I’ve been at a loss this holiday season for what I want for Christmas. Each year, it seems like there’s at least one thing that I really want to get, but this year I just cant think of anything. I had been brainstorming, and there’s nothing I NEED need. I have all the TVs in my house working and doing good, I have my car, I have my iPod, clothes, shoes, all the good stuff that most people ask for. I do need a new cell phone, but that is going to be free when I upgrade on my cell phone plan. So, this weekend we took a trip to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, which I’m not very familiar with. I know how to look up addresses and I’m really good with a map, but it’s just not the easiest way to find your way around unless you have a detailed map of each city that you need to look at. So, on this trip, I have my sister’s house address, I know what city she lives in, and that’s about all I can remember in the dark. If it weren’t for my cousin’s GPS I don’t know if we would have ever found the house, or if we did it would have taken a lot longer. You just have to enter in an address on the little gadget and it will take you right where you need to be. It even talks to tell you when you need to turn. I think I know what I want to get now, it’s a luxury that I’ve never had and never thought I’d need, but after seeing what it’s capable of I want one too.

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Every year, just like everyone else, I try to make a New Year’s Resolution. Blah, Blah, Blah. And every year I try as hard as I can for the first month or so, and then realize that I’m not going to keep it all year. I’ve tried lots of things, like working out every day, not drinking sodas, writing in a journal every day, and look at me now. I’m not doing that stuff, so obviously it didn’t’ stick. This year, I’ve decided that I’m going to do monthly resolutions. I’m going to have a new one each month, so I can put my main focus on that, and then try to add them on top of the previous ones. And, instead of them being huge, no more of this, no more of that things, they are going to be small. Like, move it down to one coke a day, and then the next month maybe try no more cokes at all. Maybe try to work out three times a week, and then move it up the next month, and just slowly progress on the resolutions. I think that doing anything cold turkey is just setting yourself up for failing, so going slow and progressing with out going crazy seems like the best idea. Each month I’m going to add something small, and that’s my resolution. Make effort each month to make myself a better person. Sounds like a good one to me, though you guys may think it’s cheating!

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Holidays are fine without snow. Just because it’s Christmas, it doesn’t mean you have to pull out all of the cotton batting and white shoe polish to try and give the illusion of snow. This is West Texas people! Giant inflatable snowmen in your front yard do not make it look like Christmas! It makes you look like an idealistic maniac who refuses to accept the weather. I know, I’m going a little overboard with the name calling. It’s just decoration, but still; it’s tacky. Christmas can be a genuinely pretty holiday in any climate without gaudy, unseasonal decorations. Lets not decorate out homes like a seasonal Wal Mart display. There is a lot of natural beauty around West Texas that can be incorporated into Christmas decorating. For example, you can make barb wire and Christmas light wreathes, or cotton bulb tree ornaments. There are always those little cinnamon-scented stick brooms and fans that look nice wrapped in festive ribbons and glitter too. Another idea to add a little sparkle to your décor, is to spray paint and cluster your leftover pumpkins for Thanksgiving. Believe it or not, silver sprayed pumpkins can actually look festive with a little “Merry Christmas” sign propped in a pile of them. I only know that because I’ve seen it done in New Mexico. I’m not much of a decorator myself, but I know what looks nice and what doesn’t. I know that fake snow never looks real, especially when it’s 65 degrees outside and everything has turned yellow and died. Yankees aren’t the authority on Christmas décor and just because they have real snow to work with, doesn’t mean we have to try to match ‘em. Because we can’t. It just can’t be done. If it does happen to snow for real, by all means, make snowmen and decorate white fluffy trees, but in the meantime, let’s just work with what we’ve got.

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Have you ever wondered what was the best method to get your Christmas shopping done? They say that this year they are trying to get the consumers to order their Christmas shopping online to cut down from the holiday traffic and chaos. However I think that holiday shopping online is the worst if you are not prepared for items to get lost in the mail or even not ship out till after the holidays. There is also the possibility that the items you ordered will not be in stock by the time they get to your order, and what about back order? This could cause a major panic for consumers which causes an even more chaotic shopping day in town. I personally would not order anything over the internet unless I started the first of November. I am still leery of whether my child will have her Christmas when I do order online even if its during the first of November. I do not seem to be the only one in my family that chooses not to order things online my in laws and my mother state they wouldn’t get online either to order anything with the fear that its not going to be here in time for their children or grand child to enjoy anything. Lots of people have no issues with ordering online however but sometimes I wonder how much more they pay in fees to have it shipped over night. Not something I want to find out. I will just continue to get in the shopping race.

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Tonight on the news, they were talking about all the Thanksgiving festivities that were going to be happening this week. All good and fun, who doesn’t like to hear all about the fun stuff going on during the holidays? They were talking about all the most common traditions that families in the Texas Panhandle have, and then, they had to break in and ruin it. They went on to talk about all the things that can go wrong, and the probabilities of those things happening to us as watchers. They were talking about how often people catch their houses on fire trying to fry a turkey, which I had heard about before. They were saying that the hospitals have to prepare for all of the people that will be coming in to them on Thanksgiving. Way to ruin the fun, news people. Who wants to hear that they are a statistic in getting hurt on the holiday? They said the numbers of people coming in from burns go way up, and that choking is a pretty common thing around this time of year as well. Also, that elderly are more likely to slip on most years but this year that wont be a problem because there will be no snow. Well there’s a little good news. So, everyone out there, be careful. Check your turkey for bones before you eat it in one gian bite, and don’t light your kids on fire. Just be careful and make sure your holidays are safe!

