Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?
Water rides - especially Thunder Canyon at Cedar Point visit http://www.cedarpoint.com/
Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?
I usually get very quiet and try to find someone I feel safe with or blend in to the woodwork.
Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?
Nine. This is the one of the best things about having smart, adult kids. I have one that is especially good at arguing an opposing view just to get me wound up!
Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?
Yes. I am fortunate that the company I work for provides them each year.
Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?
Define watching. The TV is on in the morning for about an hour and I watch the weather then catch glimpses of other things as I pass by getting ready for work. In the evening my husband usually has it on so I'm watching while I knot or do word puzzles or read or walk on the treadmill or..... You get the idea. The shows I actually pay fairly close attention to probably average out to 12-15 hours per week. I'm almost always doing something else at the same time though.

Thirteen favorite Christmas songs or stories.

1. The original Christmas story (Bible-in the book of Luke)
2. Mary Did You Know?
3. Silent Night
4. The Little Drummer Boy
5. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Suess)
6. The Littlest Angel (Tazewell)
7. Away in a Manger
8. The Night Before Christmas (Moore)
9. Up on a Housetop
10. The Year Without a Santa Claus (McGinley)
11. Do You Hear What I Hear
12. Go Tell It on the Mountain
13. White Christmas

A little twist on the Why Not "Whens"day today.....

When my husband wants to do something a different way or wants to take the round-about way to the store, why can't I just smile and say "why not"?

When one of the kids wants me to do something with them and I already have my day all planned out, why can't I just laugh and say "why not"?

When a customer wants me to do something way outside my job description (like help them pick their paint color or curtains) why can't I be thrilled that they value my opinion and say "why not"?

When my dog is bouncing back and forth (note that this is a 120 lb. Rott and bouncing isn't an everyday action) because she wants to go for a ride, why can't I just jump in the car with her and way "why not"?

When will I realize that my "to do" list and my life can and should be more flexible and that I should often replace the words but, maybe later, I'd rather, or not now, with "WHY NOT"?

Two for Tuesday yadseuT rof owT

1. Sometimes it seems as though there are things that I always want to do but just never seem to get around to - or the time isn't right - or the weather doesn't cooperate - or... Some of them are charitable or productive but most are just things I'd really like to do- maybe just once. Some are fairly elaborate things and some are pretty simple. Things like going to the corn maze in the fall, seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in person, swimming with dolphins (this story is a whole post of its own), going to the enchanted garden and/or luminary event that they have in my town each year, tubing down the creek at Turkey Run State Park, or going to some big event for New Years. Then of course there is my goal to see all 50 states before I turn 50. I am so, not going to make it!!!!! I really thought after I got Hawaii and Alaska checked off that this was an attainable goal. However, things and priorities change so, I'm thinking I'll have to extend my timeline from "before 50" to "before I die." Because

Washington

TO

Maine

is over 3,300 miles which seems a little much for one trip!

2. This week I do get to do something I've wanted to do for several years. Our church has a "Christmas Gathering" each year where women reserve a table, decorate it, and then invite friends as guests at their table. I was invited once before but was unable to attend so I am thrilled to have been invited by my great friend, Linda, this year!!! I am excited to see how each of the different ladies decorate their table. I just think this is such a fun idea. Different people, different personalities, different decorations, but all Christmas! I love it!

MANIC

Today is a nice calm after the joy and madness that were the long Thanksgiving weekend. Our daughter-in-law and son hosted a wonderful/beautiful Thanksgiving feast for the family. We enjoyed both the food and fellowship and even finished cleaning up in time to watch Grey's Anatomy. My husband & I spent the night at their house so we could get up before the crack of dawn to go to the Black Friday sales. By 7:00 a.m. we had covered four stores and were back at their house for a quick sugary energy boost breakfast before returning to the madness. By a little after 11 we had covered somewhere between 5 & 7 more stores (it all became a bit of a blur at some point) and stopped at Logans Roadhouse for lunch. We had been up for over 8 hours and felt very much like we'd put in a full day. I was slightly surprised when we left Logans and hour or so later and it wasn't getting dark yet. Reality finally worked its way thru the fog and I remember we'd just had LUNCH, not dinner. Hubby helped get their Christmas stuff out of the attic before we headed home. Saturday was getting out our Christmas and then the beginning of the decorating mele. Right now the house looks like a Christmas tornado struck but hopefully by next weekend it will all be merry and bright!

Feastless Friday, etc.

Okay, so the Chef took the holiday off and there was no feast of questions on Friday. Good thing, after getting up at 3:30 a.m. to get to the Black Friday sales it probably wouldn't have made any sense anyway...... I tried to be sneaky and do my Thanksgiving post early and save it so I could then just post it quickly on Thursday. As usual, the computer is smarter than I am and posted it on the day I originally did it rather that the day I posted. I'm sure there is some way around this that is just to complicated for my beginner blogbrain!

