YES,,WE GATHER FOR ROSARY TODAY!!

and now that you know that....i'll tell you about our busy busy weekend....

on friday i broke out the traditional GREEN GLITTER sweater!! each year for i don't know how long i've worn this sweater...like....since i was flying all over the midwest...(that is how old this darn ensemble is) (but....it must be magic fabric cuz it has seen me through a couple pregnancies and on weight loss...)

anyway...finally made it to a restaurant i've been wanting to go to......it is a fish house and i love love love to EAT fish but i sure as heck can't cook it!! so any chance i get to indulge i do. the three of us girls started with mussels and bruchetta and then i feasted on scallops and then a slice of carrot cake...i also honored our southern friends by enjoying a Kentucky Speed Bump....it was yummy yummy. i think it had Makers Mark in it....which...if it is one i've learned by my southern friends it is 'good booze' doesn't make you shudder when you sip it....i mean..i must have dated some cheap guys cuz every time i had a 'proper drink' it made me shudder...so i would choose to be a cheap date and just order my molsen for fear of looking like a freak shaken'everytime i took a sip of my drink!!
we had a lovely meal and then took a walk around and stopped in at Tiffany's....it is new to our city and i have been wanting to go in. it has been since college that i've been in a Tiffany shop. so here we are in front....i did spy a nice silver woven bracelet with matching middle finger ring....hmmmmmmm Dreeeeeeeeeeeammmmer...Nothing' but a Dreeeeeammmer (singing the song by the band Supertramp)


so, friend Mimi had agreed to come back to my house to sleep over so that she would be at the house in the morning when both of the big girls and i had to take off for athletic events. (still not sure where that gene comes from....) Ms. R played a wonderful game of 'hoops' with her aunt sue cheering her onto a 27 -2 victory!!! Aunt Sue says ms R's game has improved with just one week of practice and is getting more confident in her play. yeah!!! so proud.
across town big sister Ms. V was getting down in the pool and in two days of meets placed in the top 10 of all but one of her events and won each but one of her heats. her best event this weekend was the 100 breast...she even beat out one of the coaches daughters.(him with her on deck)
...see video...ms. V is the swimmer on the left with the silver cap!!
(i do not have the Barlay camera talents so you'll have to suffer through my video'ing)

saturday night we were supposed to all bundle up and head up to the zoo for the lights show but it was too cold...in fact...as i type it is a balmy 7 degrees outside!! Thank you Thank you Thank you the windows and insulation are a true blessing this evening....as i sit in this warm room (where we can no longer see our breath) i can't help but think of the homeless families out there tonight...probably walking around kroger just to be somewhere inside until a shelter opens up.....and then...with each little christmas tv show i think of the kids that won't have presents to open or at the very least nothing new. (friday i went with a couple 8th graders to our local donation center and sat in humble awe as i watched families root through well used toys looking for things to give their kids for christmas)

today i took the kids over to see papa since his return to the house. he is sleeping in the recliner and staying current on his pain meds and insisting on going through with Christmas Day...will NOT hear of moving it to another day!!! we were the just long enough to wear him out...tee hee...kids were happy to see him out of the hospital for sure!

i'm so happy to not be under pressure to get uniforms washed...ah...the simple pleasures...

i got an email from a friend wishing me (et al) some simple blessings....i opened it...and i'm glad i did (cuz i never never never open fwd'd emails) one of the blessings hit home with me...it read something like 'i wish for a hot pot of coffee waiting on you when you wake up that you didn't make yourself'!! it struck me because one of the things that was hardest for me to get used to this last year was not getting up to a hot pot of coffee. Hubby ALWAYS...and i mean ALWAYS had a fresh pot brewed in the morning (and almost all day most days). i loved to come down to the smell and pour myself a cup of hot coffee. he filled his with a ton of sugar and a quite a bit of milk...his always looked more like dark milk and i took a dash of both. It worked for us b/c we each knew who's cup was who's. anyway....i don't miss it as much as i did six months ago...i have gotten used to making just a six cup pot and then that it is it for the day. but i can still appreciate a Fresh pot brewed by someone else...hint hint Pops!!! (pops will be staying with me for the Christmas week!!!!)

someone else was missing hubby this weekend...mr. k today...out of nowhere says to me 'i'm ready for daddy to come home now'. so sweet....'me too' i told him.
i knew/know the holidays will be hard. harder this year than they will be next i suppose...i'm starting to think how i won't have a gift from my husband. we weren't big gift givers actually....but he did always get me jewlery of some sort. i have a wonderful collection of cross necklaces and with each pregnancy my fingers would grow and i'd get a new wedding set. (he taught me that the best place to shop for jewlery is a pawn shop) although...i must admit...walking around that Tiffany store was a bit of a turn on :):):) i'll be up all by myself wrapping gifts on christmas eve and he won't be here to help me spread out the gifts or take pictures of the kids in the morning when they are unwrapping....or assembling battery operated toys.

poor Pops...i think he has his work cut out for him this year eh???


but...i'm grateful to have a wonderful family and four wonderful children and a nice warm house to enjoy them all in...nuff' said!!!

this week will be busy of course....
both girls have their practices...i have an interview with Social Security.. and as you ready above..YES we will still gather to pray the rosary in the morning....pops and i will cook and host Christmas eve dinner and then the big girls and i (and anyone else who wants to come) will go to midnight mass. I have a meeting at the VA office bright and early on friday morning...then BF R will be down to spend a couple days!!! bring your suit for the hot tub rose!!! and anyone in the hood wanting to visit with Rose...feel free to come hang with us saturdy night!! bring your suit...but also bring a hat...i have found that i stay warmer out there with a hat on my head while the rest of me is down in the water!!
so...with that...i'm going to go put the little ones to bed...