Just another beautiful morning!

I know that I'll look back and cherish these hectic mornings.  I know I will.  In fact, there are a thousand little moments each day that I scoop up carefully and lock away in my heart, knowing that while my mind may forget these teeny blessings, my heart never will.

I wake up as usual, with Chris poking and prodding me, "It's after 7. I'm late! You have to get up now!  Come on, are you awake?! Get up! I'm leaving!"   I try heroically to pry my eyes open and fight the tiny be-horned, red-dressed Bonnie on my shoulder urging me to ignore his pleadings and drift back off.  Shortly after I hear the alarm set, and his thump, thump, thump off the porch and the roar of his super-cool muffler (or lack thereof) on his truck, I am able to relax again. 

Drifting off... nice and easy... "eh."  nice and... "eeehhh."  "EEEHHH!"  Like the winding up of a firetruck siren, I hear the whine begin.  Slowly and spaced out, at first, growing in urgency and demand the longer I wait.  "Just five more minutes," I plead.  "Just play with Bunny Bear and your feet, or something.  I'll be right there," I beg the one-way monitor, who I know is not passing my message on to the increasingly impatient toddler a few rooms away.  THWACK.  There goes Bunny Bear.  My time is short now.  I jump out of bed, stumble into as few pieces of furniture as possible, and stagger into her room.  As I finally peel back the sleep mask (why didn't I think of that sooner?), I see her sweet rosy cheecks and chin resting on the rail of her crib, arms outstretched and she coos an excited greeting to me.  "Well, hello there, my Little Bit.  How's my Love Muffin this morning?"  Her arms reach up and around me, briefly, and she points excitedly toward the door - "Da-da!".  Of course.

"Honey, your Da-da has gone to work already, but what about me? I'm here... Remember Ma-Ma?"  "Da-da!" she states emphatically and squirms to be let down.  "By all means, go look.  I'll just get you a clean diaper and a change of clothes and some juice while you look for your precious DaDa.  I'll just think of all those times when I puked first thing in the morning until I laid my head back in bed at the end of the day while I was carrying and carefully nurturing you INSIDE MY BODY while you go look for dearest Dada."  P.S. - I'm not bitter that she loves him more.  I'm glad she's so head over heels for her DaDa.  It's what I've always dreamed of.  Seriously.  Not at all bitter.

As I carry the clothes and shoes and other necessities to my room, she comes scooting in on her little pink car, fearlessly flinging herself into the same doorways and furniture legs I sought to avoid mere moments before.  Grinning ear to ear, she leaps into my arms, and with only a little pleading from me, gives me one of the sweetest kisses I'll ever recieve before flopping excitedly on the bed and pointing to the TV.  I take what I can get.  And love every second.  "So what is it this morning, your majesty?  Toys? (Toy Story 2)  Baa? (Shaun the Sheep), Shrek? (Shrek 2)"   "Cars!" she demands.  "Hon, cars are only on the computer.  You can watch those with Daddy tonight"   "Daddy?" she looks around expectantly.  "No, tonight.... nevermind.  Here, let's get dressed".  Cars is her word for watching the endless YouTube clips Chris has found of antique cars being driven.  When she gets bored of that, they watch a  little "Row, Row" (your boat), and some "Itsy Bitsy" (spider), then maybe a little bluegrass before she's back to watching cars.   I honestly have no clue how he's done it, but the two of them have one another wrapped around their fingers.  It's sickening, really.

Once dressed, she watches her movie as Mommy scurries to get ready, often noshing on Cheerios or dried fruit and sipping milk. "Come on, cowgirl, time to head out.  Ready to go to school and get Bite Bites and see Ms. Lauren?!"  Nodding emphatically, she grabs Bunny Bear, jumps aboard the pink car and begins banging her way through the halls to the kitchen.  There we have to stop so I can give her medicine - the latest round of antibiotics for the latest ear infections... fun.  Thankfully, the kid loves medicine.  She's on the far side of the island when I tell her it's time for her medicine, and suddenly I see a chubby hand pop up over the edge of the counter and a pacifier flies onto the granite.  Then stomp, stomp, stomp, and a very excited young lady is standing in front of my eagerly awaiting a tube of yummy medicine.  She sucks until it's empty, then looks up expectantly - "Mo?"  "No, honey, no more until tonight... go get Bunny and let's go"

