Post-Christmas bliss

I have had the best time in these days after Christmas, enjoying the leftovers (I could eat for a week and still have food!), the decorations, the wonderful gifts I received and spending time relaxing. My favorite thing to do lately is to cruise many of the wonderful blogs online. I'm getting lots of ideas and slowly learning a few things. As I said before, I plan on writing my own "good mood blog" right here, on this site, beginning January 1. I'm going to do it five days a week, and I want it to be something you'll want to read every day.

One of the things I found online is a conference in Nashville on blogging. It's called "Blissdom '10" (http://www.blissdom.com/) in early February, and I REALLY want to go. The registration fee is $299. I can't really swing that now, post Christmas, especially when Nicole has so many financial needs. So, I'm putting this out there...if anyone wants to sponsor me, they'll get frequent mentions on my blog! For any of you business-owners out there, you know that $299 is way cheaper than most ads. Right now, I have a registered following of 62 people who regularly log on when I have a new blog post. Imagine reaching 62 people--potential customers--over and over again for only $300. And my list of followers is continuing to grow. So it could just be the smartest $300 you'll ever spend! Think about, but please, if you are interested, please hurry. There aren't many slots left at the conference. I have a place to stay in Nashville (with a friend).

Now that I've got the begging portion of my blog over with, I will let you know that the Marquez family had a wonderful Christmas. We had a house full of people on Christmas Eve, which just made Larry and I very happy. People came and went...or came and stayed...and we all had a special time together.

This time last year, Nicole was on a pass from Methodist Rehab. She was still in a wheelchair, and we had to hire LeFleur Transportation to pick her up in a lift van to come home. Her power chair was so big and she kept knocking furniture and walls with it as she tried to navigate around our house. So, a year later, we are all thankful that she is walking around our house without her cane!

Christmas morning, my parents, my sister Sarah and her family (Big Bob, Matthew and Lauren) all came over, as did Joe and his precious girlfriend, Emily, along with our "other sista" Jacqui. We had a huge brunch with breakfast casserole, cheese grits, homemade sticky buns and lots of coffee, mimosas and bloody marys. Around noon, we commenced to opening gifts...which we did easily for the next hour or more. It was lots of fun, with lots of laughs and my house was a huge hairy happy mess when we were done.

Larry then went to the kitchen to get ready for our next meal of the day...chili and gumbo, along with my dad's Mexican cornbread. We kept it casual...everyone served themselves off the stove and ate where they could find a place.

That afternoon, Joosy Claus made it by for a visit, followed by a return visit from Jake Smith and Margaret Dutcher. The guys watched football, of course, while the women-folk hung out in my keeping room, visiting, laughing, and yes, EATING. (How?)

It was a great day, and we all went to bed full and fulfilled. It was a great celebration of Christ's birth, and we were grateful to have family and friends surrounding us.

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan