This and That, November Through March

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia went to the Outer Banks in early October. I always worry when they take a trip, but they had a great time.

 

I think this was at Bodie Island Lighthouse.

 

At the Roanoke Island Aquarium.

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I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because of how much time has passed and because I don't remember most of the details lol, but we had a great Thanksgiving (desserts were pumpkin pie and apple pie), Anniversary (31 years), and Christmas (desserts were pumpkin pie again, key lime pie for Charlie, and homemade chocolate chip cookies). I don't remember what gifts were given. Lydia had a great time though. She loved the talking, singing tea set we got her.

 

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December 27th, Sean called me so that I could hear what Lydia calls me. (She hadn't called me anything prior to that.) He and Ashley were showing Lydia pictures of me and saying, "Who's that?" Lydia said, "Mema". It melted my heart to hear her say that with her sweet voice. She gets excited when she sees me and says, "Mema!" And when Sean's talking to me on speaker phone and she hears me she says, "Is that Mema?" Charlie is "Papa."

 

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On January 9th, I had to bring Loki to the vet because of blood in his poop. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious. He had a full anal gland, which the vet took care of. 

 

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Saturday, January 24th, it was forecasted that we would get a bunch of ice with very cold temperatures, and probably have power outages. We didn't get as much ice as was expected and we didn't lose power, but it was very cold (single digits and teens at night and in the mornings; 20s during the day). 

 

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia came to stay with us (they live about a mile or so from us) in case they lost power. I had bought a lot of food for all six of us (I had to go to five different stores to get everything we needed because people were buying up everything; I went to Walmart, Food Lion, Dollar General, Lowes Foods, and Harris Teeter) and ended up spending over $600! But at least I didn't have to worry about us going hungry.

 

We have a generator, so I cooked up a few meals ahead of time that we could heat up and have a hot meal each night for supper.

 

We got ice and sleet that Saturday evening and Sunday morning, which meant the roads were iced over. Sean, Ashley, and Lydia left sooner than we felt like they should have (Sunday afternoon) because Sean was going to try to go to work that Monday. They made it home safely, but Sean wasn't able to go to work.

 

This was taken on January 27th.

 

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Saturday, January 31st (and I think into Sunday, February 1st), we got 13 inches of snow. The biggest snow we've had in awhile. Again, I had go to three or four different stores to get what we needed because of people clearing the shelves, but I didn't spend nearly as much that time.

 

 

 

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Some time in January, Sean and Ashley told us that they're expecting another baby. On February 28th, we found out that it's a girl! She's due in September.

 

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My 53rd birthday was February 7th, Kelly's 26th birthday was February 8th, Charlie's 57th birthday was February 21st, and Lydia's 2nd birthday was March 11th.

 

Lydia is such a sweet, smart, funny, sassy, adorable little girl! She is a joy to our family and friends. She loves cats, dogs, horses, buses (yes, buses), dinosaurs, and frogs. She knows her ABCs, colors, can count to 10, knows some words in sign language, and is learning to count to 10 in Spanish. 

 

She's at that adorable age where she can't say many words correctly and has such a cute voice. Fish is feesh, car is caw, bus almost ends with a lisp, she can't say the R in horse (well, she can't pronounce the R in any words; Ls are also difficult), Kelly is Keggy or Keh-yee, dragon is gaggon, frog almost sounds like the F word. She says our cat Effie's name really well, but can't quite get Loki.

 

Anyway, I could go on, but I'll stop now. :-)

 

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Tomorrow (technically today), March 21st, is Sean and Ashley's 6th wedding anniversary! 

 

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Lydia is supposed to get tubes for her ears this Monday. She gets an ear infection nearly every month (except for the summer) and had two in one month last year. They've had to reschedule the surgery several times because if she gets sick (like a cold or anything that causes congestion), they can't do the surgery. As of today, she's not sick. Here's hoping and praying she stays well. 

 

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Hurricane, Jury Summons, Snow, Etc.

This past October, Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida. (The devastation was incredible.) It was a tropical storm when it reached North Carolina on October 11th. It still had a lot of wind and rain in it. We lost power for a couple days (technically about 45½ hours), but thankfully we had a generator. (Our first time having one. Too bad we didn't have one when we lost power during an ice storm in early March 2014.) Many places in NC flooded. It hadn't been that long ago that Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina, and we'd had a lot of rain before and after Florence. The ground was pretty much saturated, which not only caused flooding, but many trees came down. About 500,000 people were without power in North Carolina. The county I live in had the most power outages.

