Heart of Dixie

Happy New Year to All!

So here we are again. One year about to close out, the new year about ready to be born. Another chance for all of us to start life fresh, to correct and improve various parts of our lives. I need to lose weight. I need to be more patient. I need to be a better mother, grandmother, co-worker, wife, housekeeper, cook, and friend. (so, what else is new?)

Today I find myself very emotional. On the verge of tears. So tired I can't even think straight. There is a reason, I know. I am exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

I drove 9 hours on Thursday and 9 hours back yesterday to take my granddaughter back home. That's always a hard thing to do because I don't get to see her very often. Her dad, with whom she lives, puts us in a bad light and I am powerless to say anything. All I can do is show her how much we love her and that we're not ogres or trolls. I never say anything bad about him or his new wife; on the contrary, I always keep them in a positive light whenever she and I are talking. Yet, it seems, he doesn't do the same. I think she is afraid to let him know that she enjoys her time here for fear of being disloyal to him. Last summer, she and I did fun stuff every day. We were having a blast! One day I asked if she wanted to call him and she said yes, I dialed his number and handed her the phone. Obviously he asked her if she'd been doing anything, because I heard her say, "No, not really. I haven't been doing much." sigh.

Besides, doing the driving, I stayed tense for the entire two days of the trip. Even during the night, I'd wake up and would have to force some part of my body to relax, whether it was shoulder muscles knotted or hands or jaws clenched. My daughter and her five-year-old were also on the trip. The five-year-old is not well-behaved at all, is argumentative, and pretty much does what she wants, regardless of what she's being told. I try very hard not to meddle into how my daughter and SIL raise her, but it's hard not to say anything. The reason for the clenched jaws, I'm sure.

They argue like contemporaries..."You stop it." "No, you stop it." "No, you stop it." "I don't like you." "Well, I don't like you either." "Your Cinderella movie isn't in your bag. You'll have to watch something else." "You're lying. It's in there, so give it to me." I finally shouted, "If the two of you don't stop arguing, I'm going to spank both of you." There was shocked silence from both of them for a while.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new year. With the hubs retiring from work at the end of January and me cutting back my work schedule to about one day a week, there will be more opportunities for us. I hope it will be a time of self-renewal and strengthening our relationship. It will be a year of possibly closing out some chapters of life, while adding more descriptions and updates others. The keyboard of life also has delete, insert, home, and end keys. It unfortunately doesn't have an Undo key.

I got one of those uplifting email messages a few days ago in which I am instructed to make a wish before scrolling further. I wished for happiness for my kids and now I wish the same for you. May this coming year be your best one yet. May you find the peace you are seeking and happiness and contentment in your daily lives.

Christmas Photos of Grandkidlets

Can you tell they were excited?!?

Avery and Kiley:

Loryn and Kiley:

Cookie decorating party:

The Best Christmas Ever!

This was the Year of the Appliances for me Even though I had a microwave, toaster oven, and crockpot that work, the kids and the hubs thought I should have new ones that match each other and the colors in the kitchen. They are all very nice!

I also got giraffe socks, dachshund shortie pajamas, and two pair of super soft socks. My friend Sharon gave me four days/three nights at their new cabin in Smokies right outside of Pigeon Forge so that was a really neat gift!! At work I got some fairy dust thingies (decorative balls that reflect light in different colors); a candy lidded dish in the shape of a gift box; two photo albums; a decorative bowl; and a Christmas ornament with Starry Night by Van Gogh painted on it (the co-worker that gave it to me knows I love Van Gogh prints).

From the Trixie boards, Lori made a special gift for me - a hand-knitted (crocheted? gleeps - I'm bad with these creative terms!) blue fuzzy scarf that's way too cute! AND she made Moosey a matching one!! Pat sent me a hand-made needlepoint (ummm, see note on knitting/crocheting) ornament, and Angela sent me a tube of BBW body cream and a cute bracelet.

The bestest part was the kids! They were the most fun ever! They first oohed and ahhhhed over the gifts that Santa left them. They eagerly dug into their stockings and squealed with delight with everything they pulled out. They then helped distribute the gifts from under the tree. They did a good job with that. The only mix up was that my SIL wound up with Dixie's new collar!!! And then on to the presents! Wrapping paper, bows, and ribbon flying everywhere!

Kiley got an air hockey game, so for the rest of the day there was an on-going tournament - kid vs kid, kid vd adult, adult vs adult. I don't think an official winner was ever declared but everyone had total fun!

That afternoon I took the kids out and I built a campfire for them. Everything was damp and the wind was blowing, so we didn't get a good fire going, but it was just enough for them to roast some Lil Smokie Sausages (I had no hot dogs or marshamellows but they worked nicely). They had a blast!! Kiley paid me the greatest compliment ever when she said, "You're the coolest Grammy ever!"

