There are many things that I do not desire to do like jumping out of an airplane, being in a crash or drowning.  I am hesitant about using the word "never".  I have found during my years of living that when I say the word "never", I get brought to a place where I am placed in a position that "never" is not an option.  I have gotten very careful how I use that word now as a result of Life's lessons.

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The worst movie would have to be "Fargo".  My Mother mailed it to us so we were expecting a mild family orientated movie since my Mother does not care for violence or bad language especially the "F" word.  The movie started and right from the very start in a wondering voice all were heard to say "Granny sent us this?".  Then to top it off, though the movie was suppose to be a bloody chiller type of movie, we found ourselves laughing throughout the movie.  When she escaped with her head in a bag and ran into a tree....we rolled with laughter.  One misadventure after another just found us finding humor to balance the stupidity of the movie.  Finally, when one of the main actors pissed off the "crazy bad guy" I made a remark about what more could this guy's bad day get since he was a battered mess by then.  Next scene.......you see the bad guy cramming the guy that was having a very bad day into a wood chipper.  It was funny in a very sick way and my family, while we talk and laugh about the movie, has never felt the urge to view it a second time.   

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This last weekend sure has been interesting to say the least.  My stepdaughter came from Indiana to finally get her household goods from storage that she placed there about two years ago give or take a few months.  I was hoping that she would also be able to take her 4 wheeler that she is storing on our property too but fate has decreed that she will not be taking it this trip.  It seems it was decided that she would not need her sway(?) bars for her hauler to get the goods back to Indiana........Wrong!  Lucky for her, the sway bars on our camper were able to be fitted for her hauler.......not that she was that thankful for the help she got.  Knowing that we had to go about an hour and a half from our home to get coal for our coal stove to heat our house, she "allowed" her cell phone to go dead.  Orginally, we were to wait for her call to meet her at the storage facility in the morning and then go get our coal.  After my Husband tried repeatly to call her on her cell, he decided to just go get the coal and when she contacted us, make new arrangements to meet at the storage facility since the coal place did not stay open much after 12.  We had driven to the coal place, bagged and loaded the coal, went to a restaurant and had breakfast with our niece, Connie, like we had made the arrangements with a week before, said our goodbyes to Connie and gotten into our car before my daughter Jessica called us with the news that my stepdaughter had finally called.  My stepdaughter wanted her Dad to call her mother's cell phone so she could talk to him.  Stop the World........Hell will Freeze Over First!!!!  My stepdaughter's mother is the "(Insert word describing a worthless sorry excuse for a totally selfish human being) who tried to use an affair with my Husband to destroy our marriage.  My Husband dialing her cell phone is not going to happen especially with me right there with him since knowing her, she will answer the phone first before she gives it over to her daughter.   The joke was on them though since my husband on his own, erased her number from his phone and does not even remember what her number was since she was always on his speed dial once my stepdaughter announced that she only had six month to live.......over two years ago.  No folks......no miracle involved.  The doctor told her that if she did not get medical help for her medical Lupus related problems she only had about 6 months to live.  She got the medications that she needed and the problems were corrected.......with her still having Lupus of course.  I researched Lupus and found that if you take care of yourself and do not aggrevate your condition, you can live a long and productive life.  It all depends on your attitude and your willingness to abide by the guidelines set out for individuals with Lupus to help them stay healthy.  I know people that had and have Lupus and they have lived to ripe old ages.  The ones that I have met have also worked and had productive lives and even retired from their jobs with pensions.  Having Lupus is not an automatic early death sentence, you can have Lupus and still die from something else.......even old age.    All that just to explain why a number is on a cell phone!  Anyways, after I found out about them having an affair which shortly ended thereafter since my Husband realized that he had made a mistake....a BIG mistake.....and he told her he was not leaving me for her.  So him calling her number would have been totally inappropriate even if he knew the number and my stepdaughter at 30+ years should have known better to even have suggested such an action.   He refused to call the number and had Jessica call the number that my stepdaughter had called from and had Jessica tell her to plug in her cell phone and call him when it got charged since it would take us at least an hour to get home and to unload the coal.  Arrangements were made to meet and my Husband and I set out to meet her at the storage facility.  We arrived first and then another car pulled in with a male driver.  It wasn't until the driver got out that he was recognized as my Husband's son.  He had gained quite a bit of weight.  While he was talking to his son....with me sitting in the car since it was cold with a drizzling kind of rain plus his son blames me for my son Joshua not wanting anything to do with him.  I stay out of that one since I tried to reconcile the two young men and my son Josh told me to back off that he wasn't ready to have anything to do with his half brother and it was his decision as to when or if that would ever happen.  By now, I figure my Husband's son blames me for all the problems in the world to include global warming since I am safe to blame everything on.......and, of course, someone has to be blamed.......since nothing is ever his mother's fault......ever!  Then another car comes in ........and sure enough.....my stepdaughter is in the car......but her mother is driving.  I am sure she was not too happy to see me there but she was smart enough to stay in her car.  While we were there, family drama erupted again.  My stepson walks by yelling and if he could spit nails he would have.  I heard him tell his sister how dare she say that no one would help her.  She quickly got into his face saying that is not what she said.  She then told him that what she said was "God forbid that someone should help her".  