Jeff & His Belgium Waffle Mix

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope you all had a super Christmas. Mine was amazing! I’m so thankful that my kids still cherish the holidays now that they are so grown up. Yesterday, I noticed how much they were in the moment while with each other, with Emily and me, and with all the rest of their relatives. There is nothing greater than knowing that your kids WANT to be with you… and they are having the time of their lives in your presence! As I get older, I cherish these moments!

I have to tell you guys about something VERY funny that happened to us yesterday. We were in Richmond with Emily’s HILLARIOUS family! Every time we get together, there is non stop laughter all day long! The wit of the Wall family is absolutely off the charts! Yesterday, it was at its best for sure.

Emily’s brother Jeff was grinning as we walked through the door… as he does every year. His little mind was already working away; scanning the entire situation, searching for the bloopers… it’s a very scary thing to fall prey to a grinning Jeffrey! On from Jeff, I glanced over my right shoulder and there is Emily’s brother Wayne… we shake hands, he cracks a little smile, his mind also very active. I just knew that we were all in for another holly jolly Christmas Day!

Ok, now that you have a little Wall Christmas background… here’s the 2008 situation. It was gift exchange time and everyone was tearing into their gifts… exchanging heartfelt thank you’s and hugs and smiles. We scaled back a little this year and all the attention was on the kids and Millie and Merle (Emily’s mom and dad.) A few weeks ago, Emily and I went on a hunt for Millie’s requested “waffle maker.” She had told us that she wanted the one that flips over after you insert the mix… the kind they have at the hotels. So we found it of course and Emily really felt like she had a winner!

It was finally Millie’s turn to open her gifts from the children. The dogs and Lillian the pig were roaming the floors and sniffing each other… the kids were still fired up at the gifts they had just opened… and I looked over at Jeff, and then Wayne… and they were poised like two hound dogs sniffing for their next victim! I must admit that I was trying not to make any obvious mistakes. I was trying very hard to fly under their radar as long as I could. Emily smiled real big, walked over and handed Millie the special gift we had wrapped for her… just knowing that this was the thing she really wanted!

So Millie unwraped the long awaited waffle maker and expressed her appreciation to us… we felt like real champs for about TEN SECONDS! Then it was Jeff’s turn… he made his way across the living room floor and there it was… the GRIN HAD POPPED! Ught oh… what was he picking up on… was it me? Had I just made a fatal mistake… the one that he would bring up again on family vacation in JULY?

Jeff handed his SUPER SIZED BOX to Millie and glared deviously over at Emily, then to me. This was not good… what had he gotten her that was making him strut so aggressively? Millie ripped off the paper and guess what she found? The GOLIATH of all WAFFLE MAKERS! I mean this thing was GINORMOUS!!! Emily and I looked over at Jeff, like a scolded puppy… and if that wasn’t enough humiliation, he was holding another wrapped gift in his hand about the size of a box of waffle mix! Yup, that’s exactly what it was… the mammoth waffle machine to trump all other waffle machines AND a box of waffle mix!

Who knows how this tragedy came about… some say that Emily’s other brother Dave had told Jeff that Millie wanted the waffle maker, while Millie had HINTED it to us directly. Either way, we laughed about it for the next few hours and the story will live on for many years to come!

Hope your day was as FUN as ours! And I hope that the rest of your holiday is blessed! Even if your holiday cheer is a little late getting started… there is still plenty of holiday left! The Bible says that laughter is like medicine… so don’t be grinchy when there are a million reasons to laugh your head off during this Merry season! Love you guys, chat with you tomorrow!

I’m up praying and reading my Bible before my family awakes and our beautiful day TOGETHER begins!

It’s so quiet in my family room this morning. All I can think about right now is how much I love my family… and how much I thank God for them! Any moment now, Heaven will come running down the stairs yelling, “It’s Christmas everyone!” She will go back up the stairs to wake Coree up… she’ll stick me with walking the dogs… AND Lillian the pig! I will go in to the bedroom and have the pleasure of viewing Emily’s Christmas morning smile. She is the most fun person in the entire world to spend Christmas with! Emily is worth a million gifts to me!

