jeri, I always say that I look forward to singing in heaven! I love to sing, but can't do so very well...I just make a joyful noise here on this earth! :) Elaine, glad to hear the tree is going well. I had wondered several times how it was going.
Sandra, thanks for the email clearing up your diagnosis.... hope they get that resolved soon.
We had my family Christmas yesterday so things are a lot calmer here for me! Cooked and cleaned like crazy and wrapped presents all day saturday. But it was nice to be with family. We will go to my SIL 's on Saturday for a get together with at least part of her family.
Prayers please for a dear family friend of ours. He used to be our neighbor for 20 yrs until we moved to our new house.... Mr Thompson, and he recently turned 82 - on Nov 23. But he sure doesn't look 82 and he walks everyday twice a day. He is such a sweet Christian man, and he cares for his wife who has parkinson's and rarely leaves the home. They hospitalized him yesterday, transferred him to the VA in LR today, and now are transferring him to UAMS because they have found a tumor in his brain. I know he has lots of people praying for him....and i know he is devastated to be away from his wife...... so I know they will welcome the extra prayers.
Alex made it thru his finals - although he doesn't think they went well.... and Kyle has all A's for his first semester in college! I was excited! I knew he COULD do it - but wasn't sure if he would be dedicated enough to pull it off! ^_^
Hope everyone has a great week! Charlotte, hope you have a great visit to California!
Genna
December chat thread: "TIS THE SEASON"!!
Happy Birthday, Genna!! Glad you had a good Christmas with your family. And great to hear about Alex having such a great first semester!! I'm sure Alex did fine. Will be praying still for him and for your family friend.
We made it through Sunday night just fine. The guest soloist was wonderful this year...Alvy Powell from Washington DC and the Army Chorus. He sang at Bush, Sr's inauguration and at the President Ford's Mrs. Nixon's funeral. There were some other 'credits' in his resume as well. Very beautiful big bass voice and such a nice man.
I'm trying to get my wrapping done. I think I'm finished and then I find a couple more I forgot about....
Have a great week, everyone and will post again later.
Elaine
Happy Birthday Genna!!! Congratulations on Kyle's A's!!! I'm sure it's an adjustment for Alex going from college to med school, but I bet he did fine.
Elaine I know you enjoyed being part of the live tree and bringing so much enjoyment to so many people!!!
I had an interesting night last night!!! I went to TJMax right after we ate dinner and we I got home Samantha's face looked like she had been rooting through my compost pile. Then I realized she smelled like chocolate and that's when I discovered she had eaten over a half a box of See's chocolates that were sitting on the coffe table. I'm guessing Richard didn't get the lid back on good and she managed to finish getting it off!!! She ate a brownie several years ago and the vet told us to give her hydrogen peroxide (just a few teaspoons at a time) until she threw up. So I took her outside and waited until she had thrown up to bring her back inside. But turned out she had a lot of chocolate to come up and I spent the rest of the night cleaning chocolate throwup out of the carpet upstairs. She was mighty green around the gills last night but is her chipper old self today!!!
Happy Birthday Genna, ai have been trying all day to get it posted on FB, but still not there yet!
Charlotte, so glad the pup is ok, and you knew what to do for her.
Most of you know that Jerry has Hepatitis C. We went a couple of days ago to try and get him into a research program. He signed 19 pages of papers and then they drew lots of blood. We got a call yesterday from the research dept. He has been turned down for this study as they think he already has cirrhosis. They told me to get in touch with Dr. Leal and have him send Jerry for a liver biopsy immediately. they have him scheduled for Dec 29th @ 1:30 in Tupelo for the liver biopsy. we go see Dr. Leal in Memphis Jan 13th.
I would appreciate all prayers you could offer for him.
Oh Sandra!!! I'm so sorry to hear that! Praying that they are wrong. I know you all are so worried until you get the final results. You know that God will take care of this!!
I'll be praying Sandra but I don't quite understand this illness. Does this mean that he is more progressed than they thought?
Happy Birthday, Genna!
Welcome, Amanda!!
I've been away from home for 5 days and just got back yesterday afternoon. It seems it takes me forever to catch up here and over on that other place and also on Facebook! I've read all the posts. I'll be praying for those who have prayer requests.
I, too, want to express my love and appreciation to all of my DG friends. I truly do not know what I would do without you ladies!! (and the few guys who are here, too!).