I stayed in the ktichen a lot, with cooking and cleaning up, and the laundry room became my hang out with Avery in the early stages of potty training :D

I'll let you in on one little secret....come closer....::whispering::...

By Christmas night, this ol' gal was pooped!! In bed by 8:30 and sound asleep about 15 minutes later.

Hopefully I'll post some photos later. I'm so totally not good about downloading and posting pix like Sugarfused Deb. She's my hero :-)

Home for the Holidays!

That would be me! I'm off work until January 3. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Today is Baking Day. The hubs's favorite cookies for his birthday (which is on Saturday), an Italian Creme Cake, and a chocolate pie. The one concern I have is that everything will be devoured before Christmas! But that's okay too. I'll just try to rustle up something else.

Dixie's glad I'm home. Rather than having to go outside so early, she's curled up in a blankie.

We had our office Christmas celebration yesterday that lasted pretty much all day :D We started off at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Their cinnamon biscuits are YUMM-O! I hope they continue to have those after the holidays. After we got to the office, we worked for about an hour and then we gathered at the Christmas tree and opened our gifts to each other. Fun! We worked about another hour or so and then started putting together lunch from the stuff that folks brought. After we finally pulled ourselves away from the trough it was 3:30! I know that everyone did a little work but I dare say not much was accomplished!

If it's cold where you are, stay warm! If you're traveling, be careful!

Things that make you go Hmmmmm

John has a good hunting buddy in Wyoming. It started off as a client relationship between guide and hunter but quickly developed into a long-time friendship. Over the years, he and Ken have corresponded by email and phone; we've sent his kids wedding gifts; and when John drew a once-in-a-lifetime tag for a Big Horn Sheep, it was Ken he called first. Ken was as thrilled as if it had been his own tag. Ken has been here to visit us and we've been there.

During John's hunting trips and our visit there, we got to know Ken's wife, Kathy. She was nice and hospitable, but we didn't form a bond with her, if you know what I mean. Everything seemed fine with their marriage, etc. There was never any hint or outward sign of disagreement or malcontent, so it was quite a surprise when a few months ago Ken emailed us that they were getting a divorce after 27 years of marriage.

One day recently we were going through our mail and were surprised to see that we got one of those yearly recap newsletters that people send out at Christmas from HER. It was obvious that hre heart was not exactly filled with love and peace when she wrote it. She never came out and called Ken an a** or anything but did say stuff like "if you know where he lives, it's more than I know." This may be fine for her friends, but hello, lady, we're KEN'S friends.

On to other things though!

Congratulations to Sugarfused Deb on the birth of her newest granddaughter Ava!! Condolences, sad tears, and big hugs to Theresa upon the untimely death of her darling puppy Peanut.

If I don't buy another thing, I am finished with Christmas buying and wrapping. Now is when I go into my panic mode of worrying that I haven't equaled out the dollar amounts between peers or don't have enough for someone's stocking. Sigh. It's tough being the family matriarch!

The Forgotten Hurricane Victims in MS

Last weekend I was once again reminded of the forgotten hurricane victims in Mississippi. With all the clamor about New Orleans, the folks in Mississippi have been overlooked to a great extent. You don't see politicians and celebrities on TV hawking for aid for that area like you do for New Orleans. Three Mississippi coastal towns were basically wiped off the map and yet the hue and cry is still for New Orleans.

Last week my son's job took him to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Because of his job and the company for which he works, John was allowed into restricted sections of the Gulf Coast. Getting into restricted sections means showing ID and just cause for being there to heavily armed soldiers to get past fences, gates, and razor-ribbon wire.

Last weekend he showed us recent photos of the area and it's as bad as the ones he showed us a couple of months ago. He said he saw tents pitched on lots where houses used to be. One southeast Asian immigrant had made a shelter out of large pieces of tin he had found and was cooking over a fire that was fueled by debris he picked up around his neighborhood. I'll be he thought he had left that kind of existence behind when he moved to the U.S.

John and his co-worker stayed at a hotel in Biloxi that used to be part of a large casino resort. The casino no longer exists. The first floor of the hotel was pretty much wasted. He said they had to go to the second floor to the check-in area, which consisted of a lady sitting at a desk in the hallway. If you had a reservation, she checked your name off a list and handed you a set of room keys with the warning that you'd better knock before going in, just in case.

I think I heard on the news that the fund that former Presidents Bush and Clinton oversee had $90 million for hurricane victims. Add that to the millions raised by the Red Cross and other organizations and there's a HUGE pile of money. Where is going? How is it being spent? Is it being spent at all? I know there are victims and evacuees in Alabama and I've seen nothing on TV about how people can apply to get aid.

