Blogging Through the Year

Found this fun meme at D...'s blog, who found it at Patois' blog - so I had to get in on the action!

Post the 1st sentence (or 2) from the 1st post of each month of 2007 - I'm even doing links, like D... did! This ought to be a fun way to look back on the year....

January - "My favorite part of New Years is starting a new calendar. It's like a clean slate - open to all the possibilites of things I will do throughout the next year."

February - "Take a look at my new nephew!!! Isn't he beautiful?!?"

March - "Just got home from spending a wonderful week in my Happy Place - Disney World."

April - "Baseball is back, and our Houston Astros played the Pittsburg Pirates tonight at Minute Maid Park."

May - "Inspired by cjh, who was inspired by geek and 10 on Tuesday, here is my list of Ten Movies That Make Me Cry (this was not a stretch for me because almost ALL movies make me cry!):"

June - "OK, all you dream interpreters - figure these out!" (This is actually the 2nd post for June because the first was a Friday's Feast.)

July - "I got an e-mail from an old friend recently and she told me that she and her husband were getting ready to build their "dream house". That got me to thinking - what defines one's "dream house"? "

August - "Tomorrow morning - and Saturday morning - I'll be up bright and early for My Big Fat Garage Sale." (This, too, is the 2nd post of the month because the first was Wordless Wednesday - thus NO WORDS!)

September - "Not one but TWO awards for me this week! Wow - I'm feeling really special right now."

October - "That's what a cancer diagnosis is. A sucker punch. Life can be going along just fine and then BAM! You're battling a serious disease."

November - "Poor Thanksgiving. Now that Halloween is over, it seems we are headed straight to Christmas!"

December - "We're home from another fabulous trip to Disney World!"

Now THAT was fun! What a great way to look back on the year! Happy New Year, everyone - may 2008 be even better than 2007 for you!

Friday's Feast #26

It's the final Friday's Feast of 2007!


Appetizer
Name 2 things you would like to accomplish in 2008.
1. significantly decrease debt
2. travel someplace I've never been before

Soup
With which cartoon character do you share personality traits?
Minnie Mouse - because I love Mickey!

Salad
What time of day (or night) were you born?
Dinner time - about 6:00 in the evening.

Main Course
Tell us something special about your hometown.
I still live in my hometown! I like it because, as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm half-way between the big city of Houston and the historic coastal city of Galveston.

Dessert
If you could receive a letter from anyone in the world, who would you want to get one from?
an old friend I haven't seen or heard from in a long time

These times they are a-changin'.

When I was about Daughter's age - 13 or 14, I guess - I read Judy Blume's book Forever. It was very scandalous - pretty explicit sex, if I remember correctly - and I and all my other friends hid it in other books so our parents wouldn't know we were reading such stuff. It felt kinda naughty.

Tonight I was in Barnes & Noble and saw this book in the Teen section - featured on an end-cap with other romance novels for teens! I was shocked! Shocked, I say! Times sure are different now, aren't they? I just don't think I'm ready for Daughter to be reading that kind of stuff yet. I know she's not completely naive, but still. Thankfully she prefers historical fiction and fantasy right now. But nothing is forever.

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Piggy

The Gift of Love and Friendship

Last night we celebrated Christmas with D's family - we had a fabulous dinner at our favorite restaurant (complete with apple pie, of course!) and came back here to exchange presents. D really oudid herself. The first gift I opened wasn't exactly from her - it was from Coastie Bro, and it's a spoon from the place he was stationed so long! THANK YOU, Coastie Bro! You know I've been wanting one! Next I opened the cutest. mug. ever. D knows I drink hot tea every morning, and now I can drink it from my awesome Elvis Christmas mug - on the back it says "Merry Christmas, Baby!" I love it. But the last gift - well, it brought me to tears. D made a CD for me - the cover of it has our picture on it, and it is titled "Of Best Friends, Queen Sloths, & Apple Pie Splurges". And it has 20 songs of love and friendship on the CD - 20 songs she chose and downloaded just for me.



I am so blessed to have D in my life - to be my friend, my rock, my confidant. I love you, D. Merry Christmas.

And Merry Christmas to all you bloggers out there - and God bless us, every one.

