White Elephant Gifts?

On Christmas morning when we were waiting for the kids to come to open their presents, Rich and I were just sitting relaxing in our chairs when I looked up at the shelf on my wall. I noticed there was a green trophy sitting up there. Mindi got it down and we wondered how a 2001, 3rd place running man trophy had gotten up there. I then remembered the three plastic Tiki glasses that I saw in my kitchen cupboard when I was putting dishes away. Later on we found a pink pig in the hutch in the family room. While we were opening presents, there were two under the tree that no one knew who they were from. Rich opened the small one, a Coney hot dog steamer, and I opened a large wrapped box with an ugly wall hanging in it. By then we were accusing everyone in the family of being the person or persons who would do this to us. Then this morning as I got in the shower I found a little white statue of a little girl in the middle of all my shampoos and conditioners. There is a part of me that thinks this is funny but Rich and I both feel kind of violated. Who has the nerve to come into our home, without being invited and putting Goodwill items on shelves, in cupboards and even in our shower? I thought of calling the Police and making a report of a trespassing, but I don't know if it's a crime to come in someone's home and leave ugly useless stuff around. Anyway, if someone knows who has come into our home and left these things please let us know, if not I have lots of White Elephant gifts to give out next year.

 

Christmas 2013, Over, Whew!

On Christmas Day before all the family came over, I walked around my house and took some pictures. It was quiet and peaceful and I was trying to relax before the chaos began. I looked at my Nativity my Dad made for me with his own hands. Each character is carved out of wood and it is special to me. I looked at my tree all decorated with bulbs and bows and there was one ornament that caught my eye, a picture of Kamber in a little Joy sign Jenn gave to me a few years ago. Mindi and Ethan went in on a Granny Bike for me, hoping I can get a little exercise without falling off and breaking my hip. I don't buy my grand kids toys for Christmas. That is something Santa or their parents bring, so I always get them new pajamas and sweat shirts to keep them warm in the next few months. After we opened presents the extended family came and we had ham and potatoes, rolls, yummy cherry salad and desert. One thing nice about Christmas is everyone is so tired they are eager to get home and let the kids play with their toys. We missed Spencer and his little family but they are in Boston waiting for the football season to be over on Sunday and for Spencer to get home and then they will have their own little Christmas next week. I have spent the last two days taking down all my decorations. Every year I think it's too much work and I'm not going to do it again. Next year may be the year I decide to go easy on the decorating, I'm getting too old to do it by myself year after year. Anyway, I survived Christmas 2013 and am anxious to see what the New Year brings me.

 

Merry Christmas and Looking Forward to the New Year

It's Christmas Eve 2013 and I will be so glad when tomorrow is over. I hope to be going into a deep winter slumber and get back to normal, whatever that means. We had our extended family party last night with the Turley sister's families. We get together on the 23rd, have Mexican food, a little nativity for the kids, some Christmas songs and a story called Turky Trot. My Grandma Fern was a librarian in Phoenix and she came across this book, so we have to read it every year for as long as I can remember. Our family is getting big and spread out but with Mom and Dad still alive we have three generations of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I pulled out all my bags and began wrapping for the grandchildren and somehow I am short a gift for one of my grandsons. So I will be going out to the store to finish my shopping, something I dread. It seems like this year has been particularly hard for me. I don't know if the stress of everything with the short Christmas season, or that I'm just getting older, but everything sure seems harder to do. My sister gave me an article called, "A Grief Like No Other." It talks about the Grandparents of the children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary school last year. It talks about why grandparent's grief can be especially devastating and lonely. More than 160,000 American grandparents lose grandkids each year. I was shocked to hear those statistics. I'm so thankful to have survived the years I have after Kamber's passing, but I miss her and wish there was a present for her under the tree. But life goes on and I have seventeen beautiful grandchildren and wonderful children, I'm so blessed. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and look forward to the New Year.

