Coming in for a Landing......

Good Morning,
The winter sky and I bid you good day!
Challenges.
We all have them.  Ups, downs, highs, lows.  Challenges......obstacles.  Many thoughts running round in the circular room resting upon these shoulders. 
Looking back on yesterday......Christmas Joy propelled me forward.  Wore a dressy blouse, the fabric looks like an oriental water color.......added a sparkly silver holiday sweater.......black leggings, comfy cute black flats. Earrings, a necklace.......a watch.  Make-up and vanilla sugar lotion..........I had blush on my cheeks & smelled like homemade sugar cookies!  LOL........took a lot of spoons, but I felt so FEMININE!
Had a good hair day too! ...........for us ladies in particular that is always a plus!  I was chattering away when Sam arrived.......he shushed me with a grin and open arms.........hug time is always welcome!  Then time to load the car and head out. 
Had rough pain left side of neck......left hand kept going numb -- off & on like a light switch all day....same with my left foot.......and sat on some chairs that make FIBRO holler in languages not altogether holy...........my back was doing a lot of yammering........but let's talk about the flip side!
Young exuberant Aaron woke his parents up at 4AM.  FOUR OCLOCK IN THE MORNING.  To his young thoughtful credit, he did wake at 3:17 am and somehow managed to lie there watching the clock til 4:00 before waking his parents.  Dreaming of presents like children do, Aaron was about to Bust!!!!!!!
........excited to the rim about Santa........his parents welcomed him in for a cuddle but was told to rest cause they said they could not possibly rise until 5 am. they would then need coffee, LOTS OF COFFEE!  poor Aaron groaned......slid out of bed & went to shake boxes under the tree.  Ah wee man, we've all been there at one time or another!  He shared his new IPAD 5, told me all about the various apps........and let us take turns with his remote controlled car.  My former mate & his wife have a relatively new addition to the family, they rescued a dog.......Martin is a sweet animal.  Calm and gentle around people........enjoyed petting him.  I don't know what kind of dog he is.........short hair, about knee high.......white with light caramel patches.  A happy wagging tail and bright curious eyes. 
The decorations were lovely! 
Their home is HUGONTIOUS.  The ceilings are 2.5 stories high!  Very talling........plenty of room to entertain.........the meal was fairly casual. A beautifully lit decorated tree.......touches of holiday decor in every room!  Lots of sparkle & finesse.  We added our sausage balls to the other appetizers.  Miniature meatballs in a delicious sauce, mixed nuts, an assortment of crackers served w/ pepper jelly & cream cheese.  If you're unfamiliar it is yummy! Plenty of sweet treats, from homemade candy to cookies to cheesecake to brownies to chocolates to candy canes to fresh strawberry pie. 
Thin sliced ham, potato salad, green salad, corn, rice and a green bean casserole, dinner rolls.........lighter fare, but very nice.......not too heavy.  16 year old Logan ate three plates......he is a senior cadet at an academy and hoping to attend the Citadel next year.  Slim as a reed, but totally ENJOYING his food!  and YES, he had room for dessert.....TWICE! Ain't nobody that can eat as much as teen boys eat..............it amazes me!
Grandma & Grandpa were doing pretty well......Grandpa led us in prayer before the meal, he's something else.......at 90 he is a handful! 
He didn't remember me (again), but he was most cordial.  I admired Grandma's pretty black patent shoes......she sighed w/ pleasure as we talked about Girl Things for a while.........a lot of times people forget to notice the little things like hair & shoes & so on when a person is aging, ill.......
.it's not that serious topics aren't of importance, it's that we all need some time to JUST BE PEOPLE.  When you're ill all the time you rarely get to talk about regular normal everyday stuff with other girls/folks.  Everybody is always talking about her health all day long all the time.........and they don't always see HER.  Most of us know what that is like and we all need to be in care of noticing ....... giving genuine compliments.......talking about the little things that make us feel like people!  We need to remember that we are not our illness.  A person does not say, for example, " I AM cancer ".....people with illnesses all have names, identities, likes and dislikes, personalities, memories.
I loved her new haircut ......and was rewarded with that beautiful smile of hers!  Her daughter had just cut it for her the day before......a very sassy elegant shorter style! 
She let me try on her pretty shoes........we share the same uber skinny foot gene!
She has always been a kind spirit! She lives her life by being kind, she sets her Christian faith forth by living by example.......she is gentle, she is loving, she is wise......she is not judgmental, she is open, she listens......and she has a way of being there for others without being intrusive or bossy.......she is such a loving woman.  I have always aspired to be like her........she guides by the way she lives......she doesn't give speeches.......she doesn't yell.......she SHOWS others daily and it is so impressive to me.......she's not trying to impress anyone which makes it even more impressive.........
this makes perfect sense to me, but maybe i need a nap?  I believe that she is so assured of God's love that she is able to just live without a lot of self doubt, worry about esteem.........God's love is so complete that it gives her PLENTY OF TIME TO LOVE OTHERS.
