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Notes from Ola
  
Love come softly, brush against my heart
Yearning for its closeness, not ever to depart
In God’s Infinite Wisdom, I place my life,
And trust for tomorrow, what be, what might
Whatever path this love may go
It carries with it the willingness,
to let it go
And hope that one day, it will again, brush against my heart ....
To stay forever.
Karen A. 05/30/06
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SANTA BABY Dec 18, 2006 10:23 am
494 Views
On my Christmas list this year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me
I've been an awful good girl
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, an out-of-space convertible too, light blue
I'll wait up for you dear
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Think of all the fun I've missed
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed
Next year I could be oh so good
If you'd check off my Christmas list
Boo doo bee doo

Santa honey, I wanna yacht and really that's
Not a lot
I've been an angel all year
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie, there's one thing I really do need, the deed
To a platinum mine
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, I'm filling my stocking with a duplex, and checks
Sign your 'X' on the line
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring
I don't mean a phone
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa Baby
written by J. Javits and P. Springer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

just having some fun!
5 Comments
MEMORIES OF SNOW Dec 15, 2006 10:43 pm
495 Views
Lexxie blogged today about wanting it to snow, and the fact that it just doesn't seem like Christmas if it doesn't.

We almost always had snow at Christmas time when I was growing up. How can I forget .... we had to walk about a 1/2 mile or more to the bus stop in it!

Snow meant having snowball fights with all the local kids. Snow meant making snow angels. It meant quiet, serene beauty, standing out in the middle the yard as the thick flakes fell to the ground, all the sound muffled around me.

Winter snow meant warm crackling fires in the fireplace. It meant cold wet feet, itching like crazy when I rushed, after removing my boots, to warm them up by the stove.

Winter snow meant sucking on icicles. Winter snow meant finding a hill, or any raise, no matter how slight to slide down in an inner tube, or on a piece of cardboard.

One year we had about four feet of snow, and our Doberman, Samantha wasn't getting very much exercise. We discovered that if we let her out at night and took the flashlight and flashed it all over the front yard ... she would run after it. All we could see was her black form leaping up and down in the snow trying to catch up with that light. Makes me laugh to think of it now.

One of my most memorable New Years Eves was spent sitting in front of the big picture window of my home watching it snow big huge flakes. I turned out all my lights. It was so white out, there was no need for lights. I sat there in complete and utter silence and felt that rare feeling that all was right with the world.

There is the smell too. My cheeks feel red and rosy just thinking of inhaling the cold, fresh, crisp, unexplainable smell of snow.

I think I'll go stand in front of my heater ... I'm beginning to get cold.

~Karen
7 Comments
What Day Is This? Dec 14, 2006 9:22 am
468 Views
You know, if it weren't for my computer, I'd never know what day it was. I know I am not the only one (please God, don't let me be the only one) who sometimes can't remember the date, or the day of the week it is? Sure, a wall calendar helps sometimes, but if you don't remember the day of the week, a lot of good that does. Thats when I rely on my trusty computer! Lord knows how I ever survived without it.

I've been on Friday all week, and I just realized I still have one more day to go.

Have a good day!
Karen
9 Comments
JUST CHECKING IN Dec 13, 2006 10:27 am
472 Views
It's amazing how time moves on so quickly. I'm not even near the goals I set for myself this year. I need to reevaluate, and reorganize that goal list.

For the last two days I've spent a good portion of my time getting my Christmas letter done, and cards addressed. Thats a time consuming project. I remember when I was a kid and my parents would receive the annual Christmas letter from a family member or friend. A long rundown of the years events. People have joked forever about those annual letters ~ snide ones. A bragging list of little Joe's sports awards, and Suzie's academic achievements. Exotic vacations taken, and people they've bumped into along the way.

So, here I am, writing a Christmas letter. I've been writing one for at least the last ten years. I actually enjoy putting one together, specially now that I have my computer and I can add some graphics as well.

I try to be creative, and along with the usual news of how my year went, I look for poems, quotes, and special recipes to include. I really don't have that much to say about how my year went, so I need things to fill up the page .

Initially, I began sending out the Christmas letters (sometimes they've turned out being New Years letters if I procrastinated) to save time it took to write out a handwritten note. I'm not one to just sign my name, I always have to write something extra in my cards. So, the letter seemed to be the solution. However, I find that I still end up adding a little hand written note to many of the cards. Oh well, at least it is a shorter note.

I'm off to do some grocery shopping. I've invited my Mom and Uncle Dad over for Brunch tomorrow, and I'm trying out a new recipe.

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season, and keeping dry and warm.

