Stuff About Today

Wake up time: 2am. Read for an hour and a half and went back to sleep. Finally got up at 8:45

How I'm feeling: sneezing, aching, exhausted - caught a second wind after dinner and feel somewhat better tonight but I'm not running any marathons

How's the weather? Cold and getting colder. We had rain today and now have 35 mile per hour winds and temperatures below freezing. It's not going to snow here but some of those wet spots might ice up. Good thing I don't have to go anywhere!

What I wore today:black yoga pants, purple long sleeve shirt, purple fuzzy socks, same tacky huge red flannel shirt

Hairstyle of the day: fourth day hair, still not greasy but not ready for a closeup. It's amazing how well your "biology" adapts when you stop washing your hair every day. I'm really close to being able to wash about once a week which is great for avoiding split ends/dry hair, especially as the texture of my hair is changing as I age. This picture was from yesterday while wearing an outfit that I decided not to wear because it wasn't warm enough.

Makeup: whatever hasn't been cleaned off since yesterday

What I watched today: still not back to our normal programming (Grey's Anatomy, etc is not on), watched the Weather Channel a lot due to a mild case of snow envy, The Big Bang Theory had a new episode

What I'm reading: Arnold: The Early Years (biography of Arnold Schwarzenagger, free on nook), 1 Peter chapter 3, I downloaded 8 free Beth Moore books from eChristianresources.com on my Nook. I love Beth Moore's teaching style. Those books would have cost between $15-20 each so that was a great find. Also... Mayim Bialek (Blossom, Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory) has a great blog on Kveller.com. She's currently on a trip - a pilgrimage of sorts - to Israel and I really enjoyed her latest blog entry.

What I ate today: a banana, minestrone soup, pinto beans/greens/rotisserie chicken, crunchy vegetable soup, popcorn

What I drank today: pomegranate tea, water

Where I went today: upstairs for food and to heat my tea

What I did today: watched tv, played farmville2 - free water today!- not much else

Visitors to the Hollow: Rosalita the stray cat, the trash men

Goals for the week/on the wish list: move the white shelf with my Barbies into my bedroom, set up a "supply" shelf in the kitchen side of the Whine Cellar

Thought for the day: H.O.P.E. - hold on, pain ends

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If you're in the path of the big ole snowstorm, I pray you stay safe and warm!

Love and hugs, y'all!

A Blog Format

Some days I'm just not inspired to blog. I blogged less in the past year despite having more free time than ever before. I believe it was because some days there just wasn't much to talk about. Often my days sort of run into each other.

My blog has been about telling my story, good or bad, for the sake of connecting with others and keeping a record for myself. With that in mind, I decided to create a basic blog format to record a few details of every day with the hopes of finding similarities and differences throughout the year. I may even discover a few habits that I need to break (apple crisp for breakfast?). I'm sure I'll add or remove categories and I'm certain there will be times I won't want to stick to this format (that's the whole second child, left-handed thing). If you have suggestions for topics you'd like for me to include, I'd love to hear them.

Some days I'll have more to share than just this format but on the days that there's really nothing new under the sun, I'm going to just blog the basics. I'm not going to promise 365 days of blogging but I think I'll blog more often and I hope my format will be a good writing prompt.

