Recently in Family Category
Do you like to take drives? I love it. I find it to be so relaxing. We (Hubs, daughter, daughter's best friend and I) took a loooong drive this afternoon. It was SO nice. It always amazes me that even though this is a small town, I always find something new when we take those long drives. It's so much fun. :) Not to mention that I am a total looky-loo and LOVE looking at other people's houses. LOL I think that goes back to my childhood. My mom used to love to take long drives with us kids and look at houses. I learned to love it from her. :) I also love to go out into the country. The hills and plains are so beautiful! It's inevitable that while I'm enjoying the landscape my mind wanders back to the pioneer days, imagining the wagon trains traveling through. Yes, they actually did travel through here. You can even take a wagon train tour in the summer and travel along the very same trails they did. Cool, huh!
So, do you? Like to take drives? If so, what do you like looking at most?
About three or four weeks ago, while my daughter and I were visiting her best friend and her mother, she (my daughter) received a picture message from her Dad. It was, of all things, a pic of a the cutest puppy -- at our house! Now, most of you know that the last thing we needed was another dog, but when has that ever stopped us? LOL So anyway, we rushed home to see the dog before it ran off, and of course fell instantly in love. Even Hubs was quite taken with her. He said when he came home from running an errand she was just standing on the deck in front of our door. How cute is that? It's as if she knew she should be here. We brought her into the house and gave her some food and water. She had a collar on, so we knew she belonged to someone.
Fast-forward three days: my daughter's best friend calls up and says she knows who the pup belongs to. My daughter was heartbroken, as she has been longing for another dog of her own since her beloved Sage passed away in January. Turned out she belonged to a guy who lived around the corner. Callie knew who he was, and also knew he was a druggie. She got his phone number and called him to let him know we had his dog. His response was, shall we say, way less than excited. He just kind of said, "Oh, OK, I'll tell my mom later. I moved out so I'm not there anymore." Long story short, we didn't want that adorable, sweet, loving dog to be raised by someone who wasn't even happy to know where she was! So Hubs told Callie to offer him money. We were all pretty certain he'd take money. We were right. So now we have another canine member of our family. :) Her name is Hemi (like the engine). Yes, my daughter is into cars. ;) She is the cutest, sweetest little thing! She's half Blue Heeler, half Pit Bull Terrier. I'll take a picture of her soon and post it here. She absolutely loves everyone and everything, and never meets a stranger. My daughter is very happy. :)
My daughter is going to turn 16 years old in just four months. I know that seems like a long time from now, but it isn't. It will go by so fast, which is something she reminds me of quite often. LOL She has a few ideas of what she'd like to do for her birthday, but regardless of what we do, I know I'll need to get birthday party supplies. Things like favors and treats and maybe even some party shirts. I want to make it special and memorable for her, so I am willing to go big with the birthday party supplies for sure.
A couple of things she'd like to do is go out of town for a couple of days with three or four of her friends and see a play and go to a museum. She doesn't know if her friends would really be into doing that, but she sure is! But, being the sweetie she is, she's willing to do something else that she and all of her friends would enjoy, just so everyone is happy. :) I think for her, personally, the party and having her friends there is much more important than any gift we give her. She truly treasures her family and friends over everything else in her life. She's special like that. ;) So, whatever birthday party supplies I can get to help give her the best "Sweet 16" party ever will be well worth it! :)
Birthday Party Supplies, Birthdays, Sweet16
How did you ring in 2008? I was here at home nursing cramps from hell. My daughter, bless her sweet heart, was out with her boyfriend, but she made him bring her home about ten minutes before midnight so we could do our traditional New Year's toast together (we always drink sparkling white grape juice *wink*). Wasn't that so sweet of her? She's so awesome. :)
Speaking of my daughter, on Sunday we had the coolest mini blizzard ever (it only lasted a couple of hours), and she and I decided to go out and play in it. It was almost like we were the only two people on the planet (we saw a couple of cars, but that's it). We took the two big dogs out with us because they adore the snow, and we had SO much fun! We ran around in the wind and snow and threw snowballs up for Cheyenne (our Lab) to catch. We couldn't see much further than half a block, if even that. It was fantabulous! Like Callie said, it will be a day we will remember forever. :) As soon as we came inside it stopped. It was as if it had happened just so we could play in it. ;)
Later that night we went to the movies and saw "I Am Legend". It was really good! Much different than I had expected -- in a good way. Have you seen that movie yet? If not, I recommend it. I love anything Will Smith does.
