"Seriously, We Don't Even WANT the Bacon!"

CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT!!!! What, your family doesn't play the "CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT!" game? That's a shame. You're missing out on an extra present. You have to be the first person to say "CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT!" to someone, then they have to go out and buy you an extra gift. It's a favorite between my brother and I. We never agree on who wins.

My weekend was great! Friday we had a very successful Christmas candy and sweets baking day over at Mom's. My brother didn't help much. What else is new?

Then we watched 2 movies with my sister-in-law, Alexandrea. It was fun and relaxing.

Then on Saturday, I got my nails done, then Mom and I had lunch and did a little shopping. It was a wonderful day. We talked and talked until our tongues were worn out. We solved every problem we could think of, and wondered why we weren't in charge of the world. Our last stop of the day: "The Walmart." *sigh...and everything had been going so well...

Of course half of the population of Lumberton was in Walmart. OK. That might be a slight exaggeration. But, there were a lot of people. As mom and I got our separate shopping carts and forumlated our strategy to meet by the turkeys, I thought to myself, "It's 3 days til Christmas, I'm finally over my virus, I'm out in the hustle and bustle, my shopping is all but done, I'm going to be the nicest person in this store. I'm going to give-way to everyone I meet, smile, and say 'Merry Christmas.'"

And I did. Right up until the point that we got in line to check out. It was 5:40pm when we got in line. I know the exact time because I was picking up Charlotte at around 6, so I texted my daughter-in-law to tell her we were in line. No way we'd be late. Read on...

There were 2 people in line in front of us. Because Mom and I both (unfortunately) are frequent Walmart customers, we basically know who the best checkers are. One of our favorites is this older lady, very sweet and very quick. Except for today.

Some elderly lady was checking out. Bless her heart. I can't even begin to tell you what all the problems were. The ones I could hear included something about gift cards not activating correctly, something wasn't priced correctly, she couldn't remember her debit pin, winds were blowing from the south instead of the north, WHO KNOWS. But, it was taking forever...and I could feel my Christmas spirit beginning to wane...

The poor checker called a manager over at least twice. Mom and I were giving each other "that look." Then, I managed to comment on how the "poor checkers" were working so hard, blah blah blah, loud enough for those around me to hear, namely the couple behind me where the man looked like he might begin throwing his wife's eggs at people at any moment. Onward...

After about 20 minutes, yes 20 minutes, the elderly lady finally left, apologizing over her shoulder to all of us, along with the checker. Mom and I gave our best Christmas smiles and nods.

The lady in front of me went fairly quickly, and I felt encouraged. When it was my turn, I calmly told the checker just to breathe, everything was fine, ("You have to work til 11:00pm? Oh, my word! You're doing such a good job...") Mom was smiling and nodding...which is what she does when she can't hear what people are saying, but that's fine because the checker doesn't know this about Mom...

I was done in about 5 minutes. Time for Mom. The first issue she had was that the gift cards she was trying to buy wouldn't activate correctly either. So now the checker, our new BFF, was trying to explain it to Mom, who can't hear, and apologizing about, oh, 25 times. Finally, after I'm trying to snatch the stupid gift cards out of her hand, and saying, "It's fine. We'll go somewhere else. No, we don't need to go to Customer Service. It's fine, really it's fine," she moves on. To the bacon...

The bacon wasn't priced. See, the bacon wasn't priced. It.Wasn't.Priced. I was standing off to the end of the conveyor belt when I saw the clerk's hand was moving toward the button to turn on the flashing light for a manager. It was like it was in slow motion. I moved toward her, shaking my head violently, when Mom realized what she was doing and started to lunge toward her as well. But, alas, we were too late. On goes the flashing "8" light for our register. Mom looked at me as if she'd been kicked in the stomach, then looked at the man behind her in line, who is now eating some of the groceries from his basket. She then turned to the checker, began waving her arms crazily in the air, saying, "I don't even WANT the bacon. Really, I don't. I don't want it. I don't need it, do I?" turning to me for support.

I agreed and thought, "Well played, Mom. Now, we're out of here." But...no...

The clerk says, "Oh, no it's really no trouble. It'll only take a few minutes..."

...to walk to the BACK of the store, wading through the throngs of people, to find bacon that IS priced, when "we don't even WANT it in the first place." Thanks, from the bottom of my heart...so long, Christmas spirit.

Needless to say, Mom's checking out took another 20 minutes, for a grand standing-in-line-total of 45 minutes. And we were late picking up Charlotte after all. All because of the bacon. That we didn't even WANT.

Fa-la-la-la-la,la-la-la-la. Love ya, Christmas!

Fun Friday: Shop and Shop...Then Go Shop Some More - It's Christmas!

