God's Early Christmas Gifts...

Who would have thought that a snow storm would turn out to be one of the best gifts I've been given in a long time??!! Last night, under clear skies, my son flew in from Southern Florida. Yeah, it was cold, but he arrived safely, on time & with no weather issues. Today...a different story. So, gratefulness #1, "thank you Lord for bringing my son home before the storm." (These are just some pictures from around Buffalo, found on the wgrz.com website.)

We had planned on picking Sam up from school today (snow day) after I got out of work. But because the snow was coming down fast & furious, Norm & Alex decided to get an early start and so they set out around 10:00 am. They made it there & back in about 4 hours. Gratefulness #2, "thank you Lord for their safe travel through a snow storm and for bringing them home to me safe & sound".

But the best part, well maybe not the BEST part because NOTHING is better than having both my kids home, is that my office actually closed at 12:30 because of the storm! That NEVER happens, apparently! I was so sad that I couldn't join Norm & Alex picking up Sam because I had to work. Then, they let us out early, I bummed a ride off a friend, got home before the family, cooked a pot of nice hot soup & waited for their arrival. So, gratefulness #3, "thank you Lord for letting me be a part of the homecoming and for doing the thing I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MOST....be Mom."














Hahaha...only in Buffalo!!

"Thank you Lord for my early Christmas gifts...." And as if all this isn't enough, the ultimate gift was His Son being born, so that I could have a life with Him. It simply does not get better than all that. When people say "God is Good", it doesn't even come close to how amazing & awe inspiring He is, and for the way He loves & cares for us. Thank you Lord...I love you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL......may you feel His blessings as I do today.

Cell Phone CPR...or is it R&R?

So, about 2 weeks ago I had a pretty bad cold so I decided a nice, hot, relaxing bath was definitely in order. Why oh why do I incorporate texting on my cell phone to relaxing in a tub, I have no idea! But as the cell phone addict that I may have become, this was my situation. And as careful as I thought I was being, yes you guessed it, I dropped it in the tub. That brief "oh no!", followed by plop. And all I could see were dollar signs as I imagined what this was going to cost me. Not to mention being completely cut off from the world!! Oh the horror!

Then I remembered a friend of mine once telling me that all you have to do when you get your cell phone wet is to put it in some dry rice. The idea being that the rice would absorb the moisture sinking deep into the crevices of the phone. I decided that it was worth a shot, what did I have to lose at this point, except a bag of rice?? Sam reminded me to take the battery out too. So, there it laid, dismantled & buried in a Ziploc bag of rice overnight. When I eagerly opened it the next morning, it actually worked! I couldn't believe it! The night before all it did was sputter & die out! To my dismay, however, within a few minutes, it died again. The rice didn't work. Bummer.

Then I got the scam artist at the Sprint store tap dancing all over me about limited coverage, renewing plans, upgrading phones, rebates that I've accumulated since the 5th grade...everything to aggravate me & make me walk out in disgust....my dead cell phone laying limply in my pocket. Norm was then going to buy me a used phone off of Craig's list and round & round we went. For 4 days we discussed the best option. It occurred to me that what if they can't even get my phone numbers out of the phone??!! The horror!!! I can't even IMAGINE having to attempt retrieving all those numbers! (I don't have that many actually, but fear over dramatizes everything!) As I went to see if my phone would even turn on long enough to pull out my oh-so important numbers, I realized that my phone was actually working! It really was working!! And its worked ever since!! Crazy, isn't it???

Moral of the story....sometimes we just need a cozy place to sleep for the night & a few days off. Then we'll be as good as new!!

Try it for yourself sometime..... :)

Catching Up...

Wow!! It really has been a LONG time since I've taken time to update. Not sure anyone is bothered by that...but I know I am! So, if even just for my own inner peace, and hopefully somebody's amusement, I want to catch up with what life has brought our way since August....


Sam left for State University of New York at Fredonia...she loves it! Here she is with her roommate Jasmine from Brooklyn! Thank you Lord...they get along great...






Said good-bye to my best friend....









Visited my brother & his family in Michigan...here with my nephew at University of Michigan football game...








Me & my niece Jesse at the U of M game!! It was COOOLLLDDD!!







Took a road trip in the Jeep from Buffalo to West Palm Beach...yeah, ran into a snow storm in Pittsburgh....







Took the Jeep down...and gave it Alex. Yeah, he needed a car & we just couldn't resist helping him out! Love that kid...







Me and my boy....











Celebrated my niece Sophia's 2nd birthday.....








Spent time with friends....








and even more friends...









And Cammy kept us entertained....










We even celebrated an engagement...








And Norm got his first pair of glasses!









This doesn't even include the 2 new jobs that Norm & I have, Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas!! No wonder I haven't added a word here since August!

Life is full...and I wouldn't have it any other way!