A Flint River Christmas Parade 12/21/09

Years ago, the residents of Lake Blackshear got together and decided to have a Christmas parade of boats.  For several years, this was a grand event, with dozens of boats taking part.  Then for some reason, perhaps the great flood of 1994 (I will write about that soon), the boat parade fell by the wayside. 

This year, lake residents received a flyer asking for participation once again in the boat parade and also asking that residents decorate their docks for judging.  On Saturday night, Ted and I and a group of friends met over at the Marina at the Lake Blackshear Resort & Golf Club, where the boats would be passing in front of the judges’ stand.  We got there early and grabbed a table at the window, hoping we’d be able to see the boats without going outside.  Didn’t work, but it was a good thought!

Lake friends. Sally, Samille, and Marianne were all trying to figure out the best setting on their cameras for night pictures. I was doing the same thing.

 

Madeline, Ed and Sally's six-year-old granddaughter. She had her list ready for Santa.

The judges for the parade were aboard the Lady Liberty, a 50 passenger vessel the marina rents for weddings, rehearsal dinners, reunions, parties and corporate events.  A very special guest was also aboard the Lady Liberty  – Santa Claus! 

When the Liberty arrived at the marina dock, I knew there was no way I’d be able to get any photos from inside, and it was COLD out there – well, cold for south Georgia!  But some of us walked out to the marina’s rental slips, where the Liberty was tying up, and when they found out I was taking pics for my blog, I got invited on board to watch the boats go by – close up! 

The Lady Liberty, decorated for Christmas, before she came into the marina.

Approaching the dock.

A close-up, just before she was docked.

I tried to get good shots of the boats, but it’s very hard to do with as little light as there was. The ones below are “semi-good”.

This pontoon boat was ablaze with strings and strings of Christmas lights!

Would you believe this was a little fishing boat! They had built antlers at the front for Rudolph's head, and his "nose" was the brightest light on the lake last night.

A pontoon boat with its very own Christmas tree!

It's hard to make out in this picture, but this pontoon had Santa's sleigh and reindeer outlined in lights.

 

There was even a Grinch on the river - but he didn't manage to steal Christmas from this group!

Santa, on the upper deck of the Lady Liberty. Later, he came inside the Cypress Grill to see all the children who were waiting to talk to him.

Once Santa Claus arrived inside, he was kept quite busy “making his lists” from all the childrens’ requests – including Madeline’s!

Then he had to get out his big yellow LEGAL pad to take care of the next two kids’ “gotta have” list!

Never did hear who won the boat parade contest, but we sure had a lot of fun watching it!

Can’t believe it’s Christmas week.  Is everyone ready?

Eight Days and Counting! 12/18/09

So much to do and so little time left.  This is not a “real” post, but just a note to say I’m taking a long weekend to try and tie up all the loose ends before Christmas. I have grocery shopping to do, a guest bedroom to get ready for Jason & Blair, and I have GOT  to find Ted some last-minute SECRET gifts. Even though we swear to each other every Christmas we won’t go over our set limit, there has never been a Christmas yet we’ve kept that promise.  And even though this year we promised each other THREE TIMES that the “limit” was the limit, I happen to know Ted asked Jill to get me a surprise from the Christmas Bazaar on Mackinac Island while she was there.  And it wasn’t Jill who let the cat out of the bag – it was TED!  My husband couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it!  But that’s ok. It’s usually those silly little “secret” gifts that mean the most each year.

We have more rain coming in tonight, and it’s supposed to last all day tomorrow.  If it clears out by Saturday, we plan to go across the lake to see the Christmas boat parade. Residents have decorated their boats and docks with Christmas lights.  The boats will parade in front of a group of judges, then go up the river to the Lake Blackshear Retreat Marina, so everyone can gather in one place to see them.  If the weather cooperates, I hope to get over there for pictures Saturday night.

Hope you all have a great weekend finishing up your loose ends. I’ll see you back here Monday morning, good Lord willing.  Stay safe, and God bless.

This was last year, right after wrapping the last gift. I thought that last bow HAD to go somewhere!

“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy . . . ” 12/17/09

Don’t you just love John Denver songs!  Don’t you just love the sun, after not seeing it for over a month! 