Well, I better go get some sleep now. Again, Happy New Year to you all!! ((((HUGS))))
Happy New Year, I Am Legend, Will Smith, Blizzards
I'm trying like hell to get an entry posted, but my damn web host is still causing me grief. Lately I'm lucky if I can access my blog at all, let alone post an entry! GRRR!
ANYway, how are you all? I imagine you've been busy bees getting ready for Christmas, just like I have. It's so much fun, though, isn't it? I absolutely adore Christmas! I love giving my loved ones gifts and watching their faces as they open them. :)
Speaking of gifts, Hubs and I received one of the best Christmas presents we could have ever asked for. The other day our son David was over, and somehow the conversation turned to how he's had a rude awakening since he got his good job and started making very good money. He's found that many of his friends would like to take advantage of his kind heart and use him for what he now has. Some of them have even been living with him rent-free in his new big house! He's just too nice, I tell ya. Anyway, one of the guys living with him lost his job because he preferred partying to actually working, so he's been avoiding David altogether (he's been living in Dave's basement). The other day, though, Dave saw his friend loading up all his stuff, so assumed he was moving out without even saying thanks or goodbye or anything. That's when I said, "Aren't you glad you had parents who raised you right?", never expecting to get the answer I did. He said, "Yes, I am, and that's exactly what my engineer and I were talking about the other day on our trip. We agreed that how responsible young adults are all boils down to how they were raised. I told him that my Dad was always on me when I was an older teenager, saying stuff like 'What did you get done today?' and 'Did you go out and get a job today?', or 'Why DIDN'T you go out and look for a job today?' when he came home from work at night". I almost fell over. LOL So I said, "So what you're saying is that you actually appreciate what your father did back then? Bugging you all the the time like that and MAKING you responsible for yourself?", to which he replied, "Yeah, I do". Wow! He's finally all grown up! LOL Then I said, "Isn't it funny how when you get older you realize how much you appreciate your parents for how they raised you -- even for the stuff that bugged the hell out of you at the time?" He said "Yep!". It was music to our ears. LOL Our oldest son as told us many times how much he appreciates the way he was raised; even for all the times we were hard on him. And now Dave said it. Wow. I'll tell ya' what, hearing stuff like that makes all the hard times being a parent SO worth it! It makes all those times when you had to administer tough love, even though it broke your heart to do it, worth every tear and all the aggravation. Merry Christmas to us!! :)
Geez, I didn't mean to gush on and on like that. I guess I was more excited about it than I thought. LOL Anyway, I hope you are all having a great weekend so far and aren't feeling totally harried by what you have left to do. Just remember to take out enough time for yourself every day to sit back, breathe in, take a look around you, and enjoy the true meaning of the Season. I hope you make happy and beautiful new memories. :)
{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} to all!
Peace
I have, without a doubt, the most wonderful teenage daughter in the entire universe. I mean, she's 15 years old and right at that age where most girls don't want to be around their moms that much, right? But not her! She's that rare bird who actually loves hangin' out with her old mom. ;) And right now, as I type this, she is sitting (well actually she's probably standing up and jumping all over the place!) at the Pepsi Center in Denver for the Ozzy Osbourne/Rob Zombie concert with her best friend and her best friend's mom and her best friend's mom's best friend. LOL And what does she do? She texts me, calls me, and sends me pictures, just so I can feel a part of it and know she's having a FANTABULOUS time! Is that sweet or what! She is one cool daughter, that's a fact! :)
She's having, as she put it, "the best time ever in my life!". :) She also said, "I've never seen so many Metalheads in one place before, and it's GREAT!". LOL! She's such a hoot! I am SO lucky. And I'm SO happy she's having the best time ever in her life! :)
Cool Teenage Daugthers, Daughters, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Denver
Today is my son David's birthday. He's 24. Twenty-four??? That sounds completely unbelievable to me! How can 24 years have gone by already? It's just way too fast. Scary fast!
Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my boy -- the little boy who never had to be told anything twice (no, I'm not exaggerating); the little boy who never needed a bib because he always ate so neatly; the little boy who, on someone's birthday, would say HAPPY DIRBAY!!
