"This" Santa's Butt Is Tired!

Seems like the only one's listening to this "Santa" (aka me) is myself and my furry friends. No, those are not my furry friends pictured above. Mine would be too busy either walking across the keyboard while I'm trying to work, or coughing up a hair ball on some document I have just finished. Although that can't happen now, because my wonderful printer, the nice expensive one I've loved and had for awhile decided to commit suicide. Perfect time of year, you know, I really didn't want to print any pictures for some of my Christmas gifts! I bought a cheap printer, and just need to hook it up, all is not lost. I always have some things done as well! Most of the shopping is done, of course NOTHING is wrapped. Think I bought all the food that I was supposed to have for Christmas day. Of course I still need to clean, along with about ten other things. And the best yet, I get to work at Country Roads tomorrow. Wow, I can hardly wait. There is this "awesome" Christmas song that you may sometimes hear while shopping at Country Roads during the holidays. It is MY favorite, seriously. ISo if you get offended easily, then maybe don't read the lyrics, seriously! Here goes, my favorite song by Ben Folds Five!!

"The Bizzare Christmas Incident"

(Ho, ho, ho...Play it Grandpa...Yeah, play it...Let's tell them a little story
about what happened this Christmas.... Yeah, tell them... tell 'em 'bout
Christmas)

Christmas Eve, I didn't get much sleep
I kept hearing things, heavy breathing from the chimney
Who could it be?

(I'll tell you what it was... What happened then, Ben?... Yeah, what
happened?... Well, I went back to sleep... You went back to sleep? Back to
sleep? Shit... Tired man, went back to sleep)

And in the morning, I couldn't believe my eyes
A whale of a corpe with a long white beard
Was dangling over the fire

oh, Santa he's a big fat f*ck
Went down the chimney got his fat ass stuck
Oh, honey, call the lawyers fast
'Cause Mrs. Clause is gonna sue my ass
hey, hey, hey

(Ok grandpa, step up, sing in this thing right here, tell 'em what you saw,
tell 'em what you saw grandpa)

I gotta tell you folks,
He wasn't wearin no clothes
He musta rubbed a whole gallon of Crisco oil
from his back down to his toes
While I was talking to the cops outside
The dog was lickin Crisco off of his thighs
They hauled him away in a double-wide
What a sad, sad way to die
Hey, hey, hey

Santa, he's a big, fat f*ck
went down the chimney, got his fat ass stuck
oh, honey call the lawyers fast,
Mrs. Claus is gonna sue our ass!!

So, with that said, I best tackle the rest of my assigned Christmas chores. I REALLY need to do something with the naked Christmas tree, or at least hide the black trash bag it's sitting on!

White Wednesday

This "White Wednesday" finds me ready to just go to SLEEP maybe for a few days, at least! I don't know exactly what it is about this past year, but it has really kicked my butt and as we get closer to the year ending, I'm feeling it more than ever! My oldest, Brande, just got home tonight after touring with the band Arcade Fire in Europe. Brande has been gone since before Thanksgiving, nice to have her home. She does the fundraising end of it for the band, and has been gone so it was great to have her home tonight. We grabbed a bite to eat at CPK after I got off work. I also realized tomorrow is my last day to mail out my Christmas cards, or they will turn into "after Christmas" cards. I'm just now starting to think of some changes for me in our new year that is just around the corner, days away. I have finally "accepted" I am only one person and cannot do it all. So, I'm trying to plan next year that might involve a little bit more "me" time. Okay, done whining, sorry. That is what happens to be when I'm overly tired. Below are some pictures from one of my most favorite stores ever, Country Roads. Here's what caught my eye this week!








Please go over and check out Kathleen's beautiful blog and all the other links to "White Wednesday" posts! I wish you all the merriest of Christmas' and I have this stupid thing I believe in. It goes something like "it's not about what is ON the Christmas dining table, but WHO is sitting around that table". I apologize for posting with only one last brain cell of the day left, but I do want to wish all of our "WW" bloggers a very cheerful, simple, and loving Christmas! Take care!

Monday Morning Frustrations!

I've worked the past three days had our chilly store, Country Roads. Today, I have a ton of paperwork to do. And let's not mention anything about all the Christmas stuff that still isn't done, and also the fact that is raining. So it appears its going to be a wet, frustrating day. I have a really good printer, a Xerox Phaser. It wasn't cheap, but its heavy duty sense I do all my own printing, etc. The only thing I HATE about this printer is that when something needs to be replaced, like ink for example, it doesn't tell you. It just won't print. This morning, when I have lots of work to do as I mentioned above, it decides it is going to jam all the paper and gives me some "code" as to what is wrong. I won't complain anymore, but I'm not a happy camper right now with all I have to do. With my moaning and groaning aside, I hope all of you are having a wonderful day as we prepare for the big "C" on Saturday. So, in case you were looking for some last minute gifts, thought I'd share a few photos from one of my favorite stores to shop at, Country Roads. And we will be open until five in the evening on Christmas Eve day!





