Hey, Bathroom Lady & Polluted Air, this is for you!

This is an excerpt from the latest post from Heather Armstrong's blog, Dooce. She is writing to her 4 year old daughter, Leta.

"Mostly, I am excited that this baby will have you as an older sister, and not just because you will both need someone to call to complain about the fact that your parents are nuts. Sure, there will be times when you'll both try to kill each other either through physical brutality or embarrassment, but I know that at some point this baby is going to look up to you and think you are the coolest thing that ever walked on the planet. And while there is no way to predict the lasting dynamic of a relationship between siblings, I can only hope that you will have with this one what I have with my own, a bond so strong that it doesn't even matter that we have nothing but our parents in common. They are lifelines, people who were there, who were witnesses to everything that made me who I am, and I am the same for them in return. Is the relationship perfect? No, but we all know that we would sacrifice anything for each other, and one of the many reasons we decided to have another child was to give you the possibility of that friendship."

Merry Christmas, I love ya!

Thank You, Laura!

I got my Swap goodies today! I was so excited to see this nice surprise on my front porch. I discovered after coming home from dropping off Laura's treats at the Bethelehem, GA post office. It was a mob scene. The TV news was out there. Crazy. The Bethlehem post office is the closest to me, I use it all year long. But lots of people drive to this tiny little place just to get the Bethlehem postmark on their Christmas cards.

But I digress...

(Laura, when you get your box you are going to think I copied you with the note, but I promise I didn't.)

I got a beautifully written recipe for Hot White Chocolate in a velvet stocking, an adorable box with Santa on top and chocolates inside, some popcorn, a cute Noel decoration, a sleeve of Girl Scout Thin Mints (Laura, never apologize for not having homemade when you are sending GS cookies), spiced cider, a Yankee Candle tart in Christmas Berries scent and some super cute Christmas notecards.

I cannot wait to see what everyone else has been working on! The deadline is Wednesday.

I suck because I have not blogged in forever.

We had a great Thanksgiving and it was so great to see my Gram. She came over to my house and I made lunch for her & my mom. I made a version of Leslie's tortellini soup. Actually, Leslie's soup has raviolis in it so I turned it into tortellini soup. I also made a pear & blueberry cobbler. I invited my neigbor, Miss Mary, over to meet Gram & have dessert with us.

That was really nice. Mary is 87 and lives alone across the street from me. Her son used to live with her but he died of cancer last year. So we have adopted her and she has adopted us. She takes her voting very seriously too. She told me that the first time she voted was for JFK. I asked her if she ever thought that she would see a Black president in her lifetime. And she told me that it never crossed her mind, that she didn't know that it is possible. Mary is African-American and I cannot imagine what she has seen in her lifetime.

Anyway, it was wonderful to have gram here for Thanksgiving. I only wish that we lived closer.

I want to know- Where is my Christmas Spirit? I have none. I am trying so hard to get that feeling but I just can't. My mind refuses to believe that Christmas is 2 1/2 weeks away. I am playing the music & movies that I love and I have decorated the house but still nothing. I will be glad when 2008 is over. Hopefully 2009 will be a good year.

Winter Holiday Swap emails were sent out this evening. If for some reason you sent me an email saying you wanted to participate but did not get an email back from me, please let me know.

I hope everyone has fun with this. Once you receive your goodies, post your Thanks on your blog along with some pictures if you would like.