Christmas Day

Today is Christmas. I'm glad I got everything done in time. Last night we went to Doug's mom's for a big shindig down there. So many people! I wonder if all those people are my relatives or just heard there was a party? Met new people and made new friends. Here a a few pictures of the crowd last night.
My son Doug with Billy and Shelly:

Hubby Doug and Billy with orange fingers:

My mom even joined in the festivities. Doesn't she look festive?

The kids seemed to have a good time:

Shelly's pink elephant was almost as big as her:

Billy has mastered the art of opening gifts, his and everybody else's:

Okay, here's the grandkids and great grandkids to my mom-in-law. I thought the couch might break (and there are more!):

Billy got a big remote controlled jeep that his daddy enjoys playing with. LOL:

Shelly finally learned to tear the paper:

Doug's niece, Jessica, with her fiance (don't remember his name):

Today we had lots of yummy food and I'm so full I can't hardly move. I was supposed to work tonight. Thank goodness we don't have many patients and I got cancelled. If the census doesn't pick up, I'm not going to have any vacation days left.
I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

RUDY

My sweet Cocker Spaniel, Rudy, passed away at around 4:45 this morning. He was a precious little dog. Of course he wasn't that little. He weighed in at over 20 pounds. Yesterday morning he couldn't stand up to even use the bathroom. He has been real sluggish the past few months due to arthritis or something. He was 15 1/2 years old, and the daddy of Gizmo, my mother's cocker spaniel that died in May. They were so close, now they're running together and Rudy can hear her bark. He was deaf. My husband wouldn't let me keep a dog in the house so Rudy has lived with my mother the past few years. She has taken such good care of him. She spoiled him rotten. She made sure he had treats every night. She never ran out. He passed away comfortably on the bed my mom had made him next to her bed. When I got there at about 5:05 this morning, he was still warm and limber. So he had just died. He was blessed with 2 mommys that loved him; me and my mom. He will not be replaced because it hurts too much to lose a pet. My main function today will be digging a grave for him burying him next to his dear daughter Gizmo. Sleep well, Rudy. I love you.

Merry Christmas

Okay, Christmas time is almost here and I'm finally getting in the Christmas spirit. I got my tree up, got all my gifts wrapped, now all I have to do is go to the grocery store and buy all the yummy stuff to eat on Christmas. Hmmm...what will we have? Mama and Doug are diabetic so that rules out sugar. Mama has to watch her fat due to clogged arteries, so that rules out grease and fat. Sugar free? Fat free? That doesn't leave much to fix. Hey, it's Christmas! Everybody deserves to eat good once a year! I'll fix what I want! And we'll have all kinds of sweet desserts, full of sugar and fat. Then after everybody eats and gets full, I'll go to bed and leave the dishes for somebody else! I have to work Christmas night :( If I do all the work of cooking, they can clean up the mess, right? Wrong! The mess will still be exactly where it was when I went to bed. But that's okay. It's my turn to be nice to everybody else and I'll clean it up. We'll be going to Doug's mom's on Christmas eve to open gifts at her house. That's always fun. I put Christmas flowers on Daddy's grave yesterday. I felt really close to him then. I still miss him but I know he's gone and he wouldn't want me to be sad and depressed. I'll still miss him on Christmas day, but I won't mope around about it. I have too many people here to love and enjoy. I think one year I'll spend Christmas at a mission and cook and serve for hundreds of homeless people. That would really make me thankful for all that I've got. I wish I could afford to buy new coats for all the homeless. Especially the kids. I'd better quit thinking about that now. I'm making myself depressed again. So let me take this opportunity to wish one and all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! And don't forget the true meaning of it. The birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! If it wasn't for Jesus, there wouldn't be a Christmas and we would all be doomed. So enjoy, eat, eat, eat. Don't watch sugar, fat or calories. It's Christmas!!

Bah Humbug

Okay, so what is wrong with me this year? I can't get in the Christmas spirit. I'm trying to clean up my house and make a place to put the tree, but I'm not making much progress. And I haven't wrapped the first gift. If I don't get busy, I won't have a tree and everybody will get their gifts in Walmart bags. And Christmas dinner is another thing. I haven't even made a menu or bought anything to cook this year. I should have at least part of my planning and decorating done by now. I mean, it's 16 days til Christmas. Maybe everything that's going on has me depressed. I don't know. But nothing has ever stopped me before. I wish I could just go to sleep and sleep right through Christmas and not wake up til after New Year's. Wishful thinking. I guess I'm feeling sorry for myself but it helps to put it down on paper, or in this case, a computer. Maybe I'll get in the mood one day. Oh well, I hope you are in the Christmas spirit and having fun doing all the decorating and wrapping. It's always fun to see the kids on Christmas morning. Merry Christmas! I sure do miss my daddy. He always made everything okay.

