Great Deals on Favorite Sports Equipment

    Kids can have varied interests and need some means to blow off steam.  Participating in sports is a great way to keep them active and make friends.  The only problem with that, is that every sport known to man needs equipment of some sort and that equipment can add up to big bucks.

     What can a parent do??  The answer is as close as your home computer or your laptop.  At become.com, you can comparison shop to find the best price on one convenient website!  Maybe your teenager is begging for a new snowboard.  At become.com, m3 snowboard reviews are at your fingertips so  you can choose the perfect snowboard to suit your needs. 

     Recently my daughter was considering going out for the volleyball team at school.  Since she has never played volleyball except in Physical Education classes, I am in the market for discount volleyball shoes that will be at a great price but have enough quality to outlast the season. 

      On the flipside of the coin, my 6 year old son often has anger issues.  What would  be better than an outdoor punching bag to take his frustrations out on??  A lot better than beating the crap out of his sister or a classmate.  With an outdoor punching bag, he could go outside and take his frustrations out on it!  That even sounds like something I could use at times!! 


      With all these completely different types of sporting equipment to buy and a limited budget to make miracles happen, what could be better than a site like Become.com where I can go to read reviews and comparison shop?  Whatever your sporting good needs, chances are Become.com has got what you are looking for!

The Wonders of the Season

     There is no greater feeling of wonder than what comes over most people during the holiday season. No matter how bad things are, there is something about Christmas that brings hope, joy, and wonder into your life. No matter how bleak things appear, there is no greater wonder than being with the ones you love to celebrate the most famous birthday of all.

     Imagine that long ago winter night when the shepherds were in the field watching over their flocks and the angel of the L0rd appeared to them announcing the birth of the newborn king. I can’t imagine a more wondrous sight! Certainly it would have scared the living hell out of them, but once they got over that they probably were amazed by the sight they beheld. How wondrous to imagine that one day this small baby with such humble beginnings would save us all as long as we believed.

     Traditions were born and swirled around the miraculous birth and the extraordinary gifts given by the wise men that long ago night. Because of the gifts presented to the new born king, we now celebrate by exchanging gifts on Christmas day.


     The idea of love, goodwill, and peace on earth helped to form another tradition formulated around the mythical figure of Santa Claus who represents all that is good and right with the world. How appropriate that Santa Claus delivers his gifts to good children on the eve of the anniversary of the most wondrous birth in history.

     Christmas is the only holiday which is full of wonder, magic, and joy for all those who believe. With my husband coming home for Christmas, the magic and joy typical of the holiday season prevalent, finally for the first time since he left after Thanksgiving, I am filled with wonder and hope. 

      For all of you who have been so kind to stop and read my words, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. May the wonder of the holiday season, no matter how you celebrate, fill you with great happiness and hope and may your Christmas be filled with blessings. That is all I have to say until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Wordless Wednesday: Not a Creature was Stirring...

Tasty Tuesday: Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

1 2 lb bag of frozen hash browns
1 stick of butter melted
1 cup of sour cream
1 cup of French onion dip
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
½ cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Topping:
 2 cups corn flakes
½ stick butter melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix ingredients in a large bowl, then pour into a 9X13 baking dish.

Top with crumb mixture.

Bake for 1 hour.

Bon Appetit’!

Worst Christmas Present- BFF 150

     The Christmas of 1999 was the year I received the worst Christmas present ever. No gift before or since has made me wonder why quite like that one did.

     In 1999 there were a lot of people who believed that the world would come to an end when the millennium arrived and call the debacle Y2K. Churches prepared their flocks by banging on that the scenes from Revelations were playing out. It had to be the end of days. Effectively the place most people would think to go for comfort and solace were brainwashing folks into a real panic instead of preaching that G0d knows best for our lives and we should put our trust and faith in Him. The general consensus was the end of life as we know it was coming and we should be prepared. Because they went to that particular church they would have a heads up on everyone else. They would be prepared for chaos. Only they would be saved. Still others proclaimed that if the end of the world didn’t come at the stroke of midnight at the dawn of the year 2000, then certainly everything would go to hell in a hand basket.

