I have to apologize to readers who may have been confused. When I posted on January 1st, we had not been able to confirm the death of Dear Husband’s oldest son through the hospital. Since then, DH has traveled to Florida and confirmed that his son died.
Thank you, all, for your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

I really should be in bed.
We decided today that trying to keep to our normal schedule while we are waiting for the family to return from Florida was a good idea. I paid bills today, and Elegante Mother and I worked together to fix dinner. She cooked a rump roast in the crock pot. I would have passed on it, and put the roast in the freezer, but I realized that we both needed something to keep us busy, and we both needed an organized dinner.
I went for about 35 hours with only two or three hours of sleep. Last night I finally crashed at 10:30 and I slept like a rock for more than 12 hours I’m sure that accounts for why I’m still awake, but I think I’ll be heading off to bed soon. I have to be up at 6:00, so I suspect that I’ll be in bed early tomorrow night.
There’s been little Dear Husband could do in Florida because of the holiday. Tomorrow he should be able to find his son’s safety deposit box and hopefully, the will. No matter what, tomorrow will be the day the wake has to be planned. I think there will be a wake in Florida on Friday or Saturday, and then one here early next week.
We’ve all found that it helps to be doing something productive. But, it’s sometimes difficult to find the concentration we need to carry out our work. The family has drawn together, rather like a specialized mini support group. I hope our grandson sees this, and realizes that we are there for him, in the same way.
Thank you all for your kind notes and calls. We appreciate the cloak of support and love that you’ve wrapped around us.

It is with great sorrow that I tell you that Dear Husband’s oldest son suffered a massive heart attack during the night. By law, Florida hospitals are not allowed to give information out over the phone, but we believe from a third hand report that the paramedics were not able to resuscitate him.
Dear Husband is flying to Orlando to be with his son.
You NEVER think that you will outlive your children.

Dance to the Music! Do it for us, won’t you? We celebrate the coming new year VERY quietly. We stay home and generally watch TV or movies and go to bed early. Exciting, huh??
I made baked French onion soup for dinner, and a huge salad. I’ve munched on Christmas cookies for dessert. Dear Husband built a fire in the fireplace for me, and I enjoyed the warmth of it, and the cheeriness of the flames.
I try to hold out to midnight so that I can usher the new year in with the rest of you, but it’s a trial. When bedtime is normally 9:00, it’s hard to last those three extra hours.
We don’t observe the black-eyed peas tradition for luck in the New Year, but I do have one little tradition I observe. At midnight, I walk out my front door with a pot in my hand, and a wooden spoon, and I bang on it to drive away the bad spirits. You may think this is pretty brazen of me, but my front door faces a line of trees and two retention ponds. The neighbors to the east of us are too far away to actually see me beating on the pan.
I may have to set the alarm to be awake at midnight, but it’s worth it to get rid of those bad spirits! *G*
To those of you who come to read my blog, Dear Husband, Elegante Mother and I hope that you will have all the best this coming year. We wish health and prosperity will shine down on you and that you will find Peace.
Now, LET’S CELEBRATE!!!!

Go take this quiz to see if you can recognize whether the ten men shown are computer programmers or serial killers. I got seven out of ten right and still think some of the programmers look like serial killers! *G*
http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/

One of Dear Husband’s sons lives with us. I’d asked him some questions concerning a wireless mouse some time ago. He must have made a mental note of it, because that was one of the things he gave me for Christmas.
I enjoy it. The previous mouse had a squeak. I know they don’t usually build that kind of thing into them, but something about the cord made a rusty, squeaky sound as I used it. This one is quiet as a…..well….mouse.
A friend told me I should have gotten a tracker ball, but I’m happy with my ice blue mouse with a red heart light. My needs are simple, so it suits.

