Such Helpful Friends You Are

Thank you for all the wonderful emails about posting videos. What great friends I have!!!!

But I guess I should have been more specific...how do I get the video OFF OF THE CAMCORDER and onto the computer screen??? Like a special cable that plugs into the computer or do I have to burn it to a DVD first???

And how do I get JUST the part of the camcorder tape I want on that video rather than the WHOLE tape?

I'm pretty sure I can figure it out once I get it ON blogger or youtube, but it's actually getting it on there that confuses me to pieces!!!

Okay, let the help session resume!

Uncharted Territory

This may seem like a dumb question to some of you technological whipper snappers, but HELP! The one area of uncharted territory I have yet to conquer in the area of technology is with streaming video. And it can't be rocket science because everyone's doing it. Please save me from doing the research b/c quite frankly, I don't have time! I want to put a video from my camcorder onto youtube or blogger video. How would I go about that? I want to put last night's video of my preschool handbell choir (which Lexi was in) on my blog so y'all can see what a hoot it was!

And if it's like most areas of technology, there's probably a gazillion ways to accomplish this one thing, so everyone who does this, please post how you go about it.

Thanks!!!!

Texas Tree/"Mommy, Watch This"/Pray For Me Tomorrow...

My two lil' cowgirls, helping us decorate the tree! That cowboy hat is now our tree topper and YES, we did say the pledge to the Texas flags as we put them on the tree!

A mixture of total goodness...is what describes this post.

1. Hear ye hear ye...my tree is decorated! After standing bare in my living room for the past week, it has finally been adorned with total "Texas-ness". The first year we were married, Cary and I walked into a chick-fil-a one Saturday morning for breakfast and their tree totally spoke to us. Not really. But I thought it heard it scream, "YOU NEED A TREE LIKE ME IN YOUR HOUSE!" It had red bandanas, rafia bows, chili peppers, and a cowboy hat on top. We immediately decided we wanted to have a Texas tree. So we went to Hobby Lobby and it must have been fate because all of the ornaments were 50% off and there were a ton of Texas ornaments. We also bought some Texas bluebonnets, yellow roses of Texas, some small Texas flags, and some red bandanas. And for the past 7 years, we've had a Texas tree, the ornaments growing in number each year. Oh yes, we have armadillos, cowbells, boots, chili pepper stars, lots of Aggie ornaments, rafia bows, and our cowboy hat on top with a pair of cowboy boots underneath on top of the tree skirt. And who knew that one day we would be living outside of Texas, which just makes our tree all the more special! So we decorated the tree while listening to Country Christmas music. You know, had to stick with the theme!

I know you can't tell, but there are red lights on it. I guess my flash made them disappear. This tree sort of has a funny Charlie Brown kind of shape to it. Oh well! It really is cute. The pictures don't do it justice.

I spy a yellow rose of Texas, a cowboy hat, 3 bluebonnets, two raffia bows, a cactus, and armadillo, a chili pepper, and ??? I don't know what else I see.

2. Lexi's latest trick...she says, "Mommy, watch this" as she leaves the room in a huff angry about something. She wants to make sure I SEE HER WITH MY EYES as she shows her attitude about things. Here's an example. Ashton got the last container of yogurt because Lexi was busy chowing down on corn. And when she asked for yogurt and I explained it was all gone she said, "Mommy, watch this" and she stormed off to her room with her bottom lip poked out. Hillarious! Four going on fourteen!

3. PRAY FOR ME TOMORROW as my little 4, 5, and 6 year old hand bell players perform at church tomorrow night. LORD, HELP ME! I'm not asking for perfection. I just kind of want us to all get on the stage without dropping any bells, clanging them around, and I'd kind of like for them to stand with their legs TOGETHER and for no one to stick out their tongues as they play...ALL OF WHICH have happened in our rehearsals! In reality I know that no matter what happens, they're so darn cute that it doesn't really matter! But (near) perfection sure would be nice.

So Did I Tell You About My Neighbor...

God love him! Shortly after moving to town, Cary and I noticed that every Tuesday night, our neighbor's front yard turns into a parking lot and his back yard turns into a Bingo hall! Complete with a Johnny Cash impersonator. Every week. Johnny Cash. I know what you're thinking. I thought he was dead too. But not so. He is alive and well in Central Florida. He even has a TOUR BUS! Which is also parked in the front yard. Yes, it's a LOVELY neighborhood. Oh, I almost forgot the hot tub. So picture this. 20 or so very elderly people, drinking God only knows what, sitting in the hot tub, listening to Johnny Cash and playing Bingo. Sounds like a good time. On Tuesday nights we go to bed listening to "I fell in to a burning ring of fire...B14, I 3...and I go down down down in a ring of fire, a ring of fire...N42...G7...." I'm really not kidding. Because you know, it woulnd't be a set up without a microphone.

