HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!

On Monday night after taking my Mom for her eye appointment at Duke, we had a pre-birthday dinner for me at one of my favorite restaurants. My husband, my Mom and Dad and my sister went with me to eat. It would have been complete if my sweet girls, son-in-law and Adelaide's boyfriend could have joined us too!
This is my mini mousse birthday treat!!! One of my favorite things is DESSERT!!!!! In case you haven't figured it out by now, I LOVE sweets!!!! At this restaurant (Southern Lights), they serve a "mini" dessert for just $1.50. I love them, because it just gives you a taste of something sweet after your meal, without getting so many calories! I chose chocolate mousse, but they have lots of other yummy choices. They all come served in a glass that looks like a shot glass.
My beautiful "older" sister. We are 11 years apart. Love you Sis!!! So glad we can be with each other and celebrate together this week. I love spending time with you!!! Can you believe that my Mom, my sister and I all wore the same colors today? We didn't plan it that way, it just happened. All day while we we are at Duke with Mom, people commented about us being color co-ordinated. So funny!!! Turquoise and blue are my favorite colors!!!
My sweet Mom and Dad!!! Love you guys. You are the greatest and have been the most wonderful parents! Mom got a great report from her eye doctor at Duke! Her "bad" eye has not changed and her "good" eye has almost perfect 20/20 vision. Praise God!

More fun is in store for today and I have received so many calls and emails already this morning. Adelaide texted me right after midnight on my birthday and Lauren was first in line to wish me HAPPY BIRTHDAY this morning. Love you girls. Wish you were here!

Sister Time!!!

I get to be off work this week, since the family I nanny for is on spring break! I love my job so much and I have an awesome family to work for, but I am looking forward to the week off and some much needed rest and relaxation!!! As you know from my lack of posts since Christmas, I have been going full steam ahead. It will be nice to have a fun week to do some things for "ME"!!!

My sister came down on Sunday and will be here until Thursday and I am so looking forward to our week together! We spent our first day doing a little bit of shopping.... Stein Mart, Goodwill & Big Lots. Followed by dinner at one of our favorite pizza restaurants, Elizabeth's.

On Monday, we will start out taking my parents to breakfast. (One of my Dad's favorite things to do!) My sister and I have to take my Mom to see her eye doctor at Duke Hospital. On the way down there we are stopping at another favorite Goodwill. Can you tell that we love to thrift?

We are packing a picnic lunch to eat when we get there and her appointment is at 1:00 pm. On the way home we are stopping in Burlington, NC at a new thrift store that is operated by Hospice. I have seen the ads on TV and it is huge!! I can't wait. We have dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, Southern Lights, on Monday night and my Dad and husband will join us.

On Tuesday, us gals are going for manicures/pedicures and then taking my Dad to lunch at another favorite restaurant, Lucky 32. After lunch I have to go get fitted for clothes that I am wearing in a fashion show later in the month. I will post about that later. For dinner on Tuesday night we are going Mexican. My Dad LOVES Mexican, especially the margaritas. We are also going to a yummy dessert place, called Maxie B's for cake. I forgot to mention that Tuesday is my birthday. I think the whole week is going to be a celebration! Aren't birthdays fun?

On Wednesday we plan to have another fun day of shopping and eating, but we haven't totally decided on our itinerary yet. That night, the 6 ladies from my old church, who I have been friends with since our children were born, are all going out to dinner for my birthday. My sister is going with us too. We are going to an Italian restaurant called Bravos.

On Thursday we are going to Kernersville to do some more thrift shopping and we are eating lunch at Miss Pegg's Tea Room. Then I am sad to say that my sister will be leaving to go back home. She lives about 2 hours away in the mountains. It is still winter there and she was so excited to see the daffodils and flowering trees blooming. It really looks like spring here in my city!! I am so glad.

If any of you have sisters, you know how much fun it is to spend time together! We will both enjoy spending time with our parents, as well. Although Mom and Dad are both getting older, they still enjoy time with family and doing special things. These memories of our week together will be special to all of us.

In the picture above, I am on the left, my sister is in pink in the middle and that is Mom on the right. Bless her heart, Mom NEVER smiles when you try to take her picture. I don't know what is up with that. Oh well. She always has a puzzled look on her face.

Have a blessed week! I am sure enjoying this taste of spring weather. It was 77 here today on my car thermometer. On Monday it is only going to be in the low 50's though. We are still on a roller coaster ride with our weather. Oh well, at least it isn't snowing!

