Laugh or Cry?

My sister is back in the hospital. The Saint and I took her to the ER yesterday. Elevated heart rate and fluid in the lungs is putting off the radiation therapy she was due to have tomorrow to "kill" her thyroid.

She's been feeling poorly for too long and is beyond upset to be back in the hospital. We're a little low in the morale department around these parts.

So laugh or cry?

OVERHEARD

The Saint calls me today at the office

The Saint: Are you cooking dinner tonight?

Fannie: I was planning to, why?

The Saint: I think the Precious Daughters both have plans tonight.

Fannie: Well, what time? Do the plans involve dinner?

The Saint: I think Precious Oldest has potential dinner plans, I'm not sure about Precious Youngest.

Fannie: It doesn't really matter -I'm cooking whether anyone is home or not. Tell them to do whatever. And any way, I don't want to be "THAT MOTHER" .

The Saint: "THAT MOTHER"?

Fannie: You know, the one that does the guilt.

The Saint: Oh, I'll be sure to pass THAT along!

Fannie: "Well ...when you do make sure you tell them *sniff* you heard tears in my voice!

All joking aside - we need a prayer over here!

P.S. They were both home for family dinner, I'm just sayin'.

Tradition…TRADITION!!

A funny thing happens when you have nearly grown children who believe in Santa Clause and tradition in equal measure.

They still get new PJs on Christmas Eve



They sleep with their very well loved Teddy bears



Even if you’re the MOM you get new PJs on Christmas Eve


Because your nearly grown children don’t want you to feel left out


And of course they leave milk and cookies for Santa



And a carrot for the reindeer



Do YOU still believe?

Hope You Had

A Merry Little Christmas!

We've had:

• A blizzard
• An enormous Prime Rib
• A twenty first birthday celebration
• A concert
• Company that's been here since Wednesday
• And coming up - A quick trip to the ER to determine the status of a toe

Happy Holidays!

Nanaments

As a continuation of the last post I bring you


"Nanaments"!


When my mothers parents retired to Florida the community they moved to had a holiday bazaar every year. The ladies group my grandmother belonged to began to make felt ornaments to sell at the bazaar. These are some of my favorites.


Christmas/Winter Themes



Tiny Christmas Stocking







Silver Bells











Mitten












Jack-In-The-Box








Elf





Winter Sports Themes






Skiing Snow lady













Skiing Santa













Skiing Polar Bear?







Famous Characters






Bambi













Goofy









Snoopy










Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes and such






Winnie the Pooh










Kanga and Roo














Raggedy Ann and Andy













Wynken, Blynken and Nod











Mary had a Little Lamb









The Three Bears, sans Goldilocks








Humpty Dumpty









Pinocchio and Geppetto






And of course the big man himself







































Patterns were constructed and pieces were cut from felt. Sequins were hand sown, dozens per ornament. Individual pieces were pinned together, stuffed when called for, then sown by hand. Can you imagine the work that went into each and every one?

My Nana, personally, made HUNDREDS every year for over fifteen years. She could tell you the year each was made and how much it sold for. Nana started sending me nanaments the year I got engaged (1984 - remember people I am OLD!). I have dozens of them.

Hanging these ornaments on the tree is one of my favorite holiday traditions!

Holiday Open House

When Jen offered to host another Open House I thought twice because my holiday decor tends to look the same from year to year.

2008

2009

See?

Then I realized there had been some changes around here since last year. Look, mirror in the dinning room!


When my parents moved this summer I inherited their living room sofa. I had my wedding picture taken on this sofa, as did my sister, so it holds many memories.



The tree holds other memories

My grandmother made many of the ornaments we've used to decorate our tree for many years. Because she was "Nana" we deemed the ornaments she made "Nanaments". That, my friends, is a story for another day.

For now, thanks to Jen for hosting and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Reports of my demise...

Reports of my demise have, as usual, been greatly exaggerated.

The office is CRAZED and I'm trying to handle several new projects along with the rest of the year-end joy.

I've been shopping and wrapping and baking and decorating (don't forget Jen's Open House is tomorrow!) and in general getting ready for Christmas.

Last night the Saint and I made the trek east to fetch Precious Youngest back from school. We had her mostly to ourselves (the girl can TEXT!) for the two hour car ride back. We took full advantage! She's bringing some friends home for dinner tonight so I'll get to grill OTHER peoples children on their freshman college experience!

I hope to surface some time soon - thanks for sticking around!

First Snow

We had our first real snow of the season Tuesday night.



The Saint and I took a walk and enjoyed the wonderful, muffled quiet you get in town only during a snowfall.



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Grace in Small Things Part 20, Dry Winter Air Edition

• Lip Balm
• Hand Cream
• Cuticle Oil
• Saline Spray
• Static Guard

Any other ideas to keep me from drying up and blowing away?

When the Spirit Moves You

I am, as they say, a cradle Catholic. A product of Catholic parents and Catholic schools. There are are a hodgepodge of sayings our parents and the nuns used to toss out to us while we were growing up. Little gems like:

• "Offer it up!" when someone called you a name or was in any way mean.
• "Pearls in your crown!" should you complain after being asked to do an odious chore.
• "Leave room for the Holy Spirit!" if there was the possibility of a near occasion of sin.

Avoiding near occasions of sin was BIG. The textbook definition is to avoid external circumstances which either because of their special
nature, or because of the frailty common to humanity, entice one to sin.

In other words, don't put yourself in a situation that would TEMPT you to sin. One should avoid hanging out with people of low character as this could lead to smoking, cursing or drinking. One should avoid spending time with rumor mongers lest you join in the gossip. And one should never, EVER spend time alone with a boy behind closed doors, in a parked car or in an otherwise empty house as this could lead to S-E-X.

It's a parents job to remind their children to avoid near occasions of sin.


And to leave room for the Holy Spirit!

Cousin Time

We had much merriment over the Thanksgiving holiday. One of the most enjoyable aspects was all the “Cousin Time”. My two oldest nieces (Sib #2’s girls) are very near in age to the Precious Daughters and they’ve always been close.

“Cousin Time” became more important as the girls got older and became busier with school, jobs and activities. They didn’t see each other as often as they would have liked even though we were all in the same town. Now with three away at college (all different schools) they don’t see each other much at all.

"Cousin Time" makes getting together on holidays that much sweeter.