God Bless Us - Everyone

Politically Correct but author unknown...

To all my Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

To all my Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What's on my tree Wednesday

So here it is again, Katie At This Crazy Life is hosting a weekly blog carnival featuring our favorite Christmas ornaments, so here is this week's choice...

Raggedy Ann and Andy are paper ornaments I made out of cookie molds. Fifteen years or so ago, I was a very crafty person, always making something until I got hooked on the ultimate rubber stamping and scrapbooking. But I made these ornaments by putting all of this stuff in a blender and mixing it up really well and then squeezing out the excess liquid and pressing it into a cookie mold. It was a long drying process, I can't remember if I used the oven on a low temp or not, it seems like a thousand years ago.

After the paper was dry and I could remove it from the mold, then I was able to paint it. I have a heart one also, but the picture didn't turn out so well, but here is good ole Raggedy Ann and Andy who hang around on my tree every year.

Our life as we live it, LIVE and in FULL COLOR

Where to begin? I fell back asleep this morning after the two older kids left for school. Still not feeling very well from this bug I have....so....

I awoke from a deep sleep to what was obviously a dream of my daughter screaming my name for help......

I don't know what I was dreaming, but I sent a text to her right away asking if she was ok. She responded she was fine and in class and why was I asking.... so, well, nevermind, on with the day.

I decided I am not getting any better from this "sinus infection" and I don't want to be sick over the holiday, plus I have a ton of things to do in the next week, so I called the doctor and was able to get an early afternoon appointment. It turns out I am having an allergic reaction to amoxicillin, so new scripts in hand, off to the pharmacy I go.

While at the pharmacy, I get a call from one of the principals at the high school. It seems my daughter's boyfriend has taken her vehicle and wrecked it. You have got to be kidding me. I threatened this kid a little over two months ago if I ever caught him driving that vehicle again I would report it as stolen and press charges against him, it is in my name.

I get out of the pharmacy, head to the scene of the accident, and call the police on my way and tell them its stolen he has not been authorized to drive the vehicle. Well wouldn't you know he, he wrecked in front of the shop of my ex-husband's best friend, and well of course, my ex was already there when I got there..... Little Tonka Truck was laying in a ditch on its side in water. The fool boyfriend was standing there crying....and apologizing. Too late for apologies with me, I had already told him was never to drive it...

I talked to the officers and told them he knew he was not to drive it and it was stolen and I wanted to press charges. Now....get this.....my ex, was kind and supportive of me through this and helpful as far as getting the vehicle out and working towards getting it fixed. He advised me to not let them tow it, just to leave it at his friends shop and we could see what to do from there...

I needed to go to the high school and pick up my daughter and take her to the police station and my ex told me to go ahead and he would handle the vehicle for me. I thanked him very much. He also kept me from hurting the boyfriend, you cannot imagine how mad I was...

At the police station it was determined the scoundrel had implied permission from my daughter, so it was not auto theft, however, my statement indicating a prior discussion where this kid knew he was not to ever drive this vehicle, may carry a bit of weight in the long run, it appears there are several other issues going on with this kid.....

After our statements were taken and my daughter got a bit of a lecture from a concerned police officer (who I am very thankful to for taking the time to talk to her), we were out the door. I talked to my ex husband, he indicated the damage doesn't appear to be too bad, some water damage, perhaps the rocker panel on the passenger side and it wouldn't start, probably because of water in the engine, maybe tomorrow we can assess the damage a little more and maybe it won't be so bad. My ex is going to call a guy to work on it, and seems to want to be involved in this situation. I thanked him again.

This evening my daughter texted her dad and thanked him for all of his help. His response, "it's what dad's do, I love you." Maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning of some healing in our family.

But I am still mad at the boyfriend.

OH and little Tonka, if it could have just held tight to the road for two more days.....it would have made it to one whole year since the last wreck.

This is not.....

This is not just a sinus infection. I went to MedStat yesterday and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. A sinus infection so bad that he prescribed pain pills too. Throughout last night and today I have gotten much worse...I am not sure if I have something else too or if I am allergic to the antibiotic. If I feel like death warmed over again in the morning, I am going back to the doctor...

Terry Polston - Hero

Our community suffered a great loss last week with the death of our beloved D.A.R.E. Officer Terry Polston. He touched thousands of lives, and each of us has one or more precious memory of him.

Mine came the night of my daughter's D.A.R.E. graduation and Officer Hawn selected her essay for her to read at graduation. She talked about how her dad's alcoholism has affected all of our lives and helped her to see what choices she should make. I was standing along the wall, tears streaming down my cheeks, Officer Polston came over to me, put his arm around me and whispered "Just be proud, Mom, be proud of your little girl, she is a fine young lady." I know am only one of thousands of parents that he reassured and comforted. He was a wonderful man and our community has truly suffered a great loss, but his legacy of love will live on.

Continue to keep his family in your prayers now as the dust settles and they are left with a big empty space in their lives going into the holiday season. I know he would not want them to be sad, but it will be so difficult for them.

What's on my tree Wednesday...

