There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays

That's the title of the song covered by many artists and groups, but my favorite version is the Perry Como one.



The lyrics go like this:
Oh! There's no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam,
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home!

I met a man who lives in Tennessee, he was heading for,
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie!
From Pennsylvania folks are travellin'
Down the Dixie sunny shore,
From Atlantic to Pacific,
Gee the traffic is terrific!

Oh! There's no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam,
If you wanna be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home!

Take a bus, take a train, go and hop an aeroplane,
Put the wife an' kiddies in the family car!
For the pleasure that you bring when you make that doorbell ring,
No trip could be too far!

For me, the fun part this year is that I'm in the song!

"From Pennsylvania folks are travellin'
Down the Dixie sunny shore,"

I've been alone, with my friends, or with family in a variety of different places, but this year it's off to my parents' home in Gulfport, Mississippi. I love to spend time with them!

Some people find time with family stressful.



So, let's break it out... Wherever you're home for the holidays.

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays - The Good Things Version.

Brian (good things also come in twos)

2) Brothers: I have two brothers. I could count them each as good things, but then I'd have no room for more things. We are as alike as we are different from each other.

We enjoy each other's company and make each other laugh. I'm also putting my sister in-law in there. She's awesome. She's not "one of the boys" but she's awesome.

3) Nephews: I have two of those too! They are also awesome, and quite frankly much cuter than my brothers, and it's not creepy when they sit on my lap.

1) Parents: I have two of those! My mom and dad are precious to me. Yes, I could have just written "Family" instead of the pairs of good things, but then I wouldn't have this fun theme now would I?


Sue (Also sponsored by the number 2, or I'm-too-lazy-to-come-up-with my-own-theme so I'm rolling with Brian's)

2. Two cute kids : We've got 'em. They fill our lives with joy and happiness, and make Christmastime merry, bright, and expensive (especially now that they are tweens!)

3. Two sisters : We enjoy each other's company and make each other laugh. Wait, that's what Brian said about his brothers, but it's true. My sisters are awesome aunties who help me carry on festive holiday traditions with the kids like baking cookies*, and passing around presents from the youngest to the oldest or vice versa, which makes gift opening an epic event, or what my hubby T would call an all-day affair.

1. Two parents : I've got them too! They are "Nonnie and Papa" to my kids, and the inlaws to T. My mom and dad are the ones who started many of our family traditions like passing Oplatki around the Christmas table or the aforementioned gift opening ritual. One of my favorite traditions is when Santa (shh . . . it's really my dad) gives a special gift to each of his girls. This year's Christmas soiree will be at my parents' house, which is good because it takes just 10 minutes or so to get there from here. What's even better is that the day will be filled with eating, drinking, laughing, and love!

* Read my post about one of my favorite family cookie recipes and more in this free holiday ebook. Merry Christmas!

Our house in the middle of our street

I've not been feeling well during the past two weeks, so I've spent a LOT of time lounging around the house resting, watching daytime TV, and other exciting activities such as coughing, taking antibiotics, coughing, napping, drinking fluids, coughing, and whatnot.

I'm feeling better now - thank goodness, but when I spend so much time in the house I tend to go a little stir cRaZy! I also tend to contemplate my surroundings, and dream about all the changes we could make to our humble abode especially after being inspired by Nate Berkus on NBC, and other home improvement gurus a la HGTV.

We've lived in our house for nearly eight years now, so of course, there are big changes we would love to make like remodeling the yucky blucky basement, installing hardwood floors, or creating a backyard oasis with and an inground swimming pool and a cabana, and . . . Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Despite my big dreams for our little house, there are many things I do like about it.

Here are three of my favorites:


2. The porch: It's great for sitting, holiday displays, and photo ops. So homey - it was a must-have feature when we built our house years ago.



3. The island: The hub of our kitchen! Great for cookie baking, meal prep, storing stuff, plopping down groceries, mail collecting, and more!



1. The laundry area: It's not really a room, but a nook off the kitchen. For six years, our washer and dryer was located in said yucky blucky basement. I'm NOT a fan of the basement, and lugging laundry up and down two flights of stairs had started to become increasingly difficult for me due to the limitations from my illness. Cue the laundry room make-over by Mike the carpenter, and his buddy Joe the plumber - not THE Joe the plumber, but just a plumber named Joe. Those guys made all my laundry dreams come true! Not really, but the relocation/remodel has made doing this household task much easier for all of us, and I think it looks pretty cool, too!

A porch, an island, and a main-floor laundry area - three good things in our house in the middle of our street. What are yours?

Home

Home is...

where the heart is.
where you hang your hat.
sweet home.
on the range.
is not where you live, but where they understand you.
is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.

I was very blessed, in that I had the ability to take a road-trip vacation over the last week. I happily got to spend some time with Sue and her family! I spent time in my hometown. I was able to visit with friends in several places where I've lived over the years. There were so many more people I wanted to see and spend more time with, but at some point you gotta go home. Home is good.

Here are three good quotes about home.

2) Charles Dickens
Home is a name, a word, it is a strong
one; stronger than magician
ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to,
in the strongest conjuration.

3) Maya Angelou
You can never go home again, but the truth is
you can never leave home, so it's all right.


1) Frederick W. Robertson
Home is the one place in all this world where hearts
are sure of each other. It is the place
of confidence. It is the place where we
tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious
coldness which the world forces us to wear
in self-defense, and where we pour out the
unreserved communications of full and confiding
hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness
gush out without any sensation of awkwardness
and without any dread of ridicule.


Of course, that's all the things home can be, might be, should be. For some, those things are not present in any place, nor in their own hearts. Today, pray for home; for yourself, for someone you know, for someone you don't. When you've got it, you don't know how people can live without it, but still they do.

Working from home

I'm an internet guy, and most of the time I work from home.
Sometimes, I really miss the people, because I'm kind of an extrovert. (replace "kind of" with "a polar") Working remotely is a double-edged sword. I get less human contact than I like, but I get to listen to music on my stereo, work in a fairly cool environment, wear shorts... or PJs or... ____ to work. (try not to think about it)

Today, I'm in an all-day meeting at a local conference center.

1) I get to wear my big boy clothes and even wear shoes!

2) I'm in a room full of really great people and have face to face conversations.

3) They feed us.

Those are all some good things.