Christmas Wrap Up

 Jamey and his girlfriend Samantha

Barbeque from Red Hot and Blue

Jamey and his Grannie pet

 Oh Christmas tree

 Stubbie Claus

Silly Ellie - she hates the camera

Selah - Christmas concert at FBC Irving

Jennifer, Brylan, Walter, Jordan, Alicia and Daniel

Grandcuties:  Daniel - Alicia's Boyfriend, Alicia and Kayla

Jordan

Christmas arrived at my house with some major computer problems.  I really dislike having computer problems.  Thankfully, I have a Droid phone that allows me access to email and Facebook.  Other than that, I had a very relaxing holiday. 

I posted pictures of a few of the holiday highlights.

Jamey and his girlfriend, Samantha, came for a visit.  This is the first time I have gotten to meet her.  She is so sweet.  I really like this girl.

Joe and I always go to a Christmas concert.  This year we went to a Selah concert.  Selah is one of my favorite contemporary groups.  Our Lizzie and Rog went with us.

My oldest sister Inez, decided to retire from her job of 38 years and got married.  Wow, that was a lot of major changes made in a very short period of time.  Our Christmas eve tradition is Christmas eve service at church, and a meal.  The sisters no longer give gifts to each other, but we still give gifts to our mother.  Mother always goes home with a major haul!  This year our new brother in law prepared the Christmas eve meal.  It was excellent. 

The day after Christmas, we enjoyed our holiday visit with Joe's family.  We went south to Beverly and Walters house. I love going to their house because it is never crowded.  They have so much room to spread out and they are wonderful hosts.  Alicia, and her boyfriend Daniel and Kayla are teenagers.  I think they may have to gotten to the age where it is best to buy a gift card.  I made my first visit to Aeropostle to buy their gifts.  I was way out of my element.  But they were very sweet and said they liked what I had picked out.  Jennifer, Dan, Jordan and Brylan were there.  10 month old Brylan was tearing the paper off the box.  I think Jordan was hoping there was a new toy in his box and it was only some boring clothes.  What a bad Gram I was.  For the last several years we have played a trivia game and have little prizes.  It is so much fun.  T
 here are always a couple of gifts that everyone wants.  I never know what they will be.  This year it was that root beer in the brown bottles and a season of McGyver DVD.  Kayla always seems to hold on to the gift everyone would like to have.   

I loved my year end shutdown from work.  I slept late and just lounged around and did a little scrapping.  On Christmas day we did not have to go anywhere and I wore my pajamas all day long.  I even cooked in my pajamas.  I am usually a person who gets dressed first thing.  It was so relaxing.  I did not send out Christmas cards this year.  I don't really have a good excuse, I just did not do it.

My word for this year is reconnect.  I want to reconnect with friends, church and fitness/health.  As always my resolution is to loose weight.  It is 1/11/11 and I have not really established a plan but I really am going to work on it. 

I hope you had holiday filled with memories and special times with family and friends. 

Love,
Linda

I am thankful for my children

 Drew and Katie at Mulates

 Me and Jamey - such a funny guy!

 Jamey and the dreaded machine.

 Katie and my granddog Finn.

He was not supposed to get on the white bed.

 Pelvis the Pelican

 Katie sewing the hospital gown

 These signs were in Katie and Drew's neighborhood.  

It cracked me up - Speed Lumps!!

 Jamey and the Mac

 Sauce Picante`

at Johnsons

 The Art Center that Pixar built at U LaLa!

 They are standing in front of a giant egg that lights up and there were some lovely Mallard ducks in the pond.

This is completely self absorbed blog post.  I spent this past weekend with my kids in the lovely city of Lafayette, Louisiana.  It was a wonderful weekend.  

I saw three indi films.  I know the film maker of one of them.  I don't think I have ever seen any indi films previously.  I enjoyed some fabulous Cajun food.  I saw some outstanding art.  The artist was there too.  What a great weekend. We also did a little dancing.  It was very fun. I realized that I love Acadiana.  I am not so fond of New Orleans but I love Acadiana.  There is a big difference. 


