A Few Of My Favorite Things

Over at Thrifty Decor Chick there is a gathering of gals, talking about "A Few Of Their Favorite Things", so here are a few of mine right now!

My favorite chocolate candy are these addictive little things, and the bag is so pretty! The dark chocolate ones are also very good with coffee!
This is my favorite Christmas photo ever! Like all single 30 somethings, I spent all of my money on clothes and going out with my friends. I frequently stopped by my Mom's house to "go grocery shopping" as she would say (Toilet paper was always on my "to get from Moms" list)! I got off of work at 5:30 am Christmas morning, and let myself into her house, and hung this GIGANTIC stocking up with my Normal size stocking! I ran home to change into my favorite Christmas hat and PJ's and went back over for coffee and present opening. When I went downstairs, there was my practical joke (that I was playing on HER), stuffed full of TOILET PAPER rolls!


This is my favorite performer right now. I just love his voice!
And the final one for now...My first cup of coffee in the morning, is my favorite cup of the day! Head over to Thrifty Decor Chick to read the favorites of other fellow bloggers!

Earring Giveaway Alert!

Jeannie over at Jeannie's Happy World is hosting a giveaway for some LoVeLy pearl earrings! They are handcrafted by Judy from Silver Dot Jewelry. Here is a peek at what they look like. Go visit Jeannie for the "big picture"!

I Am Being a Slug Today!

I should be working on a tag with a snow theme, and a card with a movie theme right now! I've lost my creative mojo! Instead I am surfing the web, looking at new blogs, which leads me to new blogs and so on and so forth! I have an extreme case of the lazy's today!

I am making a huge pot of brown beans with ham hocks, cornbread, and fried potatoes for dinner. It smells SOOooooo good! It had snowed just a bit overnight, and now it is sleeting outside.

I watched this movie last night. I swear I have seen it probably 100 times, I love it. Funny thing is, I OWN this movie, and I still watch it on television when it is on! I complain the whole time because they have edited out some scenes to get it completed in just 2 hours! Why I just don't pop in the DVD....I'll never know! What holiday movies do you guys watch over and over again?


I hope that every one's weekend is going well. Oh, I almost forgot! I got an email from Tootie over at Honey Girl Studios this morning. I won her cute little felt elf shoe! She has THE cutest little 2 inch pins that she makes. She has ornaments and such also.

Do Your Photos Need A Boost?

I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I wanted to share a photo editing site with you. I saw this over on Mama's Losin' It blog (go give her some bloggy lovins, you'll have a good time there). I went and checked it out, and I love it! It is Picnik, and it's free (woo-hoo)! Of course if you pay some cash, you can get the premium service (maybe they turn your photos into diamonds or something - who knows), but there is still a lot that you can do with a photo, with the free membership! Here is a before Picnik picture of my favorite Christmas toe socks, and the after results.

Then after some editing

Here is one more, first the original, then one after I goofed with it a bit. They have pre-formated collage thingy's you can do.

Any who, I just wanted to share that with you. I had never heard of it, and I am always skeptical of sites like this unless someone you trust tells you about it. Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their weekend!

P.S. I think I need to buy this for myself for Christmas! A pink remote control! The only way it could be better, is if it were also a chocolate fudge dispenser!

Happy Thanksgiving

I thought it was time that I post what I truly recognize and give Thanks for today. This might be long, as I am a bit bored right now! I've already had my coffee/hot chocolate/cool whip combo. I've had my pie for breakfast, then a plate of leftovers for lunch (well, if you can consider 10 am lunchtime), and pie after my plate of lunch leftovers! I've walked the dog a couple of times, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and am now watching Miracle On 34th Street.


There is a story that I have to tell you. It's been on my mind for a while now. Over a week ago, I was at the dollar store. I was in line at the register. Both registers were open, and I couldn't help but overhear the cashier opposite mine asking her customer what she wanted to get rid of. You see, the woman in line didn't have enough money. She was $5 short, and the employee of the store was not being very quiet about it. The woman looked mortified, sad, ashamed, you name it...all rolled up into one face. She had mostly food items (which looked to be the makings of her Thanksgiving dinner), and some household necessities such as dish soap, toilet tissue etc. With her head hung low, she started picking through bags to find which items to return. The woman standing behind her in line, reached discreetly for the embarrassed woman's hand a placed a $5 in it, and gave her a little wink. The woman mouthed the words "thank you", handed the cashier the money, and grabbed her bags and left. The kind woman that gave her the money, shot the cashier a look that would have sent a chill down my spine had I been her! The other women in that line were rolling their eyes, and sighing as if relieved. All in all, this whole episode only lasted maybe under a minute.

