Are any of you traveling during the Christmas holiday season? I think you might get lucky because it seems as if airline ticket prices are going down. I think the travel industry is trying to do more to get people to travel this year.
To me, the holidays are all about family time. It is so nice when families can get together and share gift giving and big holiday meals. Outdoor activities are especially fun to do with all of our relatives. Even if you cannot be with your extended family, your immediate family can make wonderful memories. Making a snowman is a fun treat. Sledding is fun and great exercise to work off those holiday treats. Religious festivities are especially meaningful when families attend together.
Another fun family tradition is a Christmas card exchange. I love to get Holiday Photo Cards from my family and friends. I keep each years and compare how everyone has changed from year to year. Vista Print is a great website that makes it easy to have photo cards produced each and every year. They even have my favorite, caricature cards. Vista Print is ready to help you share your family fun with others through beautiful cards.
It is not too early to start planning your holiday festivities. Make your reservations and get those cards addressed! 
Al of you who want to travel buy don’t want to spend a lot of money, listen up! Gas prices fell over the weekend. I paid $2.93 per gallon to fill my tank on Saturday. (I never thought I would ever say that paying almost $3.00 for a gallon of gas would be a good thing. LOL)
The news here in Indiana is all a buzz about the new Volkswagen being rolled off the production line. From AOL.autos, I gathered the following information.
Volkswagen says the Tiguan (the name comes from a combination of tiger and iguana) is based on the same chassis elements already used on the Rabbit, Jetta and Passat. That means front strut suspension, four-link rear suspension, aluminum subframes, electric power steering and the full complement of safety gear: ABS brakes with Brake Assist, electronic stability control, traction control, tire pressure monitoring and six air bags.
Inside, standard equipment includes power windows, power locks, cruise control, four 12-volt power points, an AUX jack for music players, and an electronic parking brake. VW pointed out that all of its 2009 models, including the new Tiguan, will have ESP (Electronic Stability Program) standard, a first in the non-luxury category, and three years ahead of the federal mandate.
I think it is a classy looking car.
Listening to all the information about Sarah Palin has been very interesting. The media is searching for everything and anything that they can come up with to let us know what this VP candidate is all about. I have been thinking about the past elections and how history is made. If you want to get back to the basics and remember what our country stands for, you should visit Gettysburg.
A few years ago, we enjoyed a trip to Gettysburg. One of our most memorable meals in Gettysburg was at the Dobbin House. Reverend Alexander Dobbin built a house to begin a new life in America for himself and his family. Today his home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a colonial restaurant where we ate a delicious meal. It was lit with candlelight, which was nice since our son was not feeling well. We were served soup in pewter bowls and the food was delicious. It felt as if we had gone back in time.
What remains is the fact that people struggled to make their lives in America. We are still building on those foundations and principles. It will be interesting to see what the future holds.
I found a segment on this morning’s Today show very interesting. The subject was calligraphy in China.
Calligraphy is the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner. Calligraphy is a beautiful form of writing. Most official documents in China are signed with calligraphy. Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand lettered inscriptions and designs to fine art pieces where the abstract expression of the handwritten mark may or may not supersede the legibility of the letters. Classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may create all of these; characters are historically disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous, improvised at the moment of writing
An interesting place to visit is Corum, Turkey. It is especially fun for those who are fond of history and archaeology. Signs of earlier civilizations can be found in the area where the two geographical regions of the Black Sea and Central Anatolia are combined. Our Bible study group discusses the Hittites often. This is where you will find remnants of their past. Beautiful architectural works can be found in the area of the Corum province. One spectacular display is the 19th century clock tower built by the Seljuks, a powerful tribe in the 11th century.
The Corum watch is what comes to my mind when I hear the word Corum. I wonder if the founder of the exquisite watch company was from Turkey. Corum watches are known to use techniques dating back to the 18th century and as modern as the cutting-edge technologies and designs of the 21st century. Corum watches can be purchased at exceptional prices through the website at thewatcher.com. Collectors the world over, value the functionality and design of Corum watches. Low overhead costs and quantity purchasing allow The Watchery to help you get the watch you have been dreaming of. Their warranty will give you the satisfaction of knowing you have purchased an exceptional watch. They pride themselves on selling 100% genuine and authentic watches.
