Christmas Is Coming, The Tips Are Getting Phat

I was starting to get worried about Christmas. Waiting tables is a hit or miss job even if you  give excellent service all  the time. Some people simply don't get it.

Servers make $2.13 an hour. Taxes on your tips are taken out of that salary. Then as with most places, the server has to tip out to the bartenders on alcohol sales and also tip out to hosts and bus boys. So if  you leave a server a fifteen percent tip, they actually get eleven or twelve percent after tip out.

I've been struggling this holiday season. Sometimes you  get great tables and sometimes you get horrible tables. I've had a few bad ones, no one's fault just my luck of the draw.

Tonight was a whole new ballgame and restored my faith in deciding to be a professional plate and drink slinger for a living.

They were loving me and I was hitting all the marks. The cooks did an outstanding job and the job they do makes a huge difference in the way my night can go. Cooks are a temperamental bunch and can be complete A Holes at  times. They think we are all idiots and we think they all are. It makes for  lively conversation sometimes.

Tonight after they sent out my fourteen top flawlessly and not one thing was wrong, undercooked or overcooked during the biggest push of the night I went back to the expo line, peered through the window and said "Hey, North Korea, y'all did an awesome job tonight."

One of the newer  cooks said to another cook, "What's she talking about?"  One of the older cook's, who reads my Blog said "She says the expo window divides the restaurant. We're North Korea and  they're South Korea." (unless  you ask a cook, then it flips the other way)

I waited on five tables and walked out with almost two hundred dollars, (after) tipping out. I don't want to jinx myself because tomorrow night could be a disaster shift but just knowing I can still do it made my night and boosted up my confidence, which needed a boost.

Tim picked me up from work and I was in the back finishing up cleaning the tables from my last party when the owner hollered back (we were closed by then) "Kelly! Your husband's here for his half of your take." I walked out and said to Tim, waiting for me to finish "I only made twenty bucks tonight, baby."

Yes I work for and with some crazy folks but guess that's why I fit in so well. After almost four years of working almost seven days a week every week, the tide is slowly turning. I'm working six shifts a week compared to the thirteen I used to work and have actually begun to gain a little weight back and feel like we can make it now. Tim has a great lead on a full time job, all three kids are working and the tide seems to finally be turning our way.

I wasn't worried about Christmas for my family. I gave the kids a low budget and already have all of Massey's paid for. I'm paying for Zach's tomorrow and have already gotten a few other presents. I was more worried about the little girl we had adopted from  The Salvation Army. I was worried I had bitten off too much to chew but tonight changed everything...she'll have a great Christmas now and get everything on her wish list!

I heard a great quote last night. "Christmas isn't about what you  get, it's about what you give."

Here's another good one to remember. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

I am one of the most blessed people on the planet and don't think for  a minute that I don't realize it.

Charging ahead full steam. I still have eighteen days to go in our Holiday Season at the restaurant and have a good feeling about it.

This was the best Friday the Thirteenth I've ever had!

Til next time. COTTON

Dang That Went Fast

It's hard to believe another Christmas has almost rolled around again. The older you get the quicker time flies by.

Massey came home today and it's nice having two of the three home for the holidays. TJ's still in Australia and it will be our first Christmas without him.

He seems happy though and that makes me happy. We still have his "boy" Charlie living large with us. Loving the little doofus was hard to get used to but fat boy has worked his way into my heart and  now love him like crazy. Tim calls him "Chally Fat Boy" and I call him "Chally TWO Phat." He rarely answers to anything, we  think he's most probably deaf and already know he's dumb but he's deafinitely (small pun) one of the family. He's got a face you GOTTA love.

Unfortunately , this is his SMART look but he's a great dog and Ham and Ziggy both love him.

TJ got him this shirt when he was still just a pup.

So  the Clampetts are doing Christmas again. It's gonna be another slim year but I quit worrying about  that over four years ago. One good thing about not having a lot of money is you learn  to enjoy the Reason for the Season.

I have a great family and I have great kids. I have a great husband who hasn't tried to kill me yet and the best friends a person could hope to have.

