Dear friends,
Happy Thanksgiving! We have just eaten our feast, as Laynie has always called it and now most of our family members are gathered around the TV watching big brawny men throw a little oblong brown thing through the air. I always laugh about football because my mom and dad loved the Cowboys and watched religiously until Tom Landry left the helm, but I retained absolutely no inkling of how the game is played, even after four years of high school marching band and four years of college marching band. I sat in the stands for eight year only standing up to yell when the person beside me did. But I digress..
I have been dreading the holidays this year, as I am sure most of you have already guessed, but yesterday I had a moment of blinding clarity as Maddie and Laynie and I were riding in my car singing at the top of our lungs to the new Taylor Swift CD. As sad as it is to lose someone you love, you should never take any day for granted our gracious Lord has given us. Today may be a day that I dearly miss my son but I must feel the joy that comes from the blessing of being with the rest of my family. Our lives are fleeting and can change on a dime and the greatest gift we can give ourselves is to live in the moment with joy and gratitude for the things we DO have.
So what do I have? A beautiful loving family, three wonderful children, one who has already gone to our permanent home and two who are still with me. I am starting to finally feel a sense of peace about my circumstances.
I am wearing glasses now and will have my second eye surgery on Monday. I am not looking forward to it, but I am resolved and feel like it should go better, since I am on the mend from strep and pneumonia.
Steve has newspapers all over our house. His approach to Black Friday is totally methodical. He approaches the day like a hunter stalking prey. He usually ends up with an astounding number of steal-deals, which he doles out one at a time over the course of the next year with precision and skill. If any appliance goes on the blink, Steve goes to his secret stash and whips out a brand new one or maybe two, depending on the stipulations of the sale item.
Tonight we are all going to see the new movie Australia. We’re taking the old people in our family which is very brave of us because the last time we attempted this feat, Steve’s great Aunt Tommie fell down the stairs at the theater and broke her foot, not to mention ruining a perfectly good pair of knee high stokings! The manager at the theater was so appalled he gave the rest of us free movie tickets. I’m debating whether or not to fake an injury tonight to see what he can drum up for me!
.News Faalash: We went to the movie theater and Laynie started feeling urpy so I took her home before the movie. After seeing her in the mom exam room, I realized she had about seven or eight skin lesions (she had one yesterday and I took her to the doctor where they looked at me like I was crazy and sent us home with neosporin ointment). So as is our usual MO, we ended up at the ER on a holiday and Laynie may have MSRA- a baaaaad staph infection. She needed IV antibiotics. When will doctors learn to trust the moms of America, anyways?
Hope your day was full of family and love,
Amy
