Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Wal-Mart Stinks...

That's right...I said that...I'm just a little upset right now. I went to Walmart tonight, just me & Princess, and I had to get a few things (plus a few things that I didn't necessarily need if you know what I mean), and they had a huge sale on glue!! Elmer's glue. Only $.05 a bottle!! So, thinking ahead to Sunday School crafts & VBS, I got more than I normally would (I only got 5-6, I think). Well, when I checked out, I wasn't really paying attention to how things were ringing up, and I looked, but I thought my total was a little more than I thought it would be...like, 7-10 dollars more...SO, I didn't think anything about it because my math's not great, but whatever...I got home & decided to look at my receipt, and she charged me for all-purpose flour twice, and only 2 bottles of glue rang up at the clearance price. Plus, one of the curtains I bought for Princess's room rang up wrong, too. That lady must've been on drugs or something, because she messed it all up, and I don't feel like going back there 20 til 10p.m. in the honking freezing cold, so they'll be getting a call from me here in a minute.

ARRGH!! I'm usually pretty good at watching things ring up, but I was just crampy, tired & distracted getting Princess all bundled up again. What a night!!

Other than that, it was a good evening. Princess and I went by ourselves to Cracker Barrell :) We had a very nice waitress & Princess was REALLY good!! :) She colored more on that menu tonight than she ever has!! LOL She ate really well, too :) It was nice & cozy in there with a roaring fire, the perfect night for that :)

I finally picked up my contacts from Sam's Club, too. I've been using these ones for too long...it'll feel good to wear fresh contacts tomorrow :)

I can't believe my baby will be 3 this Friday!! Time REALLY does fly, and it does seem to get faster every day.

Well, I'd better go. Princess is watching, you guessed it, Caillou (I'm SICK of that whiney kid, btw!! LOL). I'd better go in there. She likes to cuddle with me when she watches that show, and I like to get my cuddles whenever I can, now that she's not my cuddley little baby anymore...

Talk to ya later :)

Friday, January 26, 2007

Hey, Ya'll!! :) I've been missing a few days, huh? LOL Here's a pic to make up for it!! LOL



This is Princess pushing my SwifferVac!! LOL She was having such a great time I wasn't going to stop her...she's obsessed with those Swiffers...I'm DEFINATELY not complaining...there will be a time when she'll roll her eyes at me when I ask her to swiffer for me :) LOL

Not a whole lot going on this past week. I FINALLY got Princess's party invites done & in the mail, but I still emailed everyone we invited just to make sure we had given everyone ample notice. I feel bad about not getting those out sooner, but I can only do what I can do, ya know? I'm definately not a perfect Mom!! LOL Anyways, I hope everyone can come (I've personally told a few people, too, it's just a few I haven't talked to since Christmas time...) Anyways, it's at Chuck E. Cheese's next Thursday!! :) I haven't been to CEC since Steve & I dated (yes, we went there on a date!! LOL We even had a coupon!! LOL) Anyways, I'm about as excited as Princess!!

I keep asking her what she wants for her Birthday, and she hasn't given me a real answer. Her first answer was "A princess present, Mommy" like I was dense!! LOL Today we went to Target, and she saw that V-Tech V-Smile thing, and now she's saying she wants that...so, we'll see...I have no idea which to get her, the TV hook up or the handheld...I guess we could always get the handheld later...and maybe off of ebay for cheaper? LOL

Speaking of ebay, my husband is OBSESSED!! He's REALLY wanting a PS2...Because he's also obsessed with the kareoke ever since Christmas!! LOL What a dork!! LOL I love it, too, but not enough that I feel like I HAVE to have it!! LOL It'd be nice, but...really :) LOL

Tonight's just me & Princess. I think we'll have a movie night. She LOVES that!! :) She likes to turn off all the lights & pop popcorn & sit with Mommy :) She definately doesn't like sitting still through the WHOLE movie, but she does pretty well in the beginning :) hehehe Dinner's by Chef Boy R Dee tonight :) Well, Lean Cuisine for me. It's SO hard for me to justify making a big dinner for just Princess & I...I'd rather do "convenience" food for just the 2 of us, and cook for my hubby when he's home (He's a blockhead right now, in case you were wondering, and it's getting to be their busy season...) So, a nice lazy evening after we ran errands all afternoon.

