Just A Brunch Date.....

 Overeat seems to be the word of the season.  Is that what all retired women do?

If food bonds people together then we WILL ccontinue to be friends forever!

 My retired coworkers from Luna Elementary meet once a month over lunch...except for each Christmas when Sandy is so kind to open her house for an extended visit.  If the Christmas spirit has not wrapped itself around you yet I assure you a trip into her beautiful home will make you think Santa the minute you walk through the front door. 

 It is a cross between the best of Southern Living and Pinterest finest ideas all in one place.

 It makes me want to stay and wait for Santa to arrive!  Or maybe it just  makes me want to go home and clean thoroughly and then get out the rest of the Christmas that I decided to leave in the attic this year! As I unpacked all the boxes early in December I kept thinking...what goes up must come down so STOP where you are!

To all of my Luna buddies, thanks for sharing part of your holiday with me.  To Sandy who is the ultimate hostess...thank you for extending the warmth and cheer of the holiday with all of us.  You are the best.

Wrapping It Up, Literally!......

 Malls, you have seen the last of me.  I thought I was done two weeks ago.  Well, now I officially am!

 I am wrapping it up.  I am finished.  My Master Card is suffering from machine burn (related to carpet burn).  It will go no more.  The Shubzda elders are producing their own version of the "fiscal cliff". Our card has quit and so have I!  If it is on someones list and it is not in my house right now....well, it just won't be!

I love Christmas.  I love the music, the decorations, the cookies, the excitement of the season...but I am not a fan of the shopping process.  I have become a cyber shopper.  In the comfort of your own home, no parking problems, no gas burned, no lines to stand in and you can always count on free shipping.The UPS man is a regular visitor to my front door.  We are on a first name basis. If he wasn't rushing to make his rounds before midnight I would invite him in for coffee.  Maybe he could give me the scoop on what he drops on my neighbors doorstep.  He has a really interesting job you know.

But, there are just some things you have to see and touch in person...hence, the madness of a mall.

So now that the last present is wrapped and my charge card is in need of immediate debt reduction, I am going to BREATHE!!!  Maybe a glass of wine and a good book!  Who am I kidding?  There is laundry to do.

Still Saddened....

It has been difficult to wake up the last couple of days and not immediately think of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  It is made even harder to bear because it has fallen during the most joyous time of the year.  When we should be focused on the birth of Jesus and the appearance of Santa on Christmas Eve...we are distracted by the pain of the Connecticut community.  For the parents who are facing a heartache that some of us know all too well, I am torn.  Our family thankfully enough was not the victim of a madman.  We are blessed to have 27 years of memories to hold on to.  These parents have but 7 or 8.  These children are not gone because God needed more angels in his heavens.  They were targets of a mentally ill young man who purposefully went on a rampage to destroy.  It reminds us all that tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

I know these families are facing the worst week of their lives.  They must bury children then try to show some semblance of normalcy for the brothers and sisters that are left behind on what should be the most holy and happy day of the year. 

It is strange the thoughts that cross your mind at a time like this.  I sat in church today wondering what they are finding their hardest task....outside of burying their baby.  I know there are presents bought and wrapped that will not be opened.  There are Christmas programs they will not be attending.  There will be a worship service minus a family member.  Nothing is or ever will be easy again.  For me it was the simpliest thing that was the very hardest.  It was Christmas pajamas.  Such a ridiculous thing to grieve over when so many other things should matter.   The box that was bought and remained unopened was a pair of pajamas.  Those matching pajamas were always a joke to my kids but they mattered to me. It hurt my heart in the craziest of ways. 
I hope and pray that there will be one tiny moment ...just a memory that will bring some joy to these broken hearts.  The road ahead is long.  May their faith bring them strength.

There Are No Words...

Because sadly on a day like today we realize that there are things more important than having enough stocking stuffers or sufficient cookies baked.  There are so many families that will never be able to approach another Christmas holiday without remembering the loss they suffered on this horrific day..  I am grateful that these babies are too young to understand the tragedy of today.
In the painful moments.... trust God.

12-12-12......

 That is the date.  It is supposed to be a day filled with Good Luck!  After the events of 2012, I must say I should have waited for the day with great anticipation.  A little good luck would go a long way around here!

 I did not buy a winning lottery ticket.  I did not receive cash in the mail.  I did not get a call saying someone left me money BUT I did get to spend the evening with special friends.  In my book that is about as lucky as you can get. No amount of money can buy what the friendship of these girls has brought me.  They have been a blessing and so today...I am lucky.

 Sharing an evening of laughs...and a few tears is the best gift of all.

Today was a lucky day after all.  I am blessed!

Oh, Yes I Did....