Our generator isn't powerful enough to run a lot of things in our house, but we were able to keep the refrigerator running, a few lamps, some small fans, the TV, cable, and WiFi, use the microwave (if we unplugged the refrigerator first), and keep our phones charged. Thankfully, it wasn't hot out, so the fans were enough for those couple days that we didn't have power.

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I made a quick trip to Hagan-Stone Park on November 3rd to get some pretty fall pictures. We've had so much rain over the past few months that it's been too muddy to walk the trails, so I had to take pictures from less muddy spots. I would've loved to have been able to go deeper into the woods to get pictures.

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A couple months ago, I got a jury summons in the mail. Ugh. I was dreading it so much. I get a summons every couple of years, but only once have I actually had to go. This last summons was for the courthouse in High Point. I understand it's in the same county I'm in, but I don't live in High Point and rarely go there. I think the last time I was there was about two years ago. Prior to that, I can't remember how long it had been. I received a summons for the High Point courthouse once before, but thankfully when I called the night before, I was told that my services weren't needed. I got the same message when I called tonight. As I was listening to the recording, Charlie was standing near me and when they said my services weren't needed, I raised my fist up in the air and said, "Yes!" Charlie laughed. lol I am so happy I don't have to go!

The one time I did have to go, it was the courthouse in Greensboro. It was a long, boring day. I hated every minute of it. Thankfully my name was never called to go back to whatever the other room is. A selection room of some kind, I imagine. At one point, we were allowed to leave the assembly room for a break. I went to the break room to get water and a small bag of pretzels and as I was sitting there, I started feeling sick and faint. All those boring hours on an empty stomach and not much sleep. I don't do well in such situations.

Anyway, I find it interesting that Charlie has received a summons only once and has only voted once or twice. I vote every election and get a summons every couple of years. Charlie said he heard that they don't choose based on who votes, but I don't believe them. lol

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About mid to late October, I brought Pippin to the vet for his bi-annual check-up. At this visit, we found out he has congestive heart failure and his liver and kidneys are starting to not do so great. (He also had the giardia parasite, but medication took care of that.) He's now on heart medication and fluid pills. I've had to bring him to the vet every couple weeks since then and I'm really tired of going. It's been a couple weeks since the last vet visit. Hopefully I won't have to take him again for awhile. Milo is passed due for his check-up, but I haven't been able to take him because of Pippin's visits and the cost involved in that. *sigh*

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On November 27th, I got a text from my bank about suspicious activity in my account. Someone in Paris somehow got my information and attempted to purchase several things. Only a couple went through because I didn't have much in the bank, so most of their purchases were declined. Some of the purchases were some kind of Hobbiton movie set, an expensive dinner, and a boat cruise on the Seine. I went to the bank that Friday to get a temporary card to use until my new card arrived in the mail. The bank is currently reviewing the case. Surely they'll see that I didn't buy stuff in Paris one day, then get groceries in NC the next, then take a boat cruise in Paris after that.

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Sunday, December 9th, around midnight, a winter storm hit North Carolina. It snowed all night (Saturday night/Sunday morning) and all day Sunday. Then turned into sleet and freezing rain Sunday night, and then we got a little bit more snow on top of that. We got about a foot of snow where I live. The kind of snow we get about once every 10 years. Needless to say, everything shut down.

When they finally got to our neighborhood to plow, they only did about half of our street. I have no idea why. They stopped a couple houses before our house. I had to be careful getting out today to bring Kelly to the dentist.

We're supposed to get rain Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (seriously? more rain?!) and the temperature Sunday is supposed to be near 60°. So hopefully the snow will melt soon. Though with it being a foot high and the piles where they've plowed are higher than that (I heard 10 feet high in some places!), who knows when it will all be gone.

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Monday, December 10th, we got the news that Charlie's aunt Louise in Tennessee passed away that morning. She was 80 years old. She had been battling cancer for awhile, but it didn't seem like she was sick enough to die yet. She seemed in good spirits, smiling a lot, from the pictures her daughter was sharing on Facebook. Her death was a sad surprise.

