Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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It was back to work for me after the Christmas weekend and I am very much looking forward to another three day weekend. I have managed to get all of my Christmas decorations put away except for the few stragglers that always seem to show up. It is always fun to decorate the house for Christmas, but there is also a good feeling when I get it put away for another year.

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My 15 month old grandson, Beck, who was so smiley on Christmas was not so happy a couple of days later. He was with his family visiting Brandon's mom in Austin and ended up in the emergency room on Wednesday night with breathing problems. He got very good treatment and is feeling much better now. He did well with the breathing treatments they gave him but he really didn't like the hospital bracelet on his arm.....he kept pulling on it, saying "off." I am so thankful that he is better and they will be coming home from Texas today.

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The foot of snow we got a few days before Christmas is melting pretty fast now, but it was pretty treacherous to take Dodger out walking for a few days. Sidewalks were mostly shoveled, but there were some here and there that weren't.

The streets were plowed but still very icy in places. 

Here is what saved me-Yaktrax. The are traction cleats that fit over the bottom of your shows or boots. I had gotten them last year for Christmas and used them a few times, but we didn't have much snow last year. They have been a life saver this year. I would highly recommend Yaktrax if you live somewhere that gets a lot of snow and ice. 

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Now it is on to the new year with a family get-together for football and black-eyed peas on Sunday. 

Go Broncos

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, good, rewarding, prosperous and adventurous New Year.

New-Fangled Gadgets and Old-Fashioned Fun

My three oldest grandkids each got an iPod Touch and one of my daughters got an iPad for Christmas, so we had sort of a techie Christmas.

Along with all the techie stuff we had lots of old-fashioned Christmas fun, including new pajamas for all the kids on Christmas Eve, Christmas brunch and presents for everyone.

Through it all Beck kept flashing his new "smile for the camera" smile every time he saw me with my camera.

I have been absolutely lazy today and I have loved every minute of it. I hope everyone is getting rested after enjoying a very Merry Christmas.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

When Dodger and I took a walk last night there was a beautiful, light snow falling.

This morning on my way to work I saw a lot of this,

and this, 

and this.

By tonight there were beautiful Christmas trees decorated by nature,

and it was a little tougher to make our way around as we walked. 

About 12 inches of new snow made it a pretty harsh day but there is no doubt that-

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Someone Is Not Very Merry This Christmas

Image from Google Images

My daughter, Joanna, and her family moved to a new house last summer. Someone from out of town inadvertently sent some Christmas gifts for the kids to the old address. Joanna e-mailed the property manager of their old house and asked her to give the current resident her phone number and to ask if she would please call if packages came for them and she would come pick them up. This is the e-mailed response of the current resident at their old address.

 I have an issue with this. They can process a change of address with the U.S. Postal service. I have better things to do than coordinate their mail. All first class mail has been returned to sender. This is how we managed our former address.

Joanna was a little, um, surprised by this response but she responded gracefully to the woman who refused to make a phone call.

I understand your frustration. We registered our change of address with the USPS effective when we moved, and while most things have been forwarded, some things (especially packages) slip through the cracks and end up being delivered to the old address. I was hoping that any packages that may have been sent to the wrong address would be able to get to my kids by Christmas. I respect your decision and we will hope that the postal service is able to get everything forwarded.

I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season!

 I also hope the woman can find a little Merry in her Christmas. Somehow her response made me want to to out and do something nice for someone.

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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I don't have a lot of news (well, not any really) to catch up on, unless going to work, going to kid's school programs and plays and trying to get ready for Christmas is news. They are all good things and it has been a good and busy week. Here is a little of what has been bouncing around in my head during the week's activities.

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It seems like I send fewer Christmas cards every year, which means that I will probably start getting fewer every year. I can remember my parents sending hundreds of Christmas cards each year. I do like getting cards from friends and family and I even like the Christmas letters that people send, though I have never written one myself. I especially like the cards with family pictures that so many people send these days. If  I failed to get a card to you this year, oops and Merry Christmas.

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I borrowed this conversation between my daughter, Joanna, and her 3 year old daughter, EJ, from Joanna's Facebook page. 

EJ : Mom, everyone is a grandkid to God, but I don't know who could be his wife. (Pause, deep thinking)

Mary, I guess.

Joanna: I thought Mary was Joseph's wife.

EJ:  Oh yeah, if Mary was God's wife, that would be a bummer for Joseph. 

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I think I have posted this before, maybe just last year, but I really like the "sentiment" that a friend sent to me in a Christmas card. I couldn't agree more about now.

Christmas comes but once a year

And when it comes it brings good cheer

The reason that it brings good cheer

Is that it comes but once a year.

Suppose it happened once a week.

I'd be too tired to write or speak.

But struggling with it one time yearly

I've still got strength to say sincerely

Merry Christmas

Football, Football and Finally the Christmas Tree

All my kids and grandkids came over Sunday to decorate my Christmas tree, but first on everyone's minds was the Broncos game.

They weren't a very happy crowd near the end of the 4th quarter when the Broncos were down 10-0.

Another unbelievable overtime win by the Broncos, 13-10, certainly raised the "cheer" level in the room.

