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Orange?  Scott and I framed it tonight and hung it in the bedroom - pretty damn cool.

I have a love/hate relationship with Sunday.  Mostly because Sunday is before Monday and Monday is the start of yet another work week.

Sundays are fairly busy around here:

We will go to church.  Scott will go to work. I will finish the laundry, iron all my pants for next week, dry-clean all my sweaters for next week, try to get in some painting time and maybe some reading time. And tonight we have Christmas with Scott’s side of the family.  Ok it’s not that busy but it’s not sitting on the couch all day watching old movies either (which I never do anymore).

Oh, I am just rambling today.  I have nothing to complain about - my life is full of so many blessings.

That reminds me to update my IPOD…

Currently I have 739 email in my Gmail account.  99.9 percent of those are things I have signed up to be notified about.

For example:

Erica Rodefer from Yoga Journal wants me to “Sing out Loud” - technically I already do that any chance I get (ask Scott LOL)

BHG.com (Better Homes and Gardens) has sent me the daily receipe - I am not clicking on it to find out what recipe it is..

LL Bean wants to give me a free gift card if I would only just spend more money with them

Omaha Steaks wants me to save up to 65 % off of some beef

That is just a small example of the crap I neglect in my email inbox and let build up until is reaches about 1000 unopened junk email and then I delete.

Maybe I should just delete them as I get them - it would probably save some time huh?

Whew that is over!  It was a long slow day at work.  I put out a couple of fires, ran around with a friend’s birthday card getting the very few ppl at work to sign it and then is was more of the same - waiting for 4 pm to roll around.

I am looking forward to a nice easy slow weekend.  I really want to start enjoying every second.  Many times I am always looking to the next thing instead of enjoying what ever is right in front of me.  We only have this very second - I say we make it count!

It’s so easy to get caught up in the rush of every day life.  I want to make a conscious effort this next year to take my life one moment at a time.  It’s easy to lose the marvels of God’s creation in the hustle and bustle of life.  Every moment is a gift and should be enjoyed as such.

Merry Christmas my shipwrecked JSers!

Soon we will be headed over to my parents home for a great meal (last I heard it will be Prime Rib, home-made mashed potatoes, some kind of fruit salad and my contribution Oatmeal cookies with Andes candies bits) and a bit of gift exchange.   In our attempt to simplify our lives I told Mom she didn’t have to get us a thing because we really truly have everything we need - but Mom loves to shop for Christmas presents so we are getting some anyway.  That’s fine - if it makes her happy that is all that matters.

Last night after church and dinner with friends I had a great idea that I shared with Scott.  We decided to NEVER give each other gifts at Christmas.  To truly embrace the real meaning of the holiday/season we will take whatever money we would have spent on each other and buy toys for children who don’t have any or donate the money to battered women’s shelters or buy coats for a coat drive.  Is Jesus’ birthday the only birthday we celebrate by getting presents for everyone other than the “birthday boy”?  Wouldn’t Jesus rather have us do something for those that have less?  Christmas has turned into “Happy Birthday Jesus now what did you get for me?”

On the other hand we did send a few presents down to the grandchildren in San Antonio.  I hope they are enjoying what we picked out.

Have a great day JS!

First of all Happy Christmas Eve shipwrecked JSers!

I am off today (some of my work friends are actually in the office today!  Retail never closes so we don’t either!)

And I do have a few things to do before Christmas with my parents, sister, niece and I hope nephew (you never know if 21 year old boys will show up to anything even if there is free food!)

My mom mentioned that I told my sister at Thanksgiving that I would make a green bean casserole.  Well, I forgot and don’t have a single ingredient except for the french fried onions.  Then Dad told Mom not to remind me if I did not remember so something like that because that doesn’t really make sense…

So anyway in chatting with Mom yesterday she mentioned it and that is when I realized I didn’t have any ingredients for that.

But I do have fixins’ for cookies!  So cookies it will be - some kind of cookie with Andes candies bits in it because that is what I have.

I guess I could have just told ya’ll that I was making cookies today for Christmas - but really how much fun would it be to just know that and not be all confused?

Scott also has a Border’s Bookstore coupon so we will venture off to that store sometime today.  Then we meet up with my friend from work and her family at church for the Christmas Eve service and then off to dinner with them at a Chinese Super Buffet.

So that is about it for now - more later if anything else happens

My “mouse hand” is killing me so here look at one of my paintings :

painted December 21, 2008

Ok, work wasn’t that bad today but the email did keep me busy (I had about 50 I think).  Everyone seems to be in a holiday mood at work - it’s a bit loud.  I spent most of the day with my headphones in listening to Star Wars podcasts.  I am such a geek.

If you must know I am listening to a Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode as I type this.

Oh, in an effort to become more “green” my company handed out plastic travel mugs for coffee - replacing the Styrofoam cups they removed from the break areas today.

Hope all the shipwrecked JSers had a great day

Having missed Friday due to a doctor’s appointment - I am not looking forward to opening my email program tomorrow and wading through that mess.  What is usually a slow time of the year for us has turned into some sort of hiring frenzy!  I am not sure what is going on out in the field (22k + employees nation wide in a few thousand stores).   On the other hand it keeps me busy and highly employed.

Maybe I will go surf IKEA for Geek/Art room ideas…..

We ran around a bit today - looking once again at some townhomes and some patio homes in the Allen area.  Both were nice places but once again we run smack dab into our own expectations.  With construction backgrounds neither one of us is easy to please - quality wise.

We have a general idea of what we want.  We know how we want the space we are going to have to function.  With 1500-1700 sq feet and our new simplified lifestyle we can really make our plan come together. We are leaning toward a more modern home but not so modern that is seems cold or uncomfortable - maybe contemporary is a better word.  We are even considering concrete floors in the main living areas - maybe not the bedroom though.  Concrete is a huge price saver as far as flooring goes but you really have to be on your subs not to spill anything on it that they cannot clean up - as the floor they are building on is also your living room floor, etc.

The plan is coming together and I am 200% on board with it.  It will still be a little bit hard to leave this place - I have many wonderful memories here but I am looking forward to beginning a new phase of our lives with less stuff and less stress.