I am still alive, just up to my eyeballs in work. We also have a company party at my house this weekend, which I am regretting now. Someone on the board thought it might be a good idea to forgo the normal "Christmas" party for a more politically correct "winter" party, offering that it would be a less stressful time in January. HA! They are not the ones going in at 6 a.m. and coming home at 7 p.m. trying to get bookwork done that we got behind on during our period of being way short-handed on employees. The only reason we are not having this party at a restaurant is because the party fund isn't large enough to pay for it. We pay for these things out of the money earned in the vending machines, of which there is less than $100 at the moment.

I do plan on taking off work early today, like shortly afternoon, so I can get some of this stuff done.

I also found the time to call my sister to wish her a happy birthday yesterday. And I have been indulging myself in reading an "O" magazine this week. I would not normally purchase such a thing, but there were a couple of articles about diet and exercise that caught my eye, so I paid the $4.50 price for the thing. I must say that so far, every article I have read has been rewarding and I am impressed with the level of journalistic integrity shown.

Back to the grindstone.

Oh, speaking of which, I remember learning where "keep your nose to the grindstone" comes from. If the milstones were set too close together for the grain they are milling, it would begin to burn the flour, so the miller had to keep his nose to the grindstone to be sure to catch the first hint of any burning in order to adjust the stones before the whole batch was ruined.

My head is full of useless trivia.

I'm sick *whine*.

I spent the better part of today in bed. I started feeling bd the night before last. About 6:30 I started feeling a little odd, by 7 p.m., I felt awful. I took the last dose of  NyQuil I had in the house and went to bed around 9 p.m.

Yesterday morning, I got up and went to work. I warned everyone I wasn't feeling well and stayed back in my office most of the day. I took off for a couple hours in the morning to buy some groceries, including replenishing my NyQuil stock. I asked the pharmacist for the NyQuil with the old kick in it. She brought me out their store brand, which is fine, and I went with it. I also bought some Tylenol Cold Daytime. I took a couple shots of it during the day and it got me through until about 4 p.m. I still didn't get out of there until after 5 p.m. because people kept needing things. I ate supper at home, took another shot of NyQuil (of the store equivalent) and was in bed by 8:30 p.m. I woke up this morning when someone called shortly after 7 a.m.

I felt like death warmed over today. I stayed home from work. I'm thankful that I have enough employees now that I could, but if two of us end up sick at one time, we'll be in a pinch. I slept most of the day. I stayed up for a couple hours this morning watching "Charmed" before I started falling asleep again in the chair. I was back in bed by 9:30 and the phone rang shortly thereafter. It was someone from work. The newspaper was looking for the OK on a co-op ad. I gave instructions for how to handle it and went back to sleep until 1 or 1:30. I sat up for not quite an hour watching some show on the History Channel about the books banned from the Bible. That was kinda interesting, but not interesting enough to keep me awake. I went back to bed and woke up about 4:45. I called to check on the status with the co-op ad, since it was past the deadline for the paper to get it into print. Turns out we never did get approval on it from the company. Our rep told one of my employees today that their ad department doesn't just sit around waiting to approve ads. I thought that was kind of rude. See if I bother screwing with your co-op money anymore if that's how you are going to treat us.

John is still at work trying to get a couple computers built before Christmas. I am going to see what I can scrounge for supper. I do feel a lot better, though not 100%. Hopefully, I'll be able to function at work tomorrow.

I found this on my mom's blog, and just had to put one on my own. Please leave your gifts for me in my Christmas stocking.

Deb's Christmas Stocking

leave a gift for iowa_deb your username: your gift: (30 characters or less) get your stocking

I cannot sleep. I had intended on going to bed at 9 p.m. and getting up at 4 a.m. so I could get into work a couple hours early and get a head start on ordering product so I can make sure it get ordered in time to ship out tomorrow, too. If the order gets placed after noon, then it doesn't actually ship until the next day.

Why is it that the night before we have to get up really early, we cannot sleep. I actually laid my head down on the pillow around 10 p.m. I had fresh sheets on the bed and I sank down into them so snuggly. I love fresh sheets, when they are cool and clean and smooth with not a wrinkle to be seen.

Anyway, I thought I was going to drop off rather quickly, but then hubby comes in the room and decides to read. Normally his bedside lamp doesn't usually bother me, but on occasion it does. Tonight was one of those nights that it did. No matter which way I laid, it still seemed like it was shining in my face. I cannot stand having something over my face - not blankets, not sheet, nothing - but I tried putting one of the pillows loosely over my face. It seemed like it was going to work for a little while, but it wasn't long before I was getting hot. Finally, he turned off the lamp around 11 p.m., but I still laid there trying to go to sleep. It just wasn't coming to me.

