MOYNA'S MUMBLINGS (3)

Christmas day was one of the best! Fred, Freddy & myself all agree that we had the best time up in north Alabama that we've ever had! As I mentioned in my previous mumbling, we do enjoy getting together with our nephew & his family, but we had an especially good time this trip.

We began our 2 1/2 hour trip around 8:00 a.m. Christmas day here turned out to be a great day - warm & turning sunny by late morning. On the trip up (and back) we listened to all the great Christmas carols....even singing now & then! I don't know about you, but the old Christmas carols would put anyone in the holiday spirit! By the time we reached Muscle Shoals, AL, Dawn had just about everything ready to go. I quickly had to put together the side dishes I brought to get them in the oven. While they were cooking, I got the desserts & other treats I had brought ready & put them out on the table set up in the living room. I'm writing this mumbling to tell you why we were ALL moaning & groaning.....Dawn went to so much trouble (as she always does) to fix quite a spread - but she REALLY OUTDID HERSELF this year!! I honestly don't know how she was still standing & smiling. Including what I brought, here is a list of all we had: ham, turkey, chicken & dressing, black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes, hash brown casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, green bean casserole, broccoli-rice casserole, slaw, orange fluff jello salad, cranberry sauce, stuffed celery, pear salad, macaroni & cheese, and rolls. Do you now understand why we were all moaning??!! But wait...., I haven't gotten to the dessert table yet. On that table we had: lemon pound cake, Harry London chocolates, a Balboa desserts sampler cake, some peanut butter balls, fudge, some Cookies by Design cookies, a pecan pie, some Chex mix, a plate with a variety of cookies, and a bowl of mint malt balls (that was to aid in digesting everything we had consumed; mint is great for that!). I believe I have covered all that was there yesterday. I know you are all saying what a bunch of gluttons, and I would have to agree with you.....sad, but true. AND I ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE OF IT though I moaned all the way home! We always appreciate the work Dawn does to make a visitor to their home (whether family or friends) feel special & welcome. THANK YOU SCOTT, DAWN, TONY & TIFFANY for the most wonderful time yesterday!! WE LOVE YOU!!

The food wasn't all that made the day special. Dawn's mother, Ann, joined us. I have been asking for years that she come & be with us when we visit, and this year she did! It was so special having her there. She is a really nice, warm person. I'm hoping she had as good a time as we did & will join us more in the future. I think she liked all the craziness of everyone!

After opening the gifts, we managed to pick ourselves up, and get in the car for our trip back home. We were so tired by the end of the day that we didn't even open our own gifts until this morning. For the most part, today has been a day of rest, so that by tomorrow, I will be ready to go again!

I hope all of you had a wonderful day yesterday, just as we did!!

MOYNA'S MUMBLINGS (2)

It's the Tuesday before Christmas and all thru our house....I'm the only one stirring. The cats are fast asleep - on a heat vent. The weather here has been COLD to say the least. It was only around freezing as the high yesterday - or maybe it was the day before. It is gradually warming up so that by Christmas Day it should be a nice day. The cats are fast asleep because they had to get up quite early this morning. We had a sad piece of news last Friday. Fred's cousin Faye passed away and her funeral is today, Tuesday. Fred & Freddy were up early - at 3:45 a.m. - to drive over to Atlanta to pick-up Fred's sister Joanne, and then all are driving down to Mobile where the funeral is to be held. They will then drive Joanne back to Atlanta and be back home very late tonight. I thought they were crazy to make the trip in one day since it will be about 15 hours of driving, but I will say no more about this subject.....

Faye had been ill for a while. She had been in the hospital for a few weeks with several problems that she just couldn't overcome. Though I didn't know Faye well, I really liked her. I would only see her at Decoration Day each year. She had never married, devoting her life to being an elementary school & Sunday school teacher. I liked her because she was the type to speak her mind - just say what she was thinking. I like that about people. Faye was also an avid reader, which Fred admired in her. She will be missed.
With the passing of Faye on the 19th, I also want to make mention of the 12 year anniversary (December 20, 1996) of Fred's mother passing away. And I will also mention that Fred's sister, Sue, also passed in September of 1996. It doesn't seem that it has been that long - the years pass quickly. With Faye's passing, it has made remembering Fred's mother & sister a little sadder this year. They are all missed.