She stomps around to the other side of the island and I see the chubby hand pop back over the edge of the counter,  feeling around for the paci... I slide it closer, and she finds it.  I hear the happy slurp as it hits it's target and shortly she appears next to me, bear in hand.  She proceeds past me to the door and begins slapping it loudly ("knocking", or our version of it), as I snatch my purse and bags, set the alarm, and out we go.  Or out she goes, and stops abruptly in the doorway (just like her Grandma).  "Mauwh Mauwh?" she asks, elbows akimbo, hands bouncing in the air.  "I don't know where our kitty is this morning, baby.  Why don't you call him?" I say as I scurry past her to drop my load in the car and get her seat ready.  At this point, we're desperately late, but that doesn't concern her... "MAUWH MAUWH" she cries, looking in every direction.  I try to get back in time, but no, she's found her rocks.  Has one in each hand and is wielding them somewhat scarily near the bathroom windows.  Calling for the cat and stomping along the porch with her rocks, any attempt by me to extract her from the situation is met with a firm howl.  "Bite Bites, school, Ms. Lauren," I remind her.  She flings the rocks down and starts running toward the steps, hollering "Bite Bites" with every step... At least I know how to motivate the kid.  About that time, Mauwh Mauwh shows up, so we have to shriek at him, pet him, then laugh and shriek som more as he begins winding himself through my legs.  I have to navigate the field of land mines between letting the very independent toddler walk down the stairs and to the car herself, all while trying not to break an ankle in my heeled shoes on the gravel walk, and avoid tripping over and killing the damn cat (actually, most of the time I like the cat, but when he's between or in front of my every step and I'm already late, he's a damn cat).

Finally, everyone in the car, buckled up and we're on our way. Whew.  Hayden has her cell phone and is jabbering excitedly into the reciever.  I think it's Mema and Poppie we're talking to this morning.  Or about them.  I'm never quite sure.  She sounds an awful lot like the lady that does my nails, and as I look in the rearview mirror, I can see she's literally foaming from the speed at which she's talking.  Every once in a while, I catch a word I think I might understand.  "bawl... Mauwh... wock (rock).... Pop-pee...buhbuhls...bite, bites...oooh, oooh (her dog bark)..."  This feverishly paced conversation continues until we get to school, and she happily flings the phone aside (I think it landed in the cupholder on the other side of the car) and snatches up her bunny bear and paci and reaches for me.  Once unfastened, I remind her the paci stays in the car and she flings it into her seat and bounces happily in my arms.  It's Bite Bite Time!

I drop her off in the room, where she runs happily to an empty chair and sits, legs pumping, for Ms. Lauren to bring breakfast.  This morning it's a biscuit, chicken patty, and applesauce with milk.  She grabs the biscuit and chicken, takes a lick of the chicken before tossing it back on her plate and tearing into the biscuit.  I get her attention and blow her a kiss bye-bye, and wait long enough for her to blow me one back "Mwah!".

And, I'm off to work... finally.  Late, but I wouldn't trade a minute of the morning I've just had.  And not that late...At least we had no melt-downs, explosions or other heart-breaks this morning.  I'm sure she's saving that for tomorrow.  I can't wait.

10 Things I'm Grateful For Today

1. The way Hayden says "uh-oh" right after she throws or drops something (more often throws).  That little face is so cute and sweet, and it makes me want to laugh everytime, even though I can't let her see.
2. The sun is out this morning, and I didn't have to wear a coat to work!
3. Daylight Savings Time - loving the longer evenings!
4. Getting to spend a wonderful weekend with friends, family and good food.
5. Getting to watch Hayden play with her Poppie yesterday.
6. How easily Hayden goes to bed at night, and how wonderfully she sleeps now!
7. Hayden's love of books and reading.
8. My new low-maintenance haircut.
9. Hobbies that make me happy.  Right now, I'm hooked (no pun intended) on crocheting.  Next week will be scrappin' time again!
10. My dear, wonderful Husband, whom I love unconditionally and trust unequivocally.  At a time when we are witnessing the devestation that crumbling relationships can wreak on our friends' families, I am grateful for the rock our marriage is built on, and for the relationship we both work hard to maintain.  For our child's sake.  For our sake.

Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!  I hope you can find 10 things to be grateful for this beautiful morning.  May God bless you and keep you all!

