The Time Has Come

I am making my one and only predicition and that is I think Brett Favre will retire this year.(Did you know I was psychic? sp??) I say this because last year the season was so awful there was no way he could end his career on that note. This year was a halfway decent season and he can leave feeling ok how he left the game.

I have to share a story about my son today. We were looking for a restaurant to eat at after church and my husband suggested 'Old Chicago". Luke said, "Then we have to go on vacation!"

(That is because the last time we went on vacation it was to Chicago...he did not realize it was the name of the restaurant). We ate at Texas Roadhouse.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve-1992

It was December 31, 1992. I was living in a duplex with my roommate and her black lab, Coco. It was another typical weekend where my roommate left for a 2-3 hour trip to visit her fiance and I had the place to myself along with dogsitting (seems to be a common theme in my life). Actually, the dog was taking care of me.

I started the day with my usually routine of sleeping in, throwing on some clothes that I picked up off the floor, putting my hair back in a braid, and trying to put some eyeliner on since I never leave home without eyeliner.

It was blustery outside and I spent about ten minutes trying to scrape the ice off my car windows while the tears ran down my cheeks. I got in the car and looked in the mirror to see the eye liner was now running down my face. 'Oh, well, " I thought, "I never run into anyone I know" so off I went. Instead of getting a magazine or book to read like I usually do, I decided to stop and rent a movie. I pulled into the parking lot and noticed there was a tv crew there so when I went it, I went to the opposite side of where the crew was. Two minutes later as I was checking out the movies, I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was the tv guy wanting to interview me. I look around at the 20 other people who want to be on tv and suggest he interview them. He insists it will only take a moment and he will move on so I obliged. He asked me what my plans were for the evening and why I was renting a movie. Rather than say I did not have a date for New Year's Eve to the whole city(although I think it was obvious) I said I would rather stay home and avoid the people who are out partying and then driving.

He said thanks and moved on. I rented my movie, went and got some fast food at the drive thru and went home, totally forgetting about the interview. Sure enough, the next day, everyone at work saw the interview....ugh....face with eyeliner, no date for the night, etc.

But, luck would change because that very night, Jan 1, 1993, I had my blind date with my now husband....and all is right with the world.

Happy New Year everyone!

Another Christmas Memory

About 15 years ago, I was in my early twenties and I went to Christmas Eve service with my mother. We decided to go to the family service so we could see all the little kids. At our church, the pastor gave a children's message where he would invite all the kids up, tell the Christmas story and end it by having the kids search for the baby Jesus which he had hidden somewhere amongst the congregation. Once it was found, he would place the baby Jesus in the stable and invite the kids up to look at him and send them all back to sit with their parents.

This time, all the kids were done looking and back to their seat except for one littlle girl. She was about three, wore a beautiful white Christmas dress and she stood staring at the manger for the longest time with her back to us, up on her tippy toes oblivious to the rest of us watching her. Her mother went to get her but pastor asked her to wait a bit, knowing the powerful message of the moment. Finally, her mom went to get her and we went on with the service.

I will always remember that Christmas.

Christmas Eve Last Year

Last year was a tough one for me because I was so worried about my son and his behavior in school. He, did not seem to think it was a big deal. As Christmas came closer, we talked about his stocking and if Santa would put toys or coal in his. I did not think he was thinking about this too much because his behavior did not seem to improve but finally CHristmas Eve was here.

At our house, Santa comes to fill our stockings while we are at church Christmas Eve and then comes again while we are asleep to put gifts under the tree. We arrive home from church and the kids go check their stockings. I see my son walking up to the fireplace and slowly take his down. He reaches in and pulls out a toy. He turns around and says, "Mom, I HAVE been a good boy!"

Always a Daughter

My mom is one of those great mothers a kid can always count on. In high school until now, I could always bring someone home without calling and have them stay for dinner and she would be fine with it. I could ask her to hem my pants the morning I needed them and she would do it. If I needed something typed, she would stay up late the night before it was due and type it (without trying to re write it).

Last week I asked her if she would make cookies for my neighborhood Christmas party and she said she would even though I know these cookies are a pain to make. The day of the party arrives and we travel across town to pick up the cookies. She has made twice what I was expecting and they look better than I remember. She had them in a nice oblong pan with tinfoil covering the top.

