Merry Christmas to All. . .

Everyone home for Christmas.  I have struggled this holiday season, with Mom breaking her hip and having surgery at the day before Thanksgiving and all of the rehab she had to do, plus my insane work schedule.  I must give kudos to my manager she really worked with me over Thanksgiving so that I could be there for my Mom.  We have been short staffed for a year now and we now have two in training so I will be back to my regular part time schedule soon.  

With all that has been going on I have not really been in the Christmas/Holiday spirit, it has been a struggle for me.  I did get a little bit of it back when someone put out a plea for Christmas lights for a local nursing facility.  The hubbs and I went to the store and bought a bunch of lights to donate for their outdoor Winter Wonderland they were going to have for their residents.  They also had an angel tree for their residents and I decided to adopt two for Christmas.  The hubs and I shopped for them and delivered the lights and gifts not too long after Thanksgiving.  That really perked me up but I was not 100 % in that Christmas spirit just yet.  My very sweet hubby has worked so hard to get me in the spirit and on Christmas morning Santa had delivered a few very cool Christmas CDs.  Yes, I still listen to CD's on my drive to work.  Bing Crosby and Elvis Christmas albums,  the Eagles greatest hits,  ABBA greatest hits, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, and Ray Stevens greatest hits.   Bing can really put you in the Christmas spirit.  

My fellas saw to it that I had a comfort Christmas this year:  Socks (big fluffy comfy), blankets,  gloves and scarves.  Big T, my little hypochondriac, gave me a first aid kit filled with an assortment of bandaids, neosporin, and gauze pads.  He said he was just getting me ready for lacrosse season.  

Photo upload:

 

Sprat Sporting his new ECD Lax Christmas Sweater

The Hubbs being goofy 

The Cousins 

Bad Luck and Thanksgiving. .. .

My family has decided to do away with the actual holiday of Thanksgiving, we have decided to for go the November stipulation of the holiday and just have it as a surprise every year.  Do not misunderstand we are extremely thankful for all things, it just seems over the last few years that the actual holiday of Thanksgiving has been a disaster. Two or three years ago Thanksgiving, the year escapes me at this point, my dad flipped over the recliner and broke his collar bone and he was in a terrible fix for almost a year.  This year the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Mom and Dad's power went out in the wee hours of the morning.  Mom jumped up and realized it was out and was going to get up and get a flash light so Dad did not get up and possibly trip in the dark.  Mom jumped up and she tripped and fell and broke her hip, this was at 0330 in the AM.  The ambulance came and took her to the hospital and she had hip replacement surgery before lunch that day.  She is at a rehab facility now to get her hip back in shape.  I will not divulge her age but we will say eighty ish, my mother and father both are very healthy and nobody can seem to wrap their heads around that.  If she was asked one time she was asked one million, "You only take one medication????"   It was almost like they thought she was telling a fib.  My mother is the strongest person you could ever meet and beautiful both inside and out.  I know in my heart of hearts mom will recover she will not be in softball shape but she will be back on her feet.  Yes, my mom played softball up till she was sixty-five, Dad made her quit because she broke her nose in a double header.  Mom  played second base and was awesome.  She also played  basketball in high school and played semi- pro basketball for a year or two after high school, she is an amazing woman. 
I feel very fortunate to still have my parents to talk with and to ask advice about things.  I also feel very fortunate that my kids have their grandparents to talk with and learn from.  I only knew my maternal grandmother and she passed away when I was very young.  I do remember going to her house for Thanksgiving and Christmas and getting to see our cousins, aunts, and uncles. 
We are very thankful but, next year we may celebrate our thankfulness in July and it will be a surprise to us all. 
Sprat was ushered back to school via a snow storm, he made it safely and it is still snowing.  Classes were canceled yesterday and he and a couple friends were out playing in the snow. I had been begging him to send me pictures of the snow and he finally did.  I love the snow, I do not like driving in it but I love to watch it fall and to see the snow covered landscape.  It seems so peaceful and calm and it reminds me of a cleansing of all the pollen and pollution out of the air.
Stay tuned for more winter updates from Massachusetts, and updates on Mom's rehab progress. 

Happy Thanksgiving . . . .

So happy to have my Sprat home, if only for a few days.  Thanks to a minor snafu by Mom Sprat also enjoyed his first plane ride via a first class flight home from Boston, while the hubbs flew coach. It felt good seeing the boys talking and picking with each other.  I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder.  There was minimal arguing and fighting these last few days.  We had a whirl wind Thanksgiving visiting everyone but it was so good to see family and friends.  It seems as though we blinked and now we are getting ready to send this big guy back to school.  Good news though, he will be home for a longer Christmas break. 

We got to hear all about how cold it is in Boston already and how it is dark by four o'clock. I do not think he is ready for the real winter he is going to experience, he has only had a taste of cold.  He does have lots of winter clothes and a big coat and boots to wear but he is going to experience Winter like he has never had before. 

