Books!

Hey everyone,

I've set a goal for 2009. That goal is to read as many books off of a top 100 book list (click here for the list) as I can throughout the year.

My plan is to start with book #100 and work my way toward #1.

If you'd like to join me, even if it's just for a few of the books, let me know! I'll try to update on here when I've moved on to a new book. I plan to start on January 1 (Thursday) with book #100, which is Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

I hope everyone is doing well! Stay safe tomorrow night!

Love love, Christie

Southworth Family Nuts

Family Christmas, Lights, and Nut Idol

Here are some pics from Family Christmas, Lasalette, and playing Rock Band at Sam and Nate's house.

In the posts below this one, please find the four contestants for Nut Idol 2008. If you'd like to vote for your favorite, please feel free- but remember that the songs varied in difficulty and everyone put in their best effort.

It was great fun and I miss you all already!

Nut Idol, Contestant 1

Karen performing "Beat It,"

with Josh on drums and Jenn on guitar

Nut Idol, Contestant 2

DJ singing "Rebel Yell," with Jenn on drums and Josh on guitar

Nut Idol, Contestant 3

Jenn performing "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn," with Nate on drums and (??) on guitar

Please note that Jenn did amazing considering the difficulty of this song.

Nut Idol, Contestant 4

Kyle performing "Ramblin' Man," with Karen on Drums and Jenn on Guitar

Hotel

I will not tell a lie.

We liked the hotel.

It could happen again.

I gained insight to why others like to stay at them instead of at my house. (Besides the obvious lack of space.) It definitely allowed some freedom for Ruth, who just adored the pool. She even got to the point of trying out cannonballs in the deeper end of the pool.

Of course, we will not be able to afford the hotel every time, so maybe only once in awhile. After all I know I am NUTS about my family. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Almost the final day....

no heat....

new cripple in the Family...

More snow....


It's starting to feel like National Lampoons Christmas Vacation...haha


But we are all still happy and enjoying the season!!!!

Mom & Dad's Tree

Mom already shared a photo of their tree all decorated, but I thought I'd share the trip to Rockwood's to pick one out and cut one down.

Searching for the perfect tree amongst all the snowy lumps.
Karen dove in the snow... and lost her arms and feet.
Seeing as things aren't working out in Philly right now, Karen is going to move into this tree.
Here it is! Karen the logger cuts it down.

And it falls right on top of her. Don't worry, she survived.

See you all soon!

Celebrating Recovery

Today is Sams one year of recovery!!

A year ago today, Sam found out she was pregnant with who we all would soon know as Logan. She was given the gift of being a mother in exchange for her drinking and drug use. It's common that people need to hit a rock bottom before they decide to stop using, but I wouldn't say her getting pregnant was a rock bottom. I remember praying for her that going to jail was her rock bottom, or even moving out to live her own life. But it wasn't. I brought her to meetings, and talked to her about it, only for her to say she didn't have a problem, or that she wasn't using at all. The most painful thing for me was when she moved out, and how I had to decide to let her do her own thing, because I learned in my own recovery that you can't change someone unless they want it for themselves. Mom, Dad, and I (and I'm sure some of you) hoped that she would figure out that this wasn't right for her, and that drinking had changed her into a person full of lies, deciet, and isolation.

But, once she found out she was carrying a child, she stopped immediately. It was obviously a shock last Christmas Eve when I found out she was pregnant, but it was better than drinking. Over the past year I have seen my sister grow in to someone I can now look up to, and grow into a beautiful person, and mother. Some day Logan will know how lucky he is to have her as a Mom. She has also learned who she is as a person. Sam is now a person I call my best friend, and someone I can go to and trust with anything. I'm now not afraid to have Sam home, and I now feel safe when she is around, knowing that she won't steal from me, or bring people into our house that aren't safe people. I can't begin to describe how happy I am for Sam to have reached her one year of sobriety, and I can't wait to celebrate this day for years to come.



oh, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!!!!
(There, so it is sort of Christmas related haha)

Tree Report and the Final Countdown

The Sunday night snow report--see the table on our deck? We definitely got 2 feet of snow (or more) over the weekend.

Sunday night Christie, Karen and I took a walk to see Grama. It was beautiful and quiet (except for Vampire sounds coming from Karen) I wanted to take night photos but I don't know enough about my camera.

Mom and Scott have a lovely tabletop tree covered in St. Nicholas'. Mom bought the tree a couple of weeks ago at the local nursery--we brought it home in the back of my car!

At last, the McCullough's also have a Christmas tree. Sorry for the blurry photo. It's a cute tree.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Nana. While she is not a "nut" she deserves special mention today! When I was growing up, Nana's birthday meant Christmas was right around the corner. It still does!

I'm here and enjoying these posts!!

So this is Britney after enjoying some time on the deck during the snow storm..She didn't appreciate me taking her picture.

