Talk About A Christmas Angel

                        This was our last Christmas tree in Georgia, a huge twelve foot Fraser Fir.

Last year was the first time ever ( I believe) that we didn't have a real tree. A couple of years when we were broke as jokes, other people bought us a tree. We've always been blessed.

Last year was a tough Christmas for me. I was still reeling from my job transfer to Orlando gone awry and struggling to learn my new job, not to mention was suddenly living over four hundred miles away from my home of fifty six years. I've never been through depression that deep or long lasting before..even when we were poor as church mice

It was one of the toughest things I've ever (luckily) battled back from or against. 

Flash forward one year.

I've made some friends... good friends, mostly all from work but work is pretty much what I do best.

We all traveled back to Georgia this past weekend to let Massey walk with her class at college graduation. I was a nervous wreck about leaving the dogs. It's not easy when you own three huge dogs and two of them don't get along. We have the 'dog swap' down to a science. Our old blind boxer is just too nervous to be around our lunatic young boxer and have to keep them apart. What's even crazier is that they lay facing each other through the back sliding glass door and Ziggy has never once growled or been aggressive towards seeing Ham less than a foot away from him. Ham, the blind one, doesn't see Ziggy staring at him but know he senses that he is there and seems okay with it as well.

Go figure.

We found the perfect dog sitter. A coworker of mine who also owns three dogs and a couple of cats. One of the cats doesn't coexist well with her pups so she is all too aware of the separation factor. She's been to our house a couple of times and seen us do the 'swap'.  I typed out every instruction for her, which ended up being two pages long. Then the weather threw us another curve. Temps in the thirties forecast for Orlando with rain to boot. I lined the dog house out back with fresh shavings so when Ham had to be left out would have a warm place to go. She agreed to stay overnight so Ham could sleep inside and she would sleep in our bedroom with Ziggy...door shut.

I thought about the dogs...a lot ,but after not hearing from her, knew they were all hunky dory.

And they were!

We had to stay an extra day in Georgia because of a snow storm which cancelled graduation from Saturday afternoon and moved to Sunday evening.

She acted as if it was nothing when I texted and agreed to stay Sunday until around eleven PM, putting Ham out back in the yard with a warm dog house before she left for her own home.

Tim and I left the graduation around eight PM. We dropped Zach back off in Newnan and hit the road for Orlando around nine. We rolled back into Orlando after three in the morning, just in time to do another dog swap and let Ham sleep inside, in the living room, with Ziggy sleeping with us in the bedroom.


We walked in to the house and were greeted by a fully decorated three foot Christmas tree with lights.

There was a mason jar filled with spiced holiday tea, a can of white chocolate covered pretzels and cookies and a plate of fudge in the fridge. There was also a $25 gift card for Cracker Barrel...the place Massey and I frequent to get our JawJa fix. The icing on the proverbial cake was her Christmas card.

      She told me the next day that she knew Massey wanted a Christmas tree this year.


                  Now we have one , and in our tiny temp rental, looks and feels like a six footer! She is one of the nicest gals I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and feel grateful for her friendship. I couldn't believe all she did for us, when actually was us who owed her or taking excellent care of our pups.

I've made good friends here and beginning to feel at home in Florida. She and Massey hit it off  and now are pals as well.

It's hard building a new life in a new place after well over half a century but when you surround yourself with wonderful people, makes it a much more pleasant transistion.

Last year this same time, the verdict was still out as to whether or not I could be happy here. This year, the verdict is in. I can, and I am. Most of the thanks go to the wonderful people I have met and surrounded myself with here in Orlando

Thanks to our Christmas Angel, our dogs survived us being out of town and came home to find our place all decorated for Christmas.

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol:


"But I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely."

To be honest, I'm actually not too sure what I've done right in my life.

I've made a lot of  turns in my life, some for the better and some for the worse. But in the grand scheme of it all, think I'm an okay person.

At the end of your day, go to bed feeling like you have been an okay person that day.


Baby steps.

                                             If you haven't...tomorrow is another chance.



                                                                      If you're lucky.

Love fast and love hard.

Merry Christmas

COTTON

Can This Be Real?

So I finished my gig as a "Mattress Maven" (as my sister called me) on Thursday. The last day was a stressful one. Let's talk about it:

A dude was buying a mattress (from the other salesman who works when I am off) going through our financing option. It took forever for him to finally get all his paperwork together but came in to make the down payment and take his mattress home. I know the guy so after faxing over the contract, getting his check for the down payment and sticking it into  the check processing thing a-ma-jig (technically speaking)  went to the back of  the store to help him load it. He borrowed a truck from a friend, who sat in the passenger side. I weigh ninety five pounds soaking wet even with hot flash sweat but the guy who bought the (king size) mattress is kinda big so together we hoisted it out the back door. Getting it up onto the truck was another thing.