Today we’ve had a full day of blue skies and sunshine.  With Ted off driving veterans to the Dublin VA Hospital, my plan was to spend the whole day wrapping gifts.  I know you all think I must have a million gifts to wrap, the way I talk about them all the time.  But here’s the thing.  Just because I say I’m going to wrap gifts at this time or that time does not mean that actually happens. 

Like today.  I didn’t even walk into the “wrapping room”.  As soon as my two cups of coffee had jump-started my heart this morning, I opened the back door and inhaled fresh, clean, DRY air!  Maddie and Bear hit the ground running, and they didn’t stop all day.  Maddie has dug holes (that didn’t immediately fill with water) and sniffed every inch of this yard for something to dig up, chase, eat, or all three.  Bear has carried his ball around the yard all day – throwing it for himself when I wasn’t outside (yes, he can do that), and nudging me with it everytime I set foot outside (when was quite often). 

Here’s the day in pictures (with captions).  I thought I better chronicle this rare sunny day, because tomorrow the rain starts again.  Geez!

Gray day front yard . . .

. . . what a difference a day makes!

 

Do you see that! That is a path of sunshine running right into that azalea bed! And that is a path of shade right next to it! Do you know you cannot have shade unless you have sunshine!

Blue sky, sunshine, shade-dappled white fence.

Standing in the carport, shooting straight through the flowerbed to the lake.

Standing out beyond the screened-in porch on the dock. Looks like a couple of jets crossed paths up there!

Our flag, flying at the end of the dock. I need to go down and take a picture of it at night. Ted has a spotlight on a timer, so it is properly illuminated when the sun goes down.

 

Bear on the dock. It's the first time he's been down there since we've been home. That's how BAD the weather has been! That's Ted's spotlight for the flag attached to the post over Bear's head.

 

Looking up the river, through the screened porch at the end of the dock.

 

Bear, standing at the boathouse. He seems to think that water is awfully high, and so do I. It's also very muddy because of all the rain we've had here and upriver.

 

Maddie couldn't have cared less what was happening at the dock. She was in full tracking mode. Here, she had just spotted a bird landing in the bush next to her.

Bear, with the ball he threw for himself.

Maddie, thinking "What an idiot! He could be hunting moles!"

By the time Ted got home and we had eaten supper, Maddie and Bear were “dog-tired”.  Everyone stretched out in the den to snooze (including Ted), while I came into the bedroom to write.  I tiptoed out to take a photo of Maddie sound asleep next to Ted, then walked outside on the deck, thinking about going down to the dock for a picture of that flag.  Wow, had it ever gotten colder!  The wind was blowing too, so I substituted the flag picture for an outdoor view of both our Christmas trees at the back of the house.

A tired little girl, after a busy day exploring her outdoor world.

Please continue to remember my friend Samille’s friend, Susan, who suffered a stroke following hip replacement surgery.  She is in a physical rehabilitation center now, but her progress is very slow.  Let’s keep her in our prayers as she fights her way back to health.  God bless.

Bear’s Secret 12/16/09

Hello!  Bear here!

Mom’s tired after a whole day away from home.  She had to go by her old office in Albany, then get a new phone (cause Dad thought hers was dirty and washed it), then get her hair a different color on the roots.  That roots thing doesn’t make sense to me, but if it’s something that makes Mom happy, it makes me happy too.

I learned a new trick this week – one that Mom and Dad haven’t figured out yet – so don’t TELL them!

You probably already know that for as long as Maddie has lived with Mom and Dad (over five years), she has slept with them.  I mean right between them in the bed.  Mom likes to pull Maddie up next to her on cold nights. She says it’s like having a little hot water bottle in the bed with you.  Then, as soon as Mom is warm, she pushes Maddie back over next to Dad.  Maddie doesn’t seem to mind all the back and forth between the two of them – she usually doesn’t even open her eyes – just keeps right on snoozing.