My many, many blessings far outweigh any financial problems. I'd rather be broke and loved than rich and unloved.

It was only a few short years ago that we were struggling simply to keep  the utilities on and keep our house out of foreclosure. Oh we're still behind, but who isn't besides rich peeps?

It's gotten better with every year. Sometimes we've been knocked back down a peg or  two but with the survival net we thankfully have (God, family and friends)  always seem to make ends meet.

I often think about  families this time of year who don't even HAVE a house or place to call home TO lose. I think about people suffering  from cancer or other horrible, devastating sometimes (often) fatal diseases. I think about little kids who are abused or neglected. I think about people starving in third world countries.  I think about women who live in countries where they can't even receive an education. I think about how utterly stupid our own politicians are, worried more about the party they are affiliated with than the people they represent.

Then I think about how extremely lucky I am. Money is over rated in my book and if I died  tomorrow could (hopefully would) make it to the Pearly Gates with nothing more than a carry on bag.

I ask you all this holiday season to look around yourself and see others. Lend a hand or just an ear. Touch someone's life. Make a true difference.

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Life is all about Karma. What goes around comes around. Life is all about the Golden Rule. Treat others as you  would treat yourself. Life is not what you make of it but what you  take from it and pay forward.


"I think some people are too scared, or something. I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses." (Trevor in Pay It Forward)

Our world is in serious need of a make over. I worry about the world as much  as I do about my own family. We all live in the same place.


We'll be just fine, it's the other almost seven billion I worry  about.

 
"You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one."

A very Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. Take a minute, even just ten seconds out of your day to  think about people less fortunate than yourself and then count YOUR blessings. Count them one by  one and you will also be amazed what The Lord has done.

Til next  time, which most probs  will be about  ten hours...COTTON

YIKES The Year Went By Fast

I can hardly believe it is already the first week of December. Where has the year gone and is Christmas really in twenty two days?

Business has really started to pick up at the restaurant, a sure sign that the holidays are upon us.

I used to get all into decorating  the house and front yard, especially when the kids were younger. Now my youngest is over eighteen and living away at college so guess I'll get a tree and let it go at that. I have all the lights for the front bushes in boxes out in the garage but doubt I'll put them up. There's always that one strand which blows a fuse and they all go out, plus I used to love to come home from work and see  the yard all lit up. Now I'd just drive home, see them and think about how the power bill was going up.

I did my fair share when the kids were little and it counted the most.

I haven't even THOUGHT about Christmas shopping. I've never been one of those early shoppers, even when Tim and I were making good money. We've always made sure all December's bills were paid before we even started to shop and then paid cash for what we purchased. It's still one of the best rules we've ever come up with.

I have plenty of memories of the kids at Christmas when they were little. We always put their toys and presents out, unwrapped like Santa had come. I've always been a server and most always worked nights. I can remember coming home from work or the in laws on Christmas Eve and wishing the kids would go to bed so I could get started on my Santa duty. More than once I can remember saying to the kids "You sound like you're coming down with a cold. You don't want to be sick Christmas morning, take this Benadryl, it'll help you stay well." After they were knocked out I'd get started and could be as loud as I wanted.

Now they are all older,  we can enjoy Christmas as it should be enjoyed,  "The Reason for the Season." It's the time to bake cookies and cheese straws. It's the time to go by  The Salvation Army and pick up a small list of things some child wished for. It's  the time to invite friends over who have nowhere to go on Christmas Day. It's the time to reflect and affect.

So we've had some hard knocks the last few years but if not making six figures a year again is the worst thing to ever happen  to our family, we have been truly and sincerely blessed.

When I worked for the After School Program at  my kid's elementary school, I saw kids who broke my heart. I'll never forget one little girl, she couldn't have been more than nine years old. Her momma was a big ole slob who didn't have a pot to piss in but always had a manicure and fake nails. Her daughter always looked ragged and dirty but was such a sweet girl. When the kids came back to school after Christmas break I remember my boss asking this little girl what she got from Santa? The little girl's face lit up and she said "I got a candy bar and a five dollar bill!" I think this was one Christmas when we bought our boys a PlayStation, and Massey got spoiled too.