Wake up time: 1:30am went back to sleep in the recliner and woke up at 7:30am for good
How I'm feeling: not too bad, sleepy but not as exhausted as the past few days, back pain is bearable, joints a little stiff, little bit of a sore throat
How's the weather? Mild and overcast most of the day. Temps in the 40's/50's.
What I wore today: beige leggings under m&m pj pants, pink long sleeve tshirt, big red flannel shirt, pink fuzzy socks
Hairstyle of the day: third day hair, straight
Makeup: Just a little to make sure I didn't forget how to do it
What I watched today: The Rose Parade, no football, Secrets of the Tower of London, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead,  HGTV Dream Home - really bummed that Grey's Anatomy and The Five weren't on today
What I'm reading: Arnold: The Early Years (biography of Arnold Schwarzenagger, free on nook), 1 Peter chapter 2
What I ate today: Marie Callendar Apple Crisp with cool whip, Bacon sandwich on white bread, blackeyed peas, greens, jasmine rice, chex mix
What I drank today: chai tea, cranberry juice, water
Where I went today: the back deck to see the rose bushes that Austin planted
What I did today: watched tv, worked on ancestry.com, played farmville2, took pictures of the cat
Visitors to the Hollow: a former member of the Basement Clown Posse and Austin's friend Sean
Goals for the week/on the wish list: Want to see Saving Mr. Banks, been thinking about cooking stuffed shells, it's time to pack up the Christmas decorations - I took three ornaments off one tree so I've at least started *eyeroll*, gave up on Christmas cards but need to mail a few thank you notes.
Thought for the day: Happiness is an emotion and is temporary. Joy is an attitude of the heart and is eternal.

Happy New Year! Love and hugs, y'all!

Another New Year's Eve

Another year is ending. Everyone is blogging their 2013 recaps or their 2014 resolutions. Maybe it's the cynic in me but that all feels really stale. This past year has been so significant in so many ways that it is impossible to wrap it up in a few short paragraphs. My hopes and prayers for the coming year are bigger than a resolution. I feel like I have evolved as a writer and observer of life beyond the stage of believing my words can do justice to the occasion. I also feel like today and tomorrow are just another Tuesday and Wednesday in the grand scheme of things.

So many people in my life have said goodbye to people and things that mattered in the past year. There's been so much pain - both physical and emotional. I reached the point of no longer being able to work. Or go out to eat. Or travel far. At a time when I was needed... I was unable to go and be and do. It's hard to not be able to be who you have always been. It's harder to summarize those feelings of impotence. It's hard to go from determined single mom, leaping tall buildings in a single bound... to being a girl who knows the answers to the all the questions on Live with Kelly and Michael.

We've aged. My grandmother turned 90. My daddy retired. My mom went on medicare. My daughter in law finished college. There's more grey in my hair and more lines in my face. I feel wiser and calmer. Life goes on until it doesn't and all the tears in the world can't turn back the clock, nor would we really want them to. Everything we lived through is a lesson we don't have to learn again.

I could resolve to do a lot of things next year but honestly, the thing I want most is validation. I want to get what I deserve. I've worked hard for a lot of years and would much rather still be doing that if I could do it without pain. Since I can't do it, I want to be able to collect the social security I paid into and not be a burden on my family. It's hard enough not being able to contribute in a physical way, I want to be able to contribute financially.

I want to be as healthy and strong as I can be. I want to be a good steward of my time and talents. I want to make this world better for others. I want to inspire people. I want to give hope. I want to know more at this time next year than I know right now. I want to drive down our country roads with the windows rolled down and the radio turned up, singing along at the top of my lungs. I want to take the best of me and make it better. I don't know if those are resolutions or prayers or hopes and dreams. That's what I want.

This year I spent a lot of time by myself. I'm glad I like me otherwise that would have been a pretty miserable thing. I guess that's why people drink or do drugs or whatever, because they can't live with themselves. I'm still, no matter how much time I spend in the nest, I'm still never bored. I wake up every day with a purpose, even if that purpose is just getting through that day. I look forward to the pleasures in life - guilty or otherwise. I'm not ashamed of who I am. I would love for there to be more but I don't blame myself. You can't regret what's past because you can't change it. You can only strive to do better next time. I hope I still do that. I hope I'm still flexible to make adjustments.

So for 2014... goodbye Sherwood Drive, hello Cedar Hollow. Goodbye time clock, goodbye alarm clock. Goodbye pantyhose, hello fuzzy socks. I spent the day dog sitting with a little dachshund named Oscar cuddled up beside me... babysitting two little red headed girls... loving, laughing, living. No matter how much changes in our lives those things remain - loving, laughing, living. Until we don't.

Happy New Year. Love and hugs, y'all.