One of these things is not like the other

This weekend, Chris and I discovered one of the first major opinions Hayden has made that differs very much from our own.  One of her first forays into becoming her own little individual self.

She LOVES the beach.

It's not so much that I mind the beach is that, 1) I am not very fond of swimming or playing in waters where there are a) animals abiding, and b) waters I cannot see into, and 2) I cannot stand the never-ending presence of the sand in my clothes, hair, fingernails, cracks and crevices, not to mention car, purse, nose, did I mention fingernails and crevices? once you I have been to the beach.  These two things keep me from enjoying most trips to the seaside, although I am fond of the Carribean for its amazing clear blue water, and I do enjoy laying out in the sun a bit, with a chair and a little shade to retreat to every once in awhile.

Chris, on the other hand, has little use for the beach at all.  He shares my sentiments about the sand, although probably not to the OCD degree that I do, and he's not much for swimming or playing in the water, just because that's not his thing.

So between us, we've spent probably no more than 3 or 4 hours at any beaches, total, since we've been married.  Just not our gig.  But we do enjoy taking the occasional walk in the sand, walking to the ocean's edge, maybe even dipping a toe or two in the water, and looking for seashells.  That was our objective when we stopped by the public strand in Fernandina last weekend, but we were amazed with an entirely unexpected discovery:  Hayden was in her element.

She loved the sand, picking it up and letting it run through her fingers.  Flinging small handfuls at nothing in particular.  Digging up shells from the soggy grains and carrying them with her like small treasures.

The water was a huge fascination as well.  We couldn't let her go or stand her up by herself because she would break and run for the waves the second we did. 

She was so eager to go pell-mell into the water.  Chris held her right at the water's edge, and they would watch the waves come lapping up the edge of the beach, spilling closer and closer... until... at the last moment possible, Chris would lift her above the swell and dash backwards, keeping (mostly) just out of the ocean's reach.  This game delighted Hayden to no end, and I think had we let her, would have entertained her for the better part of the afternoon.

I think I may have just discovered my first reason to really love going to the beach, and Chris and I agreed that we need to plan a trip to the beach this year, to let Hayden continue her explorations, and once the weather warms, get her first dip into the salty spray to see if she likes it as much as she thinks she will.  In the meantime, we have a fistful of shells and some amazing memories of this wonderful day to tide us over (pun intended).

PS - Thanks to Carrie and Joel for most of the great photos here!

Concours d'Elegance Weekend

This past weekend, Chris, Hayden and I, along with our friends Carrie and Joel, headed South for the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.  A weekend of fabulous cars, scenery (it's held at the Ritz-Carlton, on their golf course fairways), and food, it has a little something for everyone, and is by far one of our favorite vacations each year.

This year was the first year Carrie and Joel joined us, so we took a couple extra days and made a real weekend trip out of it.  Although it was at times (especially when Hayden was low on sleep and patience) a little cramped with all five of us in the 4-Banger, we really enjoyed the company and the trip.  Joel and Chris took the wheel, entertaining themselves with car talk and bluegrass soundtracks.  Carrie and I manned the baby station in the back, working on our crochet projects, catching up on our magazine reading, entertaining Hayden, and most of all, trying to keep our focus anywhere but on our husbands' driving.  It was a good arrangement, with very few general freak-outs or meltdowns, and most of those are claimed by the munchkin.

Friday night we headed straight for S-town (if not the heart, then definitely the soul of Georgia), aka Savannah.  We made tracks out to Uncle Bubba's, a restaurant with a well-deserved reputation for some of the best eats in town (or in Georgia, for that matter). 

Without so much as a sign to signify the final turn, somehow the crowds still manage to find its simple presence (perhaps they follow their noses), and after a decent wait, we finally took our seats and our turns sampling their fare.  The dish of the night was a hard call.  With chargrilled oysters and crab bites to start, the flat-out best darn low country boil I've ever tasted, stuffed shrimp that would make you want to slap your mama, and the freshest boiled shrimp around, it's truly a toss up.   I'll probably have to go back again soon for the tie-breaker.

Saturday we bummed around historic Fernandina Beach, antique shopping, noshing on crab burgers, and hitting the beach for some photo ops and a little shell searching.

Sunday of course was the big event.  The time change made what was already an early wake up call that much more painful, but with Joel's Starbucks in hand, we were on our way to the Island for the Concours.  As with every year, the event did not disappoint. 