Wordless Wednesday - My Home for the Holidays

Ten New Year's Resolutions

It's hard to believe a new year is nearly upon us - I'm not much for resolutions, but here's my offering for this week's Ten on Tuesday - Ten New Year's Resolutions:

1. get our finances in order and stay on budget (hmm...this seems to be on my list EVERY YEAR)
2. read more - I used to read a lot, but now I seem to spend more time on the computer and less time with a good book
3. in relation to #2, read my Bible more; I need to spend more time in God's word
4. worry less, which should be easy if I do #3
5. get more exercise - ever since I stopped teaching dance I have become rather, um, sedentary; I need to get back into some kind of physical exercise, be it dancing again, walking, whatever
6. travel someplace that I've never been
7. take more pictures of our everyday lives and not just holidays and vacations

Only 2 weeks left in 2007! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!

Sole Survivor

Finally the person I was rooting for won Survivor! Congratulations, Todd! You outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted - in my opinion, you played a helluva game. You deserve the $1 million.

Next stop for Survivor - Micronesia. The fans vs. the favorites. Should be interesting!

Island Christmas

One of the things I love about living where I do is that I'm half-way between the big city of Houston and the historic Gulf Coast city of Galveston - granted, Galveston beaches are not the most beautiful beaches, but I still love living this close to the coast. I love the water, the boats, the fresh seafood, the sound of the seagulls and ocean waves. My house is even decorated in a beach/nautical theme. It's part of who I am.

Today our family - my parents, Hubby, kids and I - spent the day at The Strand on Galveston Island. We shopped the quaint shops and had a delicous meal at Willie G.'s - we started off with raw oysters served on the half-shell - delicious!

Then Hubby and I split the Shrimp Platter, a feast that would make Forrest Gump proud: shrimp gumbo, stuffed shrimp, fried shrimp, blackened shrimp, shrimp creole and shrimp au gratin. It was fabulous!
Of course everything was decorated for Christmas, and I even bought a few ornaments for my tree.

We topped off the evening with chocolates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Even tho it was windy and cold, we had a great day. No stress - just a day with the family enjoying the Christmas season.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Now let the comments about how gross you think raw oysters are begin!

Friday's Feast #25

Happy Friday - Happy Feasting!

Appetizer

Make up a word and give us its definition.

Wonky - not sure if it's a real word or one I made up, but it means screwy or messed up

Soup

What is currently your favorite song?

Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Eve Sarajevo

Salad

What’s at the top of your Christmas wish list this year?

a new digital camera

Main Course

Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.

Pond's cold cream will always remind me of my grandmother

Dessert

Who is someone on television that you feel probably shouldn’t be, and why?

Howard Stern, because he's a lewd jackass

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Light Spectacle

Here's what's going on at my house.....

Except we're not British...

Ten Things I Want for Christmas

Another tough Ten on Tuesday for me this week - I really don't want much for Christmas, and some of the stuff I do want is expensive and I don't expect to get it. But since I didn't play last week, I'll take a stab at it this week.....

1. a new digital camera
2. new comforter for my bed
3. chair or loveseat for my den
4. bubble bath
5. pajamas
6. clothes - mainly cute tops to wear with jeans
7. silk plants for the plant ledge in my bedroom
8. money to pay off bills

That's really all I can think of! I'll be happy with whatever I receive - we all know it's not about the gifts anyway. Happy Tuesday!

Do they know it's Christmas?

This was 23 years ago. How much has changed?

On the 13th day of Christmas my true love gave to me....the overlimit credit card bill.

Wow. According to this article, the true cost of the 12 Days of Christmas is $19,507! That's a lot of money, yo. Here's the breakdown:

I wonder how much all of those items will be selling for on eBay after Christmas?

No Winter Wonderland here...

Houston Metro Forecast
WARM WEATHER ALL WEEKEND!

With moisture and warmth moving into the area over the last 24 hours, we've seen high temperatures around 80 degrees. Expect this warm pattern to continue on into the weekend. However, with moisture building, we have a slight chance of showers on Saturday, and a better chance on Sunday. Each night we'll have sea fog at the coast and patchy fog inland, so be careful! It won't be until Wednesday that we see a big cool down with a cold front rolling through.

Friday's Feast #24

Time for another Friday's Feast!

Appetizer

What was the last game you purchased?

I purchased a game as a Christmas present just today! Can't say what it is tho....shhh!

Soup

Name something in which you don’t believe.

Aliens

Salad

If you could choose a celebrity to be your boss, who would you pick?
Matthew McConaughy - he seems pretty laid back and oh-so-nice to look at!

Main Course

What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way?
Getting married too young (not to current hubby).

Dessert

Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room.

Dim lights, soft music, a hot bubble bath, candles....aaaahhhhhh!

Elfin' Hilarious!

Sometimes I watch this just to make myself laugh.

Yep, that's the Bubba's Sis Family.

Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday, Walt