Merry Christmas to all of you!. We can still rejoice in the birth of our Savior even though we may be experiencing some trials and tribulations! Because of Him, we can have hope!!
This message was edited Dec 20, 2011 11:03 PM
Yes, Jeri- that is exactly what it means, I am not sure exactly what we will be looking at since the research dept can't help us, but Dr Leal told us at the beginning, he would get treatment one way or another.
Oh Sandra, so sorry to hear this news! Praying they are mistaken.... as I thought previous tests had shown that it had not caused damage yet!!! We will just pray those are the correct results! I know it must be tremendously scary with the waiting!!! I HATE the wait, wait, wait process of American medicine!
Thank you all for the bday wishes! I had a good day - well, at least for one where I had to go to work... ^_^ One of my co-workers and friend bought me lunch. My sister got me several nice presents, and my family took me out to eat last night! AND, they got me Photoshop so that I can play with the pictures when I get some time!! ^_^ Thank goodness for educational discounts as it is a LOT cheaper that way!
Charlotte, part of Alex's problem is an adjustment to med school, but the rest of it is just the way the med school system in AR is designed. The whole point and purpose is to keep them stressed to the max and doubting themselves. Alex says the constant fear of failure is a huge motivator to keep everyone pushing thru the 14 -16 hr days of studying, plus my SIL (who is married to a dr) says that it is part of the plan so that later on down the road when they hit difficult times, or lose a patient or whatever that they KNOW they can endure it because they have already proven that they can get thru so much. I DO NOT adhere or agree to that philosphy and personally, I think it is PART of the reason we have such insensitive doctors.... but, then they are ones that are doctors and teachers and I am NOT! :)
I am enjoying the calm at my house this week because I have all the hustle and bustle and rush over with! It is a rare thing, and SO NICE... I could REALLY get used to this! LOL..... But I am sure it is temporary! Jessica is working every day all day long so she will be super excited when she gets this paycheck! ^_^
We will travel to my SIL's on Christmas eve after Jessi gets off work, but I will be off Friday and will have plenty of time to finish up my baking without being on overload.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Genna
Need you all to say prayers for my step daughter's FIL. I've mentioned before that he has lung cancer. He is now in the final stages. He was really sick earlier this month but was able to have Christmas with the family at home this past weekend. He had a pretty good weekend. But he is now back in the hospital and the doctor had a really grim talk with them yesterday. The family needs prayers to see them through this. He is fighting really hard and I hope he can keep the fight up until the first of the year!
So sorry, Charlotte. Loss is so hard, but with holidays it seems overwhelming. My Mamma would always work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to let the workers with small kids be off if possible. Usually all patients that were anywhere near able to go home were released for Christmas. The few that we're left were very sick. She saw a lot of sadness working at the hospital, but she loved her job there.
I think I told you all last week that Heathers baby is a girl-well she called today and said they did a more advanced sonogram and it is a BOY ! That will be 3 boys for her, but she does not care, just wants a healthy boy! I told her I guess he was just shy last week! Cayla goes back Jan 5th and they are hoping to see what hers is then.
My prayers are with you....
Laura
Hi Charlotte. Prayers for your step-daughter's family at this difficult time.
Genna, I just realized I meant to say 'Kyle' in my earlier post. I must have been brain-dead. Was so tired after the weekend. I know you were very proud of Kyle getting all A's in his first semester!! And I know you're concerned about Alex. My friend's daughter just got accepted to med school at UAB and at USA (University of South Alabama). She's not sure which she will attend yet, but she knows it will be hard. She is at Auburn right now and this is her dream too. I don't think the kids really realize how many hours and hours it takes out of their lives.
I think I'm finally finished with the shopping. Just got home a little while ago from the grocery store. DH will have to go back for a couple of things tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning but I have most of the stuff we will need now and all the gifts are bought now too. I have finally finished wrapping too! I didn't do any baking this year but I have to bake an apple pie on Saturday and will probably bake a few things when we get back from Montgomery on Saturday afternoon. No telling what time I'll get to bed Saturday night, lol!
LoL... I knew what you meant Elaine! It is hard to keep all the names straight myself sometimes! :) Your friends' daughter needs to look closely at how they teach their curriculum at the two schools.... Alex's friend is in a school in Galveston where Alex really wanted to go because they only study one or two subjects at a time.... it is very intense of course, but it is much more specific and narrowed down subject wise than what Alex is experiencing right now. His friend seems to think that with a more narrowed focus it makes it easier to learn the material..... There is a chance that UAMS will be changing to this type format or one similar to it....
