One More

I went to Target tonight. Just me. No Tina. No kids. I was looking for a Lego Minecraft toy that Anderson wants but when we were there yesterday Tina said “no Lego toys until after Christmas” so I couldn’t get it. Instead, I hid it so I could go back and get it today. It wasn’t expensive. It was $14.95. So I went tonight and the toy section had been completely redone because they had a toy sale today and the toy I hid wasn’t there anymore. It had been the only one last night; tonight it just wasn’t there. I’ll have to wait for them to re-stock and/or go to a different Target store.

However, on my Target trip, I got a chance to check out some of the toys. I wanted them. Some for the kids but some for me! Do you ever do that? Go to buy for someone else and end up getting for yourself? I actually didn’t buy anything for myself. I got a few stocking stuffers for the boys and a little music light up toy that clips on to the car seat or highchair or whatever, for Maya. The only thing I got for me was a $3 pair of slippers. I have several pair but I used them non-stop, even to go outdoors and to go to Tina’s and back. With the nerve damage on my foot, I need to have the soft furry stuff to cushion the bottom of my foot or I end up in a lot of pain so I need lots of slippers so that I always have a clean pair. That’s all I got. Not a lot but it was refreshing to go by myself and to actually get something for myself. Yay!

I’m looking forward to this Christmas. I feel like it is a gift. A few months ago we weren’t sure I would have one more Christmas. I do have one more and hopefully many more.

Are YOU looking forward to the holidays? What’s your favorite part?

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Black & White

If you are on Facebook, you most likely have seen the black and white challenge. In the challenge, people are to post one black and white photo each day for seven days, no people and no explanations.

I participated in the challenge a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it very much. Below you will find some of the photos that didn’t make it on to the Facebook end of the challenge.

 

 

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PBR

I enjoy beer. I don’t get to drink it much anymore because it can interfere with my medicines and because I don’t have expendable cash.

The other day, when it got cold enough and wet enough to wear a coat, I found a twenty dollar bill in my coat pocket. Score!

While there are a lot of things I could have spent it on,  I was on  my way to the grocery  store and while there, I spotted my bargain beer. It’s not super popular, although after I first discovered it about a year ago I found out that it is the go to beer of college students because of the price and the not so bad taste. Rolling Rock is priced at $8.99 for an eighteen pack. So I spent half of my twenty on Rolling Rock. It will last a long time. My daughter bought me an eighteen pack last year and it lasted me four months.

Tonight, I decided to have a can and as I sipped on it,  it occurred to me that my dad must have felt the same about his go to beer as I feel about Rolling Rock. His was PBR. Pabst Blue Ribbon. It’s cheap and is not bad. My dad had seven kids and was the only bread winner. So he needed cheap beer. It was usually PBR but at times, when he needed even cheaper beer, it was Brown Derby.

So tonight, as I enjoy one can of Rolling Rock,  I’ll toast my dad and I will be thankful that Rolling Rock isn’t too bad.

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Greater Power

In a former life, I took the picture at the top of Haleakala, a volcano on Maui. It was a place I had wanted to go to see the sunrise. It had been on a short list of things I wanted to do. In 2004, I was able to take my kids to Maui and we made it happen. I think there’s a post somewhere on this blog that talks about that experience so I won’t go into it. I will say that it was one of the most awe inspiring moments of my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat but I know I, most likely, won’t have that opportunity again. However, in light of the events and situation in the world and in this country, I find myself looking to these moments and these places that demand acknowledgement and belief in/of a greater power.

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I Forgot

I forgot that I was going to try to post every day in November. I usually do it every year. I am still going to try, even if it is a short post or even a photo.

Today I don’t have much time to write the post I really want to write. I have about an hour before I have to be at my daughter’s to watch the crucial Game 7 of the World Series. We’ll see how long that goes. Last night’s game was short, less than three hours, if I recall correctly. However, there was also a game that ran over five hours a few nights ago. So who know?!

I will tell you that I am rooting for the Dodgers. I think I posted about them before. I haven’t had time to post a few choice Dodger stories but I might type them up if I get a chance and save them to post on different days to fill my every day in November plan. I’ll tell you that one of them involves my ex-husband and my late father-in-law attending a league play-off game back in the late 70’s. Another story involves my daughter’s desire to catch a ball from her seat…when she was all of about fourteen. I won’t spoil it and tell you what she came home with but I will tell you that I wish this mama bear had been there to fight for her girl! And yet another story involves what was then a record setting game for length of at home Dodger game that I attended when I was expected home much earlier and how mad my mama was!

Okay, enough teasers. It’s on to wait for that last game that will have a lot of fans in tears and a lot others in cheers. I hope I will be on the right side!

 

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Wordless Wednesday

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Out With November Already!

 

If we were having coffee, I would invite you in out of the briskness that is outside and offer a drink. I’m having my first cup of coffee of the day. That’s late for me. It’s almost 1:30 pm.  It’s because I couldn’t sleep last night so I didn’t fall asleep until some time after 7 this morning and woke up shortly before 11. I stayed in bed because I am just exhausted. Being sick has wiped me out.  I hope you have been healthy!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the whole week has felt like a lost week. I’ve been alone all week. (Well, the whole month actually because I’ve been sick since just before Halloween.) My daughter popped in for about 30 seconds on Tuesday morning when she brought me some vitamins and supplements to help get over this cold. Yesterday I finally felt like I was about half human. I took myself to Denny’s for a belated but much appreciated turkey dinner! And then I treated myself to my favorite Thanksgiving food item: pumpkin pie! Then back home where I sat on the couch and read until I finished the book I was reading.

