It's annual time!

Today I had my annual mammogram. Things are back to normal, Hondo is traveling and most communication is done via email. After 8 years I love that he still makes me giggle.

Me: I got the results back this afternoon on my annual mammogram.  All is well in boobieland.

Him : That is the breast news I have heard all day!!

Does this man get my humor or what?

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

I have been swindled!!!

Here is a portion of the email that I sent Hondo on Friday: Subject Really Crappy Day

I am now driving the expedition...why you ask?


This morning on the way to school Ben made the comment that he was unsure how the dogs would be today...he had given them extra milk bones and he knew how much gas it gave them... he forgot they were going to work with me....

I get to the house and the smell of dog farts is actually in the garage. I immediately took Dallas out, THANK THE LORD I CAME HOME AT 9 AND NOT 4 as we usually do...because this dog was peeing out her butt. Got dogs all dressed, loaded up and to the school.

Was in the school no less than 5 minutes and realized that I locked my keys in the car...something I have not done in 10 years (if not more). Knowing I do not have another key, I have them call the deputies, who look at the car and tell me that I have side air bags so they can not slim jim the lock....so we call a lock smith who says he will be there at 11 (perfect, because that is when I get done with the dogs...the farting dogs)

At 11:00 I packed up the dogs and went to wait. There is a field behind the school, the dogs were getting a little antsy, they had after all, been working for over an hour straight...and they still have the runs. I took the dogs to the field where Deacon immediately finds a HUGE mud puddle that I had not seen...rolled Dallas in the mud...jumped on her himself and then rolled around...over and over and over...until all you could see was mud and their tongues hanging out of their mouths. Happened so fast I could not even get their names out of my mouth.

Not a huge deal, the locksmith was going to be there at 11....I can let them run, be happy, enjoy a wide open field...I mean they are already dirty....bull honkey...12:20 ....12:20 do you hear me? I stood outside in the cold mist, with muddy wet dogs for an hour and 20 minutes...with no jacket because of course it was in the car.

The locksmith, who I will kindly refer to as _____(I am omitting this on the grounds it may incriminate me)...gets out of the car and tells me that he can not unlock my car without ID and that I must have my drivers license to have him unlock the door. I knew that the look on my face must be bad when the social worker who had come to check on me backed up. I (kindly) told him that if he got in his car and drove away without unlocking my doors ...immigration would find his cold lifeless body in the mud puddle behind me, with my dogs using his ponytail as a tug of war toy....I also reminded him that it was a good 20 feet back to his truck and asked him if he had any idea how fast he could run...because I was pretty sure my dogs could run a 4 minute mile....did he really want to hold firm to this license issue?

Needless to say he unlocked the van, I showed him my licence and my credit card...because it is $55.00 freaking dollars to have your doors unlocked....

My van is disgustingly filthy...wet muddy dogs and grey leather interior don't mix...the smell is beyond anything I can sit in and ride around in for the rest of the day...but that is okay because I will not be cleaning my car....considering how my day is going you can sell the thing for all I care... just tell them there is only one key.

To top it off they changed the amount on my receipt when they went to get the authorization code...making it $155.00...I have called Master Card who tell me I have to wait 3-5 days (OMG seriously?) to dispute it...I have called the owner of the company who told me that if I dispute it he will file felony charges...I politely told him to PLEASE call the police....and make sure you spell my name right, you *$&;($^*&;$^*&;$ (use your imagination on this one). I then hung up on him before I had a stroke...I am on my way to get a gallon of birthday cake ice cream...after all I am at work and can not stop for a margarita with out getting canned....I have to have my job because I just paid $155.00 freaking dollars to have my car unlocked!!!!!!!

Hope your day is going better than mine....
Shannon

So be wary my friends and family of that ruthless predator...the car unlocker guy.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

Yet another reminder…

… as to why we are not the cool parents!

Last night while having a tribe meeting, to refresh memories as to computer expectations, I made a comment I have thought about all day.

It went something like this …“but Mom __(insert any name)__ has a cell phone” “Yes dear but I am not _(insert any name )___ Mom”. AGH did I say that? AGAIN???

Have I truly turned into my parents? And is that such a bad thing?

