Christmas Countdown - 2012

[Solice]

I haven't had a chance to scroll through all the post yet to see what everyone's response is but Chicago is another big city that is nice to visit. I have been to New York and Chicago, I really like Chicago. When Wayne and I went to New York to see the 9/11 Memorial and John Lennon Memorial in Central Park I thought it was too hectic. VERY interesting city but HECTIC! I didn't think I wanted to go back but I have changed my mind! I really want to go during the holidays because they do it up big. I also think that we need to visit other areas of New York next time. We only had time to do those 2 things also they had some protest going on at the time and we got caught up in the crowd. Chicago was really nice and I enjoyed it very much. I would like to go there again too. Both of those cities are known for shopping! =)

We also went to Santa Claus, Indiana. That is year round Christmas and you can view the pictures we took in my profile. The town is very peaceful and nice. Their hotel is decorated for Christmas year round and they have cabins there that are decorated year round as well.

Just wondering but will you be here at the end of November near Thanksgiving? If so, plan very early, busy travel time here. You can guarantee everything will be decorated for Christmas then!

I hope you enjoy your visit here!

Thank you so much to you all for all your suggestions!
I read all the post, and takes notes! =]

We were in Chicago Sept/Oct'11. We loved it there! =]
(and we will go back someday!)

The week we have planned this trip is week 47.
And YES Thanksgiving is right there.
We are travelling Monday to Friday!
So maybe we have to find another week....?

But it would be great to experience a real TG dinner if that is possible?
Or is everything closed TG day?

 

[gabulldawg]

Good morning everyone! I just got to work.. A funny thing happened this morning,I got up went to the fridge thinking it was 1 am and I was having a midnight snack,well I took the food out of the fridge and glanced at tthe clock on the oven and it was 515!!! I had to leave at 530!!! my alarm clock did not go off!!! Monday monday!!!!! typical monday!!! Well I hope the rest of the day is not that bad....have a good morning everyone!! and @made---gosh you had to get up early to go to the airport...I hope you were careful!!!!

 

[merrymistletoe]

Thanks for the prayers CM3!!! She is still dizzy and now she is having a reaction to something they used to draw her blood the other night.

that poor baby, made i can't believe what this child has had to go through. i am praying for her.

will be praying for her, please let us know how it goes.

I will say a prayer for your sister and her Dr who is doing the surgery!!! My brother had back surgery on his lower back and they put rods and screws in his...for the first week he had bad pain but he said the trick was getting up and moving even if it hurts...he has had 2 and in the first surgery he did not get up that often so that was his opinion. HE always said if you can stand the pain before surgery the pain afterwards will be nothing...I will be ssending prayers your way I just wanted to let you know my brothers situation...and by the way he has recovered all the way except for a little pain in the mornings when he gets moving.....please keep us updated!!!

thanks guys, prayers work!! dawg her doc told her the same thing about getting up & moving,walk-walk-walk. other people who have had the surgery have been telling her things about it so i'll def pass this info along to her too, thanks.

Good morning Christmas friends!
I'm back from Amsterdam.
Feel a bit "hungover" today, but not by drinking! =]
I'm just exhausted and a bit sick (still)
But we had a great weekend!

Spring was in the air in Amsterdam.
And it was no snow when we landed her yesterday.
But after five minutes it started snowing, and it's still snowing!!
Now there is about 25 cm of snow here!!
So we came home to Winterland! With a bit of a cold for the bought us...

Hope everybody is doing fine! ♥

happy to hear your weekend trip was nice. sure do wish you could kick this cold or whatever this is. we are having temps in the 70's this week, enjoy the snow!!

Good morning mmc friends
Hope your all good this monday morning
Had you all a good weekend
Mine was ok.
Went out on paddys day and it was ok.. meet up in hotel with a mate. and there was a lot about but there was a lot of kids as there was face painting and things. then we went to another bar to meet up with 3 others and they had a match on ,later went to out local and was sitting with my mates and i just looked round me..there was not a green thing in site. you wood have thought it was just another saturday night..
The weather this morning is cool but i see the sun starting to come out but even at that its not t shirt weather think its round 5c no rain and does not give any all week
Today is a bank holiday. so our banks and post office is shut simetimes this effects the town shopping ways. so am going with the flow!!
This is the last week for me to get stuff from the company that is going into liquidation so i hope to get as much as i can in.. i have to get the christmas pallets this week. one of the guys told me to pick some and he wood do a good price. so am gonna ring him after i post this . i hope so as am gonna be sitting out of the money to at least the 1st week in november. and have no where to store them.
So hope you all have a good monday and hugs to ALL furbabies hope they are all doing good talk soon and take care

i bet it's hard having that money tied up till November. hopefully when it's time to sale, you'll get great payback on them. speaking of st. patrick's day, everyone around me had on all their green. here i was in pink & white, duh, go figure!

