Monthly Archives: December 2008

My sweet hubby knows I like to shop at Ann Taylor Loft. They have great professional clothes. They are usually kinda expensive so I tend to stick to the sale racks in the back. (I know I used to watch “What Not to Wear” too much because when my hubby goes shopping with me, he channels Stacy and Clinton saying, “Spend a little more for a quality piece!”. He frequently says that in Ann Taylor Loft.)

Anywho…he found this website where they tell about some great deals. 70% off then 30% off that, and then a promo code (TEACHER20) to enter upon checkout for an extra 20% off plus free shipping. That promo code for the free shipping and extra 20% off only works on certain items which is here. They apparently “love teachers” and you can sign up to get discount emails and apparently 15% off which I didn’t realize until I just now read their site. So I just got some shirts for like $8 and $11 and they seemed to have all sizes available. So if you have some Christmas moola you want to spend, you should check it out. And by the way, if you are worried about fit, as I am since I don’t shop online a lot for clothes, you can return it to a store with the receipt within 90 for a full refund. At least that is what it says on the website.

And by the way, since 70 and 30 and 20 add up to more than 100%, no that does not mean they pay you to get their stuff nor is it free. It just means it equals a really good deal. Mini math lesson: the 30% is taken off the new total and then 20% off that total. Maybe someone out there who is better at math than me can figure out what percent that ends up being off the original total.

And don’t forget to scroll down and read my post about the book club under this one.

I enjoy reading and I also like the blog SimpleMom. (Obviously, I am not a mom, but she has lots of good things to say about things like money-management, healthy eating, and simplifying your life, as well as just good random tips about stuff.) Well, she is doing a book club this year and I am planning to participate by reading some, if not all of the books. So here is the link and info in case you think you might want to join in or need some good book ideas.

We have been touring Texas the past few days visiting family. It has been good to see everyone. I so love breaks from work! I am definitely not a morning person, so being able to sleep late is just absolutely wonderful! I don’t just love being in the car a lot but it hasn’t been too bad. I get to drive tomorrow…yay…

I really don’t have anything to talk about, but I hadn’t really blogged in a while so I thought I should. I really like seeing the blog stats to see where people come to my blog from, and how many views I get. Its pretty basic, the more new posts, the more views. A while back a friend reached a big milestone of how many posts she had, and I thought, well I must have about that many too, but I checked, and I am only in the 100s, and I have been blogging since 2005! It just goes to show that I don’t really write that frequently. I am quite impressed with Kasey’s month and more of daily blogging. I don’t know if I could meet that same challenge. I guess I could make a list.

Some fun things I have done so far on my break:

• sleep late
• see my extended family and make Christmas music with them
• have a fun White Elephant gift exchange with our sunday school class
• play with some fun kids in preschool sunday school
• take more than one nap in a day
• eat at Taste of Texas
• dinner with the P’s
• hang out with my parents
• open presents early in the morning
• sing carols by candlelight
• eat at Cheddars
• do some shopping
• snuggle with my kitty on the couch
• sit by a warm fire
• watch a movie
• eat the following yummy food: chicken and dressing, dumplings, strawberry pie, pancakes, sweet potato casserole, personal pan pizza from pizza hut, a cookie from great american cookie company
• play with a sweet niece and hold a sweet nephew

Things I am looking foward to this week:

• A fun New Years Eve party
• going to see the Rockettes, a present from my hub
• hanging out with friends Monday night
• more sleeping!

What did you do on your holiday?

Christmas decorations are just lovely, aren’t they?

Here is my favorite part of the decorations.
I particularly enjoy the ornament sitting on the floor.
Buddy the Christmas Cat loves the tree too.

The other day when it was cold, we built our first fire in this house.
My nativity is on the mantle with a sign that I just love.
Those stockings we bought the year we were engaged, and I love that we wrote each others names on them.

Here is a decoration that came from my hubby’s side of the family. His grandmother always used this tree and it was something he really liked.

Here is our Turkish nativity scene.

And here is a nativity scene that we had when I was little, which is now our on dining table.

This could easily be the most random ornament on our tree. Its from our honeymoon: a Christmas manatee!

And here are some other special ornaments on our tree. I love that our tree is full of ornaments that make me remember special things. My hubby loves superman and my mom got him this one year. The round ornament is from Turkey. And the other ornament is from our church.

I leave you with a picture of what Christmas is really all about. The birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. Who loved us so much, before he even knew us. Who desires to forgive us of all our sins and have a relationship with us and bless us, so that we may bless others.
“I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

In honor of the SNOW in southeast Texas today, my blog now snows. Yes you read that correctly. If it actually snows at all in the winter, it is usually not until February. I heard on the news the other day that we might have a colder winter due to the fact that in years there is a big hurricane, the winters are typically colder too.

If you have wordpress you should add this cool extra to your blog. Under appearance and then extras.

And the newblog header picture is of our cat Buddy’s favorite spot every December. He sits there all the time. We can’t have a fancy tree skirt, because the cat is there all day long. He looks so cute there! It is just the right comfy hideout for a kitty!

The kids were so excited with the snow today. I just have two girls in my last period class because it is math TAKS tutoring and one of our students was out in the hall, and I hear her yell “It’s snowing!” Sure enough it was, just barely at 3:00, but it got harder by the time the kids actually got out of class at 3:15 and started pouring into the hall. There is a big window at the end of our hall and it was so fun to see the joy and excitement on their faces as they realized it was indeed snowing! It snowed for a good hour or so in that part of town. Nothing stuck, so no safety hazard for all us folks who don’t have a clue how to drive in it. It sure was pretty to watch!

I love flowers. But I am not so good at the maintenece part. As you can see by this picture of my flower bed.

The hub started mowing our yard a few months ago and he said he would love it if weeding would be my responsibility. Well, I hadn’t gotten around to that in…oh…a few months! But today I was inspired by the gorgeous cool weather and started the job. I had to use a shovel to losen up the roots, they were so big!

My sweet hubby carrying off the pile of what I pulled out of that flower bed.

And here is how much better it looks now.

The roses apparently didn’t mind the weeds too much. They are still producing great roses!