Congrats Winners!

Man, this blog gets a lot of hits! Nat had a whopping two comments on the first Christmas Giveaway for this holiday season. Since I go to church with the only two commenters, Sara and Candy, I chatted with these gals last night about which prize they wanted since they both registered to win the same prize. So, Sara is graciously taking the Scatterpiller Scramble game and Candy wins the Girraffalaff Limbo! Congrats gals! I’ll bring your winnings to church with me on Sunday provided I don’t forget.


Stay tuned for future giveaways folks, and hopefully something entertaining will happen in the next few days so that I will have something to write about!

Nat's First Christmas Giveaway!

~~~This Giveaway is Closed - Stayed Tuned for the Next One~~~

Are you ready for Christmas? There are only 38 shopping days left until Christmas. Can you believe it? Thankfully I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. I just have a few gift cards to pick up and a couple of gifts and I will be done! This may be the earliest I have ever completed my shopping and I am really proud of myself.


As mentioned in a previous post, I am planning a few giveaways for this Christmas season. I’m going to start things off today with a giveaway for those of you that need a gift for preschoolers.

There will be two winners for this giveaway. Are you ready for the details? One winner will receive GIRAFFALAFF LIMBO (ages 3+), and the other winner will receive SCATATERPILLER SCRAMBLE (ages 4+). Both of these games can be found on Amazon or by doing a Google search if you want to know more.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. Tell us how far along you are in your Christmas shopping and which of the two games you would like to win. The contest will remain open until 7:00 a.m. Central Time on Thursday morning, at which time two winners will be chosen using random.org. Winners will be announced some time on Thursday morning.

Best of luck to everyone!

It's Fall - Enjoy It!

Fall is in full swing –hard to believe, isn’t it? It seems like it just started a couple of weeks ago. I had been waiting for the leaves to change and then when I woke from my influenza induced coma, I realized that they had changed while I was sick and many of the leaves have already fallen. I missed some of the prettier colors this year. I had planned to take my camera and capture some of the leaves this year, but never got an opportunity.

Thanksgiving is just two weeks away – are you ready? My dad and I have got to start planning. We have made a few plans, but only scratched the surface. We still have quite a bit to do before Turkey Day arrives.

One of the many things I love most about this time of year is that the grocery stores have so many great deals on baking items. I usually have one Crisco that I’m using and one as a back up. I was at Wal-Mart this week, and it was on sale for $2.00 and I had a coupon for 55 cents off so I went ahead and got another one. I couldn’t pass up that offer. They also had a great deal on Campbell’s cooking soups – normally $1.68, they were only 58 cents!! Holy moly – I had to buy four – I had a coupon for those too! Be sure and check out your local grocer for the great deals they have in store for this baking season. I sometimes wish that baking season lasted all year long, but then it wouldn’t be as special I guess.

Speaking of specials, I’m including the link to three great blogs below. These blogs are all about money saving tips and coupons and I visit them daily! I have been made aware of so many great offers thanks to these blogs and I know they have helped me save a lot of money. They also offer giveaways from time-to-time and I’ve won a couple of these, which is always nice.

And, speaking of giveaways, be sure and check in with The Chronicles of Nat throughout December. I’ve got some giveaways of my own planned.

Hope everyone has a really great day!

http://blog.al.com/bargain-mom/index.html

http://blog.al.com/saving-for-eight/index.html

http://www.moneysavingmadness.com/

Adam's Baptism

Just when you think you’ve said goodbye for good, fate intervenes. Monday night I was out and about running errands to kill some time before I met my aunt Linda and our visitation group for dinner at Logan’s when I received a call. The call was from a lady at church telling me that Adam Goode was going to be baptized at (what we now refer to as) the old building and that he wanted me to be there.


So, I headed home, changed clothes, and grabbed my camera and a few minutes later headed to “the old building.”

Adam Goode is 16 years old. I have known him since he was conceived and was at the hospital the day he was born – wearing my Winn-Dixie cashier’s uniform no doubt since I had to be at work later that day. My parents have known Adam’s parents since before I was born, and Adam’s parents have been like another set of parents to me. I like to think of Adam as my younger brother, although if you ask him, he won’t agree to that statement – maybe I’m embarrassing?