The little girls kept their distance from the football chaos with their own game in another room.

The tree finally got decorated. Some of the kids have gotten tall enough that a few ornaments now make it to the top half of the tree.

The group picture......never perfect but always fun.

The tree decorating is one of my favorite family events of the season, even though now that the tree is up I am reminded of everything else I need to get done before Christmas.

Do You Believe In Santa Claus?

Image from Google Images

My 9 year old granddaughter, Hope, has probably had questions for a couple of years but she finally asked her mom the question this year...."Is Santa Claus really you?"

This is how my daughter, Joanna, answered. Much of it came from a letter she found on the internet, origin unknown, and some she added herself. I have edited it some for length. I like the spirit of this response to Hope's question.

I bet you have wanted to know for a long if I am really Santa. The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa. I am the one who fills your stocking and leaves presents under the tree. I do it for you the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (Daddys help, too). I imagine you will do it for your own children some day, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sitting by the tree with their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won't make you Santa, though. Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us has lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to believe in something they can't see or touch. It's a big job, and it's an important one. Throughout your life you will need this capacity to believe:  in yourself, in your friends, in your talents, in your family and, most importantly, in God. You'll also need to believe in things you can't measure or even hold in your hand.  

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve.: he has help from all the people whose hearts he has filled with joy.

With hearts full of love, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no, I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I am on his team, and now you are too.

Men.....Sheesh!

The other day Doc asked me if we could turn the heat up a little because it was really cold in his office. One thing Doc never does is say anything about the temperature in the house. Another thing he never does, according to his own set of rules, is touch the thermostat in a house where a woman lives.

I, who am always willing to adjust the thermostat according to my own comfort level, said sure and turned it up a couple of degrees. Before long the rest of the house was getting very hot, but Doc said his office was feeling fine now.

Hmm? A wee bit of investigation on my part revealed that the window in Doc's office was open an inch or two and the heating vent in the room was closed. This is from a man who, as I have said before, is something of a home maintenance freak. I guess it is easier to decide the house needs a coat of paint or all the windows need to be replaced than it is to check for an open window in a cold room.

Men! Sheesh.

Window closed, vent open, problem solved.

It is 7 degrees right now with lows tonight below zero. I will be exercising my thermostat skills.

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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It has been a good week in many ways and a not so good one in others. Almost every night I have started (or at least thought about starting) a blog post, but never quite followed through with it, so I am (again) combining all my little thoughts in a Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday post.

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One of the things that has kept me from posting has been reading lots of other people's posts showing all the beautiful Christmas decorating they are doing in their homes. So far, I have done no decorating so as much as I like seeing what beautiful things other people have done it makes me feel a little deficient. I will probably do some decorating this weekend and my grandkids will come to decorate my tree on the 11th. The kids decorating my tree is one of my favorite family activities of the season.

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I recently showed a picture of my grandkids drawing names for Christmas gift giving this year. I think it is going to turn out to be a really good plan. They all seem very invested in getting just the right thing for the cousin who's name they drew. Eight year old Justin has already selected and wrapped the gift he chose for 1 year old Beck and placed it in the spot where their Christmas tree will be. I would love to hear the conversation between 3 year old EJ who is going to call her 7 year old cousin, Wil, to find out what would be the perfect gift for him.

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My good friend Carolyn found out this week that she has thyroid cancer and lung cancer. They were both discovered during a routine doctor visit for something else entirely. I am in awe of the courage and strength she is showing in the face of this diagnosis. I can only pray for her full recovery and that I can be of help to her in some way.

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Wouldn't it be interesting if Herman Cain's wife had a blog?

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Two women were having afternoon tea in a fancy restaurant. One of them looked across the room and said  look at those two old women over there....that will be us in 10 years. You *&a;*#@, her friend responded, that's a mirror.

Grandmom's House Got Talent

Is anybody out there or is everyone still out shopping? I did not go shopping today, except for a quick trip to Starbucks for a vanilla latte.....even Starbucks was a little too crowded today for me.

Our Thanksgiving was very good and everyone had fun with our Turkey Fiesta theme.  I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures. I was probably too busy eating. Here are a few of pictures I did get.

Anna and EJ made quick work of licking the beaters after the whipped cream was done,

just in time to have a little more whipped cream on their pie.

Beck thought a little pie was a pretty good idea also.

All the cousins drawing names for exchanging Christmas gifts. There are just too many kids these days for everyone to buy gifts for everyone.

After the pies were pretty well taken care of all the kids went to the basement to create their own reality show, Grandmom's House Got Talent. They had everything from singing to magic tricks to juggling. 

The two little girls had an act called "Jump" which I think was just that.....the two of them jumping. Fortunately, even full of sugar from all the pie eating, they were generous in judging one another's displays of "talent".

The pumpkin flan my sister-in-law made was wonderful.

Which reminds me there is some leftover flan in the refrigerator. I may have to go have just a tiny taste.   Leftovers are the best!

