Currently browsing: Holidays

Happy 4th of July weekend

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday weekend. July 4th is without a doubt one of my favorite holidays. It is the birthday of our nation — or, as I see it, the birthday of the greatest nation on earth. To quote President Ronald Reagan:

“There have been revolutions before and since ours, but those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

“We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.”

We never should — truer words have never been spoken.

As we all enjoy the festivities, food, and games this weekend, let us all take some time to reflect on the events that precipitated this country’s independence and the freedoms that we enjoy. Let us remember that with freedom comes responsibility — if we don’t like the way things are going in this country, that it is our responsibility to make a change.

Let us also remember those who have given their lives to defend our freedom, and those who are fighting for them still.

Alabama Tea Party

It looks like the upcoming tea party will be much larger and accommodating those bringing their families. Nice! So, who all is going?

A Day of Remembrance

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. May we all remember why this day is so important and never forget those who are serving and have served to protect the freedoms that we hold so dear.

Remember folks, freedom is not free.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope all you moms out there are having a wonderful day. I’m sitting here enjoying the quiet (and trying my best to stave off the headache that accompanies the rains like we’ve been having so much of lately!). I’ve called my mother and spoke to her a good while. I’ll soon call my mother-in-law and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day as well.

Jim, Jessie, and I had our celebration Friday night, as this was her mother’s weekend to have her. I received beautiful cards from each of them and a new mp3 player from both. A bright shiny red Sony Walkman!

Wow.

I couldn’t help but tear up just a little when Jim later told me that Jessie got her mother a DVD and a card “not as nice” as the one I had received. (I had gotten the “good” gift!)

And yeah, I allowed myself to enjoy that just a little.

While we were out, I stopped in Books-a-Million and picked up the latest installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series: Dead and Gone. I finished it last night and will say this — it’s an emotional roller coaster!

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and am a little saddened that I’ll have to wait a while before the next one comes out to see what direction the next book takes. There’s no cliff-hanger at the end, but I did pretty much cry all the way through the last chapter. The author killed a character I really liked. Well, actually, several had perished that I liked, but one had been a pretty big supporting character for the last few books. (but I won’t spoil it any further for those of you still reading it!)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, and hope the weather is better wherever you are than what it is here!

Hoppy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I’ve two cute things to share today:

The cutest little rapper I’ve ever seen:

And by far one of the funniest Easter Eggs I’ve seen:

(H/T: For the Lose)

Humpday Hilarities

This funny bit comes courtesy of my Cotillion sister, Vivian:

11 People on a Rope

Eleven people were hanging on a rope, under a helicopter, 10 men and 1 woman. The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to leave, otherwise they were all going to fall. They weren’t able to choose that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech.

She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because, as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids or for men in general, and was used to always making sacrifices with little in return.

As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping …

Not to be out-done, one of my co-workers sent me this one:

And finally, this one from Steve:

Holiday Fruitcake Recipe

Ingredients:
1 C Water
1 C Sugar
4 Large eggs
3 C dried fruit
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 C Brown sugar
Lemon juice, nuts
1 FULL bottle of your favorite whiskey

Directions:

• Sample the whiskey to check for quality.
• Take out a large bowl.
• Check the whiskey again to be sure that it is of the highest quality.
• Pour 1 level cup and drink. Repeat.
• Turn on the electric mixer; beat 1 C of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
• Add 1 tsp. sugar and beat again.
• Make sure the whiskey is still OK.
• Cry another cup. Turn off the mixer.
• Break two geggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
• Mix on the burner.
• If the fried fruit gets stuck in the beaters,
• Pry it loose with a screwdriver.
• Sample the whiskey to check for toxisisticity.
• Next, sift 2 cups of salt. Or something. Who cares? Check the whiskey.
• Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
• Add one tablespoon of sugar or something…whatever you can find.
• Grease the oven. Turn on the cake tin to 350 degrees.
• Don’t forget to beat off the turner. Throw the bowl out of the window.
• Check the whiskey again. Go to bed. Who the hell likes fruit cake anyway???

Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice and Merry Yule, y’all!

