Much Too Young to Feel this Darn Old

Just like the country song goes. Well, not in those exact words. I'm much too young to feel this darn old. I just don't have any energy at all. I try so hard. I get plenty of sleep. I know I don't get enough exercise. I'm sure I don't eat like I should. I know I'm anemic and I need to be taking iron, which I always forget to take. Do you think any of those reasons might have anything to do with it? HA! Something's got to give though seriously. I can't keep going on like this. And to top it all off, I've got an ingrown toenail. OUCH! I wore these high heels to work today and they just about killed my feet.

Speaking of which ... not my feet, but work. I had my first depo since mid December. It was sure rough getting back in the groove. I had to be there at 9:30 a.m. Normally, that's about the time I make my final rollover of the night before I get up when I'm not working. Yes, indeed it wasn't easy. I made me a big ol' cup of coffee and put it in a pretty to-go cup and off I went. I made it through somehow.

We're still so undecided about our New Year's Eve plans. There is nothing that is really tickling our fancy this year. No one is having a party, so to speak. The people that have invited us to play Spades aren't serving any food, it's just come about 8 or so and play cards. That'd be fun, but I want to do something more than that. I just don't know what. We've waited too late to do anything really fun. You can't get a reservation at any of the good places to have dinner. And most of those places are having New Year's specials including parties for a flat fee, which can be pretty expensive. After much flipping and flopping back and forth, I THINK we're going to Outback for dinner and drinks (of course, Jeff won't be drinking, so he'll be the driver), then to Ronnie and Nan's to watch the LSU/Georgia Tech Game. Go Tigers! Or really, I should say GO SEC!!!!!! Sorry, Theresa, you know, a Dawg fan has to pull for the SEC! After that, I'll probably be so tired and sleepy I won't even see the ringing in of 2009. I'll do my darndest. I've bought my energy drink.

As for New Year's Day, Jeff's 82-year-old mom is cooking her traditional New Year's lunch. Black-eyed peas, cabbage, pork roast, cornbread, mac and cheese. Then we'll have to hurry and clean up because the Georgia DAWGS come on at 1:30. Gooooooooooooooo Dawgs! Sic em!

My mom always has New Year's supper for us. Her traditional meal is black-eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, mac and cheese and ham. Man, I'm gonna have to go on a diet January 2nd. Seems like all I'm doing is eating.

Tomorrow I'm going to be very busy getting my 2008 files put away and getting my 2009 files set up. I like to start the new year fresh. I've already backed up all my 2008 work files and got my computer documents set up with 2009 on them. Kinda anal, aren't I?

Wish I was in Washington so I could come to Karla's party. She wouldn't even have to clean her house for me! HA!

In case I'm too busy filing and cleaning tomorrow, y'all have a great New Year's Eve! Be safe and be on the lookout for those who aren't. As the commercials say, if you drink, drink responsibly!

Love and cheers to family, friends, both new and old!

This was New Year's Eve last year. I can't believe it's been a year already! The time is going by way too fast! I need to stop and smell the roses a bit more often.

Here Comes the Sun

Little Darlin' Here Comes the Sun! Yay!!!!! Changed the background on my page because I just couldn't stand the snowflakes. I wanted some flowers and butterflies. Yeah, baby!

Buford was great. Suz can really throw down! Jason grilled this teriyaki chicken with mozarella cheese and diced tomatoes on top of it. It was fabulous. She had baked potatoes in the oven and I loaded mine down with butter and sour cream. We ate our donuts for desert and it was just great. Missed Crystal and the kids though. We played wii. I, of course, S-T-U-N-K! Why am I so horrible at games? All games. At least I'm a good sport. I was really trying, too. Jeff didn't play. He hasn't gotten into the wii yet. I'm not real sure why. Maybe he's afraid . . . Hummmm.??????

