Sooooooo it was literally THE CUTEST thing everrrr...A few years ago...I just gotta remember it all over again…. We went to a little kids Christmas play and as we were walking in, there was a group of people there for another show and OF COURSE little O just has to talk to everyone on our way into the theatre! Hi! I'm Odin, what's your name?
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So he sees this husky, older gentleman, wearing khaki slacks and a plaid shirt and who just happened to have a white beard and he greets him as usual, "Hi, I'm Odin!" and the man says back to him, I'm Santa Clause!
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Odin just stops dead in his tracks, mouth agape, his WHOLE FACE JUST LIGHTS UP in sheer shock and joy! Then, without saying anything, he just walks over to the man and throws his arms around him in a HUGE ODIN HUG!!!
The look on his face was liiiiiiiike NO WAY, I'M ACTUALLY MEETING SANTA!!! Everyone was laughing soooooooo hard and it completely made the man's night!!! It was literally THE CUUUUUTEST, FUNNIEST THING EVERRRRRR!!! Gotta love this kid, there's just no one quite like him!!!
Sooooooooooo my sister had gotten me these ADORABLE glittery, Kate Spade sunglasses for Christmas one year!!! I gave her only like A MILLION AND ONE hints that they were what I really wanted! I was pretty sure she was going to get them for me, buuuuuuuuut I wasn't sure if she had gotten them, I searched her room and closet for them and could NOT find them...it was kind of a mixed feeling, cuz I WANT TO BE SURPRISED with my gifts, buuuuuuuuuuuut I also want to know, buuuuut I want to be surprised too!!!
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Anywayz, much to my dismay, I did NOT find them, soooooo I was SURPRISED on Christmas morning!!! YAAAAAAAYYYY!!! I looooove being surprised, buuuuuuuut I'm pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to be surprised, because I'm ALWAYS WATCHING and paying attention even when it seems like i'm NOT, I really am!!!! I notice EVERYTHING!!!
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Anywayz, I ADORED MY GLASSES!!!
They’re on my Christmas Present 🎁 Favorites list along with yellow beach cruiser bike and OF COURSE my favorite of all time, MY BLACK BABY DOLL… oh wait that was my 5th BIRTHDAY 🥳 , NOT Christmas!!!
I've worked really hard with taking care of them and NOT losing or misplacing them!!! Every time I take them off, I carefully put them in their case!!! Weeeeeeeelllll one day I was out shopping and I forgot to put them in the case before I got out of the car. Instead, I put them on top of my head and walked into Ross! I was on a hunt for a BLACK FUR VEST!!!
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Well after trying on several things, and NOT finding what I was looking for. I headed back out to my car. I got in, put the keys in the ignition, started the car, started blasting my Jesus music(The Abbott's CD, you guys NEED to get it!) As I'm bumping to my music about to back out, I reach on my head for my adorable-glitter-pink-gold sunglasses and gasp, they're NOT THERE!!!
WHERE ARE THEY!?
I reach into my pocket,
NOT THERE!!!
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I check the seat next to me,
NOT THERE!!!
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I check the floor of the car,
NOT THERE!!!
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I'm more than disappointed with them being missing, disappointed is when a kinda cute guy flirts with you one time, then ignores you THE NEXT TIME he sees you, that's disappointed!!! Buuuuuuuuuuut, life goes on! “Ain't nobody got time to dwell on it...there's always more cute guys, buuuuuuuuuuuuut THIS, this is MY ADORABLE-GLITTERY-GOLD-PINK-KATE-SPADE-SHADES!!! They can NOT be replaced!!! (Okaaaaaaaaaay they can, put who wants to spend $90 on sunglasses???;) soooooo anyways, I am truly beyond disappointed….
I'm devastated!!!
ABSOLUTELY HEART BROKEN!!!
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I'm about to get out and search the store, as I'm on my way out, I glance in the rearview mirror annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd WHAT DO YOU KNOW????
