Thanksgiving recap

Hello there. Yep its been a couple weeks since I posted last. I did have good intentions.  The holidays are seeming to be pretty rough so I’m just dealing with  a lot.  Thanksgiving was hard. I spent a few hours with family and then went home because I wasn’t good company. I did end up going to Walmart later that evening with a friend. We went after the huge rush and it was still a mad house. I will admit they had some great deals. I saw they had a small Tv for only 100$ on their flyer and of course those sold out fast. That would have been a good buy but I take it as a sign that I didn’t need one anyway. HAHA!   I did end up buying a new Hoover vacuum cleaner that has attachments for corners, etc.  I currently don’t have anything like that so I was happy with my purchase.  I also bought a Otter protective phone case. It was on sale for 20$ which normally sells for 40 $ or higher. I do drop my phone a lot and it already has quite a few cracks on the screen so any help I can get!

Did anyone else get Black Friday specials?  I bought a flash drive to get pictures off my phone on Cyber Monday but I didn’t get anything else. I don’t need anything else and I’m also trying to downsize stuff out of my house and garage.   I have someone coming over tonight to look thru my 10 Christmas tubs I’m selling.  I have TOO much stuff! I had a lot for inventory to sell in my winter junk show but I didn’t participate this year so its all got to go.   Cross your fingers they buy a Lot.  

Here is a random statement- I find a new drink I really like at Starbucks.  LOL!  A vanilla chai tea latte.   Its so good and its nice to have something different now.  Not that I go very often at all now. Cant afford it.  I used to go at least once a week during work days and every Sunday before church.  Now its maybe once a month.  That’s Ok- I drink a lot more coffee at home with my flavored creamers so all is good.  I also have been drinking my coffee only with creamer and no more splenda’s or sugars.   That’s a big change for me believe it or not.  Maybe in another 10 years I’ll graduate to just black coffee  but I’m not there yet.  

Another random thought, my friend bought me a dog DNA test for Lila for Christmas and I’m so excited!! I rescued her 5 years ago from death row at the pound and she was labeled as a chihuahua mix. I want to know the mix side.   

I hope you’re all having a good week.  I’ll be back soon!

Out and About

I've been leaving my house more. I went to the Blue October concert last month which was my first time to be out on a Saturday night since June.   Two weeks ago  I went to the movies with my cousin and saw Dr. Sleep  the sequel to The Shining. Last Sunday I went with roommate and saw The Joker .  Have you see The Joker? I really liked it. Its very dark and intense but so well done!  I normally only saw one or 2 movies at a theater a year. I think I just broke my record going 2 weeks in a row.
Last Saturday I went out with 2 other couples from church and went to see an AC/DC band called Back in Black.  They are so good and I had so much fun. It was my second time to really be out on a Saturday night at a bar venue with friends and I even had 2 margaritas.  Music is always a good way to get me out of house!!  I feel like I had 2 hours of the "old me" again smiling and dancing with my friends.  Then Sunday- BAM back to being sad and emotional.  SIGH.
I am truly dreading the holidays and will look forward to 2019 being over.  I've still had so many things go wrong lately around the house, my dogs, etc.  It just never ends.  I do still plan on making my hashbrown casserole that I do every year for Thanksgiving and I'm joining my cousin and her family.  I bought a new Christmas tree today.  It's 7 ft tall, prelit and its white.  I wanted to do something very different than I've done before.  A white tree is a good start. LOL.  I may put it up this weekend.
Is anyone traveling this next week and how far?  If I don't post next week, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Zach Williams is one of my favorite Christian singers. I've posted him before with Fear is a Liar.
Here is a song that he did with Dolly Parton.  I love it!
There was Jesus:

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hello, how was your Thanksgiving?  We had a nice long weekend. Thursday was spent at the inlaws and we had a nice day. It was just our immediate group this year, Todd’s parents, Todd’s brother and his wife, and the 2 of us.  We watched the Macy’s parade while I made the hashbrown casserole and I grabbed a Starbucks earlier that morning.  I loved not having to rush and just appreciate the day.

