I actually took time off this holiday season. It’s rare for me. While I did visit my parents a few days before Christmas, I also worked some as well. Nothing major, bust checking in to make sure that everything was running smoothly.
However, today I embark on a 5 day journey with 20 other people (13 of them teenagers) as we head to SetApart07 in Orlando, Fl.
And I? Am not working.
In fact, I’m really not writing this today. I wrote it weeks ago and then handed it off to my VA to set up and post.
Because I’m ringing in the new year relaxed and rested.
Ok, I take that back. I’m with 13 teenagers amongst hundreds and thousand of other teenagers.
I’m ringing in the new year with a break…because I worked hard in 2007 and I’m going to hit the ground running on Tuesday when I return.
How about you? Did you celebrate your 2007 successes?
Until next time…
Heather
Permalink 2 CommentsIt’s Christmas Eve. Get off the computer and enjoy your family.
Better yet?
Spend the day tracking Santa!
We spend all day tracking Santa and then call my mom and update her. The kids love it and yes, I do use it to get them in bed in the evening. As soon as Santa hits Greenland, they know that they have to be in bed or they risk him flying right over our house!
Have a very Merry Christmas…
Heather
Permalink 7 CommentsI’m home for the holidays. Although, it’s not really home. You see, my parents moved from my “childhood home” 4 years ago and bought their dream home on top of a mountain in Tennessee. It’s gorgeous. It’s bigger than any home they’ve ever owned and I’ve always wondered why that is… why do people get bigger homes when their slave labor leaves the nest? But even more thought will tell you that if there are no kids, it probably doesn’t get that messy.
It’s been nice to get away from our home back in SW Virginia for a few days and spend time with family. My children can’t get enough of the spoiling they receive from Nana, Papaw, and Mamaw and they love to torment the cats, JJ and Major.
And presents? Oh goodness there are presents!
My parents swore they would never “spoil” my kids and would always ask me before purchasing them certain items or buying them things. That lasted until my oldest was about three months old.
I’m grateful that my parents can spoil them, but they can only do that because of what they did to achieve their goals. Other wise, they wouldn’t have their dream home and they wouldn’t be able to do all the things that they do.
Growing up, my dad was frugal. No, I take that back. He was downright cheap. We didn’t get a lot of the bells and whistles, but we had what we needed. It was a great childhood and I wasn’t spoiled, but I was well loved.
What I didn’t know then, was that my dad had goals. He had plans. He was insistent on making them happen.
One of his goals was to retire early. He did that when he was 45. (Although he can’t be retired, he now does freelance consulting and mom works just to get out of the house). My point is… they don’t have to work another day in their lives if they don’t want to.
Another goal was to be debt free. He did that when he was 45 as well.
They wanted to travel. They do so every year… a spring tour that takes them to warmer climates and a summer tour in which they take my kids and go for six weeks… and my kids have seen a lot of the country.
None of this would’ve happened had my dad not had goals or if he didn’t work hard at achieving those goals.
2008 is just over a week away. Have you started looking at your goals for the new year? What about 5 years from now?
Where do you want to be and how are you going to get there?
Until next time…
Heather
Permalink 1 Comment‘Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck…
How to live in a world that’s politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to “Elves,”
“Vertically Challenged” they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions at the north pole
Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their roof-tops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.
His fur-trimmed red suit was called “Unenlightened.”
And to show you the strangeness of life’s ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she’d enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he’d ne’er had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim. Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls. Or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that’s war-like or non-pacific.
No candy or sweets…they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football…someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, disheveled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you’ve got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere…even you.
So here is that gift, its price beyond worth…
“May you and your loved ones enjoy peace on earth.”
(c) Harvey Ehrlich, 1992
Until next time…
Heather
Permalink 4 Comments
I know what everyone says… you should always use the blind carbon copy (BCC) option when sending out mass emails for two reasons… (1) no one is tempted to hit reply to all and (2) so that you don’t reveal others email addresses.
But I? I’m a jokester. I like to make people laugh and so that BCC function kills me. I can’t make the masses laugh if I don’t know who the masses are.
Additionally, I’m not super duper organized with my contacts, so when I need someone’s email address, I can typically find it in the list of others that it was sent to.
But there’s one more reason that I hate the BCC function. You know how your mother forwards you all these funny emails? (Ok, so maybe your mom doesn’t, but my mom does.) I like to see who else she sent it to so that on the rare occasion that I actually forward it on, I’m not sending it to the same people she sent it to.
However, I know that I should use the BCC function and I really do try to, even though it totally doesn’t work with me. 
What are your thoughts on the BCC function?
Until next time…
Heather
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