The $5 Reindeer Candy Cane

Another week has passed by and every day has been a blurr. We had a problem with my cards so have had to make two trips to Costco with another one probably tomorrow. I wrapped Spencer's kids Christmas and sent it yesterday. It's always a good feeling when their presents are on the way. I'm still mourning them moving back to Boston, but I keep telling myself that all my kids need to walk their own pathways. So if they want to walk it in Boston, so be it. Last night at around 2:30 we had a loud thunderstorm. It woke me up because it felt like our roof was going to come off. I spent the rest of the night feeling sick, first with cold symptoms, then chilling and stomach issues. Why is it when I have so much to do I get sick, maybe stress? Last night when I was sitting in the car with Trulie while Mindi went in to Costco, an older Hispanic lady came up to the car. I rolled the window down and asked her what she needed. She had some little candy canes with eyes on them and a piece of black pipe cleaner around the top so it would look like a reindeer. She then went on to tell me her husband wasn't getting paid and they didn't have a Christmas tree yet. I asked her how much she wanted for them and she said, "just anything you want to give me." I pulled out a $5 bill from my purse and handed it to her. That's probably the most I have ever spent for a single candy cane. I have also seen numerous families standing near the shopping center entrances holding signs asking for help. Sometimes I wonder why I've been so blessed. Did I do something different than them? Or is it that we all have our own struggles in life? I want to feel the Christmas spirit not because of what I'm buying but because I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and am so thankful for his birth and sacrifice he made on my behalf. I wish I had the resources to help all those that need help but I do know that God loves his children and wants them to return to him. I'm just thankful I had $5 to give to the lady that needed help.

"The Purpose of Stress"

Last week was a really hard one for me. Lots of shopping and cleaning, plus the usual errands and chores. I can see now why some people don't decorate and just give a little money as gifts. At times it  becomes overwhelming for me but I'm still not at the point to give up. I could feel myself going into that dark abyss, the doldrums. Where nothing makes sense and I wonder if there really is a God who knows me and even cares what I'm going through. I have spent lots of time during the night praying for help and wondering if anyone was listening to me. I wish I could see through the veil and get some advice from my Grandma Fern, or Kamber, the two people I miss the most. This morning I decided to do some reading to see if my spirit would lighten up. I pulled out my little "You Can Be Happy , No Matter What," book and started reading. When I opened the book the paragraph said, "The Purpose of Stress." It said, "The purpose of stress is to warn us when we are headed toward psychological danger." The more stress we feel, the more important it is to drop the thoughts that are on our mind. Stress can be a friend-- by letting us know beforehand when we are heading away from happiness, away from clear thinking." There are some people I know who love to be stressed out. They live their life so busy their relationships suffer. Sometimes I let the stress get to me too. So if I can just make it through the next week and survive, maybe I will make a change in my life so I can get some clear thinking going on in my head.

Ward Party Done, Tree Decorating Next

 

About a month ago we were asked to help with the Ward Christmas Party for the church. It was an honor  to work with some of the most talented and dedicated people I know. We spent Friday afternoon decorating and then Saturday night working at the church serving dinner and then cleaning up. I have to tell you things just aren't as easy as they were when I was younger. I am so far behind now with my own projects and decorating, that I just want to go to bed and not wake up until Christmas is over. It doesn't help that I still have laundry, dishes, hungry animals and all the other chores I have to do to keep this house moving along. I have spent all morning trying to get my two trees decorated. I have asked myself several times why I'm doing it? I've lost my love for all the work it takes to get my house ready for Christmas. If I wasn't hosting the family dinner here at my house, I think I would buy a little tree and call it good. Tomorrow I'm spending the day shopping and running errands, it doesn't do me any good to stay here day after day and worrying about how I'm going to get everything done, so I'm going to spend the day out and about doing what I want and need to do. Last night when I went to bed I could tell the old dark cloud was looming close. I am so tired of giving my power away to those who really don't really care about me, or my opinions. You would think at sixty I would be able to take control of my emotions and not let others determine the way I act or feel. When I was talking to my friend a couple of weeks ago he told me there are three causes for being upset, or like I say, p*%$#^ off: (1) Unfulfilled expectations, (2) Undelivered communication and (3) Thwarted Intention. I just realized that in my life I pretty much live with all three of these examples, maybe that's why I spend a good deal of time upset. But life goes on and I know Christmas will come and go, the New Year will begin and I will start the cycle all over again, day after day, year after year.