Above are just a few of the great things we have at Country Roads right now. Seriously, you can find some great Christmas gifts without having to fight the crowds at the shopping malls. Take care.

Country Roads Randomness

Just think, next Sunday morning when we wake up, all the Christmas craziness and prepping will be over. The only reason I mention this, is that my Christmas tree still has the "natural" look to it and is still sitting on a black trash bag in my family room. I have a few decorations out, but nothing like last year. For those of you still searching for that perfect gift, something different, outside of the box, then you need to come see us at Country Roads! You are bound to find something in our 12,000 square feet of "stuff"! And we also have the garden out back filled with outdoor plants and gardening stuff as well. Since I'm on this "no free time" schedule lately, here are just a few of some of the things that caught my eye yesterday while working at "the store"!







Since it is raining out, I'm hoping all of you that were headed to the Vet's Flea Market may stop by and see us! I swear, some of our prices are as good, if not better, than the flea markets. Happy Sunday to you all! Take care.

Come Christmas Shop With CR!!

As you step inside or little front door, it opens to a huge selection of awesome "stuff" on the inside! I still think Country Roads is the perfect place to shop. You can buy a gift that is unique, different and just may be carrying a little bit of history with it as well. Back to our front door story. Yesterday, Bryce took down a fall/winter display and put together this awesome Christmas display. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas magic at Country Roads courtesy of my boy Bryce!





I had a little bit of time yesterday to stroll through and take some pictures. I say this all the time, but some of the displays that our Country Roads family puts together are totally amazing. Cindy Finch blew me away yesterday when I saw what she had been up to! Three large areas in the store, a complete makeover that is just so eye catching. I'll have that post up in a few days. I hope you come by and see us for all of your holiday needs. We will be open for the next seven days, including Christmas Eve day from 10am to 5pm. We look forward to seeing you. And you might want to bring a jacket since the temperature inside Country Roads yesterday didn't get over 63 degrees! These old buildings (ours is 1919) don't come with heat and obviously back in the days they were built, the word "insulation" I don't think was used much. Hey, cool weather, better for shopping. Happy Holidays!!

The "Middle" Child

Katie came into the world screaming at the top of her lungs at 1:19 am on a cold, early winter morning! What better Christmas gift could any Mom ever wish for? When it was time for us to go home, the nurses took my little "Katie Noel" and wrapped her up all warm and snuggly, and sent her home in this Christmas stocking! And "in a blink of an eye" you will see below how fast my "middle" child has grown up!!








I look at all the pictures above, and "in the blink of an eye" my "middle" child is all grown up! What I love best about MY family is that we are the good, the bad, and the ugly at times, but at the end of the day we truly are FAMILY! Happy Birthday Katie, and it goes without saying, but just thought I would remind her how very much her Mom loves her. I know many of you have seen the lyrics to Zach Gill's song, "Family" on my blog before, but I just wanted to post them again today in honor of the "middle" child birthday!!

"She was feeling you tide-burn
Cause her family was wearing on her nerves
She was tired of fighting and feeling frustrated
Finding it hard to relate to those of whom she was related
You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family

Generation to generation it gets passed on
And then one day, those who would passing well they passed on
Pulling back the covers, her heart will start to shudder when she realizes how deep it all went
Trying to forgive what was said, but was never really meant

Well you know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean.
But that don't mean we're not still family.
Pull out of the shadows and find out that eventually
It's all bad, it's all good baby can't you see
That we all, well we all, well we all are still family

I was there from the moment that you were born
And I've loved you since I heard your first cries
And I know we won't always be getting along
But I promise you that I will always try
You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family

You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family

You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family"!

Time?

Like the picture above, I wish I could just take all the "hands" of all the clocks and slow time down just a little bit. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm tired! Woke up this morning with the worse headache ever, and realized I was out of my favorite drug of choice, Excedrin! So, off I went in our really cold weather (it was 51 which is FREEZING for us here in SoCal) to the drug store. I must say, I feel just "dandy" now that I've scored my drug of choice! Here are just a few random pictures I found some "time" to take the other day at Country Roads.








Even within the past few days, when I took some of the photos above, we now have even more great merchandise that has been brought into "the store". That's what I love about Country Roads, "always your favorite, never the same"! With all that said, I guess I better find some time to at least add water to my undecorated, naked Christmas tree before the natural look turns into the dry, brown "dead" look. Happy Holidays!!