Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
Hello porchers, won't you have a seat and rest a spell? I've been
looking forward to our chat. ~smile~
I remember grocery shopping with my children one Christmas when they
were little. Jessica was skipping beside the cart and Phillip was
riding in it and both of them were peppering me with questions. How
many days is it until Christmas? Where are we going Christmas Day?
As we pulled in behind a long line of impatient shoppers at the
checkout counter, Phillip hit me with the big one, loud enough for
all to hear. Why does Santa Claus wear long sleeves? "I don't know,
son," I said absentmindedly, trying to keep Jessica out of the candy
display. "I do," Phillip continued proudly, "I bet it's cause he has
a lot of hair on his arms." I noticed several harried shoppers
smiling in spite of themselves.
Yeah, if I wanted to, I could get nostalgic. Christmas isn't the same
with the kids all grown up. But then again...Phillip is outside
helping Phil string the Christmas lights and Jessica is cooking supper
in the kitchen. It smells like we're having her "Heavenly Honeybun
Cake" for dessert. And me? Why, I'm sitting here chatting with y'all
on the porch. You know, on second thought...change isn't so bad. ~smile~
By the way, porchers, I'm having all sorts of trouble with the new
filters these internet companies are using against spammers. Now, you
know I'm no spammer and I know I'm no spammer. The trouble is, I mail to
so many folks that it trips something with these darn computers and
they bounce your emag! If this ever happens to you, just subscribe
again and tell your internet provider not to bounce me again. You can
rest assured I'm not pushing anyone off the porch. ~smile~
One more thing, I posted a Christmas Story for you on my homepage,
http://www.allthingssouthern.com. I know the holiday season can be
especially difficult if you've experienced pain and tragedy in your life.
I'm hoping this story might help you in some small way. If you want to
share, I'd consider it an honor to pray for you. Please feel free to
email me with as many or as few details as you'd like. I care, I really do.
Okay, kick back and enjoy this week's southern celebration. I had fun
putting it together for you. Until next week...
Hugs,
Shellie
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~~Chuckles~~
Oh, porchers, remember when I told y'all about Danny Smith's trouble
with his prospective in-laws? Well, the wedding's almost here and it's
gone from bad to worse. Now there's bad blood between that little
Yankee girl's mom and Danny's mom, Carol Ann.
I ran into Carol Ann yesterday. She was telling me how hard it had
been to find a dress for the wedding. (Bless her heart, Carol Ann's
always been kind of hippy.) Anyway, she said she'd finally found the
perfect dress and had her seamstress alter it. Then, day before
yesterday, her future daughter-in-law saw it. "Oh no," said the
bride-to-be. "Mother bought one just like that today." Being the
gracious southerner she is, Carol Ann called the lady and politely
suggested that since she'd bought the dress first, surely the lady
would want to return hers. "Absolutely not!" the woman said. "I look
like a million dollars in this dress, and I'm wearing it--you can
take yours back! It took Danny and his father's intervention, but
there was Carol Ann shopping for another dress. And believe it or
not, she was in a pretty good mood.
"I'm proud of you, " I told Carol Ann. "But, what are you going to do
with the first dress? You don't have any place to wear it."
Carol Ann grinned. "Why, of course I do," she drawled. "I'm wearing
it to the rehearsal dinner!"
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~~A Taste of the South~~
Jessica's been in from college this week and if you've been around
the porch any time at all, you know what that means. Yep, the girl's
been cooking. Here's her "Heavenly Honeybun Cake" and it definitely
lives up to its billing. Heat it up in the morning with a cup of
coffee and spoil yourself a little, you're worth it. Let's get
cooking!
"Jessica's Heavenly Honeybun Cake"
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 8 oz. can sour cream
• 1 ½ tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
Grease the bottom of your pan with shortening and flour. Beat together
your cake mix, eggs, oil, and sour cream for about 2 minutes. Pour
half of this mixture into the greased pan. Now, combine the sugar,
pecans and cinnamon in a small bowl and spread this over the batter.
Top with the remaining batter and bake 45 minutes on 350 until golden
brown. And now the best part-the glaze. Mix your milk, powdered sugar
and vanilla and drizzle this over the cake. Jessica says you're
supposed to let it cool for an hour. I say, "good luck", the cooling
thing never happens at our house.
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Merry Christmas Porchers! There's a Christmas Sale in the online bookstore:
http://www.allthingssouthern.com/books.html. It's my way of saying, "Thanks
for a wonderful year here at All Things Southern!" Hugs, Shellie
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~~It's Been Said...~~
Hello porchers, this is our southern quote feature, also known as
"It's Been Said." If you have a quote you'd like me to use, drop me
an email. That address is tomtom@allthingssouthern.com. Now, I'm
afraid I'm going there again. I guess I'm a slow learner. The truth
is, I am convinced that I should stay away from politics on the porch.
It is divisive and all. But the recent elections have provided me
with way too much material. Besides, isn't this where we celebrate
the colorful sayings of the south as well as the wisdom of our famous
southerners? Well, every time I've seen a clip of EX-senate majority
leader Tom Daschle on the news lately, I've been reminded of this
good old southern saying. I've just got to share it with the porch.
I promise to pick on the Republicans soon. Here in the south we have
an expression for someone as stirred up as Mr. Daschle has been the
past month or so. We like to say...