I am disgusted at how the cashier and the rest of the women in line were behaving. It's not like they were in the grocery store, and standing in line behind some drunk woman, who was trying to purchase $20 of booze with only $15 in her purse! This woman, she was buying food. Probably for her family. She probably had been worrying about how to pull a Thanksgiving dinner together on little money for weeks. She was probably keeping tabs of every cent as she put items in her cart, and somehow miscounted. I've sure been there! Just before payday, really wanting to go out to eat, but instead settling on a loaf of bread and lunch meat because it will last longer! I've stood in line thinking to myself "crap, I hope that I calculated this stuff correctly" while you secretly eye-ball your coins to see how many more dollars you can come up with if needed!

I am thankful for this kind woman who didn't hesitate to help someone in need. I am also thankful that the other woman's family will be enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner today.


I'm thankful for this little turd also! He is actually my Mom's dog, but I "babysit" for him ALOT! He is usually attached at my hip! He is adopted from a pet shelter. He was abandoned in his previous owners backyard. They left him tied to a tree with no food or water. After 2 weeks, the previous owners felt bad, and called to report where he was. When the animal shelter people found him, he had been drinking from a mud puddle, and the neighbor kids had been tossing him food through the fence. That was 10 years ago, we figure he is about 13 years old. His name is JJ. He loves to eat, chase cats, sleep, and play with his favorite pink ball!



I'm Thankful for places such as this. I was lucky enough to visit here once, and am anxiously awaiting the day I am going back there with my family! We are planning a trip for my birthday, and they can't wait to see the place I have been obsessing over! My aunt is visiting friends in Florida, and she called this morning as she was enjoying a walk on the beach before getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. She needed the little break from life, and I'm thankful that she got to spend time near the ocean.



And last but not least, I'm thankful for these goofballs (my family). The only ones missing from this little show are my two nieces and two nephews. It's me, my brother, my SIL, Mom, and Aunt. Sorry for the long post! That first story is wordy!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sweet Cracker Sandwich, It's Over!

Well, it's over! I made it through the first of the two longest days of the year. My dysfunctional busy family's Thanksgiving was celebrated today. My Mom has to work tomorrow, and my brother and sister-in-law go to her Moms house for the holidays. My Aunt is out of town, so we just got it all over with today. It wasn't a bad day. It was mostly predictable, with one surprise! My nieces (who I never get to see) showed up at Mom's, and we got to visit with them for several hours. My brother showed up 3 hours late (this was no surprise). My sister-in-law showed up 3 hours and 15 minutes late (this was no surprise either). Here was our menu:

Turkey
Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Noodles
Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Corn
Yams
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Relish
Dinner Rolls

Pumpkin Pie
Coconut Cream Pie
Chocolate Cake (my Mother insisted that I make, that nobody ate...predicted)

I'm Thankful that we all were able to get together. It means a lot to my Mother. Our holiday traditions have fallen to the wayside over the past 10 years, and "making it happen" on Thanksgiving and Christmas is almost always a chore. My brother has never been on time to one single dinner in the history of family dinners!

However...tomorrow I am FREE! I plan to get up whenever I want...have my coffee and hot chocolate...watch the parade...eat pie for breakfast...eat leftovers all day long...and watch football in the afternoon! It will be a glorious day!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Cassie

Happy Thanksgiving To All

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off of your thighs!
author unkown

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Yakkity Yak

David received a parrot for a gift, just before Thanksgiving Day. This parrot was fully-grown with a bad attitude and terrible vocabulary. Every other word was an expletive. Those that weren't expletives were, to say the least, rude.

David tried hard to change the bird's attitude. He was constantly saying polite words and playing soft music; he did anything he could think of. Nothing worked. When he yelled at the bird, the bird got worse. If he shook the bird, the bird got madder and ruder. Finally in a moment of desperation, David put the parrot in the freezer.

