November 30, 2008

Wow. All I have to say is Wow... November 30, already.

We had our Thanksgiving yesterday, and it was ok. Not quite the same Thanksgivings I was used to as a child, but guests that come for 45 minutes (or less), do not speak to you (not kidding here!), and yell at children for no GOOD reason are not coming to any more holidays.

My point being, I have lived with this type of holiday for the past 10 years, and I do not intend to have another one here in this house.

Step children (to me) that I have always said were MY children and treated then as such, are finally grown up and now continue to treat me as if I don't exist, will still be told we are having our holidays, but I am not cooking for ones that pick and peck and say, "I don't like this" or "I don't like that". And belittle children that call me "Grandma", and leave within 45 minutes of arriving.... uhhh.... no.

I am too old to have to dread holidays and I am not going to do it anymore.

Home will be open for them to come and enjoy our company, if they choose, but there will be no more cooking for an Army in these here parts! Only to have our meal pieced and picked over and have a "Let's rush in and rush out attitude".

My table will be set so all can sit around together, we will have peaceful music in the background... it will be a meal of peace and joy.

My holiday meal from now on will consist of parents and children (here at home) and if in laws wish to come, they are more than welcome. We will visit, and eat around the table and pass dishes to one another....

After ward, we will talk and maybe play a game or two.

The day after will be meant for others to show up and get their "I want a present" way of thinking....

Holidays are meant to have a thankful attitude with family and friends, and that is what I intend to do in the future from now on.

Just my thoughts....

Thanksgiving Day!!!

WE aren't celebrating until Saturday due to work reasons, (I have a 6p-6a today and dh had a drive to Ky last night) but dh and the children are at Mamaw's and Papaw's enjoying dinner today while I get ready to go into work. And that's ok... I don't mind, cause I work with the elderly, so many of which do not have famiy of their own, so I have adopted those that I work with and they have adopted me. :)

Saturday will come soon enough, with time to bake and bake and bake some more! I stil have pies to do, and cookies for my grandchildren that will be here (only 2 of the older grandbabies will be here, and since Grandma doesn't get to see them all that much... heck yea they get cookies! LOL!)

So without further adieu.. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, with full tummies and many blessings!

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New news on the homefront is that dh and I are seriously considering sending the children back to school. *GASP!!* What's that I hear? Moaning and groaning? Pleading and begging from those die hard homeschooling fanatics (Of which I used to be one?)

No, seriously....Abby really wants to go back to school and actually wrote a paper as to the reasons why she believed that school in the "outside" realm would be better for her at this time. DH and I discussed it, and we came to the conclusion that IF we allowed our child to go to school, it could not, would not be public schools here in this town, So we found what may be an acceptable alternative. A Christian school right here in our own town. We all perused the website, looked at all the pictures, checked out the calander or events, and the curriculum, and we've decided that we will go and request a tour this coming Monday (or Tuesday- since I work a 12 Sunday night). The school does offer "need based scholarships" and our income is well below the required level.

DH and I believe that this may help Logan to succeed in his schooling too.

We will let you know as time progresses....

Homecleaning for the Holidays!!!

Been busy for a couple of days cleaning. I want my family to enjoy a clean clean clean home for the upcoming holidays... and so do I.

First room was our bedroom. I deep cleaned in here yesterday.

My bed skirt is in the laundry and you can see my water storage under the bed... but oh well! LOL!

The floor looks dirty, but it isn't really. DH and I like our wood floors, but haven't "finished" them, and don't plan to until the Great Dane has gone to heaven. It just wouldn't be a feasible idea right now.... so we sweep them and mop them and are content right now.

Here's the other side of the room. You can see the African Grey's cage toward the left hand side of the pic. He's a pain in my backend. Was bought for dh, but he doesn't even mess with him. I want to sell him, but people keep wanting to trade me dogs, horses and whatnot, or make payments.... Maybe after the holidays....