We actually drove my mom and dad's Buick up there. Our Escape holds five, which Cam's a big boy, so we were going to be kinda crowded on the drive anyway. Well, when we got to mom and dad's house, he suggested we take their car. It holds six. Three in front and three in back. Jeff drove and my dad sat in front. Mom, Cam and I sat in back. We were snug, but it was okay. Well, we ended up bringing Reid back home with us. Which meant that there would be three in front and three in back. We were packed in that car like sardines. We looked like a bunch of hillbillies. I wish I could have gotten a picture! Reid had to massage his bottom when he got out. I think he was sitting on some kind of seatbelt buckle or something. It was a fun time!

Y'all have a good Monday. Even though I don't like Mondays. Let's make this one a good one! Hope all those lucky ducks on vacation are having fun!!!!!

Eli plays wii even without the controllers!

Mom doesn't have a computer at home, so Suz is showing her my blog on her laptop. Reid looks like he's up to something . . .

Cam, Jason and Suz dancing?????? or laying eggs? You be the judge.

Daddy and his best girl, Alayna.

Ugly Weather, Trash, Church and a Drive to Buford

What is the deal with this weather? It's been misting rain and foggy, humid and disgusting outside for days on end. It's so muddy. This morning on my drive to church, it looked like people left their post-holiday trash out and stray dogs found it and helped themselves. There was trash all up and down the streets. Come on people, let's tidy up. So what if I have 38 Christmas balls that blew off my cedar tree scattered about in my front yard? When I'm done with this post, I'm going to go get them picked up. Or better yet, ask Jeff to pick them up. His shoes are dirtier than mine. (Ha!)

It was good to get back to church. I picked my mom up. Good music, good sermon and I get to see three of my four aunts. That's very special. My church is small. It's the church I grew up in and the church that my MaMa and PaPa Howell were members of. I have tons of memories at that church. St. John Baptist Church. I'll post a picture one day.

We're going to Suzanne and Jason's in Buford tonight for supper. Well, supper and a visit. I'm so excited. It's 50 minutes from my door to hers. We'll pick up my mom and dad since they don't drive on those crazy Atlanta expressways. We're having grilled chicken, baked potatoes, salad, rolls and something else that I can't remember. I'm supposed to bring desert. Since Karla mentioned Krispy Kreme in her blog, it made me crave them, so... I think I'll stop at the Krispy Kreme in Buford and pick up a dozen. Hopefully, the HOT sign will be on! Is there anything better than a hot Krispy Kreme donut?

Jeff's got to go back to work tomorrow. I'm gonna be sad. I always hate it when he has to go back to work after he's been off for a while. He'll probably be glad to go. I've been making him work pretty hard around here. I have to work Tuesday. Then I'm off till after the New Year. Speaking of which, I think our plans for New Year's Eve are almost final. Looks like we'll be going to some friends for a Spades party. I haven't played Spades in months. I was never very good at it in the first place and now that I haven't played in a while, I'm sure I'll stink the place up pretty good. Oh, well. I think we'll have a good time anyway. I have a hard time paying attention to play Uno. I'm can usually focus in for a game of Old Maid, much beyond that and I'm out. OCD, ADD, and who knows what other acronym I'm stricken with.

I NEED SOME SUNSHINE!!!

No Guitar Heros In My House

Contrary to the way I spent my day yesterday, I slept today. I took a two-hour nap. It wasn't that I was so much tired as I was bored. We went to LaParilla last night and I had a margarita. Usually the day after I drink one of those, I'm not very productive.

The WII Santa brought the boys for Christmas has got to find a new home in the extra bedroom. The X-box is gonna have to move over. Ross came home at about 2:00 this morning. We knew he'd be late, so that was okay. He came in and sat down in the living room and started playing Guitar Hero. If you're familiar with the game, you know that when you're playing the song and you hit a wrong note, it lets you know by sounding this really annoying sour guitar ping note. He must have hit 100 wrong notes in 5 minutes. His dad put a stop to that in pretty short order and he went to bed. Well... Cameron gets up at 8:30 this morning and starts to play. He hits 100 wrong notes in 5 minutes and wakes us up again. Yes, indeed, the WII must find a new home. Mama has to have her sleep. I can be grumpy enough without being awakened by sour Guitar Hero Notes!