For a few moments he heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and then suddenly, there was quiet. David was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto David's extended arm and said: "I'm sorry that I might have offended you with my language and actions, so I ask for your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior."

David was astounded at the bird's change in attitude and was about to ask what had changed him...when the parrot continued: "May I ask what the turkey did?"

author unkown

Giveaways at Tip Junkie

Time is running out over at Tip Junkies "12 Days of Junkie" giveaways. Today is days 10 & 11, so head over and check it out.

Monkey Bread Recipe

I thought I would post the recipe that I use for Monkey Bread. There are a lot of different ways to make this I believe. This is just about the simplest one I have ever found though. I don't really measure anything when I make it, so these are guess-timates (I think they are close enough though).


I baked this in a round non-stick cake pan, coated with cooking spray (you can use butter also).

2 cans of biscuits (I used Pillsbury Buttermilk refrigerated can biscuits-the small ones-10 to a can)
Cut each raw biscuit into 4 pieces.

1/2 Cup granulated (white) sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon
Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a zip lock bag or bowl. Toss the biscuit pieces (a few at a time) to coat them with the mixture. Throw the coated pieces into your cake pan.

1/4 cup margarine or butter and 1/2 cup of brown sugar
Melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat (stirring constantly) until butter is completely dissolved, keep stirring until it is smooth. This only takes a couple of minutes. Once it's melted, pour it evenly over the biscuits.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate or serving platter. The bite size pieces just "pull apart" from the rest!

You can also sprinkle in some nuts, or raisins before you pour the brown sugar mixture over it.

This is an easy recipe to "play around" with. When you are coating the biscuit pieces, you may need to add a little bit more cinnamon half way through. The earlier pieces seem to really "soak up" the cinnamon quite a bit. If you don't have any brown sugar on hand, you can mix granulated sugar with a bit of molasses.

Do The Doughnut People Deliver?

I hope that everyone is staying warm, on what I consider, a VERY cold Saturday! I woke up this morning and wanted a doughnut so bad that I thought I would probably just die without one. I poked my head outside... Nope... Don't think so... Too cold... No bakery for me today! Then I remembered something (picture the room getting a little brighter, and Angelic voices singing Awwwww, yep that's what I heard)! Monkey Bread! I haven't made it in a loooong time. I didn't add all of the bells and whistles like, nuts or raisins. But it was still pretty darn good!


So this is my public service announcement for the day. Don't forget Monkey Bread when you need something hot, gooey, cinnamony, sugary, and doughy! You probably have all the ingredients in your kitchens right now!

Tag Challenge

Well, I knew that the challenge over at Tag You're It was going to be exactly that for me...a challenge! I give up and will present you with what I have (blek!). The challenge this week was to create a tag from the provided sketch.

Here is the tag that I created, thank you for peeking.

I Feel That My Luck is Starting to Change!

I sat down at the computer this morning after pouring my second cup of coffee, and started my routine. Always first, I check my email, then I check about a dozen different job sites, then I go to a travel forum that I obsess over, then I log into my blog.

Well, when I logged into my email, I had a message from Stephanie over at Our Piece of Quiet telling me she had some good news. I hopped on over to her blog, and...oOoOoO (that's a drum roll) I won her giveaway! It's a cute little necklace... oh heck here's a picture...

If you head over to visit Stephanies' blog, wish her a belated Happy Birthday (it was a couple of days ago). I am so thankful for this lovely little pick-me-up today! I'm just not THAT person. You know the one who wins prizes, or finds $20 in an old coat pocket.

I wish everyone a Happy Weekend, and to all of you Twilight junkies... I hope you have an awesome time watching the movie today. I am going to lock myself in a closet until I have read all of the books so I'm not tempted to run out and watch it. Thank you for reading my blog!

You Stink Justin Matese! Open letter day at SITS

Today is open letter day over at SITS. Go here to check out more open letters.

Dear Cable Company,

I regret having to write you once again, but I feel that it has been far too long since our last correspondence. In light of the recent "upgrade" in programming and service that you have selflessly imposed upon me, I would just like to say "you stink Justin Matese".

