Well, it is another day. I’m still sore. And I still have only 1…one…uno…earring. BUMMER! I have tried to be very philosophical about this…it distracts me from the wailing and gnashing of teeth! I really liked these earrings. They were designed by my DIL and myself and built to my specifications. I enjoyed wearing them and no one else had a pair just like mine.
But, in thinking of how I am going to miss wearing them,,,I have done a little talking to myself. What were they really, but some metal with shiny rocks glued on. As much as a treasure as they were to me…what would I trade to have them back. Certainly not any of my other jewelry, it is as special to me as those were. So what then? I suppose I could do without some of my clothes, and shoes and purses…I really have plenty to spare. Or maybe some of my collections I have worked on for years…I really do not need all that stuff. But, all of these things are just that…things. To replace my valuable earrings, I’d need to trade in something of value. What do I have that is of value? I live in a nice home….but I certainly need my home more than earrings. I drive a nice vehicle, but if I can’t leave home, there would be no one to show off my earrings to. I have china and silver…but, I wouldn’t part with that. I have good books that are like old friends…I could never trade those. What IS of value to me.? It all comes down to people. Family. Friends. They are my treasures. My husband, my sons, my DIL, my Mom and Pop, my sister and BIL, my nieces, their spouses, my SILs and their husbands, their families, my aunts and uncles and cousins, my friends who are as close as my family. This is my treasure. This is what I value. And the greatest treasure of all…my Savior, Jesus Christ. These are what I hold dear. Would I trade any on these for an earring? How silly! Sure, I’ll miss looking soooo cute in my fine earrings..:)..but, I still have all that REALLY matters. I KNOW where my treasure lies.

This morning I went out to get the paper, and as I was coming back in, I stepped in a hole that I obviously did not know was in my yard. I fell flat on my something, I’m not real sure what, cause I was too busy thinking,”I hope no one sees me laying flat out in my front yard in my penguin pajamas…with bed head!” I got up as quickly as I could and hurried in before I was discovered and turned in for indecent exposure. I didn’t think I was hurt, but I sat down to regain my cool, since I knew I looked like an absolute fool just a few moments before. Everything seemed to be working o.k.. I was fine, just shaken. Then Don came through the room and said, “We have an appt. at 10:00.” I went to the bathroom to get ready, and that’s when I REALLY got bummed out. One of my earrings was missing. One of my diamond earrings was missing. One of my FAVORITE diamond earrings was missing! I never take them off. And, I know I had them on earlier when I first got up, so it must have gotten knocked off when I so gracefully did a swan dive on the front lawn. I had to get ready for my appt though, so I could not look. But, when I got home, I started going through the grass with a vengeance. Where is my earring? Down on my hands and knees I was scratching through the grass all around this hidden hole. No earring. I widened my search…and called in reinforcements. Adam came and helped me look. So, we were both down on our hands and knees searching through the grass. Yes, several neighbors drove by…I just ignored them. We searched…no earring. I came inside and took all the sheets off the bed and covered the bedroom floor inch by inch. No earring. Then, Don called. “Find your earring?” “NO” “Find the little rake…I’m coming home to find it.” I find the little rake…and wait. He comes home and I have to go back out to show him where the paper was and where I fell. But that’s not enough. I have to lay back down in the yard so he can see EXACTLY where I landed. Now, friends, I do not know about you, but when I unexpectedly take a tumble…my first thought is ‘am I hurt?’…my next thought is ‘did anybody see me?’…I never once think about laying there and memorizing my position in relation to the house and the street so I will have that information for future reference. I just don’t think that way. According to my DH, that’s exactly what I should have been thinking. “How can you fall in the middle of the front yard and not know where you fell?” ANYWAY!!! By this time it had started raining, so we searched…in the front yard…in the rain…under a little mini umbrella…with the little rake….and me back in my penguin pajamas because I had all intentions of getting into the bed because by now my shoulder and hip are hurting. If I was a spectacle this morning…just imagine what we looked this afternoon! And, NO EARRING! Back inside, he comes and takes all the covers and sheets off the bed AGAIN, and moves all the furniture AGAIN. No earring. No earring. NO EARRING. He left and went back to work…and I am going to bed…at least I know now what position I was in when I hit the ground. Today has not been a good day to be me.