Just A Few Things

Yesterday my niece Jamie turned 9. I started blogging right around the time she was born - one of my first blog posts was about her birth. I didn't migrate my blog from AOL when they closed down the journals. I wish I had some of those early blog posts. I'm glad to not have some of them. Life goes on.

Two nights after Jamie was born I spent New Year's Eve with Purple Michael at the apartment of some friends of his. Michael was house sitting. It was the calmest and quietest of NYE's - I'm not sure we even had wine. We had dinner at Boston Market - rotisserie chicken - and snacked on a bunch of appetizers on into the New Year. We watched old movies. I'm serious, very quiet evening. It's poignant to me because there were several really great conversations we had that night that have always stuck with me and one of them was talking about Jamie's birth.

We (collectively, as a family) had a hectic weekend as we moved my parents up here full time. They have a renter in their house in Riverdale and she ended up needing to move in earlier than they had expected so things were expedited and more rushed than they had expected. I always believe in cosmic timing and that everything happens precisely when it's meant to happen. Either way, there were three of my four brothers assisting and my two nephews, Cory and Matthew who are 16 and 14 along with Austin on the moving crew up here. If we were ever to start a family industry it would not be moving. None of us has really great upper body strength. But it was memorable. That's the timing thing. There is still another load of stuff there STILL and that may be moved tomorrow.

Since I can lift practically nothing heavier than air, my job was animal control and if there is another load tomorrow that will be the role I play then. I was rather weary/weepy Saturday from fatigue and pain from having morphed into full time doggie duty (as opposed to doggie doodie, although they both stink) immediately after our holiday merry making marathon. Our Merry-thon. Sorry. I was just trying it out. Anyways... I didn't sleep Friday night and Saturday just felt so overwhelming with all the moving and people carrying heavy stuff while I watched and I still had dog sitting duty until Sunday afternoon. Yesterday afternoon when my parents got home - still weird to say that - I came down to the Whine Cellar and crashed. I slept 12 hours last night. Today I have felt much closer to my usual subpar self and haven't had nearly as much pain as usual.

I have two really poignant potential posts brewing about the fact that my parents have moved out of the house they have lived in for 37 years and the fact that tomorrow is my dad's last day of work after working for the same company for 46 1/2 years. I say they're brewing but the truth is, they may never make it to the keyboard. It's hard for a gypsy like me to even wrap my mind around such things. We'll see.

I have three new articles of clothing in transit from zulily - leggings, maxi skirt and big hoodie. I may wear all three at the same time. My current style is somewhere between "homeless" and "Duggar Family reject". I asked for fuzzy socks for Christmas and got an embarrassing number of them. I told my nieces they could expect me to pick them up from school wearing nothing but fuzzy socks - I actually meant that I wasn't going to wear SHOES - but it came across as if I was taking up residence at the nudist colony down the street. I'll just say that from the ankles down, I am STYLIN'!

Old Flame messaged that he had some time off and wanted to come visit. I told him he was welcome whenever, just give me enough notice that I can shave my legs. He won't come. He's been trying to get up this way since July. It's partly my fault since I never answer the phone and honestly just don't get too excited about things. Not much happens around here.

I'm excited about the Winter Olympics.

I'm watching Hollywood Game Night - which is really, really funny.

I've been binge-watching Downton Abbey.

We had eggs, bacon, grits and biscuits for dinner. Me and Austin have been mostly just eating Christmas leftovers for the past week. This was a nice change. And Pop cooked which was even better.

My mom got all her Christmas stuff put away today. Mine hasn't moved. I promised my body I wouldn't ask anything of it for 48 hours post-dog sitting. Since my trees are purple and pink I'm just packing away the Christmas specific stuff and leaving the trees and lights.

I got a Christmas card all the way from Australia! Thanks Wendy! It totally made my day.

And Little Kitty has just come to sit under my left arm. I'm through typing. Happy Monday!

Love and hugs!