When the turkey companies (ie. Butterball, Norbest) pack those parts inside the turkey,

Why not package them in something that won't freeze to the inside of the turkey so you can get them out - and use bright red or yellow so they're easy to spot - and something in large print on the packaging about how many little bags are hidden inside would be good. (Okay, so how many other people out there have baked the turkey with the gizzards still inside in the little turkey colored bag?)

When we go to Thanksgiving dinner we know there are going to be leftovers, soooo...

Why not take our own Gladware rather than trying to carry stuff home on limp, foil covered paper plates?

When we go out Black Friday we know there will be crowds and lines at the checkout, soooo...

Why not mess with some one's attitude by letting them go ahead of you in line (especially if they only have a couple items - or a couple screaming kids.

Happy Thanksgiving

So much a part of Thanksgiving memories.

Two For Tuesday yadseuT roF owT

Thought one - Be thoughtful and thankful. Please use this opportunity to contact our troops overseas to let them know we are thinking of them while they are away during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thought two - Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday but amidst the turkey, family and football be sure to give thanks to the Provider. Take time to list some of the things you have to be thankful for and if you're feeling brave, share those thankful thoughts with someone. Feeling even braver? Take a moment to reflect on each blessing and then think of someone who is not blessed the same way. Pray a prayer of blessing on that person. For example, I am thankful for a family that enjoys celebrating the holidays together. I also know of families who because of distance or dysfunction cannot get together or who dread doing so. I am thankful for food on the table. There are many in the world who don't know if there is a next meal coming. The list goes on and on. So be thankful, feel blessed, and give thanks.

Manic Monday

Yep, it's Monday morning and I am suffering from weekend exhaustion as usual. I really need a job where I work two days and am off for five! Friday right after work we started our serious Christmas shopping. I tend to purchase a few things throughout the year when I see something really special for someone but the serious shopping usually starts on "Black Friday". However, since the stores are in an economic panic this year and have started running their sales early, I have started running around like crazy early! We were back up EARLY on Saturday morning to go to the grocery so we could get some of the Meijer Super Saturday Items before they were long gone. All the while telling myself that no one with any sense goes to Meijer on Saturday! Then we were off for yet another "morning" sale and back home by 1:00 to get the house cleaned and laundry done before company was to arrive at 5:30 for dinner. Had a great time and then got a few hours of shut-eye before getting up for church followed by picking up the grandbaby for some much enjoyed quality time. While she was with me I also finished up some laundry, unloaded the dishwasher from the night before and fixed snacks to take to our Life Group meeting. We took the baby home on our way to life group and ended up back home at about 8:30. I did a little organizing to prepare for this morning (Monday) then read a couple chapters in the "Fred" book we are reading in Women of Influence before drifting off to sleep. Side note: I slept really well and am wondering why I didn't purchase a down comforter (part of Friday night's purchases) ten years ago!!!

Is everyones life like this????

Friday's Feast

1. Appetizer: What was your first “real” job? I worked as a cashier at the local drugstore.
2. Soup: Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity? Definitely outside. Preferably either on a secluded beach somewhere very tropical or in a cabin in the middle of the woods.
3. Salad: Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when… I speak before I think and say something that hurts or offends someone.
4. Main Course: What values did your parents instill in you? I was blessed with great parents who instilled basic Christian values in me. My dad was always my biggest fan and best encourager always telling me I could be anything I wanted to be and that I could do anything I set my mind to.
5. Dessert: Name 3 fads from your teenage years. Mood rings (which, of course, monitored the weather more than your mood), string art (I remember doing an asterisk like design in reds, oranges and yellows and thinking I'd created a masterpiece), and platform shoes (at 5"2" I thought these were the greatest idea ever).

Dark blue: Happy, romantic or passionate Blue: Calm or relaxed Blue-green: Somewhat relaxed Green: Normal or average Amber: A little nervous or anxious Gray: Very nervous or anxious Black: Stressed, tense or feeling harried

My string art looked a lot like this

with a black background!

I can't believe these are back in style again.

Thirteen Things You Can Do to Show the Christmas Spirit

1. Be a courteous driver. Smile and let the other guy have that parking space or let them merge into traffic.
2. Pay attention to people in the grocery line. If you have your week's worth of groceries and they have two or three things, let them go ahead of you.
3. Pay attention to people in general. Is someone trying to get something off a shelf that is too high for them or lift something that is too heavy? Give them a hand.
4. Any time you have a helpful, efficient sales clerk be sure to compliment and thank her/him.
5. If you have a grumpy clerk sympathize with their situation - they may have been on their feet for the last 8 to 12 hours. Say something like "Wow, I bet this is a tough job this time of year" and then be sure and thank them for their help.
6. Be considerate of the cashiers and other shoppers by checking before you get in line that all your items have price tags/stickers.
7. Also, if you're writing a check, why not go ahead and get it all filled out except the amount while you're waiting in line.
8. Make business size cards that say something like "Merry Christmas and thank you for your service" to give to the bank teller, to the person working the drive up window, or with your tip at a restaurant.
9. Take the opportunity to teach your kids to be charitable. Have them go through their toys, CDs, or clothes and pick a couple of things that they don't use or don't want any more that are in good shape and go as a family to donate them to a local charity. For older kids make a donation in their name as one of their Christmas presents. Then use a card or ornament to commemorate this gift.
10. Pledge to do one "random act of kindness" each day from Dec. 1st to Dec. 25th.
11. Help an elderly or disabled relative, friend, or neighbor with wrapping their Christmas presents or decorating their tree.
12. Do you know a single parent? Offer to babysit while they Christmas shop. If you aren't up to that or aren't familiar enough to do that then offer to wrap presents for them.
13. Do something different this year (it may become a new family tradition) like working at a soup kitchen or mission, having the whole family help shovel a neighbor's driveway, etc. Are you dating or do you and your spouse have a "date night"? A few years ago when my nephew and his wife were just dating they decided instead of the usual dinner and a movie type date that they wanted to do something different. They took another couple and went to a nearby large city and passed out blankets on the streets to the homeless. Get creative!