Enjoy your week and if you have a sister, think about all the fun times and the great memories you have shared with each other!!!

What's on my mind today!

Since I have been AWOL from blogging for a bit, I thought I would copy the items from a Simple Woman's Day book that some of you post and comment on them. I love reading these posts on other people's blogs!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW... it is pouring rain! But it could be worse. Up in the mountains where my sister lives, it is snowing today. I am so ready for spring, so I hope we don't get any more snow. My daffodils are in full bloom, the trees are budding out, forsythias are blooming, etc. And we have had some warm weather too recently. Although one week it will be really nice (highs near 70, but then the next week it will dip back down into the 50's). Oh well, hopefully the worst of our winter cold and snow is over and spring is just a short time away.

I AM WEARING.... a pair of black slacks, a bright colored cardigan sweater with a tank top underneath and my pearl necklace and earrings. Since it was raining this morning when I went to church, I just wore pants instead of a dress.

I AM REMEMBERING.... how much I love spring time. I am not a cold weather person, so I always look forward to spring and then afterwards, the arrival of summer! In the city where I live, we have such beautiful dogwood trees, azaleas, daffodils, tulips, etc. and the city is gorgeous in the spring time. I love being outside and look so forward to the warmer weather. Don't forget that the time changes next weekend.

I AM READING... Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is a wonderful book to inspire us all to be more passionate in our love for God in our everyday lives. I would highly recommend it!

I AM HOPING.... that my youngest daughter, Adelaide has a wonderful time on her spring break this week. She is on a cruise with 7 of her sorority sisters for some much needed rest and relaxation. Where she is in school, they have had a terrible winter with lots of snow & cold weather, so they were all ready for a break from the cold. Bon voyage, sweet girl!

ON MY MIND... are my aging parents. My Mom will turn 87 in April and my Dad will be 90 in June. As I have stated previously, I am having to spend more and more time with them to help keep them independent and living in their own townhouse. It is so hard to see our parents aging and for the roles to start reversing. Us as the parents and them as the children.... I am just so thankful that I am close by and can help out. I will certainly cherish those memories of times spent with them, although they can prove challenging at times.

FROM THE KITCHEN... I have not cooked at all this weekend. We have eaten out, since my daughter and son-in-law were here. We also took my parents out to eat several times. I do love to cook, but sometimes I enjoy doing other things instead. Tonight I am going to make soup to share with my Bible study group tomorrow and I am also going to make banana bread. My sweet blog friend Angela (Love Being a Nonny) posted about this delicious banana bread on her blog and it is wonderful. I had never had banana bread with coconut in it, but it is so good. Check out her recipe. You will love it and Angela too! She is precious! (We have actually met each other several times.)

AROUND THE HOUSE.... there are always more things to do than I ever have time to do anymore! That seems to be the story of my life these days. My "to do" list is a block long, but I'm just not stressing about it. Right now I prefer to spend my time with my family and friends and if things don't get done here at home, the world is not going to come to an end. Last year, I did get my upstairs cleaned out in preparation for getting new carpet and that makes me feel so much better and more organized. My project this year is tackling my basement (which would be like your attic). Mine is a mess! My new favorite word is "Simplify". I am trying to do away with everything that I don't use or need. I am tired of all the "stuff".

PLANS FOR THE WEEK.... include working from Monday until Thursday (my usual work week). I am having dinner on Tuesday night with 3 of my girlfriends. I will spend time with Mom and Dad this week. Friday night I will be going to my card making class. I love making hand made cards!

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.... is milk glass. My dear friend introduced me to milk glass and I have been hooked ever since. Sherian had a shower for Lauren when she got married and everything used for the shower was milk glass. It was gorgeous!!! I since decided to start my own collection and have been collecting ever since. I have found some of my best pieces at Goodwill. In my hunt for milk glass and also my love for old things, I enjoy going to thrift shops and yard sales.

CSN

CSN Stores has graciously asked me to work with them to review one of their products and I will be so thrilled to do so!

Never heard of CSN???? CSN offers an amazing array of products, from swing sets to chandeliers. I'm sure they have something to fit your needs.

There are over 200+ stores to choose from at CSN:

furniture
decor
kitchen
dining
bed & bath
home improvement
patio & garden
baby & kids
lighting
exercise & fitness
luggage
pets
shoes
rugs
jewelry......etc. etc. etc.

