Thanksgiving Weekend

Wow...I feel totally stuffed...guess that is how one should feel after Thanksgiving.

We had a quiet weekend....Thanksgiving Day was full of friends and family. (Myself,Niel, David, my folks, Niel's dad, my friend Mike and his son Mark Tim, and Brian & Chelsea) We had 10 at our table this year. We ate about 1:00...sat around afterwards talking and watching football. I believe some took cat naps but noone admits too it. Brian and Chelsea had to head out for another meal. Around 7 pm we went to see a movie: We saw Australia....good movie but long (at least David thought it was long). Oh...almost forgot the special guest....Throttle, my new grandpuppy.


Before we ate (we had turkey and ham...for those that really want to know, and yes, I did the cooking). Everyone stood around the table (nicely decorated with paper products)and said what they were thankful for. I had so much to be thankful for, wonderful family, friends, good health....the list can go on. I am truly blessed with a wonderful husband and 3 wonderful boys. My boys are very blessed to still have both sets of grandparents still around. It was nice having my parents and Niel's dad with us.

Before people came over on Thursday I was able to get a few of the Christmas Trees up (2 out of 4)--> Niel thought I was a tad bit on the crazy side but I knew it had to get done and why not during some down time.I got the den decorated for Christmas and my bedroom. I saved the Kitchen and livingroom for Friday.

The Den:




My Bedroom's tree:


Friday morning I did not get up at the break of dawn. I slept until 7 and then headed out for a few sales. I went to Lowells, Kohls (total mistake...too many people and not really that great of deals), and then Walmart. I got a few things accomplished but not as much as I truly wanted to. When I got home, after having coffee and pumpkin bread....I worked on turning the living room and kitchen into Christmas central. Tree is up and cupboards decorated in the Kitchen, decorations and tree is up in the livingroom. The tree has lights on it but we will not decorate it until Mark is home from college. Niel and my dad had already started putting the outside lights up. The outside of the house looks like a living candycane (red & white lights).

Saturday My parents headed back to Ocala and I spent the day cleaning out the closet(finding gifts I had bought and forgot about) , looking at my Christmas lists, and wrapping presents. Basically we stayed around the house. Niel fixed some of the lights that were not working. He is also coming down with a cold. We then went out to dinner to celebrate Chelsea's birthday with her family....we had a great time.

Now...it is Sunday...Brian & Chelsea have just left for Tampa, David is writing a paper (okay, he is suppose to be writing a paper), and Niel is watching football...the house is too quiet, I know I am strange....I love the commotion of the house full of people.

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy the holiday weekend. Even when things are bleak, we always have something to be thankful for. God is in control and He knows the big picture.

Family Weekend in Novemenber

Well...it is Saturday morning and the weekend in full swing. Last night David's football team had a game under the lights. Now to most people this seems normal, but David's team's field does not have lights, so usually our games are at 4 pm. But last night, being senior night (last home game, you honor the seniors) so they rented or someone donated these lights for the field. So, we had a game under the lights.

This game was great, nice cool weather (another thing we usually do not have at our Florida football games). But this game was even more special. Now, we have the lights, the weather....what more could there be...well....in the middle of the game, at 7:50 , the refs stop the game so we could see the shuttle go up. It was amazing, the glow in the distance and then the glow flying through the sky. Did I mention the sky was a beautiful background for this shuttle.....clear sky, moonlite night.

THE GLOW IN THE SKY IS THE SHUTTLE:


Still....that is not just it to make it special. So, we have the lights, the weather, and the shuttle....what more could make it special.....well, Family to watch the game. David had his own cheering center. Bob & Denise came down from Virginia to watch, Brian & Chelsea came over from Tampa, and of course David's favorit fans Niel & I were there. It was amazing sitting together and watching the game (Even though I think we stood more than sat...something you do when you watch football).Now....those that are my friends and know that my divorce with Bob totally hurt me (usually happens when someone you trust cheats on you) and those that know that, know that Denise is the one that he ran off with. So most think, how can you sit with her. Well, God is good, and we must move forward in our life. I have the most wonderful husband now who adores the ground I walk on (okay...I will not go that far because you know, I am who I am. But in reality, life is too short to be angry and upset. We need to forgive and move forward. Is that not what God tells us to do? Is that not what my faith is all about? So, that is what I am trying to do...learning to forgive and moving forward. Now, I will admit, at first when I see her, I do get a hurt in my stomach, but I will say, each time is less than it was before....I am a firm believer if you turn stuff over to God and if you do not hold it in and you talk about it to someone, you will be on the road to recovery.(this is important...you can't keep these hurts inside, you have to talk to someone about your feelings..the more you get it out, the faster you will heal)

