Really? Is that it!?

Christmas came and Christmas went- now it's almost back to normal.  

Everybody got home- FiNALLY- and now they're gone.  

Christmas at the Cowling manse was good.  Good family time, good food, good movie, good Wii. 

On insomnia and other things...

It's 4AM on Christmas Adam (came before Eve, right?) and I am watching a Charles Bronson movie and listening to the dog snore. I keep thinking of all the stuff that needs doing tomorrow (no wait, today) and just stuff in general equals no sleep.  Why is that?   I guess I could put on a pot of coffee and start a load of laundry.  Or maybe make that batch of buttermilk fudge I was thinking about doing.  Or read a book. 

Maybe I could contemplate what I have done: shopping is done, groceries are done, house is clean (reasonably) for now, meal for Sunday planned.  So why can't I sleep?

 

It's almost time

Wow- December is nearly half over and another year is coming to a close!  Can't imagine all the stuff that has happened in 2009.  Loss of relatives, frustrating school situations, happy times that have turned into not so happy times.  I have connected with old friends from way back, and have made new friends with some of the people I work with.  

One thing seems to be constant, though.  Faith can and will get you through everything, and prayers really do get answered.

So what will 2010 bring, I wonder.  Whatever will be will be, and the goodLord will see me through, good, bad, or indifferent.

OK, so is 6 Christmas trees a little excessive?

I have 11 boxes of Christmas decorations.  I'm not talking about little boxes, either.  I mean big-A Rubbermaid tubs of Christmas stuff.  Inside these tubs are pieces of my childhood, pieces of my kids' childhood, and an obsession with Christmas stuff.

Why six trees?  Well, this goes back to when my sister and I had our own tree in our bedroom.  It was smaller than the huge tree Daddy would go out and find, covered with ornaments that were on my mom's tree when she was young.  I have the tree at the left in the front window.  This is the family tree, covered with ornaments from when I was little, ornaments the kids made at various times, collectable ornaments, and my collection of brass ornaments of landmarks in Arkansas.

The blue room tree is a reminder of our trip to the North Carolina coast in May for my niece's wedding.  For the reception, her mom found these great fish ornaments and stuff.  I found some beach-y type ornaments.  Add a few ball ornaments to look like bubbles, and flamingo garland, the ocean is now in Russellville.

Tree #3 is a tabletop one that has a 25 year collection of Hallmark rocking horse and pony for Christmas ornaments.

The tree in the bathroom (yes, bathroom!) has candy canes and ribbon candy ornaments.

In each of the kids' room are ceramic trees- one that I painted and fired the summer before Evan was born, and the other belonged  to Reg's mom.

If I had room, I probably would have one or two more......

 

Feeling crunched...

Yep- it's getting close to Christmas. About this time every year, the pressure mounts. It's a shame that the end of the fall semester and Christmas have to be at the same time. And all the stuff you want to do you can't because of stuff you have to do.
Case in point- the Russelville Christmas Parade. Always the highlight of my biologicals' younger days. We would go downtown at 5:00 in the afternoon and find a parking place and camp for the hour or hour and a half till we hear the fire truck. Then the Russellville Band would come through, then the floats from the businesses and churches and the Scout groups and the bands from other schools, and where else can you see a garbage truck all decorated with Christmas lights, I ask you! The bios were on a float once- riding in a bed with "visions of sugarplums" dancing around them. That was fun. They also marched in their respective bands, both at the same time, but alas, never together. I rode on a float once- singing Michael Jackson's version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". The last time we went to the parade was probably five years ago. I think it was cold. Ahh, small town America.

This year, no parade, no singing the "Messiah", again. Couldn't find the time to practice for the Candlelight service. So- what to do? Well, I am "adopting" an orphan from Guatemala, again. Maybe two- one for me and one for my confirmand I am mentoring.
I am going to attempt to make Christmas at my house be merry and bright- jury's still out on that one. I am going to sing Christmas songs and listen to my cd's. Read the Christmas story in Luke- again. Watch "Christmas Vacation- again. Put reindeer horns on the dog- at least for a minute.

Maybe itll snow...

May we be truly thankful...

For several reasons, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The three days off from school is a plus, for sure, but that's not the best one.

First off, my adult children get to be home for a few days. Since they have "grown up", yeah, they are a lot more fun to be around. Monopoly, Scrabble, movies that no one stays awake to the end of, and the opening of the "Fun Zone". Telling stories that no one remembers "hey, remember when we stayed at that motel in Dardanelle....", ah, yes, the list goes on...

Second- this is about the only time I get to see my sister and her family that they aren't having to run off really fast. She lives in a fast paced gotta keep up with a 13 year old world and seldom gets up here

Third, My mom's sweet potatoes! I cannot make them like she does, hard as I try. Today, we eat at her house, although I and my sister are doing most of the cooking, but that's ok too- her table is bigger.

Fourth fried turkey- enough said.

Dogs- my dog, my mom's dog, my sister's dog, and this year, the dog in law. We've gone to the dogs!

So here's to my two readers- Happy THanksgiving to you!!

On life and high school football...

No, high school football is not life, BUT, it sure is a big part of mine. Do I have a child that plays? No biologically speaking, but I guess I have about 40 sons- all of whom wear the orange and black! Ever since I watched the 7th grade class of 2000 step on the field, I have been a fixture in the stands. I root for the sevvies I root for the junior high, and then I am one of the faithful followers of the Mighty Warriors every Friday night. In the last five years, I have been to all but three games. Including play-off games. Three hour drives are NOTHING to me! Even the awful 0-for year, there I was. Excessive, I don't think so.

I watch practices, at least portions of practices, twice a week. I see how hard they work. These guys are dedicated and have their eyes set on a goal- to win. They don't cheat, they seldom dog it. And they are a lot of fun to be around!

I always thought I'd be a good coach's wife, because I love sports. I guess I have to settle for being a coach's mom, which I am, and surrogate mom to the Warriors. Go Warriors- your "mom" is behind you!

OK Chris, you talked me into this!

Alright, here's the thing: my friend Chris has a blog. I have no idea why I did not know this fact, but she does. We were talking today and she said that I really needed to blog, too because it's fun. I honestly have zero clue how this is going to work out, but here goes.

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week? Where has the year gone? It will soon be time to give semester tests to my seventh and eighth graders and be out for Christmas!

Saying that, I have to give thanks where thanks are due:

1. My family- Reg, Evan and Jenny, and Lauren
2. my faith- heaven knows, this keeps me hanging on in more ways than one
3. my job and the people I work with- I work for the best school district in the WORLD! and my co-workers are so great
4. my dog- she still does not talk back!