How to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.

(Author Unknown)

And the winner is...

I went to Random Generator and told it to pick a number for me. Out popped #11. So, I counted down through the comments to find winner #11.

It is Anonymous. Except, Anonymous isn't anonymous to me. Because of the comment, I know that it is really the Queen Mum... my mom! And, since I know for a fact that she already has this CD (because I gave it to her!), I've decided to send her a box of the very special Lamme's candy instead. (Don't worry, Queen Mum, I've got lots of other "prizes" waiting for you when you arrive next month!)

However, I still have the Martina McBride CD sitting on my desk. What should I do with it?

What's that? Have Random Generator select another winner? Really???

Okay!

This time, Random Generator selected #3... Nadine!

Congratulations, Nadine! Send me an email with your address and I'll get this CD off to you so you can begin getting into the holiday spirit with the beautiful music.

And for the rest of you... for your listening pleasure...

It has begun. (And a Give Away!)

Time's up! The winner will be announced later this evening.

I like to get the holidays started as early as possible. And I like to keep them going as long as possible - sometimes 'til the middle of January.

I start listening to the occasional Christmas song sometime around mid-October. It's my inspiration. My all time favorite holiday music is this CD:

And, once I hear the song "Christmas Canon" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, it's "game on" for me.

Immediately, I get the itch to start filling my freezers with holiday baking. After all, there's nothing worse than standing in the kitchen at midnight, waiting for that last batch of cookies to finish baking in preparation for a holiday event the next day. It's much easier to grab a package out of the freezer, arrange them neatly on a tray and go to bed!

I have to admit, I am a little behind on my baking this year. I still have about half of my planned baking to complete. (Don't even try to make me feel guilty about being behind... I'm good enough at punishing myself with guilt and pressure!)

Did I mention that my Christmas shopping happens year 'round? I like to buy the "perfect gift" as I find it. Usually at a much better price than what last minute shopping produces.

And then there's the decorating. It's starting today in our home. I'll wrap up the inside decorating tomorrow. Bud and I will be scaling ladders and climbing through bushes on Saturday morning to get all the outdoor lights in place. (Well, okay... only Bud will be scaling ladders. I like to keep my feet on the ground.) Don't worry, we don't turn on any lights until Thanksgiving evening.

We also hold off decorating the Christmas tree until the day after Thanksgiving. Not because I have anything against decorating it sooner. But, Bud's mom spends Thanksgiving with us and we like to include her in the festivities. She's the official Master Fluffer of the tree boughs. And she's good at it!

Once the tree is fully fluffed and festooned, we turn on all the lights. Inside and out.

In honor of the beginning of my holiday season, I'm giving away one copy of Martina McBride's "White Christmas" CD***. To win, leave a comment and tell me about your family's favorite Christmas tradition. One entry per person, please. Entries will be accepted through midnight Saturday. The winner will be announced Sunday evening.

(***Martina McBride is not sponsoring this contest. She is not a personal friend of mine. I wish. She doesn't even know I exist.)

The Best Drumline In Texas!!! (Again.)

We headed to the Dallas area yesterday for the outdoor drumline competition of the year. Our drumline was ready to defend their title as The Best Drumline in Texas.

First, let me tell you that yesterday was the coldest day of the fall season. In addition to record breaking lows, we also had 20+ mile per hour winds to contend with for our entire day in the great outdoors. It was tolerable during the day, but was almost miserable after the sun went down last night.

There were hours of practice once we arrived.

Lots of practice.

And more practice.

Lots of flying mallets.

Bass #5 is my personal favorite this year. (Just though I'd share.)

Soon, it was time to perform.

They won first place again this year - and retain the title of BEST DRUMLINE IN TEXAS!!!

Our cymbals also won their caption as did our snares. The basses tied for their caption.

Everyone was very, very happy. (And cold.)

We cheered loud and proud!

Last weekend was all about Kat. We had dance rehearsals and dance recitals. Cheer practices and cheer competitions.

There were uniforms.


And make-up.

Lots and lots of make-up.


Friends.


And teammates.


Stoic contemplation about the competition ahead.


And much celebration.


Celebration over a second place trophy at their very first competition!

This weekend, it's all about Burrito and the drumline as they defend their title of "Best Drumline in Texas."

The day after... let's not forget them!

It's easy to remember and honor our veterans and service men and women on Veteran's Day. But what about the next day? The next month?? Especially during the holidays...

The Red Cross is partnering with Pitney Bowes this holiday season for the Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign. They are collecting holiday cards to distribute to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world. Pitney Bowes is generously donating technology, resources and postage to make this holiday card program possible.

Their goal is to collect and distribute one million holiday cards to spread holiday cheer and facilitate thanks to these brave individuals and families.

Please send cards to this address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

There are very specific guidelines which must be followed when participating. Please go here to see these guidelines.

You can also:

• Download and print a free card.
• Get the latest news about Holiday Mail for Heroes.

Want to do more?

Phone cards, gift cards and care packages are all ways for individuals, families, and school, civic, social or church organizations to get involved in remembering our U.S. service members this holiday season.

Phone and gift cards help our troops stay in touch with family and loved ones as well as allowing them to purchase items they need. Those wishing to send calling cards or gift cards/certificates should go to the Army and Airforce Exchange Service website, scroll down to "AAFES Community Connection" and click on "Help Our Troops Call Home" or "Gift Cards/Certificates for Our Troops" in order to send such items. (Phone cards or gift cards will not be accepted with the holiday cards.)

Those wishing to send care packages should go to the America Supports You website and click under "Homefront Groups" to find out how to send care packages.

There are deadline for participating in these wonderful programs - many much earlier than you'd expect. Don't allow procrastination to keep you from participating!

And that, my fellow Americans, works for me! To see more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, please visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

(Please note: There is currently an email circulating which solicits Christmas cards for wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Medical Center. For the protection of our service men and women, the U.S. Postal system will not accept any letters or packages addressed to "Any Service Member" or "Any Wounded Service Member." The falsehood of these types of email requests can be verified at Snopes.)

Thank you!

On your mark... get set...

Go!

(Photo credit: By hylander44 on Flickr.)

Put on your running shoes and see if you can keep up with us. It's gonna be a busy weekend. From my planner:

• Dance recital dress rehearsal (Done)
• Football game (Over - our team made the playoffs! How many more weeks of football?)
• Cheer practice (Done)
• Neighborhood yardsale (Going on as I speak type.)
• Bud fishing
• Craft show (Not enough hours in the day so I'm skipping it. *Humph.*)
• Purchase new hair curlers for Kat (Necessary to create "cheerleader hair.")
• Dance recital
• Cheer competition (We do live in Texas, y'all!)

That last item? Guaranteed to produce blog fodder for next week's postings. Maybe I'll even have pictures!

Even so...

...GOD is in control!

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:16-17 (Today's New International Version)

Today... please VOTE!

Did you?

THE issue.

If you listen to all of the news broadcasts, they will tell you that this election is the most important election of our lifetime. They will be glad to list the issues for us: taxes, war, unemployment, national security, social security... and the list goes on and on.

But, isn't life itself the most basic of all issues? When you get right down to it, isn't this THE issue?



If you haven't already, please vote tomorrow. Choose to vote for those who can't.

Disclaimer: My opinion. My blog.