The Untitled Update

Eh, I can't think of a title to this update, so it's "untitled"... LOL

Facebook. Okay, I got talked into signing up for it. Now I'm hooked. I flair. I discovered flair from my friend, Julie's facebook page. I'm hooked, totally. I have spent hours looking at all of the flairs. Some are rather nasty, but most are clean and funny... I think I'm up to 29 flairs now... lol. And I've sent several. I also have Christmas ornaments that I've received & given, and a couple of gifts. LOL This whole thing is so silly, and a grand waste of time, AND it's so addicting... Something that my addictive personality really needs... lol.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Spent the day at Dyan & Jory's. I played with Christian alot and helped Dyan cook the dinner. She had a nice brunch all ready by the time we got there, which was at 11:00 AM. It was lovely. After the brunch, got that cleaned up and started cooking the dinner. Boy, there was so much food yesterday, it was really overkill.... Okay, who was there? Don & me, Dyan & Jory & Christian, my mother in law, Janet (Jory's mom) and then Meg & Drew showed up in the late afternoon. It was Drew's birthday yesterday, so they spent most of the day at his parents house. Janet slept off and on all day... I guess she works at night, and so was tired. There were several nap takers yesterday, none of which was CHRISTIAN. He refused to sleep. He'd miss something, for crying out loud! He finally konked out at dinner time. Poor kid.... Anywho, it was a very nice Thanksgiving... Dyan was the hostess with the mostest... She worked really hard yesterday, as moms who are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner do... When we left at about 8:30 last night, she was still working. Most of everything was cleaned up by that time, though. It's so gratifying as a mother to have worked so hard to raise your daughters to be wonderful adults... and to see it in action is so wonderful, and such a blessing.

Today.... doing nothing at all. Actually, I'm going to decorate my house for Christmas. But it's almost noon, and I'm still in my jammies, having just finished off my 2nd cup of coffee... Don's interviewing right now in our dining room with our hopeful new bookkeeper.... Who is it? It's a secret.... She's learning how to work Quickbooks right now.... Very exciting.

I forgot to take pictures yesterday..... *deep sigh* I left the camera in the Hummer.... nice spot for it, eh? Oh well.

The youth choir is singing on Sunday morning.... "A Litany for Advent". It will be lovely. I think that Sunday afternoon, Dyan will come over and we'll finish working on our Christmas cards. I'm determined to get them done this year. Last year, I hardly got anything done, much less any shopping or decorating. It was a big fat blur, really....

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that you remembered to count your many blessings, see what God hath done! (from an old hymn)

And that's my life so far.....

I'm okay.....

Wow, I guess that previous blog was very depressing..... I was just in a funk last night.... or yesterday, or whenever I wrote that....

I'm still in a funk, but I'll be okay. Thanksgiving is upon us, and I have much to be thankful for....

~my husband, whom I love completely
~my beautiful daughters, who are women of God
~my wonderful son in laws, who love my daughters
~my wonderful grandson, and the one on the way
~my mother in law
~my new surrogate daughter, Julie... whom I'm blessed to know
~I live in a nice home
~I drive a nice car that handles the snow & ice well
~I have an adorable doggie, who loves me constantly & unconditionally
~I have a good relationship with my father
~I have a wonderful church family, whom I love very much
~I have a beautiful children's choir, and they feed my soul
~I have an exciting new youth choir, and can't wait to see the possibilities come to fruition
~we travel to Cabo every February... love that.
~we are taking a cruise in December with dear friends from California
~I have Jesus in my heart, and He provides me what I need
~Jesus has forgiven me of my sins, well, he constantly does that... and loves me regardless
~we have enough food
~our needs are all met

I am blessed.

Bleh....

Okay, so I'm trying really hard not to be depressed. I'm taking my pills FAITHFULLY every day.... I'm just so hung up on what Don's going through..... it's consuming my mind, and I need it to STOP.... I'm just so sick of thinking about it. I'm just so sick of worrying.... I'm in quite a funk right now....Good thing I'm not taking care of the family on Thanksgiving.... I don't think I could handle it. Dyan is cooking.... and I'm helping. Fine with me. We'll spend the day over there.

This is a difficult time in our lives..... but Don's not worried about it.... Men sure are made different than women... I guess....

