Oh, The Dreaded Season is Upon Me

That's right, folks, I'm a scrooge. I love the reason for the season; love that our Savior was born in a manger and that we celebrate His birth at this time of year, but really, do we? There is so much going on that I find myself often putting Jesus at the bottom of the list--the list of "to do things" relating to this season that supposedly celebrates His birthday. Maybe I'm the only one who does that, maybe I'm the only one who totally forgets to pray one day because my mind is on all the other things I have to do. That's why I'm not a Christmas person--it becomes all about us and our children and our friends, and although I love all of them, it shouldn't be about what they want. That would be like giving your child a birthday party and getting so involved with the invitations, the guests, the favors, the games, the clothes, the gifts, and making sure that this is a spectacular party, that your child is pushed aside and all but forgotten. When the truly special part is spending time together and making sure they know they're loved, and remembering how wonderful the day of their birth was. That's what Christmas should be--a season to remember His birth and make sure it's all about Him, and let Him know how much He's loved. We can buy things all year long for those we care about. Surely, one holiday could be solely, totally, unselfishly about Him. Well, that's my soapbox, but when I get down, I'll go back to making the lists, checking them twice, planning menus, and looking forward to the end of the season when the hustle and bustle die down. Then in the peaceful aftermath, maybe I can hear His still, quiet voice.

Baby Showers, Fall Festivals, and Goldfish

Um, sorry, no pictures of any of the items in the title. I forgot to take my camera to all said events. I do still have the goldfish at my disposal, though. He's a little tiny goldfish who hides in his Chinese temple because I suspect he fears for his life from the senior goldfish, Nemo. Nemo looks like a whale compared to the new little guy. Nemo is a very spoiled fish. Betcha didn't know fish could be spoiled, huh? Every morning when I feed the cats, when I look over at the fish tank, Nemo is going nuts, swimming very fast and bumping the corner of the tank. It's really funny to see how he tries to get my attention. Saturday was the family baby shower for Mandy and Bradley's semi-unnamed baby girl. She got lots of seat covers and some really cute outfits and other useful items some of which I've never seen before. Sunday was the fall festival at church, so I had to make a very rushed pot of chili and decorate some "eyeball" cookies for my SS class. It was also my Emily weekend and all of the busyness of the weekend didn't leave a whole lot of time for our special time, but we enjoyed what we got. Before I took her home, we went to Mtn. View and got her some goldfish because she didn't win any at her school festival. It made our parting easier since she had something to focus on besides leaving me. We have such a sweet bond and I hope it continues until she's grown so we can spend as much time together as we want without the limitations of visitation rights. I enjoyed having my brother, nephew, sister-in-law, and future niece-in-law for lunch Sat. before we girls went to the shower. My niece, Kim, who has turned out to be just so crafty that I've dubbed her "Martha", hosted the shower. The games, food and decor were so cute, good, and well, crafty. I didn't have time to take many pictures but during the short time Em and I had together, I did take some of her posing goofy.
I call the pictures: Dancing with Sucker in Hand.

The Joy of Hot Flashes

I cannot believe that I am wearing short sleeves, running my ceiling fan, and still not cold! That might not sound like a big deal to some of you, but I have been the Ice Queen all of my life! Someone who used to attend my church a few years ago, came back for a visit recently and asked if I still kept a blanket at church. It took me a minute to remember those days of huddling beneath an afghan during the sermon. Then I answered, "No, those days are long gone. Now I carry a fan!" I'm actually quite enjoying the overall increase in my body temperature--it's just those dadgum "spikes" that I don't appreciate. You know, it's kind of like you're sitting there simmering nicely with your lid on, and all of a sudden the lid blows off and you're boiling over! Reminds me of cooking rice on my stove--I just can't get it to simmer low enough. We're having beautiful weather here. The leaves are starting to turn...and fall...yeah, I'm not so thrilled with that last part. I have lots of hickory trees in my yard---not a good thing, especially this year. There are so many hickory nuts on the ground that it's very hard to walk, almost like skating. I just know I'm going to go down before it's over. I used to be able to depend on the squirrels to take care of the nuts for me, but since I have so many cats now, the squirrels don't come into the yard anymore. If the squirrels knew how lazy the cats were, they wouldn't have to fear. My cats would only eat a squirrel (or anything else) if someone caught it, killed it, cooked it, and served it to them! Yep, they're that bad. My "wild oats" boy got his hands crushed in the tailgate of his dump truck Tues. so after a visit to the E.R., he's been off work for a couple of days. None of his fingers were broken, just mangled a bit. I'll bet he won't try to pull a stuck rock out of there with his hands anymore! It's too bad that most of us learn our lessons in life by being hurt, isn't it? Not just physically but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Those are the lessons we don't usually forget, though. My lesson for today is never believe my brother when he tells me that his dogs would not and have not ever chased or caught my chickens, even though several of their tortured bodies have ended up in his front yard. Today, one of his black-hearted canines was caught red-pawededly. So, tomorrow Henry, Melody, and Renee will be back in the safe confines of their pen.........sorry, girls.

