Saturday, December 26, 2009

Sad Heart

It is with a sad heart that I write today. I lost yet another friend at Christmas. My friend Cathy passed away this morning from complications of a bad liver. She was just about to be on the list at number 1 for a transplant when she had the complications.  I had not stayed in touch often with her since we were teenages but she was still a big part of my life and I will miss her

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas Everyone



"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?




"VIRGINIA O'HANLON. "115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."



VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.



Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.



Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.



You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.



No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

It's beginning to look a lot like SNOW

Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh....

Ohh ok so there isn't enough snow to do that..I can dream can't I..
Hi Everyone, did you think I got lost in retail land? Well I almost did. We have been working some crazy hours lately. For some reason that I won't question, I got the good luck fairy in my corner and got this weekend off. In fact I have three days off. I had intened to stay in my house all weekend and wait for the snow storm we were suppose to be getting (we have maybe an inch) but my daughter had other ideas, so we did get out for a bit and do some last minute shopping in Williamsburg yesterday. They had a bit more snow on the ground so my grandson and I got out and played in it a little


We also got some pretty photos of a local farm.





As you can see it is mostly mud, but I thought it made a nice photo.


Anyway other than that I have worked. We did take one night last weekend to visit Bush Gardens Christmas Town..I have lots of photos from there but am saving them for the next post.  I just wanted to catch up today and say hello and let everyone know I am alive and well

Thursday, December 10, 2009

And so it begins

All I have to say about this Christmas season is ba humbug.  I know it is terrible to feel that way, but I honestly hate this time of year. First of all working retail sucks. We don't have enough help this year, and by the end of the day all I want to do is come home and sleep. That leaves me feeling as if I don't have enough down time. I don' want to come home and just sleep. I want to relax, read, surf the net. Sleeping is just that sleeping. I get up and go back to work. I want ME time.
Also our annual have a friend or relative die season is here. If you have read me for awhile you know that every year for the last five or six years either a family member or friend has died between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well it happened again this week. One of my mom's sisters died. She had been ill for awhile with cancer and went into the hospital Thanksgiving day, and died on Monday. The same day another one of our family members died. This time it was the adopted son of my cousin. Actually it was his wife's nephew. When the young man was a young child his parents were killed in a car wreck, so his Aunt (my cousins wife) and my cousin adopted him. I've never been around this young man since they live in a different state, but for some reason that we (our immediate family) doesn't know yet, he choose to take his own life this week. On the same day my Aunt died. This means my mom's older sister lost not only a younger sister but a grandchild.
Sad week all around.
On the immediate home front. My husband and I are once again sharing a car. His is broken. We have someone looking at it on Saturday, hopefully it will be an easy fix. If not we are screwed, since we have no funds to fix it. As it is sharing one car  sucks. Dean and I are working different schedules, so I am going in early or staying late. At lest I guess I will get a lot of books read.
I haven't done any shopping and do not have even one thing that resembles Christmas in my home. I probably will give in and put out a few things, but may skip the tree this year. No one come over to see it anyway. With my grandson in school now I rarely see my daughter except on the weekends and I am working those until after the holidays. The adults in our family have opted not to do Christmas this year, but I will buy for my grandson. If my kids get anything it will be cash (If we have any that last week).
Anyway that is life here. Sorry for it to sound so down around here but that is the way it is.
I hope your season is going better

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Holiday fun

A friend of mine made this and sent it to me today. I thought it was really cute so I wanted to share it.




Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

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Sunday, December 6, 2009

A Sunday Stroll

Happy Sunday Everyone.
I hope you all have had a nice weekend. Mine was busy. I worked yesterday and today Dean and I went with Rebecca and Cody to VA. Beach to meet up with my son. He had a rare chance to take Cody aboard a Navy Ship (photos to follow in my next post) While they were doing that Rebecca and I ran into the toy store for some ideas for Santa, then we all had lunch with my mom. Later in the day we stopped at this wonderful old cemetery in Norfolk. I had know this cemetery was there but had never been. As you can see from the photos it is very old and some of the grave go back to the mid 1860's at lest. One of the more famous graves is that of Civil War Confederate Army Officer Charles Pickett, The brother of Major General George E. Pickett,. Both Charles and George fought at Gettysburg,

Also the largest grave *as you will see in the slid show* is of  John Core. He Served with John Singleton Mosby as one of his Rangers and with the Commissary General's Office during the Civil War. After the war, he returned to Norfolk where he became a very successful farmer and businessman. He founded John H. Core & Company which were importers, manufacturers, and packing agents.
He died in 1910 leaving an estate valued at over $500,000. He would have been a multi-millionaire by today's standards. He stated in his will that he wanted a mausoleum built in Elmwood Cemetery for his remains and those of his wife, Martha Anne. The couple had no children. He set aside $100,000 for the construction of the mausoleum.
My grandson Cody (who is a big fan of Gettysburg) quickly recognized the Confederate flags that were displayed on many of the graves in the cemetery. You can even see him salute at some of the graves. I thought that was really cute.
All in all it was a good day. I hope you enjoy my slide show







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Friday, December 4, 2009

A Yummy Treat

I got this yummy rccipe in a newletter today and thought I would share



Christmas Apple & Cinnamon Loaf

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (to be melted)
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of peeled, chopped, Apples
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
Lightly grease a loaf pan all over

In mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, sugar, and cinnamon
Incorporate the melted butter, egg, milk and vanilla.
Stir and mix well while folding in raisins, chopped apples, and pecans.

Bake for 45 minutes or until center of loaf is cooked thoroughly

Leave stand for 10 minutes in pan before removing

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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Long time no type

Hi everyone
yes I know it has been awhile since I updated this blog and I have no excuse other than I have just been to tired or lazy to both when I get home from work. Thanksgiving was good for us, we all gathered at my mom's house for good food and family time. Since then I have been almost constantly either working or sleeping. My grandson got sick over the weekend and I went with my daughter to get him seen at the DR on Monday. It is his ears and a cough and cold, no flu thankfully so I guess that h1n1 shot did what it is suppose to do. Work is crazy as all the shoppers get ready for the holidays/ We don't seem to have enough help this year. With the economy the store is not hiring the extras. I'm tired already and we sill have over a month between the shopping and returns. I just want to know Is it January yet?
Our computer connection is on the blitz here and I have a tech coming out tomorrow. In the mean time I am on the lap top, stealing time off an unsecured network. I hope to have my own server back up tomorrow and if I do I will try to do another quick update

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