1) I have foot in mouth disease. I often say things that come out way different than intended. Case in point, I was at the grocery store the other day, searching for the nuts. There was a grocery clerk stocking shelves and he asked, "Can I help you?" My reply??? "Can you show me your nuts?" Seriously! That is what came out of my mouth. Poor guy. He stood up, red in the face and stuttered, "I think, umm, I think, oh, they're over there." Ten seconds later, it sunk it. I had asked him to show me his nuts! 2) Curling irons should only be operated with a hazmat suit. While curling my hair, (wand right next to face) the curling iron exploded. I saw a huge flame and electrical current right before my eyes. I'm surprised I didn't wet my pants. But, thankfully, the only thing that it did was blow out the circuit. 3) The greatest Christmas surprise was knowing that my twin sister will be coming out in February, thanks to her daughter giving her the gift...

1) You don't have to be a kid to be excited about Christmas! 2) Wake up calls can be in any form. In my case, it was driving down a one way street the wrong way, at night and not realizing it until I saw tons of headlights headed my way. Basically, I lived through one of my greatest fears. (Thank you God!) 3) Not everyone is meant to make Christmas platters for Christmas. I tasted a cookie at an unnamed place (to protect the innocent) that tasted like perfume and hay. All I could do was swallow it quickly and comment, "That was delicious!" 4) What a difference a state makes! In California, at all the places that I worked, I was given the "don't wish people a 'Merry Christmas' so you won't offend those that don't celebrate...yada yada." Here in Oregon, EVERYONE says, "Merry Christmas!" 5) Every year, I've eaten so many cookies and candy that by Christmas, I'm totally "sweeted" out. That's a good thing too. I hav...

One of my favorite movies during the holidays is the Sound of Music. Of all the songs that are featured, These Are a Few of My Favorite Things is one of my "favorites". It always inspires me to think of some of my favorite things and here they are for this year.... 1) Being called, Babe, Honey, Sweetheart, Mommy, Mamasan and Momo. 2) Frozen sour gummy worms 3) Oregon Ducks football 4) J reaching over to hold my hand when we sleep. 5) the beauty of the Northwest 6) oatmeal for breakfast 7) talking to my dad about sports 8) Surprise text messages 9) My puppies dancing for joy when they greet me at the door 10) Poppycock What are some of your favorite things?

My favorite way to celebrate Christmas is with the family. This year is even more special because the family has gotten bigger. There's now 10 of us to spend time together, simply enjoying each other's company. Of course it wouldn't be any fun unless there were Christmas crafts thrown in. I planned out 5 different ornaments to make. The dining room turned into a diy craft party. I lost count of how many times we all laughed. We painted, glittered, glued, wrapped and cut until masterpieces were created. I have a feeling that this is the start of a tradition!

The other day, J told me this story.... Once upon a time, there was a greedy puppy who had a steak. He was walking along when he came to a glassy pond. He peered into the pond and saw the puppy with the steak. He went to grab the steak from the other puppy and lost his steak in the pond. That's the story of the greedy puppy. The moral of this story is to be happy with what you have. How does this tie into a simply simple Christmas? Out of all the things that exist during the holiday season, there are those people who will lose sight of what they have in order to get what they don't need....just like that greedy puppy. In a small town in Boston, many, many, many years ago, (1669 to be exact) the Puritans decided to abolish Christmas after they saw how instead of the celebrating the birth of Jesus, people became selfish and out of control. For 22 years, Christmas was abolished and December 25th was a day like any other day. My mind wandered as I thought about this. Was the celebr...