Turkey Day (and it's aftermath)

Wow..what a week and it's only Friday. A belated "Happy Thanksgiving" to you all. I'm thankful for all of my friends and family, particularly around the holidays.
Yesterday was the holiday and I have been running ragged since last Saturday getting my house in order. Last saturday, the grandparents were gracious enough to take on bebe' so that myself (and husband...) could get the house cleaned for hosting Thanksgiving this week. Let's just say that I did that. Me, not husband, but that's fine. It's not a surprise *sigh*
So, after hours of tidying, my dining room table was in sight once again! It was no longer covered with baby clothes, diaper bags, extra purses, picture frames, etc. I also managed to file away papers like account statements, receipts etc as well as hang up many pictures of Emily that have been just laying around waiting.
Yesterday we hosted Thanksgiving with Kurin's family in attendance. Gay and Benjamin, Cyndie, Edwin and Tony, Kevin and Melissa, my parents and bebe'. Gay provided the turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing, C provided the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie, I made rolls and green bean casserole, my dad made hashweh and my mom made a pineapple topped cheesecake and pumpkin roll. Whew! Talk about a TON of food (Bebe' wouldn't TOUCH it!)!
Today is Black Friday - time to go out and get those deals at all of the stores that are opening at 12 am, 3 am, 4 am, 5 am, obnoxious am. Geez! Well, as of yesterday, I am sick as a dog. No shopping for me! I am currently without a voice. This sucks. Especially when I am trying to call the FORD dealership to make an appointment for my P.O.S. car. ***tangent*** On Wednesday, as I was driving home from work, my gas pedal was stuck. This has happened very slightly now and again but seriously, I would brake say to let someone in front of me turn or what not and then when I'd go to give it gas, I couldn't push the pedal down. Do you know how scary that is??? It was kind of like I was in neutral but I wasn't. It was horrible! I told my husband so he told me to take it to a dealer. My car is also burning oil. Every time it's time for an oil change lately, the little stick has like nothing! I go in even before 3000 miles or 3 months and STILL low on oil. Haven't been able to find leaks so who knows. This car is a P.O.S. Literally. I have had little problems with it ever since I bought it. I bought it brand new so it's not a used one, I swear I got a lemon. I think the guys who made this one on the line were disgruntled or something. However, I will not give up on Fords. I love my Ford vehicles. I just hate this one. I had to get a new transmission last fall with only 60,000 miles on the car and it was only 3 years old! WTF?! I do not want to pour a ton of money into this car anymore. That transmission cost me about $2500 approximately 2 weeks before my baby was born. Nice... I am very grateful that I don't have a car payment at this point however if I have to get a new vehicle (even if it's a newer used vehicle), I would rather have a small car payment then a hassle every couple of weeks.
So, it really hasn't been the best of holidays. I hope Christmas time is better. I love the idea of the holidays but I never really enjoy them. With Christmas now, I am reminded of how many people have so little and it makes me so depressed. My mom took 2 angels off of the giving tree at church and one she took was a 64 year old man who would like socks, underwear and a sweatshirt. It absolutely broke my heart. How can I complain about my dumb car when some gentleman out there just wants some socks and underwear for Christmas. I wish I could help everyone. I get more depressed as the years go by. I give everything I can but it's not enough. I can't volunteer anywhere because of how I am. I would be a wreck the whole time. I'm much better at buying things for those in need or donating money. Just hearing stories, upsets me so much that I'm out of it for an hour or more *sigh* I'm very useless :(

So, I am not going to discuss this anymore, I have to get some rest as I am very ill and need to recuperate before returning to work on Monday.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

Long Weekend

Fourth of July weekend went off fairly well. I was very fortunate to have the day off of work (considering they used Friday as the "observed" 4th) and we used that day to have bebe's 9 month portraits taken. My mom and husband both joined Emily and I at JCPenney portrait studio. Little Miss Smiley as documented on my facebook page decided to sit on the backgrounds and just stare at the photographer. No smiles, no crying..just staring. She cracked a few smiles finally (thankfully, she had 3 outfit changes!). On the third outfit, bebe' wailed. She was not having it. We tried sitting her on a small couch in the photo and that was the end of that. The wonderful people of Briarwood's JCPenney Portrait Studio were kind enough to tell us that if we wanted to leave and feed her or whatever, they would be happy to squeeze her back in and try again in her last outfit. Out in the mall, bebe' quieted down and chugged a bottle. We ran into my co-worker Eric and his family, chatted with them, Eric managed to sneak a smile out of her so we were like "let's go! She's on!" Bebe' was like a pro the second time around. We got a lot of great shots and again, the people were so nice for allowing us to sneak back in and save our sitting without charging us an extra sitting fee or anything (I get free ones anyway for being in their portrait club). Plus, I had a coupon for a free 10 x 13..holla!

My mom and I went to JoAnn's later that day and I bought a bouquet of fake flowers that were really very pretty - I meant to take a picture. My momma took me to the cemetary so I could put the flowers with Granny. I hadn't left her anything yet. I felt silly doing it. Not silly at Granny, but silly for me. I'm still very angry that she's not here. I'm not angry at her but I'm angry because I don't think it should have happened. I miss Granny.
My mom and dad had their usual 4th of July cookout celebrating eating and my dad's birthday (go figure, the foreigner was born on America's bday) more than America's Independance but I digress. Granny was always a sweetie, but in the later years, she became really angry about cameras. REALLY angry. She would actually yell at us, well, snap at us if she so much as saw a camera in the vicinity. I had to explain to her when my baby shower was coming up that there would be cameras but no one would take her picture. She was so concerned about people taking her picture and she would talk about my mom and aunts and cousins by saying "everytime I turn around they've gotta stick that in my face." Truth is, once we knew it bothered her, we did everything to avoid that but she would still get mad. My cousin had a birthday party in the fall right after Emily was born. People were taking pictures of my cousin (it was her birthday), and/or the baby and Granny was all the way across the banquet room and had a fit! It was sad. I don't know why she got that way. Up until about 4 or 5 years ago, I have TONS of pictures of Granny and she was fine in them. Anyway, it was odd being able to take pictures at the cookout this year. I think Granny would have been alright. My mom and I had a good way of convincing her (truthfully) that we wouldn't take her picture. She probably would have been ok with it because of Emily. That is one thing I am thankful for. She did come to the hospital to see Emily after she was born and held her and let me take pictures of her doing so (she called me Sharon the whole time - something she never did before or after that day); she also came to my house a couple of weeks after we came home and we got a picture of our 4 generations: Granny, Momma, Myself and Emily.

Hippity Hoppity It's Easter Day!