I did not take part of any Black Friday shopping.  There’s just not anything that we have to have that is worth long lines and crazy hours.  On Friday, Todd and I went to our annual movie outing together and saw Bohemian Rhapsody.  Have any of you seen it yet? I genuinely loved it!! I thought it was well done and holy cow- the guy that played Freddie Mercury and the guy who played Brian May were SOOO good!   After I saw the movie, I went online to read more about it. The lead guy learned how to play piano and he also sang but they mostly dubbed in Freddie’s voice for the songs.

This is one of my fave Queen songs: Show must go on! 

On Saturday, we got the Christmas tree out of storage and got the lights on it and we put the decorations on it Sunday after church.  Saturday evening, I got to join my cousin and her 2 daughters to see the Nutcracker in Dallas.  It was Outstanding and I really enjoyed it. At one point in a scene, they had fake snow fall from the ceiling into the audience.  Great special effects for a Ballet!

When we first entered the Winspear Opera House, the backdrop was kinda creepy if you really looked at the whole thing.  I loved it of course because it had the eerie factor like Halloween. 

Sunday night , the 6 of us got together again at an Italian restaurant to celebrate my mother n law's birthday.  It was fun evening and a nice way to end the holiday weekend.  And then , it was time to get back into the work mode.  I’ve been really busy this week training classes and I’m off again tomorrow and Friday to prepare for my junk show I do twice a year. I am not ready this time.  Yall, that work trip to St Louis for 10 days seriously put me so behind on everything.  I am just going to wing it and hope I at least break even for the price of the entry fee.  Wish me luck!!

Thanksgiving 2018

Hey there, I just cant believe that thanksgiving week is already upon us!! Seriously it felt like Halloween was just last week ( it could be that I still have all my Halloween decorations up because I haven’t had time to take it down).  I get very excited to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.  I would watch it every year as a kid and never missed it. Then fast forward to when I was a freshman in college, I got to dance in the parade with my college drill team.  One of the most unforgettable moments of  my life!

Then fast forward to adulthood, I think it was 8 or 9 years ago, I went with a friend and was a spectator in the crowd in NYC to see it firsthand.  I still get chills when I see the Rockettes perform and I get so much joy watching the parade.  We’re heading over to the In-laws for lunch and I’ll be bringing my cheesy hashbrown casserole as per tradition.

I am so very thankful for many things! Here is my list:

I am thankful for my husband, my grandmas, my cousins, my mom, my dogs, my health, my job, my church, sweet tea, music, books, my friends, my blogging friends, music, nieces, starbucks lattes, Mexican food, the stars, sunsets, sunrises, my boots, my day planner, cheese, mascara, eyeliner, spray lotion, fuzzy socks, granny’s quilt, long purses, comfy bras, my favorite rings, music, social media.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Be Safe and be kind.

 Blue October is one of my favorite bands and this is from their new album. 

I hope youre happy

Thanksgiving this and that

Hey y'all! So did you survive Thanksgiving with your family? Mine was good for the most part. We spent the day with Todd's family and we had good day. That evening we were on our way to my Dads when Todd decided to start a huge fight with me.  So rest of the day was ruined but at least there were some good hours beforehand.  The bottom line is he's losing his patience with me. He says I've changed and he wants the old me back. I miss the old me too.  I called the Dr's from the list given to me and they told me to call back this week. Because of the holidays , most of them were closed most of the week.  So wish me luck I get an appointment scheduled.  I'm still crying every single day but it's quick and not all day. Yay for waterproof mascara!!

My brother-inlaw married his girlfriend last Monday. It was super sweet and I love her so much! Happy to have her in our family.  Friday night after thanksgiving, we went to see Blue October in concert. I bought the tickets in July and I was so excited.  The weather has been absolutely terrible this whole past week. It's rained every single day nonstop.  We have a lot of flooding around the area. The rain didnt slow down attendance to the concert at all. It was sold out and 3000 attended.   I had never seen them live but they're one of my favorite bands. 

