Santa’s got his groove back
You want to know what I did yesterday?
I watched this about one hundred and forty-eight times.
It never gets old.
Author: Big Mama
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A story about a book
Listen.
I was so happy to know that so many of y’all could embrace my decorating woes yesterday. I knew marriage was going to take some work along the way, but I had no idea that part of the deal was learning how to decorate around what used to be an 800 pound animal.
But today I am totally shifting gears. Of course I have to give you a little back story because that’s what I do.
Four score and seven years ago, I was facing my second senior year as a student at Texas A&M. It actually wasn’t quite that long ago, but it feels like it. Especially because I aged twenty years last night alone as I helped Caroline learn her lines for the second grade Christmas program.
Anyway, I was a lost soul during that time. I’d had my heart broken, called off an engagement, continued to chase after meaningless things I thought might make me happy, and spent enough time at bar called The Tap that I had my own VIP card. And was proud of it.
But life was starting to wear me down. I was tired, confused, lonely and walked around feeling empty most of the time even though I had plenty of friends and the occasional class to keep me occupied. Not to mention, I was terrified about the future because most companies aren’t really lining up to hire the girl who graduates while on scholastic probation and I hadn’t met the right boy to marry and solve all my problems.
Around that time, my friend Jennifer told me I needed to go with her to a Bible study called Breakaway. And it is a sign of how desperate I felt that I actually said yes and agreed to go. I walked into First Baptist College Station that night with low expectations. I’d grown up in church and had been really involved in my church youth group once upon a time, but I had fallen so far away from all that. Honestly, I felt like I was too far gone. God couldn’t possibly want me now.
We sat towards the back of the sanctuary and I remember two things as vividly as if they happened yesterday. The first was the minute the worship leader began to sing, I began to cry. Like ugly cry. The second thing was a young guy named Gregg Matte walked on stage and began to talk about how we are called to be children of God and to shine like stars in the universe.
(That happens to be in Phillipians 2, by the way.)
But more than that, he talked about grace and mercy and how God loves us more than we could ever imagine. I don’t know that it was the first time I’d ever really heard about God’s grace and love, but it was without a doubt the first time I really grabbed a hold of it and decided not to let go.
Over the next few months I actually became friends with Gregg and all of his friends. They were unlike any group I’d ever known. They talked openly about their faith and made decisions based on what they felt like God was calling them to do. I loved spending time with them because, without even knowing it, they challenged me to be the person God intended me to be and to quit settling for less.
By watching Gregg lead his life, I learned what it means to seek God’s will for your life. I’d heard people talk about it, but I’d never seen it in action. Especially not with someone my age. I knew Gregg had graduated with a degree in Marketing but decided to stay at A&M and continue to lead Breakaway Bible Study. And this was at a time when the economy was actually thriving and big firms were waltzing into the business school and offering what seemed like fat sums of money to starving twenty-two-year-old college students. I’m sure there were people that thought he was crazy for making the decision he did, but he knew it was his calling. Breakaway ended up growing to become the largest college Bible study in the nation and there is no way to measure how many lives it has affected.
And, ultimately, Gregg not only pointed me closer to Jesus. He pointed me to my dear husband who likes to hang antelopes in our living room. After I moved to San Antonio in the fall of ’94, he suggested that I should get in touch with P because we were both lonely and friendless. And that’s how he ended up being part of our wedding party almost three years later, just two weeks after P had been an usher in his.
Gregg Matte is now the head pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church. He and his wife, Kelly, are dear friends to P and me even though our lives rarely allow us to ever see each other anymore. But they fall in that category of people you know are your people even when life is busy because they are the real deal. We have seen them live out their faith and face hard times and live with hearts that seek God with all that they have.
Which is part of why I am so excited to tell y’all that Gregg has written a book.
It’s called Finding God’s Will: Seek Him, Know Him, Take the Next Step. He sent me a copy right before Thanksgiving and it is just so good. He has always been one of the best storytellers and his voice rings out in this book. It’s such a great combination of personal stories combined with practical wisdom about how we can hear God in our lives and know where He’s leading us.
