Memorable Christmas Presents

I decided to use the word memorable in my title rather than favorite. Lets face it some gifts can be memorable and way far from your favorite. :) I was just thinking about this the other day. My neighbor made some questions for our ladies get together and as an ice breaker we drew a question out of the basket and answered it. One was, "What's your most memorable Christmas gift?" I have several- some good and some, well lets just say its not the gift but the spirit of giving...

My brother and I got an Atari 2600- we played that thing all day Christmas day. I remember the games like Pong but my favorite one was E.T. Did anyone else have this one? You had to find all of the phone parts so ET could phone home- and you ate Reeses pieces for energy along the way.

The year the cabbage patch babies were all the craze I got my own version of a cabbage patch baby made by my mom's friend. My cousins all got one too- we opened them together at granny's house and each of them had our own color hair. We didn't care that they weren't brand name-- just excited to have it and that we all got one to play with together.

When I was 14 I got a typewriter (I so know I'm showing my age with this post)-- yeah a typewriter. I did ask for it but you know its one of those things you ask for but not something you want for Christmas.

We exchanged gifts in our girl scout troop one year- I think we drew names. Anyway, I got a box of chocolate covered cherries- again this was a reminder that its not the gift but the spirit of giving...

When we were first married and our budget very tight, my mom got Jim and me tires for our car for Christmas.

A couple of years ago my boys (all three of them) got me a beautiful silver cross necklace.

One year in my stocking Jim had placed tickets to see Rent at TPAC.

My list is too long to post here. I have lots of memorable gifts.. good, bad, and bizarre. :) Do you have some memorable gifts?

Ladies Time of Fun and Fellowship

My neighbor and I have had a little Ladies get together now for the past three years. We have the ladies from the neighborhood combined with some of my neighbor's friends and some of mine. Its always so much fun and all of the ladies are so special to us. Its just a fun time to eat, talk and of course play some games. Thanks ladies for coming- I enjoyed it so much!!

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

The holidays have for a long time been a season of remembrance for me. Seems like there are always so many things I see, hear, or do that remind me of my loved ones that have passed. My dad and my grandmother have been gone for 12 years, my grandfather and my aunt for 2, and my mother for almost a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas especially bring flooding back all of those memories of the times we shared.

I made a huge pot of vegetable soup last night (it was my first attempt at homemade soup) and while I am not a great cook- it was some soup my mother would have been proud of. She made the best vegetable soup and the best chili.

My aunt (my mom's sister) is having a little family get together for Christmas and we aren't sure who's coming and who's not so I bought some 'extra" gifts to have on hand just in case someone shows that we weren't expecting. Last night on the phone my aunt reminded me that my grandmother, Granny Wright always did that too.

I passed the icicles (you know those gaudy plastic feeling strands you could just glop on your tree-I didn't think they sold those anymore but they do)) in a store today and I remembered how much my daddy loved that part of decorating our tree-- and how much he hated trying to pull them off when we took our tree down. :)

I made some peanut butter and crackers and dipped them in that melted chocolate almond bark and remembered how my momma would make a crazy amount of these and we'd be eating them forever.

My aunt gave me my first set of diamond earrings for Christmas when I was 7- I saw them in my jewelry box a few days ago.

I remember Santa Claus had to come to our house early in the evening of the 24th (while we were at my grandparents) because my daddy had to work every Christmas morning and he wanted to be there when we saw what Santa had brought us.

My momma would spend the night every Christmas eve after we had Avery so that she could see Avery and then Aidan on Christmas morning.

Aidan's mothers day out teacher made him an advent calendar counting down to the 25th by removing tootsie rolls each day. I remember the ones my mom made for my brother and me with what looks like that same green felt background and red yarn- she put mini candy canes on ours to countdown.

At Kohls they have a Christmas CD featuring Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby singing the Christmas classics. I remember my daddy singing and his sweet smile when I listen to it.

I could go on and on. This Christmas is painful and more times than I care to admit, I find myself fighting back tears. I ache to hug my daddy and how I'd love to go to my Granddaddy and Granny Wright's for Christmas Eve. And sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night I can still see my momma sitting in her wheelchair in front of the kitchen door. Sometimes its overwhelming and I hurt for precious Avery and Aidan who miss their Nana so much.

So I have myself a good long therapeutic cry and then I hear what I can only believe is God whispering to me. I picture my mom and dad, Granny, Grandaddy and Aunt Faye together with Jesus and how amazing it must be to get to spend Christmas with HIM- to get to spend eternity with HIM.

Who in the World is My Husband?

I've had several people ask me what is my husband's name. Some people have read this blog in which I realized I refer to my husband with two completely different names. Others of you have asked me after we've had conversations, "What's your husband's name?"

No, I'm not leading a double life with two different men. :)

My husband's name is James Harvey Waters. I met him through his friends who lovingly call him Harve. I introduced him to my family as Harve. I've introduced him to some of you as Harve. All of my friends who knew me before I married him know him as Harve.

My husband is also Jim. He apparently prefers to introduce himself as this. At work he is Jim, most of the people we have met at church know his as Jim. Some of our neighbors also know him as Jim. In our preschool class we teach at church he is Mr. Jim.

His parents and family call him Jimmy.

So, James Harvey, Harve, Jim, Jimmy, Mike Waters is my husband. (The "Mike" is a whole other story.)

I may call him Harve or I may call him Jim. I probably do it interchangeably without even noticing. I really have to "work" to call him Jim because I met him as Harve. But whatever name he goes by, yes, he is one person and he's my beautiful husband. :)

My Man

Let's face it, the very mention of TDOT in the state of Tennessee conjurs up negative images for most. People's minds start flooding with pictures of orange and white construction barrels, endless lane closures, years and years and years and years (you get the point) of on-going construction on EVERY major thoroughfare in the state.
Once I had to go to the ER for a kidney stone (if you've ever had one you know they hurt like crazy), I was in the hospital bed waiting for the nurse to finish up gathering the info for insurance purposes (because I couldn't get any PAIN medication until they did that). The nurse is asking my husband all the relevant info and he asks where my husband is employed. Of course Jim says TDOT and the nurse starts in on this long conversation about the woes of TN construction and do the engineers just sit around dreaming up new ways to frustrate motorists and I'm over in the bed-HELLO with a freaking kidney stone not caring at the moment about our road system... :)
Anyway, you get the point- TDOT doesn't recieve a lot of praise. That's why I had to post this link to an article in the magazine Professional Surveyor. If you type in 26(that's the page number) in the top middle where you see CV1 and hit enter- it will take you to the page with the article on TDOT.
My husband LOVES what he does. I have to confess that I'm not as passionate about the composite of concrete or the design of a bridge or highway-- probably because most of it is over my head- my strengths were not in physics and calculus. But I love to hear him talk about his work because he is so passionate about it. You can see him hard at work on page 27. :)
Oh- and don't call us with your road complaints- :) Just kidding!

Elf Yourself

I got this from Sarah's blog. Click here to see how the Waters' family looks as elves. I'm not sure Santa would want us working for him. If you elf your family send me a link- I'd love to see it!

And this is even funnier. :)

The Grinch on ICE!

Jim's best friend and his family came in from North Carolina this weekend. It was so good to see them. We got to hang out- the kids had a wondeful time playing and we got to walk through The Grinch on ICE. I haven't seen them in a long time so it was nice to have them here. Dawn and I even got to squeeze in some girl time out at the craft fair at Davidson Academy.The Grinch on ICE was a little expensive but for a one time kind of thing it was very cool (no pun intended) to see.