Made some adjustments on my comments section. Don't know if it'll work or not. Hope so. Love to get comments.

If I were to rename my blog today, I'd name it Diary of a Mad Woman. Today, I indeed feel like a mad woman. I woke up this morning realizing Christmas '08 was history. Called Suz and found out what she and Jason and the kids got at Jerry and Judy's, which was a ton. She was out of coffee. She never missed a beat during Christmas, but the day after Christmas when she probably needed a cup of coffee the worst she's needed it any morning of the year, and what happens? She's out. Called my mom and found that she was doing nothing. My dad was reading the paper. Didn't call Crystal. She was probably not doing anything either. I didn't want to get out of the bed and face the huge post-Christmas mess that was facing me. Called my O-C-D sister-in-law, Nan, got enouragement from her because she had already been cleaning for three hours by that time. I found the courage to get up and get on with the day.

Strangely, I thought today's post would be about the things that I would NOT miss about Christmas. But true to my heart, I have cried on and off for the past four hours. Every decoration that I put in a box brings the tears pouring. I asked Jeff why the things we really adore, like snow globes and carolers have to go in boxes and we bring out cruddy things that we don't even know where they came from and that have virtually no meaning and we display them like treasures 335 days out of the year. And I'm wondering why we don't see our every day life the way we see Christmastime. You know, with all the glitter and pretty colors. I have scared Jeff today with all the tears. I'm just crazy nostalgic today. Or like I said at the beginning, a Mad Woman! He had no idea we'd be putting up our decorations today. But I just told him that for me, when it's time to get started, it's time to start. And when it's over, it's over. Christmas to me is over. But man, was it G-O-O-D! Best family, best friends, best food and way more fun than A Girl Named Kelly Kelly deserves.

Here's a picture of my snow globe collection before they go in their cardboard and Styrofoam graves not to be seen again until December 1st, 2009. Tear, tear, tear.

Sorry Joyce that your Christmas wasn't what it usually is. But, you know, God's blesses your life so beautifully every day. You have Christmas-like days lots of days in the year.

Love to all! It's Friday, so LaParilla, here we come.

Here it is Christmas Eve. I'm not ready for Christmas to be over. It makes me sad for all the things I love about Christmas to be gone for a whole year. Things such as the twinkling lights, my snow globe collection, my Christmas tree with the ornaments my boys have made over the years. The ornaments I've collected over 21 years of being married, the ornaments my mom passed down to me, and of course, one that I treasure so much, the one MaMa Kimball gave me back in the mid '80s when she seemed so young and vibrant. She's been gone for five Christmases now. I can't believe it's been that long. Jeff's Aunt Kay passed away this year and I got a few of her old ornaments that he remembered hanging on his grandmother's tree years ago. Those are very special to me, too. I'll miss Christmas music (some of which I am sick of). My manger scene, my carolers, the excitement of going to the mailbox looking for something other than a bill are also things I'm going to be sad to see gone. But, you know, thinking about the REAL meaning of Christmas being the birth of our Lord and Savior, these things I just mentioned that are so special and treasured to me are gifts. They are gifts that the Lord has given to me. Some, such as a twinkling light, are so very, very small. Some, such as the loved ones, are so very, very huge. I'm thankful this Christmas Eve for the small gifts and the big gifts. Most of all I'm thankful that the Lord loves me and forgives me. I sure need it.
Here's what I've got going on today: Wrap the last minute gifts that I've got to wrap, including one for my 16-year-old son, Cam, who has looked under the tree every single day for the last week for a gift for him. Just like he did when he was a little boy. Tear.
Order a chicken wing platter to take to the Howell Christmas party tonight.
Take the punch out of the freezer.
Jeff and I made a red velvet cake last night. We're going to take it over to the Peach Road Hospice this afternoon. For anyone who doesn't know, his brother died there from liver cirhosis (spelling) right before Thanksgiving in 2006. The people who work there are truly angels. I've always wanted to volunteer some time to work there, but I seem never to get around to it. Maybe I will in 2009. I thought the people who have dying family there could have a little piece of Christmas in the form of a red velvet cake baked by folks who know what they're going through.
After that, we'll have our little Christmas with our boys here at home where we'll open our gifts to each other. And then it's off to the races. To the Howells we'll go. Then over to my Mom and Dad's to open gifts with them and sisters and brother-in-law, nephews and niece. Crazy, wonderful chaos!
Then we'll collapse into bed with dreams of sugarplums in our head.
Here are some pix of the things I'm gonna miss ! :-(

