Sunday, November 27, 2005

30 shopping days left.....

Hello! Happy "end of November!" We had a nice holiday break. It wasn't long enough....but, if it had been longer, then I would be even more exhausted! We drove over to Penny (my sister) & Steve's Wednesday afternoon and after an appetizer supper, we headed to the theater to watch 2 different movies. Granny & Papa stayed behind. One group headed to Harry Potter and my group went to see Walk the Line! What a good movie. I was toe-tapping the whole time.

We had a fairly routine Thanksgiving day.....nice leisurely breakfast and coffee, an excellent feast, some football, some naps and Rachal, Granny, Papa and I even headed to Garden Ridge for some thanksgiving day sales. :-) What a crowd.

Then, it was up at 4:30 Friday morning to hit the early bird specials.....we did pretty good.....Ronda (my other sister) met us at 6:00 am and we made quite a morning.....oh, boy! We ended up in Friscoe.....lots of stores, lots of people, lots of traffic. Matt met us for lunch at La Hacienda Ranch and then he and Rebecca headed back to Tyler. The rest of us lasted for a few more hours after heading to Steve's mall. We made it back to Penny's by 8:00pm and David came and he and Ronda headed back to Houston soon after a tour.

Boy, were we pooped!!!! Saturday was a good day, too....another leisurely breakfast and coffee and we headed out around 10:00 am for a few more stores and another mall. I did have a "too close for comfort" experience! I was driving in mall parking lot....taking a corner and my Sequoia went into a skid.....there wasn't anything I could do, but watch the parkinglot light pole come terribly close to us and 2 loops later....we came to rest on the other side of that pole. Fortunately, there weren't any cars in the corner of the lot, nor were there any driving near us! I don't even know if anyone saw what happened. Whew! All, I could say, "thank you, Lord" for protecting us! Andrew didn't even realize what was happening at first and Rachal said it all happened in slow motion and that was weird!

Anyway....our holiday is now over. Rachal, Jo and I returned home at 6:00 pm last night and today the girls headed back to college. After they left, Jo and I went to our mall, Wal-Mart, Payless and Target! When we came out of Target, there was a terrible storm starting and we had a nerve-wracking ride home....even a big hail storm!

Before the girls left they all helped get out all the Christmas stuff and finally, Joanna and I got our main tree up, the beginnings of the decorations and all the rest of the stuff is sitting in the entry way. I figure we can work on it a little bit all week. Rachal & Rebecca made it back to Searcy safely....they had tornado warnings, bad storms, etc, too. I let Matt do the worrying on that!

It was great having my girls home for the holiday and I know they are anxious for the Christmas break....no homework to do, then!

OK....count your blessings! I'm counting mine.....Pattie

Tuesday, November 22, 2005


Turkey, pies and blessings!!!!!

Well, if I'm counting....that would be one, four, and too many to count!!! :-) Life is great!


Check out this "e-greeting" from American Greetings, if you haven't seen it, yet.

We are now officially on Thanksgiving Holiday break! Matt and I both had school yesterday and today, while our three offspring were home taking it easy. Tomorrow, we'll load up our goodies for the feast "and go over the river and through the hills to the Grimsley we house we go!" I get to cook the turkey, make pies, mashed potatoes, cream corn. My sister, Penny, and her family moved into their new home 2 weeks ago and my family and our parents will be there for Thanksgiving. We are hoping for lots of good eats (always!) and some card games, maybe a movie or two, and some marathon "day after" shopping. My other sister, Ronda, will be joining us for the shopping event.

My college girls came home Friday night and it's nice having them home. I think it's been an adjustment for Rachal. Maybe a bit boring?? She's in the kitchen now baking a pumpkin jelly roll cake. Rebecca has been spending a lot of time with her "friend", Walter, and helped his mom paint her bedroom and bathroom the last 2 days.

Well, I can't think of too much more to say, now. The Christmas holidays will be "on us" soon....I heard my first radio Christmas carol today. The radio station 106.5 is "East Texas's Christmas radio station!" Whoo hoo! Jingle bells, already! :-)

Hope you have a great holiday. Wish we could be with all our "loved ones", but that's not realistic. Gobble, gobble, gobble everyone. Love ya.