The funeral is tomorrow (Thursday). Charlie would like to go, but he can't because he's the only one who will be at work. Others have taken time off/vacation time and they need someone there.

Charlie had said several times over the past few months that he'd like to go visit his uncle Richard and aunt Louise and family whenever we get the chance. It's been awhile since he's seen them and he misses them. Now if we ever get to go, he won't get to see his aunt Louise. He really loved her. :-(

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Since my last entry, I stopped reading Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon and read two other books. Warm Bodies and The New Hunger. Both by Isaac Marion. I ordered the third book (The Burning World) from Barnes and Noble almost a week ago, but haven't gotten an email yet telling me that it's come in. The fourth book (The Living) is only available digitally through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I don't read digital books. I went to GoodReads and found out that you can order the hardcover from the author's website. I'm waiting for that to be shipped.

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I will end this already kind of long entry with a picture of our Christmas tree. :-)

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Sledding

We got a nice thin layer of ice on top of the dusting of snow we got. The kids used the boogie boards to go sledding down our icy driveway today. With the road also being very icy and slushy, any cars that came by (you could hear them coming before they reached our house) had to move slowly.

I laughed so hard I was crying as I watched them slip and slide their way back up the driveway.

It's very cold today. It didn't get above 30°. Brrr! Because of that I didn't let the kids stay out very long. Now I've got more laundry to do from them sliding and rolling around. But first, a shower for me and then to get supper started. Spaghetti tonight.

White Christmas and a Baby

Our tree and the "fireplace" on Christmas Eve.

Kelly with her new Barbie car and opening a snow-themed Moxie doll.

Sean with his new nerf gun. There were a lot of foam darts flying around on Christmas.

I took a lot of pictures on Christmas day, but only a few turned out clear enough and light enough to share. Most were so dark that even editing them didn't help.

Christmas presents from Kelly to me. A note/picture and some plastic animals - a cat, an antelope, a meerkat and a raccoon.

It started snowing early Christmas afternoon and continued on into Sunday. We ended up with about 4-6 inches. This was the first white Christmas I've ever had.

Taken the day after Christmas.

Christmas was nice. I had the house clean and looking festive, cooked a good Christmas dinner, wore a pretty red sweater with a black skirt, it was snowing, the four of us were together and the kids were happy with their gifts, as they always are.

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Kelly and I spent most of yesterday watching TV. Our dog Pippin was sick (in a very gross way) and I spent the first hour or so of my day cleaning up after him. I had to wash his blankets (which were in his carrier where he'd spent the night) and his bed, clean out his carrier and give him a bath. Then I fixed him some rice (recommended by the vet a couple years ago when he'd gotten sick like this before) and a little beef broth (I'm out of the recommended chicken broth) to help calm his stomach. I didn't even attempt to give him Pepto Bismol this time. He just spits it out. What made him sick? The turkey skin my husband had fed him. *sigh* Toy poodles and their sensitive stomachs.

Anyway, one of the shows Kelly and I watched was Gene Simmons' Family Jewels. We watched a few episodes of that. In one of the episodes, Gene and his not-wife Shannon were in Amsterdam for a KISS concert, I think. A boy who lives in Amsterdam wrote a letter to Gene wanting to meet him and talk to him, which Gene agreed to.

The boy (Steve?), whose grandfather is a holocaust survivor, brought Gene and Shannon to the Anne Frank house. (I've been reading Anne Frank's Diary to Kelly.) Gene's mother is a holocaust survivor, something she never talks about, and Gene is very sensitive about that. He broke down crying when they walked into the Anne Frank museum and saw the pictures of Anne Frank. Anne Frank and Gene Simmons' mother were about the same age when they were captured by the Nazis. I started crying even before I saw Gene Simmons crying. (I think reading Anne Frank's diary made me more sensitive to seeing her pictures in the museum. It made it more real.) Seeing other people's tears always makes me cry, so when I saw him crying, I started crying even more. I knew Kelly was looking at me, but she didn't say anything and neither did I. I had to struggle to compose myself, well after the show broke for commercials.