Charlotte, so sorry to hear about your DIL's father. It is very difficult to deal with such stress during the holidays. It will be very difficult for everyone...hopefully for their sake, he will make it past Christmas. My aunt died in 2001 on December 26..... just barely made it....... But her family spent the entire holiday in the ICU waiting area so I guess there is no easy way to go thru it.
I will be off work on Friday and I am going to bake some cookies that Alex has been wanting and cook whatever my SIL wants me to bring on Saturday........ other than that, I am not planning on doing a lot of cooking, although part of me really wants to try a homemade cinnamon roll recipe for Christmas morning.
Elaine my nephew works at USA-he got tenure this year, he is into music, so unless she wants to have music in her life too she will probably not have him. He is very happy there, I saw the campus when we went last year and it is a very nice facility.
Charlotte, so sorry about your step daughter's FIL!!! I hope he has had a good life and knows our Lord and Savior!!! I will continue to prayer for him as well as his family!!!
We got up to rain this morning. I'm glad I made my fudge yesterday. It won't do right when the humidity is this high.
I always have Ashley and Sarah(her BFF). Sarah's mom is paralyzed from a bad car wreck and her dad just got engaged Sat. night. Her sister is a senior and has her own life. They live in an apartment complex and Sarah is always by herself. Cameron came over last Friday night and I picked Breanna up Tue. Imagine 4 teenagers roaring thru. It's been exciting to say the least!!!
All I can say Elaine is GEAUX LSU!!!! LOL!!!!!
He is about the same age I am. I don't know for sure but I do think he knows our Savior. He was a life long smoker. About 5 years ago he had a heart attack and had to have by pass surgery. He gave up his cigarettes and was doing good and then lung cancer came his way! They have 3 kids 2 girls and 1 boy and 3 grandchildren and they are a very close knit family so it's going to be especially hard for them. His mom has afib and the stress of all this has been hard on her. She ended up in the hospital twice in one week a few weeks ago. Her heart got out of rhythm and they had to get it back in rhythm. She was a school teacher and just retired last year.
My heart goes out to kids like Sarah!!! So glad she is Ashley's friend. You would do nothing but take her in - that's just who you are!!!
Got the dogs bathed last night. Going to pack today and do last minute cleaning and run some errands. My flight doesn't leave until 1 tomorrow so I want have to get up at the crack of dawn and rush around to get to the airport.
Sandra, I forgot you had your nephew at USA!
Genna, that is a good point about the class structure, and I'll pass that on to my friend for her daughter to look at when she makes her decision.
RTR!!! Jeri, we'll be battling it out from now thru Jan 9, lol!
That is a comfort beyond words to know your loved one is safe in the arms of Jesus!!! I can't imagine the other alternative for a loved one.
I know Charlotte!!! My heart breaks too!!! She is afraid and swears they are doing crack next door. Even when Ashley is bad and should not be allowed a friend over, I give in and let Sarah come. I told her we were adding her name to the mailbox and she just smiled!!!!
My cousin Charles, killed a deer and threw the carcus on the creek. Lucky keeps going over there and she must rub in the stuff b/c she has come home the last week smelling like dead, rotten stuff. I've had to bath her everyday and she now weighs almost 70 lbs. I should just give her a bar of soap and let her bath while in the pond. Of couse, that has it's own special aroma!!!
Jeri .... sent you a dmail....
That is TOO funny about the dog - I can so TOTALLY relate! On Dec 10th when we had Jessica's bday party at the house, our pyrenees wondered down the road and got into the same thing I am sure! He come home with huge dark places on him - at first I was afraid someone had shot him because he simply refuses to stay in the yard where he belongs! But, then I got close enough to him to smell him and knew what he had been up too..... no time to bath him - and he is about 85 lbs and it was COLD outside that day and I was busy cleaning and cooking for the party so he just had to go back in the yard nasty. The worst part for him was that we had a HOUSEFULL of kids and no one could go play with him! He thought he was very mistreated because he loves attention. So for him, he picked the worst possible day to go get nasty! :)
Is Sarah's mom able to care for herself? Just wondering if the Mom is home alone in the apartment. That has to be a sad, stressful situation for everyone! So glad that Sarah has someone as awesome as you to love on her and make her feel special. My experience from being around all these teenagers is that it sure seems a lot of them are really needing someone to spend time with them and care about them! I don't understand where all the parents are!! OR what they are up to!!! Last summer while the kids were at Super Summer, I made a run to Sonic after their event that night because Jessica wanted a Raspberry Sweet Tea..... so I went and got 4 drinks for her and her 3 friends that were hanging with her. One of the girls started crying when I gave her the drink.... I told her there was no reason to cry it was just a vanillar DP....which is what one of the other girls had told me she would want..... but she just couldn't believe someone brought her a drink! I can totally understand Sarah's situation not being the best and I am sure there is very little her Mom can do about it....but where are all the other parents??? It is just a crazy world!
