Merry CHRISTmas!

Hi everyone!
Well, this is it....Christmas Eve! Hopefully all of your shopping and
wrapping are done and you are now enjoying the season! Here are just a few ideas to set the mood for tonight...
In case you want to call family or friends, but need Directory Assistance to find their numbers....Phone companies (residential and cell) are charging $1.00 or more to use their 411 Info lines. When you need to use the 411 option, simply dial 1 800 FREE 411 (1 800 373 3411) without incurring a 411 charge at all.
Free MP3 download of Silent Night
(http://www.jennyphillips.com/downloads/mp3/SilentNight.mp3)
Attached is a FREE calendar for 2006....just for us girls. Enjoy ladies!
Here is the famous Christmas scent Southern Living Annual Recipe to simmer on your stove:
3 4 inch sticks of cinnamon
3 bay leaves
1/4. cup whole cloves
1/2 of a lemon
1/2 of an orange
1 quart of water
Combine all in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. check often and add more water if needed. Mixture may be stored in a fridge several days and reused. Makes 4 cups.
To track Santa's journey tonight with your children go to www.noradsanta.com
And finally, if you've been too busy to write Santa your own wish list, you could always use mine:
Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.
I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.
Here are my Christmas wishes:
I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.
I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.
If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.
On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.
I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.
If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.
If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.
Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.
It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.
Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.
Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.
Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.
Yours Always, MOM...!
P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to always believe in Santa.
Of course, Christmas is really all about the Savior of the world. May we feel His spirit as we celebrate His birth and try to emulate His life. Merry CHRISTmas!
CENTSerely,
Sister Thrifty