Today's Grab Bag of Thoughts

Let's remember the heart behind Christmas is not about going out and putting yourself in debt to give you children everything they want in life.  It isn't about that popular toy or piece of clothing. The spirit of Christmas, is fast becoming an endangered species in our culture today. We slash at it unintentionally with questions like, “What do you want for Christmas?”  Christmas is the selected date that we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the start of his path to the cross where he will ultimately die for our sins.  Jesus bought us forgiveness and gives us new life  Christmas to me is a way of life.  Christmas symbolized God's sacrifice, love, grace and generosity for us all. It is a time to reach out to one another and be God in each other's lives.  Show love.  Be generous.  Sacrifice for those that are in need.  Give grace where needed.  I truly believe that we should live everyday of our lives this way, but of course life gets in the way and we all forget. 

Attn: Self-Employed, contractors, freelancers etc, take note: The 2018 ACA (Affordable Care) enrollment period has been shortened from 90 days to 45 days (November 1-December 15, 2017).   Someone you know may desperately need health care. Many of your friends may still not have employer-based healthcare so this is relevant to EVERYONE'S interests. Remember, Under current law, health insurance companies can’t refuse to cover you or charge you more just because you have a “pre-existing condition” — that is, a health problem you had before the date that new health coverage starts. https://www.healthcare.gov/quick-guide/dates-and-deadlines/ https://www.healthcare.gov/get-coverage/

HI Stacy! Hope Heaven is treating you well.  We sure miss you here on earth.  I am sure you are watching us daily, but just in case you are missing the finer details let me fill you in on your kids.  They, just like me, miss you.  We all wish that tomorrow was a day of celebration not a day of remembrance.  But I guess we should celebrate that you are not in pain anymore and that all three of yours children are being well taken care of. Hey did you hear that I am FINALLY getting married?  You would totally like the guy.  He's so great.  He's a big goofball like me but very loyal, caring and helpful.  He treats us all with respect and has only the best intentions when it comes to the kids.  We will rock this parenting thing together.  These kids will have an additional person to fill them up with love. So what have you missed in the last 5 years?  Unfortunately a lot.  It makes me sad sometimes to remember what they have all been through over the years.  Haley, of cou

This morning I woke up to a lot of people with the Facebook status of #MeToo.  I didn't get it at first, until I started reading more into it.  Sometime Hollywood can do something good.  Actress Alyssa Milano, known for her roles in "Who's the Boss", "Charmed" has started a twitter trend.  She is asking that "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."  I bet if you log on to your social media account right now you will be saddened.  Many of your friends will have this on their status.  BUT it's not just women, some of my male friends have also had this happened.  I am so disheartened by what I see. #MeToo is everywhere.  No more laughing it off as nothing.  No more feeling to blame for it.  I will teach my daughter to stand up, speak up and not stand by.  I will teach my son that women are equal to men and they deserve

 This past Friday I got engaged.  Honestly NEVER thought it would happen to me, but yippee.  My Fiance is the most caring, generous, honest, silly, adventurous man I've ever met.  He's jumped into a big place and has decided that he never wants to leave.  He's happy to take on the position of keeping my crazy, grumpy and sometime bratty self happy AND helping to raise my two very wonderful children. Now that I am going down the path of marriage and I have started to sew, I have decided to sew my own dress.  YES, it is a big task and YES it will be hard and YES I will get frustrated at times, but it means a lot to me. Why? 1. I get to make one most important piece of clothing I will every wear. 2. I will be using a sewing machine that used to belong to my grandmother. 3. I will be able to add fabric piece of clothing that belonged to both of my grandmothers and my little sister to my dress (inside).  They won't be there to see me finally walk down the aisle in pe

Over the last year or so I have began sewing.  Sewing has quickly become a passion for me.  I absolutely love seeing my finished projects.  I started with simple skirts made from old t-shirts.  Well these were and are still actually my favorite pieces.  Not only were they my first projects, but they were made from clothing that was left behind when my grandmother went to heaven.  My daughter loved them.  She would tell her Papa that she was wearing Nana.  It was so cute.  This passion has become an obsession.  I have a pattern stash that I probably will never sew through.  I have fabric I've bought to make stuff and I am still not done.  The biggest problem is that this summer it was unbearably hot.  My sewing room is in our garage and it gets stifling.  I've used it as an excuse to not sew.  BUT, with this post I have decided to start a sewing part to my blog. On my blog I'll start with a few image of stuff I have made in the past.  I will then move on to "curre

Well it wasn't more than 13 days ago I finally sat down to write a post and in that post I said "still single"...funny thing is days letter I would fall head over heels for someone just like me.  As I sit and look back on my life and what I wanted and when I wanted them I never really just let God take the reigns when it came to relationships.  Why?  Because it is so much fun to hang out with tons of people that will break your heart.  j/k In all seriousness I have dated some craptastic men over the last X amount of years and each one has shown me my weaknesses and where I wont compromise.  However I have also dated 4 very wonderful, caring and loving men.  Each one of them helped me to see a bit more of who I am and what I want in life.  Each of them helped me to become the woman I am today.  I take away great memories and great lessons on how to do things better next time.  Though God's love and grace did the most.  God's love for me is never ending, even when

I just looked at my blog and realized that I have, for lack of a better word SUCKED this year,  I have not posted once since October of last year!  So here is what you should know 1. I am still alive 2. I sew now, instead of write...which is not ok 3. My teenager is taller than me, has a job and is old 4. My tween is almost taller than me, loves volleyball and is getting old 5. Still single 6. Trying to read 12 books this year. 7.  Still have tons of ideas for books 8. Have had to make big decisions this year 9. Love my life, even when I don't like it. 10.  Nacho is still the coolest cat in the world.