Bags & Handfuls!

"BAGS & HANDFULS!" Got out a bit today and enjoyed it with Donna. Wiped out now. So thankful for bright sun to hide the tiredness and the bags. PIMP LOL. And, add some brightness. Def sure I will sleep tonight. It was a small joy to just do a few hours of getting out without my body freaking out too badly. Not a big day for most, but for me? Huge! Not gonna be a big Christmas by the world's standards, but stable standards for me! Heart standards. That's huge! Anyways, enough mush and now for the humor. At Target, I accidentally threw an item at the cashier! It flew outta my hand. You just can't take me out. Unless you're willing to laugh. He laughed and said, "Okay! Okay! I'll go faster!" We had a great time laughing. I told him when I left that I only throw stuff at people I like. God bless him because I am a handful. Then, had to go back out to the grocery store just now because our daughter's plane flight got delayed from Texas, so we had to fit in the store before the airport. 1 car. And, I had my bags at the grocery store with me for a change. Course, next time, I should so bring the ones for the food. PIMP LOL. BTW? God gives us handfuls of blessings that we see if we look beyond the bags. Signed, The Gag's In The Bags

"iTINerary!"

"I'tin'ERARY! A WORD FROM TRAY & TIN!” So, what did the antique Tin say to the antique Tray? “Let's hang out today! That's what I got on my i”tin"erary. YOU! I’m gonna call it my “utinerary”. See, Tray, our itinerary should always include others. And, include giving. And, forgiving. A giving person is such because they forgive even more and even before being able to give. It frees them to give with a pure heart. Forgiving someone is meant to be shared with the other person. But, sometimes you must do it alone, never being asked. You must muster up mercy and forgive. Now, forgetting? That’s the 1 thing no one can share with you. Only you can forget what’s in your forgiving memories. But, you must. You must muster up mercy for yourself and forget. ‘tis a merciful thing to muster up forgiveness whether for 1 or for 2. ‘tis a merciful, but harder thing to muster up forgetting, always for 1. Forgiving involves. Forgetting resolves, each and every time we remember. Resolution takes time. And, God’s mercies are new everyday, thankfully. They never get old. He never gets old. And, He never remembers. And, it’s not from old age. Ha ha, Tray. It’s from mercy. Yes, a giving person has one thing they do more. FORgive. So, Tray, that’s my i”tin”erary! Hang with you, to give, to forgive, to show mercy as mercy is shown to me.” Well, guys, that was a lesson today from Tray and Tin. Yes, in my world, my decorations talk to each other! And, to me. Ha ha. So, hang out with someone. Make them part of your itinerary. Forgive to make room for give-ing. Forgiveness always come a fore giving. I am hoping that 2014 allows me to be able to give more than this past year. In every way. It's hard to be on the other end. I love being a giver. And, a forgiver. And, don't forget. A forgetter, too. Okay, I shall be merciful and can it for now. Love you guys. SIGNED, A Trace Of Life

Yo ho ho or Ho ho ho?

"YO!" During the Christmas season, my friend holds 2 jobs at Disney. 1 as a Pirate & 1 as Santa. Seemed perfect with the similar costumes, boots, beards & lines. Yo ho ho & Ho ho ho? DUH LOL PIMP LOL. Until, this year. He started taking shortcuts & wearing 1 costume under the other. Showed up to see what the kiddies wanted for Christmas with a patch on 1 eye, red hat & red bandana, puffy sleeved shirt, red pants, vest, scrawny beard & a sword & a jug of rum in a red bag shouting Yo ho Yo ho! The moral? Yo! If you wear several hats in life, they're bound to overlap. & if you"re gonna take short cuts, yo better be prepared to be jolly in the folly. Short cuts are always a drag in the long run. Have a fun day. Ho Ho Ho. Signed, The Folly In The Jolly

"Decking The Halls? The Neighborhood Carolers?"

“DECKING THE HALLS? THE NEIGHBORHOOD CAROLERS?” So, who doesn’t like to go caroling around the neighborhood! We started out with ♫Deck The Halls♫. How was I to know the first house of neighbors name WAS “The Halls”, and that Joe would actually deck them. Joe got mad when he thought we were telling him to put on Don's clothes because his own apparel was gay. Which they were very happy joyous clothes. He just didn't get it. And, by the time we got to the “Boughs” house next door? Strange! Mr. Bough hung his wife Holly on the front door and called her Wreath-a. He thought she was calling him an ancient troll. And, to top it off? Yul? Well, he was all decorated with flashing lights and caught himself on fire. We def saw the blazing Yul before us! We had to put him out and then get fa la la away! Lesson? Never underestimate the power of song interpretation. Next year? We’re singing “Silent Night”! DUH LOL PIMP LOL. And, know your neighbors! Be neighborly wherever you are. Be a neighbor without waiver. If you’re gonna deck? Let it be your halls, not THE Halls. Be patient with your neighbors. Life is interpreted by each person differently. Be happy! Don your gay smile. And, don't take things the wrong way. Even if meant the wrong way. Choose to take things the jolly way 'stead of the folly way. I love you guys. You sleigh me! Signed, The Jolly In The Folly

FLAKING OUT ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT YOU?