THEY'RE ON MY FACE!!!
Yes, true story peeps, I couldn't find my sunglasses because, I WAS WEARING THEM!!!
MORAL OF THE STORY: Next time your missing your sunglasses,
Regifting, I mean, let's be REAL, all of us have done it one time or another!!! (Can I get an AMEN from my HotDogSISTA JANELLE???;) Buuuuuuuuuuut the down part is GETTING CAUGHT!!! AHAHAHAAA!!!
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Weeeeeeeeeeelllll one year, for my birthday, which is in July, my brother John and his wife gave me a $25 gift card to TJ Maxx and a HUGE water jug, you know those thermal ones that keep your drink hot or cold for days??? Well, I do drink a lot of water, buuuuuuuut, there was NO WAY I was going to use this water jug...I mean, maybe if it was pink, buuuuuut it was like a light army green, there was just no way I would drink from an un-cute water jug unless I was like stranded on a desert island.
Uncute, buuuut very practical, durable thermos
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I was thinking, what am I going to do with this? I mean, I don't wanna just get rid of it, buuuuuuuut...OH I KNOW, I'll give it to Stultz for his birthday in December!!! He loooooves fishing and this would make THE PERFECT water jug to take on a fishing trip!!!
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Soooooooo I asked my other sister in law, who makes like graphics on t-shirts or stickers for your car, or imprints on hats, cups, etc...if she could put some kind of fishing meme on it and I would pay her for it!
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I felt very justified in my re-gifting to Stultz, because I was STILL paying for something on it. So come his birthday, I proudly give my gift with the graphic on it when we all go out for his birthday after Sunday evening service! He likes it, etc...or so he says...maybe he regifted it to his dad the NEXT YEAR for Christmas! BAHAHA! JK!
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Anyways, I really thought I was SAFE with my regifting to Stultz BECAUSE, my brother and his wife go to another Pentecostal church in the Valley, so they weren't going to be there at the party after church, AND my brother John doesn't go fishing, so it's NOT like they'd ever be fishing together!!! MY REGIFTING WAS SAFE!!!
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WROOOOOOOONG!!!
Sooooooooo since we all grew up with Stultz living across the street, it became a tradition that on Christmas day we'd all exchange gifts with him. Even though we've all moved around, we've still kept up the tradition. Weeeeeellll this year, Stultz comes over, we're all hanging out when we start opening gifts. He's opening the one from my brother John, and sister-in-law Liz, when I see him pulling out an IDENTICAL water jug as the one they had given me for his birthday, that I had REGIFTED to Jonathon...OOOOOPS!!!
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He's like, “HEY! This is almost just like...” I TRY TO INTERRUPT HIM...TO MOTION WITH MY HANDS TO SHUT UP!!! TO STOP TALKING...
Buuuut NOPE!!!
“…JUST LIKE THE ONE YOU GAVE ME!!!”
CAUGHT!!!
My sister-in-law, Liz looks at me with a huge grin, MAAAAAAARY, did you re-gift our present to you, to Jonathon??? I was like, SOOOOOORRRRRRRRY!!!! It was really niiiiiiiiice, BUUUUUUT it wasn't PINK!!! She just starts laughing!!!! And explains that they got a really, really good deal on them and have been gifting them out to everyone!!!
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Now that she wasn't mad at me, I turn to Stultz, whose just laughing at this all!!!! I'm liiiiiiike, I know I re-gifted to you, buuuuuuuut, I REALLY DID SPEND MONEY on your birthday present! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY DID!!! I paid Grace to put that imprint on it! I paid her $10...without missing a beat, my sister-in-law says, WHATEVERRRR you didn't pay me NOTHING!!!! I just looked at her with my mouth hanging open! Now i'm really looking CHEAP!!! No Grace, I paid you for that, remember???
She's like, JUUUUUUUST KIDDING!!!!
