25 days…….4 hours…….46 minutes !

 The countdown to Christmas has begun.  And, if you are ‘smarter than the average bear’ you have already started your preparations!  I have begun, but am nowhere near finished.  I have a big party here on Friday night, so I’m going to be working fast and furious till then.  Don and I have been working on the tree today, and I will have it finished before I go to bed.  But, there’s the mantel….and the kitchen cupboard…and the front door….and the studio…and Alex’s room!  No, it probably will NOT all be finished by Friday.  But, that’s OK, not to worry.

OH! MY!  I just saw a woman on TV who says she decorates her cat’s littler box to look like a giant present!  Obviously, she needs something to keep her busy!

Anyway….Gather your thoughts…….

Make your list…..

Eat a good breakfast…..

And…get going!

You’ll find some way to get it all home!  Be creative!

25 days…..4 hours…..29 minutes !   Enjoy!!

Today has been a good day.  And, a reflective day, too, I think.  We went to Pop’s for lunch.  We had the big stuff catered, Joy made several dishes, and I made 1.  It was all delicious!  We talked of all the blessings we had.  Adding sweet JT to the family, and waiting for little Levi (that’s what Adam and Suze have chosen for a name.)  As Joy was hgetting everything heated, Adam, Suzanne, Ian and I got the tree and the rest of the decor out of the attic.  We almost got finished with everything, but still have a little bit to do.  Pop was so appreciative.

Do you eat turkey at other times of the year?  It’s really delicious.  We have one at Thanksgiving and one at Christmas…and that’s it until another year brings us back to Thanksgiving.  Perhaps, it’s because it is usually so big.  Even if you get a small one…it’s still too much unless you have a big crowd.  Anyway…

I had to beg and plead to get pictures made today.  So, I’m just showing you one …just us girls.

We were missing 3 of our group today, and that just leaves a gap in our family circle.  Alex was not able to go.  Today was not a good day for him.  Will is a Master hunter, and his group had made their plans for today quite a while ago.  Actually, they do this every year.  Ben was out of town visiting his sister.  Adam and Suze had to leave soon after lunch to be with her family.

We got the kitchen cleaned up, and divided up the food that was left.  Then we all went our separate ways.  Joy has broken her foot…AGAIN!  So, she is hobbling around. 

Ian went back over to Pop’s to help him with some computer stuff.  And, he said he was heading back to B’ham tonight.  And, he might.  But, I have made my thoughts on the subject loud and clear!  Tomorrow is soon enough…there is no reason why he has to drive 200 miles tonight!  Kids!!!!

So, another Thanksgiving has come and almost gone.  I am so blessed.  Our whole family is blessed.  God has shown such mercy and grace to us and to Him all the glory goes!  We have nice places to live, we have plenty to eat, we have jobs, we have cars, we have family…close by, we have friends, we have a sweet church family, and we have started another generation in our little family.  We have all this because God has blessed us.  We have all been through hard, hard times…but we have not been defeated.  He has seen us through.  Just like He says He will.  When I stop to think about all we, as Americans, have…and how little those in other lands don’t have….I am humbled.  God is good to us.

My friend Shirl has 2 daughters, Jolie and Jayna.  These are the children of Jayna (she and Tara are dear friends).  You can read their names on their shirts…John Davis and Blair.  Jayna did their shirts…aren’t they great?  She has started a business selling shirts and outfits…all appliqued…on top of teaching school every day.  I do not have pictures of Jolie’s two…she may never send me a pic now that I almost gave her a DOG TOWEL!!!!!  But, if she does…I’ll post it.

It’s bedtime for me…10ish.  Tomorrow, I must get my house decorated…well, started.  I have a big party here next Friday. 

Hope you made sweet memories today.  Your friendship is such a blessing to me.  I learn from you all.  Nite-Nite!