I’m so happy to be a Christian on Christmas day… every year, it means so much more! Where would I be without my savior? Truly, I am a firebrand snatched from the flames of hell… and the savior of the world has saved my life! Today, I thank God for the warmth he brings into my heart… for the way he causes me to appreciate the most important things in life… for the humility he gives that makes me likeable… the compassion I feel for others! He brings all of this to my life!

Think about the “Savior Effect” upon your own life this Christmas Day. How significantly is the savior of the world impacting your beautiful life these days? It’s awe inspiring to consider such things!

From the Balsamo’s to the most amazing blog family on earth… may you have the Merriest Christmas ever! Try not to place too much emphasis on the gifts or lack of gifts laying under your Christmas trees this year. Be so careful not to overlook all the gifts of LOVE coming at you from all your family and friends! All day long, let everyone know how special they are to you… spend lots and lots of time smiling and taking in the beauty of this most wonderful time of the year. God bless you all… chat with you tomorrow!

"Lillian Balsamo"

Happy Christmas Eve Friends!!

Announcement: The pig has decided she doesnt want to be called Cinderella… so we have changed her name to “Lillian!”

Sorry for the very late post today. My computer was almost broken beyond repair… and thanks to my new friend Ibrahim from india, it is in recovery!

Wow… you guys are really loving Lillian huh? Thanks for all the comments. The pig jokes are rolling in! I must admit that yesterday morning was a very stressful time here at the Balsamo residence! We actually got on the phone and started searching for someone to take her off our hands. We even worked out a deal with Heaven that we would get her a puppy if she would let us sell the pig. She agreed, but only for a few hours.

As the day went on, Lillian proved just how badly she wanted to be in this family! She’s has not gone to the bathroom in the house… not even once! After she figured out that we were going to take her outside at potty time, she hasnt even gone in her pig palace. I know its hard to believe, but this gal is already potty trained!

Emily and I gave Lillian a bath yesterday to help her smell better. Since she came out of a barn, she stunk like a pig! The bathing task was a memorable experience… Lillian jumping straight up in the air and doing backflips… and squeeling like we were turning her into little sausage links! But after day one, Lillian is going potty outside and she smells like a rose… maybe she can stay. I did say maybe!

On a Chrismas note… the Balsamo’s wanted to wish all you guys a very Merry Christmas Eve! We hope you have the time of your lives hanging with all your special people! Whatever it takes, express your love as passionately and creatively as you ever have before. All over the world, people need love this year much more than ussual!

I read the book of Matthew this morning and came away with a beautiful FEELING. It’s the desire for more HUMILTY in my life! I realized while reading, just how humble Jesus is… and all I can think about since then is how much I want to be like Jesus this Christmas! When this came over me, I rolled over onto my knees and prayed, “Please God, help me not to be self absorbed over the next few days. Please help me to make a very big difference in someones life… by all means possible.” Pray this prayer and aim for the best Christmas of your life!

Thats it for today… we will chat tomorrow!

"Cinderella Balsamo"

Happy Tuesday Blog Pals!

Urgent Blog Site Announcement: the www.chuckbalsamo.com version will undergo quite a few changes over the next few days. These changes will add more features to the blog site and make your experiences far more enjoyable. Until then, you can still visit www.chuckslife.wordpress.com for the original version… and yes, the snow is still falling there!

Long and MEMORABLE day yesterday… yes it was! Now I can see why God told the Israelites to stay away from these creatures. We drove all the way to Kentucky for this? Have we lost our minds! We finally made it to the Chevron Gas Station where the drop was going to be made… we arrived a little early, so I cleaned the inside windows of the suberban and listened to Heaven go absolutley hyper active as her curiousity had reached its all time pinacle!

