I hope yours was blessed, too!

Well, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I have some old business to take care of.

On the 19th, we went over to Shreveport to get ready for Mumsey's 70th birthday party. Auntie B and Pamela had done all the pre-party preparations and had our duties lined up for us on party day so everything went smoothly. Yeah, right.

First, the florist was late. We kept calling and they would tell us "he's 10 min. away" and an hour and a half later (from the first phone call) he showed up. The flowers were gorgeous. Then, when our men arrived with the cake, it had slid a little so it was mussed and the sandwiches "weren't fit to serve at a tailgate party", according to Auntie B who had specifically requested certain kinds of breads and those did not show up. Now, in all fairness to Kroger, the chicken salad (which for some reason I decided to try) was tasty. However, in Auntie B's defense, it wasn't what she ordered and had every reason to be upset. You decide if you want to order sandwich trays from Kroger. If you ask Auntie B? She won't be doing that again.

Now, I wasn't at any of these festivities, I was at Sonic trying to get the 2 Dr. Peppers and one cherry-vanilla coke that I ordered. First, I went to the drive thru and the card reader wasn't working. Well, I didn't have cash so they requested that I go to Brookshires (a grocery store for those unfamiliar) that was located behind the Sonic and use the ATM. Excuse me? I'm not paying a fee to get cash for a place whose responsibility it is to make sure all their equipment is working properly. aaarrrggghhhh! Well, it just so happened that we needed some last minute things (OK, just a pen for the sign-in book table) so I decided to go to the store anyway. Figured I'd get cash back when I bought the pen. Walking in, I was nearly bowled over by a pre-teen who was either blind (no disrespect meant) or just plain rude (I'm betting on rude) because I had the audacity to walk in the "in" door and, apparently, that's where she wanted to be walking. Didn't matter that I was already there. I was dumbfounded. I wish I had video of this because describing it doesn't do it justice.

Anywho, I've now checked out and gotten some cash and am back at Sonic. Instead of drive-thru, however, I've decided on a stall because the drive thru is backed up. When I call, I tell the nice person on the other end that I've already ordered these drinks through the drive thru and if they still have them, they can just bring those out. He tells me he'll check it out. He comes back "welcome to Sonic, may I help you?". I said - in my head "forget it, just order them again", so I did. You know how when you go somewhere you have a preconceived notion of how long something should take and when it starts taking longer you check the clock? Well, I checked the clock after that preconceived amount of time and 5 min. later, still no drinks. I'm sure the truck a couple of stalls down has gotten their order, which they ordered after me, but I can't be 100% sure so I call in and ask and they say they'll be right out. Another truck pulls in and orders a cup of ice and onion rings. I think to myself "if they get their order before me, I will get my 'Auntie B' on and they'll be sorry. (We say "get our Auntie B on when we feel we have been wronged and decide to tell someone about it instead of letting it slide - powers that be need to know these things.) So, sure enough, Mr. cup o' ice and onion ring gets his order and my hand flies to the red button. "Welcome to Sonic, may I help you?" says the person on the other end. "I HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY PATIENT AND ALL I ORDERED WAS 2 DR. PEPPERS AND A CHERRY-VANILLA COKE AND I STILL DON'T HAVE THEM" I said rather insistantly into the little box. I'll be right out there ma'am comes a voice aquiver with fear. OK, it didn't sound scared, but I like to think that it was. Sure enough, here comes my drinks in less than a minute.

Now, you may ask yourself why I sat there for at least 15 min. after I ordered my drinks. Most people would have just left. Well, part of me kept thinking "they're on their way". "Surely it won't be long now". "Really? Well, let's just see how long this thing takes" was the final thought. Besides, I needed a Dr. Pepper and nothing soothes the savage soul like a Sonic Dr. Pepper, unless, of course, the savage-ness was cause by Sonic in the first place.

OK, enough grousing. The party was fabulous. I saw all sorts of Mom's friends, most of whom I had met and one in particular that I had not. I was so excited to meet my mother's high-school sweetheart, Henry Whitlow. What a fabulous, cheery, hugable man. One of the first things he said to me was "I love the blog". That someone my mother holds in such high esteem likes something I do was a heart warming thing for me. Thank you, Henry Whitlow. You are a wonderful person. Not because you like my blog but because you are a dear friend to my mother and took time out of your busy life to honor her with your presence at her party. You made her party even more fabulous. I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to you, I must have been in the back, washing dishes in that fabulous dishwasher (for real, it was fabulous, washes dishes in about a minute and a half - I want one for the house!). Hopefully we'll see each other again, but if not, I enjoyed meeting you.

Two of my step-sisters were there and it was lovely of them and Perry to come and all sorts of people from various walks of my Mom's life were there. I know she enjoyed it (because she told us so, several times) and we were happy to do it for her. Great big KUDOS to my Auntie B and Pamela for making it happen. In the words of my Opper "you done good".

I have no pics because my camera was again on the fritz. I think it was the battery (I know it was now - you'll know why in a minute) and I didn't even bring it. I knew Auntie B. would have hers and Pamela hers so I'm hoping I get some pics from them to post on here at a later date.

Now, onto Christmas...

On Sunday afternoon, Conrad and I got to go home, leaving the girls with my Mother and, for one night, my sister. How lovely it was for my darling Conrad and I to have some "one on one" time. Thank you, Mumsey and Pamela for a truly special Christmas gift.

Then, we went back Christmas Eve. Spent some time getting ready for the big day, and then, BAM! It was Christmas morning. I was awaken by Sadie at 5am and if you can believe it, I told her to go back to sleep. Actually, I turned on the TV in our room and told her to watch "The Christmas Story" (you know, "you'll shoot your eye out with that" movie) which is a favorite Christmas Day showing of ours. It plays non-stop on TBS or TNT or some cable network and we love it. Anyway, I think she went back to sleep and we ended up getting up at a more respectable 7am. I am normally a "let's get up at 5am" kinda girl but I was feeling kinda crappy, lots of yucky stuff accumulating in my head like the snow in Wisconsin, so I opted for a little more sleep.

Then, Aaron lit the advent candles and Madeline read the Christmas story out of the Bible and Conrad said the prayer. Then the presents...I got to open one of mine first...a new digital camera! WooHoo! A new Kodak EasyShare M863. Let me tell you something, it's beautiful, it's red and best of all, IT WORKS!!!!! And, tonight, when I plugged in the new dock (which charges the batteries while it sits there) it just poof, worked like a charm, like it was made for this computer and everything is hunky dory! I love Kodak! That's why there are pics for this part of the blog.

Here' s Mumsey with her new sweatshirt. See the snowflakes?

This is her telling me "I told you not to get me anything, my party was present enough". Yeah, yeah...you know those snowflakes? They are all our names...this is Sadie.

Cool, huh? My mother is impossible to buy for. So we have to get creative. My friend, Jackie - from work, told me her embroidery machine would do this and so I gave her the sweatshirt and she turned it into this beautiful piece of art that my mother will treasure. Thank you, Jackie!

Anna got a scooter and it came with all the pads, the helmet, a backpack and a phone. Just what every girl on the move needs.

Then we traveled down to Natchitoches (well, really, Campti) to see Pamela and Greg and their 3 dogs and 6 cats and have Christmas dinner. My sister puts out the spread!
After opening presents, Mads gets fashionable with the bows.

It was a lovely Christmas, spent with family, as it should be. Next year, we will be here. We will put up the Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I promised the girls that since we didn't even get the first Christmas item out this year we would really do it up next year. So, watch out, world, Wanglers will go Christmas on you next year!

I hope your Christmas was blessed, safe and family-filled.