Charlotte, I know you are excited about your trip! Hope you have a great visit out there! I think it is awesome that you get to visit them every Christmas! Will your husband care for the dogs while you are gone or do you have to board them? I tell my dogs all the time that if something happens to me they better start chewing on everyone's legs because I am not sure ANYONE else will remember to feed them!! :)
Jeri, you and Elaine will certainly have a rivalry going...... I am excited that FINALLY the National Champion will be someone from the SEC!
Genna the dogs will stay here with DH! They are his constant companions!! Samantha is his "girlfriend" as he calls her. He has a room upstairs where he watches tv and they stay right by his side or on the steps not far outside his door.
It's kind of funny as I understand he was not much of an animal person before he met me. His girls had dogs but he was never attached to any of them. I had a lasa aspso (sp?) before we got Samantha. We had to have her put to sleep and within a week he had to have another dog. That's when we got Samantha. We went all the way to Greenville, MS to get her because I couldn't find a Maltese any where around here and that's what we had decided to get. She was too young to bring home and as soon as the lady called and said it was ok to pick her up, he jumped in the car and took off to get her. Couldn't wait until I could go down with him!!! We even went down to visit her in between the time we picked her out and brought her home. So all together we made three trips to Greenville, MS. So yes he will take care of her!!!
Got the email!!! Now you got mail!!! LOL!!!
I didn't find anything amusing about the smell!!! I gag just thinking about it!!!!
Yes Sarah's mom can take care of herself but she is hooked to the pain meds and has a bad habit for picking up the wrong type of boyfriend. Her dad got custody when one of the boyfriends raped Sarah's older sister. You just never realize how blessed we are with our insane lives until you meet someone with a bad life.
Charlotte have fun with the family!!!! Be safe in your travel and hurry home to us!!!
Genna we're both from the SEC. I have to share a story. My uncle that lives in Mobile and I have had a $1.00 bet on this game every year for probably 30 years. He now has Alzheimer's disease and doesn't remember but the last time we visited I handed him a $1.00 change from some stuff I had picked up for him and he looked and me and asked if LSU had lost.
Jeri... I know both teams are from the SEC - that is why I am so excited about it. I think FINALLY the SEC will get the national recognition it deserves.... of course, Arkansas is in the SEC as well. Not nearly as big a hog fan as i used to be years ago.... but I still love a good football game and I am sure we will watch the game! That is a funny story about your uncle...hate to hear he has alzheimers.. it is a dreadful disease!
Guess that place and Oak Grove's main facility must be closed for the holidays.... I can't get an answer at either place! Guess I will just have to wait til next week.... been meaning to order it for over a month but could never remember to ask the name!
Hope everyone has a Merry and safe Christmas!
Edited to add.... NOW, the days start getting longer again!!! Yeah! I always feel like that gives me something to look forward to even if it is just a short amount per day!
This message was edited Dec 22, 2011 1:40 PM
Me too Genna, I hate the long dark nights of winter!
Me third!!!! I like daylight!!! As Clem would say PERIOD!!!!
Just running through and wanted to Charlotte to have a good trip, but I know you will---you always do when you go see your son and his family!! :o)
The next few days are going to be full so I probably won't have a chance to check in. I want to wish each of you a blessed Christmas and to say that I love each of you! :o)
Merry Christmas and "God bless us, every one!"
Yes, the days are finally getting longer again!! Meant to wish everyone a happy winter solstice yesterday. Before you know it we'll be planting again!!
We're on the road tomorrow at my brother's Friday and Saturday, so hope everyone stays safe and have a Merry Christmas. Yes, Marilyn, God Bless us, every one!! Love you all too!!
