from a Grinch

16 years ago

Whew~ I am so glad that Christmas is done for this year. I know that is Grinchy and I have felt exactly like that this year. The last few months I have been plagued by strange aches and pains. Tennis elbow and my knee swelled up and hurt so much to walk. I had back spasms yesterday and had to stuff the turkey on my knees.. and that hurt too! My father spent the last two weeks in the hospital. There has been tension with his care. He is 87 and can't care for himself. My teenage step son moved out. My eldest daughter is pregnant , it's another high risk pregnancy.She spent the other day in the hospital ,spotting. I am worried that it's another ectopic pregnancy. ( I almost lost her to one years ago.) She just went through a couple of procedures for pre-cancerous cells and now has lumps on her breasts too. ( my second DD delivered a premie in August and that was a hard pregnancy for her too with weekly hospitalizations)

I had a hard time shopping, trying to find safe items for the Grandkids was tough. Finding items made in the US was impossible. Everything just looked like junk.And I feared it was all poison! ( really over exaggerated that one)

I had NO time to make anything( except my exchange gifts), I would love to share some of my other creations but they are lost to a unrecoverable hard drive. ( that is a real bummer, I lost several hundred photos)

Well, I sure was a grouch. I hardly bought any gifts and just refused to decorate.I was mean and nasty . ( hormones? probably)I did not want a tree or anything...

But then the Grinches heard grew three sizes bigger.. My DH who never really seems to care about all the hubbub went berserk~ baking, cooking and he put up the tree! ( decorations and all) and was just a great help. The hourly posts here are a continuous inspiration to me and preserved my sanity. I received some really sweet gifts from the Garden Junk exchange and it all started to thaw the ice in my soul. I eagerly await this exchange and will mail my package later today.

What I am really trying to say is : Thank you !

You sure are all very special people! You are bright spot in even the darkest day!

God bless us everyone !

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Comments (8)

bianchi2
16 years ago
Meadel, I am sorry, you have a lot going on right now. Thank goodness for your hubby. I hope and pray the New Year will be better for you.
Take care,
Bianchi
toomuchglass
16 years ago
I'm glad your Christmas turned out nice after all that !
I'm Grinch #2 ... the stress was too much for me - I stayed in Bed from Sunday night -- and slept till Tuesday morning. I got up to eat - and went back to sleep. I totally skipped a day ! Tomorrow is always a better day,right ? This group is the best medicine there is *big smile*
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In Venice, my next door neighbor saw a teenage surfer go into my back yard and steal three or four mangoes from my tree. As the boy was leaving my yard, my neighbor asked him what he was doing in my yard, and the boy told him that he knew me and that I had said it was okay. Then Val asked him, "What's his name?" and the boy ran off. After that, I started locking my back gate. I've had yard workers steal sculpture from my back yard, and so I'm careful about letting anyone work in my yards. They would frequently steal oranges as well, but I had plenty of those anyway. When we first moved there, Bernard had a huge pot of cimbidiums that he put outside beside the front door on a pedestal. When it bloomed, we got 14 large spikes at once, and while the flowers were not the showiest (they were green, like the foliage), they were impressive because of the size and quantity. After it had been there a couple of years, someone stole it, and Bernard said he regretted not dividing it up. Bernard had about 80 orchids growing outside at that time, and so we hardly noticed that one pot was gone. I had more problems with pranksters in Culver City than I did in Venice, and I'm in an extremely quiet neighborhood now. One night we forgot and left the garage door open all night, but nothing was taken, and we had mountain bikes in clear view. Do you have a neighborhood watch where you live? Lars
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nanatricia
16 years ago
I to sortof feal the same way .I lost my job the first of Dec.I have been blaa ever since.I do have lupus and fibro.It gets real hard some day .I am glad I am not working .It is way to much on me but I do worry about finances. My hus. is on disb.mass in his lungs .I did not want to shop or any thing else .I did decorate.and all .I had a house full .It did turn out nice .Just glad it is over and I can get back to mosaic and the few boards I do reply to for I too love it here And all you gals.(((((HUGS ))))to all of you.
seaglassic
16 years ago
oh, I want to reach out and just hug you!
feeling stressed and tired and aches are the worst, when one is trying to be even normal, let alone sane, during the holidays.

I was the grinch in my household and it stayed that way, till the bitter end...
then Marilyn, my porcelain painting mentor, called me and asked if I would like to go over to her house and bake cookies for gifts...she was feeling the pangs of an empty nest at her house.
she's always baked and been on top of the holidays and this year it wasn't happening.
she told me that I make her laugh and she wanted to 'join forces' and do this project together...how could I refuse?
so, I did go, two days before Christmas Eve..

we baked all day, for the two entire days and painted, during the cookies cooling and baking.
we baked a full table full of different kind of cookies and then wrapped them up on plates, with colorful tissue paper and celophane wrap, with bows tied to each one...she did all of this for me, to be able to give to my family...6 grown kids and the 6 grandkids..and spouses and girl/boy friends...
I also made 6 hand painted ornaments for each of my grandkids...little porcelain, oval broach sized things, with fir boughs and holly berries on them, with Merry Christmas 2007, in the centers.

I didn't think they would make any impact on the kids and I was so surprised, when the two older ones opened them..the 14 yr. old boy and the 10 yr. old girl...
"gramma, you MADE these?" "they're awesome!"

let me tell you....coming from kids, in this day and age...I could have died and gone to heaven at that very instant!

such simple things, for such heartwarming rewards....
bianchi2
16 years ago
How wonderful! What a great friend you have!
Bianchi
Calamity_J
16 years ago
Oh My Dear Friends!!! I was so happy to read this as I was, as usual, in a wonderful Christmas cheer, when DD and DH dragged me down to thier level of bah humbug, so I sat them down and told them what my Christmas Ideals are all about and lo and behold, they changed! thier tune!!! I was with flu and crushed Christmas Spirit and they are running around getting Christmasy!!! WIERD!!! I was stressed about the finishing of my room and then get the flu for 3 weeks, heck, I could go on and on, but will just say that ALL of YOU are my Saving Grace and enjoyed this Christmas as you all shared with me> yours! I too thank you all. Life's challenges are no match for the power of Good Friends like all of you!!! AMEN!
meadel
Original Author
16 years ago

singing: " Fah who foraze! Dah who doraze!"
You guyz are da bomb!
barbfrizzell1955
16 years ago
I have to agree that I am so glad this Christmas is over! I usually go all out buying and making gifts. This year I couldn't scrape together money to buy gifts so the pressure was on to make them something great. Unfortunately, my sewing machine did not want to cooperate, so I switched to mosaics and the mosaic ideas just would not flow! Stressed myself out big time! Maria noticed that I hadn't been posting and she e-mailed me to make sure everything was okay with me. It made me feel good that someone noticed that I hadn't been posting! I vented a little to her, felt a little better and finally came up with a gift for my DH, DD and DS. PHEW!!!!! I think I'd better start my gifts a little sooner next year!

I have to wait until the exchange gifts are open before I can post pics of the stuff.

Barb

from a Grinch

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from a Grinch

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