November is gone.
I really must admit that it wasn’t too bad. It really wasn’t bad at all. The last week was especially wonderful for
me. I started to sum it up with a
Facebook status update, but I really think it deserves more. I have a “my cup runneth over” feeling, and I
want to say a little more about it. Next
time life gives me lemons, maybe I can look back and remember that it has given
me sugar, too.
My
birthday was lovely. I had to work on my
birthday proper, so Matt and I had an afternoon-into-evening date the day
before. We started off at the North
Broad Antique Mall in Rome. I can easily
spend hours in there. Matt does not have
the same stamina I have, but he held up pretty well. I got a large mirror to go above the
piano. The space has been empty since we
redecorated the living room last year.
The mirror has a gold frame, but I plan to paint it a deep teal color
during my Christmas break. Then we
headed to the Goodwill for a while.
After that, we ran by Home Depot to get me a little space heater to keep
in my locker at work. Then we went to
dinner at Red Lobster (my choice). After
dinner, we hit Ross and T.J.Maxx. The
kids spent the night with my parents, so we shared a bottle of wine or three
when we got home. It was just a
wonderful, wonderful day. I couldn’t ask
for more.
Last Thursday, I had school in Carrollton. Luke’s puppy was due to be neutered, so I
dropped him off on my way. After class,
I went shopping. There is not much in
life that makes me happier than giving gifts to people I love. If I won the lottery, you would all be
showered with lovely gifts on a regular basis. A friend of mine just had a baby, so I picked a
gift up for her. We do a Christmas gift
exchange at my Grandmother’s on Thanksgiving, so I got my stuff for that. We buy for the kids, and the adults do a
Dirty Santa gift exchange. My Mom’s
family is loud and crazy, and it gets pretty funny. Matt has a cousin who was just diagnosed with
gastric cancer, and I wanted to do something special for her. I had seen an idea for a “sunshine box” on
Pintrest, and Matt’s cousin is that kind of person who loves everybody and
always makes you feel so good. I thought
we might return a little sunshine her way.
Everything in the box is yellow.
It was so much fun to get that stuff together. That Friday night, my SILs, April and Lisa,
and my MIL, Cathy, added some stuff to the box, and Cathy and I went to visit
her. She is scary skinny and in a lot of
pain. Her prognosis is poor, but she is
determined to put up a fight and beat this, so prayers for her are much
appreciated.
The next night, we had our annual friends' Thanksgiving dinner. As always, hosted by my friend Dana. It is always a pleasure to see these people. I usually see them just once or twice a year, and I want the time to last forever. I went by myself this year while Matt stayed here and managed the kids. I was having such a good time that I was very tempted to spend the night, but I had to work the next night, so I was a good girl.
On Wednesday of this week, family started rolling into
town for Thanksgiving. Seth & April
hosted us on Wednesday night for an informal gathering of cousins and friends, and a good time was had by all. On Thursday at noon, we went down to Matt’s
parents’ house and ate dinner with his dad’s extended family. There are a lot of people I only get to see
once a year. We visited there for a
couple of hours, and then we headed to my Granny’s. They were ready for us to arrive, and the
Dirty Santa started right after we got there.
We came home with a ceramic-coated skillet, a bottle of wine, 2
beautiful wineglasses, a hoop of cheddar cheese (an annual gift from my
Granny), and lots and lots of goodies for the kiddos. We came home around 5:00 because Matt’s
cousin’s daughter was spending the night with us that night. Around 8:00pm, they said they were hungry, so
I started looking through the fridge.
There was not a darn thing to eat!
I offered to open a can of soup, but they asked if we could go back to
Granny’s to eat. I called and it was
fine, so we went. They had everything
out and ready for us when we got there.
What a treat! I really, really
enjoyed seeing my family from out-of-town.
I was in just the right kind of mood this year to appreciate talking to
everyone. I wasn’t ready to leave when
the time finally came. I regret the many
times I have been around family and only talked to my own little group and been
ready to leave the whole time. These
people are awesome.