I keep waiting for my Tuesday night invitation and after almost a year, I'm starting to feel ...well...a little snubbed. But I shouldn't complain, I mean he did give us our very own copy of "Johnny's" latest CD. Let me clarify, the FAKE Johnny has a CD of himself singing like the REAL Johnny. Is that legal?

So anyways, my neighbor, probably about 70ish, who always wears a button down country boy shirt with the sleeves cut off, you know, to show his muscles, apparently REALLY LOVES CHRISTMAS! He started putting out his Christmas lights the week after Thanksgiving. I guess that would be last week huh? It feels like forever ago. He started on Monday and each day I would think, "Okay surely he's done now." But each day, he would work from sun up to sun down. He promised he'd be done by Saturday. Saturday came and went. He's been putting things on his lawn for almost TWO WEEKS straight! And the results? Very interesting. Dancing polar bears with penguins (complete with "the clapper...clap on...clap off...the clapper" which makes them dance). Lights. Santa with 4 reindeer. Not sure what happened to the other 4. Lights. A nativity in front of a "fire place". Santa on a trailer. Candy canes. Did I mention lights?

So Cary went over today to "talk smack" and let him know that when we finally get around to taking down the scarecrow, he just better watch out, cause you know, we're gonna show him up! (Right!) Okay, are you ready for this....Are you sitting down??? His last house...BURNED TO THE GROUND because of the Christmas lights display! That was 5 years ago and his wife almost DIED with 3rd degree burns! This is the 1st year that they have done the lights again.

I should post pictures huh? All in favor of pictures?

Deep Fried Balls of Heaven

So show of hands, who has had the Sonic cheesecake bites? I like to call them my lil' deep fried balls of Heaven! They have made their 2nd annual appearance at Sonic and I, for one, couldn't be happier! They defy the laws of gravity, you know? How do you FRY A CHEESECAKE??? I don't really know, nor do I care, as long as I can have some occassionally. And here's a tip. Last year, they served them with rasberry dipping sauce (TO DIE FOR) and this year they are serving them with caramel...GAGARONI! SO...I bought my own dipping sauce. Yes, I did! Some would call this an illness. I just like to call it a very wise southern women who loves her some deep fried balls of Heaven!

To steal a line from my favorite TV show, King of Queens, "If eatin' this is bad, I don't wanna be right!"

Speaking of yumminess, has anyone seen that commercial for...um....actually I have no idea what the commercial is advertising, but it says something like, "Tis the season to throw the food pyramid out the window" and it shows this lady sticking her whole face in one of those chocolate fountain fondue pots? HILLARIOUS!

Holiness

Or should I say HOLEYNESS...If you're really excited about the pastor's wife FINALLY posting a spiritually related blog, I'm sorry to disappoint. This has nothing to do with anything spiritual, except for how Heavenly a good pair of granny panties can be!

Back up, YES, I WEAR GRANNY PANTIES! Okay? And I LOVE them! They're SO comfortable. It all started with my first pregnancy and I just never looked back. I never knew such comfort existed. You should try them. Really! (And for the record, my husband thinks they're sexy!) You watch, one day someone will tell Victoria this secret!

Okay, so onto "holeyness". Over the years, usually around, oh, December 25th, Santa makes his annual trip to the good ol' vanity fair outlet in order to add to my granny panty collection and I say "add to" because I can't ever seem to throw any of them away. I just ADD TO the panty drawer. Granted, 3/4 of them are hanging on BY A THREAD, but you see, by having, say, 14 pairs, one does not have to do nearly as much laundry. You catch my drift??? And I bathe twice a day (because cleanliness is next to Godliness), so you do the math!

Well, we now have an "issue" in this household because my dearly beloved has taken it upon himself to DISPOSE of my holey panties. He INSISTED on doing the laundry this weekend, and who am I to argue with such a plea, so I sat on the couch and watched football, all the while he was going through my panties, with alterier motives I have now discovered! And today when I went through the garbage dumpster (LONG STORY, I was in search of something else) I noticed there were over HALF of my panties IN THE DUMPSTER!!!!

Now, this has posed a serious threat to my standard of living, I tell you. Do you know what this means? It's cataclismic in nature! I NOW HAVE TO DO LAUNDRY! Like every day!

So Santa, dear Santa, PLEASE, I beg of you, bring me some new granny panties! And put Cary on your naughty list!

Eat, Sleep, Dream...

Mission accomplished! I have officially succeeded in brainwashing my 4 yr old to eat, sleep, and now dream TEXAS A&M!

This morning when Lexi woke up, she came running into the living room and shouted, "Mommy, Mommy, I had a dream!"

