Farewell 2007!

It's time to say goodbye to another year. 2007 has had it's good days and it's bad days but in the end, it all works out and we're still here. Our goods, our bads, our successes, our failures, our pains........they all make us into the person we are. Here's to using 2007's lessons learned to make 2008 Super Great! Happy New Year to you all!!!

Home For Christmas

Home for Christmas.
Going Home for Christmas.
Going Home to be with those we love…….
~~From the “Home For Christmas” cantata. My favorite one I sang in as a teen.

Tennessee. That little white house in the valley in the middle of the cow pasture. Where my bedroom is still mine. Where my Mom makes Chex Mix and Snickerdoodles and my Dad makes his famous fudge to munch on. Where I can actually relax and rejuvenate. That’s “home”.

We are going home for Christmas tomorrow. Wishing you ALL a VERY Merry Christmas with your loved ones. See you next year.

Angels Among Us

My cell phone rang just as I saw the stopped traffic ahead. Hubby and Scott had left for skating a few minutes before us so he must be calling to warn me about an accident. His voice is very stressed and he is out of breath. "Hey, let me get to the top of the hill" "Are you OK????" The line went dead. Now, I'm concerned. Was he in an accident? I'm getting closer to the accident site now. It must have just happened. No emergency responders are there yet. I try to call him back without success.

I see the car involved in the accident. It's totalled. At first I think it must have been rear-ended but as I get closer, I see that it obviously has rolled many times. I frantically search the sides of the road and the embankments for Hubby's red truck but I don't see it. I call again and get through but it's a dead signal area so the call keeps breaking up. Finally we get to talk. They are fine but he is extremely shaken. We meet up just up the road and I hug Hubby and Scott hard and try not to cry.

A car in front of Hubby had crossed the center line. The oncoming car veered off the road on the right to miss it and lost control. He then swerved back onto the road and was headed directly at Hubby. Hubby jerked the truck off the road onto a steep drop embankment to avoid him. The oncoming car then totally lost control and rolled several times. Hubby said he watched it in the rear view mirror. Miraculously, the other driver crawled out of the car on his own although after seeing the car, I don't know how. He did appear to be injured but not seriously. I asked Hubby how close was the car to him when he veered off the road. "About a foot, I just knew he had hit us but he didn't". Luckily, Scott really didn't know what had happened so he wasn't too upset. Hubby was visibly shaken but he is OK now.

I do believe in angels. There had to have been an angel in each car today. One angel was in Hubby's truck to help him steer off the road at the last second. The other angel was in the other car and wrapped it's wings around the driver to protect him. I don't see how anyone would have survived, except by the Grace of God. Thanks to God for protecting my family.

Stage 2?

I have finally given up on denial and moved on to acceptance. Scott has always been a “spirited” child. Even as an infant, he would wail for hours inconsolably. I had strangers offer to hold him in stores so I could do my shopping. He had separation anxiety to the point of throwing full-out tantrums at daycare drop-off. When we moved and had to switch daycares, it was hell on earth.

We had hoped that the structure of Kindergarten would help him to settle down but it appears to have done the complete opposite. He is very smart and learns quickly but he can’t keep still and he can’t keep quiet. His teacher has said on some days it’s like he drank a 2 liter bottle of Mtn Dew right before school and he has no control. ADHD was mentioned actually by me but I just didn’t think that was it because he CAN focus and settle. He’s not always “on”.

Well, I did some web surfing on ADHD and saw quite a few signs and symptoms in his behavior—namely hyperactivity and impulsivity—and found out that they aren’t always “on”. We also talked with family members as 2 of our nephews have ADHD and Hubby says that Scott acts just like he did when he was a boy. So now I’m moving from denial to acceptance. Even if it isn’t ADHD, there is definitely something amiss.

We have an appointment with a counselor for Monday to review his background and behavior and will hopefully have his evaluation in January. Now that I’ve admitted he most likely has a problem, I want to fast track it and get him some assistance. But as those of you already in the system know, it is NOT a quick process. So my frustration level is mounting. But I have a good friend who has been through it and is being a great source of support. Scott’s teacher is also wonderful. She is willing to do anything we can to help him. Thank you so much, Mrs. Wall!!

It just breaks my heart to see his behavior page from school on those bad days--especially now, understanding he may not be able to control it. He’s such a sweet boy. I just want to help him so that the rest of the world can know the sweet boy that I know.