I just don't feel like doing anything. I don't feel like moving out of my chair. I feel like sleeping all the time. This is not good. I don't feel excited that Christmas is coming.... this is not usual for me. I haven't begun to think about buying gifts... I am hungry all the time and want to eat all the time.... Not good. I need to get back to the gym. That helps. I'll do that tomorrow.... couple of hours. I'm trying not to cry. I'm trying to rely on the strength that comes from the Lord... it's just so hard sometimes.

I'm scared.

Hilarious...

Okay, so this is what my Son-in-Law taught Christian to say.... It's hilarious....

GOBBLE GOBBLE BANG BANG!!!

What do you expect a child of a hunter to say, after all???? ROFL

Sad Remembrances, Glad Remembrances

November 18, 2000 was the day that my mother went to heaven. I had been with her the week before, and had left to come home the day before she died. My supper group was going to be at my house and then the following day was a Sunday, and the children's choir was scheduled to sing. I told my mother that I'd be back on Monday. But, the Lord had other plans. Mom had stayed with us long enough to see my brother, my sister & me. She died in her bed with my sister on one side of her and her husband on the other. She died while raising her arms to grasp Jesus. She is whole, not sick, and at peace now. Eight years ago today, and it seems just like yesterday.

I miss her.

I wish I had more time with her, and didn't waste so much time when I was younger avoiding her.... I wish I could get that time back. At least the last 4 years of her life were healing years for both of us. I'm grateful for that. We had great talks, lots of hugs & kisses, and now I have great memories.

I miss her.

A Little Update...

Life is good right now. Things have slowed down somewhat, and that's a good thing. I've had a much slower week, been able to get some things done around the house, and I've even cooked! Amazing!

Dyan & Christian came over today to work on making our Christmas cards. Dyan's are so beautiful, and mine are kinda old fashioned looking. I've been making my own Christmas cards practically every year since 1986. I have a cabinet in my office upstairs that is chock full of stamps & supplies. I love rubber stamping. The last time I did rubber stamping at my dining room table was with my mother, and she's been gone nearly 8 years. It'll be 8 years on Nov. 18th. So, it was fun doing that today with Dyan. We hauled down what we needed from the cabinet... and a stampin' we went! I have about 30 cards stamped so far, and Dyan has about 40. I need about 125 total. I'm determined to hand out cards this year, since well, last fall / Christmas was a complete blur... I didn't get anything done last year. This year will be more "normal".

Christian was a good little boy today. He took a nap on Grandma's bed, and only got off of it once to play with my pretty perfume atomizers on my dresser... ya know, the kind that you can collect? So, we put him back to bed, and he did sleep for a few hours. That allowed Dyan & I time to get alot of stuff stamped, and to eat lunch, which was a wonderful minestrone soup that I made last night and some artisan bread. MMMmmmm...

Tomorrow is a long day for me. The Kaleidoscope Children's Choir will be rehearsing from 9 - noon, and then the Youth Choir will rehearse from 1 - 4 PM. Yup, for me, that's 6 hours of rehearsal. Oy.... I will get my lesson plans all done in a few minutes. I should take the time right now to sit at the bench and go over some of the music, just to help me get my mind wrapped around what I need to accomplish tomorrow. The KCC parents are bringing cookies & fruit, and the youth choir kids are bringing their favorite munchie & a bottle of soda. Yup, soda. I know, I know.... drinking soda while singing is NOT a good thing.... oh well. We gotta have some fun! I just wish I was more capable or rather knowledgable in how to teach boys with changing voices how to sing tenor or bass, when they've been used to singing the melody lines. I feel so inadequate.... it's one of those situations in life where the Lord doesn't call those who are equipped; he equips those he calls! That's me!!! Equip me, LORD, PLEASE!!!

Winter is blasting into Kansas City. The wind is howling, and it's getting sooooooo cold outside! Christian & I played outside for a while today, but I was tooooooooo cold, so I finally talked him into coming inside for a movie about trains! Polar Express! It worked!

It'll be a long day for me tomorrow..... but Sunday should be better. Church in the morning, and the handbell choir is playing, YAY, and then after church, we're bringing Christian home because Dyan is going to the Chiefs game with friends from church, and Jory, actually, I have no idea where he'll be, and so anyway, Christian will come home with us. We'll have some chili & hotdogs for lunch & watch the Chiefs game on TV.... Gosh, I hope we WIN!!! Honestly... it's pathetic. Maybe later that afternoon, Don & I will go to the new James Bond movie... We do love those movies. But I heard that this one is not that great... who cares??? Lots of action.