Oh, I wanted to share with you a little about the Ladies' Luncheon...The theme is "Enjoying Life's Simple Pleasures ~ Friendship & Chocolate!" VERY cute & fun decorating theme. I think I'm gonna do a pink & brown polka dot theme, and glass jars/bowls with a pink rose in the center. I'll take pictures. Missy & Jodi, think my wedding reception (if you can remember back that far). The glass ball/vase thingys I'm thinking of are really short, so not distracting to talk over, but still very delicate & feminine to lend that to the whole ambiance. I have a strand of white lights (with the white cords) I can put on the food table, and I was going to ask Mom to borrow her chocolate fountain for a little "ooh" & "ahh" factor :) LOL Not only does it look & taste good, it SMELLS good, too :) I think it'll just add a little oomph :)

Okay, I could go on & on about all that, I think you know :) I had a very encouraging & uplifting moment with our female Elder last night, too :) She said, "I just wanted you to know, that I heard you had gotten some mis-information about how I felt about you being in charge of this whole women's ministry thing, and I just wanted you to know that I think it's wonderful you're getting this moving & I'm behind you!!" That was so sweet, and such a confirmation that I'm following the Lord's leading in this. You know how you have moments of doubting yourself/your abilities/"did I hear God right?"/I am so not qualified to be teaching or speaking to so many ladies who are older & wiser than me kind of stuff, and it was nice to have an Elderess (LOL) stop to encourage me. I really feel on the right track, now, more than ever.

You know, I'm really not confident in myself & in my understanding of God's word & direction...maybe it comes from just being indecisive a lot of the times, and definately from a fear of failure! That's a biggie for me, absolutely. Sometimes (actually mosttimes, if you wanna get down to it), my fear of failure is what holds me back from taking any kind of action, and that's not necessarily a good thing. There are times when I know after the fact, that had I taken a leap of faith & said something/done something, there would've been a seed planted, a person uplifted & encouraged, and maybe even another soul won to heaven. Fear can be paralizing, huh? And destructive...

SO, that's it, I won't bore you with anything else about that until I have pictures of what all I'm talking about :) LOL

I'd better go...Princess fell asleep after we went to Target, so now she's sleeping in her bed (thank GOODNESS she didn't wake up when I took all her coat/mittens/hat off of her!! LOL Now she'll take a nice nap :) And I can clean the kitchen...*cue Debbie Downer music* "Wah-Wah."

Have a great weekend, Journal Goddesses!!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Ahhhhh, have you ever had a conversation with someone that just brought peace to your soul? Refreshing & encouraging? DreamGirl was just here & we talked about our church's Women's Ministry (or lack thereof) and it was a breath of fresh air. We're on the same page, and both have a heart for where this is going. We talked about NegativeNelly's leaving the church, and I found out some of the deeper issues, and now I feel like I can pray more specifically for them. The Negatives both suffer from bouts with depression. A few months ago, a new couple came to the church & visited our Thursday night choir practice & what he said has stuck with me ever since. I think I've shared it before, but what I learned about the Negatives today really confirmed/validated for me that these words were spoken for me/us because of this whole situation (not that they haven't applied themselves in other areas, too, but this is a pretty specific case). He said, "There aren't so much problem people as people with problems." That mentality, spirit, attitude can help us react out of love instead of spite or bitterness. I'm a people with problems as much as the next guy, so I'm not trying to "diagnose" the Negatives by any means. It jsut became apperent to me today, though, that all my ideas or suspicions about the Negatives weren't crazy or just in my head. They're real, and I saw that....or the Lord showed it to me, more like...I had no idea of how deep it really went, though, and how personal it was for a lot of people.