     Survival guides were written telling folks what to do and what to have on hand. Some folks were certain that the computer systems of the world would fail. We would no longer have electricity. Life as we know it would cease to exist. A lot of so called religious folks really got their panties in a bunch about the whole Y2K phenomenon. All I do remember was that I thought it was all a load of horse $hit at the time. I chose to put my trust in G0d. Only He knows the path our lives will take and unlike my professed holier than thou relatives I firmly believed He would see me through when the time came. If the end of the world did come there wouldn’t be a whole lot we could do about it except put our heads between our legs and kiss our a$$es goodbye. If everything went haywire, then a person would deal with it then.

     That is why when I was presented with a Y2K survival kit for Christmas I was wondering WHY! It included candles, a blanket, batteries, and a survival guide. There were some other things included that I can’t remember. All I do remember was my reaction. It was one of those moments in time when you really had to dig deep into your reserves of etiquette and remember to graciously say thank you! I could have thought of a million other things I would have rather discovered underneath that wrapping paper. Call me superficial, but on Christmas day when I am ripping open gifts the last thing in hell I want to discover is a survival guide for nut jobs to prepare for something that isn’t likely to happen.

     I guess I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. I usually don’t have the money to waste on lunacy. To be fair, except for that Y2K survival guide, everything else could be used later. Still, it would never enter my noggin to give something like that to anyone for Christmas. In my humble opinion they should of and could of have saved their money. That is all I have to say until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Favorite Holiday Traditions

     When my mom died, we all felt it was necessary to continue to include her in our Christmas celebrations. She was gone, but definitely not forgotten. My mother loved everything about Christmas. She took great pleasure in decorating the house each year. She loved to gaze at the twinkling lights on the tree.

 

     We would gather at her grave and begin our Christmas celebrations with her often bringing fresh flowers and Christmas balloons. We would decorate her grave much as she had decked the halls of her home. Sometimes we would sing her Christmas carols, while other times we would silently relay our love and Christmas greetings. Some years were snowier than others, and during the day my Dad often would visit the cemetery early to clear a path through the snow to her grave.

     By the time my Dad died, fiber optic trees were all the rage. My husband and I felt it was only appropriate that they both needed a new Christmas tree to celebrate their first Christmas in heaven together. After all, what could be more glorious than celebrating Christmas in heaven listening to angelic choirs sing? I found a small decorated fiber optic tree and my husband insured that it lit up the graveyard that Christmas Eve night.

     It has become tradition to visit my parents at the cemetery on Christmas Eve night. It wouldn’t be Christmas without this small tradition. My mom always joked that her grave would resemble the sorry state of Ebenezer Scrooge’s. I have made it my duty to insure that is never the case. Even now it is decked out with artificial poinsettias and a decorative Santa Claus, and on Christmas Eve like every other year we will put up the tree.

    

     Even though my parents are no longer living, by keeping them apart of my traditions they continue to live within my heart and the hearts of my little family in which they were an important part of. It would be a very blue Christmas indeed without our yearly trek to the cemetery. That is all I have to say until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

My Favorite Christmas Song- BFF 149

     This topic proved difficult for me simply because I love all Christmas carols!! How do you possibly narrow it down to one??  While I was growing up I was always involved in choir and thoroughly enjoyed singing Christmas carols during the holidays. When I was little I made up my mind that I was going to teach myself to read music and play the piano. Every Christmas I would take great pleasure in playing every Christmas carol in every songbook I had, over and over again.

     When pressed for a favorite, one song keeps coming to mind. It was the song that I sang to both my babies as I rocked them to sleep. It was the carol that the choir always sang by candlelight. If not my all time favorite, “Silent Night” has to right up there!! I loved how the choir perfectly blended their voices while singing this classic song. I loved the fact that this particular song fell in my voice range.

