openings and closings

• Tuesday night, December 19th - Jr Church Caroling Not the most promoted of our year's activities, but we pulled it off nonetheless. We narrowed our road map this year and attempted to sing to all the widows plus two other families in the church. One wasn't home; one was a little bittersweet as her husband was barely hanging on this time last year (and the kids clearly remembered she had made them cookies last year!), but the funniest was when we visited the home of a younger widow who has recently started attending our church. The sidewalk to her front door was a little narrow, and when the leader got beside her car and started walking, he jumped back in shock. There was a HUGE cat sitting on the trunk, and it was at the same level as his face! Once the initial shock was gone everyone was laughing.
  
• Wednesday, Dec 20th - Packing Day Bobby got up early to take a friend to the hospital to have a pacemaker put in, and I headed out in the rain towards Washington, NC. There were plenty of men from the church helping load things into the truck, so I headed inside to help my sister. We pulled the remaining things from the attic, cleaned the bottom kitchen cabinets, cleaned out the laundry closet once the machines were loaded, and I swept floors while she mopped. Then we swapped out and I mopped a floor while she cleaned a bathroom. By that point the truck was back from loading up Todd's office, and it was time for me to head home and them to finish and freshen up for church.
  
• Thursday, Dec 21st- heading to TN. Stopped at a quilt shop on the way and met a girl whose entire family had attended BJU. Checked into our hotel and rested a bit before meeting Susan and David at a neat restaurant for supper. Bobby gets sick once we returned to the hotel.
  
• Friday, Dec 22 - TN & AL Bobby is still very sick on his stomach, but drops me off at the house Todd and Mindy are renting in Gallatin then heads to be with Susan's crowd in Hendersonville. Still raining. We get the truck unloaded, met some really neat people, including two young boys named Larry and Steve. After lunch at 2pm my brother dropped me off at Susan's before heading back to AL. We had Christmas with the Moffitts, then headed to AL as they finished packing to head to NC. Stopped to eat supper at Cracker Barrel so Bobby could hopefully settle his stomach and take meds. He ate 3 bites of his dumplings, but felt well enough to drive on in (that was being debated prior to stopping). Got him in bed and started washing clothes as soon as we made it to Mom & Dads. My sister-in-law has the flu. My Dad, brother, and nephew had rebuilt the ramp at the house, and I was SO thankful. I don't have to help Bobby in the house now!
• Saturday, Dec 23 -my birthday Bobby was able to eat a little that day. My younger sister made lasagna for supper that was incredible. My older sister and her husband made it in from TN. A good evening with family, though we missed Amie who was still running a fever and the oldest nieces who spent this Christmas with their new spouse's families.
• Sunday, Dec 24 - Christmas Eve. Church in the am, family time in the afternoon/evening.
• Monday, Dec 25th - we didn't open presents until the evening, and our family really scaled things back this year, but it was a great time of laughter and memories.
• Tuesday, Dec 26th - took Mom to the Jasper Pickers. It was her first time. It's an interesting mix of booths that vary from thrift store to antique to flea market type stuff. We got home to learn that they were predicting sleet through the night, so we decided to head home early and left AL at 7pm and drove through Atlanta.
• Wednesday, Dec 27th - While the stomach bug is gone for Bobby, the lingering side effects/problems are still there. He had a long, rough drive home. Mom and Dad's 55th anniversary.
• Thursday, Dec 28th - After another rough night we slept in this morning (or I did and Bobby was just stuck resting). Was able to get a lot of laundry done as well as some needed cleaning.
  
  And tomorrow the round of dr appointments and meetings that have been scheduled for a while start. I'm amazed at how quickly January is filling up before it even gets here. But we are blessed, and I'm thankful we had some great time with family, even if the health issues were unpleasant.