Funny thing happened the other day.... We had our carpet cleaned, ya know? Well, on Wednesday, before heading out the door for choir, I looked at the living room, and said to myself, "I bet Don comes home and moves the furniture around." That thought went fleeting thru my mind..... Well, sure enough, when I got home from choir rehearsal that night, Don had moved all the furniture in the living room around, and he'd put everything that I'd hauled into the kitchen back into it's place. I just find that funny that he does that every time we get our carpets cleaned! I like it how he has arranged things... Now my antique ball & claw table is in the corner instead of in front of the big window... I like it there, sorta sets it off. That's where our Christmas tree will go.... it's a table top tree that I bought last year from Restoration Hardware... So simple & easy. And since we go to the kids homes for Christmas now, I no longer need a big fat Christmas tree... Let them deal with it from now on! Don & I will be the ones to go to their homes & enjoy THEIR messes!!! Love being a Grandma!!! It certainly has it's perks! This year, Thanksgiving will be at Dyan's and Christmas will be at Meg's.... with a Christmas Eve party at my house. Will anyone come? Maybe Meg & Drew.... Dyan & Jory do things with his dad on Christmas Eve... Maybe my Mother-in-Law will come to the Christmas Eve party and spend the night with us and Christmas too! Wouldn't that be wonderful! The last few years, she's gone to Hawaii for Christmas, spending it with Don's brother & his wife, Val. It'd be nice if she spent the holiday with us for a change..... We'd all love that. Just today Christian was asking for Great Grandma.... he loves her.

Okay, enough blogging for now. Gotta get to my lesson planning & work some at the piano bench.

And that's my life so far....

Blah Blah Blah....

Okay, Julie.... so I haven't blogged in a week, eh? My how time flies.... What's been happening? Not a whole lot.... hence the "blah blah blah" title to this entry.

Last weekend, Don put in the new wooden blinds in the bedroom windows. And I ironed & hung the curtains in all of the windows. Now my bedroom looks like a real bedroom, and not something just with ugly white levelour (sp?) 1980's blinds in them. And I can't believe I've lived here for 12 years without putting curtains up in my bedroom windows. But now, it looks so pretty. Wood floors, green walls, wood blinds, gold curtains, and maroon & gold & olive green bedding, and cherry furniture. Lovely... Feels good. Now I just need to order the custom rug, and I'll be all set. Who has $2000 to loan me??? I know, I know, expensive taste... that's me!

Didn't do much Sunday... church, then youth choir rehearsal.

Yesterday was an eventful day.... sorta.... I had a sick headache, so I decided not to try and make it to the gym. Took a hot shower instead and tried to get rid of the headache. Then I started to head out to my piano lesson, and woopsie, my car was sounding really funny. Turns out the power steering fluid was low due to a leak in the line. Under warranty... good thing. So, I was stuck here. When Dyan brought Christian over around 3, she followed me to the Jeep dealership, which was just across the freeway, and I left my Jeep there to get serviced. Okay, so the guy calls me today and tells me everything that they did to my Jeep... to the tune of $295. Oy.... people must think we have money growing on a special tree in my back yard.... *deep sigh*

So, back to yesterday... I was sorta in a funk, and decided to not go to bell rehearsal last night. #1, I didn't have a car (could have used Don's, I suppose) #2, Christian was spending the night & Don was so tired from working so hard, I didn't want to leave him alone with Christian, and #3, I was in a funk. That happens occasionally... Only bad thing ~ we are playing in church on Sunday morning, and I've only rehearsed that song once. Oy... better get there early, I suppose.

Okay, so Meg just called me right now. She is my life saver. With my kitchen full of furniture from the living room & dining room, I wasn't sure what I was going to do for lunch, especially since Christian is still here. She just called and said she'd go to Taco Bell and bring food to us! YAY for WONDERFUL DAUGHTERS!!!! Lunch problem solved.