Her brother then said that it is not our fault that you moved three states away from the people that love her and could help her.  She said something in the nature that she moved there so she could get treatment.  He then said,  "Come on, (Sister's Name), you never went there for treatment.....it was all about Rhonda."  I agree with my stepson.....especially about treatment since we (and this included the stepdaughter) live in an area that has several large hospitals to also include two teaching hospitals.  Treating Lupus is not as complicated as .....separating twins that are joined together or other more complicated illnesses.  Lupis is not a rare disease and a lot of people are afflicted with it.  Not to downplay it.....but there is so many worse things that can go wrong with a person that if you had to have an illness, this is one that can be worked with.  My Husband heard all the yelling an started going over to them but I told him he should stay out of it since this was a sibling thing.  They went at it hot an heavy for a few more minutes and then they walked away from each other to cool down since they both went into emotional overload and cleared alot of baggage in a very short bit of time.  My stepson went to his car and my stepdaughter walked to the end of the building.  Once again, disappointment came her way since her mother hurried to her brother's side once again choosing her brother over her.  My Husband went to his daughter to make sure that she was OK but to also tell her that we would meet them at the house.  He had learned not to get sucked into the sibling rivalry between the two that the stepson does not even know that his sister is engaged in.  She says she loves her brother but I have heard her tell us things that she has done to him that that does not demonstrate a loving attitude when he is not around and I just know made Life harder for him.  Not my place to introvene but my Husband's.......his call.  If one of my kids had done what she did, I would have told the sibling and confronted my child and held them accountable for their actions.   Then again, if any of my kids had done such a thing, they would not have let me know since they know what kind of Mother I am......I may not always want to do it, but when it comes to the Mom thing......I am the Mom and it is part of the job description.  Anyways..........her mom leaves with her brother and she takes her Mom's car with Roger following in the truck with the hauler.  Roger, by the way, is an older gentleman from Mississippi who is a sweetheart and is so polite in that southern kind of way and is helping my stepdaughter out of the goodness of his heart.  I hope he enjoyed visiting New York even with all the drama.  While stepdaughter was visiting I was polite though I believe she has a lot to answer to since it is my belief that she was an active participant in trying to break up my marriage with her Father.  She is now saying that she is not involved in anyway.  I disagree.  I do not see any reason for her mother to have come to the storage facility when she knew my Husband was going to be there.  My stepdaughter could have driven herself since she did drive herself from the storage facililty to our home and then returned to her mother's house and hour and 15 minutes away.  While she was at our house, she called her mother and made arrangements to meet for dinner upon leaving our house in full view and hearing of myself and my daughter Jessica.  When my Husband came in from fixing her hauler and asked her to go out to dinner, she just refused and then finally telling him that she had made other plans.  She had been staying with her mother since Thursday night and this was Saturday evening.  I was hurt for my husband since I love him and I know the sacrifices he has made for his daughter.....not that she has ever really appreciated any of them.  While she was in my house, she also made arrangements for her mother to bring her, Roger, and my granddaughter by my stepdaughter's partner Sunday morning to my house since the truck and hauler was staying at our house(I really don't know why....maybe to save on gas since they would have to come back the same way to go to Indiana).  They were suppose to be leaving really early in the morning so when we got up to go to church we were surprised to see the hauler still there.  My Husband went to take a shower and while he was doing that.......they arrived.  As I watch, my stepdaughter's mother prances her "ham hocks" onto MY PROPERTY.  What idiot has an affair with a woman's husband and then goes on that woman property knowing she is there?  A Blithering Idiot?  I was nice.  I just went to my front door, leaned out and in a commanding voice, said, "Linda....Get....Off.....MY.....Property!  I made sure I spoke slowly spacing my words out so that there was absolutely no question of my intent or intentions.  She got very Smart very very Quickly.......and took her "ham hocks" back into her car and then left.  My Husband came out of the shower about that time and thought I was talking to him.  When I told him what I had done......he started laughing.  It is my intention to make out formal papers making it possible that if she ever....ever....comes on my property again that she will be arrested for trespassing.  There is absolutely no reason for her to come on our property.  If she wants to meet up with her daughter, she can meet her at the local 24 hour restaurant just down from our house when her daughter is visiting with us.  My children do not understand how I can be polite to my stepdaughter when she is here since they know I have issues with her and her involvment in my marriage and the way she treats my Husband.  Just because he is used to the way she treats him, it does not make it right and though he says it does not bother him, I think it is more like he does not let himself think about it since then he would be hurt.  I love him and do not like ANYONE hurting him but I am letting him deal with it.  I believe he has the right to have a relationship with his kids like I have a right have a relationship with my kids.  I treat his children the way I hope he would treat mine.....no more, no less.  The relationships he has with his children is his own doing.....good or bad....his choice.  While my stepdaughter was here, I let her see the video of the renewal of our wedding vows  that my Husband surprised me with on our anniversary New Year Eve.  I wanted her to actually see the love in his face and voice for me and to see the new rings that he picked and purchased all on his own for us.  I wanted her to see that he is here with me because he loves me and is willing to go the extra mile to make up to me for the mistake he made.  Evidently the message did not get through or she would have told her mother to stay in the car or at least stay on the public road since we live on a dead end road and there is no traffic.    This will not happen again! 