So Dave, to you, my phenomenal son and the funniest man I know, I say HAPPY, HAPPY DIRBAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It continues to be nothing less than crazy around here, and I know I owe many people emails and practically every blogger friend of mine a comment or two, for which I apologize profusely. I really will get back to "normal" (whatever that is), I promise.
Thanksgiving turned out to be .... small. My oldest sister couldn't come at the last minute, so of course neither did her boyfriend, then my other sister called about 15 minutes before she was due to arrive to tell me she had just gotten sick to her stomach and felt like crap, so she couldn't come, either. My oldest son, his wife and my perfectly perfect grandson went to my DIL's family, so it turned out to just be me, Hubs, my other son, my daughter and my nephew. We had fun, though, and LOTS of yummy food. Yeah, I admit it, I'm a damn fine cook. :)
A couple days after Thanksgiving, my perfectly perfect grandson picked up yet another virus, causing a fever and terrible diarrhea, and my DIL wasn't feeling too swift, either. If you remember, my son and his family just got over a horrible bout of stomach flu, with my DIL ending up in the hospital overnight. It's been very, very rough for them. I spoke to my son last night and he said everyone seemed to be on the mend. *knock on wood*
Then I spoke to my other son a bit later, and he told me he had had TWO migraines yesterday! The first one started at about 1:00AM, with the second coming at around 3:00PM. He's had an upper respiratory thing going on the last week or so, so I'm thinking that played into it. I told him to get his butt to the doctor ASAP. He probably has a sinus infection and needs medicine! Two migraines in one 24 hour period is pretty bad. It worries me. I swear. If that boy doesn't make a doctor's appt., I'm going to do it myself and drag his 6'2" body down there by his ear! Men!
My oldest friend (as in we've been friends since we were literally 2 years old) called Sunday evening and told me her family was selling one of their ranches at auction on Monday, and invited me to be there since I was with her and her grandpa the day he bought it about 38 or 39 years ago. I'll never forget that day. There we were, two little girls, afraid to move a muscle for fear the auctioneer would think we were bidding on it. LOL As if! But what did we know? Anyway, I couldn't make it to the auction yesterday, but she called when it was all over and told me everything. It went very well, which I was happy about. It's so bittersweet as you watch your family elders get older and older and it becomes necessary to do things like that. I know exactly what it feels like. It's tough to let go of those things sometimes, but memories are forever, which is such a gift.
The ranch they sold is a gorgeous 9,000+ acres of prime pasture land. Their family would have a cattle drive every year, which she would tell me all about when it was all over. I thought it sounded like such an adventure! Such good memories for her and her entire family. I wish I could have been there for the sale. In a way, I sort of feel like I was. I was thinking about them all afternoon, and remembering the day we sat there with her grandpa when he bought it all those years ago. It made me smile. Even giggle.
Memories. They're such a treasure. What is one of your favorite memories?
I don't know how many of you have had to care for an elderly loved one, but I have. My sisters and I took care of our mother for about 3 years before she passed. It was difficult, but we wanted to do anything and everything we could for her. No one really knows how hard it is to do the simplest of things when ones ability to move around freely is significantly affected, until they're in the middle of it.
Bathing became torturous for her. That was one thing she truly loved: soaking in a nice hot tub at the end of the day. Eventually she was unable to do anything but sit on a chair in the tub and use the shower. Sadly, even that became all but impossible for her. She could no longer step up and over the high edge of the tub. I would have given anything back then to have known about Step In Tubs. Actually, I'm not even sure they existed back then. If they did and we had known about them, we would have bought her one in a heartbeat! A step in tub would have been a godsend for her -- and for us, too. You just don't realize what a simple thing like a bath means to you until you can no longer do it.
If you ever find yourself in the position of caring for an elderly loved one, or if someone close to you is simply getting older and finding it more difficult to do "the little things", please consider a step in tub for them. They, too, might find it a godsend!
