SURPRISES ARE FUN!

I love Christmas surprises.
Tonight I finished my 'giveaways' for one of my classes...I think they'll like what I've made for them.
It's something they can use throughout the remainder of the class and for a long time.
You can't eat them...hopefully, that won't disappoint anyone.
I'll be able to post a picture later in the week; but until then, they'll have to stay neatly stacked until they get wrapped.
I'll take on that task tomorrow.


WHAT surprises can you give me hints about that you're working on for your friends or family?


Blessings,

CITY PRAISE

We had a night-out last night...it was lots of fun as we decided how and where to meet, whether or not we'd eat before we got there, etc.
We pushed the hustle and bustle of this month aside to take a few hours to HEAR "The Story: A Christmas Spectacular".  Have you heard of it coming to your area?

Driving through all the traffic while talking to my friends is much more stressful remembering back to the many years of driving downtown to my full-time job.  


There's much more traffic on the road these days...and it's only been 10 years since I was working full time.  

Driving through the downtown streets, we enjoyed seeing all the lights and decorations up in their towers.  Their decorations certainly are making this time of year a wonderful time to go to an event down among the high rises.

Motorcycle policemen in their 'furry' leather jackets with toboggans sticking out from under their helmets, street musicians pounding their drums and the homeless greeting all walkers for some help during the season... reminding me of people I encountered on lunch breaks during the Christmas season while working throughout the 80's and 90's.

Back in those days, I would skip breaks in the morning and afternoon, so I could add 30 minutes to my normal hour lunch...then I'd grab a girlfriend to join me...running downstairs to the rapid transit train, riding three stops south and jumping off at Peachtree Center then walking to Macy's or Rich's.  


We'd watch out for each others' belongings while paying cashiers and/or bagging our 'finds' then RUN back to the train for our return trips to beat the clock.

Those were fun times...yet, stressful times.  I don't miss all the traffic and the LONG train/bus/driving issues I ran into throughout the years of working 'inner city'.  

Last NIGHT was not stressful though.
We enjoyed Christmas carols from several known musicians
preaching from Max Lucado and
original songs/written by Nicole Nordeman...

(sorry for the blurriness...these are phone pics from about 100 yards from the stage)

MAX LUCADO                             




                 NATALIE GRANT

STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN              

                                                                                                     SELAH  

If you get a chance to see this show...go.

Their talent with word/video/song was awesome...and so was time with with my girlfriends as we sang, praised, listened, cried and prayed.

It gave me a 're-awakening' of the true meaning of why Jesus came to this world...why He loves us and intercedes for us...and that ONE DAY, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess "Jesus Christ is Lord!"

Blessings,

HODGE PODGE #50 w/ a few goosebumps

    Joining JOYCE...

PINTEREST PINFEST...> one tooth

Come join us over at THE DIY SHOWOFF blog on 2nd Tuesday...this will be another layer of fun and pinning.

These days of ‘empty nesting’ involves ‘more time to myself’…more time to try new things, such as Pinterest.

Browsing the world-wide web helps reignite many different "dream themes"…

One I enjoy a lot is capturing ‘fun’, university-related items for me or my daughter.  I'd like to do something creative with this poster...maybe 'hodgepodge' on an old window frame, etc.

Other dreams involve clothing...lots of clothing colors, arranging outfits, matching shoes, hats...what fun! First, a quick 'houndstooth' history lesson:

Houndstooth is sometimes called dogtooth; and when it's smaller, puppytooth. The Scottish originally named it after the jagged effect arising from the bite of a not-so-friendly canine while the French's Gallic translation of houndstooth is pied-de-poule – 'chicken foot'.  (There is a herbaceous plant found in Europe known as the houndstooth/dog's tongue/gypsy flower...it's to the right)

For the most part, the effect using ''houndstooth" patterns was signifying power over and above prettiness, which I think is wonderfully RELEVANT for a school's use with their football themes.

We can't be involved with the University of Alabama without 'houndstooth'...big, little patterns, on EVERYTHING...and in ANY color

Even 'nails' can host houndstooth these days...i just love these; and my daughter probably owns the instructions on "how to do" these nails (unbeknownst by me)

On my board for houndstooth I did find a need for breaking up the pattern a wee bit...so I added in this 'cute' and 'very important' remembrance from my fav book/movie this year...

HODGIN', PODGIN', HUMPIN' & DUMPIN'

1. If you could work for any one government agency which would you choose and why? (if you're in the US here's a helpful list) Why? 

National Weather Service

...I want to stand in front of a 'green screen' and play with all the 'computerized' weather predictors

2. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?

My brain doesn't want to wrap around this one...it depends on who the someone is and how close I am to them. God convicts me and pardons them most of the time, hahaha.

3. What is your favorite meatless supper?

Hummus with sweet peppers/whole grain pita chips

4. Wednesday August 10th is National Lazy Day...will you be celebrating? If so, tell us how so we can be lazy too.  

My National Lazy Day celebrating has never been acknowledged...but today's lazy will last as long as my blogging time...then on to the rest of the day.

5. As a child did you have any special back to school traditions and if so, what were they? If you're a parent did you carry on those traditions with your own children?

Back-to-school traditions at my house included a lunchbox and new clothes that Mother made. For my kids, we'd fulfill the list provided by the school, usually get some new shoes and jeans...then I'd bore her by getting a 'school' picture while getting on the bus...she REALLY didn't like that her senior year.

