Start Shopping

Cal's mobile phone contract ran out in early December. Frankly I don't want to sign up with our current provider again because I know they are going to tell me that I have to upgrade my plan. Did you know that almost all decent cell phones are now making you purchase a data plan in addition to the texting and call plans. I just cannot afford $80 to $90 for a cell phone.

Over vacation I borrowed Cal's phone and started texting. I am hooked, except that I only have one friend to text right now. It is not worth the money to only text a few people.

I have been shopping for new phones and new plans and right now a few sites look interesting. I also hate the fact that a contract needs to be involved. I know I could do pay-as-you-go but the phones are not nearly as nice and I want a qwerty keyboard. I wonder if bharti will be coming here soon.

To make matters more stressful, Dante just informed me our cable bill is increasing by $25.00 per month because we had a plan that had a 12 month introductory offer. I feel like canceling the silly cable and then signing up next month for another intro offer. Why do companies always penalize loyal customers. The longer you are with them the more you pay.

I am going to start shopping everything, phone, cell, cable, and internet. I wonder if airtel could give me one stop shopping. I want a reasonable price and would prefer if I didn't have to sign away rights to my first born male child.

Toothpaste Tube

Have you ever been so upset with someone that you just cannot seem to communicate that to them. I am not angry, I am scared and upset. I just feel like if I talk to this person that the flood gates will open and years of emotions will come gushing out. Then, as they say, you cannot put the toothpaste back in the tube. I don't think squeezing the tube will solve anything, it never has before so why would it now!

Can't Stand Up

I love both ice skating and rollerskating but frankly, I am horrible and can barely stand up. I just noticed the park down the street installed an ice skating rink for the winter. I am super excited and am thinking about heading down there this weekend. I think it is going to be free! I love this town. The other day when Dante and I went for a walk in the middle of the huge snow storm the sidewalks were already cleared. ALL of them, and we walked on the back streets of town.

When we lived in that other place it would be weeks after a snowstorm before they cleared the sidewalks. Including the sidewalks that they expected kids, who had to walk to school, to use! That other place was not a nice place to live, but we needed to live somewhere else to truly see that.

Back to the ice rink. It was funny but this rink just appeared the other day. I am sure it took many workers many hours to put this in but to me it just appeared. They even installed a little bench with a wind breaker around it so you can put your skates on with a little shelter. The other thing I notice was they installed one of those metal buildings. I read in the paper that this building will house a tractor and a mini pull-behind Zamboni that they have nick-named Bambi.

I would love to go down just to see the Zamboni!

Wicked Weather

Something has been pointed out during church that I never realized before, here in New England our favorite adjective is WICKED. We stick that word in front of everything. It can be something good, or something bad, it doesn't matter we New Englanders love the word wicked.

A few nights ago we had some wicked weather. I don't think I have ever heard the wind howl like that. It turned our home into a wind tunnel, whistling through every crack and crevice. It was great to feel 100% safe. Our building is huge, it is a six family unit and is solid as a rock. I love living here. God is so good!

Four day weekend

I have a four day weekend coming up and I am pretty excited. We have made plans to go shopping on Thursday and then I think we are going to take down Christmas decorations at some point. We normally do not take things down so early but we really need to get the house back in order.

We have things all over the place in the basement and that is where we have the business inventory. Dante is really making great progress with things down there but is at a standstill because of the Christmas decorations.

9 Hours

I worked nine hours yesterday and today looks like it will be more of the same.

Yesterday was interesting, we virtually had to have name tags to keep everyone straight. I arrived at seven because I knew that I was not going to be at my desk all day. I worked on what needed to be done and then went to the receptionist location, and there I sat for the next eight hours.

I did see more people than I thought I would, and there were about ten phone calls. Granted one of the phone calls was from another staff member making sure that I was not lonely.

Needless to say it was a long day. Today I am taking a book, it will guarantee that I am busier.

It was the best Christmas EVER!

Cal had determined this several days ago and he was correct. This Christmas was fantastic. About the only disappointment was the fact that we did not do our normal tradition of baking Jesus a birthday cake. We have so many goodies hanging around right now that a cake would have gone to waste, and believe me when I say that the Jesus birthday cake does not deserve to go to waste.

