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THANK GOODNESS the holidays and all the business and clean-up afterward is over! We are especially busy during the time between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. Those two holidays sneak up on each other, even though they are a month apart. So many parties and extra business duties come for us during this time. My birthday is December 30^th, and my husband follows me on January 6^th. And then, after that…it’s a rush to get year end paperwork together for three businesses, and in the middle of getting ready for year end taxes, the last quarter’s due diligence is demanded by good ‘ole Uncle Sam by January 15^th. I am happy that I’ve completed my duties for the quarter, and can get back to more quality writing finally.


I know I’m late (later than most), but still want to share my happy holiday stories. I got incredible presents this year, and like a child…I am still enjoying my new Christmas toys. My living room was filled to capacity with the ten of us that shared Christmas together, and we had a great time. There was much giving, but I must highlight my favorites…

Husband gave me a gift more precious than diamonds. I received from him a most beautiful Canon EOS Rebel XTI digital 35mm camera. It is a 10 pixel camera with an amazing zoom lens, and he bought me a 75mm – 300mm large zoom lens, and a 60 macro lens for my birthday. It has so many functions, I will probably have to take some classes in order to learn how to use it, but I will have some amazing photographs in the end.

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My in-laws gave me a wonderful set of really heavy duty pots and pans that have been a lot of fun to use and try new cooking with. My old light-weight non-stick pans that flake and contribute to brain damage (according to some experts) have been tossed away.

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My oldest son gave me a robe from Bath & Body Works called the world’s most comfortable robe. Now, while one might think a bath robe is just another usual Christmas gift…trust me on this… If you’ve never put one of these on, you must put it on your list next year. I don’t know what magical fabric this thing is made of, but if I could teach it to cook or clean…the husband would no longer be needed :) I put this robe on when I awoke to go to the bathroom after Christmas celebration, and could not bear to remove it afterward. I just wore it to bed, and then when I woke the next morning, I realized that getting up would actually require taking it off…bummer. If Bath & Body Works sells these again next year at Christmas, you should all consider giving one as a gift, you’ll be a hero!

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My youngest son got the award this year for making Mom cry. His gift was simple, but absolutely PRICELESS! As my readers know, I’ve spent a lot of blog posting time bragging on his ten year football career. He is a senior this year, and it was his last year to play. He played both sides of the ball on every team he ever played for, and his high school football career was successful, and he was a team captain this year. He played for Coach Ken Dalton, the most winning Nevada high school coach in many years. His coach has led this team for 25 years. His high school is a prominent one in the Reno area, and lots of photo ops are available. Well, I guess a local professional photographer had done an amazing photo of Quaid, and it had been hanging somewhere in the athletic department of my son’s high school all year. His coach let him have it at the end of the season, and he managed to hide it from me somehow until Christmas. He had it framed for me, and even autographed it. It looks just like something that is done for the NFL. When I opened this package, emotion immediately took me over and the tears just came. This photo is of him making a very nice tackle, and it will be cherished forever. I proudly have it hanging in my office at work.

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Soon after Christmas, came my birthday. We have a big rig truck shop where 17 employees live. My husband runs that business, and when we bought our smaller company this year (pickup garage), I left the home company to run the smaller one full time. I have a great crew of just four guys. It’s just my guys and me each day growing the new company. My guys surprised me at work for my birthday with a little party. My shop manager's wife came in with their adorable toddler, and she gave me flowers. One of my mechanics is actually an accomplished chef on the side, and brought in an entire meal. Honoring my redneck Texan heritage, he brought chicken-fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes and a homemade cheesecake complete with homemade raspberry-chocolate puree to drip over it. It was a meal to die for, and it was such a nice surprise. Thanks guys, you are a great team and we are lucky owners to have such caring employees. It’s a pleasure to sign your paychecks each week.

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My birthday was actually Saturday. My day started in fine fashion with my husband and my youngest son taking me out to breakfast. Afterward, we took a drive around my husband’s favorite dream area for real estate and he dreamt of the possibility of living there one day. We took some photos, and enjoyed the nice day. My youngest son’s girlfriend was out of town for the local university’s football bowl game in Idaho. She used to live in that area, and was visiting with girlfriends. My cell phone rang, and it was an odd number on the ID. I answered, and I could hear a small choir of young excited women singing happy birthday. Then, I realized who it was, and was so moved that she took the time from her fun time on a football party weekend to call me and have her friends that don’t even know who I am, join her in singing me happy birthday. My day didn’t end there.

My husband actually of his own volition made dinner reservations for me on my actual birthday at my favorite restaurant. If any of you ever travel to Reno for fun…Sterling’s Steakhouse at the Silver Legacy Hotel-Casino is in my opinion one of the very best restaurants in the city! Their crab cake appetizer is the bomb, and rivals any I ever had when I lived in the Deep South. We arrived at the casino early by some hours to have fun before dinner, but stopped to confirm our reservations on our way in. We showed up at the restaurant on time, and were a bit miffed that the host sat about three couples before us. When we were seated, there was confetti and glitter on my table, and a birthday card. I told my husband how sweet he was, and he declared that he wished he could take the credit, but he did not tell the manager it was my birthday when he made the reservations. Then, out of the blue…the waiter just showed up with a frosty 7 & 7 (my poison of choice), and the exact beer that my husband loves. Now…we are really confused. I again told my husband that he was lying…he had to tell someone something. Now we gamble, but we aren’t high rollers by any stretch. I do use a player’s card when we gamble, and about once a year I accumulate enough “points” to maybe get a free nice meal, or free concert tickets or the like. But in a restaurant like Sterling’s, I certainly don’t rate that kind of attention due to our play. I was a casino dealer for 20 years, and I know how much money one has to spend to get carte-blanch attention like I was getting. I asked the waiter how he knew what I drank (we maybe eat there three times a year), and he just grinned and stated it was just the magic service one should expect at a fine dining establishment.

I enjoyed my crab cakes, an incredible filet-mignon, and vegetable sides of broccoli and shredded butternut squash, several cocktails and bread that will knock your socks off. We left and went downstairs to continue our little private party and had a blast. Later, while playing my favorite type of video poker and such my cell phone rang. It was my youngest son calling to see if I had a special card and my drink delivered to the table. He’s only 17, but he managed to call the manager of the restaurant and give instruction to make sure they made over Mom at dinner. My oldest son was in Denver to attend a folk concert and celebrate New Years with friends, but soon after, my phone rang again, and he knew about the plan too, and interrupted his good time at age 23 with his girlfriend and other friends to take a moment to share love and celebration on my behalf and in my honor. I have wonderful sons, and they have no idea how the smallest gestures can mean so much. I truly am blessed, and my holiday season was blessed this year due to my wonderful family.

I hope all of you had a great holiday season as well.

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