When I came to live with Mom and Dad, I had a really nice bed on the floor next to Mom’s side of the bed.  They said something about me being too big to sleep up there with them.  Have you seen that bed?  It’s big enough for Mom, Dad, Maddie, me, two more dogs, a couple of cats, and maybe a hamster!  But anyway, that was the rule, and I always obey the rules!  I hardly ever slept in my dog bed because it was too hot.  It had this fleece cover, and I just couldn’t get comfortable in it.  So mostly I slept on the floor by the bed.

When Mom and Dad would both leave the house at the same time, I admit to getting on their bed, because it was just the best place to be.  It was cool up there under the fan, and best of all – it smelled like Mom and Dad!  I would always get right at the corner, facing the door, so I could hear their key as soon as it went into the doorknob.  Then I could jump off and be down the hall before the door opened, and they would  think I had been in the hallway the whole time they had been gone.

Right before we left for Michigan, Maddie (who liked to attack my fleece bed like it was an animal) tore up the covering, and Mom had to throw the whole thing away.  She said, “Bear doesn’t like it anyway.”  Well maybe not, but it was nice to have an option!

When we got back to the lake, I just started back sleeping by the bed on the floor.  Sometimes when Mom came to bed and read, she would let me jump up next to her and snuggle until she was ready to turn off the light.  Then she would say, “Off, Bear!”  And I would jump off.  Because that is what golden retrievers do – we obey!  We are also smart!

I got to thinking about it.  That big bed was really comfy, and I liked being with the rest of the family.  One night, at 3:17 a.m. (I looked at the clock with the red numbers on it that glow in the dark), I jumped up on the foot of the bed (I knew there was no room up where the pillows were) and settled down.  Mom and Dad both sat straight up in the bed at the same time and yelled, “Bear!  Get off this bed!” Well, geez!  So I got off.

For the next three nights, I tried the same thing.  I’d jump on the bed, they’d wake up and yell at me.  So I spent one whole night thinking about it some more.  And I figured it out.

What I had to do was get on the bed without jumping!  I had to sneak up there very quietly and carefully – like I weighed 2 lbs. instead of 79 lbs.  Hmmmmm.

So here is what I did.  I got up very close to the bed and sat down.  Then I put both my front paws on the bed (like I’m about to say my prayers – something Mom is trying to teach me to do).  Then I used my front feet as leverage and lifted my back end up.  Then I put one back foot up on the bed (I can do that because the bed is low to the ground).  From that point, all I had to do was silently heave myself up so all four legs are onboard.  Then I very quietly stretched out at the end of the bed beyond the reach of their feet.  And ta-dah!  I’m sleeping on the bed.

 

 

The first morning Dad woke up and found me there, he said to Mom, “Why didn’t you tell Bear to get off the bed?”  Mom looked funny and said, “I didn’t know he was on the bed.”  Then they just looked at each other and then at me.  “How’d he jump up here without us knowing it?” Dad asked.  “Don’t know,” Mom said.  “If I had felt him jump up, I would have made him get down.”

I just smiled – and it’s worked like a charm every night since.  DON”T TELL!

Shades of Gray 12/15/09

The last few days have been a study in gray – different shades for different subjects – but all gray.

First, the weather.  I have forgotten what sunshine looks like!  We have been home from Michigan for 42 days – 39 of those have been gray.  No sunshine.  No sparkling water, with the sun’s rays bouncing off the surface, creating strings of diamonds across the lake.  Today the fog was so thick we couldn”t see beyond our boathouse.  The other side of the river has disappeared, and for all we know, a spaceship has landed and transported all those folks on the Crisp County side to the Planet Ork.  But, hey – if Ork has sunshine, where do I get my ticket? 

Even Bear and Maddie, who will go outside and play at the drop of a hat, just stand in the doorway and look out as if saying, “Where did the rest of our world go?”

 

Second, my cell phone.  You know – the one Ted accidently sent through the “heavy wash load” cycle of the washing machine and spin dried into cell phone oblivion.  Today he decided if he could just get it dry on the inside, it might miraculously come back to life.  So he got out my blow dryer and spent 10 minutes cooking my phone.  When he plugged it into the charger, a screen came up showing it was charging – a gray screen.  A while later, he actually got the phone to turn on.  But that was it.  It won’t make a call or find a contact.  Try any of that, and it’s right back to the gray screen.  But, who knows?.  After he blow dries the phone a couple more times, it might work.  Or what about the microwave?  I mean, this whole thing started with the washing machine – surely we can find an appliance that can fix it!