Random Fact #1:  I feel honor bound to defend the weak and defenseless.  When I was in third grade, I tried to prevent the boys on the school playground from killing a stink bug.  I was unsuccessful but it took at least six boys to hold me back while the one boy stepped on the bug.  I felt sorry for the bug....after all...all it was doing was being a bug in very dangerous place.

Random Fact #2:  When I was sixteen, I fell off a cliff backwards and fell head first......I now believe that an angel cradled me when I landed in a shallow pool of water in the middle of a circle of huge boulders.  The only injury I sustained was some scratches from the sand at the bottom of the pool at the base of my neck and shoulders.  Plus the fact that I remember sitting in the pool and was soaking wet.

Random Fact #3:  I have given birth to five children and never had a miscarriage.  I consider my children God's reward to me since all I can remember ever wanting to be was a Wife, a Mother, and a Homemaker.  I have been many things but I still consider being a Wife, a Mother, and a Homemaker my greatest and proudest achievements.

Random Fact #4:  My "real" father has been dead for over 24 years and I still hate him for the damage that he did and the total denial that he accepted as a way of life.  Even if that is the only way he could live with himself, I remember and I do not forget or forgive.

Random Fact #5:  I remember my first serious kiss.  His name was Johnny and he was in second grade and I was in first grade.  I was so in love with him.  He was only in our school for a short time when his Dad got a new job and he moved.  He broke my heart and even now when I hear the song "Johnny Angel", I think of him.   

