Christmas of Dreams Day 9

What is the most unusual gift you have received? Best gift? Do you re-gift?

When I was in college I dated a guy that was from Memphis. I had signed up to be a counselor at the church retreat he usually worked at after Christmas every year. We had plans for me to drive up the day after Christmas. The weekend I was supposed to go home, I got food posioning. I was miserable, and ended up not making it home until Christmas Eve. I frantically rushed around getting everyone's presents, and made sure that I had all his stuff ready to leave the next day. I got to Memphis, and he had not even gotten me anything! He said he had not had time, even though he had been home for a week and had gotten the presents for the people he was not going to even see until after New Years! I was PISSED. When he finally did get my present he got me an autographed Isaac Hayes cookbook. Needless to say, we did not date much longer. That would have to be my most unusual gift I suppose.

Best gift? That would have to be the camera my husband got me last year. I have bad luck with cameras. I had left my old camera on top of my car, and watched it explode in my rearview mirror as it hit the highway. Jeff got me a new digital camera for Christmas last year, and made me open it the night before, so that I would have it to use Christmas morning. (Yeah I lost that camera at a NASCAR race this summer. BAD CAMERA LUCK)

I do not remember ever re gifting something. If I get something I do not particularly like, I usually keep it for a while and then on my next cleaning binge I will donate it to Salvation Army. I do not have a lot of storage room, so it is hard for me to let things sit around that I do not use.

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Todays question was brought to you by: JaC Jewelry, Cutie Covers, and by Sassy Baby.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

I was on a baking frenzy today (2 pumpkin pies 1 with homemade crust, 1 pecan pie, the muffins, a french toast casserole for breakfast tomorrow and dinner), and I found this recipe. They are YUMMY and very easy to make.

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

The 12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 7

I am thankful that we are able to spend the weekends together as a family. We might not do anything other than watch football games together, but it is nice to be able to spend that time with each other.

I am so proud! I have to brag!

Over the past few weeks we have been talking to Daniel about how we were going to have him pick out a toy to donate so that another little boy could have something for Christmas. We explained to him that while we may not have a lot to spend, we have a lot more than some people do, especially this year. There have been several conversations about how if something happened and we couldn't provide a Christmas how he would feel. We have also tried to explain to him how it is important to share what you have with others, no matter how insignificant you think it is. I know he is only 3 and does not understand exactly what we are talking about, but I hope that by beginning early, he will grow up to be a compassionate and caring adult.

I took him this afternoon to get his first dose of the flu vaccine. (He was strangely excited and just KNEW that he was going to get his shot in his belly like Grampie does his insulin) His new pediatrician is near the K Mart on Nicholasville Rd, where Z Rock 103.3 has been doing Homeless for the Holidays all week. For the past 3 years the morning show has camped out in the K Mart parking lot for a week and raised food and clothing/toy donations for the holidays. This was their 4th year there and they were worried that with the economy donations would be down. The last I heard today this year was actually a record year!

As we were leaving the doctors I told Daniel we were going to go get a toy and donate it to Homeless for the Holiday. He proudly walked into K Mart and into the toy section chattering the whole way there about what he might pick out. He went up and down the ailes and finally decided on a big truck that had a lot of cars inside it. I picked up a couple of kids books and let him pick out a small toy since he had been so good all day. (It was only $1 but he is thrilled with it)

When we pulled up at the donation site he insisted on giving the men the toy himself. He told them this is for someone else's Christmas. Then climbed back in his car seat to go home.

I sat in the parking lot with tears streaming down my face because I was so proud of him. This from the boy who when told no is known for pitching a fit, and when in a store wants everything he sees. "Maybe Christmas will bring me that," has been heard many times over the past few weeks. When he was picking out the toy he never once asked for anything for himself, it was only when I asked him if he would like a small toy that he even thought about getting something. The fact that he is three years old and was able to give so selflessly makes me proud.

12 Days of Thanksgiving Day 6

I am thankful that my husband found a job with a company that offers decent health insurance.

We just became eligible for health insurance, and I was surprised with how reasonable the plan was. Floored is more like it!