Finally, around 11:15, I got up. I had a box of framed photographs I have been wanting to hang on the wall (that's right, after 5 months in this house, I'm still not unpacked). I bought some of those Hercules Hooks the other day. They are only supposed to leave a pin-sized hole and hold up to 150 lbs. on one little wire. Yeah, right! Those holes are a lot bigger than pin-sized, and you better have a LOT of air behind that wall to get that sucker to go in. I ended up going back to my old standard nails I usually use to hang photos. You know the kind that are only about a half inch long. Problem is, at midnight and 1 a.m., I'm hammering nails into the wall. But he is still in the other room snoring away. Here his stupid little 60-watt bedside lamp was bothering me, and me banging nails in the wall doesn't seem to bother him. Must be from sleeping along airport runways in the war or something. Or maybe it's just a man thing.

I think I've finally worn myself down enough to try going back to sleep, but I don't think I'm going to be getting up at 4 a.m. like I was planning on doing. At least my sofa that we rarely use now has the boxes cleaned off of it and my family is proudly displayed on the dining room walls. Tomorrow I'll see about getting John to help me move the sofa into the computer room/office so the nephews can come in here to watch TV or play their video games on Christmas day when they are bored with the adults.

Oh, BTW, the Christmas party at the county home went really well today. They were all so happy and openly expressed their appreciation. This one old man, who loves to flirt with the ladies, was telling me how he's getting to go to his nieces for Christmas and he's going to have HAM. He likes ham, and he said that one word quite pronounced - HAM. It was very cute. We also went caroling to some of the folks' from church who are homebound. We took them fruit baskets and they sure seemed to enjoy it. One lady even had tears in her eyes. It was a very rewarding afternoon.

It has been a crazy, crazy week already. Too many things keep popping up to rob me of my time. I went and did a little Christmas shopping tonight, finishing up for the family and a couple of friends, as well as buying a few gifts for the residents at the county-run nursing home. There are a few of us that are going together to buy gifts. I've asked for donations at church but so far haven't seen anyone donate except the lady that I drive to church from time to time. The others who are giving do not go to our church. Three of us have baked cookies (some diabetic) to take out there and one lady bought some soda. The residents really like it when they get soda. Usually we sing a lot of hymns, someone gives a short simple message, we sing some more hymns and then we eat treats brought by this one lady. She normally doesn't let anyone else help her with the treats. It's like her mission. She brought little 6 or 8 oz. cans of soda one month and we had so many people come out the next it wasn't funny. It's a way to get them up to the cafeteria where we can share the message of God's love with them.

Anyway, lots of junk going on at work. It's a really busy time, and then our point-of-sale software company decided to force everyone into an update on Monday, only we went in really early (6 a.m. for me and John was 15-20 minutes earlier than me) to get caught up on some stuff, but couldn't because the program wouldn't let us in. The tech support guys didn't come in until 7 a.m. Arizona time, which was 8 our time, and we spent until nearly 10 getting everyone back up online so we could sell stuff. Then on Tuesday the power was out for about a 12 block stretch. We were told today that someone took out a utility pole on a street several blocks down from us. When you are a computer business and everything is basically on the computer or on the Internet, having no power pretty much shuts you down.

Being short-handed isn't helping. Today I spent at least half my day up front doing sales when I have more than 2 days work non-stop to be doing in the back.

I need to go to bed and try to get in a little early tomorrow morning. Both John and I were wiped out the past couple of days so we slept in this morning and let the employees open up. I left at 7:30 tonight and John didn't get home until after 10 p.m. He made sure to IM one of the employee's machines (one who was razzing us today about coming in at 9 when we open at 7:30) so he could see how late we stay there at night sometimes.

I need to get my house cleaned up before Christmas, too. We are having the family Christmas dinner here. Only two of us have homes big enough to host it and the other person had Thanksgiving at there house, so it's my turn. I haven't decorated at all yet, unless you count the red and green basket I bought today at the Dollar Tree to put my Christmas cards in. One of the cats is already trying to chew it up. John thinks she'll have it eaten by morning.

I will never qualify for security clearance. That's what my husband tells me. I was trying to surprise him with a really great Christmas present this year. It's expensive, so I had to get financing for it or put it on the credit card. My credit is pretty much non-existant anymore because we put everything in his name over the past 15 years and all I had was a poorly-managed Penney's card that I kept forgetting to pay the bill on.

I decided last weekend to price recliners at a couple of the local furniture stores. I had two requirements in my shopping: (1) it had to be leather or some sort of microfiber because I didn't want cat hair getting embedded in the fabric, (2) it had to have heat and massage. He's wanted a recliner with heat and massage for a very long time.