How can you spend forty bucks  a month on your ten finger nails but only spend five dollars on your daughter for Christmas? I still think about little Brandie and hope she survived and thrived.

Another little boy, Chase was just as pitiful. He came to school every day nasty and constantly had a snotty nose. His fingernails were long and disgustingly dirty. One day I kept him in when the other kids went out to play. I sat him down and took out some nail clippers. When I cut his nails, he cringed every time I pressed the clippers. How sad is it that a child is frightened of having his nails clipped because it happened so infrequently?

Here's my biggest gripe. If you don't want to take care of children or attempt to give  them a good life...don't have them. If you are selfish, that's fine but don't bring a child into this world and then neglect them while you take care of yourself.

I'm stopping by  The Salvation Army tomorrow to pick up a wish list.

Let me tell you MY wish list!

I wish people didn't hate so much.
I wish more people believed in Karma and The Golden Rule.
I wish I could immediately pay back all the people who have helped us survive the past five years.
I wish everyone cared.
I wish every person could see how even if their life seems bad there may be tens of millions who  wish they had your life.

I wish the world well.

John Lennon may have had the best wish list of all:


So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now


Til next time, Merry Christmas, and remember the Reason For the Season.

COTTON

Yikes!

Why do I always do this? I've had two days off since Thanksgiving. I have tomorrow off but work a double Friday, Saturday and work Sunday and Monday. I haven't bought the first present. I will have to admit I am getting better. There have been years when I haven't shopped til Christmas Eve. Guess I'm getting somewhat better. I had a last table that sat forever tonight and paid a co worker five bucks to clean and reset it. She refused the money but it was truly helping me (thanks Dayna) and stuffed the five into her apron. I went to Big Lots and bought a couple of stocking stuffers and some tins for baked goods.

I have my game plan for tomorrow all mapped out and written down. I'm using my two hundred dollar bonus from work and making it happen come hell or high water. First on the list is the store I call "Ross Mess For Less." It's a disorganized mess and you have to hunt for  right sizes which are always misplaced but  a great bargain store.

All my kids are old enough to know we ain't rich and there ain't no Santa. That helps tremendously.

The kids are getting clothes. Zach is getting shoes...his one pair look pitiful and are actually ones I bought at  Ross LAST year!

I don't say any of this to sound pitiful because we are far from it. I say it to inspire others who have been in the same place. Keep fighting!  Two years ago we WERE pitiful. We were six months behind on our mortgage, both had been out of work and were on food stamps.

This year we are only eight weeks behind on our mortgage and current on most all bills. In this economy...I call that a WIN! It's been tough road, but to  catch up from six months behind to only eight weeks seems phenomenal to me. I have a great husband who is now totally gray headed but still good looking and for some crazy reason still loves me. I still have three kids. I still have a house. I have a dog who would have died without help from many generous friends. I have family that helps me time and time and time again. I am lucky and blessed person.

We have many mirrors in  the restaurant where I work. I see myself in them as I am taking orders  and see an old, tired woman. Yes it's disheartening to see how thin I am and how much I have aged...but at least I am aging. The alternative is very unappealing...face up in a box six feet under.

Here's the real deal about Christmas. I give money  to the bell ringers from Salvation Army every time I see  them. On the way into store and on the way out. I'm no saint, far from it but give myself a rating of seven on a scale of ten. I will have all three of my kids here this Christmas. My sister and her husband are coming along with her two sons and their girlfriends. My brother is coming...probably reluctantly and I don't blame him but he likes my cooking and he is in charge of Bloody  Mary's.

I made enough money  tonight to buy a ham and fixings! We're having ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, my famous macaroni and cheese, asparagus casserole and baked beans with bacon. Making yummy Jalapeno squares with artichoke hearts and parmesan cheese. Toll house cookies and Rice Krispie Treats.