I would also have to tell you that the book I was reading, When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Caffey, turned out to be far better than I thought it would be. It’s a little story but it is filled with many thought provoking moments. I highly recommend it. Here’s a quote: “They came if for no other reason than to remind themselves that they had stood up when they wanted to lie down and believed when all that was scattered before them called for doubt.”

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that this past week has had me thinking and re-thinking about a lot of things. Some of those may spill out onto this blog in the coming days.  Also, for December, I usually post my Christmas stories which take up a post a day for most of the month. I think that I am going to try to take some of those and rewrite them from a different point of view and see if I get some “new stories” to share with you. I will probably still post some of my favorites and Christmas day will bring my favorite one, about the Christmas night I was born. I hope you stick with me for my favorite month of the year.

I found myself listening to holiday music on Thanksgiving day and then streaming my favorite holiday movie, It’s A Wonderful Life that night. I promised Anderson that I would wait for him to get back after Thanksgiving to start decorating so we’ll be doing that together.

What have you been up to? Did you have a quiet Thanksgiving or was yours one of family stories and laughter? Did you travel? How was your weather? Books to recommend? Do you have a favorite holiday movie?

This week has me traveling to Omaha to see what it’s like before we decide if we want to move there or not but I will have something to post on so I’ll still be around the blog, even if it’s only picture posts. Have a super week. Stay healthy.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare is a weekly blog hop hosted by Diana at Part Time Monster. Hop over and take a look at her post then click here to check out other Weekend Coffee Sharers. We’re a fun group. Come join us!

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I’m Dreaming Of A…

healthy Christmas season. This cold has to go away soon. I’m hoping only a day or so more of it. Wednesday has me traveling again…this time going to check out Omaha. When we get back, it will be right into the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season which is my favorite time of year. And with two little boys with big eyes and bigger wishes, it should be a fun year. So yeah, that’s what I want…a healthy Christmas season so I can participate the way I want to.

This year will find us here at home. My son, who usually hosts Christmas, will  be going to California to spend the holiday with his in-laws so we’ll stay home. That means putting up the big Christmas tree this year, which we haven’t done in the past few years. I have a little 4 foot one that I’ve put up the past couple of years and let Anderson decorate it. This year I think we’ll get out the big tree and have both of the boys over to decorate it.

Next year? Who knows. It’s all up in the air right now. If we move to Omaha, I suppose we’ll stay there because flying anywhere will be too expensive and driving three days in each direction in the winter weather will be out of the question. Next year there will be a new grand baby…and we just found out it will be a new grand son. So there will be three grand babies next year. We have to work on getting them to come to Omaha!  That, of course assumes we’ll be in Omaha. I don’t know where we’ll be but I hope we’ll be together. That’s what Christmas is about. Family. Togetherness.

Okay, ramble over. Consider this a fever induced ramble. I can’t seem to focus these days.

I hope you all have a magical holiday season.

P.S. If anyone has pumpkin pie and turkey left over, send me some! I missed it all.

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Gratefully

Today I am missing those that I am most grateful for.  My family. I ended up staying home so I don’t expose anyone to this “long lasting bug” I’ve had for over a month.  So I’m alone and thinking about them. I’m glad they’re together at least.

I’m also grateful that I raised three really super kids. My youngest, Susie, is off to Baltimore today. Her friend’s mom died and the funeral is tomorrow but because of the holiday weekend, none of the extended family is attending the funeral so Susie’s friend was going to be alone for the funeral. Susie flew out to be with her so she wouldn’t be alone. She gave up her Thanksgiving to be with a friend in need. What a wonderful person I raised.

My son and daughter-in-law are hosting both families this year, again. And they will also have “orphans” that have no where to go for the holiday. They welcome them like family, with open arms.  And Tina is picking up the stuff I was supposed to take but can’t because I’m staying home. She and her family were already in Tacoma when I decided it was best for everyone if I stayed home instead of going up to Seattle, otherwise she would have stayed home with me.

I’m glad Tina and Tony and their families are together today. I’m glad Susie is with her friend. And I am grateful that these amazing people came from me and are spreading their goodness to others.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you and your families, whether you celebrate or not. May you have many things to be grateful for today and every day of the year.

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The Sound of Your Voice

My regular readers might recall that I love streaming The West Wing. I usually stream all seven seasons at least three times a year. I just finished it for the third time this year last night.

There are many moments in the series that strike me for different reasons. One episode near the end, Institutional Memory, has a few moments that get to me but the one that always strikes me is when Danny, a reporter, is trying to talk CJ, the White House Chief of Staff and Danny’s on again off again girlfriend, into making an effort to have a serious relationship with him and he tells her that he wants them to talk. Talk about each other’s futures and about their future. He says something like, “I just want us to talk. I want us to talk…because I like the sound of your voice.” Someone once told me that they liked the sound of my voice. Voice is such a personal part of each of us. To have someone tell you that they like the sound of your voice is a very personal thing. And so, every time I hear that line in that episode, I get teary.

How about you? Is there a special voice you like to hear? Has anyone ever told you that they like to hear the sound of your voice? 

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