Finding My Way

I'm sort of feeling a heightened sense of emotion today... partially because of pain, it's worn me down this week with the additional problems I've been having. There is a lot of fear involved with the increased pain - am I ok? Do I need to see a doctor? Is it worth the extra out of pocket expense? Or is this just something I have to push through. Am I being wise in delaying care? It's difficult to know what's best so I have been just following the cheapest, least invasive path and praying that God will sustain me.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by the additional responsibilities with opening Cedar Hollow up to family members for the holidays. It's a mixed blessing. It involves more work before and afterwards and it comes with a emotional high of having many loved ones in the same place... which is followed by grief that those folks are not part of our every day life. Why can't every day be Christmas? Because I'd die after about three consecutive Christmases. I'm overwhelmed with taking care of the old lady dogs because it's not something I do easily or usually but it's the one task that I could take over to ease the burden on my parents during their move.

I'm also a bit emotional at the fact that after tomorrow, our family home that I grew up in, that place, be it ever so humble, that has been home my entire life will no longer be home. Yes, the new home is much better. I love living here. I love this community (and pray that I will be strong enough to be a bigger part of it one day). I'm relieved that my parents will be in a safer place but worried that Cody no longer has Mawmaw and Pop living next door, taking care of him and Marquee.

Austin is emotional because he's having girl trouble. Not my story to tell so I won't elaborate. He's bummed enough that he asked if he could skip the overnight time with the dogs which means for me that I will have been taking care of the dogs from 8am Friday morning through whatever time the family gets here on Saturday afternoon + however long it takes for the truck to be unloaded + quite possibly overnight Saturday night so that my parents can go back to the Southside after they bring this load. Right now I'm either "on duty" for the next 16 hours or I'm on duty for the next 48 hours or somewhere in between. I'm hurting badly enough that I'm dizzy and nauseous but God is good and these dogs have been much, much easier to care for today.

A friend of mine posted this article: http://observer.com/2013/12/rabbi-shmuley-on-duck-dynasty-and-biblical-homophobia/ and my initial reaction was ... I'm just so weary of any difference in religious beliefs or spirituality or moral code being labeled "homophobic" or "hate speech". I wanted to send a private message to my friend and share my concerns with her - from a place of love, a place of "as a Jew, you know what it means to be persecuted for your religious beliefs". In order to have a logical/rational conversation with this very wise woman, I wanted to make sure I had done my research. Well... instead... this article really spoke to my heart and taught me a few things about the  Ten Commandments and sin. It's very well articulated and although I don't entirely subscribe to every single tenet of his article, I really came away from it feeling enlightened and feeling a sense of kinship - a place where we agree. I think on so many levels if we could just get past name calling and accusation, we may find that we're more alike that we thought. I would just encourage you to read this for yourself.

Today I was really standing in the need of prayer and I promise you, people were praying. I felt strength that I haven't had lately. I'm battling pain - more pain and more discomfort than usual but I found a few tricks that make things easier and I believe every bit of relief I've found today has been the result of answered prayer. May we all enter into 2014 with a hope and belief that prayer changes things. May we boldly ask and proudly acknowledge the Hand of God in our lives. May we seek to find common ground with those who are different. And for those we can't understand, for those whose lives are different from our own, may we first attempt to love them before we endeavor to change them.

I'm gonna lay down with a dog or two and the remote control. I pray that God will bless this blog and use it for His glory  - to grow us up as Christians, to make us better people, to search for good in people and understanding of ourselves.

Love and hugs, y'all.

Sharing A Little Whine

I started blogging yesterday and it came out as a big long whine so I abandoned in hopes that I would have a more positive message to offer today.

Spoiler alert: I don't.

It's sort of a delicate subject and I want to avoid embarrassing us all with TMI so I'll speak in code. The surgery from two years ago was supposed to be a two parter and while it's definitely time to go back in for a tune up, there is no insurance to pay for it so I'm having to just pray my way through it. I've got some major inflammation/possible infection going on around there and every trip to the bathroom is a fresh new level of hell. And sitting/getting up and down? Fuhgetaboutit. I've been using my natural childbirth skills way more than I ever used them in childbirth. I've nearly bitten a hole in my lip trying to brace myself. It sucks.