As you can see CSN has ANYTHING & EVERYTHING that you could ever want!

***They have hassle free returns & FREE shipping on just about everything!!!

I'll be back to do a review soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for it, and in the meantime, be sure to check out their website.

Love & blessings from NC!
Melinda

I've Totally Lost It!!!

In the winter I love to wear my Dansko's. I have a black and a brown pair. Well guess what? Today I decided to add a little excitement to the day and I ended up wearing one of each!!! Didn't I just mention in a past post how busy I have been lately? I know I have totally lost it now!!!

I had to be at work today at 7am, so I was up and out of the house really early. I had my shoes in the hallway and just ran by and slipped them on in the dark and took off out the front door.

I got to work (remember, I am a Nanny) and proceeded to do my usual morning routine at their house. The Mom was there, but was busy doing her thing trying to get the oldest child out the door. We talked, but she or the children never noticed my shoes.

I took the youngest child to pre-school and WALKED in the building! No one noticed my shoes or if they did, they were polite and didn't say anything.

I then went to the dry cleaners and it is one that you walk in to (not a drive-through). Again, no one mentioned my shoes.

From there I went to the grocery store and was there for about an hour. Still no comment from anyone about my shoes. I had not noticed them either! LOL!!!

After grocery shopping, it was time for my morning Bible study group. It was while we were discussing our book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, that I looked down and noticed that I had on two colors of shoes. I pointed it out to everyone and we all had a good laugh!!! And believe it or not, every lady there admitted to having done that at least once in her life.

I am amazed at God's sense of humor and how He brought laughter and smiles to our Bible study group this morning through something as simple as my mismatched shoes!

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY ADELAIDE!!!

Adelaide turned 22 on Monday, January 24th! I can't believe my baby is that old. It just seems like yesterday that she was born.
What a joy she and her older sister, Lauren, have been in my life! I am so blessed to have such wonderful daughters, who are as beautiful inside as they are outside.
I am so happy to be their Mom!

I hope you had a wonderful day, Adelaide and I'm sorry we were not able to be together! I look forward to celebrating with you real soon. (For those of you who don't know, Adelaide is a senior in college and will graduate in May!) Where have these past 4 years gone?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet girl!!! I love you!

Love & blessings,
MOM

Belated Christmas Update!

Hey everyone, I'm sorry for not posting in FOREVER, but I have just been a bit on overload since early December and blogging has had to take a back seat. Nothing bad....just more on my plate than I could handle. Not enough hours in the day! I hope you all understand.
This picture was taken of our family on Thanksgiving day. From left to right is our son-in-law Thomas, our oldest daughter Lauren, my husband Tom, our youngest daughter Adelaide and me.
This is my parents when we were attending a local church Christmas musical this year. I am so blessed to have Mom and Dad in my life, but they are really requiring more and more of my time to function on an every day basis. I am not complaining at all, but with working full time and helping with their care, it has really taken up a huge portion of my time. My Mom is almost 87 and my Dad is almost 90.

With Christmas thrown in and other family commitments, plus 4 friends who each lost a parent, I felt like I was on a roller coaster that wasn't ever going to stop. Something had to give and I just decided to quit blogging for a bit. I needed to get reorganized and focus on some of these other things in my life.

A big THANK YOU to all of my sweet blog friends who sent messages, emails, etc. to check on me and make sure everything was OK. I read some blogs on occasion and commented when I could, but not as much as usual. I sure appreciated your thoughtfulness! Thanks so much!! I love all my blog friends and I have missed you all.


Our family had a nice Christmas and for the first time since 1969, we had a white Christmas. We received between 6 to 7 inches of snow on Christmas day. I took this picture on my deck rail in the back yard. This little snowman measuring stick was made in my pre-school class many years ago, but I still love using it when it snows.
I love the house blanketed in snow. I put wreaths on all my windows with red bows. You can't tell from the picture, but I burn a single electric candle in each window on the front and the back of the house. There are also 2 lighted reindeer and a spiral Christmas tree next to the front door. I love to fly decorative flags and this particular time I was flying Santa Claus!

For those of you who don't live in the North Carolina area, we have had 3 major snow storms here in the past month. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to spring! Enough snow!!! They are calling for possible precip on Wednesday, but I am hoping for just rain.

