I just have to say publicly that Gypsy Chick and Pink Paislee totally and completely ROCK!!

All this simply because I took just a teensy moment of my time to pay someone a compliment.  And I plan to do that more often in the future - not because I received this fantastic gift, but because the experience has reminded me how much it means to people to occasionally hear how wonderful or talented or smart or whatever they are.  Besides that, it doesn't cost you a cent, and it makes YOU feel good - IMHO, it's the quintessential example of how EVERYBODY can be a winner :-)

Now, if somebody out there can just help me find the time to dig my hands into all this yumminess and create something worthy, I will be eternally grateful!

Meanwhile, if I haven't bored you to tears yet & you're still reading this post . . . I've decided to share my bounty. Although you'll probably be able to find some next year, it's next to impossible to find Father Christmas for sale right now - it's been so popular that it's sold out almost everywhere.  Soooooo, anyone who leaves a comment on this post telling me how much they love the Father Christmas line will get their name put into the hat to receive part of my stash.  I'll use Random Generator to select a winner one week from today, January 6th.

And, just in case I don't get another chance to say this - Happy New Year!!  May 2011 bring you and those you love much joy & happiness . . .

A Big Ol' Birthday!

Yes indeed . . . big in both numbers & importance - it's Bill Pounds' 40th!!

I'm not going to write much, because I've said it all in either this layout or in person . . . but I must admit that today is very bittersweet for both Dave & myself.  We're having a difficult time accepting the fact that we're parents of a 40-year-old - particularly since we can't possibly even be that old ourselves. But that shock is more than outweighed by the pure joy of having a son as awesome as Bill Pounds.  (Yes - for those of you who don't know, we generally call him by both names, as odd as that may seem - lol!)

Anyway, without further adieu - Happy Birthday, Bill Pounds!!  I made this little layout in honor of your big day . . .

(for credits, see my Flickr Gallery - link in sidebar)

xoxoxoxo
Mom

Merry Christmas!

I know I won't be blogging tomorrow or the next day, so I'm using this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  Once again, I'm more than slightly ashamed of myself for not getting holiday cards sent & am using my blog as a way to reach as many of you as possible to offer my apologies.  Despite the fact that I got so many beautiful cards from you this year, I must admit that I have not reciprocated.  And while I don't generally make New Year's resolutions, I do resolve to be better at "regular" correspondence next year . . . meanwhile, this will have to suffice as my holiday greeting to you.

I actually stole the idea for this prayer directly from another scrapping site (Little Blue House) - but I thought it was appropriate given how muddled the lines between religious Christmas & secular Christmas have become.

Santa's Prayer on
Christmas Eve

By Warren D. Jennings

The sleigh was all packed, the reindeer were fed,
But Santa still knelt by the side of the bed.

"Dear Father," he prayed "Be with me tonight.
There's much work to do and my schedule is tight.

I must jump in my sleigh and streak through the sky,
Knowing full well that a reindeer can't fly.

I will visit each household before the first light,
I'll cover the world and all in one night.

With sleigh bells a-ringing, I'll land on each roof,
Amid the soft clatter of each little hoof.

To get in the house is the difficult part,
So I'll slide down the chimney of each child's heart.

My sack will hold toys to grant all their wishes.
The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.

I will fill all the stockings and not leave a track.
I'll eat every cookie that is left for my snack.

I can do all these things Lord, only through You,
I just need your blessing, then it's easy to do.

All this is to honor the birth of the One,
That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son.

So to all of my friends, lest Your glory I rob,
Please Lord, remind them who gave me this job."

Happy Festivus & Other Celebrations!

I just know I'm not alone in waiting all year for this very special holiday - I hope you ALL have a wonderful Festivus :-)

Meanwhile, I need to shout out some belated birthday greetings to this "little" guy (slightly older & a bit larger now, since this pic was taken in 1992).   Happy Birthday two days late, Josh!!

Also, 38 years ago today, Dave was commissioned into the Army . . . I can't even imagine how different our lives would have been had that not happened. Despite a few lows (very few), we had an amazing & wonderful twenty years in the military - we met so many lifelong friends and got to travel to places we'd never have gone otherwise. Thanks for giving us those experiences, Dave - and happy anniversary!

Last but not least, today is also the birthday of an extremely special person in our lives.  John Lynn is many things to many people, but besides being my terrific brother-in-law, I consider him to be the very best:

~ Music Man
~ Margarita Man
~ Move It, Make It, or Modify It (no matter how big or how ridiculous the request) Man
~ Mind Your Own Business and Don't Ask Jann & Dee What They're Up To Now Man
~ My Sweet Sister's Main Man

This is a photo of him from October being the Marek-Taming Papa John Man.

Mostly today, though, he's the Birthday Man.  Hope your day is even half as wonderful as you are, John.

YOU DA MAN!!

The Christmas Story

Received links today from a couple of different folks showing different versions of the Nativity.  Since Christmas is almost here - yikes, only 4 more days, I thought I'd share them . . . they're both from YouTube.

Children's Version of the Christmas Story

A Digital Nativity

It's Crop Time . . .

at Scrapadilly beginning this Friday (the 17th) and running through the 31st.  As usual, Drea has come up with some terrific challenges & we'd love to have you come join us for It's a Dickens of a Christmas.

Here's a layout I did for the last crop but never got a chance to post . . . can you believe how young Dave & I were? Anyway, maybe I can come up with some more funny pictures to scrap about this time around :-)

A Quick Little Visit . . .

Man, the days are just flying by . . . I can't believe Christmas is almost here!  Due to the "current state of our home" Dave & I aren't doing much in the way of decorating or anything - but there are certain traditions that just CAN'T be ignored . . . one of which is delivering goodies to all those precious angels in Wichita Falls . . . and I got a chance to do just that this past weekend!

Not only did I get to spend (a little, but not enough) time with them, but I also got to watch young Emily Jane & her seriously good basketball team play their season opener :-)  Any visit to WF always has the added bonus of getting to see not only Joe & his whole crew, but also John & Liz - so that made the trip even better.  And eventhough it was a whirlwind trip & I contemplated pulling over at Catfish O'Harlie's (yes, that's really the name of the place) on the way home because I was so sleepy, I am sooooo glad I live close enough to do this at least occasionally.  It would only be better if I got to make personal deliveries to Marek, Emma, and Colette as well . . . but last time I checked, you just can't have EVERYTHING!!

Oops, I almost forgot . . . besides all the other wonderful things that happened on my trip, the kids surprised me with a birthday present - an adorable pink polka dotted coffee mug with a flamingo spoon rest. Not to mention, a card signed by each one of them. Hey, you may not be able to have everything - but I sure as heck have most of it!!!

A Very Special Thank You

to my amazing father-in-law, Fay Pounds, who was serving at Kaneohe when Pearl Harbor was attacked 69 years ago today.  Please know how grateful we are for your service to our country, Dad, and how deeply we honor your comrades who sacrificed their lives that fateful day.