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Sounds like everyone had a pretty nice holiday. We got home Friday, unloaded just a few things from the van and trailer and then went to bed. Then Sat. I spent a good part of the day going through my mail and trashing all the junk mail I got and then trying to get through some of my other mail. I still have a lot sitting in my inbox but I'll get to it little by little. We brought home quite a bit of beef, roast, steaks etc. cause beef is so much cheaper in Texas than here so Michael is thrilled that he will get steak more often than he had been getting it.
We spent Christmas in the emergency room nearly all day. Matt got sick on the way to Texas and by the time we got there on the morning of the 24th he was really sick and just stayed in bed. Didn't open any presents with my family on the 24th and didn't get up for presents on the 25th and his temp kept running between 103 and 104.5 even with tylenol and advil so about 8:30 that morning we took him to the hospital. Turns out he has full blown pneumonia not just walking pneumonia, they were talking about admitting him but after keeping him until about 7:00 that evening and pumping him full of IV antibotics and fluids they let him go home. He is feeling a lot better now, he had to go to another doctor down there for a recheck and to see how his lungs were sounding then he has an appointment with our doctor for Monday to see if he will be going to school Tuesday or not. Jerry has I think the flu so he goes to the doc Monday also. Michale and I have stayed perfectly well knock on wood.
Martie the haircut looks great, did you also change the color or lighten your hair or is that just the way the picture came out? I am really hating my hair lately but am waiting for it to get a little longer so it can be styled differently when I go get something done to it. My hair grows just sooooo slow nowadays it seems. I bet Natalie just loved the blanket. What grade will she start her student teaching in? Congrats on the $50.00 gift certificate at Longhorns, they have such good steaks.
Know what you mean navywife, 9 days with 4 adults and 5 kids in one house makes it nice to get home also and back to your own bed. Even though we enjoy the visit and I'm sure my sister does also I know she is always glad to get her house back. A few years ago we gave my brother-in-law our travel trailer cause we weren't using it anymore (we were tent camping all the time) anyway he is doing better now after the shoulder replacement surgery and built us a trailer to pull behind the van to put all our luggage in when we travel or camping equipment in. It is really nice and made coming home with all the luggage and Christmas not nearly as cramped. He made it where it is enclosed and you can lock the lid down or remove the lid entirely and haul the 4-wheelers anywhere. We didn't do a lot New Years either, sat around with Sharon's family and played games and ate snacks and pizza, went out at midnight and listened to the fireworks and ate a small bowl of blackeyed peas. We always eat a small bowl on New Years Eve at midnight cause that is how Jerry's family does it then we have our big lunch of brisket, blackeyed peas, cornbread etc. on New Years Day like my famiy does it.
Gee I have to go to the grocery store today, we let everything run out before we left for Texas, we did bring back some farm fresh brown eggs from Jerry's sister's chickens, ate some of them for breakfast this morning and they were good but the only thing I had in the pantry to go with them was some grits and a can of peaches. I feel like old Mother Hubbard with the bare cubbard (sp?).
Did you have a nice Christmas with the grandkids Joyce? How did the spaghetti dinner go? Has your boss got your hours right yet? Did the WH serve blackeyed peas on New Years Eve or Day?
Doris and Elizabeth it was really good hearing from ya'll on the porch. Doris I hope the new year has started off good for you and that you enjoyed the holidays. How is the weather up your way? It has been fairly warm here since we got home, it was pretty cold in Texas most of our trip, the wind just never quit blowing which made it feel colder.
Elizabeth are you ready for your Christmas? A few more days till the big celebration. Do ya'll celebrate New Years when we do? It has been very interesting learning about your holidays. I'm glad your feeling better. That was really nice what the woodworkers club did for the secretary.
linnea are you back from TN yet? Did ya'll have a nice Christmas with your folks? How are you feeling? Much better I hope.
Pag did you get to taste the foods you cooked for the holidays? Did you take any of the zinc? and if so did it help?
rose how ya doing? How is Tony? We miss you, let us know how life is going and what good foods you cooked over the holidays when you get a chance.
Sharon, Stacie, Tigger, Christy hope everything is going good for ya'll. Christy we would sure like to hear how your feeling and doing since the surgery.
kim why is that river by you so dried up? We just couldn't figure out what happened when we passed it. Swimming slides, fishing docks way up in the air and no water. Looked like Clifford the Big Red dog came by and drank all the water in the river. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and got to spend lots of time with your family.
Hey Joyce you were typing when I was typing. It takes me so long cause I keep having to get up and let one cat out, let another one in, get a glass down for Lacy, everyone wants something when I am on my computer. Our school starts back on Tuesday, Monday is a work day for the teachers. I wouldn't have known that except the doctor told me when I called for Matt's appointment. So the kids were really happy they get an extra day.