No one is getting a car or a fur coat. My brother would get both if we could afford it. We are simply going to have a wonderful day in usual "Leach"  style. Making fun of each other, enjoying a great meal and telling stories about our crazy  family...who I love with my whole heart.

Christmas will be just fine, I have no doubt.

I do, however think about how Christmas will be in well over twenty homes in Connecticut. We don't have much  money  but still have each other. What they lost is priceless and can never be replaced. My gift to each and every one of them (small but heartfelt) is  they are in my thoughts and constantly in my prayers.

They will never get over it but simply have to learn how to live with it.

"Charlotte, Daniel, Rachel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Dawn, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jessie, James, Grace, Anne, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Lauren, Mary, Victoria, Benjamin and Allison ... Rest in God's Arms and know you are in all our hearts."

Getting up and doing it again!  COTTON

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

My brother.

He is in a class all his own. He is just like our Diddy except that he smokes an occasional cigar and likes Bloody Marys. That's one thing we have in common..The Bloody Marys.

I have never met someone who doesn't like him and if I did it would be a person that didn't carry their own weight. My brother is big about expectations and  commitments.

My Mom died when I was 17. I was devastated and shocked.

 I wasn't even through being a complete bitch to her when she collapsed on a floor out shopping with me and my sister.

It has taken me  thirty three years to deal with losing her. Eight years ago we lost my Diddy (that's what we called him WAY before Puff Diddy) and my brother has unfortunately been left to take care of me and my sister.

I know he cringes when his phone rings and  sees our number. But Kudos to him...he answers every time.

He has once more answered the call.

He has helped me more than he ever should have to and always acts like it is nothing. He gives me  grief and picks on me like crazy but he loves me...unconditionally.

He is a big guy now...and a big guy with his company, but he remembers where he came from. He remembers that he has two sisters and he takes excellent care of us and our kids.

The Cotton's are having a good Christmas.

The Cotton's are even thinking about buying a Christmas tree.

I am thinking by Thursday I should be able to get a pretty good deal on a tree.

My life has been blessed beyond belief. My kid's will be thrilled on Christmas morning and I will be thrilled to see their faces.

I highly recommend having a brother.

I highly recommend taking the worst part of your life and using it as a tool to help others.

When I got off the interstate to go see my brother there was a pan handler with a card board sign so bent up and  over used that you couldn't even read it.
He was pretty spooky looking and I am ashamed to say I didn't roll down my window and give him some money. The truck behind me  rolled his window down and handed the guy a five. They fist pumped and I thought to myself that I was slack for being scared of him.

 Do you know how many times I have been frightened in the past year? Do you know how many times people have given and given and given to me and my family?

I was scared to give to a man that seemed spooky to me. Without love and care , I would BE that spooky man.

.I know it sounds crazy, but I bet  he is on that corner every day.

Don't think that I am not going  back and giving him a twenty. I don't even care if he uses it for booze. If I was living on the streets I would want some booze too.

It's a pretty cold winter and it's not even winter until December 22.

I am living in a warm house and granted we are fighting off the mortgage people...but all this guy was fighting off was the cold.

Hope everyone has a Christmas that reminds them of the REASON for the SEASON.

Deep Freeze

I live in the Deep South...

Right now I am living in the Deep Freeze. The expected low is 20 tonight. The expected low tomorrow night is 19. Tim left for work out on the loading dock about an hour ago and I don't envy him. Hopefully he is moving up (and inside) soon and all this manual outdoor labor will have finally paid off.

I worked another double shift today and after posting am going to snuggle up in my comfy bed with my warm pups and catch a few ZZZZ's.

While at work today we were watching the Food Network when a commercial for Blimpie came on. I'm not sure but I THINK their lunch meat comes out of a can. I'm not a big fan of theirs, Massey seems to like them but then again she considers McDonald's fries a vegetable.

I made the comment that junk food is JUST that..."JUNK." I mean I like Arby's roast beef sandwiches but if that is "Roast Beef" I'll kiss your butt on Main street.  I like a Krystal  every once in a blue moon but if that is hamburger meat we are ALL in serious trouble.

