“This flame in my heart is like an eternal fire.”

by chuckofish

Well, amidst the excitement of the holidays, another very exciting thing happened recently. I received this DM on Instagram from the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I know, I know. How am I so lucky. Now, if you know, you know, and if you don’t, I’ll fill you in. Bill Anderson, Whisperin’ Bill as he’s known, has been a bit of a joke in our family for many years. Now, we love him, but come on. He’s called “Whisperin’ Bill” because his singing voice is best described as a whisper. This is his biggest hit (it was even a cross-over hit) and it contains several extended interludes of just talk-singing. And the blog post title is one of the eloquent lyrics from this masterpiece.

Anyway, after much email back and forth including printing and scanning care of my dear mother, my package from the Hall of Fame finally arrived.

It wasn’t clear what exactly was going to be in the prize pack, so I excitedly tore open the box.

I could not love all of this more. Especially that t-shirt which I will wear proudly. And yes, that Hatch Print Shop print will be displayed in my future home. You can read all about Bill on his Wikipedia page. Of all the sweepstakes to actually win, I’m not sad it was this one.

In other news, this made me feel rather old. I remember when my second grade class voted to name him “Peanut.” #rajasbirthday

I’m looking forward to Christmas and settling in as a blizzard hits St. Louis. Hopefully everyone is adequately prepared if it turns out to be more than dusting. I hope my mother will stock up on Flaming Hot Cheetos.

Merry Christmas! I know this blog post was full of goodness, but I’ll include a cute pic of Mr. Smith too.