For six long months this year, I spoke to many from your company nearly everyday. I would check channel 26 three hours before the first pitch of the game, and would have to call you to inform you that your "main head" was down. It always started with the customer service representative, then their supervisor, then the manager of the local office , then the manager of the regional office, and lastly the on-call technician. With each and every person I spoke to, I always started with, "your main head is down". Everyone doubted me. After promises of fixing the problem within 3-4 business days, and stories about how the St. Louis Cardinals don't sell enough tickets so they air a blank screen, it would always end with the technician calling me back to tell me I was right. The main head was down.

I am writing to request some compensation for the many hours I have spent on the telephone, explaining to you how to fix your product. I would also like for you to show me something on channel 99 like you promise every week on your radio advertisement. I would also like to have the option of having my cable fixed 24 hours a day if needed, after all I pay for it 24 hours a day.

And last but not least...baseball season is practically around the corner (like 4 months or something), so you had better start working out the kinks on Fox Sports Midwest, or you will be hearing from me everyday again. I will not be defeated!

In closing, I would just like to make the point, that just because you are the only show in town shouldn't give you the right to take advantage of people and their desire for cable television. I hope this letter has not upset you, but as I said at the beginning "YOU STINK JUSTIN MATESE"!

Sincerely,
The lady who you try to talk down to like she is some kind of idiot

Decorating With Candles

Today I've wasted spent some time surfing the internet looking for some candle decorating ideas. I thought I would share my findings with everyone, making me feel like it was productive and useful time spent! These photos are all from Better Homes and Gardens website. I was just looking for some fun new things to do with candles for centerpieces and what not.

Well this one I love because the photo has pink in it! I also found it useful because I have about 100 votive glasses from a wedding reception that I decorated a few years ago.

This one I love because of it's primitive look. You can find directions on how to make them right here.

I don't have a colander that is this lovely, but I thought I would throw it in anyway! I love this look. The colander has a layer of clear cellophane in the bottom, with the candles and glass snowflake ornaments nestled on the top.

I think this one is my favorite that I have found so far. Usually I'm a silver kind of gal, not gold, but this is sooooo pretty! It basically is just wire wrapped around the votive glasses. It reminds me of the spun sugar on the Croquembouche pictured below this candle arrangement. You can watch the video and get the recipe for the Croquembouche from Martha Stewart here.

Croquembouche

This little crafty candle is so very cute! The directions to make this are right here.

And the last one. Just an assortment of crystal glasses turned upside down to use as platforms for the pillar candles. The bases are embellished with what appears to be glass snowflakes.

Scentsy Giveaway

Happy Wednesday everyone! The weekend is just around the corner. I'm sure most will be busy thinking about their Thanksgiving preparations! When I was just a wee child (okay in high school), I use to say..."okay today is Wednesday, so all day today we can say, all day tomorrow we can say tomorrow is Friday!" Did anyone follow that?

Anywho... I found a new blog today that looks to be a lot of fun! Over at Peanut Butter and Pickle Reviews, they are having a giveaway with one lucky winner receiving a Scentsy Plug in Warmer, and a Scentsy Sample Bar! I totally want to win this one! I almost hesitated "spreading the word" because seriously, it does decrease ones odds of winning! But.... I just LOVE this picture, and wanted to put it on my blog!

Gooey Butter Cake

I thought today, I would share one of my favorite recipe's with everyone. It is "Gooey Butter Cake". There are two things that make this cake one of my all time favorites. First of all, it is soooooo sweet and good. In fact, it is really more of a cake to have with coffee, rather than as a dessert. Secondly, it is SUPER inexpensive! It's origin is said to be St. Louis, Missouri. In the 1930's a German baker was making a cake. He goofed up his recipe, and mistakenly created the Gooey Butter Cake!

This is the only picture I have right now! I plan on making another one to enjoy with my coffee while cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

There are many different variations of this cake floating around out there. This is just the simple, no frills recipe.



Mix together; 1 yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, and 1 stick of melted butter. Spread into an ungreased 9x13 pan.

Mix together; 8 oz cream cheese, 1 pound of powdered sugar, and 2 eggs. Spread over the cake mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes. It is done when the center surface is beginning to brown slightly.


This photo is from the Hollyberry Baking Company. That's it! I must confess, that I do not under any circumstances like cream cheese, but I love this cake! I tend to cook mine a bit longer than is necessary to "harden" it up some. If you love cream cheese, go ahead and take it out of the oven just when the center begins to brown. It is best if you can let it cool completely before serving. This gives it a chance to "set up" a bit.



