Little Drummer Boy

The Christmas season is coming to an end and I could not help putting up more Christmas pictures. Here is my brother David one Christmas morning holding his stocking.

I assume it is Christmas day because of the "Christmas mess" that is all over the floor. If I am right, then when this picture was taken, David will be celebrating his birthday in 5 days.

December 30th (today) is David's birthday.

This picture is prophetic, because David (in the center) grew up a drummer. Glory and Mom were clarinetist and I a flutist. None of us are practicing musicians, but with David I ALWAYS think of him as a drummer.

Drumming WIPE OUT in the garage on 11th street until the police (prompted by the neighbors) told him to stop. Drumming in the living room on his trap set. Drumming on glasses, chair arms, me, or anything that made a noise. His favorite noise is the sound cymbals make.

Later (much later) he was a drummer in church (I played the flute). That's when he became the founding member of The David Hanna Band (think Spinal Tap). The David Hanna band has never cut an album, or even made demo for that matter, but it is my favorite band because of David.

Happy Birthday Baby David.

The Power of the Poinsettia

Shane, Julie, Lesa and I delivered poinsettias to all those people (25) who hosted tables at our Young Life fish fry (remember that?).

People would light up like we where walking in with roses or diamonds. Poinsettias are pretty and they have the power to make people happy; or more accurately I should say showing gratitude has the power to make people happy. So show some.

Extreme Dog Make-Over

About two weeks ago we had a cold morning so I put on brown tights and a skirt and went out into the world. Later that morning I looked down at my legs and realized with tights on I had become a human lint brush. I have a great dog, however she has a lot of fur and during the course of the morning I had picked up a lot of fur on my legs.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

I took her in for a new furdoo. We were both scared. I told the groomer that I wanted all that mess gone, but I still wanted Cookie to look like Cookie. Not sure I was doing the right thing, I left the kennel, thinking "it can grow out." After all was said and done, I think Cookie likes her new look. She seems sassier. It took me a little while to adapt to the new dog....she looked younger, so I just pretended I got a new puppy. She is so cute.

Before

Afters

Deacon of the Week

I have been a member of First Baptist Church of Rockport for a couple of years. Since I didn’t grow up in the Baptist church, I sometimes feel like an observer of Baptist culture.

One thing that I like about the church is Baptist have men who serve as deacons. I googled deacon and found that the word can be translated servant, or waiter. The office of deacon was established by the Apostles. For historical reference please read the following scriptures:

Acts 6:1-4 in those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.

Every week at First Baptist Rockport they have a Deacon of the Week and his name and phone number is published in the weekly bulletin. We are instructed to call on them if we have a need. I am not a widow, but I am not married. I don’t have a tool box or a ladder or many fix-it skills. So I save up odd jobs around my house that I really need help with and when one of my friends is Deacon of the Week I call them. They always come through like champs. I love deacons and their Acts of Service (there that phrase is again).

Here's Deacon Barney fixing the flag on my mail box. He also added a handle to the door so I could open it easily without scruffing up my fingernails. Aren't deacons a great idea?

How Long Will It Last?

Well, December 1st is here and thanks to Anne, my tree is up. This tree was purchased by one of my coop classes at RFHS. They collected money from everyone in the room ($3 and some change) and then sent a representative to Castaways for the sole purpose of getting us a tree. As you can see it is delightful.

If you recall, last year the tree was toppled and shattered by Buttons and Bo, then only being kittens, on the 23rd. I feel they have matured and believe we can make it until the 25th without any tree disasters. For added insurance, there are very few breakable ornaments on this season's tree. I will now suggest that someone start a pool to see how long before this becomes a tumbling tannenbaum. The count down begins.

Also, on a completely different note, I would like to make mention that tonight I went out for coffee with friends and the City of Rockport put on a fire works show. I've heard of Christmas in July, but not the other way around. It was fun.

Bo starts his investigation.....the clock is ticking.

Standing Tall

Today is Bill's birthday.

The first born of B.T. and Carlene Hanna.

Look how well he represents his family.

Leading by an example of kindheartedness,

he is first in line, then Glory, then David,

then me and Tom.

Bill really is a very nice person.

I hope he has a very nice birthday.

I know, come to Rockport!

1.5%

Do you know there are recommendations/guidelines for what percentage of your yearly income you should spend on housing, groceries, utilities, etc.? For instance, when I was in college it was recommended that consumers allot 25% of your income on housing. Since that was a long time ago, I know that percentage has been increased. After a little research (Googling) I found that it is now recommended you spend 30 - 33% of your yearly income on housing.

