Dementia for 2

Before I jump into today's post, I wanted to update ya'll on the house issue. We finally got all the paperwork together for the short sale. The representative that emailed this to us neglected to tell us that we could not send it back to her. We have to give it to a real estate agent and they in turn have their own paperwork to be filled out and then it is all sent back to them. I cannot begin to describe the frustration this causes me.

Hubs talked with a real estate agent and he has an appointment with them on Saturday. However, he did tell hubs that it could be up to 9 months before our house sells. He went on to say that most people just leave because they do not want to wait that long. Since we need the moving expense money to move, it looks like we are here until the bitter end.

Now for today's topic. I do not believe in making New Year's resolutions. I can never seem to keep them. So, I am trying a new approach this year. There is a Pastor in North Carolina that has come up with a very innovative idea. Choose just one word and work on that one word for the year. I really like this idea for a few reasons. The first is that it makes you think. What one word can I choose that would sum up what I really want to do this year? It takes the focus off of just you and places it on others. Because of my faith, it also helps me to focus on how God wants me to accomplish things.

So what is my word? Present. I want to be more present in my children's lives. I want to be more present in church, my studies and my overall relationship with God. I want to live in the present not the past. I want to be more present in my marriage.

I think this is a goal that I can accomplish and in the process, enrich not only my own life, but the lives of those around me.

So if you had to choose just one word, what would your word be? I look forward to reading what you guys come up with!

Due to recent financial struggles, we have decided not to buy gifts for everyone we usually buy for this year. Since this is happening to many, I am sure we are not alone in this decision.

Having said that, there are a few that we will be trying to buy something for. We have discussed this with our immediate family and they have agreed not to buy for us either. Somehow, I don't think our mothers will adhere to this. We are going to help out a little with our grandson's Christmas in lieu of buying for the kids.

I know that we will get our parents something I just don't know what. That just leaves my grandmother.

I struggle every year with this. Since she is in a nursing home, her personal space is very limited. I also have to consider her Alzheimer's. Personal photographs that I could restore myself are out of the question. She no longer recognizes anyone so any enjoyment she may have gotten from this in the past is gone.

I thought of buying her new pictures to hang on her walls but, I have not been able to find anything affordable. I am thinking of getting her a new outfit. Mom says I shouldn't because it will just come up missing. Which brings me to a new issue.

We have signs posted around Granny's closet specifically stating that the family will do her laundry. The main reason behind this decision is the type of detergent used in nursing facilities. Any large facility that does a large amount of laundry, uses the least expensive detergents to offset costs. The problem is that these are very harsh detergents that leave your clothes stiff and quite rough. As you age, your skin can become quite thin and sensitive. Since my grandmother has sensitive skin to begin with, this just adds to her discomfort.

Even with the signs they still do some of her laundry. We have spoken with the person in charge of laundry, the Director of Nursing and the Director of the nursing home about this to no avail. My grandmother has had several things come up missing. The most recent items are 2 pair of pants that mom purchased for her withing the last 3 months. After several visits to the laundry room to try and locate them, she finally went to the Director. So now the nursing home has to pay for the clothing.

There are other things that seem to "get lost". Lotion, candy, drinks from her dorm fridge, and OTC medications that we have purchased. All of these items are clearly marked with her name in permanent marker.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying any employee is stealing. Residents there are always going into one another's rooms. They forget which room is theirs and wander into another room. My grandmother has done this on several occasions and has made it back to her own room with items that did not belong to her. Mom and I always try to find the owner so we can return them.

The laundry issue is totally different. Even though I know that any new outfit I may get her could possibly come up missing, I still want to get her one with some leopard print on it.

As you all know, Veterans Day is Thursday. I am so excited because this is the first Veterans Day I have had off in forever! I honestly cannot remember the last time I was scheduled off for Veterans Day.

To celebrate this momentous occurrence, I thought I would share a little trivia about Veterans Day with all of you. I will try not to bore you with too many tidbits.