The pig lady hadn’t told us what kind of vehicle she was driving, and she hadn’t given us a cell phone… so we stood on lookout for an old farm use pick up truck. Then, to our utter amazement, vvvaarrooooooooommmm! In came a NEW BABY BLUE MUSTANG up on two wheels… out stepped our petite pig breeder, all decked out like she was on her way to the Greenbrier! She popped the trunk, passed us our little piggy, collected the cold hard cash, gave us a few farming tips, and off we were… heading for home with the worse buyers remorse of our lives. Not Heaven of course… she kept saying, “isnt she so cute…. awww, look at her daddy… i love my cute little piggy!”

She eats like a PIG! Loud and sloppy… just like me! I must say that she’s not as cute and cuddly as we were hoping her to be. Oh yeah, she has a cute snout and maybe a cute curly pink tail… she has an attractive grunt and an adorable squeel when anyone picks her up for the first time. I’m just not sure thats enough for me to deem her a cutie yet.

Right now, she is in a very LARGE storage shelter IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR FAMILY ROOM. What have we given into! She’s only been here one night and she taking over already! All morning long, while I was trying to read and pray… all I could hear was grunt grunt grunt! Then when I politely requested for her to PLEASE grunt more quietly, she gave me that look like she was HUNGRY! So I gave her the food dish and… slop slop slop slop slop… slop slop slop slop slop… “please, chew with your mouth shut CINDERELLA!” Yeah, that’s what Heaven is naming this happy hog… Cinderella Balsamo!

Have a super day everyone… Cinderella and I spent lots of time grunting and praying for you guys and gals this monring… have fun, chat with you tomorrow!!

Bethlehem Project- Afton VA

Happy Thursday Friends!

I have a recommendation for all my local blog pals. Go to the Bethlehem Project in Afton, VA. We go every year… it’s beyond words! Jesus is born every hour on the hour! No charge, donations accepted. Check out the website and make it a family date!

I have just a simple thought for all you guys today… slow down and smell your Christmas tree! For me, things have been spinning out of control over the past few weeks. I have so much going on, I cant seem to catch my breath. And I know that if I am not careful… Christmas will come and go without me. Oh yes, my body will be there consuming all the festive foods… but my mind will be a million miles away missing all the real beauties of the moment!

Christmas is the “most wonderful time of the year!” At least it should be. 

The holiday season kicks off with Thanksgiving where we thank God for all the blessings in our lives. Thanksgiving calls upon us to stop the complaining and start appreciating. Truly, for every one thing going wrong, there are a hundred things going right in our lives! If we celebrated Thanksgiving properly, then the tone for a phenomenal December has been set! If not, then consider making TODAY your Thanksgiving MAKE UP DAY! Come on… break the curse of depression and take charge of your environment! Ti’s the season to be jolly… fallaaa laaalaaa laaa laaalaaa laaa laaa!  

From Thanksgiving we head towards the celebration of our Saviors birth! Wow… all the JOY in the Christmas message! The excitement of decorations and gift exchanging… and Christmas parties… and quality time with the people we love the most! Don’t be a scrooge or a Grinch… love this season… and take in every last ounce of it! Sing Christmas songs… do random acts of kindness for hurting people. Get out your Bibles and read the Christmas story a hundred times… go to church with your family! Give a gigantic special Christmas offering! Spend more time praying to God, asking him to work in your life like never before! Let your friends and family know how much they mean to you! Call up your Grandparents… or go visit if you can! And just maybe, after you do some of this… your own problems will fade away into nothingness! 

Then… after celebrating a great Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will all be ready for a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let’s not let the horrors of our economy get into our minds and ruin our holidays. For us who trust our future to God, we have nothing to fear. So celebrate like there is no tomorrow… trust me you need it more than you know! Slow down… and smell your Christmas tree before its gone.

Love you guys… have a super day!!