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Everyone just busted up laughing at me again!!! I was like, MAAAAAN, i really, really, REALLY thought i was safe with my regifting, buuuuuuuut NOPE,
I got CAUGHT!!!
.It was for sure a,
Classic MERRY MARY MOMENT!!!
Have you ever got caught or caught someone else regifting??? Maryfranceswriting@gmail.com Best stories could get posted with sender's permission!!!!
♪Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer♫ Had a very shiny nose♪♪ annnnnnnnd if you everrrr saw it, YOU WOULD even say it GLOWED...♪
LIKE A LIGHT BULB!!!♫
"Did you know???..."
Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system. According to Roger Highfield, the author of the book “The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey” the world’s most famous reindeer has a red nose due to a parasite. However, Rudolf’s relationship with his parasite is symbiotic: after all, the red nose illuminates the path through the winter night for the whole reindeer team.
Seems rather fitting in these times that the world's story of Christmas is all about a reindeer with a VIRUS!!!!AHAHAHAHAHAAA!!
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Merry Christmas!
Let your light still shine bright through that mask!!! Hee, hee!!!
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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)
Soooooooo one year, right before Christmas Sunday, I decided that I really, really, needed to get my eye brows done! I was like thinking in my head, I should probably wait til my next paycheck, buuuuuuuut that's after Sunday, annnnnnnnd I really want good eye brows for Sunday!!!
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Soooooooooo I pull up to European wax center, and as I'm walking in, I double check on my bank app that I have sufficient funds in my back account, I have MORE THAN ENOUGH, sooooooo I go in and proceed with getting AMAZING EYEBROWS!!!
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Once I'm done, I go to pay and my debit card is declined like 10 times!!! I'm liiiiiike WHAAAAT??? Liiiiiiike I LITERALLY JUST CHECKED MY ACCOUNT!!!! I'm like freaking out!!! What do they do to people that don't have the funds to pay for their eye brow job that has ALREADY BEEN DONE???
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LIKE OMW!!! It's four days before Christmas AND I'M GOING TO JAIL!!!
ALL BECAUSE I NEEDED GOOD EYE BROWS!!!!
Buuuuuuuut heeeeeey at least i'll look good for that mug shot!!! ;)
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Soooooo I don't know what to do, I'm actually wonderingif they allow prisoners to take SELFIES for their mug shots, when the lady at the desk says, well you do have a $65 gift certificate in your account, would you like to use some of it towards your eye brows today?
I was like, I DO???
She was like, yes ma'aam! I'm liiiiike, WELL SURE!!! I mean I have NO IDEA HOW I GOT SUCH A LARGE CERTIFICATE IN MY ACCOUNT!!! Buuuuuuuuuuuuut honestly, I don't even care!! I don't at all question this blessing, i just take this as a sign that CLEARLY GOD DID INDEED want me to have good eye brows for church on Sunday!!!
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FAST FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS...
Soooooo I'm opening all my gifts and one of my gifts from my sister is a gift certificate to European Wax Center, i'm liiiiiiike OH COOL!!!! I can ALWAYS use one of these!!! She's like, yeah, they started doing a facial now and I thought you would like to do that, so I made it large enough to get your eye brows and the facial together! (She knows I'm super into skin care!) Then she says, and you don't even need to save that gift card, because they ALREADY put it in your account when I bought it the other day!!!
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I was liiiiiiiike...Oooooooh...Sooooooooooooo THAT'S HOW I HAD A CERTIFICATE IN MY ACCOUNT WHEN I WAS THERE THE OTHER DAY!!!! She's like, Oh soooooo you already knew about it?! I'm liiiiiiiike, weeeeeeeeeeellll...FUNNY you should mention that, you see, I got my eyebrows done on Saturday, and RIGHT BEFORE I walked in, I checked my bank account and I PROMISE YOU I had sufficient funds in my account to get my eyebrows done, buuuuuuuut apparently, while I was getting my eyebrows done, and UNEXPECTED charge went through my bank account and I no longer had the money to pay for my eye brows! I was really freaking out because I didn't know how I was going to pay for it when the lady said I had a gift certificate in my account that I could use to pay for them....SO I DID!!!