We have a house full of teenagers that we have not provided cell phones. We just can not think of anywhere that they will go that will not have a phone, a parent with a phone..heck for that matter another child with a phone.  It is not a toy, so there is not a need for one.  It is not a god given right…so again no need for one.  We do have a “family” cell that can be sent with them in an emergency or if we feel we need to get in touch in a hurry…and NOT ONE child has a job to pay the bill…so a cell phone bill, times a tribe, would be insane. Friends who come to spend the night leave cell phones in a basket on the counter.  Their parents have all our numbers should they need to reach them.

We have one house phone mounted on the wall in the kitchen. There is no cordless to hide and talk on.  There should not be conversations in the house that are so private you need to be alone to have them. 

If a friend comes to pick you up, they must come in and say hello to the parents. (and all the tribe members who want to check them out )

We do not have MySpace pages, multiple email accounts, YouTube downloads…all the internet trash that rots your brains.  They only recently got access to Facebook. It is monitored so heavily by the parents that posting something on the FBI website would be easier.

We do not watch TV until after 7 on weeknights, and video games are for the weekend.

They may not spend the night with children we do not know.

They ride their bikes if the destination is within 5 miles. I do not have a taxi license.

Our computers are in local family areas, so that anyone can see what you are looking at, no matter what the time of day or night. 30 minutes maximum is plenty to spend on line…if you need to talk to a friend longer…CALL THEM!

All very very un-cool to the teenagers of our house.

The reality is…my children love to read…as I type this they are playing ping pong with Hondo…they love cards and board games…I know all their friends and truly have fallen in love with the majority of them…all things that may not have happened if they had fermented their brains with Grand Theft Auto.

No one has died from lack of a cell phone (although they might tell you differently).

I am well aware of the dangers of our society and I take very seriously my job to protect them to the best of my ability. With all the “stuff” we put into their hands …all in the name of technology and indulgence…it makes that job even harder.

As I look around the den tonight I am proud of where we are…were we are going…and how delightful my tribe is (even if they are now fighting over who serves better).

So to get back to where I started…I made a “parental” comment.  You know the comment you SWORE to never say when you became a parent. Where are they stored in your head? Is it passed down in our genes? How is it possible to hear something as a 5 year old and regurgitate it word for word when you are 45 years old? And is it so bad? I kinda like to think that I turned out okay…and if I use them on my tribe that they too will turn out just dandy.  Plus some of them just are so fun to say!

These were just the few I could think of as I sit here and giggle. Please feel free to add your own.

Me My parents     "Where are you going?" "Crazy would you like to join me?" "I am hungry…" "Nice to meet you hungry!" "I am thirsty…" "Nice to meet you thirsty." "Kaiya's mom lets her.." "I am not Kaiya's mom." "Everyone's mom lets them…" "I don’t care what your friends do, you are not going. If they all jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?" "Everyone's mom lets them…" "If everyone jumped off a bridge would you?" "Everyone's mom lets them…" "Just because you want to do it doesn't make it right!" "Everyone's mom lets them…" "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times....." "But Mom, they all wear them…" "If everyone cut a hole in their pants and painted their butt cheeks red would you?" "I wish…" "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." "I wish…" "If wishes were fishes we would all have a bowl full." "I wish…" "Wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up faster." “But I really want to” “People in hell want ice water too” "I can't…" "Can't never could." "I'll be back later." "And just where do you think you’re going dressed like that?" "I'll be back later." "Wear clean underwear. You never know when you could be in an accident." (anytime I really pushed the envelope) "You are cruising for a bruising." (anytime I really really pushed the envelope) "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" (anytime I really pushed the envelope in the car) "Don't make me stop this car." (anytime we were wild) "Don't come running to me if you break both your legs" (anytime we were wild) “Behave or I will hit your mother” (anytime we were wild) "Be careful you will poke someone's eye out with that." "But I do NOT like liver." "There are children starving in Europe (Asia, Africa) that would love to have that liver and onions. Now eat it!" Crying child? "Do you want me to give you something to cry about?" "But why?" "It's for your own good." If I left the door open. "Shut the door you did not grow up in a barn." Open fridge door and stand in front?? "Close it please, nothing grew in there since the last time you opened it." "But mom I swear they are not that bad" "You're known by the company you keep" "But mom I swear they are not that bad" “Birds of a feather flock together” “I’m bored..” “If you have nothing to do I will find you something to do!” “Where is Mom?” “Picking her nose and flying a kite” “Where is Mom? “She left to join the circus” “Where is Mom?’ “She changed her name and moved to Spain”     AND THE ALL TIME BESTEST ONE!!! Just you wait. Someday you are going to have children of your own, then you will understand!