Okay, enough of that. We had a pretty productive meeting!! :) We set a date for our first luncheon!! :) We're going to hand out personal invitations to all the ladies in the church, and announce it, too, during Sunday worship. We talked about it being a potluck, and how we wanted door prizes, ice breakers, a devotion/testimony time, and free it up to be a good time of fellowship. Isn't fellowship the crux of our relationships? Isn't that how we get to know each other & start to trust each other so that we can eventually share on a deeper level with one another? Can you see what my tidbits have all been about? Women's relationships with (not just each other) but the Lord, most importantly...

I'm excited, can ya tell? It's TIME for this ministry...actually, past time...

Oh, and another thing. It was so hard for our Women's Retreat to really be effective, because we didn't have the foundation of fellowship beforehand. At both retreats I went to it was like getting re-aquainted with each other each time, because we had no follow up from the retreat...

WOW, DreamGirl & I had a very productive talk, can you tell? I just keep thinking of stuff...

Tonight's AWANA, and Princess is GOING!! :) LOL I've GOT to take down the church Christmas trees....can you believe they're still "up"? They removed them from the stage (fully decorated, mind you) this past Sunday, but they still need to be torn down & put away. Princess's earache really put a wrench in my plans for that. My tree is partially down. The ornaments are off, but the lights are still on...that's my project for tomorrow.

EnglishTeacher's birthday is next Wednesday!! :) I ALWAYS forget her birthday, but since I got hooked up with Birthday Alarm, I know exactly when it is, and I even know what I'm getting her :) But I can't tell, just in case she's reading :) LOL I was thinking of asking Carebear & Daisy to come over the Friday night after & surprising her with a little cake or something (WW friendly, because I think she's still doing that). We'll see :) Maybe brownie sundaes...I think she likes those a lot...

Well, I'd better go...I need to piddle around on the computer for a minute, and get Princess's invitations started on...

Talk to ya'll later :)

Monday, January 15, 2007

Happy Monday...oxymoron...

Nothing much going on the last few days...Cropping on Saturday was F U N!!!!!! It was a lot of fun!! :) I probably spent more than I should've (they're so "nice"...they start a "tab" for you & you pay for everything at the end...LOL). I got a double LO done, and a single LO, but that's all. I could've done more, but we stopped to talk some, too :) And, I stopped to shop a couple times, too :) LOL I'm addicted to rub-ons...They're AWESOME!! :) So cool & easy...and you can put 'em on anything...so cool...The store's really cute, too :) It helps that they have "example" pages all over the store, and example homemade albums & stuff, it really gets my creativity flowing...

So, that was Saturday...Mom ended up watching Princess, btw...After Steve got done being a blockhead (H&R, I'm not insulting him, hehehe) we went out to Bob Evans with Mom & Dad :) YUMO!! :) It was very good :) And, where I'd had junk all day, it was nice to feel like I had eaten. The boys took Princess back to Mom & Dad's, and Mom & I went to Kohl's...Mom had to take back 2 punch fountains, and needed help taking them in...So, we of course had to shop around while we were there (they had a good sale this weekend), and I bought Princess's first spring/summertime dress :) It's cute, and it was only $11 :) Not bad for a brand name dress...Anyways, that was fun...

Sunday we went to church, of course, and then we weren't going to go anywhere Sun. night, but MathTeacherCousin called & said they were getting together at Giovanni's (the nice one) for her bro's birthday...we'll call him RatherbeFishing...He turned 24!! I can't believe he's that old!! LOL He's so cute & sweet, too :) Last year for Princess's birthday, he brought her a gift just from him, and he picked it out & everything. It was a Barbie accessory set that had a cell phone, car keys & "clicker," sunglasses, "makeup" compact & purse. They're still some of Princess's favorite toys a year later :) LOL But wasn't that sweet? He picked it out himself, he didn't ask his mom to do it, or go in on it with her, or whatever. I thought it was sweet :) Anyways, so we went there last night & then went to Mom & Dad's to hang out a little with Daisy & BigBlueEyes :) She's so stinkin' cute, btw!! :) She's just a doll...

