DIAMONDS are just chunks of COAL that do very WELL under pressure!!

                This is the season when so many of us find ourselves under pressure.   Shopping to do..... Gifts to be wrapped.....Meals to be cooked....Making our Holiday candy.....Decorating for Christmas, just to name a few.   

Last year, I had most of these things done by the middle of November.   Yes....even the gifts were wrapped!!

I sure can't do much bragging on myself this year, because I have barely done anything.   I certainly do not contribute my lack of "being on the ball" to being older, it's the lack of inspiration that has failed me.  

Why No Inspiration?  Simply because I have been pre-occupied with many of the other things that I love about life.   

I will get it all done!  There may be a little pressure to get things done to my expectation, but like a lump of coal, maybe, just maybe......I'll become a big Diamond.

What ever you do today......make time to Give God the Glory that HE so deserves....

Shug....

Well......It's Thanksgiving Eve and I have sure been a busy lady today.  My kitchen has certainly been a warm place today.   I think I turned the oven on, early this morning, and finally turned it off around 3:30.  I have double ovens, and both of them have been going all day long.    

The great news is:   I won't have to be in the kitchen all morning long, tomorrow.   I've cooked several pans of cornbread today.
I know that many of my blogging friends make stuffing, but we make Southern Cornbread Dressing.   

I was telling some of my friends just today, that I wish I had watched my mom more closely when she made Dressing.  I wish I had written down the exact measures of how she made hers.   The only problem there is, she didn't measure.......she just knew what it was suppose to look like, and she knew what it was suppose to taste like.   No measuring cups or spoons.....!  She just knew how to cook!!

Funny thing happened to me this afternoon....    We are not frying a turkey this year, nor am I buying the famous "Greenberg Turkey"
for Thanksgiving.   I actually ordered sliced smoked turkey from a BBQ place that we like.   I ordered it earlier in the week and was suppose to pick it up at 3:00 this afternoon.   Well, when I get there to pick it up, the girl at the counter showed me the ticket and said that it had already been picked up!   😀    

She said it was an older, gray haired man with glasses who picked it up, about 30 minutes or so before I got there.   WHAT????   

I called Sam.......NO, he did not pick it up!  What?????   I called Shanda and she didn't have anyone pick it up!  What ????
We were the only three that even knew I ordered it.   

Seems that a man with our same last name came in to pick up an order.   The girl said she ask if it was  "My name" and the man said yes.   Now, either this man has a wife or daughter with my same name OR he could not hear very well and just took my order!!!

The strange thing is, when the girl at the counter ask him if he had ordered 4 lbs of sliced smoked turkey, he said yes..   What????

We placed the same exact order for food and it was in the same exact name????   Kinda odd.    Anyways, I had to sit and wait for about 20 minutes while they filled my order.    

I'm thankful that there was enough sliced turkey left, to fill my second order.    lol.   

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS.

HUGS TO ALL....

SHUG

This is one of those days, when I just want to grab a cup of hot chocolate (piled high with marshmallow fluff and a little drizzle of chocolate) and get in my big comfy chair, with my super soft blanket and do nothing.....  

Or.....I could easily tune in to the Hallmark Channel to watch Christmas movies all day long!

The temperature is 56 degrees and it's raining outside!

It's the perfect kind of day for me to serve 

Broccoli Cheddar soup tonight for our evening meal.....

~~

Sam and I purchased a new Christmas Tree last night.   I prefer a real tree, but in Texas, it's just not the reasonable thing to have.  

My new tree does have fake snow, and a few red berries that adds color.    

It was not my intentions to put the tree up today, but Sam brought it in from the car this morning and I figured I might as well look at the tree, as to look at the box!!!

I must say, I really do like these new click in trees.  No having to find the cords or plugging 2 or 3 different cords together.   You just simple put the three pieces in and the lights automatically connect.  

I did set the tree up, but have not decorated it yet.   A rainy day like this is not the best kind of day to go digging Christmas decorations out of the garage.   

I still have pumpkins up everywhere and I have the beautiful Fall colors spread throughout the house.   After all......WE STILL ARE GOING TO HAVE...THANKSGIVING!!!!

I've always been an early bird for putting up my tree, but this year is earlier than the norm.    ........Tyler (our Airman) will NOT be home for Christmas this year, but he will be here in just a few weeks for about 5 or 6 days.   I know he will appreciate getting to see a little Christmas around this place.       And....besides, I will have more time to visit with him instead of having to decorate for Christmas.

~~~

My heart leaps with JOY.....I hope your's does too!

Shug.....

                Growing up as a child, Halloween was a super fun night for my siblings, my cousins, my friends and myself.  It was all about dressing up and hitting the streets, with two goals in mind.......One was to gather as much candy as we possibly could.  The other was to use bars of soap to write on the windows of the downtown shops. 

I grew up in a very small town.  Everyone knew EVERYONE!   The owners of those shops knew every kid in town and they also knew that these kids were going to write on their store front windows with soap.  This was probably the one time of the year when the windows were cleaned.  They had to use water to wash the soap off and to their advantage, the soap cleaned the windows REALLY well.  

Never once when I was growing up, did the thoughts of evil come in to play on Halloween.   We never, ever thought about the things that seem to represent Halloween these days.  It was a night of pure fun for us kids back in the day.    Nothing, absolutely nothing about EVIL.

Halloween is the same for my kiddos Now.   Our little ones (with their parents) usually go to a church festival and play games as well as gather candy.   Our older ones come here to Pop's and Shug's house.    They love to pass out candy to kids.....they love to carve pumpkins....they love to EAT.....

Here are a few pictures of our Halloween evening....

Me and the "Chick fil a" cow.....   BVT (Breckinridge village) was sponsoring a Trunk R' Treat for the residents and the day program men and women.    BVT is a residential community for adults

with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities.   My niece (Tammy) attends the day program.     

This is me and Tammy at the village....

Me again.....being a little crazy with the family...

The absolute cutest of all trick R' treaters....

Mylee Jo is the Scarecrow.....her friend, Charlsie is Dorothy and her friend Maggie is the Lion.  

They were and are adorable....

Our older grandkids......carving pumpkins....

Older grandkids and POP'S.......

It was a fun night.....we drank Orange Pumpkin Punch, 

and we ate PIZZA and chocolate cupcakes with orange and yellow

sprinkles...

I loved the kids being here......

shug