They say there is one born every minute...a sucker that is.  Well color me sucker written boldly across my forehead in scarlet letters.  Last Friday I fell victim to a true scammer lurking in the Target parking lot.  It was daylight. I was simply running in the store for a few necessities (on my 30 minute lunch break at work) when a Hispanic man by the name of Paul Steve (should have been the first red flag) wheeled up next to me in his red Camero.  He noticed the huge dent in my bumper (done last month when I ran into the fence) and wanted to fix it quickly and save me hundreds of dollars.  For a mere $200 he could pull out the dent while I shopped and it would be as good as new.  I paused....yes, I did give this some serious thought.  Then the magic line...."If it is not satisfactory, you don't pay me".  Well, how can I loose?  I ran in Target and came out to the worst mess I ever saw.  My bumper was covered in white caulking that made me want to cry.  However, there were now four very healthy Hispanic men in the red Camero. Yes, I complained about the mess on my car but he said if I merely waited six hours it would wash off and be perfect.  So do I pay and hope for the best or refuse to pay and pray that the four men don't take my purse and leave a crazed white woman laying face down in the parking lot crying?  Deciding to cut my losses I wrote a check and escaped as quick as I could.  Common sense says you cancel the check right?  That would be the smart thing to do' but when I called the body shop number he gave me the owner said not to worry he would  be out to my house to fix my car the next morning.  Well, guess where the owner was the next morning...in the hospital with a broken leg.  But don't worry, he will fix it when he gets out.   SUCKER....scammed again!  Steve Paul has my money. I have a huge mess on my bumper that a real body shop now has to fix and I am not going to even extend this story any longer by repeating the words that came out of my husbands mouth when I finally told him on Sunday (with company present) about my car.

Lesson learned friends. I have now done my Random Act of Kindness for the month.  All I hope is that his kids get some Christmas gifts and the local drug pusher is not making another sale.

Fear Not Good Friends....

 The Christmas sweater is alive and well!  I have (although I said I was going to relax) been

rushing through the malls looking for a few last minute things.  What I have I found???  Racks and racks of the traditional sweaters sporting everything from soldiers to rockin' reindeer.  Some of them defintly give new meaning to "Don We Now Our Gay Apparel".

 The sad thing is I gave all of mine away.  Yes, I loaded them in a black bag and dropped them off at Goodwill last year.  I hung on as long as I could. Then with the fear of drawing undue attention to myself if I wore them...I sadly parted with them.  Mistake?

 There is always the chance to repurchase...everything from the glorious vest to the bold stripes

 in this classic zip up.  So many choices...so much to think about.

I am envisioning the family in our Christmas photo next year all dressed in festive sweaters.  Possibly with a little luck I could run to Goodwill.  Maybe someone was on the same wave

length as I was last year and packed all of theirs in a black bag too. I might even get lucky and find the ones I gave away..a girl can hope!

Here in Texas......

Just an update to let all know that....

Chestnuts are not roasting by an open fire,

and

Jack Frost is not nipping at our nose!

Nope, not here in Texas.  We are dealing with 82 degree highs and though it would be nice in October, it makes it hard to wrap your mind around a pending Christmas celebration when it is this warm.

So I drug my retired husband, the stroller, and two grandbabies to Collin Creek Mall to see if we could find something to make us feel a little festive.

As luck would have it...Santa had not arrived yet and there sat a big empty Santa chair!!!  How many opportunities does a kid have to crawl right on up there where the big old man himself sits!  If only we had thought to bring our elf ears along!

After that got old we rode up and down the glass elevator and looked at all the sights....and what to you know.."Gramma, there is Ryken!  He goes to my school!"  You never know what you will see from two stories up.

Next up, shopping for Gramps...where else but JCP! 

We are a family supporting the cause!

With a few hours of daylight left we did what most people do when it is 82 outside and sat in a pile of leaves. 

Brooklynn threw them and Finley ate them.  Nothing like snacking on all of the fall colors! It was a delicious blend of reds, yellows, and browns...only available for a short time!

It is nice to spend the day outside but it would also be nice if the the weather master up north would send a little cold weather this way...just so we could drag those Christmas sweaters out of the closet!

Countdown Begins.....

 It is December 1st!  It is the date that grabs your attention and says...YIKES Christmas is right around the corner and I am not ready!  The crazy sense of countdown begins.  I have decided that this year is going to be different.  I am facing the month of December with an amazing calm...but, that is only because I armed myself with a sense of urgency in November.  I began early because I am determined to enjoy everyday without canvasing the malls for the perfect gift or unpacking Christmas decor right up to the last minute.

 Today I completed the last task...the big tree.  Armed with a "fix"I rummaged through boxes of ornaments, and after five hours of climbing the ladder to complete the tree that my husband thinks is WAY too big I finished!