My company offers health insurance, but for a family, the cost is something like $200 every 2 weeks. Plus they have a high deductible and copay. We can't afford that. So for the past 3 months Daniel has had no insurance at all, and we have been hoping and praying that he does not get sick.

Jeff's company pays $115 a month. For all three of us, our cost is only $45 a week!!!!!! The deductible is reasonable, and so are the copays and RX costs!!!! HALLELEUGHIA!!!!!

We are off to get him a flu shot this afternoon and get the new patient package, and he will be getting a checkup in the next week hopefully!!!

Christmas of Dreams Day 8: The shopping day of DOOM

The lovely ladies at Momdot want to know:

Do you shop on Black Friday? What time do you start? Do you finish all your shopping on that day? What’s the best deal you have found? What’s your shopping strategy?

HELL NO!!!!!! I have never spent that day anywhere near a mall and I don't plan on it. Ok well I might venture out this year since I am taking that day off work, but there is only so much shopping I can do with my child in tow.

If I do head out, it will be at a reasonable hour, not 4am. I like sleep thank you very much! I might use that day to grab some things for DH, if I can somehow keep my child from spilling his guts to DH once he gets home.

But most likely I will be curled up at home snuggled into the couch with my son, enjoying my time off.

Todays sponsors are: Koshas, Leapfrog, and Soda Club

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

What are you thankful for? Blog it and then head over here to spread the word.

Today I am thankful for the fact that in this cruddy economy, I still have a job. That job allows me to provide for my family the warmth and comfort of a home, food on the table, and clothes on our backs, with a few extras thrown in there every once in a while.

I do not know many people who at some point in their career, don't have complaints about their job. Don't get me wrong, I have several, but I am thankful that I have a job. There are so many people who are losing jobs, and sometimes it makes me sad to know that with my line of work, the bad economy is actually good for my job. Less jobs=more repos for my company. I know most people think I am a "bad guy" but I do know that times are hard for everyone. Even our family.

Win a homemade detergent kit

I have been reading about making your own detergent for a while now, and I plan on trying it as soon as I use up my stockpile of Tide.

Sisterly Savings is offering a blogger a chance to win a laundry detergent kit from Soaps Gone Buy. Head over to her site and check it out.

Book Giveaway

Do you like to read? Do your children like to read? Do you like getting free books?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions go visit Owlhaven and enter for your chance to win.

Winner will be chosen on Monday

Christmas of Dreams Day 7: Naughty or Nice

Brought to you by: SillyMonkeez

Also brought to you by: My Baby Bump

(Sorry my links are doing weird things on Blogger this morning)



Tell us who is on your naughty list? Who is on your nice list? Why?

That is a tough one! I have to say all my friends and family are on the nice list. They have supported me this year in my decision to move far away from them, for my promotion with my company. There are moments when I think my son should be on the naughty list, but then he turns around and looks at me with those big blue eyes, and says something that totally cracks me up! Then there are the times when I have watched more NASCAR coverage than I care too that I think my husband should be on the naughty list, but he will turn around and bring me roses for no reason what so ever.

I do know one thing that should be on the naughty list: THE ECONOMY. Get your act together man!! You are putting a strain on all us normal people.

Letter to my uterus

Dear Uterus,

Will you please make up your mind what you are going to do. I know you are going through Depo withdrawls, and I am trying to be understanding. The past few months have been rough for you, and me as well. But could you please decide if you are going to start your monthly thing once and for all. This constant naggy pain, and wildly unstable hormone changes are starting to get to me. If you won't decide for me, please take into consideration my DH, who is bewildered by my mood changes and random crying jags. So if you will not take pity on me, please have pity on him.

Respectfully yours

Your host body, Natalie

12 Days of Thanksgiving Day 4

On this cold wintery day, I am thankful that I do not have to spend all my time working outside. I have a warm office that I can hole up in every day from 8:30-5. And on the rare occasions when I have to venture out into the arctic like termperatures, I am thankful for the many layers of clothes I am wearing.

Christmas Of Dreams Day 6: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Brought to you by: Flying Colors Baby, Uncommonly Cute, and Lollipop Books.

And don't forget to head over to Momdot and check out all the wonderful blogs!