The guy asked "What do we do now?" to which I replied "How about asking your friend to get out of his truck and help?"

I know I said it loud enough for the non helping dude to hear but obviously felt his loan of a vehicle was help enough and remained in his truck.

It wasn't easy and my neck still hurts but simply pushed my head under the mattress and held it up while the other man pulled it into the back of the pick up.

Major success. Off  they went! (after convincing  him to tie it down)  I was behind a vehicle once with a mattress flopping in the wind and the driver pulled over at  the last minute before it flew off the roof.

Sweating like a lone Klansman at  the Apollo I went back inside to finish up the paper work. I pulled his check out of the processing machine for his down payment to  write down the approval code and immediately felt like throwing up. The message on  the machine read "DECLINED."

I just let this guy drive off  with an almost thousand dollar mattress and even waved good bye to them.

I immediately called him on his cell and told him his check had been declined. He said that was crazy and I said that may be so but the contract for financing called for him to make the down payment and since he hadn't, I was in deep do do.

He asked if it was okay to take the mattress home since his buddy needed his truck back and then come back to give me the down payment? Like the idiot I am, I said  that would be fine and mentally crossed my fingers.

Now don't get me wrong, over the past few years when we were desperate I would kite some checks but were to keep  the lights, water or gas on and I had overdraft protection.My checks always cleared, I was just left with a hefty NFS charge.

He called me back two hours later and said "We" had a problem with the mattress." I wanted to say "No sh*t. It's not paid for."

He told me the mattress didn't fit on his bed frame. I told him if he had a king size bed, we had loaded up a king size mattress (as I rubbed my sore neck) and it should fit. He said he would just bring the mattress back.

Maybe he re-thought his bounced check or maybe he was an idiot or maybe I didn't even care at this point...all I knew was my last day was the next and certainly wasn't going out leaving  almost a thousand dollars worth of merchandise unaccounted for under my watch.

I clocked in for my last shift the next  morning and was a nervous wreck. I called his cell numerous times and got no answer. I got smarter and used a land line he wouldn't recognize and he picked up after the first ring. Once pegged down he said he would bring the mattress back but didn't have a truck. I told him Home Depot rented them for $19.00 for seventy minutes and he'd best hurry over there and rent one. He promised to have the mattress back by five.

By six I was sweating, and not only from hot flashes. Fifteen minutes before we closed a big ole truck backed up to the loading door and saw the mattress in the back.

Once again he got out of the truck and had another story. The dude driving just had back surgery and couldn't help. By this point I would have carried it myself and almost did.

All's well that ends well. It was still in the bag and made it back to inventory.

It was totally my fault for not running the check first, therefore it was totally my fault for letting it go out the door.

I was just worried we'd never see it again  and go out as a scorned and burned mattress maven. Not to mention I'd be responsible for the cost of the mattress.

So I squeaked out clean and relieved.

The owner sent me a nice text  after I posted my last rms. (retail management system report) and said I had done a great job and hoped to work with me again in the future.

Be careful for what you ask for!

Bullet dodged and lesson learned.

Back to being a server full time but hitting it at  the right time. The holidays. It's our beach season. Did great all weekend and with fingers crossed, Tim flies out of town this next weekend to explore a job opportunity that may be an answer to all our prayers. Keep me on your prayer list.

It's been a hard tough four years but we've made it. I've been with Tim for over a quarter of a century. (He says it feels more like fifty) We sailed smoothly for twenty years then hit an iceberg which felt like living on the Titanic with  three kids aboard, three pups who needed us too and no where to run (or swim).

Swim, tread water, paddle and pray...and not in that order.

I'm the luckiest woman on earth.

I know I use Dr.Seuss quotes a lot, (my younger son is a Seuss fanatic) which is a good thing to me but the man simply seems like a genius to me.

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”


It's all about Karma. Live your life and expect nothing more than you've given.


Yes I'm a you tube music freak but here's some words that totally speak to me.

"Lean On Me"

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain, we all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on

Please, swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show

You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on

You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

If there is a load
You have to bear that you can't carry
I'm right up the road, I'll share your load
If you just call me.


