Erica and I decided to do a cowboy Christmas this year as a theme. After all, we DO live in Texas, you know! So as I was doing a little early shopping, I found these really cute cowboy boot stockings. We decided to hang them above the fireplace mantle. Erica added some “snow” and built a “fence” out of tongue depressors.

This is what we ended up with. Isn’t it cute? The smaller stockings in between the boots are for our kitty cats.

While Chase was in LP this weekend for Thanksgiving, he and Mike put up a new picture I purchased for mine and Mike’s bedroom. They also put up faux wood blinds … thank you, Chase and Mike, for all your hard work!

It was a busy week! For starters, I was in charge of our church’s annual Thanksgiving Outreach Ministry. In the past we have fed a couple of hundred needy families on Thanksgiving Day. This year we tried a different approach … one that got back to the basics, if you will. We decided that we would feed people who had to work on Thanksgiving Day and not try to feed everybody else because a lot of the other churches in our area do that. So about a month ago I contacted the Police, EMS, and Fire departments in our small city to ask them if we could bring food to them on Thanksgiving Day. After all, there is no such thing as a “holiday” for people like that. Then there is a small chemical plant nearby that we provide 60 or so meals for as well. So, total people we fed this year was about 99.

I did a lot of administrative type organizing ahead of time so it would go smoothly. We asked our church family to cook and donate turkeys and to donate the needed items to make the dressing and side dishes, including desserts. And they came through with flying colors! On Wednesday evening after work several of us worked in the church kitchen getting casseroles and dressing and things ready so they could be warmed up Thursday morning before delivery. One of our members came up to church at 6:00 am Thursday morning to preheat the ovens (we have an industrial style kitchen) and begin warming things. We asked people to bring their cooked turkeys (preferably already carved) to church either Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. And I had previously made a shopping trip to Sam’s so we had large disposable catering pans in which to put the casseroles and turkeys.

I prepared check off lists for each company we were supposed to take food to so I would be sure we didn’t forget anything. We sent paper plates, utensils, napkins, drinking cups, and gallon jugs of tea as well as food. We also set up 4 rectangular tables in our gymnasium (off the kitchen) with boxes to put the food in, and that’s where the food was placed for delivery. We had volunteers who took the food to the various places. Our goal was to begin delivery by 11:00 am and be finished by 1:00 pm. Everything went so well that we were able to deliver to all the places by 11:00 am! I was at home by 11:30!

Once home I had to get MY Thanksgiving meal done. Chase drove down from Longview and got to La Porte just in time to eat. We invited some friends to join us for dinner, too. And Erica’s friend, Michael, ended up dropping by also … after we had eaten … it was good to see him again. Then after everyone had gone home … by this time it was 9:00 pm … Erica decided she was hungry. (We had eaten about 2:30 that afternoon.) So me, Mike, Erica, Chase, and Alex loaded in Mike’s car and drove to Denny’s. That was the only place we could think of that would be open on Thanksgiving Day. While we were there, Michael called Erica. She told him we were at Denny’s, and next thing we knew, here comes Michael and Kelsey! When Michael left our house he went over to another friend’s house and had a couple of drinks. Holidays seem to be hard for him … a long story that I won’t go into here due to privacy reasons. Anyway, they all came back over to the house. Everyone finally left about midnight. But it was 2:00 am this morning before the rest of us went to sleep. We slept until about 10:30 … good thing we didn’t intend to do a lot of heavy shopping, right? Ha! Anyway, we put up the Christmas tree and we’ve started decorating. That may be a couple of days project!

So here are some pictures I took.

Just a few of the desserts …

Don, Joshua, and April …

Michael and Erica … playing a game called “Burst”

Erica, Michael and Kelsey …

Alex, Kelsey and Erica …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ

I know Thanksgiving hasn’t even passed yet, but copy and past the above link in your url anyway. It’s time we stood up for CHRISTmas!

Here is an exercise program for those of us whose wisdom exceeds our ambition. The doctor told me: “Physical exercise is good for you.” I know I need to do it, but my body is out of shape. So I’ve worked out this easy, daily program I can do anywhere. If I can do it, you can do it!

Monday
Beat around the bush.
Jump to conclusions.
Climb the walls.
Wade through paperwork.

Tuesday
Drag my heels.
Push my luck.
Make mountains out of molehills.
Hit the nail on the head.

Wednesday
Bend over backwards.
Jump on the bandwagon.
Balance the books.
Run around in circles.

Thursday
Toot my own horn.
Climb the ladder of success.
Pull out the stops.
Add fuel to the fire.

Friday
Open a can of worms.
Put my foot in my mouth.
Start the ball rolling.
Go over the edge.

Saturday
Pick up the pieces.

FIRST DEGREE

Boudreaux and his wife were asleep when the phone rang at two in the morning. Boudreaux picked up the phone, listened a moment and said, “How should I know? That’s 200 miles from here!” and hung up. His wife asked, Who was that?” Boudreaux answered, “I don’t know — some man wanting to know if the coast is clear.”

SECOND DEGREE

Two Cajuns are walking down the street. One notices a compact on the sidewalk and leans down to pick it up. He opens it, looks in the mirror and says, “Hmm, this person looks familiar.”

The second Cajun says, “Here, let me see!” So the first Cajun hands him the compact. The second one looks in the mirror and says, “You dummy, it’s me!”

THIRD DEGREE

Boudreaux suspects his wife of cheating on him, so he goes out and buys a gun. He goes to his house unexpectedly and when he opens the door he finds her in the arms of a redhead. Well, Boudreaux is really angry. He pulls out the gun, and as he does so, he is overcome with
grief. He takes the gun and puts it to his head.

His wife yells, “No, honey, don’t do it!”

Boudreaux replies, “Shut up! You’re next!”

FOURTH DEGREE

Boudreaux was bragging about his knowledge of state capitals. He proudly said, “Go ahead and ask me; I know all of them.”

A friend said, “OK, what’s the capital of Wisconsin?”

Boudreaux replied, “Oh, that’s easy, W.”

FIFTH DEGREE

What did the Cajun girl ask her doctor when he told her she was pregnant?

“Is it mine?”

SIXTH DEGREE

Boudreaux, a Cajun in his fourth year as a LSU Freshman, sat in his U.S. government class. The professor suddenly asked him, “Do you know what Roe vs. Wade was about?”

Boudreaux pondered the question and finally replied, “That was the decision George Washington had to make before he crossed the Delaware.”

SEVENTH DEGREE

Returning home from work, Boudreaux was shocked to find his house broken into and burglarized. He telephoned the police at once to report the crime.

The police dispatcher broadcast the call on the radio and a K-9 unit, patrolling nearby, was the first to respond. As the K-9 officer approached the house, with his dog on a leash, Boudreaux ran out on the porch, shuddered at the sight of the cop and his dog, then sank down on the steps. Putting his face in his hands, he moaned, “I come home to find all my possessions stolen. I call the police for help and what do they do? They send me a BLIND policeman!”

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2007/11/animation_baby_boomers.html

Any of you baby boomers out there will get a kick out of this. Click on the link (or copy and paste into your url). Turn up the sound and enjoy the ride!

We had a blast! I miss them already!