so...HO! HO! HO!

~ We are still in the mountains of Guntersville, lavishing our time here spent surrounded by plentiful piles of festive food and "used to be wrapped" presents, cutesy Pinterest-inspired holiday decor, and our loving family {who are all being so nice at Christmas!} :)

~ Speaking of PRESENTS, I got some dazzlers! LOVE my PW Holiday Cookbook, the latest Khaled Housseni And the Mountains Echoed, and nifty cupcake batter dispenser! Tiffany had my name. :) Thanks, Tiff!!! Can't wait to start cooking!
                            

~ And the list goes on! DaddyWayne bestowed Russel Stover chocolates, he and MomDenise gave us an adorable lighted house made by Vicki Wedel, Tiffany and Michelle furnished gorgeous fabric! Also Michelle gifted me with a slick lime green spatula! And in keeping with tradition, MomDenise gave us all books to read!

~ As if all these lovely things aren't enough, we have been happily shopping almost every day! Boxing Day was the best! So far I've found the following loot: Jade-colored North Face zipper front lightweight jacket for only $14.97 and a cool diamond plate lunchbox ice chest for Danl from Gander Mtn, 2 pieces of fabric from Hancocks, {I'm gonna attempt stretchy fabric y'all!} a set of 15 tiny bottles of perfume from Victoria's Secret {I think 15, it's too cold to go down to the cabin to look!}which is so perfect for someone like me who can't make up her mind and LOVES samples lol! {they were already half off, and then I only paid $5 after the sweet lil salesgirl used my expired $10 off coupon! yay!} another stretchy piece of fabric from Wilsons, this one is a gorgeous chevron, my first chevron amazingly! and almost my favorite lol, a bendable lil rubber sock monkey from Cracker Barrel! I really bought him to give as a gift, but I fell in love with his bendy lil self and decided to keep him! I think he will love to live and explore in the Yukon.

~ To counteract the thousands of creepy little calories that have been consumed, we ice skated for hours at the rink in Huntsville. Ice, I love you.

~ I was gonna be like my heroine Gretchen Rubin and do a little bit of work every day while on vacation, for example, grade language and spelling tests, get my computer gradebook up to date, figure my holiday expenses so they would be ready to turn in, watch all the Logic of English spelling videos on YouTube, finish watching the Andrew Pudawah creative writing cds, write a New Year's letter, and sew my orange dress for the 100th day of school, BUT have I done any of these things?! NO! a resounding NO! {I did go through hundreds of backlogged emails though, and did more unsubscribing so I haven't been a total slob! Pretty close though with staying up til all hours and sleeping til 10 or later!} Oh, how I love vacation!!

~ I AM still planning on initiating an amazing Holiday Giveaway!! I may have to rethink what I was planning to give away though, so bear with me while I wait to find out....

~ Until then, I have a couch to keep warm, a cozy fire in the fireplace that needs bellying up to, the best coffee from Canada to sip, and soon, a steak to devour!

now is now

Now is NOW. This redundant phrase keeps weaving its way throughout my thoughts these past days. It's Christmas NOW. If I wait until everything slows down, and I'm not tired, and everything that needs doing is done, I'm gonna miss it because it's happening NOW. The JOY, the PEACE, the WONDER of the season is right now. Right in the middle of the furry to get the last pompom hot-glued onto a parents' gift 5 minutes after 2:30. Smack dab during the program that went so smoothly I could have kissed each child. And even now as I sit on the couch surrounded by STUFF on every possible surface. Gift bags, orange peels, dirty dishes, papers, popcorn, light bulbs, you name it! Even an old dead roach on the floor with its feet pitifully sticking up in the air. All stuff that is desperately waiting for my attention. But now, is NOW. Now is the time to fry homemade French fries with Daniel even though it's increasing the mess by adding extra splatters of grease all over the counters. Now is the time to relax on the ninja turtle chair while catching up on the phone with my big sis for over an hour. NOW is the time for merry moods and  merry foods! A cuppa tea sounds good to me! Right NOW. While I sip, I shall endeavor to forget about my to-do list and just focus on the moment. The rest of the season I hope to keep calm and merry on. Because after all, NOW is NOW and that's what matters.

