Swap Till You Drop

Good Wednesday morning!

I have one more picture from the weekend in the Gallery today. Tomorrow, I'll have pics from different places and activities, but I wanted to share just one more.

CHRISTMAS CARD COUNT - Are you ready for this? I have 72 cards! I only need THREE MORE CARDS! Do you feel the excitement in the air? Is it just me, or is this one of the MOST EXCITING THINGS TO EVER HAPPEN... TO ME? I cannot wait until the mail lady comes today. It's going to be a very long morning. And to the family who has sent me four anonymous Christmas cards, I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. You and yours truly know how to make someone's Christmas merry! Keep up the good work!

I hope tomorrow I will be able to share the news I met my goal. I hope I can sleep tonight!

CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY IN DECEMBER - This is it, guys. There are 24 (mostly inexpensive or free) ideas for each and every day in December. If you have any others to share, feel free. Ideas are ALWAYS welcome on A Simple Life.

DAY 17

23. Plan a luncheon or breakfast with a group of friends. And here is a little Christmas twist. Don't exchange gifts. Make it a truly simple, relaxing, stress-free time of visiting and catching up. Most women do not need one more present to wrap, or one more ornament to buy, or one more cookie to bake. And guess what... that's okay. Give the gift of time and spend it with some of the people you love most this holiday season. Enjoy.

24. As I receive Christmas cards from some of my oldest friends who now live all over the United States, I call them the day their card arrives in the mail. It only takes a few minutes, and it is a fun time to catch up. Don't be someone who says, "I need to call them one day." Be someone who says, "Hi, ___________! I just got your Christmas card and I wanted to say Merry Christmas in person. How is everyone doing?" It is so much fun, and because I wait until the mail lady brings the mail, I never know who I'll be calling that day! (Today I called some friends in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Tomorrow, it might be Huntington Beach, California. You just never know!)

Wednesday Wisdom - I wanted to share three quotes about Christmas today... all of them focus on Jesus and the real reason Christmas should be celebrated each and every year.

"Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide-open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart." George Matthew Adams.

"The giving of gifts is not something man invented. God started the giving spree when he gave a gift beyond words, the unspeakable gift of His Son." Robert Flatt.

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ." Frank McKibben.

Swap Till You Drop

I read this in the January 2010 Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and I thought it would be a great thing to plan each year (AFTER Christmas) with a few friends.

The idea is to invite some friends over and have them bring a certain number of items to swap. Lay everything out in your dining room, living room, and/or den, allow browsing time and then take turns choosing one new item for each item you brought. The only rule is everything up for swap is clean and in good condition.

1. Invite guests and let them know how many items they can bring. Five guests, each with ten items in tow, is a good size for a swap meet. The invitation is a large cardboard tag dressed up with decorative paper and a print-out of the party details.

2. Tag each item as it arrives. Have a stash of tags ready and invite the guests to write a description and a "selling point" for each item. The tags are cut from cardboard, hole-punched at the top, and topped with an adhesive mailing label with the information written there.

3. Set up a "claim system" by giving each guest a set of clothespins monogrammed with stick-on letters. (My clothespins would have a letter "B" on the top of them.) To claim an item, clip a pin to its tag. If multiple people want the same item, put all the clothespins in a hat and draw a winner. (Much like Dirty Santa!)

4. Box up the leftovers at the end of the party (recruit guests to help), and donate them to a local charity or shelter.

5. Have coffee, soft drinks and a cake or cookies ready to serve after the swap meet so you can have some time to visit.

This sounds like a lot of fun, and an easy way to get rid of something (albeit nice) you no longer use or need. The thing I like best about this tradition is you do not HAVE to claim ten items. You might only want one or two things from the swap meet, so you end up getting rid of some clutter without having to replace everything.

Also, the set up and the planning would be much easier (and a lot more fun) than a yard sale. Even though you wouldn't have money to show for your efforts at the end of the day, you might have a few new items to show for your work... and some sweet fellowship with your friends.

I'm thinking about trying this in February!

A Christmas Prayer

Loving Father, help us remember
the birth of Jesus, that we may
share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds
and the wisdom of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open
the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing
which Christ brings, and teach us to
be merry with clean hearts.

May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be Thy children,
and the Christmas evening bring us
to our beds with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus' sake. Amen.

This prayer written by Robert Louis Stevenson was enclosed in one of my Christmas cards, and I thought it was a perfect prayer to share this season.

Have a lovely Wednesday. Tomorrow it will be Christmas Eve, but I still have a date to share and some wonderful Blog Linkage for you to read.

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

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and ALMOST FINISHED WITH HER SHOPPING Belinda

Lemony Christmas Cake

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery Pic this morning is another photo from Saturday night with my extended family. It's our biggest party of the season, so naturally, I would take 1,023 pictures of the event!

CHRISTMAS CARD COUNT - I'm at 66. I am so close to my goal, I can actually imagine setting a new goal. Do you want to know what the new goal would be? Do you? I will let you know Friday... after I reach my goal of 75!

Christmas Card Story - I have a little Christmas Card Story to share this holiday season. Forgive me if you've already heard this... I tend to repeat myself. Forgive me if you've already heard this... I tend to repeat myself. (See?)