We opened our presents at 5 a.m. I think that Cal's favorite was his new iPod Touch, Dante's favorite was his Keurig, and for me I think it was my new purse by Donna Sharp. But honestly what made this Christmas great was spending time together and talking about Jesus.

God has done so much for us this past year I think that we have the most to be thankful for. He gave us a new home that is warm and in a perfect location for our situation. He has taken three angry frustrated people and replaced them with three happy calm people. He has worked so many miracles I cannot even begin to tell you about them.

The biggest miracle in my mind is Cal. He has friends, good friends. He has a great school and his anger and spoiled brat attitude has decreased dramatically. Now we all still have things to work on, but life is so different for us now and we have Jesus to thank for that.

Cal's Great Grandma

Cal's great grandma sent him a birthday/Christmas check the other day. I have no idea why but I never seem to remember to buy Grandma something even though each year we do send her a gift. This year I am going to get something along the lines of photo frames, photo albums and picture frames. I personally think they make the best gifts for family.

I think in the past I have always done something with either Cal's school picture or the photos that we take around Thanksgiving. Yeah please don't remind me that I have not taken those pictures in two years.

Maybe this week I can convince Cal to get some nice clothes on and pose for some pictures. He is such a handsome young man that it usually doesn't take long to get several really nice photos.

Gift Cards Earned

So far I have earned three $25.00 gift cards with my holiday purchases this year.

I planned ahead and kept track of when My Points had the best deals and made most of my purchases online.

I think that Kohl's had the best points offer. It was actually quite easy to rack them up quickly.

Don't know what MyPoints is or if you are like my family who just don't seem to use it..... EVER. You are missing some great rewards. Email me if you want to be a part of my network. Worth the extra five minutes each day to click on some emails.

Thank God

When we moved from our old house, my mom came up and bought several of our items. We needed the money and we gave her pretty good deals on stuff that they wanted and/or needed. One of the items was a generator. This is the generator that we purchased during the snow storm two years ago and only used it for those couple days.

When they got the generator home it would not start. She called me several times to see if there was a trick or if we knew there was a problem. Of course we didn't know there was a problem, do you think I would have sold you a broken generator. I was pretty annoyed because we had only used it for a few hours a day for about three or four days. Not many hours considering what these briggs stratton units are suppose to handle.

This situation went on for months. She would call and question me and I would tell her I would try to find the owners manual but frankly she could download the owners manual, and that really was not going to help her out. I also begged her to take it to a small engine repair shop, something along the lines of Repair Clinic. I would have even paid the bill.

A few weeks ago (almost 9 months later) she called to say that they got it running. There was some part that was bad and it was probably caused by the eight hour ride home. I am so glad that is finally over.

What to do?

Tomorrow Cal and I have some early morning Christmas shopping to do. I realized that I didn't really have anything for Dante's stocking. It won't be many things just a few smaller items. Then I will have the day free. We don't have any plans until 3:00 p.m. and then Dante has to go to church to do two services on AV duty.

I am sure the time will fly by but right now I am wondering what I will do. I might make a batch of sugar cookies since I have not made them yet this year.

Do you have any special tradition or things that you do on Christmas Eve?

End of year

Not only is it the end of the calendar year, it is the end of the business year for my work and for our business. It is not such a big deal for our little business but for my work it is huge.

Now is the time that we try cram everything onto the 2010 fiscal year. It is strange, all year long I am scrimping and saving and now it is like a mini flood gate. Don't get me wrong we are not talking a lot of money to most people, it is just a lot to me!

I am hoping to only work until noon today but I have a couple large projects that need to be completed. I have to inventory everything in a house that is going through renovations. It would be so helpful if I could just use a barcode scanner. There is a ton of stuff and barcoding everything is a little unrealistic, but I have made the suggestion to do just that when we put new stuff in the houses.

The best Christmas EVER!

It is two days before Christmas and Cal has already declared that it is the best Christmas ever.

I cannot tell you how much things have changed for this family since moving! We have a life, Cal has a GREAT group of friends, and I actually have a few friends myself.

The best news came yesterday! Cal is now employed. Yes, he applied for a job on his birthday and found out yesterday, after several interviews, that he got the job. He is so excited and while I have mixed emotions, I am thrilled.

It was a tough fight, and he had been working on getting the job since he applied. It was definitely something that was not handed to him, he really had to work for it. The boy has more drive and determination than I ever had at that age. He is so brave.