No matter where you are in your journey with God right now, Finding God’s Will has so much to offer. If you’ve walked with God for a long time, it will inspire you to seek Him more. If you’ve never known Him at all, it will show you who He is and what He’s created you for. It’s about living a life that matters, a life that says you want to make a difference, a life that God is calling you to, whether you’ve heard Him yet or not.
I cannot recommend it enough.
Seriously. You need to read this book. Or maybe you just know someone who needs to read this book. I happen to fall in both those categories.
Finding God’s Will by Gregg Matte is on sale for $13.59 at Amazon right now.
Oh! And what do you know! It’s also on sale online at Barnes and Noble or available at your local Barnes and Noble store.
My only regret for this post is that I can’t find the picture of Gregg fishing with P at the ranch about twenty years ago. I don’t know if the fish were biting, but there were plenty of mullets to be found.
Y’all have a great day.
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There’s no business like toe business
I am sitting here right now trying to come up with words for the weekend and feeling an enormous sense of accomplishment because I managed to make a fire in the fireplace all by myself. And, yes, our fireplace is a real fireplace that actually requires things like wood and kindling. I would be lying if I said that the whole scene doesn’t feel a little bit like something right out of Little House on The Prairie, assuming that Ma Ingalls lit her own fire and then sat on her couch while she watched the lights twinkle on her Christmas tree as she typed on her laptop.
So, when we last spoke or you last read or whatever, I mentioned that I’d nearly burned my house down in an attempt to microwave some mac and cheese and also possibly broken three of my toes. The update is my house still smells like the seventh circle of sulphuric hell, particularly when I use the microwave, and I’ve downgraded my injuries to just one broken toe. I feel certain it is broken because I kind of want to throw something across the room any time I step on it the wrong way combined with the fact that it is a lovely blue color with some black thrown in.
In spite of my toe injuries, however, life must go on. Although it is going on while I complain incessantly about my toe. Which kind of reminds me of how I was at the Compassion Bloggers’ Reunion dinner after Deeper Still and was going on and on about how HARD AND STRENUOUS it was to work the merch table and sell all those $2.00 t-shirts. Then Shaun Groves introduced me to Dan Woolley who happened to be sitting two seats away from me. For those of you who may not know, Dan was the Compassion employee who was trapped in an elevator shaft buried under rubble for sixty-five hours after the Haiti earthquake last year.
This is why I should just stay home and work on my fire-building techniques. I’m really not suited for public gatherings.
Anyway, I’d promised Caroline a month ago that I’d help chaperone her class field trip to the Witte Museum and even though I was in a lot of pain and at a complete loss as to appropriate footwear, I knew that just like they say in the entertainment industry, the toe must go on.
(I am so sorry. I could not help myself.)
I hobbled my way around the museum looking at all the animal habitats and bug exhibits while Caroline basically acted like she didn’t care one way or the other if I was there. And I spent most of my time realizing that I’ve always been bored by most types of science and that my tall brown boots were a bad choice.
After the field trip was over, I went back to Caroline’s classroom because I’d volunteered to watch the class while her teacher attended the teachers’ holiday luncheon. Before she left the classroom, the teacher asked everyone if they learned anything at the museum that morning. Every hand went up except for Caroline. She said, “Caroline? You didn’t learn anything this morning?”
“Nothing I didn’t already know before I went.”
I’m not sure how we’re going to survive the next fifteen plus years of formal education.
Eventually all my field trip/chaperone/volunteer duties were over and it was time to get ready for the annual Christmas shopping weekend. Mimi and Bops picked up Caroline around 3:30 and I spent the next hour icing my toe and popping Advil in preparation for Gulley and me to hit the mall.
By the time Gulley got to my house I was all psyched up on the rush of adrenaline that comes with the prospect of shopping and temporary freedom from motherhood. I felt like my toe and I were invincible. And we were. Until I got to the entire other side of the mall from where Gulley and I had parked and realized I was actually in a lot of pain.
