Five Christmases

This year Patrick and I were shown how blessed we truly are with family.  With that said, Friday the 23rd started our insanity.  To go to most of our family Christmas gatherings meant that we would partake in 5 different Christmases with a 3 day period.

Our Schedule:

Friday:
   Christmas Eve Eve.  Work, last minute Christmas buying, cupcake making, gift wrapping, and our First of Five with my side-The Hardeman's.

Saturday:
  Lunch with Patrick's family-The Johnson side.  Supper with my family-The Jones side.  Then it was one more stop that night to have Christmas with my side-the Dykes's.  More cupcake making and gift wrapping when we reached home.

Sunday:
  We exchanged stockings.  Lunch with my dad.  A visit from Patrick's mom to exchange gifts then it was off to our last Christmas stop-The Joiner's.


I'm so thankful that we were able to make it to see most of our families this year.  Thank you to everyone for opening up your homes and sharing these times with us.  I am so thankful that my husband is so willing to go with me to all of my family functions.  Thank you to the Joiner's and the Johnson's for making me feel like a part of your family.  I look forward to do it all over again in 2012!

Here are a few of the wonderfully decorated Christmas trees:

Now, it's a week off with a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains~!

Has it really been that long??

It seems that I have become somewhat of a lazy blogger seeing that my last post was in August. I honestly can't believe it has been that long.  So, I present a catch-up in picture form:




September 2011:

Russ and Riley turned 8-Braves game and Lion King 3D! { to name a few ;-) }

October 2011:

October we celebrated our 1 year Anniversary.  Wish I could have gotten more pictures.

November 2011:

Although there are not many pictures, November was a busy month. However, the most important thing was my husband's 29th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Baby-I love you and can't wait to celebrate your 30th (with LOTS of pictures!)

A few birthday pics

Happy 50th Birthday Kathy!

 Josh made her a peanut butter cake.

Friends, family, and the celebration of life.

This weekend has been less than desired.  I suppose from the beginning, yes?


Friday, to spare you, I will just say that work set the foundation of suck.  All I looked forward to was getting off to go to Macon with Patrick.  Both of us set out for attire to wear to our friends wedding, a few gifts, and I needed to get decorations for Kathy's 50th Birthday Party (both the wedding and the birthday party were the next day, the wedding 2:00 in Eastman and the party 6:00 in Dublin).  


When we got to Macon we decided to start at JcPenney (in the old mall) and work our way over since we only had about 3 hours to work with.  Nothing found there to wear for either of us.  We made our way over to PartyCity to work on finding decorations.  We decided to get a helium tank, purple and silver latex balloons, a Happy Birthday cellophane balloon, her name in confetti, and a few small table decorations to hold the balloons and what not. The first balloon had a leak in it so we had to get another.  When we went to checkout, my debit card would not work.  Fortunately, I had enough cash to cover it.  I thought it my be there old technology because I checked my bank account and there were no flags of theft and there were sufficient funds.  


Next, off Bed Bath and Beyond to get a few gift cards. My card wouldn't work there either.  The lady that was checking us out was kind enough to call the number on my card to see if she could find out what was going on. The only thing they told her was that there was a hold on the account. Only got one gift card and I used the last of my cash.  We got back to the car and contacted someone Patrick knew that worked at the bank I use.  Turns out that my bank changed card companies and sent out a letter with a new card.  The only problem is that apparently they only sent one letter and they forgot to send it to a few folks...several actually. Like a hundred or so...and of course, I was one of them.  For the whole weekend we would be without the money that was in my account which is what we were counting on using for everything we had going on during the weekend.  I. was. furious. 


It seemed like everything I did or touched went wrong. Finally, I told Patrick to go home.  I had it. The rest of the night followed suite of the day.  We were now at the house of suck.


Saturday morning was the same.  We got ready, wearing what we wore to Patrick's great-grandmother's funeral, and got in the truck to head to the office (the gift card got left in my car and we had to stop by to grab it before going to the church). About ten minutes down the road Patrick noticed that we had ants all over our clothes.  Apparently they had gotten into the air conditioning and were blowing out of his vents.  I picked off the ones that were on me and tried to get the ones on Patrick, a little harder since he was wearing a white shirt.  Made it to the office, brushed ourselves off, switched vehicles, and headed to the church.  Here is where I noticed my camera wouldn't turn on. I forgot to charge my battery from where I loaded pictures a few nights before onto my laptop.  No pictures but we made it to the wedding on time. 


After the wedding we headed back to his office to get everything prepared for the party.  Patrick got the helium tank out of the box so we could blow up the silver and purple balloons and when he turned the knob the tank started leaking helium through the top.  Faulty tank, awesome.  Thankfully my brother and his girlfriend were already there and were able to run around town for us and find another tank. The balloons got blown up and everything made it to Dublin.  We celebrated 50 years of a life. 


There were a lot of things that happened I feel shouldn't be posted due to length and so forth.  Overall, I am thankful that through everything that went wrong I was reminded of everything that is good in my life. There are many times that I could stop and feel sorry for myself based on circumstances but why should I? I am very blessed and so fortunate.  Especially for my husband who reminds me each day that love exists and just because things go wrong it doesn't mean they will still that way.  




So here's to friends, family, and the celebration of life.   

contentment and bad days

Yeah. That's right. Today is one of those days.  When getting out of bed is hard and going to work is even harder.  All the positive thinking in the world can't turn it around.   Trying to act on the words my husband tells me every morning..."Try to have a good day."  So friggin' hard sometimes!!  I only have 8 minutes left in my lunch hour and then it will be time to unlock the door and turn the lights back on; 5:00 please find me soon. Until then, this is my quote for today.  If you are having a good day, hats off to you, however...if you find yourself on my side of the line, maybe this will encourage you...at least until 5:00.

