Why Is It?

#1...Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

#2...Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is no money in the account?

#3...Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

#4...Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?

#5...Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

#6...Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

#7...Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

#8...Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

#9...Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?

#10..If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

#11..Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

#12..Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

#13..Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

#14..Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

#15..Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end you first try?

#16..How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

#17..When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"

#18..Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

#19..In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

#20..How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

#21..If at first you don't succeed, shouldn't you try it like your wife told you to do it?

#22..Obviously, if at first you don't succeed, then don't take up sky diving!

And finally......

#23...The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends, if they're okay, then it's you.

WOW!*

Jenni and I and Travis went to a Christmas program at her church tonight (I should say, last night). All I can say is WOW! There was a children's choir, junior choir, marys and marthas choir, festival choir, worship band, and all together they formed the mass choir. Then there was the RLC Brass orchestra, two (count them, TWO!!) bell choirs and other misc instruments. WOW!*
It was totally AWESOME! I LOVE HAND BELLS!!!!!
Good night. or Good morning.

*Said the way Johnny Depp does as Willy Wonka in the 'Welcome to the Factory' scene.

The "W" in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on none essential obligations -- extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher, She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.

Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads Those in the front row -- center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is.

Amazed in His presence...

Humbled by His love.

May each of you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect on His Amazing Love for us...

First Christmas Gift

At work I got my first Christmas gift of the season. One of our David's mailed us girls little packages. I had to laugh because usually of the 3 of us, my name is the only one that is always spelled wrong, but this time mine is the only one he spelled right!! yay! I got Marshall Field's Frango chocolates and an umbrella. Cool!

Some of our Sales Reps really do spoil us!! :-)

Back to work...

Donuts!

Our yearly tradition of making donuts changed this year.
Usually, we start about 10 am. Dad rolls the dough, then he and I cut it while Mom deep fries the shapes. And all the while we listen to Christmas music, mostly the Chipmunks!!
But this year, Dad had to go shopping for a new work truck and Mom didn't wake me up when she was ready to start...so, she did them mostly alone this year. :-(
We got 16 dozen large donuts, 7 dozen small donuts, and tons of donut holes and scraps! Num!
We usually get quite creative with some of the shapes, but this year we only got 2 crowns. bummer.

Large and small donuts & holes ans some scraps.

Changes

I'm trying to decide if I want to try contacts again. My glasses are really bugging me. Blah.

I was also told that I should go blonde. I doubt that would happen as I really like the color of my hair now. If someone had told me to go blonde a couple years ago I just might have. But...I have never colored my hair and I intend to keep it that way!

First Kiss?

I grew up believing that when I turned 16 I'd get my first kiss. Um. Yeah. Didn't happen. So, for the past 10 years I've been all bummed that I've never been kissed. Still am, but....s'ok! Someday...

Christmas Party!

Tonight was Kristina's formal Christmas party. It was tons of fun! We were all dressed up pretty and Kristina made some awesome chicken scampi. Then we sat around and visited (after the guys cleaned the kitchen) and some played a game.

Here are some of the pix from tonight. I will get all of them on Flickr tomorrow.

Deb and Katie playing with Marcus' hair...

Rob tried to claim the big piece of fudge for himself.
It isn't really a surprise, Gretchen's fudge is the best in the land!!
We were all fighting over it!

The guys cleaned up after the meal. Had to get documentation of this!!

Is Rob cold?

Haha - we still see ya, Rick!

Visiting around the table during desert

Hailey chomping on a candy cane...after she had fudge

Hailey showing us how well she can furrow her eyebrows!

Ryan juggling...while curling his tongue!

So, I didn't get a pic of me w/my camera, (at the party)
but Rick R did with his...I took this after I got home.
I still look like a dork, but whatever.

Purrrrrr

Today I feel like a cat...I've got my sun spot shinning on me at my desk and I'm lovin' life! :-)

“Surprise Me, God!”

At Bible study on Monday Jen brought up a website about asking God to surprise us each day for 30 days. Interesting. Here is part of the first chaper off the website:

Every day, for thirty days, I pray and ask God to surprise me? “Surprise Me, God.” Nothing more, nothing less. Three words. Not asking for something in particular. Not giving him my list. Not presenting my agenda. Just inviting him to barge into my life in any old way he pleases-to crash into the busyness of my schedule and mess with it.

This is something I will be doing...Surprise me, God! It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming month!

***The turn signals on my car work now!!!*** :-D

Porcelain Heart

Hurt....not a fun thing to have. Especially a hurting heart.