 

[merrymistletoe]

good morn'in ya'll!!
i'm off today & don't have alot planned. hubby said he would try to call somehow today so i don't want to leave the house for fear of missing his call. there's always cleaning to be done so i'll probably try to knock that out.
went to my rents yesterday & my daddy was gonna try to vacuum out their car for the trip, HE'S 80! my brother was too wrapped up in the race so i vacuumed it for him & my mama wiped down the inside w/ some cleaner. don't get me wrong, my daddy goes strong @ 80. he does have some back problems so i wasn't gonna have that, him vacuuming. have i told ya'll before that i'm a big time daddy's girl? my brother is 50 YEARS OLD & still picks @ me calling me "Daddy's baby", me & my daddy just look @ him & say, "that's right". hahaha-evil laugh.

our diet is going well, i guess. we did have a cheat day Saturday but we're def on track again now. my 19 yr.old son is trying very hard too. he stayed home all day w/ me & daughter yesterday. it was very nice to have him all to ourselves like that. his girlfriend is precious to us too though, we feel like she's one of ours. she spent the day w/ her family & he did w/ us-nice, very nice.

my 22 year old works, goes to school, comes home, showers, & takes off. i told him the other day, i didn't know if he realized it or not, but he's only been home 1x for supper since Christmas & that was the superbowl. like i said though, he is 22, & he's an adult now so i guess this is typical. he's my blindside son, his dad got out of prison recently & i guess he's needing/wanting Will around a bit now. i think i'll try to blog our story. didn't have much luck in the past w/ it though.

talk to ya'll in alittle while!!:merry:

 

[Christmasstar]

 

[ballcoach]

Made, they got coffee....but I think they are out of that 1:30 blend.....man, that's early.

About to shower, then head to STARBUCKS!!!!!!

 

[Crown 84]

Good Morning once again, my Friends.

Once again we start yet another week on our journey back to Christmas.

And once again, we are presented with the daily count:
Days to the Season: 239
Days to Christmas Day: 281
One lone, single week from today, Folks -- the ONE QUARTER mark to Christmas Day!
Hey! Hey! Hey! Whad d'yah say?

Well, after Saturday night's storm, we had a quiet, peaceful and pleasantly warm Sunday.
A wonderful late winter day to say the least, with more such weather just ahead!
Fifty-six degrees here currently, with a reasonably good chance of more rain this afternoon.

Have a Marvelous Monday now, Everyone.
And start the new week right with thoughts of Christmas!

 

[shellie12]

good morn'in ya'll!!
i'm off today & don't have alot planned. hubby said he would try to call somehow today so i don't want to leave the house for fear of missing his call. there's always cleaning to be done so i'll probably try to knock that out. Good you have a day of and glad hubby will phone am sure you miss him
went to my rents ( sorry what is rents??) yesterday & my daddy was gonna try to vacuum out their car for the trip, HE'S 80! "Daddy's baby", me & my daddy just look @ him & say, "that's right". hahaha-evil laugh.

our diet is going well, i guess. we did have a cheat day Saturday but we're def on track again now. my 19 yr.old son is trying very hard too. he stayed home all day w/ me & daughter yesterday. it was very nice to have him all to ourselves like that. his girlfriend is precious to us too though, we feel like she's one of ours. she spent the day w/ her family & he did w/ us-nice, very nice.

my 22 year old works, goes to school, comes home, showers, & takes off. i told him the other day, i didn't know if he realized it or not, but he's only been home 1x for supper since Christmas & that was the superbowl. like i said though, he is 22, & he's an adult now so i guess this is typical. he's my blindside (here i go again what is blindside) son, his dad got out of prison recently & i guess he's needing/wanting Will around a bit now. i think i'll try to blog our story. didn't have much luck in the past w/ it though.

talk to ya'll in alittle while!!:merry:[ have a nice day

 

