All Dressed Up

When I went by my mom's yesterday to refill her medication, I told her that I would come by on Christmas Eve and pick her up for church. We talked about what day it was and when Christmas Eve was and some doctor appointments that are coming up on her calendar. She has decided that she doesn't want to use her day by day calendar anymore - so I truly have no idea how she keeps up with what day it is - actually, I do know - she just doesn't keep up - as was evidenced by the phone call I got this evening. About 7:45pm tonight she called and wondered when I was going to pick her up for church - she thought it was tonight and told me she had gotten all dressed up and was waiting for me. God Bless Her! It's enough to make me want to cry. But I'm not going to - at least not tonight - going to go to bed (and B - I never made it out to run my errands - sat on the couch and watched TV instead!). Goodnight.

A Few Old Stories...

So before Thanksgiving - I went to Las Vegas to see Kris play in a softball tournament - where her team won the tourney - the hard way :) - and she was selected for the All Tourney Team - or something like that - a very cool thing! Now, remember, this was Before Thanksgiving - we are landing in Las Vegas and as we are flying over this neighborhood near the airport - there was an entire part of it that had massive Christmas decorations and lights on display - that is WAY too early!

So on the trip home - we are waiting in the airport for the plane and we hear this clicking noise - we look over and this woman is clipping her toenails there in the waiting area - Disgusting! Ick!

A few more stories... The puppets performed in church recently - and I wish I could have seen the kids - I hear they were just enthralled by it all - a shout out to my puppeteers! Great Job! There were three of us in the back and when we finished and were waiting for the best time to walk out - I told them thanks and that it went really well and Lynne says "Yeah - and they (the congregation) laughed at all the appropriate times!" And one of my favorite comments from people was - we never saw you go to the back of the stage or leave - pay no attention to the man (or in this case three of us) behind the curtain!

A few Saturdays ago, Terrie and I were doing arts and crafts in the choir room and the kids for the Christmas pageant started showing up for their dress rehearsal. One of the little boys (probably about 3 or 4) was standing near me when his mom took out his shepherd costume to show him and he got this great big smile on his face and said "I'm going to be a handsome shepherd" and indeed he was!

Last week, I broke down and bought Sadie this play ball that has holes in it with feathers in the middle and rope covering the outside and figured I would wrap it up for Christmas - yeah - I got it home and couldn't wait to give it to her - of course when I dropped it on the floor for her to play with - she was only interested in the cardboard tag that had the price on it! Should have known.

Enough for now - have some Christmas presents to attend to... Happy couple of days before Christmas!

Surprise!

Not that anyone is reading anymore - but in case you are - here are two Luke stories and a Sadie story...

My dad came to town last night and had dinner with me and John and his family. Well, Luke, the 4 year old was telling us about where Santa and the elves live - "Did you know that there is this white mountain next to the desert and that is the North Pole." He later stated that "Chris (the 16 year old) said he wants to be just like me." Out of the mouth of babes... or in this case... one rowdy little kid.

It was a nice evening - I had a good time at the end of the table chatting with Chris and Emilie (13 years old). And it was, of course, really nice to see my dad - he stayed with me - so my house got a quick cleaning - before the major cleaning that will have to take place before my Aunt comes a week from Saturday.

And now for the Sadie story... When my dad got up and left - I decided I would head out to the gym - and when I got home - I looked and looked for Sadie - couldn't find her in any of her usual spots - the quilt, the afghan, the window seat... so I'm standing between the living room and dining room and say out loud - "Where are you baby doll?" and she answered with a little murmer - she was in the cat tree! She was probably watching me the whole time I was looking around.

Enough for now - must get ready for work.

