MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!

Wow...do I feel out of touch! And no wonder...my last post was two weeks before Christmas! It was a pretty busy holiday, but we have had some good down time and great holiday fun. However, I could've used another day or two added to our break. As consolation, we have a four-day weekend coming up over the MLK holiday, so my wait will be rewarded.

I am the only one in my family that doesn't really care if I get gifts on THE DAY (be it Christmas, anniversary, birthday, or any other gift-giving day that I may have inadvertently left out). Big Bit (a.k.a., The Hoffer) and Little Bit are ADAMANT about having their gifts on THE BIG DAY, regardless of what that BIG DAY might be, but I don't care. I know that if I am required to wait for my gift for whatever reason, my reward will be great. And let me show you just how great my reward was:






Do you know what all this is? It's my Christmas present, which came last Thursday. Big Bit did some last-minute shopping for me and bought NEARLY EVERYTHING on my Christianbooks.com wishlist!!!! WOO HOO!!!! Does he rock or what???? CLEARLY I have been a VEEEEERY good girl!!!

Little Bit woke us up bright and early on Christmas morning, squealing that Santa had AT LONG LAST made an appearance at our house and would we PLEEEEEEEEASE GET UP SO WE CAN OPEN PRESENTS!!!! In a stroke of genius so we could stay in bed for a few more minutes, we told her to go check to see if the cookies and carrots (for Santa and reindeer) had been eaten. She was then told to grab the stockings and bring them into our room so we could dump them out there. My stocking had (among other things) two large pieces of paper sticking out of the top, which was the receipt of what had been ordered, along with a note from Big Bit telling me what he had done. As an avid reader, I could not have been given a better gift!!! There were also a couple of CDs and DVDs that I had been wanting, as well as three books on tape for my mom that I had already picked out. The coolest part: three of the books he bought for me were pre-orders that will be coming to me in January and May! THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING!!! Want to see what I got? Check it out:

Christy, The Complete Series DVD
Amazing Grace--DVD
Second Chances--DVD
Who We Are Instead--Jars of Clay (CD)
Redemption Songs--Jars of Clay (CD)
A Passion Most Pure, by Julie Lessman (arriving in January!)
Ten Thousand Charms (Book #1), by Allison K. Pittman
Speak Through the Wind (Book #2), by Allison K. Pittman
From A Distance, by Tamera Alexander (coming in May!)
Defiant Heart, by Tracey Bateman
Freefall, by Kristin Heitzmann
Autumn Blue, by Karen Harter
Remember to Forget, by Deborah Raney


(Do I sense that some of you are making notes of which ones you plan to borrow?)


Deep In The Heart of Trouble, by Deeanne Gist (coming in May!)
Lanterns and Lace, by Diann Mills
Her Cinderella Heart, by Ruth Scofield
This Heavy Silence, by Nicole Massarella
Before I Wake, by Dee Henderson
The Truth Seeker (book #3 in O'Malley Series), by Dee Henderson
The Healer (book #5 in O'Malley Series), by Dee Henderson
The Rescuer (book #6 in O'Malley Series), by Dee Henderson
Flies on the Butter, by Denise Hildreth


Not sure exactly why he bought books #3, #5 and #6 but not #4 from Dee Henderson's O'Malley series, but believe me, I am NOT complaining!!! I decided to start with "Ten Thousand Charms", by Allison Pittman. I'm enjoying it so far...it's holding my attention, but it's not so riveting that I'm neglecting my responsibilities (the true definition of a great book!). I read the short bio about the author and discovered she lives about an hour south of me in an area of town we frequent! How cool is that!


New Year's was pretty quiet. We saw the ball drop, and we watched Robbie Maddison fly 322 feet and 7 inches on his motorcycle...TWICE! It was INCREDIBLE! Even though he didn't go as far as he had hoped, he still broke the previous record. He jumped higher than a six-story building and longer than a football field! It was amazing. Here's the video, for those of you who missed it:




Surprisingly, that's all I have for now. Glad to be back in cyberspace!!!