Love, Karen

8 Comments
A POLL FOR YOU MARRIED MEN Dec 11, 2006 12:12 am
591 Views
This question has been posted before, most likely, but here goes.

Maybe I am just in the dark ages, but it always amazes me when I go to read a profile and the guy is talking about all the wonderful qualities he has, and the wonderful qualities he is looking for in a woman, and then I go down to the bottom of the page and find out that he is married.

I know we have married men on this site who have stated in their profile that they are here to make penpals with both men and women, and it is understood that is all they are looking for. They are true to their spouses and not interested in having an affair.

So, married men ... why are you here?
I am happily married and just looking for friendships and email buddies
Wife is too busy to give me the attention I need
I am in a loveless marriage, but staying together for the grandkids
Wife knows I am doing this and fully supports it
I've always had extra marital affairs ~ no big deal
Wife is an invalid and unable to love me the way I need to be loved.
Wife is boring, I need to spice my life up
Thinking about divorce, but testing the waters first
I don't believe in monogamy
See below
11 Comments, 4 votes
FROM ATRUEHEART: SANTA IS WEARING BROWN THIS CHRISTMAS Dec 10, 2006 10:29 pm
538 Views
Atrueheart has tried to post the following on her blog three times with no success. So, we decided to try it on my blog and see what happens. Karen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Santa is wearing brown this Christmas (one more time!)

*Okkkkk... let's try this post one more time!*

Brown as in a UPS uniform that is. My daughter Jo is a great online shopper! Me, I was nervous about it and was thinking the gifts might not get here on time. Boy was I wrong!

My sister, Karen, wanted an IPOD Shuffle for Christmas. She rarely asks for much but always goes to great expense for the family on all the
holidays. She has each child write out a Christmas list and if it's not outrageous, (say like a new car), she makes sure that everything on the list is under the tree. She spends around a thousand each Christmas. Well, the thing is she hardly ever gets anything. My kids and I don't like that so we usually make sure that she has her very own Easter Basket, something nice for her birthday and of course something special for Christmas. So, I talked to my other two sisters and they pitched in to get her the IPod.

Jo is a great comparison shopper and got the best price directly from the company. Included was also free engraving and shipping. Karen's a big Beetles fan and so we had engraved on the Shuffle "All you need is love" and her name.
She knows she's going to get this but she doesn't have any idea about the engraving! She'll love it! We also ordered online a Beetles CD and a boxed set of the Serenity series, a Sci Fi series she liked. I can't wait to see her face when she gets it all!

Another neat thing that Jo ordered for the stockings were Kinder Eggs from Germany. A friend of hers had told her about his past Christmas'in Germany and how that was his favorite thing to get. They are hollow milk
chocolate, lined in white chocolate, eggs. Inside is a toy that the child can put together. They ran about a dollar an egg and they came in little egg carton's of six. We got them yesterday and of course Jo and I had to break
one open and check it out! The chocolate was delicious and a cute little toy. She made sure she got extra in order to give a couple to her
friend.

Did I tell y'all that earlier this year she had found a site online that you could get space ice cream from? It's freeze dried icecream that goes up in space for the astronauts. Well, she ordered enough of that for all the stockings too. She and her brother used to think that was their favorite part of a visit to Nasa. Reminds me I need to stick some in Travis' Christmas package.

My nephew is nuts about University of Texas right now and so he gave us specific things he wants with their logo. One of the things we had been looking for was a UT lanyard but couldn't find any. Well, Jo found a great one online and also bought him a pair of fuzzy UT dice and a UT ball cap too. He's gonna love them all.

Travis' had wanted the Dune series by Frank Hebert to read while he is in Iraq. .

Jo ordered me something online also but I haven't a clue what it is. So all week I've been receiving packages here at home but not opening any of them. Jo opens them when she gets home from work.

The coolest thing is we didn't have to run from store to store to find exactly what everyone wanted. I loved not having to fight the shopping
frenzy! So... Santa has been wearing alot of brown this Christmas. How's your shopping going???

Merry Christmas,

Alisa
10 Comments
TOMORROW IS NOT GUARANTEED Dec 9, 2006 12:46 pm
564 Views
In the blink of an eye, our life can turn upside down. We can be living a pretty comfortable existence, with a little turbulence once in a while, and then all of a sudden be faced with the most difficult and heart wrenching challenges ever.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed to us. Yet, we live so much with that in mind. You know the saying "don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today." How true that is. We never know what obstacles we might face tomorrow that will prevent us from following through with what we put off today.