Work for me has been a bit crazy too, recently. The week before Christmas, the family I work for had an older daughter who got married out of state, so that made things busy! Then these past 2 weeks at work, both of the kids have been sick and now the Dad has pneumonia. I am just praying that I stay well.

This past weekend I was fortunate to be able to get away for a ladies weekend with some of my girlfriends for some much needed REST & RELAXATION. It was most welcomed and I enjoyed my time away so much. Now maybe I can regroup and get on with life.

God may throw us a few curve balls every so often, but He promises us that He will never give us more than we can handle. Life may be BUSY, but it is GOOD and I am glad to be back with you all in the blog world!!! I have missed you all. Enjoy your week.

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Winter Wonderland!!!

On Saturday, the weathermen in our area said that we MIGHT get a few snow flurries, but nothing to get excited about. The joke was on them. At noon it started snowing and it snowed the rest of the afternoon. We probably got at least 2 inches of snow. Luckily, it did not stick on the roads, so everybody could continue on with their plans, but the ground got covered. The trees were gorgeous and everything certainly looked like a winter wonderland.
This picture is at the Battleground Park, which is right near my house. I loved the way the snow looked on the trees!
The local Christmas tree lot blanketed in snow! Even the big Santa got covered in snow today. People were scurrying around trying to buy their Christmas trees in the snow flurries. It was so festive!!!
In Mom's backyard, her little squirrel was looking everywhere for something to eat. He kept digging in the snow looking for the bird seed that had spilled from the bird feeder. I love to watch the birds and the squirrels!
I took this picture while we were out and about today. I loved the old gate and the trees covered in snow in the background. While Mom and I were out today, we were amazed at God's beauty all around us... Even simple things were so gorgeous covered in snow!

Today was such a fun day. I took my Mom out for the day and we enjoyed our time together. We started out at a local church bazaar. Then we went out to lunch. From there we went to a local "Vintage shop" that has the most gorgeous stuff. They were having their Christmas open house. I bought an old vintage Santa to add to my collection and a hand made Santa ornament. (You know I love my Santas!)

From there Mom and I went to Furniture Land South in High Point to look for a leather recliner for my Dad. High Point is where they have the furniture market twice a year, so the selection there is incredible! ( A bit overwhelming, actually!!!) We found the exact chair that my Dad had and it was on sale at a great price. We were both doing the happy dance over this chair!!!!

Saturday night Tom and I went out to dinner with some of our friends to our favorite restaurant to celebrate my good news and also our friend's birthday. I had a great day!

The only sad note to the day was that my youngest daughter, Adelaide, was supposed to have her White Rose Formal dance with her sorority and it got canceled due to the bad weather where she is in school. The girls had rented houses to stay in where the dance was being held. They were already there settling in to get ready for the dance, when they got news that things had been canceled. Luckily it will be re-scheduled for sometime in January or February, but I know all the girls were really disappointed. Adelaide had a beautiful new dress to wear and she was looking forward to going with her new boyfriend. Oh well, you can't control Mother Nature!

Our first snowfall of the year was so pretty today! I wonder if this is an indication of what is to come this winter?

Early Christmas Gift!!!

I will always remember Christmas 2010 as a very special year. I received the wonderful news today that my CT Scan was clear and there is no evidence of cancer!!!!! Talk about an awesome Christmas present!!! I was beyond thrilled!

And to top it off, my oncologist even called to tell me in person. How about that? He is an amazing doctor and I am going to miss him. When I go on December 17th, he will dismiss me and I will no longer need the services of an oncologist.

As you can imagine, I am doing the "happy dance" here at my house today. God is good and I give him all the glory for my healing! He evidently has great plans for my life! I have 2 amazing daughters to love and spend time with. That is #1 on my list. Life is wonderful!!!

Hope all of you have a blessed holiday season. Take time to enjoy those you love and make lots of memories this Christmas!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

We Interrupt This Holiday Season For.......

A CT Scan!!!!!

On Friday morning I have to get my semi-annual CT Scan. I have to report at 8am to start drinking the contrast and my actual scan is at 10am. The good news is that if this scan is clear (normal), then I will be released from my oncologist's care when I visit him this month. Isn't that wonderful? I am so excited and I pray that I have good results again this time!

I do have mixed feelings about not seeing my oncologist anymore, as he is an incredible doctor! I have seen him for the past 7 years, so we are like family!

I will more than likely not get my scan results tomorrow, but I will let you all know whenever I get them.

