Holiday Vacation

I'm here...just in Michigan for the week, along with the Brick and Charley. The Mama has been really struggling in recent weeks, so we decided to spend New Year's Day with her.

Which also meant that we spent our 30th anniversary on the road, driving 18 hours straight through, the last of it via Chicago in mixed rain and snow. Even Taco Bell can have a slight air of romance, when shared in a dark car with a drooling Chesapeake Bay Retriever in the back seat...

All I know is that I am very glad, thirty-plus years ago, a slightly raffish-looking engineer chose my restaurant table to sit down at.

Yes, that's how we met. I was in grad school at the University of Michigan, living in an attic. (I cleaned the family's house and looked after their young teener in return for room and breakfast -- lunch too, if I came home and walked the dog.) I graded papers and acted as class assistant for a professor for extra money; this particular day, I had to read E.M. Forster's Howard's End before class. And the local Chinese restaurant served a mean bowl of fried rice for $1.32. (Sounds cheap -- but it was a lot to me, at the time.)

Enter this tall guy with an army surplus jacket, dark glossy hair nearly to his shoulders, and intelligent eyes. All the tables were occupied, and it was customary to ask to share a table -- so he did, and I did. He kept asking questions while I was trying to read...finally I gave up, and enjoyed talking to this funny, interesting man.

He asked what my full name was. He asked for my phone number.

Unh unh, honey, inner self warned. Who knows where this guy came from. He may be an axe murderer. How can you trust anyone you just met in a restaurant! 


So I only told him my first name. Period. And left to go to class.

But he knew I was studying for my M.A. in English Lit. And this guy (if you knew him well, you would know how absolutely out of character this was) went to the English Lit department, told the secretary he had a project with me, and asked for my phone number. (I was one of two Cindys in the English Lit Master's Program at the time...and the other Cindy was a brunette.)

    She gave it to him!

When he called and asked me to meet him for lunch, inner self said, Go ahead -- but just lunch. Then he'll go away. 

Friends, I was lucky -- I met him in March, and married him the day after Christmas in 1981. And I have been fortunate to go through life with this wonderful man ever since.
    Happy Anniversary, Davy! Your wife loves you very, very much.

God Bless Us Everyone

Merry Christmas!

The Birth of Jesus

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 

       (Luke 2:1-20, New International Version) 

It's Almost Here...

Merry Christmas!

and may all your memories be merry and bright this weekend. 

Another Carnival Submission!

This time, my Bakers Dozen tips for Christmas spending landed in the Festival of Frugality Carnival -- hooray!

Go here to learn more...and read a whole batch of posts on frugality and the holidays.

Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff

I've been collecting interesting things for you all week! And here they are...

*interesting items that reappeared after a tornado. Like letters, canceled checks, precious photos, etc...but miles away.


*a very disingenuous plea to have student loan forgiven. 100%. (You already know how I feel about this.)


*34 great gifts to make, thanks to Get Rich Slowly. (Don't miss out on the comments, with additional ideas.)

If you're not so good at that, 12 rules for 'regifting' what you already got. (I'd add another one: send your out-of-town relatives only the things you were given by local friends.) 

And if you think you've got it difficult, six pages of the Worst Christmas Gifts ever.  Don't miss page 5, with the 'european bathing suit' (a g-string) and 'Scottish shaving kilt' (with "Pebbles and BamBam hanging free") from Grandma. I laughed so hard, Charley came to check on me!


*how one woman saved on her budget -- by getting her Match.com dates to pay for restaurant meals. (And she's rather proud of it, too.)


*the worst financial advice your family and friends ever loaded on you. 

*10 of the stupidest things someone did for money. 

And finally, one of the more unusual historical discoveries I've ever heard about, discovered while on a kick to learn more about the Romans' occupation of various countries: chemical warfare used against the Romans...in A.D.256! (Loved The Eagle, about the Romans' presence in Great Britain  -- you would, too. Except my ancestors were probably on the 'savage' side.)

Bright blue sky with a 50-mile view, snowy mountains in three directions.The flu is hanging on a bit, but slowly getting the conclusion that I want it to Go Away. Guess I'll stay inside, work and rest another day.

                                HAPPY CHANUKAH!

Wanna Make A Bunch of (Swag)Bucks...Easy?

Not to mention swagbucks that can be exchanged for Amazon and other gift cards.

Here's how you do it. Scroll down to the Swagbucks 'widget' at the bottom of this page. Join up by pressing the button. When they ask you for a code, put in 'HOLIDAYSWAG'.

Bingo. Just like that, you've earned yourself a nice bonus -- and you're a quarter of the way toward a $5 Amazon gift card!

I have to look up a lot of things, for research. Swagbucks literally pays me to do this, by occasionally awarding the 'bucks.' You can get more by following their active codes... I'll often use this website to do it. For example, 'snowman' is currently worth 9 SB, if you type it in the code spot on the main page by 3 p.m. PST.

You can also do surveys or watch commercials, stuff like that, to earn SB...but I usually don't.

And I earn enough swagbucks for two $5 Amazon giftcards a month!

Swagbucks doesn't put on cookies, or viruses, or other nasty zingers. They just give you points that you can use to buy stuff. Good stuff. For things you'd be doing, anyways.

Take a look. Just scroll down. 

Sunday Fever

Flu is so much fun. Yep, the fever's still here. It spiked up and down all day, through the Broncos/Patriots massacre (and it wasn't us who did the massacreeing), trudging out to the library and grocery store, and even a last-minute trip to Wal-Mart for a tree stand and lights. (We couldn't find the boxes of Christmas decorations anywhere, though I'd swear they survived the Memorial Day flooding in the basement. They were in leakproof tubs. I'm guessing they're piled up in a corner somewhere...since we still have plenty of piled-up corners to clear away.) 
    The tree is up, and smelling deliciously of the outdoors.  I did manage to find our bubble lights, which have been a standard ever since I was little, staring at my grandma's tree.

(they look like this, and you can get them here)  


A garland or two, some tinsel and a few boxes of ornaments I snagged from a clearance sale last January. It doesn't matter whether the regular stuff is out or not -- I'm just glad to welcome a little more Christmas into the house.