Got lots of hugs.......Sara gave me a really long long hug.  My kids smell soooooo good!  They wear light airy scents that make the hugs even sweeter!  She hugged me so long - she said she was stuck to me. That was a very fine gift!!!!!!!
Sara presented me with a hard copy of her CD which I insisted that she autograph........we talked for a while & then I felt her withdraw........I could feel her connect and then the disconnect........one of those things I ponder, pray about.  Every step is good.  Patience Mother, patience.
She looked lovely......she had a pretty red bow in her long thick shining hair. Derian wanted to get my take on all of her music, we talked about that for a bit.  And he thanked me for helping to support her and for efforts made to help them reach their kickstarter goal.  That was nice. 
Enjoyed the day........it was a calm relaxing time.  People came and went and don't laugh at me, but as nice as it was, it was a vanilla kind of visit.  Nobody played the grand piano.....which seems like a crying shame to me.  Nobody SANG, nobody played games........it was a very nice, tame well ordered day.........which is lovely. Forgive me one and all, but I wanted some pizzazzzz. 
I try to remember that all of these folks have already had several holiday gatherings. Work parties, Christmas gatherings........with both sets of families and usually a friend get-togethers as well, so by the time I go to this one event, they have already spent a good bit of time CELEBRATING Christmas.......they are celebrated almost down to the nub.
and this is my one party, my one event away from sick bay.  i wanted that piano to make a joyous nose! my former spouse or either of my children to play the ivories, wanted to sing a few Christmas Carols.........  I don't know if that is unrealistic or greedy or just that I have a need sometimes for that thing that is so impressive about life.......joive de vivre! 
I went over and picked out Joy to the World, but no one joined me.  subtle failed and then the open request bombed out too....maybe they all need an injection of rum punch to ignite. lol, sometimes i miss the ooo la la!  i don't want to go crazy........but ok yes, i want to relish life whenever possible.  yes it was a very nice time, i'll hush now!
sam brought his momma back home, we talked politics of all things on the way home.........democrats, republicans and libertarians oh my !  and he talked about his plan to have his home all paid for in ten years.  he's a smart guy..........he brought everything in from the car and i sought out my warm cozy slippers!  he looked at my dvd player, it's broken.  he got the other one from my bedroom and it too is beyond hope.  it acts like it is working, but it doesn't play the movie so there you go. 
sam says he has a dvd player he isn't using, so soon i'll get to watch Mary Poppins.  Sara gave me Les Miserables.......and a set of 4 dvds that provide 27 hours of dance movies that span from the 1930's until recent times.  That's a lot of ENTERTAINMENT!  They are on 4 discs......from Fred Astaire to Patrick Swayze. That will be fun to watch this winter!
once we got back home, we settled in to a movie and then i said, "How does a salad sound???  He said, "definitely"........so we paused the film & made salad.  organic butter lettuce w/ thinly sliced mozzarella cheese, hard boiled eggs, carrots, celery, croutons........he had Greek dressing, I had creamy ranch.......and then later we each had a slice of bacon cauliflower quiche.........yum. 
i conked out before the end of the movie.......when i woke I heard sam moving around......yup, he was playing ELF!  He was hooking up the new therapeutic mattress pad.  that is quite the deal! 
so last night i got into a soft pleasantly WARM, not hot or stuffy, just this ahhhhh feeling of gentle warmth.  need to practice learning how to work the control cause new remote anything takes me a bit of time to get it right. sam assures me that i can........he's a good one to ask when one needs a bit of reassurance.  he gives me that steady look that means YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN........its' nice to get live reassurance sometimes. 
i got to tell my children about one very special gift i received.......a silver spoon from a wonderful friend.  on the spoon the words "one extra spoon" are etched...........i couldn't talk about it without weeping......it is the loveliest thing.......so thoughtful and I treasure it so very much.  it means so much to have this beautiful vintage spoon as a tribute, a tangible symbol of understanding........an acknowledgement that we are not alone in this journey.........that we have sisters & brothers who know and care so much.......have challenges, walk the walk........keep on swimming.
.........sigh, yes i'm tearing up again........so grateful for friendship and kindness.
thank you for the love, support, kindness, gifts of friendship and love.......yes love.  love is a precious gift .......thanks so much.  I hope that you had a blessed marvelous day........that I didn't tax you to much with my rambly ramblings.
this little ice cube needs to go get warm.........brrrrrr i am shivery freezy cold.  it is 32 out there.  yes, here in the south this is what we call WINTER.  be careful out there, take extra care in all you do.........praying for you.......xoxo, sparrow