 

Then there’s my hair.  It’s turning gray.  I wish I could say that’s a recent trend.  And it’s not that beautiful white that so many lucky women slowly evolve to as they age.  Nope.  Mine is gray – mouse gray.  And since I haven’t visited by favorite hair stylist since we returned to the river, I have about an inch and a half of mouse gray roots showing at the bottom of my Clairol Full Tilt Toffee brown hair dye.  Attractive?  Maybe on Ork.

So Tuesday I will drive into Albany to get a new phone and new hair roots, which will brighten my day considerably.  Now if we could just get that sun to peek through, we’d have us a grand slam!

Pretty paper, pretty ribbon . . .

Wrapping gifts was up at the top of my “gotta do” list for the weekend. Our tree has been up for almost two weeks, and it has looked so forlorn standing there with nothing underneath. 

I used to love to go Christmas shopping.  I’d go to Albany, Macon or Atlanta to the malls and walk up and down every aisle, thinking out each gift for each person on my list.  Somehow, with the years, that part of the shopping experience no longer appeals.  At first I thought it was the crowds I didn’t like anymore, but I’ve figured out that it isn’t the crowded stores that I’m trying to avoid.  What was annoying me was listening to people complain – about the long lines, about the lack of customer service, and, in some cases, about the season in general.  The more I listened, the more I found myself doing the same thing – complaining.  And that’s just not what Christmas should be about – is it.

Several years ago, I began to shop online.  I can sit at my laptop listening to my favorite Christmas CD, surf the web through dozens of stores in minutes instead of hours (and not have to buy gasoline or find a parking space), shop sales (and wow, have there been online sales THIS year), and order gifts with the “click” of a key.  This year, even the dreaded “shipping fees” have been cut from a large majority of retailers. It’s just an easy way to get it done, and I’m still in a great mood when I’m finished – instead of ready to bite nails in half.

Then comes my favorite part – wrapping the gifts – which is definitely a learned trait for me.  Years ago, when I was working, my boss (Helen, who is now my best friend in the whole world), Rho (another good friend who also worked with the school system), and I exchanged gifts at Christmas.  The first year we did that, I brought in their gifts wrapped in holiday paper, with a bow from one of those “25 bows for $1.99″ bags punched through each of the boxes.  Rho and Helen had wrapped their gifts with the most beautiful paper I had ever seen, and tied them with REAL RIBBON.  They even had little doodads attached to spruce up the gifts even more – an ornament I could hang on the tree the next year, a sprig of greenery, or maybe a little twig with red berries.  Talk about mortified! 

The next year I had someone teach me how to tie a bow with cloth ribbon, and when Christmas rolled around again I was ready!  Since then I have loved wrapping.   I never know how any gift will turn out when I start – it’s always a surprise at the end.  Of course, the guys in the family couldn’t care less – I could put their gifts in a grocery sack, and they would be just as happy.  But the girls love it, sometime saving the ribbon, bows, and “bling” to use on their gifts next year.  That always makes me smile. 

The beginnings - ribbon and "bling" and paper.

 

I wrapped for about two hours Saturday night, then went out to sit on the porch and watch it rain.  Ted had made the second fire of the weekend, and sitting there in the dark, watching the rain and the fire, was the perfect way to end the day.  The tile under the wood stove gets toasty warm, and Maddie loves to curl up almost under the stove and nap.

Sunday afternoon three friends from the lake and I drove into Albany to meet cousins Wanda and Julie and Julie’s sister at the Albany Little Theatre for a play – Christmas Belles.  It was about a church Christmas program gone horribly wrong, and was so funny.  It got us all even more into the spirit of the holiday.

Betty Sue, Julie, Sally, Becky, Deb, and Wanda

We found someone to take this one, so I could be in the photo too.