We have had so many people who not only shared our load but lightened it. I have so much to pay back it could be a full time job and would feel blessed to have it.


 Thank You God, thank you family, thank you friends and thank you thousands who read my drivel. I love you all right back.

Chugging Along

Still chugging along. Hit a snag with my pup, Ham and it devastated me. He tested positive for heart worms and now his eye surgery is on hold. He can live without being able to see but can't live with heart worms or be put under anesthesia for surgery so we are prioritizing. When he tested positive at the low cost mobile vet our county has once a week the quick kill was $500...that was about $450 more than I had.  He has friends who have been sending money for his eye surgery and after contacting them  agreed I could use the money they had both sent to be added the small amount I have been able to save and go ahead with the quick kill. It will take one month as opposed to the slow kill two year plan. I spoke with the specialist last night and we agreed to reschedule once he is cleared. Let's just hope all goes well this Thursday at the doc in a box. My youngest pup tested negative and has been given preventative. (Thanks to Massey) Dragging the doofus bulldog with us on Thursday and getting him tested as well. The vet is a nice guy and lets me post date checks so I will pay for Ham , post date a check for Charlie and have all three pups on preventative. It makes me sick that I let this happen but the past few years have taken their toll on us and we were barely able to keep our house. Heck , my kids shots are due, Massey needs therapy for her bum knee and Zach has been off his ADD meds since we hit the skids. I haven't had a physical in ten years but live by  the motto "Ignorance is bliss" so I'm good.

We're doing  better now it's just hard to get back on track after a huge financial tumble and as much as I love my pups, my kids have to come first. The pups are more well behaved and gripe less but the kids could possibly get  their act together one day and be well off  enough one day to buy me my dream cottage on the beach.

Work has started to pick up which means my pay check has started to pick up...From after Thanksgiving to New Years is our busiest time and I plan on working as much as I can.

Had a great Thanksgiving at my sister's. It's just me, my brother and sister left in our immediate family but love is large between us and makes it seem like we are still one big happy family.

Funny story...my cousin who we  recently re connected with after decades joined us for Thanksgiving so I brought along the old family photo albums. She was a little girl when my  Momma died but has fond memories of "Aunt Ann." There were many pics of her own mother in the albums and pics of her father (my Momma's brother) who died back in the eighties. Then the stories started.

There was a pic of my Diddy on vacation at  the beach with us the year after Momma died. He had on these short plaid swim trunks  I think he must have bought the year he married Momma. They were hideous.

It was a sad vacation,  the first one without Momma. My brother decided we should all go to  the water park..."The Big Kahuna."

Diddy had certainly never been  to  a water park and didn't really want to go but we all shoved him into a car and off we went. My  brother talked him into going down one of the flumes first. It's simple. You sit on a foam mat and make your way  to the bottom.  Diddy  was apprehensive but since he (as usual) paid for all of us to get in,  gave up and joined us up the wet plank steps to the top. He stood at  the top of the flume while Chris gave him instructions. Diddy put his mat down and sat on it. He pushed off gently anticipating a nice slow ride to the bottom. Not five seconds after Diddy left the top and rounded the first corner my brother dove chest first onto his mat and pushed himself along with his arms catching up with and smacking into Diddy around the first curve which sent them both tumbling off their mats and ended up in a heap  as they fell into the wading pool at  the end of the ride. Diddy was not amused...my brother was hysterical.

Back up the steps they went for round two. This time Diddy  refused to go first and may have called my brother a jack ass. He told Chris to go first so Chris did. Diddy stood at  the top of the flume for at  least thirty seconds after Chris disappeared around the first turn. He sat on his mat and gently pushed off. He rounded the first curve and saw my brother holding on to both sides of the flume with his arms waiting for my unsuspecting Diddy to smack hard into him and they both once again tumbled the entire way to the bottom.

Diddy got out of the wading pool and his swim trunks were ripped wide apart in the back from the fiberglass flume. He had to walk around the rest of the day with his foam mat wrapped around him like a blanket so people weren't staring at  the strap of his jock.

My sister and I went to Wal Mart that night and bought him a new pair of trunks that came to his knees  and didn't require a jock strap.

I hadn't thought of that story in almost thirty years but when I saw that picture of Diddy in those short trunks it reminded me and I laughed until I had tears telling the story.

We were never rich financially as kids but we were rich beyond belief with love. Two amazing parents and the happiest childhood any kid could hope for. We didn't have much but wanted for nothing.

I hope my own kids feel the same way.