The Facebook Frenzy

I realize that I have not posted recently. My nieces and a few friends have gotten me entangled in the Facebook frenzy. It became so frustrating that I retreated from the cyberworld this week (except to check with Pioneer Woman). There are all kinds of little doodads on Facebook--you write on walls, there are little thingys that people send you and you send them--flairs, and then today when I checked, another friend had sent me a green something. I've not responded much to all of that because you never know what the heck you might be getting into. For all I know, I could be signing up to be part of a harem belonging to some desert sheik. Ooh, that sounded mysterious and romantic! Maybe I should give this another thought. Actually, the real reason I've not been very active is because, 1. my computer got fried 2. I'm really busy at work, 3. Lunch hours are short, 4. I had a tooth pulled and have been a little under the weather. I did take the Princess to the fair over the weekend along with her daddy. So enjoy the smilebox....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

WHO KNEW???

Who knew that all of this blogging magic was out there? I mean, of course I knew about blogs. After all, I post to this one at least every 3 or 4 months! But I did not know how many blogs were out there, nor how interesting many of them are. I am just way hyped up on this----so far just the reading part, not so much the writing. I like to write and sometimes can even inject a slight bit of humor in my writing, but still---I just did not realize the extent of this thing. I have to thank the Pioneer Woman blog for opening my eyes. So, if the house gets filthy, the cats aren't fed, my mom wonders if I've died, and I lose my job, it's all due to my new addiction---blogging (or at this point, blog reading).

Just Dropping By

Don't have anything really going on. It's summer, it's hot, and I'm sleepy and lazy. Everyone is doing fairly well in this part of the world. Sean took a trip recently to Chicago. It's been a lifelong dream of his to go, and it finally became a reality for him. As usual, with most things you build up in your mind, it wasn't all that great I don't think. He enjoyed the trip, though, so I'm glad he got to go. I'm missing that little chatterbox that has been with me most of the summer. She'll be back for the weekend but then it will be two weeks until the next visit. That is so hard for both of us. We really enjoy our time together. I had her picture made at Wal-Mart in the most adorable little outfit. I can't wait to get them back. I won't be able to post any of them because I don't have a scanner. But of course, I would love to show them to anyone in person. She is a doll, but I am a bit prejudiced! I'm posting a couple of pics-one of me that I took myself (and you can tell) and one of my kids that I took recently.

Tornado

Well, I still missed posting the tornado picture, so here it is. It was taken on the straight stretch between the Guion Y and the Lacrosse Rd. near Sage. It was a huge tornado that had a span of a half mile they say.

Catching Up

O.K., it has been longer than I thought since the last post! After the tornado in my last post, we had ice, big snow storms, and major flooding. This week has been very stormy with lots of rain again. The Norfork Dam is at a record level and with more rain coming, they opened the floodgates this morning to release some water. They've been holding it back in an attempt to help those downstream who are still dealing with flooding. Anyway, I'll try to post a few pictures of some of our weather anomalies of this year so far. Emily spent her spring break with me which was so much fun for both of us. It just flew by. I can hardly wait for her summer vacation. That will be six weeks long. Sean can't take any vacation until after August because he is the only bailiff. The other one decided to join the Guard and is in boot camp til late summer. Emily and I will have lots of fun, but it will all have to be close to home with the price of gas going nuts! I'm posting a few recent pics of her, Sean and me. I'm a big, fat, blob. Dr. Phil would be so disappointed with me, but I'm going to do better--really. The pictures cover Easter, kite flying in the cemetery--now that's something I'll bet you've never done, and various pictures during spring break. That's all for now, but I'll be back sooner next time.

I Am Still Alive

Yes, I do know how long it's been since I posted. My camera got broken beyond repair and posts just aren't the same without pictures. We were struck by a tornado here last night, and there is so much damage. I wish I could post some pictures of that. Some people in my church lost their homes, but God was so good to spare their lives. Please remember this area in your prayers. There are also reports of some fatalities, but no one knows for sure how many yet. I still don't have electricity at my house, so I'm looking forward to an evening by candlelight (actually it's oil lamps) after church, of course. Sean keeps promising to give me his camera, so hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures again soon.