Today I've not been feeling so great, I don't know what's up with that. I've been fighting a headache all day & don't know what's up with that. My tummy's been upset some, too, nothing debilitating, like, I'm still eating everything in sight (haha), but it's just not normal right now...

Steve brought me home a Women's World magazine tonight that had something in it about the South Beach Diet (because that's what Dr. H had suggested I try because of the whole PCOS thing), and they pretty much said that SBD was trying to concoct a SBD meal shake to help make it easier to follow the diet. I'm thinkin' that's pretty cool, but anything (besides lite coolwhip) that has the SBD name on it is at least $1-2 MORE than all the other stuff like it. Their frozen meals are at least that much more than Lean Cuisine, and their meal replacement bars are more than Slim Fast...SO, it's a little more expensive to go that way with SB, but I'd be paying more if I went to WW meetings. I'm already paying for the gym, so I'm thinking that I'll just WI there, and start with the water aerobics...Daisy said they've got a water "Salsa" class right now, too, so that sounds interesting...I think just to give the water aerobics people some spice (haha) or variety :) LOL

Hmmmm, well, since I'm just rambling, I'd better go...Oh, I'm getting excited about my meeting with DreamGirl (she has some VERY spiritual dreams...it's so interesting to hear her talk about them...nothing freaky or anything, but the Lord definately talks to her through dreams, as a way of comforting & validation & ministering to others...). Anyways, we're going to talk about Women's Ministries & start planning & stuff...I'm so excited!! I've been reading & actually doing daily devotions, and one of the scriptures the Lord led me to was Acts 13:15
"15After the reading from the Law and the Prophets,
the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying,
"Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement
for the people, please speak."
SO, I've been having all these words of wisdom from my Dad & wise teachers I've had in the past, and all these scriptures come to mind, and for our first luncheon, I really feel like I should open up with my testimony & words of encouragement. I need to just sit down & write it, or at least write down the tidbits as they come, it's just hard because I'm usually doing something else & am not near a pen & paper!! LOL :) Because of the spirit of *discouragement* has just left the church, I feel the Lord's telling me it's time to start up with this WoF Bible study called "Encouraging One Another." Is that appropriate or what?!?! LOL

SO, please don't stop praying...I feel like we're onto something here, and that something big's a gonna happen :) I LOVE fellowship with other women, and I love sharing & laughing & learning & studying the Word with them...I've REALLY missed that...that's how a church grows it's sense of community is by fellowship & sharing burdens & God's Word...just sharing our lives with each other, and not being so distant with one another. That's what I feel like is the biggest obstacle.

Okay, enough "deep" thoughts...that's not helping my headache!! LOL I'd better get a move on...I'd like to get to bed before midnight tonight...

Friday, January 12, 2007

Steve took this picture of Princess on New Year's Eve...I was probably eating more gooey butter cake :) LOL Seriously, that cake was AWESOME!! :) A Paula Deen recipe...

Not much going on the last couple of days. I watched BigBlueEyes on Tues & Thurs. this week, and will probably have her again next week, at least one day...I've said it before, but really, I get a lot more done with her here!! LOL I think it's because I know if I want to get something done, I have to do it before it's time to feed her again or something. She's a lot of fun right now, too, and has such a sweet personality! :) Such a blessing :)

Today I went to McD's for our weekly lunch, and only one other Mommy showed up, and she wasn't really there for that :) LOL I'm a little disappointed that nobody called to tell me they weren't coming, it's not like we took a whole month off and they have to get back in the routine of coming, we only took 2 weeks off...Anyways, it kinda bummed me out that they didn't at least call...maybe they forgot, but I'm being a pessimist today...

Princess got "injured" while we were there today, so that wasn't much fun. I don't know exactly what happened because it happened up inside the tube slide, so we couldn't see, but she's got a mark on the top of the bridge of her nose, and her nose bled. Not very much, but enough for me...She didn't want to play after that, so we left & went to Hobby Lobby for me to just browse...$30 later, we left :) LOL I decided I was gonna make Princess's party invitations :) BTW, it's a Chuck E. Cheese's on Feb. 1st (a Thursday night because you get extra tokens on a "weeknight" & unlimited table time (I'm thinking for the adults). We did McD's last year, so this year we thought we'd do something a little different. She's never really been there before, though, so we might have to take her once before to get her excited. She sees the commercials for it all the time on PBS, though, so she knows who Chuck E. Cheese is...