From new models that blow the term 'sports car' off the flippin' map, like this 1001 hp, 16 cylinder Bugatti,

to true race cars, like those of NASCAR's own #43 - Richard Petty, the show spans the gamut. 

One thing all these cars have in common is that they are top of their class, shining examples of the very razor-thin edge of an envelope being pushed to the limits.  There are concept cars from every era, with features and details that are as much art as they are automobile. 

There are historic cars; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1904 Cadillac, Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts, Deusenburgs, Mercedes. 

And there are admirers of them all, by the thousands, that join us each year for this amazing event.

The weather was, as it nearly always is, perfect.  A good breeze, lots of sunshine, cool enough for a sweater in the morning, warm enough for sandals by the afternoon.  Always a nice break from the chill of the mountains, and a promise of what is to come.

Hayden loved every minute outside.

Walking around for nearly the first time in her life in the outdoors, she could barely contain her excitement, hopping, squeaking and clapping with every other step.  Running for birds, fish and dogs, playing with the other childen we saw, chasing waves and picking grass, she was in heaven the whole weekend.

After our festivities Sunday, we headed back to downtown Fernandina Beach to the Crab Trap for a sample of the best battered fries I've ever gotten at a restaurant, and some amazing crab legs. Then to the hotel for a hard crash.

Monday, we slowly made our way home (with a short detour back to Uncle Bubba's for some more oysters, boil and a sinful strawberry shortcake), and back to the realities of everyday life.   Of all the many years we've made this trip, I have to say that this was probably my favorite.  To have our friends, great food, cool cars, favorite cities, shopping and antiquing all rolled into one trip ranks this weekend pretty high in my book.  The fact that it was my first vacation from work in over a year didn't hurt its score at all, either.

A Horse is a Horse

Unless the horse is one of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales!

My little brother, Dan, is part of the team responsible for hosting these beautiful animals during their stay in Atlanta this week.  That's his JOB.  What he gets PAID to do!  How freaking cool is that?!

The horses are one of the company's famous teams, and are making a week-long tour of the city to do awesome things like meeting the Mayor and participating in the city's St. Patty's Day parade, and Dan gets to go along for the ride, and make sure the horses and their entourage and equipment are all taken care of.

Just another day at the office for him, I guess.

My daddy's cooler than your daddy...

... 'cause my daddy's on the radio!

Check him and Martha's Finest out on this video clip here in the 106.7 studio in Atlanta:

106.7 True Oldies

Look under the ‘true videos’ box on the left side of page. You can enlarge it to full screen view.

As my pops would say, "Highly cool!"

They're promoting the singing Valentines program they participate in each year, and in the clip, they give a little preview of the good stuff (the singing, I mean!).

Hunger Pains

You know in the cartoons, when they were in the dead of winter and two characters were starving to death, one would eventually start to picture the other one as a gigantic, talking roast turkey leg, or a steaming pork chop?

Well, last night as I was changing into my pajamas, Chris walked in the closet with Hayden, and I swear they were both giving me the same exact look. I think Hayden was even drooling a little, but that kind of comes with the territory when you're her age.

It was a little disconcerting, to say the least.

Saturday Mornings at our House

If you were to drop by our house unexpectedly, way too early on a Saturday morning (this isn't an invitation, by the way, you'd likely cause an anxiety attack from at least one member of the family. We love you and would love to see you, but please call. And give lots of warning.) this is the scene you would likely view upon entering.

Hayden rearranging her monsterous mound of toys about the living room, toting Bunny Bear, and listening to her Daddy play piano.

You'll get renditions of everything from "Fur Elise" to a ragtime ditty to "Lean on Me" in the span of just a few minutes. Whatever is tickling Chris's fancy that morning. His melodies often inspire Hayden to join in on her little piano (see her tucked behind Chris, pounding those ivories)

But then, the call of another toy will win her over, and she's off again...

I love these times. Really love them. Just hanging out, as a family, in our pj's, spending time together and hanging out.

He comes by it honestly

Today at lunch, I ran my mother-in-law on some errands, which included a trip to the local bank to process some paperwork and make a deposit. As we were waiting at the customer service desk, she decided to go ahead and fill out the deposit slip, and asked me to pass her one of the pens from the cup nearby. I complied, and commented that she was in fact already holding a pen. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed this, saying that her pen wasn't any good and she didn't like it. No worries, I told her, that's why they have this whole cup full of pens sitting right there. As she filled out the slip, she mentioned that the bank's pen "really writes good", and said she thought she'd keep it. I told her I was sure that was fine, since they typically put them out for customers to use and/or keep, you know, which is why they put their logo on it and all. Still, she was a bit surreptitious as she slipped the new found wonder into her handbag.

