A Movie Giveaway! But not here...

Kari (not me - I'm talking about another Kari), the one over at Alas 3 Lads, is having a Movie Giveaway at her blog. The movie is a GROWN UP Christmas movie and no, my little pervs, this does not mean it's a porno. Please. Think Christmas movie (with war violence and a tad bit of sexuality thrown in for good measure). Keep in mind that not all Christmas movies have to feature cute kids and goofy elves to be good. For more information on this movie (called Joyeux Noel) click here. Now go on over and leave a comment! Kari will be accepting entries until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 4th.

San Antonio Road Trip

I took a quick trip down to San Antonio the other day to visit with my sister, Sherri. She was there on business and it seemed like a good opportunity to spend a little time with her. The hotel we stayed in was a short walk down from the Riverwalk, which is where I spent most of Thursday. I think I managed to get some shin splints from walking so much! lol The Riverwalk area was very, very pretty and if you're ever there, I recommend walking it around 9:30 a.m. Not much is open before 10:00 (except Starbucks and a couple of places that serve breakfast), but it's wonderfully peaceful and quiet.
They have this lovely tree sitting out right in front of the entrance to the Riverwalk Mall.
And this is a view taken from one of the walkways spanning the water. Beautiful, isn't it? I want to go back with Randey. Sitting with Randey, sipping a latte while looking over the Riverwalk, sometime before all the hustle and bustle of the day begins, sounds like paradise to me. Anybody else know of any wonderfully peaceful and beautiful places to spend a few days with your dearly beloved? I think it's high time that Randey and I had a getaway all to ourselves with nothing better to do than relax. We've been saying that for years but haven't done anything about making it happen. Now's the time, though! Any recommendations?
Merry Christmas!

Edited to Add: Please do not recommend anything that requires FLYING! I can't do it. I just can't. I hyperventilate at the thought. I did fly to Pensacola when Conner was born, but that was an emergency and I had to get to Nick (and Jodie, of course!) as soon as possible. Flying for pleasure is just not an option for me. I used to love flying. Until I became a mother and realized that mortality is an actuality. (You know how crazy you can get when you first become a mom...things you never paid attention to before become glaringly obvious for some reason!). Anyway, maybe when Kaleb and Jacob are completely grown and out of the house and no longer dependant upon us for their entire way of life, I'll fly somewhere with Randey (not only am I afraid of flying, I'm also convinced that if Randey and I flew together now, our 2 youngest children would be orphans because the plane would crash. Yes. I know I'm mental. Knowing it doesn't help change it, however). So let's stick with locations easily accessible by ROAD, please. lol

Blessings

Allow me to introduce to you.............(drumroll please)..........Kara Elizabeth!Kara is my youngest granddaughter. Isn't she beautiful? Being the grandmother of Miss Maddy Moose (age 8) who is the cutest, most gorgeous and most incredibly adorable little girl in the whole wide world, I happen to know a little something about beautiful granddaughters. Oh sure, you can't really tell for yourselves just what a perfect child Miss Kara is (these black and white photos can be so unsatisfactory sometimes, don'tcha know) but trust me when I say that she is a breathtaking sight to behold. And she's due to make her grand arrival sometime in the first half of May (unless something changes). The doctor says she's a little big for her "age" so either she'll be born sooner than we think or she's going to be born chubby (and there ain't nothin' wrong with that, or so says her chunky granny!).

This next bit can't compare to the beauty of our baby Kara, but I want to share it with you anyway. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Randey got tickets for us to attend the Home for the Holidays show at the Ft. Worth Symphony Sunday evening. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was. They performed some of my all time favorites, like Carol of the Bells, White Christmas, Ave Maria, O Holy Night and Sleigh Ride. There was even a perfectly charming duet of Baby, It's Cold Outside sung by the Conductor (Ron Spigelman) and the Soprano (Julie McCoy). I simply don't know when I've had a better auditory treat (excluding all my children's band recitals, of course. Those were a joy and a pleasure to attend all their own and nothing but nothing can compare to them!). When Ms. McCoy sang Ave Maria, I was transfixed by the sheer clarity of her voice. Each individual note seemed to stir my senses in a way that actually surprised me. And when the orchestra played White Christmas, I simply shut my eyes and was magically transported to a place of pure beauty and bliss. I've wanted to do that for so long....sit in a concert hall and shut my eyes while the music swells all around me. The experience Sunday night was everything I'd ever hoped it would be. Pure magic. Ahhhhhhh............ The only thing that could have made it any better would have been if my boys had been there. All three of them love music (in all forms) and I think they would have felt this musical event just as I did, with their eyes, their ears, their hearts and their minds. (And no, I'm not forgetting that I have a daughter. I'm just pretty sure she wouldn't have loved it. To Des, if it isn't country, it's not worth listening to. Sometimes that kid just baffles me.) We're going to look into taking Kaleb and Jacob to a performance soon. As for me, I could go every week and never grow tired of listening. Magic, I tell 'ya. Pure magic.