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Oh yea baby!!

That is what is being yelled throughout the hacienda as the Dallas Cowboys win their first playoff game since 1996. I think he may be as excited as I was to find out we did not have school on Friday…and let me tell you that is mighty excited.

I do not have to load the kids up in the cold…I know that the rest of the weekend will be bearable because Hondo will not be sulking in his office…and I also know that we have yet another nail biter game or 2 to sit through!!!

Rock on Cowboys!

34 to 14!!!

Bring it on Favre…we are ready for your old (albeit winning) bootie!

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

My man Austin!

 

I am sitting here tonight blogging while watching the Dallas Cowboys play.

As I have blogged before, we are a Dallas family through and through.

This season my man is Miles Austin.  This guy may have been born in New Jersey but he is a Texan by golly. I am thinking maybe I need a Fathead of Austin to put next to Emmett Smith in my Dallas room.

Now it is only halftime …the score is 27/7 …lots of words that I can not type because this is a rated G blog have been yelled at the TV tonight…but we are forever hopeful that we are finally going to be making a trip to the super bowl on February 7,2010.

If however they lose tonight I may load up the kids and drive to my mothers for the night…I do not think that the kids will need to see Hondo roll around on the floor… while howling and ripping his hair out at the roots.

Please, oh please, oh please let them win.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Family Tree

Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking.
~Author Unknown

I get my love of family memories, stories and history honestly.  My mother has spent many hours researching our family…and this year we were given a gift from her heart.

A hard back, bound, personalized family tree book. Complete with pictures, stories and little bits of humor.

Now I have been the teller of many family tree jokes…you know the ones…their gene pool is so shallow its a wading pool…their family tree is one branch straight up…your mama is so fat she broke the family tree…a family reunion is an effective form of birth control…the list goes on and on.

I will no longer be telling these jokes…seeing your family tree when you have a few marriages between the two of you it makes for an interesting family tree…more like a weeping willow as Cassie was quick to point out.

There was some weeping as I read this…not because of the look of my tree…but because of the hours my mother put into the gift…the pictures of family members that have made the trip to heaven and are missed dearly and the love with which it was all put together.

My book is already a little dog eared from the kids continuing to read it…but what a beautiful gift to be able to pass along to my children’s grandchildren.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Snow days!!!!

 

   

I am worse than the kids...I yelled louder, jumped higher, and celebrated more than my children when we found out that we had a snow day this Friday. I know that logically it makes no sense, with all the rain we have no available days in our calendar.  We WILL have to make it up....but its SNOWING.

It was the first snowfall of the season...I was able to take my first snow day as a school employee ...and I got to watch my children revert back to toddlers as they rushed out the door to dance in the snow.

Dallas and Deacon enjoyed it as much as we did.  This was the first snow for Deacon since he has come to live here...and I think I got as much joy watching the two of them play as I did when I was watching the kids.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Pioneer Woman Cooks

I LOVE COOK BOOKS!

It is a sickness…that I need to buy every one that is lined up at the counter when I check out at the grocery store.

I have actually come up with creative ways to pass them past Hondo when we check out so that he does not see them until we get home.

I mean really, much like shoes, a girl can not have enough cookbooks.

My excuses are few (I just do not feel like I need many on this subject).

1. I love to cook for my family, and making a new dish they love, fills me with warm fuzzy joy.

2. I was not born a great cook, it did not come naturally, and I need all the help I can get.

For Christmas this year my mother bought my sister and I each a Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook.  We knew about the Pioneer Woman from her blogs…and my Mom had made a couple of her dishes that were yummy, so I was excited to try my hand at some of the recipes.

