God Bless Us.....Everyone....

Isn't it odd...

that no matter

 how hard we try

 to have lower expectations

 of the holidays...

There is so much room for

hurt...

dispair...

disappointment...

fear....

sadness...

judgement...

separation...

loneliness....

sorrow...

Sometimes...

even when you prepare yourself

for what you think might be the most

unexpected occurance....

you are caught off guard.

Even when you

resign yourself to the disappointment...

more comes your way.

Personally,

I am blessed.

My family and friends are

near, dear and wonderfully,

present.

However,

someone who I am very emotionally

attached to..... is sad.

Lack of common courtesy...

lack of respect...

lack of love..

How do we deal with lack of

love?

God blesses us...

sometimes we don't see our

blessings,

until it is too late and they are

taken away from us....

God,

please allow me to be

present.

Thank you to all of you who

visit my blog.

You have helped me this year more than you can

possibly know.

Please continue to let me know how,

and who you are...

thank you from deep inside....

smiles.

Home is where....

anywhere I find those....

whom I love...

who love me...

who desire my presence..

who enjoy the event as much as I do...

who will eat my food...

who will stay to watch bowl games...

who realize the value of family...

who are willing to share...

who understand that we all have weaknesses....

who desire a better world...

who are willing to work for it...

those who see the glass nearly full...

the many who accept me as I am...

who find that life really is

a bowl of cherries...

and that we are all a barrel of monkeys...

who will laugh at my jokes..

and not make me the butt of one...

Family can come in so many disguises....

it can be the lonely neighbor..

the couple that has no children and

actually enjoy the chaos that accompanies

young adults...

the single guy who has family very far away...

the single girl who has lost her dad this year...

the couple with a toddler, who need a break...

the also, young couple with two beautiful girls that light up the room...

the middle aged man who is beginning to learn to care for himself...

the new grandmother who is learning to set boundaries..

the couple who is so relived that he has a new job...

the man and wife who have lost everything this year and still smile....

the retiree that longs for the company of her children..

the independent woman, who has put everything into her work and her dogs...

All of these people

are my family..

and yet,

I am actually related by blood

to none of them...

I am so grateful to see the miracles that are happening all around me.

My wish is that everyone sees a miracle before year's end...

Go out and look for it...

It is there, I promise...

Really...

smiles.

BA love...

Funny.

I can't remember what I did yesterday,

but I remember a time when I wore

two of these uniforms...

the striped one...

and the beautiful one after it...

I loved every minute.

smiles.

Out of the fog...

My life is so good...

sometimes, when I am very still...

quiet to the point of hearing my breath...

and feeling my heartbeat...

I simply cannot fathom

the immense goodness found in this world.

I know this is not necessarily a popular point of view...

it seems that pessism is a much more accepted outlook.

But

in my life...

I feel so blessed.

As with most impressions,

details are not particularly important.

But, let's just say that

the last couple of days have bought

a revelation...

a release...

and finally,

a renewal.

My experience has been that sometimes

we don't even know how bogged down we are until

we stick our heads out the window and

check out the scenery.

Once we know that there is a

different, freer, more beautiful option...

well,

taying "mucked up" in the

well.....

muck

is just not an option any longer.

So...

like the feeling you have when

 you are on board an aircraft...

ready for takeoff....

waiting for the fog to lift...

just a bit..

and then it happens...

you are speeding down the runway

faster and faster until

the nose of the aircraft lifts...

and soon you are up...

and momentarily...

you break the cloud layer.

Breaking out of the cloud layer

that's it.

That is what has happened to me.

New challenges..

New outlook...

New purpose...

New freedom...

Blessed...

that's what I am.

smiles.

Observations....

So many bloggers inspire me...

So....

when the whole weekend turned into "pea-soup"

Fog like we have not seen around here for some time.....

I decided to embrace it.

I took a clue from the week of lovely photos from

Mary's blog In a Soft Light

She has been embracing the fog for sometime...

I suspect.

So...

as much as I tend to be claustrophobic,

and want to pout on foggy days...

I headed out, into the cold,

and shot lots of images.

It is good for the soul.

On another note...

while I was out,

I happened to notice

this...

He or she was taking a nap on the "electrical box"

way out at the back of the property....

Must have been warm..

humming away...

or maybe

it sounded like a

mother's purr.....

smiles.

I'm in!....or game....or trying......anyway....smiles.

Well,

here's the thing....

I am taking the easy way out today....

I am letting someone else come up with the

"thoughts for the day"

Mandy at Good Cook

came up with the idea,

and I found it

on Nancy's Life in the Second half

(great name!)

Questions to let you know more than you could possibly want to know

about me.

