Oh my gosh, I have been in virus HELL this week! I've been having problems for a couple of weeks now. I've been getting weird stuff on my computer for a long time and even though I'd been running my virus scanner regularly, it just wouldn't go away. I was getting weird popup windows on almost every site I'd visit and I kept getting ads for penis enlargement (ew!) every time I would go to certain sites, like Ebay and other commercial sites. Plus I couldn't get my virus software to update. Even our Mac was affected and they aren't supposed to be prone to viruses.

I tried a couple of things on my own, but eventually I realized I was out of my league and was going to need some help. So on my first day of Christmas vacation, I got on the phone with the nerd patrol anti-virus technicians. Ah yes, those lovely guys from India who are always so fun to work with and charge you $60 just for the honor of speaking to them in their broken English. I started at 10:00 in the morning and I was still on the phone at 7:00 that night. Whoohoo, whatta way to spend your Christmas vacation. Especially since they didn't manage to fix the problem (sigh).

We did get it to the point where we could connect ONE PC at a time directly to the Internet. Kind of a problem when you have FOUR Internet-hungry people that are all stuck in the house together for the holidays. Man, you'd have thought I'd stolen all their Christmas candy or something!

We finally determined that the problem was in the router, which was something the router guy had never seen happen before (gee, doncha love to hear someone say that!). It was not only causing the popups and the penis ads, it was also blocking me from most of the anti-virus sites so that none of our virus software has been updated in a month, so all four of our PC's were loaded with multiple viruses. So, after another two hour visit with the lovely guys from India and a couple of more virus scans, we managed to get everything back on-line before I had a general mutiny.

I guess the moral of the story is to buy the best virus protection you can afford and make sure the darn thing keeps up to date. It's really sad when you have to go through all this hassle, inconvenience, and cost just because some nerd decides to get his jollies from spreading viruses around the Internet.

What I don't understand is why they don't go after the companies that are profiting from this? Since these ads were all for the same company - Vymax, obviously they were the ones who generated this particular virus, since everything pointed back to their website, so I don't see why they can't fine them for using a virus to market their products.

Here's another funny from my friend Carol.

You find out interesting things when you have sons, like...

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words 'uh oh,' it's already too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Legos will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year-old boy.

11.) Play Dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool, you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR's do not eject 'PB & J' sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Well, Christmas is over and now it's back to business as usual. Hope you had a nice holiday. We did. We did the usual church stuff on Christmas Eve - twice since I sing in a choir. Both services were lovely. I was a little worried because we don't have our new pastor yet, so we've basically been using the pastoral equivalent of "temps", but they've been good temps and the services have gone along without a hitch.

We were expecting a boatload of snow, but the storm held off for a while, so I got home at about 1:00 am in a huge windstorm. Stuffed the stockings, set up the great Present Hunt (for more info click here) and got to bed about 1:30. At about 6:30, I woke up with a bang - literally. My husband had gotten up to go to the bathroom and had tripped over the bathroom rug and tried to turn off the light switch with his HEAD. So I wake up Christmas morning to a bleeding husband after a very short night's sleep and two kids who want to open presents NOW, even if Daddy is bleeding. But we managed to get it all straightened out and stop the bleeding so we could get to the good stuff.

I managed to stay awake just long enough to open presents, have breakfast and take one turn on the new Wii. Then I was back to bed until about noon! My Christmas present to me.

The snow hit in earnest on Christmas night and we ended up with about 11 inches of snow! Talk about a White Christmas! It was kind of nice though. No one came over and we didn't leave the house until yesterday when we slogged through the snow to my nieces house in my son's 20 year old Bronco, which fortunately has 4-wheel drive or we never would have made it. Got to visit with my sister and brother-in-law and my niece's family.

Had a great time, but I felt bad because of my choice of gifts. I got the kids all a bunch of Silly String. I thought they would have fun with it, but I underestimated what a HUGE mess 5 kids could make with a half dozen cans of the stuff! Yikes, they had that stuff everywhere including on the neighbor's house - oops!

I tried to stick with the low-key Christmas theme this year, but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. I got too much for some, too little for others, and basically spent just as much as I usually do!