First Christmas Together 1987
















My most treasured ornament, from MaMa Kimball.
















Ornament from Jeff's Aunt Kay, along with baby bootie from Great-Ma Kimball.

My carolers.

Snowglobe Collection

When Ross was little, he broke one of my snowglobes every year until he was about 6.

Natitivity Scene

Handmade Ornaments

Our Tree

Our House

Cedar Tree in the Front Yard Ornaments off Cedar Tree in Front Yard

Y'all say a quick prayer for me or rather us. We're running out to grab a couple of things that I've forgotten to get for Santa. Jeff's got on his Heeley's. Oh, my gosh. I hope he doesn't break his neck. He fell twice last year. He's pretty good on them actually. But oh, Lord, if he falls and gets hurt and goes on disability and we lose the house and the cars and I can't buy new shoes or clothes or pay for Ross's college. Oh, what will we do? ?????????

Yes, indeed, it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. We're finally getting some cold air. And it feels g-o-o-d! Even if it will only be here a short while, I'm gonna enjoy it while I can. I've already packed up my summer clothes, so I have to wear my sweaters and stuff and who wants sweaty armpits at Christmas?
I really wanted to post Saturday. I didn't have too much to say because not much was going on Friday night. We drove downtown Atlanta to the Varsity. I pigged out on some good ol' Varsity onion rings. I never really got over the migraine from earlier in the day. Then Saturday I was in the bed most of the day with the darn thing. It came on me and it was bad! Finally took a pain pill from my hysterectomy surgery, put heat on my feet, ice on my head and crashed for two-and-a-half hours. Woke up and felt so much better! Thank goodness. The only way I can describe that headache is to say that it must feel like a possom that gets ran over in the middle of the road feels. Just a guess. It really brings you down, too. I mean, you lose a whole day of your life to a headache. That stinks. Thank goodness I have the best husband in the whole world. He did EVERYTHING that needed to be done on Saturday for the Kimball Christmas yesterday. After I woke up, we had a dinner party at some friends' house to go to. Wasn't sure we'd make it, but we did. Didn't stay too long.
And speaking of the Kimball Christmas, it was great fun. Chaotic; lots of kids, lots of noise, lots of food, lots of fun. You know, all the things Christmas gatherings usually are. We didn't have a traditional Christmas dinner. We just had finger food. The bad thing about having food like that is that you eat all day, you never get really full, but you do get really sick. I ate way too much junk yesterday. My stomach was rumbling something awful last night. It was good food though.
Today I'm just taking it easy. Sending the last 10 of my Christmas cards. Yeah, I know, they might not get them till after Christmas. But I can't help it. I kept thinking of other people I wanted to send a card to. Then trying to get addresses and everything. It was the best I could do really. Got a few loose ends to tie up with gifts and stuff. Literally. A few gifts to wrap. I'm off work till after Christmas. There are no depos on the book till then. Yay. Like others though, no work, no pay. Oh, well, I'll worry about that another day.
Here are some pictures from the weekend. A couple from the dinner party and some from the Kimball Christmas.
Love to all and Happy Monday!

