Pizza Hut waitress gets $10,000 tip!

Good story!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19796133/

Pizza Hut waitress gets $10,000 tip. Check came from family of regulars who heard she couldn’t afford college.

Let the weeping begin.:)

There's a ticket holder in Indiana that's hundreds of millions richer: Come out, come out Wherever you are!!

Lucky dog! (Or just an average American Pit bull terrier, Webshots)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20450113/
That Powerball Lottery Ticket is out there in Indiana!

I Found the Source (MSN gave it up)

Good Stories (all kinds, look here): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13282721/

No more needed to say.

Tim Burton & Helena Bonham Carter produce a baby girl for Christmas!

I like Ms. B-Carter a lot: so self-effacing (that means she makes fun of herself & has a lovely sense of humor)!

Both are up for Golden Globes for 'Sweeney Todd,' he for Best Director, she for Best Actress.

Life is looking Suweeet, and Sweeney Todd hasn't opened up (made the money) yet! It's sweeping like wildfire as a must-see, without even being available yet!

Wow! Merry Christmas, happy couple!:)

Hunh, and to think Bonham Carter's pregnancy got on my radar without her even begging for a belly shot on a major magazine. Go figure!:)

Holiday postcard arrives 93 years later

‘Perfect shape,’ says postmaster, despite its curious journey

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22263905/?GT1=10645

MSNBC

Ideas on What We'll Give This Year (2007)

Gifts for others: The Relatives

For our gifts for others, well I'm the one trying to reassure Husband that less is just fine. His idea: Gift certificates from a specific restaurant. I said $10 increments, for a couple.

This is a downsize from his $15 per person, probably to pay for an entire meal for someone that husband feels obliged to.

But it doesn't have to be that way. $10 off of an entire meal seems like a great and useable coupon for anybody, at least in my world, and just who is it we're trying to impress?

He is also fond of the 'send a hunk of sausage' directly from the factory to people. I wonder what will win out this year?

For My idea, I got some photo work, including magnets, made by York Photo http://www.yorkphoto.com and it gave me an idea. Somehow, we need a picture of ourselves, preferably with both the cat and dog this year, but I'll take what I can get, and Voila! Magnets & Husband's gift certificates that can fit inside a Christmas card, and that finishes the relatives off this year.

I will check Shutterfly http://www.shutterfly.com to see if I can get some cute borders around each magnet. I spent hours on my last order with them, putting different borders on the pics. It was so fun!

About those Christmas cards. As folks who read my other blog de rant, I am nothing if not honest. Well, I bought this year's Christmas cards in the Dollar Store. They are cheap in quality but they fit the bill: they say 'Merry Christmas' on the inside, not Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays - but 'Merry Christmas' because that's the holiday I'm celebrating.

Fantastic blog entry about this from Mysti http://mystispirtualjourney.blogspot.com that assures Christians that now is the time to say 'Merry Christmas,' and to say it proud.

It's not that I couldn't send those cheap cards out, but I just feel that if the inside of the card is our gift this year, why not have truly pretty or reflective cards.

It should feel heavy or weighty, or at least like real paper, not glossy, slickery poo. And I am such a paper whore: a lover of all things paper, stationary, your basic insides to Staples or Office Depot. I swear that's hereditary, too!

Husband says he doesn't care about all that, he's just so glad I got my Christmas spirit back, that I care again and that I am plotting what to do for it. That's a big deal for a bipolar, and a big deal at our house.

Besides, I am an Exclusive Gold Card member of Hallmark, and get enough deals and coupons that my boxed card purchase will seem practically free. :)

(Our) Christmas Hopes 2007

Hmmm...Christmas 2007 approaches and I have a few thoughts on what do to do for gifts on a [frayed] shoestring budget!

I am so thankful that we are on an 'off-year' for the large family gathering. Every two years we come together, like a flock of seagulls, and last year was the year.

It was a VERY long drive to Grandma's House last year (my husband's g-ma), not to mention the Massive Amount of Work it took to make everyone's gifts - 30 or so very personal baskets for everyone.

I have reason to be very proud of that work, not only because I had a vision for what I wanted, and made it come true, there were some unexpectedly overjoyed relatives that made the entire thing worth it.:)

This year is a polar opposite - what a shock! I think it will be just Husband & myself! I am looking forward to this!

Not because I think we'll lay around and never really realize that it is Christmas, on the contrary, I want to pull out all the stops!

As strange as it might sound, I need to research the food 'traditions of Christmas,' ('a Googlin' I will go!) because I don't recall a lot of these traditions as a kid, plus this is my chance to start some!

I need to know what yummy, appetizing, wonderful smelling stuff 'makes Christmas' and make it! I'm talking food and I intend to throw myself into the making of it. That is a weird & new Christmas joy for me!