We have a nice weekend planned. Friday night my hubby and I are attending a Christmas party with our Sunday school class from the church we used to belong to. Then on Saturday night, we are going to dinner with a group of friends to celebrate one of the friend's birthday. I also have some things I am going to be doing with my Mom. We hope to get to some craft shows/bazaars this weekend.

I hope you have a nice weekend and that your Christmas plans are coming along very well.

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Thanksgiving Memories

Our family had a wonderful time being together this year for the Thanksgiving holiday! The time just went by too fast. Adelaide was home for a week, but it seems like she was just here for a few days. Lauren and Thomas got to stay from Thursday until Sunday. I loved all the activity, chatter and laughter while they were all here. Now my nest is quiet again and I sure don't like it that way!!! I miss my girls already!

This picture is from left to right: Thomas (son-in-law), Lauren, Tom, Adelaide & Me
Lauren's little dog, Chi Chi, climbed up on my Santa pillow and took her nap. Our dog, Holly, and Chi Chi enjoyed their time being together too.
Dessert..... the most important part of the meal!!! My Mom's famous coconut cake with 7 minute icing and a fresh pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Yum!
This is my sister, Cecelia (we call her CC) and me. There is almost 12 years difference in our ages. Love time spent with my sweet sister!!!! Glad she only lives 2 hours away.
Hanging out in the den after lunch. Watching football, napping, working on the IPad, playing with the dogs, etc. A great time was had by all.
My brother-in-law, Larry and my sister, CC.
My Mom and Dad. Daddy must have just told one of his famous jokes, because it looks like Mom is fussing at him. They are such a cute couple! Glad I still have them in my life! My Dad had been sick this past week, so we were glad he was well enough to join us for lunch on Saturday. Our family had to wait and have our Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, since my niece and her husband had to work Thanksgiving day. And then, wouldn't you know it, my niece got sick and they couldn't even be with us after all. We were sad that they didn't get to come.
Lauren and Thomas. They have been married for 3 1/2 years. I am blessed to have a great son-in-law and he is such a wonderful husband to Lauren!
This is Adelaide and her new boyfriend, Nick. He is a very nice young man and we like him a lot. He will graduate from college in December and is presently looking for a job. They are a cute couple together!
Since the house is already decorated for Christmas, I used my poinsettias on the table for our Thanksgiving meal. I was glad that we could all sit together at one table, so we were able to talk and visit with each other.
Here is the table from the other direction. We had lots of delicious food. We all helped with the food and it wasn't too hard on any of us. I always host now, since it is too overwhelming for my Mom to have us all at her house for a holiday meal.

That night we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The famous movie about the Griswold family. It is so funny! Our family loves to watch this movie each year. It is a tradition to watch it on Thanksgiving weekend. Although we know the movie by heart, it always seems funnier each year when I see it. In some ways, our family is like the Griswold's. There is always something going on around here. LOL!!!

I hope your family had an awesome time being together over the holiday and making memories!!! We sure did! I just hate that the time went by so fast, but I have Christmas to look forward to now. Plus, once Adelaide is finished with this semester, she will only have one more semester of college and will be graduating in May of 2011. I can't believe it!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Thanking God today for all my many blessings!

I am thankful for:

- A God who loves me unconditionally!

- 2 daughters who have brought me more joy than they will ever know!

- A wonderful husband who I have known since I was 15 years old. We have been
married for 34 years.

- A son that I never had (my awesome son-in-law)!

- My health. I am a 7 year cancer survivor.

- The greatest parents anyone could ask for. I am so blessed to still have them in my
life!

- A very special sister (and her family)! Love you Sis!!!

- My home.

- My sweet pets. Dog (Holly), cat (Sassy) and canary (Sunny)!

- A great job and a wonderful family to work for.

- My freedom to live in a country where I can worship a God that I love.

- Great friends. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends. I am especially
thankful for my blog friends.

- The joy in my life every day!!!! Thank you Lord!

- I could go on and on............


I saw a saying on a church sign yesterday and it said it all as far as I am concerned:

THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR EACH DAY!!!!!!!

Love & blessings from NC!
Melinda

Christmas Decorations!

Last weekend, I got my whole house decorated for Christmas. Inside and out!!! I don't usually get everything out before Thanksgiving, but this year, I decided that I wanted to enjoy myself during December and not be stressed with decorating. I was pooped last weekend, but now that it is done, I am so thrilled that I have that all behind me.