1. The U.S. Government has stated that the official spelling of Veterans Day is with no apostrophe.

2. It is celebrated on the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended WWI. The 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month.

3. In 1971, the day was moved to the 4th Monday in October. It was moved back to its original date in 1978.

4. Since the switch back to the original date, more businesses are remaining open. Most banks still close however, some schools and local governments are choosing to remain open.

I find this trend very disheartening. Not only because I am a Veteran, but, because I think this country has been losing sight of those that helped shape it into the great country that we have.

So, on this Veterans Day please take time out to thank a Vet that you may work with or be related to. Let them know that while you may not understand what they have been through, you do appreciate their willingness to give the ultimate sacrifice....their life.

Christmas was very nice. My Christmas Eve dinner soiree went very well. We celebrated early at my mom's so the kids could be there. I went to the nursing home to get Granny so she could partake with all of us. Normally, I can get her in /out of the car by myself. If I have issues with getting her in, by the time we get where we are going, she is prepared for me to get her out. Not so this time. I couldn't get her in the car at the home. I had help getting her out at my mom's.

You could just tell that she can no longer hold her own weight when she stands up. So, my son followed me back to the home to help me get her out of the car. The reason this is so sad for me is because I now have to face the fact that I can no longer carry my grandmother to family events. I may not always have someone available to help me move her. Mom and I decided that this is best for her. But just thinking about it makes me want to cry.

My hubs has offered his help so I can still take her around. But, he is not always off from work so that is a "catch me when you can" type of situation.

They don't have a "party room" at the nursing home. All they has is a TV/game room for the residents. If we start going there, we will be using this room. The problem with that is that the other residents will be denied access to this room while we are there. I am not sure just what we will do yet.

This new development could mean that my grandmother is slowly progressing into the next stage of Alzheimer's. I am not ready for that yet. She is starting to spend more time in bed these days. It is just to uncomfortable for her to be in a wheelchair all day. I know that this has contributed to her inability to stand.




The most important thing is what is best for her. Right now, at this point in the games, this is what is best.

On a lighter note, mom and my sister took some really good photos of Granny at the nursing home. My sister had a fireplace backdrop she brought and the vintage jewelry I threw in looked really good on Granny. I think she looks great for 93. I can only hope I age as well.

Well, my little Christmas Eve shindig was a success! I had about 10 people over and way too much food!

I sent almost everyone away with some sort of doggie bag. My son came over the next day and tried to wipe me out!

We all had a great time talking, eating , drinking. I have really missed getting together with my friends and family all at once.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I have managed to get New Year's Eve off for the first time since 1991!! I think I had big hair and wore frosty eyeshadow back then. Since hubs has to work, I don't know what I will do but it will be close to home so I don't have to deal with all the crazy drivers.

Take care and I will see all of you in 2010!!

I have not had a party in several years. With my work schedule, it is almost impossible for me to plan anything simple much less a dinner party.

I have Christmas Eve off this year, so I decided to plan a small dinner party. Just a few family and friends. My daughter is off that day, so she has offered to help me get things ready. I am looking forward to getting together with those that I have not seen in a while. B is looking forward to it also. We have not had this many people over for a holiday dinner since she was a child. Hubby has to work, so he will not be able to attend.

Now on to more great sites for you to visit. These are some of my first followers and I really appreciate their loyalty.

For environmental ideas on living green visit:
Reduce Footprints

John is my nutritionist friend from Malaysia. He is now living in the states with his new bride. You can read some of his thoughts at:
I have Dreams

Brian is my computer "go to" guy. He likes all the new gadgets and has been such a great help to me. His blog has a wealth of information for the experienced and novice alike:
Eazy Cheezy

Miles Per Hour is a great blog if you want a man's point of view. He has a way of telling it like it is that is from the heart:
Thunder From A Quiet Storm

If you like to bake "the old fashioned way", as I do then the Bread Blog is for you. Chuck has some great recipes on his site complete with step by step instructions and pics. I have made several recipes from here and they have all been great!
The Bread Blog

As always, I do appreciate all of you and the time you take to read my blog. Your encouragement and advice has been an invaluable part of my life and I look forward to reading what the year has in store for all of us!

