Our Christmas

Here is a glimpse of our Christmas. It was wonderful this year. I think part of that had to do with the fact that we didn't have to run around like crazy people on Christmas Day. We didn't leave the house until 3:15pm and I took a nap in the recliner from about 10am - noon! After dinner, we went to a movie too (a tradition started in 2007).....

Here is a cookie plate that B1 put together for me of the 8 different kinds of cookies we made. Isn't it pretty?


This was my 2nd year to make the dressing for my mom's house. I made it on Dec. 24 and she then baked it on the 25th. This year, it turned out better than last. I think that is because I salt and peppered it a couple more times. It was really good. I asked my Grandma Philipine for a little help every once in awhile. I looked up and asked her to make sure I was "doing it right."


B1 and B2 on Christmas Eve standing in our kitchen. See B2's shirt? LOL!


B1 and her cousin Lea, who is 2 months old. B1 will be a fantastic mother someday; she loves children, especially babies!


Christmas morning by our tree upstairs.....


Shinza and her gifts! It was funny on Christmas Eve.....Bruce's brother Dennis had to go outside to smoke every so often and whenever he did, he took Shinza along with him. It got to be where she sort of followed him around, wanting to go "smoke"! LOL!


One of their "big" gifts.....new Blues jerseys and 8th row tickets for an upcoming game! Whoo-hoo!


The 4 of us at my parents' house on Dec. 25. I like this picture!


The 4 of us plus my parents, brother, and Rusty on Dec. 26 just before opening gifts.


In the weeks before Christmas each year, my dad loves to tease the girls and says things to them like "I didn't see any gifts for you at our house" or "I told Grandma not to buy you so much this year" or "I think you might be getting one small gift and maybe an orange". Anayway.....B1 thought it would be funny to wrap up an apple for my dad. So here he is with it!

Thirteen

Today is B1's 13th birthday. 13. My baby is a teenager. Wow. I remember the moment she was born. I expected to look at her and for her to be all red, wrinkled, covered with that white "stuff," and well, you know, look like a typical newborn. But she didn't look that way at all. She was beautiful. I seriously remember the first thought that came into my head was "awwwwww......she's pretty!" She wasn't covered in that "gunk" at all, she was only wet, as if she had been dunked in water.

One of the first things my dad checked out was her ears. Were they close to her head or sticking out? He declared they were close to her head and that was good! Kind of funny!

This is a picture of her opening a few presents this morning. It was about 6:10am, so it was dark outside.


She was born at 10:33am and today, my 4th hour class began at 10:30. While I was taking roll and sending my attendance report on the computer, I watched the computer clock and composed an e-mail to B1, which I sent as soon as my computer said "10:33." That way, tonight when she read it, the time would be her exact birth time. Thirteen years ago, when she was born, her father made sure to set the TV in the delivery room to ESPN's Sportscenter. Ha ha!

This is a picture of her while opening the remainder of her presents tonight. She got a new Triad hoodie, Triad sweat pants, a Carrie Underwood CD, 5 books, an Aeropostale bag to use for her school books, and some make-up. My parents gave her a hair straightener, a figurine, and cash.


We will celebrate with a few of her friends on Saturday night with a trip to Dave & Buster's and a sleepover.

I love you, B1 and I wish you sooooo many more Happy Birthdays! Thanks for helping to make my life perfect!

Our CMA Experience - Part III

So we got into the Sonnet Center and right away checked out the souvenir stand. I was disappointed. They had a few different T-shirts but only one sweatshirt/hoodie. The hoodie was a dark green color and only said CMA in small print on the upper left chest. It wasn’t something I was excited about so I opted not to purchase one. Everyone got a free souvenir program, which was like a thick magazine and pretty neat! We found our way to our seats by 6:30pm. They were announcing some of the awards that don’t get shown on TV (they announce them on TV, just don’t show people accepting them) and our very own Cornbread Morning Show from WIL 92.3FM in St. Louis won an award for large markets. Very cool! Bruce and B1 went out to get some dinner at the concession stand. I thought it was funny that we were at this “fancy” award show, yet the choice of food/drink was the same as if you were at a hockey or baseball game! Pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, soda, beer, etc.! Kind of weird!

At 7:00pm, the show began. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley were the hosts. Sometimes, when I watch the CMA’s on TV at home, I just wish they would get to the awards sooner and leave some of the other stuff out. But since we were actually there, I LOVED seeing all of it! The large stage was being worked from 2 sides. On one side a singer or group would perform. While that was happening, on the other side, there was a wall which was about 8 feet tall that rose and lowered. Behind this wall, when it was down, there were lots of people working like little ants to get the next act ready to perform. The hosts would stand right in the middle of these 2 areas and while they were talking and the cameras were on them, the people at home could only see them and the area directly behind them, which was right in between the 2 performing areas. I watched the screen a lot to see exactly what I would be seeing if I was at home watching on TV. Darius Rucker performed from the side of the arena too on a little runway type of stage and Taylor Swift sang her second song while seated on a stool in the very back of the arena, surrounded by teenage girls sitting on the floor around her. We heard a lot of good music that night. And since then, whenever I hear a song that we heard live that night, it makes me think about what a nice time we had. So many good songs………! Of course for B1, the highlight of the night was when Taylor Swift was named Entertainer of the Year. I was a tinge bummed because I LOVE Kenny Chesney, but he’s had his fair share. (By the way, Kenny has announced only a couple of dates next year when he will be performing and get this…..one of them in on MY BIRTHDAY! How perfect would that be? It’s in Baton Route, LA. Hmmmm……).

After the show, we walked back to the red carpet area where many of the stars were leaving right away. We could hear people yelling out names as they saw some of the performers leaving. We stayed there only about 10 minutes and then opted to get on the road. Getting on the interstate was easy and as it turned out, we stayed at the exact same hotel again that night in Paducah! We were even in the same room! I made it to work the following day in plenty of time for my parent/teacher conferences.

It was a great 42 hours!