I’ve spent the weekend reading the wonderful comments left by many of you on my Friday post. What great affirmation and encouragement you gave. Thank you! As new to blogging as I still am, I find myself in awe of this cyber-community. Online friendship may have limitations, but I’m finding it to be more rich [...]

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly did. The cast: Six adults, six kids (four of them under 7). The menu: Smoked turkey, chestnut stuffing, gravy, collard greens, and broccoli with homemade cheese sauce. For dessert: pumpkin and apple pies. (I made the pumpkin pie.) (Yay, me!) Charlie did his usual culinary magic. [...]

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So Charlie tells me that my skipping over Thanksgiving to listen to Christmas songs is demotivating for him as the family Thanksgiving dinner cook. “Wha?” “Well,” he says, “It’s like if a football team…” (What is UP with men and sports analogies?) “…is prepping for the final playoffs before the Super Bowl and my teammate [...]

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The rest of this week, I’ll focus on Thanksgiving and the blessings I’m grateful for. But for today, let me follow retailers’ lead and focus on Christmas. HEY. At least I’m doing this in November, not September. Be grateful for small favors. *** As I was saying…. Yesterday I found the “All Christmas All the [...]

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THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP! Three kids in swimsuits (in November?) round the corner from the hall into the living room. Abby, who turns 6 tomorrow, shouts to our expectant faces, “We’re playing ApocalypTH! Charlie and I share a glance that contains an entire conversation: “Do you know anything about this?” “Yes. Sadly, I do.” “Any ideas on the [...]

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I should start by saying that by nature, I am a Morning Person. I’m the one you Night People can’t understand. I can take about 15 seconds to go from sound asleep to wide awake. First thing in the morning, I’m usually full of grand ideas and witty comments. I could solve the world’s problems [...]

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Recipe for a Fun Spa Pajama Party: “Mix it all together, and you know that it’s the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!” Because then you send them home. All the fun of a sleepover, this time with sleeping! PS Abby spent most of the party as a “puppy” (note the tongue out for “panting” in many [...]

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Well, we have two birthday parties down and one to go. And I am pooped. Pooped, I tell ya. All wit and sarcasm and humor are gone tonight, replaced with … I don’t know what. Empty headedness? Jeez. That’s not even clever. Edited photos last night, tossed one up on the blog, and fell into [...]

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I was gonna upload lots of photos of Hannah’s birthday tonight, but it’s now technically morning. So I think I’ll get back to you when it’s daylight. Here’s just a taste of the fun that was had. Aren’t they beautiful?

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Holy Moly! It’s B-day D-day. I won’t bore you (again) with my to-do list. Let’s just say “play with my blog and visit everyone else’s blog” is NOT on it. But here I am. I’m a rebel that way. No, I mostly have to clean. And while I was telling Charlie how overwhelmed I was [...]

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