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My Husband has been planning a surprise for me for our anniversary, which will be our 20th anniversary being married.  We have been together for 27 years but since we married on the day we met, it is the same anniversary for us.  My Husband is not very good at keeping secrets from me since 1)  He wants to tell me about it, 2) He forgets he is suppose to be keeping the secret, and 3) I have the ability to put small tidbits of information together and see the whole picture.  The week before our anniversary, I kept hearing him say "Shut Up!" and when questioned, he replied that he was telling himself to shut up since he had once again almost spilled the beans about the surprise that he was planning for me.  I was trying very hard not to put things together since it seemed to be very important to him that I be surprised.  At one time, I thought I might know what he had planned but then one event threw a spanner into the works and I was unsure.  I then had a couple of scenarios developing on the back burner.  Finally, the day of our anniversary came which, by the way, is New Year's Eve, and I was awaken by my Husband when he brought me breakfast in bed.  My Husband normally does not do this kind of thing.......in fact, I really think that was the first time he ever brought me breakfast in bed.  As I was finishing my coffee, he announced that he had drawn my bathwater for me........a bubble bath .....and he even set out the towel, washcloth and soap for me.  He told me that he was taking me to an expensive place for dinner and I was to spend the day just getting ready but that we had to leave the house at 3:15.......exactly.   The couple of days before he had taken me shopping and had me get a new outfit from the skin out to wear for this occaison.  He had already given me earrings to wear for Christmas so I just enjoyed the pampering.  He had even gotten a new pair of corderoy pants for himself and a new belt.  My Husband is terrible about shopping for himself and never wants to purchase anything even remotely dressy.  The pants went really well with the pullover sweater I had given him for Christmas.  There was only Heather and my grandson, Alex, at home to see me all dressed up since Jen was at Tim's house and Jessie had to give Trish a hand with Adrianna(who has issues with temper and attention-seeking).  Heather and Tom were getting ready to go out themselves for dinner and movies as soon as Jessie got back.  I was ready on time!  Red Letter day since I am terrible about being on time....close but no cigar for me!  But that day, I was on time especially since my Husband moved the time up for 3:15 to 3 o'clock.  He had even shoveled the snow so that I had a clear path to the car since he did not want me to wear my boots.  He even open the car door for me and had even cleaned out the car.........My eyes were wide with "All This For Me!!".  Yes, he was being so sweet and all excited about giving me my surprise.  We started out on the main highway heading for Rochester but somewhere around Ontario he started turning onto the sideroads.  I was soon lost since I get disorientated rather easily if you go onto roads that I am not familiar with especially if you are going in a direction I do not normally travel.  He reaches into the glove compartment and hands me a blue envelope.  Inside is a card........it is an invitation designed by my Husband and daughter Jessica to attend the ceremony of the Renewal of Wedding Vow by my Husband and Myself at 4 o'clock at our church by our pastor.  When I looked up from reading the invitation....there was our church.  He parked in front of the church, opened my door and lead me into the church.  My three daughters(Heather, Jen, and Jessica, Tom(Heather's husband), and my three grandsons(Damien, Alexander, and Neko) were there to greet us as we came in.  Alex kept trying to give me a ring box.  Everyone is excited and laughing since they had all been in on the secret.  My Husband's daughter Melissa could not be there physically due to health problems but was there via cell phone.  I am not sure but probably her partner Cheryl was there too along with my granddaughter Kendall.   My son, Josh, could not be there since he is a manager at his place of business and was unable to be there and Trish had to stay with Adrianna since Adrianna had decided to throw a hissy fit and a half and then really threw another one when she found out that she was not getting to go but the boys were.   Tim missed the ceremony due to being detained at work but did join us at the restaurant after the ceremony.  Jen was really upset with him and when he came to apologize to us for not being there.......we just informed him that Jennifer was the one that he needed to appease not us.....and boy is he in trouble with her.  I kept tellling her is was alright but .....well, you would have to know Jen to realize just how much trouble he was in.....and he had our sympathy there.  The ceremony was simple but so much more meaningful than the pastor even realized.  Jim and the kids knew how much this ceremony meant to me.  You see, about two years ago, My Husband was unfaithful to me and had even entertained the idea of leaving me for, in my opinion, a truly evil piece of trash that does not have an honest bone in her body unless it belongs to someone else......and since she likes to play the cheating game, I guess some of her partners "may" have a honest bone or two in their bodies......hard to tell sometimes.  