Early morning conversation

Time: 5:15 a.m.

Me: "You do know that I did not have to be up early today. "

Dante: "Yeah but I could not sleep so I got up and got ready"

Me: "Good, but do you think you could have let me sleep"

Dante: "I could have!.................. But didn't"

Me: "That is great considering I was awake half the night"

Dante: "Oh well"

Me: A little louder and very annoyed "Oh well?"

Dante: "Yeah oh well, your awake now"

I wanted to hurt him. I have no idea why he cannot get ready early without waking me up. He used to do that when he insisted on getting up at 4:00 a.m. to do his bible study.

Someday I am going to buy one of those steel buildings and he can sleep there. Hey some of those building are really nice. That would be a roof over his head, I will send him some food occasionally, and he has clothes. I think that is all I am obligated to do, right?

This should be the last day

that I worry about gifts. I think we are going to try to go to the mall after work today. Technically I am done shopping but there are a few things that I would like to add if I can find the right thing. I am not going to buy to have a gift. I must find exactly what I need.

I also need to look for something for my grandmother. I don't really buy for people outside our immediate family and I always seem to forget getting her something until the last minute.

Please continue to pray for Cal, the news that he was expecting did not arrive yesterday. He was too scared to investigate but said that he would today.

Who am I?

I went shopping with a friend and her three kids yesterday. This is so out of my comfort zone that I felt like I was watching myself walk around the store.

Oddly enough it was a hoot. I didn't even mind being questioned by a store employee as to whether I was "watching my kids". The youngest and oldest took off running while the middle child decided to lag behind and look at some things. I was trying to round them up when an employee pointed to the two kids and said "Are they with you?"

We were in the store about two hours shopping for her older kids (she has six). We looked at everything from Blue Ray players to cardigan sweaters. She ended up with a few sweaters and other gifts so it was a successful trip.

I didn't do any Christmas shopping on our little trip, I think I was slightly overwhelmed shopping with three kids under five. She just smiled all the way through the store. I told her that I am her friend because I am hoping some of her patience and easy going attitude will rub off on me.

Favorite commercial of 2010

I love this commercial. I think if all therapists would work this way we would not be living in namby pamby land where all criminals go with the "I was abused as a child" defense.

Stragglers

I have a few more gifts to purchase for Christmas. These are the really tough ones, ones that I have not seen anything that catches my eye during the year.

I need something rather unique and hip. As you all know I am about the non-hippest person in the world. I am old and frumpy! I wonder if they would enjoy some dereon clothing? I am trying to become more involved with the teens at church this year and I really need to get with the program.

Send Prayers

Please pray for Cal today. I cannot give details but he is expecting a phone call at some point today that will be a huge influence on his future. A negative call and he will be crushed but a positive call and it could be a life changing moment.

It is something that he has shown a tremendous amount of courage and effort. I know for a fact that I would not have had the courage at his age to do this.

He is growing up and many of the issues of the past are exactly that. He has matured so much since moving here, it is like we left the other kid behind.

All I want for Christmas

My unrealistic Christmas list seems to grow each day. I would love to have a new car, new furniture, and so on. About the best that I can hope for on the car is in another ten months we can start looked and slipcovers for the furniture. But it is all good.

Right now we have two reclining chairs that I would love to replace with a loveseat and give Cal the good recliner. While money is definitely an issue, finding exactly what I want is more of a challenge.

The only truly stressful situation I have is Cal's teeth. I would love to start the braces but that does not look like it is going to happen this year.

Burning down the house

Lukie: "Do you smell something burning?"

Dante: While stiring the chili on the stove "I do smell something funny but I wouldn't call it burning"

Lukie: A couple second later. "Honey, did you overflow that chili on the burner yesterday because I smell something burning"

Dante: Screaming "I don't smell anything?"

Lukie: A couple more seconds "Do you see the flames?"

Dante: "OH" Moving the pan off the burner

For the next several minutes I watched as Dante stood there and watched the flames get larger and larger. They were touching the top of the stove hood.

I am screaming for him to do something. He puts a pan lid over the fire for about 10 seconds and then takes it off. The flames GREW and wrapped around his head. Then the screaming really started.

The fire was put out but the fight lasted several more hours taking all sorts of strange turns. It seems that him starting the house on fire was not the "real" reason for my screaming. It seems that I hate him and have for years.