[merrymistletoe]

Our Blindside

My son Seth has always played football. Little League, middle school, then High school. When Seth was a freshman, he started on Offense. He met a sophomore named William (Will)who was also on offense. The 2 of them became best friends fast. Will came over on weekends alot. That same school year they went off to football camp in the spring. Middle of the week Will got a phone call to tell him his mother had passed away. I never had known his mother or of her illness, Turns out Will's mother had been sick for a long time with COPD & diabetes among other stuff. Will was reluctant to even go to camp, but his mother insisted he go. The week was tragic for 3 of our players, 1 lost his grandmother, 1 lost his father, & Will lost his mother.

We didn't hear from Will for a while, i'm sure he was trying to figure things out after losing his mother. They were extremely close. Will has an older brother, Joseph. Will's father wasn't around too much. The 2 of them never had much of a relationship. As it turns out, after his mother died, Will @ 16 was working, going to school, & paying the small mortgage on the house they lived in......so he thought. Will would give his dad the $, just like his mama used to, expecting him to pay it...he never did! Shortly after his mother's death they lost their home. Will came home 1 day to find himself locked out w/ a bank lock on the door. All his belongings were inside.
A coach on the team bought Will some things, & he went to stay w/ some family. We still knew nothing of this.

After a while Will started coming over on weekends again, only when he came, his clothes would be piled up in his arms, he looked a bit dis-shoveled. Throughout this time he was still working @ a local grocery store he had been working since turning 16. FONT]

 

[merrymistletoe]

Our blindside part 2

Will finally finished high school. He had played in the Shrine Bowl his senior year & received a scholarship for football to S.C. state. Will came home often & stayed w/ us on the weekends he was home. Will is a very quiet boy & doesn't tell you a whole lot, you have to ask him. After feeling close enough to him to ask, we found out before going to college he stayed all different places, never had a home, hardly had much more than what was on his back. Fortunately, w/ the help of the same coach who had helped him before, he had gotten what he needed for college.
Thanksgiving came & Will came home. After my husband, Phil, & I discussed it, we asked Will to consider our place his home, he accepted. We bought another bed for him, dresser for him, & he & my son, Seth, share a room.
Will's 2nd year @ state he began to get sick, the coaches were not understanding @ all. He was always tired. To the point of exhaustion. In the spring we decided he would forgo the football scholarship & come home to go to school in town here. The coaches were furious & he even caught alot of slack from his high school coaches here in town. Over that summer we went on a family vacation. We all noticed this terrible cough Will had. As soon as we got home he went to the doctor. He was waiting on a rx from the pharmacy & passed out. Over the next 2 weeks it was horrible. All kinds of doc's testing for everything under the sun. He was transferred to another/better hospital where we learned he had Sarcoidosis. This illness can affect the kidneys, skin, eyes, or lungs. It's an immune disease the doc's think he inherited from his mother. Yes, his mother had this condition & it affected her lungs, thus causing the COPD. The doc's concluded it was affecting his kidneys although he did have a cough from it. His skin has dry patches all over it & i had bought all kinds of face creams & stuff but nothing worked. Turns out his was from the Sarcoidosis too.
Will is now on steroids & has been since September of last year, in very high doses. He has began a new rx that is to eventually take the place of the steroids. The doc's do feel like they caught it in time & that it will go into remission. Will goes to all his check ups & is doing very well now. We are working now on his vitamin D & calcium levels, they're much too low & he takes daily supplements now for it.
Will's dad has been in & out of prison, his older brother lives in a different town, & his grandparents (on dad's side) are here in town but they sure didn't help him out. You wouldn't believe the family that came to the hospital though. Family I had NEVER met came out of the woodworks.
Will's dad is now out of prison &, I don't know, he's calling Will getting him to take him places, helped him buy some new rims & tires for his car....Not sure how it will all turn out but that's our story.