I just re-read this post before I hit publish.  Man!  It’s all over the place.  The brain…she is scattering further and further!  Takes all I can do to gather it back together when I really need it.  Obviously, I didn’t try to ‘get it together’ tonight.

It is 8:58…Tuesday morning.I am sitting on my bed with the laptop in my lap.  Right beside me are 2 phones…my home phone and my cell phone.  Suzanne and Adam are at the doctor RIGHT NOW to find out the sex of their sweet bundle of joy.

My  TV is on The Today Show.  Prince William is getting married on April 29, 2011.  Our sweet baby is due on……….April 29, 2011.  Wasn’t it sweet of them to set their date in honor of our BOY or GIRL ?

The news commentator is saying that England has declared the wedding a national holiday.  I feel confident the US will follow suit, as soon as they get word of our due date.  Wouldn’t you think…?

It is 9:15.  Her appointment was at 8:00.  Come on…let’s hear something.  Over 1 BILLION people are expected to watch the wedding.  If our wee one stays on schedule…I know about 12 folks who won’t be tuned in.  Do you remember when Princess Diana and ‘ole what’s-his-name got married?  I watched it from start to finish.  What a display!  I think it was every little girl and teen girl and young woman and older woman’s proof that things we only read about in books, and dreamed of, can come true.   A girl can grow up, marry a Prince and become a Princess.   I loved watching it.  And, I’m sure I will this one, as well…on the DVR, a day later.

We’re all waiting to know.   Not that it will matter.  Boy or Girl…makes no difference.  I learned long ago that God, in His great wisdom, is the one who decides when life takes place.  He sees the future…He knows where this family will be in 5 or 10 or 20 years.  He knows who needs to be a part of this family…and that is who will come to live with Suzanne and Adam.  We think we know best so many times, but we don’t have a clue.  It is usually only in hindsight that we can see how the situations that we had no choice in, and maybe didn’t even like, were the right ones.  The older you get the more you learn to trust His ways.  We have all confidence that His choice will be the right one.

Oh! my!  I knew it…I went to the bathroom, and she called!   I know she has a lot of calls to make…I’ll wait a few minutes.  She knows.  Adam knows.  I want to know!

   IT’S  A  BEAUTIFUL, BOUNCING, BABY BOY !

I did a dumb thing.  Very dumb.  I didn’t mean to…but that doesn’t earn me any points, now does it.

I’m having a big party here at my house on Dec. 3.  I’m sorry to say, but I’m just not able to work at something all day any more.  My joints just won’t stand for it!    Therefore, it takes a while longer to get a project completed.  So, I have begun taking down all my Fall decor and getting ready to decorate for Christmas.  We are doing Thanksgiving at Joy’s this year, so it won’t matter if my decor is down.  I started yesterday and today everything is down and by the back door.  I also needed to put up the fall dishes and platters and such.  You know…basically wipe out fall and get on to Christmas!

Those of you who know me IRL know that I am vertically challenged….I’m 5 ft.1 in.  Not a complaint…just a fact.  But, it does require step stools and ladders quite often.  Now, I try to be real careful.  I make sure the step stools and the ladders are sturdy, and have rubber on the feet so they don’t slip as I am climbing.

I know alot of people are not like me. ( But, I know at least 2 people who are.)  I am of the opinion that if there is an unadorned flat surface …it must be adorned.  And, it matters not if it is 3 feet off the ground or15 feet off the ground.  So there is where the ladders come in.  I use them all the time.  And, I’m very careful…really.

Today, I had to get the tall ladder, because I was going to the top of the pantry.  It’s a good ladder and very sturdy, but I do not like to get it out, because I can’t put it up.  It locks into place, and I can not get it unlocked.  It bothers Don when I leave that big ladder opened and in the way.  And, if he is bothered…he is not happy.  And if he is not happy….I am not happy.  And I much prefer happy!