Have I mentioned that I'm dog sitting? My parents are turning their house over to a renter. This was THE ONLY time they could really get her moved in as she's coming from Washington DC (I think), the parent of some very good friends/neighbors across the street. This means that my parents had to rush right from Christmas to finishing up things at the house they have lived in for 37 years while my dad finishes up his last few days at a job he's had for 46 years. They are in overdrive therefore the Old Lady Dogs are with me. The Old Lady Dogs are high maintenance, particularly Lily who is semi-incontinent and sometimes will want to go outside a dozen times an hour. That dozen times an hour is not one of my over-dramatizations for the sake of more interesting blogging. She really goes out that often. Yesterday it got to be too much and I was ready to put one or more of us out of our misery. I'm only half kidding.

Fortunately the dogs settle down in the early evening because they ARE old dogs and fortunately my kid comes up as soon as it gets dark and stays with the dogs all night. The kid is a vampire anyways so he's just using his insomnia for the greater good. I come upstairs at daylight, he goes to bed.

One thing that really soothes the savage beasts that are hounding me is a nice hot bath. Ryan and Sara got me these really awesome bath salts that have eucalyptus, peppermint oil and lemongrass in them and they make me feel like a brand new person. I indulged in a hot bath yesterday afternoon with two cats and two dogs hanging out in the bathroom with me - not in the tub with me, just in the bathroom. Little Kitty managed to get himself tangled in my bra and Lily had a whining fit - I wasn't sure if she had to go to the bathroom or just didn't understand what I was doing in the tub - so the bath was way too short and it's benefits quickly diminished. That was when I seriously began to wonder how I was going to make it until dark.

During the Summer when we had the water problem I developed a pretty uncomfortable rash on my eyelids. I thought I had gotten rid of any of the eyeshadow that I used during that time but on Christmas Eve I put on some eyeshadow that immediately burned like it had during the Summer. We have a little leak now but I'm fairly certain the culprit is the makeup, not the water. At any rate... my right eye is itching constantly and it's a sheer act of will not to scratch it constantly.

I also have a nasty earache and fluid behind my left eardrum. At times that pain is bad enough to distract from the other pain. I have to resist the urge to qtip the heck out of it.

The demon gut pain flared at 2am last night. It was bad enough that I thought, "to heck with it... I'm calling 9-1-1 and they can just add that debt to my other medical debt" and then I thought, "I'd rather lay here and die than be poked and prodded or have anybody even think about touching me at this point". And I read for a little while and took a pain pill and eventually got back to sleep. Today I'm still feeling the "shadow" of that pain but it's nowhere near as bad as it was over night. I survived another round!

Having fibromyalgia means that after a period of unusually excessive activity - such as cooking and shopping in preparation for the holiday - leaves me feeling like I have the flu or some deadly infection. Every step takes enormous effort. I am drained and exhausted. The doctors have me watching the demon gut pain for signs of infection/inpaction and honestly I've waivered between "I'm dying" and "Oh, this is just that stupid f-word again". The fact that it eases up at times tells me that it has to be the fibro. It wouldn't resolve itself otherwise. It's a mental battle to reassure myself that I'm not dying but I'm sure I'm not.

So all of that plus the pain from interstitial cystitis, spondylolisthesis, piriformis syndrome, sciatica, arthritis, spinal stenosis, muscle spasms, migraines, etc... it's all hitting me at once and it doesn't look good on me.

Ok. Turn the page. How cute is my little grandma? My girl cousins and I decided last night that she looks like Mrs. Claus. We agreed to have DNA testing to see if we descend from any North Pole / Elfin races. We just need to get her a little red dress trimmed in white fur.