She brought them out to me and would not give them to me until she gave me instructions.

"Now, Lori" (I can always tell she is serious when she starts out saying "Now".

"Now, Lori, you have to carry this flat on your lap in the car."

I look at her and say, "Mom, I am in my forties, what did you think I was going to do...carry them under my armpit like a newspaper?"

"I know, I am just telling you because I do not want you damage them."

So, I make a big deal about carrying them out to the car, asking hubby to remove the small blades of grass on the sidewalk so I do not trip and so on. We get in the car and halfway home, we go over a speed bump and I panic, but the cookies are safe.

We make it home and I put them on a linen napkin....no paper plates for these cookies!

Anyway, they went well, we had some left over for us, and I am really happy I could ask my mom to make the cookies.

Family Update: Pete had off yesterday for another medical test and we spent the rest of the day Christmas shopping. We only have his brother left to shop for. We had a rude experience with a clerk which I will tell about later this week. After we picked up the kids, I took my daughter shopping and hubby took our son...so we are done! Now, I get to do all the wrapping.

Have a good one!

It's Over

No, not the marriage (for hubby who reads my post occasionally and freaks out whenever I say "It's over". I can honestly day I have never once thought of divorce....I have thought of moving to a cleaner home but never divorce.

No, the neighborhood Christmas party is over!!!! It went very well. First we went to the first house and then after a couple hours we went to our house. None of the neighbors had ever been to our house before so they were all excited to see the inside. Looking at the house from the outside, it does not look like much (mostly garage with a front door and a window on the side.) Once you walk in, there is a room with a loft, a huge Christmas tree, and a fireplace to the right.

I also set up my nativity set and had lights on it and I thought it looked cool.

People stayed until midnight, Pete made ice cream drinks which went over well.


Now, I can relax, now I miss the kids, now I can post more often and read others which I have really missed, and we do not have to host a party for at least another five years. I wonder how much time Pete will have to take off to help me clean then?

Christmas Store Window

My daughter is in the multicultural club at her school. This past Friday they went on a field trip to look at Christmas displays...one was at the railroad museum and the other was at the downtown museum where they displayed the wonderful winter snowmen/women/children that were in the windows at a store called Prange's before the big bad mall came and took the windows away.

I sat at the table listening to my daughter talking about all the things she saw...the snow people which I always thought were so cute, then there was Bruce the Spruce. "Oh yeah! I remember him...he would talk to us!" My daughter said it was a girls voice so it did not make sense it was Bruce the Spruce.

Then she brought up the Kids Store....this was a roped off section of the store that absolutely NO ADULTS were allowed so the kids could get their parents something for Christmas. I loved going in this store. It was only two aisles and it was filled with gifts that had 'I love Mom" or I Love Dad'. I specifically remember getting my dad a bobble head football player hecause my dad was an official. I also remembr getting him a totally useless figure with wild orange hair all over his body. I cannot for the life of remember what I got my mom....probably a small vase or something.

It was cool my duaghter got to see what I saw at her age.

Family Update: The tree is still up, I am still cleaning, cleaning , cleaning, hubby is taking tomorrow off because he is having a stress test done. We also have my son's Christmas concert tomorrow. We got the ball rolling on getting my son tested for certain behaviors. I called to see how much money we had in the bank and for some reason our house payment has not cleared yet so we have to call about that, probably stop payment, right another check, blah, blah, blah. The weather is 45 degrees today....unreal!

If you want your tree to look good, knock it down

This morning at around 6:30 my daughter came to tell me the tree fell over. Then she came back a few minutes later to tell me a lot of bulbs had broken. I did not go look because I knew I could not do anything until my hubby got up. Finally he got up, we got the tree back up and tethered it to the banister. I looked at it and thought it looked better after it fell than before. The only sad moment came when we realized out golden retriever ornament broke but we think we can fix it.

I did not do any chores today but instead made 35 Christmas cards. They started out pretty ugly but slowly got better and the last few ones I made turned out really nice. I already addressed the envelopes so now I have to sign the cards and include the newsletter and send them out tomorrow.

We went out to celebrate the daughter's report card. We came back and the tree is still standing....whew!

What should I do first?

I cannot make a decision so I am asking you, what should I do first?