Either way, his betrayal of our wedding vows was the hardest blow to me since I trusted him with my Life, Heart, and Soul and was so sure that he would never be unfaithful to me.....but I had to suffer also the indignity of having him be unfaithful with someone so vile, so "Nothing Is My Fault", "I am in therapy for the Wrongs that I have Done.....So Get Over It", "It's (Insert name of partner or job)'s  Fault, They Made Me Do It" sorry excuse for a woman and a disgusting excuse for a mother.  And just for the record......I am giving a very mild and bland description of this "individual".   When I discovered what was going down, I fought for my Husband and my marriage.  At first I could hardly functioned until I finally prayed to God for help.  The message I received from my prayer was for me to just continue to be his loving wife and he would take care of everything else.  He removed the fear and uncertainty and the anxiety that was crippling me and filled me with an inner peace that gave me strength and clarity of mind to deal with keeping my family together.  God brought my Husband to a place where he realized that he loved me and that what he had thought might be love was just infatuation and unfinished business.  This time he walked away from her.  The first year was spent saving my marriage and I did not even deal with the betrayal .....I couldn't.  After the first year, I started dealing with the betrayal and the emotions that I felt and the pain I was in as a result.  His betrayal had rocked my world and everything......everything!.....went under the magnifying glass.  Trust became a problem and the problem of being able to trust an even bigger one.  At first my Husband did not understand why I was bringing up something that was a year old......that was the past.  I finally got him to understand that it was not the past for me but the present since I had frozen that part of my Life until I was strong enough to deal with it.  He still did not understand until I allowed myself to share some of the pain with him.  He finally started telling me what I needed to know even if what he told me hurt me.  I am one of the people that has to deal with the truth even if it hurts.......I just have to know!  One of the things that was brought out was that I wanted us to renew our vows since to me the orginal vows were now tainted.  When he reassured me that he would never be unfaithful to me again....he had already promise me faithfulness in our wedding vows.....and he had been unfaithful.  So, here we are now, in the church where just that Sunday he had gotten up in front of the church and told everybody that he loved me and considered me a blessing in his Life, we stand facing each other exchanging new vows.  A wedding he planned and paid for out of his squirreled away money as a surprise and an anniversary gift to me.  But that was not all he had planned.  As the ceremony procedes, the pastor announces that since we had renewed our vows that we had also decided to have new rings too and he opens his hand with two rings in it.  I look at the ring that is going to be mine and see it for the first time....and only got a glimpse of it.  I wonder why he had a second ring in his hand since my Husband refuses to wear a wedding band since he says it gets in the way of him working on cars and stuff like that.  Actually, I am not really thinking clearly at this point since my emotions are all over the place and I want to cry and smile and do a happy dance all at the same time.  At the appropriate time, Jim places my new wedding ring on my finger and I finally get to look at it.  The pastor then puts out his hand holding Jim's ring to be put on.......my mental jaw drops to the floor!  Jim has selected and paid for a wedding ring for himself......I am awed!  This is Jim's way of saying "I Love You" over and over again throughout the ceremony.  Our first wedding was held in our living room and we were married by a Justice of the Peace.  This time we are married in our church with a Pastor and a Pastor that my Husband likes and respects.  After the ceremony, we all load up our cars and head for Bazil's restaurant.  They were great and very family orientated and the food was excellent.  As the evening progressed, such contentment same over me and an inner peace as I viewed my family dealing with our meal and dealing with our newest generation.  The pastor had said during the ceremony that what we were doing was setting an example for the next generation and the next on how much importance we place on our marriage and having Christ in our lives to help us deal with what Life throws at us.  My family loves deeply and I have always told my children that if you love your partner.....that you stay with them until you no longer love them.  It takes a lot to kill love in our family.  Knock on Wood!!!  I love my Husband and once again.......I trust him.  I may not trust other "individuals".......but I love and trust my Husband.  I do not think he will ever be able to give me a better or more valued anniversary present than this years surprise.  He is so more attendive to me and more open in his love for me.  The last few days I have walked around with such a smile on my lips which is just an overflow of joy from within my heart.  Life is Good!

