Home For Christmas

I arrived back home from my trip to Oklahoma City this afternoon. I had a good trip, with basically good weather for traveling. It was very cold and windy yesterday, and the wind made driving a little more difficult.

One of my main reasons for this trip was to attend the court hearing for my son. That never happened, as the attorney and D.A. decided to postpone it until January 8th. So my son is still in jail. I went to see him on Friday. It was a much more encouraging visit than when I saw him a month ago. We had a really good conversation. He said he loved me and for me not to worry about him, that "I'm doing OK in here." He asked me to send him an amplified Bible and a Strong's concordance; he also wants the 2nd and 3rd books in the "Left Behind" series. He said he read the 1st one. When I was leaving he put his hand up to the glass, and I put mine up against his. He said "I love you Mom". It's just hard at times to see your children hurting, even though some of it is a result of their own behavior.

I also had a really nice visit with my 85 y/o Mother-in-Law (from my 1st marriage; my husband passed away in 1999.) She is a really sweet lady; she can't hear well and her vision is very poor. She still lives by herself, and seems to manage fairly well.

I have read many of your Christmas blogs, and have been encouraged and also reminded about what is most important about this season. I want to spend some time in the next few days reflecting on "The Wonder of it All"--Just to think how much our Lord loves us--loves me!

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Counting My Blessings

I just read this blog posted by my sister Brenda, titled A Hurting Family. I wanted to pass it on to my blogger friends. This is such a sad story, and so hard to imagine what it must be like for these parents.

I have had my own challenges with my 2 children, and I lost my daughter, Sara, to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning about 2 1/2 years ago. This story made me realize, all over again, how very blessed I am. One of my grandparents favorite songs was Count Your Blessings. I need to remember to thank the Lord every day for all He has given me and done for me.

Blogger's Hiatus

I have very much enjoyed the holiday blogs and words of wisdom from many of you. I am taking a little trip to Oklahoma City to see my son, so I will probably be away from my computer for a while. If you've read my blog about Tim, you are aware that both he and I are going through some challenging times. I would very much appreciate your prayers for us.

Thanks to all of you who have visited me here at the Book Nook. God bless you, each and every one, this Holiday season.

O' Tannenbaum!

For just a few moments yesterday I was beginning to feel a lot like Scrooge. I usually try to get my Christmas tree put up the day after Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen this year. Let's just say that, now that I'm retired, I can't seem to find time to do anything!

So-o-o, yesterday was the day to get my tree up. You have to understand that this is a very old tree, where you put the branches in one at a time. (Of course you can see by the picture that we also have a very old TV and an old heating system--radiators. Actually, it's just a very old house! But I digress.) It was my husband's tree and this is the third year I've put it up, so that part went fairly well. HOWEVER, stringing the lights was an entirely different story. In the first place, I have about 10 strings of lights, with no 2 being exactly alike. I found one that I thought was long enough for the whole tree, so I proceeded to string them. I ended up with too many lights at the top. So I took it off and went for a shorter string. Alas, it was too short, and I didn't have one that I could connect to it and still have a plug for my star. So I took that one off, went back to the first string, and tried to get more lights at the bottom, so that it would work out better at the top. Since I was by now exhausted, I left them on, but it is certainly unique, in that it has rather uneven lighting--heavier in some places, not enough in others. You can also tell from the picture, that there are too many cords showing in between. BUT, I am finished with lights! They will remain as they are.


Trimming the rest of the tree was sort of an anti-climax to the trauma I had with the lights. However even that leaves a lot to be desired. The problem is, I have certain ornaments that have sentimental value, but some of them aren't real beautiful, and then most of them are one of a kind, and it's hard to get a well balanced tree.


Now that I've had an evening to sit and enjoy my lights, I've decided that I'm very special. I am very certain that no one in the United States, or elsewhere for that matter, has a tree exactly like mine. In fact, maybe it should be displayed at that Christmas Store that Dee visited. (See One foot out of the box blog, as I don't think my link worked for some reason)

I have made a monumental decision after having this experience. I am going to be right there at the after-Christmas sales, and find a nice pre-lit tree on sale, and bring it home to have ready for next Christmas.

Celebrating New Life

While I was in Oklahoma City, I had the privilege of visiting (and holding) a new second cousin, Aiden William. He was 5 weeks old, and just a real sweetheart. Me and the babe

Four Generations!
(great-grandparents, Mother & Aiden, Grandparents)

The mother is my second cousin once removed (I think--I never can remember how that works). Leslie is only 18. She made a mistake, as many young people do, and certainly realizes she was blinded by what she thought was love. It turns out the father is really not a good person, and doesn't want anything to do with Leslie or the baby. I had a long talk with Leslie, as I went to see her one day when she was home alone with the baby. (She is living with her parents for now.) She seems very mature and and totally excited about her son. She would say things like, "He's so cute when he puts his hand up like that" and "I love to give him a bath". I think she will be a wonderful mother.

I had dinner that evening with the whole family, and so was able to take a picture of the 4 generations. It was Leslie's idea for us all to get together while I was there, and she planned the meal. (We had delicious taco salad with all the trimmings and wonderful dessert bars.)

As I was holding Aiden, I decided he probably would need at least one more grandmother, so maybe I'll just adopt him!! There is always something wonderful about holding a newborn baby. I thought again about the miracle of life. This baby's birth was no surprise to the Lord, and I know He has a wonderful plan for his life.