Another Christmas has come and gone...

So hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone...it just seems to be over so quickly.  All that planning and organizing and working so very hard to get it all just right and...POOF! It's over.  This year was bitter sweet for me.  Since I didn't get to make it home, it really didn't feel like Christmas.  But, I so completely enjoyed being in my own house, watching TV, cooking soup in the crock pot, knitting, napping and waiting on the coming snow storm.  Lord, this was heavenly.  Part of me feels like this is the ghost of Christmas future coming to visit me...giving me a glimpse of what is yet to come.

As my parents are approaching the end of their lives, holidays for me will take on a new meaning.  Today helped me see that I will have a choice in the impact these memory-filled days impact me.  I can be lonely, living in the past and sad...OR...I can chose to relish the down time and replenish my spirit...like I did today.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and made lots of memories with those you love.  But, I also hope you took some down time for yourself, to recharge your batteries and simply absorb the beauty of this season.

Thanks for stopping by Bob & Jo Ann's today!

All the best,
BJ

Bummer...

Well, my trip home has been postponed due to the weather.  The car was packed and I was heading West when I called my dad.  He said it was pouring the snow and wasn't supposed to slow up until tomorrow.   I turned around and headed back to my home.  So...I've opted to wait a few days and then head home.

I'm a little sad...but also a little excited to be home, watch TV, knit and sleep!  I'm so excited...I don't know what to do first.  Usually, I'm always cleaning something or organizing things or, even worse...working.  But today is a day when I can just lay around and do nothing and have NO guilt!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday with their family and making many memories!

All the best,
BJ

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Bob & Jo Ann!

Christmas Eve Memories

Christmas Eve...oh the memories this day brings.  The big thing when I was a kid was getting all dressed up in my new Christmas dress and going to my grandmother's house for dinner and gift exchange on Christmas Eve.  It was the one night of the year that we did something out of the focused routine my dad established...you see every night was dinner at 5:00 pm...at 5:30, my dad would go into the living room to watch television...usually the Beverly Hillbilly's reruns...at 6:00 the local news would come on and then 6:30 NBC Nightly News...regardless of what might be going on...this was THE routine every single night.

But, on Christmas Eve, we ate on my Grandmother's fancy china and sat at her big dining room table and ate a weird jello salad with a gigantic glob of mayonnaise..(to this day, the thought of that mayo and jello combo makes me want to vomit!)...once dinner was over we would into the living room where I would distribute the wrapped packages and the unwrapping would begin...

I would give anything...literally anything for just one more Christmas Eve like that...I miss my grandmother...I miss the smell of Christmas in her house...I miss how much fun it was to have a list of people to buy gifts for...I really no longer have that.  Oh I am definitely Santa Claus for my parents...but they both are at the stage where the their wants and needs are minimal.  Most of the fun for me is picking out or making just the perfect gifts...I really don't have that anymore and it simply saddens me.

But...today is Christmas Eve and I will make the best of it...I'll be making the 4 hour drive home.  It's supposed to snow there and so we'll have a white Christmas...Dad and I will go see Mom later today and also tomorrow...and she, more than likely, will not really be cognizant that it's really Christmas.  It makes me sad but we'll do the best we can to bring some cheer to Mom and ourselves.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas...one in which many warm and happy memories are made.

All the best,
BJ

It's almost time...

I love the old fashioned, traditional Santa Claus...reminds me of my Grandmother...this was the image of Santa Claus that she painted in my mind.  I was thinking back earlier today about how excited I would get about this time every year before Christmas back when I was little...I would give anything to find that excitement and sheer joy again...maybe one day I can find it.  

I hope your holiday plans are coming true just as you dreamed that they would.

Better hurry...it's almost time for the big day!

All the best,

BJ

On the list for next year

Okay...this year has been a bit of bust in terms of my getting "into" the Christmas spirit...I just haven't managed to get very excited with everything going on...however...I'm making a big ol' promise to myself...next year will be THE year for Christmas for me...come hell or high water, I'm going to jingle bells and Ho Ho Ho myself until I feel it from my head to my toes...

And so...with that...I'm going to start a file of ALL the things I want to do next year...this one will be at the TOP of my list...I find this to be stunning...what do you think???

I found this on Not Martha...and think it is the coolest thing EVER...I love the all three versions...I definitely plan on giving it a try!

A special holiday gift for my dad

First of all...Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy Kwanza...and happy merry everything else I may have missed!  The past month has been a bear...was in a car accident...thankfully nobody was hurt and...IT WASN'T MY FAULT!  LOL!  Some poor guy rear-ended me.  I was sitting still when I was hit from behind by a guy going 45 mph...UGH...

Then...just discovered that the sub flooring in my kitchen will need to be replaced...yes, all of it replaced along with the kitchen cabinets due to extensive water damage from a leaking dishwasher.  SIGH...

PLUS!  THERE'S MORE!  I have my wireless service with Verizon.  I participate in their cool "new every two" program.  It provides a new phone a $0 to minimal cost every two years.  My new free phone...a Droid...arrived on 11/26.  On 12/18, I managed to drop the phone from my back pocket into the toilet as I pulled up my pants! LOL...sorry for the visuals that probably just popped into your head but...it's just too good of story to pass up.

It's a long story but...Verizon came through even though I did not have insurance on the phone.  I received my replacement last week...thankfully!

I tell you all of these stories to point out that I was walking around feeling all down in the dumps with all this crap going on...feeling sorry for myself.  And as I was whining on the phone with MetLife to open up my water damage claim, I realized that there are people without a place to live...and I have the audacity to sit here complaining?  My insurance is covering all of the repairs?  What's my issue?  Verizon replaced my phone...My car has been repaired after my accident...AM I SO SPOILED THAT I CAN'T SEE THAT I'M SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED???

So, now to update you on Bob & Jo Ann...there's really nothing new.  Mom now has mostly bad days...her hallucinations seem to be quite frightening.  At times she is violent in terms of throwing things, refusing to speak to my dad or just flat out not making any sense.  Dad just tries to deal with each day...he continues to show such strength and grace.  I'm trying to learn from his example. 

I'll be heading home for Christmas on Friday...I'm a little excited about the gift I have to give my dad.  I am so incredibly hopeful he will like it...the weekend before my dad closed the sale of our old house, Dad and I went over to the house for the last time.  It was a bright crisp fall day...I took about a million pics...I selected the very best ones and had large prints made.  I received them today...Lord, they are GORGEOUS!  THEN...I went shopping and found the most perfect rustic-looking frames EVER!!!  They are going to be perfect in my dad's new little house.  The shots are just from his old property...places that hold memories for us.  Here are the photos...

Old apple trees

Trees on the property

Pine tree that was "home' to a kitty I rescued

The driveway just as we got ready to leave for the last time

After I get them framed, I'll post more photos...I really think this will mean a lot to my dad...although the house I grew up in was freakishly small (right 850 square feet) for 4 people, it was my dad's Taj Mahal.  He loved this place and the 2 acres that went with it.  I hope these photos will help document it for him.

Will leave you all to go back to finishing up your holiday preparation or...just resting up for the big day.

Good wishes to you and your family!

BJ

Merry Christmas