Chic fil a is great but for the price of a "value meal" I could buy enough groceries to cook a meal for four.

Christmas is fast approaching and once again it will be a slim one at our house. It doesn't bother me in the least. I have long since learned the true meaning of Christmas and ours will be blessed and happy. We have MUCH to be grateful for and as long as we have each other and a roof over our heads we have all we need.

At work the owner's have a huge tree in the corner of the foyer decorated with nothing but "Wish Cards" from the Salvation Army for kid's that are in need of help. One of the regulars pushed in a brand new bicycle today for a 12 year old girl...one of the card's he pulled off the tree. It has hand brakes and a basket on front, tassels streaming out of the handle bar grips and he even bought a helmet to go with it. Can you imagine how thrilled some 12 year old little girl is going to be Christmas morning when she wakes up and sees her new bike?

I rode it around the inside of the restaurant today to make sure it works okay for her (and it does.) I pulled two cards off the tree...one for a boy and one for a girl. The boy wants a Blockbuster card and the girl wants a Claire's gift card.

 Massey and I are also helping with a family at the high school. We bought a baby doll for a 2 year old little girl.

 These are the things that truly make it "Christmas."

My family has been helped by so many this past year...to help someone else out, even in a small way just makes me feel better.

Every person needs to sit quietly for a moment. Think about their life and think about someone who prays every night to have a tenth of the life you have.

It is simply called Karma. It is knowing the difference between wants and needs and knowing when helping others helps helps yourself even more.

The older gentleman that wheeled the new bike into our restaurant today  said that he never had a bike as a kid... and he wanted this kid to have one.

I sat talking with him and remarked that as a kid I did have a bike. It was a bike that my sister had and  passed down to my brother and then got passed on to me. It was so big for me that I had to learn to ride it from leaning it on the wall in front of my neighbor's house and climbing on it from the wall. I could just reach the pedals and once I got going had to stand up and pedal, if I sat on the seat my feet wouldn't reach. Once you wanted to stop you simply fell over or had the bar ram up between your legs (ouch.)

We were not poor by any means but had a frugal existence and one that I am grateful to have experienced.

I remember roller skates that you wore over your tennis shoes and tightened with a  key. I remember attaching playing cards to the spokes of your bike tire with a clothes pin to give it that cool "Clackety Clack" sound as you peddled faster to make it even cooler sounding.

The life I led as a child was a simpler life...a purer life and the luckiest life you could have.

As a fifty year old woman I have those wonderful memories. As a fifty year old woman I have blessings beyond belief.

As a fifty year old woman I feel blessed to be helping a few kids that have so much less and ask for so little.

It isn't hard to make a difference in someone else's life...and it makes all the difference in your own.

This Christmas Season look beyond your own wants and desires. Help someone else out that is less fortunate than you and it will come back to you ten times over.

Merry Christmas...and  always "Remember the Reason for the Season."

Til next time...COTTON

Surrounded By Love

Home from work...DANG it's cold outside. Massey just got home from practice and Tim just left for work. Zach is in his room and TJ is upstairs watching TV. Just me and my pups sitting around the computer. These crazy dogs follow me from room to room and if I sit at my computer for three hours so will they. They are 300 pounds of pure love and give me comfort whenever I need it. As my husband says "They LOVE their Mama."

I am thinking about baking some more cookies and starting my Christmas cards. Last year my sister gave me four packs of cards made by the kids at her church that didn't sell at a bazaar and I put them up in a drawer. I can barely afford the stamps so having the cards came in real handy...not to mention that they are precious cards. To me anything made by a child is precious.

My favorite Christmas decorations are the ones my kids made when they were young. Let's start when Zach was in kindergarten (the first time.)

He brought home a note he had written to Santa on the computer in his classroom. The teacher let the kids write them alone with no corrections and it remains one of my favorite things he ever wrote. You can click on the photo of it above to see it enlarged but it reads:

Dear Santa,

I wot a sake and a cat and a dog and a vochr and 99 pokmoncos and a ho bch ov sochrs. Pis brig me thes tois.

love Zach

Now let me decipher his code for you.

