Tis' the season...

It makes me so happy to be with my family at this time of year. While we miss Steve so much at this time we keep his memory alive by keeping his traditions alive. Sarah and Nate have taken over getting the Christmas trees for me and Grandma Norma. They have really gotten into it and have picked out some really great ones. This year is no different. I will try to get a picture of it this year. It is one of those hybrid nobles and it is pretty cute.


Kids will be here at noon Christmas morning and then we will do the Fordyce Christmas the following day. This week is going to be crazy because I still have a couple of more gifts to get and another party with friends. I definitely love this time of the year even if it is crazy stressful.

He is three.

My grandson turned three on Monday. It is unbelievable how time has flown by. I miss his grandpa so much and wish that he were here to experience how awesome Cash is. We celebrated his birthday on Sunday. He was only mildly interested in his guests, presents and cake. Operating on no nap, all he did was be super hyper and not sit too long or he risked falling asleep.

His momma made him a dirt cake which he really didn't want to eat but the gummy worms on it got his attention. Those he picked off the remainder of the cake after everyone was served and ate those. I think the cake was mostly for his daddy and mommy who love it.

His presents held little or no interest for him until his dad started to open them. The best gifts appeared to be from his Aunt Lisa and Uncle Buck which were a large artists tablet with washable markers and brushes. He also received books and various matchbox like cars and a couple of movies. He was happy with all his gifts just more interested in drawing than anything else.

Safe and sound, sort of....

My trip to California was a quick one. It was fun yet bittersweet. My mom has been diagnosed with dementia. She is in the early stages. It is hard to see her with memory issues when she was the person who remembered everything even stuff we didn't want her to remember. 

The girls and Cash came along for the visit too. Cash was uncertain at first because it was his first long distance drive and first time being away from his daddy. Sarah had to call Nate a couple of times so that Cash could hear his daddy's voice and get a little reassurance that his dad was still around.


Sarah took him to the neighborhood park which has an amazing playground. He didn't want to come back to my parents house after going there so he had a couple of meltdowns. By the time we were ready to come home he was enjoying his visits with his extended family and we didn't want to go either.

It was good to see my siblings and nephews. It was so hard to believe it had been two years since I saw most of them. My nephews have grown so much it was hard to believe it. When I hugged my family good bye I didn't want to let them go, especially my parents.


The drive home was long and uneventful thank goodness. We chose not to stop so Lisa drove the first half of the trip and I drove the rest of the way home. We made good time considering we stopped for lunch, dinner and some potty breaks. Having left my parents home at 10:30AM, I was dropping Sarah and Cash off at their house at 9:15PM. Once I dropped Lisa off got home and unpacked my car it was about 10:30. 


Sleep didn't come quickly but when I did finally fall asleep I didn't wake till after ten the next morning. It took me most of the day to get motivated to unpack and do laundry. Wow, I know I can't do short trips (especially driving) anymore as my body just doesn't recover from it as quickly as it once did. Next time I am flying...

Happy Birthday Steve!

Today he would have been 52. A young handsome grandpa if you ask me.

Things I now miss during this time of the year...

Of course besides the blatantly obvious, Steven, are the things I had gotten used to living in the country. The smell of the earth after the first rain, seeing the sun rises from my kitchen window and the visits from my sweet nieces Evangeline and Estelle. The sounds of the owls at night coming from the woods, the farm equipment passing in front of the house and the sounds of children laughing while playing on the hay fort next door. Then there is also the sounds of screams coming from the haunted maze the last couple of nights before Halloween. Yes, I would bundle up and stand in my driveway to hear the sounds. They were strangely comforting when I knew that my kids were out there helping to 'scare' those silly people who thought it was fun to traipse around in the dark of night in the maze.

It saddens me to know that Steve is missing out on this time of year. He loved operating the trebuchet. Watching the kids and adults alike holler and laugh at the launching of the pumpkins into the sky. I know he would have loved watching Cash enjoy the hay fort and maze. I am sure he is looking down at us and enjoying it all...

New house...old house

Thank goodness for my little girl. She has come to the rescue on clearing out the attic spaces on the old house. Very little from the attic will get moved to the new house because most of the things belong to girls and they are deciding what to do with all that stuff. It is amazing what you find in those spaces. A good much of it is what Sarah calls "what were you/Dad thinking?" and to which I have to agree. Yep, makes you realize that living simply is so much smarter.


We have the basement and the spare room off the garage left to do. Then it is trips to Goodwill and the dump. Really need to do this so I can sell the old place. My goal this week is to tag all the stuff I want to keep and place in a pile the things to be donated so that when it is time to go to the dump there will be no questions as to what goes because it all will. My dear brother-in-law Michael has offered to move any last stuff to the house and make the trip to the dump for me. He has been the greatest through all of this.


I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to do anymore things at the old place because it just makes me sad to walk in to the house. I keep praying that it will all be over soon and I can truly move on.

Twenty-five years ago...

The title to this post almost sounds like the start of a fairy tale. Well to be honest it was, mine. On August 23, 25 years ago I  married the most wonderful man in my life. He was smart, funny, opinionated, sentimental, handsome and a romantic. 

He had a good memory for things most guys tend to forget. He remembered the day we met, birthdays and our anniversaries but gift giving was always a struggle for him. First we gave him hints then we just would come right out and say what we wanted. But it rarely translated to what we got unless we purchased our own gifts, because he always thought he had a better idea.This meant a bicycle (can't ride), a frying pan (yep), a very good knife (he said mine were all crap) and a weather station. Yea, the last one is still in the box having never been opened because he was going to put the gauge up on the house. Then there were the times when he bought gifts because he thought we would like them and he put them away for the future. I found one such gift in his office when we were packing some of the stuff up. It still had the credit card receipt in the bag.


This was also the guy who was very hard to get gifts for when the time came. We asked for ideas and got lists of obscure books, guns (out of the girls money range) and tools. He also took a long time to get these lists to us. One year Sarah threatened to give him a pretty pink sweater in her size. "Dad, doesn't fit you, darn I guess I will keep it for myself." He got the biggest kick out of that comment.


As the years pass I find myself finding things I know he would have liked. Why, does this happen, who knows. I miss him even more today than ever. More happy memories come to mind when I look at pictures of him with the girls but it is still tinged with a lot of sadness. I seriously doubt it will ever get better...