Poor Gulley ended up having to haul my large packages and her own through the mall as I pitifully hobbled back to Dillards. A lady in Sephora even stopped Gulley to tell her she felt sorry for her that she had to carry so many large bags. Which made us completely hysterical.
And that was the theme for the rest of the weekend. We were completely hysterical. I can’t even count the number of times I laughed until I cried. We covered topics from the PTO to her recent trip to Vegas to Brett Favre to our fear of sending text messages to the wrong person to playing blackjack to how no one is really sad when your pet dies except for you. There was also a moment on Saturday night when Sophie texted me to ask if we’d heard that Will Muschamp had left Texas to take the head coaching job at Florida. Gulley and I admittedly got a little high on schadenfreude.
I’m just being honest.
Anyway, by the time we finished shopping on Saturday we’d visited just about every store in the San Antonio area with a significant portion dedicated to the aisles of Target. We were exhausted but thrilled at the accomplishment of being finished with our Christmas shopping and headed back to my house to wrap all the gifts.
We wrapped and talked and laughed and eventually discovered that VH-1 was airing Top 100 Songs of the 90’s. I don’t think I need to tell you that it felt like the programming team at VH-1 reached into our very souls at that moment. And so we continued to wrap (and sometimes rap) as we listened to the songs that were the music of our lives as we survived college, found jobs, wore denim vests with wrap skirts, mended broken hearts, learned that wine shouldn’t come out of a box, discovered Ross and Rachel, and eventually met our husbands and got married.
My only regret of the weekend is that we finally wore out and went to bed around 2:40 a.m. after discovering that M.C. Hammer’s Can’t Touch This was number sixteen on the list. Gulley had already fallen asleep on the couch so she asked me the next morning, “What was the number one song of the 90’s?” And I had to admit that we hadn’t made it.
And now we’ll never know.
I’d be willing to be money that Sir Mix-A-Lot made it to the top ten though.
So that was the weekend.
It was good.
Now I’m going to go take more Advil and get some ice for my toe while I sit in the glow of the fire I built with my own two hands, several pieces of wood, and more lighter fluid than is probably safe.
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Today is the Christmas Tour of Homes over at the Nester’s blog. I guarantee there will be tons of gorgeous homes to check out. I didn’t do a post because all my stuff looks the same as last year and it seemed redundant. However, here is my post from last year in case you’re new and are overwhelmed with curiosity.
There is a chance to win a $200 gift card from BlogHer as part of a new Chef Boyardee program. Click over to my giveaway page to leave a comment for a chance to win.
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Fashion Friday: Edition emphasis on the sweater
Last night we went to eat dinner with some friends. Caroline wanted to change clothes because she believes strongly in the importance of dressing for each individual occasion. Probably because she doesn’t bear any responsibility for the laundry.
She came out in an array of clothing layers and said, “The only problem is I’m not sure how to wear my sequined beanie.”
Well. Isn’t that something we all struggle with?
I’m just glad that my little Rachel Zoe didn’t feel like a sequined beanie might be a little excessive for a night of eating chalupas with friends. In the words of Clairee Belcher, “the only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize”.
Which would be a great lead in if I were talking about accessories today. But I’m really not. Today’s focus seems to inadvertently be on sweaters and tunics.
Now I would not advocate wearing this as a dress. Unless you look like the model. And, even then, it’s questionable.
However, with some leggings or skinny jeans? Perfect.
2. Annie Grace linen tunic
I love this for several reasons, but the most important is that it is not bound by any season. Pair it with a long sleeve black shirt, leggings and boots and you have a winter outfit.
Lose the long sleeve tee and wear it with leggings and flats and you have a spring outfit.
No matter what, it’s very cute.
3. She’s A Classic sweater jacket
I’m a big fan of things you can just throw on with jeans and this falls squarely in that category. Plus it’s on sale.
Rinse and repeat everything I said in #3.
5. Free People Canopy cardigan
Oh, I do love this. Love, love, love. I’m adding this to my Christmas list. Or my list of things I’ll spend my Christmas money on if I don’t find it under the tree.