 He has gathered with his friends to visit and catch up on what everyone has been doing and he had a list of places he wanted to eat that they do not have in Boston.  First meeting with all his buddies was Bojangles and then he wanted to eat at Salsaritas with all of us.  The boys went to Thanksgiving Eve Love Feast, that was also a must on Sprat's list of things he had to do while he was home. He took a picture of his Thanksgiving plate to show his teammates what a southern Thanksgiving looks like.  He  is the only true Southerner at this school so they all love to hear him talk especially the young ladies.  The hubbs had to stop on the way home from the airport to pick up Cook Out with some sweet tea.  He has asked on numerous occasions to send him some sweet tea via the mail.  I told him we could not do that.  It is funny the things that we get use to and that we miss when we do not have it.  He seems to be having fun and doing lots of cool stuff, Mom just hopes he is studying in between all of the fun.  Mama feeling blessed and very thankful for this visit with my boy. 

Below is one picture I was able to snap over this break, I hope I will get a couple more during Christmas. 

Happy Thanksgiving. . . .

Just a quick post today to share how truly thankful I am for my family and friends.  We have been blessed this year by many prayers.  I am not sure we would have survived this year with out prayer and the good Lord above directing our path.  He does move mysteriously, sometimes he takes things away from us only to give us something better and make us realize that we still need Him.
Thankful and looking forward to what 2017 holds for our clan.
Stay tuned for we do not know what the future holds, but I know who holds it.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mom Monday. . . Thoughts on Thanksgiving

I have seen a great deal about stores contemplating opening their doors on Thanksgiving.   I remember working at my first job on Christmas Eve and praying people would go home so that I could go home to my family.  It was our family tradition to open our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve, because Santa came that night. 
I worked in a local drug store and our boss, around 5:00 or so, would say if nobody comes in in the next 30 minutes we could go home.  We usually were able to leave around 5:30.   We were never opened on Thanksgiving or Christmas day. 
I have shopped on black Friday but I don't much any more.  I do not agree with opening on Thanksgiving, that and Christmas day should be held sacred for family.  Not much about family seems important these days to large companies.  My hubby has many weeks vacation and if he does not use it he loses it.  He usually takes almost two weeks at Christmas and this year his company said he could not take it.  
It is all about the bottom line these days.  The employees do not matter it is all about what are you doing for me.  My hubby has been with his company for 22 years and they would not bat an eye if something were to happen to him and he could not work.   They would just hire someone else to fill that spot.  People/employees, have become a disposable commodity.  That is why these companies are so willing to open their doors on Thanksgiving, they do not care about their employees or if it puts them out to have to be at work.  Their only concern is their net profit.
I will not be shopping on Thanksgiving nor will I be shopping the day after.  These folks should be able to enjoy their families and not be schlepping to put money in some CEO's pocket.    

My first boss was a great man, he instilled in many a very strong work ethic.   He was very generous to the kids he employed and he did employ many kids from our local high school.  He was very stern and he expected a lot from his employees but you got a lot back from him too.   If more of these corporate goons would approach things the way the mom and pop stores used to our Country would be so much better off.   We need a time warp back to the days when an employee was valued as part of a company and the employee felt vested in the company.    I think that is what people really need to be encouraged to do a good job.  They need to feel valued and they need to feel they have a stake in the company they work for.  They do not need to be told do it or else, that is the wrong kind of mentality when dealing with people.   If you feel it is wrong for people to have to be open on Thanksgiving day then stand up and do not go shopping that day.  If they do no have big sales numbers they will not do it again.  I hope everyone will enjoy their loved ones on Thanksgiving, I know that is where I will be.  

Thankful thoughts. . .

I saw on facebook this month that everyone is posting thankful thoughts, I have not.  I am very thankful but, I do not see the need to post something everyday just because everybody else is doing it.  That to me is adult peer pressure.  I will not fall to that, however, I am going to post some things here and talk about how thankful I am.
I am thankful for my family and that my parents have been able to see their grandchildren grow up.   My grandparents all passed away before I was born except my grandmother on my Mothers' side.  She passed away when I was in elementary school.  I do remember going to her house and playing and seeing her on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I remember  her house and playing in the apple trees in her yard and this huge weeping willow tree.  The willow had the best branches for climbing and swinging.   I also remember how much I loved her dressing she served on Thanksgiving. 
Thomas and Jack are very lucky, as am I that they have their grandparents to spend time with.  When we go to Moms' they go to the barn with Poppy and Gee and help feed the horses and kitties and play with them.  They also get to see the goats at my sisters' house.   This year Thomas was sitting at the table having lunch with my mom and he saw three deer run through her back yard.   We usually see some deer, turkeys, raccoons, foxes and an albino skunk all while sitting at the kitchen table.  
I am very thankful for my family.  I am also thankful for how the Lord is working in our lives.  So many little things that have happened and I see the Lords' hand in all of them.  I am thankful for the great conversations that dear hubby and I have had with our kids about the Bible and God.  I love to see these things through my kids' eyes.  They see things that we as adults do not and in different ways too.   I learn something new every night as we read devotions and the Bible.  Some nights after reading we just have great conversations about their day and what happened at school. 
For all of this and so much more I am truly thankful!!