Somebody Thinks I'm Worthy!

I got a wonderful blog award from Mimi over at He & Me + 3. Mimi is someone who dropped into my life thru the blogosphere & she has been bringing a little sunshine into my days ever since. Mimi is a fellow believer, an awesome photographer, and a mom to 3 pretty gorgeous kids. She's got a great name too!

The Rules are simple:

You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.

The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.

You must link back to the person who gave you the award.

You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas.

If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! :o)

Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going!

Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment on their blog.

Things I Love About Christmas

1. Celebrating the birth of the Christ child

2. Quiet moments that I get to steal with family

3. Decorating the tree

4. Giving presents

5. Getting presents

6. Seeing relatives that I don't get to see enough

7. Listening to the CD's Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas & A Christmas Together: John Denver and the Muppets

8. Memories

9. Food

10. Sitting in a dark room & looking at the lights on the tree

Now I get to tag people!

I pick:
Denise from Sunflowers, Chocolate, and Little Boys. As soon as I saw the name of her blog listing 3 of my favorite things in the world, I knew we would click.

Jenn at Delightfully Cliche. Hopefully she can get to this after she gets caught up on her rest!

Janah at So Not Mom-a-licious. Life's been tricky in her neck of the woods, but she still makes me laugh.

Finally Victoria at Vicupdates. She's a 17 year-old living with Lyme disease and she totally has Christmas spirit.

Tuesday's Tip Jar

Every year at Christmas I open all of the boys electronics & put the batteries in the toys that need them. Any of the toys that have 5,000 of those stronger-than-steel twist ties get those removed & plastic things holding them to the package get cut off. Then I put the toys back in the packaging and wrap.

This made Christmas morning much easier in Mimi-land because the boys could access their toys immediately without me having to find something like the jaws of life to get the toy out. It also saves on the box getting torn to shreds in case someone wants to return something.

For more Tuesday's Tip Jar check out Blog Mommas

Simple Women's Daybook

Outside My Window... Snow, bare trees & dusk approaching.

I am thinking... About how much I have missed blogging due to my burn.

I am thankful for... My family & friends who are there for me, always.

From the kitchen... A mustard dijon pasta sauce that didn't turn out well due to lack of dijon!

I am wearing... A long sleeved t that says "all who wander are not lost" & fuzzy sweat pants.

I am creating... A sense of peace.

I am going... Nowhere fast.

I am reading... American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfield.

I am hoping... To emerge from my funk.

I am hearing... My beautiful boys watching t.v. upstairs.

Around the house... Christmasing!

One of my favorite things... My husband. He is more than I could have wished for.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Getting the shopping done.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... Chloe thinks she is a tiny kitten!

Thank you to Peggy at ~The Simple Woman~ for this great daybook idea. You can visit her here.

I Quit!

I've gotta say I'm pretty sick of "the system" right now. Court did not go very well for me.

I just wanna say that sometimes it's tiring to know that you are the person "doing the right thing" when the person, or Ass Hat, "doing the wrong thing" continually gets rewarded for their bad behavior. Having the moral high ground doesn't feel like much when for all intents & purposes the person with seemingly no morals still comes out "ahead".

I know all of the blather about me being the one who is teaching the kids right & wrong. Ass Hat will end up "paying the price" in the long run, etc., but right now I want someone at Oakland County Friend of the Court to see thru all the BS & call the man on his awful parenting skills & judgement.

For goodness sakes, the man punched our 16 yr. old in the face, in my church, during a youth event, started giving the same kid alcohol when he was 14, took him to see this outrageous movie & the court rewards him with more time with our 13 year old!!!

I give up.

I guess I should say I give it up to God.

**For anyone who doesn't know what the heck I'm blathering about see this post.

Words You Don't Want To Hear...

Any of you who pay attention to my blog know that things have been a little sucky in Mimi-ville this week. Since this trend is continuing I thought I would just fill you in on a few things you don't want to hear.

If you or someone you love is at an emergency room you do not want to hear the words "fecal impaction." This will put an immediate halt on any Christmas cheer you may have been harboring, trust.

If you are looking up a movie that your ex-husband, affectionately known as Ass Hat, took your 16 year old son to see you do not want to read words like "a man & a woman have anal sex...feces splatter onto the cameraman's face", or "A woman removes her panties...blows bubbles from an orifice". These are only 2 examples of the myriad of sins in this movies description. Obviously poor Ass Hat had no idea that this would be a poor movie choice. The title "Zach & Miri Make a Porno" really gives nothing away about the storyline.

When you are suffering from a 2nd degree burn & you have run out of narcotic pain killers you do not want to hear the words, "Dr. Mouiuuoiyae (not his real name, but it is made up almost entirely of vowels) can't squeeze you in until Friday morning!

I have to close now. I have to go pick up 16 yr. old from school & go to family court with Ass Hat. He's not quite sure why I don't want him to spend extra time with our 13 yr. old. After all 16 was 14 years old before Ass Hat gave him alcohol for the first time. 13 still has at least 6 more months. If there was ever a day I needed narcotic pain killers, today is right up there.

Psalm 25:7

For more Word Filled Wednesday

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Christmas in SITSville

Now that the Christmas shopping season is upon us like flies on poo, I find myself falling into my usual bah humbug mood. In the race to find the right present, make the right foods, get to everyone's parties that "I just can't miss", I've stopped enjoying the holidays. In fact, I'm usually grumpy, tired & downright miserable.

Well this year I've decided to take back Christmas. I vow to make Christmas about the family that was created in that manger so many years ago & the family that I have here for myself today.

I invite all of my SITS friends to do the same. Just say no to another day at the mall. Make some cookies, put on some Christmas music (Elvis works best for me), grab someone you love & smooch them up good!