   

      “Silent Night” embodies the true reason we celebrate Christmas and is full of perpetual hope. Following the deaths of my parents and grandparents, simply hearing this song brought tears to my eyes and brought me ever closer to G0d. It has brought me joy, sadness, and peace.

      Even though I could also choose “O Holy Night”, “Rocking around the Christmas Tree”, and others as clear favorites, “Silent Night” is special because I know all the words by heart. It is the only carol I can play on the piano without sheet music. Since this particular challenge demands I name one all time favorite, “Silent Night” wins hands down. I guess after a little reflection, I found a favorite after all. That is all I have to say until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

The Second Day of Christmas: Loved Ones

    Loved ones are the people you hold most dear in your lives. They may be your friends or your family. They are your everyday support system and help you navigate life through the valleys and the high points. They love you unconditionally, no matter what. They are there for you. They make life worth living. In my life few have held the exalted position of being termed as loved ones. At this point my husband and two children top the list. They are the loves of my life. Without them, my life wouldn’t be complete. Without them, my Christmas wouldn’t be merry and bright.

    Sometimes the people that fall in that classification include a close knit group of friends. They take over where the biological family fails and become as treasured as if they had always been there. They are the chosen ones, not the family we were born into that we had no choice over.

   

     Sadly people come and go throughout a person’s lives. Even loved ones evolve and pass from this life onto the next. Even more sad, oftentimes the biological family you are dealt in life turn out to be on the same page as your enemies. Even though they should by all rights be amongst your loved ones, they are not. They join the group of those people who make it their number one priority to make your life a misery. You find yourself wishing the world would stop and let them off. If people were truly honest, they would admit that every family has at least one troublemaker who makes life difficult for everyone else.

     No matter whom you count as the most near and dear to your heart, without these precious people, life would lose its luster. In the song titled “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, the two turtle doves that represent our loved ones make up a powerful and essential component of Christmas. It is little wonder they are included in the song considering all they symbolize. Love makes life worthwhile not only on Christmas, but on everyday throughout the year. That is all I have to say until the next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

My Favorite Things- BFF 147

    

      When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I am feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad!! Sing along if you know it!! I can’t imagine too many people around who don’t recognize this song, or the classic movie “The Sound of Music” from which it comes.

What makes me happy?? What are my favorite things?? I had to really think about this so I could compile a good list. So here it goes in no particular order…

1. I love cats! Petting a soft contented feline who is sashaying around my hand vibrating with happiness as I caress it would have to rank right up there as one of my favorite things. I love their big bushy tails and have often wondered how they purr! When I was little I used to wish our cats would purr for me. They rarely did. Perhaps it was my tendency to chase them, tackle them like a linebacker, and squash them that put them off. Happily my three cats today: Pansy, Snuggle Puss, and Rosie have the good sense to purr every time I look at them, let alone pet them.

2. I love my dogs because they love me. My favorite thing about my dogs Jolly, Puppy Love, and Tia is that wherever I am they are close by. When I go to sleep at night they snuggle up at my side keeping me toasty warm. The only time they leave my side is when my husband comes home. Then they fight to all snuggle up to him.

3. I love waking up in the morning to discover the world covered with a fresh blanket of the white stuff. Before it has been touched by footprints and the cars have turned it into blackened slush, I love how the snow turns the world into a wintry world of white. It is so magical!

4. I love sitting in the dark and gazing at my lighted Christmas tree in the silence.

5. I love eating cotton candy!! Cotton candy is definitely one of my favorite things!

6. I love watching movies!! Movies that thrill, make me laugh, make me cry, and make me smile!! I am not too thrilled with the kind that scare the be Je$u$ out of me though. I tend to avoid the ones that would give me nightmares. I love feel good movies, movies with amazing effects, or movies that excite me.

7. I love zooming around the neighborhood with my husband and kids on the golf cart!

8. I love to play games with my kids! I love card games, board games, and LEGO games, so count me in!!

9. I love the beauty of the sea and watching the tide lap in and out on the sand.

10. Last but certainly not least, I love to laugh!! It sure as hell beats crying. Laughing is one of my favorite things.

     I am sure I have more favorite things and the list could go on forever to infinity and beyond. Still here is a list, and that is all that is required, just a few of my favorite things! Just a note, loving G0d is a given like breathing so I didn’t include it on the “list”. That is all I have until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Wordless Wednesday: Here Comes Santa Claus!!