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And now for some exciting news. My brother Del and his wife Jennifer are at the hospital as I type this awaiting the birth of their first child together (she has an 8 or 9 year old son from a first relationship) - a boy named Drake. I'm so excited! Del called me shortly before 11 PM letting me know that Jennifer's water had broke and that they were fixin' to go to the hospital. I broke down crying on the phone and couldn't speak. lol I told him a few weeks ago that I would probably cry, and I did. When he was hanging up and said, "Good-bye. I love you.", I couldn't speak back to him and just hung up. lol

The problem is though, I can't get out of my driveway. It's sloped and is covered with ice and snow. If I tried to get out I'd probably slide all the way down and crash into the curb and mailbox of our across-the-street neighbors. My mom's going to try to come get me later today so that we can go to the hospital. If she can't, Del said he'd come get us. Hopefully the snow and ice will be melted from my driveway and our street by the time we decide to leave. We're going to try after noon in the hopes that things will be melted or melting by then.

I can't wait to see Drake and hold him! I'll probably cry again.

First Snow of the Season

Hard to believe it's already December. Christmas will be here soon and then 2011. Where does the time go?

We're getting snow today. A very uncommon occurrence this time of year in North Carolina.



I've spent the day cleaning, doing laundry and watching the snow fall. We may not be going to church in the morning.

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This is my favorite version of What Child is This? Especially after the 5 minute mark when he starts singing "Hallelujah". Scroll down his playlist a little to find it.

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"Sometimes the hardest things are the most rewarding."

"That's the thing about decisions. You don't seem to have to talk yourself into the right ones."

"All you've got is your word. You lose that, you've got nothing. You lose that, you are nothing."

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I've been reading Proverbs (as well as trying to finish Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict), though not every night like I'd like to. Here are some I've liked most so far:

Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

3:7 "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil."

3:27 "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

4:14-15 "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."

5:3-5, 8, 15, 18-23 "For the lips of a strange woman [whore] drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell... 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.

" 15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. [Referring to the man's wife.] ... 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe: let her breasts satisfy thee at all times: and be thou ravished always with her love.

" 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. 22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. 23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."

6:16-19 "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

6:24-29, 32-33 "To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman [whore; not your wife]. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. 26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

" 27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? 29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. ... 32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away."

Shopping and Men at the Grocery Store

Kelly is still sick with a fever and cough, so I dropped her off at Mom's house yesterday so that I could get groceries. Mom left a few minutes after I dropped off Kelly to get Sean from school.

I went to Target first to get some of the groceries. I also got some more Tinker Bell plates for Kelly's party (I forgot to get the Tinker Bell cups; I'll get them Friday) and some things Sean needs for school.

I then went to Food Lion for the rest of the groceries. After getting out of my car, an older man (50s or 60s) walked by on the way to his car and then started talking to me. "It feels like it's going to snow. Do you think it will?" I kind of laughed and told him that it was forecasted to, but that I didn't know how much of a chance there was of getting any. He said something about being ready for it and then I said, "I'm ready for spring is what I'm ready for." We both laughed. I think he would've talked longer if I hadn't walked away. My little legs were freezing and I wanted to get inside.

While looking at sprinkles for the cupcakes I'll be making for Kelly's party, an older black man (40s or 50s; I didn't get a good look) asked me for help with the sugar. His wife had written down "Domino sugar" on the list, but the only sugar available (I guess all that Food Lion sells) was the Food Lion brand. The only Domino sugar we saw was powdered. I chuckled and told him he could get both to be on the safe side. He said, "Thank you Baby", and then I went on my way. I had to kind of laugh about that. I'm sure he probably calls all women "baby".

Also while at Food Lion, I saw a man (probably in his 40s) wearing a muscle shirt. It was in the 30s outside! At first I thought he was crazy for wearing a muscle shirt on such a cold day, but then I figured he probably wanted to show off his muscles. I had to roll my eyes a little.

After getting home and putting groceries away, I went shopping with the money Mom had given me for my birthday and what was left of the money Charlie had given me. I wanted to find something nice to wear, but nothing I tried on looked good on me. So I ended up not getting anything.

As I was leaving Belk at Friendly Center, I saw that it was snowing like crazy. It was sticking to the roads quickly. On the way to get Kelly, I went through the Arby's drive-thru (we hardly ever eat fast food) to get something for us since it was nearly 9:00 PM. I hadn't eaten at all yet and it was too late to be cooking anything. After getting our food and picking up Kelly, we came home and ate while watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. Our favorite part was the whales. Very cool.