Then early Saturday morning, I drove back to East Texas to spend the day with Nanny.  She looks so good y'all! Her face is healing and besides the small bandage on her nose, you'd never know she face planted into concrete 2 weeks prior.  She still having some pain in her arms but nothing like it was.  So she's improving there.  The only thing left besides her arms healing is getting her dentures fixed.  This alone has given me great stress.  Do any of y'all have that family member that you'd just rather avoid? 

After the accident, my uncle made an appointment for Nanny to get in last week and she would have her new ones the next day.  That is if she arrives for her appointment on time.  Nanny doesn't drive and never has and my uncle traveled out of state to visit my cousin Lauren. Unfortunately, my unreliable aunt ( who's never been on time a day in her life) was supposed to take Nanny to the appointment.  Yep, my selfish narcissistic self- centered aunt was almost 2 hours late. This meant that Nanny didn't get to have her new dentures. I'm getting so angry just thinking about it!!!  My stupid aunt caused Nanny to go over a week without teeth. Now you try to get thru Thanksgiving without teeth. Not only that but I know good n well, my aunt would have NEVER stand for not having her teeth a day but it's OK to make her mother go without.   It was just heart breaking to see my Nanny go without.  It was pouring rain, so she never left the house. I went and picked up 3 containers of soup for her to have from a local restaurant.  It made me heart and soul heal to spend the day with her.  I'm going again during Christmas.  Her next appointment is for tomorrow.  I hope my uncle takes her or makes arrangements not to trust my aunt again. 

So that's it for the last week.  

Paula had a gold Christmas tree and a basket of ornaments. All the guests signed an ornament and hung on the tree.  Cute idea! 

Thanksgiving selfie with Todd and my step kids.  Alli spent the night with us on Wednesday and we had a good time. Took her to get her cartilage pierced again on top of her ear. 

Blue October

We put up out tree last night but didn't decorate it yet. That will be this week. 

Again, thank you for all of you that stopped by and left well wishes on my blog.  Y'all are amazing and I'm so very blessed for every one of you!

One of my favorite songs from Blue October.  An old one but i love it.

People need help all year- Not just thru the holidays

I have often wondered why you always see a large increase of  coat drives, sock drives, food drop-offs, etc during the holidays.  I understand that there is more time for reflection such as how hard it is for people to have a tree, presents, and all that goes along with the holiday.  Don't get me wrong, anytime people can donate and help others is always a good time.  I have volunteered to feed the homeless for the last 13 years on Thanksgiving Day. I have so much fun and I get to use my old waitressing skills for the day. Ha!  To see the same faces is a joy and I wouldn't trade one of their hugs for anything.  Some people have asked why I let them hug me when they havent showered and they may have a certain smell to them.  Shoot, I am sweaty and have food all over me and don't consider myself any cleaner than them. I'm a hugger!  I have made a choice this year -I have decided to not do it this year. Last year was my first year to be married and I had a family to be with but I still insisted on volunteering.  This year I want to spend it with my husband and family and truly appreciate the holiday and all I have to be thankful for. 
I am pretty active taking in donations of clothing all year long for our church clothes closet. Y'all have read my posts on those days that we set up out church to resemble a department store, and our community can come in and go shopping for free.  I'm taking guitar lessons from the director of Metro Relief which is an organization that takes care of the homeless everyday.  Last night, we talked about the holidays coming up and I asked where they serve on Thanksgiving day. He said, that's the one day they DONT because so many companies, churches, and organizations jump on bandwagon and do their one day of volunteering. That really made me think.  Again, please know that this is just a personal choice for me. I want to be someone that tries to make a difference everyday. Not just one holiday of the year.
I have gone downtown a few times with various groups and handed out food and clothing to the homeless on a weekend. I loved it. One day it was so crazy hot during a summer day and we all sat together under a table umbrella and prayed. It was very moving.  I hope to get more involved but I do what I can right now.  Another shopping day is actually coming soon and I work all day at the church. I get to count the clothes, bag them up, help them shop and sometimes hold their cute babies while they shop.
Are you involved in any charities? Do you volunteer? I would love to know about it.
Have a great day!