Christmas Survey

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like opening gifts that are wrapped because I like to rip the paper, but bags are easier to use when you give presents away, and they’re reusable, too. So, I guess my answer is both.
2. Real tree or artificial? I like real trees because they smell yummy, but we have an artificial one.
3. When do you put up the tree? Right after Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? Somewhere between New Year and the next Christmas.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yep, and I like to put Sprite in it to thin it out, and a little nut meg on top. Yum!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Wow, that’s a tough one. I loved my Magic Potty Baby! Lol. (I still remember the song from the commercial! I’ll have to sing that for you sometime.)
7. Hardest person to buy for? I’m not answering that. He/she probably reads this blog.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Lyssie and Ashlynne. I want to buy those girls everything I see! “Calm down, Julie! Leave something in the toy store for someone else to buy!” haha
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but we don’t really put it out anymore. It’s pretty big, and we’ve sort of run out of room for it since we redecorated.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I like cards in the mail that have cute Christmas letters and pictures in them. (You know, the letters that say things like, “A lot has been happening with our family this year. Billy Joe finally got over his fear of the man on the oatmeal box.”)
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Ummmm… No comment.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I have so many! Elf, The Santa Clause, Miracle on 34th Street (the old and new versions!) Eloise at Christmas, VeggieTales “The Toy That Saved Christmas”
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, but please don’t tell.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom and I bake so many yummy things! Chocolate covered peanut butter balls, fudge, cookies, you name it! And for Christmas dinner, sometimes we have crab legs and steak. Scrumptious!
16. Lights on the tree? Yes.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night, Silent Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We mostly stay home, but sometimes we mix it up and go somewhere.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’? Yes, of course I can. I’m an elf, you know. They’re all really sweet boys. Although Rudolph can be a little nosey sometimes.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Beautiful angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? When I was a kid, we opened gifts Christmas Eve. That way we would leave our parents alone Christmas morning and they could sleep in while we played with our presents. Now we have so many different people that we see on Christmas that we have 2 or 3 days of presents. Fun!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Hearing the same songs over and over on the radio and in stores, and hearing the same clichés and overused phrases like “hustle and bustle”.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don’t have a favorite, sorry.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Crab and steak. I’m not a big fan of turkey.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? ITunes gift cards, and maybe a puppy that is very small, sweet and already housetrained.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

If I were to write a list of all the things I’m thankful for, it would take a really long time. I don’t want to bore you by making a list a mile long, so I’ve decided to narrow it down to 10 things I’m grateful for this year. So, in no particular order, here they are:

1. I am a Hurricane Ike survivor. It was a rough storm, and there are a lot of people who lost their belongings, their homes, and even some people who lost their lives. My family and I are so blessed. The damage to our property was minimal, and none of us were harmed. Two months later, our lives are back to normal.

2. After Hurricane Ike, we didn’t have electricity for two weeks. We have friends that were without it for longer than that. Just stop for a minute and think about everything you do in a typical day that requires the use of electricity. It’s pretty overwhelming when you think about it! Going without power, air conditioning, the stove, the oven, microwave, computer, TV, ceiling fans, etc. has made me so grateful for all the conveniences we have in our country. We are so blessed, and even spoiled!

3. This year has brought a whole new family into my life, including a new step dad, cat, grandparents, and extended family members. It’s been fun to get to know everyone better.

4. Our closest family friends had a scary incident about a month ago. Uncle Tom, a man who has been like my second dad since I was about four years old, had a stroke on October 26th. Thankfully, he got to the emergency room pretty quickly, and the doctors were able to help him. He spent three days in the hospital, and now he is almost completely back to normal! I am so thankful that he is okay. Life would not be the same without him.

5. I am so thankful to have Ashlynne in my life! She is such a fun baby! I love her to pieces! Every little thing she does is magic!