A few years ago, I met a friend at Cracker Barrel for Christmas breakfast. I must have been excited because I parked the big gold van a little crooked. Actually, I don't have to be nervous or excited to park the big gold van a little crooked. It comes very naturally. That is why I park at the end of any and all parking lots. I tell people I do it to get more exercise, but Mikie and I know (and now you know, too) it's all about the parking.

But on with the story. I came out of Cracker Barrel a couple of hours later and noticed a fairly large brown paper bag square under my windshield wiper. Intrigued, I pulled the square out from under the wiper and read a handwritten note... left by a person who obviously did NOT know of my penchant for collecting Christmas cards.

In actuality, it was a angrily written note about how to park properly, and how some people should NOT be allowed to drive a vehicle, must less a behemoth like the big gold van. There were even two expletives (Code for BAD, BAD WORDS) in the note.

But, being the "half-glass full" type person I am, I saw the good in the note. Not the "advice" part, but the way the person signed off. "Merry Christmas, you idiot."

Ahh. A Christmas card!

As soon as I arrived home, I took my Fiskars cutter and made the torn square neat and pretty. I then took my black Sharpie, and removed some of the more offensive words from the Christmas greeting. Lastly, I took a piece of tape, and proudly displayed my new handmade Christmas card along with the rest of my collection.

To quote a famous Christmas character, "A card is a card, no matter how harsh." (I know the Grinch would have made it rhyme, but you get the idea.)

I didn't meet my goal that year, but I'm so close now, I may be parking crooked all over town to see if I can get my "friend" to leave another little note.

CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY IN DECEMBER

DAY 16

22. On Christmas Eve morning, leave a small gift on the bed of each of your children. It could be a wrapped candy bar, Christmas socks, a "No Chores Today" coupon, etc. Just make sure it is wrapped! Everyone in the family (even adults) will love getting a gift the day BEFORE Christmas (no matter how inexpensive). It will be a REAL surprise.

Carpooling Article - Part Two - Today I'll share the second half of this article. This is the part which will stay with you and make you think, think, think. Read yesterday's post for Part One.

Years before, I'd prayed that God would give me a grand purpose in life. He answered by giving me two daughters and a set of car keys.

"Drive," He said.

So drive I did... and became known among the other moms as Transportation Central. And I loved every minute of it.

It actually proved to be quite educational. I learned I could be invisible. The girls would all pile into my car and start talking about stuff girls talk about, which meant boys and other girls. As if I wasn't even in the car (hence the invisibility factor) they would start dishing the dirt.

You can learn a lot by being invisible, and as I listened to their conversations, you can bet I prayed as I drove!

During my years of driving girls, my car was used as a cafeteria, a beauty parlor, a dressing room, a last-minute study hall, a laundry hamper and a place to take a nap.

It was also at times a confessional and a sanctuary. Something amazing happened when my little red Tempo filled with girls.

God entered.

Sometimes I wondered if those girls in the backseat realized His presence. I think maybe they did, because every once in a while (when they would acknowledge my presence) they would ask me questions about Buddhism, paganism and Marilyn Manson. Sometimes I was able to pray out loud for them.

It was all so very natural. It was mundane and ordinary, yet incredibly holy. Now that my daughters are grown, I actually miss those days.

At one time I'd wanted to be somebody important, to do great and grand things. I ended up driving girls. It wasn't what I'd envisioned, but for a good portion of my life it was what I'd been created and called to do.

As I talked to Kelly's mom, I remembered that Kelly was one of the girls I not only drove places, but listened to, prayed for and loved. God used me to share Christ with her... and she died loving Jesus. I realized that for all those years behind the wheel of my car, I had no greater purpose.

I had asked God to give me a grand purpose, and He did.

While driving girls all over central Florida wasn't lofty, it was heavenly. And although it wasn't what I would have chosen, it turned out to be what I will always cherish.

Isn't that an amazing article? Food for much thought. As I said yesterday, this article was taken from Today's Christian Woman and was written by Nancy Kennedy... a very wise mom.

Lemony Christmas Cake

This recipe was borrowed from the Fall 2006 edition of the Taste of the South magazine. (An excellent magazine, by the way!) It is an easy, moist, less expensive and better version of the original Christmas Fruit Cake, I think.

You will need:

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 cups self-rising flour (divided)
6 eggs, separated
5 tablespoons lemon extract
4 cups chopped pecans
1 (8-ounce) container candied red cherries
1 (8-ounce) container candied pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon extract, beating until combined.

3. Gradually add 3 cups flour, beating well.

4. In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup flour, pecans, cherries and pineapple. Stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon until well combined. (Batter will be very thick.)

5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir into batter with a wooden spoon until well combined.

6. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I'm baking this cake for our Christmas get-togethers this weekend. Anything with that much butter has to be good. (That is just my humble opinion!)

Have a totally terrific Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll have another December Seasonal Tradition, Wednesday Wisdom, another idea for Christmas Every Day in December and maybe, just maybe, a little Christmas poem! (Copied... not an original.)

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

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda