Christmas Times a' Comin'!!!

To say that I have fallen off the blogging wagon would be an understatement. I think I fell off and got run over by it. There has been much water under the bridge since my last post on Mother's Day. Life has been busy, but honestly, I haven't been in a writing mood for quite awhile. It just sortof hits me in spurts and if I'm not where I can do it when it hits me, I just don't do it! I can hardly believe that another year is almost gone. This has been an eventful year for us. We watched our son in law graduate from seminary after some very hard years of preparation and study. We have watched our baby girl buckle down and do what it takes to bring her to her last semester of nursing school. I have completed my first year in my role as the clinic supervisor at the Greene County Health Department. I lost a good friend and co worker very unexpectantly to cancer this summer. I've aged this year, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. I find that it takes me longer to do things. I am no longer able to multitask. I just don't bounce back from things like I once did. And while all these things bother me, there are some unexpected advantages to the aging process that I didn't know about. Things like learning to chill out and enjoy life more. Things like realizing I would rather take a nap than do laundry and being ok with that. I think I'm learning to be kinder to myself as well. I have always been my worse critic. I find that even though I still make my share of mistakes and blunders.....I don't get nearly as bent out of shape as I used to. I'm getting better at speaking my mind too.....when it counts!! I have spent many years of my life in a "tizzy"!! Worrying about things that I can't change and trying to change them anyway. This is very freeing!! I wish I had known this years ago. It sure would have saved many a hurtful word and alot less headaches. I guess that is just the natural order of things...as an old great aunt who had alzhiemer's would say, "Live and learn....die and forget it all!" Although, I hate the part of the aging process that affects my ability to see without getting my multifocal lens lined up just right, or I finally give up and just kneel on the floor at Walmart to see what's on the bottom shelf...I won't even mention what I must have looked like getting up off the floor ......and the fact that I think my body's metabolism has systematically shut down so that it holds every calorie I consume like it's the last one it will ever see.....and how two hours in Tuscaloosa shopping makes me feel like I have just completed a cross country marathon.....or how a forty five minute drive seems to have shortened all the muscles and tendons in my back, hips, and legs so that I have to do the Tim Conway shuffle to get from the car to the house.....I said all that to say this......I like this time of my life!! I feel more contented than I have ever been......I worry less and enjoy more. I have realized that there is no one that I need or want to impress. I'm happy with me!! Could I be thinner??? oh yeah!! Could my boobs sag anymore??? oh yeah, and they most certainly will!! Could I have more money....oh yeah! But none of that matters.....what matters is who you love and who loves you. First and foremost, I'm the daughter of the King ( hmmmm, I guess that makes me a princess!!) Being in that position makes everything else secondary!! Being the daughter of the Most High has certain privileges!! He loves me just like I am and He has blessed me beyond anything I could ask or think!! As I ponder what Christmas represents..........I am in awe!! That God would love us so much to send His Son on that Christmas Day so many years ago just warrants all my praise and thanksgiving!! Happy Birthday Jesus!! I love you so!! Thank you for my gifts of family and friends and every other thing you have blessed me with!! "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7. Merry Christmas!!

Happy Mother's Day to the Two Best Mamas' in the World!!