I have been up and down the big ladder probably 20 times today.  And, I was on my last trip up…I’d forgotten one little vase that needed to go up.  Up the ladder…no problem.  Down the ladder…BIIIIIIG Problem. 

I’m still not completely sure how I ended up on the hard, stone floor…but that’s where I was.  I landed on my hip and elbow, bent 2 toes backward, and hit my head on a wooden stool on the way down!  You know, I’m sure I looked very funny going down, but at the moment, I wasn’t laughing.  I lay there for a minute…trying to see if I was injured.  I knew I hurt, but I was praying I had not broken anything.  Then I tried to get up, but my arm was hurting too bad to steady me.  So, I called Alex.

Well, Alex is the sweetest young man.  And, he really does try to look after me.  So, when he saw me on the floor, he was worried.  I told him what happened, and that nothing seemed to be broken.  I just couldn’t get up.  So, I asked him to help me up.

OK…now I  can see some humor.  One of the results of the Cerebellar Atrophy that he suffers from is very bad balance.  So for him to get me up was not easy.  He had to stabilize himself against the cabinet in the kitchen, and then hold on while he pulled me up with the other hand!  He couldn’t HELP me up…just PULL me up!  Which was very helpful,  but my shoulder is now out of socket, as well! 

I slowly checked to see if everything that was suppossed to move did, and that nothing that was not suppossed to, didn’t.  And, all seems intact.   But, my pride.  We sat at the island for a minute or two, and then I told Alex that I was going to lay down.  I could feel my elbow throbbing and my head pounding.  “Thank you for helping me,” I said.  And, then he said to me, “Mother, you can not climb a ladder by yourself anymore.  You need to have someone to help you.”  I thought that was very kind and told him that I would be fine, and would be careful.  And, then he said, “You know, Mom, you’re at that age where you can be breaking your hip.  You are just too old to be climbing a ladder anymore.”

Well…call the home, get me a flannel nightgown and a cup to put my teeth in, Son.  Oh, and I’ll just use your wheelchair myself from now on!  Too old to climb a ladder, my foot!  And, by the way, if I had to wait on someone to be available to help me when I need to put things up, I really would be an old lady!

I’m getting more swelling and bruising…and I know by tomorrow I will be walking like I did break my hip.  So, I will sign off and find some aspirin and the heating pad.  But, my t-shirt will do just fine…no flannel nightgown.  No teeth in a cup.  No hearing aids.  No TV with the volume all the way up.  No riding in a wheelchair.

I’m NOT old….just clumsy.

SUNDAY  AM

I was right.  Stiff, swollen, and bruising.  Can’t walk on one foot, didn’t even know I hurt it.  Elbow and hip very painful, too.  Don’t think anything is broken, though.  I’m just going to take some more muscle relaxers and dream this day away.

Y’all don’t reserve me a room at ‘the home’ just yet, ‘m’kay?

Joy has told me for several years about a most wonderful shop over in Bainbridge, GA, a little town about 50 miles from Dothan. She said it had so many things I would like.  She has shopped there, but it has never been convenient for me to go.  She called the first of the week to see if I would go with her on Friday.  I said I would, and we asked Pop to go with us.

Since Joy and Pop live on the other side of town, I went over and picked Pop up and we went to Joy’s house.  We got into her car, backed out of the garage, and then she stopped.  She turned around and looked at me and said, “I hate to tell you this.”   She did not, however, hate to tell me this…I could see it all over her face.   She continued,”  Tommy wasn’t able to get me gas, so we have to stop and get some.”  What she meant was, “Na Na Na Na Boo Boo…You gotta get out and pump gas”.  Because, the fact is, as a grown woman of 55 years…she CAN NOT pump gas.  I think this is deplorable.  What woman in today’s world cannot pump gas?   It just makes no sense to me.  I asked her what she would do if she was alone and had to have gas and  she said she would find some kind man and smile real pretty and make him feel sorry for her and he would pump it.  I told her she was a disgrace to womankind ever where.  She did not care.  She laughed…a mean, maniacal laugh. She showed me this book she has been reading…

Pity she won’t get to finish it……

We stopped at the Shell Station.    So, I ran the card and took out the pump and started the flow.  P.E.O.P.L.E……that gas was not the least bit willing to get into her Volvo.  It dripped…dripped, I tell you.  It took over 10 minutes to get it up to $20.00.  Of course, she wanted me to fill it up.  I didn’t.