Before the play started, this gentlemen came out on stage and welcomed everyone.  He asked that we turn off our cell phones and cameras.  Then he said, “We found someone’s keys in the ticket office.”  He held them up.  No one said anything, but you could hear people scrambling around in their purses.  He said, “There are a couple of attachments on the key ring – one says CVS Family Card, and the other says Panhandle Pet Store.”  Well, that sent me diving into my purse.  No keys.  I sheepishly raised my hand (we were on the next to the last row), and shouted, “They’re mine.”  Of course, everyone in the whole audience turned to look.  I turned around and glared at all six girls and said, “Don’t you dare tell Ted about this!”  They promised they wouldn’t, and they didn’t – until we were halfway home.  Then Sally called Ted and told him the whole story.  But then Ted confessed that he had run a load of clothes in the washer and discovered that my cell phone was in the pocket of my jeans he had just washed.  He didn’t have a lot to say about the lost keys. 

The drive back to the lake was through the worse fog I have been in for a very long time.  I literally drove about 40 mph the whole way home, and we saw deer on the side of the road in three different places.  We would be almost on top of them before their shapes would appear like ghosts out of the mist.  We were glad to get home without a mishap.

A busy week ahead – appointments, more gift wrapping, and . . . a trip into Albany to get a new cell phone – mine seems to have drown.

. . . the Next Day 12/11/09

If I had known how to put a great big smiley face on this blog, that is what would have greeted you when you opened this post today.  My “procedure” is over and done, and the best news of all – no “glitches”  this time!  I was put on the “see you in five years” list and sent home sleepy, but very, very happy.  I discovered, surprisingly, that after the first 24 hours with nothing to eat, you sort of forget about being hungry.  I think I was more thirsty than anything. Still, my mood wasn’t great by Wednesday afternoon, and I think Ted would have gladly thrown me out of the truck on that trip in for my appointment.  Isn’t it horrible how we always take our bad moods out on the ones we love the most.  I guess that is because we know they will love us anyway. I slept a lot when we got home, Ted fixed a great dinner, and I ate solid food for the first time in 48 hours.  Thanks to each and every one of you who sent thoughts and prayers up for me yesterday.  They were answered in the best possible way.  

I awoke this morning feeling great, but still a little tired.  I’ve taken it pretty easy today, so I hope you will forgive me if this post is brief tonight.  I walked outside in the yard for a little while this afternoon and took a couple of photos, but it had really cooled off from a temperature of 79 on Tuesday.  Today, it was in the 50’s with a brisk breeze.  I didn’t stay out long.

The balsam wreath we ordered from Weber's Florist on Mackinac Island came this week, and it is now on our front door. It smells SO GOOD!

T

Our one white camellia bush is in full bloom, but the red and pink bushes haven't opened yet. They are so full of buds though that the branches are bending down. If a frost doesn't get them, they are going to be beautiful by next week.

I had bought Christmas cards last week and had gone by the post office to get Christmas stamps.   This afternoon was a perfect time to move my little white “writing” table out to the sun porch and address cards.

The only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been a fire in the wood stove. Ted has promised me one in the morning, when it is supposed to be close to freezing.

I’m saving some of those cards to address tomorrow morning in front of the fire.  Samille, a good friend, ran by this afternoon to sit and chat a while.  So good to see friends!  After she left, I noticed a squirrel and two Mallard ducks under the birdfeeder in the backyard.  Our yard used to be full of Mallards before we put that back fence up.  Now, since they have to make the effort to fly over it, not as many come. 

One of the dozens of squirrels we have as neighbors, and a Mallard pair.

While I was working on the cards and Ted was snoozing in his chair, Bear was relaxing and Maddie was standing guard from her little bed on the porch.  That bed was supposed to be a carseat for her.  It’s raised so she could see out of the windows, and has slots the seatbelts would go through.  I made the mistake of putting it out on the porch just to see if she would get in it, and that is where it has stayed for four years.

Doesn't Bear look great! He's lost 24 lbs. since May. He's dirtier than he's ever been because we couldn't get him groomed with the hot spot. But he goes next week, so he will be gorgeous for Christmas.

The queen on her throne.

Ted wanted a southern supper tonight, so I cooked country fried steak, real (as opposed to boxed) mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and biscuits (canned, not real).  I think it made up for my bad mood on Wednesday.