No plans for today. I may do some cleaning. Not much needs to be done, so it shouldn't be one of those exhausting cleaning days. I also need to get laundry done. It's starting to pile up.

Update on Sean. Kelly in the snow.

I called Sean's doctor yesterday to tell him that Sean hasn't been taking his medicine and asked him what I should do now. He didn't seem all that concerned about it, which surprised me. The doctor he saw on Friday (not his regular doctor) had said he'd probably end up in the hospital if he didn't take his medicine. When I talked to his regular doctor yesterday, he said that Sean could either take his medicine or be sick and that he'd get over it on his own eventually. That people were dealing with pneumonia before there were antibiotics.

Okay. So here I've been afraid that Sean could die if he didn't take his medicine or get treated at a hospital (based on what the doctor said on Friday) and then his regular doctor acts like it's no big deal.

I'm still a little worried and am praying for him.

Sometime after talking to the doctor, Kelly and I went outside for a bit. It felt almost warm outside, especially after the 19° we had for a daytime high on Saturday. I found out later it was in the upper 40s. It felt warmer than that. Normally with temperatures in the 40s we'd be wearing coats, but Kelly just had on a light jacket and I had on a sweater.

We have a hill in our backyard and Kelly wanted to sled down it. Well, being Southerners who normally don't get much snow, we don't have sleds. I remembered us using trash can lids once when I was a teenager living in northern Virginia, but our trash can lids are attached to our trash cans. Kelly then remembered that we have a couple boogie boards, so she tried one of those. It barely went anywhere.

Yeah, I know her outfit doesn't exactly go well together.

Then I remembered reading online the other day about some people up north using trash bags. That didn't work either. Maybe our snow was too soft by this point since the sun was out and melting things.

The pasture and pond of the neighbors behind us. A chainlink fence separates our properties.

Sun setting yesterday. Photo taken from my front porch. Just wish that house wasn't there so it would be a better shot.

We came inside after awhile and watched some TV. I got supper started around 6:00 - chili and corn bread. It was very good. Kelly and I ate more corn bread than chili though. It just tasted so good to us.

I woke up this morning not feeling 100%. Headache, sore throat, very tired. I feel a little better now. I hope I'm not coming down with something.

Weather: we've had freezing rain and rain today. Which of course will turn to ice. They're calling for snow again, and possibly some freezing rain, Thursday night through Saturday. I am really ready for winter to be over. I like one good snow per winter, then I'm ready for warm weather. This could be our third significant snowfall. Blah.

Sean is very sick. Prayer appreciated.

I took Sean back to the doctor yesterday because he was still running a fever and coughing. Plus, he's only eaten about a day's worth of food since last Friday and is drinking very little. He's not dehydrated (which I didn't think he was since he's been urinating), but he does have pneumonia in his left lung. (He also lost 3 pounds since Tuesday.) The doctor wrote a prescription for an antibiotic, but Sean won't take it. If he keeps refusing to take it, then he'll probably end up in the hospital.

The problem is (well, the other problem is) that we got slammed with snow and sleet last night and this morning. (It's still snowing and sleeting a little.) I don't know how I'd get out of my driveway (which is a steep slope) or even out of my neighborhood without sliding all over the place.

My mom met us at the doctor's office yesterday so that she could take Sean to her house after we left. I needed to get groceries and I didn't want to take Sean out with him being so sick, especially with the snow and sleet that was coming.

Kelly and I went to Target first, then got gas. From there I dropped off Sean's prescription (and one of mine) at CVS and then we went to Wal-Mart to get the groceries I couldn't get at Target. Wal-Mart was a madhouse! Wow. I don't remember ever seeing that many people there or in any other store I've been to. It was insane and the checkout lines were very long. I didn't have a lot to get, but we were there for about 30-45 minutes.

It had started snowing before 5:30 while we were on our way to CVS. By the time we got out of Wal-Mart my car was covered with snow and there were slick, slushy spots in the parking lot. I drove carefully back to CVS to get our medicine, to Mom's house to drop off Sean's medicine and then home.

I made macaroni and cheese for supper (I hadn't eaten since breakfast and was too hungry to wait for a big meal) and Kelly and I watched some TV.