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My sister just looks at me shaking her head...
SOOOOOOO UNKNOWINGLY,
YOU ALREADY SPENTTHE GIFT CERTIFICATE BEFORE IT WAS
Soooo one day, while my mom was alive, her and I were doing some Christmas baking at her house. We're just mixin an stirring, listenening to Christmas music, havin a good sweet, mother/daughter time together. . All of the sudden, over the radio comes on the song Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer! I've always liked this song, you know, its just kind of happy and fun....WELLL...My mom is like, "YOU KNOW, I've NEVER understood this song!!!"[So i'm thinkin like oh great, here comes a lecture about how this song has NOTHING to do with the birth of Christ...(Which is TRUE...BUT...its still a fun favorite of mine)] so she is like, "I've NEVER understood this song" ...she pauses then continues... . "if I WERE Rudolph, her NYC accent kicks in like she never left 30 years ago, I would have just told THOSE OTHER Reindeers WHATS UP!!!" She's like waving flour in her hands, "I wouldn't of let them treat me like that!!!I just woulda let them know!!!" . AHAHAHAHAAA! I was laughing soooo hard! "I'm like, "MOM, I'm SURE YOU WOULD HAVE!!! I'm SURE YOU WOULD HAVE!!!"(You know, MY MAMMA AIN'T NO ONES DOOR MAT!!! Trust me!!! ;)
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Sooooooooo I saw this and thought...
IF my mom HAD BEEN RUDOLPH!!!
Those Deers are BLESSED, that MY MAMMA wasn't Rudolph...
Years ago, I had a guy friend that was explaining a conflicting situation he was in with another young lady. He said, she wanted him to meet her at a coffee shop to just discuss something as friends. He didn't feel like this was a good idea because it may give people the wrong impression of them being in a relationship. Apparently the girl was insistent, etc...Now he was asking for MY ADIVCE!!! AHAHAHAAA!!!
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To explain himself he said,MARY, If you saw me sitting in a quaint little café, talking with a beautiful, single, godly young lady, what would you think?
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Without hesitation, I said, To be perfectly honest with you...
it would be RATHER hard...
to look at myself...
IF I WAS SITTING THERE!!!
AHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!
Yes, that was really, my whole thoughts on the ENTIRE MATTER!!!
Red and white dough twisted together, infused with peppermint flavoring and little pieces of peppermint candies- Grandpa’s Candy Cane Cookies. .
Shortbread dough dipped in milk then rolled in sesame seeds, cooked until golden brown.Best served while still warm with hot chocolate- that’s Grandpa’s Sesame Seed Cookies. As one takes a bite of this next cookie their mouth will be filled with a variety of delightful goodness. This cookie is crusty on the outside and chewyon the inside. It is filled with the sweetness of almond paste and yet salty from the taste of pine nuts- these are Grandpa’s Pinoli Cookies. The all around favorite cookie is a 3-layered, Neapolitan-Italian-flag cookie. In between each layer is a filling of fruit preserves and topped with a thin layer of melted chocolate. Once the chocolate is hardened they are cut into tiny, bite-size squares.We simply call these- Grandpa’s Three-Colored Cookies... . Every year, at the end of November, my Grandfather, Joseph Mangino, a retired New York City Policeman, would begin his holiday baking. Grandpa was a big man with broad shoulders, a loud booming voice, chubby cheeks a big smile and a twinkle in his eye. Everyone loved his baking and looked forward to it. Then one year everything began to change. . “I don’t know Franny,” my grandpa says to his daughter who is my mom. “I don’t think I am going to be able to send cookies out to everyone this year.” “Why not?” Asks my mom. “I just don’t feel up to it,” he says with a sigh. “I don’t think I could get it all done.” I couldn’t imagine Christmas without Grandpa’s baking. It was a part of who he was and a part of what made Christmas. “We’ll help you make them,” says my mom. “You can teach the girls. They need to learn anyways.” . So the baking lessons began…The thing about Grandpa’s baking lessons was that it didn’t matter if you already knew how to bake. When you were in HIS kitchen, you did things HIS way! I remember standing in the kitchen one day after putting all of the dry ingredients in a bowl; I got out the hand mixture to blend it real well. I plugged it into the wall then stuck it into the bowl, which was on the kitchen counter.