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”




Thank you Lord for my income and that my life is more than my job.

By Payne: one poem of many

"The Last Train" is a poem that my grandfather wrote shortly before he passed away.  It is found in his book, Leola's Mountain.  

The Last Train

"The steel tracks yonder lay meandering from hill to bay

What train travels this line ask I a man of hair like snow

His faded eyes looked into mine, my son you should know

This train is always on time, whether you board is for you to decide

Don't be mislead by ill winds for on it few will ride

 I wondered at his saying this man of snow white hair

This road of shimmering steel under the iron wheels

Secure your ticket in advance said he of snow

There is no second chance, prepare for the price to pay

There's no backing on this road, the train travels one way

Never slowing for crossings no matter what the load

At the crossings all will surely come right or wrong

Listen quietly and hear the rails whisper gently and still

The engineer sounds the whistle two shorts and a long

Warning of life's struggles, temptations bending the will

Ponder awhile at the crossroads, you have a choice

Ignore the barriers is to swim the deep and murky unknown

Arriving at the station too late, no reason to rejoice

Climb aboard this train of destination you are shown

The engineer is at the controls, the throttle on full

Life's grinding wheels of steel spin for the long pull

Everything is fulfilled, this train runs on time

Let the night whistle moan in the distances of neglect

The books are kept and balances made to much regret

Life is not a promise said he of the snow-white crown

Living is an obligation, tasks to mend, never to offend

The earth is plowed, the seeds long in the ground

The engineer is the conductor his hands in control

Forget life's hurt and pains for this train is on a roll

Steel rails yonder the horizons past, into the blue sky

Iron wheels turning for the long goodbye."

@Jack Payne Jones

The Third Season: Dedication

  Back in 1999, my now deceased grandfather gave me the honor of being the inspiration for one of his books. The title, "The Third Season."  I didn't know it then but it would become one of the most cherished objects I own.  I guess that is one of the conflicts of childhood. Innocence, spunk; the art of being carefree, loving without condition, simple trust. Yet...everything is taken for granted. It hurts me to grow and realize it too late...I guess that is one of the many lessons of getting older. 


 I think of my grandfather often and miss him more than I could convey with words. I wish very much that he could have met my husband; could have been at our wedding. I miss our daily emails and visits. Seeing the smile on his face when he told the stories of me being a toddler and saying, "big truck, papa" every time a semi passed and the fact that he would start snapping his fingers and say, "shake ya diaper" and I would start dancing. The way he smelt of winterfresh gum when I gave him a hug (he always kept a pack in his shirt pocket from which I would sneak a piece.) The person from which I got my love of Coke-a-Cola...  


Thinking further back, I miss sitting beside him on their porch at night, rocking, listening to the whippoorwills, waiting for him to tell me a story until it was well past my bedtime...


It is so hard when memories bring happiness and pain. Smiles and tears. But, I guess I can only remember and move forward. Pass on these things to my children and remain forever changed by that 'Old Man.'  Far to many memories  to express in a simple blog. Far to many emotions to bring to the surface.  So, I will simply make this his dedication...

"For the five-year-olds

They bounce into each new dawn

With a brilliant insight and a new

Wisdom, shattering the prim and 

Exhaustive philosophy of the ages."

- Jack P. Jones

from The Third Season

I love you, Poppy. Thank You for doing more for me than you ever knew. 

You have helped shape the better parts of me and I will always be 'poppy's little dummy.'

it's just a little water

At the risk of sounding, well, crazy, I have recently found that I lie to myself at times.  I don't know if it's because I don't want to accept the event or if I think that by telling myself something different it will change the course that I'm thrown down.  Case in point:  

Yesterday I woke and went to the laundry room to get something from the dryer.  As I approached I found that I had stepped on something cold and wet.  {Oh how I wish that I could tell you that I'm the type of person that awakes and jumps out of bed right when the alarm goes off;  a dance, skip, singing kind of morning person whose optimistic approach to the first dawns of day are so contagious that you would think you had walked straight into a Disney musical.  Alas, I am not. Very much the opposite, really.  I do fear that if we ever have children and they get this from me there will be terrible school mornings... gnashing of teethe, hair pulling, ice water, lights turned on, covers snatched off...and yes, that will probably be our child trying to wake me. Anyway}  It's a  terrible feeling first thing in the morning. Reluctantly looking down I saw beneath my foot a white t-shirt, soaking wet, lying in front of the washing machine.  And here comes the lie. 

My first thought, "Did Patrick drop the shirt when he put the clothes in the dryer last night." However, my gut was saying, "That shirt is too wet to have been dropped. The washer has to be leaking..." So, of course, that afternoon, I asked Patrick if he dropped a shirt. And, of course, as you have guessed, he hadn't.  We ended up finding multiple leaks when we lifted the washer up. Including one that looked like it was coming straight from the pump.  After discussing, we decided it was best to replace it. This led to an adventure in Dublin the following night. 

So, here I am.  Listening to our new (somewhat loud) washing machine fresh from The Home Depot. It was not in our plans to fork over money for it but we did manage to find a nice small washer for, well, cheap.  A few pictures to remember our marital journey to buy our first washing machine together.  And to think of what can change just because of a little water.

A little struggle to get it inside but we did it!

My awesome husband working on opening the box

The finished product up and running!

As a footnote I have to give some props to my husband. He remained patient and helped me lower my stress level through this. So, it is only fitting that I end this with a few of his wise words:

"It agitates. It cleans clothes. Congratulations."

Absolutely Nothing

  To relieve the pressures of what to post as my first blog, this is it.  Something random and not worth much time seeing as I should be doing dishes right now.