The First Day of Christmas: Christmas Trees

     I love Christmas trees!! Growing up my folks always made the trek to Eby Pines the weekend after Thanksgiving to select a tree. We put it up that very weekend with my Dad in charge of hanging the lights, and the hanging of the decorations fell to the rest of us. It always made the house smell so good. Even if the cats took great joy in using the tree stand as their personal water dish, I always loved our real Christmas trees. My mom loved to decorate the whole house for Christmas and there were some years she placed 2 Christmas trees in the living room, a tree in the hall, and one in each bedroom. She loved to decorate for Christmas and hung tinsel garlands, lights, and ornaments everywhere imaginable.

     When my husband and I first married it was important to me to continue the tradition. The weekend following Thanksgiving was rainy that year. We didn’t let the rain deter us from schedule and marched right out to Eby Pines to select our tree. By the time we returned home we were resembled drenched rats. The tree was soaked, and everything in the living room pretty much was too. After that, my husband didn’t want any part of a real Christmas tree and we purchased an artificial model.

     Shortly after we first married, everyone in the family made the transition to an artificial tree. Whether it was from the bad luck of all the needles promptly falling off upon the tree’s arrival to the house, or the fact that everyone was getting older it seemed no one wanted to deal with the headache of maintaining a real tree for the month of December.

     Before my Dad died fiber optic trees became all the rage and he was the first person I knew who rushed out and purchased one. By the next year, WALMART advertised a 6 foot fiber optic tree on sale for $40.00 on Black Friday. My husband and I bundled up our toddler and rushed to the store at the butt crack of dawn to get ours at a great price. It lasted a few years and then lost its luster. The bulbs burned out, and by then I was aching for twinkling lights again.

     Another Black Friday came where Walgreens had a 6 foot lighted tree on sale for 30.00. Once again we rose at the butt crack of dawn and made sure we got our hot little hands on one of those trees. We have used that tree ever since.

     With our special decorations from the baby picture ornaments, wedding picture ornament, to the ornaments made carefully by my kids, our tree is overflowing with memories. When my husband first married we vowed we would add a new ornament each Christmas whether it is a Hallmark classic ornament, a handmade ornament, or one representing the year. After 14 years of happy additions, we now have a tree full of very special ornaments.

     There is no better time of the year than Christmas, and no better decoration for the house than a Christmas tree!! That is all I have to say until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Tasty Tuesday: Pineapple Christmas Cookies

1 Cup of Crisco

1 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 TBSP hot water
4 Cups of Flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup black walnuts


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Cream Crisco and sugars with mixer. Add eggs, baking soda, hot water, salt, vanilla, pineapple, and flour. Mix well. Fold in black walnuts.


Drop teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Prepare Creamy Vanilla Frosting


3 Cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup margarine softened
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 TBSP milk


Cream sugar and margarine. Add vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth.


Spread frosting on cookies and decorate with red and green candy sprinkles. Bon Appetit’!

Celebrations

     I have been the wife of an over the road truck driver most of my married life. I can honestly say even all these years later, his homecomings are still a time of celebration and jubilation. You would think we would be used to his absences by now. In a sense we are. I know it is his job. The kids accept the fact that Daddy is on the road so the bills can get paid. We all accept that he absolutely loves what he does or he would do something else. Unfortunately his job requires being gone most of the time. You can’t make money staying at home. Even though his absence is a fact of life, I still miss him. I miss having him around. The kids miss their Daddy.

     So when that shiny semi truck finally backs into the driveway we are overcome with our jubilation. The kids and I rush out onto the lawn in eager anticipation to watch him turn down our road. We jump up and down and wave. As soon as that truck is parked, the door is flung open and we are there to greet him with hugs and kisses.

