The Holidays...snow happens!

Christmas 2007 has come and gone…I managed to meet my number one goal: seating everyone in the dining room for the meal (due to storage issues that have plagued us we would transform the living room mid-visit into a dining room). Our home is not huge, our family is and is still growing. Often one or more family members will invite others to our festivities, so an accurate head count is usually out of the question. I’m fairly flexible in these circumstances, my husband on the other hand is not.
Christmas Eve Eve (just after eight o’clock) with the tree nearly completely decorated we lost our power. Not to worry…I was prepared! I had bought and installed new batteries in an old radio boom box and set the tuner to the 24 hour Christmas station two days ago. I grabbed a flashlight and headed upstairs to get it and stopped at the pantry and grabbed the bowl of candles. The house was lit with candles and oil lamps, Christmas music filled the air, I poured some more wine…yes, very pleasant. My husband’s children had arrived earlier that day and this was the perfect opportunity for them to stop the “rush” and sit and visit.
Christmas Eve Morning we awoke to no power and snow on the ground…this wasn’t good. My husband informed me that the power had come on about four and went right back out. I asked him to call the power company and check the status…again, not good…he was told to stay on the line to speak to a representative. The power company was not aware that our power had gone back out. Again, not a good sign…we had a fifteen pound rib roast that needed to be in the oven by ten and it was after eight! Time for a back-up plan…we still needed a gift card for my son and his wife and had planned to go to the New Seasons Market this morning anyway…I finished the list and had my husband and his daughter do the shopping and I stayed home with his son and we finished the preparations we could without any power or water (we have a well). The back-up plan was to get a spiral cut ham. About one o’clock the power came back on and we called my husband and after some discussion decided to cut the 15 pound roast in half and get it in the oven…with the ham we would have more than enough food! We all pitched in and got everything done on time except a once over with a mop to the floors…the kids would go home with gray socks once again! Dinner was wonderful. We opened presents and had dessert. No one had a meltdown. And it snowed some more!
Christmas Morning we woke early and said good bye to my husbands kids, who were due at their mothers. We had a fun day cooking a turkey to share later with good friends. And it snowed some more! We had a white Christmas! It’s something rare in our part of the country. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did!

Screaming in the library

Yesterday I screamed in the library! I knew I would...I had warned my co-workers...yesterday, well actually the day before "Gertie" came home! Gertie is a dear friend of my daughters, one of those kids I collect. His name isn't really Gertie, but that's another story...Gertie is in the Air Force, his specialty is Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD)...he hasn't been home for a year. He's been in Germany and then Iraq driving a robot around in the desert looking for bombs and then disposing of them. Saving lives.
Gertie's mom and I have formed a "mom" bond since he's been away, keeping in touch at the library and through email...it's been a long haul for her having her baby boy off in the desert disarming bombs. We've been counting down the days together.
Yesterday was Story Time at the library...we made snow flakes! After the little ones had long gone I returned to my duties in the main library and warned my co-workers if Gertie made it to the library before my shift ended I couldn't be responsible if I screamed aloud...I felt it coming...I knew I would...and I did.
My shift was close to ending and I was heading to the Children's area to do a quick tidying. As I passed the main door it opened, I turned, saw Gertie smiling down at me and SCREAMED...I tried not to, I slapped my hands over my mouth and tried to contain myself for about ten seconds...then we just hugged and kissed and hugged some more...I really didn't care if I was making a spectacle of myself and Gertie certainly didn't seem to mind. By this time people were looking our way, my boss was at the information desk and stood up to see what the commotion was and just smiled and sat back down. I managed to contain myself somewhat...the tears wouldn't stop though.
I grabbed Gertie's hand, quickly introduced him to my boss and dragged him to the back area and loudly proclaimed, "Gertie's home! I'm happy!" I was literally jumping up and down. It was so crazy, like a five year old after a gallon of ice cream! I am so thankful this young man is home! It's made my Christmas!

