A Bunch of Randomness Before Christmas

 Well, let's let the brain roll...

The USDA planting zones changed. They have made my little coastal zone 9a instead of 8b. I am not sure I agree, and I am sure my lemon tree would not agree. I do know the actual coast doesn't get as low as the inland areas, but I am just not sure about 9a. I have to research it more and the nerd in me will do so over Christmas break. It has been chilly this week. Miles, Gus and I have had to wait until about 10:30 instead of 9:00 to do our morning stroll. I am not a cold weather fan and I know I must look like I live at the North Pole going out for the walk. 

But as you can see, living on the coast has its advantages. I am in that no freeze zone. Suits me just fine!

In other local news, the next picture explained why Tyler and Lindsay's garbage was strewn all over the road one morning this week.

Yep, that is a bear strolling on the sidewalk of the neighbor's right across the street. That is actually common around here. Living near the reservation and it being North Florida those guys are very common. Tyler will have to wait until daylight to take the garbage out for a while.

Well, let's get the Iron Bowl stuff over with. What a horrible ending for us Auburn people! Actually, I am very proud of Auburn for staying in the thick of it until the end. I account some of that to home field advantage. Jordan Hare is special. I am excited about our new coach and if those little people who have big money can keep their paws off of Auburn, we could have some good years going forward. That is if NIL and the transfer portal hasn't ruined college football already. Nothing stays the same. We count on that. I am super hopeful that Beau Nix of Oregon wins the Heisman.  We did not go to Auburn as Jeff has had a couple of rough weeks. More on that later. Lindsay and Tyler and the boys did go and had a wonderfully relaxing weekend until the end of the game. I didn't tell you how I did after that game, did I? Well, I must say it took about an hour of walking around the house and trying to distract myself to soothe the downfall. If I am at home for the game instead of Auburn I usually decorate the tree, but I had actually done that Friday night. Boy, do I wish I had waited. Decorating the tree has helped more than a few of those losses. If you think I am crazy...you are right! I did grow up across that state line and it is a different kind of game. Not one I am sure I like, but....

This was cute though....

I am sure he caught the glimpse of one of his parents. They had been hyped all day and had planned to go to Toomer's Corner if we won.

Palmer is just the cutest right now. They went to one of the favorite spots to eat. It has been there since Jeff and I went to school. 

Miles said it all. Actually, he just wanted to go outside and play.

I got a new coffee mug to drink my coffee and hot chocolate for this season. The mug and a spool of ribbon are the only new things I bought for decorating.  The mug was just too cute to pass by.

Tomorrow is December and I am in shock as to where this year has gone. I suppose that comes with age, but I also think daily life is a little more speedy with the advent of technology. I have a full calendar of events. Be it going to a play for Tucker, parades, church events, friends gathering and lots of doctor appointments. Mother has 4 on the books right now. Two for the 2 different orthopedic doctors she is seeing and 2 for the pain doctor. She has the nerve ablation procedure on Monday. I am praying it will give her some relief so she can enjoy Christmas. It is supposed to help with pain for 4-6 months. 

It's busy and that means we have to work a little bit harder to make sure we have the important stuff in priority. Faith and Family first. 

The house is decorated and I have pictures of it except for the kitchen. I can't keep it clean long enough to take a picture. Imagine that! I might just have to take one with real life, won't I?

I really just want to go bake some cookies and I am going to soon no matter what else has to wait on me to do it.

That is about it here...just trying to squeeze in some reading and stitching and cookie baking amongst all the things. Other than worrying about Mom and Jeff I am all good and looking forward to the Christmas season. I love the lights of the tree. They really help with the darkness of this time of year. 

Jeff has had a rough 2 weeks. Looking forward to getting him home in a few weeks. He has had a pinched nerve in his neck /upper back. That has not helped all the other going on. Today he seemed a wee bit better, so I am hoping that is getting better. He got some steroids and muscle relaxers for that. The kidney stone has passed or lodged somewhere since he is not having that issue anymore. 

That is it for this week.

Tis the season to be jolly... 

 and grateful.

Thanksgiving 2023

 My heart is very full tonight with great love and thankfulness for family and fellowship.

I would be fibbing if I didn't say my heart is also full of concern, but I feel the need to record the blessings and the things I am thankful for -before I move on from this day. I already sat down and poured some of my heart into my paper journal while sitting with the "Pilgrims and Indians." I decided a few weeks ago that paper journaling was going to be necessary going forth, so I have taken to pouring my heart out in it once again. 

I am so grateful for the gift of family. I worked very hard the past 2 days working to make the home special and the food special and that all around good feelings for my family. I sense change is coming again. I felt it in December between Christmas and New Year's Eve of 2021 and it did... yes, it did. I was determined to make this one special. The Lord blessed me with more energy than I knew I had and I KNOW it was from HIM. I have cooked special dishes, kept Thanksgiving decor in place in spite of everywhere I looked Christmas coming out. 

Kristan made me feel so good about that decision. She and I agree that people should do what they want as many have good reasons for putting it out early, but for us it seems like Christmas will be cheated if we put it too soon. I know that topic is a hot button these days and I quite frankly don't care what people do. Truth be known, if I didn't have family coming I might give in and put the lights up too. 