 

[merrymistletoe]

good morn'in ya'll!!
i'm off today & don't have alot planned. hubby said he would try to call somehow today so i don't want to leave the house for fear of missing his call. there's always cleaning to be done so i'll probably try to knock that out. Good you have a day of and glad hubby will phone am sure you miss him
went to my rents ( sorry what is rents??) yesterday & my daddy was gonna try to vacuum out their car for the trip, HE'S 80! "Daddy's baby", me & my daddy just look @ him & say, "that's right". hahaha-evil laugh.

our diet is going well, i guess. we did have a cheat day Saturday but we're def on track again now. my 19 yr.old son is trying very hard too. he stayed home all day w/ me & daughter yesterday. it was very nice to have him all to ourselves like that. his girlfriend is precious to us too though, we feel like she's one of ours. she spent the day w/ her family & he did w/ us-nice, very nice.

my 22 year old works, goes to school, comes home, showers, & takes off. i told him the other day, i didn't know if he realized it or not, but he's only been home 1x for supper since Christmas & that was the superbowl. like i said though, he is 22, & he's an adult now so i guess this is typical. he's my blindside (here i go again what is blindside) son, his dad got out of prison recently & i guess he's needing/wanting Will around a bit now. i think i'll try to blog our story. didn't have much luck in the past w/ it though.

talk to ya'll in alittle while!!:merry:[ have a nice day

shelliegirl, you are so cute!! rents is short for parents & blindside refers to a true movie of a pro football player & how he came to be a part of a family. you should check it out. my son, Will is crazy about that movie because of our life. He wouldn't even watch it until we could watch it together. the only difference is his mother was a wonderful person who loved him very much unlike the mother in the movie.

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Solice, Thanksgiving is November 22 and if you can book early enough and get the accommodations and flight you desire it would be a great time to come to the USA. You can enjoy the excitement that we have here, it's like part 1 to the Christmas holiday. Thanksgiving is actually my favorite holiday. The reason, it's the kick off to Christmas!!! It's like Christmas just started and continues for a whole month. Keep in mind that New York City has the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and will be pricey for hotels but WOW if you could watch the parade that would be awesome. It's one of my dreams to see that parade. There are plenty of restaurants open on Thanksgiving Day (some do close) and you can enjoy what we have on that special day. Don't forget Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving, shop til you drop and lots of great sales! To enjoy that you might see if you can wait and leave on Saturday. It will be very crowded at that time, but exciting, so if you desire a more peaceful vacation you will want to pick another week. There are tons of Christmas activities going on Black Friday. It is the busiest travel time of the year and makes headline news. You can tell I am getting excited for you but Christmas is in overdrive the week of Thanksgiving! You will love it!

CM3, I just got an HP laptop recently and it's been the best laptop for me. Wayne has an HP desktop and likes it very much. I hope you enjoy yours!

Meceka, how are you feeling?

Made, still praying for your niece. Keep us posted!

Dawg! You slept in! I hope you feel rested today.

Christmasstar, I hope you are feeling better today.

Jennifer, I have been wanting one of those coffee machines! We have one at work and I love it!

Merrymistletoe, I will be praying for your sister!

 

[shellie12]

shelliegirl, you are so cute!! rents is short for parents & blindside refers to a true movie of a pro football player & how he came to be a part of a family. you should check it out. my son, Will is crazy about that movie because of our life. He wouldn't even watch it until we could watch it together. the only difference is his mother was a wonderful person who loved him very much unlike the mother in the movie.

AM silly:thumbsup: good excuse am blonde and irish...
i thought rents was a private house you have that was rented out ..and thought the way you wrote blindside that he was adopted . could take me no where

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Seawaters, I have been thinking about you and I hope you are healing well! (((hugs)))

Mgramsey, still praying for your mom.

Xmas366, how's your foot doing?

 

[Snow-in-Texas]

Hi guys!! Haven't popped on in quite some time but I'm always thinking about ya!! How is everyone!?

Hey there judesmama, good to see you again. I haven't been on since Friday, so I am just seeing you are back.

Thanks for the prayers CM3!!! She is still dizzy and now she is having a reaction to something they used to draw her blood the other night.

Continuing to pray for her Mark! I sure hope they figure something out real soon.

Thank you so much to you all for all your suggestions!
I read all the post, and takes notes! =]

We were in Chicago Sept/Oct'11. We loved it there! =]
(and we will go back someday!)

The week we have planned this trip is week 47.
And YES Thanksgiving is right there.
We are travelling Monday to Friday!
So maybe we have to find another week....?

But it would be great to experience a real TG dinner if that is possible?
Or is everything closed TG day?

