Can't put everything in a title!!

Well ... my title would be way too long if I tried to put everything there ... so, perhaps I should just do the bullet thing!! (Don't worry -- no guns involved!)

• I arrived safe and sound and guess what -- Keelan was right there to welcome me. Remember when I said if I didn't pay attention, watch out! Oh, he got my attention okay -- bouncing up and down -- and a big yellow lab jumping is quite interesting. He 'talked' and then went racing for his new toy! He brought it to me for me to take one end and for him to pull relentlessly for as long as I could stand it. He's one strong dog! As I am typing, he lays behind me.
• BIG NEWS!! Our son-in-law, Chris, just received his Bachelor's degree in Church Ministries! We are very proud of him. He has worked hard to complete this -- I saw the final exam and it was long and tedious! Congratulations, Chris! He is also now a licensed minister! I know his mother is even prouder than we are ... Chris has such a testimony and we know that God will bless his ministry.
• All four girls and their children were together yesterday to exchange gifts between the grandchildren. I was on my way to Atlanta so missed this particular celebration. (Maybe all the activity would have 'spazzed' me out and the girls would be wishing I would leave! lol!) Pictures will follow, I'm sure!
• It's supposed to rain here in Atlanta ... BIG PTL!!! They have needed rain desperately and it looks like we may get 2 inches in the next 24 hours!
• My dad spent a few hours in the hospital this evening. He was having some shortness of breath and since he has had some more serious episodes in the past, the nursing home decided to send him to the hospital -- we were glad to here he has returned to the nursing home and he is okay. This is a difficult time of the year for him. With my mother's passing -- and his best friend there faces the prospect of losing his leg due to diabetes.
• My mother-in-law got to meet William Brown II recently and was excited to tell me. William and Tammy were at a Cracker Barrel in the Indianapolis area (Southport Road) with Randy and Jane Huff. I'm afraid whenever I see or hear about Jane (better known to our family as Janie), I am taken back to Central Nazarene Church in Indianapolis where we met her family for the first time -- I think Janie was 9 years old! Bob was serving as Youth Pastor / Minister of Music. What memories we have from over the years -- picking her and her brother and sister up for church, she and her sister, Lisa, staying with our girls, Janie going on the trip to Jamaica when our girls were just 12 and 13 (and I know she was such a comfort to them), seeing the picture of Janie kissing WHO? Oh, Frisch's Big Boy -- she was soooo glad to be back on American soil! Of course, then there have been the Homecoming events when the girls volleyball teams of years gone by have played the current teams. (Janie's niece, Robin, has promised to play if Roxanne will come to one of those events! Roxanne was on a team with two of Janie's nieces!) So, even though Janie is all grown up and mom of two boys and has a husband that we are sure God had especially picked out for her, I still see the little girl sitting on the same seat as Grandma Palmer beside her little sister, Lisa. I remember telling her and Randy when we visited them a few years ago in Kentucky that I don't ever remember Janie being anything but sweet ... when other kids might have bad attitudes and knowing that her life had been anything but perfect -- she always had a great attitude. Whomever she serves will be blessed, I'm sure! Why did I write all of this? Maybe it's because Bob and I talked today about gratitude and how important it is to share gratitude! It can change your perspective on life in general.

Okay, so now I have rambled! I do wish I could find the photo of Janie kissing that 'boy'. I'm sure her boys would be thrilled to see it as well.

And, congratulations again, Chris!

Things change ... plans change ...

I got up, packed the van and got ready to head towards Atlanta. However, I didn't like the sound of my van -- Tim says it sounds like something to do with the fuel injectors. Anyway, as I headed towards the interstate, I really was second guessing whether I should drive it that far -- by myself.

So, I headed back towards home, called Sandi and asked her to check on rental cars. Right! In Florida -- in Tampa / St Pete between Christmas and New Year's! None to be had .. anywhere. Well, maybe Rent-a-Wreck but that wouldn't be too comforting.

So, as I drove back, Sandi got on-line and found a flight through Charlotte to Atlanta. However, I wasn't excited about paying anything much for a flight so headed home to see what I could find out. I still had Delta frequent flyer miles and to make a long story short since I need to leave in a few minutes, I had enough for a flight .. and amazingly enough, there were several itineraries from which to choose! Wow! Now, on to a car ... my brother has vehicles but they are always in use so I thought I'd check -- yup, a car for less than $100!! By the time I did pay the fee for getting a frequent flyer ticket this close to the flight, it was still less than it would have been had I driven up and back -- due to the gas prices right now!

So, I am blessed -- I will lean back, enjoy the flight -- and leave the driving (um, flying) to someone else!!

One of my best friends!