My daughter and son-in-law live in a little two bedroom rental house.  It is perfect for them.  They do not own a television.  Can you imagine not owning a television?  Katie and I sewed.  We made a dress that looked like a hospital gown.  We altered a thrift store dress and it looked really cute.  My Katie has great style.  Her husband, my son-in-law, Drew is such a fine man.  He is talented and caring and a great cook.  He made a great pot of gumbo that I want to try to make.  He shared his secret with me.  


My son, Jamey, made the hour and a half ride down from his school to visit with me.  He rode his motorcycle in the dark.  I did not know about it until he was already almost there.  He left to go home on Saturday afternoon just as it started to rain.  I felt like I could not breathe.  The motorcycle terrifies me.   He wears a giant helmet, a heavy padded leather motorcycle jacket and coverall pants.  He takes every precaution.  He tells me he is a good driver.  I am sure he is.  However, it is the other drivers on the road that I am unsure about.  Motorcycles are easy to not notice when you are distracted.  I started texting him when I thought he should be home.  When he texted me back that he was home, the elephant finally got off my chest and my lungs were able to fill up with air.  Jamey has a full beard.  It is red and he as a part down under his chin where his beard does not grow.  He is in a play this semester and the beard is for his role in the play.  Jamey has a girlfriend that I can't wait to meet.  The girlfriend is not allowed to ride the motorcycle.  Her dad's rule, and I am glad about that rule. 

I am so thankful that I was able to spend three days with them.  It is such a blessing to see  they have grown up into wonderful, loving  adults.  I know one day they will give me red headed grandchildren and I look forward to them calling me Gram.  I was the best weekend.

This Thanksgiving  I am grateful for my children.  Even though we will not be together for Thanksgiving, we will never be apart in my heart.

Piece by Peace Scrappers at Crossroads Retreat Center

Terry about to enjoy a piece of coconut pie with 4 inch meringue

Paula has a piece of coconut pie too.

Judy has chocolate and I have Preacher Pie

Texas Ware that I found at the antique mall for Katie

This weekend was the annual scrapbook retreat.  I am very blessed to be a part of a group from my home church.  My parents moved from my hometown when I graduated from high school.  So I have been away for a long, long time but they let me join them once a month in their scrap group.  It is called Piece by Peace.  This is the third year we have gone away for a weekend scrap retreat.  This time we went to the Crossroads Retreat Center.  We had a little excitement when a tornado was spotted close by.  There were 9 people in our group and a group of 18 women in another house on the property.  If we had to move to safety, it would have been 30 people in the same small room.  I was praying the tornado would just move on by and it did. 

I have known four of the girls for almost 50 years.  They have not gotten older, they have gotten better.  Terry, Paula, Judy and I made a stop in Canton and had lunch at a tea room on the square.  When we saw the dessert list on the sign outside, we were in.  I had a delicious quiche, and strawberry spinach salad.  Then for dessert was some fabulous pie.  We went in a little antique mall and I found some Texas Ware for my daughter.  She has been wanting some.  If you don't know what it is, it is the plastic dishes from the 60's.  It is also called Mel-mac.  It looks like it is old, and I would not put in the microwave or dishwasher.  But, I do like the aqua color. 

The retreat center was set in a secluded, woodsy area.  The gardens and ornamental plants were very overgrown and badly in need of a trim.  The cabin where we stayed had the unmistakable smell of mold.  There was no way to hide it.  There was insect activity in the cabin, but I did sleep really well. There was no hairdryer in the bathroom.  I did not bring one and my hair was scary. 

However,the scrapping area was great.  We had long tables and good chairs.  One for each person.   There was a living area and a dining area.  If you needed a break from scrapping, you could go sit on the couch.  Everything was on ground level, so there were no stairs for me to go and up and down.  I was very happy about that.   The large room also had the kitchen, a bathroom and a room for a massage.  The owners kept coming in the scrap building  and turning off lights.  It made me crazy.  To a scrapper, light is very important.  We were paying a good price to use the electricity. We played a fun scavenger hunt game and Terry and I won!  We really over thought the clues and it paid off because we won.  We had 4 fabulous make and takes. 

The time went by so quickly.  I  loved every minute.  I am so blessed to be a part of this group.  I am already looking forward to next year.  I don't know if we will go back to this location or try another, but as long as my gal pals are with me, it will be fabulous. 