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

Labor Day!!!! Oh my gosh!! It was 80 degrees on Monday!!! We’re breaking records here! It’s really hard to stay in the Christmas spirit when you are running around in shorts and sweating. Yes, I know that many parts of the country have hot Christmas’s but I was born and raised in the mountains of Tennessee, lived in Chicago for a time and am now in North Carolina. It’s supposed to be COLD at Christmas! And snow would be nice too! Redemption may be coming. It’s supposed to drop back into the 50’s by week’s end. At least that’s better than 80!!! And we’ll be going “home” to the mountains for the holidays where my wish for a White Christmas at least has a chance of coming true. Come on snow!!

Can I go back to work and rest now?

I don't think I've ever been so glad a weekend was over. It started Friday night. I sing in the local choral group--second soprano. I used to sing first soprano but the years have deepened my voice and truth be told, I should probably be singing first alto! We had a dress rehersal Friday night to get everyone's places worked out and go over the music one last time. So I was standing for 2 1/2 hours!! Oy, my aching feet!!

Saturday, Scott had hockey practice in the morning then I had to get ready for the concert. You know, shower, do my hair, tart-up my makeup for the harsh stage lights, struggle into my pantyhose since I hadn't worn pantyhose since LAST year's Christmas concert! But it was a blast and we did a great job with only a couple of mistakes that hopefully only we could tell. The house was almost sold out!!! Scott fell asleep about 20 mins into the show and Sara did the same toward the end.

Sunday, I had my first jewelry show for my new business and it went very well!!! WooHoo!! Then Sara and I went to see High School Musical on Ice that night. It was really good!! Sara and I both sang along with all the songs and had a blast!!! Hubby took Scott to hockey practice and to a b-day party so they were rockin' and rollin' too!!

By the time I got home that night I was past exhausted!! I'm STILL exhausted!!!!! Whew!!! When's my vacation?????

Prayers for Melody

Melody at Slurping Life has suddenly and unexpected taken ill.

You are welcome to join me and others in saying a prayer and lighting a candle for her and her family.

Get better soon, Melody! We are here for you!!

Healthy You Year Update

Well, I've done pretty well so far this week. I've had breakfast everyday but today. Not a bad start. I just need to keep it up. 21 days to form a habit, right??? I did notice that I was STARVING come lunch time today and I ate more at lunch than on the days that I ate breakfast. I also seemed to have more energy in the afternoons on those days. Think I'll keep it up!!!

Christmas at Your House?

I'm doing this Christmas meme for Kim at The Bitter Ball. Feel free to join in!!!


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. The kidlets can see in the bags!!

2. Real or Artificial tree? Artificial. I really love a real tree but the kidlets like to put it up early and we always travel at Christmas so it’s not really feasible.

3. When do you put up the tree? We try to get it up Thanksgiving weekend so the kidlets can enjoy it. And I admit, I enjoy it too!!

4. When do you take the tree down?The goal is by New Years but at the latest, the first week of January.

5. Do you like Eggnog?I love eggnog but it is so rich!!! I usually cut it with just a little milk and then shake some pumpkin pie spice on top. MMMmmmmm!!

6. Favorite Gift you received as a child? HHhhhhmmmm…….probably my Barbie Beach Van. Santa heard us coming and left so fast he didn’t have time to unpack it so it was still in a burlap sack!!

7. Do you have a nativity scene?I do but I don’t really have a good place to display it. It’s a shame. I need to find a place. My job as a little girl was to put out the manger scene each year and I loved it!

8. Hardest person to buy for?My parents. They are very simple and frugal people and don’t want or need anything.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Probably my son. He has specific items he wants/likes but he is generally happy with anything he gets.

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received?Last year, my MIL gave me an iron. I don’t iron a single thing!! BUT it was a Rowenta and I always wanted a Rowenta so I kept it. Hubby, btw, laughed his butt off!!!

11. Christmas Cards...Snail mail or E-mail? Well, I love Christmas cards but I must admit I don’t do either. No time. I try to email to very small group of close friends but that is it.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s a Wonderful Life.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometime in December, YIKES!!!! When I was in college I never started until after finals were over so I usually was shopping the week before Christmas for everything. But I got a lot of good deals!!

14. Have you ever 'recycled' a Christmas present?I don’t remember doing it but I’ve been tempted!!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Snickerdoodles, Homemade Chex Party Mix, cookie press cookies (spritz), my Daddy’s fudge.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?We have a pre-lit tree with clear lights. But I do like the multi colored ones too.