I've read recipes that add a can of pumpkin to the cream cheese mixture, and some that add vanilla, or chocolate chips. This is a pretty flexible recipe, so go ahead and experiment with it! I've always thought that adding a bit of lemon juice to the cheese would be good too!

Edited on 11-19-08
Just wanted to add a few things to the recipe to help out all of you lovely bloggers from abroad!

What is a Yellow Cake Mix? Really it is just a basic cake. The difference between our White Cake Mix (boxed dried cake mix) and the Yellow Cake Mix, is white cake mixes do not use the yolks of the eggs. Yellow Cake Mixes call for the use of the yolks. They are generally lighter than a pound cake, but heavier than a sponge cake. Here is a picture of our boxed yellow cake mix.

If you want to make the yellow cake from scratch, here is an easy recipe. I've altered the recipe to compare to a boxed mix, that being said, you DON"T want to use this recipe for an ordinary cake that you will just bake and frost.

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Here is a picture of our stick butter. One stick of butter is equal to:
1 stick of BUTTER = 1/2 Cup or 2 dl or 2 oz or 60 g.

I hope this helps answer any questions! Thanks for looking everyone!

Another Quilt Giveaway!

Camille over at Simplify is giving everyone the opportunity to win a quilt! The winner picks the pattern (she has some lovely patterns), and she will choose the fabric! There are many ways to enter, so go check it out!

Good luck to everyone! A nice warm quilt right now is exactly what I need!

I'm not ready for this cold, drafty, rainy weather!

Keeping Up With The Joneses

Do you keep up with the Joneses? I was watching an episode of Andy Griffith the other day, and it was about this very thing. It got me to thinking..."Do I do that"? I came to the conclusion that I don't exactly try to "keep pace" with the things that other people have, (you know things that keep the social ladder even or whatever), but I certainly do try to "Keep Up With the Joneses" on a different level. For example:

I raked the leaves in my yard a few days ago. They were deep. I just kept hoping that the neighborhood kids would trample through them, scattering them to the wind. But then I remembered that neighborhood kids don't exactly trample much anymore, for the most part. My neighbor has a humungo pine tree that is shaking it's needles to the ground with every little puff of wind. They have raked them (this is no lie), about 6 or 7 times so far this fall. So I didn't want the yard to look shabby compared to the rest on the block, so 20 bags later it is clean.

Nobody in the neighborhood (at least that I've ever seen) goes outside in their pajama's. I took my dog outside last night, for what I thought was the last time for the evening. When I got back inside, naturally I put my PJ's on. Approximately one hour later he decided that he needed to head back to the great outdoors! I was tempted to just throw a coat on over my PJ's, but decided that I didn't want to get caught by the neighbors, so I changed back into my clothes.

I visit the neighbor lady when she walks her dog. Her dogs name is Dutch. He is a Scottish Terrier. He is always clean. I gave my dog a bath today.

I stayed up late last night and couldn't tear myself away from the computer. Many ladies have their blogs decorated for Thanksgiving, and other bloggers have started with Christmas decorations already. I understand the early Christmas thing because some bloggers have a business that thrives during the holiday season. So in the spirit of "Keeping Up With the Joneses", I went ahead and went the Christmas route on my blog. I figured if it takes me two hours to publish a post, I had better get started on changing the layout for Christmas!

So the moral of the story... I think this "Keeping Up With the Joneses" thing is still around.

Anyhoo...Have you ever read the comic strip Get Fuzzy? It is my absolute favorite! The dudes name is Rob, the dog is Satchel, and the cat is Bucky. If you're an animal lover, you should read some of them! Bucky is such a cat!

SheetLoad's Blog Candy Blow Out

Over at Sheetload of Cards, they are having a BIG giveaway! Today is the last day to enter, so hurry up and scadoodle on over there to sign up! You can check out the details right here! Good luck to all that enter!

12 Days of Junkie giveaway!

Over at Tip Junkie, they are into Day 5 of their "12 Days of Junkie" giveaway. They are having 2 winners (yep, two!) each day! Head on over there to check it out. I hope add this link thing, and do the Mister Linky doom-a-hicky correctly! I still haven't figured out this whole process yet!