This isn't always the best time of year for me.....usually it's quite stressful. This year hasn't been as bad. I've worked at trying to take everything in stride. If I didn't get done what I had planned for the day, no problem, tomorrow's another day! Today will be laundry (it's easier to do when no one else is home) and making fudge. I've already done 8 lbs. of seasoned pecans, 20-something pints of tiger chow, 50 dozen peanut butter balls, about 20 dozen cookies, haystacks, and 14 loaves of maple walnut bread!! Whew!! Fudge is the only treat I have left. On Wednesday, I will be putting together a few side dishes for our get-together Christmas Day. I am soooo looking forward to my rocker/recliner Thursday night!!

Since we are staying in Alabama this holiday season, we will get-together with our nephew and his family in Muscle Shoals, AL. They are a great group of people and we always look forward to being with them! Our nephew Scott is married to Dawn....and does Dawn put together a meal for Christmas! You would think the entire neighborhood was coming to dinner. I always have to make myself be 'good' and not overeat....I really love her chicken & dressing!! They have a 'U-shaped' kitchen, and there will be food all the way around that U-shape. A table will be set up in the living room for all the desserts & treats that I bring.....it's way too much for us, but we continue to do this every year we all get together. We will all enjoy it once again, and then moan & complain that we shouldn't have eaten so much on our trip home. I can't wait until Christmas!!

I want to wish all of you the merriest Christmas! I pray each of you will reflect on your life & your relationship with our Lord and Saviour - the Lord Jesus Christ. HE IS THE REASON FOR OUR CELEBRATION EACH YEAR. BECAUSE OF HIS BIRTH, DEATH and RESURRECTION, WE CAN HAVE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE and LIFE EVERLASTING.... MAY YOU CELEBRATE THIS SEASON WITH JOY, PEACE, AND HOPE. MAY GOD BLESS YOU.

With LOVE to all, and to all a goodnight!

What Recession?

Aren't we supposed to be in a recession? You can't tell that we are by the crowds that I see around our town. People are everywhere, spending money like usual from what I can tell.

Renewing my Passport

Let me give you a sense of what is involved in renewing your passport, if you have never done it before:

I was instructed to renew my passport at the local post office. I went to the local post office and was told no post offices in town renew passports. I was told to go to the county courthouse instead. I went to the county courthouse and got the form to renew my passport. There I was told to go to Kinko's to get passport photos. I went to Kinko's and got two passport photos (for an outrageous $12.95). I was told that the best way to pay the passport renewal fee was with a money order. So I went to a different post office and got the money order. But the clerk did not give me a chance to send my package. So I went back to the original post office, as I had to be around there to meet a friend for lunch. I sent off everything to renew my passport... finally!

I see now why it is not surprising that people generally think that government is inefficient: To do something as simple as renew your passport, you must run around half the town! (It is also hard to understand how the government can run such massive deficits considering how expensive it is too!)

December's Child

I feel like December's Child as the days of the 12th month slowly trickle by and I wait it out. It's as if psychologically the anticipation is building for 2009 and we are in a holding pattern now.

Yesterday at the Wal Mart on 150 the lady in the bakery had one thing right. Something needs to be done about the auto industry. We taxpayers do not wish to prop up a failing industry, if in fact it does not deserve to be helped, but at the same time, we should not let the entire domestic industry fail. Something should be done, but what??? How are we citizens supposed to know the right thing to do? But we should do the right thing, whatever that is.

Senator Shelby seems gallant to some, standing in the breach, refusing to go along with a "bailout." But how much of his stand is pure politics as he, in effect, stands for the foreign industry in Alabama and against Detroit? Seldom is a politician's position purely without political considerations.

Cold rain is falling over Shelby County early on this Tuesday morning. It seems like we've had far more rain than usual this month.

Christmas will come and go soon. A new year beckons.

Cold Sunday

It's a cold and sullen Sunday in Shelby County. Not much going on.

Freddy and I had lunch at Longhorn Steak in Tuscaloosa yesterday after Freddy did his part helping a needy family down there. He took the family food and to shopping trips to the local mall and Target. How wonderful.

Then at Brunos after returning back here I heard that Auburn had named Gene Chizik as its new football coach. I knew immediately this choice would be controversial, and it is. Only time will tell if it's a good choice or a major mistake.

The economic news continues to be grim. We keep going.

At Vestavia Bowl

I made my yearly visit to Vestavia Bowl last night. Moyna sends me there before Christmas each year on Friday night to deliver peanut butter balls to the Johnson sisters. Moyna and I bowled in a Friday night league from 1984 to 1996 and Freddy grew up bowling on Saturday mornings in that house. Many of the people we bowled with over the years are still going at it on Friday nights.

