My Favorite Christmas Music

Here we are on the verge of Thanksgiving and ready for the downhill ride to Christmas. At the risk of sounding cliche, time just goes by so quickly! I've been pulling out all of the Holiday decor today and I'm reminded of how much I love this time of the year. It's not just Christmas, but this season in general. I love fall and winter. I love the smell of smoke in the air, fall leaves (except when I have to rake them), pumpkins, football and the Holidays. I'm one of those people who has a minor let down in January. I love the fresh feeling of clean around the house after the decorations are gone, but at the same time it feels rather empty. Then it's time for me to nest in my big chair with a cup of tea and a good book.

I pulled out all of holiday CD's and have been listening to Christmas music non-stop. My husband and children just don't appreciate a good Christmas song. I get those eye rolls. I remember as a child, my mother would start with her Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams Christmas albums around the middle of November. What great Christmas music. Johnny's version of "Silver Bells" makes me think of my childhood house, with mom in the kitchen cooking and singing, although not very well. The singing, not the cooking. My mom is a great cook!

My new favorite Christmas music is by Peter Brienholt. He truly has a pure voice. His Noel album is simply beautiful. I also love all of the Mannheim Steamroller albums as well. Their version of Silent Night brings tears to my eyes almost everytime I hear it. I once played it in my college dorm room while a few of us were studying and there wasn't a dry eye in the room when it was over. We were all thinking about moms, home and Christmas. And my last new favoite Christmas thing is the movie Elf. If you haven't seen this movie, do so immediately. I love Will Ferrell in this movie. It's just so sweet.

So, don't just sit there! Go find those Christmas CDs or put in your favorite Christmas movie and get ready for this blessed season!

Pet Peeves

I have some pet peeves that I would like to write about. We all have them. I thought you might like to hear about a few of mine. Yes, there are more than these few.

I hate it when people say "pitcher" instead of "picture". A pitcher is a water bearing vessel, okay?

It aggravates me when people spend money for personalized license plates and then put the type and/or color of car they are driving on them. I can already see that on the back of your car. RED GTO--no kidding?? I'm not sure I could have figured that out unless you spent the extra $45 to advertise it on your bumper.

It bothers me when people chew with their mouth open. Do we really need to see your food being processed for digestion?

I hate it when people do private grooming rituals in public, i.e. combing your hair, flossing, or clipping your fingernails. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. I once sat through an adult Sunday School class with a "gentleman" clipping his fingernails behind me. I can only imagine where all those clippings were going. In my hair, I'm sure. If he started to take off his shoes I was going for his throat. There is a reason that a bathroom is a small room with a door. It's meant for privacy. One person. Alone.

I hate it when my husband clinks his spoon against his bowl. He does this eating ice cream or cereal. Do you really need to scrap the cereal bowl clean? Clink, clink, clink.... He's a decent guy. I love him. He takes good care of me and our children, but this little ritual makes me want to take that spoon and stick it in his nose. He knows this. That is why he has trained each of our children to do it as well.

And here are a few more to end on....

Feet. (thanks Dad) I just don't like them.
Misspelled words while typing. Spellcheck, people.
Tailgaters. Not the football game kind, but the kind that ride your butt on the highway because you are going too slow for them. Again, might be directed at my husband.


I just need to vent once in awhile. Pet Peeves. We all have them!

I'm a writer....

I enjoy writing and telling stories. Having said that, I should say that I also like to add details to make more stories more interesting. My mother would call it "embellishing" my stories. My oldest calls it "lying". She's pretty harsh. I call it "being Feliciaous" (that's my name, get it?) I was telling a story the other day when my daughter stopped me and said, "Mom, that's not exactly how it happened. She didn't say that! You're lying!" My step-daughter, bless her little heart, stepped in and said, "Lee, Mom is a writer (much emphasis on writer).. She adds details to her stories to make them more interesting." See, she gets me!