I am heading to Atlanta tomorrow and when I arrive at my brother's home, I will be met by Kelan (I never can remember how to spell it!) who is pictured here with Kamen. He's so excited that he actually 'talks' to me ... it's quite intriguing actually. (And if I ignore him -- watch out!) He has his own 'dog' language. He can really carry on a 'conversation' with Susan. He's pretty docile in this photo and really is a good dog. I enjoy him a lot .. except when I get in the way of his tail! Talk about power! It can almost knock you down!!

What is wrong with this picture?!! It is December 27th -- isn't it supposed to be cold or at least a little cooler? I just realized that my airconditioner was running -- I have the thermostat set on 79 degrees! So, I checked the forecast ... I'm sure it must be wrong ... then again?

• Thursday: Lots of sunshine. Warm. High around 80F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
• Thursday night: Partly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
• Friday: Sunshine and clouds mixed. Warm. High 82F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

My dad ...

A couple photos ... one of Tim, Sandi and Tyler when they visited my dad a couple weeks ago and one of Thad and my dad taken on Christmas Eve.

Just what I always wanted!! A "Samplifier"

Have you ever heard of a Samplifier? I hadn't either until Christmas Eve. Tim and Sandi told Tyler he could open one gift so he opened his 'favorite' gift -- which he told me was a "Samplifier"! I asked him what that meant after he instructed me to look through a glass and see 'pollen'!

He said, "I get samples and put them there and then I can look at them!" Of course, he was describing a microscope but to him, it was a "Samplifier". Hey, it magnifies 'samples' so obviously, it must be a 'samplifier'. Makes sense to me ...

Christmas Past! And birthdays present!

My dad was lonely on Christmas this year -- not because family wasn't with him. Several were able to be there and Rachel was with him for Christmas dinner. He wasn't quite up to going to her house so she went to him. What an awesome sister I have!! We are blessed beyond measure. But, this was my dad's second Christmas without my mother. Last year, he really wasn't feeling very well and I think he probably was still somewhat in shock over her passing. This year seemed to be more difficult.

I will never forget when we took the last load out of their apartment as we moved him to his studio apartment. We weren't able to take my mother's "prayer chair" -- where she spent many an hour praying for all of us -- and many friends, as well. He asked if he could have some time alone there and I heard him talking to her -- how do you say "good-bye" to someone who had been his soul mate for well over 60 years? He still has her picture near his bed as a constant reminder of their love. And, of course, all six of us and the many grandchildren are a daily reminder of all that she represented.

Okay ... so back to Christmas past! Perhaps one particular Christmas! My brother, Joel, just celebrated his ....???... birthday ... okay, he doesn't care if I share it. He just turned 50 but he has always insisted that age does not matter! And that is true! He was born on December 21st and it seems that we usually forget his birthday. It just gets lost in the celebration of Christmas. Because of that, I made sure I sent him a card and called him on his birthday this year. I forgot to call all my siblings to remind them -- I'm sure I would have heard, "Yes, Mother" since it was always my mom who called us to remind us. (Which we didn't always take too graciously!)

We talked about his birth and how well I remembered that he came home on Christmas Eve. What a great Christmas present although perhaps we all thought he took the attention away from all of our gifts. No, I don't remember that part of it at all. He was my third brother and by that time, I had resigned myself to not having a sister (although she came along later!) I was 10 years old when Joel arrived and had learned the role of second mom pretty well.

So, I am blessed with Joel as a brother. Joel is different from the rest of us. He doesn't have much to say (imagine that!) But, he is as steady as a rock. You can depend on what he says even though he doesn't say much. His life has not always been easy by any stretch of the imagination. He worked two jobs for many years -- without a complaint. He was an awesome dad to Jacinta and Joel II (who we call Joey ... poor guy!) He loves his three grandchildren and I love to hear the latest stories from him about them. I look at Nyah and see Joel when he was just a little guy.

I mentioned that he doesn't say much ... However, if you can get him into a conversation, you can talk for hours. He is very much into living a healthy lifestyle and especially researches things that he feels would be good for my dad. Over the last couple years of my mother's life, Joel would go to the grocery store for them. My mother would give him a list and there were many times when we knew he paid for the groceries himself. He would check in on them often as his schedule would permit. He continues to do that. Thanks, Joel!

So, Joel ... since we don't always say "Happy Birthday" on the day -- yet I rememebered this year -- I'll say it again. Happy Birthday!! I know you are a 'middle child' but we want to assure you that you are definitely not a forgotten one. We all love you! I thought I'd also include a photo of my dad with the 'four little ones' ... well, the four youngest ones, that is! They get to see him most often and I know he treasures every visit. I'll share a photo of Thad with him in my post tomorrow. Photo: Mark, Rachel, Joel (standing) and Thad.

Nana, Do you like my "wig-wap"??

