Category: Family

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Now this is a pretty neat gift

My father is one of those people that has to know what the 5 day forecast for the weather is so he can plan the next five days.  Well I couldn’t believe it when I found a 5 day Wireless Weather Forecaster by Brookstone. That is absolutely the most perfect gift I can get for my father. It’s also something that hopefully no one else would think to get him.

One year I got him a scale model of an Indian Motorcycle like he used to have and my sister got him the same thing but it happened to be a different color thank goodness. Well I bet that won’t happen again this year.

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Frustrating

When Dave told me that Ellie wants a pair of eskuche 33i headphones, I thought it would be easy to find reviews on them (I don’t want to buy anything that has bad reviews) so I went to YouTube (which is a place I tend to trust for reviews) and was disappointed (and frustrated) that I could not find any reviews on that particular set. On top of that, they don’t seem to be “in stock” at my favorite music supply website! So I guess I’m going to suggest to Dave that he ask Ellie if she has another choice that she would be happy with!

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Mother’s Day

Well Mother’s Day is this weekend and I am getting a surprise ready for my mom and my boyfriends mom. I have invited them out to breakfast on Friday and we are going to meet here at my house. After breakfast I am taking them to a day spa for a full day of “the works”. My father and my boyfriend have helped pay for it. I am paying for my mom, my hunny is paying for his mom and my dad is paying for me. That helped a lot for sure. We all get to have a relaxing day and enjoy ourselves. I am so looking forward to this.

Day spa
We are going here
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Saving money

It’s no secret that I like to save money. I will comparison shop, and clip coupons, and look for discount codes until the cows come home! I’ve already started to do some comparison shopping on a Jem7v for Chuck’s birthday, and I have to say that I’m disappointed that the guitar is so expensive. I know it is a high-end guitar, and you get what you pay for, but even with a sale price that knocks about 25% off the price, the guitar is more expensive than I expected it to be! I’m going to have to have a chat with Chuck and see if he is willing to chip in some money towards it himself.

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What a week

We buried Papa Charlie on the 7th. I had no idea that he was a Korean war veteran but he was. They draped a flag over his coffin and did the 21 gun salute to him too. The children are heart broken. It’s the first time they have really had to deal with death now that they are old enough to really understand. The first time was when the baby I had that died 4 years ago and that was a tough one too.

On the 8th I got a phone call from Papa Charlies lawyer. He asked me to come in for the reading of the will. I was totally confused because why would I have to be there? I had only known the man for a couple months. When I got there, I was the only one there other than the lawyer. I didn’t know that Papa Charlie didn’t have any other family at all. We were all he had.

Then the lawyer read the will. I almost went into shock. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Papa Charlie was sort of a wealthy man and left everything to my children and me. He had college funds set up for each of my children. He gave us his house and set up enough money in a trust fund to pay the taxes, homeowners insurance and anything that needed fixing for the rest of my life. Then the house goes to the kids and would be sold and divided between all of them.

He also set up a college fund for me so I could quit work and go to college and be able to take care of myself and the children. I was to get a monthly ‘allowence’ also to cover food, utilities and anything else that we needed. I’m still trying to let all of this soak in. All of this from a gentle, kind man that we only knew for a few months. I feel so honored. God Bless you Charlie Benson!!!!

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New Years not starting off good at all

I just got a phone call from the hospital. It seems that Papa Charlie is in the hospital. I didn’t know he was sick at all. He never let on that there was anything wrong with him at all. He was always so happy. He has cancer. He’s dying and we never knew.

The children are all so upset because they know that without Papa Charlie, this Christmas wouldn’t have been nearly as good and I don’t mean just the presents. Papa Charlie brought joy to Christmas with him. He brought life to Christmas and the whole time, he was losing his own. Life just isn’t fair sometimes.

I hope and pray that he will get better and come home again. I hope and pray that if he doesn’t, at least maybe we gave him what he gave us for Christmas and that was family and joy. Prayer helps and I will be on my knees praying for Papa Charlie with my children beside me.

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Christmas Eve at last

The children and I always go to my mothers on Christmas eve for dinner and to open presents there. It’s the day my children have looked forward to since Thanksgiving. Santa comes tonight and they are all excited to see what is in their presents and what Santa has brought.

This year, Charlie, their adopted grandpa will join us at my mothers. He has been a blessing to us. He tells me that we have been more of a blessing to him than he could ever be to us because through us, we have given him Christmas back. That’s a wonderful thing for him to say. He is spoiling the kids something awful but that’s part of what Christmas is for, spoiling the children.

It’s also a day to reflect on what the season is really for. We always have a birthday cake for Christmas day so we can celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. I want them to always know that Christmas is not just about toys and stuff. It’s about salvation. Salvation of our soul and salvation of our lives that we live today. Does that make any sense to you? I hope so. Because that’s my Christmas wish for each of you that has visited my blog, the joy and wonder of the birth of Jesus Christ and a joy filled Christmas.

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Are you finished yet?

I know so many people that keep telling me they’re finished with all of their Christmas shopping. How can that be? I’m not even half finished yet. I know that Christmas is just around the corner but it’s kind of hard to go shopping when you have to work the stupid hours I do and then try and get away from the kids too. Well it’s next to impossible.

I got the Wii for them and a couple other little things but I need a boys bicycle, a girls bicycle and a skateboard too. Then there’s helmets for all three and knee and elbow pads to go with the skateboard. There just aren’t enough hours in a day or dollars in my purse either!! I’ll just be glad when it’s all over.

Bah-Humbug, HUH? I’m sorry!! I’m just stressed and really tired. I need a long winters nap. How about you wake me when it’s over, does that sound better?

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Putting up the tree this weekend

The kids have been bugging me like crazy wanting to put our Christmas tree up. I just haven’t had any time with all the overtime I have been working to be able to buy the kids Christmas presents this year. I am so thankful that I still have my job because I know so many people that have lost their jobs lately it’s scary.

Anyway, I had this weekend off (an act of God made that happen) and we’re finally putting up our tree. My mother got us a really nice artificial tree one year after Christmas so I wouldn’t have to spend money on a live on every year. Besides, it just doesn’t feel right to me to kill a tree to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Do you know what I’m saying?

Now once we get the tree up, the kids are going to be asking where the presents are. I got to start working on that too. What to get for who for under the tree.  There’s always clothes and underwear. They hate to get that!!!!

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You are not going to believe this

I got a great deal on a Wii for my children for Christmas. I was on Craigslist and someone had a new one they had bought for their teen-aged son and he just really messed up so they sold it to me for $25.00. I was totally shocked since these things cost at the cheapest I’ve seen $235.00.

I didn’t want to ask them what he did but it must have been pretty bad. I really dread when my kids hit those teen-aged years. My oldest is a teenager but my mother is raising him so she has most of the headaches with that. I remember my teenage years, especially since I had my first at barely 16 years old.

Anyway back to my excitement. Now I can ask other people to get them some of the really cool games they have for them. It came with a couple of games too. So the whole thing was just nothing short of a blessing for my children and me. I just hate that it took a teenager messing up for my kids to benefit. I honestly hope and pray that what ever it was he did, that he learned a good lesson from it and will be a good boy from now on.