1. Clean the laundry room
2. Clean the fridge
3. Clean the bathroom cupboard
4. Clean the kitchen cupboards

Family Update: We had a good weekend. The daughter's Christmas pageant went very well. Today we got our tree at the first place we stopped (got our tree there last year as well). I am guessing it is about 10 or 11 feet tall. The kids and I spent most the time decorating it while hubby looked for Christmas music to play. By the time he found it we were almost done! In his defense, he also spent a lot of time bringing up the ornaments from the basement. He also did a great job getting the lights on all by himself. (My instructions were "I want lots of lights") The five year old wanted to hang more ornaments so he made his own. The dog kept going under the tree to get water from the bowl. It was a good day.

A Busy Week

Well, it has been a busy week (hence the title, A Busy Week).

Every year in our neighborhood, two neighbors host a holiday party. The first house hosts and half the people bring appetizers and at the second house, the other half of the guests bring desserts. The hosts provide all the drinks. This is the first year we are hosting and we are the second house. So, I have been going nuts trying to get stuff done to the house that I have been wanting to do for the past several years. We got some new light fixtures to replace our "80's gold with glass fixtures in the dinette, formal dining room and the front entrance. The new ones we got hold more wattage and is a big help with my RP. Hubby has been doing a great job putting up the lights and we have one left to do yet.

We also bought two bar stools for the kitchen counter for more seating during the party.

I decided to faux paint the kitchen dinette. This meant taping all the edges around counters, cabinets, floor ceiling and doors. Luckily I had enough paint from my family room left over to do this project. (I did a tan base with a autumn faux finish). I also bought some black picture frames and put those up. The bigges project was moving three bookcases full of stuff out away from the wall to paint. I am still going through all the items that were in the bookcases because I do not want to put anything back that does not belong there. We have several baskets that are full of junk and they need to be gone through. I still need to get new curtains and then I am done!

Meanwhile, my daughter had her choir concert last night and it was very nice. Sat. and SUnday she has her church Christmas recital. Sometime this weekend we have to get a tree and get it decorated before next Sat. (that is when the neighborhood party is) and my mom wants to take my daughter Christmas shopping. Every year they pick a name off the tree at church and it is usually a girl the same age as my daughter and they go together to get the gifts.

My son got his report card and he did alright but his teacher still wants us to make an appointment with a physician to discuss his social behavior even though there has been some improvement. I guess she just wants to rule out any conditions which I can understand so I will make an appointment.(He has a hard time keeping his hands to himself and needs constant reminders....I think this is normal for a five year old but apparently not).

Meanwhile, hubby has been busy at work and went to the doctor today to discuss his stomach problem and ended up being scheduled for a stress test and to get a picture of his heart taken. At least he is scheduled before CHristmas so he does not have to worry about it over the holidays.

Yesterday I sat down and wrote out the Christmas letter and I still have to make the cards. I have rambled enough....back to work, work, work!!!!

Oh, I have a home decorating tip for those of you who are interested. I went to Target and bought two wide black picture frames for only five dollars each. I then bought two gold, flat ornaments for $2 each and put them in the black frame.....voila! I already hung them up and I think they look nice for not much money.

More later....

"I Got Him From Heaven"

I have to admit, I was not thrilled with the name of the dog who is staying with us....Spanky. He is two years old and already had a name he responded well to and hubby and the kids and the grandparents liked it so we did not change it. In the back of my mind, I was still thinking of names...mostly Bonkers because he went nuts when we put him in the crate and he has seperation anxiety, Wee-wee because he keeps peeing on my kitchen floor despite numerous outside trips, or something English such as Winchester because he is an english springer spaniel.

Yesterday, I spent all day painting the kitchen/dinette area. At one point, hubby and daughter were gone so it was just me, my son and the dog. My son had been playing castle with my daughter before she left and was therefore wearing her princess costume her grandmother Betty had made for her last year for Halloween. He was just itching to help me paint but instead was talking to me about his "castle."

"Mom, would you like to see my castle?"

"Yes, I would."

"This is the royal dog, Spanky."

'What a fine looking animal he is. Where may I ask, did you receive such a wonderful pooch?"

"I got him from heaven."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I was missing my other dog, so I asked God to send me a dog to play with and he sent me this one. So, I named him Spanky, the royal dog. Isn't he perfect, mom?"

"He sure is." I said looking at both of them. The way he said the dog's name sounded perfect, too.