When my children came to me and said, "Mom, I am bored.  There is nothing to do."  I would give them a job to do.  It is amazing how quickly they learned to entertain themselves so that boredom was never mentioned again.

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The theme in our church service this morning was "Reflecting Together".  A church member which just so happened to be my Husband would bring the microphone to various church members who volunteered to share with the church events and feelings of God touching their lives this year and the blessings that God had bestowed upon them.  One was as a result of a hospital stay, the daughter of one of the church members received a scholarship and a job at a teaching hospital and also receiving the news that he was cancer free.  The one that touched me the most is when my Husband took the microphone to the front of the church so that he could see the person about which he was going to speak about.  In front of our whole church, he told them that God had truly blessed his life by having me as his wife and that he loved me very much.....In front of the whole church he spoke praises of me.  I was not embarassed and I was extremely moved since I really needed him to do something like this.  Jim would not tell a lie in God's House.  Jim being moved to make such statements in the church has given me a gift that I will treasure forever and it has eased a burden in my heart.  It is such a joy to know that my Husband loves me and considers me a blessing in his Life especially after our marriage was tested and it survived the testing.   I put my faith in the Lord to help me survive the testing and to guide my Husband to the true path of happiness and joy.  The fire of the testing seems to have cleared the forest of our hearts and souls of the clutter and deadwood that accumulates during one's lifetime and brought into focus the strength of our love for each other after all is said and done.  Jim loves me.......that knowledge alone gives me the strength and the security to take on whatever Life throws at me since I know he will be by my side with love and encouragement.  I love my Husband and my Husband loves me......all is right in my world! 

This Christmas was a blast since the youngest grandchildren while they didn't understand the why of Christmas, did understand that they were getting new toys.  Grampa and Grammie got up extra early so we could be at our son Josh's house to see his children open the presents under the tree.  We had a time schedule since we had to be back to watch Alex open his presents and of course open ours too under the tree.  All this and get the meal underway too.  I had every thing on schedule until I looked at the ham instructions.....I had allowed about an half an hour to cook it but found that it required 10 minutes per pound.  The hams were 8 pounds apiece.  Dinner was a little later than planned but no major disaster.  After dinner we all exchanged presents with Josh's family.  It felt like I had three different Christmases this year.  We had all the grandchildren over except for one granddaughter in Indiana.  The youngest two boys were dressed up in Santa outfits and Damien was dressed as an elf.  This might be the last year that he will allow himself to be dressed as an elf....time will tell.  Adrianna was dressed in a Ms Santa Claus outfit of red velvet.  Grampa passed out the presents and got caught in the bind that one daughter had to visit with her in-laws and the other daughter wanted to go slow so she could enjoy the money she had spent on the gifts.  We compromised and had one opening the present with the next one on standby as soon as the first present was opened.  I love the sound while everyone is opening presents...the ohs and ahs and the squeals from the children when they open a present that is one of their hearts delight.  The laughter and the murmur of conversation just adds to the contentment of an act of love done well.  I should have gone to bed after everyone left but stayed up a bit late.  When I finally went to sleep, I basically slept for the next two days.  I am getting too old to survive on three or four hours sleep for an extended time and then go a whole night without sleep.  I must of had raccoon eyes Christmas morning but then I think I always do since it always happens that I don't get to sleep Christmas Eve.  So now I am rested and I am looking forward to my anniversary this New Years Eve.  Yep, that right, New Years Eve.......my Husband will never have the excuse of forgetting our anniversary.  It will be our 20th anniversary....how time flies when you are having fun.