I missed my husband and pups but it made coming home so much sweeter. 

I feel it coming --- Fall

The Dallas Arboretum Fall gardens. It was beautiful!

Photo spot in the pumpkin village.

I love this picture of the Joe pet.

A gourd house. My daddy would have loved this for sure!
He would have been checking it out
to see how it was constructed and he would have
thumped all the gourds.

There is a pepper plant in the pot and beautiful gourds scattered all around.
I loved it.

October is finally here. I have been looking forward to this month since summer. I have several exciting things going this month.

First of all, October 1 was our 10th anniversary. We took the day off from work and went to the Dallas Arboretum. We had been talking about going for years and never had made it over. There were over 40,000 pumpkins and gourds on site. There was a pumpkin village that was the most perfect photo opportunity. There were preschoolers there with their moms and cameras. After the Arboretum, we had dinner at the Salt Grass and shared a slice of cheesecake. It was a fun day.

There is a new scrapbooking studio that just opened near me. It is called The Little Blue House in Keller. It truly is a little blue house. My scrappy buddies and I met there last night for a crop. We had a room all to ourselves and we each had our own table. It was so fun. We laughed and laughed. We are planning to go back next month. There is a new scrappy buddy who just moved to town that we hope she can join us next time. Miss Tracy is the owner and she and Susan are the most creative people I know. It is a wonderful place. If you live in the mid-cities area you have to check it out.

The next October event is something I don't know if I am excited about or not. It is my 35th high school reunion on October 16. It is at the Uptown theater where I went regularly for the Saturday matinee shows when I was a child. It has been refurbished and has community theater, art shows and reunions. I am looking forward to seeing old friends but 35 years is really old!

Then October 22 -24 is our annual scrapbook retreat with my hometown church scrappy friends. I love this so much. We are going to a new retreat location this year. It is called Crossroads. It is so fun just to get away and create and enjoy the company of my lifelong friends. I am so blessed.

And finally on October 31 I am hoping two little goblins will come visit me. I invited Jordan and Brylan over for Halloween. Their parents were invited too! Jordan has been to our house for Halloween for the past three years. I don't know what his costume is this year but he will certainly be the cutest spook in the neighborhood. It will be Brylan's first Halloween. He will be smiling and happy in any costume. He is such a happy baby.

I hope you are feeling cooler temperatures and seeing the beauty of fall where you live. It is truly my favorite time of year. I think I will make a run to the garden center today for some mums and pansies. I can feel it in the air.

Happy Fall y'all!

Love,
Linda

Little visitors

Time out.

Papa and Brylan

Stubbs move over and give me some room. I am watching the baseball game.

Hey Stubbs, over here, it's me Brylan.

Getting to know you.

1. 

Getting to know all about you.

We had two little visitors yesterday. Jordan and Brylan came over for a while. Oh, and their parents too. That Jordan was so funny. He kept calling Ellie a fire truck and Stubbie a dump truck. I will admit that Stubbie is good at backing up and dumping. Jordan was very certain they were trucks and not dogs.

Brylan is a very happy little fellow. He smiles and smiles. Oh, and he sleeps about 10 -11 hours a night without waking up. I can't imagine a six month old baby sleeping that long. It never happened with my children. He is the tiniest little fellow. It is like he is a little angel.

Stubbie loves children. He wanted to be Jordan's best bud. Jordan had a few different ideas on how to show friendship but over all he liked Stubbie too. There was one brief time out but Stubbie was very forgiving.

Lizzie, Rog and Mamou met us at Chili's for supper. Jordan loves to eat. He put catchup on his pineapple. He could be the next Food Network star.

I am looking forward to seeing Jordan and Brylan's Halloween costumes. Jordan was Cookie Monster last year.

I had a great time scrapping on Saturday. I love the monthly scrap with my friends in my old neighborhood. It was a great weekend. I need a day to recover.

I posted a few pictures that Jordan and I took of their visit.

I am going to spend more time with my blog

I have been reading other people's blogs and am motivated to spend more time on my own. There are people who I know from the scrapbooking world that I love to read their new postings. Then there are blogs that I don't know the person, but feel like I do. There are so many creative people out there who share their talents on their blogs.

