Merry Linking to You!

Seems like there's a bloggy tradition out there that when you get to your 100th post, the blogger posts 100 things about herself. Anything I could potentially list past number 7 would have people crying tears of boredom and they'd be begging for internet.com to just blow up and put them out of their misery.

Do y'all really want to know that I've had my left eardrum replaced twice and that it hurt MUCH worse than birthing a ten-pound child without the aid of a c-section?

Or that I took have strong feelings about the pronunciation of the word "pecan?"

Or that I dearly loved "American Gladiators" and will gladly watch it again if it comes back on TV and would consider trying out to be a challenger?

See, I teased you with absolutely mind-numbing facts to prove my point.

Instead, I thought I'd put some links to some other great blogs I read because many of these folks are quasi-professionals and say things with greater wit and creativity than I could dream of. Much better than reading about when I triple-pierced my own ears in high school, right?

As a disclaimer (and with no offense intended to the bloggers I'm about to mention) I am not exactly riveted by thought-provoking material. In case you thought you might be linking to some great conversations about world peace, global warming, and discussions of the New York Times OpEd page, just remember that I am easily amused by eating and sleeping.

First off, Big Mama. Melanie boldly says what some others are afraid to: Christmas sweaters are OUT. OUT. OUT.

And I commented on her site in order to agree with her, so I shall share it with you. When there are fraternity theme parties and parties throughout the neighborhood with themes like "Ugly Christmas Sweaters" you know it is time to fold it up and put it away.

Of course, that didn't stop many parishioners yesterday at church from sporting their Christmas finery. But just because you OWN something doesn't mean you have to WEAR that something. Brad and I have that conversation almost weekly when he wants to get out his Ron Jon Surf Shop shirt and tool around town.

Next, are you reading Confessions of a Pioneer Woman?! Well, you really should be. She is funny, smart, and amazingly talented with a camera. Plus, she takes pictures of things the rest of us can't photograph everyday like her beautiful horses (can you believe I am loving her animals?), Marlboro Man, and her ranch.

She also has a site about cooking, which I've come to LOVE. She makes delicious, down-home recipes (I don't believe there's a lot of gourmet fixins available near the ranch) and they are just delicious.

Speaking of food: Smitten Kitchen. Deb lives in New York, and the availability of ingredients and inspirations is a little...broader than the Pioneer Woman. Love her food, love her pictures, love her.

Yet another of my favorites is Sophie at Boomama. We are soulmates even though she is not aware of it yet. We were in the same sorority, gave birth to a gigantic child, love decorating, eating/cooking, jeans and laughing at our own stupidity. Here is one of my favorite posts. I wanted to add more, but didn't have time...but I'll just tell you that she had me at "Asian Hooters."

Now, BigMama and BooMama do these things called podcasts which means they call each other on their cellphones and record it for those on the interweb to download. Doesn't that sound just thrilling? Let me just tell you that I have gotten stray glances from nearby treadmills while I am snorting and wiping tears of laughter from my eyes while listening to these two.

I would not say these girls have a wide appeal (Dad, I do not think you'd be interested seeing as I don't know how interested you are in MY blog), but I am certainly in their demographic (women with 4 year-olds who enjoy making purchases at Target) and they just kill me. One of my favorite episodes was when they discussed the perfumes our generation wore in high school. If you could pick out Calvin Klein's CKOne scent blindfolded with one nostril open, you will die laughing.

Oh, and do y'all ever look at Baby Bangs? It's Amanda Jones (Beth Moore's oldest daughter's) blog. You know, my Bible study friends and I are lovers and fans of Beth, so her offspring are of great interest to us. Plus, Amanda is about my age, lives in Dallas, and has a son named Jackson. What else can I say? (Other than please don't tell her that I'm stalking her.)

For the kids, track Santa here.

And if you have a few minutes to focus on Christmas, definitely listen to this. Andy, the pastor at our church in Texas, shared an amazingly impactful advent message yesterday. Really, really good stuff about the first nativity.

So there you have it...some holiday fun for the teeny moment of downtime when you can sneak away for a nap or much needed technology boost.

Merry Christmas!