Good bye 2010

We had a very different Christmas this year. Monica and her family and Marcy and her family were to be here Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Marcy was going home and Monica was to head to Albany to the other grandparents on Christmas afternoon. Sunday Kellie was coming and Monday everyone was coming back and we would have our Christmas together. Christmas week Marcy came down with the flu and one by one the kids began to get it. We have spent every Christmas of Marcy's life with her. So that was a disappointment. Also, it meant the Maynors and the Holcombs would not get to see each other. Of course, the kids were very disappointed.

We still had a wonderful Christmas, spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Monica, Warren, Carrington, and Clayton. Kellie and her gang got there Sunday night and we were thrilled to see them. Scott was suffering with gout in his wrist the whole time he was here. I, of all people, knew the pain he was suffering. He is always the one who does the cooking so that was hard. He did help the night the Goldsmiths came back. He made some yummy meatballs.

If all goes well, Marcy and family will be here Sunday afternoon. We will have our snack foods that we all enjoy and open presents. The tree is still up and the lights are still on. Guess my cleaning girl will be putting away Christmas decorations for me next week.

I am praying that 2011 will be a much better year for our family. I wish for us and everyone who reads this will have a blessed, happy, and healthy new year.

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!

It is December 23rd and I am not ready for what we call Christmas. I keep reminding myself that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and if I don't have food cooked and sheets washed it will get done when the girls get here. I stay so tired and when the weather is changing, my hands ache and it makes it hard to do much. But - my family will be here and that is what matters. We may even get a touch of snow this year.

I will sit back and watch all the craziness going on around me. We have something to add to the confusion this year - Clayton got a dog for Christmas. I am now grandmother to Max. Clayton loves him - Monica and Carrington do not.

Ed has been so good to help me with shopping but we decided tonight we are shopped out. It will be different next year because I can't keep up shopping for 14 grandchildren. There may be some gift cards instead of presents for the older ones.

I worried so about what to take to the staff at dialysis and was trying to bake cookies. I realized I would never get enough baked so I made 4 pies and took them to them yesterday. Not one person thanked me. I didn't do it for the thanks but you still like to be appreciated. Oh well.

I pray that everyone has a blessed Christmas and a safe, happy, and healthy New year.

Thanksgiving Out the Door and Christmas In

Wow! Decorated the house and table for Thanksgiving and one of my daughters and her family came for the day. Also had a member of our Bible study group who lives alone come and join us. My daughter and granddaughters fixed a lot of the food. I ordered dressing from a local restaurant and with much, much help from my husband, Ed, we got the turkey cooked and the mashed potatoes fixed. We made a recipe from The Pioneer Woman that you can make ahead of time. I put two things on the table from my childhood. Celery stuffed with pimento cheese and pickled peaches. Of course, no one would try the pickles but my husband and I enjoyed them. Some of the grandchildren liked the stuffed celery. I fed the baby several bites of peach and he would make an awful face but he kept eating. It was so funny. He finally raked the last piece off his tray and onto the floor. He had had enough!

After the girls got the kitchen clean, Matthew with a lot of help got all the Christmas decorations out of the attic. Matthew loves to decorate. The more lights he can put up outside, the happier he is. He was so cute (don't anyone tell him I said that) decorating because he was having so much fun. When he was little, he would say "ights are on, ights are off". Madeline, with a little help decorated the tree. It looks beautiful.

Now I have a tree up and fall decorations every where. I have some work to do. I can't complain. They got so much done - gutters cleaned out, roof blown off, leaves raked, and all the Christmas up up. They are go getters.

Today I have been matching up what I have bought for each one and what it cost. I like things to come out as even as possible. Yesterday we were still sitting at the table when Malachi, aged 4, came from the back with a rifle in his hands and a big grin. He had gone into Santa's workshop and that is a no, no. Madeline puts a big keep out sign on the door as soon as I start my shopping. Guess Malachi doesn't get it. We had to explain that Grandma buys for all her grandchildren and that might not be his present. That is the only thing he has asked for.

Well, I am getting tired. Ed took me to our little mall today and pushed me around for a while so I could enjoy being part of the crowd. That is love when your husband takes you to the mall on black Friday. He is not a shopper but he knows I love it. He did get two new pairs of pants out of it. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and as we look towards the celebration of the birth of Christ, let us remember what his love and sacrifice mean to us.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Thanksgiving

I am looking forward to the holidays this year. I have done most of my Christmas shopping on line. Of course, Ed says I shop till the stores close on Christmas Eve. It is rough with 14 grandkids and trying to get ideas for all of them. I have already bought - fooled you, grandkids- I know you are the only ones who read my posts.