That is great you got a 4-day mini vacation, you deserve it. You should wait on the Christmas stuff and get Sam to help you, I bet she would be a great help and enjoy doing it also. That way you don't have to bend up and down so much putting the stuff away. Jerry is getting a little better at letting me throw stuff away than he use to be, he use to want to keep EVERYTHING, even if it was broken he would keep it saying I can fix this but then never got around to fixing it so now I convince him that most stuff if it is broken goes in the trash. If he wants to keep something broken that he is going to fix then it goes in his office or his closet, since he doesn't want his office junked up he will usually agree to toss it now. Lacy is just like Jerry on keeping junk so I have to go through her room every so often and tell her trash it or find a place for it.
Your craft area sounds like it will be great when you get it done. Jerry and I made a bunch of plans to get this place straightened and start working on the outside on the way home from Texas, now if we just follow through. My house stays so messy since I started school that most days I don't want any one coming over and I just hate that feeling so we are going to sit down with the kids and have a talk about keeping the hall bath, den, living room, and kitchen clean at all times or at least decent so people can come over without me wanting to crawl under the table and die cause someone saw my house messy. We have a lot to do on the outside and it will probably take several years to get everything done that we want to eventually get done but like you always say Baby Steps, Baby Steps. Your pantry sounds like mine so guess we'll both be going to the grocery store today.
Hey, Mouse, glad you made it back safely. The trailer your bil made for y'all was a great idea, and I know it really helped make the ride more comfortable for y'all. I think all that beef is a great thing, too...that's a good gift, one that keeps on giving, long after Christmas is over. I am so sorry that Matt came down so sick...it's just so crummy to be sick while you're on vacation, and I hope he gets completely well, very soon, and of course, I hope the same thing for Jerry, too.
The dgk's still haven't showed up for their Christmas, and I don't know why. They were supposed to be here yesterday, around 4pm, but at 5pm, when I called to check on them, the mom's cell phone wouldn't answer, and there was no answer at Nanny and Poppy's house, either. So I'll try later on today, probably after we get back from the grocery store.
As for my schedule, I have absolutely NO idea, lol. Cheryl told me Wednesday that since the holidays were over, she was going to try and get second shift back on a regular schedule, so I'll find out today. E. and I went in for coffee yesterday evening, and Kisha told me that her schedule had her down for 10 days straight...and since it's done in two weeks time, there will be no overtime for doing it. She, of course, is protesting, lol, and I don't blame her. That's a long stretch of days, even for somebody as young as Kisha is...she's about 18, I think. Working those kind of hours will make you old before your time, tho.
Nope, no black-eyed peas at the Waffle House, unless someone brought them in for themselves. And I never bothered to cook them here, like I had planned...I just plain didn't want to go to the grocery store, lol.
As for the house, you're right...baby steps, baby steps....and do NOT forget routines, either...routines take about 28 days to become a habit, but once they're established, they make a huge difference. Do things 15 minutes at a time...that makes a major difference, too, as you won't get worn out as fast, and it's truly amazing how much you can do in 15 minutes when you're focused. Good luck!
Again, glad you made it home safely. God bless.
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Joyce
"If your life seems to be all tangled up, stop struggling...sit still...God will untie the knots." __author unknown
Martie - I just loooove the Eeyore blanket - I'm going to show it to my dd. She makes and sells lovely blankets through a craft store somewhere up in Dillard (?). May give her some ideas.
Mouse, glad you're back safely. What an experience! \
Joyce, I'm *still* trying to get my saggy rearend down to see you, but right now I'm totally wiped with a fibro attack. Haven't set foot out of the house (not even onto the front porch!) in over a week. Just kinda creep to my recliner in the AMs and creep back to bed in the PMs. Poor ol' curmudgeon even has to help me shower (which isn't exactly a downside, just the necessity of it gets me down) ;-)
Well, *all* the kids will be here along with 7 of the gks Wednesday night. DS#1 and DIL will come tomorrow nite for a pizza and to help with house / kitchen cleaning up in preparation.
Hope to get to work tomorrow, but may be working from home instead. Booooo.
Must run -
Have a happy "back-to-school" week for those of you with kids...
Mouse, what Christmas you had. Don't you hate having sick kids - especially when you are out of town? I'm glad he's better and hope everyone is completely well soon.
Elizabeth, hope you are feeling well tomorrow. I hate when people are so sick over the holidays. Terry was off from Christmas Eve until New Years Day but was sick the entire time. He's griping tonight because he feels SO much better today and has to go back to work tomorrow and didn't get to do what he wanted on his vacation.
Kids around here are out for a teacher work day tomorrow too but my oldest two start back to Spanish in the morning at 8:00 and Sandi has Karate at 5:30 so we are back in the swing again already. I'm sort of glad.
I love that blanket too and my kids are asking for one each now. LOL! It will take me awhile and I'm not starting any right away. I want to get my house cleaner first.
Elizabeth, does she sell blankets at the Dillard House? I know there are crafts for sale there. Our youth group is looking at going for a day to ride horses and eat there. They were going to try over the holidays but didn't make it.