Wanna go for a walk

Now that it is getting dark at 5:00 it is much harder to get a walk in before bed. During the summer Dante and I walked almost daily. We live in a very small town but I still don't feel 100% safe during evening walks.

A couple times over the summer we went on family walks after dark. Even walking with two other people it was creepy at times. I was thinking about purchasing Dante a stun baton so that we could feel safer.

Most of our walks would be on town streets and I am sure some of the businesses would have surveillance cameras but that only helps the police find the person after the crime is committed. I would prefer to prevent the crime.

A cell phone stun gun, some pepper spray, and self defense are sometimes our only protection.

It is amazing that feeling safe has become a major part of peoples lives. It no longer is a woman's issue, it is a family issue. It is such a same that we cannot even feel safe while in our own homes on the computer. I am constantly warning Cal about the internet.

The streets and the computer are not our only concerns. Cal has a cell phone. He has very limited use and we have an agreement that mom and dad are allowed to read his text messages at any time. I would love to get a Cell Phone Sky Sim Card Reader, because I know there has been times that he has deleted text messages before I had a chance to read them.

Daily Routine

Earlier in the month I discovered my legs were breaking out in a horrible rash. I determined that it was the weather. It was very painful and I could not imagine going through the entire winter this way. I decided to start a lotion regimen. Each night before bed I apply Curel Ultra Healing Lotion to my legs and hands. Then each morning, I apply it after I get out of the shower. This is the point in my life when wearing a skirt everyday is beneficial.

I don't think I could keep up with the routine if I were wearing pants. The legs of the pants would stick to my legs and be very uncomfortable. The skirt does not have this problem and the pantyhose work perfectly with the lotion.

The results are fantastic. My legs feel so soft and rash free. My hands are better than they have been in years.

Thinking about summer already

OK I think I have had enough cold already and it is only December 19th. In the winter I dream about summer so that I can get out and exercise and lose weight. In the summer I dream about the winter so that I can sit down and relax and have an excuse for not exercising.

Last summer I missed my favorite activity. There is a bike trail near Nashua that you can go 12 miles one way, turn around and come back. It is a nice ride with few hills and it is paved. It is great exercise for people like me. Last summer we didn't get to take that ride at all because we didn't have any way to transport the bikes. I need to have a hitch installed on the Jeep. When we had the other Jeep it came with a factory installed hitch. I have the bike rack that will hold our bikes.

I didn't want to invest in a hitch last year because I thought the plan was to get rid of the Jeep and get a vehicle that was more family friendly. That has not happened yet. When we do get a new car/van I want to get yakima bike racks, they seem to be easier to use than my current rack. I would love to start skiing again so maybe I could even get a multipurpose rack.

Temporarily Pleased

I was so happy when I saw all the Christmas movies that were on TV this year. I vowed to watch them all. That has not happened, as a matter of fact I have watched very few. How in the world can producers sleep at night producing such garbage.

I started watching one the other day. It was suppose to be taking place in Connecticut during the holidays. There were still green leaves on the trees and flowers on the perennials. Now they might have been trying to make a "global warming" statement but be real. They kept zooming in on all the flowers.

Many of the movies have no morals or values, others have no plot, or they have flowers growing in December.

I have watched many several DVD's that Target had on the shelf this year and they have been a little better but I don't want to worry about my Christmas movie being inappropriate for my fourteen year old.

Take me away!

Saturdays are suppose to be relaxing days, days to recharge. This Saturday is anything but. I have been so stressed and grumpy my family is looking for flight deals to get rid of me!

First thing this morning my expensive vacuum cleaner bit the dust. This has set the tone for the entire day. I just cannot seem to shake it. Honestly I think that I got too much sleep. I feel yucky and would love to take a vacation somewhere. Somewhere nice and warm. Somewhere that requires a plane to get there. I just want to sit by a nice warm pool and sip a cool non-alcoholic drink.

I think I have been watching too much Hawaii 5-0 because the islands have been on my mind. There are not many places that I dream of going but Hawaii and the Grand Canyon are on my list.

Personal Space

Have you ever wondered what other people think of you? I don't just mean about certain things like your hair or weight, I mean about you as a person. I often wonder! I am not a social person so do they view that as I am stuck up or do they view it as something else.

