Tuesday, December 3th, Cardio & Cafe

Congrats to you on paying off your home!  Paying off mine........one day, sigh....:)

That is so wonderful that you paid your home off!!!!!!!!!!!!  What a wonderful accomplishment!!!!

Iris, you have truly had an awesome year!  Life is good, give thanks for all you have received!  My sweet hubby brought down the Christmas Tree Sunday and the grown kids decorated it for me.   Every year I get down 30 years worth of ornaments that we have collected.  As I hand them out to be hung up, we each tell a story about how that ornament came to be on our tree.  I have two special ornaments that came from my mom.  One is slightly cracked and faded with age but it proudly sets at the top of the tree with the red curly ribbon my mom put on it some twenty five years ago.  This ornament was one of twelve that my mom purchased in 1962 and only one remains today.  My tree of many colors may not look grand as a pea**** but it is filled to the brim with love and memories.

I love a tree that has all the family ornaments that the kids have made over the years. My Step-Brother always had a huge tree that looked like it came out of a magazine but tucked throughout the branches were those homemade ornaments that the grown children looked for. His oldest son is an attorney now. He's somewhere between 40 and 45. Every year, without fail, his Moma hides a handmade angel that he crafted from a paper plate when he was in kindegarten. It's the family tradition to find the hidden angel. I love the tradition.

Our tree will be beautiful...the kids will love it and I'll be a happy Moma.

I love the hidden angel and the family tradition.  These are just a few things that makes Christmas special for familes.  It is not so much what is under the tree then what is on the tree.  We had a good laugh about a broken angel made out of dough from my daughter's kindergarden days that she thought we should retire but she is still hanging around without one wing.  We did retire the ginger cookie since it broke while hanging it up.  Iris, your tree will be beautiful and filled with new memories and shared old ones too.

I am really happy for you... Great way to start new year...  

I love your tree, all the way from here!!

Thank you Gaby!

Iris...what an eventful year for you, and you have loads to be thankful for.  So happy for you, David and the kids in your newly purchased home!  You're a blessed woman :)

Iris, you really have been blessed!  What a lot of wonderful happenings in this past year!  Congratulations on buying your house!

And....uhmmmm....you really put it out there to give me a reality check!!!  Christmas is 3 weeks away!!!!!  Eeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!

Well, it's gonna be fairly low-key for us this year.  My husband is flying from here (San Diego) to Atlanta, Ga. to spend three weeks with his oldest son, daughter-in-law, and 2 year old granddaughter.  I am staying home to take care of life here (my 16 year old daughter, 2 horses, 3 dogs, 1 cat).   We've got Christmas lights on the house, going to buy our Christmas tree this weekend, but I think that's about the extent of the decorating this year. 

  this is me off to do some more shopping and to get stocking stuffers!!!

Gaby