I WILL SURVIVE

Yep...made it through another emotional holiday!

Christmas came and went...thankfully I had a family to spend it with! As far as I'm concerned Xmas is for kids and without mine, it would have been very sad and lonely indeed! Watching their joy was very infectious!

I also give thanks that they have learned the value of what they did receive and showed no disappointments in what they didn't get. This was also their first year my grand kids got to use their own money to buy gifts...so they got to learn how far money really goes. They loved it!

The only drawback to the day was the "Puppy Mill" Family! Sadly my daughter's Brother-In-Law's raises small dogs and they supplement their income by selling puppies. There were 5 breeders [one due to give birth Xmas day] and 2 puppies! I'm allergic to dogs and was wise enough to take allergy pills to help combat the situation. The allergy wasn't the problem...the barking and whining of these small dogs can drive a person NUTS!!! Needless to say we didn't stay long after the supper was over which would have been nicer to spend some time with the grand kids.

Next year Xmas is supposed to be at their place [Edmonchuk] and it might be only me and my son...so it might be the blues for me...but I'll worry about that when the time comes!

I did have a rough time again with the loss of my sister "Buttons"!
It's been 4 Xmas's without her! I don't believe that I will ever get over missing her!

As usual the rest of my family let the holiday go by without ever acknowledging that we are related...I was just as bad...although I did send cards which was still more than they did! I can be thankful that my two kids keep in touch with each other! My other sister and I did connect with each other yesterday so I guess that was better than nothing.

The next hurdle to overcome is New Years Eve...which can be sad also if you have no one to spend it with! For me, I will gladly spend mine being thankful that I no longer have to spend it with a partner who treated me badly! I'm not into the partying thing...last thing I want to do is kiss a bunch of strangers so...I will opt for peace and quiet!

My New Years Resolution is to TRY to manage my Diabetes better [I've been very BAD] now that I am finally getting used to the insulin shots and the hunger pains no longer rule my mind! Hopefully I can lose the pounds that I've gained!

Oh...I forgot to mention that I stuck my hand up again and volunteered to be the Stage Manager/Set Designer for our 3 Act Play this coming year [which by the way, we are taking to the 3 Act Play Competion being held in the Battlefords]. Just finished reading the play and it's going to be a technical toughie...the story line sucks but that will be the actors problem...or maybe mine because I hate prompting!

So if I don't get around to blogging until after the new year I want to wish all my faithful fans a Happy New Years!

PS...Did you know that "Baby Doodie's" Blog gets more hits than mine does...how sad it that?

THE EPIC OF SANTA...

THE ADULT VERSION

..... A XMAS CARD SENT TO ME FROM BROTHER-IN-LAW

T’was the night before xmas and all through the house,

There were bottles of booze left around by some louse.

And the mickey I’d hidden by the chimney with care

Had been snatched by some bum, who’d found it right there.

My friends for the night had been poured in their beds,

To wake in the morning with hung over heads.

My mouth full of cotton, dropped down with a snap

Because I was dying for one wee nitecap.

When thru the north window there came a loud yell

I sprang to my feet to see what the hell.

And what to my bloodshot eyes should I see,

But eight drunken reindeer caught up in a tree.

And there in the branches, was a man with a sleigh

I knew it was Santa quite tiddley and gay.

Staggering nearer those eight reindeer came,

While he belched & hiccoughed and called them by name,

“On whiskey! On Vodka! We ain’t got all night,

You too, Gin and Brandy, now all do it right!

Clamber up on the roof, and get off of this wall,

Get going you rummies, we’ve still a long haul!!”

So up on the roof went the reindeer and sleigh,

But a tree branch hit Santa before he could sway.

And then to my ears like the roll of a barrel,

A hell of a noise that was no Xmas Carol.

So I pulled in my head and I cocked a sharp ear,

Down the chimney he plunged, landing smack on his rear.

He was dressed all in red and white fur for a trim.

The way Santa swayed he was tanked to the brim,

The sack on his back held nothing but booze

And the breath that he blew almost put me to snooze.

He was both plump & chubby and tried to stand right,

But he didn’t fool me, he was high as a kite.

He spoke not a word but went straight to work

And missed half the stockings, the drunken old jerk.

Then putting his thumb to the end of his nose,

He fluttered his fingers as he quoted prose

As he sprung for his sleigh at so hasty a pace,

He tripped on a shingle and he slid on his face.

But I heard him call back as he passed out of sight

“Merry Xmas, you lushes, now really get tight!”

Just one more sleep......Have Your Self A Very Merry Xmas

XMAS CONCERTS

Finally! The last one was completed last night.