Anyway, I like to add more depth and detail to a story. It's not about me! It's all about entertaining the listener or reader, correct? I mean if I told you that I met the most interesting little Irish lady yesterday at the hospital where I volunteer, that's okay, but a little boring. But if I tell you that when I came into her room, she was sitting in her wee little chair wearing a little plaid housecoat with a cute little gray bun right on top of her head and that she just looked as fun as a little leprechaun, and then she said "Top of the morning to ya!" that's much more interesting, isn't it? Okay, she really didn't say that. I was just being "Feliciaous". But she did have a plaid housecoat and a bun, okay?

She's Toying with me...

Now I think she is just toying with me. I really am convinced that it is the job of a teenager to try and drive their parents crazy.

A Clown in My Pantry

That title will make you read this post, won't it? So, Sunday afternoon my handsome husband comes upstairs and says, "Get your camera and go look in the kitchen". Well, ya don't ask questions when he tells you to get the camera! I grabbed it and headed downstairs, camera in hand, ready to shoot... As I get closer to the kitchen I hear a child rummaging in the pantry. Not unusual. I also hear this same child singing, presumably to a song on her I-Pod that she alone can hear. Again, not unusual. As I round the corner, I see this.


Of course, I snapped the picture immediately. Now that IS unusual. Should I be alarmed? I don't know.... Is this a phase? "I want to be a clown, mom" or "I'm joining the circus" or "I'm thinking of a new hairstyle-Orphan Annie meets Jimmie Hendrix". Of course, since she is a teenager, she rolled her eyes at me, took her snack and sauntered on upstairs to her room, still singing. I guess maybe I'll get answers later. Then again, maybe not.

A Great Book!

I just finished reading a great book titled Logged On and Tuned Out: A Non-Techie's Guide to Parenting a Tech-Savvy Generation by Vicki Courtney. My two older daughters and I went to see her speak in Joplin, MO last month. I bought the book because my 13-year-old has just started her own MySpace page and I felt like I needed to keep up with the latest technology. I highly recommend this book if you have children on the internet. It addresses the issues of MySpace, FaceBook, cell phones, IMing, etc... She gives practical solutions to problems that can crop up with a teens and technology. I learned several things and my oldest and I were able to sit down and have a talk about her MySpace account. I feel like I'm on top of technology now!

Mrs. Courtney has also written several other books. I have also started reading her book Your Girl: Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World. She talks about raising daughters in our current day and age. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of "hoochie momma's" myself. Check out her blog at http://www.virtuousreality.com/blog/ if you don't know what a "hoochie momma" is. I know she has another book geared towards sons as well, called Your Boy: Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World

It's hard parenting teens in this day and age. I'll take all the help I can get!

The Man I Love or My Life as the Straight Guy

To give you better insight on my life, I thought I would give you few details about the love of my life, my husband. He's a comedian (or likes to think he is). I married him because he made me laugh. My roommates at the time would say, "you really think he's funny??" That should have been my first clue.

For example, we were recently discussing a local news story about a truck of cattle that had overturned on an interstate ramp dumping a load of bulls in downtown St. Louis. Several had died, but others had escaped and were roaming the streets of St. Louis. A few days later they had captured all but one of the free bulls. Our conversation went something like this:

ME: One of those bulls is still on the lam.
HIM: He has a sheep with him too?

So, that's the type of humor I deal with daily. His favorite joke is this:
HIM: I'm going fishing.
ME(playing the straight man role): Have you got worms?
HIM: Yea, but I'm still going fishing.

He has every member of his immediate family trained on this joke to play the straight man part, even his mother! He loves to pull this one out at all family gatherings or when he has a new audience. he loves a fresh audience because his material has been the same for 25 years or more!

I was just interrupted by a phone call from my dear husband.

ME:I'm working on my post all about the man I love.
HIM: Really,... who's that?

Everyone knows the straight guy always got paid more.