I'm not the best wife or mom but  love my husband and family so much it hurts. I hope I live long enough to sit around the Thanksgiving table with grand kids and tell THEM  funny stories about their own mom and dads.

I was a lucky kid. I am a lucky adult. I am a lucky mom..

Life is what you make it. Having money doesn't make a life, love does.

Til next  time...COTTON

Jolly Old Saint Christopher, Lean Your Ear This Way...

It's after midnight and I just got home. Went into work at 10:30 this morning and had to pick up Zach on the way. I had a thirty minute break between shifts, Zach worked pretty much straight through.

The Blackberry my brother gave Massey died an unexpected death the other day. Massey has no qualms about calling her uncle when she has any wants or desires. She called and asked if he had another one she could use? When he said he didn't I guess she sighed a little too sadly , and that's all it took.

Today he picked her up after school and took her to Verizon where we were due for an upgrade. After they left Verizon they came into eat dinner at Mama Lucia's.

Massey snapped this picture of Jolly Old Saint Christopher with her brand new iPhone4.

When she told me he had bought her the iPhone all I could think of to say was "Shut the front door!"

My brother takes wonderful care of me and my sister and has helped us out far too many  times to count (although I'm sure he's probs counting fo sho!)  Massey...he spoils like a princess.

He has saved my neck probably almost as many times as he's wanted to wring it but still seems to love me. He also loves to torment me (small price to pay if you ask me) and I absolutely love him to death. I can honestly say I have never met anyone who doesn't like him, except maybe the garbage men who worked in our neighborhood when we were kids or maybe crazy Joe Brown, the custodian at our high school.

Massey said it was an early birthday present. For Pete's sake...her birthday isn't til  the middle of August! She is on cloud nine and most probably already picking out the car she wants him to buy her for an early Christmas present in the middle of August.

I love that he spoils her though. I wish I could. When we hit rock bottom it was tough on her. She goes to a high school where a lot of kids get brand new cars for their sixteenth birthday and wear nothing but American Eagle, Lizard Thicket and Izod. Massey wears hand me downs, thrift shop finds and "Ross Dress For Less."

 The thing that I DO admire about her is that she has never ONCE complained about it and is always THRILLED when friends of mine give her hand me downs.  I have friends that have taken her shopping and friends that simply went out and bought her things of their own accord.

I have said it before and will repeat it again and again..."I am a lucky woman."

Teen status is so over rated. (unless you are a girl and sixteen) I can at least remember THAT much  about being a teen. If I wanted cool looking clothes, my Momma made them on her Singer sewing machine and they looked better than the store bought ones the other girls wore. I guess I need to say this as well..."I was a LUCKY teen too."

Let's give inmate 547 some blog time too...

This is a pizza Zach cooked tonight at work.  Bless his heart he got his butt kicked from the time he went in at 10:30 AM til I picked him up at  11:15 PM. Lunch was off the chain. I consider myself a seasoned veteran but felt like I was in a cartoon much of the lunch shift and at some points could swear I heard that bongo noise Fred Flintstones feet used to make when he was running really fast through the cave passing the same chair and lamp four times in a row.

I came back for my dinner shift and the chaos started again. For some reason everyone wanted  a pizza. The owner,  Len came out to show me a pizza Zach had burned...and he said "I told your boy if he burned something so bad that even I wouldn't eat it he was in serious trouble. He's lucky I'm starving."  Then he took a bite of the most charred pizza pie I have ever seen. He sat the pizza down in his office and when he walked away I took this picture. Jeez...he ate almost half of it!

I left after 9:30 and felt like I was walking on upward facing thorns. I came home and cruised through FB for a while. I headed back to pick up my felon around eleven and when I walked in the front door he was picking up the phone at  the host stand to call me.

Took him back to his current digs and came home for the night.

Tim called the Major in charge at the prison today and found out Zach will get released this Saturday. Glory be to GOD!!

My life ain't pretty sometimes but at least I am willing to admit it. My kids aren't perfect but I love them as if they were.

The thing I like about my blog is that I just put it out here..."The good,  the bad and the ugly."

No one is perfect and to pretend you are,  fools no one but yourself  and in fact makes you look like one.

I deeply and tremendously appreciate all the support I have received and don't think for a minute... or even a second I don't intend to pay it forward for a long long time. The road I have traveled these past couple of years has been tough  but has brought out the best in me. It has brought out the best in my family and it has brought out the best in my friends and even strangers.

I'll say it one more time here and say it every night in my prayers..."I am a lucky woman."

Getting up and doing it again...COTTON