I wanted to show you one more thing before I sign off.  My friend Jill was on Mackinac Island this past weekend, and she trekked up to our condo to take a picture of it in the snow.  She sent them to me today, and Ted and I could not BELIEVE how deep the snow was!  The first picture is our condo when we arrived there in May, and the second two show how it looks NOW!

Our condo in May. That's Ted standing on our deck on the upper left side (where the door is open).

Our condo this weekend.

This dad and his little girl were having a great time on their snowmobile on the condo yard.

I’ll see you back here on Monday morning, good Lord willing.  I’m hoping to get that last gift bought this weekend, get everything wrapped and under the tree by Sunday, get the Christmas cards in the mail, and enjoy the rest of the season with no pressure.  See you Monday!  God bless.

Katie Couric and Me 12.09.09

Someone said to me just last week that my life is now like an “open book”, and that will only be proved more true by my subject today.

I’m fasting.  No, it’s not a religious thing.  It’s a FORCED fast.  On Wednesday I’m having one of those ”procedures” that, without going into all the yucky details, is preceded by drinking 40 gallons of gunk and then taking up residence in the powder room for a day and a half.  My ”procedure” isn’t scheduled until 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.  Therefore, I am forced to be on a clear liquid diet all day Tuesday and Wednesday until after the “procedure”.  I already have a headache from missing breakfast, and it’s only 10:15.  I don’t start drinking the gallons of gunk until 6 p.m. tonight, so I can’t even fill up on THAT until late in the day. 

11:10 a.m.  Define “clear liquids” for me.  According to my “cheat sheet” from the doctor, that means ginger ale, broth, water, coffee (black), and orange or yellow jello.  If it’s black, orange, or yellow – how can it be “clear”?

11:50 a.m.  This is my second “procedure” of this kind.  Three years ago, upon reaching a certain age, my doctor ordered the first one to establish a “base line”.  A slight “glitch” in the results of that first test, and having a father who had colon cancer, makes me one of the lucky ones who gets to have the “procedure” more often than most.  But that’s ok.  Ted and I are both learning – as we grow older – that we now have many more exciting topics  to talk about with our children and friends.  I used to SWEAR I would not turn into one of those little old ladies that talks about all her health issues - and here I am writing a BLOG about it.  Good grief!

12:08 p.m.  Excitement!  I am flying into the kitchen as soon as I finish this paragraph to open a can of chicken broth, pour it into my cutest winter mug (I think the one with the gingerbread man on it), and curl up on the porch to sip it slowly for as long as I can keep it heated.  I will try to pretend that the mug is filled with bar-be-qued chicken fresh from the grill, roasted corn on the cob, and a big green salad on the side (I’ll let you know later how that worked for me).

1:18 p.m.  It didn’t work.  Chicken broth is chicken broth.  Maddie and Bear were pretty excited about it though.  They got to finish cleaning the mug out for me – after I had already licked the inside of that cup down as far as my tongue would reach.  This is really stupid – I just ate dinner 19 hours ago.  I am NOT wasting away, I am NOT wasting away.

3:03 p.m.  Ted just came home from Albany with a truck full of groceries, complaining that he is STARVING!  He has just made himself two turkey and swiss cheese sandwiches with a side of potato chips.  “What did you have for lunch?” he asked, smiling.  “A mug of chicken broth with a half-cup of orange jello,” I said sweetly.  “Yuck,” he said, reaching for the rest of the chocolate chip cookies I baked yesterday.  I left the room.

5:01 p.m.  One more hour, and I can start drinking gunk.  How can I be excited about that?  Maybe because the faster we get this show on the road, the faster it will be over.

6:13 p.m.  1/4 of the gunk down.  The other 3/4 has to go down 1/4 at a time every 15 minutes, followed by 16 oz. of MY CHOICE of clear liquid.  Does that include vodka?

7:29 p.m.  I’ve swallowed all the gunk PLUS the 16 oz. of liquid – I chose plain ole tap water.  Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., I get to repeat the process again. 

