It Finally Happened!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I am finally caught up on my sleep from cruising...it honestly took me all week to do so. I didn't realize how exhausted I was but whew! We had a small get together for the big dinner on turkey day with two of our daughters, Jessie and Carly, along with Luke and Dave and me. It was small, but I am so glad. Dave did all the cooking (as usual) and the girls and I cleaned up. I was going to bake brownies but never got around to it. I absolutely LOVE the food on Thanksgiving. So much so, that I ate leftovers, literally, for lunch and dinner on Friday AND Saturday. I was so full last night I think my stomach was going to blow up.

Well, it finally happened. My son asked me on Wednesday to take him to the mall along with some of his friends...girls and guys. I knew there would come a day when he would want to do that, and it finally happened. For those of you who have girls you have no idea what I'm talking about because they always want to go to the mall....well, let me tell you, BOYS DON'T. But, I knew that one day, he was gonna want to go hang out there and it finally happened. I was almost giddy with excitement myself! He ended up going with 2 girls, Sara and Elise, and another friend, Ben. I did some of my own shopping while they went into the mall. They ended up "building a bear" at Build-a-Bear for the girls and went to Starbucks. My little boy is growing up....ahhh, too fast. He will be 13 next week. It was sweet to see him opening the door for the girls (thanks to the training we've done with him since he was old enough to walk) and it was fun to know he was having fun, even if it was at the mall!

I am catching up in my office today returning lots of e-mails...I can't believe it's almost noon and I still haven't showered...yikes! I promise an update regarding the cruise very soon. There's just so much to say about it! blessings to you all today, Shari www.ShariBraendel.com

I am back from a fabulous 5 days cruising with Premiere Christian Cruiselines on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. I was asked to join them to present my What Not to Wear Workshop and my Modest is Hottest event. Dave got to go along with me and I'm so glad he did as I'm not sure what I'd have done without him...he is such a huge help and has the most servant heart you can imagine. There is so much that happened during the last 5 days but I have to tell you first about what happened on the way back to the airport to head home! Dave and I were the first ones off the ship to go thru customs because we had an early fight out so we were put into a cab to the airport with a group of 7 other people. I hated to admit it but I didn't know who they were but I had a feeling they were performers or speakers on the ship as they were also allowed to get off the ship early with us...okay, I don't know about you, but as I was sitting there, I was thinking to myself, "do I just ask them who they are and look stupid, or not ask and never know?" So, a few miles down the road, I finally turned around and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm sure I should know who you all are but, I just don't." There, I said it. Michael, who turns out to be the manager of the superstar in our cab who I didn't recognize (agh!!) said, "Oh, that's Richie McDonald and I'm his manager, this is my wife and that's Richie's wife, Lorie, and his three kids." I turned around and looked at Richie and said, "I didn't recognize you with your baseball cap on, cause last night when you performed your hair was all sticking up!" Can you believe I said that?! Okay, for those of you Richie fans out there, you are all jealous now, and for those of you who might not recognize the name, he was the famous lead singer of Lonestar and wrote and sang such songs as "My Front Porch Looking In", "Amazed" and "I'm Already There". We all got to the airport in a calm cab ride (much unlike my friend Lysa Terkeurst and Point of Grace which you can read about in Lysa's blog) and Richie even took another cab to Starbucks once we got to the airport to get his family and Dave some coffee cause we all had a few more hours to wait. Richie, Dave and I ended up talking for an hour or more about his reasons for leaving Lonestar and why he is on his own now. I really didn't realize how famous he was until I came home and pulled up his website , then I felt like an idiot! We were talking about his upoming Christmas tour and I even told him that as I was speaking (wherever I'd be) I'd let people know they should go see him....like he needs my help!!!!!!! AGH! Can you even believe I said that???? So, today I get up and turn on my computer only to find an e-mail from him telling me how nice it was to meet Dave and me and to see if we made it home in time for Luke's basketball game AND he sent an attachement of his new title track from his upcoming CD called "When I turn to You" .....do you think he might like a color analysis in return???! I'm gonna e-mail him back and see if I'm allowed to post his song for you to hear...it is AMAZING! I'll let you know what my new friend Richie says!!! (I'm gonna also learn how to post pictures on here this week, so I'll post one of me, Richie and his son.) I just had to tell you that story....I'll tell you on another post or two about the other happenings this past weekend. I'm actually gonna post several times this week cause you just have to know all the cool stuff that happened! In the meantime, leave me a comment regarding something stupid you ever did and afterward you felt like an idiot...make me feel better, please OR if you were ON THE CRUISE, tell me what your highlights were! Hey, and are there any Richie McDonald fans out there? Let me know! Blessings my friends!