"Oh yeah? What about?" I was secretly hoping this was a prophetic dream that I would get skinny, get a house cleaning robot for Christmas, or even better that the Aggies would win a national championship in my lifetime!

"I was on the Aggies! I played basketball. And I was 4 just like I am now. And I couldn't reach the basket, so this big tall Aggie guy lifted me up on his shoulders so I could make the basket and we won the game!"

"WOW!" (This was even better than being skinny!)

And as I swelled with Aggie pride and wiped the tears from my eyes I said, "You make Momma so proud baby!"

Bah Humbug!

This is my absolute LEAST favorite time of the year for so many reasons. Christmas kind of makes me nautious, I hate it so much! And don't even try to preach to me about the importance of Jesus's birthday. I get that part! And celebrating His birth is the only thing that truly give me joy about this season.


In honor of my 200th post, I shall post 20 things I hate about Christmas...


1. Christmas music! GAG! And it's on every station.

2. Christmas shopping! I hate crowds. I hate the lines. I hate the parking lots. I hate how it's so hot in the stores because of all the extra bodies. I hate Christmas shopping!

3. Undecorating the house so I can decorate for Christmas only to undecorate before Jan 1 and redecorate everything back to normal.

4. Christmas trees! What a mess! And for those that hate the paganistic beliefs of Halloween, I hate to break it to you, but you do know the Christmas tree has its origins as a pagan ritual? Uh huh...they usesd to hang dead bodies on the trees!

5. What does getting everything I want on my wish list have to do with Jesus's birthday? Honestly?

6. It's JESUS'S birthday, yet why do we give gifts to everyone BUT Him?

7. As a kid, I always hated the family gatherings on Christmas. Some members of my family are a little "rough" and it always resulted in yelling, fighting, and people commenting on my extreme shyness which I hated. I just wanted to be invisible in the corner of the living room! Which is why I HATE it when people make comments on my kids being shy...JUST LET THEM BE!

8. The dreaded chore of putting away all those Christmas gifts after opening them on Christmas morning.

9. Nothing is open on Christmas day! So you're stuck in the house all day!

10. All the holiday parties! UGH! Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for those willing to open their homes, but I come home feeling so defeated by my less than perfect decorations!

11. Baking! I'm so NOT a cook!

12. Christmas crafts....I'd rather stick needles in my eyes!

13. STRESS! The stress of spending money, the stress of making all those Christmas cards on time, the stress of getting it all done! Hate it!

14. Pretending to be merry and jolly and "gay" despite the fact that there are still real issues in your life.

15. My father was killed in a car accident 3 days before Christmas in 1983. So I guess I always have that negative association with Christmas. For so many people, this time of the year is about sadness. Sadness because they have loved ones serving in the armed forces overseas, sadness because of the loss of a loved one, sadness because of financial despair. I guess I feel their pain.

16. Eggnog! Who really drinks that stuff except my friend Audra, who makes "special" eggnog with a little added ingredient.

17. All those sentimental, sad, sappy Christmas movies.

19. Snowmen! Everywhere! It's 80 freakin' degrees people!

20. Red and Green...together! I can't think of two more UNCOMPLIMENTARY colors!

And finally a bonus, 'cause I couldn't stop at just 20:
21. People who are offended by the words "Merry Christmas" and want everyone to say "Happy Holidays" instead. PLEASE! CHRISTmas is about CHRIST and if you don't get that then you shouldn't celebrate Christmas! I guarantee you that "Happy Holidays" offends me WAY more than "Merry Christmas" offends them!

22. Hold on to your Santa hats...I'm about to address a controversial subject in the Christian church. And this may seem totally contradictory to #1-21, but for my children's sake I will address it. The whole issue of whether or not to do the "Santa" thing. I know I know...the commericialism and Santa take away from the TRUE meaning of Christmas. But honestly, I think you can do both and still place more emphasis on the birth of Christ, which is what we do in our house and is what our parents did with us. Lexi knows Christmas is about Jesus's birthday and it's about giving. But she also gets so excited about Santa and the reindeer just like I did as a kid. Why take that away from her? It won't take her long before she realizes that Santa's handwriting looks just like Mommy's. I'm all in favor of letting them enjoy it while they can. I' ve had lots of conversations lately with friends here in FL that don't do the Santa thing and personally, I think that's sad for their kids. That's my opinion, for what it's worth. (Not much I'm sure!) Just today I was explaining to Lexi that Santa helps us celebrate Jesus's birthday by giving presents to children all over the world. But still her favorite parts of Christmas are acting out the real Christmas story and the birthday party for Jesus and singing "Away in the Manger" and "Go Tell It On the Mountain". So don't tell me she doesn't get what Christmas is all about (even though we do Santa!)

On the other hand, I'm not really happy about a man in a red suit taking credit for my purchases!