Less Hustle More Coffee

Top of the Morning to ya! We opened a wine I liked that we sipped on over the last couple of days. It had a good taste. I took a pic to remember it.

It’s “Christmas Eve Eve”. George and I have always loved Christmas Eve Eve. Once it was his father’s birthday (also named George) and we always went out to celebrate. Sometimes Olive Garden, with the whole family. Bless Him. He made life fun and interesting. If you had a problem, it was his problem and he would try to solve anything. A very giving and kind heart and a humorous side to him. Just don’t ask him if he wants to buy a chicken. LOL

Why do you ask? He, “Granda” would tell a certain joke only in a loud restaurant, or crowd. He casually asks you “Hey what do you say to a deaf man when you want to sell him a chicken?” And then he yells at the top of his voice “DO YOU WANT TO BUY A CHICKEN?” I mean AT. THE. TOP. OF. HIS. VOICE. It’s a showstopper folks. I’ve been there. The entire restaurant stops talking and looks over.

The fun of course, is later when you go out to eat again and he says “Hey what do you say to a deaf man when you want to sell him a chicken?” And the whole table would go “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” in unison, also causing everyone to look. lol. He was a mess. And we are thinking of him this morning.

And no, it would not be politically correct for me to blog such a joke in public fashion, but I was telling a story of someone who told that joke to a group of friends/family. So in case anyone is confused, I’ve straightened that out for you. (There’s always a few judgers out there looking to pull the spec out of your eye while the big wooden beam rolls around in their own, rolls eyes. That came from the Bible. Not the eye rolling part. That part came from me. lol)

Here’s George’s Dad holding Katy – she was born on Christmas Day!

And here’s my Dad holding Katy. Only he became Pappaw.

Katy had me get out the pics of her as a baby so she could compare pics to River when he is born. She already has a 3D pic which is very realistic.

Here’s the moment of birth. Look at Mom’s face. It wasn’t planned for her to be in the delivery room. George was in there with me and when the time came they asked if she was planning to stay and I said, “sure” so Mom was thrilled to get to stay in there. I was also relieved to have Mom and George in the room.

I remember this feeling. The overwhelming feeling of “joy and protection” over this baby. I remember thinking immediately that I would do all I could to protect this wonderful being for the rest of her life as long as I am living. That is what was going through my head at the time, that I would eternally protect her and love her. I next remembered seeing her hands and how pretty and long they were. And how cute her feet were. I had no idea how to be a mother. I just new how much I loved her.

I saved this blanket and gave it back to Katy at one of her showers for River.

She was a cute baby. She didn’t look like this for very long. She thickened up. Her Daddy loved to give her an extra bottle just before bed. I would feed her what the doc suggested and he would throw that extra bottle in there.

She was already contemplating her future as a teacher, I think.

I look at this pic and think “why didn’t I comb my hair after delivery”? I had other things on my mind and that was a good thing though.

Our “package” came with a dinner for two in the room with grape juice for the wine. I had that turquoise house coat forever. I remember how that was a sweet dinner. But I also remember how tired I was. And I remember George was anxious to go home and us be released and it took forever. He was getting a bit agitated. All I wanted was rest. I think I was tired for a long while.

Katy was born on Christmas Day. I remember on Jan 3rd, Granny Jan, George’s Mom came to our house and fixed a birthday dinner of Spaghetti for me at our house. I was so tired still. I just wanted to sleep and rest. But of course I wouldn’t miss my own spaghetti dinner. I just remember it was all I could do to sit up and eat. I know young mothers are tired, but I seem unusually tired the first few weeks. I also didn’t want to sleep because I wanted to stay up and make sure she was breathing. I realized I had to sleep while she slept though but could always sleep best knowing someone was on watch or holding her.

Going back a bit. Here I was with Mom and my grandmother’s while pregnant.

So Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas has always been very special. It was also my “Nanny’s” birthday on the left. And of course Mam’ma’s (center) birthday was Dec 14th.

While I was typing this, George came in and said “Merry Christmas Eve Eve”! We have always said that to each other through the years.

George and I are looking for a bit more rest tonight. The last two nights have been rough with Roger. He is just unsettled. I’m grateful that George has been dealing with it. When I wake up I’m awake for the night if it’s after 1:30 unless I go right back to sleep immediately. Night before last I couldn’t go back to sleep until almost time for the alarm to go off. Last night Roger started early wanting off the bed. He gets thirsty we’ve figured out. So at 10:30 after an episode of wanting down, George took him for water and both Roger and George began snoring and I’m lying wide awake. Finally prayed for sleep and got it but Roger wanted down over and over again. I just remembered George getting up. And last night after that first encounter, I was able to sleep again after the others. I got more sleep than he did I think.

Now the little bugger will sleep ALL day! ::sigh:: I’m tempted to wake him up when he’s sleeping so he’ll sleep at night. But I just can’t do it.

So all is on track on the work front. Today is my last day to work for before the holidays. We went to the store last night. We stocked up on a “few things” and ended up with a $200 buggy full. lol.

Tonight I’ll make sausage balls. And Christmas Fire Crackers. I kept calling them Christmas Crack but that was wrong. I got that term from someone else and they were wrong. You have to watch what you repeat. It might be wrong. Christmas Crack is chocolate and peppermint I think. But this is Cheese it Crackers, canola oil, pepper flakes, and dry ranch dressing and you bake them. I’ve had it with oyster crackers too but the Cheese It’s are excellent.

Then tomorrow morning I’ll make casserole and clean up a bit and we’ll have a snack spread for Mom and Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken. And then we will have a prime rib dinner and Christmas morning we will munch on sausage balls until brunch.

We are well stocked. No one will go hungry. And we have 3 desserts we bought last night: Red Velvet cake, cheese cake, ice cream, and a chocolate silk pie. Wait – that’s 4 desserts. George wanted to have enough choices. And I think he wanted some leftovers. 😉 I picked the ice cream – it’s strawberry. That sounds so good right now.

So I better get ready and get to work for this final day. A lot to do today. But the mood is happy. A bit tired but content.