We were fine until we decided to get the Wii. I had actually gotten my act together this year and started a Christmas fund. I'd been setting money aside all year to pay for Christmas and I was so proud of myself. But then I let my husband talk me into the Wii. I really wanted one last year because they looked like so much fun, but I let the kids convince me that the Xbox 360 was more practical since it would fit a lot of their games. But I really wanted the Wii and what Momma wants, she usually ends up getting. Plus if I get the Wii Fit, I can start exercising again and lose a bunch of weight (yeah right, like that's going to happen!). Sounds like a good excuse anyway, but I really just want to play some of the games. We should have the bills paid off by next Christmas - I hope!

Hi all and Merry Christmas,

This is my long-awaited SITS day - on Christmas Eve day. If you don't know what SITS is, it is a fabulous website called The Secret is in the Sauce and they have all sorts of fun stuff to help bloggers get to know each other and stay connected. It's a lot of fun and I've made some good friends on there.

Every day during the week, they choose a blogger to feature and it's finally my chance to be "IT", so I'm very excited. Feel free to wander around, there's lots of fun posts for you to comment on.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that my computer will cooperate. I've spent the ENTIRE day on the phone with tech support trying to get rid of some virus issues, so I'm really hoping that my computer doesn't choose such an auspicious day to go haywire.

This is a post that I thought really embodies the true spirit of the holidays. It's from Rhonda Britten, star of one of my favorite shows "Starting Over" and a wonderful author of a series of Fearless Living books.

How to Get Back to the Real Spirit of the Holidays...

- Spend time with someone you love.
- Forgive a person that has hurt you.
- Remember your innocence.
- Help another in need.
- Count your blessings.
- Say a prayer when actions won't help.
- Say you're sorry.
- Be patient with sales clerks, slow lines and other frustrated customers.
- Make kindness a priority.
- Give a gift for no other reason than to make another smile.
- Wear something out of the ordinary that makes you feel magical and amazing.
- Write a letter to a long lost friend.
- Plant a tree.
- Clean out your closets and give the extras away to a homeless shelter.
- Tithe more than you intended to your local charity.
- Have faith in others.
- Keep a promise.
- Nurture yourself.
- Smile.
- Throw a party for all the people that have supported you over the years as your way of saying "Thank you."
- Feed the hungry.
- Dance.
- Laugh more than you think you should at jokes that aren't usually funny.
- Make someone feel special.
- Kiss under the mistletoe.
- Take a photo with Santa.
- Light a candle to remind yourself of the light you are to the world.
- Write a list or make a photo collage of your dreams, desires and aspirations for next year.
- Be willing to be awed and inspired.
- Decide to believe in yourself.
- Know that anything is possible.
- Sing at the top of your lungs.
- Relish each moment of life.
- Wish everyone you meet Happy Holidays and mean it.
- Be delighted.

May you know the blessings of the season. I send you love, miracles, and abundance....Happiest of Fearless Holidays!

Here is to a Fearless Holiday Season!

Rhonda

The author of this piece is unknown, but it was in my Zig Ziglar newsletter this week and I thought I'd share it with you. I think it's very sweet and likely is true.

No Santa?
Author Unknown

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit my Grandma on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything.

She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go" "Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through it doors, Grandma handed me twenty dollars. That was a bundle in those days "Take this money and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. Suddenly I thought of Bobbie Decker. He sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobbie Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. I fingered the twenty-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat. I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and write, "To Bobbie, From Santa Claus" on it - Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge.

"All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. From there we watched Bobbie come to the door and pick up his present from "Santa."

Forty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team."

I still have my Bible, with the coat's price tag tucked inside: $19.95.

Wow, I finally discovered Google reader. That thing is fantastic. I just put all my blogs in there and I can view all of them at once and see all the new updates every day. Man, why didn't people tell me about this? I used to sit here and click on blog after blog every night trying to keep up. Now I can read them all in 5 minutes. I still haven't figured out how to post comments from there, so I have to pop over to the actual blog when I want to leave a comment, but that's OK.

This is especially good because I think I've been picking up viruses from some of the blogs I've been visiting. I've been getting tons of pop up windows lately and I keep getting these really icky ads whenever I visit a commercial website like Ebay. I've virus-scanned and disinfected my computer 'til I'm blue in the face, but it doesn't seem to help. I keep getting these banner ads to enlarge body parts I don't even possess - ick! Are you guys getting stuff like this too?