I found this picture on a search for something else and it really caught my eye. Just wanted to share it with you. I have no info on who did it..sorry. If you happen to know, I will be glad to give them credit.

If you read my post on Sunday about the newspaper article that included Alex, you also read about a lady named Becky Clark. Her struggle with cancer and pain and suffering ended this morning about 5:30. She had lapsed into a coma yesterday. Please join me in praying for her family. They have all battled this with her for 15 years. And they are rejoicing that her suffering is over. But, that still does not ease the loneliness and sadness and grief. She was such a bubbly, vivacious person, and I just know she is lighting up heaven with her sweet spirit. She’s home with Jesus. How blessed her family is to have that consolation and to know they will be together again with her in God’s time.

I’m doing this for my sweet friend, Angie, cause I don’t want her to play by herself!

12 RANDOM CHRISTMAS FACTS ABOUT ME

1. I have waaaay more Christmas decorations than I need or can even use. I love to decorate and set up little vignettes in every room.

2. I can not bear to rid myself of any Christmas decor that I have because of the memories attached to each piece. When I go on to Glory, some flea market will have a hay day because no one in my family will want all this junk…except maybe my friends Tina and Shirl.

3. I LOOOOVE Christmas music. I start playing before Thanksgiving. Every year I look for new music with a new twist on the familiar. I have shared some of these with you in previous posts. The music I have has become a “memory keeper” of sorts. When I put on my favorite CDs, I am transported to past years when I was listening to the same music and doing the same things. Tradition…continuity…
family time…..sweet memories.

4. Many years ago, we started having a platter of boiled shrimp for our Christmas Eve meal. Now it has become a tradition. Don brings them home from work and we put the huge platter in the middle of the table and it’s every man for himself. And the women have to resort to sneaky methods to get a few!

5. I am the designated turkey cooker…and Don, the carver. (However he did start teaching Ian the intricacies of the task last year). No matter where we have our Christmas meal…the turkey is always my job.

6. We either have our family Christmas meal at Mom’s or here. Depending on our health status. For the past few years we’ve been to Mom’s and that is what feels the most right.

7. We made a decision early on that we were going to be flexible as to when we share together on Christmas Day. Adam and Suzanne need to spend time with her parents, and Tara and Will need to spend time with his parents. I would feel so sad not to be able to see them all on Christmas Day…so the best way to do that is not to be selfish. They figure it all out and tell us when will be best. Mom and Pop feel the same…so all is well. As we add more in-laws to the family, we’ll continue this. It is such a blessing that we all live so close together like we do.

8. The thing that causes the men the most pain on Christmas is opening gifts. Now we ladies like to give them all out and go around from youngest to oldest and open each one in succession. This is the “proper” way so as to have the right amount of oohing and ahhing over each gift. The men and boys want to get it over with quicker, and move on to bigger and better things. Silly men! What could possibly be better than having a pile of gifts around your feet and all of them saying..TO: ME!!!!. Granny usually quiets them with a ,”Hush, now, it’s once a year. Sit down and get comfortable.” It has taken up to 2 hours …but a glorious 2 hours! I LOVE selecting gifts for people. I try to put a lot of thought behind them, and it is a joyous thing for me to see when I get it right!

9. At our house, we started this tradition when the boys were still tiny. Before we open any gifts, we read the Christmas Story from Luke 2 and pray together. Through the years it has fallen to different boys to read and pray. How sweet to hear them stumble over the hard words and then in later years become so proficient in reading. And, through the years, they have never tried to open anything before our Bible time.

10. I have collected several nativity sets over the years. And I have some from around the world. But when Adam was little, I noticed how he wanted to play with them. I went and bought an inexpensive set, made of plastic, for him. And, he found a special piece of wood for them to stand on. This has gone under our tree every year since. It has lots of pieces and has been glued back together often. But, it a MUST for Christmas to feel right in our house.

11. I do not like egg nog. I do not like fruit cake. I do, however, LOVE Christmas cookies and candy. Except peppermint…I abhor peppermint.

12. As I said in an earlier post…I watch and wait for Christmas Spirit to come each year. It is always a surprise as to WHEN…but it ALWAYS comes….right on time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS….and I say that proudly!

I am not going to tag anyone specific, but this was fun to do. It actually made me stop and think about the things that make “Christmas” for this family. So, the invitation is open to all.