Happy Thanksgiving!!

Meal planning was done a few days ago, multiple trips to the grocery store have been made, and many dishes were prepared yesterday.  We are in GA visiting Steve’s family for our annual Thanksgiving vacation.  All of Steve’s family lives in Gainesville, so when we come down it is a week-long party at Grammy and Gramps…with cousins coming and going all week.  There are 11 grandkids ranging from 12-21 in age (4 boys and 7 girls).  If you do the math, you will figure out that we had at one time 11 kids running around here under the age of 9!!  Yes, those were the days…lots of dirty diapers, spit up, baby food, crying, baby toys strewn all over the house, pallets in every room for nap time, and a lot of loving from Grammy and Gramps.

Today we look around and we have practically all teenagers and a couple of young adults!  The house is crazy in a different way…5 licensed drivers, 3 permit drivers, 3 in college, 5 in HS, 3 in MS, 20 cell phones constantly buzzing or making funny rings, the boys are constantly hungry, the girls are huddled around their cell phones giggling, the boys are making crazy videos, the computer is constantly in demand, and then there is shopping, movies, and errands to run for the adults. Did I mention a lot of hormones??

While all the craziness is happening, you can always find Gramps sitting in his recliner twirling his back scratcher and Grammy sitting close by on the couch knitting or reading a book (or in the kitchen making homemade biscuits)…both with big smiles on their face because they love having their grandbabies all around them no matter how old they are.

Well, let the day begin.  I’m off to help my mother-in-law with final lunch preparations.  We will have our feast around noon.  The house will start filling up soon with family which brings a lot of activity, eating, smiles and laughter.  After our meal, the guys will watch football and the ladies will start going through sales papers to make our shopping lists for tomorrow….what fun!

On this Thanksgiving Day, I would have to say besides my salvation that I am most grateful for my family!  Thank you, Lord, for such a precious gift!  Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Technology Overload

Remember the days before cable TV, remote controllers, computers, cordless phones, cell phones, digital cameras, Ipods, PSPs, and other modern technology that we can’t imagine living without. With 3 teenagers living in my house, I believe we are about to exceed the national record for the number of chargers & USB connectors in one household (5 cell phones, 1 iTouch, 2 Ipods, 2 digital cameras, 4 flash drives, video camera, 2 remote controllers and a bluetooth headset for PlayStation, rechargeable batteries, and the list goes on). Consequently, I had to buy an USB 7-port hub because we had some many that needed to go in our computer. Not to mention, we have a whole drawer in our kitchen dedicated to chargers that we aren’t sure what they go to but are afraid to throw them away.

It’s amazing that we have 6 home telephones (5 are cordless) and 5 cell phones in this house, and we still have to look for a phone sometimes to use. I knew it was getting bad when my kids (who were upstairs) used their cell phones to call me (I was downstairs) on the home phone to ask me a question or tell me they were hungry. Ha! It also amazes me that the phone will ring and no one seems to care and just lets it ring as if a phone is not right beside them. I guess the kids know it isn’t for them since their main mode of communication is their own cell phone or Facebook (by the way, do not email a teenager..they do not check emails anymore…that is an ancient way of communication for them). Unfortunately, our generation is still clinging to email (Steve and I have 3 email accounts each between work and personal) while testing other avenues of communications.

Speaking of communication…can you believe how many different forms of communication is available online. Just in the last 7 months, Steve and I have started 2 blogs and both joined Facebook. That is a full time job within itself. I am not as faithful as Steve in posting on his blog and chatting on Facebook but it has been fun. Well, guess what our latest communication discovery is? We have had family and friends tell us about Skype before, but we didn’t pay much attention to it until recently. Steve saw it in action during a planning meeting last week while in FL. He just had to try it out. So now we are on Skype and we have talked with family and friends all over the world (yes, the world…my brother and his family live in Saudi Arabia and we have a missionary friend in China).

Most days I am so grateful for all the modern technology; but there are some days when I think about sitting on a kitchen chair near the rotary dial telephone with the long, spiral phone cord–really paying attention to the conversation without multi-tasking or being interrupted by an incoming call or text, or a reminder going off on my Palm.

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Home Sweet Home

No matter where you go, it is always so good to come home. In addition for caring for my mom during her initial recovery, I had a few projects I wanted to do before I left–make a medical information notebook and medicine schedule; clean out pantry, refrigerator and freezer; send thank you notes for meals and gifts; etc. Those projects were done, mom was doing good, and now it was time for me to be reunited with my family in Raleigh.

I told my mom goodbye the night before I left, since I was leaving around 6 am the next morning and didn’t expect her to be awake. Much to my surprise, mom woke up and came into the kitchen while I was finishing up a few things late into the night. I think we were both thrilled to have just another few minutes together before I had to leave. After a quick trip to the hospital to see my older brother, Rusty, and his wife, Darlene, and her family (her dad was having open heart surgery 2 wks after mom), I arrived home on Thursday afternoon and was greeted by my sweet husband. It was so nice to be home and back in his arms. I also had a sweet reunion with each of the kids as they arrived home after school, golf, and play practice.

You will be glad to know that the house was in one piece when I returned and it was somewhat in order. Steve and the kids made a great effort putting things back in order before I arrived. Mom surprised me with a special thank you gift, so I spent some time at a spa on Friday getting a massage and a pedicure while my house was being cleaned. What a special treat…clean house and relaxed…ahhhh! Now back to taking care of my family and fattening up my boys (Steve lost 10 lbs while I was away!). Lots of cooking on the schedule and making sweet tea (I just made my 3rd gallon since I’ve been home :).   It is so good to be Home Sweet Home!

A special thank you to our friends and church family for all your prayers, cards, comments on Facebook and our blogs, and providing meals for my family while I was away.

PS Darlene’s dad made it through his 5-bypass surgery fine and is doing well in recovery. We are thrilled to hear this report!

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