Oh wow! I am so excited. We have decided to go white water river rafting on our vacation. I happened to mention to the lady who owns the kennel where we board our dogs that we were going to Tennessee. She said she just got back from there and had gone rafting. That got the ball rolling!
Last evening, we attended a reception for a young couple who recently got married. We didn’t attend the wedding since it was held in Nashville, Tennessee. It was fun to see pictures from their day. I didn’t know that Nashville has a beautiful wedding chapel. Perhaps they have a few chapels but the one at which our friends held their wedding was the only one I have had a chance to see. It was a plain, small, and quaint church. It looked like they had beautiful weather for their day. Have you known of anyone who got married in Nashville, Tennessee?
I just read the most interesting article in Cruising World, about a man who sails with his family aboard a sailboat named, Cotton Valley. What makes this story unique is that the man suffers from retinitus pigmentosis, a degenerative eye disease that causes a constriction of the visual field. Over the past few years his sight has diminished to totally blindness. I would be afraid to sail with full sight ability let alone sail as a blind person.
John Berg has always loved sailing and talked his wife into giving up their home in Flagstaff, Arizona to live on Cotton Valley in the harbor at Ventura, California. Now the entire family that includes their 11 year old daughter and a German Shepherd guide dog live on the sailboat. Oh, I almost forgot that Chumsley the hamster was also aboard. They have ventured out to sea, traveling from Ventura to Santa Cruz.
Check out the article written by Susan Cooper-Berg in the June 2008 issue of Cruising World.
I found the story fascinating and admire John for his undetered lifestyle.
When I started blogging back in 2003, I had no idea the amount of friends I would make. I have followed some of the early bloggers through toddler stages on up to weddings. I have met a few of my online friends in real life. SocialSpark is icing on the cake to my blogging experience. I had no idea it was possible to make some spending money while blogging. Social Spark is a venue that lets me make friends and a little money too.
The site is pretty new so they are working out a few bugs. That’s ok because I am technically challenged. I learn as they make changes. That suits me fine. It is easy to find opportunities to write about and earn some money like the money I am being paid to write this post. The links I put into my blogs are ones with the nofollow attribute. That makes them agreeable to whoever decides on the page rank for our blogs. I don’t really understand that stuff but some say it is important. Whatever.
One of my favorite parts at the Social Spark site is the chance to help a cause. Sparks are an opportunity that pays no money but lets us write about a topic that gets people to sit up and notice. There are causes that bring awareness to issues and causes for great things like shoes. LOL Yes, just about anything is what you will find at Social Spark.
I have had fun meeting new people through Social Spark. The profile page on each blogger gives information that helps me get to know each person. You can check out my profile to see what I mean. See my friends? I have met some of those people in real life. Bloggers are awesome people.
Does anyone know where the airport is in Louisville? We will be headed south this week and will pick up my sister on the way. She is flying into the Louisville airport. It is going to be fun to have my mom with her three daughters for a few days. We get pretty goofy. Oh, my daughter will be driving up from Florida so we are sure to have some silly moments.
We may end up fighting over places to sleep. When the kids were younger we could have them sleep on the floor. Their stiff muscles recovered quickly. Now that we are all a little older we appreciate a good bed. Spacify is a great source for contemporary styles of bedroom sets. I am in love with their daybeds that let you use your room for other tasks beside sleeping. Spacify has a wide selection of bedroom furniture. You can see what they have to offer in the latest designs and patterns. Elegant bedroom sets are easy to see when you utilize Spacify’s easy to use website. The quality of furniture at Spacify is the best so you know you will get your moneys worth when purchasing from them. I love all the beautiful patterns from which to choose. They don’t just offer bedroom sets. They have matching armoires, dressers, retro chaise lounge, and mirrors that are designed exotically to match the modern style.
Oh my! Get me thinking about furniture and I get carried away. Back to our trip. We will be sewing and will need to move the beds out of our way. Who knows, if we get involved with sewing, we may not take time to sleep!
