The Bell Ringer

While shopping this evening I was reminded of a time last year when T.S. and I were at Hobby Lobby. On the way in, he noticed the Salvation Army bell ringer. He was quite taken with the fact that someone actually got to stand outside and ring a bell. I told him we'd put money in on our way back to the car. All through the store he kept asking if he'd get to ring the bell. I explained that he probably would not, we were just giving money to people who needed it.

On the way out, I handed him some change and he went over and dropped his money in the kettle. Then, he just stood there looking at the man. The man said thank you and T.S. kept standing there. Finally, I told the man that T.S. was really wanting to ring the bell. The kind man let T.S. ring it and his day was made.

I wonder if he'll think he's paying to ring a bell this year.

Some Things to Ponder

I made a quick trip to Amarillo this evening BY MYSELF. I took care of some Christmas shopping and made the following observations.

• Hobby Lobby has got to be the only national chain store left in the universe that does not swipe bar codes. I think they enjoy watching people stand in long lines waiting to check out while they type in each item. I also think they like the fact that the receipt is so confusing when you are finished that you have no idea if you were charged correctly or not. And, after waiting in line for so long, you aren't about to question.
• I usually have a plan of what I will be buying when I go to a store. Tonight, lots of people were aimlessly wandering around (in my way) looking at Toys R Us--come on people, T.S. and I have spent hours pouring over sale catalogs and perusing the Internet to make our list!
• Sam's was actually not very crowded. I don't know if it was because it was later in the evening or if all of those people were a) stuck in line at Hobby Lobby or b) wandering around Toys R Us trying to decide what to get people for Christmas.

Just some thoughts--on a bright note, I'm almost finished with all of my shopping. Now if I could just get the projects I've started finished.

Free Dr. Pepper

Check this story out! Dr. Pepper is going to give everyone a free Dr. Pepper. I won't be staying up late so I can be the first to get my free Dr. Pepper. But, I think we all should go to the Dr. Pepper site and get our coupon Sunday.

Speaking of Dr. Pepper, our house is divided. Robby and Sadie are "Peppers" and T.S. and I are Coke drinkers. My whole life, Nonnie was a Coke drinker, too. She also loved a Hershey bar. She'd keep both in the fridge (she even let us put peanut butter and marshmallows on our candy bar--you should try it). Now that she is in the nursing home, she has been preferring Dr. Pepper and Butterfingers--go figure.

As a kid, I remember we were in Ruidoso one year at an art festival--we got to take the Pepsi challenge. I chose the Coke.

Robby really likes the Dublin Dr. Peppers that have real sugar in them. He also swears there are really 23 flavors like they advertise.

One other thing--shouldn't the band "Guns'N'Roses" be retired by now and possibly in a nursing home?

Spelling Help

Check this out! You can enter spelling lists and then your child can play games with the words. Just found it today, but we are going to give this a try. Maybe Sadie will WANT to study instead of HAVE to study.

Kittens

It is time for the kittens to make the next step in their lives--move outside. We really enjoy having them in the house, but know eventually we will have issues like climbing on the furniture and shedding. There is also the possibility they will realize we have a rat and gerbil in the house.

It is crazy that I would have such a difficult time sending the cats outside. It is not like we'll just throw them out and forget about them. They'll have a nice bed in the garage and we'll feed them everyday. It's just that I have invested time into them--bottle feeding, making them poop, etc. (for more on that whole adventure go here and search our blog for "kittens.") I also know that as the adopted mom I have been unable to fully prepare them to go outside--I have no idea how to teach a cat to hunt. So,in hindsight, our rat and gerbil are probably safe.

I think I'm getting a glimpse of the future and what it will be like when it is time to send the kids on to new adventures in their life. As moms are we ever prepared for this?

Biscuits

I was reading Granny Sue's News and Reviews today--I'd like to visit her. She is a story teller that lives in the Appalachians. Anyway, she gave her biscuit recipe today. I do not intend on making biscuits, the womp-um ones are just fine, thank you. And, we have the frozen ones for special occasions.

What I am getting to is that it brought back really good memories of Nonnie making biscuits. When we asked for the recipe, she would always say that it depended on how many people were eating that day. No matter how pressed for time she was, she would always let Sadie help her. I wish I had a picture of the little toddler sitting on that cabinet helping make biscuits. Nonnie would always let Sadie "make" a few of her own and bake them. Usually by the time Sadie was finished playing with the dough, they didn't rise much and turned out a little hard when cooked.

I am so grateful that Sadie, Nonnie and I have that memory. Sadie still talks about making biscuits.

One More Thing...

This should have gone with last night's random thoughts post. It bothered me all day yesterday and was still on my mind this morning. You can read this article--a man stole a handful of communion wafers from the priest during a morning mass. The parishioners cornered him until police arrived. Two "older" parishioners were injured in the process. The charges against him are numerous. Here is why the story bothered me so much:

• Why are we limited to one wafer/piece of bread/cracker (whatever your church gives out) during communion?
• If a man is hungry enough to steal a handful of those little wafers (which wouldn't even come close to filling you up) then shouldn't he be allowed to have them?
• If Jesus were giving communion, don't you think He'd have said, "Here, take them all?"
• One of the many problems with the church (every church, not just one single denomination) is we have gotten too caught up in the way we do things. We've gotten into the business of why and how instead of just taking care of people and treating them with love and respect.

I think that is all for my soapbox this morning. I'll step down and go make breakfast.