The other day one of my co-workers made a comment about me needing "personal space". I don't like people to touch me. I don't enjoy hugs and if I can smell your breath while we are talking, you are too close. I actually do enjoy an arms length in all directions. I guess I just never realized that my quirk was noticeable to others.

The Charlatan's Boy - Blog Tour

A genuine He-Feechie, World's Ugliest Boy, The Wild Man of the Feechiefen Swamp, a Phrenologist, The Charlatan's Boy, these were the many names and professions that Grady had thanks to Floyd. Grady was not exactly sure who Floyd was but he was the person that took care of him. At times Grady thought that Floyd could be his father that just didn't want to admit to it because Grady was so ugly.

The one thing Grady was sure of was that deep down inside he was an honest boy. One would never be able to tell by the way that he and Floyd lived their lives and made their living. Grady just wanted to belong. He wanted to have a family and know his last name and he thought that Floyd was the only person to hold the secret answers to his live.

Grady did just about anything that Floyd asked and there were times that Floyd asked him to do some very dishonest things. The one job that Grady loved and felt comfortable doing was playing a feechie. A genuine feechie. The problem is feechies didn't exist, they were like the unicorn.

The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers was out of my normal reading and a little out of my comfort zone. I guess that is one of the reasons why I enjoy doing book reviews for WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, it gives me a chance to read things I would not choose for myself.

The main characters didn't have the morals or values that you would expect in a Christian book and they didn't seem to be getting any of those traits during the story. Putting those concerns aside I confess that I totally enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, despite the spelling and grammar mistakes that were necessary to give the book it's charm.

I will be looking for Grady's adventure to continue in the next book, and I would recommend this to the teens in our church.

After Christmas

I am starting to make my "after Christmas" list. Not because I want to rush through the holidays but because I need to start thinking about some other needs while we have a little extra cash.

There are several items that seem to be equally important so convenience will come into play. We need to get CAL's braces going, I need some cheap eyeglasses, and honestly I have been thinking about going back into contacts. CAL has outgrown his school pants. I thought that when he started playing basketball that they would be OK but they are too short and too tight.

The braces are the most important but I think we are going to wait until basketball is over and that means waiting until March.

So many things and so little funds.

Half Day

I am HOPING to be able to take a half day today. CAL gets out at noon and we talked about going to see the new Narnia movie. Dante is not a big movie watcher so we will have to see how the day plays out.

CAL will then, be out of school until January 3rd. They get two full weeks of vacation. Rumor has it, that the office "might" be closed the two days that I wanted to take off. On one hand I hope so, and on the other that is two days that I won't be paid for.

Planning

Dante and I have been able to start making some plans for the future. It feels so good to think future again. We have not been in that position for quite some time. When you are worried about where your next five dollars is coming from, thinking about the future doesn't even come to your mind.

We need to get health insurance, cheap health insurance. I think that is going to be number one on our list. Oh wait, we do have to start thinking about renters insurance, that might be more of a priority just because of all the business inventory. We lose that and we are finished.

CAL also needs braces and we have to deal with his teeth issues. I thank God that the root canal seems to have worked and he is not in danger of losing that front tooth unless it abscesses again and then it will have to be pulled.

Advent

We have done an advent calendar with CAL for many years. When he was little it was the LEGO advent. I so enjoyed that, but after a few years it was no longer fresh and fun. The past two years have been much more difficult.

Most of the time we give coupons for things. Like the other day I gave him a coupon for a room cleaning, and lunch with mom was last week. The problem is that most of the nice little things cost money and after a month worth of these coupons I am struggling to come up with things that don't cost money.

The other thing is he gives both Dante and I coupons. He is clever though. Usually those coupons cost us money. Like he gave me a "Date Night". This is where just CAL and I will go on a date. Yep that costs me money.

Worried

Do you ever get worried that your family is not going to be please on Christmas morning because you just have not purchased enough gifts? I feel that they will disappointed this year, but I have nothing to base that on. My family has never been disappointed.

CAL's list was pretty simple this year with only a few things. The problem is that I really didn't get him anything off that list. I am still struggling to get his main gift and the time is running out. He did ask for a psp, and some games for the Wii.

I am pleased with the gifts for Dante. It is going to be a small very quiet Christmas. Just the right kind. The hard part is finding hiding places for the gifts. This house is pretty small.