So, tonight I'm gonna try & dig up a picture I can use on her invite, and then get stuff ready for our girl thing tomorrow...I was gonna work on her after 1yr album, but now I need to get these done pretty quickly...I'll probably get her pic done & copies at Wal-Mart again...gotta love digi cams!! :)

I'd better go...I know there are lots other things going on that I'm just drawing a blank on right now...OH!! :) Please keep our church in your prayers...we don't have a women's group, and another lady (Worship Minister's wife, actually) and I are meeting on Wed. to discuss some ideas for that this year. I'm so excited!! :)

Okay, better go for real, now...Princess wants to watch Caillou...again...

Wednesday, January 10, 2007


So, this is just a little click in time to show you how gracious Missy & MacDaddy were to us all on New Year's Eve!! LOL LOTS OF KIDS, and they had a blast :) And, how cute is I-Man holding both of the babies, like, "are you serious?!?!" LOL Very funny :) You should've seen all the commotion to get those pictures. It was absolutely like the Paparazzi!! Maybe even worse, that's why they're all looking in different directions!! LOL There were Mommies & Mammy's/Mimi's/Grandmas holding cameras!! LOL Lots of fun...I think Steve even got it on video, too, but I'm not sure....we might've forgotten the video camera...I don't remember...

Anyways, Princess is feeling better, finally!! We took her to the dr. on Monday, and he said it was definately an ear infection (her 1st ever) and prescribed Amox & these numbing ear drops (which are SO much fun to put in, btw ::rolling eyes::), so she's been on the Amox for a couple days, now, and she's definately acting like a different kiddo. She's just still so stinkin' whiny, though, and now it's just more of a manipulative, "but don't you remember my ears used to hurt me" kind of whine...UGH!! And, she's waking up during the night (like, at least 2-3 times a night!!!) and that is getting OLD...fun being a Mommy, sometimes, huh? LOL Actually, I can't complain too much, because Steve's been really good about sharing the middle of the night wake up calls, too...but it's just easier (and quicker) for me to do it, ya know? Last night I think she woke up from a bad dream, though, and that was different...She's never done that before...

Okay, so there's the sickie update :)

Tonight's AWANA, and I don't know that I should take her...She's still not feeling great, and she's awfully whiny, I guess we'll just have to see how it goes the rest of the day.

Saturday's GIRL DAY!! :) LOL I'm meeting Carebear & EnglishTeacher at Live.Love.Scrap (visit www.livelovescrap.com to get a "feel" for the place...it's so cool inside!!). We're gonna scrap for a little bit, and it's a potluck, so there will be eating & girl talk involved :) This shop just expanded their cropping room & it's HUGE!! :) It's actually in the same store as the Hallmark store (where Daisy & I used to work before they went out of business), all except the wall doesn't go all the way over on one side...but the cropping room is where I used to work the most!! It was where all the collectables were (Precious Moments, Boyd's Bears, Dept. 56, MJ Hummels (those collectors are CrAzY!!), and the "perfect mint" coin collections). Anyways, it's weird because the carpet's the same, and even where you get to the backroom is the same, but that's where the familiarity stops...it's amazing what they can do with drywall!! LOL :)

Wow, where did that come from?!?! LOL I must be in a weird mood.

So, anyways, that's what I'm looking forward to this weekend!! :) I still haven't figured out the whole babysitting situation, yet, but I hope that's cleared up soon...I know that Princess would LOVE to come "crap" (that's what she calls "crafts"), but I don't think that would be a whole lot of fun...although, she's got a few pictures she can use, and I've got a lot of those older "starting to scrapbooking" embellishments & stuff that she could use, so I think she'd have fun, but I don't know how much I'd get done...