At last……
Tomorrow (Friday), we will come to the end of our celebration of Christmas. One of Dear Husband’s sons is married. His wife wanted to celebrate Christmas with her siblings this year, so we didn’t see them Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Instead, we will get together tomorrow to swap gifts and see how everyone’s holiday went.
Second son, who lives with us, and DH’s only daughter, her husband and their baby daughter will join us, so all but one son and grandson will be here.
We’re doing pizza. It’s the universal meal….the common denominator…for this group. Some of them don’t do green. Other’s prefer white sauce to red sauce, so to make sure everyone will find something to eat, we’ll do pizza.
Perhaps we’ll chat for a bit, play with the baby, maybe watch a movie together, and then Christmas will be over. I’m looking forward to the start of the New Year’s celebration.

I had an interesting discussion with Elegante Mother as we ran errands today. She said that she had read that hobby fiction was the big thing these days. I nodded, thinking about the mysteries by Earlene Fowler that I’ve been reading, which all have a quilt block for their name.
“Dove in the Window,” “Irish Chain,” “Mariner’s Compass,” and “Goose in the Pond,” are just a few of the titles in that series. You can find them at Amazon.com by typing in “Benni Harper Mysteries.”

Continue reading →

I managed to get almost all of it done. I finished my shopping December 24th, and reaffirmed my belief that you need to finish your shopping MUCH earlier! I found bags or boxes for everything but the trike, and we just put a big bow on it. Not all the gifts had bows on them, but no one seemed to care.
There were two things I didn’t get done. I managed to get about half of my Christmas cards mailed this year. The unfinished ones were waiting for a longer, personal note to be included. I guess those friends will either get New Years cards, or St. Patrick’s Day cards, or maybe Memorial Day cards. If you live in the U.S. and you didn’t get a Christmas card from me, you may still find one coming your way.
The other thing I couldn’t clear the decks to do was to wish all my on-line friends a Christmas wish. If you come to read my blog, or if you are a friend from my chatting days, I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. I hope that you find Peace and Joy in the coming year, and that our friendship will continue through the years.
Happy Holidays!

Just little thoughts here and there….
The table in the casual dining room, the room we call the Green Room, has been cleared off. Tomorrow, I’ll wrap one more gift for our granddaughter, an over-sized chalkboard, and then I’ll cover the table with a red cloth, and set out candles.
The cans of Christmas cookies and the cinnamon dough ornaments were given to our friends at the salon on Thursday. I had to do errands, so I missed what they had to say, but I understand the cookies were well received.
We have received an embarrassment of riches from the contractors and suppliers with whom we work. One sent a stunning white Poinsettia, two have sent fruit baskets. One woman, a long time friend, has sent me an amazing collection of spa products. I won’t ever have to buy anything to pamper myself again!
Tomorrow at 8:00 I have a hair appointment. I’ve never had someone do my hair on Christmas Eve before. It seems like a nice way to start the day.
I have to pick up two gift bags to wrap (read: hide) our exchange gifts. Otherwise, I think we finished shopping today. The traffic was hideous. Thank goodness it was a beautiful day. I could have worn a heavy sweater and left the coat behind in the car.
The older couple who lives on the other side of our grove have one of those Santas that is filled with air from a compressor. Wait until Elegante Mother discovers that it’s there! Maybe I need to keep a tape recorder handy.
One of the local hawks has been hunting at our feeder. I thought about stopping the feeding, but then all the little birds would suffer, not just those that get caught. I think the hawk is using the reflection off the Green Room windows as part of his hunting strategy. I haven’t looked in the bird book to see what kind of hawk it is. I know it’s not a Red-tailed Hawk. It might be a Coopers Hawk.
Dear Husband has all the gifts organized, or most of them. One stack is for Christmas Eve, one is for Christmas morning, and the last is for Christmas Day. I haven’t told him that there are two bags of black oil sunflower seed in the trunk of the car. I figured the birds deserved a Christmas present, too.
I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to come back to blog on Christmas Eve, so let me say that I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas. We hope you are well, and happy, and that you will have peace and good fortune in the coming year. Merry Christmas to you all!