6. Write a summer tongue twister.  

Skoot skillfully shopping for school stuff soon-to-be shuffling schedules and skyping

7. Would you be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle?

Don't like feeling needles but not scared of them; I wanted to watch as they put stitches in my foot one time but didn't let myself watch...I chickened out. I do watch surgeries on TV though.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

TODAY is HUMP day...
a day that I need a LAFF...

...'cause my body decided to wake up at 6:30am as if I had some reason to wake up at 6:30am

...'cause my car is exhausted from having driven around the world and back again yesterday  dropped off/picked up/payed for skoot's auto repairs and all the way downtown and back for MORE furniture

...'cause my body got a glance at what moving day will be like carrying furniture/boxes up a flight of stairs dreading the three flights of stairs awaiting us in the T'town 95% humidity and 95-degree weather

...'cause the opportunity to talk with Skoot about life, politics and our economy while enjoying bumper-to-bumper traffic en route to IKEA (35 miles away)      

...'cause maybe Skoot will miss me when she's back in CollegeTown remembering  what Summer fun was had me and her Daddy because of our hilarious personalities she had access to OUR credit card

Mama's Losing It  posted this today
...it fulfilled my 'laff' need
...watch it and tell me if it hits your funny bone, too:

I REALLY needed to laff today and this DID it!  


I remember those 'young kids' days of chasing, cleaning up, and 'trying-to-keep-them busy'.  Mama's Losing It cracks me up "hiding" in her hat

...reminds me of Susannah Wesley throwing her apron over her head for 'prayer time'...same thing, kinda!

...I will REALLY miss my Skoot after she's back in CollegeTown.  

She's very eager to get there and reacquaint herself to her we're paying for it all FULL independence, hahahah.  

Just poking a little fun her way.  

What things do you want to type and cross out?

Jer. 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
 Blessings,

Birthday Verse Wordles...love my girlz and His Scripture

A friend told me about this Bible birthday verse website   BIRTHDAY VERSE fun...
so I decided to have some 'artful' fun and combine the found verses with the wordles word clouds 'wordles' website.   Here's what I created: (you can click on each cloud individually to see it in the wordles gallery...it's much clearer there.)


11/24















3/12













3/28














1/5














2/12

Blessings,

VERIFI-nary FUN

Remember the NAME GAME? 
Some call it the Banana Game...

it'll get caught in your head...

If you're NOT familiar with that song, watch this:

A recent 'addiction' I've had...

giving definitions for the 'verification' words shown on the myriad of blogs I visit, read and leave comments.

I've named my  addiction for this time-using fun :Verifi-nary

(you know, a combo of verification and dictionary...real original huh?! hahah

Oh well...my brain isn't very creative these dayz.

Verifinary, Verifinary, bo-Verifinary
Banana-fana fo-Verifinary
Fee-fi-mo-Verifinary
Verifi-nary!
I wanted to use the same voice inflections like that song...when saying 'verifi-nary'


Gradually I'm building my list of BLOGwordz and "verifi-nitions", hahahah!

I've been posting on my top-right sidebar those making me giggle,like:

BLABLUUM what you need when a new blogger is 'teething'

Do you ever come up with 'toungue-in-cheek' meanings for those little verifier words?  


I think it would be something different to blog about here and there.

What do you think about periodically sharing them? 
If you already have some, link up and share them here :)

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

JOINING JOYCE @ FROM THIS SIDE OF THE POND...

1. The most amazing weather you've ever seen: Being from Atlanta, snow is a BIG deal to us.  In 1993, when my daughter was a year old, we had a blizzard...I had 3-foot drifts in our yard.  Things closed for days while we learned how to maneuver through it...I know there are many who get multiple feet a year but for us, this was scary and fun all at the same time.

2. A sound or noise you love:  Babies giggling always tickle me

3. Your favorite seafood dish:  Fried soft-shell crab...and escargot cooked in wine and rosemary

4. The part of your day requiring the most patience:  I don't have a lot of issues with this...I get impatient waiting for my flash drive to start back up on my computer sometimes...I'm in need of an overhaul.

5. Your favorite shade of blue:  teal blue, reminds me of the Caribbean (and it looks the best on me ;)

6. People underestimate you when: I talk about how BAD my hot flashes really are...I grow soooo tired of them.  I surely wish the medical community had a better handle on this for women who suffer daily, hourly, minute-by-minute, second-by-second.

7. The last butterflies in your stomach:  Leaving baby girl at college the first day...knowing she'd be all on her own and not under my roof...moths, butterflies, buzzards, I had 'em all!

8. Insert your own random thought here:  Eight is a much more reasonable number for Hodge Podge...even four would be fine.  Sometimes when memes are soooo large, they are too cumbersome to ponder over with your answers...(guess that could have been my answer to the patience question, hahaha)


JOIN US FOR HODGE PODGE, IT'S FUN!

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
Blessings,

WOULD YOU BE AKS-APPROVED?

Oftentimes I see people with dogs and they DO favor. 
It's been several years since I had a puppy; but I'm contemplating getting one now that DD is off to college.

As I think back on my little "Murphy"...my peek-a-poo, more peek than poo...he loved sitting in my lap. He'd look up with his happy 'egyptian' eyes (like Cleopatra, with the black eyeliner on top and bottom) and savor any attention. He never lost his puppy fur, he remained wonderfully silken all throughout his 16 years.
Do you favor your doggie in any way?

Have you ever wondered what doggie you'd be...if you were a dog? 


Take the following and let me know what you found out you would have been as a PUP! Here's what I would have been, well, kinda:




discover your dog breed @ quiz meme

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." 
Blessings,