I'm thinking more in the area of relationships. A few months back IAMWOMAN posted a blog question "If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?" Well, I decided to act on that question without waiting till I might be faced with death. I emailed someone who had hurt me, and I let them know that I had forgiven them. I held no ill feelings toward them, and wished them well. In doing that, we have since reconnected, and are reestablishing a friendship.

I come from a family that is good about saying "I love you" I know actions speak louder than words, but I still feel good inside when someone tells me they love me.

With the passing of my uncle a couple of weeks ago, I've heard the phrase a few times "I wish I had called him more." I've thought it myself. The truth is, we get so caught up in our own little world that even those that we hold near and dear to our hearts may get neglected to some extent.

The sad news of one of our own here on SFF, Parisdreamer, has brought it even more clear to me that we can not hesitate to do what is right. We can not hesitate to give of ourselves. We can not hesitate to express our love, because tomorrow is not guaranteed to any one of us.

If you need to forgive someone .... do it. Don't wait. If you need to ask someone for their forgiveness .... do it. Don't wait. The right time is now.

With much affection to you all,

Karen
16 Comments
HE SHOT AN ARROW INTO THE AIR Dec 8, 2006 6:33 am
614 Views
The ringing of the phone woke me up at 4 a.m. this morning. You know how it is with those very early in the morning calls ~ feelings of dread settle in before even picking up the receiver. Fortunately, it was not one bearing bad news. However, it was a call from a cousin of mine who had just woke up from having a terrible nightmare in which my brother was in and apparently it was so real, my cousin had to call me to get my brothers phone number so he could call him to make sure he was all right. Fortunately, I am not a cranky person, or he would have gotten an earful from me for waking me up so early. I understood though, having had those type of dreams myself. They can be so unsettling. I think he felt better just having talked to me and was able to shake the initial feelings.

Now, having said all that ... I come to the purpose of my blog, which has nothing to do with my early morning wake up call, other than the fact that I am now up, and need to fill some time in before I leave in about another half hour to do my laundry.

I've been thinking about my Dad and an event that happened during Christmas in 1964. I wrote a blog some time ago about the Christmas flood, and how my own life was almost taken when I foolishly darted across a wood car bridge that began to wash away as I ran towards the other side.

That bridge was the only means of getting across to the main highway, and small town in which we lived in.

A few days after the initial flood a group of people gathered at both ends of the washed out bridge. My Dad was a pretty good marksmen with a bow and arrow. He tied a fishing line to an arrow, and to that fishing line he tied a heavier rope, and to that rope he tied a cable. Then from our side of the river, he shot the arrow into the air and we watched as it soared across the river and into the ground. People on the other then began to pull the fish line, which pulled the rope, which pulled the cable, across the roaring high waters. They then rigged up a pulley with the cable with a little makeshift chair, and made it possible for us to get back and forth from one side to another until such time a bridge was rebuilt.

One of the first to ride on that chair was a lady friend of ours. Her home had unfortunately been washed away by the flood waters, and she and her family were staying in a motel in town. My Mom had borrowed her Kirby vacuum cleaner days before the flood and she came over to get it. It so happened that someone took a picture of her coming back across on the chair, holding that Kirby vacuum cleaner and it ended up in the Look Magazine. An article about the flood and my Dad shooting the arrow was also included.

Our friend got a new Kirby vacuum cleaner from the Kirby company when they heard the story that it was the only thing of theirs saved from the flood.

Have a blessed day!

Love, Karen
9 Comments
I'M BRINGING BACK THE MAGIC! Dec 5, 2006 9:40 pm
587 Views
The magic of Christmas..... it's been a while since I have felt it. However, I watched the movie "The Polar Express" this last week, and I think I got some of that magic back. It was a fantasy movie through and through, and I was smiling all the way through it.

I've realized that it is time for me to change my attitude. I haven't had much of the Christmas spirit for many years now.

Christmas was my sister-in-law, Lee's, most favorite holiday. She went all out in decorating her place. I think every nook and cranny in every room was decorated. It had become a tradition for all of us, family, extended family and close friends, to gather at my brother and SIL's place for Christmas Eve.

If I close my eyes, I can see the scene of colored lights and smell the wonderful Christmas smells of spices and pine, and the glow of the fire burning in the fireplace as I would walk into their place. Lee would have the table filled with a variety homemade cookies, and fudge, and the traditional hard ribbon Christmas candy. There would be chips and dips, and crackers and cheese. All kinds of nibble foods to keep us satisfied until dinner was ready.

My brother had added a recreation/party room to their house a few years after they moved in. They brought in a pool table, had a bar in the corner, and a small wood burning stove in the other corner. Everyone would gather in that room.

