Don't Try This At Home

Did I Mention . . . ?

Did I mention that something insanely huge is coming on January 4, 2007?

I didn't?

Well, it is. It's coming. And I know about it. And Shannon knows about it. And Jules knows about it (though she may not be rubbing it in like the rest of us). And? You'll have to wait. For just a few more days.

OK, it's not insanely huge.

It's very cool though.

And it will be big.

Stay tuned...

A Little Charity

My buddy Kelly over at Pass the Torch is quite a lady. She encourages us to catch our children being great and doing what's right with her weekly Pass the Torch Tuesday carnival. This week Kelly is also raising money for St. Jude's. If you are so inclined (and I hope you are), please go over and leave a comment on this post.

Kelly's corporate sponsor has pledged to donate $1 to St. Judes for each comment on this post (up to $500). As I write this post Kelly has 128 responses. Let's meet that 500 comment goal! Don't forget to tell her Chili sent you.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday. Enjoy your families today and laugh a lot! Here's a little something to get you started. Remember, I told you I'm an elf.

Don't forget to come back and leave me a little comment.

Peace Out

Peace out, y'all. I'm out of of time, out of wrapping paper, and most decidedly out of patience. We are spending Christmas with extended family and it all starts Saturday. We're so excited we can barely contain ourselves!

Check back on Christmas day (or the day after, really, since I'm sure you have better things to do on Christmas than check blogs!) because I do have a special auto-post.

Happy Holidays, my friends. Enjoy your family and friends. May you laugh your socks right off your feet.

Fall Into Reading Challenge: Update

Katrina at Callapidder Days created the Fall Into Reading Challenge and asked us to join her in making reading lists and goals for this past autumn. Of course, the deadline was yesterday and as usual I'm late. She's doing a recap over at her site if you would like to see how everyone did and what everyone read. Katrina has also asked all the participants post a wrap-up, so here we go.

• The best book you read this Fall: Jewel by Brett Lott. The writing was really the draw for this book. The story was also interesting, but the writing was just entrancing. I had just finished reading a similar story (The Memory Keeper's Daughter) that was just horribly written. Mr. Lott brought this story alive. Thanks to Shannon for suggesting we read it together.

I also enjoyed reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo to my kids. It's a great read-aloud with very short chapters. My kids were begging for "just one more!" every night. We haven't started another read-aloud and we should. Perhaps DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

• The book you could have lived without: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult. I felt it was disjointed and contrived. One of my commenters mentioned she thought the ending was a cop-out and I totally agree. I involuntarily cried at the ending, but I really didn't feel terribly invested in the characters--it was just a horrible situation and the ending was a slap in the face.

• Did you read more than you would have without the challenge?: I don't think so. I have been part of a monthly book club for the last eight years and I just quit in September. I didn't miss my reading group, but was already used to reading at least one book a month. I have really enjoyed just reading the books I want to read and my list just keeps growing!
  

• The best thing about joining in the challenge: I think the Reading Challenge encouraged me to keep my list on my blog and make me accountable. There is something about seeing that list every day and knowing other people can see whether you're reading or not. At the end of the day, though, I'm a reader and I'm going to read. I'm not a fast reader, unfortunately, and my book lists and goals far outweigh my time.

• Did you discover (and enjoy) a new book or author after reading someone else's list?: Yes. Many people read my reading list and suggested I add The Time Traveler's Wife to it. I did and I'm so glad. I actually went into the book deciding to hate it because so many people loved it! How contrary is that? But I loved it. I thought it was terribly intriguing and I had such respect for the author because just writing a novel like that would take incredible organizational skillz and I bow to that.

• Any other insights, enjoyments, thoughts, or impressions: My list is nowhere near complete--meaning I have not read all the books on my list. I knew when I started I had been ridiculously ambitious. However, I am still motivated to read the books listed on my sidebar and just because the challenge has ended, I don't think I'll take my list down. In fact, I've added books to it.

I joined Paperback Book Swap (PBS) this summer, but only recently started participating. It's an amazing community where you post the books you are willing to send out and you earn credits. You use these credits to "buy" other books. The bottom line is this: You only pay to ship your books. If someone asks for you to send them a book YOU pay to ship it. When you have a book credit, you can ask for someone's book and THEY pay to ship it to you. That's it. No strings. With media mail that's about $2.50 tops (if it's a heavy book).

If you use the link above or the link on my sidebar, they'll know I sent you and I'll get a book credit once you get set up and list nine books (everyone has to list nine books to get their first three credits).

I've sent out two books and I've already received one. I have five others coming. These books are in excellent condition and they're free. All of the books are from my reading list over there on my sidebar. I almost think it's better than the library because I get to keep the book as long as I want or re-list it on PBS. The only problem is that i L-O-V-E the library (which is an entirely different post).