I am so glad to have a little free time to catch up with all of you! I have been working very hard these last few weeks and it looks as though I will have a small reprieve before it starts back up again in February.

Before I start getting all sappy on ya'll, I wanted to catch you up on Granny. She is doing really well! I have not seen her much these past weeks but I do get daily updates from my mom. I will be seeing her on Monday when we get together at mom's for Christmas. I got her a satin pink clutch with pink iridescent sequins on it. I think she will love it. Plus keeping the sequins straight will keep her busy:) Mom will be out of town on Christmas Day, so we are celebrating early.


My sister helped my mom with granny's perm a few weeks ago. I am glad that she was there to help. She and my mother seem to be slowly rebuilding their relationship. They have a long way to go and some things still need to be settled between them, but this is a HUGE step! My sister also wants to take pictures of granny for Christmas. I think they are doing that next week. I collect vintage jewelry, so I have lots of earrings and necklaces for granny to wear. I also have a Santa hat that mom is going to have her wear for some of them. I have not decided if I will be there for this or not. I am not there in my journey yet. We will see.

I want to thank all of you my "old" friends and my "new" friends. I enjoy reading all of your blogs and comments on mine. A few of you do stand out in my mind more than others, but I cherish you all. I wanted to list all of you so others can enjoy you as much as I do. So drum roll please...... in no particular order:

A Faded Rose

Shopping Kharma

Ambience in the Attic

A Corgi in in So. Cal.

A Psychiatrist w/Lewy Body Dementia

Abundant Living

Coltin 1948

Expat From Hell

Let's Have A Cocktail

The Rainbow Bank

Now I don't have hundreds of followers. I have 44 to be exact. I did not want to take up this whole post with them all so I just posted 10. I will try to post links to the rest of ya'll between now and Christmas. I do appreciate all of you and am grateful to have each and every one of you in my life.

I hope that your Christmas is joyful and full of the things that matter. God, family, friends and recognition of the many blessings that we all have.

I also have some ideas in the works for next year so I can keep you guys entertained!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I know I have not been on here in a while and I am sorry. I have been very busy and it is not often right now that I have a free moment.

I am hoping things will slow down a little after the holidays! Now on to granny.

The nursing home has gotten a new director. I have not met her yet, but, mom has. This is the 3rd director in as many years. I think the turnover is so high because the job is so stressful. Anyway, I hope she is the right person for the job. It takes a special type of person to deal with the elderly. You have to have a lot of compassion and patience not to mention strength to deal with all the never ending issues.

Granny has been doing much better this past week. I was actually able to go and spend time with her last week. I have really missed being able to go and visit her 3-5 times a week. I was going to go and help give her a perm today, but, mom just was not able to go and I cannot roll hair worth a flip. Since my hair is naturally curly, I have never had to learn how. I am hoping we can go sometime this week and do her hair.

I am off Thanksgiving so I will be taking granny over to mom's. We are going to put up the tree while I am there. Granny will like watching all that. I also found a baby to borrow and I am really excited about that. One of my daughter's friends has 2 kids ages 16 months and 3 years. He is bringing them over so granny can her her baby fix.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and I appreciate the fact that none of you have dropped me because of my sporadic posting lately!

Love,
Inge'

My grandmother is in a semi-private room at the nursing home. When she first moved in this room, she was near the door. When her roommate passed, mom and I moved her near the window. This is the "primo" space in any facility be it a hospital, long term care, or even airplane.

During Easter, mom and I put some window clings on her window. She liked them so much that we were not allowed to take them down. So, while I was perusing Wal Mart the other night, I found her some Halloween clings. She watched very intently while I took the old ones down and put the new ones up.