A few years ago Katic Couric chose to have a colonoscopy on live TV to encourage others to have the test performed.  She had just lost her husband, at the age of 42, to colon cancer. Now this little blog might reach a maximum of 200 people – 300 on a good day, and I’ve tried to put a light hearted spin on a very serious subject.  Colon cancer can be cured if detected early.  My daddy had surgery when his was discovered and never even had to have radiation or chemo.  Got it all – no problem. 

Having already had the test once, I can assure you that the day BEFORE the test is a lot worse than the test itself.  And you have to look at the bright side of the “day before” affects:  1) It’s a great way to start a diet;  2) If you schedule your procedure correctly, i.e. the day before a big holiday party, you are guaranteed to be able to get into that slinky new black dress; and 3) when you get home (and wake up), your husband will have prepared a delicious meal for your “welcome back to the world of food” dinner.

The test itself is painless and YOU’RE ASLEEP!  What else can I say about that?  Nothing – I don’t remember any of it.

So here’s where I sign off, friends. There won’t be a new blog on Thursday, because I plan to come home Wednesday after the test, eat something solid, drink something colorful, and then go back to sleep. 

Oh, if you think about it, I’d sure appreciate your prayers that they don’t find another “glitch” this time.  God bless.

The Porch 12.08.09

I love our sunporch.  When we bought our little house on the river, it didn’t even exist.  After we moved in, we started a renovation project that enlarged the master bedroom and added a bathroom and screened-in porch.  At the time of purchase, I had to go outside to the shed to wash clothes.  That got kinda old when winter rolled around, so when the porch was added, we walled in enough area to bring the washer and dryer “inside”.  It still meant going out into the cold screened-in area, but at least I didn’t have to get wet if it was raining.

Years later we glassed in the porch, and it became my “haven”.  No TV – just a little radio/DVD player so I could listen to music while Ted watched ballgames in the den.  We decorated it like a second den – a recliner for Ted, a couch with pull-out footrests on both ends, and – my favorite thing – a wood burning stove.  We shopped a long time, trying to find one small enough for that little porch, and finally discovered what we were looking for at Vermont Castings.   The best day of the year for the porch is when it gets cold enough for the first fire in that stove.  I usually declare it “spend the day reading on the porch day” and snuggle up with the dogs, getting up only to add another log to the fire.  Ted has to have the logs specially cut to fit the stove because it is so small, but it is worth the extra effort.  We have two portable heaters out there for the days when it is not cold enough for a fire, but is too chilly for no heat.  We didn’t put a vent on the porch, so it is not a heated or cooled area. In the summer, it is usually too hot to be out there except in the early morning or after sundown, even with the ceiling fan.  Such is life in the deep South.

Now that we are gone from mid-May till the end of October, we are here during the perfect time of year to enjoy the porch the most, and I try to spend at least an hour out there every morning with Ted, drinking coffee, chatting, reading, and watching the birds at their feeders.  If I’m up early enough, I might catch a spectacular sunrise.  A little after sunrise this weekend, the largest flock of ducks we have ever seen on our lake passed right by the house.

 

The first Christmas we had the glassed-in porch, I asked for a birdfeeder that attaches to the glass, so I could watch the birds close-up.  Ted gave me one, and when he put it up Christmas afternoon and filled it with feed, it sat empty for several days.  We already had a big “restaurant” birdfeeder out in the yard that had been keeping the birds fat during the winter, and they didn’t seem inclined to want to venture to the smaller “cafe” on the glass.  Then one morning, I glanced up when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, and there was a little finch perched on the edge of the porch feeder, looking like she had just discovered gold at the end of the rainbow.  The little birds have to really fight for access at the big feeder because the cardinals, blue jays, and black birds crowd them out.  Now here was a feeder just right for the little guys.  In the next few hours, the word went out, and from that day on, the feeder on the porch became THE place to be for the small fry.

 

Ocasionally, a cardinal will bully his way in, frightening off the little birds.  But before long, a small army of sparrows and finches will have banned together, flown en masse at the feeder, and taken back their domain.

 

 

One of my favorite pictures of my daddy sits on the radio beside me on the couch, where I have my coffee every morning.  It was taken on a Father’s Day, sitting on this same porch when it was screened in.  In those days, I thought I looked really great as a blonde – but in my older, wiser years have decided my “natural” color is better.  Of course, “natural” is relative.  Lady Clairol still helps me out with all the gray!