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I looove Christmas shopping. What I don’t love is keeping secrets. I have the hardest time not telling people what I got them, or giving them their presents early. My sister and I are both really bad at this, so it’s always been our tradition to give each other our gifts as soon as we get to see each other over the holidays. This year, I already have pretty good ideas of what I’m getting everyone, and I want to make sure that everyone is happy, so it’s really hard for me to not ask them and make sure it’s going to be a good gift idea. And, I’m always really scared that I’m going to get something for someone that someone else got them. I hate when ever I get someone a double gift, it makes me sad that they are going to have to return it and get something else to replace one of them. I always try to talk with everyone before hand in the family to make sure and find out what they are getting so there are no duplicates during Christmas. This year, though it’s pretty early, I already know what my brother is getting for his girlfriend and what I should get for him, so I just have to fill in everyone else and we will all be on the same page. Now, I just have to make sure that I can do that for everyone, so we are all good with the entire family. I can’t wait to go shopping!

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There are those famous things that everyone just loves to snack on, and most of the time you can just buy them at the convenient store or a grocery store. But, some how, my mom has figured out how to make them herself and make them taste a million times better. I can no longer eat beef jerky that you buy from the store, because it just can’t compare to the kind that she makes herself. I don’t know why, or what kind of magic she does, but the beef jerky she makes cannot be mocked in the same manner, either. Even with the exact recipe it will not taste the same, because it’s the little random things that she adds a bit more of that she doesn’t even notice that make it into what it is. And Chex Mix? Yeah right. I haven’t eaten Chex Mix out of a bag in years. It just doesn’t compare in the slightest to the kind she makes. And, when it is juuuust out of the oven and you get to grab some of it, that is the best. When she makes her jerky, it has to marinate for a long time, and then she puts it in the oven for several hours. So, you get to sit in the house and just smell it everywhere. It takes so long to be ready, and no one should be eating raw meat, but it’s so hard to wait until it’s done. It’s these special little things that make the holidays even better.

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1.)    Having a ghost for a brother in law is something I didn’t think was possible. However I have a brother in law that has heard the family gripe that he never comes down since he has left for a completely different state. My nieces who are in their teens have not seen him since they were two and just born and my nephews who are ten have never seen him. Then we get down to my daughter and my husband and I. I constantly have to hear how bad it is to have a brother and not be able to see him ever. My husband has stayed more upset and feels as though he never had a brother at all because he hasn’t been to our town in years.  I have been with my husband for eight years and our daughter is two and he hasn’t been here yet. I always feel as though he is just a family member everyone talks about but he never appears it’s almost like he doesn’t exist. He reminds me of a made up person that some child created years ago and has never let go of. The hardest thing about it all is to see my husband upset about the whole thing. My oldest niece has sent him a letter letting him know that she was very upset that he could go anywhere he wanted to but here was not ever on his list. She explained she was very mad and hated not knowing who he was. I don’t think I have ever seen a child express feelings like that to an adult but it must have worked in some way because he is trying hard to come down for the holidays. Hopefully my husband will get the wish of a lifetime.

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   Holidays with the outlaws are like holidays in hell. My family on my father’s side is never been the family we hoped and longed for. As kids we were called names and our weight was made fun of. However the worse part of all of it was when they would talk about our mother so badly that pretty soon we second guessed our mother and the love she had for us. After my dad died my mom tried to keep us away from the grandparents because they always treated us so badly. They never treated us badly in a physical state but our mental state was always degraded after we come home. When we were young our grandparents won a court battle that stated we had to go to their home every three weeks. Unfortunately us kids were not happy about that. As I grew older I began to grow apart from that side of the family including cousins. Now that we are grown and all have families of our own I try to let my children get involved with some of the activities that they put on for holidays. I never leave my children alone however. I try to make an appearance even though I have so much hatred for the way they not necessarily treated me but they way they treated my mother and my siblings. I only try to stay about an hour because my husband doesn’t like being there either. Hopefully I will overcome my hatred but everything is not forgivable and nothing is forgettable.

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Dumas is a total small town. Everything about it, down to the people, can only be described as small town. Tonight, just like every other year, they did the annual lighting of Candy Cane Lane, other wise known during the regular months of the year as Main Street, or Dumas Avenue. They blocked off the road to stop all the traffic (we do actually have a lot of semis that go through the city to get where they’re going), and they set up for the celebration. The fire department was out there serving food for all the people that went, and there were bunches of people out there with booths set up selling Christmas decorations. The whole festivity goes down to celebrate lighting all the Christmas lights in town. All down the entire Main Street there are candy canes hanging on the telephone poles, and at the court house there are tons of giant santas and more candy canes all over the place that they all light up at 7 pm. There’s live music, a horse and carriage you can ride around, and tons of local people just out there having fun. I didn’t actually go to the lighting, it is pretty cold outside here, but I was at a restaurant across the street and heard everything and saw the lights. I’m glad that I moved away and went to Lubbock, but I love that I can still come back here and experience all the small town things as though I never left.

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