So. I chose the above picture today to remember how lovely my house looked when all my lights were working. Which, OF COURSE, is no longer the case. Can you guess which lights aren't working? Uh-huh. Apparently there is a demon living in my bushes that is struggling to come up with ANY Christmas spirit WHATSOEVER. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Today is a BIG shopping day for me. My mom and I will be out most of the day. Me - trying to finish up odds and ends, plus some extras just added to my list at around 7:00am by my dear husband. Thanks, Babe, love ya. Mom - trying to get a real idea of what everyone has on their list for her to buy.

For instance, Robert has asked for a camp stove. Well, my mother doesn't own a camp stove, has probably never used a camp stove, and honestly, more than likely, doesn't even really know what a camp stove is. I mean, I know that all of that is definitely true for me. I figured a camp stove at least resembled a real stove top, maybe just portable, right? Nope. It's much smaller. Actually, I would've named it "Stove-in-a-Can." There it is.

In other news, one of my bonus sons is graduating tonight from EMT School. Yay! We are so proud of him. I think he really loves his work and I'll bet is great at it. Go, John!

Also, tomorrow night is the big Christmas dance at Riley's school - the Jingle Bell Ball. Omigosh!!! They've been talking about this weekend for months and planning the wardrobe. Less than 3 years ago, I was very concerned that Riley would never remember to wear deodorant and lacked the ability to match clothing colors. My, how things have changed! We put together his outfit weeks ago - this dance is kind of semi-formal - and even yesterday he was concerned that maybe another color shirt would match Morgan's dress better. Anyway, they are all very excited and I will hopefully have some good pictures to share with you on Monday.

Then, this Sunday evening is our church's Christmas party. We've invited 3 missionaries to come as our guests. There's going to be lots of yummy food and great fellowship. Actually, I just remembered I'm supposed to be writing a poem for that evening. Hmmm...add that to my list here....OK.

Finally, late Sunday evening my brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Alexandrea, will be getting here from Wisconsin!!! Yay! I absolutely can't wait. Their arrival is actually one of my favorite days of the holiday season every year. Paul is a professor at a university, so they usually get to stay for almost an entire month. It's so awesome!!! Also, they'll be introducing a new dog to the family this year, Sutton. Half St. Bernard. Yeah, big. Did I mention that I can't wait?

Yes, big weekend for me and while ALL of this is going on, I've been contracted to write a 6-book graphing series, 1st grade reading level. Uh-huh. Not the best timing you say? Well, when you're a struggling writer you take the work when it comes, am I right?

My take: Whew...I'm already tired. Check in on Monday and see if I'm still alive, will ya? I wouldn't want to be unconscious under the Christmas tree and no one realize it. And, yes, that could really happen at my house!

Happy weekend, be merry!

So today's recipe is my mother's "go to" dessert, meaning when she makes it, everyone "goes to it," and it is gone. So yummy! Try it this Christmas!

Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:
1-1/2 C sugar
3 T flour
1 stick butter
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C buttermilk

Directions:
1. Mix sugar and flour. Melt butter and add to sugar and flour.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.
3. Add vanilla and buttermilk, mixing well.
4. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then continue baking at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

Shout Out to the Parental Units

Good Monday to y'all!

I'll begin today with an update on affairs:

Robert and I had a nice weekend trip to Houston, where we put a major dent in our Christmas shopping. This has become a little tradition for us, except the past years we've been in Dallas. But, scheduling difficulties fixed it to where Houston was the best option this year. So, we went to our beloved Omni Hotel and had a great time. We have quite a "group" to buy for, plus we bought things for a children's home our church is blessing this Christmas. Needless to say, there was barely room for Riley in the car on the way home...

Speaking of Riley, he made All-Region band over the weekend. Yay! So very proud of him and to have him as my son. You make me happy, Boy...

In case you've been trapped under something heavy all weekend and are not aware, Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M is this year's Heisman Trophy winner - oh, yeah, baby!!! As a freshman, too. He SO deserves it, in my book. Gig 'em!

Finally, I want to give a huge shout-out to my parents. In short, I don't know where I'd be without them - and, trust me, it wouldn't be anywhere I'd want to go! They are the most amazing parents in the world! They've always been and continue to be a constant support in my life - through the good, the bad and the ugly.

They're very close to Riley, too. I truly believe he'd move in with them and never miss me if I'd let him- and, actually, that's not a terrible thing. It used to bother me, but now that I have grandkids, I totally get it.

Anyway, my parents are the main reason that I can travel some with Robert. They always keep Riley, shuttle him around wherever he needs to be - and there's ALWAYS SOMEWHERE he needs to be. They help with homework projects, feed him (a feat all in itself), and spoil him, of course, which I'm pretty sure is rule #1 in some grandparenting book somewhere...or, at least it should be.

They even came over to help me before I left for Houston on Friday.

Here's Mom gathering up all of Riley's "things" for the weekend.

Love her.

And, here's my sweet dad, fixing the Christmas lights in the bushes - yes, they're working!

Love him.

My take: my life is oh, so much sweeter because of my parents. I hope I am HALF the parent to Riley that they have been to me. Meme and Pawpaw forever!!! Love, love them!