I slept late on Friday because I was on-call to work that
night. When I got the call saying I
didn’t have to go in, I immediately messaged my friend Tiffany to ask if I
could visit her and her newborn baby girl.
I drove around for about an hour trying to finding their house and I was
so frustrated, but as soon as I got there and got my hands on that sweet baby,
it melted away. What a doll! I visited with them for a while and headed to
pick up Luke a birthday gift and look for a dress to wear to a wedding. So I did go Black Friday shopping this year,
but I didn’t start until 10pm on Friday. :-)
Saturday was Luke’s tenth birthday. We are having a skating party for him next
week, but we gave him a bean bag chair on his actual birthday, and Bonnie
cooked him pancakes for breakfast. We
also had two cousins spend the night Friday night, so that was fun for
everyone. On Saturday night, the kids
got to go spend the night with their Granna & Papa while Matt and I went to
a wedding. It was beautiful and relaxed,
and we saw tons of people we love dearly but rarely get to see.
And that brings me to today… the only negative thing in
this whole post. Rosemary started
throwing up at Mom and Dad’s last night.
They didn’t call to let us know because they didn’t want to ruin our
evening. Mom woke up throwing up at 4:00
this morning, so it is definitely a virus.
It always happens after the holidays.
It is just the price you pay for having so many people under one roof,
hugging and laughing and loving on each other.
Rosemary and I missed our weekly Sunday dinner with the Ingrams. I slept late this morning and got ready to go
to work. Just before walking out the
door, I checked my schedule to see who I was working with tonight and realized
that I WASN’T ON THE SCHEDULE. I am such
a ding dong! Since I was well-rested,
dressed and ready, I called to see if they needed me, but they didn’t. Instead I used this time to complete my last
two online school assignments. That
means I am completely finished with two classes, and I only have a final exam
in my other class!
We normally eat with Mom & Dad on Sunday evenings,
but we didn’t tonight since Mom and Roey are sick. My Dad brought the whole meal to us…
barbeque, buns, chips, and cheesecake for Luke’s birthday. So sweet!
Before he left he gave Matt and me an early Christmas gift. It was a card with a very generous amount of
money in it. When I was younger, I would
refuse such gifts out of a need for independence. My mother once told me that when you refuse a
heartfelt gift, you deny the giver the joy of giving. That stuck with me, so now I usually receive
gifts with gratitude and make a mental note to return the offering of love. I love my family so much, and I wish everyone
were blessed with such wonderful people in their lives.
At the beginning of the post, I said that “life” had
given me sugar, but really “life” didn’t give me these good things, God
did. It is only right to acknowledge
that all good and precious gifts are from our heavenly father. They come to us in different ways, but they
are all from His goodness and bounty.
Let me not ever forget that.
A few photos from the month:
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| Bonnie with cousin CO at another gathering at Seth & April's |
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| Look what Mom bought! ' Tis the season! |
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| Bye Sailor! I'm sorry in advance for what is about to happen to you. :-( |
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| The sunshine box before the goodies from April, Lisa, and Cathy. It was busting at the seams with yellow goodies! |
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| A selfie of Roey and Liam. Quote of the night: Liam: "Rosemary, Can I play with that toy you have?" Roey in a sassy tone: "For a dolla and a holla". Liam (looking confused): "Whay are you speaking Spanish???" |
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| Bonnie and Cate spent the night at my in-laws. Roey opted to stay here with the boys. |
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| Friends Thanksgiving 2013 |
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| Dirty Santa at Granny Ponder's house |
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| Rosemary got a spa set and couldn't wait to use it. |
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| I always make the kids birthday banners to hang in the kitchen so they'll see them when they wake up. I forgot, so Matt did it. I'm not sure what that is, but Luke loved it! |
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| Me with the groom, Shane. |