 I am ready to enjoy the next 24 days.  I am going to do the mundane...clean the house as needed, fold laundry, cook dinner, and whatever other task comes my way BUT I am also going to relax. I am going to watch all of the Christmas movies I never had time for.  I am going to lunch with friends. I am going to sit and address Christmas cards while I listen to Mitch Miller...and if they don't arrive until December 15th does it really matter?  I am going to play with my grandbabies and watch in amazement as Brooklynn talks with excitement about Christmas Eve.
I will not be the woman running around like a chicken with her head cut off!  I am going to savor everyday and while I am at it I may just have to chronicle each day...it is going to be an adventure!

That's All Folk's....

There is simply no turning back now.  It is a done deal...holster hung up, uniforms turned in, and goodbyes said.  Jimmy is officially retired.  It was a great celebration of a job well done with people that have been his family for many, many years.

Actually I think that maybe for the last 39 years I have mistakenly addressed my husband by the wrong name.  No one really knew who I was talking about when I said Jimmy ten days ago at his retirement send off.  He is J.J. to all he works with and I feel a bit odd calling him by anything else now.  It was an Oprah aha moment.  Maybe that is why he has ignored me for years.  He did not know I was talking to him!  I won't let that slide any longer.  It is  J.J. from now on and I know he will answer when I call.

It was a great evening.  I guess everyone should retire at least once in their life so they can sit back and listen to a room full of people people say great things about them.  It has to be an ego builder.  I have full intentions of letting him hold on to all those wonderful thoughts until after the holidays and then I will remind him that he is really the same person that has always lived here and all those ego boosting thoughts are to remain in his memory book but not in his enlarged head any longer!

We are now in the practicing togetherness mode.  We had lunch out the other day...with all the businessmen who had computers and notepads on the table.  There we sat with merely our menu and an attempt at conversation that did not include our day at work and the grandkids.  It is a work in progress!  I am looking forward to learning how this will all play out.  This is the the best time of our lives I have heard!

"A retired husband is often a wife's full-time job."

Ella Harris

Recap...Thanksgiving 2012....

As usual, we gathered...cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, in-laws, and friends.  It is always fun.  We plan, bake, clean, and organize and in a minute chaos reigns...but it is great.

I love Thanksgiving.  It is more relaxed than the uncontrolled mania we call Christmas (though I pretty much love it too).  It is too much food, beer, wine, and football...which lead to the need for expandable front jeans (think maternity wear) after dinner and dessert.

So now that the holiday is over and I have consumed the remainder of all of the pies, each and every salad leftover, turkey, dressing, and broccoli rice casserole, I thought I might recap on paper how our meal has evolved over the years.

To keep this semi condensed just let me say that my mom would roll over more than once in her grave if a table minus good china and burning candles were not part of the day.  We started out that way.  There was only us and a small family so I did as I was taught and got out the linen tablecloth and the china and served a proper meal.  Forty two years later let me say....it is paper plates.  That is like saying you are an alcoholic in front of the world.  I don't necessarily want it to be that way but with 26 people I would have to combine several sets of dishes to to cover the crowd.  Finding silverware is tough enough.  So I am guilty...but they were nice paper plates!

And then there is the food.  When you combine families the menu you grew up with is out the window.  Cornbread dressing vs. white bread dressing with raisins (the truth).  Mashed potatoes vs. sweet potatoes, green been casserole, broccoli-rice, corn casserole, green salad, marshmallow salad, jello salad, turkey, ham, or brisket?  Well, just bring it all on because we are a people pleasing family! So as the family grows the menu grows and the leftovers grow and the waistline grows...and I do not believe there is an end in sight.

It was a perfect day.  It was laughs, memories made, pictures taken, cousins bonding, and new babies hugged.  As I finally dispose of the end of the leftovers and pick up the remaining cups found in hidden corners, I know that given a chance to change any of it I wouldn't.  Paper plates and eating on the floor did not dampen anyone's spirits...it is what our family has become.

Blessed....

I have been noticing on facebook lately that users have been posting what they are thankful for each day.  It is the expected list and I have seen no surprises, but enjoy reading the way people prioritize what is meaningful to them.

I sadly have been focused on much too much negative lately and have not taken the time to really think about the gifts this year has brought.  I will not include on my list the West Nile Virus, an animal bite, and a medical procedure gone terribly wrong, a family with multiple bouts of the flu and various viruses, excessive summer heat, and lack of water at the lake.  Negatives abound.  BUT, there are so many, many gifts and it is way past time to look at the bright side of the year while we are all preparing for Thanksgiving.

So on this years Thanksgiving I will count my blessings including:

* a new healthy grandaughter in January 2012

*a total of two beautiful grandaughters that could make the cloudiest day look like nothing but sunshine

* children with successful careers and wonderful lives
*an engagement!!!!