"That fellow is about two jumps ahead of a fit."
--Southern Saying
(Late update from the porch: Mary and Rodney won their respective
races here Saturday night, so Mr. Daschle just might be in a better
mood now. ~smile~)
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~~Southern Comfort~~
"Making Lists"
Oh, hi porchers, I was just sitting here on the swing making my
Christmas lists. I've got several going . There's my shopping list,
cooking list, things to do list--why, a few minutes ago I caught
myself making a list of the lists I need to make.
Okay, I'm joking about that last one, but I do want to tell y'all
about one list I've learned not to work on. This morning I was
reading out of my new Amplified Bible. I've always loved the 48th
chapter of Psalms. It speaks of exploring Mount Zion, the city of
the Great King and it says that God has made Himself known in her
palaces as a Refuge. Nice, huh? But here's the thing that caught my
attention. In verse 13, right after we're told to share our faith
with the following generation, there's a phrase instructing us to
"cease recalling disappointments."
Uh, oh, I'm afraid I've been guilty of recalling disappointments.
Heck, I've even listed our family's recent woes for anyone willing
to sit still long enough to listen. But not anymore--I'm a reformed
list maker. Now, who wants to join me for a rousing chorus of
"Count your Many Blessings"?
~Shellie
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~~Southern Exchange~~
Your letters:
Dear Shellie,
I feel right at home on your porch. I can feel the cool breeze and
see a tall pitcher of iced tea and a plate of snickerdoodles on the
table. And I can hear the wind chimes, the laughter of small
children and the chitchat coming from the "Gossip Quartet" in the
corner. I'm gettin' the warm fuzzies just thinking about it.
Dana McKinney
Oklahoma
(Hi Dana, Only a full-blooded porch sitter could write a letter like
that. It's a pleasure to have you join us. ~Hugs, Shellie)
_____________
Hi, Shellie!
Thanks for the warm welcome. I am enjoying your website immensely,
and have passed it on to several of my friends and relatives. The
fact that you are from our "neck of the woods" makes visiting your
site even more special. And I greatly admire how you are using the
site to share your Christian faith with others. I first learned
about your site from the Bayou Internet Newsletter. I'm especially
enjoying the "Southern Jokes" section, and find your good, clean
humor refreshing. Please keep up the good work. I look forward
to tuning in each week.
Bonnie Nolan
Ruston Louisiana
(Dear Bonnie, It's sweet of you to spread the word about All Things
Southern. I was gonna tell the folks in advertising to give you a
raise. Then I remembered that there is no advertising department.:-(
Could you settle for a big thank you? ~Hugs, Shellie)
_____________
Dear Shellie,
Greetings from Washington State! I got caught up on things, so I
think I can subscribe again! I've missed your "smiling face"!
I used to subscribe under another e-mail address, and then had to
unsubscribe to several things because of getting "rude e-mail" and
because I was just a bit behind on things, and couldn't keep up with
all my e-mail.
Hope you're still out there! I can feel the cool breeze from "the
porch" now!
Liz
Washington State
(Dear Liz, I'm here, I'm here and I saved you a spot on the swing. There
are a lot of new faces on the porch. Look around and introduce yourself.
You'll like 'em, they're all "good people"! ~Hugs, Shellie)
_____________
Hi Shellie,
I am a Louisiana girl raised over in Oak Grove.(I was a Herring) Someone
recently sent ATS to me via email and I have enjoyed it so much, the
touch of home, your wit and down to earth wisdom sometimes with a heavenly
perspective. My daughter Savannah and son Jonathan were born in Savannah,
Georiga but always look forward to trips to the delta country to visit
family. We have not missed a family Christmas in 12 yrs. Praise the Lord!
On the subject of terrorism in our day, Thomas Jefferson said, "Those who
desire to give up Freedom in order to gain Security, will not have, nor
do they deserve, either one." See ya on the Porch!
Teresa Dance
Jessup, Georgia
(Dear Teresa, It's always nice to hear from home folk! Thank you for the
sweet words--and the quote! That's one to chew on. Don't you miss the days
when we felt like we had both? ~Hugs, Shellie)
_____________
Dear Shellie,
HONK! (That's me saying, "Yes, I love Jesus"). Last week's spiritual spot
was most refreshing!
Jean Bailey
College Station, Texas
Dear Jean, Why thanks! By the way, I have a sudden urge to sing "won't
you come home Jean Bailey." I bet you get that a lot, huh? Thanks for
droppin' by the porch. ~Hugs, Shellie)
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ATS NEWS AND NOTES:
With the new format, if you see your letter in the exchange, that means
it was also in the radio show this week, (although condensed to fit the
time frame.) If you'd like a copy of the show, I'll "burn" you a CD for
$7.00, and that includes shipping and handling. (Louisiana residents will
have to include tax.) Just send your check or money order to ATS at 2007
Island Point Drive, Lake Providence, La. 71254 and let me know which
show you're interested in.
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You can hear a demo of the show at my place, http://www.allthingssouthern.com.
Oh, and if you'd like your local radio station to carry the show, here's
an information page www.allthingssouthern.com/audiodemo.html you can ask
them to look at. Please know I appreciate y'all folks, I really do! ~smile~
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All Things Southern Sponsors:
If you enjoy All Things Southern on the radio--or by internet, please
let my sponsors know. ~Thanks,Shellie
**************
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