When one decides to have children this is one of the duties that a parent [mostly mothers] has to go through..."the dreaded Xmas Concerts"! Now as a grandmother I am going through it all over again. I love my grand kids and I'm willing to sit through anything that they have to do but it's a chore having to sit through the choices!

This years theme was mostly a religious one...not one of my favorite subjects!

It's hard to teach your kids about Christmas when the schools are shoving the "Birth" thing down their throats! Religion is not something that "we...PoD & I" want our kids to learn and we'd rather they learn to be kind to others through the spirit of giving rather than the sake of an unproven event! After all, Santa was a real person!

This year my grand daughter, AJ, had to play the part of "Mary"...a pregnant virgin! Try explaining that to a 10 yr old? At her age they are now taking "sex education" in school and nowhere in any text book will you see or read that you can get pregnant without intercourse!

This poor woman [Mary] is left to feel the scorn of an unexplained problem and the guy [Joseph] makes it all better by marrying her...cause he's such a nice guy? Ten to one he was messing around where he shouldn't have been and to avoid him being the part of the scandal by admitting to the deed, he tells everyone that he'll marry her anyways...making him the good guy! Mary goes down in history as a slut! Joseph the saint for being so understanding?

Now you know why I hate this part that AJ had to play!

Of course she loved playing the part...mostly because Mary is so pretty [her words] and a lot of the girls wanted to play her...not to mention that it also had the less lines! Thankfully the sex lesson still goes over her head!

The other part that I hated about their concert was that it was held separately from the schools concert and was only played out in front of the senior citizens [in their hall] and the old folks in the retirement home...during the day! Which meant that if you wanted to see your kid perform you had to take time off of work and the ones that couldn't, missed out. Some might say that it's a good thing but to kids, who wanted their folks to see them perform...it wasn't! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the old folks getting a chance to see the kids when they might not have otherwise, but why not have them performing also at the school when the other concert is scheduled?

As for my grand son, JD, he played a Shepard [with no lines] and he's still too young to care about the "Birthing". The other thing he took part in was the singing which was a "Country Style Xmas". It was wonderful how they were able to squeeze that many kids onto such a small stage at once and nobody fell off! The teachers have to be commended on the great job they did with their students and getting them to memorize their songs and lines. No where did you see a script or song sheet!

AJ also sings in the "School's Youth Choir" and they had a special night for them to sing along side of the town's other choirs. I must admit I wasn't to happy to have to sit in a church to hear this, let alone be disappointed in the presentation of the Choirs [except for the sunday school kids...only because most of them couldn't read yet...they were they best]! All had to have their song sheets in front of them and this included the ones doing their solos. Also, I always though choirs meant that everyone dressed alike [or close to it] and mother's didn't let their 6-9 yr old dress like tramps...especially in a church!

Like I said....I'm glad it's all over!

Only to be repeated next year!

I'M DONE...I'M DONE...I'M DONE!

I'm finished with everything...Xmas 2007!

Store decor was completed before the beginning of Dec.!

These are some shots of the store. To the far left is my xmas village sets. Next to them is my big "Halloween Tree" and he is putting the decorations on my shop tree [PoD's idea]. It's quite a conversation peice when customer's come in the shop. All of my old decoratios are on this tree. Most of the ornaments with memories have gone to my children for use on their trees [most of BillyRoo's are on on the tree at home]. The theme in my shop is about Santa Clause [which I collect] and is done in reds and golds.

I just finished my decorating at home and the tree's color this year is pink and blue [pink for me & blue for BillyRoo]. Like I said some of the tree's ornaments are BillyRoo's and I've invested in new stuff this year as all the old one's are of my bad memories...they went to the Ex [who doesn't decorate...but their his anyways...nobody can say I didn't share]! I also put lights on my phony plants and "decked the halls" with shiny stuff and more lights. This included the dinning room and kitchen [I decided not to bore you with pic of them...

Yesterday I spend 3.5 hrs putting up all of my stuff that I had for the outside of my place.

I then took pictures of it to show what I did because something tells me that the crazy kid next door might decide to make my xmas unhappy and undo it all. I put it off as long as I could and had sort of thought of not putting it up because of this bad feeling I have about this kid. Every time we meet eye to eye I still get this evil stare from him...giving me a real bad vibe! I kept myself from decorating outside for Halloween but I'll give him this chance for xmas?

Anyways this is how it turned out...

Lastly I finished my Xmas shopping! Cards and gifts that were to be sent away...have been wrapped and are gone! Presents for home have been bought and also wrapped and are nestled under the tree [at the shop]!

Not bad for someone who normally waits until a week before xmas and has to rush to get all of that completed...causing much stress.

Nope not this year...

The pessimist in me wants to add...what's wrong with this picture??????