Since granny loves children, I was able to find some fun ones of little kids dressed up and some kittens being playful. I think she likes them. She was not quite herself this afternoon so I won't know for sure until I visit again tomorrow.

But at least we are now caught up on the holidays.

Next month my grandmother will be a whopping 93 years old!! I just can't believe it. We are planning a party with family and just a few friends. She knows her birthday is coming up soon, she just doesn't remember the exact date.

I thought I would post some interesting things that happened the year my grandmother was born just to put things in perspective for all of us.
January 1 – The Royal Army Medical Corps first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled.

January 1 – Impressionist painter Monet paints his Water Lilies series.

January 24 – In Browning, Montana, the temperature drops from +6.7°C to -48.8°C (44°F to -56°F) in one day, the greatest change ever on record for a 3 day-hour period.

February 11 - Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control.

March 8-9 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa leads 1,500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 12 U.S. soldiers. A garrison of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment fights back and drives them away.

March 20 – At the age of 32, Ota Benga, a Congolese pygmy brought to America as part of a racist exhibition, builds a ceremonial fire, chips off the caps on his teeth, performs a final tribal dance, and shoots himself in the heart with a stolen pistol.

April 20 – The Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7–6 in 11 innings.

April – The light switch is invented by William J. Newton and Morris Goldberg.

May 20 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting (Boy with Baby Carriage).

May 21 – Britain initiates daylight saving time.

May 22 – The case of United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola is decided.

June 5 - Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

June 15 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.

July 1 – November 18 – World War I – More than 1 million soldiers die during the Battle of the Somme, including 60,000 casualties for the British Commonwealth on the first day.

July 1 – July 12: At least one shark mauls 5 swimmers along 80 miles (130 km) of New Jersey coastline during the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, resulting in 4 deaths and the survival of one youth who required limb amputation. This event is the inspiration for author Peter Benchley, over half a century later, to write Jaws.

August 7 – World War I: Portugal joins the Allies.

August 25 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs legislation creating the National Park Service.

September 2 – British pilot William Leefe-Robinson becomes the first to shoot down a German airship over Britain.

September 13 – Mary, a circus elephant, is hanged in the town of Erwin, Tennessee for killing her handler, Walter "Red" Eldridge.

October 16 – Margaret Sanger opens the first U.S. birth control clinic -a forerunner of Planned Parenthood.

October 21 – Friedrich Adler shoots Karl von Stürgkh, Prime Minister of Austria.

November 7 - Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.

November 21 – The White Star Liner HMHS Britannic, sister ship of the RMS Olympic and the legendary RMS Titanic, sinks in the Mediterranean Sea after hitting a mine. 30 lives are lost.

December 29 – Grigori Rasputin is murdered by two Romanov family members.

There were also quite a few notable births other than my fabulous grandmother that year. Among them were:

January 9 – Peter Twinn, English mathematician and World War II code-breaker (d. 2004)
February 18 – Maria Altmann, Austrian Holocaust survivor and heiress
February 23 – Retta Scott, first female Disney animator to be credited on a feature film (d. 1990)
February 26 – Jackie Gleason, American comedian (d. 1987)
March 29 – Eugene McCarthy, U.S. Senator from Minnesota and Presidential candidate (d. 2005)
April 5 – Gregory Peck, American actor (d. 2003)
April 28 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (d. 1993)
July 1 – Olivia de Havilland, British-born American actress
July 4 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino ("Tokyo Rose") (d. 2006)
October 14 – C. Everett Koop, United States Surgeon General
November 4 – Walter Cronkite, American television journalist (d. 2009)
November 14 – Sherwood Schwartz, American television writer and producer
December 9 – Kirk Douglas, American actor
December 18 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)

So as you can see, a lot happened that year. Many other things were invented or came to pass but I just wanted to give you the highlights. WWI was in full swing and a lot of men were losing their lives all over the world. My grandmother was too young to remember most of that but she was a young girl during WWII. She still never talked about all that even when she could remember.