This cracked me up because of the number of pens we have carried home from dinner because inevitably whenever Chris is signing the receipt at dinner, he comments on how well the pen writes. It was an all-too familiar circumstance, but thankfully, I wasn't the one tucking the pilfered item into my bag today. Interestingly enough, Chris discovered later when using one of the 'borrowed' pens at work that the wonderful flow of the ink was due in fact to the lovely padded writing surface on most of the receipt trays, and not a virtue of the pen itself.

It was just amusing to learn after all these years that my dear husband's propensity for lifting well-writing pens was in fact a genetic trait, and makes me wonder if our daughter has inherited the same. I suppose only time will tell. For now, just keep an eye on your pens if a Padgett's around.

Singing Valentines

Hey guys (and gals!),

Want to really WOW your favorite someone this Valentine's Day? Order a singing Valentine!! It's better than a box of Chocolates, and the memory will outlast any roses!!! Four gentlemen dressed in tuxedos will sing to your sweetheart at home, at work, at school, at a restaurant, or the location of your choice, or by phone anywhere in the continental U.S.

This is an annual event sponsored by the Big Chicken Barbershop Chorus, and is a fabulous treat! My dad's quartet - Martha's Finest always participate, and won't disappoint!

If you're interested in learning more, view the online order form here.

(Tim, Dad, Danny and Tony)

Merry Christmas, One and All

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We certainly did - lots of family time, food and fun. After hosting 3 holiday meals, me and my house are in some serious need of recovery! It was well worth it, though. Got to see lots of family, play with Hayden, eat some delicious holiday treats - like Toffee Brittle, Sweet Potato Crunch, Honeybaked Ham, and Fried Ravioli (my new favorite!), and sleep in a day or two.

Hayden gave me the best gift of all - she slept 11 hours straight the night before Christmas Eve, which was a record for her, and following our unsuccessful milk-tolerance test last week, the longest she'd slept for awhile!

We gave her a baby baby grand piano, which I have to say I think she loves more than any of her other gifts (paper, boxes and ribbons aside). She continually goes over to it and bangs out a tune, then swings around to ensure we're watching, and coaches us on how to clap for her. What a ham! Not to be upstaged, if her daddy sits down at his piano to play, she toddles right over and begins playing hers as well. I have some videos that I'll get posted soon, that I'm sure will crack you up.

As for her other gifts, don't worry - they're getting lots of use, too. Her Daddy, Poppie, and others are keeping themselves entertained with those. It's hysterical to see grown men rolling on the floor playing with little girl's toys. Nothing like it, I tell ya.

We even managed to squeeze in a few rounds of Yahtzee with the Massey clan on Christmas day. As always, it proved to be a competitive, raucous time, with customized fist pumps for each unique score, and plenty of cheers, cheats and cat-calls across the table. I love playing games with the family, and can't wait until Hayden is old enough to join the fray.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are ready for the new year! Best wishes, one and all!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!

Last Saturday, after Hayden's birthday party, we all went to her Poppie's Christmas Concert with the Big Chicken Chorus. He called lil' Miss Hayden up on stage to wish her a Happy Birthday in front of the crowd, and I have to say, she did fairly well for her first performance, short though it was.

Here's a picture of the whole family with Santa at the concert, one short year after we welcomed our little darling into our lives.

Her Poppie brought down the house with his signature solo of "O Holy Night". As usual, brought Gracie and me to tears. I'm sure Hayden will grow up loving to hear her daddy and Poppy sing just as much as I have.

Here's a quick clip of that song.

Weekend Vignettes

********************
Saturday, approx. 5pm, my bathroom

I'm rushing around frantically trying to get dressed, put makeup on (!), and fix my hair. Hayden, meantime, has chosen this of all times for a meltdown. The vast assortment of toys, both parent-approved and Hayden-selected (my hairbrush, deodorant, and a bracelet) is doing nothing to settle her down. In a last ditch effort, I grab a box of tampons from under the counter. Seconds later, a cascade of them shower my bathroom floor. Then, wait... What is that sound?! Silence!!! Playing 52-tampon pickup is a small price to pay for 5 uniterrupted minutes for getting ready when you're already desperately late. Thanks, Playtex.