Cars!

I hate cars! I am car "challenged"... I am a fairly intelligent woman who cannot for the life of me retain anything told, explained, or shown about cars...I know where the gas goes, the oil, the water, the spare tire (and I can and have changed them on my own)...I just don't retain the information...I've realized it's because I don't care to. All I want is for the damned thing to get me where I want to go!
I have spent my days off shuttling my car, my husbands car, my car again, back and forth to the mechanic for the last three weeks. My dear friend David turned us on to this great mechanic down the road from him...he's honest, reasonable, and reliable. He's even saved me when I got stuck on the side of the road. Yesterday David and I started shuttling cars (both!) at 7:30 in the morning...at 11 he brought me home in his "work" truck and drove his Toyota home. He left the "work" truck in case I needed transportation for some reason (we live 10 miles from the nearest town).
I proceeded with my Christmas Frenzy...the first floor floors needed a mopping desperately! We live in the woods, we heat with a wood stove, it's a log home...it gets very dirty! We have wood floors with the linoleum thing in the kitchen, hall, and mud room. Yesterday I started with the wood floors in the living room...after all the grand kids will be here Monday and I thought it would be nice if they could be on the floors and not be filthy by the time they left. I always feel like I need to wash their clothes when they leave or at least offer up a bottle of the stain spray stuff.
I didn't just mop the floors...I swept, moved furniture, swept the walls, mopped 1/4 of the floor space at a time and then put everything back when the space was dried. I think I did it in good time, it only took four hours! The living room is finished and ready for the tree!
My husband had called at some point during the afternoon and started asking me questions about the cars...I was mopping when he called...finally I said, I am car challenged, I retain nothing, I know this, you know this, it's a fact, don't make it an issue, call David or the mechanic! By four I was exhausted and the phone rang...it was David saying one car was done, but the battery had died and needed charging. I told him we had a charger and we could start the shuttle over again...I could take his "work" truck to his house with the charger and charge the car and drive it home. Somehow we both decided to wait until today to do the shuttling.
About five o'clock I turned on the outdoor lights and there was David coming down the drive in my car...somehow he managed to start it and made it here. He got his truck and went home.
When my husband came home last night he was frantic about his car not being here. I explained the situation and the fact that his car was not ready first, mine was...and we (meaning him and I) would just have to take care of it in the morning after his dental appointment. He was obviously a bit put out...too bad! I suddenly was a little mad! David and I had been inconvenienced most of the day...it was his turn to feel some of it! I also let him know that my battery needed to be charged...and guess what he did? He raised the volume on the television with the remote control!
Hopefully, when my husband gets home from his dental appointment we will head to the mechanic and pick up his car. Hopefully, we will then go out and find gifts for my son and his wife, the last two to get. Hopefully, we will enjoy this day together...I just hope we remember to charge the darned battery on my car so I can get to Story Time at the library tomorrow!
Tis the season!

Dog Poop

Yes, dog poop! When I got home from work yesterday I found my recycle containers had been tossed in a pile of dog poop...I only hope the trash man/waste management specialist stepped in it. Then as I loaded the trash can into the car I noticed a white oozing...I was brave, I peaked inside...it looked like puke and it was all over. I managed to get everything into the car and drove it up the road to the house where I left it off the drive way to deal with later. So, this morning as I'm heading out to decorate the tree at the end of the driveway (more on that later!) I see the trash can and recycle containers...I lug them out to the greenhouse because in my incredible organizing frenzy I've drained all the hoses around the house and actually put them away for the winter! So there I was in the rain hosing out the trash can and the recycle containers...that done, I headed inside for the Christmas balls and the hooks, grabbed the ladder, loaded it all in the car and headed down the driveway to decorate the doug fir. I had failed to realize that my husband had limbed up the tree and the last time I remember standing down there must have been two years ago...the darned thing grew! If I had stood the ladder in the truck bed I might have been able to get to the fourth set of branches, not half way! Although rather disappointed, I loaded all the stuff back in the car and headed back to the house. Once inside I decided to tackle the three year old cards in the basket in my living room...hey, life happens! I had printed out the "sorry, we're stupid" holiday letters that explained why they hadn't heard from us in years and decided to copy the yearly party invite/inserts at work because I was now running out of time. For some reason, knowing I had the inserts to put into the cards that had been ready all but for stamps for three years, I promptly sealed each envelope. With only three left to seal I panicked and started ripping open every envelope...they look awful...but I had to laugh, not only were these cards three years old but now it will be obvious (I'm using scotch tape to reseal them)that I ripped them open for some reason...oh well...the sentiment is real and the job is half done. Now I'm worried because I was all prepared to decorate a tree outdoors and am seriously considering a random drive by decorating! Wouldn't that be fun? I really think I might do it!