I am so happy for Adam and his decision and also for his parents. I know how proud they are of him. I certainly am! I was so thankful that Adam was able to be baptized at “the old building.” What a wonderful note to end an era.

I couldn’t help but think of my own brother during this time; and if you are familiar with my brother and his struggles in life, then you will know that it was very emotional for me. My brother was baptized in that same baptistery and this baptism brought me back to that day.

I am thankful; not only for Adam’s decision, but also that his decision gave me one more opportunity to walk through the doors of a place I hold so dear to my heart.

To top it off, some folks sat in “their pews” for a last minute impromptu photo opportunity. Here they are:

Jim and Irma - they've sat here for about 50 years - they were founding members of Memorial Parkway.

My parents - my mother usually wears real clothes and not a robe to church in case you were wondering.

Closing The Doors

The church I attend has moved. It’s really odd. I have gone to church at this building since I was about five years old. They only times I didn’t attend here were when I was away for my senior year of high school, my college years, and when I lived in New York and North Carolina. But, other than that, it’s where I’ve always gone and it’s like a second home to me.

This past Sunday, November 8, we had our last worship service at the building. Oddly enough, I didn’t cry like I thought I would. It probably had something to do with being sick. Narcotic cough medicine can change one’s perspective.

It feels as though I’m leaving behind a part of myself. For over 50 years our congregation has been worshipping at this spot. I’m not sure my car will know how to drive somewhere else.

This is the place where I found two of the best friends in the world!

This is the place where I have helped prepare many meals.

This is the place where I have eaten many meals.

This is the place where I have held many babies – some of whom now have babies of their own! (Nat is gettin’ old!)

From this pulpit I have heard many sermons – some good, some not so good.

This is where I was baptized, and so was my brother.

This is the hallway where I have walked to many, many classes.

This is the classroom where I have spent my Sunday mornings for the past six years, learning from a group of ladies who are older and much, much wiser than me.

This is the classroom where I have molded young minds on Wednesday nights.

The future, I’m sure will be bright; but change is always difficult, whether one wants to admit it or not. Here's to hoping the next 50 plus years at a new location will be as memorable and wonderful as the past 50 plus years at this location.

Nat's Been Sick

This is Nat and I've been sick with the flu. I just wanted you readers to know that I am still alive and hope to have something fun to write about soon. Until then...

Halloween 2009!

This past Saturday was Halloween, in case you didn’t know. Jackie was sans kids and I was sans Tony, so she came over and I cooked Chicken Parmesan while we waited for the trick-or-treaters to come. I love trick-or-treaters! I love trick-or-treating! I had 13 trick-or-treaters this year; that’s about normal for me. Kids just don’t seem to trick-or-treat in the mass numbers they did when I was a kid. I don’t get it. I was happy for the 13 kids I did have and the folks at work are happy to have my leftover candy.


The funniest thing about the night was that three of my pumpkins got stolen. I had bought two large carving pumpkins and two pie pumpkins and they have been sitting on my porch since the first of October. I carved one of the pumpkins (one of my favorite Halloween activities) and let the others on the porch untouched. In all my 32 years on this earth, I have never had a pumpkin stolen; at least, not that I’m aware of. When I was a young child, we may have had a pumpkin stolen but I don’t remember it. After we ate dinner, Jackie noticed that “Scream” was coming on TV. I think by now you all probably know that Jackie loves the scary stuff and I hate it. But, since I had seen “Scream” before I decided it would be okay to watch. Well, it was apparently while we were watching this movie, oblivious to the world around us, that these three pumpkins were stolen. They thieves were kind enough to leave my carved pumpkin on the porch. I just think it is hilarious that we were sitting right there with the door wide open while these folks came up and took the pumpkins right off my porch. We were obviously engrossed in the movie.

Here are some photos of Halloween night:

My witch pumpkin

Same pumpkin

Last one

A couple of trick-or-treaters

Two more trick-or-treaters

Here I am with a couple of high school trick-or-treaters.

For some reason this photo cracks me up.

Hope it gives you a good laugh too!