6. Fair Isle Cowl Tunic sweater
This is so versatile. It can be dressed up, dressed down, worn as a sweater dress with leggings, or worn as a tunic.
7. Sequined jersey scarf
Boden has so many cute things on sale for 50% off right now. I love this scarf because it’s functional and comfortable with a little bit of bling to keep it interesting.
I may have just described myself.
This falls under the category of something I need in every color because I’d wear one every single day. It’s a foundational piece that could be the workhorse of any closet.
I don’t even know what I’m saying.
Again with the cardigan. I sense a trend.
Or an obsession.
And now we’re to #10. What happened to the pictures? Wow. I am the worst Fashion Friday poster ever.
Anyway, Forever 21 has a lot of bracelets and I love a good bracelet in theory. Although in reality they usually start to get on my nerves after about 10 minutes. But, still, they look good while they last.
Don’t forget to check out the gift guide I posted yesterday in case you missed it. It’s very comprehensive and thoroughly exhausting.
Now I’m off to spend my weekend Christmas shopping. And with the way my toe is feeling, I’ll be the one riding one of those scooters through the mall.
Y’all have a good Friday.
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It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a gift guide!
Before I even begin with all the holiday cheer and what not, my Achilles and I want to thank you for all your recommendations. I’d also like to say that an ice pack on your foot is a tad chilly in the dead of winter. Or late fall. Since, technically, it’s not winter time until December 21.
I also wanted to state for the record that Gulley is pronounced like gully washer or the semi-famous movie from 1992, FernGully: The Last Rainforest. It’s actually her maiden name and what I called her all through college and still call her to this very day.
Lastly, I just want to let you all know that wrote most of this earlier in the day. And in the last hour I have managed to walk right into the claw foot of my iron bathtub. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any shoes on at the time. On the bright side, it’s the same foot as my Achilles problems so I can now consolidate all the icing of my injuries.
Then, since I’ve possibly broken three of my toes and P is gone hunting for the evening, Caroline makes me an ice pack and cooks her own dinner of Kraft mac and cheese. Bless her heart.
But then she decided she wanted more mac and cheese. So she put another thing of it in the microwave. I’m not sure what happened, but all of a sudden she yelled, “MAMA! THERE IS SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE MICROWAVE!”
Sure enough, there was smoke coming out of the microwave. And this is what we found when we opened up the microwave door.
I think it was finished.
(Please tell me you see the smoke in the picture.)
And thus I spent the rest of the evening icing the front and back of my foot while airing out the house because the smell. MY WORD THE SMELL.
P came in from hunting and declared that our house smelled like a Spurs game. And I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean that as a good thing.
So. A gift guide. I can’t guarantee that you’re going to find anything useful on this list, but you might and I think that’s what really counts. I tried to find an assortment of ideas at various price points in the hopes there is something for all budgets.
Gulley’s mama gave me this mug over the summer and I couldn’t wait until it cooled down so I could drink hot choffee out of it every morning. And that’s exactly what I’ve done ever since the weather has decided to cooperate.
I love the way it looks and that it’s big enough to provide enough room to properly mix my coffee with my hot chocolate. And I immediately handwash it after I use it each morning because I discovered I felt sad if it spent any time in the dishwasher.
2. Herald Angel candleholder
I realize this is a Christmas decoration and some people may not like to give Christmas decorations as Christmas gifts. But I am not one of those people. I am a fan of both the giving and receiving of Christmas decor for Christmas. Especially when it’s this pretty.
3. Hummingbird Lavender gift set
I put this on just about every list because I adore it and don’t know how I’d live without the lavender in my life. The lotion? LOVE. The shower gel? P gets cranky and itchy when we run out.
And this spa treatment? I added it to my bath yesterday and my skin actually yelled THANK YOU.
4. Clothbound Penguin Classics for Children
I want to get every single one of these for Caroline. They are so beautiful and will look great displayed on her bookshelves whenever we’re not actually reading them. One or two of these would make a perfect gift for any little girls you have in your life.
Seriously. Look at The Secret Garden.
Makes me so happy.
Or a goat. Or vaccinations. Or clean water. Or farming equipment.
