Girlfriend Time, the Year in Review, and the Next Step...

The last couple of days have been good for my soul. No, make that GREAT for my soul. All women understand that we, as women, need time with our girlfriends. In refreshes and refills our spirits. It lightens our hearts. It is what it is. Men don't need it. Women do.

On Thursday, my girlfriend Prissy invited our "group" to her home for girlfriend time. Four of the five of us were able to make it. This is my Group Therapy girlfriends. We set fabulous goals of getting together every 3 months and then 9 months passes before we reconvene. It doesn't matter, as long as we are able to get together. So, that's what we did. Our friend, Delia, was there in spirit if not in person. We missed her terribly, but we understand that San Angelo is a bit of a distance. At Prissy's we spent HOURS just talking, snacking, drinking wine and catching up with each other. Jo has begun taking insulin for her diabetes. Jeanne's educational consultation business is keeping her hopping. Prissy is loving retirement and has signed on to be a testing monitor just to keep her foot in the educational door. I am struggling to open my winery. Nothing monumental but we hang on to the details of one another's lives because we are a friendship forged during stressful times when we depended upon one another for survival. We love each other as only girlfriends can do. The evening ended all too soon...Jeanne had to go be with her husband who may be experiencing early syptoms of Alzheimers, Jo had to go meet with her sisters to begin getting rid of her dad's "collections" since he is talking about moving to assisted living, and I needed to make some stops before returning home. Already I can't wait to get together with my girlfriends again.

Today, my sister-in-law and I went to Canton. We got there about 9:15 and left there shortly after 2:00. A full day of strolling and buying. I had gotten several VISA/MC gift cards for Christmas and found ample opportunity to spend them. I got some super bargains. I LOVE bargains. One fantastic find was shoes for $2. Yes, that's $2. They are called Onesole Interchangeable Shoes. I came home and looked them up on the internet and a pair of soles with 2 interchangeable tops sells for $125!!! I got a black pair and a cork pair. They come with plain black snap on tops but I can order online, or purchase at listed retailers, various...DOZENS...of tops to snap on and switch up the look or the outfit it goes with. STOKED!! I bought a pair of "jeans" leggings and a top to go with them. I bought a Scentsy type wall plugin for my bedroom. I have ordered one from my daughter's friend, but I wanted another and this one was cheaper. I bought raspberry chipotle salsa, Duckhead sandals, a gorgeous, poinsettia lace table topper for next Christmas, and I forget what else. A great day of leisurely shopping. On the way home we stopped at Applebee's for lunch (dunch? afterall, it was 3:30) and then went to the grocery store for snacks, beer, and a Starbucks drink.

Sitting at home now I am reflecting on 2010 and how very blessed I have been. Highlights: I get to work with wonderful people at Quest, I got to teach summer school (mucho extra cash), I got to travel to San Antonio to photograph a wedding, my grandsons are happy and healthy, Ronnie and I started "Date Night," and I finally got out of the fracture boot.::sigh of relief:

Lowlights: I am working more that I had planned on, I am somewhat estranged from my dad, and I spent almost the entire year in a fracture boot.

All things considered, I consider myself incredibly blessed.

Considering 2011, I am not going to make any foolish resolutions only to break them by Jan. 2nd. I want to be more fiscally responsible and pay off as much of my debt as possible. I must get my health and weight under control. I want to start walking again...I enjoy that simple process and it invigorates me, and I want to get my winery up and running. These are the things that I will focus some attention on, but I will not beat myself up if I am not able to pull all this off.

To you, my friends, I pray that you will find fulfillment in 2011...whatever form that takes. God bless you and have a very happy and productive 2011!

Christmas 2010

The final phase of Christmas was held at the McMahen casa on Sunday, Dec. 26th. I really don't know how to explain it, but this season was so much more relaxing and less harried that Christmases past. Christmas Eve was spent with the McMahen/Morgan family as usual. This year it was held in a banquet room at The Holiday Inn Express in Terrell. Nice. Since it's my year to host it next year guess where it will be...same hotel. No ridiculous cleaning beforehand only to have it to do all over again once everyone leaves. No kids tearing through the house reeking havoc along the way. It was less personal but so much easier. There was room to visit and time to visit. White elephant gift exchange was optional this year. Only about 12-15 people participated. 90% of the gifts centered around some kind of alcohol ::snicker:: and the gift exchange did not take very long. I got a neck massager which I will be returning to CVS for a cash refund or store credit. Ronnie got a cool thermometer thing which you mount in the house but gives outdoor readings. Afterward we returned home and relaxed.

