How Roberts craft gave me the best Christmas gift!! (Caution... there may be tears ahead!)

So this year Christmas was going to be a lot different than any other Christmas I have ever had.  I have never had a Christmas without my kids at home and I knew that I may be in for a little bit of a rocky road through the holidays!  I was dreading Christmas day more and more as it approached. 

The Wed. before Christmas had come and my kiddos packed up and left to go spend Christmas with their dad.  I had plenty to do, gifts to wrap, house to clean, it was three days before Christmas, who doesn't have a list a mile long?  I knew that I would be working all of the Christmas holiday so this was my night to get some things done!  

So where did I find myself?  Lazily watching T.V. and casually getting a few things done.  I was sitting there on the couch when I received a text from my brother Don.  We had talked a little prior about Crickets and he had thought about getting his wife one for Christmas.  He was texting from a Roberts Craft store, he told me he had decided to get his wife one and wanted to know what cartridges to get to go with it.  He told me what a great deal he was getting but that it didn't go on sale until 9 p.m.  I looked at my watch and noticed it was about 8:15.  We continued to text back and forth about various supplies to go with the Cricket and other random things.  The conversation moved to what we were doing for Christmas and other various topics.  I'm not sure how we got on the topic of me and some of the challenges that I had gone through in the last couple of years ( but let's not forget I am texting a man in Roberts with time to kill.)  He mentioned that one good thing that had come of all of the changes and challenges in my life was that he and I had gotten to spend more time together!  

 We really didn't get along great as kids (what siblings do?)   As we both got older with families we would get together at times and at one time lived quite close to one another but we were both busy with our families and "life".  But through it all I wouldn't really say that we were never really close. 

 I had to admit he was RIGHT!  My brother had been there whenever I needed him for ANYTHING!  The conversation continued and he told me that he had missed his little sister and how much he loved me and that he was sorry for all the mean things he had done for me when we were kids!   

I was quite teary at this point and feeling pretty lucky to have such a great big brother!  I felt like I had just gotten one of the BEST Christmas gifts that I could have asked for!  It came a few days early, and it didn't have much of package but it's a gift that I will NEVER forget!  

Thanks Don!  I LOVE you and think I am one lucky girl to have you for a brother and a FRIEND!!! 

Jamie you are one of my HEROS!

Well yesterday I got to bring Jamie home from the hospital.  We spent the last week or 8 days hanging out there together following yet another one of her operations.  She made a little bit of a habit of it when she started out the year 2008 with a surgery followed by three other surgery's and aprox. 30 plus days spent in the hospital that year.  She must have had her fill because she took a little break up until now, but it must have been time for some more mother/daughter bonding because we got to go do it again this last week!
I should correct my self when I say "we" got to do it, because she did it all and did it amazingly!  This was no "little" surgery, it turned out to be a major operation and Jamie takes it without complaining or whining. I marvel at the amount of challenges she faces daily and then to add this on top of it all I have to say that she is one of my heros!  I feel lucky to be there by her side and hold her hand while she teaches me about overcoming challenges, patients, enduring to the end and adversity!  Her life never has and probably never will be easy.  I am often so quick to complain or get upset about the challenges that I have been given and she quietly goes about facing whatever comes may it be big surgery or a daily challenge, and for her there are plenty of those.  I am so proud of her and all that she over comes.  She is an amazing girl and I can learn so much from her!  I love you so much Jamie and hope you know how much I look up to you and that you are truly one of my HEROS!!!

ME

I  WANT ...  the whole fairy tale.

I CAN'T ... make up my mind.

I HAVE ... the best daughters in the world.

I AM ... blessed.

I MAKE ... mistakes every day.

I FEEL ... with my whole heart.

I CAN ... eat ice cream anytime.

I KNOW ... the church is true.

I MISS ...  being home.

I RUN ... because I can, sometimes when I don't want to, to make me feel alive.

I LOVE ... thunderstorms, to hear the sound of the ocean, sleeping in, late night talks with my girls.

I WISH ....  I understood why?

I AM ... a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me.

I NEED ... my sleep, it's never fun when I don't get it.

I DON'T ... laugh enough.

I CAN ... do hard things.

I LOVE ...  life.

I SING ... even when I don't know all the words.

I WONDER .... how it will all turn out.

I WILL ... figure it all out.

Unexpected lunch guest

Today something happened to me that hasn't happened in several years....  I was sitting at the computer around 12:15 and the back door opened and in walked Jamie.  You say what is so unusual about that?  Doesn't she come in the back door more often than once every several years?  The answer is yes.... and no.  To explain I have to give you a little more information.  First of all Jamie got her drivers license in Nov.  She was a little late in getting it but spending her 16th birthday in the hospital, with several previous hospitalizations and some following, moving and trying to get and stay caught up in school created some delays.  But finally she got it!!!  Christmas came and Jamie got a car of her own!  It wasn't anything to flashy or fast.  More like a little scratched and worn but she doesn't seem to mind and I think she is quite enjoying the freedom of coming and going a little bit more as she wants.  So back to the Jamie coming in the back door this afternoon.  I asked "what are you doing here?"  I was a little concerned that she might not be feeling well or something had happened at school but she quickly told me she had just decided to come home for lunch, as she walked to the fridge to start rummaging.  I was pleasantly relieved that nothing was wrong and as she stood in front of the fridge was instantly taken back to the days when Jayde would do the same thing, pop home for lunch on random days and occasions.  I used to love it when Jayde would do that and I would have a few moments alone to talk about her day or just have someone to break up the quiet in the house.  I also realized in a few quick moments how quickly those moments passed and before long Jayde was out of the house and college bound. It made me realize how little precious time I have to spend with Jamie before she to is headed out into the big world of life!  So with mixed emotions I soaked in the moment and watched her fix a sandwich and offered her an orange (after all I am her mother and as long as she is home I might as well try and help lunch be healthy) and before I knew it she was headed back out the door to school.   I look forward to many more days of her coming through the back door for lunch and hope they don't slip away to quickly....  

Patients is a virtue!

So a friend and I decided to create blogs tonight at work. I have been thinking about starting one for a while now. I love looking at the darling blogs of my friends and family and reading all their funny stories about the cute things their children do or the funny things that happen in everyday life. I also like the idea that since as of late my personal journal has seen a little more dust than usual, so if I were to get one of these darling blogs then I would be doing some form of journaling along the way. Another great plus to it is that I could add pictures then I would have some form of scrapbooking going on in my life also (because right now even if I wanted to I couldn't scrapbook because I really have no idea where my scrapbook stuff is?) Actually I have a pretty good idea but some is in a shed here and a box there, you get the idea.... Well we got started around 2:00 AM, for all of you who know me at all you know two rather obvious things about me, I may be a little computer challenged and second patients really isn't one of my strengths. With that in mind maybe 2:00 AM and me and a computer might not have been the best idea but what the heck, it was a way to pass some time. The outcome goes like this, it may take me a while to get my blog up and going. I doubt it will ever be darling and cute like the ones I admire. Lastly the main reason I'm doing this is mainly for me anyway but if you want to follow along feel free! The more the merrier in all things right??