I have ALWAYS loved Christmas and everything that comes with it! I collect Santas and they are all over my house. My favorite Christmas item is my Nativity Scene that I got as a child. I remember Mom taking me to the five and ten cent store to purchase each piece. The pieces were made in Italy, but back when they were purchased over 50 years ago, only cost around 25 to 35 cents each.
This is another favorite Nativity Scene too. It was made at church by my girls when they were little. It is so precious to me, because they signed most of the pieces on the bottom. Each piece is made out of a block of wood and felt. This Nativity sits on the floor underneath the table where my other Nativity is.
I made this Christmas banner when I was a child. I loved making things like this when I was younger and I am so thrilled to have my handmade things to pass on to my own girls. Both of my Grandmothers taught me how to do handwork. This banner is made out of felt, sequins and beads.
An end table in my den. I love the Mary Engelbreit saying... For Christmas, give your heart! My Grandmother made the fabric tree. Adelaide made the little pottery glove. And I love the little pottery Nativity.
This is one of my many Santas. His vest is made from an old quilt. I made the cross stitched pillow many years ago.
This Santa is made out of a bowling pin. He sits by my front door. A friend of mine painted him for me. Isn't he cute?
I love Anna Lee figures and these are a few from my collection. I love my Santas!
This is a tree that is in my entry foyer. A lot of the ornaments are handmade. (Many of them I made). More Santas and his elves are on the banister. Santa even hangs his hat on the post.
My gold & white table in the living room. It looks like a hodge podge in the picture, but it really is pretty. My white/gold Santas, glass Nativity,trees, angels, ornaments, etc. In the very front is a baby Jesus that Adelaide made at church when she was just a toddler. Baby Jesus is a wooden icecream spoon.
I love this old Santa. It is hard to tell from the picture, but his coat is made out of an old quilt. He is sitting by a corner cabinet that was my Grandmother's. The chair he is sitting in is old too.
This is my Santa collection on the top of our entertainment unit in the den. I have loved collecting my Santas and many of them have wonderful stories behind them. My husband is a Postmaster, so a lot of my Santas are mail related. I try not to buy as many Santas anymore, but I can't resist. I usually have to add a few each year.
I made my carolers at church many, many years ago and they sing in the breakfast room.
My tree in the den. Again, a lot of these ornaments were made by me through the years. I crossed stitched the alphabet picture on the wall. I love it!
My mantel in the den. I knitted the stockings (all but the meow one).

Sorry for the picture overload, but I wanted to show lots of my things. I still have some other pictures, but I will wait and post those later. As you can see, I totally love Christmas and all that comes with it. We haven't put up our live tree yet.

I hope you have enjoyed my Christmas decorations! Christmas is such a joyous time of the year. The celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Holiday Decorating!

Hey everyone, I am still here. I have just been so busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I did try to post this past weekend about my Father's trip to the World War II Memorial, but the computer would not let me upload the pictures that I have on the computer of his trip. Every time I tried to load them, it would post "error". After working with it for hours, I finally gave up. I'll try again when I have more time.

I am hosting my family for Thanksgiving this year, but we won't be eating until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, since my niece and her husband have to work the holiday this year. We will be having both of my girls, my son-in-law, Adelaide's boyfriend, my sister and her husband, my parents and my niece and her husband. There will be 12 of us!

I will roast the turkey and fix some of the food. My Mom and sister will bring some things too. That way it is not hard on anybody. Although the food is a wonderful part of Thanksgiving, I especially enjoy our time together. Looking forward to having everyone here for the holiday.

In getting ready to host my family, I decided to get my house decorated for Christmas. I have already started working on getting out my decorations. I brought all my storage bins upstairs last weekend. I have to pack up a lot of the items in my house in order to put out Christams stuff, so I have already begun to do that. My goal is to get everything put out by Sunday night. (Except our real tree).

Adelaide is coming home on Monday and I want to have everything ready and be able to enjoy my time with her while she is home. Plus, for one year, I also want to enjoy December and not have to be doing so much. I want to enjoy the Christmas season this year and not be so frazzled.

My girls and I have ALWAYS loved Christmas!!! We get so excited decorating the house and making things so festive. I collect Santa Clauses and they are everywhere in my house! I put up a real tree and I also have trees in each room of the house. They aren't large trees, but they each have pretty ornaments on them (many of them made by the girls or myself). I have something "Christmasy" in each room of the house (bathrooms included).