********************

Later that evening, at the work Christmas party, just after we've eaten dinner

One of the execs my hubby and I are chatting with subtly and quietly mentions, "Bon, you've got a litte bird in your grill there, I thought I'd let you know." Chris, hearing this, chimes in, "Oh yeah! I meant to say something about that!" Crap, I thought, perfect time to get chicken stuck in my teeth! I turn away and start trying to dislodge the offending fowl and upon realizing what I'm doing, my coworker clarifies, "Oh, no, Bon. I meant you have a bird that got stuck in the grill of your car!" It's then that I remember the small feathered creature that dove in front of our car on the way to the party. I'm not sure what's worse - walking around a party with food stuck in your teeth, or showing up to such an elegant event with a dirty car (full of baby gear, might I add, and who knows what else) adorned with a dead bird. And parking up front by the door. Lovely.

***********************

Sunday Morning, around 8:30am

Chris awakes to hear a small voice calling. For him. "Da.... Da! Dahh Dahhh! Da da da da dah dah da!" Hayden, who has been saying "Da-da" for a week or so now on the rare occasion, wanted to make sure he knew who she was looking at! She wanted her Da-da to come get her out of bed. Despite wanting to roll over and go back to sleep, he got up and got his little buddy.

***********************
Later that afternoon

We sold the oven! YAY! Going, going, GONE! Finite! No More. Done! Then we decided to 'celebrate' by getting the remaining few items out of our storage building and finishing our move. If I haven't mentioned before, Chris and I don't move stuff well together. That's why we built the house, in fact. So we will never have to move again. Our marriage is pretty strong, but another buffet that weighs as much as the one in our living room, and we might not make it. For as similar as we are in values, goals, tastes, etc, that is one area that we are WAY different. If I see that it makes sense to pick something up, turn it on it's side and carry it in the house, Chris sees that we should flip it over, pick it up, start moving it while one of us only has one hand on it, and see if we can't mash the other hand a few times before we set it down. See? We just look at stuff differently. It's not that one of us is right (me) and the other is wrong (him), it's just that we have our own approaches (me, careful planning and assessment. Him, run headlong at it with our eyes closed) to things like this. And that's okay, so long as we don't have to work together much. Happily, we seem to have worked out a little system that helps us both get through these situations without too many hurt feelings or fingers. It involves a good amount of name calling, cursing, obscene gesturing, and a few hugs and kisses (and hair-pulling and arm-pinching). Hey, it works for us. :)

***************************

Later that night

Hayden is sitting on her Grandma's lap, and they are looking through the weekly circulars from the local drugstore that have become Hayden's favorite 'books.' Grandma points out the different pictures to Hayden, "See the little boy on the swing? He's having fun!" "See the little cat, it's giving that doggie a kiss, isn't it?" As she read that last one, Hayden looked up at her and becan blowing kisses. It still amazes me that at less than a year old her comprehension is so well-honed that she understood what Grandma was saying to her! Genius baby, I tell ya!

**************************

At least we have our priorities in order

Just now, in our living room (which is still in disarray from the party last night. Big time, by the way - thanks everyone, for coming!)

Me: Can you see Hayden? What is she doing back there?

Chris: Yeah, I see her. She's sitting behind your chair eating cracker crumbs off the floor.

Me: !!!

Chris: Well, at least she's not screaming.

Me: Good point.

Papa

Hayden's Papa, my father-in-law, went to the hospital today - his second trip the ER in a month's time. I would ask those of you that pray, to please offer him up in your prayers.

He is battling scleroderma, COPD, and a case of pneumonia in both lungs.

If you will, offer up a prayer for my mother-in-law as well. She is literally sick with worry over him, and when he gets worse, so does she.

They are the cutest little old couple you ever did see, with the biggest hearts, kindest souls, and most open arms. It just breaks my heart to see them hurting, to see my husband worrying over them, and to be so helpless to do anything about it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and while all the family drama is hitting a fever pitch - kids screaming, siblings fighting, warm food served with cold shoulders - remember that these crazy people are the only famliy we get. Give them all a big hug, tell them you love them, and enjoy this time together. It goes by too fast. And, as my dad always likes to remind us, "you'll miss me when I'm gone!"