As a result of this, I've finally taken the step to upgrade to Mozilla Firefox. That's pretty cool too. I've been hearing people rave about it for months and I like it SO much better than Internet Explorer. I'm always a little slow in adapting new technology, but then when I get it, I give it a full workout and learn all the cool things it can do. I guess that's just my idea of fun - yeah, does that say nerd or what???

So spill the beans folks. What other great software am I missing out on?

I do love to decorate for Christmas and I have a lot of special ornaments and decorations that I like to put out for my family to enjoy every year. Tip Junkie is having a Mister Linky post, so I thought I'd participate and share all my pretty holiday decorations.

This will be a long post because I have a lot of cool stuff I want to share with you. We aren't having anyone over for Christmas particularly, so you are likely to be the only ones who get to see it - lucky stiffs!

Let's start with the tree. I'm very particular about my tree. I like things to be color coordinated and have something of a theme. Our tree used to be this gorgeous pale blue, silver and white masterpiece, but I finally got tired of that theme after a few years, so now we do the red and white thing with a snowman theme. Some of the decorations have been part of our lives for more than 20 years and a lot of them are hand made. Take a peek!



This shelf has several of my most special pieces. That stocking - I made it with my own two hands, stitch by stitch and it took me TWO YEARS! I'm going to have to put it up every Christmas for the rest of my life to feel like I'm getting the full value out of all that work. Sorry you can't see the top of it, it's even got my name on it.

Those teddy bear ornaments and that clown up towards the top are from my tole painting period. I just love them and I wish I could keep them out all year, so I'm always happy to see them. And I love my little Santa bears and my polar bear. If you look very carefully, you will see a tiny kid on a sled. This is probably my most precious decoration.

This was a gift from my sister's sister Betty, who passed away from cancer about 8 years ago and it's the only thing I have to remember her by. Yes, I did say my sister's sister. She was my half-sister's half sister, so she actually wasn't any relation to me, but she was sweet and wonderful and we all loved her. Due to some circumstances in our family, we never knew she even existed until a year or two before her death, but we are all so glad that we did have the experience of getting to know her. Inside this special ornament is a tiny little set of red mittens that just tickles me to death.

This are three of several nativity sets we have. My mom used to collect them and I've carried on the tradition. I think we have at least five of them located around the house to remind us of the "reason for the season". I love the little frosted glass set on the middle shelf because it isn't terribly delicate and I used to let the kids play with it to experience the story for themselves. I remember Matt talking about Mary and Jophus and baby Jesus (remember his middle name is Joseph and that is how he used to pronounce it). I wish you could see the one on the top shelf a little better. It's beautiful spun glass under a clear glass dome - very pretty!

You know some days you just can't win.

I spent probably an hour at Walgreen's website creating the most darling photo card. I spent $20 to get a double order of them and spent another chunk of money because I made the mistake of going into the Walgreen's to pick them up - big mistake! (They've got a LOT of cute stuff in there.)

I tried to figure out how to post a picture of it - it's really very cute, but I couldn't figure out how to do it, so you'll have to take my word for it. I included the picture of everyone on the stairs and also separate pictures of my husband and I holding the baby. Very cute or at least I thought so at the time.

So I get the cards home and I started addressing them. I got about 10 of them done when I actually took a close look at the card. Go ahead - take a peek. Do you see anything amiss?



Yes, that's my darling son Matt - flipping Dad the bird - sheesh! Now to be fair, this is kind of an inside joke that Matt and I share and sometimes Tony too. We think it's funny to flip each other off once in a while (yes, we're an odd family like that), but we're very careful to not do it when any of the little kids are looking, and of course, there is a time and place where it might be more appropriate than a family picture with the grandkids. Especially when the picture is likely to be sent out to all our friends and relatives as our expression of Christmas joy!

So, as the saying goes, back to the drawing board and this time, Matt is paying for the Christmas cards! This is kind of like the Seinfeld episode when Elaine sends out her Christmas card with a picture of her, um, assets displayed a little more than was appropriate. I've actually seen that episode, so you'd think I'd be a little more careful. But I was just checking to make sure everyone's eyes were open and they were somewhat smiling. I didn't think to double-check it to make sure no one was slipping in any obscene gestures! 

