Well, the holidays are upon us, but as far as I'm concerned they have not officially arrived until I see the playing of the Hersey's Kisses "Carol of the Bells" commercial. This has become my favorite. It is simple, cute, and fun all at the same time.

I have already seen several Christmas related commercials and I must say I feel nothing when I watch them but sadness. The main one I am thinking of is the Visa card commercial. As a person who has struggled with credit card debit in the past I really hate everything this commercial represents. The idea that we must buy holiday happiness, the idea that it's okay to charge up our holiday because we won't see the bill until January. Been there, done that, and didn't get a tshirt because I couldn't afford it after all the fees and finance charges!

I prefer my holidays to be about family and friends, giving to those who are need no matter what our situation might be, and, the most important thing of all, totally about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This little baby brought so much joy, peace and hope to the world! I am so amazed by the story of Jesus' birth. I have read a small book titled "Mary" that I got two years ago when I was home for Thanksgiving. This book is the Christmas story and then the life of Jesus through his mother's eyes. It is a short book, but one that is great for a mom to read. If anyone would like to borrow this book (for a VERY short while, of course) then please let me know. I will be more than happy to share this great book.

oops! it's been a while...sorry.

Well, it looks like I have really slacked off in my writing blog posts. Sorry about that. It has been rather busy around here. In the last three weeks I have done a lot of running around getting kids to this activity and that activity. Plus...the big highlight...Nele was home for two weeks! It was an awesome visit!!! It was great to see her again, but it was sad to see her go. The time together was just too short. I can't wait to have her here again. I miss her. :(

On a much lighter note I have a very humorous story that is sure to leave you in stitches. First, a little background to set up the story. On friday I was out of work due to being sick with the stomach flu. Yuck. As most of you know that is my most dreaded sickness. I hate it. Anyway...it did set me back a little but I am bouncing back quite nicely. In the past it has taken me 3 days to be able to eat again, but this time it was only one...that's a huge difference. Okay, so on saturday I went to a little craft show in Harrodsburg (well, more like the backwoods of Burgin...don't know where that is...yeah! nobody does!!! hence the small turnout at the show) to help my dear, and dare I say best!, friend Kari with manning her jewelry booth and taking care of Nehemiah. Quick side note...her stuff is AWESOME--she is truly talented! Anyway, we had been sitting at the booth for about 5 hours and Nehemiah was being a very good baby (as usual because he is the best baby in the world!) so everyone that came by wanted to talk about him. One lady in particular had stopped by for a second time and was talking to Kari about him, and asking lots of questions about her other kids (beautiful Myra and Lizzie), etc. At this point the woman, who was like 45-50 years old, looked at me and said, "are you the grandmother?" :-O I will have a hard time expressing to you exactly what I was feeling about this horrible question, but use your imagination! Come on people!!! I'm 35! Not 55-60!! I don't even look close to that. I know that I was bouncing back from being sick, but give me a break! Now I will say that my mom (hi mom!) looks VERY good! She looks about 10 years younger than she actually is. However, and no offense to women in their 40's, but I don't look like I'm in my 40's, let alone like one in her 50's!!! I was completely stunned and set aback. I didn't know what to say. I finally gave her a somewhat whispered "no" and she soon departed our booth (never to return...thank goodness). We all had a good laugh about it, and I'm still laughing, I just wonder if there was something totally great I could have said to this woman but I was just too dumb-struck to find the words.

Now the question is...what would you have done if someone had said this to you? Keep in mind the following things: I'm in my 30's!, I have young children of my own, and Krissi was NOT holding Nehemiah at the time this horrid comment was unleashed upon me. Leave me a comment!