Walmart Shooting
KristyK’s hubby Mike’s Cousin’s Daughter was hit by a stray bullet in Walmart in New Mexico earlier today – she’s only four years old. Last word was that she was going in for a second surgury already – please send good thoughts their way. I’d be going out of my mind.
My Christmas Memory
Nana Moosie asked for everyone to share their favorite childhood Christmas Mememory – and I thought and thought and thought and thought and thought….
And while so many of our childhood christmases were fantastic – I remember the doll and the clothes that I accidently stumbled upon in the sewing room that nana had made for me – how excited I was! I remember scavenger hunts to find the ‘big’ gifts – my hope chest being one. I remember the barbie shopping mall that mysteriously showed up on our doorstep one year – I never did find out who gave that to us, but oh! the shopping my barbies did! (and oh! the sympathy for nana and papa now as I step on stupid little barbie shoes in the middle of the night!)
But really – my favorite christmas didn’t involve a gift that I received, or even something from childhood. insteady, my all time favorite gift that i gave had to be Nana’s christmas tree. See, I am not much of a crafter. I don’t like to knit or crochet or needle point, or the like. I have absolutely zero patience for it (but I’ll spend HOURS pixel picking an image without thought. go figure.) and I just never got into it. But one year, I saw a project in a magazine. It was 7 counted cross stitch settings – size 8in. square, depecting scenes from A Christmas Carol, arranged in a fabric christmas tree framing to make a holiday wall hanging, complete with golden bells tied to the quilted fabric. It was BEAUTIFUL. And I wanted more then anything to make it for my momma.
So I got all the materials, and told her that I was making it for Kevin’s gramma, who loved handmade things, and had made me a whole bunch of handmade earrings (that my girls love to play with now.). So mom, being fabulous, said if I needed help to let her know. I started work on the cross stitching in october and worked on it every spare moment. I Stitched. and Stitched. and Stitched. The boy was 1.5 years old at the time, and in between taking care of him, i Stitched and Stitched and Stitched. Each completed one was a triumph. Alas – I was running WAY behind schedule.
I finished the last one on December 23rd. As I don’t sew, Mom knew I’d need help piecing together the fabric frame. I went to her house that night and asked for help – telling her that if I got it into the mail on the 24th, I’d feel it were close enough. We worked together.
Then mom finished it. She cut and sewed and helped me put that puppy together, actually FINISHING it for me in the end. I tied on the bells, and we boxed it up ready to send. I thanked her profusely – and even now I can’t figure out how she missed Kevin’s laughter about the whole thing while we worked.
When we got home, I unpacked and repacked it, making sure to shove tissue paper around the bells so the gift wouldn’t be discovered until completely opened. On Christmas morning, I proudly handed her that gift, and watched her face as she opened it. Just as she opened the box, one of the bells rang – the tissue had fallen out – and her jaw dropped and she looked at me with an expression I can’t describe, but can still see perfectly – shock, incredulousness, and amused laughter all mingled with the tears as she unwrapped the gift she had helped me finish just a mere 48 hours before.
It turned out beautifully! [and maybe Nana will take a picture of it for you see the pictures below – click through for details.] There’s mistakes in there, but there’s also MONTHS of planning and needle pricked fingertips and a ton of love in every little bit. And laughter too due to her finishing it for me.
The next year? Gramma made me my own wall hanging, which I hang faithfully every year. Except this one – I’ve not relocated it yet. *L* but soon as I find it, up it will go.
Love ya nana moosie! – that’s still my alltime favorite christmas gift – and it wasn’t even mine!
Shopping!
So – Around 9:30am on Friday, Nana Moosie and I headed out of town for an overnight shopping trip to Anchorage. We had money (thanks to generous donations and an understanding papa) for Christmas and wish lists from all 7 kids (My three, and the Ladybug’s 4), and determination to get good STUFF! they had STUFF in Anchorage and we needed STUFF! so Off we went, into the rainy mountain pass.
The hwy’s weren’t too bad, but the back roads and parking lots were ice scating rinks. They had the Avalanche warning posted, which of course is located
right next to the OUTHOUSES! and Oh BOY were those seats cold! Heh.
So, after a couple hours, we get to Anchorage in one piece, do our duties and call the fam and let them know we arrived safely, and then we stopped at Weebe’s for lunch. You see, when I was a kid, there was a place called Bookey’s here in the area. We used to eat there every saturday morning for breakfast, and for lunch with dad sometimes too. They had hands down the BEST greasy burgers ANYWHERE, and the fries – OH the fries! The owner, Mr. Bookey, would give us girls quarters to plug into the jukebox, and there was an arcade in the back, and oh man. The memories!