*a husband who is leaving 40 plus years of police work and has lived to enjoy the years ahead despite multiple gunshot wounds and countless other random accidents

*a teaching career that has ended but still allows me to to return to the classroom as a substitute at will.  What other job gives you that flexibility?
*a home that is my happy place.  I love waking up here everyday and thanking God for the roof over our heads and the pleasure being here brings us.
*free time....retirement style that allows me to choose how to spend each day
*FRIENDS who have given me more than support and encouragement each day...they have given me strength
*friends, who in so many meaningful ways remembered the loss of our son 10 years ago
*a God that has answered so many prayers
*the opportunity to look ahead and see so many wonderful things in our future
*life...a blessing in itself

I guess this list could pretty much go on forever for there is really not an end to the things we can all find to be thankful for.  Knowing that this year we will be able to celebrate with almost all of our family is reason to smile.  As we sit down to abundant dishes on Thanksgiving day I know that I really could not ask for more than what I have been given.

Very Soon.....

I have come to the realization as I sit here this evening that it is a mere 10 days until "Gramps" here retires and becomes my permanent roomate...like a 24 hour a day, we are pretty much always together roomate.  I am processing what this means for me and the lifestyle I have become accustomed to since the day we married.  You see, my husband has always worked no less than 60 plus hours a week.  That allowed me to stay home with the kids and mange the house. It worked for us.  No day care, no two working parents.  I stayed home.

It also meant that by necessity I was alway "in charge".  Jimmy did not have time to worry about making decisions about anything.  Hmmmm....I liked it that way.  I did not have to run anything by him.  I just did it and he did not question it.  Even after the kids were in school and I went back to work, I was still the manager so to speak.

Well, what now?  The other day my husband actually asked me to give him a running tab of the money we spent each month.  He wants to know how I allocate all of our income.  Are you kidding me?  Just let me tell you what needs to be in the bank and accept that I have this under control.  I do not need a micromanager now!  Just hang out on the patio and clean your golf clubs or something.  It is time to relax...not get involved.  Find a hobby that does not involve looking at the check book please!

To compound this need to be involved in the finances, he also wants to go with me to the store...like Walmart.  I have forever laughed at the elderly couples strolling through the store mid-afternoon reading food labels.  Please, do not ever let that be me.  I know what I need.  I am in and out.  I DO NOT want to browse. And do not drop me off at the front door and go park (which happened Saturday).  Then you go in the wrong door and I will have to spend twenty minutes looking for you...and I can't call your cell phone to locate you because you can't hear it.

So I am thinking.  I know we will survive this, if you will just find a hobby and stay out of the checkbook.  And please do not come with me to the store!

Moving On.......

It is officially over.....thank goodness!  Long months of debates, campaigning, campaign ads, Facebook posts criticizing anyone who voted one way or another...enough to make me delete myself from Facebook (almost).  There is no question anymore who will lead us for the next four years.  It only took until 10:35 last night to declare Romney out, Obama in.  I will refrain from stating my real opinion on this because it does not matter.  America has chosen and for better or worse we move on...AND PRAY.  I find it very disheartening that the Republican party could not find a candidate in the United States who could motivate the people toward change. Why couldn't they find someone who could ignite passion in a crowd of citizens who wanted different than what we saw the last four years?  What we were given was a lackluster man who I never understood.  I am no political genius but the ordinary man has to get what your platform is and Romney you left me wondering.  So it is what it is and we move on.

So today, I am putting this all behind me, celebrating the end of all of it, and deciding it is time for some holiday cheer!!  Christmas always makes me feel good.  I have struggled with the fact that it is still 88 degrees in November.  I have rationalized that I could just tell my family that I have had a horrible fall recovering from unplanned surgery and I just do not have the strength to tackle an attic full of decorations.  I could just do minimal and call it a day.....BUT....I love Christmas and I would only let myself down.

 Today I drug out my dad's favorite Christmas music (and that would be Perry Como, of course),  turned on "There Is No Place Like Home For The Holidays" and began to get festive!!!!  A little deck the halls and fa, la, la is good for the soul!

And to make the day a little brighter we added two new stockings to our fireplace this season...Heather and Finley.  It is full!  But, make no mistake....there is always room for more!

I feel better.  Christmas is always a three week long project.  By Thanksgiving it should be complete.  I am only through CD number one...I think Bing Crosby is next on the list.  I can't wait!

Berry Cute!....

I had some very special trick or treaters Halloween night.  Straight from the strawberry field was Strawberry Shortcake and the littlest strawberry in the patch!!!

 What fun to watch Brooklynns excitement as she realized that when you knocked on the door...magically candy appeared!  And some were giving out peanut M&M's which is surely her favorite. 

Our neighborhood was packed with kids and big bags for all the goodies they would get, and then parents would secretly hide the next day. 

I have to admit, I pilfered a little myself out of the candy dish.  Just can't give away all of the Milky Way bars!