Day 6 Question: We would like to know what is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood?

Growing up I knew that my father did not really like Christmas. He would go through the motions and put up lights, help with the tree, and all the other Christmassy sstuff, but you could tell there was something missing. He was not in the Christmas spirit I guess you could say.

When I got older I understood why.

My father was a Marine during Vietnam. He was Echo Company 2nd Battalion First Marines, and was a mortar platoon sergeant. One Christmas Eve, they had just come off patrol and were holding a bridge against the enemies. My father was supposed to go on guard duty, when his best friend offered to instead. He knew my Dad was exhausted and needed the rest. Dad agreed, and watched him walk off into the jungle. Then he watched the explosion that lit the night sky, and knew it was his buddy. He had stepped on a landmine on the way to the bridge. My dad still does not talk much about that night, but I am sure he felt like it was his fault.

When I got older, Dad began to go to PTSD classes, and began to deal with the emotions he had locked away for so long. And I suppose as they say, time heals all wounds. Seeing my Dad go to the mall with my Mom, and actively helping pick out our Christmas presents, instead of staying home and sending everyone else to do his shopping, was one of the happiest memories I have. He got some of his Christmas spirit back!

12 Days of Thanksgiving Day 3

What are you thankful for? Create your post and go here and leave it on mr linky.

I am thankful for silliness at bedtime.

As I was tucking my son into bed last night, I startd pretending to be asleep in his bed. He quickly told me I had to sleep with Jeff. So I called DH into daniels room and he immediately crawled on the other side of Daniel and turned out the lights. We spent several minutes snoring and pretending to be asleep, while cuddling with Daniel, who was giggling like crazy.

Daniel then told my husband he could not sleep in his bed because he was stinky. (Even though they had both taken a shower earlier in the evening)

So i am thankful for laughter and silliness at bedtime, and times together as a family.

Christmas of Dreams Day 5: Giving Back

Today, make a blog post about what you do to give back during the holidays. Do you volunteer your time? If so, please tell us where. What do you do to teach your children the true meaning of the holidays?

Brought to you by Baby Pop and Chic Covers

If you have not already done so, head over to momdot and check out all the cool blogs!

As a child growing up my parents always taught me to be concious of others. Whether it was their feelings or the fact that they might not be as fortunate as we were.

I do not ever remember walking by a Salvation Army bell ringer without putting something in there. Even if it was just a couple of pennies. Daniel has already learned that when he sees them he gets to put the money in. Now I just have to get him to understand why he does that lol!

I have never volunteered at a shelter during the holidays, but was thinking to myself on the way to work this morning, that maybe this would be a good year to start. I will have to run that one by my DH later.

We have already explained to Daniel that he is going to pick out a toy to donate to another little boy that won't have a Christmas like he is going to have. He has already decided on a dinosaur.

I am going to make some scarves to donate to the local drive the radio station is doing this week as well.

We do not do anything big, but every little bit helps. I want to raide my son the way I was, so he understands that, you might not have much to give, but it is better than doing nothing.

12 Days of Thanksgiving Day 2

If you would like to join in or just read more posts go here.

Sorry I missed out on Day One, but here is my day two.

I am incredibly thankful for my wonderful husband.

There really are not words to describe how thankful I am.

He sacrificed a lot to move here for me and my job.

He is patient when I am bitchy. And boy can I get bitchy lol.

He (tries) to let me sleep late on the weekends.

He helps me clean the house.

He washes dishes everyday. Sometimes 2-3 times a day!

He is my best friend who I can talk to about anything.

He puts up with my crazy new ideas, and even suggests some of his own, on how to save money.

He loves my son like his own.

My son loves him, sometimes I think more than he loves me lol.

I could go on and on, but I am truly thankful that we found each other, and that I get to share my life with him.

I am going into hibernation

I had a wonderful weekend! It was nice and relaxing and spent in good company. I mighthave to go into hibernation however until warmer weather. There was snow in NOV!!!!! Ok so it did not stick but it was there.

Daniel had a blast playing at the mall with Hoss on Friday night. He wanted to go back Saturday!