Even though it is still a week away,I know she will have a great birthday and I am looking forward to spending the day with her and the rest of my family.

I wanted to post something a little different than most for this day so I decided to post a couple of videos of our armed forces. Since I have a special place in my heart for Marines (being a BAM), I decided to post a special favorite of mine just for them.

Semper Fi!!!

The first video was taken at a Patriots Superbowl Game.



This is one of my favorite cadences.



I hope you all enjoy your freedom today!!!

I don't normally do the New Year's Resolution thing. I have enough chaos in my life without trying to reach what is apparently some unattainable goal for myself.

But this year I am trying something new. I work full time and I also am a substitute newspaper carrier. Since this second job allows me to set my own rate, I do pretty good when the jobs are rolling in. Last week I got a call and this guy needs me the for 9 days over the next 2 weeks. This is about 550.00. Not to shabby for throwing papers. So I have decided this year that all the money I make throwing papers goes into paying off my debt instead of using it for other things. Right now my hubs has a job and it pays okay so we are not stressing like we were 1 month ago.

This guy told me he will probably need me every week for the next 2 months. At an average of 240.00 per week, that is about 1920.00 give or take. Since I have about 1500.00 in unsecured debt, I can pay that off and put the rest towards my asset debt ( car, house,etc). Now in theory this sounds pretty good. But, with my life and the way things happen, I am sure that a plethora of things will come up that will prevent me from keeping this goal no matter how noble it sounds.

I am however, still going to try. I will be able to pay off 2 credit cards and have about 120.00 left to apply towards the rest with the first 2 weeks pay from him. I am really excited about this and hope to achieve it. I keep reminding myself that God desires that I be a good steward with what He blesses me with and that will be what helps me to keep my resolve.

Before any of you start thinking about how easy a paper route in your area would be, let me tell some things I found out the hard way. I did have my own route for 5 years before I gave it up to just be a "sub".

1. You have to throw EVERY DAY. Christmas, New Year's Thanksgiving, your birthday, no matter the weather. Remember there is news everyday even if it did snow 3 inches last night after the ice storm.

2. There is a time limit. Here in my area, you have to pick up your papers no later than 4 am and have them on the ground no later than 6 am Mon-Fri-. Sat. is 6:30 and Sun. is 7:00 because these are bigger papers.

3. If you want a day off, you have to find someone to throw your route yourself. You will pay them more because they are doing you the favor by getting up in your place. When I had my own route it cost me 400.00 for 7 days and that was cheap.

4. In my area you are a sub-contractor. This means that you get a 1099 form at the end of the year. Since no taxes are withheld, this can be a real pain. In some area you have to collect your own fees. This is a bigger pain.

5. And last but not least, the pay varies from route to route. Here they base it on how long your route is and by how many papers you throw. So the bigger or longer the route, the more money you make.

If you are looking for a part time job, this is not a bad gig just know what you are getting into first. You can check in the classified section of your paper for listings of available zip codes for routes. They usually put a pretty big ad in there or just call your local paper and ask them.

Before I forget, a reliable car with current insurance is a must. Sunday papers are big and you have to fit them all in your car so keep that in mind.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I am glad to be back home. It was nice visiting with family and friends but I missed my bed!

Tuesday, the 23rd my Bible study group had a small get together. Since our meetings are held out of each other's homes, we are a small group. There was lots of food and laughs so I really enjoyed it.

On the 24th we went to my mom's house. Since the weather was so bad I did not go and get my grandmother for fear of her getting ill. I really missed her not being there. We still had a good time and I got some "natural" shots of all of us.

We left my mom's and drove to my mother-in law's house just outside of Jackson TN. We spent the night there and celebrated Christmas with hubby's family. We had a really good time and it was nice to get together with his family.

