It’s one thing to commit to making changes to better yourself, to add value to your life, but to commit to a deadline on making one of the two or three most important decisions in your life?
Neenah Pickett wants to be married so badly she’s given herself just one year to find her mate.
At 42, I don’t blame her for trying to hurry things up a little.
Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar
It’s quite an early Christmas present – your 18th child.
Ever hear of the Duggars from Arkansas? I had a friend whose real-life heroes were the Duggars. Something about the dream of having a super-large family excited her. I must say I can’t relate. Michele Duggar has now born 18 kids – 10 boys, 8 girls. I think they’re trying to balance them out and go for a boys vs. girls football team.
Maybe one of the upsides to having that many kids is that they make a TV show out of your life. The TLC network airs “17 Kids and Counting” , which will have a show on the newest addition, Jordyn-Grace Makiya, Monday, Dec. 22. (see, they had to start hyphenating names because they’re running out!)
Of course, I’m thinking they’ll have to rename the show now.
So what kind of Christmas presents do 18 kids get? One sock each?
With the economy down right now there are a lot of people looking for work. If you’re one, you’ll find it easier to be considered a candidate by job recruiters by NOT doing things like offering to “do anything” or having your spouse make the contact for you (yes, there are people who do that).
What else can you avoid doing that will get you on a recruiter’s bad side?
Does sugar send your kids out of control? When was the last time you asked “Who gave you sugar”?
I did just yesterday. My 5-year-old was bouncing around the house, racing down the hallway.
“Hey, who fed her sugar?!”
It’s a myth that sugar causes kids to drive you crazy. Good to know when they’ve just eaten 6 candy canes. Of course, sugar does cause other problems.
It’s also a myth that poinsettias are poisonous or that suicides increase during the holidays.
Here’s the scoop.
Here’s hoping for less stress paying off the Christmas charge-up on the credit cards. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce new rules today preventing credit card companies from jacking up our interest rates so unexpectedly.
I’ve had that happen before and it’s no fun.
One of the new rules says your rate can’t be hiked until you’re more than 30 days late on the minimum payment. Mine was one day late once and the rate more than doubled.
I was not a happy camper.
What’s worse is that they make it nearly impossible to get it back down. Even after years of reliable payments.
Gotta get out of that thing.
Brandon Heath
One of the most popular songs we’ve played this year is Brandon Heath’s “Give Me Your Eyes”. It was just nominated for a Grammy and Brandon’s album was, too.
We’re also honored to feature some of MercyMe’s best songs. They’ve just gotten some more Grammy love with a nomination for their song “You Reign”. MercyMe’s lead singer, Bart Millard, has been nominated, too, for a solo album he did called “Hymned Again”.
Other notable nominees include Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, tobymac and Steven Curtis Chapman.
We find out who the Grammy winners are in February.
I’m a techie and I make no apologies for it. Being one has saved me much aggravation over the years simply by not using Microsoft’s internet software (IE, OE, Outlook).
My family, however, is not on the same wavelength.
Microsoft has fixed a major security hole in the browser most people use to get on the internet. Automatic update took care of mine this morning. I recommend for peace of mind to make sure yours is updated, too. It’ll help keep the bad guys from stealing personal information from your computer.
Will Ferrell makes Elf
I love the movie “Elf” – loads of fun for the holiday – so this caught my eye on Facebook today.
International Answer the Phone like Buddy the Elf Day
Oh, yeah!
Think about how much more interesting your workday would be if you answered the phone like Buddy the Elf.
“Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?”
If you try it, let me know how it works out for you.
Call me, really. 
Each year The Salvation Army finds interesting items dropped into the Red Kettles you walk by at the store. They’re highly valuable gifts, like $1000 coins, among many valuable gifts to forward the important work of the Army.
My 5-year-old asks each time we pass one to put something in. I’m not one who likes to carry change, so the other day I handed her a dollar. She worked and worked to get that dollar folded in just the right way to get it into the kettle.
After a big toothless grin and “Merry Christmas” from the volunteer bell-ringer I was once again on my way with a little girl tickled pink to give her gift.
We Americans love having lots of things. Most of those things we could survive without. As a Christian, it’s important to have a Bible handy, but do we need 6 or 12?
Extra Bibles and Christian books are being sent overseas into third world countries where such things are scarce. It’s a single, simple act of ministry that can bring eternal life to many.
You can get started with Bare Your Bookshelf.