Why Not Wednesday

Today is Why Not? "Whens"day. As in, if not now, WHEN?

-All those things I want to take time to do (write, spend time with family and friends, enjoy nature, read, pray, exercise) and all the things I want to quit doing (overeating, caffeine, being sarcastic, being impatient)-

Why not start or stop doing them NOW, TODAY?

Why do I always have a "when" whine to answer that question? As in:

I'll write when I retire. I'll call my sister when I get home from work(and then it's a week later and I haven't called). I'll go outside and enjoy the woods when it gets a little warmer. I'll exercise in the morning when I get up (ya, right!).

Or, I'll quit overeating when I'm not so stressed (probably true - I doubt you overeat once your dead and that will be when there's no stress). And I don't even have a when for caffeine - life without caffeine - are you kidding? Then there are the "whens" for sarcasm and impatience. I don't want to think much about those since the honest answer is when I quit being so selfish or insecure or maybe even a little self-righteous - OUCH!

Okay, so I'm going to try to take one or two things at a time - set some realistic and measurable goals. You can and may now hold me accountable. I'm starting with writing and eating. The minimum writing goal is at least four of seven days each week to post to this blog. There. It's in writing, so hopefully I'll feel more compelled to follow through - and if not, feel free to call me on it when ever you catch me. As for the eating - I've lost 20 lbs. over the last two years but the last several months I've gained a little back, lost it again, but basically hit a plateau. Soooooo, going into the holidays the goal is just not to gain any weight then when ( ya, I know, I know) the holidays are over I'll work on losing the other 19 lbs. to hit my goal weight.

So there it is - Hey, why not join me and pick a couple of your own "when" whines to work on?

Two for Tuesday

Two for Tuesday-yadseuT rof owT

Okay, I've figured out that I am better about posting regularly when I have some kind of theme to start my thought processes. Therefore, I'm creating a name for the days of the week that aren't already connected to a meme (is that the right word? I'm so bad at the lingo). So, unless there is something else God puts on my heart or something my little brain or opinionated self just feels compelled to write about, I will have a format to help the mental juices to start flowing which will, hopefully, translate to something worth reading. In addition to the Friday's Feast (which I really enjoy doing) and the Thursday Thirteen (which often taxes my brain so don't be surprised to see a list of 3 with 10 etcs. following) I hope to write the following:

• Manic Mondays= likely a recap of my weekend where I try to fit a weeks worth of stuff to do into two days before I have to go back to work.
• Two for Tuesday= two random topics which may or may not be related to each other.
• Why Not Wednesday=this is mostly a self indulgent way to navel gaze and figure out why I don't do the things I want to or think I should.

Realistically weekend posts will be few and far between (refer to Manic Mondays description).

The "two" for this week is related and is a big thanks to my friend Linda at 2nd-cup-of-coffee for all her encouragement and for this award she honored me with:

She is my motivator and a way better writer than I will ever be. If you didn't end up on my blog because of her do yourself a favor and check her out.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

Which snack do you like to get when you go to the movies?

Junior Mints

Soup

What year did you start using the internet?

I think 1998

Salad

What is your first name in Pig Latin?

ebbieday

Main Course

Name something you are picky about.

My desk being organized, especially before I leave work in the evening.

Dessert

Fill in the blanks: I saw grandbaby J. yesterday and I am glad it's Friday today.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer How much money do you plan to spend this upcoming holiday season?

Less than the last few years, but it will still probably be too much.

Soup What was the last television show you watched, and was it good?

Grey's Anatomy- I usually like the show but last night's was pretty predictable - not one of their better episodes.

Salad If you had to paint the walls of your living room tomorrow, what color would you choose?

Valspar's Peaceful Calm - a neutral light tan with a very slight yellow tint. Think 1 part butterscotch with 9 parts white.

Main Course Name something clever or practical you have thought of that should be invented, but hasn’t yet.

An automatic pooper scooper! Note the size of my dogs in the previous blog posting.

Dessert List 3 things you would like to receive as gifts this upcoming holiday season.

• The Eagles new CD
• A gift certificate for Merry Maids (or any cleaning service)
• A 1 lb. box of Lowery's chocolate covered cherries - half in white chocolate, half in dark chocolate