 

"Be An Answer To Someone's Prayer Today"

This has been another crazy and busy week for me, just like always. I have most of my Christmas decorations up except my tree and that will happen soon. The last two mornings when I woke up the thermometer said it was 29 degrees outside, there has been frost on the grass and the water for the animals was frozen. Living here in the desert we have the extremes from boiling hot to freezing cold, but there are a few months when it is well worth it. Tonight is our ward Christmas party. Rich and I were asked to help with some other amazing people. My assignments were baking twenty pounds of potatoes and calling a list of women who signed up to make a crockpot of soup. Rich was asked to get our sleigh and fireplace to the church, plus build a place for the Nativity to stand. The rest of the committee all decorated for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and I have to say we were efficient and it looked marvelous. I don't think Rich has ever been as busy as he is right now with work. We are so grateful, but that really stresses us out, and he is nearing 60 which frustrates him that he can't work like he did when he was younger. Anyway, last night Mindi helped us load the sleigh in the truck and we went to the church. We thought someone was going to be there with a key to let us in, but no one was there. Rich walked around the church to see which door would be best to get this sleigh through. I was sitting in the truck when I noticed a car was there and a young man walked out. He asked me if we needed any help. They were the missionaries and I told him we were having trouble finding a way to get this sleigh in the church for our party. His companion came out and offered to let us in the building and find a way to help us. We spent almost an hour trying every door and even trying to take a door apart to fit it through. We finally found a door at the front of the church but Rich had measured and measured and asked me, "How much do you really want this sleigh in there?" I told him they were counting on it, so Rich and the two missionaries headed out to carry it in. As they walked out I said, "Hey you guys, say a little prayer that we can get this thing in the church." When they got it to the door Rich was confident that it wouldn't fit and as they lifted it up and turned it sideways it went right through the door. I couldn't believe it, I still can't. Anyway, as the missionaries left I told them they were an answer to our prayers. One of them said, "That is really weird because in one of our zone meetings today, the leader told us to go out and be an answer to someone's prayer today." They were definitely an answer to our prayer last night, now hopefully we will be able to get the sleigh out of the church tonight, otherwise we've got a big problem and we will need some more prayers answered.

Getting Ready for Christmas

I was so glad when Thanksgiving was over. Last week just about did me in with the stress of remodeling, cleaning and entertaining, but it was so nice to have everyone over. The problem was that I started taking down my Fall decorations after everyone left and on Saturday we put up our lights on the house. This weekend is our ward party and Rich and I have been asked to help, which means Saturday will be too busy for light hanging. I hate it when there's less than four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yesterday I had Rich take down all my Christmas decorations and spent the day hanging pictures, swags and anything else I could put up. I woke up so tired this morning but felt I needed to get out of my house. We decided to do a Hobby Lobby/Walmart run but after seeing the crowds and dragging a two year old around the store touching everything, we decided to leave and go back when her Daddy could watch her. The weather is suppose to turn really cold later this week and I just want to go in my sewing room and make a quilt. It seems like it's been so long since I've been able to just work with the fabric and make something with my hands. So hopefully I can do some sewing in between shopping and running errands. Sometimes I become so overwhelmed with life, that it takes all the joy out of the holidays and I can tell my mood shifting and taking me somewhere I don't want to go. Maybe another trip to the store might help, but I think maybe a nap may be better for me, besides I need to tackle that tree decorating sometime this week, boy am I tired.