The things we do for our kids

CAL has a "shooting" practice at 6:30 a.m. this morning. That means that is also the time I go to work. I am thankful that he only has these twice a week.

I really admire my son with these practices, see he is the team manager and will never have the possibility to play in a game. He is allowed to practice with the team but not play. I pray this shows his dedication to the team. I also pray that he has a growth spurt and suddenly becomes a basketball superstar.

Another Monday

Monday begins another work week. I look forward to some Monday's because I know that I will be busy and have a lot to do. This Monday is not one of those. It should be a really slow week with Christmas right around the corner.

I have done all the research that I can on hand dryers, toilet paper, paper towels, and other custodial supplies. These activities tend to take up a lot of my time under normal conditions.

CAL has asked me to take a few days off. I don't know if that is going to be possible because I will be using a lot of my banked hours in order to take off the days the church is closed. Plus, a lot of the staff is taking off the next three weeks so there will not be many of us left to cover the phones and things that might come up.

That's what a weekend is suppose to be like!

What a fantastic weekend. On Saturday we did some business work, cleaned the house, went bowling, and the day seemed to last forever. It was so relaxing! We didn't put ourselves under any pressure to get this or that done, we just went with the flow. I am all about going with the flow and hate "plans".

Sunday we kinda reverted to the old us and spent most of the day in front of the TV. I did get a lot of reading done and of course I watched the football game.

The weather here has been yucky to say the least. It was been a cross between rain and freezing rain. If it had been colder we would be under two feet of snow at this point. I so dislike rain. I would much rather have snow.

Almost done!

I think I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. I was sorry that I missed some of those Black Friday deals, but I could not force myself to venture out on that day.

I have done OK with making the majority of my purchases online. I probably would have saved a few dollars if I had tried to find sales but it is worth it to make the purchase and have it done.

I am hoping that everyone is pleased. We actually had a few extra dollars this year, and was able to purchase gifts for some extended family. It will be the first year in several that I purchase something for my mom. We have a new tool store that opened done the road and I am so excited about shopping there for my dad.

I am scaring myself

Dante, CAL, and I attended a Christmas Party last night. We are becoming so social it is starting to scare me. We had a good time and did the Yankee Swap thing. It was fun but I am still not in favor of that silly game.

We made out pretty well. We each had to bring a gift so we both brought a different Christmas CD. We ended up with Dunkin Donuts coffee and three bags of Lindt Chocolates. Yeah that was worth the hour drive.

I think it is weird for CAL to hang out with his teachers in "out of school" hours. I know that I am still adjusting.

A new job?

Or maybe a new job title. After the holidays I think I might make a push at work for a new/different job. We really need a purchasing manager, although I know that they will never use the word "manager" for a female employee.

Right now when someone needs something they just go purchase it and don't really have the time to do any research as to whether they are getting the best price or not. For example, the AV department uses a large quantity of 9 Volt batteries, right now they buy them from whatever store they happen to be in at the time. I would love to be given the authority to shop that item and purchase it in bulk.

I went through the office supply list the other day and found five or six items that we purchase in larger quantity and I can save them almost 50% on the price they are currently paying.

Purchasing is my "talent". I love to research items and buy them cheaper than the current vendor. I saved the church over $500 in garbage bags since August. I am chomping at the bit for the office supply list.

Yankee Swap

Dante and I will be attending a few events that require Yankee Swap gifts. I think this is the silliest holiday activity. I have only been to one of these in the past. I brought this really nice gift and then watched as everyone fought over the large rooster lawn ornament! I wanted to take my gift back.

Now that I have experienced what the swap is really about, finding the most tacky gift possible, I will be better prepared.

GET UP!

The other day CAL and I were having a conversation and I asked him why he didn't get out of bed on his own, anymore. When we lived in Nashua he would get up without being asked, get ready for school, and we were out the door. Quick, easy and simple. This was the norm, as a matter of fact this was the norm for several years.

Since we have moved here, I have to ask him several times to get up, and it usually ends with me yelling at him to GET UP!

So I asked if he could explain it. He said that he likes how I wake him up! What? Yelling? He said no, for the first few times you will say it real nice and sweet, and sometimes even snuggle up to me or tickle more or something else.

