The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

Someone gave me the following, and in the spirit of the Christmas season, but mainly for the enjoyment of my gender, I would like to pass it along to you.

"According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of the winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring."

"Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl."

"We should have known…only women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!"

Loved it!

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Gentlemen, this one is for you.

"One year, a particular harried husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift. The next year, he didn't buy her a gift. When she asked him why, he replied, 'Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!'"

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I especially like this statement which I read somewhere, "I'm going to celebrate a traditional American Christmas - the tree comes from Canada, the ornaments from Hong Kong, the lights from Japan and the idea from Bethlehem."

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Happy birthday this week to: Betty Jean Burke, Gail Schwonke, Lovie Jo Roberts, Chris Clifton, Race Weathersby, Dana Edenfield, Janice Pennington, Ed Davis and Richard McNeely.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Black.

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Military Active Duty List: PV2 Ashley Clifton, U.S. Army, Yongsan, Korea; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, 2nd Marine Division, F.A.S.T. Company, Bahrain, Persian Gulf; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Ali Al Salem AFB, Kuwait; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, Camp Taji, Iraq; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; SPC Grade E4 Arthur Lamont Milton Jr., HHC 1-36 Infantry Support, Friedberg, Germany; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; LCPL Dwain "Cade" Lee, 1st Marine Division Combat Service Support Group II Security Element, ArRamadi, Iraq; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.