P-Nut, Ronnie & Jeff (Brothers Forever) LOL! )

Nan, Me, Sherry (Sisters-In-Law Forever)

My handsome hubby!

Eli Marshall Parks asking the blessing.

Ma Ma Kimball's Not Like a Fruitcake Fruitcake

Alayna and Ethan

Me and My Baby Ross!

Luke and Cam

Luke and Bobby

Family

Smiles on the Faces of Kids! Now, that's Christmas!

Ethan's Winning Bingo Card!
Ethan and Me :-)


Had such a good time at the Christmas party at Ethan's school. There are 17 kids in his class. When my boys were in school, there were at least 20-30. It makes for a much calmer and organized time. Here are a couple of pictures. I came home with a migraine headache like I haven't had in months. You know, come to think of it, when my boys were in elementary school and I was the room mother and in charge of the parties, I'd come home exhausted and with massive headaches. Had to lie down for a couple of hours. It's still here, just not as bad. It's Cam's last day of school till January 6th. He's gone off with a friend to the bowling alley. Ross isn't home from work yet. His truck is at the body shop getting repaired from where the deer attacked it. $800 worth of damage that darn animal did!

DONE SHOPPING! If you could see me, you'd see me dancing around! I'm done! I'm done! I really am glad. The traffic is getting awful around all the stores.

I can't understand why practically the whole entire country is having cold weather except us. Here we're basking in the balmy '70s. But not the sunny '70s. Oh, no. We get foggy, humid, cloudy '70s. Yuck. I do hope though all the folks who are trying to travel over the river and through the woods this weekend to be with their families are able to make it and have safe travels. None of my travels this holiday will be more than 15 miles. Guess I'm pretty lucky for that. Sure do wish we could see just a little bit of the snow that lots of the country is seeing. Doubt that's gonna happen though.

Here are some pictures. Not just from today and the party, but some of my sisters Crystal and Suzanne. One of my sisters and my dad at his birthday supper on December 11th, and one of my mom and my dad at his birthday supper. My mom's modeling a Santa apron my aunt Theresa gave her.

It has taken me 45 minutes to get this much done. I'm gonna get better and faster though. I hope. Joyce and Karla, if you read this, I hope your Christmas with your family tomorrow is wonderful and that everyone makes it safely.

Love to all and TGIF!


Sisters

Forever!

(Kelly,

Crystal

Suzanne)

PaPa and the Grandkids Mrs. Claus

Okay. Last night Jeff and I were driving home from Mellow Mushroom and having one of our "deep" conversations while listening to Christmas music. I commented that Gene Autry's Up on the Housetop was one of my favorites. He dryly said it was one of his "top five" favorites. I then asked him what were his other four. Well, of course, he really didn't have four others. He probably never dreamed I'd really ask what they were. He was just pacifying me in my "deep" conversation. I was able to pull a few out of him. It made me curious though. What are your top five favorite Christmas songs? Here are mine. I have way more than five. But here are my top ones. In no particular order. The one I mentioned above by Gene Autry. Me and Crystal, who is my sister that is three years younger than me, used to listen to that on an album when we were kids. We listened to that over and over. Let it Be Christmas by Alan Jackson. Christmastime by Vince Guardildini (or however you spell it) better known as the Charlie Brown Christmas song. Christmas Eve in Sarajevo by Trans Siberian Orchestra. Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt. The Little Drummer Boy by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. Now, there's a combination for ya.

I've had to turn on the AC in the house the past two days. It's not feeling much like Christmas outside. I think it's gonna turn cooler next week. Hopefully. It's just so cloudy and dreary. Got a little more work to do and then I think I'm gonna take a little break till after Christmas. I'm going back out shopping maybe tonight to try and finish up. Just a couple more things to get. I need to get the boys Santa Claus out and look through it to make sure I've got an even amount for both of them. We bought them bows back in September for them to go bow hunting when the season opened. That was gonna be their Christmas present early. Yeah, right. They suckered me right into that one! But what am I gonna do? They're my kids. They're still getting plenty. Jeff's probably going to kill me when he sees it all. Oh, well.