We have been gifted a spiral-cut Christmas ham by Mom, already, so we can have that. That says 'mashed potatoes' to me, but yams are better for you.

My mom and I have made wassail for Christmas before. Talking about Wonderful Smelling Stuff! That has orange juice and cloves and I forget what else, but it is a warm drink, doesn't have alcohol and is thoroughly yummy & makes you feel toasty inside!

I must have a small tree this year. I was promised a tree for this Christmas, a year ago. Luckily, I know we have an artificial one that will be just the ticket. Believe me, we have TONS of ornaments from Christmases of yore, all the way back to when I was in Kindergarten.

To me, those are Mom's memories. Sadly enough, she tells us she doesn't care about Christmas, she doesn't need a tree or ornaments. But, she's living in an RV (her choice, we didn't put her in there), now in a 'warm location' for the first time ever and actually, this year she's about as close to get to as my in-law relatives. She has instructed us to stay home.

One of my 'secret joys' is my tiny amassment of ornaments. I'm starting my own set, little by little. [It's everything I can do not to buy out Hallmark's ornaments, I love them so, something for every hobbie and personality type - all in miniature!] Hence, the need for only a small tree.

So food (good smells), tree with ornaments. This is important.

Another Movie to Love!

"Enchanted" is enchanting! What a joy!!

I loved it!

Amy Adams - what a little cutie! (You know, I used to be that small. Just sayin'!:) Patrick Dempsey is yummy, I mean to an adult. I think to a child he is properly debonaire.

I did not mentally 'pass out,' not one single moment. I thoroughly enjoyed the dancing and singing numbers. And it all made sense, but I swear not in a sickeningly nice way. More like, thank God they finally made one on Tart's level. Buuut, may-be that's me!

Oh! Fabulous actress alert! I know I never mentioned it, but Susan Surandon is one of Tart's FAV Actresses! She had me at 'Thelma and Louise' and I'm pretty sure I'd go see her perform in a gunny sack, which she CERTAINLY is not in in this movie. ROWR! Even with enough makeup to be a drag queen she is still her exquisite self. And so good at mean! Hey, someone's gotta do it!

A picture is worth a thousand words so I won't over-word everything.

I will say that I went by myself (!) to this little wonder and I highly recommend you take 'Your One True Love' or at least 'Someone You Like A Lot!' This will be a must-buy for me when it comes out on DVD -so that Husband can finally enjoy it with me, too! This is one of those happy films that I will watch over and over, to forget the ills of life.:)

Wonderful for both kids and parents - now how enchanting is THAT!:)

Out!

Ellen gets Jenna to call her Dad

Isn't that a nice picture? I think George W. makes a better Dad than President. I'm so glad he is good at something.:) Tart

Straight off People.com:

Jenna Bush has tried her parents' patience once more – this time with the help of Ellen DeGeneres.

Pleasantly prodding the First Daughter during a taping of her show on Tuesday, for an episode to be aired Wednesday (and previewed on that morning's Today show), DeGeneres inquired if Bush could get her high-powered papa on the phone any time she wants.

"I usually call him in the evening or in the morning, when I know they'll both be at home," said the 26-year-old.

"Could you just pick up the phone like right now and call him?" wondered a wide-eyed Ellen.

"Sure," replies Bush. "He's going to kill me, though.

After being given a phone – "Hit 9," says Ellen, while the dutiful daughter is careful to cover the phone so no one can detect the private number – Bush comments aloud that because of this, "I'm not going to get anything I asked for for Christmas."

'Not Barging In'

DeGeneres, meanwhile, says that if Jenna's parents don't answer, she'll get Jenna's grandfather, former President George Herbert Walker Bush, on the phone, and observes: "We're not barging in while they're in their pajamas or something."

Once Bush gets through to First Lady Laura Bush, she says, "Hi, Mom." Asking how the show is going, Mom says, "I'm not watching you because you're taping right now."

She also tells her daughter, "I'm just sitting here with Daddy."

Pipes up Ellen: "I wanted to say hi to Daddy."

And so, the President of the United States comes to the phone, and is told by his offspring, "This is the Ellen DeGeneres Show."

'Are You Mad?'

"Well, that's great!" says the surprised Chief Executive, who asks DeGeneres, "How's my little girl doing?" "Oh, she's great," answers the host.

"She's scared she's going to get in trouble [and] not going to get any Christmas presents." Pause.

"Dad?" asks Jenna. "Yes, baby," he replies. "Are you mad?" she inquires. "No, not at all," says President Bush.

"I'm excited to talk to you. I'm glad to talk to Ellen."

Well, what do you know.