CLASS OVER!!!!!

Hi, I just took my last test in my psychology class. I am so proud of me! I needed a total of 387 points to make an A in the course. So far I have counted up that I have 455 and one project hasn't even been graded yet. My autobiography was worth 100 points and I got 105 on it. NO MORE PSYCHOLOGY!!! I'm so happy! Now my GPA is up enough to go to Roane State unless they find something else to stop me.

Fantasy of Trees

I went with Bambi, Rebecca and Nicholas to Fantasy of Trees the other day. It was beautiful. But I won't go back, unless I'm taking a grandchild. I guess it's because there were so many people there and you couldn't really move. Anyway, here are some pics: (Sorry, I still haven't mastered the art of making the pics smaller)
Nic liked to either put his hands on top of his head or up to his mouth:

A candid shot of Nic when he had his hands down, with the help of Bambi:

At least Santa posed for me:

Bambi was telling Santa that Rebecca doesn't keep her room clean:

So Santa had a little talk with Rebecca about that. Check out Bambi's expression:

The kids had fun decorating cookies:

There were so many beautiful trees with beautiful prices to go along with them:

The kids were excited because they finally got to see Santa's house:

As we were getting ready to leave, Rebecca had to have a picture of the sunsphere, which was right next door. Wish we could still go up in it:

Miscellanous Stuff

I woke up this morning before 6:30 so I got up and saw Rebecca off to school, even though she doesn't live here anymore. I stood out in the street until she came out and watched her all the way to the bus stop. It was still dark, and by the time she got there, all I could see was the flashing lights on her shoes. School is almost over. I have one more test. But it's not til Dec. So I've got plenty of time to study for it. I turned in my autobiography yesterday, which serves as my final exam. Hopefully I'll be in Roane State this summer. I should be there spring semester, but they're not doing the nursing program I want that semester. I am so tired of waiting to get in. I almost want to give up. But I've been working too long to quit now. My friend Bucky is almost through with school. Lucky him!
I have to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I'm off New Years Eve and day. I don't know why I always sign up to work on Christmas, I guess because I don't have kids at home and other people do. I just think it's important to be with your kids on that day. I'm still gonna cook on Christmas. Bambi said she's gonna cook the ham. But her husband wants to come up and have Christmas. She doesn't want him to so she needs to tell him no. They are getting divorced and he needs to understand that she doesn't want him in her life, except for things that involve Nic. But if she lets him come up, I guess I'll be cooking the ham. Mama will cook the turkey. Anyway, I can't wait to eat on Christmas. That's my favorite day of the year. For more than just that. That is the day we set aside to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I bought a Larry the Cable Guy cd yesterday. He's got some good points in it. All the people who want the manger scenes taken down, don't want Christmas programs in schools need to stay home and let the Christians take advantage of the good prices on stuff. Christmas is for Christians and if they don't want Christ around, they need to not celebrate Christmas. All you politically correct people! You can say "Happy Holidays" if you want to. I'm saying "Merry Christmas".

This weekend started off like all my other weekends off. Well, except I didn't have Rebecca and Nicholas, since they live 2 doors down. But on Saturday, Doug and Rose were going to Pigeon Forge to stay the night to celebrate their anniversary. So they brought Billy and Shelly up to spend the night. It was great, except that when Billy woke up from his nap, he started whining for Daddy and Mommy. So we decided to go to Pizza Hut and he got all excited. He started playing Peek-a-Boo behind the treadmill (which is only used to hang clothes on).

Then he was playing with his foam hockey stick after we got back and fell over some storage boxes that I had sitting in the dining room. I'm sure I'll find something to put in them.

Sunday morning he seemed okay but he wouldn't eat. Next thing you know, he was throwing up. So we decided it would be best if he stayed home from church.

My pretty Shelly went with me in her new dress that Mommy and Daddy got her. (You can see Billy in the background and tell that he felt bad. Poor baby)

First Honors

Rebecca made first honors this 6 weeks. She made all A's and E's. I am so proud of her. I only wish I had had the desire to do good in school when I was her age. She's only 8 years old and she wants to make straight A's all through school. I was more interested in playing and sports than I was making good grades. Anyway, I went to her award ceremony and here's a picture of her with her honor roll certificate:

WAY TO GO REBECCA!!!