1\2 a Bag of Cookies

Had an unfortunate incident with 1/2 a bag of cookies last night. Was watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - the original cartoon - and it just reminded me of being a kid and my mom and how she just isn't how she was. So I sat and cried and ate 1/2 a bag of cookies - I probably had a good 15 - 20 points worth - even found the Gideon's Bible in the nightstand of my hotel room and looked up passages of when you are filled with sorrow and something else I can't quite remember right now - but wrote down a couple of passages I found helpful. The hotel also had a Book of Morman in it - the only other time I've found something other than the Bible in a hotel room was in Hawaii and there was a Book of Buddism. Fascinating. I was staying in La Jolla - near the LDS Temple - I figure that's why it had the Book of Morman. Anyway - enough rambling for now - one of these days I might even spend a little time and tell a couple of stories from Las Vegas - but for now - this is it.

Happy Day After Thanksgiving

Happy Day After Thanksgiving wishes! Am in Big Bear today - where it has been COLD! Wanted to wish everyone a nice holiday weekend - and at this time of year when we remember what we are thankful for - I just want to say that I'm thankful for each and every one of you! I am tremendously blessed to have the support and friendship of all of you! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and God Bless All of You!

Sure Feels Like Winter To Me

A few random thoughts...

So I'm driving home the other night - from somewhere - and I'm on Moulton - stopped at the light at Aliso Viejo Parkway (I think that's the name) - and I look up on the hill toward Aliso Viejo - and I can't believe it... someone already has Christmas lights up - in the shape of a Christmas Tree - don't they know the rules - nothing until after Thanksgiving - can't we get through one holiday first?!

While I've been listening to the radio this week - the Mammoth Mountain ads have amused me - all about winter and the snow pack and opening the ski slopes - yeah - and it's been in the 80's the last couple of days - sure feels like winter to me!

One more gripe - so my favorite flavor at Bath and Body is Freesia - or course now it's called Sheer Freesia - anywho - I've been out of the body spray for a while and am almost out of the lotion - so I stopped in a Bath and Body yesterday to purchase more spray - only to find out that since it is a 'classic' scent - it's only available in January and June. When they discountinued it for a while several years back everyone in the stores I talked to said it was so popular - so they brought it back - with a new name - and now it's only available twice a year - what is up with that - so I'm sorry to say - you'll have to excuse me if I stink between now and January. :)

One last thought - thanks for the continued prayers for the music ministry - choir practice with the first candidate tonight went well. But am looking forward to it all being over.

A Bowl of Cereal

So about a week ago I picked up some mail from my mom and in the stack was an invitation to attend an orientation meeting for CalOptima - which is the public agency that governs Medi-Cal in Orange County. The invitation said the meeting was for tomorrow (Thursday) at 10am - so I called to make sure that I could attend for my mom and sign up. The woman told me that the meeting wasn't on Thursday, but on Tuesday at 1pm - I kept telling her that the info I had said Thursday - I explained I was coming in for my mom - the whole bit - she insisted that Tuesday was the last meeting I could attend for the year. Ok... so I show up yesterday - I check in on one floor - then send me to a second floor and then when the woman starts the presentation she wants to make sure there isn't anyone with medicare in the room - I'm the only one that raises a hand - so I get sent back downstairs again - and when I get downstairs - I see the board that says the medicare meeting is - believe it or not - Thursday at 10am - what a shock! At this point I figure I'm going to have to come back - but at least I haven't missed it. Oh no - my customer service experiences must be looking up - they showed me to a conference room and when they came back in - I asked if I was there on the wrong day - they told me not to worry about it - that they would take care of explaining everything to me so I wouldn't have to come back - I almost fell out of my chair from shock! They took an hour and a half to explain it all and answer my questions one on one! WOW! Prayer does work :) and God is definitely good - all the time!

So last night on my way home from work, I called my mom just to see how she was doing and she said she was making dinner - so to make conversation, I asked her what she was having and she told me - a bowl of cereal. So I asked her what else - and she said that was it. So I told her - as she used to tell me as a kid - that she couldn't just have a bowl of cereal - she had to have some protein also - so she needed to have a scoop of peanut butter or half a peanut butter sandwich - and all the while I thought - I HAVE become my mother! I wasn't completely convinced when I hung up the phone that she was going to actually have more than cereal - but when I got home there was a message from her - she said that she broke down and took a TV dinner out to have for dinner! God Bless Her!