For now. The last 4 days have been a whirlwind of painting and unpacking. But the good news is the MS House is mostly put together. Thanks in large part to my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law who took care of all three of my kids, including a very sick Sadie, while I was getting the house set up.

If you want to see pics of the new house, send me a Facebook friend request. Robin Wiley O’Bryant.

I just thought I’d spell out the whole moving situation here because everybody is asking on Facebook and twitter. My husband works in commercial construction and in the last 11 years we have had 8 different addresses in 5 different states. He has accepted a job for RC Construction working as a Project Manager out of their corporate office which means a whole lot of wonderful things for us.
1. I will live in the same town as one of my very best friend’s in the universe (Hey Lizzie!!) and her three bebes.
2. We will be only a 3 hour drive from all of our family, instead of 10.
3. We will never have to move again. (Can I get an amen?)
4. We have bought a fabulous house that we can fix up exactly like we want it and not have to worry about leaving in 18 months.
5. My children will have a home and roots.
6. I get to see Lizzie everyday.
7. I will be back in the Central time zone so I will no longer have to do math when I call my sister.

Words can’t express how hard it was to leave Mount Pleasant (but don’t worry, I tried and it’ll be in The Moultrie News tomorrow) but we are so excited about the next chapter of our lives in Mississippi. We will be spending Christmas vacation painting and moving in our new house and will be coming back to Jasper for Christmas so I can eat at Perico’s three meals a day, I mean, um…so we can see our families.

Also, I will still be writing my column for The Moultrie News…

This is the kind of stuff that happens when I attempt to do anything on the computer.

Gena James! Gena won a $45 gift card to Backyard Baby, an online t-shirt boutique for kids.
I used random.org to randomly draw a winner out of 160 entries. Thank you so much to everyone who participated and stay tuned for my next giveaway!

Hey Peeps!
There are only 2 days left to sign up for my blog giveaway. All you have to do is sign up as a follower or leave a comment on any blog post to be registered for a chance to win a $45 gift certificate to Backyard Baby, an online t-shirt boutique for kids. You can leave one comment per blog post for more chances to win. Contest ends at midnight November 30th (EST.) I will enter all entries into a random number generator and announce the winner December 1st.

Good luck!

Guest blogger Angie Mizzell says:

For as long as I can remember, I have understood and celebrated the true meaning of Christmas. But even as a little girl, I noticed how Santa seemed to upstage the baby Jesus. The Son of God born of a virgin in a manger… a miracle I never doubted. But ol’ St. Nick had a Hollywood type of charm, and by Christmas Eve, he had stolen the show.

My dad would ratchet up my excitement, pointing to the red glow in the sky (which was probably pollution). “Hey, Angie, look! There’s Santa Clause! He’s coming.” How did this magical fat man fit all the toys for every boy and girl in the entire world in his sleigh and deliver them in one night? I was awestruck and amazed.

At bedtime, I’d crawl under the covers and lay frozen until dawn. Mom said if Santa caught me peeking, he’d take my toys away. She never told me not to move, but still, I barely breathed.

At the first light of day, I’d dash down the hall and shriek, “He came! He came!” I’d survey my toys and then run into my parent’s room. “Dad, you’ll never guess what Santa brought! A Barbie house, a record player…”

“No way. I don’t believe it,” he answered in a sleepy voice, playing along. Of course, I had no idea Santa had stayed up a little too late, having a few Christmas cocktails. I was a bona fide believer.

When bigger kids told me Santa wasn’t real, my faith wasn’t shaken. “Do you think my parents could afford to buy me a bike, a Brooke Shields Fashion Face, AND a My Pretty Pony? I don’t think so!”

Then one year, the magic went away. I walked in the garage on Christmas evening and saw empty boxes that had previously held my toys. If my toys came from Santa’s workshop, what’s with all the boxes? I asked my mom about it, and the look on her face said everything. Santa’s cover was blown.

From that year on, my parents thought Christmas was Totally Boring. And it was my fault for no longer believing in Santa Clause. I continued to torture my mom as my husband and I dated for five years before getting married, and then waited another five to have kids.

Now, finally. Santa’s back. Christmas is fun again. I’m already rehearsing my speech the day my oldest son discovers it’s all a big sham and ruins it for his younger brother. I will remind them of the true meaning of Christmas. I will share the history of Kris Kringle and how believing in Santa is just a fun way to keep the spirit and magic of the Christmas season alive.

Then, it will be my turn to start counting the days until I get some grandchildren.

You can pay Angie a visit at her blog, Under the MAC.

Alright people, who wants some free stuff? I thought so.

This is my Very First Blog Giveaway. Here’s the deal. From now until December 1, 2009 I will be having a contest. All you have to do is comment on my blog (replying to emails, or commenting on links on Facebook or twitter do not count, you MUST leave your comment in the comments section of the blog.) For every comment you leave (one entry per blog post) you get one entry for a drawing for The Grand Prize. You CAN leave comments on older posts and receive an entry for those but you will only get one entry per blog post.

If you are not a follower of the blog and sign up as a follower (SEE FAQs LINK if you need help signing up), you get an extra entry. If you refer someone to the blog and they sign up as a follower, you get an extra entry (they will have to TELL me you sent them, I’m not psychic!) If the person you refer signs up AND leaves a comment, you get ANOTHER entry.

I will draw names out of a hat on December 1st for The Grand Prize- a $45 gift card to the online t-shirt boutique for kids Backyard Babies. I will post the winner’s name on the blog December 1st. Check out the site…you know you want to win.