It's a late Friday's Feast and FFT

I go out again tonight for the first night of three in a row for the Trail of Lights. I'm going to try and get some pictures to post as well so you can see how beautiful it all is!

So we'll just jump right in with the post!

Appetizer
What was your very first job with a paycheck?
I worked retail for the Limited – hated it but I got some great discounts on cute clothes.

Soup
Did you ever lose something really important to you?
Yes, my heart – long before The Ex, and it's yet to really recover from it. IF there is a next time, I need to be more careful about whose care I give it to.

Salad
What is the best Christmas present you ever received?
Hmmmm, not really sure about that one. I do really enjoy the garnet earrings from James Avery that The Ex gave me the first Christmas we were dating. I wear those all the time. Is that the best? I'm not sure, but I think it has been one of my favorites.

Main Course
Tell about a favorite "hang out" place for you and your friends when you were in high school.
The Flats out at the lake. Senior skip day (which we did every year, not just when we were seniors), after semester finals for fall and spring (those were ½ days), during the summer...you name it, we were there. Underage drinking was huge. I remember the last year getting busted by the Travis County Sheriff's Department and staying there, as a "good" girl, to help clean up the empties that littered the area. B/C I did that they were very lenient and did not give me an MIP – probably b/c they never saw me with anything in my hands anyway, but they did send a "warning" letter to my house to let my mom know that I had been at a party where underage drinking had occurred. I'd already told my mom about it so it wasn't a big surprise.

Dessert
Name something that always brings a smile to your face.
EASY – my daughter!

Next up is this week's FFT.

This FFT contains some fun you can have for your kids and/or yourself for Christmas. These are all just a blast and I have done them all – especially the email from Santa. I do that for Emily every year. It's free and is fun for the kids to get a personalized reply instantly. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I have.

Call Santa for free!
You can call the following number and your kids will get a recorded message from “Santa” until Christmas Eve. Have fun! 1-800-972-6242

Write to Santa and get an instant personalized response!
HO!! Ho!! ho!! Write a letter to Santa Claus? Yes kids its true! Just finish this letter... Santa's waiting for *you*! From the North Pole, Santa will send your reply... faster than Rudolph the reindeer can fly!! Merry Christmas!! Santa Claus will reply to you personally!! Just wait in front of your computer for a few seconds and your reply will magically appear (of course, it might take a bit longer if Santa Claus is really busy or taking a "cookie break"!!).

Email Santa Here

Go Elf Yourself!
Yes, you heard that right. This is a really FUN site that allows you to upload a picture of you and put your head on top on an "elf" and create a fun little dance with music. Create your own elfamorphasis and email it to others!

Get Elfed!

UPDATE:
This little gem was submitted by a commentor:
It's time to play Simon Says with Santa. At this site you cal tell Santa what you want him to do and chances are, he'll do it. Just be careful what you ask for. Go play Simon Sez Santa!

Well, I hope that you have fun this last week before Christmas with these nifty little Christmas gems above. Remember that this season is not about getting, it's about giving – just as God gave us His one and only Son to come down to earth to be born as both human and God so that He would know what it was to be human and experience what we do and yet give us that hope that we can become His child if we believe and accept God's gift of salvation to us through his death on the cross.