An oldie, but always a goodie!

From Our Home to Yours

May you all have a very Merry CHRISTmas!

A Lesson in Economics

Everybody remembers this little diagram from economics class, right?!

• P - price
• Q - quantity of good
• S - supply
• D - demand

Well, if you do....good for you. But this Christmas season I have certainly learned a valuable lesson in supply and demand.

It all began with a little trip to the Hallmark store a few short weeks ago. Each year I pick an ornament for each member of the GRITS family; however, I usually go AFTER Christmas when those suckers are half price.

Because I am a cheap skate.

It is important that you must know that my two favorite Christmas movies, of all time, are "Christmas Vacation" AND "A Christmas Story".

Seriously!

So, imagine the joy in my heart when I spotted this little ornament gem:


Yes, yes, folks.....that would be Cousin Eddie's RV!!! I knew when I laid eyes on it, that it WOULD be hanging on MY Christmas tree this year!

It was meant to be mine, because I got the very LAST one in the Hallmark store. And apparently the last one in my city, because no one has been able to find one since my purchase.

YAY ME!

A couple of other ornaments caught my eye, but I decided to wait on their purchase. But that little voice inside had me back in the Hallmark store a couple days later. Which turned into a trip to Books-A-Million, where they also sell Hallmark ornaments.

My next two purchases were these hot little items:





Be honest, how many of you just said in your mind (or out loud), "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian."



Now, here's where our little lesson in economics comes in. I purchased each of these ornaments for $16.50 EACH. Which is why I usually wait until the day after Christmas to buy them, when they are half price.

Imagine my surprise when I found all three of these ornaments on Amazon.com selling for over $30 EACH! The Cousin Eddie's RV ornament alone is selling for $49.95.

Seriously.


That, my friends, is today's lesson in supply and demand!

(And, NO, I am not selling my fabulous ornaments....they will be on my Christmas tree for the rest of my life!)

Say Cheese!

 

This Christmas we had the pleasure of having my brother and sister-in-law home for the holidays.  They are currently stationed in South Korea and have not been home for Christmas in a couple years.

Because ALL the siblings and ALL the grandchildren were actually present and accounted for, I mandated an updated family photo. 

Our last whole family photo was taken 7 years, 3 grandchildren, several bad hairdos, and one weird mustache ago. 

And who knows when we will all be together again.

Thanks to Lego-Man’s handy dandy cheapo telescope tripod and my super-duper photography skilz, I think we came up with a couple of winner photos, like this one:

 

 

 

And just to mix it up for the kids, we added a couple of funny face photos:

 

 

Notice my hubby, back and center, who is the only goofball who did not make a funny face. 

Party pooper.

And, this photo just HAD to be shown.  Check out the sneak attack by my brother, top right, on my brother-in-law.

 

Good thing neither will be running for public office.

I hope. 

Merry Christmas to All

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to all a good night…see y’all  soon!

 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”  Luke 2:14

‘Fro Me to You – Christmas Pageant

I bring to you week 3 of my ‘Fro Me to You Christmas spectacle spectacular.

Once again brought to you by our dear Texas hostess with the mostest, Kristen over at We are THAT family.

This week’s photo comes from 1976. Which might make you think of star-spangled celebrations in honor of our great country’s 200th birthday celebration. Of course, it might not remind you of anything since you weren't born......sheesh, don't rub it in either.

It’s ok to think those things; however, from here on out, I want you to think of the Greek Orthodox Christmas Pageant of ‘76.

Think of children dressed as angels (who ought not be), shepherds, and lambs sitting on a stage covered with hay. And said children surrounding the precious baby Jesus in a manger!

Now close your eyes and go to your happy place and envision such beauty.

Are you there?? Can you see the sweet children dressed as in the day of Jesus?? Do you see the lambs too??

Did you envision something like this:

I thought so.

What???

Me???

OHHHH, you want to know which one is me….. seriously, you can’t find me without help.

OK, fine.

Yes, yes….there I am in my angelic glory, the rosy cheeked one 2nd from the left. The cute little blonde in the middle would be my little sister! I think my twin sister is peeking at the right middle edge of photo.

So, if somebody asks you what the first thing that comes to your mind when they say 1976….don’t say “bicentennial”. The answer should be “the best little Greek Christmas pageant ever”.

To see many more photos that have never graced the pages of any scrapbook, click here to head over the Kristen’s site. If you’re new here, dig out those photos and join in the Thursday fun!

