Thanksgiving

Wow...I didn't realize how difficult the holidays can be when you are single. I have spent so many years with a house full of hustle and bustle, constant activity and laughter. This year the kids went to Pat's for dinner and boy was my house quiet. I am so use to family being here from early in the morning to late into the evening. Most of the cooking is done the day before so that we can visit and play games all day. Not a dull moment. This year, instead, I was invited to a friends house for dinner. So until 3:00 I was alone in a very quiet house, and it was lonely. I had many tears. The reprieve I had was when Eric and Ashley and Reid stopped by for about 15 minutes and grabbed some sour cream. And Uncle Chuck called numerous times to keep my mind busy on other things......such as a trip to New Orleans, Missippi, Alabama...Cajun country. But it was really hard to sit all day alone on a holiday.
So at 3:00 I went to my friends home and had a really wonderful dinner. I didn't partake in the Lamb and Shrimp Cocktail....Kenny made me fruit Cocktail.....he he..........but everything was so good! Then after dinner we made gingerbread houses! Very difficult and mine didn't turn out too good. Johnny T...well his was "perfect" of course. That was hard, but fun. Another thing I have never done before. It was a good time with very important friends in my life. Kenny even made a gingerbread house! He also carved a perfect pumpkin at Halloween. He is breaking MY mold of himself. Sue of course is a replica of Martha Stewart so everything she touches turns out perfect. Little Miss Decorator. It was just a beautiful time with people I love very much.
So a day that started with sadness ended with happiness.

Sign of Age...those kids!

Well, I got a comment from Eric today on my MySpace with his Christmas list.....Money. Now aren't children suppose to get all excited about opening great Big packages with big bright bows??? No, Eric has a need for a laptop computer, and he wants money to save toward it. So there goes all my brilliant ideas for gifts. But really, doesn't this kind of take the fun out of beign the giver??? Well, maybe not. because actually, if he can get enough money saved up, I can see the excitement in his eyes when he maked the purchase. I might have to use my imagination to see it...since he probably will not be anywhwere near me...but it's a good thing us mom's remember everything....like the light in those eyes at Christmas time and the huge grin when they got something that was so awsome and cool! So...I guess it will be alright after all. Maybe I can still buy him a can of shaving cream or something..........

"Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it."
~ 1 Peter 3:15, NLT

Well, after a week of being banked by fog every morning we finally have a beautiful sunny Sunday morning!

Today I am going to enjoy a nice cup of coffee then help a friend move. Should be fun! Or funny. Three of us women trying to move a couch from upstairs, an entertainment center...actually I can see us getting it stuck and rolling on the floor laughing. Something that would annoy a man if he saw it.

Thanksgiving week...........hmmmmmmm............no boss at work, vacation time. I think life will be good this week!

A New Treat!

The other day I was shopping online....I only shop online now...no crowds, they deliver it to your door..it is wonderful! And the few dollars I pay in shipping is the few I would have to pay to go somewhere where there are actually stores! So I am online shopping the JC Penny website and they have these dishes for sale...on closeout....at a super duper good price..and I like them! So I decide to order them. I browsed around the web to find a free shipping code for JC Penny and I ordered the dishes! theey are a deeper green than sage green, a nice color. My dad will hate them. He hates anything green.
I was so excited to get such a good deal...new dishes at a closeout price and free shipping! It kind of reminded me of my Ebay days, when I was buying everything...including the kitchen sink, off of Ebay. I would get so excited when I won the auction and got a good deal! I would run around the house yelling "I won! I won!" all excited. And then my husbandwould say "Jackie, you didn't actually WIN if you have to PAY for it." Obviously he just duidn't understand, so I ignored him.
So the dishes shipped out the next day and arrived at my house yesterday. I went home during lunch just to see the boxes (I had tracked them UPS). I knew I wouldn't have time to look at the dishes. My drive is 20 minutes each way. So just to see theboxes...that was all I needed.
It is so much fun to treat yourself to something special! Now, I am an extremely practical person. Someone offered to buy me an IPOD and I told them I appreciate it, but would rather have a new tire for my car. Now that would get me excited! And so to have new dishes....well you can't imagine my glory! I just LOVE useful things!! Buy me a hammer..I will love you forever!
Last night I went to the school to a meeting..all the while thinking about my still boxed dishes just waiting for me to come and lovingly unpack them and put them into their rightful spot of honor. I had to suffer through a vocabulary test..which was stupid anyway. I failed of course. but really, who uses those big words? just say what you mean. What do they expect from us rednecks anyways. Ashley would have been very disappointed in me. She wants to teach grammar. I didn't raise her good.
Anyway, after the meeting I enjoyed some "baby" time with the cutest baby in the world...little Stevie is a doll...and off I went to home! And I unpacked my dishes, very carefully...oohing and ahhhhing over each one. UNTIL I got to the last bowl....which was split. I don't mean cracked. It was split..there was a gap in the crack. So not a shipping problem, a manufacturing problem. You cannot imagine my dismay!
So I literally RAN to my computer and jumped on the JC Penny website! I emailed them asking if I could just replace the one bowl and not have to return the whole shipment. I am sad. They still have not responded to my email. I am sure someone over there does not understand the desperation I feel. The horror, the sadness. They are not good people.
So I wait...............

Blessings Abundant

Well, isn't November suppose to be a month to count our many blessings? This past week has had many wonderful blessings come my way! First of all, on Wednesday I went to lunch with Davi and Justin and was a little shocked when Justin leaned over to Davi and asked her if I "looked" like a grandma. yes, that is right, Davi took the test Tuesday night and I am going to be a grandma!! I am so excited!!
Then the weekend took Ashley and I to Lewiston where we met up with Eric and dragged him home with us. it is always a lot of fun to have Eric home...., and I was kinda sad when he left this morning.
Sunday we had an early birthday party for Ashley...who is today 17 years old! She is still a short little shrimp though.
Time...oh where did it go?.. My little girl is already 17, one of my sons is having a baby, and my other son is quickly finding his way in life, moving as God leads him. I refuse to get all mushy and sentimental. I am just going to go have a bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce all over it. So there.