The first store I stopped at had a really comfy recliner, and it was available with heat and massage, but they didn't have any and we'd have to special order it. It takes 6-8 weeks for delivery so we'd get it sometime in late January. Nope, not gonna do that. I need something for him by Christmas. Besides, it was over $1000 for that chair.

The second store had ONE recliner with heat and massage left in the store. It was on sale for $699. It was microfiber and in a color I like. I filled out the paperwork for it and waited for the answer from American General Financing, they turned me down. It was 6-months same as cash, so I figured I could live with the 22% interest if I paid it off before the 6 months were up. I thought about putting it on the credit card, which has a few thousand dollars available on it, but decided I'd better think about that a little. We are trying to pay down our credit card debt and this would be counter-productive in that matter. Besides, I knew John would be pissed if I added that much back to the credit card, but I'd think about.

Tuesday, I have to be in Knoxville for training at 9 a.m. I started work at Oskaloosa before 7 a.m. to have some things taken care of that morning before I got back. There were a few snags that took up some time, so I'm running 15 minutes late by the time I leave Osky. On the radio on the way to Knoxville, I happen to catch the beginning of Focus on the Family, which has a financial expert on today talking about the steps to becoming financially secure. Not running up credit card debt was one of those steps. I'm thinking, "Ok, God, did you make me late so I'd hear this?"

On the way home from Knoxville a few hours later, the deejay is talking about how people put so much pressure on themselves at Christmas and how gifts can be simple. You don't have to put so much pressure on yourself by running up all that credit card debt. It enters my mind, "God is telling me NOT to put that chair on the credit card." So I'm thinking, "Ok, God. Do you not want me to buy the chair at all or do you have some other way?" You know what? He answered me right there, I think. It immediately came into my head to apply for a loan from the credit union. I need to get my credit built back up. So I go by the credit union before I go back to the store. It takes me all of 5 or 10 minutes to apply for the loan and she tells me she'll call me back later after she runs things. A few hours later she calls and tells me that she approved me, but the interest is a little high because of my credit. It's 16%, which is still cheaper than both the credit card and the store financing (even though I most likely would have paid off the chair within the 6 months). Do I want them to deposit the amount into my checking account (which I haven't used for years)? I opted for a cashier's check made out to the furniture store.

I go back to the office positively giddy because God has provided both the means to buy the chair AND an opportunity to build back up my credit. He is such an awesome provider!

So anyway, the next morning while I am out running errands for the store, I stop by the credit union to pick up the check and go pay for the chair. I arrange for delivery on Dec. 23, the last day they'll be doing deliveries, so I can give it to him as close to Christmas as possible. I go to sleep that night feeling so much love - love for my God who provides, love for my husband and joy that I can give him a really nice gift after all these years of receiving really nice gifts from him.

The next morning, I am told that he knows what he's getting.

"How?" I ask him.

"You told me," he says.

"I did not! How did you find out?" I'm starting to wonder if the one daughter I told spilled the beans, but I know that she didn't. She's pretty good about not telling if you tell her not to tell, and besides, she hasn't had the opportunity.

"I have my ways," he says.

"How do you find out?!" He delays more, playing with me by telling me he has his spies, yada, yada.

"You talk in your sleep," he finally answers. "Last night you mumbled something and I asked you what you said, so you answered me, 'I'm glad I got the financing.' So I asked you financing for what, and you told me 'A recliner with heat and massage. You would never get a security clearance."

I'm still making him wait until the 23rd to get his present.

Today is the "official" start of the holiday season in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Our 2-night lighted Christmas parade starts tonight. It's an awesome event for a little town of 11,000 people and draws folks from all over the area to see it. Yours truly is a parade announcer. I believe this is my 4th year with this gig and it's quite fun.

John and I have worked the parade for many years, the first several doing "crowd control" where we patrol the curbs making sure people stay back so the floats can make it down the street without running anyone over. Let me tell you, that was a pretty cold and miserable detail. Now I get to sit in my warm car, describing the floats to people like Katy Couric and Matt Lauer at the Thanksgiving Day parade. It's fun!

I am really glad to be inside the vehicle tonight because our HIGH today is only supposed to get up to 20°. We had rain and sleet come through yesterday afternoon, but the brunt of what they were predicting to hit us passed us by and went farther south. I feel for you folks down there!

I did get out yesterday and buy ice melt and another pair of Yak Trax for us. When John fell and broke his wrist on New Year's Day a few years ago, I bought a pair on clearance from a store when I found them - an impulse buy that was well worth it. Except they didn't have any medium ones at that time and I bought small. They barely fit over his shoes, so I bought a pair of medium ones for him yesterday and I'll take his smalls. I was sure thankful for them last night when I stepped out into the parking lot that had a thin glaze of ice over it. Well worth the $20, and cheaper than a broken bone, too.