Okay, better go...I just wanted to pop in, really, and share that pic & to say that Princess is alright (although, I could've diagnosed her ear infection...it was pretty much a dead giveaway when she was wimpering & cupping her ear & saying "m-m-my e-e-ear h-h-hurts-s, Moooommmy." Bless her heart...now I know she's milking it, though :) LOL

Have a great day, everyone!! :)

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Sorry the link didn't work...I don't always do that right...here's the link again, complete with the cut n' paste version of the web address :) LOL http://cgi.ebay.com/Shabby-Primitive-Picture-Shadow-Box_W0QQitemZ260073106489QQihZ016QQcategoryZ41512QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

So, there you have it :)

Princess has been sick today. She woke up in the middle of the night with diarrea & vomitting, and now she's complaining that her "ear hurts" so we've got her on motrin & tylenol until we can get her a dr's apt. on Monday. The meds are working, and she's a different girl when they kick in, jumping & stuff, but when they start to wear off...WHINY CITY...I feel so bad for her, though, cause I remember being sick like that, and she's never really been as sick as this, especially with the earache & stuff...and diarrea's different with a toddler!! A POTTY TRAINING toddler, nonetheless...Oh, well, this too shall pass...Quickly, Lord, please?

Okay, better go...She's had a bath, now, and she's gettin' ready for bed :) I think we're skipping church tomorrow to give her another day to rest, and I don't want to pass it on in case we're carriers of whatever she's got, ya know? Anyways, that's the plan...I need to get up in the morning & make some calls...

Have a great Sunday!! :)
My Ebay Auction

So, I've put it out there...This is my test run. I finished it tonight, and decided I'll never know until I try, so I put it out there for the world to see my handiwork. It's a little scary!! LOL I have no idea if people will actually start bidding for it, or whatever...I'd like to get $10 out of it, so we'll see. It's a 5x10 frame, but it'll keep a wallet-sized picture in it (on the picture matte). I'm excited & nervous about it...Anyways, take a gander at it and let me know what you think :)

So, now that that's over :) LOL I've been thinking more about other aspects of my "business." Obviously home parties is where I'll be making my $$, I've just got to figure out what I need to do if I want to sell my creations at these parties. I know that Memory Works doesn't have a "competition clause" which means I don't have to worry about cross-selling (there are a couple of scrapbooking companies who don't mind this, so a lot of the people doing this sell for more than one company. I am not trying to aspire to that right now). So, I just need to know what I need to do before I can actually sell my personal crafts at these home parties, if I can at all. There might be some legal something-or-other against that...I have no idea...

Okay, enough about that...I'm just really excited :)

We didn't do diddley today. Well, we did go to McD's for lunch, then to Kroger for a few things, but other than that, we didn't do much. Princess is officially in big girl undies...again...She's doing really well, but her BM's have "snuck" up on her today, so other than that, she's done great...Sorry, that's really gross...

Tomorrow Steve's off work (both jobs...it's January...so he's a blockhead again...) and we'll take the tree down. This is actually early for us :) LOL But, I'm ready for it to come down. I'm still listening to Christmas music, though. I pretty much listen to that all year-round, though. It's too special to keep for just a month and a half of the year...

I'm making chili tomorrow :) I'm in a chili & hot dog mood, so that's what we're having for supper tomorrow. I love chili :)

Okay, since I'm pretty much just going on & on about nothing, I'll let ya'll go...it's night night time here :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!! :) Happy New Year!! :)

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!! Um, yeah, so I'm a little late for all that, huh? Don't worry, I was party-hardy-ing all this time (mostly), and was thinking of you all often. I just didn't have time to get online much, except maybe once/twice a week to check my email...Just that time of year...and now it's January 3rd already!! Of 2007!! Hope you all had a great holiday!! :)