I was reflecting this morning on all the many wonderful things that have occurred in my life lately. I'm happy to say I suffer from an embarrassment of blessings! My boys and my husband, who showed me that Christmas means more to them than just the presents. My beautiful baby granddaughter, who is healthy and happily growing in her mommy's belly. A chance to hear a real, live symphony. Life doesn't always feel this great. My cousin's unexpected passing was a big blow to so many of us. The anniversary of my grandson's birth and passing always brings a feeling of bittersweet longing. But these sad and terrible events do help me to appreciate the blessings all that much more. And for that, I am thankful.

This is a real shocker (not)!

I was blog surfing for just a couple of minutes this morning when I went by Joy is my Goal to see if she had gotten her computer fixed. She has (thank goodness!) and she had a "What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like" link on her site. Naturally, I just had to do this, since it's already been proven that I'm an extremely over-the-top tacky Christmas babe. And guess what? I still am! lol Check out which movie we're most like:

Your Christmas is Most Like: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Christmas is a big, boisterous event at your place. And no matter what, something hilarious usually happens.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

I think I heard the nuclear generator kicking in down at the power plant...

The inside is glowing... And now, so is the outside! Randey and Jake worked hard to get the lights up and here's the first pictures of the season to show their efforts. If I know Randey (and I'm pretty sure I do), he'll continue adding more and more until either all our breakers blow or Al Gore sends a team of Nobel Nitwits down here to explain to us just how all our Christmas spirit is bad for the country's energy future. (And then Randey will light him up and he'll be a decoration, too.)

(You can see the "BELIEVE" sign over the front door that I mentioned a few posts ago if you click on the pictures.) These next two pictures were shots of the Christmas tree taken from outside the front window. You can just imagine a crackling fire and a mug of hot cocoa waiting for you in this house, can't you? (Well, imagine all you want, but you wouldn't have found a fire here last night...all those Christmas lights inside tend to warm up the place quite enough, thankyouverymuch! lol).
Now this last picture is probably one of my favorites. Look in that right hand window. Little Sydney the Wonder Dog was staring out at us as we were clicking the pictures. Gosh, I love that little guy. Me. A Chihuahua lover. I bet no one who knows me ever saw that coming. Tune in tomorrow. I plan on introducing you to a very special person in our lives. Just you wait and see who it is! And I also hope to get a few minutes to tell you about the symphony. It was magnificent. I almost cried, it was so beautiful. Yes....I'll have to go into more detail tomorrow because that was a night worth remembering. Until then...

Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

Christmas Has Begun

We're back from Oklahoma and boy, am I tired! Great family fun, wonderful food, exhausting shopping...who could ask for anything more? lol And can you believe it snowed in our home town while we were gone? Can you BELIEVE that? Sure, sure...it was only a light dusting, but still! I missed it! But life's too good to get mad about that now. We're all busy, busy, busy...Randey's adding more lights to the outside of the house and I've still got Christmas cards to make. In the meantime, I wanted to show you my boys and what they wore the day after Thanksgiving. Here's Kaleb in his Oklahoma Sooner Santa hat and his Santa shirt that says "Does this suit make me look fat?". (I love that shirt, cracks me up.)
And here's Jake with his Attack of the Christmas Squirrel t-shirt from Christmas Vacation. Remember when Margo, the neighbor, knocked on the Griswald's front door and the squirrel jumped out at her? Love, love, love that movie. In fact, I'd watch it right now, but I can't. I've got to go get ready for our trip to the Ft. Worth Symphony this evening. That's right! Randey got us tickets to the "Home for the Holidays" concert tonight. I'm so very excited. I hope to tell you all about it tomorrow. For now, I'll leave you with these:

You Are a Bright Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays are all about fun and seasonal favorites. You are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky.

I love that last line "you are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky". Well, DUH!

What Christmas Tree Are You?

You Are a Christmas Sweater!

Over the top, colorful, and totally flashy. You're not afraid to be a little tacky.

And again, I'm tacky. Who knew? lol,lol,lol,lol,lol,lol,lol

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?