As you can figure out from my last post, I cleaned my room (!!) and found something that I had written... a few months ago. (Since it was at the bottom of one my piles of papers, probably July-ish:)

So often we hide our hurt so that no one knows that we need prayer. We try to fix ourselves and our pain all alone and that gives no chance for others to come to our side and minister to us and be a friend. It's easy to put on a smile and pretend we are OK. By doing that we push others away and end up with no true friends who care and share our burdens. We end up dying inside and becoming bitter and feeling unloved.
Sometimes, talking to God will not fully relieve a problem or give us peace from the burden. We are only human and need some skin to grab on to. Not meaning that God can't give us absolute peace on His own, it just helps to know that another human is there and has our back.

(You have no idea how hard it was for me to not edit this!)

Now, what I should have said in the second paragraph was maybe more that we don’t allow God to ‘fully relieve a problem’ by not sharing it with someone, because He works thru that other person to give us peace. This is all I have on this right now! My thots are subject to change...

Here is my current favorite song, written and sung by Barlow Girl:

Porcelain Heart

Broken heart one more time
Pick yourself up, why even cry
Broken pieces in your hands
Wonder how you'’ll make it whole

You know, You pray
This can’'t be the way
You cry, You say
Something’'s got to change
And mend this porcelain heart of mine

Someone said “"A broken heart
Would sting at first
Then make you stronger”"
You wonder why this pain remains
Were hearts made just to break

Creator, only You take brokenness
And create it into beauty again

My ranting is over...for now. I had a purpose for saying all this, but I have no energy to say it anymore.

Cluttered

Yay! I have cracked down on myself and started organizing my room today. It has been a long process, but I put a huge dent in the mess today! If only it was this easy to clear out the clutter in my mind. Blahumbug.

Breaking Point

Last night I reached my breaking point. I've been doing doing doing so much stuff lately that I NEED A BREAK! I am ready to crawl back into my hole and stay there for months on end. But, I will die without hanging out with my friends. I am in a quandary....

Pretty As A Picture

You have the Rossetti girl look. You are the kind of girl pre-Raphaelite painters admired; tall, slender, and fair as a lily flower. The pre-Raphaelite girl had dramatic beauty; long neck, large soulful eyes, full shapely mouth and masses of wavy hair. The pre-Raphaelites painted girls like this, they showed them in dramatic situations dressed as famous characters in legends, plays and poetry. The favourite colours of the artists were russet, green and gold. The following artists would have loved to paint you; Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

'Pretty As A Picture' - Which Artist Would Paint You?
brought to you by Quizilla



special note: the national turkeys are from MN!!!

Not Another (Romantic) Movie

We just finished watching What Women Want. Sheesh. I couldn't handle all the kissing and junk. I don't think I really like Mel Gibson either. Sheesh. I really like Helen Hunt, tho! I've been wanting to see the movie, tho, so now I know! Woo Hoo. Time for bed. The FOUR movies we watched tonight were fun. Sometimes hard to stay awake thru, but fun. We will be doing this again if anyone wants to join us next time!! Let's see if I can move, now.
'nite.
*Just so you know, I actually used spell check this morning so no one (like K) can complain about my spelling.*

Pirates!

Ahhhhhh. Now that I have finally gotten to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my friends and I have gotten Pirates of the Caribbean back...guess what we are watching tonight?

Watched First: Ocean's Eleven


Now Showing: Pirates of the Caribbean

Which Pirates of the Caribbean character are you?

Next up: Newsies

Christmas Shopping

I am finally starting to catch up! YAY!!!!! I feel so far behind in my Christmas gift shopping. Sigh. But I think it is just because I have so many more friends that I want to shop for than I had last year. So exciting!!!! YAY!!!!! :-D
I usually avoid shopping the Day After Thanksgiving, but today I'm awesomely glad! I may be half done with my shopping now. Woo Hoo!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today I was at Uncle Ren and Aunt Judy's for Thanksgiving.
Tonsa friends and family gathered together with tons of food!!!
After we ate and the younger folk cleaned up we watched Madagascar
and some James Bond movie while eating home made pies.
The last of us left at 11 after the movie ended.

Lotsa good food and friends to share it!

Playing with a ball after clean-up.

Playing with Hailey and Tigger.

Watching a James Bond movie.

Here all are pictures.

Alligators

A joke from Rick (not either of my cousins):



Q. Can a flashlight protect you when you're being attacked by an alligator?






A. Depends on how fast you carry the flashlight.

Keith & Morgan

Mom and I went to Morgan's tonight for supper. Dad woulda gone, but he had to work...
It was so much fun!! We had subs and chips and dip and later french silk pie and ice cream.
Here are some pix (the rest are at Flickr):