Jamie and her daddy... my big brother Jim...

Jamie and Pop work on her new afghan

me and my niece, Sarabeth..

Cody, Marquee and their puppy, Sammy
me with my Cousin Christie's son Cole... I held him while he napped... and loved it!

IN case you were wondering... this was the best Thanksgiving I've had in many, many years. I almost feel like I have a "joy hangover" although I promise, I didn't indulge in any adult beverages.

Our family gathered at my Aunt Ginger's in Fayetteville, Georgia. For those of you who aren't from around here - Fayetteville is about 45 minutes south of Atlanta. Ginger and Carl have lived in the same house since I was - oh... maybe 11 or 12. I had Sarabeth and Jamie ride with me so I could have some extra time with them. They were so sweet! We sang along to Christmas music on the radio... hearing Jamie sing, "Oh come let us adore Him... Christ the Lord"... somehow seemed so much more reverent and holy than when grownups sing it.

My grandmother listed all the people who were there so she could remember -

It was my mom and her two sisters, Linda and Ginger...

their three husbands: pop, Charles and Carl

mom's brother Al and his wife Edna

my grandmother Leta

my brother Jim, his wife Angie and their two daughters, Sarabeth and Jamie

my cousin Kevin, his wife Tobie and their kids Devyn and Sydney

my cousin Christie, her husband Nathan and their baby Cole

Nathan's mom, Rebecca

my cousin Amanda, her husband Derrick (I think that's his name) and son Rowan

me and two of my boys - Cody and Austin - and Cody's fiancee Marquee

and their dog Sammy

Grandma counted 29 people so I'm missing somebody. Or we miscounted.

Anyways... it was the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, buffet style, with just about anything you could want... I got about a tablespoon of everything - not just so that I could eat less, but so that I could try everything before I got full. And I still didn't get to eat everything.

Jamie ate only crackers. She's going through a picky stage.

We formed a "Princess Table" in the dining room - girls only - and boys were only allowed in at the end of the meal, by reservation only.

After lunch we all stayed for several hours and had a really good time taking pictures, holding babies, playing paperdolls, talking...

Once again, Austin's dad was a no show when it was time to pick him up. Austin spent an hour calling his dad from several different phones trying to get him to answer the phone, leaving messages... I'm sure he'll have some champion reason why he didn't answer the phone or return the messages. Last year at Christmas it was that his "phone was out of range"... although we called both the home phone and his cellphone and had a time prearranged for him to pick Austin up. It's bad enough that he makes no effort to see Austin but to TELL him you're coming to get him and to just stand him up... that ranks up there with Jon Gosselin and Michael Lohan parenting.

It won't happen again. I've decided to just be the bad guy in this picture and not allow any more visits. Let him take me to court if he disagrees. Let him FIGHT for the right to see his child because I would rather Austin be mad at me for not letting him see his dad than have to ever again see that child's disappointment over being rejected by his dad. Enough is enough.

I took Austin to Starbucks instead and you know what... he was happy with that. I think he might have been happier to go to Starbucks than to go to his dad's.

We went back to my parents' house and hung out... eating leftovers, visiting with grandma, watching tv. Cody went to Thanksgiving with Marquee's family and then came home to hang out. I spent the night in Cody's room so I had the grandpuppy and the grandkitty glued to me all night...but I did sleep pretty well, all things considered. Cody slept on the floor so I could have his bed... Austin slept on a cot in the computer room. I woke up around six and Cody got back in his bed then.

Cody had driven my car Thursday night to go to Sonic to get drinks... and he said that it felt like my brakes weren't working right. When I shared this with my parents Friday morning, Pop decided that it would be easier to replace brakes than replace a daughter (and yes, this made me cry)... so they took my car to their much trusted mechanic and he gave Old Sissy an overhaul. She got new rotars, new brake pads, fixed two belts that were on their way to breaking (which would have caused a very expensive repair), changed the oil, replaced a brake light (that I didn't know was out)... he did things that I wouldn't have known needed to be done.

If you scroll back a few entries, you'll see that one of my Christmas wishes was for my car to get the kind of upkeep that would keep it running for several more years for me. I can't even begin to tell you what an answered prayer that was for me to have some peace of mind on my car! Thanks Mawmaw and Pop for getting Sissy back to good health!

While Sissy was getting fixed, I drove down to meet my friend Mary for breakfast at the Chickfila Dwarf house restaurant in Fayetteville. Dwarf House was the original concept that birthed Chickfila sandwiches... and around Atlanta there are several of these "table service" Chickfila restaurants. I had hoped that Mary would be able to meet my sister-in-law Angie, as they have coordinated many times over the past year regarding my health, safety and well-being. They are the Dynamic Duo who have kept me together at times when I felt like things were becoming unraveled and they really needed to meet... so Angie, her sister Mandy and their mom Trudy joined Mary and I for breakfast! Having a hen party to start my Friday was just an incredible blessing! I love all of those ladies!

After breakfast I went back to mom and dad's and waited for Cody to get ready... then we went to get Marquee... and went to hang out at Barnes and Noble (something else we don't have here in the mountains!). We had lunch at Cody's favorite restaurant, La Parilla... and then passed some time shopping at the Ulta makeup store with Marquee while she waited until it was time to meet her mom at the theater next door so she could see New Moon with her mom and her aunt.

Back to mom and dad's... and Jim and Angie were there for a visit. Got to love on my girls a little bit more... and work out the logistics for getting grandma home.

Grandma took a fall back on November 9th and since then, we've kept her with family members. She's 86... she's intelligent and independent and strong... and she has appreciated having time to visit with family but she was ready to go back home. Since she had been gone so long, we really needed to get her settled in - not just drop her off in the driveway. She doesn't live far from me and Jim... but she lives "over the mountain"... it's a 45 minute drive but she's only 20 miles away... a steep, curvy drive over unlit mountain roads. It's the kind of drive where you have to be on your toes. I don't mind it - it's a beautiful drive - but I can't do it at night. I just don't see well enough at night to do that.

Sooooo... it was decided that Jim and Angie would go home, get a nap, get unpacked and settled in -- that I would wait until my car was ready and then drive Grandma to Jim and Angie's and they would take her the rest of the way home.

It was such a blessing to have that time in the car with her. She was able to fill in the blanks for me as far as family history and Atlanta history and share more about her testimony and the things that she has been through - much like the things I have been through, forty-five years earlier! I was able to tell her more about how God has worked in my life over the past year or so. How many times have you heard people say that they wished they could ask a question of a relative who has passed on? Yesterday, I asked those questions.

I dropped Grandma with Jim and Angie and got a few more squeezes from my nieces... then went home and settled into my nest. And that's where I'll be until church tomorrow... and then again until Monday morning.

Hope you're all having a great holiday! Love and hugs!