     Even the dogs celebrate to the point I have to hook them up outside or put them in the garage so my husband can even get into the house. As soon as the garage door is opened it is like igniting an explosion of dogs. They rush in barking and jumping. Their tails practically wag off, and they jump on my husband licking him. I make sure a tall glass of iced tea is always waiting. As soon as my husband has taken up his place in the recliner, all three dogs struggle to find a place on his lap. They simply can not contain themselves!! The kids’ take turns showing Daddy all the school work they have done while he was away and catching him up on what was built with LEGOS or what pictures were colored in their color books. It is almost as if we rush to tell him and show him everything he has missed in the first half hour for fear if we don’t he will vanish again.

     Usually he is only gone 2-3 weeks and then we are granted a reprieve and he comes home. The last time I saw the whites of his blue eyes was after Thanksgiving. I won’t see him again until when he comes home for Christmas. By then my little family will have more to celebrate than Christmas. By then, we will be primed for a full blown celebration because my husband will finally be home!! The time will speed by, and before we know it he will be gone again. Until then though, we will celebrate. We will enjoy his presence, and we will count our blessings! Blessings always seem more abundant when he is safely at home. I am so thankful that his company ensures that all drivers go home for Christmas!! That is all I have to say until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Curiosity

     They say curiosity killed the cat. I don’t know if curiosity ever killed anyone, but it can sure get you in a world of trouble. Unless you happen to be a curious little monkey like Curious George, I have found that a person eventually grows out of the need to be overly curious. People who don’t grow out of this curious stage become scientists.

     Of my own children my oldest was always the more curious of the two. She certainly was the most sneaky and between the ages of 1 or 2 tended to get herself into a world of $hit every time my back was turned. I can think of three separate occurrences that come to mind. Most things usually happened while I was either on the phone or in the bathroom. Even a trip to the laundry room to transfer the wash from the washer to the dryer could reap disastrous results! She would sneak away and the next thing I knew…all hell had broke loose.

     One time I left her happily playing with her toys and watching Sesame Street. Sometimes you simply have got to pee! She was quiet, and I never suspected any foul play. I came back to the living room to discover her gone. My heart began to beat a little faster as the panic set in. I called her name and began to search. She was a baby who could only crawl. How far could she get? As I rounded the corner and entered the kitchen I discovered my daughter had managed to get the Fry Daddy out of the bottom cupboard and dump the oil all over her and the floor and was happily waving her hands in the greasy goop. What a mess!! It hadn’t mattered that we had installed the Safety First locks on the cupboard doors, she had figured out not only how to get them open but managed to haul out the Fry Daddy and dump the contents.

     Another time the telephone rang. I don’t remember who was on the phone. It really doesn’t matter, the resulting disaster would have happened regardless. One minute my precious girl was happily entertained with her toys and the next she was gone. By the time I took up the search, I found her in the bathroom in the process of stuffing every single roll of toilet paper into the toilet. It wasn’t just one of those 4 packs either. I had bought an economy size package with multiple rolls. She had taken out every single roll and shoved them into the toilet. As for the roll that was beside the toilet, she had unwound it down until all that remained was the cardboard tube and it pooled around her on the floor. As I gasped in horror and shouted her name, she smiled and said “Mama”!

     There was also the day that my little scientist decided to shove a bar of soap into the VCR where unknown to anyone it melted and effectively screwed up the works. Every time I tried to put in a movie, the VCR would groan and spit it right back out. I peered inside and was horrified to discover a melted mass that smelled amazingly like Dial soap. Of course, my little darling was all innocence. It didn’t take much to figure out who had put the soap into the VCR.

     Curiosity does have its upsides. With every mistake, learning comes. She learned what goes in the Fry Daddy should stay in the Fry Daddy, toilets were not meant to accommodate that much toilet paper, and VCRs are for videocassettes not soap. The memories that are created from such incidents are delegated to family legend making up the fabric of our lives. Even without an owners manual on parenting  your kid, somehow you both survive.  That is all I have to say until the next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.