I bought several books on clearance at Wal-Mart with different Pooh patterns for those blankets and some plastic canvas and cross stitch. I'll be working on some of those for this next year and now that I've done that Eeyore blanket, I know I can make the blanket and use any cross stitch pattern on it.
I did change the color of my hair. LOL! I was keeping it sort of dark auburn - more red than my natural color but Terry liked it. However, I was ready for some sort of change and couldn't make up my mind what. I just knew that keeping it dark was going to cost me more because I've been having it done every 6 weeks but my roots were showing really bad by 4 weeks.
Lisa said if she pulled it through a cap and did blonde to blend for now, I'd only have to do it every 3 months and gradually the gray would grow in and then we'd just be highlighting instead. It costs a little more but for every 3 months instead of 4-6 weeks - it's worth it. Terry said this morning he thinks he's beginning to get used to it now. However, my MIL and SIL both said they couldn't find me Saturday morning at Chick-Fil-A because they were looking for the wrong color hair and it's been over 2 weeks. LOL!
Joyce, will you be turning the milk crates on their sides and using them as a support for the table? If they are on their sides you'll still be able to use them for some storage space too.
Oh, and yes, that was FlyLady's calendar behind me. I LOVE it! It has such big squares to write in that I can put our entire schedule of homeschool activities, appointments, church activities and menus on there. WELL WORTH THE MONEY!! This is the second one I've had. The first one was 2002 and I didn't buy one last year and regretted it all year.
I also have her feather duster but my youngest two have played with it and I need to find it again. LOL! I'd love to have her control journal but I can't see paying that much for it. I wish they would just post on the web for download the pages so you can print what you need and not cost us a bunch of money. I did print out her holiday one and thought they should have just expanded on that some. Guess I'm too cheap to swing for something like her journal when she has told us how to build our own.
I like her portable office notebook (can't remember what it's called) but I can't swing that much money for it either.
Well, I've enjoyed hearing from you ladies and hope we hear from everyone else real soon. I need to get a few things done before bed time. My sink hasn't been shined in several days (shhhh!) and I need to send kids to bed since they have to be up early again tomorrow.
Night!
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Martie
"The Bible calls children a blessing, and debt a curse. Yet we apply for curses and prevent blessings!" (Doug Phillips)
My family and I had a really nice holiday. I managed to have quite a bit of time off too! Now its back to the grind stone. The kids go back to school Tuesday.
I'm sorry everyone has been so sick. There has been a lot of sickness going around Alabama too. Fortunately we have managed to avoid all but some cruddy head colds. But we are all doing well now and I got the boys healthy to go back to school. Hopefully there immune systems are boosted too!
All this time off has made me lazy! I know I will be struggling tomorrow!:p
I just have to tell ya'll what my boss did for me! I got a REALLY nice Year end bonus this year. She didn't want to give me money because she would have to take taxes out on it (leaving less for me) so she let me pick out a gift at Aikens Furniture in DogTown AL. WOW they have great furniture and great prices!! I got a beautiful oak dining room table and 6 chairs!!! Ladies I have NEVER had anything this nice that belonged to me!! It is an oblong table with one large leaf that comes out to make it a small round table. It will look a lot nicer when we get to move into our new house later this year.
Well ladies I hope everyones New Years Wishes come true!
I wish for all of you, Health, Wealth and Prosperity!
I know it's been ages since last I was on. I haven't even tried to read all the posts I missed yet, but I have both good and bad news I wanted to share with all of you first.
I'll start with the good news since it explains things some...
Keith came home from Korea a changed man. I cannot really explain the changes, but all who know him could see them. He got a good dose of reality and his priorities have finally been set strait. For those of you who have prayed for us -- THANK YOU. We are moving to Ft. Bragg, NC as soon as he finds housing for us which should be within the month. It was hard to see him leave fo NC yesterday as this last month spent together was the best time we've had in the last 5 years. I cannot thank God enough for giving me my loving husband back.
Now, for the bad news...
While Keith was home on leave his grandfather died. Everyone turned out for the funeral. While Jerry (Keith's brother - the middle one) and his wife were on the way home to their 3 sons after the funeral, Vivki's parents' were involved in a car accident with the boys in the car. My nephew, Matthew, was thrown from the car and is now in a coma with severe head trauma. Please pray for him and Jerry, Vicki, Michael & Will. They have set up a website for daily updates. Please click here on his name Matthew Golden When you get to the web site there is a link on the home page.
Thank you, ladies, I know you all will be praying for him.
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Stacey
"Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear."
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((Stacey))))))))))))))))) ))))))))) just felt you could use a huge hug. I'm so happy for you and Keith. That is great news. I'll keep you in my prayers though. I know it can still be tough going at times. Also prayers for his brother and their family. I haven't had a chance to click the link yet but I will when I can slow down again today.
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Martie
"The Bible calls children a blessing, and debt a curse. Yet we apply for curses and prevent blessings!" (Doug Phillips)
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It's time for another smiley story contest!