So here goes;

Here are the instructions:

If you're reading this post, then you must:

(a) leave a comment and answer the below 25 questions that Mandy made up,

(b) write the answers to the questions below in your own blog post, if you have a blog, that is.

or (c) call yourself a scrooge in the comment below and refuse to answer them.

I hope you choose (A) or (B) but if you choose (C) then I'll just let the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future deal with you. If you do decide to write your own blog post about it, please mention Mandy since she is the author of these important questions. (Writers credit and all that jazz - thanks!)

(1) What is your favorite Christmas movie?

I would agree with Nancy on Love Actually....it's sweet.

(2) What is your LEAST favorite Christmas movie?

The Simpsons Christmas specials...

(3) What is your favorite Christmas song?

We Three Kings (traditional)

and

Blue Christmas (R&R)

and

Grandma got runover by a reindeer (because I never grew up)

(4) What Christmas song(s) drives you crazy?

White Christmas (can't get it out of my head)

(5) What is your favorite Christmas drink? (i.e. egg nog, hot chocolate)

Hot Mulled Cider

(6) What is your favorite Christmas memory?

When my son's father dressed up like Santa....and fooled all the kids..

(7) What is the best toy/gift you've received on Christmas?

Barbie, three wigs, carrying case and clothes...a big time!

(8) What is the worst toy/gift you've received on Christmas?

A grill from my son's father.

(9) What do you LOVE about the holidays?

Songs, tree decorating, and food.

(10) What annoys you about the holidays?

The mall.

(11) Do you prefer star or angel on top of a Christmas tree? Or something else?

Star.

(12) What is your family favorite recipe at Christmas?

Dates, stuffed with pecans, rolled in sugar. Simple, and Dad loves them.

(13) Are you a Grinch or a Who at Christmastime?

Cindy lou Who to be precise.....smiles.

(14) Christmas light displays - Love them or Hate them?

When they are on someone elses' home-LOVE THEM!

(15) Santas at the mall - Fun times or Creepy?

I don't mind them, but the children I have taken to the mall...scream in terror...sorry Santa.

(16) Christmas cards - do you send them, yes or no?

Yes, I like to put my favorite photo from the preceding year on them.

(17) What is the best thing about Christmas, in your opinion?

Family.

(18) What is the worst thing about Christmas?

Fear.

(19) When do you put the tree up and take it down?

UP on Friday after Thanksgiving, Down on 26th of Dec., usually.

(20) Out of the 12 days of Christmas, which day and item would you want your true love to give to you?

Twelve Pipers piping.....Love those kilts!

(21) Why do you think that Grandma got run over by a reindeer?

I am so sorry....but I laugh everytime I hear it.....it is so redneck, it makes me cringe and then smile.

(I swear I didn't read ahead...really.)

(22) Who is your favorite reindeer?

Rudy is the best!

(23) Do you believe in Santa Claus?

Yep, know him well....smiles.

(24) What is your favorite smell at Christmastime?

The Tree.

(25) What would make you happy at Christmas this year?

To wake up being me....my life is so good..

Thank you and pass it on!

Ironic....me thinks....

See how lovely this looks?

How quiet....serene....calm...?

Ironic.

The sweetie and I spent last evening looking quite a bit like the

Keystone Kops....

(not a look I would advocate)

You see...

as I checked on the laundry yesterday afternoon...

I discovered that the load, which had been

tumbling

for

hours.....

was wet.

The dryer passed away from exhaustion.

And

the washer

has been complaining,

for months....

that she is

carrying the load....

(sorry!)

Yes..

the washer, bless her heart,

has been struggling along on one cycle

for over a year.

She's over it.

Well,

after a trip to the local Lowe's,

to make arrangements for a new duo...

we started to think about the

configuration of the laundry room,

and the fact that we had just commited to

a new set,

that was considerably larger

than the funerary couple.

HOLY COW!

when we arrived home and started to

measure (that's what engineers do)

and visualize (that's what photographers do)

we realized that

we were cornered.

Literally.

We had to find a new place for the

refrigerator, left over from our

kitchen redo.

and

that meant

taking off it's doors,

and taking out all the contents...

and moving it down the hall to a

storage closet filled with chairs.

Oh, did I mention that I had

wet laundry sitting around waiting for

it's turn in the tumbler?

After a break

to dry laundry at the parents,

(who served us tuna casserole, how lucky are we!)

we came home...

to still another

storage problem...

what to do with the

eight dining room chairs

that had previously been stored in the

closet where the fridge now hummed contentedly....

and

make the guest room beds that were waiting for the

newly dried sheets....

and

 find a place for the microwave, whose only use is to

pop popcorn during football games....

Yes...

it was like dominoes.

move one..

and

well...

you know.

smiles.