Through the years we added many traditions to our Christmas Eve event. We started out with the drawing of names, for a gift exchange. Then we decided to add to that, a white elephant gift, and we'd play the game we all have played where you can take the gift from someone else if you like. We'd play our games before dinner, and then have the gift exchange afterwards. The night would end with us singing Christmas carols. My brother, being a musician, always had his guitar out. Lee came up with a new tradition a few years before she passed away. She passed out candles, and we all stood in a circle together to sing one or two really special carols.

Lee was sick the Christmas of 1995 and we didn't have Christmas Eve at their place that year. Soon, after many tests, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That next year was really hard on her, but when Christmas 1996 came, she was feeling well enough to have us all over again for Christmas Eve. I think it was one of our best times ever. She past away the following April. My Dad passed away almost a year to the date after.

Life changed after that, and it affected how I celebrated the holidays. My brother took some time off and buried himself in his music. He was fortunate to fall in love again, and through the years I have been included in their Christmas gatherings. My Mom moved to California in 1998, when she remarried and my younger brother, Gary, moved to Wisconsin shortly after my Dad passed away.

Christmases came and went. I just couldn't get into the "spirit" of things. I realized that it was because I missed the way it use to be. The magic of Christmas ... from when I was a little girl up through my adult life until Life changed. I didn't see any reason to decorate my place. No one would see it. I use to invite my niece and nephew over to help me decorate my tree, but they no longer lived near by. What was the use of putting up decorations? Christmas only made me sad.

I don't know if its because I have finally come out of that depressive fog I was in, or if I just decided it was time to change my way of looking at this time of year.

The magic of Christmas must be kept alive. Just because life changes, doesn't mean there is no more magic. It's a time to celebrate the Savior's birth, life changes, but He doesn't. I can't rely on others to make it magical for me. It's up to me.

So, this year I'm bringing out the decorations. I have a really nice collection of music boxes, many of them with a Christmas theme and I have enjoyed today as I listened to them play Jingle Bells, White Christmas and Oh Holy Night among others. I'm not sure if I will be putting up a tree, but I have enough other decorations to fill my place up ~ maybe not every nook and cranny, like Lee, but it will be festive.

I know this blog is long and I'm glad you took the time to read it. I want to share with you now, the lyrics to the song "Believe", the theme song for the movie "The Polar Express"

To every one of you I wish the Happiest of Holidays, whether you celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah or another special event. May God's Peace be yours.

Love, Karen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Believe - JOSH GROBAN

Children, sleeping.
Snow is softly falling.
Dreams are calling,
Like bells in the distance.
We were dreamers,
Not so long ago.
But one by one, we
All had to grow up.

When it seems the magic slipped away...
We find it all again on Christmas Day.

Believe in what your heart is saying,
Hear the melody that's playing.
There's no time to waste,
There so much to celebrate.
Believe in what you feel inside,
Give your dreams the wings to fly.
You have everything you need, if you just believe.

Trains move quickly
To their journey's end.
Destinations...
Are where we begin again.
Ships go sailing,
Far across the sea.
Trusting starlight,
To get where they need to be.

When it seems that we have lost our way...
We find ourselves again on Christmas Day.

Believe in what your heart is saying,
Hear the melody that's playing
There's no time to waste,
There so much to celebrate.
Believe in what you feel inside,
And give your dreams the wings to fly.
You have everything you need, if you just Believe.

If you just believe.
If you just believe.
If you just believe...just believe...just believe.
12 Comments
SOUP FOR BREAKFAST Dec 4, 2006 10:04 am
653 Views
I made chicken soup yesterday. I added cabbage and onions, tomatoes, celery and a bag of frozen brocooli, cauliflower and carrots. Then I sliced up some spicy sausage to give it a little zing.

Now, I am enjoying a cup of it for breakfast while I sit here and read blogs.

Who says we have to have eggs and bacon, or a bowel of oatmeal for breakfast?

Truth is, I woke up really hungry this morning and I didn't want to take the time to cook up a normal breakfast. Heating up the soup took far less time, and it was good.

In highschool, I would spend the night at my girlfriends place, and her Mom always had a cake baked and sitting on the counter. Sharon's favorite breakfast consisted of cake, and only cake. Course, I suppose thats like having a donut and coffee.

Then, there are the times my Mom would make us pancakes for dinner. Sometimes she would add corn to the batter.

My all time favorite is fried spaghetti for breakfast. Whenever we had spaghetti for dinner, leftovers were fried up the next morning and served with fried eggs and toast.

How about you? Do you stick to the traditionals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or do you like to switch things around a little? Variety is the spice of life.

Have a good week.

Love, Karen
18 Comments
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