So excited to bust out our Christmas shirts!

Hope your Thanksgiving was great! Looking forward to December.

:)

Holly

Twas the night before Thanksgiving.....

and all through the house


Not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse.


The tables were arranged with obsessive care


In hopes that the relatives would be happy there.


The children were nestled all snug in their beds


Battered and traumatized from the many times that Mommy said....


Do not make a mess - don't touch that it's clean!


The Mommy worked hard to not be too mean.


and Mamma in her sweat pants


and Daddy in his hat


Were never going to get


Their much deserved nap.


When from the kitchen there arose such a clatter


I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.


Away to the pantry I flew with a dash.


Threw open the door and let out a gasp.


When what to my exhausted eyes should appear


but a bad little pug with no morals or fear


Doing the best that she knew how to do


To hoist her fat self to the top shelf of food.


She was little and feisty and naughty and quick


I knew in a moment that I never should kick.


More rapid than eagles my coursers they came


and suddenly words came out of my mouth much too horrible to name!


At this point I am not sure that I remember the song


Plus there is still much to do and my rhyme is too long.


I will gladly exclaim as I turn off the light


Happy Thanksgiving to all


and to all a good night!!!!!!


Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Here's hopin'......

...that you are having a good weekend!!!! Only one more week until Thanksgiving break!!!!!!

On the Up Side

So here is what I have been thinking about lately....... (I know feel afraid)

I have been thinking about how people tell me all the time

"Holly - you are always so happy. You are so lucky that you get to be so happy all the time."

Well - guess what - I have a little news flash for you.

I don't get to be happy all the time.

You know what I say in the morning when my alarm goes off?

Ouch and 5 more minutes

Did you know that there are days that I feel

mad, sad, angry, frustrated, hot, cold, insecure, bored, anxious, lonely, stressed, too busy, and so on and so forth?

I have tons of faults

I tend to gossip - now people in my real life - don't be afraid of me now that I am confessing this - I am really not a malicious gossip - I am a story teller. I love a good story and I love to talk so there is a good chance that you could wind up in one of my stories. Consider yourself lucky to be a character - not afraid of the way the story is spun. You spin the tale - I just retell it. :)

Once again - I digress....

I am also super forgetful, I take on too much, I loathe people that drive like boneheads in traffic. I mean really people come on -

right turn on red

Despite contrary opinion - hand gestures do not make you go faster in traffic

stop texting

if you have to kiss them 300 times, park - don't hold us up in the drop off line

I could go on and on ........

but now I am really digressing and I need to get back to the point of my story.

I am also so blessed. I love the song that I have as the first on my playlist because it is how I feel. I am lucky. I am lucky to be in love with my best friend. I am lucky to have been where I have been. I am lucky that I get to be at home every day.

I would not change anything - you change one thing - you change it all. I would not go back and fix my mistakes or change any experiences good or bad because they have led me to where I am now.

I do (yes -folks it is like a miracle - we have finally meandered to the point of this post) like to look on the up side.

If I am hot I think "glad I have ac"

If I am cold I think "glad I have a sweater"

If I am tired I think "glad I get to sleep tonight"

If I think I can't I think "well I had better go ahead and try" (that is a lot of thinking in that particular sentence - way too much for me)

I am normal. I am a person. Just a regular person who has to give themselves regular pep talks. I have to say to myself

"self - do not shout at the children"

"self - do not be aggravated at that moron of a person who did (insert whatever drives you crazy here)

"self - do not be ugly to your husband for (insert whatever husband did here remembering that you yourself do a lot of boneheaded, irrational, forgetful things yourself)

Why am I writing this you say? Why are you going on and on, Holly, about your oh so wonderful thought process? I answer you with two answers:

A. You do not want to be in the hamster wheel that is my head - it is a jumbled confusing place to be and I am FOR SURE not here to give you advice on what to think. Just sharing what I think.

and

B. Because I think that we all need reminders to look on the up side. I have this little blog and it is my story to tell and my platform to use. I get it that I have no business being preachy and telling you what to do.

I mean really - who do I think I am? :)

BUT I see SO much negativity out there. I see a lot of negativity from people who have lives that other people would KILL to have. My advice to you is to be happy for what you have. Talk yourself into feeling lucky for just 5 minutes. I find it very hard to believe that you can't find an up side to whatever it is that you are doing right now. If you can't - well sorry - move on to another blog - but I bet you can and you will be surprised. If you can find the upside for 1 minute, I bet you can find the upside for 5, then I bet you could make it last all day and pretty soon people will be saying to you,

"Oh that (insert your name here), they are always SO happy. They are so lucky."

and guess what

Turns out - they are right!