First, I want to wish each and everyone a Merry Christmas....even to those that do not share the same faith as I.  I am extending the wish for joy in your Life and peace.  Christmas means so many different things to each individual person and we all have our own way of looking at the world and how to live our lives.  Christmas makes me happy and I have so many memories that bring me joy, so happy that I just want to share.  This Christmas is different for me though.  I was visiting The Theologian's Cafe and one of his photo blogs was entitled "Mother".  It was a mother holding her dead 6 year old child after their car had come under fire in Iraq.  I have a tender heart and just briefly allowing myself to feel what she must have felt gazing into her dead 6 year old's lifeless eyes has deeply affected me this last few days.  I have given birth to 5 children and if any of them had been taken from me......the thought just can not be allowed.  It is too horrendous a concept for me.   During candlelight services tonight, I cried.  I keep seeing the mother holding her child.  For some reason, I am associating this tragedy with Mary, the mother of Jesus.  I know......Jesus did not die as a young child but as a grown man of about 33 yrs.  But the prophets had told of his coming and Mary was knowledgable of biblical passages.  She knew when he was born that his destiny would be his death.  How strong a woman she must have been.  An angel did not come to each and every member of her community to proclaim that she was to have a virgin birth and I am sure the women and men of the community could count.  Kenny Rogers sings a song that says.....Mary, did you know, that when you kissed your baby's face that you kissed the face of God."    When Jesus was crucified, Mary was there until the end and watched her son die.  I can understand why she stayed but I marvel at her strength.  I know that I am so glad that God did not choose me to be the mother of Jesus .......since I would not have cared about Mankind if it meant sacrificing one of my children......I would rather have a live son.  Maybe now that I have written this, the picture will quit haunting me since I am dealing with why it bothers me so much.  I wish that I could offer comfort to that mother even though I really do not have a clue on how to comfort someone that has had a child taken from them in such a brutal manner.  So I stand halfway across the world .....just hurting for her and wishing that I could make it better for her.  Her son was such a beautiful child too.      

My Grandson, Alex, just filled his diaper with Toxic Waste!  At least, that is what it smells like since Heather, Tom, Hannah, and Jessie are out in the livingroom making gagging sounds.  Now, there is sounds of bargaining among them trying to convince someone to open that diaper so that Alex can have a diaper change.  I wonder who will be the lucky victim?  Tom got outvoted I guess since he is the one who gets the priviledge of surviving yet another one of Alex's toxic presents.  I will give the guy his due since I witnessed Tom's first toxic diaper change while Tom was babysitting Alex last week.  He got the diaper changed even though he gagged about 8 times in his performance of the task.  Me.......I was laughing so hard that tears came into my eyes.  It was just too funny since I am a veteran of many, many diaper changes in all their different varieties.  I am surprised that Tom has not learned to disappear at first whiff.

Edit:  I wrapped the last present.....unless there is one hiding from me or I have forgotten one.  Still, at this moment, all presents are wrapped and hopefully I will get to sleep in my bed tonight instead of the usual me trying to stretch the scotch tape or manufacture some additional wrapping paper out of paperbags.  I am now doing the do ahead dishes for tomorrow's family dinner so that I can reduce the rush since this is going to be the first year that my Husband and I will be traveling on Christmas morning to watch grandchildren open presents at their homes and then the rush back to our home to open our own presents and watching Alex and our children open their presents.  It is going to be a full day tomorrow and I am so looking forward to all the activity.