This is a little glimpse of how deep the snow was on our back porch.

and here she is trying to find the "treats" Josh and I were throwing in the snow for her to get. (The treats were actually cigarette butts, she couldn't find them thank god--I threw a cookie in there too, she didn't find that one either. haha)

3 Days Until Christmas!

I'll post some "real" pictures soon! In the meantime, I'm wondering where Jenn is? I hope she is enjoying all of the Christmas contributions. I know I am! How wonderful for the CT nuts to get a big snowstorm. We are white here too--thankfully Christie and Casey and Karen all arrived safely. It is a true blessing to me since I thought the Nut from Philly was doomed to a day by herself!

Oh, Christmas Tree

Whew! We made it.....

Christmas Snow

Well, I think it MIGHT stay....

I saw that photo

of Jenn with an axe, and then the one with the one armed gingerbread boy. You can bet, I will not allow the day to pass with no post... :)

Just a couple of photos of the little things I use to decorate:

My little girl that was a Christmas surprise in a year gone by...

Jesus is the Reason for the Season,

and hey, a teapot full of cocoa at Grama's makes my Grandgirls feel special. :)

A place for Santa to sit and munch on cookies. this photo was taken before Ruth decided to leave him a gift. A piece of Kacy's blankie. She feels that Santa needs a special gift too. After all, he gives to everyone else. :)

And of course, Christmas is not the same without these:

Did anyone notice that my stocking is the smallest one? And have you ever heard that Kathy used to think she got the least presents in hers.... GO figure. :) Love you, Kats! I just can't help but tease. The next one over is Nate's. It hangs there, Nate, but I hope that your gift actually ended up at the ship...

(By the way, did you see the lack of a HUGE Red Sox emblem on that wall above the TV. Christmas is my time of year. :) )

Decorating from Ruth

Here is Ruth's nativity collection.

She started off wanting to post, but changed her mind...

hey kiddies!

Hi everyone. A lot going on here, but I'll keep it short and sweet and get to some pretty pictures. Well, as it turns out things aren't going well here financially and I ended up quitting my job at Macy's and I will be finding someone to sublet my room in Philadelphia for a few months so I can go make some money--mainly enough so that I can pay my bills and be able to afford to live here. It was a tough decision because now I need to find another job and someone to take my room, but I think it was the right thing to do. And now I can come home for Christmas! YAYYYY!!! I couldn't be more excited. I wish I had more Christmasy pictures, but this is what I've got for now. We have decorations for the house but we haven't put them up yet.

There was a tree lighting in the park a couple blocks from our house. There is a menorah behind it. And guess what? They're solar powered!

These are just some pretty trees that are downtown.
And so that is my life and my post for the day. When I get the house decorated (and cleaned up) I'll post more :) See you all soon!

Sidebar Photos

Dear Family,

As you may have noticed, I have added photos of various nuts onto the sidebar. You may have also noticed that not everyone has been included yet. This is because I haven't been able to find/choose a photo for those people who aren't there. So, if your mug is missing, be prepared to get your photo taken at Christmas. If you are married, that means posing sweetly (or not) with your loving spouse.

If you want to avoid my camera on Christmas, e-mail me a pic of yourself that you'd like posted. Also e-mail me a pic or request a new pic to be taken if you don't like the photo I've posted.

Also, after receiving the suggestion from Aunt Chelle through Aunt Beth, I've listed everyone's birthdays on the sidebar as well. This way we can keep track and be sure to wish each other good wishes on our days of getting old.

I can't wait to see everyone soon!

Love love,

Christie

P.S. So Jenn won't get mad that this isn't Christmas themed, here is a picture of a pretty angel with nativity scene that I have in my bathroom... reminding me every morning of the reason for the season.

P.S.S. Jenn, I'm just picking on you. I hope you don't mind. If you do, I'm sorry. But I love you and think it's great you are requesting Christmas spirit from all of us! :)

Family Christmas Dinner?

We have three turkey visitors every day to eat what the blue jays missed.

Turkey dinner, anyone?

Cookies, Lights, and a Star

Christie is right--Jenn is scary! What will she do if we don't post? I don't want to know so here's a contribution. This past Sunday afternoon Grama and I went to the Rice's to help them make their Christmas cookies. I wish I could remember the name of these cookies. They were hard to stir but very tasty (even if they looked a bit like butt nuggets......) Fudgy something.....

Of course, Logan was the star of the show. We tried and tried to get him to smile. He is such a little man. He would NOT smile no matter how we tried. Until.........

Yep, take his pants off and he laughs his head off. It must be a magical dressing table. He certainly thought his grandmother was a hoot!What a cutie!!

The next few photos don't need much explanation. On the way home, Mom and I saw the lights across the lake and took a few minutes to drive over and enjoy LaSallette.

Merry Christmas!

9 Days Until Christmas!

I'm kind of scared of Jenn after her threatening tone in her last post telling us to post each day until Christmas on here to share our spirit, so here is a post from the VA Nuts! :)

Here is a very important piece of "decor" at my house, all up to date from the third Sunday of Advent:

Next are some festive decorations not at my house. This is a gas station on my way to work and it makes me laugh every time I drive by. Their inflatable collection covers pretty much every possible inch of the property.

And this is my festive bit of Christmas spirit at work. Isn't it tacky and wonderful?!

I hope everyone will join in the fun of sharing their holiday decor and Christmas spirit. I can't wait to be home in just a few days and see everyone while I'm there!