I said "that does it, from now on I am just going to scream the first time and then maybe you will get sick of it and start getting up on your own." It seems I forgot that conversation. I woke him up all nice and motherly at 6:00 and just realized now at 6:30 that he is not out of bed yet. Well then the yelling began.

What do you get.....

When you stick fourteen teenagers in a gym? Tackle basketball. Yes folks the boys seemed to enjoy tackle basketball more than anything. It didn't start out as tackle but didn't take long to turn into it. Dante and I let it go for a few minutes and then realized that their parents probably didn't have Wholesale Insurance, so we asked them to play dodge ball instead.

Oddly enough the dodge ball game is where the largest number of kids were injured.

CAL had a blast and even though it was not a surprise I think he was shocked that everyone showed up and the majority stayed until 4:30.

We even had a kid try to crash the party. His parents were at the church when they started playing and then she said to me "why is everyone here", I said "because we are having a birthday party for CAL" she said "OH" and then a few minutes later her husband arrived. She told him it was a birthday party and they said they would be back later and left. Are you kidding me? It probably would not have been as much of an issue if it would have been a different kid but this kid and CAL really do NOT get along.

It didn't take long before this child was screaming at CAL for something! I wanted to pull him off the court myself.

I worked very hard to only invite kids that were positive and uplifting towards CAL. You know the kids that always have something encouraging to say. CAL is a magnet to the mean kids. He always wants to be friends with some of the nastiest, rudest, and mean kids around. As a matter of fact his two "best" friends were not invited for that exact reason.

Defective

CAL is so funny and please understand this story is just him being funny NOT him being a spoiled brat. He probably is a spoiled brat but that is for another discussion.

He received a birthday card in the mail the other day. It was pretty puffy and I assumed it was a musical card. CAL obviously had other ideas. He opens the card and when the music didn't start, I started paying more attention to what he was doing. He looked very distressed but also had that "Lukie smirk" on his face. This is the one that he got from me! I know from experience that he has just thought of something funny.

I asked what the problem was, and he said that the card was defective. I said "Oh what song is it suppose to play" He looked at me like I was crazy, and declared "It is not suppose to play any song?" "Oh? Then why are you saying it is defective", I asked. "Because there is no money!" I am sure he is not the first one to come up with that charming little skit.

Happy Birthday CAL

Today call turns 14. Birthdays are more a challenge for us because his is so close to Christmas. We try to do special things instead of larger gifts. Today I have invited 14 of his friends to meet at the church and use the gym.

Last night he was feeling sorry for himself because everything he asked to do today we told him we didn't have the money for, we didn't have the time, or we just didn't want to do. With him you have to be careful because if we would have said yes to any of those it would be something that was cast in stone for him and he would have wanted to do those things in addition to the thing we had planned. So he started feeling sorry for himself. Really sorry!

Finally I asked Dante if we should just tell him because he was so miserable (and to a certain extent I would have been sad too). So we told him. After words he looks at us and gets this pre-cry face on and says "now I wish I didn't know and I wish you would have surprised me". I wanted to strangle him.

I thought about many things for his birthday, such as one of those personalized footballs, but decided on an indoor soccer ball. That way he can use it today when he has all the kids over for his party.

We also wanted to take everyone to Foodies for lunch but that would have been really expensive.

Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball - Blog Tour

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I love Christmas books. I try to read as many as possible around the holidays. One thing I have noticed in the past few years is that not all Christmas stories are worthy to be called "Christmas stories". Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball is a delightful exception. It has all the morals and values that should be present in a Christmas tale.

I can honestly say that this book will be considered one of my favorites. I usually take several weeks to read a book. I read this book in less than two days. I could not put it down, it was a very relaxing enjoyable read. The characters were all so lovable and one thing that I think is very important in a book, is to not introduce too many characters.

Cora and Simon have worked together for years and have never noticed each other but thanks to a mysterious book store on a street that seems to come and go, they finally catch each others eye. Both are so set in their ways, however, that they need an act of God to bring them together. The Wizard's Christmas Ball was that act of God.

I am so thrilled that Donita K. Paul gave us the character Sandy. She is by far my favorite character. Sandy is a special needs girl that has you crying tears of joy from the beginning to the end.

I would not only recommend this book to every person I know, I am going to purchase several copies to give to my friends/family for Christmas.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"