Christmas Countdown - 2019

[Martine]

Hello My Merry Chums,

Interesting thing happened today at work. I was telling a co-worker who decorates her place really nice for Christmas and had a photo of her place put on a local new page. I was telling her about the Across the Creek Neighbours and the sign they made to thank me for my cards the last few years.
Another co-worker and mother of one of the children I gave presents to this year overheard us and said, I made the news on the radio station. I denied it and she said, "Are you a merry stranger?" My curiosity was peaked, "Yes, you should know!" (I dropped a parcel off at their place when her daughter was just 2 years old and some homemade fudge with a note that it was from a Merry Elf, but she recognized my penmanship; left-handedness and all).

One of the radio stations had a "send a good news story" thing going on and the daughter of the Across the Creek Neighbour shared the story of the merry stranger who was surprising her mom with cards the last couple of years and this year added a homemade ornament to the envelope. She went on to describe how she and her brother put up a sign for New Years to thank the Merry Stranger and had shared the inside of the card. It had over 120 reactions as a simple gesture meaning so much.

Found out the woman across the creek is 88 years old and her name is Pauline. When I bring the thank you card over, I might actually knock on the door and introduce myself.

I always wondered how she was receiving them, if she was nervous about the "watcher from the other side", but she was delighted by the gesture. Sadly her Christmas decorations are no longer lit up.

I'll have to go back to squinting my eyes looking at traffic lights to get my merry fix!

Stay jolly!

How wonderful that they took the time to highlight what you were doing as the Merry stranger

 

[Christmasstar]

Good evening MMC !

still sick here, does not seem to want to let go.
Daughter had a fender bender this morning. Roads really bad, all school buses cancelled and country schools closed. She was not charged because of the roads.

going to need a bit of work.
I wonder if Carl has some concoction to cure what ails me ?

hope you all have a great evening.

 

[sugar142286]

Good evening MMC ~
Sorry I was away so long, I hope I didn’t miss too much. Praying everyone is well.
My daughters wedding was on Friday and it was absolutely beautiful. The day went by much too quickly but we enjoyed every minute. My daughter and her husband are in Aruba on their honeymoon right now, I can’t wait to see them when they get back on Sunday.
My father ended up in the hospital again this past Monday because of his congestive heart failure. He’s responding well to the medicine and we’re hoping he will get to come home soon. He was well enough to be at my daughters wedding and it meant so much to us that he was there. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the hospital so it’s been pretty hectic for me the past few days. I’m looking forward to things slowing down and I hope to catch up with all of you!
xo

So glad to hear the wedding was beautiful - I did notice you put picture on Facebook. but I'll be completely honest, I didn't get time to look. I'll have to try and get on tonight and look. I'm so sorry to hear your father hasn't been feeling well again. CHF is such an awful disease and is one that has so many ups and downs and has to be watched so carefully. I hope he is out of the hospital soon. Prayers for him and the entire family. Hope your daughter and new son-in-law are enjoying their honeymoon!

 

[Holiday]

Hello My Merry Chums,

Interesting thing happened today at work. I was telling a co-worker who decorates her place really nice for Christmas and had a photo of her place put on a local new page. I was telling her about the Across the Creek Neighbours and the sign they made to thank me for my cards the last few years.
Another co-worker and mother of one of the children I gave presents to this year overheard us and said, I made the news on the radio station. I denied it and she said, "Are you a merry stranger?" My curiosity was peaked, "Yes, you should know!" (I dropped a parcel off at their place when her daughter was just 2 years old and some homemade fudge with a note that it was from a Merry Elf, but she recognized my penmanship; left-handedness and all).

One of the radio stations had a "send a good news story" thing going on and the daughter of the Across the Creek Neighbour shared the story of the merry stranger who was surprising her mom with cards the last couple of years and this year added a homemade ornament to the envelope. She went on to describe how she and her brother put up a sign for New Years to thank the Merry Stranger and had shared the inside of the card. It had over 120 reactions as a simple gesture meaning so much.

