Monday, 1/26/2009 A sad day!

We had to put down our wonderful fur baby Dakota. DH joked he had him longer than he had us. It's true DH had "Critter" before we met and married in 1998. The girls are doing ok with our decision and the loss but my baby boy (18) is having a very hard time. He knows Critter was in a lot of pain, and was having trouble getting around and crying all the time from the pain, he also knew that he had cancer and the doctor said there was nothing else they could do for him. He lived a long and full 14 years with us and will be missed very, very much.

Still sick and then some

Goodness, this is just too much. How long can one person be sick? I've still got the cough and now Mark is getting it.

I have several cross stitch projects to finish up this year (2009) and I WILL get them done. I will not start on anything new, ok scratch that already. I have to work on my tree skirt. I want it for th is year (2009). I also want to start my Santa and Baby Jesus pattern, ok never mind I will probably start all kinds of new things and not get them finished either. BUT I do vow to try not to start too many different things at once. There that's better, I'll TRY not to start too many.

Speaking of starting new things, well you guessed it. I signed up for a January Bookmark Swap. I have to start on that. I have so many wonderful ideas going on in my mind BUT today I have to finish the Thomas the Tank Engine I started for Bobby. If I get the XS finished I can get the rest of the pillow finished sooner.

Ok, BUT first I have to get the laundry done today. I'm out of here to see what kind of trouble I can get into.

Christmas Cookie Rules!!

CHRISTMAS COOKIE RULES
1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.

3. If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free, rule #1 is yours also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!

7. Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person andwill cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!

10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It'sa rule!

ornaments this year

Here are some of my cross stitch ornament for this year. I have to finish taking pics of the rest I have done.

Gina

A Praise!!!!

I have been estranged from my brother for almost 2 years. Why you may ask? Becaue I will not cal my mother, call to see how she is, call to see if she needs anything. I just will not call her. She causes so much stress in my life and I just don't need it. Well, while my sister was here for four days. Mom called me and asked me why my brother would not come to my house. I talked to him and he told me why he refuses to talk to me or come to my home. I told him I had already planned to talk to her. She asked me point blank if she had done things before that had hurt me or said things that hurt me. I was finally honest after all these years and said, Yes, mom you have." To make very long story short. I went to my mom's by myself, with a list in hand of what she had done over the years. We talked about them as adults not a mother talking to her child. BUT ask two adults. We cried, laughed and even had hot chocolate afterwards. My brother, sister, mother and I had our first picture taken together since my dad died in 2002. I can honestly see that this is the beginning of a great friendship I never had with my mother. I am so excited to have this new beginning with her. I now know I can tell her to back off on things if I need to. So here are a few of the pictures that were taken that day.

Tammy (49), Michael (47), Me (41) & Mom (not gonna tell her age)

Tammy, Michael & Me

Wedding Pics

The Happy Couple!

My children!

Renee (20), Amanda (19) & Thomas (18)

Their rings and her flowers.

Me, Renee, Ben & Mark (DH)

Life gets in the way!

What a crazy month! My oldest got married on December 11. She wanted to get married while her Aunt Tammy could be here for her wedding. My sister had planned to be here the 10th until the 14th so Renee and Ben were married on December 11 at the jail over in Fayetteville. That is where they preform the wedding now at the jail.

I'm finally getting over this mess that our family has been wonderfully passing around. the doctor told us it would last about 3 weeks. YUCK!!!!!!! We all feel real run down now. But we are slowly getting better. I'll post pictures of the happy couple soon.

Gina