Now back to the football game and the family weekend news:
Niel even used his Major Robbins voice to cheer some, which totally blew Brian away. I don't think Brian realize what a major in the army sounds like when they use their army voice. You should have seen his eyes,he was looking around to see who had that roaring voice. Now mind you, since I am David's number one fan and I sit next to David's number two fan....I have heard the major roar before; but I will admit that when I first heard it, I too looked around to see where the large cheering voice was coming from. Because those that know Niel, no he is soft spoken with such a tender heart...who would know he had these large sounds inside him.

Here is a picture of David, Bob, & Brian after the game.



Now, since this was senior night. After the game they had a BBQ. So we were all able to get some BBQ and sit down as a family and enjoy more one on one time with the football player. You know the coaches don't let you have one on one time with the players while they are playing. It was just an amazing football night. Oh...for you football stats guys...we lost the game, 13-12. One of those nailbiter games, we lost in the last 4 seconds of the game. Per Niel and the paper, the early turnovers is what killed us during the first half. Another factor, the team we played is one division higher than us. We might have lost, but it was a great night for Merrit Island Christian Football.

The game is over...so what is in store for this Saturday...yard work, NO, house work, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?...okay, I know those are normal weekend things we do around here...but this is FAMILY WEEKEND....so we are heading to Ocala today to visit my mom, she is 78 today.





I wanted to show you David's hair...yes, he is bald. Even though Mark was not at the game, he was still part of the family weekend. Seems like the boys are always conneceted..which is a good thing (most of the time). This week David went to see his brother in Oklahoma and to see Oklahoma Christian College as well (where Mark goes). Well, Mark, his friends, and David thought it would be cool to give David a Mohawk. Yes a Mohawk....mind you David goes to a Christian School and can not have weird hairdos (which is a good thing)...so when David got off the plane from Oklahoma he looked the picture below....hence why he now has a bald head, the pictures above:

Nov. 2nd

It is a nice rainy Sunday today. Does not seem like it is already November. I will have to admit, I love autumn. It has always been my favorite time of the year. I remember my days in Maine, raking leaves and of course jumping in them. I remember my high school days at Dublin...hay rides and making

As I read the paper, watch Meet the Press, I like every American know that in two days history will be made. We will either have the first African American as President or the first women Vice President. I will have to admit that it has been an exciting year to teach government but I will also have to admit, I am ready for this election. I will not tell anyone how to vote but I would like you to vote. I try to stay neutral when I teach my students but I am passionate about people not giving up their right to vote. Yes, I have voted (I am one of those that do vote early) and I will stay up and watch the elections on Tuesday nights. I will be excited or disappointed when the outcome does come, but I will say, no matter who gets in office, I will dedicate myself to pray for that person.

Niel's dad moved down to Florida this past week. Niel was able to help him unpack his pod on Wednesday. It is amazing how we hold onto so much stuff...even when we move. I try to pudge so much of my stuff yet, I look around and I still have more stuff. I guess that is how it is with everyone. How much stuff we collect...gets overwhelming at time. I have DVD's that I still have not open or even watched. I did purge the kitchen when we remodeled, that was easy, Brian and Chelsea needed stuff for their kitchen.

I went to see my folks on Saturday. I will say, watching ones parents gets old is very hard (at least for me). My mom's health does not seem good and she only weighs 80 pounds. I so wish I could give her some of my weight. How nice that would be....it would help her and me as well. We surprised her....we just showed up. I do not think I will do that again, she almost passed out....she was so shocked to see us.



It was a good weekend for football. David's team won bigtime, 42-6. This win puts them in the playoffs. That gives him two more games, Nov. 14th & Nov. 21st. The GATORS beat Georgia bigtime as well. I even heard that Georgia Tech smashed FSU. So...I guess it was a big weekend for big games, unless you were one of the teams that lost. I really love football season....I love watching David play ball. I use to love listening to the band when Brian & Mark were in the band. Friday nights at the field...was time consuming but also really fun. I have great memories of football seasons pasts and we are making great memories for football season now.