Love the amazing presents my kids gave me at our Christmas party today!! The USA wall art will go up in my classroom for now and the calendar will adorn my kitchen. Gifts still make me as giddy as a little kid....I will never be a real "grown-up" I'm afraid! Also LOVE the adorable owl scarf organizer, the high-heeled shoe cake server, and the "Break Glass in Case of Emergency" Hershey wall art, orange bowls, coffee cups, and 31 gift certificate I received.  And, last but not least, the SWEETEST present of all from my dear hubby...a black GMC Yukon!! I am so blessed.

it's starting to look a lot like Christmas!

  Like the new look? It was time for a Christmasy vibe! Also, any ideas for what I should do for a Christmas giveaway? Last year I gave away a 2 cup, see-through-the-top kitchen measure....this year? My mind is kinda blank at the moment! A book? {who doesn't love a good book?!} a thrift-store steal? {need a vintage pattern?} YOU should tell me what you want for Christmas other than your two front teeth!

monday nights at jalisco's

  It was Monday today, no doubt about it. But I could keep on keeping on amidst the sickness, the stress, and the strain because it was also gonna be "Monday Night at Jalisco's" with the one who loves me no matter what ~ the one who listens and gets me going when I just wanna stop ~ the one who turns my lamentables into laughables! Somehow talking over tacos just puts the world back in perspective. Quality time with a side of cheese dip... Monday Nights at Jalisco's are my anti-nemesis, my boon.

go Google?? {survey}

  

 I've shed alligator tears over the loss of my beloved iGoogle home page! Why, oh why did Google feel the need to extinguish this ever-so-useful invention?! I find it hard to remember important birthdays without my birthday app, I sorely miss my blog-following app for blueelephantstitches, and last but not least, I lament the loss of my stubby, digital penguins tottering about....sigh....sniff....snuffle.....SO! I am having to put on my big girl panties and deal with it!! I have tried yahoo homepage again and hated it; these amazingly inane yet somehow weirdly intriguing news stories pop up that I feel compelled to read {such as: "Check out the Differences in the Skin of Twins When One is a Smoker and the Other Isn't!", etc, etc,} and I DON'T have time to ponder on such ponderific topics! So I nixed Yahoo. Then I decided since most of my digital life {blog & email} is already controlled by Google, I might as well go Google all the way and switch from IE to Chrome and attempt to customize a Google Chrome homepage! That's what I am needing help with! I'm not nerd enough to make grownup decisions about what apps to download onto my desktop! Do I need an app that can turn my screen into a mirror?? Do I?? It might come in handy! Or how about a Todo.Ly to-do list?! Or a Wunderlist to-don't list?! Weather? Gmail? Of course! Gmail Offline? Sure! Why not? And what's this? An art app? Of sure I need the Exquisite Forest.....I think I do anyway.....Nah...that's pish-posh...But I do love art in most forms....But hey, I need apps that SIMPLIFY my life!

OK, so my survey will ask the following questions:
What browser is your favorite and why? 
1. IE {Internet Explorer}
2. Google Chrome
3. Firefox
4. Safari - wishin' I had an apple :)

What are your favorite apps?

I am so eager to hear your opinions! Bring 'em on! 

lowering my standards

     Hi! I am alive and well! Well, I'm well so far anyway! Danl is in the throes of illness....fever, achiness, and extreme exhaustion. Poor guy! Hope he feels MUCH better tom!
     Anyway, this post will not be about any of the things I've mentioned that I will write about such my HP {happiness project} Sarah Palin, etc. It's about the fact that I basically don't blog at all anymore because I never seem to have enough time to write about all the wonderful aspects of life that I wish to elaborate on! Therefore, since I don't have the time and energies to write lengthy posts about every interesting {or boring!} thing, I don't write at all. These standards of mine are ridiculous. So, I will simply lower them. I will attempt from this day forward to write every day except Sunday about whatever inspires me, whether it's 1 sentence or 100. Thank you, my dear friends and family! This will be all for tonight.

Someone is praying for the things....

Too many tomorrows have come and gone whilst I whittle my time away doing everything but posting on this blog o' mine!
{THINGS like SARAH PALIN!!!! eating ice cream on CHICKEN potpie, etc!!! More on these episodes later!!}

I patterned a Thanksgiving bulletin from the above quote, and put up the kids' pumpkin pie spinners all around it! Looks quite yummy! I had them color "crust" with brown marker around the edges, so theirs look even more realistic than this Pinterest sample.

Kudos to being thankful!

I am attempting to "go out of my way to give praise" as one of my November Happiness Project resolutions. More on the HP later! :)