Those Johnson sisters are doing well. Keith Henderson is still King of Vestavia Bowl. An Auburn fan, he says Tuberville is the best coach Auburn ever had and he's gone just because Bobby Lowder doesn't like him. The Mills are still bowling. Billy continues to travel. He spends his week days working in Mobile. Betty works at some place off I-459. I was delighted to see the Gardners. Mac is bowling in the Loose Screws on Friday nights. His son Marcus is recently married and has a 4-month old son. There are Murry and Frances Thomason and the Bridges, Randy and JoAnne.

They've spent some money fixing that place up. It's fun to go back once a year and see people I only see once a year!

The Ladybug

I was driving up Highway 31 in Homewood yesterday when I felt a prickling at the back of my neck. I swatted at it, but the sensation continued. The second time I swatted at it, my index finger brought back a ladybug. These little creatures are so vulnerable and cute. How do they ever survive for long? How did one land on the back of my neck? Who knows. Rather than flick it out the window, I pulled over at the Catholic Church and liberated the ladybug on the grass beside the church. This ladybug is now free to seek its fortune on grass! I wish it luck.

Out and About---It all connects

The weather continues this morning. It seems like it's rained for the last 12 hours and there is the threat of snow.

The lady behind me in line at Sam's yesterday tells me her 401k has dropped in half. The subject came up when I asked her if the chicken she was purchasing was her dinner. She said it would have to do for 3 or 4 meals. At least I have a social security check coming in each month, she goes on to say, but she will need a new roof next year, and she's not sure how she'll pay for it. This coming from a lady in Hoover, not exactly a poor side of town.

While at the Hoover Brunos later I'm walking down an aisle and overhear a lady talking on her cell and I hear her say something about a 401k dropping in half. Then the pharmacy tech named Debbie tells she opened this Brunos in October of 1983 and now she's back.

"I've come full circle," she says, reflecting something I've been thinking about lately---the idea of coming full circle.

Back home I'm reading this electrifying novel called Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. One of the characters refers to coming full circle. It's amazing how it all connects in my life.

Wet

Yes, we are wet this morning in Shelby County, Alabama. The weather front that swept across a defenseless Southeast hit Shelby County in the wee wee hours of the morning. I was awake from 3 a.m. on, hoping we would have no damage, and such seems to be the case. The rain and lightening was torrential.

This Time of Year

This time of year we share leaves in our neighborhood. The quantity of leaves in our neck of the woods is staggering. We cut down the two trees in our front yard for all the good it did. Neighbor's leaves cover our front yard just the same.

My haircutter Fran is trying to decide if she wants to visit her daugher and son-in-law who live in Boston. This time of year I hear the plans of the people and what is interesting is the undecided plans. People struggle to decide what to do over the holidays.

This time of year we don't usually get much precipitation. There seems to be more than usual this year with a big front due in tonight.

This time of year we hear people on TV telling us how to deal with the holiday stress. My solution is not to take everything so seriously.

Check This Out

AlabamaMosaic is a collection of historical and cultural digitial materials documenting Alabama and its history, people, and places. Its purpose is stated as "to make unique historical treasures from Alabama's archives, libraries, museums, and other repositories electronically accessible to Alabama residents and to students, researchers, and the general public in other states and countries."

I think it is a great collection. There was an article in today's Birmingham News about it. You should check it out.

http://www.alabamamosaic.org/

What Irritates Me

Something has become an annoyance, and I want to tell you about it. When I go into the computer room at the clubhouse where I live, often there is someone who is making a lot of noise. In particular, there is a fella who every time he's there plays music quite audibly from his headphones. I always cringe when I see him.

Now, I do not know what you think about this, but here's what I think. The computer room is a quiet place. It hasn't been designated a no noise zone, but it is not a bustling area where you'd expect a lot of noise. Many people go there to do work, myself included. For some interloper to interupt this quietness with music, when I am trying to work especially, is plain unconscionably rude.

Maybe I can't expect there to be no noise in the computer room. Maybe in today's culture of technological proliferation, cell phones buzzing nonstop, everyone walking everywhere with Ipods, I can't expect anyone to respect my need for serenity.

I think my irritation speaks to a larger issue: Is there anywhere we can go anymore to experience a moment's peace? Is there anywhere for us to seek refuge from the bombardment of technology, screens, images, etc.?

I wish I knew of such a place!