Found out the woman across the creek is 88 years old and her name is Pauline. When I bring the thank you card over, I might actually knock on the door and introduce myself.

I always wondered how she was receiving them, if she was nervous about the "watcher from the other side", but she was delighted by the gesture. Sadly her Christmas decorations are no longer lit up.

I'll have to go back to squinting my eyes looking at traffic lights to get my merry fix!

Stay jolly!

That is really an awesome story!!! And a small world!

 

[Holiday]

Good morning friends ~
Merry Pines Day!
It’s going to be partly sunny today with highs near 44 degrees. I’m going to start cooking breakfast soon for my husband and daughter. I need to tidy up and start laundry, I’m falling way behind on my chores around the house. I’ll be heading to the hospital this morning to visit my father, hoping we get some good news from the doctor. My father can’t wait to go home. I also have plans later this afternoon to go out with my youngest to look at venues. She graduates from college soon and we want to throw a party to celebrate!
I hope everyone is well and has a wonderful day. See you tonight!
xx

Continued prayers for your Dad!! So happy to hear the wedding was wonderful!! Good luck finding a venue for the next wedding! ♥

 

[Holiday]

Good Morning, Friends.

We may now be down to single digits to our first Milestone of the year, but we are just a day away from being double-digits into 2019.
(The year is moving right along, Folks!)

So is our count:
Days to the Season: 308
Days to Christmas Day: 350
And the 300-day Season marker?
Well, it arrives ONE WEEK FROM TOMORROW!
Then, just think. We will already be down into the 200's to Christmas Season 2019!

Really pleasant here yesterday, with highs in the 60's and no rain. Got lots of needed yard work done.
Today will be a different story. We are starting off pretty good here this morning, at 47 degrees but by tomorrow night, we are supposed to be down to 24.
BRRRR!!

Well, regardless of the weather, Carl is ready to entertain and feed all guest this evening at 2019's second 'Pines open house. The twinkies are piping hot, the tea is sweet, and the entertainment is fun and....well....unusual.
Be there or miss it all!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday, Everybody!

See you tonight!!!!

 

[Holiday]

Good Wednesday morning, Christmas friends!

It's a lot cooler this morning, and, of course, windy. But at least it's not raining!

I'm feeling a little stretched-out with all my personal goings-on. I'm trying to get our roof replaced from damage from the hurricane last year, trying to get our septic system fixed, trying to get Jacob's car repaired from his fender-bender, trying to get some damage repaired at mom's place in the mountains, and trying to get this pinched nerve in my arm fixed before my hand weakness become permanent. Whew! I'm just full of complaints today, aren't I? Sorry.

Now for my praises: My family is happy and healthy, Nancy's mom is feeling better, my mom is doing great, and work is going well! Thank you, Father!

I hope y'all have a great Pines Day!

So many people have a pinched nerve issue going on right now...what is up with that?? I hope you are feeling better soon. Takes awhile. I started with sciatica yesterday. I'm 99.9% sure it's b/c of my new job. I was sitting in a chair with a calculator for a really long time on Monday. I about went through the roof yesterday - many times. I could hardly stand it. I walked a lot last night & put an ice pack on it every hour for 15-20 minutes last night & today at work. The pain is definitely still there (gets dulled thanks to ibupro) but it was much better today than yesterday. Darn old age. LOL!!!
Have a good day Brad!

 

[Holiday]

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Hope your day was good too - and warmer than ours here. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! 50º yesterday & flat out freezing/snowing/WINDY today!!!!!