Dear lord in heaven if this is not the bestest cookbook in the whole entire universe I do not know what is. Since Christmas morning we have been trying out the recipes one at a time, lasagna, enchiladas, meatloaf (because I had to double it for the tribe it had 12 pieces of bread, 2 cups of parmesan cheese, 8 eggs and 2 cups of milk just to name a few ingredients) , chicken in a basket…the list goes on and on.  Not one recipe has been bad…as a matter of fact according to my family the lasagna was the best lasagna they have ever had, the meatloaf was the best meal they have ever had…and this morning when I made breakfast I made 10 chickens in a basket…a record for me.

We have been texting back and forth the results of the latest recipe…how much we are eating…and if she could possibly use any more butter?

I love me some Pioneer Woman! Yeehah!

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

News Year Resolutions

Nope don’t do them…won’t do them…hate them…
I beat up on myself so much throughout the year…why oh why would I want to set myself up to fail….to impose more guilt?
I don’t want to focus on what I should do this year…I want to think about what I want to do.
I want to have new year expectations…not resolutions.
What I have done this year is to reflect back on the last year and look at failures and success with an honesty that only comes with age.
I know that I fail miserably at keeping in touch with friends and family. I have no idea why…I have a million excuses…not many that are real good…but I do know for a fact that loved ones in my life are being neglected…not for lack of love, that is for sure…it just seems like I run out of time, yet another poor excuse.
Maybe its the fact that I feel spread so thin these days? Maybe its just easier to put my head down and go as my kids say “90 to nothing” all day and then check out when I walk through the door at the end of the day? I do not know…maybe in our society it is easier to send a text or an email than to have to fully engage your brain for a conversation?
What I do know is that I need to make more of an effort to pick up the phone…to just call to say HEY…to stop and smell my neighbors roses.
I guess my resolution is to stay in better contact? NO NO I do not make resolutions…
I just promise to call more…
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

I did it while standing on my head.

I really did a poor job of taking pictures this holiday season.  I had to chuckle as I looked at my camera.  I realized that while I did not take many pictures Christmas Day, I did manage to get some of the kids goofing off.
I use the term “kids” loosely …because front and center was Hondo.
For some weird wacky reason, when the tribe is together they all take turns standing on their head, trying to see who can stay up the longest…who can get their bootie up this year that could not last year…and who’s bootie no longer can defy gravity.
I blame this Tomfoolery (get it?) all on Aunt Susan who is the queen of head stands!


It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

My how time flies when you are having fun…

The holiday season went way to fast this year. Unlike years past we did not travel to Florida this year. There were very mixed feelings about it…we missed our family time with Hondo’s family, we missed sitting on the beach while our friends freeze their fannies off…but the flip side was that we really really got to relax.
I tend to forget how lucky I am that I have off the same time as my children. They are growing up so fast that I need to cherish this special time with them.
I cleaned all my closets and drawers, I spent hours in front of the TV, I had several days that I never got out of my jammies, we went to the movies several times, the kids all had plenty of spend the nights with friends, we played endless card and cribbage games and we decompressed. Hondo took off the same time as we did and we had plenty of hours to just sit and talk. Something that we forget to do in this crazy life of ours.
Noah and I cleaned the garage, a job that had been a long time coming.
I had promised to blog during this time, to get everybody caught up…I just could not do it…rather than write about the funny stuff this family gets into I was too busy spending time with them.
All in all just a wonderful vacation that did not last nearly long enough!
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

Merry Christmas

Somehow we made it…although I did not finish my shopping till the Friday before…although the Christmas spirit did not hit the tribe until the 21st of December we MADE IT!
The women in my family decided that we spend so much time in the kitchen during Thanksgiving that we would try something different this year.  Each family would bring their favorite deserts and appetizers and we would just snack and graze all day.  To wash it all down we made 2 huge pitchers of Sangria…a little bit of Christmas cheer!
We continued with the tradition of one for the heart (one that means a lot to you), one for the head (You have to think when you use it) and one for the hand (a basketball goal where you play with your hands).
By all accounts it was the perfect day. Everyone was tickled with their presents, we played lots and lots of cards, there was plenty of family time, my other son Rod came to share the day…it was exactly as we all hoped it would be. Restful and relaxing with lots of laughter.



Who gets out of bed with hair that good?
Funny how some things never change!

