Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas.....

Yes....this is me. I was so excited to see Santa and he did bring me what I wanted (a doll). Back then our desires were simple....we wouldn't have dared ask for presents that cost three or four hundred dollars. Well, maybe we could have asked but it was a sure thing that we would have never gotten them. LOL

We lived in the country and getting into "town" was not an easy matter for us. Back then there wasn't a Santa's helper in dozens of places either. There was ONE in our little town and we had to drive lots of miles to get there. Mostly we kids sent letters to Santa but this time I got to see him. I think it may have been the only time too in those 'believing' years.

I got up early this morning to put my turkey on. Since I had no room in my refrigerator for a 20 lb. turkey, I put the frozen bird in the roaster pan and put it on the workbench in the garage. That was Tuesday morning and I was shocked when I went to get it this morning and found it still frozen! However, as I'm writing this it smells great in here and I just checked it and its nice and done and very tender....but its been in the oven for a little over 6 hours. At least all the presents are wrapped and ready for the family when they get here. Its also a picture perfect Christmas day....its been snowing since late last night....just a light pretty snow that makes everything look nice and clean.

I wanted to wish you all a wonderful Christmas.....no matter how you celebrate it. I hope you make many warm and happy memories. Above all....stay safe. Thank you for stopping by. (and, of course.....keep smilin'!)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Observations and opinions.....mine


You know no matter how old you get, you always learn something new and its not necessarily new technology I'm talking about. About 4 or 5 years ago, my well started to go dry; my water pressure was down to nearly nothing. I called a well-man to see about having another well put in. He was a (self-professed) expert in his field and baffled me with a bunch of BS that I didn't understand. Bottom line though was that I, indeed, needed a new well. However, since the Township in which I live has a water system in place and it does run by my house, I was denied a permit for my own well and had to hook up to community water. I wasn't happy about it (being a farm raised girl and loving that "well" water) but had no choice. This "well-man", while trying to drum up his business, put some sort of filter on my water softener, stating that I would need it. I promptly forgot about it. I noticed no difference in anything since my water pressure was so low at the time anyway.

Well, I hooked up to community water and I must say the water pressure was much improved, although still not what it was supposed to be (unknown to me) and I was happy. Time went on and the pressure decreased. I suffered through years of horrible water pressure and come to find out it was that damn filter that whack job had put on my softener (which was the wrong kind in the first place and, secondly, was not even needed). After it was taking over 20 minutes to fill up my washer and I was beginning to feel suicidal, I called the water department; she suggested I have the water softener checked. I did and the filter was discovered and removed. I am like a kid with a new toy! I have water pressure again. REAL water pressure. I can fill up the washer in record time. I can take showers with an invigorating spray. I feel like I've been living under a rock for being so stupid!!!

On another subject.....I made up a cute little Santa video for my granddaughter through this website. Its totally free and you can personalize it to your liking. You can also send them to adults (however nothing off color is offered). Anyway, when she looked at it she was delighted and the look on her face was worth a million but she then announced to me that most of the kids in her class were saying that there was no such thing as Santa Claus and that only "babies" believed in him. OMG....she's only in SECOND grade! Not remembering the "yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter off the top of my head, I did the best I could do, stating that Santa lives on within our hearts. I was appalled even further when she told me more stories about her class and classmates.

There are "cliques" formed already and these little girls are MEAN. My daughter went to the class Christmas party to take some pictures and was told in no uncertain terms by 3 little snobs that my granddaughter could not be included in the picture with the 3 of them because "she's not one of our group". They had the nerve to tell this child's own mother (my daughter) that she was not to be included. My daughter took their picture only so that I could see what they looked like. Oh boy....do they have a serious wake-up call in a few years.....is all I can say. My granddaughter is close friends with a little Japanese girl who is treated much the same way. She is teaching my granddaughter to speak Japanese and they are having a delightful time with it. So who's the winner here!

What have parents done to their children to make them so hateful and especially at such a young age. I figure a lot of it is picked up from older siblings.....but what's wrong with the family units that they condone such behaviors? More than likely they don't even know their children are acting out in such hateful manners. I realize that junior high school is typical for this type of behavior.....but second grade??? I'm proud that my granddaughter is polite and kind and wants to be friends with everyone....no matter what. I hope we can keep those attributes alive and well in her all her life and that society doesn't knock her down and trample her.

She was having some problems in certain subjects at school and my daughter enrolled her in Kumon, which is a licensed tutoring center to help children over problem areas. She thought she was doing something beneficial. My granddaughter has blossomed under their learning program but when the school found out about it, they took umbrage over it and have doubled up on her homework so its nearly impossible for her to do both now. Instead of the teachers realizing that the ultimate goal here is to educate a child, they've taken it as an insult to their teaching abilities. Well, as far as I'm concerned.....there must be some guilty feelings there or they would not be feeling this way. My daughter is seriously considering placing her in a private Christian school beginning next year. She will be researching that. I can fully and completely understand why so many parents home-school their children.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Holidays.....doncha love 'em

Oh boy.....there just aren't enough hours in the day. I can't believe how fast the days go. To have Christmas just around the corner is nearly unbelievable. Thank goodness the shopping is done and I have most of it here. Just a couple more things to be delivered and it will be totally done except for the wrapping.

I have sent the following to a few of my friends via email but then thought I'd post it because I can't think of anything worse than being far away from home on Christmas! Xerox understands this more than most companies and they are doing something again this year that's very heartwarming. So read on and follow the link to send a serviceman or woman a Christmas card. Bless your hearts. I'll try and get back here before Christmas with some brilliant prose. HA! Sorry.....I'm laughing at the brilliant prose part.

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq/Afghanistan. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second and no personal info is demanded of you (email, name or address), unless, of course you'd like to include it. Its your choice.

Please take the time to pass it on for others. We can never say ‘thank you' enough. Our soldiers need to know we are behind them.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?

Thanks for taking the time to support our military!