The only downside to the whole celebration is that once again my grandmother's teeth are missing. This is driving my mom and I crazy! She cannot reach them so we know she didn't just get them and leave them somewhere. My grandmother doesn't think about them unless we are looking for them and then she starts stressing out about them. It will take months for them to replace them. Since there is no way to mark them, we don't know if another resident has them or not.

My mom wanted to take pictures of my grandmother and she was having none of it. She would look at my mom and want to see her teeth. Then she would say, "Well, I can just use yours". How funny is that! Hopefully, they will turn up so we won't have to go through all the drama with the dentist again.

My sister gave her a doll for Christmas. All of you know from my previous posts what is going to happen so I won't rehash all that. Let's just say that I will probably be adding this one to my collection in a few months:)

All in all it has been a good Christmas but I must confess I am ready to get back to my regular life such that it is:)

Well I was not sure I would be able to make another post until after Christmas, but I can't sleep so here I am:)

I have been reading Brian's blog and have become inspired to post some of my favorite books. Granted, these are Christian books, but if you want a deeper understanding of who God is, I do recommend these.

Knowledge of the Holy - A.W. Tozer
The Pursuit of God - A.W. Tozer
The Power of the Holy Spirit - Charles Spurgeon
The Confessions of St Augustine - St. Augustine
Hard to Believe - John MacArthur

These are just a few that I have read over the last year. I usually read about a book a month so this doesn't even come close to the list I have read this year.

I have had to change my reading habits due to changes in my schedule, so I probably won't get to read too many this year.

There have many so many teachers that have started to adopt practices that are not in line with what God teaches, so now I have to really screen what I read.

I do like to read what I can "trash" novels when my mind becomes to stressed out. But usually I stick with something that will increase my knowledge of God and also will help me to overcome the latest obstacle in my path.

I hope you will find something on this list that you haven't read that will inspire you to increase your knowledge of God.

I wanted to close with a personal thanks to all of you who follow "Dementia". I appreciate all of your input and I enjoy reading all of your blogs! So thank you:

Brian - I have learned a lot of really cool things from reading your blog and hope to start my Federal job hunt after Christmas thanks to your posts.

Small Footprints - Your blog is very informative and I have learned many things that I have shared with my friends about how to reduce my footprint. Thank you for all of your research and diligence in sharing what you have learned.

John - I do enjoy reading your blog. I really like our lighthearted banter. I look forward to reading more about your quest to run. I have started walking my German Shepherd everyday that the weather allows in an effort to get ready to start running again this Spring. My goal is my first 5k run which is small potatoes but a start since I am not as young as I think I am:)

Sarah - Even though you haven't posted on your regular blog in a while, I have been lurking in your alternative blog. I find the perspectives there....let's just say different. I haven't posted a comment there yet but I am interested in how others think and do read it quite often.

MPH - I stumbled across your blog and I must say I do like to read your posts. You seem to have come to grips with who you are now instead of who you were. That is a very hard thing to do and I commend you on your ongoing efforts. I look forward to reading more of your musings in the future.

Morning Constitutional - Even though you are young, I still enjoy your blog! Since I have a 23 year old daughter, your views help me to somewhat understand her way of thinking.

Seattle Craig - Are you still alive? You have a great sense of humor and I miss reading about your adventures. I hope you can post again soon.

There are many other bogs that I read but I wanted all of you to know just how much I enjoy hearing from you and reading your blogs. Thanks again and now my shepherd and I have to fight for the same space in the bed. 'night all!

I have been reading several of Small Footprints articles on having a "green" Christmas this year.

Since we will be out of town and the kids are grown, we are not putting up a tree this year. I do miss all the decorating I must admit. I won't miss taking all that stuff down and putting it all back in the attic.

I found some interesting articles on Christmas lights that I wanted to share with all of you. If you want to read more you can go here. Once you get to the page, on the left sidebar is a list of articles. you can click on the one titled "Recycling Christmas Lights" to read the article.

Some other recycling options are Holidayleds.