So, I guess I never got back to report on how the Christmas play went...AWESOME!! People really pulled through, and it turned out really neat!! We got a lot of compliments about the tableaux's (the crux of the whole program), and people were saying, "When we do this again..." and "Next time..." so that's a good sign that it's "good enough" to be repeated and made into tradition. I have to say, I was VERY nervous on Saturday when we were still practicing without our "mini stage" being up yet, and only one flood light for the tableaux scenes available. But, that's how Christmas plays are supposed to be...CRAZY!! LOL I kept saying on Saturday, "Seriously, it's a beautiful effect" LOL I'm glad they believed me :)

So, after that I could really start focusing on our personal Christmas stuff...that was the really nice thing about having our program early...and I made a few gifts ( a scarf & 2 shabby chic/scrapbook shadow boxes, and at least 2 Gift Card holders), and that was SO much fun...It was neat to remember how much I love to scrapbook & everything turned out really cool & vintage/distressed looking, just like I like, and I hope they all liked, too. For MathTeacher's shadow box, I didn't used a lot of ink & chalk distressing because the paper already had that distressed look to it, and I didn't want to go too grungy for a baby's photo, and same with the other one I made for SkinnyCousin...I didn't do a whole lot of distressing because I wasn't totally sure that either of them really liked that as much as I do, but I know that shabby chic can go with a lot of things, and those shadow boxes are small enough they could take them to work, even, and just set it on their desk or something. Anyways, I was happy with how they turned out, and I think they both liked 'em, and that's all that matters.

New Year's Eve we went to Missy's house, and that was FUN!! :) I'm glad that Jodi & Buford could come for a little bit, too. I really missed all the hugs & stuff after the ball dropped. We used to, when we'd get together in KY at AuntSurvivor's house, do the whole countdown with sparkling cider thing, then go around the room hugging everyone...and you don't know how much you miss something like that until you don't have that for a few years...so, anyways, that was nice :) We stayed really late, too, because the boys were playing their little games in the garage while we girls played $25,000 Pyramid (and Missy ROCKS at that game, btw, no matter who her partner is, or how lame their clues are (there were a few that BB's sister gave that were, like, what?) Anyways, FUN :) New Year's Day we didn't get up until around 12:30/1p.m., then lazed around & got ready to head over to Mom & Dad's house for leftovers & stuff...Steve had Tuesday off, so we just kind of did stuff around here & then used our gift card for Cracker Barrell for supper. We drove around & around trying to get Princess alseep, and finally had that drive around looking at lights that we always try to do, but it just didn't happen until later this year...Thankfully there are enough rednecks & people like us who like to keep their lights on for just a couple more days after New Year's, so there were still quite a few lights to see...

That pretty much brings you up-to-date on what I've been up to. I could go on & on about "stuff" but I won't bore you. Oh, but here's a bit of gossip since I brought Negative Nelly up the last time I was here...Yeah, she & her Negative Hubby are "officially" leaving the church. Is it bad that I was relieved when I heard that? I mean, my theory is that they were obviously NOT happy, and they weren't encouraging or uplifting anyone else up, so let them go somewhere that they can be renewed & recharged & all that, but stop being toxic to this church family. I guess, though, that they wrote a letter to the elders that was petty & juvenile. I know what most of their complaints were about (even though my hubby who is clerk to the elders knows & didn't share anything that was in the letter), and all I can say to them is "Wow, is that a mote in your eye?!?! You better take care of that..." We are all that way, I know, and we want to "help" others, and have higher expectations of others, but the Lord wants to work in our hearts & improve ourselves, too. It's not all about helping others, ya know? I'm just as bad a sinner as anyone, and I know there are things that He's still workin' on me...to make me what I ought to be...(ring any bells anyone? LOL).

Anyways...oh, and prayers, please, for a new business venture I'm sure the Lord is leading me to do? I've been praying for months for the Lord to lead me to a home-based business that He wants me to do, and ever since making those shadow boxes, I've really been thinking that doing a scrapbooking business is what He wants me to do. I'll go into it more later, but just keep me in your prayers that He would keep the ideas & opportunities coming for me? I'm really excited about this, and am looking forward to providing a little "play" money for my family, and give my creativity an outlet. SO, that's just a little snippet about that...

Okay, off to catch up on ya'll's Christmases!! :)