Marcy and her family will be here for Thanksgiving along with my cousin Bette, her husband Haskell, and may be her daughter, Connie. We use to spend Thanksgiving together when Bette lived with us. I am so looking forward to it. Of course, I can't do all the things I want to do to get ready but my kids keep saying don't worry so I am not. Monica is going to Albany to be with Warren's family and Scott's Mom and Dad are going to Kentucky. A lot different than last year when every one was here.

I have much to be thankful for and I have to remind myself when I am sitting in the chair at dialysis feeling like I am going to lose it if I can;t get up. Three and a half hours drad by.

I pray for each of you to have a blessed Thanksgiving. Oh, I found out today that my new little great nephew who will be born in April will be named after my brother and his granddaddy, John. I wish he was here to see his two kids all grown up and married and could enjoy his precious grandchildren. He will be celebrating Thanksgiving in heaven. I miss him so much.

Life Does Not Always Go the Way You Plan

My grandchildren have been after me to post but my life changed abruptly in January not long after I posted last. I went to the doctor for a simple procedure on my finger to clean out an open wound of gout. I ended up in the hospital for 6 weeks with mrsa (a serious staph infection). I came home very weak but slowly began to get stronger. On June 4th I had my last physical theraphy session and had just gotten in the car. My doctor called and told me I needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible. I had terrible swelling and couldn' get it under control. I was put on dialysis and spent two weeks in the hospital and two weeks in rehab. I came home very weak and not sure how we would manage. My husband told me we were going to be okay and that it was just going to take time to get stronger. He is my encourager and my helper and without him I couldn't make it.

Dialysis three times a week is not my choice of a way to spend time but I try to make the best of it. Most people sleep or watch TV but I usually take the paper with me and a book. Sometimes I do snooze a little. The place I go is brand new and the people who work there are very nice. I see my doctor there once a week as he goes from chair to chair so that is nice. So far I am doing well and have lost 50 pounds. The nurse yesterday said she thought 40 of it was extra fluid. I do feel much better.

My biggest problem is my gout which has crippled my feet and hands. All the things I love to do I can no longer do such as sewing and quilting. I can still read and I may try my hand at painting again. My life is certainly not what I thought it would be at this age. I wanted to be able to visit grandkids, swim with them, play with them and just have fun. One day when I was feeling very down my granddaughter, Mariah, said "Grandma, I'm just glad you are sitting in your chair."

It is too bad that I had a head knowledge of my body being the temple of God but never lived that way. It is so important to take care of yourself.

This has been a rough year with my illness, car air conditioning going out, and now we have to replace the air conditioning and heat in the house. Lige goes on and you have to keep on keeping on as Ed would say.

Another thing that has been very difficult is finding out Kellie and her family are moving to Kentucky. We will not be able to see them nearly as much and not be able to watch Lily Kate learn to do all the things she will be doing in the next few years. She is an absolute doll. We want be able t hop in the car and go see them because I will have to make arrangements for dialysis when we go. We will go though. They are going to live in a beautiful area and I pray they find a house big enough for all of them and good yard for the boys.

Well, now I have posted and I will try to do better from now on. Hopefully, my posts will be happier from now on.

Welcome 2010!

Wow! the years fly by and before you know it, it is a new year. I think of all the promises or resolutions I have made over the years and how quickly they fade.

This year I have goals. Nothing great - just simply to take better care of myself both physically and spiritually. I would like to make a difference in someone's life this year. I want to make memories for my grandchildren. I want to be more faithful in writing in the grandchildren's
journals. It is painful to write but I can do a little each day. I want to spend more time in God's Word and have a better understanding. I want to spend time with my two Christian "partners", Pat and Mildred and learn from them. I want to spend time with my grandchildren, especially the older ones, encouraging them in their interests. I want each of my grandchildren to see Jesus in my life. If I can do all these things, it will be a good year.

Our Christmas time together as a family was wonderful - loud, fun, and crazy. The kids seemed pleased with their gifts and the "Cousins Productions" play was great. Only one person was missing - Joey. May be someday he will come back to us. He is in God's care. My niece got engaged and I pray this time she has planning her wedding will be a time of joy. She has always been special to me and I haven't even met her fiance. Her Mom thinks a lot of him. My prayer for them is they have "three" in their marriage and they can make it through the good times and the hard times.

May each one who reads this have a blessed New Year.