 

[sugar142286]

Good morning friends ~
Merry Pines Day!
It’s going to be partly sunny today with highs near 44 degrees. I’m going to start cooking breakfast soon for my husband and daughter. I need to tidy up and start laundry, I’m falling way behind on my chores around the house. I’ll be heading to the hospital this morning to visit my father, hoping we get some good news from the doctor. My father can’t wait to go home. I also have plans later this afternoon to go out with my youngest to look at venues. She graduates from college soon and we want to throw a party to celebrate!
I hope everyone is well and has a wonderful day. See you tonight!
xx

That's so exciting! Congrats to her! I'm praying you guys got some good news today. As far as the house work goes and I know I don't know you super well, but I can tell just from our convos here, you're always very poised and like to have things in line and done - which is wonderful and a great quality to have, but - if I've learned anything in the last couple weeks, that kind of stuff can wait. God Bless you, HMG. You are one of the best mother's, wives, and friends I "know" and spending time with family and making memories is always the number one priority. The dust and laundry can wait! You're doing a great job!

 

[sugar142286]

Good Wednesday morning, Christmas friends!

It's a lot cooler this morning, and, of course, windy. But at least it's not raining!

I'm feeling a little stretched-out with all my personal goings-on. I'm trying to get our roof replaced from damage from the hurricane last year, trying to get our septic system fixed, trying to get Jacob's car repaired from his fender-bender, trying to get some damage repaired at mom's place in the mountains, and trying to get this pinched nerve in my arm fixed before my hand weakness become permanent. Whew! I'm just full of complaints today, aren't I? Sorry.

Now for my praises: My family is happy and healthy, Nancy's mom is feeling better, my mom is doing great, and work is going well! Thank you, Father!

I hope y'all have a great Pines Day!

I pray everything starts coming together for you soon, Brad, but you are so right - it could be worse and we always have something to be thankful for! Thanks be to God!

 

[sugar142286]

Happy Pines Day!! I hope everyone is having a good day. Typical work day for me and my daughter has basketball practice tonight. See you at the Pines!!

I've been thinking about your daughter - how did she make out at her appointment yesterday?

 

[sugar142286]

we have been without cable/satellite. Prices here went through the roof and we were just not willing to pay that. We have netflixs and utube and internet. It was really hard at first, but we are used to it now. Was watching TV with someone, and I'm like, what with these commercials? LOL

It is ridiculous what they charge. It's the speciality channels (like sports) that charge the cable/satellite companies an arm and leg, then they have to raise their prices.

 

[Martine]

Good evening MMC ~
Sorry I was away so long, I hope I didn’t miss too much. Praying everyone is well.
My daughters wedding was on Friday and it was absolutely beautiful. The day went by much too quickly but we enjoyed every minute. My daughter and her husband are in Aruba on their honeymoon right now, I can’t wait to see them when they get back on Sunday.
My father ended up in the hospital again this past Monday because of his congestive heart failure. He’s responding well to the medicine and we’re hoping he will get to come home soon. He was well enough to be at my daughters wedding and it meant so much to us that he was there. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the hospital so it’s been pretty hectic for me the past few days. I’m looking forward to things slowing down and I hope to catch up with all of you!
xo

HMG congratulations to your daughter on now being married and yourself for putting on that beautiful wedding (I don't use Facebook much so I can't see the pictures but I'm sure it was just as you described). I hope your father will be home soon. I'm sure it meant as much to him as to your daughter that he was able to attend her wedding. Try and take good care of yourself, you have been so busy these past few weeks.

 

[Martine]

Glad to hear they got home safely.

Yes, you're right. She may not fully understand what is totally going on, but know that people are hurting around her. Kids can tell and know when something is wrong and when to be strong. God love her.

Thank you - each day is getting better, but is still hard. I'm on Prednisone for my rash and it is making it very hard (has a lot of side effects, one including severe depression, which I've never had issues with before and now I'm experiencing), but my husband and family are being a huge support and and being here for me every step of the way.

sugar I'm sorry to read that the medicine you are taking has brought on symptoms of depression. How long do you have to take Prednisone? I'm keeping you in my thoughts for your condition to continue to improve and that you feel better mentally.