6. I love talking and laughing with all of my friends and family. I have so many amazing people in my life!

7. I am very thankful for my tippy toes. Almost everything I go to do requires me to stand on the tips of my toes so that I can reach just a little higher. I’ve just recently realized how often I do that!

8. Earlier this year, I discovered a program for my computer called J-Tunes. It works in conjunction with my screen reading software (JAWS) and helps me to access I-Tunes! Before this, I couldn’t do anything with my IPod or I-Tunes, because it just wouldn’t cooperate with JAWS. (I had the same old songs on my IPod for over a year because I couldn’t change them by myself! It was pretty sad!) But now I am totally capable of doing it all by myself! It’s been so great!

9. I am so in love with good books! I am especially grateful for Braille books, books on tape and CD, and the Unabridged Digital Audio books library online! My life would be so boring without all these great resources!

10. This last one is the most important. Over the past year or so, I have been slowly waking up to the reality that God loves me. Not just the “Jesus loves me, this I know” kind of thing, but a real, deep, passionate love. It’s hard to describe, because it’s such a personal revelation. But, I want you to know that my Father loves you in the same way. He is always there, waiting for you to crawl up into His lap and snuggle up with Him. You are His baby, and He wants you to know Him for the loving Papa that He is. He is especially fond of you. Here is a link to a video that I found to be very interesting. It’s about 45 minutes long, and is a presentation by my favorite author and speaker, Wayne Jacobsen.
www.lifestream.org/audio/index.html
Click on the video called “Sharing in the Father’s Affection”.
Whatever you are doing on this Thanksgiving, I hope your heart is full of joy. Go in peace, and live loved.

My Friend George

A lot of people ask me, “How do you tell time when you can’t see?”
Well, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my talking watch. I’ve had it for about six years now. It has a nice deep male voice when it talks, so I decided to name him George. George can do all sorts of great things, and he’s been with me through many of my life’s adventures. During my first big speech at a school in Florida 4 years ago, it was George who told me when it was time to “wrap it up.” When Hurricane Ike came through 2 months ago, George stayed up with me all night and ticked off the stormy hours with me. Everywhere I go, he goes with me. If it wasn’t for that watch, I’d probably be late for everything! It has a timer, stopwatch, alarm, and even today’s date!
About a week ago, my watch band broke. It can definitely be fixed, but I haven’t been able to wear it for several days. I am suddenly realizing how dependent I am on that thing! I never gave much thought to how many times a day I check my watch!
So, I’ve been doing some thinking. What would life be like if I could just forget about what time it is? Wouldn’t it be neat if we could all just throw our clocks away? Imagine that! We could all just eat when we’re hungry instead of eating because it’s “Time for lunch.” You could go to bed when you’re tired, get up when your body says it’s had enough rest, and you could just slow down a little. Why are we all in such a hurry? We’re so obsessed with our schedules that we forget to take time out to just live life.
Please take a minute to enjoy the minute you’re in. Slow down and take a breath. You’ll feel better—I promise!

The English Language

Here’s an excerpt from my Funny File. Enjoy!

Let’s face it: English is a weird language.

There is no egg in the eggplant, no ham in the hamburger and neither pine
nor apple in the
pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England, French fries were
not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted. But if we examine its paradoxes we
find that:

Quicksand takes you down slowly, boxing rings are square and guinea pig is
neither from Guinea nor
is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don’t fing. If the plural of tooth is
teeth, shouldn’t the
plural of phone booth be phone beeth. If the teacher taught, why didn’t the
preacher praught.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what the heck does a humanitarian eat!?

Why do people recite at a play yet play at a recital? Park on driveways and
drive on parkways.
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language where a house can
burn up as it burns down
and in which you fill in a form by filling it out. And a bell is only heard
once it goes!

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
creativity of the human race
(which of course isn’t a race at all). That is why when the stars are out
they are visible,
but when the lights are out they are invisible… And why it is that when I
wind up my watch it
starts but when I wind up this story it ends?