There are so many different ways you can give a gift through Compassion and make a difference in someone’s life.
These are almost too pretty to use every day, but I’d use them anyway.
I am such a fan of Red Letter Words. There isn’t really a canvas that I wouldn’t love to have, but this is my current favorite.
Maybe it’s because I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two days with ice on my foot, but these just look plain old cozy. I’d even wear them to the HEB.
The colors in this scarf are so pretty and would complement just about anyone’s wardrobe. And who doesn’t love a new scarf?
10. Flannel pajamas
Listen. I will never get tired of new pajamas. They are one of my favorite things. Which makes me wonder why I spend so much time in random flannel pajama bottoms and a Diamond Darlings Christmas Formal 1992 sweatshirt. It seems like maybe I should upgrade to something that matches.
11. From Head to Foot: All of you living all for Him
My friend, Annie Downs, wrote this book and it just released this week. First of all, I am so dang proud of her that I can hardly stand it.
Secondly, if you have a tween (isn’t that what they call them these days?) or a teen or a young twenty-something in your life, then you need to get them this book for Christmas. It’s about focusing on what God has given you and living for Him.
There is not a vampire to be found in the entire thing. Just wanted to make sure you knew that because I believe that makes it an exception among books that are currently on the market for teenagers.
12. Cavallini Daily Planner
This would be so much prettier and more fashionable than my current 2011 planner that consists of forty-two different post-it notes stuck all over my desk.
13. Meselu scarf
A scarf that helps women in Africa support their families? YES, PLEASE.
I think the post-it notes are starting to get to me because I am drawn to the calendars like a teenage girl to Justin Beiber.
There are so many different ones to choose from depending on your calendar needs and what your people may prefer. Like this personalized version or this one with a different scripture for each month.
I know you’re thinking they aren’t as classy as a mass of post-it notes, but what is?
I’ve had my eye on various necklaces with skeleton keys. This one is exceptionally great.
I don’t know how to make coffee. And, furthermore, I don’t want to know how to make coffee because then it would become one of my chores and why would I want to make coffee when P makes it every morning and leaves me just enough for my hot choffee?
The only time this has ever been a problem is when I have visitors over and they want coffee and I have to tell them TOO BAD.
Anyway, P has had an assortment of coffee makers over the years, but is go-to coffee apparatus is the French Press. He claims it makes a better cup of coffee for the coffee purist.
All I know is it tastes delicious when you mix it with some Ghiradelli Double Chocolate hot chocolate mix.
17. Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Bark
Speaking of being a purist, you might prefer to make homemade treats for your neighbors and co-workers and sanitation employees. And so do I. My kitchen cranks out enough toffee during Christmas time that I could give Willy Wonka a run for his money.
(That may be a slight exaggeration.)
But a few years ago, P found Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark on sale and ordered like six cases of it because P loves to order himself some items in bulk. I mocked him endlessly and was slightly annoyed that we’d spent a chunk of money on peppermint bark. And then I ate more than half of it all by myself because it is so incredibly delicious. It is the King Daddy of peppermint bark.
We also had a dear friend send us one of these Giant Caramel Apples last year and I wasn’t sure what I thought about a giant caramel apple. It intimidated me with its largeness and caramelness. And then I tried it and OH MY WORD it is so right and good.
I love these watches. I love that they’re cheap. I love that they come in every color of the rainbow.
19. Gold Houndstooth coat
Boden has a ton of stuff marked down to 50% off right now, but this coat calls out to me. And it is majorly on sale.
Spellcheck is trying to tell me that “majorly” isn’t a word. To which I say, spellcheck hasn’t seen that coat.
20. Cuisinart 11-cup food processor
Gulley would tell me that I am a fool for wishing for something as practical as a Cuisinart 11-cup food processor. She’d say it’s a slippery slope that will lead to a Christmas where I receive power tools or a vacuum cleaner.
But I have long wanted a large food processor for all the chopping and shredding and grating and this one is way on sale at Macy’s right now. If this all ends with me getting a dremel tool for Christmas someday, then so be it.