"Dear Santa, I want a snake and a cat and a dog and a Vulture and 99 Pokemon cards and a whole bunch of soldiers. Please bring me these toys. Love, Zach"

The next year (his second try at kindergarten) the kids wrote what they would give to the world. This is when Zach started to turn into the boy he is today...a thinker that always surprises me, sometimes disappoints me but always makes me proud. His letter read:

"My Gift to the World

If I could give the world any present this is what I would give. I would give money to the poor. I would give homes to the poor. I would give clothing to the poor. I would give caring to the Talaban. That is what I would give the world. Zach Cotton"

Granted he spelled Taliban wrong but it struck me that this young man had it right... we don't care enough about the poor and if only the Taliban knew the true sense of the word "Caring" instead of focusing on "attacking" it would be a better world.

I have ornaments and banners and pictures framed with Popsicle sticks. These are some of my most prized possessions.

Christmas is coming and the goose ain't gettin' fat but I feel content. I have three kids that love me three dogs that adore me , a wonderful husband and a family that supports me like a steel beam.

Massey and I are going to the Farmer's Market in Forest Park on Saturday... it may be a Charlie Brown tree but we are bringing one home. That will be our gift to the family

.

Hope every one has a great Christmas and looks around them to see what love truly looks like. I know that I am surronded by it and it is a warm and comforting feeling.

Til next time...COTTON

The True Meaning of Christmas

If you follow my ramblings at all, you know that I am a sever in a restaurant.

Every year we choose a family to collect money for to help them out with their Christmas. Last year...embarrassing as it may be...it was my family.

Not that I wasn't eternally grateful, but it is hard to accept such a gift from the people closest to you, that you see every day working hard for their dollar as well.

Without their help, we would have had a very difficult Christmas...which is hard to explain to your kids!

This year, my bossy friend at work and I (who is probably bossier) decided to keep it once again in our restaurant family.

He was a single father of two who recently remarried. His new wife is expecting, and with the economy in the tank...things just weren't going his way.

I think everyone in America can identify with this.

It wasn't easy collecting money this year...there IS none.

But my faithful fellow employees stepped right up to the plate. Some gave a dollar...some gave ten...some gave twenty...the fives count too!!

This is a man that is the day cook. He is there when we first get to work to set up the store for opening. Sometimes he comes in at 5AM to unload the truck delivering product...rotating all the old product, staying in the cooler for hours on end...and STILL comes out of the cooler at 10:30 when we servers clock in, with a smile on his face.

He makes us grill cheese sandwiches, DELICIOUS patty melts, and pretty much anything we ask for.

I bring in leftovers every Tuesday, because Monday is my only day off and when I cook for my family, I always make extra so we can heat something up to eat on my Tuesday day shift.

He is on the line busy cooking, char grilling and frying...but never refuses when I ask him to heat up our leftovers.

He is a worthy, WORTHY recipient . He puts up with 50 annoying servers wanting HIM to fix THEIR mistakes on a daily basis.

I took the Christmas money to him today in an envelope...took him in the back and gave it to him quietly. He was BEYOND touched.

I think that some of my fellow servers may have been upset that I didn't give the money to him in front of a whole group.

But being the recipient from the previous year, I know how hard it is to accept what seems like charity...but is ACTUALLY a gift. Who do we want to make feel good, him or us?

If I had been given my Christmas gift last year in front of everyone... I think I would have fainted...which I almost did anyway...but at least only a couple of people saw me break down into tears, and sob like a baby.

Giving is the ABSOLUTE and true meaning of Christmas.

We gave...he received... WE ALL WON!!

I know for a fact that I will have a greater Christmas knowing that we at our store have once again helped one of our own. I can personally attest to fact that it is a marvelous feeling to know that your co workers care THAT much about you...especially in these hard and trying times.

"THANKS CO WORKERS"....You not only made his Christmas...you made mine!! (Once again)

Til next time...Have a MERRY one...COTTON