Turkey Shoot and I'm Finally Getting My Ole' On

I did get some some shopping and chores done over the weekend in preparation for our  "Fiesta Thanksgiving" coming up on Thursday, but I have to admit I didn't do it all with a lot of enthusiasm or excitement. Some Facebook chatter today between some of those who will be here and are excited and looking forward to the planned non-traditional feast got me charged up and excited myself. I can't wait for the carpet cleaners to come and go tomorrow so I can start getting the tables ready and then begin the food preparation on Wednesday. I am especially looking forward to the pumpkin flan that my sister-in-law is planning to bring.  Ole'!

Just in case I still have a craving for some traditional Thanksgiving fare after the holiday I'll need to get in touch with my 6 year old grandson, Wil. He won a turkey in a basketball "Turkey Shoot" at the rec center by scoring the most goals for his age group. He was a very proud "Turkey Shoot" winner.

I know I have posted the picture below before, but it is one I always have in my head as Thanksgiving approaches. It is the last picture I have of my dad, taken a year or two before he died on the night before Thanksgiving in 1965. I don't hold it as a sad memory but one that represents many happy family holidays. My dad loved sitting at the head of the table for large family holiday gatherings.

I hope everyone who celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday will have a warm and wonderful day with family and friends.

Noah's Ark

Image from Bing Images

I stayed with EJ, one of my 3 year old granddaughters, for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. We spent part of the time I was there playing Noah's Ark on her mom and dad's bed. It was fun and I was reminded that the world of imagination is a pretty good place to spend some time.

I was Noah and EJ was Mrs. Noah. The animals were from her huge collection of stuffed animals. They didn't come in pairs, but we pretended there were 2 of each of them. Mrs. Noah fell in the water a couple of times, but she almost never got wet. If she did get wet all it took was one quick swipe with a pretend towel and she was totally dry. Mrs. Noah cooked and served 3 delicious (and nutritious) meals a day for us and the animals with nothing but a quick flick of her wrist. There never seemed to be any cleaning up to do. We woke up refreshed and ready for each new day after only 30 seconds of shutting our eyes and snoring a little. When one of the animals got sick a quick dose of imaginary medicine resulted in a total cure. 

Later we made some cookies. We used cookie cutters to make cats and hearts. Due to a real world flaw in the cookie dough the cats and hearts turned into big blobs when the cookies baked, but somehow they still looked like cats and hearts to EJ and she thought they were the best cats and hearts ever. 

I need to remember to step out of the real world and into the world of imagination more often. It is really a good place to spend some time.

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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Sometimes the weeks just go by way to fast. I am glad the weekend is here but I was sort of surprised to look up this morning and realize that it is Friday again. I have spent the week sort of buried at work and letting it stress me way to much. Yes, I am working on that.

This week is the two year anniversary of our dog, Dodger, coming to live with us. He came to us from a shelter as a one year old stray. Despite his sketchy first year, which he doesn't talk much about, he has turned out to be a wonderful dog for us. He is Doc's constant companion and has introduced Doc to things he would  have never known about like dog parks and doggy day care. He keeps us moving and he keeps us laughing.

Dodger, looking his best after just being groomed. It  takes him about an hour to get back to looking like his normal scruffy self again. 

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I was also a little surprised to look up and realize that Thanksgiving will be here in less than two weeks. I will have about 20 people here for Thanksgiving dinner and 8 more for dessert so I'd better start giving it some thought. My youngest daughter has given it enough thought to decide that we are going to have a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal. We will be having a Mexican food feast instead of Turkey. I was a little "hmmm?" about that idea at first, but a survey of some family and extended family said it was a great idea.

(Does that mean that no one was ever really that crazy about the whole turkey thing?). We will have some traditional Thanksgiving pies to go along with our pumpkin flan for dessert. 

 Feliz día de acción de gracias

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A brief conversation between my youngest daughter, Joanna, and her daughter, EJ, before they were going to come meet me at Starbucks recently:

Joanna: Do you want to get ready to go meet Grandmom at Starbucks?

EJ: Well, I like Starbucks and you know I really like Grandmom, so sure. 

A great compliment from a 3 year old who sometimes these days suddenly doesn't like things that she loved 5 minutes ago. 

Six Word Saturday

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Happy 100 year anniversary to Chevrolet

When I heard earlier this week that it was the 100 year anniversary for Chevrolet I didn't think much about it. Later I started thinking about the Chevys that had come and gone in my life over the years. It has been many years since I have had a Chevrolet but the first car I owned that was all my own was a 1966 Chevy Malibu. It looked about like this and I drove it through college and beyond.

I don't remember my family having a Chevrolet when I was growing up, but my best friend in high school had a Chevrolet Corvair. The Corvair was possibly one of the most dangerous cars ever made, but my friend and I fortunately drove it through many safe and memorable high school miles.

Also in high school I briefly dated a boy who had a 1956 Corvette. I don't remember much about him, but I sure do remember his car.

In later years after I had kids I drove several Chevy station wagons. They weren't too glamorous, but they bring back good memories of my young family. I had a special talent for getting from the front seat to the very back very quickly when my kids behavior required my immediate attention.

 And who can forget, at least those of us of a certain age, Dinah Shore singing See The USA in your Chevrolet, with a big kiss thrown at the end of the song. 

So for my Chevrolet memories I say happy 100 year anniversary to Chevrolet.