17. Favorite Christmas Carol? O Holy Night, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Do You Hear What I Hear?

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home? Travel but I really miss all the Christmas traditions we had when I was growing up. My kids will soon be past “Santa” so I want to incorporate some before the magic is gone for them.

19. Can you name Santa's Reindeer?Yes

20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree? Star

21. Open the Presents Christmas Eve or Morning? Well………since we travel, we open gifts with Hubby’s family on Christmas Eve (their tradition) and with my family on Christmas morning (my tradition) and we do Santa and our family when we return home. BUT…….this year, I want to do our Christmas before we leave. Santa can come early since he knows we won’t be there!!!!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Craziness in the stores.

23. Shopping...Mall or online?I can’t remember the last time I actually went to a real mall. I hate them with a purple passion. I do a ton on-line and the rest at Walmart, Target, Lowes and Best Buy

24. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?) We never really did much outside and we did nothing outside because of Piper the Hyperdog. Inside we really only do the tree and mantle with stockings and I have some Father Christmas figurines that I’ve collected over the years that I scatter about.

25. Favorite Christmas cookie?cookie press cookies (spritz)

26. Do you own Christmasy clothing or jewelry? I love Christmas socks and I have some Christmas tree earrings, my daughter gave me.

27. Do you believe in Santa? Of course!!! That’s all you have to do……believe. I can still hear the bell, can you?


Okay, your turn!!!

Look what Hubby Sent me

His subject line said, "Lookout! There out there!!!"



My reply? "Smart a*s!!!" I wonder how long I'm going to have to endure this? Maybe I should just give in and put reindeer antlers on our mailbox!!!

BEWARE!!!

I can’t back up a car worth a flyin’ flip. So I should have known better but I was in a hurry and obviously not thinking. I was on my way to choir practice last night and got to the exit of our subdivision before I realized I didn’t have my music with me. I thought I’d save some time and back up to turn around in the neighbor’s drive. Now, as I have said, I can’t back up. Plus I don’t see well in the dark. So as I’m backing up, I hear this horrible crunching noise.

I pull forward and hop out to check the damage. I don’t see anything near me. The neighbor’s son is outside and he comes and looks and we don’t see any damage to the van or anything else so we decide I must have run over something on the ground. So I get back into the car, go up the street to turn around (making mental note that that was what I should have just done in the first place), get my music and go on to practice.

When I come back to the car after practice, I notice that the passenger tail light is broken and it looks scuffed. Now, I’m freaking out. What could I have hit? None of us saw anything!! So on my way home, I convince myself that a deer must have run behind me just as I was backing up. It sounded plausible!

Once home, I tell Hubby he needs to come look at something because I think I hit a deer. I tell him the whole story as he’s checking it out. His comment, you’ve hit the mailbox. No I didn’t. Yes you did--there’s white paint on the tail light. I argued there was no way because I wasn’t anywhere near the mailbox. So it’s 10pm and we trudge up to the neighbors to find……….a slight crunch on the side of the mailbox and red tail light plastic on the ground beside it. OK, so I backed into the mailbox. Hubby’s response? You don’t need to back up anymore.

So we worked it all out, Hubby will get a replacement tail light and I’ll call the neighbor to grovel, uh I mean apologize and offer to replace it. We brought Hyper Dog in to sleep in our room last night. Hubby crawls in bed and says, I didn’t want to leave her outside tonight…….because of the “mailbox deer”. My reply? Go to sleep, Smart a*s !!!

2008--A Healthy You Year!

I'm making my resolutions a bit early this year. I'm racing toward the big 4-0 next year and I feel like a 60-year old woman most days. I'm definitely not a posterchild for a healthy lifestyle. So I'm planning to make small changes in my lifestyle--one at a time until they become a habit. I'm getting a head start and beginning in December. My habit for this month is going to be to eat breakfast. I rarely eat breakfast and when I do it's usually not the best choices. So I'm making the effort to eat a healthy breakfast each day. Yogurt, high fiber cereal, eggs. We'll see how it goes. Can you help keep me honest? I haven't decided whether to do my accounting here or at my other blog, Health Matters, which I've not been keeping up in quite some time. I'll decide and let you know. Wish me luck!!!!

Yes, I'm at it AGAIN!!

I just didn't feel that comfy with the last template. It was pretty and Christmas'y but it just didn't feel right. So I'm trying again. Let me know what you think.