Safe travels Charlotte--don't use any lotion as I read a story of a lady that got pulled out of line for gunpowder residue-it turned out to be the lotion she used!
You too Elaine!
God Bless us all !
Thanks everyone! Thanks for telling me about the lotion Sandra. I hadn't heard about that!! I'm just about through packing. I not checking my bags as it takes FOREVER to get your bags at the Oakland airport and I know it's going to be crazy there with the holiday travel. So I've really had to think about what I'm taking but I think I've done it. Got it all in a carry on size bag.
Sounds like you did a great job of packing Charlotte to fit it all in a carry on! Hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed Christmas and safe travels to all your many places of celebration!
Genna
Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope it is filled with your greatest desire whether that be just rest and quite or all the family hustle and bustle. Ours is over and hoping to go hunting but it doesn't look like the weather is going to allow us to get to the camp. Still raining here.
Ours is over, too, Cindy. We had ours yesterday. It was a good day but my DD and her hubby and I are looking forward to a quiet day today! Tomorrow I will drive down to central AR again to spend a couple of days with my son and his family. My son is going to be off on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday I am planning to take them all to the outdoor skating rink in the River Market area of Little Rock. I won't be skating but the "younger set" will. I plan to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and also to take pictures while they skate. They did this last year and loved it! :o)
Hugs to all!
Merry Christmas!!!
Sorry your plans are on hold but it shouldn't rain long. It's missed us so far!!!
Merry Christmas to everyone!! We had two days of celebration and we are just going to relax and eat leftovers the rest of the day.
For you iPad users, my son was downloading pictures from his camera to his iPad. I told him I didn't think you could do that and he said you can if you buy an adapter. He said the adapter cost $50
On my iPhone so will make it brief.
Yes, I knew you could buy that adapter, Charlotte--I was missing you, how was the trip?
Cindy, I hope you are able to go hunting, I know how much you all love it.
We had the kids and Pat and Adam here today and had a wonderful time. Tomorrow night we will have Jerry's family at the fellowship hall. We went ahead at Thanksgiving and put our name on the calendar for Monday night just in case we had church tonight, but everyone decided last Sunday to cancel the night service. We had a wonderful service this morning, had a baptizing after the sermon, it was a a young girl that was saved 2 weeks ago and she asked to be baptized on Christmas Day, Praise God for this sweet teenager!!!!
I love you all so much and I surely hope the Person of Christmas lives in your hearts each and every day.
I bought DH an ipad for Christmas and DD bought him the camera adapter. I think it was actually around $35, not $50, but you get 2 pieces. One allows you to directly plug in the SD card to the ipad via the device and the other piece you can use to run the cable from your camera to the ipad. To me it's easier to use the device with the SD card but some prefer to go direct with a cable from the camera.
Cindy, sorry the weather didn't cooperate for the hunting trip, but hope you'll get to go soon. I know y'all love it there. We must have all been on the 'nice' list and not the 'naughty' list as Santa was good to us. We had a great day at home and then my DD's house for the rest of the day. I got a copy of 'The Help' so we watched that after brunch and unwrapping gifts and before preparing dinner. Such a great movie!
I am probably confused about what someone said about using pictures on the iPad. I thought someone said something about one of the things they didn't like was not being able to upload photos. This is where Ivey my tech updates!!lol. With a family that has 3 teenage boys and a son that is in the software design end of engineerIng they try to keep me up to speed - but it's hard! Lol
The new thing I've learned so far is I can buy a $50) box (is everything $50) to hook up to my tv so I can download Netflix movies. I knew about the blue ray DVD (we don't) have one. But not about the box.
It's still early here and kids are still in bed. It's a beautiful sunshiny day - not sur yet what we're going to do.
Charlotte, I said you can't upload pictures to the thread- meaning this thread we are chatting on. If your son knows any way to do that, make him tell us how!
It is cool here today and overcast, Ihave another party tonight, and have to make the dressing!
Let's if I can explain what he just showed me, open your albums. Then hit the + sign in the upper right hand corner . It will ask if you want to take a picture or another option. Choose the other option then hit upload. Same procedure for attachments to emails etc.
Forgot to say he also has a shared network set up on their desk to computer and he also stores all photos on that hard drive ( memory has been expanded). They can all access that information from each of their laptops and iPads. Don't know how that works. I know it is pass word protected and the kids don't have the pass word to all the information. I have a network for my wireless but obviously it's more than just a wireless network!