Christmas cheer is finally here



Someone forgot to tell me that Christmas takes the back seat when you are 3 months away from your wedding. But, thankfully to my honey, I am beginning to get into the Christmas spirit. And I love holidays! Always have, I have just had a lot more on my plate these days.

So, we decorated our tree and put vintage lights around the entry way from the foyer. It looks great! I am loving it! And we do not have the Charlie Brown tree I thought we would have. We have a nice, full tree with lights and ornaments. Woo-whooo! Now, if I were really hip, I would have a digital camera and I would have taken a picture that I could post, but instead, I took a picture with a disposable camera and I am waiting for the pictures to be developed.

Our only concern with the tree is our adorable dog, Cassie. She seems to like to eat needles from the tree. I have no idea what made her want to do that, but we had one heck of a time trying to stop her. Maybe they will add something to her diet. At least she does not climb the tree or try to play with the ornaments.

We are trying to start a new tradition as well. We are going to watch "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" Friday night, with some friends. We are hoping that we can make that a yearly event and start inviting all of our friends. That would be our own Christmas party. I even got a great recipe from Mama Castro for Egg nog. Hmm.....

So, here I am with all my cheer! Happy Holidays and let's all look forward to the new year!

All I Could Say Was....Hi

I never thought that I would ever be one of those people who gets star struck. Well, I am.

Last Thursday night my mom and I went to the Atlanta Press Club, Annual Author's Party. I thought since I want to be a writer when I grow up, I better spend my time among those who write. The biggest draw I had to the party was that it was going to be at the Carter Center and that Jimmy Carter was going to be there. All politics aside, I have a great deal of respect for him, and for his family. I have read several of his works and I admire him greatly.

A few years ago, my grandfather gave me the book commemorating his Presidency. He thought it would be something nice for me to have since I was born the year he became president. I decided this would be the perfect time for him to sign it. Plus, I wanted to get "The Hornets Nest" to give to my dad for Christmas.

The evening started off just great. There was exotic food. I mean exotic because they had caviar and I do not eat that. Mom persuaded me to try it though and it was not that bad. I have just never been a fan. So, while I was standing in line, waiting to get a drink to wash down the exotic food, two secret service agents walked right by me. Following them, were President and Mrs. Carter. I was so excited.... Mrs. Carter looked me right in the eye and said, "Hi, thanks for being here." All of a sudden, I forgot how to speak! I just looked like a little freshman girl who just spoke to the senior she had a crush on for the first time. Hilarious! Mrs. Carter must have thought I was crazy.

Mom and I bought some books and made our way to the enormous line. The lined moved really fast! That was both good and bad. Good, because it did not take all night, bad because the Carters were only signing their names. No personalizing was allowed. So, mom and I made our way to the front of the line and I got to take a picture of President Carter. That was exciting. Then, he signs dad's book and he signs mine. When he saw what the book was, he There were a million things I had always thought I would like to say. I did not say any of them, except, "Thank you, for all that you do." That did not really bring across the respect I have for him, but some how I am hoping that he could see that I was in awe of the great man that sat in front of me.

Gush! Gush! I know, I am a total sap!

The evening was great though! Mom and I did some people watching which is always fun at events like this and we caught conversations here and there. We both loved it!

I also got to select the book, that my book club will read in January. A small group of my friends and I have formed a book club and each month someone hosts the meeting and selects the book. I am to select January's book. Fortunately, I think we are going to start off the year with a great book. Haywood Smith, is a very colorful writer and a delight to meet in person. She was also at the Author's Party. She has written a book called "The Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch". It is about a woman, who's husband spent $200,000.00 on a striper and then became engaged to her..... looked up and said "Thanks." With a great big smile on his face. Hmmm..... Could she know something about this? So, to the Pages Book Club, get ready to laugh! And to anyone who is looking for a great book to bring you some chuckles, check this one out! And if you like that, then you will love, "The Red Hat Club".

Here is to great books and just plain inspiration!

Napkin Notes

I am sitting at my desk, having some left over spaghetti and I just thought of something my mom did when I was a kid. I did not always like to eat lunch room food, although I never thought it was bad. I think the thing that attracted me the most to lunches from home was the note that my mom always wrote on my napkin. And it never failed. It does not matter how busy she was, when she made my lunch she always wrote a note on it. If I had a test before lunch the note might say something like "Don't you feel better now that you have taken your test?" If the test was after lunch she always wrote "Good Luck." I was a cheer leader in middle and high school so the day of a game she would write things like "Go Dawgs", "We're Number 1", stuff like that. Now, my birthdays, those were special. Mom had a secret stack of birthday napkins, so if it was my birthday she would stick a special napkin in my lunch and she always signed it "xoxo, mom". That was my favorite part of lunch. It never matter what was in the lunch, I always looked forward to her notes. I use to keep them too, although I am not sure where they are now. I did have a box full of napkin notes at one time. They always made me smile. I love to think about writing napkin notes for my kids too. Who knows what it will be like when I do have kids. I will probably be sending them text messages. I am not so sure I will be able to get away with napkin notes by the time I have school aged kids.

Your Autobiography

Have you ever watched "Behind the Music" on VH1 or Biography? What if you could make an autobiography? Would you do it? If you could, what would you want to put on it? Well folks, now you can. As I heard it from Clark Howard this morning, for the rock bottom price of around $20,000 (yes, I said twenty thousand dollars) you too can make your own biography of your life and family. I can see mine unfold right now........ Pictures coming in and out, fading from one age to the next and then opening with the video my sister and I did at Gwinnett Place Mall when I was a senior in High School. We sang "Achey Breaky Heart" for our dad on Father's Day. No, that is not one of my favorite songs, it is one of his. Then it would obviously move on to some of my finer moments. Graduating from College, buying my first car on my own, etc. All I need now is the $20,000 to make it happen.

Now, there is a new idea. What if someone came up with a new TV or Cable channel? Every biography was one made by the common man and the commercials were the same. Now that could make for a very entertaining evening. Almost as entertaining as watching Rupert on David Letterman. Could you even begin to image what it would be like to have a camera follow you everywhere you went? Yikes, people would know how long it takes me to dry my hair and what I really look like before I put my war paint on in the morning. Not so good. I think I will have to leave my mark on the world through pictures and what few home videos there are of me. But I do like the idea of viewing other autobiographies for those who are brave enough or should I say rich enough to do so. I guess unless people took out personal loans to finance a venture like that, we would actually be watching a channel on The Rich, yet not so famous.