Today I heard on the news that Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) recommends you allot 1.5% of your yearly income on Christmas expenses. Those expenses include: gifts, cards, postage, increased grocery costs (Spice Tea, Cookies, Divinity, Fudge, Chex-Mix, that Peppermint Bark stuff), travel expenses and pet boarding expenses. I like CCC because they remind consumers of all the things we don't think of in an effort to help us prevent indebtedness.

So I did the math and I think I can spend $225.00 on Christmas this year. The problem is I don't have $225.00. I should have done the math in January 2007 and then put $18.75 in savings for this purpose every month prior to December 2007. Sadly, I didn't do that.


But that's OK, I have ideas in my head/heart and I have PLENTY of gift wrap. we've already started.

Glory's Birthday Blog

My sister and I share a few things in common. The first is our compulsion for white shirts. Put either of us in a pair of khaki pants and a white button down and we are ready for ANY occasion. People I know refer to it as "my uniform" but people Glory knows take it one step further.

Last year everyone at Glory's works dressed up as GLORY for Halloween. They donned blond wigs, glasses, neutral slacks and white button down shirts. The sign of authenticity was Starbucks cups and coffee stains on the front of their shirts. (Hanna's are dribblers).

My sister is the recipient of the most sincere form of flattery....imitation.
I am proud of her, her life, and her antics.......Happy Birthday Golly!

Love Languages

There is a book out and in it the author proposes that we all demonstrate or receive love in one of five different ways. I haven't read the book, but all the young newly marrieds I know seem to read it, so I hear things.

Let's review what I know about a book I haven't read....shall we?
The five love languages are:

1. Quality Time- if this is your language, then you love spending time with people..."quality time"....whatever that means (you can see this isn't my language).
2. Physical Touch- hugging, touching, squeezing....the idea makes me want to run for the hills.
3. Words of Affirmation- you need to hear you are appreciated and special and important.....what a wiener.
4. GIFTS - bingo! You got it. I love gifts. But what is cool about people who receive love through gifts is the gift doesn't have to be grand. In my case, if you gave me a roll of TP, and said "Here, I got this for you." I would feel the love.
5. Acts of Service - I like this one too. HELP ME! I was having trouble deciding between this and gifts, then I learned you could have a primary love language AND a secondary language. Since this is my secondary language, I have decided to add Acts of Service to my Needs and Wants List (2008). You are so welcome.

So there you have it, the five love languages. If you want to tell me you love me effectively then buy me something, or help me out with the laundry and heavy lifting.

But more than that, I would appreciate it if you would keep your hands to yourself.

Catherine’s Wishes and Wants List 2007

Note: High Priority Items listed first.

J. Crew City Fit Chinos in size 2Tall - Thank You Jerry and Marsha

A Year’s Supply of any of the following:
Folgers Classic Roast Coffee - Thank You Anne and Seth
Laundry Detergent (Tide with or w/o Bleach or Gain)
Paper Towels - Thank You YL for the leftovers from the Fish Fry
Cat Litter (Tidy Cat)
Crest White Strips
Northern Quilted Bathroom Tissues - Thank you Cecelia...I was getting desperate!
Easy Macs - Thank You Bootsie and Lesa

Gift Cards at the following in order of importance to me:
H.E.B. to purchase items mentioned above - Thanks Mom!
Starbucks - Thank you Helen, Julie, Cecelia, Jerry and Marsha, and my favorite Barrista Ashley
iTunes - Thank you to everyone who gave me a Starbucks card because I took the cards into the store and used them to buy the Starbucks cards that had the free iTunes downloads on them......I can't believe they let me do it. Now I have 24 free downloads and counting.

A Gift Certificate at:
Bealls (we have one in Rpt) for Clinique foundation and mascara
Radio Shack (ask for Chris at 361-729-1751) so I can buy:
1. iGo Auto ($29.99) - Thank you Seth and Anne!
2. A32 Power Tip for my Razor MV3 - Thank you Seth and Anne!
3. iGo Power Tip A61 for my iPod
4. A Motorola Razor Clear Shield to protect my new free Razor mV3 phone
5. A clear shield for my iPod, but they are out of stock right now.

Presents of Interest
New Black Pumps to go with the fancy new clothes Glory got me.
A “Plug-In” room freshener from Bath and Body Works (heard they were great).