Ok its time for what's on my tree Wednesday. This is one of my favorite ornaments. A long time ago, before I ever had kids, I sent out this Hallmark Christmas card just because it was so darned cute...

And now, I have three kids and I can tell you it changes on a daily basis as to which child has the crooked halo, but you can bet, when one is really bad, the other two are absolutely perfect.

Thanks Again Katie, for hosting this Blog Carnival!

funny budwiser snowball fight - horses

hehehe

Christmas in the heart

That search is on again this year. You know, the one I go on every year and it keeps getting more and more elusive, the search for Christmas in my heart.

I want so badly to be back to my old self at Christmas. The one who put a tree in every room of the house, the one who decorated every nook and cranny, the one who had Christmas music or Christmas movies on 24/7, the one who made corny Christmas crafts with the kids that later became my most prized treasures, the one who baked all kinds of cookies and treats from Thanksgiving on and went on little visits with the kids and delivered plates of Christmas goodies to special friends, the one who took goodies to the nursing homes to the residents who didn't have family near....I want to be that person again.

Life has changed so much and circumstances have changed so much. I have become so bitter and jaded that I don't let anyone inside to see the real me anymore and I don't let the real me peek out too often. I have the biggest heart of gold and would do anything to help someone in need, especially if they are a stranger, I have a much harder time opening up to those that are closest to me, you see, they are the ones who have the power to hurt me...

So with that said, how do I find Christmas in my heart again? I have been soul searching for the true meaning, and do you know what I am finding the true meaning to be? I am finding it is acknowledging the ones you love, letting them know how much they mean to you and then basking in the glow of knowing what special people you do have in your life. I have reconnected with a few this past week and its starting to feel more like Christmas.

Its not the gifts, or the decorations. Its time spent with the ones you truly love and making sure that they know how much you truly love them. That is Christmas.

What's on my tree Wednesday...

Ok here we go, week two of What's on my tree Wednesday... I chose a little different ornament this week, and believe me, my decision was tough, I was just in taking a ton of pictures of ornaments on my tree, but I chose this specific one for the memories and good times it holds:

It's definitely hard to see, but its the memory that matters. This ornament was given to me in 1994 for being a designer in the Festival of Trees. The festival is held in our community each year as a fundraiser for the Home Health Care Foundation. Unfortunately, in my divorce I lost some things, and one of those things was my Christmas Tree photo album. I really wish I had it to look back over the trees I decorated. In 1994 I did my first tree with my sister, we had a lot of fun and it was a "Stars and Stripes" forever and we made all of the decorations on it. It was very cute.

1995 was a very difficult year, my grandmother passed away and I did a tree in honor of her and my grandfather. It was "Angels Among Us" and I did that tree all by myself and handmade each and every ornament on it. It was a labor of love and a lot of late nights crying my eyes out while I made the ornaments. It was also therapeutic and I came to terms with my loss.

The following year I did two trees. I did a big one for Miller's Merry Manor and I started in August and I went to the nursing home every Tuesday afternoon and I hosted the craft time with the residents and we made the ornaments for the trees. Some of the ladies had other ornaments and decorations they made and they entrusted me with their treasures for "our tree". I cannot begin to tell you what an enriching experience that was for me. The memories of the people will be forever etched in my heart.

One lady, oh my, she was such a spitfire, she would tell me how to do what we were going to do. She would call me at home and tell me what we should do the following week, such a pistol. She called me aside one day and she had a bag of "very special decorations" that she wanted on our tree, but there was a stipulation, I had to get them back to her by the day after Christmas because her family was all coming to visit her for Christmas on the 28th and they were the gifts she was giving them.

I felt so honored that she entrusted me with what was precious to her. As fate would have it, the day after Christmas I received a phone call that she had passed away that morning. She was up and getting ready for breakfast and just died. She went fast and painlessly. I was devastated, she was such a pistol, I knew going into the project that it could and would possibly happen, but she just wasn't the one I expected it to happen to so soon. So there I was left with this promise I had made and I had no idea of how to best keep the promise. The only thing I could do was to write a note to her family and wrap the ornaments in a box and take them to them at the funeral home. I did, I gave them to her son and told the story and do you know I received a thank you note from each and every member of that family thanking me for keeping my promise to Tillie.

The other tree I did that year was called "Christmas by the Sea!" I loved the idea, hated the tree. I fought tooth and nail with that tree every step of the way. I never was happy with the way it looked. The night of the preview party, I actually climbed over the roped area and went in and started messing with the tree some more. My husband grabbed my arm and pulled me back and told me to just stand and look at it and see what everyone else was seeing...I had no idea what he meant, I looked at him, the tree and him again, so then he redirected me to the stand showing the title, the designer, sponsor, etc of the tree and then I saw it, the first place ribbon for the most original tree....you just never know!

The following years I have judged, hosted kids craft days and most recent years I just enjoy being a spectator....but who knows, maybe one of these days....

I want to thank Katie at This Crazy Life for hosting this blog carnival and making me go down memory lane and leading me back to Christmas in my heart.