Anyway, just a few things to think about.

Merry + Happy = Sad?

It's the holiday season! We say Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year! We celebrate the birth of Jesus, being with our families and friends, and embrace the spirit of giving. So, why do writers (song, book, and script) insist on putting out such sad and gut-wrenching tales of woe?

Many years ago when my kids were young, I remember watching Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey on TV and crying my eyeballs out. A co-worker just told me about a song called The Christmas Shoes that's about a little boy who wants to buy his mother a pretty pair of shoes because she's dying and he wants her to look nice when she meets Jesus that night. Elvis sang of a Blue Christmas and the book I mentioned below has Christmas being taken over by big business. Even two of the long-time standards have depressing themes. It's a Wonderful Life is about a man that wants to commit suicide and Charlie Brown Christmas has a theme of strife until Linus finally recites the real Christmas story from the Bible at the end. Many of these gloomy and heartbreaking stories have a happy ending. Why can't the lessons of life be taught in a happy way?

That's why my favorite Christmas show is The Flintstones Christmas special. Yes, Santa falls and gets hurt and Fred and Barney have to deliver the toys to save Christmas, but it's all done in an upbeat, feel good way.

Just my two pesos worth :-)

My vote for Worst Children's Christmas Book

Someone sent my 5-yr-old granddaughter Kiley a really nice looking Christmas book (hardback, dust jacket and all) entitled Santa Kid. It was written by well-known murder/mystery/suspense writer James Patterson. While I was babysitting with her Tuesday night, I read it to her. OMG - I could not believe how horrible it was.

The premise is .... Santa and Mrs. Claus have a young daughter named Chrissie, who is about 8 or 10, something like that. Santa is not the white-headed and -bearded, chubby, older red-suited man we've all known and loved for eons. No, he's actually much younger; he only grows out his beard before Christmas and Mrs. Claus bleaches it white; and he's not really chubby because that would be bad on his heart...he just stuffs his suit to make him look larger. (okay, let's shatter the image of Santa for everyone.)

Next, a meanie business man waltzes into Santa's office and announces that he has bought the North Pole and Christmas and from now on his company, called Exmas Express, would be running Christmas. So how does Santa handle this news? He goes to bed, doesn't get up, and eats sugary snacks. (good idea, Mr. Patterson, to let kids think that Santa would just give up on them without a fight and go to bed in a state of despair.)

The meanie dictator says only half of the kids in the world are going to get toys this year. (oh great, now let's traumatize the kids by making them think they might not be getting anything.) He doesn't make "nice" toys. His toys are, and I quote, are Princess PeePee, Princess PooPoo, and Doggie DooDoo. I kid you not. (thank you, Mr. Patterson, for undoing all the work we've done with our kids to teach them that such words aren't nice to say.)

So, Chrissie decides to take matters into her own hands. She goes to talk to the meanie. He yells at her that she shouldn't talk to him because kids never have anything good to say. (was that self-esteem and self-respect that just walked out the door?)

Of course, there is a happy ending. Chrissie saves Christmas by delivering the toys, showing that kids can do something. Possibly a little too late.

The Senior Prayer

God grant me the Senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones I do like,
and the eyesight to tell the difference.

heh

I just said to the hubs a few days ago that you know when you're getting old when you have at least one conversation a day with your spouse about ailments or medications you're taking! sheesh. LOL!

Well, So Much For Privacy

You know how you have to fill out all the new HIPPA paperwork at doctors' offices because of privacy laws, etc. Well, at least for part of my recent medical treatment, I might as well post it on a bulletin board. And it may be on the bulletin board at the downtown post office along side the Wanted posters!

I had received a bill from a medical testing laboratory for some recent tests done at my doctor's office. I tore off the payment stub from the detail portion and put in the envelope with my check. After work I went to the post office and utilized the drive-up drop boxes. The stack of Christmas cards bound by a rubber band went in first. I then reached over and got the envelope containing my lab work payment. Just as I let go of the envelope, it appeared to me that I had dropped in two things. Oh no. I switched on the overhead light and there was no detailed statement of my lab work sitting in the seat of my car. Gulp. I'm 99% sure that it went into the mailbox! I'm just hoping that my name wasn't on that portion! The other 1% is that I left it on my desk at work....but the reality of that is slim and none!

Avery is coming down today and, gosh darn it, I guess I have to babysit :D If the weather holds out, we're going to get Donica and Kiley and go to Home Depot and the zoo. Both kids LOVE Home Depot so I'm not sure which trip they'll enjoy the most!

If it's cold where you are, stay inside today and curl up with a good book!