Pageant Date

Good Thursday morning!

The Gallery Pic is of my Christmas card collection so far. EIGHT! I knew you were wondering. It's not bad for the third day of December, but you have to remember, I've had two of the cards since September. Feel free to call or e-mail for my address. I will reciprocate with my own cards in about a week. (It may sound like I'm a taker, but I'm a giver by nature... if you give to me first.) A special shout out to my Aunt Connie who has sent two cards (so far) and to my new best friend EVER, Patti F., who jumped on the Christmas card bandwagon this year. Good job, guys... good job!

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! The Contest winners celebrating my 300th post of A Simple Life will be awarded their very own Mystery Bag Party. That's right! We had such a good time in October, I have decided to have another Mystery Bag Party in January... and the six women who will accompany me on this "journey" will be selected from the women who enter the contest.

Just leave your name under my Comment Section, on Facebook or my e-mail with the word "CONTEST" beside it, and I will put your name in the bowl. I will draw SIX NAMES December 18... the day of my 300th post. You have about two weeks to enter. It will be a very fun party! I've also changed things a little from the first party, so it will be an unique event. I'll be reminding you once a week or so until December 18, so go ahead and get your name in today! A good time will be had by all who win!

CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY IN DECEMBER - Have you noticed how inexpensive these ideas are... as in they cost NOTHING but a little time. I have two more today to add to the list.

DAY 3

4. Bath Water - If you have little ones, make sure you give them a Christmas bath each night. Red food coloring and/or green food coloring (alternate) make even bath time fun. (Make sure the radio is playing loud enough for you to hear Christmas music is the bathroom, too.)

5. Christmas Parade - This is an easy one for our community. The parade is tonight. Bundle up, find a good parking space and take a thermos of hot chocolate with a few snacks and enjoy your local town's Christmas Parade. It's cold. It's fun. It's exciting (especially when you're a little guy or girl). Oh... and this little outing is free, too.

Special Guest of the Month - Oh, Joan. I've so enjoyed having you for a guest. I guess your picture will be featured next week which will let us enjoy you even longer. The following is the remainder of Miss Joan's interview.

22. You are at home ALL day long by yourself with no car. Do you go stir crazy or thoroughly enjoy every minute of the day?

Call Bryce Hospital NOW!!!!!!!

23. Movie lover or shopping lover?

What kind of question is this? Shopping.

24. What is one food you cannot force yourself to eat?

Rutabaga. I can't even spell it. (I used spell check and fixed it for you. I think I'm going to bake you a rutabaga pie for Christmas.)

25. How old were you when you married?

28.

26. How long was your engagement?

10 months.

27. How many times have you moved since you've been married?

2 times.

28. Name one thing you love about each season.

Spring - flowers; Summer - vacation; Fall - football season; Winter - not much of anything except for Christmas.

29. Are you a "glass half full" person or a "glass half empty" person?

Half full. (Me, too. I'm really not, but I find if you tell people you are, they generally believe you... at least for a while.)

30. What is your favorite stage of a child's life (baby, elementary or teenager)?

Teenager, definitely. (I knew the answer to this one. It's one of the things I admire most about Joan. She is great with teenagers.)

31. Name one of your top five embarrassing moments.

I get embarrassed very easily, so I cannot come up with just five.

32. Salty or sweet?

Sweet.

33. What would your dream job be (if education and talent had nothing to do with it)?

Professional ball room dancer. (That's pretty cool. Did you know Mikie and I took ball room dancing lessons when we first got married? He was awful. Whenever he forgot a step, he would just dip me. It didn't matter if we were doing the cha-cha, tango or waltz. If he forgot, I went down. Sorry. This is your interview, not mine.)

34. If you could play any sport professionally, what would it be?

Football.

Some of the answers were quite surprising. You're an enigma, Joan Patrick... Or as I once told my boss when he said he was surprised I was a the kind of girl who went camping, "I'm an enema." Thanks for being a good sport and sharing yourself with us this week. I feel I know you better than ever before.

I'll be picking out of the bowl in the next couple of days. Our Special Guest for January could be YOU!

Blog Linkage

1. If you are still looking for a way to help others this Christmas season, may I suggest www.samaritanspurse.org. This is the organization started by Franklin Graham and Operation Christmas Child. If you go to this website, you will see a "catalog." In this catalog are dozens of items you can "purchase" for a needy child and family. They have everything from soccer balls to chickens and goats, from wheelchairs to water purification systems for a village. The wonderful thing about the catalog is you do not have to have the entire amount of money to purchase an expensive item. You can put your donation toward a donkey, and another family can fill in the blanks. They have gifts starting in the $15 range and up. It's something you can do as a family, and you don't have a Christmas deadline.

2. If you ever wonder about books, movies, television shows, DVDs, music, etc. your children ask for as Christmas gifts, this website is wonderful. When you click on www.family.org you are in James Dobson Land. It is a very organized website, and you can click on entertainment for movies, music, books and such and get very detailed reviews. They will tell you how many "bad" words are in the movie, sexual content, positive elements, negative elements, violence and then a general overview. When you don't have time (or money) to preview these items yourself, this is a wonderful source to help you make your decision.

Pageant Date

Tis the season for church Christmas Pageants. I'm not saying don't support your local church pageant, but most of the time families see those together. This is a one-on-one date for you and your spouse or child. Call around to some of the larger churches in your area and ask about their pageant. When and where will it be held? Are there live animals in the production? Is there a story other than the Christmas story (in other words, is it all singing or will there be drama, too)? How long does the pageant last?

After you pick the best one for you and your date, make it a date to remember. Most pageants are free, but even if they charge a fee, it will most likely be affordable. Believe me, it will be much more inexpensive than the Broadway Series (which I love, by the way).

Dress up in your Christmas finery, plan a coupon dinner and then go to the show... just the two of you! Enjoy your time together, and on the way home drive through a couple of neighborhoods to see their light displays.

Inexpensive, fun and even some time to talk, talk, talk to your companion. The perfect date!

Have a terrific Thursday. We'll wrap up the first week of December with Weekend Happenings and one or two more things to do each day in December to make it festive for you and your family. Also, I have something I want to share which I've been thinking about this week, so please do stop by!

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

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and Non-Throbbing Belinda