"FLAKING OUT ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU?" So, you wouldn’t worry so much about what people think of you if you only knew how little people think of you. Yes, this is so true. We all get busy, 'specially this time of year. We all start getting a li’l flaky and have meltdowns. And, the time in a day spent in thinking on each person we know is very little, indeed. Still, all of us want to be thought a lot of in that little slot of time. We may not be thought about a lot, but we wanna be thought a lot of. When we think of ourselves less, we find more room to think of others. To be mindful of others. That’s a mindful. It’s not how much others think of you, it’s HOW they think of you when they do. Mind your kindness towards others. They’ll know you by your kind. And, remember? We are each unique like a snowflake. So, let’s not be just another cold, holiday flake and flake out over how little others think of us when we should be thinking about others in the first place. Signed, The Kind In The Mind

ACTING UP! APPAULING or APPEALING!

"ACTING UP! APPAULING or APPEALING!" I was looking something up in Acts, once again realizing anew how many lives were changed in these chapters of time thru many brave and faithful like Peter, Stephen and Saul big time. A magic man named Simon who wanted to buy the power of God changed his life. So many acts before Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus and on to Straight Street were um… ap”paul”ing. PIMP LOL. Point is? We all do ap”pauling” things before and after our faith is placed in God. I have traces of those. DUH LOL. Anyways, $ can’t buy that faith or love. We get our acts togetha by acting on and sharing our faith by acts of love. His power in us will straighten us out, get us on the right road and on to our own Straight Street. On the way, we can make a difference. Have a fun day. Act up a li'l. I do! While, I'm getting my acts togetha. BTW, I always thought Straight Street would be a great name for a band, but I wrote a song called Straight Street instead because we have a name. Just thought I’d straighten that out. 2nd BTW, this time of year seems to bring out the appauling. So, act appropriately appealing. Being able to give our ap"paul"ing to God is appealing to me. Signed, Traces Of Appauling Being Replaced By His Calling

Scheming & Dreaming In A Florida Winter Wonderland!

Well, our outdoor lights have all finally worn out. Except our snowman and 1 string of white lights. I love those new white outdoor lights that look like ice dripping, glistening and melting because that is what I do with our big snowman. I put him in the garden with a moon above and a few lights around him on the garden ground to look like he is melting in our Florida winter. No worries. The poinsettias from a secret elf left in the garden will do this year. In fact, they look so good with my color scheme. I was going to get red rose bushes when we could, but maybe a few more elves will drop off some more red poins so I can deck the whole hall. Well, deck the whole little fence. I don’t have a big hall and spiraling stairway like I used to. This will have to do. I can plant them after Christmas permanent and they would look lovely with our colors. Thankful for the plants and the Guard Of my Garden for scheming up such beauty. If you look through all the photographs you may even see a few elves I spotted or Bumble from Rudolph. He’s on the fence about Florida weather. Or, even, Santa and his reindeer making a practice run over our li’l corner of the world. Signed, The Schemer In The Dreamer

The Red Tape Escape!

"THE RED TAPE ESCAPE!" I know that life is a gift each day and I was reminded of that today when I just felt like hiding out because the whole year hit me at once and I wrote the following after letting the overwhelming "things" get to me: I’ve decided to skip December and hide out. You might see a couple stories or music but, as for me and my hide? We're hiding. So, I shall see everyone January 2014. 'bout a day or so, right? Just a jump and a skip away. Some years hit you all in 1 day. Signed, Skipping Out Steada Flipping Out

But, someone reminded me that you have to be present in life to see the gift. Which, you guys all know and you all know that I know, I know. Just sometimes, that present, that life, comes wrapped in red tape and I get all tangled up and tied up in it and stuck. PIMP LOL. I'll be thinking outta the box again… As soon as someone helps me get all untangled and out of this comic strip. Yes, sometimes, we need help! HELP! And, sometimes we need to escape, but, only an escape from the red tape, not the presence. We might not feel needed, but each of us are. And, our greatest gifts are always present: Father, Son Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. Signed, The Girl In Red Tape Will Indeed Escape

THE GIFTER: FREE GIFTS & REGIFTS! OF THE HEART!

“THE GIFTER! FREE GIFTS & REGIFTS!” Maybe you can't buy a lot of gifts this year. There are free gifts and regifts! Some funny, some serious, all free. So, maybe you can’t give a watch, but you can give that special someone “the time of day”. And, maybe you can’t buy someone that new house or that addition, but you can give them some “space”. We could all use that, sometimes. Or, maybe you can’t buy that gorgeous piece of jewelry they had their heart set on, but you can sure give them yours…give “your heart”. You know? Your "dear" presence! Or, should I say deer presence. Be a gem. In person. Photo? I put my sparkly deer ornament as a decoration for the dear presence package and you get the rest. Maybe you can’t buy that present they want or surprise them with things you so want to get them to show your love, but you can give the gift that keeps on presenting, “your presence”. Most of all? You can share His presence. It is a free gift, also. So, if you're out racing 'round the net track this cyber Monday, zoom by our site at www.basicband.biz for a download of our Christmas song. Hope it gets your heart racing. For God, for others. It's called God's Favor. Ya know I used to be called the gifter way before that gifter commercial. I loved finding that perfect special gift for everyone in my life. Not just the ones I found favor with or the ones that found favor with me. Something to make them smile or laugh and treasure. So, they could see God cared. I cared. The only thing I can give everyone this year is this song, part of us. I'd consider it a huge favor out of love if you would accept our gift. 'tis free for everyone. The Ultimate Gifter? God. BTW? You guys are all gifts to me. Taking time with our music and my stories and all. You give me lots of space. To write. And, laugh. And, lots of dear presence at my posts and my b'log and music sites. Much love deers! Trace