While I realize that it is probably a little late to participate in the below program, it is a great thought for next year. This is a program that helps Toys for Tots which is a program sponsored by the USMC my favorite branch of the military:) I am listing the address and steps to take if you desire to do this this year or next.

1.Take your old broken Christmas lights and box them up in the smallest possible box and send to:
Christmas Light Source Recycling Program
1923 6th Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76110

2. Please include your name, address and email address. They will send you a coupon good for 10% off a single order of Christmas Lights.

They take the proceeds from recycling and use them to buy books for the Toys for Tots program in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

There you have it. New ideas for old lights.

Christmas Cards

I really enjoy sending and receiving Christmas cards. The problem is what to do with all of mine after Christmas.

Here are some options:

1. Send holiday cards to St. Jude's Ranch, a nonprofit home for youths that collects old holiday cards for reuse. Either cut off the backs of the cards or leave them intact. Children at St Jude's earn money by creating new cards from the old.

2. Mail the cards UPS "ground" or "bound printed matter" to St. Jude's Card Recycling, 100 St. Jude Street, P.O. Box 60100, Boulder City, NV 89006.

3. Cut off the backs of old holiday cards that do not have writing behind the front and use them as postcards.

4. Cut them apart and use for gift tags.

5. Put your sentimental ones in a scrapbook.

These are just a few ideas. I am sure there are many many more. A special thanks again to Small Footprints for her informative and conscious raising blog!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

I know this post is late, but I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! I did not have to work on Thanksgiving so I was able to be with my family. I have been working this weekend, hence the late post.

I went and got my grandmother form the nursing home and we all went to my mom's house for dinner. She was in rare form I must say. I don't think she has been that coherent in months! It was very uplifting and hilarious to see her in action.

She started out by swiping one of my cigs in the car before we ever left the nursing home. My grandmother hasn't smoked in 30 years at least. When we get to my mom's, she has to have one whenever I light up. I don't smoke that much but as she said, "I like to have me a little smoke every now and then." I guess 4 or 5 every 30 years is not going to hurt.

She was worried about going back to the nursing home. She kept asking me when was I going to take her home. We haven't had dinner yet! They told us at the home that this would happen when we took her out. I have to be honest I didn't believe them but she was true to form. I told my mom that we worried about her not wanting to leave and we couldn't get her to stay.

Everyone was very good about posing for all the pictures I wanted to take. Even my grandson who hates for me to take photos of him at times. I am posting the "big 5 g" picture so y'all can see how we all look.

Clockwise from the top:
My mom "the big M'
me
my grandson "little J"
my daughter "B"
my son "Big J"
and last my definitely not least my grandmother in the middle

I did not realize until after my hubs took the photo, that my glasses were still tinted from being outside. Oh well maybe next time y'all can see my beautiful hazel eyes :)

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I know that sounds odd coming from a christian, but we all know Christmas is celebrated at the end of the year strictly for the retail business.

I know that Thanksgiving is still a week away, but I do have a lot to be thankful for. I have been thinking about that a lot lately especially with all that is happening in the income area of our house lately. So here is my list.

1. I am thankful for having God as a big part of my life. He has shown me a lot over the past year and I have grown spiritually because of it.
2. We still have our house. With so many people we know losing their homes, this is a very real thing to most of us.
3. I still have my job. I don't know if I will when I go back to work on Friday, but today I do.
4. We are all healthy.
5. My grandmother is still living and even though she doesn't know me, I know her.
6. My mother and I have probably the best relationship a mother/daughter could ever hope for.
7. We are not hungry.
8. I have a beautiful inquisitive grandson.
9. Last but not least, I am thankful for all the new friends I have because of this blog!

I know that we all have our own lists and this is by no means the end of mine, but just the top 9. I could have had a top 10 but that is so Letterman and I wanted to be different. lol

So what are all of you thankful for this year? I would love to know.

I also saw Small footprints' post yesterday so I wanted to show off my tree changing colors.