I just wanted to take a little time to say Happy Mother's Day to the "Mothers" in my life! I have been so blessed to be surrounded in life by wonderful Mothers....or as we say here in the south "Mamas'"!! As I have raised kids of my own, I have a greater appreciation for the sacrifices made and the things done on my behalf by my Mama. I've jokingly said several times that it is a wonder that we "first" children survive with all the trial and error things done in our raising!! Having been the "first" and having raised a "first", I know this to be true!! Seriously, I do want to say that I have a wonderful Mama. You never know until you have kids of your own, what your parents did for you. I thank you Mama for the pretty little dresses you sat up late at night sewing. I thank you for teaching me to entertain myself and encouraging the love of reading. I thank you for all the heart to heart talks we've had, the shopping you did for me when you knew how I hated to clothes shop. Thank you for attending events like piano recitals and ballgames and banquets,etc. Some of them were probably painful to endure!! Thank you for teaching me manners, and consideration, and work ethic!! Thank you for exposing me to places and things that I didn't get to do everyday....like China Town in Chicago. Thank you for beating my tail when I needed it.....probably should have had a few more of those!! Thank you for moving all my stuff and having my house ready to bring a baby home from the hospital. Thank you for loving my girls and their Daddy. Thank you most of all for giving me life and for loving me through all the seasons of my life. I love you!! To my other mother...Faye....You will never know how thankful I am to have you for my mother-in-law! I couldn't have done better if I had ordered you directly from a catalog!! Thank you for loving me like your own! You have taught me so much about being a godly wife and mother over these 32 years. Thank you for being a prayer warrior for us. I have always known that you were bathing me in prayer every single day. That means the world to me!! Thank you for loving the Lord and modeling that love in front of me and my girls!!!! Thank you most of all for teaching your precious son how to be the wonderful man that he grew to be!! I know that what he is today is because of you! Thank you!! To Mama and Faye.....the things I mentioned above are by no means an all inclusive list of the things I am thankful for, where you two are concerned. I don't have enough time in this lifetime to tell you everything that I love and appreciate about you! I believe that we should give our thanks while those we love are living.....I never want a day to pass that you wouldn't know how very much you are loved and treasured!! I love you both with all my heart!! Happy Mother's Day!!! xoxoxoxoxxo Kathy

Blessings

I have pity parties!! Big surprise...I know!!! The thing about pity parties is that you are the only one who shows up, unless perhaps your man or an offspring happen to try to crash the party. Then you have to get really ugly and throw them out. I don't plan and organize for these pathetic events, they just sortof throw themselves together and before you know it, I'm smack dab in the middle of an all day "poor, pitiful me" celebration. I have had several melancholy days since this "50th" birthday a couple of weeks ago. I don't really know why.......I don't know if I've done everything I should have done............probably not............pretty sure I haven't done everything that I have wanted to do........but let me say, I have had a wonderful life!!! I have made some major mistakes...........I have done some really stupid things.......anything good I have done, is only by the very grace of God. He has blessed me in so many ways, but one that I'm resting on tonight is "friends." Not just casual "how do you do?" friends, but friends who will give up precious Saturday time to surprise me with a "birthday" lunch! That's what happened today. I have been so blessed by making some very special friends in my life. There is no describing how very precious these women are to me. They are the kindof women who would drop whatever they are doing to help, not just me, but anyone who needed them. They are wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and though we share many of these same roles.......our biggest common ground is our sisterhood in Christ. HE is what brought us together to start with!! He brought us together because He knew that we needed each other. I cannot imagine my life without these precious women! And fun.....did I mention that? They are a blast!! We can laugh with and at each other and it's all good!! There is something so very special about the friendships of women. I am so very, very thankful for these blessings in my life!! Thank you sweet friends, for making this "50" year old woman feel so loved and special today! I love you!!

Home

I love being at home. It seems like home time is so limited and I just treasure every second I get to spend here. I've always been a "homebody"! In years past, I've gone from one Sunday to the next and never left the hillside except to go to church. This is my safe place, my haven! In honor of my birthday (but really because I needed some "off" time) I took Friday and today off....love having a four day weekend!! The first two days were activity filled with my "girl's day" with Jodi on Friday. Saturday, Tony and I went with my daddy and step mother to a blue grass festival in Mississippi. It was great and we had a wonderful time. We slept in yesterday and as much as I missed my church family, I really needed the rest. I spent most of the day sleeping. As I got ready for bed last night, I looked forward to the morning that I would have today. It would be quiet.....Jodi has class and Tony has a doctor's appointment in Tuscaloosa. I would have another leisurely morning to drink coffee and spend some quality quiet time with the lover of my soul!! I wasn't disappointed either. There is nothing that compares to unrushed, complete quiet time with Jesus. Just to think on Him, and listen to Him speak to my heart. Am I the only one that He sometimes has to hem up in a corner before I stop long enough to listen to Him? Why do I do that? The thing is that most of the time, I'm not even running from Him, but I'm just too wrapped up in myself and my life to stop. What's even crazier, is the fact that I have seen time and again how much better life is when I don't neglect my time with Him. He gives me such good things that I take for granted. My prayer today is that He would help me to just "be" sometimes. I love you Lord and I want to love you more today than yesterday!! Thank you for my blessings. Help me to be what YOU want me to be!!