As CAH said, Thanksgiving is the busiest travel time in the US, but if you book early enough you should be fine. Sometimes it seem Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas here, I guess it's because we consider it the start of the Holiday season. Pretty much anywhere you go will be done up for Christmas, but as already mentioned, New York is the most famous for really doing Christmas big time. Rockefeller Center with the skating rink and the huge Christmas tree. Of course it will be crowded, I don't know how you feel about crowds. Well that's my 2 cents worth.:wink:

 

[Bradmac]

merrymistletoe - Wow, that young man has had an awful life. It is such a blessing that you and your family are willing to take him in. COPD is a tough thing to endure, even if he didn't have to deal with his other illnesses. Thank you for being the kind of family that recognizes a need, and steps up to fill it.

 

[shellie12]

merrymistletoe - Wow, that young man has had an awful life. It is such a blessing that you and your family are willing to take him in. COPD is a tough thing to endure, even if he didn't have to deal with his other illnesses. Thank you for being the kind of family that recognizes a need, and steps up to fill it.

WELL SAID

 

[Christmasstar]

merrymistletoe - Wow, that young man has had an awful life. It is such a blessing that you and your family are willing to take him in. COPD is a tough thing to endure, even if he didn't have to deal with his other illnesses. Thank you for being the kind of family that recognizes a need, and steps up to fill it.

I agree!

 

[snowflake22]

Good Morning, Christmas friends~

How are you all?

I missed you over the weekend.

We were very busy with my girlfriend & her Mom in town, and St. Patty's Day of course. Yesterday was our lazy day, watched movies & cooked a big dinner.

I have to work all of this week (like normal) but also the weekend for our annual company meeting & golf tournament..I'm tired just thinking about it! Jury duty on Monday, March 26th. My next day off will be the last Saturday of the month. Ahhh!

Seawaters, thinking of you, hope you're feeling good & healing well. xoxo :grin:

merrymistletoe, praying for you & your sister. Hope her surgery goes well tomorrow. I just read your post- What a wonderful family you guys are to Will. xo

CAH, CS, and Meceka- Get well soon! Thinking of you all! =)

Made, praying for your niece. Bless her heart!

Shellie, hope all goes well w/ your Christmas loads! Hope you had a fun St. Patty's Day weekend!! Hugs to you & your furbabies. xo

Thinking of you all- have a lovely week!

 

[Meceka]

went to see my rents this afternoon, just me & daughter. they are leaving tomorrow to go to the beach where my sis lives. my sister is having her back surgery on tuesday. wish i could be w/ her too but i've gotta work & get my daughter back & forth to school. my sis is very anxious about it, she just wants it over. the doc has told her that the pain will be very rough after, while she heals. she has arthritis in her lower back & it's pinching nerves that go to her left leg & they have to repair 2 of her disc & depending on how bad it is when they get in there, they may have to use screws &/or rods. she has alot of pain in her leg, so much that she stays in bed alot now. she's one tough cookie so i know she will be better than ever after she heals.
if ya'll would just lift her up in your prayers i would really appreciate it!

not sure what we are gonna have for supper...hmm....think i'll go look & see what i can whip up!

I will be praying for your sister, merry.

Thanks for the prayers CM3!!! She is still dizzy and now she is having a reaction to something they used to draw her blood the other night.

How horrible - I will keep her in my prayers, Made.

Good morning Christmas friends!
I'm back from Amsterdam.
Feel a bit "hungover" today, but not by drinking! =]
I'm just exhausted and a bit sick (still)
But we had a great weekend!

Spring was in the air in Amsterdam.
And it was no snow when we landed her yesterday.
But after five minutes it started snowing, and it's still snowing!!
Now there is about 25 cm of snow here!!
So we came home to Winterland! With a bit of a cold for the bought us...

Hope everybody is doing fine! ♥

I hope you are better soon, Solice - the Winterland must be so beautiful!

This is the last week for me to get stuff from the company that is going into liquidation so i hope to get as much as i can in.. i have to get the christmas pallets this week. one of the guys told me to pick some and he wood do a good price. so am gonna ring him after i post this . i hope so as am gonna be sitting out of the money to at least the 1st week in november. and have no where to store them.
So hope you all have a good monday and hugs to ALL furbabies hope they are all doing good talk soon and take care

I hope you get your storage situation figured out, Shellie. How are Sasha, Scooby and the birds doing?

Meceka, how are you feeling?

I am feeling a lot better, CAH. Still exhausted, but not in pain any more. Thank you for asking cheesy