See me gate at the doorway? We have a ShihTzu that hikes his leg on whatever he feels the need to.... and I just didn't feel the need to have him in my room at this time. (I keep a gate up at my sewing room door too...)

The bedroom furniture belonged to my Momma before she passed, and she smoked, so it has years of yuk buildup on it. So I scrub with soap and water, then dry and polish. Someday, I'll get it all! LOL!

Yesterday, I also tackled the linen closet.

That is awesome compared to what it DID look like! I am taking about 15-20 towels to Goodwill... we just don't need that many. Unless someone can give me an idea on what to use them for....

Today, it's the bathroom's turn. Right now, the shower curtain and liner are in the wash. I've taken everything off the shelves and wiped them down, scoured the tub and pot, wiped down walls and woodwork, and did the floor on my hands and knees, so I could get behind the pot. I'll get a pic of that when it's completely finished.

Amelia is busy hanging Christmas lights outside, and Abby has been helping me in the house. She has washed all the knick-knacks in the kitchen and dining room, and dusted where need be....

Logan is just being Logan. Getting into whatever 11 year old boys get into....

Together, we shall finish and have a wonderfully clean house!

DH may have to drive to Kentucky tonight, we don't know yet, so he's in the bedroom laying down trying to nap.

Well, time to check laundry!

~Blessings~

November 25, 2008

Haven't blogged in quite sometime... lost track of myself, I guess. Things have been getting out of hand at work and here at home (more so at home). Time to settle back in to a Godly way of life... or should I say trying to be more like Him. I've missed church 2 weeks in a row, and I surely can tell the difference in myself and they way I carry things.

Yep, time to straighten up and fly right, as my Momma would say.

Anyhoo~ I've been working on Christmas gifts for the family. Almost complete except for the baking part. That'll come soon enough! I do need to get my dearest son in law his batch of goodies made up so I can get him a box sent off to Iraq. Christmas gifts for him, and lots of goodies for him to have and to share with the others who are there. (Love you Monkey King! LOL!)

Next on the list is for my Colorado crew. Gotta send the girls and my babies some homemade goodies.... I am so glad the two sisters are close enough together to give support to one another. Just wish they were both closer to me. I called the other night and heard one of my grandsons throwing a royal fit, and it just worried me all night long.... Grandmas are allowed to do that, you know... especially ones that live too many miles away to just jump in the car and run over there. (I would never do THAT.... )

I'm trying something new this year! Trying to go as homemade as possible, in all aspects of the holidays. Made some gingerbread ornaments to compliment our tree this year. I think they are adorable! They make me smile whenever I look at them.

I painted on a few of them.... so here they are drying and making my sewing room smell delicious!

I can barely even walk around in my sewing room these days.... guess that's what a person gets when they have as many children as we do and as many grandbabies! LOL!

(And the only thing I would wish different: that a few of my children would grow up and realize that they ARE adults now... please act accordingly.)

(And don't make me have to beg to see my grandchildren... grandparents shouldn't have to beg...)

SO what has everyone else been doing to prepare for the holiday and remembrance of our Christ's birth?

~Blessings~

November 19, 2008

Well... today I worked on getting my CPR recert done online. Hopefully, it'll fly with school, but according to quite a few folks on a nurses board I belong to, I don't know! I imagine it will for work purposes, and maybe tomorrow I can find out if it will with school.
I also need to get ahold of the gal at work to get a copy of my current PPD and HepB vaccines.
Tomorrow, dh has to go to Kentucky for his job, so I think I will be taking our son to work with me for the night. What else can I do? I cannot leave him here all night without an adult, and our 15 y/o is adult enough to tend to herself, but not to tend to an ADHD younger brother.
Doc started him on Concerta yesterday. I am really having high hopes that it'll work without too much difficulty. I need to let the doc know here in a couple of weeks how ds is acting.
Today I finished a few items for Christmas. Made up a lavender rice bag and 2 Peppermint ones for gifts (those bags you can heat up for sore muscles?), a purse for 13 y/o dd, a pair of pirate boxers for one gs and a pair of pirate pajama pants for another. It's been a busy sewing day, but I am falling in love with sewing all over again... I missed it for awhile, but am finally finding joy in a hobby I almost let go... and I am increasingly glad I didn't.