Guess next year I'll check. With this crew, I guess anything is possible.

teeth! Well, we finally did it, we finally got Matt in to get his wisdom teeth out on Thursday. This boy is the luckiest kid I've ever seen, I'll tell you! He's never had any kind of major illness, injury, or surgery, so I was kind of concerned at how well he would handle it, but he sailed right through it, the turkey! He did lots better than I remember doing when I had mine out - about a hundred years ago, it seems like. No swelling, nausea, very little sleepiness, and just a bit of tenderness.

I'm glad, but I was a little surprised. I set aside all day yesterday and today to be around in case he needed me, but he was just fine, so we made a pilgrimage to Ikea to get some last minute gifts and some swedish meatballs for dinner. 

Everyone likes them and it's easy on his mouth. Then I let him have a few friends over for a "Pity Party". They took off to go to a movie and he just called (it's 12:30). They're going to hang out and stop somewhere for a snack. Oh well, guess he's feeling better now. Guess I'll go to bed then.

OK gals, I need an opinion here. Premature grey runs in our family. I mean, really premature grey! I found my first grey hair when I was 16. Matt is only 19 and he is already seeing grey in his beard. My niece told me she found a grey hair on one of my little great-nephews and he's SIX! That is seriously messed up, isn't it?

I had enough grey that I had to start coloring my hair when I was in my late 20's and I've been doing it ever since. Lucky for me, my niece is my wonderful hairdresser! My hair grows super fast, so I have to do it about every six weeks and by then I have a good 1/4" growth showing. My hair reacts kind of funny to dye, so I'm very careful about the colors I use. For example, I can't use even a hint of red or it goes a really nasty dark auburn on me, almost a burgundy. I can use a bit of blonde and I do sometimes, but mostly I try to stick close to my original light honey brown.

So I've basically not seen my natural hair color in about 15 years. I've asked about having the color removed and letting it go natural, but apparently the products will really ruin your hair, so I thought my only option was to let it grow out. But the other day, I found something at Walgreen's called Color Oops that is a new product to remove hair color and it apparently doesn't hurt your hair. I read reviews from several dozen ladies who had tried it. They said the product smells ghastly - a combination of rotten eggs and dog doody, but it does work and it doesn't damage your hair.

So now I've got a dilemma. Do I just keep doing the coloring or do I go for it and see how the grey is going to look? One nice thing is that I can kind of "preview" the look. My sis is 12 years older than me so I can see pretty much what I'm going to look like a decade down the road. She's had hers natural for as long as I can remember and it always looks great on her and it always looked good on my Mom.



But I have to say, I'm a little bit nervous about it. I'm not terribly vain, but I did have a really bad haircut early in our marriage. I let my mother-in-law give me a very tight perm and it was really terrible. I looked just like a little Jewish boy. I got it fixed about a week later and you know it's a really bad hairdo when even the men in your office come up to you and say - it looks so much better! 

What if it looks really terrible and makes me look really old? So, I'm taking a poll, so let's see what you think.

Have you tried this yourself? If so, spill the beans. Did you like it or not? Did you end up going back to the hair coloring?

Ha ha, I'm doing the happy dance. I didn't win anything in the SITSmas give-aways, but I did get a wonderful present today! My friend Michelle from A Time to Stamp sent me this darling picture frame she made in honor of our sweet baby Ella. Isn't it cute? I love the papers she used. It's kind of a sassy pink instead of just a baby pink. Now I just need to get some of my pictures printed so I can have a nice little picture of her to put in it.

Can you even believe it is December already? I'm freaking out. It seems like it should be about mid-October. Even the weather agrees with me. But Christmas is going to be coming sooner than we think. My fave website - The Secret is in the Sauce is doing a Merry SITSmas event today with lots of fun and prizes every hour, including a $200 Target giftcard - so you'll want to pop over there to see join in the fun.

We're supposed to post our Christmas card here, but I'm sorry, I just have not managed to get my act together that much yet. But I do have the picture I'm going to use for it. We took it last week when we had the whole family together. Whaddya think? Should we do all of us?





Just us and the grandkids?

Or just the brothers?

Yes, I wish I were a better photographer, but in this busy family, I figure just getting all of us into one spot to even TAKE a picture is a win-win. Merry SITSmas to you!