I promised to share my list of Christmas gifts with you. There are people who give and receive gifts in the hundreds and thousands of dollar price range. Let me assure you, there is no Lexus with a big red bow in my driveway. However, remember my wish list from a few weeks ago? I've got some family members who really pay attention to my blog because I got lots and lots of great stuff off of that list! I got:

• several pair of fuzzy socks
• some gorgeous sterling silver earrings
• a gift card to Ingles
• a Visa gift card
• a check from Mrs Claus Grandma
• the aforementioned awesome bath salts - along with lotion and body wash
• a DVD of the Carrie Underwood Sound of Music (me and my nieces are going to have a sing-a-long soon!)
• a fabulous purple comforter that is the perfect weight to snuggle under (and Little Kitty says the perfect cushion for sleeping on)
• the softest furry throw that you've ever felt
• a plaque that my Aunt made for me - that totally made me cry - I had to hand it to my sister-in-law to read
• a book about the economic crisis that happened in 2008 (started reading it last night, very interesting)
• my annual calendar of family photos
• a book about outhouses - yay! coffee table book! 
• a zulily gift certificate (from a blog reader - I was able to buy a sweatshirt, leggings and a maxi skirt!) 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but trust me - I had a very good Christmas and I was reminded how blessed I am, more because of the presence of people in my life instead of the presents from people in my life. The presents were great but just being surrounded by people I love was gift enough.

Today I'm planning to let the girls stay outside until they bark to come in. We'll have a warmish afternoon and it's good for them to get outside for a bit. That will help reduce the number of times I am up and down. I'm also going to risk having to clean up a puddle over jumping at Lily's every whim. Some of it is old age and some of it is control. I've got to remind her who the Alpha Dog is here.

I'm being a little more proactive rather than reactive in dealing with pain today. I keep myself on a fairly strict medication allowance because I try very hard to keep from being dependent on pain meds. I'm in a season of time where there is more pain and I don't have the emotional or physical strength to tough it out right now.

I'm working on staying very mellow today. A lot of it is mental - once I get whiny and start cataloging my aches and pains, I become much more aware of every little thing (see above). Stuff hurts and that sucks but there's way more good stuff than bad stuff in my life.

I do better if I keep my focus outward, thinking about others more than I think about myself. I'm going to try to be a little less self-absorbed today.

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday week and if you're working - you're not having to work hard. Thanks for letting me get my whine out of my system today. Love and hugs, y'all!

Christmas Eve Brunch 2013

I took a lot of pictures of our family Christmas Eve Brunch today but the best memories are the ones that happened when the camera was put away. I think that's a true measure of how much you're invested in a particular moment in time - when you're no longer viewing it through a lens or over a screen - when it encompasses your entire attention.

Like... sitting beside my niece Sarabeth this morning in a quiet corner. She, like me, gets overwhelmed in a large group. I love having all my loved ones in one place but I always feel like I do a poor job of connecting with everyone equally. I feel like I miss a lot. Sarabeth is a full on introvert and as she's gotten older, she's much happier hanging out with a book than sitting in a group of people. That's also partly because of the whole awkward adolescent thing now that she's 11. I was glad to have her all to myself for awhile in our own quiet corner so that we could catch up. Since I see her often, we have our own inside jokes and I think she's much more comfortably hanging out with Aunt Heather.

Her sister Jamie, on the other hand, makes a perfect Belle of the Ball. Today Jay wasn't feeling great so she took refuge for awhile in the library upstairs. I went up and spent some really great time laying on the floor with her talking about the random things we talk about together - how I used to read books that were beyond my age level (such as reading Helter Skelter when I was nine) - how my grandmother used to lay on the floor and prop her feet up on a chair so that the blood could run back into her head. Jamie and I tried it and both agreed that having the blood run back into our heads made us a little dizzy.