I think blogging is good for you. It is just like journaling. I never kept a journal or a diary, but I had lots of thoughts running around in my head. It is very cathartic for me. Yes, I dusted off the dictionary that I purchased from Half Price books and made sure that was the right word.

My blog is very plain and I need to learn how to spruce it up and use the options properly. It will be fun. I am working on some scraping stuff that I think I may post here too. Plus there are all those adorable pictures of my Stubbie. He is so photogenic.

OK, that may be my big project for the weekend. Right now though, I am heading for the shower and then a pedicure. I think going anywhere near a clothing store this tax free weekend is a bad idea.

Smooches to all!

Linda

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

I realize that I have neglected my blog. I truly do enjoy posting here, but I guess I haven't had much to say lately.

I am having hip replacement surgery. The thought of part of my bone being sawed off is very disturbing to me. I told my primary care doctor that and she was sure that the surgeon would let me have it if I wanted it. I guess that was her way of saying that I was being a little silly about the situation.

I have watched countless videos on youtube about hip replacement. I saw a full length actual surgery on ORLIVE.com. They have videos of all types of surgeries. It is very addictive. There is a youtube video on how to get in and out of a car, step into a bathtub, and exercises to do after the surgery, and several video diaries from people who have had the surgery.

My sweet daddy had hip replacement surgery. He also had his knee replaced on the opposite side. His hip surgery was a painful failure. I have diagnosed the problem, now that I have my youtube degree, as the cement that was to attach the stem of the prosthesis to his femur, failed and it was rubbing his bone. He said it hurt every time he stood up because he could feel it scraping. Daddy never mentioned having a revision to his surgery, but they do in cases of a failure, such as his. He decided to tough it out, he had a very high pain tolerance. I don't want to have to make a decision to live in pain for the rest of my life or have a revision. But, Daddy's surgery was a long time ago. I think it was about 20 years ago. My surgeon said he will not use cement. There is some fancy finish on the stem that encourages the bone to grow to it and cement is not used.

I was told that I am the first patient on surgery day. I am concerned that I will be overly anxious that morning. Anxiety will make my blood pressure go up. I don't want that to happen. So, my first priority will be for them to put me to sleep. There is no anxiety in sleeping!

I have stopped taking my anti-inflammatory medicine and it is painful. Extra strength Tylenol is my new drug of choice. Anti-inflammatory meds make your blood thin and they want you to stop 2 weeks before surgery. Then for 2 weeks after surgery I will take injections twice a day to thin my blood. Go figure! I hope that after the surgery, I will not need anti-inflammatory meds.

I purchased a cane that folds up. I have it leaning against the wall by my bed. I may have to use it soon. My daddy and granddaddy both walked with a cane. Actually they both used the same wooden cane. (Not at the same time.) It had a cow's head carved into it. They looked very paternal with the cane. They were both really old when they started using the cane. I have a very, very vivid memory of my granddaddy sitting in the porch swing at my Aunt Chris' house and pushing off on the swing with the cane and whistling "What A Friend We Have In Jesus". Granddaddy also would hook the dog's collar with the crook of the cane and pull her over to him so he could scratch her. Thinking of my granddaddy makes me feel like everything is right with the world. He would save the mini rolls of LifeSavers that he got from the bank for us when I was a little girl. Sometimes they would be completely soggy from the humidity in his old farm house, but it was the greatest present ever. He also saved the metal flags that came in the Shredded Wheat box. They were in these little wax paper envelopes. I guess Granddaddy had arthritis. He died around 1965, so I don't believe he would have had the option of joint replacement.

I am going to training in Colorado on Wednesday. I am taking my cane. I have been looking forward to this training for a long time. It snowed in Colorado last weekend. Cold weather will make my hip hurt. I hope it will be warm next week in Colorado.

I do my pre-op on Monday after I return from my training. I work part of day on Tuesday, then go to the dentist to get a crown set and my teeth cleaned on Tuesday, then Wednesday at 7:15 a.m. will be my surgery. Recovery is 4 - 6 weeks. I hope to be able to return to work after 4 weeks since I do sit at a desk. Rehabilitation will take about 6 months total until I am better than ever.

What A Friend We Have In Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

Love you guys!