Tag Challenge and Some Trivia

The challenge this week over at Tag You're It, was to create a tag with the theme "red & green". It didn't have to be Christmas, but I try to create the first thing that comes to my mind and this is what I thought of...sort of!


Any who... Here is a little back story on the song "O Holy Night" in case you've ever wondered!

"O Holy Night" ("Cantique de Noël") is a well-known Christmas Carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merchant and poet. Cappeau was asked to write a Christmas poem by a parish priest. It has become a standard modern carol for solo performance with an operatic finish.

In the carol, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. It was translated into English by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music in 1855, and lyrics also exist in other languages.

On December 24 1906, Reginald Fessenden a Canadian inventor, broadcast the first AM radio program, which included him playing "O Holy Night" on the violin. The carol therefore appears to have been the first piece of music to be broadcast on radio. It later appeared in an edition of carols by Josiah Armes, published by Oxford in 1936, subsequently increasing its popularity.

information from Wikipedia.

The Old Red Barn Co. is having a quilt giveaway! Three winners will each get one of these lovely quilts! You'll have 4 ways to enter, and one of them you earn 50 extra entries (if you're brave, which I am not)!! So go over there and check it out....Good Luck!

Good News This Morning!

Why oh why does it take me forever to complete a post!! I thought I would start with that, and get it out of the way. I'm just not very fast at this stuff! So... I have some awesome, good news to share with everyone (doing a little happy dance here). I am the lucky winner of one BEEEAUTIFUL bracelet crafted by Aleta over at Fleur de Aleta! Woo Hoo! I left a comment over there stating that I had never won anything in my life, and I thought that was true, until I spoke to my Mom and told her the good news! So I thought I had better clear up my faux pas!

Apparently when I was only 4 years old, I attended a Christmas party for my brothers' Cub Scout pack. There was a drawing, and (according to my Mother) I won a fabulous espresso machine. When I was four. I don't remember winning that machine, but I do remember it sitting on our kitchen counter taking up TONS of space! From what my Mother tells me, (since I didn't seem to excited about the ginormous metal machine) they let me choose a "prize" also. I chose this plasticky, glittery, el-cheapo nativity scene. Which I totally remember, and I totally loved it! And I totally still have it! So... I didn't mean to fib about not winning anything, but can you blame me for forgetting it!? I don't consider the Nativity scene a prize that I won, I always remembered it as a gift!

These are a few "girly" Christmas tags I made over the weekend. I thought they would be cute for my nieces.


Have a good week everyone!

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.

We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

By Joanna Fuchs

Tag Challenge

The theme for the challenge this week at Tag You're It is, "Tic Toc". We were to create a tag using a theme that has anything to do with time, clocks, watches, etc.

For some reason the theme instantly brought to mind one of my favorite poems, "The Children's Hour" by Longfellow.

Dawn at Crafty Ramblings chose the theme this week!

Thank you for taking a peek at it! Have a great weekend everyone!

I noticed after I posted this (and made it uber-huge by clicking on it) that I forgot to credit the author on the tag! I will be fixing it!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Children’s Hour

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations
That is known as the Children’s Hour.

I hear the clamber above me,
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

What Time Is It?

This blog sure has kept me busy! All I do is read other blogs!! I decided since I haven't posted anything in a few days, (and have not worked on any crafts, or cooking or anything!), that I would post a quick little note about my own personal Bah-Hum-Bug! Usually by this time of year, I am INFECTED with the holiday spirit! I mean, listening to Christmas music, watching all of my holiday movies, filling the house with pine scented candles....you know the drill! But I'm just not into it! One of my favorite holiday movies was on television last night, and I skipped right over it with a siiiiighhhh. I'm just not ready for this...



... or this...



And certainly not this...

... or this...



What I think I really want, is to eat a piece of pumpkin pie everyday until Thanksgiving! I know some believe that to celebrate Christmas before Thanksgiving is wrong. I don't really usually "celebrate" it that early, I just like the "warm fuzzies" that comes with it all. Maybe this weekend, I will throw some pine needles in the simmer pot, and crank up some Christmas music. Maybe that will get me going! Some people have snow at home already. I have to wonder if this has given them the Christmas bug......hmmm.....