I figured since this week is Thanksgiving and all of the Colorado ski areas push to be open by then, I'd honor the tradition with a skier on my blog. :) Besides, as much as I'd like to stop it, winter is'a comin'. Bah. In fact, the weatherman told me that by Tuesday afternoon we will be getting polar air pushing in from the north. Oh joy. lol
Oh man, it was such a terrible weekend for my family! I spoke to my younger son on Friday and found out he was getting sick; by Saturday he was really sick with an upset stomach, fever, major head congestion, headache and a super sore throat. Poor baby! Then I found out that my perfectly perfect grandson began throwing up Saturday morning, and continued to do so all day. In fact, it got to the point where my oldest son had to go to the hospital to retrieve suppositories for it. Finally by Saturday afternoon his vomiting started to slow down, but then he began running a fever. My poor little guy! Then Ryan called me yesterday around noon to tell me that now Cindy (his wife) had it! She, too, was very, very sick. They called the ER and they wanted her to come in to get some fluids since they were sure she was dehydrated. Well, turned out they ended up wanting to keep her in the hospital overnight. Yikes! Then Ryan called around 10:00PM, telling me he was home taking care of Brayden and the new puppy, but was starting to feel sick himself. Oh great!!! By midnight he was fighting back the heaves and calling his mother-in-law to come over to care for Brayden. I wish they lived closer so I could take care of him! I was worried that his MIL would catch it, too, but Ryan said she is going to stay upstairs with Brayden, and he was going to park himself downstairs and not be around her at all. I hope that works! I sure don't want her to get it and end up giving it to everyone else at her house! So here I am, 30 minutes away from my son, sitting up at almost 3:00AM, worrying. I know I can't call him, but I so want to know how he's doing. My poor babies! All of 'em! Damn.
I need to get some sleep, though, because I have major Thanksgiving shopping to do today. I'll be cooking the big bird and the all the fixins for my family. My sis will be bringing a few things, too. My daughter is so excited! She LOVES family holidays! We all do. :) What will you and your family be doing for Thanksgiving this year?
I guess I should go and try to sleep. *grumble* I wish brains came with an "off" switch, don't you? It would make falling asleep SO much easier! LOL
Have a happy Monday!
Thanksgiving, Stomach Flu, Family Dinners
My grandmother was an amazing woman. She was strong and proud and smart, and extremely loving and generous. She was, without a doubt, the matriarch of our family. She taught me many, many lessons that live with me yet today.
The place where she taught me most of my lessons was in her big, heavy, red upholstered rocking chair, with me on her lap. She taught me simply by talking to me, or I'd lie down in her lap and she'd rock me while singing me hymns. She also let me play horsie on it by straddling the big stuffed arms and rocking wildly back and forth. :) It had been her mother's chair before her. It's the same big, heavy, red upholstered rocking chair which is sitting no more than three feet from me as I type this. Its color clashes with every other piece of furniture in my livingroom, but you know what? I couldn't care less. It is much, much more than just a chair. It represents the wisdom of the ages.
One of the lessons I vividly remember her teaching me while sitting in that chair was the lesson of Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 3. Back then, though, I didn't know it was Matthew 6:3; I simply knew it as something important my grandma was telling me. She said, "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth". When I asked her what it meant, she told me it meant that when you do something good, or something generous and giving, don't brag about it. Let it be a secret; it's more meaningful that way. It wasn't until later that I found out what the following verse was. Matthew 6:4 reads "That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly".
I took that lesson and have held it close my entire life. I've held that humility is very important, and have tried to live my life that way always. And not just because I believe God sees me when I'm humble or that it's the right thing to do, but because it actually feels good. It's an amazing feeling to do something good for someone and tell absolutely no one.
All of this was brought back to me tonight in a big way when I read that someone only wishing to be known as "Anonymous Friend" gave $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and all of the charities would receive a share. Some of those charities include a homeless shelter whose previous largest donation was $25,000; they will be receiving $2 million. Another is the Achievement Center, which provides physical therapy and other services to children. The center, which serves 3,200 children a year, will also get $2 million. Those are only 2 of forty-six charities which will benefit from this anonymous friend's amazing generosity.
Mike Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, has been sworn to secrecy and will allow only that the donor worked with the organization for years to identify deserving recipients before the announcement over the summer. That, my friends, is the lesson my grandmother taught me, personified. It is exactly how we should all give, regardless of what it is we are giving. It should come from our hearts, with true sincerity and love, not so we can get recognition and/or advance our social standing. Can you imagine a world like that? I can. And it is truly beautiful.