Don has a church board meeting tonight. Not sure what we'll do for dinner, because, the furniture will still be in the kitchen. Can't move it back until tomorrow... once the carpet is dry. We'll figure something out, because I'm not known for skipping meals, unless it's a Sunday night, or unless we've taken in a matinee and I've eaten popcorn.... then we skip dinner.

Okay, so back to last night, er rather, last night & early this morning, and Christian. So, lately, he's been really screaming when it's bedtime, and so Dyan & Jory have been having him fall asleep downstairs, and then they'd carry him to his bed. Well, last night, at 8:15, we went to go to bed, and before his head hit the pillow, he starting this blood curdling screaming... I've never heard anything quite like that. So, he was climbing out of the crib, trying to get me to pick him up, and of course, I had to!!! I couldn't let him scream like that! So I asked him if he wanted to go sit with Papa and go to sleep down there. Immediately he ceased the screaming and said, "Uh huh" and then "blanket". So we grabbed the blanked, Moose & paci, and went to Papa. He was out in like 5 minutes. I let them both sleep in the chair for about an hour. Don was soooooo tired, long, stressful day at work. Don took him to bed around 9.

Okay, so 1:30 AM. SCREAMING again! I went quickly into his room and he was sobbing and calling for Grandpa! I tried giving him water, tried getting him to calm down, nothing was working. Don came in and suggested we bring him to bed with us. Again, IMMEDIATELY the screaming ceased, and Christian said "Blanket." So, Christian, the blanket, Mr. Moose & Paci went to Grandma & Papa's bed. He was out in like 5 minutes again. At 2:30, I tried carrying him back to bed. He was zonked out, UNTIL his head hit the pillow. SCREAMING began anew. I figured, what the heck? Back to my bed we went. Who needs to sleep anyway??? And it was so cute, Christian was laying there, and he'd hug me, kiss me, make sure my arm was around his tummy... and we snuggled & slept the rest of the night. Well, until 5:30, when Papa got up to get ready for work. Christian was wide awake again... So, I told him that when Papa went to work, we went back to Ni-Night... Finally just before 7, he was asleep, and we were able to sleep until 8:30. At 8:30, I leaned over him and said, "Good morning!" and immediately his eyes snapped open and he said, "MORNING!!" Woo hooooooo time to play!!! Boy, is he a happy little fellow in the mornings! Wish I was. I told Christian that Grandma needed her COFFEE IMMEDIATELY! He of course said, "OKAYYYYYYYY" :-) I have to admit, he is a cute little fellow...

The carpet cleaning man is here.... and so this morning Christian & I took everything out of the living room & dining room.... Christian loved helping. He is such a good little boy. But when I asked him why he wouldn't sleep in his own room, he just laughed, smacked his forehead and said, "Awwwwwwwwww".... ROFL.... too funny! Little stinkpot, he KNOWS what he's doing.... I just can't take the "I'm Terrified" screaming! What's a Grandma to do???

And that's my life so far...

2nd Birthday, Pumpkin Patch & Halloween Pics

I finally uploaded some pics... so sorry it's taken me so long... Anyway, here goes. The first 5 pics are from Christian's 2nd birthday party. I love about 60 pics, but only uploaded 5 here. Dyan, I'll give you a disc. Christian got a "vroom vroom" for his birthday, translated, that means a red radio flyer tricycle. He loves it... The theme for his party was "Cars"...

Yummy cake!

Christian relaxing in his chair! LOL Cute pic!



Next, Dyan & I took Christian to the pumpkin patch ~ Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch in Liberty, MO. The girls and I have been going there for about 12 years now... You ride a big hay wagon out to the BIG pumpkin patch, and pick your own pumpkin! Fun times... and there is a petting zoo, and lots of things for little ones to play on...

Christian, pick up that pumpkin!!! He was trying to ride the pumpkins like they were horses. Too funny...

"Grandma, you're letting me hold a KNIFE???" LOL I just told him to grab the knife. What's wrong with that??? We were carving his pumpkin! Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeen!

Oh, who is that? Oh, it's a cute little turkey boy! And his daddy was dressed in camo.... too funny! So, when Christian went trick or treating, he said, "Gobble gobble"... funny, funny!

Papa with Christian, the Turkey, being silly.... 'cause that's just what Papa does.... act silly~!

Sitting on the front porch... with the carved pumpkins... waiting to go get CANDY....

And that's my life so far.....