Tomorrow is the party at Ethan's school. I'm going to post some pictures. Then this Sunday we have our Kimball Family Christmas with the family from south Georgia. I'll put some pictures from that too. I'm loving this blogging stuff. I want to get good. I want to put a calendar. I want to put titles. I want to do all the cool stuff you do Joyce! You're the bomb!

Hey, and don't forget to let me know what your favorite Christmas songs are.

Y'all have a great day!

Well, this is shaping up to be a crazy week. I spent the night at my sister, Suzanne's, in Buford last night and was privileged to babysit my niece and nephews for a little while. Took a giant step back in time and played Hulk Operation and grocery store with Eli, who is four. It was lots of fun and made me realize how much energy I'm gonna need before my kids get married and give me grandchildren. The reason for the visit, however, was an unexpected visit to the hospital for my brother-in-law's dad. He was having chest pains and had to be admitted to the hospital. Then the son of one of Suzanne's friends (and mine too) was burned badly Saturday night in a campfire accident. Playing with gasoline around fire just isn't a good idea. He and the other boy are lucky to be alive. And then lastly, Jason, who is Suzanne's husband, his grandfather is in the hospital with congestive heart failure. Their family is having a lot to deal with and needs lots of prayer.

Now, as for my day. I'm getting my hair done, a doctor's appointment, and then have to work at 2. My to-do list grows longer every day. Not much is getting checked off. Oh, well. Jeff went to the grocery store for a few things last night since I wasn't there. I sure hope the boys left the house straight when they left this morning. I don't want to have a breakdown when I get home and end up in an OCD straightjacket. Even more of a week that would turn out to be!

I need some blog 101. I want to be able to do all the cool things that Joyce and Karla do. Any pointers would be appreciated.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a court reporter. I have a deposition this morning at 11. I wanted to post before I go. Then maybe again when I get done. As my profile said, I do kinda get addicted to things (not bad things, of course).

I've sent nearly 50 Christmas cards and gotten about 5. Folks just don't seem to be sending them like they usually do. Went out and did a little shopping last night. Actually, it was Jeff's idea. His football coaching is over for this year, so I think he's bored. Really bored. We didn't get much done. Still the same hard-to-buy-for-ones left.

I'm looking so forward toFriday. I'm going to my nephew, Ethan's Christmas party at school. He's in the 3rd grade. It's been so long since I've been to an elementary school Christmas party. I'm sure it'll bring back fond memories. I'm making these little cups with goodies in them and then I'm checking him out for the day. I think he's pretty excited too.

Guess that's it for now. Got a to-do list a mile long. Not the least of which is going to the grocery store. We have nothing to eat or drink in the house. My kids are not loving that.

Have a blessed day!

Well, here it is. My very first blog. I've enjoyed reading other people's blog, so I figured maybe I'd enjoy my own, too.

Monday, ugh! I don't like Mondays. It's dreary in metro Atlanta today, which matched my mood. Jeff and I got home from our mini-vacation to Tybee Island late yesterday afternoon. What a great time we had. It was cold, but we ate at our favorite places and had a beer at our favorite bar and just had the best time. I think that's part of what's wrong with me today. It's hard to come back to reality after such a fantastic weekend.

Almost done with my Christmas shopping. Well, I say that. Of course, I still have the hardest people left to buy for. My mother and father-in-law, my mom, and we drew my brother-in-law's name. He's really hard to buy a gift for. He has pretty much everything.

Okay. Gonna see if I can put a picture on this. Show y'all my family and maybe one of Jeff and me at the beach this past weekend. Hope it works. Love to all! And a special greeting to my Washington friends who I would DEARLY love to meet one day! Your family and mine are so much alike!