Today we head over to the Knoxville store to conduct more interviews. I'm hoping to fill in the final piece of the puzzle for my staff. Training always sucks because I basically have to stop doing my "normal" job for a couple of days while I train, but once I get the initial couple of days out of the way I can turn them over to a more experienced employee to teach them the ropes. Please pray for us on this. We've been looking for a full team of reliable employees for some time now.

Knoxville is a little over a 30-minute drive from Oskaloosa and John or I make an appearance over there at least 2x a week. One of the things I love about the drive there is quiet time with the Christian radio station. Lately I've heard a few songs that have just left me in tears. I've decided to sing one for special music at church for the Christmas season. It's Ray Boltz's "Still Her Little Child." I felt so much empathy for Mary after listening to that song. I could not stop sobbing for several minutes. I drove straight over to the Christian book store and ordered it. The clerk says, "Oh that's an old one," and informs me it's from 1994. I quit listening to Christian radio when we moved here nearly 11 years ago because I thought this station was too "chatty" at the time, so I had never heard it, or if I had, I'd never listened to the words. The other song that makes me bawl is "Breakfast Table." I think that's by Chris Rice, but I'm not sure. It makes me think of my dad, even though the song is about the guy's wife. I'll blog abou that another time maybe. I need to get dressed and get to work.

Oh, before you leave Xanga today, head over to ChipperChocolate's site and congratulate her on her new grandbaby that's arriving today.

Mom asked me to post this recipe I have for Microwave Peanut Brittle. It turns out perfect every time, so long as you follow the directions. I made the mistake of not stirring it in between once and it burned. Otherwise, it's been fantastic every time.

10-Minute Never-Fail Microwave Peanut Brittle

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 c. raw peanuts
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter (I use real butter)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

Butter a cookie sheet or baking pan first. Combine the first four ingredients in a 2-quart microwave mixing bowl. Microwave on High fo 8 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes. Stir in butter. Microwave on High for 2 minutes. Brittle should not get too brown. Stir in vanilla and soda until light and foamy. Spread onto buttered baking sheet as thinly as possible (it starts to set fast). Cool. Break into pieces. Stores well in Zip Lock baggies. I do suggest soaking your bowl in hot soapy water right away so it will clean up easier.

The time I burned this, I failed to stir the butter in. The directions I had initially just said to "add" butter and I was trying to follow verbatim. So, I changed the directions to "stir in" butter.

Good luck.

Well, I survived another Black Friday. I L-O-V-E  blitz shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. At least around here, everyone is polite and helpful to each other. There isn't the fighting, and pulling, and shoving like you hear about on T.V. Occassionally there is a little bit of bumping into each other, but mostly everyone is in good spirits, like competitors at a sporting event.

Nearly all of my Christmas shopping is done in a span of about 4 hours. We had shopped, gone to breakfast, and made it back home by 10:30 a.m. I took a 3-hour nap and watched a movie, "Memoirs of a Geisha" before hubby came back home from work.

Most of the newly-purchased presents are wrapped. I have a few little gifts to buy for a couple of people, and some bigger gifts for my husband (maybe a recliner this year). I like being this close to finished. Had I been a bit more ambitious, I would have made gifts this year like I did last year, but I certainly haven't had to time for any crafts at all this summer and fall. Maybe next year.

Tomorrow I will go into the office in the afternoon to start getting caught up on end-of-year bookwork. Sunday after church I'm helping to decorate the church for Christmas. That will be fun. I managed to pick up two beautiful poinsettias today at Target for only $5 each. I always buy a couple in memory of my father and grandmother.

I am thankful for:

• My loving husband, who let's me do my thing, including worship God, without giving me a lot of hassle.
• My mom, who is one of my best friends. I wish I could be with you today.
• My business being successful.
• Employees I can rely on so that I may take a few days off.
• Being cancer-free for 5 years. Now I need to really get busy dealing with the diabetes.
• Three beautiful children who have blessed my life in ways they may never know or understand (even without giving me grandchildren).
• My lovely little granddaughter (nearly 2 years old) and another grandbaby on the way.
• That I live in a country where I may freely worship God without the worry of some state police arresting me for it.
• That I am able to spend this day relaxing with my husband instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to bake or cook something for a family dinner (though I am missing the family dinner a little).
• For my friends in whom I can confide, to whom I can joke, and with whom I can shop.
• An e-mail from my nephew in Kuwait, letting me know he's ok and to send chocolate chip cookies (at his battle buddy's request). LOL.
• Also, thanks to my mom for providing me with the link to the Black Friday ads when I was ruing that I didn't have a local paper delivery today to find out what's on sale tomorrow morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!