So think of me this weekend. I will have the Christmas CD's cranked up and will be spreading a little Christmas cheer throughout my house!!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..........

Blog Friend!!!

On Friday, I had the opportunity to meet my long-time blog friend, Angela.
(Love Being a Nonny) We had the best time and we talked non-stop the whole time we were together!!! I met her at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. She and I don't live but about 30 minutes from each other, but just had never gotten together before. We both stay so busy with work and our families, but I am so glad that it finally worked out for us to meet each other.

Angela is as pretty and sweet in person, as I knew she would be. We just had so much fun being together and talking with each other. Angela has 3 grown children and 2 of the cutest little granddaughters that you have ever seen. She is expecting another grandchild real soon. If you have never read her blog, go over and say hello. She is one precious blog friend that I am so glad to have the privilege to know.

Angela and I have some other mutual blog friends and we said that it would be fun to meet them too. If you have never met any of your blog friends in person, I would highly recommend it. I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of my blog friends.

Sorry for the delay in posting our meeting on Friday, but my computer froze up on me on Friday night, our college daughter paid us a surprise visit on Saturday and Tom and I had a reunion to go to on Saturday night. We have had such a fun weekend!!! And to top it off, I was on vacation last week and just enjoyed being here at home. It was great!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I can't believe that it is already November. Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be here before we know it, but I love the holidays!! Such a festive time of the year!!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Flight of Honor!!!

My 89 year old Father is leaving this morning to fly to Washington, DC on the Flight of Honor with 104 fellow World War II Veterans. It is sponsored by our local Rotary Club. They will tour the WW II Memorial, The Korean and Vietnam Memorials, the Navy Yard, the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Air Force Memorial.

It will be a day to remember for these WW II Vets. They range in age from 82 to 96. I am so proud of my Dad and all these men who served during the war to protect the freedom that we have today in this county.

I pray that they will have a wonderful and safe trip and that it will be very memorable for all of them. More pictures to come.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Beach Trip - Part 1

In early October, I went to the beach with my sister and some of my girl cousins. One of my cousins has a lovely home at Kure Beach. If you remember, that is where we went on our vacation this summer. One day, we drove over to Wilmington and ate lunch and shopped. This is a view of the riverfront. There are lots of great restaurants and shops along the water.
One of the local sightseeing boats. Wilmington sits on the Cape Fear River.
My shrimp and grits! This version was a bit different, but delicious!! The grits were fried, instead of creamy.
This is my older sister. Her name is Cecelia, but we call her CC. She is a wonderful sister and we love spending time together. She and I live about 2 hours from each other, so we are fortunate to get to see each other a good bit. Nothing better than time spent with your sister!!!
From the boardwalk area we could see the Battleship North Carolina. It has been restored and is a tourist attraction now. We did not go on it. Just looked from a distance. I toured it as a child.
Here is another view of the riverfront area looking back towards the big bridge coming into Wilmington.
It would not be the south unless moss was hanging in the trees.
Isn't this a cute place to eat? Look at the people eating out on their own private balconies. This restaurant was right on the river front. What a wonderful view!!
This was a view from the bridge as we were coming into Wilmington. Such a pretty city. I didn't get any good pictures of the old houses, but Wilmington has lots and lots of beautiful restored houses near the downtown area.
This is a picture from my beach chair as I sat out on the beach one afternoon and read my book and watched the world go by. At the beach, I love to sit and listen to the roar of the ocean waves and watch the seagulls running along the sand.
Notice all the people on the pier. It was wall to wall people!!! Needless to say, the fish were running and there was not an empty spot to stand and fish. We loved walking down to the pier and checking on the activity in the evening. Lots of fish being caught.
This guy and his friends sit on the end of the pier and wait for people to feed them fish that they don't want to keep. It was fascinating watching the pelicans eat their fish snacks!
A view of the beach from the pier. Even though it was October, the temperatures were in the mid to high 80's and there were lots of people swimming and surfing while we were there.
During the 2nd weekend of October each year, the Blues and Jazz Festival is held at Carolina Beach (next to where we were staying). It is a big event, but we did not go. Leon Russell was the headline artist this year.
I loved these big plants that were along the boardwalk near the beach. It is hard to tell from the picture, but they were huge!!!

As you can see, we had a wonderful time at the beach. It takes so long to get my pictures uploaded that I will do this trip in 2 parts. More to come!