Maddie holds court from my lap every morning – at least part of the time.  She switches back and forth between Ted and I, depending on who grabbed a throw first for her to lounge on – or more importantly, who might have brought out something to munch on.  The higher she can get, the better she likes it.  From my lap, she can look out over her kingdom and make sure nothing is stirring that might need her attention.

The birds in the big feeder outside line up each morning along the branches of our crabapple tree, waiting their turn on the feeder’s perches.  They are constantly flying off and on.

It’s so hard to leave my little haven every morning and start on a day’s chores.  Sometimes I will return at night for a little while, especially if Ted has started a fire late in the afternoon.  A porch, a fire, a good book, the dogs, and Ted – my best friend – in the next chair over.  What could get any better than that!

NOTE:  For new snow pictures from Mackinac Island, you can go to http://bree1972.wordpress.com.

The Gifts are in the Mail! 12.07.09

If you have read either of my blogs for very long at all, you are aware that we have a son who lives in China.  Blake is in the 4th year of a four-year commitment there, and in June of 2010 will be coming home on a year-long furlough.  If you know me at all, you know that this mother’s heart is praying that a “year” will turn into more than that, but I know that is between Blake and the good Lord.  My heart accepted that years ago, when Blake chose to follow where he was led.  There are no words to tell how proud I am of this youngest son of mine, but oh my gosh, I do miss him – and at no time more than the holidays.

Blake in his apartment in China.

On Monday, I will make the trip down to the post office to mail Blake’s Christmas gifts.  It usually takes 2 -3 weeks for a package to get the approximately 7300 miles it has to travel from Cobb, GA to Chongqing, China, and I have cut it close this year.  It usually costs about $150 to mail Blake’s gifts, which is usually more than the actual gifts are worth.  Blake fusses every year when the packages arrive, and he sees the postage on them.  He says, “Just wait until I’m home in the summer!”  No way that’s happening – if you’re a mom, you understand that.

There are no short addresses in China.

Christmas, as such, is not celebrated in China.  They acknowledge the season, and all the commercialism involved, but nothing is mentioned there about our Lord’s birth.  On Christmas Day, which falls on a Friday this year, Blake will teach his classes at the university just as he does any other Friday.  Nothing closes.  It’s just another day.

As I was packing the boxes, my mind was fast-forwarding to next year, when good Lord willing, Blake will be home at Christmas for the first time in four years.  As I put each item into the boxes, I thought about how next Christmas, each package will be beautifully wrapped and sit under the tree with the rest of the family’s gifts.  Gifts going to China are not wrapped.  No pretty paper, no ribbon.  I place the gifts into plain boxes and tape them shut with mailing tape.  That’s the rule.  I know before those boxes ever reach Blake’s hands, they will be opened after they get to China, and each item will be checked against the customs form that must accompany each box.  On that form, I have to list everything in the box, so essentially all Blake has to do is read the form on the outside (by the time it reaches him, only one copy will be left), and there will be no mystery about its contents.  He promised me, after the first year, he would tear off the form and throw it away without reading it.

Custom form that must be filled out in detail, listing each item.

One of the three boxes we will mail will be nothing but junk food – and most of that will be chocolate in some form.  Blake has always had a sweet tooth, and even though he says he can get pop tarts in China, they just don’t taste the same as the Kellogg’s brand.  I’m putting in three boxes of Little Debbie’s Fudge Rounds – his personal favorite since he was a little boy.  He tells me he is on a perpetual chocolate “high” for a month after every Christmas.

So Blake – your boxes are in the mail.  Oh, I forgot, Blake won’t be reading this.  Blogs aren’t allowed in China.  I get around that by cutting and pasting each one into an email and sending them as “Mom’s Musings”.  There’s always more than one way to get something done!  But, this is one post that he won’t be getting as an email.  He’ll just have to wait until Christmas to find out what’s in the boxes – providing he really does tear up that customs form!

NOTE:  For pictures of all the snow that fell on Mackinac Island this weekend, you can go to http://bree1972.wordpress.com.