Some nut case in another car was having fun with their car horn.  I thought it must be a child, but when I looked…no, it was a grown woman.  On and on and on and on. I was still trying to pray the gas out of the pump.  It was all just too much.  Joy got out and said, ” Sister, what’s taking so long?”  So, I stopped pumping and went inside to get a bottle of water.  I asked the clerk if their pumps were always so slow… because I never wanted to come back if they were.  She said they had some body come and fix them earlier, but there were still a couple of pumps that were slow.  I said,” I ‘m supposing #8 is one of the slow ones, huh?”    And she laughed!  “I bet that’s the one you got, ain’t it?” she said.  “It is, ” I said.  Then I suggested she put a note on the tank. 

I got in the car, and down the road we went toward our destination.  Bainbridge, GA is a little town about 50 miles away.  It has a lovely town square with all the shops located around it.  A very well kept garden area with comfy benches to sit on.  Pop had already decided that he was going to pick out a bench and enjoy the sunshine and the people.  We pulled up into the square and there was no doubting which shop it was.  There were lots of buildings around the square…much like so many Georgia towns.  But, nothing else looked at all inviting or even open.  But, that was OK…cause the store we came to see was more than enough. 

 This was one amazing store. These was stuff…and stuff on top of stuff…and stuff behind the stuff.  Every single shelf was like that!  Throughout the whole store!  And, it was all current merchandise, too.  We walked through once just trying to see everything.  Then we went back and picked out some things for Christmas gifts.  They began wrapping our gifts and as we continued to walk around, we found more that we had not seen earlier!

We had a ball!  And, we both got a lot of our Christmas list crossed off.  AND…they wrapped everything…for free!  We had so much they put the wrapped presents in garbage bags!  Back to the car, and Pop came walking through the square to meet us.  He had found a place that sold ice cream and a shady tree to sit under.

Joy had heard of another few stores in another little town named Colquitt.  So, off we went.  We talked of first one thing and then another….nothing of great importance….just enjoying being together.  The weather could not have been any better for us…warm and sunny with a little breeze.  Arriving in Colquitt, we visited the two shops.  Pop sat in the car and napped a little.  It did not take us nearly as long here as it did in Bainbridge.  But, we found a few things that begged to come home with us.

We made our way back to Dothan, and all went our separate ways. A beautiful day…Volvo gassed…shopping accomplished….memories made.

Saturday dawned just as beautiful as Friday.  And, what fun…today we celebrate the first birthday of that sweet boy, John Thomas!

Tara and Will live on Bush Mountain (Abbeville), about a 45 minute drive, and Tara has to drive it every day…Will, too.  They have such a lovely home, in the middle of beautiful untouched land.  John Thomas has a perfect place to grow up.  Will, and his cousins who live close by, are all big hunters. Tara had everything decorated and festive and ready for a party!  Both sets of his grandparents were there and several aunts and uncles and cousins and even a great grandfather.   Ian even came down from Birmingham!

And presents, galore!  He got the first one, the musical dog, and that was it!  He loves music!  He’s is walking well, and now has a riding toy and a big red wagon!

Afterwards, Suzanne fixed Ian his favorite hamburgers and then Ian, Don and Alex played chess until waaaay late!

FAMILY…what a blessing!  I could say more, but that sums it up…we are blessed!  It is a gift from God.

Adam and Suzanne went to the party earlier that day, so Adam could make some family pictures for them.  He made quite a few, but here’s my favs.