New House for Bambi

I am at work right now so I'm still posting on Nov. 9. Tonight is Bambi and Rebecca's first night in their house. I know she's excited about having her own place. But I'll miss them even though they'll just be 2 houses away. I think what I'm gonna miss most is Rebecca's hugs. She comes up to me all the time and holds her arms out and says "huggie". She is so sweet. And spoiled! But of course I had nothing whatsoever to do with that. And if you believe that, well, I feel sorry for you. I guess I had better quit playing around and do my job now. ONLY 3 MORE HOURS TIL I CAN GO HOME AND BE OFF FOR A WEEK!!! See y'all

WOW!! It's been over a month since I did a post. I can't believe it. My class is easier but I keep my nose in a book all the time. I have decided that I HATE PSYCHOLOGY!!! Today was Halloween and Rebecca went with her dad to Safety City (whatever that is) and trick or treated. She dressed as a rock star. I made her ring my doorbell and when I went to the door, I started jumping up and down and squealing "OH MY GOD!!! IT'S BRITTANY SPEARS!!!" You should have see her face. It was priceless. She thought I was nuts. (true, ya think?) Bambi was on her way home from work last night and her car broke down on the side of the interstate. She had it towed home and I have to take her to work now. I think I'll take her car and see about getting it fixed tomorrow. I really can't afford it, but I can't afford gas to take her all the way to west Knoxville either. I'll just put it on plastic. (I'll never get these credit cards paid off!)I will be getting my house back one day this week. Bambi's lease on the house 2 houses down the street starts tomorrow. She'll have her privacy and I'll have mine back, but I'll still be close if she needs me. As much as she has pushed my buttons, I still love her. I had better go put my nose back in the book now. I'll try not to be so long in posting again.

Rebecca

She is such a little lady at the ripe old age of 8:

She likes to ride on my motorcycle with me and wishes she could ride it by herself:

Rebecca was 5 years old when her brother Nicholas was born:

But she still likes to act like the little girl she is:

The next pictures are just candid pictures I took on a Sunday morning before church. Notice how the flip flops go with the dress? One of her favorite past times is blowing bubbles and catching them with her tongue:

SCHOOL!!!

Okay, I'm about over going to school. I thought I would take an online class to bring up my GPA. The online class is SO HARD! But I'm not the only one having problems. Many of the others in this class have posted comments on the discussion board about having problems and doing bad on tests. So it's not just me. I have decided that I am going to apply to 2 different schools of nursing and I'll take which ever one I get into. I don't want to go all the way to Morristown to go to Walters State, but if I have to I will. Roane State is so much closer. So I'm not going to stress anymore about grades on this class. I'll do my best, and if I don't make over a C in it, I'll go to Walters State. My GPA is already good enough to get into that program. So here's to me! I'm an LPN (little play nurse) and one day I'll be an RN (redneck or real nurse). :-)

Hair Pulling Weekend

Hey, I'm back! I'm having a wonderful weekend with all 4 of my grandchildren (dripping pure sarcasm). As I've said before, Billy likes to be a bully to Nic. Well, Nic finally took his part last night and slapped Billy on the back when Billy pushed him. Only problem was, Nic's fingernails need to be cut and Billy didn't have on a shirt. So needless to say, Billy got a long scratch down his back. Then today, Billy was following Nic outside, and Nic shut the door on Billy's fingers (ouch!). I rocked Billy and he cried until he fell asleep. Then Shelly fell (or got pushed) down and hit her head on the metal part of the coffee table (ouch again!). She then proceeded to cry herself to sleep. So it was pretty quiet around here for a while. Rebecca went swimming in the cold water, and Nic was actually pretty good. Billy woke up and is being really good right now. Nic's mom got home and he was all over her, loving her and kissing her. That made her feel good. I'm glad because last night she was feeling bad. Shelly is still asleep but not for long, I'm sure. With Billy and Nic both up and running, I'm sure she'll be awake soon. Maybe soon I'll have something interesting to post and I won't bore you so much with tales about my babies. Have a good day.

Interpreter

Our church now has an interpreter for the deaf! Our preacher is real good and I would love for anybody to come. We are a not contemporary church. Our church teaches out of the King James Bible, we are fundamental, pre-millenial, independent Baptist Church. I love contemporary churches. I just choose this church because I like the way the preacher preaches and how he goes strictly by the Bible. I do miss the music the other churches have. So if anyone out there wants to give us a visit, I'll be glad to give directions. It is Gilead Baptist Church at the corner of Shipe Rd. and Rutledge Pike. Our pastor is Rev. Mike Goodson. If ever a man was a man of God, it's Mike. I am just so excited about having an interpreter that I would love to get some people in church who don't attend because none of the churches around here offer interpretation. Pastor Goodson said that would be a wonderful ministry to have and he is excited to get deaf people to come who can't go to church for that reason. Contact me anytime for directions or more information. We would love to have you!

Pool Party

Today was the birthday celebration for Justin, Tori, and Ryan, Bucky and Mary's three children. They had a pool party to celebrate all 3 birthdays which are all in the month of August. We had the privelige of being invited and had a blast. Doug actually took his trunk and got in the pool. I took my camera so guess what? Here goes!
Nicholas was excited about going:
Rebecca struck a pose:

Bambi, Nic and Doug:

They said the water was cold:

Nic had fun jumping in to his mom:

Tori's feet (what else can I say?):

There was quite a crowd:

I love you too, Rebecca:

Our lovely hostess, Mary. She's the best!:

Mary's mom, Lillian:

The three birthday cakes:

Sandy and Ryan:

My friend, Bucky, Mary's husband. Of course, Mary's my friend too.