 

[made582]

Hope your day was good too - and warmer than ours here. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! 50º yesterday & flat out freezing/snowing/WINDY today!!!!!

It was crazy today!!! Freezing and heavy wind whipped snow showers. I don’t know why I even left the apartment!! I went to the south side though and hit up 5 different stores looking at Christmas stuff. I only bought a couple wreaths though.

 

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

Well, we found a lump under the dog's front right leg and the vet says it's a severe allergic reaction. We assume he's allergic to wheat and chicken as we've pulled those two ingredients out of his diet before and any reactions have disappeared. We've caught the FIL, who has vascular dementia, feeding the dog, even though he had been told not to. And we suspect the dog has been going downstairs and eating anything he finds on the FIL's floor, like biscuits and cookies.

So, the solution is the restrict access to the basement by getting a pet gate to put across the stairs to the basement so the dog doesn't go downstairs. Plus, we have to find one that can be opened easily so the FIL isn't banished to the basement and can leave freely. The gate has been ordered and should be here in a couple of days.

We can't blame the dog. He's just taking advantage of free food and doesn't know any better. Plus any conversation with the FIL is met with confusion, because of his dementia, as he doesn't remember feeding anything to the dog. The adventures continue.

Sorry about venting, but I just needed to express myself. In other news, there's some pumpkin roasting in the oven to be pureéd later for recipes and I've made a nice batch of blueberry oatmeal muffins for a church meeting later this week.

The only scare I ever had with my big feral cat was when I thought he might have feline asthma; we changed his diet and cut down on the automatic air dispensers. Within a few days that horrible sound he was making (not the same as fur-balls, but very scary for us and him), subsided. Hope fixing his diet and reducing access to the "free food" helps him get his wagging tail back and provides less worry for you.

 

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

That is very sweet!!! 2 of my Great Nephews drew pictures when Mom passed - it was their best attempt at drawing a dead person/casket/tombstone. The older one wrote a note with it that said "I am sorey that you did but you are with God" From Mason. (and this exactly how he had everything spelled.) Too cute!

When my three oldest Grandchildren were younger and their great grandmother died, I had them occupied at our place (tarp on the floor) and we did crafts, played with old fisher price toys I had, etc. I encouraged them to make books about what they'd miss about their great grandma. The oldest was allowed to go to the funeral and "wake"; the other two stayed with me and joined up for a big family brunch the next day. They would dictate to me what to write about and did their own pictures and things. I believe it's a good way for children to express themselves (depending on their ages and ability to understand what's happened). The oldest now quite the adult and engaged brought her memory book to the service and gave it to her grandma who had just lost her mom. Smart girl.

 

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

See you tonight!!!!

I doubt I'll be able to stick around, but I'm here now - PINES DAY!!!

 

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

That's so exciting! Congrats to her! I'm praying you guys got some good news today. As far as the house work goes and I know I don't know you super well, but I can tell just from our convos here, you're always very poised and like to have things in line and done - which is wonderful and a great quality to have, but - if I've learned anything in the last couple weeks, that kind of stuff can wait. God Bless you, HMG. You are one of the best mother's, wives, and friends I "know" and spending time with family and making memories is always the number one priority. The dust and laundry can wait! You're doing a great job!

Diddo what Sugar said, HMG; 'course I ditch my housework for less important things. Remember to take care of you in all of this too.

 

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

Happy Pines Day; second of the New Year - whaaat?

Wanted to offer up a festive poem I wrote many years ago; included in the odd Christmas card ...

Before Santa Claus arrives with or without snow,
I'll hang the outdoor lights and a festive bow.
For the reindeer, I’ll leave a treat or two,
And I’ll be sure to clean the chimney flue.
Santa will nod as he leaves a gift by the tree,
A special surprise he chose just for me.

With or without snowflakes touching the ground
I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas found.

~ AuntieMistletoeDear

Keep a merry thought in your head!

Remember Christmas is either here or it is always on the way!