November 15, 2008

Not too many changes around here, but I am now an official 3rd shifter! I go in tomorrow night at 6pm and work till 6am. I don't much care for the hours, but it will work better with the family and our needs.

Amelia got herself in a bit of a bind last night when she asked if she could spend the night with another little gal from her work, and we said ok. The plan was to get a  bite to eat, come to our house and grab some clothes and go to the other little gal's house. We got her phone number and said ok.

Well, no one showed up to get clothes, and Amelia didn't answer her cell phone, so Dad called the girls house and spoke to HER Dad, who informed us that he had not given permission for anyone to stay the night. Huh. So, a certain 15 year old strolls in about 10:30pm with her version of the story (not too far from the truth) and ends up getting her cell phone taken (which SHE bought with her own paycheck a couple of weeks ago)  away, and is grounded for a while. Huh.

The other thing going on, is that I have Logan a doc appointment this coming Tuesday. Something has to be done, and if medication is the way to go for his ADHD or whatever it is, then I'm all for it. Poor kid can't concentrate enough to read a short story, much less anything involving more than 1 minute of his time.

I did go to JoAnn Fabrics and buy some fabric for my guy's some underbritches... I'm going to try and get them cut out today and maybe a couple of pair sewn up.

But right now, my blood sugar is high (I can feel it), so I am going to go take a short nap and wait this one out...

Blessings~

Let me tell you a story...

It begins with a busy family. Almost too busy, as matter of fact...as we were, just a mere two years ago.

I was in school full time and dh worked full time, and I also worked full time on the weekends.

It was discovered that my Momma had developed cancer during this time. I had a mere 2 semesters to go in nursing school to earn my Baccalaurate degree, but I was determined to push forward and be Superwoman.... so I would drive to Ohio (3.5 hrs) on Tuesday nights after clinicals at the hospital, stay with Mom , go to all doctors appointments, make doctor appointments, go to the hospitals, radiation,  check ups, buy supplies, make sure we had the nurse down the road come in and check for the next week,  and tend to all Mom's bills until Friday night, when I would drive home (3.5 hrs), andn go to work 6a-6p every Saturday and Sunday. Monday would be class all day, then Tuesday would start all over again.

But I felt it was my duty to give Mom the very best care I could, and I think I did, because Mom knew I cared so very much, and she looked forward ( I hope!) to me coming each week. One week, however, I came and Mom was sick, she slept alot and just wasn't herself. She wasn't trying to eat anything and wasn't trying to talk (Her cancer was in her throat). I made an appointment with her doctor, and Momma was prescribed Levaquin, and good all- purpose antibiotic. I promised Mom I would be back and tend to her in just a couple of days.... when I did, Mom was still sick, and she went to bed extremely early one night. Or should I say, tried to go to bed... she almost fell, when I grabbed her, she began to vomit. We went directly then and there to the hospital, and it was discovered that my Momma was a diabetic, and her blood sugar was 649, and probably had been there or even higher for the past couple of weeks.

DH and I decided to bring her home after that, and when Mom was released from the hospital, she had a nice cozy room here, made up with her own things from her house.

But on Thanksgiving Day, 2006, Mom began acting strangely, and couldn't talk. She could still walk, and was continent of bowel and bladder, but her words would come out mumbled and jumbled....

She began to go downhill from there, gave up on eating, the dementia kicked in full force (doc said she was probably 10 years ahead of what she normally would have been if she hadn't have had her urgery), and we had to start setting the alarms at night cause Mom would go outside, she would strip her clothes off in the day, or even try to hit one of the children.

I ended up failing Nursing school by 2 points, with 1 semester to go. I went to the college where I had earned my LPN from, took a test, and was called the very next day for a spot in the class! YEA! But reality struck... I couldn't possibly leave my Mom and go to school daily. And who was I to think that I could possibly graduate this class if I couldn't graduate the other? SO I turned it down, with a sad heart.