And that's not even half the pictures. Just picked a few to post.

"Surgery"

I had my "surgery" today. Doug had to go to court with Bambi so Mama had planned to take me. She had a terrible crick in her neck and couldn't turn her head so I was stranded. She couldn't drive. So in desperation I called my son who just happened to be off today and he got me there just in time. He even brought me back home. And am I ever sore! But it could be alot worse. Everything went well (I guess). The best part was when I found out I had a message on my phone and it was Mary, calling through relay. It's so good to know that people do really care. I don't have to go back to the dr for 2 weeks so I guess I won't be able to go back to work til then ;)That makes me so sad! (NOT!) On another note, the reason my daughter had to go to court today on a domestic violence charge where she slapped her husband and he had her arrested. The case was dismissed! I'm so happy! She has actually been happy since she's been living here. It's so good to see her smile. I think it may be the first time I've seen her happy since she was little. We're getting pretty close and she's helping me out alot around here. Now that was a shocker! Last time she lived here she didn't do anything. I must say she's become a mature young woman. She's a good mother and doesn't sugar coat stuff for Rebecca. She tells it like it is and that's good for a kid. It's getting late and I'd better get in bed. Til next time...

School and surgery

Rebecca had a decent day at school Thursday, anb Friday was even better. Thursday, she had to work with 2 boys. (her words...YUK) But Friday she seemed to have a much better time and enjoys riding the bus. Unless I get a phone call tomorrow before noon, I'll be having my "surgery". If that's what you want to call it. I only have to be out of work for a week. I just wish I had someone to drive me home besides my mother. Doug has to go to court with Bambi so Mama's the only one left. Not only does she not walk well, now she has a big crick in her neck and can't turn her head. I can drive to the hospital but not back home. HEAVEN HELP US ALL!!! One good thing is that she doesn't drive on the interstate so I don't have to worry about getting run over, I hope. I got her on the interstate once and she was doing 25mph. Oh well, I'm sure she'll get us home safely. I'm eating all the ice cream and soda tonight that I can stuff in because I know after midnight I can't eat. I'll probably be sick tomorrow. I'll post more later.

Last Day of Vacation

Today is the last day of summer vacation for Rebecca before she goes back to school tomorrow. She will be attending East Knox Elementary School, where her uncle Doug attended. We went there this afternoon to meet her teacher, Ms. Peters, who was also her gymnastics instructor a few years back. We saw a few kids that she knows from church so it's not like she won't know anybody. Then we went to Applebees for a celebration dinner for her. She especially enjoyed that because she got to ride with me on my motorcycle. I got her a helmet that is legal for kids on street bikes. She is now in bed dreading going back to school. She asked her mom if she broke her leg would she still have to go. Bambi said yes, and she asked if she broke both legs would she have to go. Bambi said yes again, so Rebecca asked if she broke her whole body would she still have to go. I told Bambi to tell her that Nana loves her so much and wants her to get a good education, that I would be glad to spend the whole day at school with her and push her around in a wheelchair. She is so excited to get to ride the bus to school this year. It stops real close to here. More stuff goes on tomorrow but I'll go into that later. For now, I'd better go to bed and be ready to get up early in the morning. Have a blessed day!

New Residents

I am proud to announce that we have 2 new residents living in our home with us. Our daughter Bambi, and her daughter Rebecca now live here. Nicholas visits frequently and hopefully will soon be living here also. It's very interesting when we have all four grandbabies here at once. I have decided that Billy is going to be the bully of the family and Nicholas is going to be the one who comes crying to mommy because he won't take up for himself. Anyway, here are some pictures from last weekend.
Nicholas swimming to mommy:

And then back to the side:

Rebecca likes to wear goggles:

Billy was teaching everybody how to turn somersaults:

Nick had to have help from Rebecca the first time but finally got the hang of it:

Shelly thought if she just laid down, everyone would think she had turned one:

Billy finally got exhausted and took a break:

Rebecca showed off her talents of handstanding:

Surgery

Okay, now I'm mad! I got a call from the doctor's office telling me that the insurance company needs more information from the doctor before they approve the minor surgery I am supposed to have tomorrow. Then when I got up and had a message on my cell phone that my surgery had been cancelled. I took time off from work for nothing! Maybe they can get it straightened out and do it Monday. I hope so. I was so looking forward to getting it over with. I even had a driver lined up to take me home afterwards. I don't like having surgery, but if I need it, I want to get it over with as soon as possible. Oh well..Such is life! I just need to vent.