All I want for Christmas

As I have said in previous posts I do not drink a whole lot.  I think that was why everyone giggled when I said I wanted a wine cooler for Christmas.  That and the fact that I am allergic to wine…not all wines, I have found some red ones that I can drink…but white wines are totally off limits. Of course I made sure back in June that they all knew this was what I wanted….just in case they wanted to shop early.
Hondo had me convinced that this was not what I was getting this year.  Sometime around Thanksgiving while in Home Depot he explained that he had been researching coolers (he does this for all major purchases, firmly believing that you get what you pay for). He told me all about the complaints that people had, how they run very loud, they do not keep the wine a steady temperature, and how they really were not all they were cracked up to be.
Several times during the month of December while watching TV he commented on the Oreck Vacuum Cleaner and how cool it would be to have one.  I firmly believed that Christmas morning I would be unwrapping a vacuum cleaner…how wrong was I?!?!?!
Not only did I get a wine cooler…I got the Corvette of wine coolers.  Knowing that this was what he bought me I also got a subscription to a wine of the month club from my in-laws. Every 2 months, 2 bottles of wine will be delivered. 
Yipppeeee for me!
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

The dreaded office Christmas Party!

Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day. Phyllis Diller
Oh yes it is that time…the time to look for the perfect dress…shine up your smile…and prepare yourself for the office Christmas party.
I really can not complain to much.  Hondo’s office parties are pretty tame, I like the people he works with, his boss is wonderful and it is a free night out with no kids.
Why I stress about it I have no idea? This year was no different.  I took my dress back and exchanged it no less than 7 times…each time swearing to the saleslady at Macy’s that I would not be back again. My girls actually refused to go back to the mall with me on the last trip claiming they were embarrassed to be seen with me! I will remember that one girlies!
We made plans to spend the night at the hotel that hosted it, a quite swanky place…I did the obligatory dieting before the big day…we were all set.
Great food, great music and dancing and great spirits. AHHHHH so this is where the story was leading…great spirits…and not in the go team go kinda spirits…but in the Cabernet and Pinot Noir kinda spirits..
Not a huge drinker…I did not have my first glass of wine until the end of the party.  I call this pacing myself, Hondo calls this job security. By this time I had decided that we were in downtown Atlanta, I was wearing a banging hot dress, I was with the man I love and I was bound and determined to go dancing. In typical Hondo fashion…dancing we went.
The next morning we had to be up extra early, Hondo had a trip to Brazil that was leaving at 3pm…meaning he had to be to the airport by 1pm.  We had an hour drive home, he still had to pack, he wanted to be early because this was one of the few trips his boss was going on with him…and the tribe was waiting for us.  While I laid in bed and tried to decide how bad I was going to feel when my feet hit the floor, Hondo decided to go take a shower.
I knew the minute I heard the following that something was maybe a little off…”what the heck?” “WHAT THE HECK?” “Are you serious?” “ARE YOU SERIOUS?” …”Oh honey????” “Could you please come in here????” …you know, to be honest, I really did not want to go in there.  The reality was hotel rooms are not huge and the only place to hide was in the bathroom…and that was where Hondo was…so my choices were few.
Upon entering the bathroom Hondo looked at me…I should have made a run for it!
Hondo:“Sweetie? Did you have gum in your mouth last night?”
Me: “Ummm? Why do you ask?”
Hondo: “Sweetie, did you have gum in your mouth last night?”
Me: “Ummmmm? Geez baby I don’t think so…why?”
Hondo: “BECAUSE I HAVE A HUGE PEICE OF GREEN GUM STUCK IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD”
Me : giggle (for future reference not the best response)
Hondo: “Well?” “Can I get some help here?”
Me: giggle (again.. not the best response)
Hondo: “I am so glad that you find this humorous, however I have a wad of green gum stuck to the back of my f-ing head, can you please see if you can get it out?”
Me: “umm baby that is not going to happen, it’s huge (giggle) I think I am going to have to cut it (giggle), you know you really should avoid getting gum in your hair in the future (ROFLOL)
Hondo: “Just cut the ^%$^ out so we can go home”
Me: “You have a hat right? I am hungry and I don’t want to be seen with your hair looking like that in public (giggle)”
I cut the gum out, he put on a hat, (just a quick note that this was not the time to tell him he looked like Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber, okay so there was never a time to tell him that but I could not resist), I got my Varsity hotdog on the way home, I got a little nap while waiting in the car as he got a haircut to straighten up what I cut out, he made his flight even though he had to spend quite a bit of time explaining to his boss how his hairstyle changed so much when he had only seen him the night before….and the kids had the best laugh they had all year, when hearing the explanation as to where all his hair had gone.
Have I told you that I am married to a saint recently? The fact that he still looks at me every night and tells me he loves me is beyond anything that I could possibly have hoped for in this life time…I know that he is a little grayer because of us…I like to think of that as adding a little color to his life!!!!
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it…even with gum in your hair.
Babs