. “Uh, uh,” said Grandpa. “Stick the bowl in the sink and then begin mixing it. This way if any of the flour comes out it will go in the sink.” “Okay Grandpa,” I said. Next I got out the eggs and began cracking them into the bowl. “Uh, uh,” said Grandpa. You gotta get a separate bowl and crack each egg individually to make sure the egg is good. Otherwise if one egg is bad it will ruin the whole batter.” “Okay Grandpa,” I said. I began rolling the cookies out and putting the lumps on the cookie sheets. “Uh, uh,” said Grandpa. “Those cookies are way to big. Make them smaller.” “Okay Grandpa,” I said with a sigh. . When I would get something right Grandpa would nod his head in approval. “Atta girl Maria, atta girl.” Then when I would take the cookies out of the oven and they were just right Grandpa would smile. “Beautiful, beautiful,” he would say taking a bite. So became our tradition, each year at Christmas time, my mom, my sister and I would take turns on different days baking cookies with Grandpa. . “You gotta get this right Mary” Grandpa said to me one year as I baked. “I might not be here next year to show you how to do it.” I was startled to hear him say this. “Don’t say that.” I said looking up from what I was doing. I couldn’t imagine him not being here. “Well you never know,” said Grandpa. “Everyone dies some time.” . We all knew that Grandpa was getting weaker with each passing year. His body was deteriorating from Parkinson disease, but we didn’t want to think about it. .
Then one day it happened. Grandpa died. I remember sitting in his recliner in the living room watching as early in the morning two men from the mortuary came to take his body away. A soft blue blanket covered him as the men rolled his stretcher down the hallway, through his kitchen and out of his house. It took a while for the reality of the situation to really sink in. Grandpa was gone.
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However the things that he taught us still live on...
As Christmas time comes around my family and I begin our baking. It’s a family thing and my brother John has picked up the role of BOSSING everyone around now. Through the laughter and teasing of who broke the cookies and who cooked them too long, I remember Grandpa’s words to me;“You gotta get this right Mary, I might not be here next year.” “ Don’t worry Grandpa. I promise, I am going to get it right!”I start mixing the ingredients in a bowl on the counter. Then I remember and put the bowl in the sink. I pull out a separate bowl for the eggs and hope the cookies aren’t too big. As I take the cookies from the oven, I know Grandpa would be smiling, nodding his head in approval, satisfied in knowing that his cookies are still being baked. If I listen closely as I take a bite of a cookie I think I hear Grandpa. “Atta girl Maria, atta girl.” I take another bite and savor the taste. “Beautiful, beautiful!”
Sooooooo you guys I want to share with you all my magic trick!!!! It's something I am sooooo gooood at!!! I'm NOT sure if it's a talent OR what buuuuuuuut my magic trick is this...
I CAN MAKE MONEY DISAPPEAR!!!
Faster than anyone I know too!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
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Buuuuuuuuuuuut when I get married, it'll become a two-part magic ACT!!!!
Act 1: I make the money disappear
Act 2: HE MAKES THE MONEY REAPPEAR!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
Literally over here laughing my head off!!!
♥Mary Frances :)
P.S. I have NOOOOOOO IDEA WHY I'm still single!!!!😇😉
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P.P.S I hope the part of him making the money 💰 Reappear Isn’t from making me do returns!!!! Bahahahahaaa