Merry Christmas ‘Fro Me to You!!!!

Christmas- Mission Accomplished

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….you know how it goes. And, now, we do too at the GRITS household.

The Christmas tree is no longer nekkid. The stockings are in place and I think this is the first year ever that I’ve got a wreath on my door. Seriously.

It’s taken me a bit longer this year to get my holiday groove on. In case some are new here, ALL of my usual Christmas decorations are in a storage unit that is currently housing the belongings of a friend who had a stroke earlier this year.

I can honestly say I didn’t really miss the never ending fluffing and the ridiculous plug matching of the pre-lit tree.

Is it just me or am I the only electrical buffoon who can’t seem to get the right wires connected to make the entire tree light simultaneously???

To save money on decorations we really don’t need, I went with ye ol’ shiny Christmas ball theme! Thank you Target for the $2/box. What a steal.

The Princess and I also made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and bought a few pre-painted wooden items, glitter glue and ribbon. *poof* Instant homemade ornaments to hang amongst the shiny round objects. Because nothing says Christmas ornaments more than hand crafted.

I’ll spare you the chatter and let you take a look around.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you a Greek GRITS Christmas:

No fireplace here, so I transform the kitchen area counter in our mantle/stocking area.

Let’s get a closer look there:

A few extra decorations strategically randomly located:

( Sorry about the glare)

I love my card holder from Southern Living at Home!

This, sadly, is my first attempt, EVER, at making a bow. Looks like a need a few more lessons…and preferably not from some lady named Nancy on YouTube. Anywhoo.

Of course, you won’t make it out of here without seeing my cutie-patootie kids and their Christmas trees:

For those of you who notice the details, yes her tree is bigger than his; however, his has super cool fiber optic lights and, well, hers is pink! And it wasn’t an issue.

Looks like somebody else got caught up in the Christmas spirit, meet Bailey-Claus who is celebrating her 13th Christmas with us:

We’re not real fancy here, as you can see. But I hope you enjoyed looking around at our Christmas decorations!

Please click on over to both of the following sites to enjoy more beautiful holiday decorations!

Merry Christmas, y’all!

‘Fro Me to You-- Bar-Bee, Bay-Bee

In continuation with my December ‘Fro theme of Christmas Spectacle Spectacular, I bring to you a Christmas photo from around 1975 –ish.

This would be the year of the Barbie, which is funny because I was through and through a TOMBOY! Yet, I had every Barbie big item known to man, ummm, girl. But I also had a GI Joe!

Check out this little photo flashback with the Barbie Country Camper:

That there is a vintage toy today, in case you didn’t know. I do, because someone who slightly favors the brunette above has asked Santa for the exact same Country Camper.

Stay tuned to see if Santa pulls through. *wink*

Now, check out the lower portion of this photo, it’s the Barbie Friend Ship airplane:

Anyone else have either on of these during their childhood??

Unfortunately I have no photo of the 3 story Barbie dream house….remember the one with the string that pulled the elevator up and down??

I absolutely love looking at the old photos. You may not notice the other little things in the photos, but I remember being SO excited about the Smokey the Bear doll which “talked” when you pulled his chain string. ”Only you can prevent forest fires.” I remember that milkshake maker, and how the shakes tasted powdery.

I have some GREAT childhood Christmas memories. How about you?

For more great memories and pictures, click here to hop on over to Kristen’s at We are THAT Family to check out more fun ‘Fro posts.

Did she just ask that?

I spent the better part of my morning wandering all over creation in search of some reasonably priced Christmas decorations.

I made the usual round through Hobby Lobby where I found all the Christmas decor on sale for 50% off! I walked away with all the makings for family stockings, miniature ornaments for two small trees and the possibility of having a cute lighted garland across the kitchen bar.

See, for a second there I had you all fooled that I might actually know something about decorating a home, without professional help. *snicker*

I do watch HGTV. Sometimes. That DOES count. Or not.

Next stop, Michael's, where I wandered around aimlessly for 30 minutes before making a final decision on what I thought was cute Christmas ribbon and floral wire. Which, in my mind, these two items should go together. They may not. I'm not sure.

As if I was not overwhelmed by the first two stores, I was a glutton for punishment and entered the DOLLAR TREE Zone! Wooooo! You just never know what you are going to get and what condition that store will be in.

