It's Been a Mighty Long Time

As the title indicates, it has been a mighty long time since you have seen me here. Life has been rather busy and summer seemed to have flown by. Let me fill you in on just how crazy things have been.

Since I am now an empty nester and I don't have children around all the time I tend to forget just how quickly they grow up. This year, Lilli turned 10, my son Josh got his first apartment (yes, he went kicking and screaming into adulthood) and my nephew Stephen got married and his sister Amie has a baby due the first of the year. It's not just relatives, either. Eric, who I thought was going to end up a confirmed bachelor, got married, to the lovely Amanda. There are more babies due than I can shake a stick at. Carol, Shanda, Brittany, Molly, Allie and I've already told you about Amie...

On the end of life side, there have been friends and family who have gone home for the last time. Danny Brunton, Emily Thomas, Jessie Davis, Alvie Ray Miller, Ann Mildred Miller, and Juanita Glaze. All of these folks passed away in the past two months. They will be missed.

I guess this is all for now. I always say I hope to write more often and I guess I do mean that, maybe it will happen!

This week

When I say this week, I really mean the last seven days, not the ones to come...

Under "Kids Say the Darndest Things" we have my great nieces, Jaide, age 6 and Chloe, age 3.

Jaide: "Justin Beaver(Beiber)is not only cute, he is S-I-X!"

(We think she was trying to spell sexy!) What I want to know is What does a 6 year old think sexy is?

Chloe: (At the dinner table) "I want some ass-o-sauce!(applesauce)

Another Christmas Memory

Today's memory is not so much a memory but a tradition. There are many things that could be considered a tradition. The walnuts in Pappee’s slippers were a tradition, in the sense that it was something that probably started with my mom and continued with the grandchildren. Everyone seems to have things that they do every year. We have several things, those are the things I have been writing about and will write about in the days to come.

A fresh fruit salad was one of the dishes always on the table at Christmas dinner. It seemed that every year, no matter what the economic condition, there was a fruit salad. Apples (a couple of different kinds), oranges, tangerines, grapes (sometimes with seeds, sometimes not), bananas and walnuts (not the kind that we already shelled, but the ones we shelled by hand) were all a part of the dish. Most of the time, I remember that it was my grandmother, Mammaw who did all the work. As we girls got older, we got to help. I can remember many times, sitting at the kitchen table cracking walnuts! It was one of our favorite dishes at the holidays!

Today, Mammaw, Pappee, Mom and Dad are all gone. Produce is much more expensive these days, but still we manage to have our fruit salad. For me, it is a precious memory of what was.