We did it!!

We helped make a difference!!!! Back in October, I posted about a fellow blogger, Kim Klein, who was competing for a blogging scholarship. She is a law student who is also battling breast cancer. Well, with our help (as well as a whole lot of others!!), she won!!!!! Read all about her receipt of her award here. I caught up on her blog and she is finished with her chemo and is doing great!!! Thanks to everyone who helped her out with a vote. We done good!!

Another Try??

Is this better? I love the background but I think it is a bit hard to read. And I've lost all my widgets and such. Honest feedback please!!!! I can take it!

Blech!!

Ok, I do NOT like what I have done to my template. I have lots of trouble trying to work with the templates here. But bear with me while I try to find something else.

What? No turkey?????

I heard this so many times in the last month. Yes, you heard me right. We do not have turkey for Thanksgiving. Most see this as blasphemy. You can't possibly have Thanksgiving without turkey!!! Even my work gives all employees a free turkey for the holiday. I, however, would have preferred a grocer's gift certificate so I gave mine to my coworker so she would have an extra for Christmas.

So turkey is supposed to be the epitome of Thanksgiving. Afterall that IS what the Pilgrams had at the first Thanksgiving.......... Right? There is only one written account of the first Thanksgiving and turkey isn't even mentioned. And cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes weren't even invented yet. Instead they are reported to have eaten duck and venison along with seafood, cabbage, onions, corn and squash. Even my 2nd grader, Sara, told me that the Pilgrims didn't eat turkey. So I wonder where the idea started? Historians state that the Pilgrims called any wild fowl "turkey" so perhaps that is why.

Well, enough of the history lesson. The boring truth is that I used to cook a big turkey with all the trimmings even just for Hubby and me. He always seemed appreciative. Then one year he suggested we have ham instead. I followed the crowd and was shocked, asking why on earth would we not have turkey for Thanksgiving? Turns out after all those years, Hubby doesn't like turkey!!!!! Well, I aim to please and a ham is MUCH easier to cook than a turkey (especially if you order a spiral honey ham, LOL!!!) and I still make all the trimmings. We can give thanks for all we have over a ham just as well as a turkey. So that, my friends, is how we came to have ham for Thanksgiving.

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Good gracious!!! It couldn't possibly be almost the end of November!!! And I've not writing nary a post!!! How could I?? Well, looks like I've a lot of posting and updating to do between now and Friday!!

Did I......

Fall off the face of the earth?
Climb in a hole and never come out?
Sneak away to an uncharted island?
Hole up in my room with beer and oreos?

No..................but as it is known to do, life got in the way. It is exponentially more difficult having two children in school instead of only one--twice the homework, twice the amount of papers to review and sign, twice the lunches to make and on and on and on. But we are starting to settle into a routine. I HOPE!!!

39

Thirty-nine is:

According to David Wells in The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, 39 is the smallest mathematically uninteresting number.

The sum of five consecutive primes (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13) and the sum of the first three powers of 3 (31 + 32 + 33).

The atomic number of yttrium

In the title of the John Buchan novel and subsequent films (one by Alfred Hitchcock), The Thirty-Nine Steps

The code for international direct-dialed phone calls to Italy

I-39 is the designation for a US interstate highway from Normal, Illinois to Wausau, Wisconsin.

I-39 is the 39th shortest of the primary "two digit" Interstates.

The eternal age of comedian Jack Benny, and many other people as they grow older

The traditional number of times citizens of Ancient Rome hit their slaves when beating them, referred to as "Forty save one"

Japanese Internet chat slang for "thank you" when written with numbers

"'39" is a track on Queen's album A Night At the Opera. If the tracks on Queen's original studio albums are numbered in sequential order starting with their first, "'39" does in fact fall in the thirty-ninth position

"39" is a song by The Cure on their album "Bloodflowers"

39 cents was the cost of First Class US postage stamps (first ounce) from Jan. 8, 2006 to May 14, 2007

The duration, in nanoseconds, of the nuclear reaction in the largest nuclear explosion ever performed (Tsar bomb)

The number of Scud missiles which Iraq fired at Israel during the Gulf War in 1991

World War II broke out in Europe on September 1, 1939

Pier 39 in San Francisco


At age 39:

Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the 1st person to set foot on the moon

Charles Goodyear led the way to the effective use of rubber

Jimmy Connors reached the U.S. Open semifinals

Joseph Smith Jr. and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated

I wrote this blog entry.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!