 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

– Luke 2:8-20 NIV

Christmas comes early for some …

I received an email today from Soldiers’ Angels notifying me that the infantry where two of my soldiers are has a “mailstop.” This means only one thing …

THEY ARE COMING HOME!!!!

I know their families have got to be so excited!

God bless you, Casey and Steven. Wherever you are and wherever you’re headed, I wish you a safe trip.

Thank You!

Whenever I’m out and about and see a soldier or veteran, I always go up to them and thank them for their service and hand them a small Soldiers’ Angels card. Something Jessie said a while back sticks in the back of my mind every time I meet one … she said, “‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem like enough.”

I know what she means. For such a small phrase and gesture, I hope I’m able to make a big impact on that person, or the people around them. And I hope I come across as truly grateful.

To all troops, veterans, and their families: you have my thanks, gratitude, and support. May God bless you, and those who love and support you!

We’re outta here!

Welp, I’m finishing up wrapping tonight and we’ll pack up the car early tomorrow to head out of town for a bit.

My overnight bag’s packed tighter than a Ju Ju Be, LOL!

Hopefully I’ll have some goodies to share when I get back.

I hope everyone has a safe and very Merry Christmas!

It’s busy time!

Jessie’s been sick and I’ve been slammed at work, so just saying that I’ve been “busy” is an overstatement. ;P

The game this past weekend was a disappointment, but while wallowing I realized that honestly Bama DID have a good season this year. In fact, just saying they were “good” doesn’t do them justice — this season was awesome. Hell, they were Number freakin’ 1 for Pete’s sake! We kicked a lot tail and shut up a lot of nay-sayers.

That, my friends, is a good thing.

So yeah, I was a little sad coming in yesterday morning. I’ve looked forward to making wallpapers every Monday following a Tide win. Who knows … perhaps I’ll get to make another in a few weeks!

Things at work have been crazy. Usually, things are slowing down this time of year, but with the recent merger, we’ve taken on a huge workload and unfortunately cannot slow down. I have had some time to work on porting one of my designs to SharePoint though.

Hooray for creative time!

It’s a bit minimalistic, but I’m hoping to use it on a soon-to-be-public site that desperately needs a facelift.

I’ve also been working on a side project involving some heavy-duty Blogger hacks, so once I’m done I’ll be posting them on here as well. (note: using the newer Blogger beta XML coding, not the “classic” templates) Basically someone has a Blogger site and did not want it to “look like a blog.”

I had to really thump hard on the ole noggin for that one, but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turning out. A lot of the mods I’m using either aren’t well documented, or were very hard to find, so I’m hoping that sharing them on here will help others. (or, at least, that’s my intent anyway!)

I’ve also made a few modifications to this site and have it all Christmas-sied up. I still haven’t decorated my house yet though. With Jessie being sick, I didn’t think it fair to do anything without her, so I’m looking forward to spending some time with her this weekend and do a little holiday decorating.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far!

Call me a pistol-packin’ mama!

Last weekend, Jim and I exchanged Christmas gifts a few days early. Meet our newest additions to the “arsenal”.

The first, Jim’s present to me: a Smith & Wesson 642 .38 Special. The second, my present to Jim: a Ruger P345 ACP .45.

The next trip to the firing range is gonna be fun!

A lucky woman am I

I’ve enjoyed connecting with family and friends. I ate my fill of turkey, dressing, ham, a wide assortment of sweetened vegetable casseroles and colorful salads, and let’s not forget — my mother’s delicious Southern pecan pie. I watched my daughter play football with my father, then my husband, then I took a turn.

My God, she’s got a cannon for an arm! If she learns a little control, she’d make a decent QB. Look out, Bama, I’ve got one coming your way in a few years!

We’re sitting around listening to some Loreena McKennitt, anticipating the oncoming turkey-induced coma that follows such feasts as we’ve had today. My husband has been sitting here trying to talk me back into singing — and with everything I have going on, I admit that I have missed it. (Performing is another matter, but singing I love…)

I told Jim I’d think about it … and I am …

But in the meantime I’m happy sitting here enjoying the warmth and I’m thinking to myself, what a lucky woman I am. I hope everyone is having a great holiday.

Love and blessings to you all!

Next Page »