The snow has slowed down, but as I said it's still snowing and sleeting a little. I went outside with a ruler and measured about 6 inches of snow in our front yard. I also took a few pictures.


Sean is still at Mom's and she's struggling to get him to take his medicine. I told her that if he didn't take it I'd call the pediatrician's after hours number and ask them if I should take him to the hospital. I'm wondering if I'd have to call for an ambulance since I can't see driving anywhere today or tomorrow.

Snow Pictures

Taken early this morning.

All bundled up.

Sliding down the driveway.

Eating snow.

This and That

I've had a relatively good couple days. I went Christmas shopping for my kids on Thursday. (Kelly was sick with a fever and so was with my mom. Sean was at school and then my mom picked him up when he got out.) I got much of what was on their lists. Kelly has a birthday in less than two months and Sean's is in less than four months, so I can get the rest of what they want then.

Before going shopping, I took our cable box and all the cables back to Time Warner. I was nervous that they would give me a hard time. I really don't like dealing with people. But all went pretty well. They gave me a different box (apparently the other one wasn't a pure HD box or something; I don't know) and cables, and I hooked everything up after going shopping, getting Kelly some medicine from CVS and then picking the kids up from Mom's.

It was so great to not only be able to see the channels, but also hear them. Unfortunately, not all our channels were showing up, even after rebooting, so I called technical support. They had me reboot it again (re-reboot?), which still didn't help, and then they did something on their end and all the channels came back. Yay! The lady who was helping me laughed at the reaction of me and my kids. :-)

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Snow and possibly other wintry precipitation was expected to start around noon yesterday, so I did my grocery shopping earlier than I usually do on Fridays. It wasn't easy getting my day started however.

At 5:30 AM, I got a recorded call from the school board stating that schools would be closing three hours early due to the coming winter weather. After which I had a hard time going back to sleep. Then my mom called at 8:14 wanting to know if I'd taken Sean to school. (Kelly was sick with a low fever.) I hadn't. And if I had, we wouldn't have left the house quite yet. Yes, I was a bad mommy and let my son stay home from school. I didn't want to have to get him from school if the weather was really bad by the time they let the kids out.

After Mom's early morning call, I only slept lightly before finally getting up at 9:30 AM. I was so sleepy, but I had to get up and get out so that I could get back before the snow started falling.

The kids and I finally got out of the house at around 10:30. We went to Target where I got some of the groceries (oh, how I wish there were a Super Target around here) and a present (Bakugan) for my brother's step-son Zack. Then we got gas, went to Food Lion for the rest of the groceries and came home. It started snowing as we were leaving Food Lion. It was so pretty to see.

As you can see, this is a night shot. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take good night shots. I'll try to take a better picture today.

I got online for awhile after getting home before lying down on the couch to take a nap. I ended up sleeping for almost four hours! I couldn't believe it. It was nearly 7:00 PM when I got up. The snow was a few inches deep by then. I quickly got supper started. I figured it was a good night for chili.

The kids and I then just hung out watching TV. I especially enjoyed that since I hadn't been able to really for a few weeks. The Holiday came on TV and I let the kids stay up late to watch it. (They had never seen it before. And it has Jack Black in it. Is there any kid who's seen School of Rock and/or Kung Fu Panda who doesn't like Jack Black?) I know, bad mommy again. :-/

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My daughter said something sweet to me last night. (Not surprising really considering she's such a mama's girl. Or mother's girl, since she calls me Mother.) She asked me, "What else do you want for Christmas besides Daddy and a new camera?" I said, "Books and Blu-Rays." Then she said she wished she could get them for me. Awww.

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The need for something new and wonderful in my life hit me again a little while ago. I think I've written about it before.

This horrible situation I've been in for seven months now is taking its toll. I'm trying to get the victory, but it's putting up quite a fight and refusing to go down. I tell God sometimes, "I hope what comes after this is just as wonderful and beautiful as this current situation is horrible."

Wouldn't it stink if when I get through this all that's waiting on the other side is some little piddly thing? lol Not that I wouldn't be grateful just to make it through, of course. But, well, without going into detail (I have my reasons), just making it through wouldn't really be enough. There must be restoration on the other side.

I cannot tell you how badly I wish I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?'”