21. Amazing Grace necklace from Rusted Chain
There are so many pretty necklaces and charms that it’s hard to choose. I’m partial to this Amazing Grace one because I am in need of much grace.
22. Old Gringo cowboy boots
You know those Zales commercials or whatever where they talk about how women just want jewels for Christmas? Those women have obviously not seen these cowboy boots. These are pure romance.
23. Sock monkey hat and mittens
Caroline is past the point of wearing a sock monkey hat and mittens, but I think these are so darling if you happen to have some little ankle biters in your life.
24. Fearfully and wonderfully made soldered pendant
Oh, the jewelry. What did we do before Etsy and the like? Love this.
See? This is the way to go with jewelry. It’s sparkly and pretty and elegant. And inexpensive enough that maybe you could swing this and some cowboy boots.
26. Macbook Pro and a cute case
Okay, yes. EXTRAVAGANT. But sometimes you have to go big or go home. This would be on the top of my personal wish list this year. It doesn’t mean it will happen. In fact, it most likely won’t happen unless Steve Jobs decides he wants to send me a personal gift this year. Yet a girl likes to dream.
And that is all for this year. Unless I come up with something else.
Happy shopping.
I’ll just be here icing my foot and burning Kraft mac and cheese.
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Not to be confused with her cousin, Leather
I started to write a post full of gift suggestions for the holidays, but it turns out that’s a lofty task when you don’t begin until 9:30 p.m. Especially after you haven’t slept well for the last three or six nights and are a wee bit tired.
Then I accidentally got caught up in an old episode of Happy Days where Fonzie and Pinky Tuscadero are in a demolition derby and Pinky gets hurt and ends up in the hospital. I can’t even express how much I wanted to be Pinky Tuscadero when I was little. She was just so cool and Fonzie really loved her and I always thought they’d end up together. I don’t know that there is a better role model for a young girl than a vivacious redhead who wears pink short-shorts and regularly participates in demolition derbys against the Mallachi brothers.
So I have no gift suggestions to offer you at the moment and P hasn’t even begun his list of gift suggestions yet and I don’t know when or if that will happen but I guarantee it won’t be before my outdoor lights are hung. I’m holding out hope the lights will happen sooner rather than later though because he mowed the yard yesterday which felt like a step in the right direction.
And speaking of lights, I have blown another fuse on the Christmas tree and, as of this writing, it is only half lit. I keep telling myself it’s not such a bad little tree, Charlie Brown, but it looks a little sad. I’d do something about it but I don’t really trust myself around electricity.
In other news completely unrelated to lights or Christmas, I seem to have incurred some type of injury to my Achilles tendon. So my Achilles heel is literally my Achilles heel. I could barely walk when I got out of bed yesterday morning which actually served as a great excuse to do nothing until around noon when the Advil and ice seemed to kick in. I’m not sure what else to do about it, but I know it needs to get better fast because this weekend is the annual Gulley and Mel Christmas shopping weekend and I’m going to need to be mobile.
(I don’t know why I just referred to myself in the third person just then.)
If anyone has any suggestions on what I should do about my tendon issue, I’d appreciate it. Just please refrain from any comments along the lines of “My cousin had that one time and it totally blew out and then he died.” I can go to a place of fear quite nicely all by myself. It’s a gift, really.
And if anyone has any great gift suggestions for Christmas, feel free to leave them in the comments. I’m always looking for great ideas.
And I posted this on Twitter yesterday but will repeat it here for those of you who aren’t on the Twitter. If you want a great mix of Christmas music, go to Pandora and put in Sixpence None The Richer (Holiday Mix). It will make you fourteen kinds of happy. I can’t take credit for this discovery, however, since one of you mentioned it in the comments last week.
I believe that is all.
Except I just wanted to tell you my Achilles tendon really hurts.
All my love,
Pinky Tuscadero________________________________________________
Remember, if you’re interested in some cute Christmas cards and saving 25% off your order, click on over to my review page and read all about the Little Card Company.
Also, the NFL Take it to the House program is over today. Click here to read all about it.