Then when Sarabeth joined us in the library and the girls were fighting over Sarabeth's book (Diary of  A Wimpy Kid) I had them each take a passage of the book and sing it to the tune of Jingle Bells. By the time they each took a turn they were giggling so hard that they forgot their argument. And I gently reminded Jamie that sister was reading the book and she could have a turn once sister finished. They both got some great books from Uncle Bryan so there's plenty of reading material and no reason to have to both read the same book. I also reminded them that if they were squealing while I was watching them that their parents would think I couldn't watch them - and we don't want THAT to happen, do we? (That snaps them to attention - they love spending time with Aunt Heather.)

Those moments are precious. Other moments that make for such great memories are our new tradition of making stockings for everyone. It was a joint project between me and my mom - stockings made of a fleece blanket we got for cheap at Walmart and filled with stuff she got with her drug store frequent shopper points and I got with a small surplus I had on my food stamps. The stocking stuffers were not expensive - huge suckers, lip gloss, fancy hot chocolate mix - but putting them together was fun.

 Thems my babies! 19, 23 and 27... all mine. All adorable, kind, loyal, loving men. I'm so proud that it brings me to tears. I don't just say this because they're mine - they're really special men. The world is better because they're in it.

Austin, Cody, Ryan 

Marquee, Me, Sara

Look at these smart, ambitious girls that my sons have found... they're going to be the kind of women that my grandchildren can look up to and respect. I'm not in any hurry - but I have a sense of peace knowing that these girls will most like be the mommies of my grandbabies. They'll be great. Right now they're working hard on their education and practicing on furbabies. And taking good care of my sons which makes me eternally grateful. 

Having all my kids around was a real treasure for me. I'm not that mobile any more and I miss out on a lot of things with them but having them spend the night made for a lot of quality time. I hope we can continue this tradition. Sitting with them I'm always just amazed at who they become... that those little seeds I planted and watered and nurtured turned out to be these really solid men with good women by their side. I want to say, "I did that!" but the truth is something more like, "with God's help, with a lot of assistance from my parents and from other people who loved us and supported us, with a lot of tears... WE did that." 

I had a bad hair day because I didn't take the time to straighten my hair this morning. I ran a brush through it but there was a lot of activity and I look sort of a frizzy mess but I still didn't want to avoid photos with my loved ones. I posted on facebook too so forgive if these are a duplicate for you.

And now... for my fabulous, creative Christmas present idea I was boasting about a few weeks ago. I found that you can go to staples.com and print a picture as a blue print which means you get a large copy of a picture for a ridiculously cheap price. I wish I had been able to invest in better frames but at least for the initial display, they look ok. The trick to it is using a black and white photo that is simple and doesn't have a lot going on in the background. It's just so cool to get a huge photo - these were 2 foot by 3 foot - for a minimal price. Seriously, less than $10 each, including the frame. I see more of these in my future.

 I got Angie a picture of her with Jamie and another picture of her with Sarabeth. Dr. Angie just got a promotion at work and now has a real office so she can put the pictures there (or anywhere, whatever she wants to do!). My brother's pictures were from the side of the baptistry while he was baptizing the girls. You can't see the girls faces but you can tell that it's a poignant moment.

 I printed this one out for my parents - our favorite picture of Sarabeth and Jamie walking down the dirt road that leads to their home.

Sara's gift - photo of her and Ryan that I snagged off of facebook. Turns out it was their first Christmas together and her great-grandma who was photobombing right behind Sara passed away a few months after this photo was taken.

This is Marquee with her photo of her baby, Sammy, larger than life.














Anyways... that's about all for today. I'm exhausted. I've had three straight days of much more activity than usual and the pain is off the charts tonight. I was pacing earlier... heart racing... that's what happens when it gets to a level of pain that I can't manage. But at least we're done. I have an invitation to Christmas Dinner at my brother and sister-in-laws house tomorrow night and I hope I'm going to be able to pull that out. My sister-in-law is one of my closest friends and we never get to spend enough time together.

I'll do a separate post tomorrow showing you how spoiled and blessed I am! I got lots of great stuff for Christmas and am so grateful for the people in my life who love me and take good care of me.

It is well with my soul.
Peace on Earth.
Love to y'all.
Merry Christmas!