Count me in for the Spring Challenge, Katrina!

Secular Boomwhackers!

Remember how Antique Mommy outed me as the next secular handbell sensation? Scrap that. I still love the idea of the handbells, but HERE'S what I think my real calling is: secular boomwhackers. It'll be sweeping the nation y'all.

Seriously. How cool is this? And how in world did they ever figure it out? Makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.

I'd be in their band, though, and serve the margaritas. Maybe I'm just supposed to be the secular boomwhacker roadie?

Could You Repeat That?

This time of year it's hard not to have Christmas memories of some sort, isn't it? One of my favorites is when my brother was about six. He wanted with all his heart a Snoopy Scooter Shooter.

Waaaaay back then, in 1978, our little town did not have a mall. Instead Santa was usually swinging a bell for The Sal and you could pretty much tell him what you wanted whenever and wherever you saw him: the drug store, town square, the grocery store, etc. This was convenient because at that age we were usually out with our mom shopping or running errands.

One day we went to the grocery store and Santa asked my brother what he wanted for Christmas.

"A Snoopy Scooter Shooter!" he replied with all the enthusiasm his six-year-old body could muster (which was a lot).

"A Noopy Nooter Nooter?" Santa replied.

(Now may be a good time to mention that Santa was, um, "challenged". And though we are horribly PC these days, we were not back in good ole 1978. Let us resume.)

"No. I want a Snoopy Scooter Shooter, please," said my brother trying to be patient.

"A Noopy Nooter Nooter."

"NO! A Snoopy Scooter Shooter!"

"A Noopy Nooter Nooter."

"NO!  I. WANT. A. SNOOPY. SCOOTER. SHOOTER. You know, the one with Snoopy? And his motorcycle shoots like this? (hand gestures; Santa nods and smiles) That's what I want. A Snoopy Scooter Shooter."

"A Noopy Nooter Nooter."

At this point my mother is in the fetal position because she is laughing so hard and my brother just shakes his head and walks away. Aahhh, Christmas in Small Town, Oklahoma. Good times.

Go Hogs! Take Two

That last stocking for Mrs. Too-pretty-and-smart-oh-my-god-do-her-legs-ever-end did not turn out so well. In fact, it actually ended up in the trash. Oh yes it did. Never fear, though, if I learned nothing else as I child growing up in the 70s and watching Mighty Mouse it was to try, try again. What? That made no sense? So what? It's my blog. I don't have to make sense. (PS: This is me as my happy sassy Christmas self. Which clearly is different from my rest-of-the-year self.)

And segue to cute stocking.

This is the product of my Sunday afternoon. A much better Arkansas tribute if I do say so myself.

Max gifted his teacher with it this morning and she loved it. Of course she's so young and perky how can one really tell? She appears to love everything and everyone. In a good way. She's just so darn adorable.

Overheard

Wild Thing was going through our books to see which ones we'd keep and which ones we'd donate.

"Here ya go Dad! You can give this one to Big Wilt!"
"What?" I asked. "Who's Big Wilt?"
"You know. That guy we give all our stuff to that we don't want. Big Wilt."
"Do you mean Good Will?"
"Oh. I thought it was Big Wilt."

Y'all. You all! She's killin' me.

The GB&G List OR The BB&G List

Which one are you? GB&G or BB&G? For the uninitiated, that's Good Boy & Girl or Bad Boy & Girl. And for the really uninitiated, that's LISTS--as in SANTA'S lists.

Now I'd like to think that we're all GB&Gs here at Casa de Chili. However, we do have our moments. So occasionally we like to check our status. I know I'm an elf and therefore I have a direct line to the main elf himself, but even I don't like to abuse privilege. What's a gal to do?

Luckily there is a workaround. It's called the Nice-O-Meter. You just type in your child's first name and last name (no other identifying info is necessary) and hit 'Ask Santa'. You'll be rewarded with paragraphs like

Has been nice most of the year (not just near Christmas)! Makes others happy. Could share a little more, however. Politeness is sometimes very good. Can be a great listener.

or

Still very much on nice list, but must continue good behavior. Should eat more vegetables instead of junk food. Was very polite last Thursday! When doing chores, needs to do them as well as possible. Often exhibits good behavior.

or

Nice, but with a few naughty marks. Neatness needs improvement. Behavior has been good sometimes, not so good other times. Manners could still use some attention. Was very nice last Monday.

See? All very nice and generic, but they can be used to your advantage in this very special season of making our children behave in the hopes of receiving more presents. Now, I need one for Cupid, leprechauns, the Easter Bunny...