For Better or For Worse

"For Better or For Worse" is my absolute favorite comic strip. I read it daily! Yesterday it reminded me of several words my son developed when learning to talk. I couldn't help but chuckle aloud when reading this strip yesterday and truly enjoyed the walk down memory lane it provided!

Christmastime is Here!

I love Christmas! It's my most favorite time of the year!

Christmas brings such wonderful, warm memories to mind that warm my heart!

I love remembering all the traditions and times shared during Christmas with my Mom and Dad!

I dread Christmas. It's the hardest part of the entire year.

Christmas brings such wonderful, warm memories to mind that make my heart ache.

I dread remembering all the traditions and times shared during Christmas with my Mom and Dad.

Certainly I'm not the only person who has such mixed emotions about the Christmas season.

Certainly I'm not the only person who longs to have things from the past during the Christmas season.

Certainly I'm not the only person who can laugh and cry at the same memory or thought from past Christmas seasons.

Regardless ...... it's Christmastime!

Time to warm our hearts with new memories!

Time to warm our hearts with new thoughts!

Time to warm our hearts with new traditions!

"Merry Christmas!"

Some pictures of our home this Christmas season.

My son is a floral designer.

Having a son that's a floral designer is like having ...... a husband that's a plumber - the faucet still leaks!

Having a son that's a floral designer is like having ...... a husband that's a mechanic - the car still doesn't run properly!

Having a son that's a floral designer is like having ...... a husband that's a shoe cobbler - the children still have no shoes!

Having a son that's a floral designer means ...... Mom does all the decorating!

In-Law Visits

My mother-in-law is coming for Thanksgiving. I don't have any of the "horror" in-law stories. I've always felt like we get along very well and have a lot of fun together.

Through the years I've truly gotten past the obsession of cleaning everything in sight before her arrival.

This is our house.

This is how we live.

I keep it tidy.

I keep it picked up.

It doesn't bother us.

Sure hope it doesn't bother you.

My list now simply consists of making sure fresh sheets are on her bed and making sure she has a set of fresh towels.

Today while making a list of things I'd like to accomplish before she gets here I remembered how it used to be before her visits. I cleaned the entire house like a mad woman! For an entire week before her arrival I cleaned, washed, vaccuumed, scrubbed!

When my son was very young, he once said, "Gee, Mom, you'd think the Pope was coming or something."

My husband quickly responded, "It's worse than that, son, Grandma's coming!"

Monday's Memory! Billy Brown: The Baby Sitter

"Billy, Billy, will you do,

Something that I want you to?"

"Yes, Ma. You know I like to do

Something that surprises you."

When you were little,

those words brought huge smiles!

You could recite the story word for word

as I read aloud.

I could stop before the end of a sentence;

you would finish it from memory.

You would start the next sentence from memory

before I could even begin.

To say this was your favorite book

would be an understatement.

To think you had a photographic memory

was only a thought.

Time flies, you're 20 now

and read on your own.

I'll just bet, though,

that you still remember Billy Brown!