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!

Thank you, thank you. thank you Ben and Noel.
As I blogged earlier we all were under the weather this December.  I was pretty darn sick, staying in bed for several days while Hondo was out of town….very unlike me and not real easy on a family this size.
Noel stepped up to the plate yet again and put all her natural mothering skills to the test. She did a GREAT job running and maintaining the house.  No one went with out a meal, clean clothes and I even heard she tucked in a child or two at night. She will make an amazing mother one day.
Ben was invaluable…it was the 18th of December and the tribe STILL had no tree or decorations up.  Thanks to Mr. Ben that too was taken care of. Ben lugged all the decorations out, put them up…to include putting up our tree. he truly was the child who saved Christmas this year. He will make an amazing father and husband.
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library?

There have been many a battle on the home front about how the boys should wear their hair.
While I try to be realistic that it is only hair…I am a product of my raising. Military haircuts were all I knew.  I did not have brothers but I am a firm believer that girls have long hair and boys have short hair. Dated and antiquated I know…but it is what it is.
Noah is the only boy in the tribe who really really bucks me on this issue…I have gotten better over time…but I still cringe as his hair gets bushy and long.
It was with much delight that I took the picture below :)…okay it was more than delight it was sheer glee and joy.
Noah had gone to the barber shop on his own (brownie points earned for that alone).  He called Nick to see how he usually got his hair cut..and I guess he lost something in the translation because the end effect was that the barber just shaved his head.  Such a beautiful head that it is!!!!
Noah was quite upset but a very good sport as I took pictures and rubbed his bald head for luck.
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.

I truly love dance recitals.  I love watching how Noel has grown in body and heart…and how she shows us her soul in dance.
This years Christmas recital was no disappointment. 
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

Cheerleader Banquet

Allie had the cheerleading banquet to look forward to.
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

Got music?

Cassie closed out the end of school with the annual Christmas band concert.
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

The mad rush to Christmas.

Something happens in the school system once you return from the Thanksgiving break…there is this mad rush to hurry up and get to the Christmas break. Somehow I lose all sense of time. This year seemed to be worse than ever.
The tribe seemed to fall victim to exhaustion with kids and adults catching every cutie bug out there. Fevers, sore throats and colds galore. Hondo traveled much of the month and the tribe just limped along. Maam and Sir, Erin and Jaime and the kids all got hit hard too. We just had all we could do… to do what we could. (Maam’s blog on the subject http://nickyf.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/my-scrooge-report/ )
We managed to make all the parties, concerts, recitals…just not with the same gusto we have had in previous years….and certainly relying on friends to get kids shuttled back and forth.
What I have learned this year is to forgive myself for not being able to do it all.
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

Giving thanks

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?
This year has FLOWN by.  Thanksgiving was on us before we knew it.
As always my Hondo out did himself.  His turkey only gets better and better every year.  Let me re-state that…I do not like turkey…his stuffing gets better and better every year. Boy do I like stuffing!
We had a houseful again this year. That is the way I like Thanksgiving.  My mother taught me long ago that no one…no one…should spend Thanksgiving alone. The end result is that every time I hear that someone has no family in Georgia they get an invitation to share my family on this holiday …this holiday that makes me stop, take a breath, and look around me with dismay….is this really all mine? Yes I am thankful!!
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it….and for that I am thankful.
(I am also thankful that Sir gave Maam that camera last year, because now we all get the best pictures ever!)
Babs