Thanks so much to Lisa for more jewelry making help. And for showing me the stitch I needed to make my neighbors birthday scarf and a scarf for Daniel to match his Spongebob hat and gloves.



He really liked his scarf and was gracious enough to model it for me.



Jeff also volunteered to model the other scarf.

I grabbed an odds and ends leftover trim bag while at Wal Mart and it had a great rhinestone trim that matched my neighbors scarf!



Sunday I spent in the kitchen preparing my neighbors birthday meal, and watching the last race of the season (YAY!) with Jeff.

My husband really is the most wonderful man alive. He cleaned the apt for me on Saturday without having to be asked, and did the laundry on Sunday when I said I REALLY did not want too. So my clothes will be wrinkled for the next week, but it was nice to not have to do them myself. I am truly thankful for my wonderful husband!

Now I have lots of crafts to keep me busy for the next few weeks in preparation for Christmas.

Christmas of Dreams Day 4: What is your favorite holiday recipe

Today's question for Momdot's Christmas of Dreams is brought to you by: Bottlewise and Glow Mama.

What is your favorite Holiday recipe?

That is a good question. Last year was my first year to host any holiday get togethers. My mom handled the turkey for Thanksgiving and I did the rest. I honestly do not remember what I did. I am sure there was a green bean casserole as that is my all time favorite dish to eat. Wow. My mind is a blank.

I am going to be doing Christmas and Thanksgiving all by myself this year and I have no idea how to cook a turkey, but that is what phones are for! I call my mom ALL the time to ask her about recipes and cooking advice.

I will share a recipe that I have recently discovered and I absolutely LOVE it.

Feta Cheese Stuffed Pork Shops

1 contained feta or blue cheese crumbles ( I do not like blue cheese which is what the recipe calls for so I use Feta and it is yummy!

2 green onions chopped

4 pork loin chops bone in or boneless with pockets cut in them by deli

toothpicks

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon flour

3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 (or you can cook these on the grill)

Combine choppen onons and cheese crumbles and stuff in pockets of pork chops. Secure openings with toothpicks.

Place in oven for 30 minutes or so until done.

Combine sour cream, flour and milk and pepper to taste in a sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until mixture boils and then reduce heat and simmer about 3 minutes still stirring until mixture thickens. Pour mixture over chops and garnish with any leftover feta/onion mixture.

This is realtively easy and quick and is super yummy! My husband said it is his favorite meal I cook.

Christmas of Dreams Day 3: Christmas Budgets

The lovely ladies over at momdot have asked the day three question of:

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Do you budget for the holidays? Do you always stick to your budget? Share with us any budgeting tips you may have!

(Cue Sesame Street Music)

This wonderful question was brought to you by: Appledonia, Hippos Toes, Kushies and the number 4. Sorry could not resist that last one!

Budget? What is that? Is that some new curse word today's kids have come up with?

No seriously.

Budgeting has never been my strong point. I do not even have a household budget! But I am working on correcting that. I usually try and keep a running list of how much money we have and what we need to pay out. I handle all the bills in the house out of my account. My husband does not even have one! He just hands the money right over to me every Friday.

I know I am AWFUL!

So no we do not have a budget per se for Christmas this year. We just know there is not a lot to spend, so we are trying to find other ways of giving gifts.

I have stocked up on Bath and Body Works at sales and using coupons. I have begun making jewelry thanks to a friend showing me how. I am searching the scrap fabric for things I can use to make nice inexpensive gifts, so no one feels left out, but we do not go into debt giving to everyone we want to give too. And of course, staying here for the holidays this year instead of going home.



That is just some of the stuff I have gotten.

I guess you could say I have a Christmas Game Plan, not so much a budget. I know what I have to work with and I am doing things to make sure it works.

And yes, for the first time ever, I have already started my Christmas shopping. I am NOTORIOUS for waiting until the last minute. But not this year! I am now supper dupper awesome plan ahead wife! WOO HOO! I even know what I am going to get Jeff. Now I just have to write my list for him to get me, drive him to the mall, show him what is on the list, and then print pictures off for him, just in case he forgets. Yeah he is not the best at picking out prsents. I mean a weather radio for my birthday!?

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