That was Tyler's question to me today ... that was after Sandi had tried for about an hour to figure out how to put the wigwam together for Tyler. Lots of poles -- no instructions included! I guess they figured there's only so much you can do with poles!! Finally, Tim took over the task and when he was done, it did look like a wigwam. Tyler later proudly announced that he now had a WIG-WAP!! I asked him to repeat it and he assured me he knew what it was ... a WIG-WAP!! I'm sure we'll have fun telling his children about it!

I took my turn at playing Air Hockey with Tyler today. He's very competitive so I did have to work hard to beat him. I did -- ooops! Not good to do to a grandchild so I graciously lost the next game although he was certain it was because of his great skill that he beat "Nana". And it well could be!!

Our family was scattered several places today but we all talked on the phone and all of us had a wonderful day! We are going to go look at Christmas lights soon -- oh, it's still about 66 degrees and 6:30pm so it will be a nice drive. There are some areas here which decorate to the max -- one area we try to always go to because it is also a fund raiser for Hospice. An entire residential area decks out all their homes -- we were going to go through it last night but when Tyler told us he really needed to go to the bathroom and the traffic going into the decorated area was at an almost standstill, we opted to go tonight. We will have two boys with us tonight -- RJ and Tyler -- we'll see how long they last before they do the 'brother' thing. What do brothers do? They love each other and drive each other crazy!

Which reminds me of my brother, Tim. His wife, Susan, called to say "Merry Christmas" and then handed the phone to Tim. I heard this lilting, charismatic voice say, "Hey, Sis!" And I wondered where I was ... I pulled the phone away from my ear to double check to make sure it was really Susan who had called because I would have sworn it was Mark on the phone. Tim got a huge laugh out of that one! I called Rachel to tell her what he had done -- yup, he had done it to her, too!! I think he was a quite pleased with himself today!!

Where has the time gone??

I was going through old photos this morning (like I really had time) and found this one ... Since RJ is almost 5, this must have been a few years ago! Then I compared it with the one I just posted a few days ago! Wow! How quickly life changes!!

Cookie decorating lasted all of ... about ten minutes!!

Sandi and I thought it was a brilliant idea to have the kids decorate sugar cookies for Christmas. However, she was sick today and wasn't feeling particularly festive so I thought I would undertake this challenge. Challenge? Well, today it was going to be just Tyler and RJ and they don't necessarily agree on much of anything right now. They truly are like brothers. They love each other -- and I do believe that -- however, there are times when I don't think they necessarily like each other at that moment.

But, they both seemed excited about the project at hand. And we had two different colors of icing -- I cheated on this one and bought 'rolled out cookie dough'. I didn't know that there were packages of icing -- red and green -- with the dough so was a little relieved that I didn't have use my Kitchen Aid mixer which seems to project confectioners sugar all over the kitchen before I get it nicely mixed. The outcome of the icing is great -- but, I'm not particularly fond of the process. Mine is a little older mixer and it doesn't have the shield. I've tried all kinds of things -- including spreading a big towel over the counter and setting the mixer on it. Maybe that would work -- it didn't so I just gave up on that and resigned myself to cleaning up after mixing. I'm glad I did take that cake decorating class years ago so the icing comes out nice and actually dries so that the cookies aren't gooey.

Okay ... all that to say that for about 10 minutes, RJ and Tyler managed to control their urges to chase each other through the house and settled in to decorate cookies. I thought we were doing a pretty good job until Tyler reached for the little 'balls' and said he really needed to add a pimple to his cookie. Pimple? (It's right below an eye!)

I asked RJ how he liked his creations and he assured me he they were very colorful. Tyler kept wanting to mix red and green but Tim and Sandi assured him he would not want the color it produced. I would probably still have the cookies long after the holiday season passed. Of course, my camera was handy!!!

As you can tell, RJ became more interested in eating the "sprinkles" rather than using them. And while I am writing this, he has told me thought he would like to eat one of the cookies and promptly came back to say, "Thank you for the cookies, Nina!"

I raised four girls so decorating cookies seemed to be part of the territory. However, I think roping these little guys into the project and trying to sell them on the idea that it's going to be LOTS of fun was a little stretch. Before too long, they began to get a little antsy and Tyler informed me he thought he was done now. Oh, well ... it was fun while it lasted and I go some good photos!

Three disciples ... or three kings?

Tyler was watching me go through my blog yesterday and said, "Stop!" He had seen the picture of Rudy in his sister's school play. He said, "Are those girls the 'three disciples'?" After I said, "What?" because I wasn't sure exactly what he had said, he corrected himself. "I mean -- are those the three kings who came from 'the far'?

I guess he's getting used to me blogging about him so if he says something cute when he is here and I'm sitting at my computer, he will ask, "Are you going to write that down?"

I don't dare share any secrets .. he's a good reader now and can read pretty quickly. However, if he can't read it all fast enough for his liking, he will say, "Nana, read it all to me. PLEASE!" If it's about him, he will laugh hysterically! Oh, well ...

Gotta get ready for church -- have a wonderful Sunday!