Adventures in a Lifetime

Welcome to a glimpse into my world ... don't let the date fool you ... there are current posts directly after this introduction!

Otherwise, I look mighty fine to be eighty-two years old!

To all of you, whom I have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing and loving in this adventure called a lifetime ... you have my heartfelt gratitude, love and affection!

In celebration of Christmas this year, and in keeping with the idea that the season is about spending time with loved ones and not so much about what you get, Jenn and I set out to make a special stocking for everyone. As these would be a part of their gift Jenn made it her task to design all of them while I took care of the necessary supplies.

We started off with over-sized stockings for everyone. While Jenn's part of the gift giving was designing and decorating the stockings, Mr.D and I were in charge of filling each stocking. Each stocking was filled with a special gift, small personal gifts, and lots of treats. Since this felt more like a Christmas from times past, we included fruit and nuts as part of the stocking stuffers. We had fun shopping for everyone and were able to find lots of great deals and stay within our budget.

Though I had volunteered to help Jenn with decorating the stockings, she reminded me that this was her gift to her siblings and Mr.D's children. She put a lot of love into making each one special. After she had completed the stockings they were set aside until Mr.D came to celebrate the first part of the holidays here with us. When he arrived we decorated a stocking for Ryan and Jenn and filled the ones we needed for those visiting here in NC.

We would deliver the remaining stockings during our visit to see Mr.D's children in GA. They were all excited to see us and enjoyed Jenn's personalized artistic gift, and to compare the goodies inside. It was too funny to watch them make deals for each others candies as we tried to mix them up a bit. The "Pop Rocks" seemed to be the most popular candy.

Even Pamela managed to sneak down for a visit earlier in the month before the festivities to spend a Christmas celebration with us. It has been several years since she was able to spend any holiday with us and it was such a nice visit. She was the first to get her special stocking which was filled with a photo collage, scarf and glove set, and lots of other treats. The collage personal photo collection for her new apartment. Jenn is hoping everyone will keep their stockings for years to come. Thank you Jenn, for making this an extra special year for everyone!

I never would have imagined spending the holiday season with surprise visitors, but we had one that would be really special or at least take special care. On Christmas eve afternoon I arrived home with a lost puppy. Well he wasn't lost now, or at least not according to Jenn. As soon as she opened the door, saw his cute little face, held him in her arms, she was sure he was coming to stay not just visit.

Apparently someone was missing this little fellow come Christmas morning, and we had placed calls to all of the necessary places should the owner call looking for the pup. It's only been two days but if they do not call before we head to GA on Saturday, a neighbor has agreed to watch him for the week. Jenn wanted so badly to keep the pup, but after two nights of getting little sleep due to puppy potty breaks, she realized a puppy is a lot of work. The nice thing should the neighbor adopt him is that we can always visit him. Someday Jenn wants to get a Husky of her own, just not right now.

Let's see. Last weekend I managed to sneak away for some quiet time with my boyfriend. We watched movies, went shopping, ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, and enjoyed each others company. It was a sweet getaway but not nearly long enough.

Then Saturday, December 20th which is my birthday, I worked from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., went grocery shopping, came home to bake a sweet potato casserole for an FFA Christmas party Jenn had to attend, did laundry, and then picked Jenn up from her party around 10 p.m. later that evening.

Today we went to my parents for the afternoon for some cake and ice cream.  She had fixed a marble cake with chocolate icing; yummy! She said she had a special helper; my nephew Cameron, ice the cake.  Thank you Cameron and Mom!  All in all, this was a great birthday!

PS A special thank you to both my friend Sue in MA for the sweet and funny birthday e-greeting, and to 'Mr.D" for a quiet but fun filled getaway!

This coming Saturday is my birthday, and today I received a bouquet of flowers. They are beautiful tiger lilies and white mums mixed with fern leaves, all arranged in a vase with red wire and red decorative balls. What makes this gift different from any I have already received or may receive for my birthday is that they came from my employer. It's true.

One of the things they strive to maintain is the feeling of a family owned business. It's one of those things that makes our work place special. One top of birthday flowers and a lunch, we've even experienced a day off to go to the beach to do some shopping (included in this trip was lunch and a limo ride). How many other employers do this kind of thing? I'm not sure, but it does make things nice at times. For now, I will enjoy the flowers; they smell so good!

PS Thank you M & G so much for the thoughtful gift!

This past Tuesday night, Ryan and two of his friends enjoyed the acoustic songs of an up and coming band known as "We The Kings" in Jacksonville at Hooligan's. BOB 93.3 was hosting a free concert to area fans who brought in canned or non-perishable foods for the annual holiday food drive for the radio station. Since Ryan had won tickets to meet the band, he and his two friends headed down early that afternoon to spend time with the guys. Here are some photos from their adventure. Enjoy!

Do anyone of you know if you can upgrade a Mac PowerPC G3 computer to OSX? I have one that has 28GB and it works great for the most part, but technology has left me behind where Flash, and other applications are concerned with this model. I am having a really hard time finding what I need to know. Any suggestions on upgrading my Mac?

Comments appreciated!

Dealing with ex-husbands and trying to conquer the war on weight are not that much different. Why? It oftentimes takes an ally or alli to help you stay focused on your goal to win your battle with unwanted weight. When I got divorced I felt like I had lost 250 pounds, but alas he is still finding ways to annoy me. His most recent attempt to undermine me as the custodial parent has included his live-in girlfriend's tasteless, unintelligent remarks on MySpace which are directed to me.

Why can't more couples be like Demi and Bruce? They seem to be among a very small group of divorced parents who have successfully managed to remain civil for the sake of their children. They even include Demi's husband, Aston in on family events. The curious thing is, if your ex was that decent a guy, why is he your ex? I've not discouraged my children from having a relationship with their father, but I have encouraged them to hold him accountable for his actions that effect their well being. If that means they want nothing do to with either his girlfriend or him until they get their act together, so be it.

Someone once told me that there is safety in a multitude of counsel. If allies are needed, we got plenty of them!

It's been happening more than anyone would like to admit, and some of us didn't want to say it out loud. Our office is suffering from the economic woes just like everyone else, and our bosses have been shifting around our pay schedules. One of the reasons they changed it from once a month to twice a month was to help a couple of us meet our personal financial needs. Let's face it, working 28 hours per week and being paid once a month won't pay the bills. I had tried to stretch what money I had set aside from tax season and my refund, but it still got the better of me. Now I am working two part time jobs to meet my regular 40 hours.

One of my coworkers pointed out the problem with us getting paid twice a month during tax season. If we get paid on the first and the fifteenth, and one of those days falls in the middle of the week, then we only get 36 hours for one week and the same for the balance of the week. This would kill our overtime for that week. Instead of getting paid for 40 hours at $6.00 regular pay, and 32 hours at $9.00 overtime pay, we would have all regular pay for those weeks. So, at least one of us is determined that if this happens, and we don't go back to being paid once a month, then she is "outta here" and may take along with her three other workers.

Hopefully our bosses will do what is right and what we want as employees. Think we stand a chance?

These last five days have been wonderful! It was spent with my children, my boyfriend, and my family on Thanksgiving day. We managed to do a lot during our time together, and thoroughly enjoyed each others company. If there were one thing I would wish for it would be to have more time with those I love. Diamond Rio said it best in their song titled "One More Day" and like the writer of this song, I find myself left wishing still for one more day.