Thanks, Holiday-ers! I'm not here often enough either ... such a good forum with caring folks ... Happy Thanksgiving to you all & thanks for your comments! luvs ... so good to hear from you & glad you friended me on FBk .... I hardly use email anymore ... most chatting done on FBk plus I'm one of the administrators on the 'Flea Market Gardening' Fbk page ... you all know I'm a gardener @ heart! Time slips away very fast! ~~hugs & today I got to be outside for a few hours with some volunteers ... my dear hubby & I cut branches from our pines & collected cones & decorated some of the flower urns in our small town but this old green wagon @ the Heritage Park garden lots ... we also put up the barnwood tree there today ... removed frozen pumpkins, gourds & mush since it's been freezing temps for a few weeks now ! So, Winter decor came early! ~~Jeanne

It was the only check I have ever truly bounced (where the bank sent it back to the recipient). I was 18, Aimee was 3 and I needed a new car. I was a property manager for a large apartment complex in a poor neighborhood in Oakland, CA. The newspaper ad said it was a 1964 Studebaker. Original owners, good condition. $300. from a nice part of the city. The car was meant for me. It was a root beer color, not a dent and the interior was perfect. The older couple was in their 60s and very nice. I gave them a check and drove the car home. I was mortified when I got the notice in the mail from my bank. The check had bounced. I must have messed up my checking account! I immediately called my bank, then found the nice couple's phone number. "I am so sorry! The money is there now. I will bring you cash this minute!" "We will not hear of it. We understand that money is tight. You have such a lovely girl and you are so nice and such a good mom. We do not want your money. You may have the car. We insist!" I drove to their house anyway, cash in hand. They invited us in and politely refused my money once again. "We don't need the money and no longer need the car. We are thrilled to see the car go to someone who needs it so badly. I am sure you have other things to spend your money on. We insist." That really happened. That car lasted me another 6 years. I called it my Merced-a-baker because the front grill resembled the mercedes of the day. I will never forget that wonderful couple and my humiliation of that bounced check.

No matter what your faith practice is, if you have one, and no matter which holiday(s) you celebrate at this time of year, I very sincerely wish you a holiday season filled with joy, harmony, and love!

We did not do much in the way of gifts this year but we did go to my neighbors home for Christmas dinner and we always exchange gifts. She has no family to buy for other than her husband and her dogs so she has started showering us with Christmas gifts because she enjoys it so much. I try to reciprocate. She is an avid gardener and works in my yard all the time. She often gets into poison ivy. I got her the very best quality leather gauntlet gardening gloves I could find in her tiny hand size. She was so thrilled. She said oh my God no more poison ivy on my wrist. I also bought them a Cajun pork Tenderloin wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeños. She cooked it for their new years eve meal last night and said it might be the best thing they have had. That made me happy.