Today was a chance to celebrate the things to be thankful for. Our family has taken a lot of hits this last 2 years and we are feeling it for certain, but giving thanks is important. Just when you think you have a sad story you hear a worse one from a friend. We must choose to live and give thanks for the good found in each day. 

I brought Mother over on Wednesday to spend most of the day overseeing the passing of the torch ---the torch being cooking her dressing. I am not convinced she thought I could do it, but I told her she could only oversee and tell me what I was doing wrong. It went well and I think she is convinced I can now pass on her legacy at my ripe old age of 63. I do plan to write it all out so that it can be followed by more than just her telling one what to do. I really knew I could do it. After all, I have watched her do it for years, but I think she needed to feel useful this year. 

The remainder of the post is going to photo heavy, but they tell the story.

I am going back to give thanks all week. 

Let's start with Sunday. 

Look at my sweet boys in large group at church. Palmer is now old enough to come out to the big room for the singing and Bible story. He spotted Tucker right away and went to stand by his big brother.

I love that my kids know how important bringing the kids to church is. I am so grateful for my parents raising me in church so that I might have a great Lord and Savior to guide me through life. I could write for hours about that topic alone, but I will move on.

On Monday, I got to go with my kids and grandsons to the Armament Museum. There have been many trips and photos of this place here along the way, but Katie was out of town visiting her bestie and Tyler was at work. Lindsay and Paul Allen were both off and Mama got to spend time with her kiddos. 

You mamas know what I mean when you see your adult kids enjoying spending time together and conversing. It is a warm fuzzy!!!

Miles decided early on he wanted to walk, then Palmer decided he wanted to walk. As little as they are, they walked pretty much all the way around the museum looking at the planes. My boys all love planes. Since, we live near so many air and army bases it is no wonder planes are a huge part of the skies here.

I got to hold hands...

and watch them take care of each other.

An all around fun day. I don't know if the boys enjoyed the picture taking, but they had fun.

Mimi loved every minute of that morning. She felt compelled to buy them a rocket which was a huge hit with the older 2 when they got home.

Miles was still walking!

Lindsay has taught the boys to say cheese when taking pictures. We thought we were done with the pictures and then Palmer wasn't following and kept saying something. It was finally determined he was saying, "More cheese." Obviously, he didn't feel we had captured him correctly so Lindsay had to go take one more of him with his rocket.

Be still my heart!

Tuesday was cleaning day and preparing the house for the family. Here are the family photos that I try and pull off each time we get together. Kristan and I agree again on something, pictures are important BUT she and I feel like the least photogenic of the bunch. Mother however, is the most photogenic. I had her at 2 doctor appointments this week and quite frankly was worried about her spending the day here today with so many, but pain pills did their job today and she looks amazing in these photos. Truth is....I really worry...well let's try and keep this post positive.

My heart is in that photo below. Oh how richly blessed I am to have these people in my life. 

We have been hit hard with the news of Jeff's diagnosis. Not just me, but the kids too. They have been so concerned and so helpful. Paul Allen was over early doing all the turkey stuff before they had to go to Katie's family's house. We moved our feast until 2:00, so they could come back and enjoy us later. Lindsay is working behind the scenes at work to make all the retirement stuff go smoothly and has put together a small reception for Jeff (he doesn't know). She feels it is important he knows how much he means to the district staff (Jeff is like the secret peacemaker there) and the principals at all the schools. He is basically their evaluator and a mentor to so many of them. We are praying that things will be better when he is retired. To make matters hard to see that this week he has a kidney stone and something like a pinched nerve in his upper back. All that has made for someone who hasn't felt well at all on his week off from work. It has been hard to know if the fatigue he has felt was all of that or the Parkinson's. Time will tell and yes, we are scared. 

His last day of work is December 21st.

Next up is Jeff's sister's family. Donna pictured front row left is not feeling all that well either. She is 12 years older than Jeff and they only have the one daughter. Kristan. Al, her husband has no siblings that had children and so as I have said before, that leaves Kristan, Lindsay, and Paul Allen as a small set of cousins. Kristan is 10 years older than Lindsay but these 3 are very close. We lived across the street from Donna until after Kristan left for college so they got to watch her grow up. Kristan's husband Torrey is on the right with his mom. His parents have done Thanksgiving with our family since they married. Torrey's dad passed away a couple of weeks before last Thanksgiving. Miss Judy was looking a little more herself this year. 

And then we have our younger generation. The twins are getting so big. 14 now....teens. Not sure how that happened so fast.

That is a wrap on Thanksgiving. Lindsay and Tyler went full on Christmas at their house today before heading to the feast:) 

Lindsay sent me this picture after they got home tonight. 

I am going full on Christmas too now. 

The tree is up. I had to buy it because all the good ones would be gone from the place I like to buy from.

I love a tree that has a few imperfections (not too many). I like for it to look real!

I am going to do a couple of things different this year. I only had to buy one thing of ribbon for my idea to happen. Stay tuned. I will share all of it. 

From C.S. Lewis....

Courage isn't the absence of fear but acting despite it. In fact, you would not need courage if you did not have fear.