Although I was only a slight bit sad, because I had asked God numerous times what I should do, and in the end, He answered, didn't He? I was needed to take care of Mom, and she was to come first. I gladly accepted that position.

My Momma passed away in July of 2007.

Here comes nursing school again. I tried to get in twice, but was denied. Other people had higher scores than I. Guess that's what I get for being an old lady, eh? LOL!

Anyway, after the latest try, we found out my Dad had cancer too, and although his final times were much different than Mom's, I was still there, and wouldn't have changed it for anything. Dad needed me, just as Mom did. My Daddy passed away just this May 2008.

I had pretty much given up on getting back into nursing school, and was planning to work where I am now, till retirement, and being happy doing just that.

But the Lord always has another plan......

I got a phone call today from the admissions coordinator at the community college where I earned my LPN. She said there was a spot open in the March class and asked me if I want it......

What can I say..... YES!

So, the way I see it, God intervened and put me exactly where I was needed and at the right time.

If we all listened to Him, and accepted His ways without complaints or whining, wouldn't this world be so much better off?

So, I guess I'll be graduating in December of 2009!!!!! (I think?)

My very wise and beautiful daughter...

... has once again set the record straight for those who have picked at her and made fun of her and supposedly called her "ignorant" for using her own mind.

My daughter voted for the candidate of her choice, and while I didn't agree with her, it was HER choice and one that she researched to her satisfaction.

Why is it that when people differ, it makes others want to call names and act like the children we are supposed to be raising?

Does it mean that I will be hateful and disrespectful when talking to her because of her choice? No.

Does it mean that she will be disrespectful and hateful to me because of MY choice? Again, no.

So why is it, that people that should be pulling together at a time of crisis that America is in (and probably will be for awhile- NO ONE (except the Lord) could get us out as quickly as we need to be), are now verbally attacking each others right to speech and right to freedom? Aren't these rights that we have as American people? I do believe so.

Why can't we, as a group of people, all work together...

Once again, we can use the Bible as our guide...

In Romans 8:28, we see that...

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [His] purpose."

So now, instead of bickering amongst ourselves about who was right and who was wrong... let's pray for the man that God has chosen to be the head of this country. No one said we must agree with everything that is said or done, but keep faith in your hearts and know that God knows what He is doing.

God knows what He is doing.

~Blessings~

November 5, 2008

November 4, 2008

I know.. I know... we are all so tired of hearing about the election and the voting process and how thisone is going to do and that one is going to do.... I, for one, will be thrilled to get rid of all the commercials calling each other names and such! If a candidate was so wonderful and planned so many good things, why not tell about what his/her plans are for America instead of slamming this one or that one?

Anyhoo~ off my soapbox....

Things have been fairly calm around here, I guess. We're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as finances go. Thank You God!

And, we've had a blessing... Dennis' boss had a huge "estate" sale for his Dad's things,and so much was sold, but there was so much left... we were given whatever we wanted, and the next day at church, a lady that bought a console piano for $10, told us that she didn't have room and asked if we knew anyone that wanted it... of course, I had to say, "Yes!"  And Dennis brought my new piano home to us yesterday.

I couldn't fit it in the room I wanted it in, so I made room in the living room.  I felt it later on in the evening cause I had to put it by the fireplace and it was warm.... terribly warm.....

DH wanted to try himself to get it in the room I wanted in the first place. (You know how them fellas of ours are...  ) I had gone into the other room (the personal room), and when I opened the door, my hercules dh had picked UP the piano and had it on it's side, maneuvering it into the room I wanted it in in the beginning of this adventure!

So now, I have a beautiful console piano in my sewing room beside my machine, where I can sew and children can be practicing! Life is good, and God even better!

Ain't she purty? A few bumps and dings here and there, but she's a 1951 Hobart M. Cable. I'm looking forward to alot of beautiful music coming from her!

~Blessings~