Our Town's Christmas

Last night was Alvarado's lightings of the town Christmas tree and Santa Land at The Square, preceded by Our First Annual Christmas Parade of Lights.  Police, fire trucks, horses, and 4 beautifully lit floats had all the charm you would expect of a community of 3900!  Here are a few memorable moments:

~My Jim readying the cam!

~Miki buying something..of course~

~Me~

~Everyone awaits~

~Parade Begins!

~First Float~

~Gingy House~

~Gingy House 2~

~Our firefighters~

~Representing John Deere~

~He arrives~

~Santa Land~

~Santa Land~

~Santa Land~

~Our Town's Tree~

A Holiday Note

This is just a little catch-up note as I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Jim and I have been off and on sick the past week,  but we have a fabulous Thanksgiving! I finished my Christmas cards yesterday and all but 3 presents are bought.  I hope all is well and would love to see your holiday photos! Here are a few of mine...so far :)

Waaay too much sugar ~giggle~

Mikaila's Birthday Photos

 

It had to be chocolate!

What a wonderful day Saturday was!  I now officially have a teenager.  It was a fabulous friends and family day!  As promised, here are a few photos :)

Anything Twilight is Good!

There you go, jumping with a broken pinky :/

Happy Birthday Mikaila! XOXO

Miki and Uncle Brian

I actually got it!!

No, I did not buy one for each of your guests.

13 on the 13th

Am I ready?  This Saturday my daughter Mikaila will be officially a teenager. Where has the time gone? She wants a backyard barbecue and sleepover.  This was her in preschool. Birthday photos to come! 

The Agony of Organization

Why is it when we decide to move paper towel holder or swept under the stove, the whole kitchen ends up getting rearranged?  Yesterday morning when I got up at 4am, I had this idea to move the microwave.  Well, that led into moving everything on the counters around, as well as cleaning under and on the sides of the stove.   Having a new view of the kitchen then led into pulling out all plates, bowls, shelved small appliances, and tupperware onto the table for a cabinet revamp.  After over 4 hours, my kitchen overhaul was complete.  The good news is my kitchen is much more efficient.  The bad news is that by the time those 4 hours were over, my already ailing back was unmovable.  Today it is even worse.  Next time I decide to do a little change-up, someone please remind me of this day! ~sigh~

                                                                              
                    

Ups and Downs

It's shaping up as an extremely interesting week so far.  Monday Mikaila broke her left pinkie finger playing football at school.  The orthopedic specialist says it's broke at an angle right at the middle knuckle.  It's her first broken bone. It's splinted and taped to another finger at this point, and we will have it re-examined next Monday.


On a brighter note, last night I attended a book signing for the first time.  It was for a fellow '92 Bob Jones High graduate, Christy Jordan.  She has her first book, a cookbook, out and was signing and speaking in Garland, TX.  What a sweet and wonderful lady she is. If my camera hadn't died, I would have posted a photo of us along with this post. Happy Cooking!

Who Would Have Thought

If you had told me 3 years ago that I would ever even consider getting a tattoo, I would have thought you had a few loose marbles.  Well, as times change, so did my thoughts on considering body art. Don't get my wrong, I'm no huge fan of tattoos as a whole, but the thought of something permanently attached to me for one very special purpose started to intensify.  At first, when I would ask my husband Jim (who by the way does NOT like tattoos at all) what he would think if I got his name inked on my ankle, he would always say, "Are you really sure?"  Knowing how he felt, I did not go through with it, as that would really defeat the purpose if he didn't like it being there.  Then about a year ago, I realized what was wrong with this scenario.  Since Jim and I had met online and ever time (now or then) when I would type I Love You to him, he has always responded with "MeU2".  When I suggested using that instead of his name, I saw a glimmer in his eye.  So, this past May, I decided to have my ankled tattooed. Jim did not know I was going to have it done, but I took Mikaila with me.  How rebellious she thought I was!  Later that evening, after a nice dinner out and a movie..I showed my new ink to him. Even though he and I had never liked tattoos, there just seemed to be something so right with it. It's interesting how things seem to change sometimes ~

Early Bird

At this time every year, I always pledge to have my Christmas shopping done before December 1st. Of course, it has yet to ever happen.  I vow this year to be different.  About a month ago, I did manage to buy for about 30% of those people on my list.  That's about where it ended.  With only one day a week that Jim is not working , and him wanting to go with me, it's hard tying up that time shopping, even if we are shopping online. Would pinning down exactly what I'm going to get everyone be easier or should I stick with going out and spotting that perfect gift when I see it?  Knowing what I want to get someone is great, but sometimes I just can't figure it out! Is a stress-free December possible?

A Day of Answered Prayers

What a wonderful day this is, made even better by the incredible wall-to-wall coverage of the Chilean miners being rescued. Listening to each individual story is better than any reality show TV could come up with. Continued success to the rescuers!

Fresh Start

After working on and off at the same place my husband works for a few years, including at most times working 80-100 hours a week or more saving their hides, I was brought into the owner's office for a meeting. I was told how valuable I was and how everyone knew what Jim and I had done for them and how appreciated I was.  Wow, finally...a little recognition?  Not exactly. Apparently not only was I not working enough hours, my promotion was offered to a CLOSE family member.  My 9 1/2 years of putting our lives on the back-burner was noticed but now that the company was reaping the benefits from our work, I would be stuck exactly where I was while "others" got their new titles.  That was it for me, but not before he got a dose of the reality that I was no longer going to save them while I stay in the shadows.  Needless to say, that was my last day being the company "Catch-All".  Jim and I do severely miss working together.  It's not easy watching him leave every morning going to a job his loves doing, but a company he hates to work for.  

So, short story made way too long...I'm a stay at home mom again.  I would love hearing your stories and views, or just an occasionally rant or two!  This is the first blog I've ever done, so I would appreciate any advice or links or whatever.