Christmas Village Date

Good Thursday morning!

Wow! Thursday came quickly this week, didn't it? But I'm glad because it is my favorite day of the week. Tonight we're attending Roxie's Volleyball Banquet, so no cooking for me today. I'll be enjoying Jim & Nick's, and later we'll be watching Survivor. If Thursday wasn't my favorite day before, it would definitely be my favorite now!

It seems I didn't offend too many people yesterday, and for that I am glad. Only one "friend" called me a heretic, and I know she meant it in the very nicest way. (And after she called me that, she told me she agreed, so I forgave her.)

NOTE TO JOAN AND J.W. - I left messages for both of you in the Comment Section from yesterday. Check them out, please.

The Gallery Pic today is a reminder to try to find JOY in each and every day. Oh, to be a beagle!

A Little Laughter - I read a blog the other day, and it had an every day story I thought was hilarious. This mother's two daughters were upstairs yelling at one another. The mother was about to go upstairs to take care of things when she heard her husband say, "The Devil just called. He said you girls were doing a great job." Priceless!

Austin Update - For those of you wondering (and I know thousands of you are), Austin is still surviving and thriving in Jacksonville. He is still going to press conferences, interviewing players (and other kinds of athletes... not just football players), getting ready for basketball season, and has now added book and movie reviews to his newspaper resume'. (He'll be writing a review for Blind Side which technically is a football story.)

He is participating with the rest of the Marching Southerners in No"shave"ember which is of great concern to me since Christmas Card Season is upon us. Thankfully, Austin's "beard" is light in color... and number of actual whiskers. I'm thinking there will be no close up of The Boy this year.

The JSU football team will not play any games after November 21 because they are being penalized for something that happened before Austin arrived (Code for NOT THE FAULKNERS' FAULT), so he'll be coming home Friday afternoons and leaving on Monday mornings for the rest of the year (unless something else is going on at school, Baptist Campus Ministry trips, deer hunting, etc.). We should be seeing a lot more of him, and for this we are are extremely thankful.

He tried out for Section Leader yesterday for next year's season, and we'll be finding out the results in a few days.

All in all, the Faulkner Five have survived the first full three months of "Life With Austin Away at College," or as I like to call it "The Day My World Ended." But, like all the other moms out there with kids living at college, I'm ready for the holidays and long weekends, and a little taste of what used to be our family's "normal." Very, very ready.

Austin is doing well, and I still miss him.

Blog Linkage

First of all, I would like for all of you to click on Nitty.Gritty under My Blog List and read Jody's October 30 post about a family who has chosen a very unique way of life. Very, very inspirational.

Next, click on BooMama and read her November 2 post about Steven Curtis Chapman. He has come out with his first CD since the loss of his little girl almost 18 months ago, and it is supposed to be amazing... especially good for someone who has lost someone they love.

Remember last week I asked you to check out Welcome to HeidiSwapp.com to see her Halloween foyer. Well, she outdid herself again. She kept the branch, but she made a Thanksgiving "tree" or "branch" in her foyer. It is beautiful. If this is something you want to try, just take the general idea and make it your own.

As always, go to http://blog.al.com/bargain-mom for some great ideas, discounts, etc. for this week in November. She also has some very good ideas for how to spend November 11 (Veteran's Day) with your kids while they are out of school.

Christmas Village Date

Yes, Christmas Village is this weekend, and this would be a PERFECT date for you and your daughter. Depending on age, ability to walk and walk and walk, interest in shopping and all things Christmas, you need to decide if your daughter is old enough to really enjoy going on this date. It can be a marathon. It is not for the weak and whiny.

If you've deemed her to be "Village Worthy," have a wonderful afternoon roaming up and down aisle after aisle of Christmas goodies. My favorite thing to do at Christmas Village is find all the food booths (dips, ciders, soups, peanut brittle and egg nog). And if you're fortunate enough to find two food booths side by side... Well, that's called a jackpot, baby!

This isn't necessarily a cheap date because you'll have to pay for the ticket and parking. (Even though we graze at all the food booths, we do spring for a pretzel or sandwich and drink in the midst of all the fun. If you decide to do this every year, you can put a little money back each month in a little Christmas Village envelope to pay for the above, plus Christmas jewelry or gifts, etc.

Again, if your daughter is old enough, this is a great date for mother and daughter. It is also a date you can keep year after year after year. It's a lot of fun and Roxie and I look forward to going with my sister and niece (Bev and Katie) each November. (We've made it a family "Girls' Day Out" kind of thing!)

Have a glorious fall Thursday. Enjoy each and every minute of this beautiful weather. We waited a LONG time for these sunny days, didn't we? Tomorrow I'll be talking about Weekend Happenings, and I'll have a preview about what will be coming up next week. Oh, and I have a "second tongue" update for you. I went to the doctor last week, and I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat wondering if I'm going to have it removed or not. Come back tomorrow to find out!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and Slightly-Flawed Belinda