It's My Birthday!!!

It's here and almost gone again......my birthday!!! I looked in the mirror this morning when I got up, and I looked the same today at 50 as I did yesterday at 49. Had a good case of "bedhead", or as Tony would call it "the doll in the bottom of the toybox" look. You know that pitiful looking, well loved doll that has that matted up, ratty looking hair. Picture that, and slightly swollen eyes and you can get a pretty clear idea of what I saw in the mirror...I realize more every day how quickly time passes. I realize that I am so blessed in my life. I have had such a great birthday. It started off very relaxing....having a rare morning to leisurely drink coffee without having to rush around to get out the door to work was awesome. Jodi and I had a day of fun. We splurged on mani/pedi's, lunch and shopping. I came home to sweet cards, numerous facebook birthday greetings and wait for it............cake and icecream!!! Heavenly days, does it get any better than that?!? This is a girl who loves some birthday cake and icecream. I tell you, I am one blessed 50 year old today!! I feel so thankful for the life I have. I so often take it, and those that I love for granted. This has been a sad week.....earlier this week a beloved family member of someone I hold dear, passed away very unexpectedly in the prime of his life......another friend watched the heavenly "homegoing" of her precious 85 year old mother. My North Carolina children experienced deep grief over the tragic death of their beloved puppy. While I know that a pet cannot be compared to a mother, husband, father or child.....it is still a "family member" so to speak, and plays a very important part in our lives. For those of you who have experienced the loss of a well loved pet, you know of which I speak.....for those who don't....you're missing something very special. Death is hard.....it's meant to be. It always stands to remind us that this life as we know it is temporary!! We need to fix our sight on the things above......while doing that, love on those we are blessed to have in our lives. Happy Weekend everybody!!

It's a New Year!

Well my blogging has been sorely lacking. I mean to do better, I just don't! Lots of water under the bridge since my last post in November. I started a new job the first of November and am feeling "at home" there. I don't do change very well, and while it was very hard to leave a place where I felt secure and comfortable, it has been a good change for me. I am enjoying getting to know my new co-workers and forming that "work family" bond that we are all so familiar with Baby girl finished her first semester of nursing school with a "B" average and we are pumped up about that!! Very proud of my girl!! We survived Christmas and, might I say, we did it better this year than we have in many a moon. We reigned in our spending and focused more on the "reason for the season." It was a wonderful Christmas. The only way it could have been better is if first born and son-in-law could have been here. This was the first time in 28 years that one of my chickens was missing from the nest on Christmas! While I know that I have been so blessed to have her all these years, I so missed her presence for the celebration of our Lord's birthday. We did survive though, and I am sure we are stronger for it:) We spent our New Year's Eve at the home of our precious friends, Judy and David Wilkins. We don't remember when we started ringing in the New Year this way, but suffice it to say it was a long time ago!! We love it. Miss Judy puts on mighty fine spread and Mr. David is the king of the fireworks. I don't know who enjoys it more, the kids or the "big kids"!!! It makes for an awesome good time!! We have now settled into our rut and routine again of normalcy. I have to say, I do way better with rut and routine. Of course, I've already forgotten the resolutions that I made a mere 27 days ago.......something about weight loss and organization and...... horrors....budget!! Maybe I'll start again on the 1st of February...The one thing that I don't want to forget is what's really important in life.....each year we get closer to eternity. I don't know about you, but I want to live my life in light of that.