Life is Still Real; Even During the Holidays

As much as I would love to have all my posts during the holidays, be filled with great joy and cheery visions of baking and tinsel;  life still happens and you gotta be real.

I'll just start off by saying that this week has not been great.

I've dealt with my dad still being in the hospital and me trying to decide how to visit him and fulfill obligations here, at the same time, being that he is 6 hours away.  I wanted to wait to visit him as close to Christmas as I could, so he would have a good Christmas, with memories of his kids being near.  However, as each day goes by, I'm worried more and more, that he's not going in the right direction for healing.

I'm finally feeling the sting of living so far from my parents.   It's not fun.  It hurts to not be there and to be torn between the duties of being a mom and being a daughter.  

I've also had to deal with a so-called friend, telling me she didn't have time to be my friend anymore and twisting so many of my words around, they in no way, represented anything I even said or felt.  That was fun!  If I would have had Lisa Whelchel's phone number, I would have called her right away, to tell her that one of her real-life scenarios just came true.    In her book Friendship for Grown-ups, she tells her own story of a friendship she thought was valuable, only to have her "friend" call her up and tell her she no longer had the capacity to be her friend.   What the heck is wrong with people?   Who doesn't need friends?    I find that sad on so many levels.  Yet, I feel such a peace about this situation being settled, that I know this has purpose.   Live and learn, I guess.    I've always said that God has a way of weeding people out of your life, who have no business being there.    It's time to move on and shake the dust off my feet.  Done.

My motto for the New Year is this:  I'm not chasing anyone!  The only people I want in my life, are the ones that WANT to be here!  If that only means my husband and my kids, then I'm going to live life to the fullest and celebrate everyday, like it's my birthday.  

I'm sick and tired of trying to make time for people that don't deserve my time.   Either I'm valuable to you or I'm not.   If I'm not - then do us all a favor and move on! 

A very smart little 13 year old had a FB status today that said "Why would you spend time thinking about someone, who never takes a second to think about you?"   And to that I say.......AMEN!


Then, to top it off......I made the worst laundry blunder I've made in 23 years of working this housewife gig.   I managed to shrink one of Ted's brand new, wool sweaters, down to 6 year old size !

The one on the left is the shrunken one - the one on the right is regular size.

Yikes!

Who knew you weren't supposed to wash

"Italian Wool" 

in the washing machine?

 This is what he saw when he walked into his room that night.

The sign says:

"I never claimed to be the perfect mom!

I'm sorry!"

He was so good natured about it.   He tried it on today and we all had a good laugh, although Collin said "That's a picture I won't get out of my head for a week!"   Thanks Ted, for being a good sport!

And that's the reality of life.   

You want it to be all "Walton's" moments, but it's real and sometimes it's rough.

Good news is - God is still God and He's still on his throne and his mercies are new, each and every morning.  

And, that's one promise I can count on!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

**P.S.  I am now having to approve my comments before publishing.  I'm sorry for the inconvenience but it's part of my guard being up, and it will be for a while.**