Let me just say, Christmastime is not the time to wander around this store. However, I did find a few more cute decorating items for just a buck a piece. I waited patiently in line behind Thelma and Eunice and for their 17 bazillion items to be counted, the tax to be added and for Congress to pass a bailout package to help these dear women pay for today's purchase.

As I got to the checkout counter with my 6 measly items I hear from behind me....."Hey ma'am can you tell me what the price is for this?"

I looked at my cashier and with eye contact alone I verified THAT conversation just happened. I think I did a pretty good job keeping myself composed, but, oh man was it tough. I might have actually let out a small snort. To which the cashier responded, "people ask that ALL the time."

Really?! Funny how one question can make your whole day!

Deck the halls, y’all

It’s kinda beginning to look a little like Christmas here at the GRITS house.  And I mean just a little!

Long story short, due to helping a friend out during a time of illness, we cannot get to our usual Christmas tree or decorations in our storage room this year.  

Most people would probably be excited and use it as an excuse to get all new stuff.  Not me.  Because I am cheap. 

Today we ventured out to a local Christmas tree farm to find the tree of our dreams.

We had a little help in sizing up our needs, meet Shorty and his little friend McShorter:

 

 

 

Apparently someone was taking too long choosing the tree and our helpers needed to rest their weary souls in the farm’s front loader bucket thingy:

 

 

Here’s the best part of the trip:

 

 

This just might qualify me to be a member of THAT family society.

Yes, that is my car with a Christmas tree tied to the roof!  Where have you seen that done before??

 

Exactly!  Christmas Vacation!  A holiday favorite.

Well, we certainly looked like the Griswolds with the tree strapped on top of the car.

And, thankfully, we made it home without any sort of Christmas tree incident.

And due to our pre-scheduled Alabama football game, which we are not going to talk about,  this is as far as we got with our decorating:

 

 

I am now trying to decide what to do about the ornament situation.  Any suggestions from you decorating people??

Since I cannot get to my current collection of the world’s cutest Hallmark Ornaments, I was thinking about going with a typical CHEAP ball ornament theme since I have to get other usual decorations…..tree skirt, stockings, etc…which are 50% off at Hobby Lobby! 

I am on call for 24 hours on Sunday and Tuesday, so I am thinking the tree will have to wait for me until sometime Wednesday. 

Stay tuned, Christmas loving folks……Christmas at the Griswolds GRITS house is coming…..one day and decoration at a time.  Until next time, enjoy this :

 

‘Fro Me to You- Retro Christmas

 

 

I bring to you week one of my ‘Fro Christmas spectacle Spectacular of 2008.

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some photos of Christmas past that have NEVER graced the insides of any scrapbook.

Like many others, Christmas is probably my favorite holiday.  I have so many GREAT memories from the Christmases of my childhood.

Each year, my mother would put up the Christmas tree while playing a stack of classic Christmas albums.  And every now and again, she would open up the console and rearrange the albums for a bit of variety.  She certainly was WAY ahead of the iPod shuffle button. 

And by just looking at photos bring back so many specific memories of days gone by.

 

Take, for example, this little gem:

 

You may look at this photo and think, “poor little girl with the bad hairstyle and ratty clothes and *gasp* corrective shoes?!”

 

 

But, I see LOTS of good things:

 

 

I remember this being a favorite toy, and each doll had Velcro hands so they could stick together,  as you see I had arranged in the photo.

 

 

That particular Mickey Mouse “walked” when you squeezed his hands, which, I’m sure, was technologically advanced for the 70’s.  Who else LOVED the Happy Days game??

I shutter to think that I actually requested a suitcase decorated in a brown/yellow/orange floral pattern.  If that doesn’t represent life in the 70’s then I don’t know what does!

I do still have one “beef” with my mother over a gift I received this particular year…which was about 1977.  My Yaya gave me a Rock Tumbler, which turned ordinary rocks into extraordinary “gems” by being tumbled in this machine.

Well, in order to accomplish this magical feat, the rocks had to tumble for over 24 hours.  So what’s the big deal you may ask????  I dunno, but my Mom never let me use this…perhaps she thought it would burn the house down.  *shrug*

I can’t talk about it anymore…..*sniff*

 

For more ‘Fro Me to You spectacles spectacular photos, head on over to Kristen’s place HERE and enjoy the best day in blogland! 

Why not live a little…..bust out YOUR ‘Fro pictures and join in the fun.  You and I both know you have some you can share!