On Saturday, which was actually Christmas Day, we went to Kristin's house to hang out and go out to lunch with them. This was Trenton's year with his dad and so we chose to celebrate when he returned. The day started off pretty good with Carter being playful and goofy. However, he was having to take some pretty frequent breathing treatments for his asthma. Deciding on TGIFriday's for lunch, the Durbs went out the back door to their car and we went out the front door to our car. Soon Kristin approached us to inform us that Carter has just yakked all over himself and the carseat. The decision was made to order Friday's take-out and eat at their house. Ron and Scott left to pick up the food and Kristin and I watched the Christmas parade while Carter napped. Gosh, Mariah Carey is HUGE! I don't care if she is pregnant with twins. Her legs look like tree trunks! That aside, there was a mix up with Fridays but we eventually got our food. Delicious! Scott was concerned about my persistent cough so he left to get me some Dayquil. Carter gave himself, and his toy dinosaur, breathing treatments throughout the afternoon, and finally Ron and I headed home.



Once home I set about making the spice cake and chocolate pies for the next day. I also boiled the eggs for deviled eggs and dressing and made a loaf of homemade bread (okay...it was in the breadmaker, but still I made it). I did everything that I could do the night before and finally went to bed around 3 a.m. Up at 7 a.m. I checked on the turkey and set about putting things together to go in to the oven. I actually got a short nap in before the kids started arriving.

Ryan and Rich were the first to arrive. They put the gifts under the tree and Rich went straight to the sofa and fell asleep. He was sick, sick, sick. Ended up in the ER later that night. He awoke only to eat and open gifts. I felt so badly for him. He was miserable and it showed.



Our menu was a staple...but delicious nonetheless. Mimosas to enjoy while waiting for dinner to finish, smoked turkey, ham, dressing, bread, green bean casserole (supplied by Kristin), sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, spice cake with cream cheese icing, chocolate pie, peppermint and cinnamon cookies and sopapilla cheesecake. Yes, I went overboard on the sweets. We also had tea, beer, margaritas and crown. May have gone overboard on that, too! ::shrug::

After lunch we opened gifts. Carter is hilarious! He opens a gift and then wants to play with it rather than open more gifts. Trenton is so precious. He came and hugged us after every gift he received from us. Our gifts seemed to be a hit with everyone. Carter got a drum set that he banged on all evening. Trenton got Ben 10 leggos that he played with in between snacking. Ryan and Scott both got gift cards to upgrade their iphones, and Rich got a recliner that he had picked out. Kristin got a kindle which she immediately fell in love with.

The highlight of the gift giving is Trenton's gifts to everyone. Kristin takes him to the Dollar Tree each year and he picks out something special for each person on his list. He puts a lot of thought into his gifts and they are delightful. This year Scott got a light up ax (glowstick), Ryan got a Santa figurine, Rich got a purple frisbee, Ronnie got a tape measure and I got a black and red watch. Kristin got a female figurine. "Trenton and Carter" also got their mommy a special gift with a booklight and a B grade horror DVD. She loves cheap horror movies. This one had four movies on one DVD. Example: "Boy Eats Girl"...he loved her for her brains. How cheesy but she was so excited.

Ryan took a sick Rich home and later Kristin and Scott took the boys home. The cleanup began. I stripped all the Christmas decorations and piled them in the corner under the Christmas tree. Today, I packed those away for next year. House is back to normal...whatever that means.

Tomorrow we are going to meet Kristin and the boys at Chuck E. Cheese. I am also going to get my nails done, return the neck massager and go to Kirkland's to spend some of the gift cards my kids got me.

As I said when I started this blog, the pace was slower and Christmas was so much more enjoyable this year...even though I have been sick for two weeks! Let's pray that 2011 brings us a year of health and happiness and joyful times with the ones we love.

Happy New Year everyone!!

A Reminder for the Season...

I sat outside tonight to watch the lunar eclipse. Beautiful! It was incredibly quiet...the moon started out so bright...the breeze was blowing...the wind chimes tinkling...a peaceful, beautiful reminder of our Creator. The eclipse was breath-taking. The peace...a soothing balm for the busy, stressed soul. Enjoy the pics...the closest you can come to reliving the event with me.