Christmas Mania!

I have it! I definitely do! The whole shopping and present thing can wait...I'm experiencing a cleaning and decorating frenzy like never before. I've found the corners of the dining room! The spiders that haven't gotten sucked up by the vacuum cleaner are scared, their homes destroyed. I found my daughter's necklace, lost for over two years, hiding in the bottom of a box of extra Christmas light bulbs. I taped it to her bathroom mirror in the shape of a huge smile. She's a happy girl! I've dusted the basket of Christmas cards for the last time. I've even created a Christmas letter and insert for our summer party. Moving right along, list in hand...I'm feeling like super woman! I plan on decorating a Doug fir at the entrance to our driveway before I head off to work today...I'm losing it, but having fun along the way!

My Sister

Yesterday was my sisters birthday. She died of Aids many years ago. I don't think I'll ever stop missing her. This is one of my favorite pictures of her...

Happy Birthday Venessa!

I think of you often and will miss you always!

Collecting Children

Someone asked me recently if I had kids…I laughed and said yes, many, I collect them. Curious about my answer they then asked how many…I don’t know, I’ve lost count. (I love doing this to people!) They either look at you strangely, or ask for a clarification on the collecting part…some will say, oh you’re a foster parent…NO I COLLECT CHILDREN…sometimes they collect me, it depends on the circumstances.
It all began way back in 1977, when husband #2 came home from work with a 5 year old! Yes, a lovely little five year old girl. This little girl was his business partners new girl friends 5 year old. His business partner wanted the mother to move in with him, but not the little girl. Husband #2 volunteered me to take and care for this little girl, being I had two children, was a stay at home mom at the time, and had nothing better to do.
Because the child’s safety and welfare were my greatest concern, she stayed with us for nearly six months. Her mother and I became acquainted, she visited on a regular basis. She was at the time doing the best she could with what she had to work with. She definitely loved her child.
She’s the reason I went to college…I’m not sure if she ever knew this or not. But I have her to thank for finding my “bestest” friend in the whole wide world!
Anyway, the child and her mother were eventually reunited, and I have since lost touch with them…I just count that as the beginning of my collection.
I have children. Three I birthed. Two of my present husbands. Two that are my “bestest” friends (one of which died a few years ago and I still miss terribly). One, my oldest daughters best friend, who adopted me when she couldn’t face life without having a mother (her mom had recently committed suicide)…the rest, I’ve basically collected on the way. Some have been temporary, some have been hanging around for years. I love them all. There are times I can’t get through the grocery store without running into one of the “kids”; they see my car in the parking lot and entering hollering “mom, where are you?”. There are times I get whiplash from trying to see who’s hollering “mom”.
Holiday gatherings have grown to extended proportions. This is something my present husband has learned to deal with. I never refuse extra guests. The rule is, if you know someone is alone on a holiday, either invite them to ours, or bring them some food.
I think I have the most diverse family in town…a bunch of geeks and freaks…it’s rather amusing to watch people’s heads turn in the grocery store and then answer that question…“are they all yours?” Yep! I answer proudly, all of them. I collect them!