Well! when he closed up shop down here and moved to Anchorage, he oppened a smaller version of Bookeys, called WeeB’s. And so instead of going classy for lunch, we decided “Screw classy! give us old fashioned GREASEBURGERS!” and after saying hello to Mr. Bookey hisself (he was running the drive through window! – he’s like in his 70’s or even older, and last year faught off two armed robbers because h certainly wasn’t letting them get his money!) we sat down and feasted on my youth…
So. Freakin. Good!
Thus, fortified and ready, we started doing damage to the local area market. heh. Walmart was first, and after that, We began to wonder just WHERE we were going to put everything! We had offered to give someone a ride home from Anchorage if he needed it, and well, we were beginning to contemplate investing in one of those car top carriers for the ride home, so he’d have a place to sit.
After Walmart, we hit the local Toys R Us, and got more stuff, and then, as it was getting close to our dinner reservation time with Nana Moosie’s SisterFriend, we hit one last store, Silva Saddle, for Papa’s gifts (we’d researched this one before leaving home so knew it was there).
Then it was off to the Glacier Brewhouse for dinner. Oh. My. God. It was SO FREAKING GOOD. I’d never been there before, so trusted Nana Moosie’s menu choices, and oooooooooohboy!
First, we had Pizza. It’s “personal pan” sized pizza, but well, Neither one of us could eat the whole thing. It wasn’t drenched in sauce or cheese as the other places do, it was spicy, hand tossed thin crust FILLED with meat and all around yummy. I brought the leftovers home to the boy? and he declared it the BEST PIZZA EVER..
Then there was the desert. Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhmygod. Peanut. Butter. Pie. I was pretty damn sure I’d died and gone to heaven, and spent my time protecting it from Nana Moosie’s wandering for while melting into my chair it was so orgasmically good. Ooooooh yummy! (Ok, so I shared, really. Nana also shared her SisterFriend’s ‘world famous’ bread pudding, and the three of us were quite content!)
On the way out, we peeked into the glass room where we can watch them brew their own beer. Alas, it wasn’t up and running at the time, but I took a picture anyway.
After a very filling dinner, we went to the Bed n Breakfast were we would be staying, which is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL and had a big ole pillow filled bed waiting for me
after I had checked my mail and met the magic coffee machine! (oh! how i love the magic coffee machine!)
Please note there is only ONE chocolate on that pillow! Nana Moosie stole the other one! hehehehe.
After breakfast the next morning – done up homestyle – scrambled eggs sausage fruit and the Magic Coffee MAchine! – we made a couple of calls to find THE gift for the boy (found the LAST pair in his size!) and we unloaded and repacked the trunk so that we had enough room for our passenger if needed, and discovered we still had room to fill! yay! and checked our lists so we knew where we were at and what we still needed to get. So – it was off to the giant Diamond Center for THE GIFT. We of course paused to take a picture of the tree inside above the skating rink:
Then, after the Diamond Center, it was to the Tidal Wave Book Store, where we found loads of good stuff, and because I’d never been, we made a stop at the Alaska Berry Products superstore in order to see their 20ft chocolate waterfall!
Please note the “no diving or swimming” sign along the top left side. *L*
So – after a last stop at Fred Myer’s, we were off and running home – thankfully without the passanger, as we have NO idea where we would have put him. Heh. A nice, uneventful yet tiring, ride home, and we unloaded (and I’d show you the picture of a well packed trunk, but well, who knows who might do some snooping!) and I got to pick up my babies, and then my baby (my computer, all fixed! yay!) and finally collapse into my chair with my newly fixed computer, and fresh made still warm cranberry bread that Ladybug and the kids had made. Yum.
When we arrived home, we found that Kevin’s work had send down a fruit basket and a 20pound ham for christmas, we had gotten some stuff donated from the school (Box of food and a couple gifts for the kids) and a gift card for the local grocery store from the LAdies Auxillery in the area. I’m astounded by all the things people have donated and given us this season, and though in many ways it’s a very sad christmas, it’s one that makes me very happy too. A lot of good memories are being made to walk hand in hand with our loss, and while nothing replaces daddy, we will still have a good Christmas, filled with family, friends, and laughter.
Much as my trip. Run on over to Nana Moosies and ask her about her TOOTHBRUSH.
hahahahahahah. *Runs*
good morning
Nana Moosie and I arrived home safe and sound from our overnight shopping trip to AnchorTown yesterday evening. Oh. The damage that woman and I can do when set loose in the ‘big city’ with money and gift giving on the brain! There will be a longer, better post later, but alas, I am still tired, and my ankle hurts, and my soft bed is calling me.
So! until I beguile you with all the excitement, enjoy this picture of this mornings sunrise as seen outside my window.
While I go back to bed. Heh. Sorry Nana, two days of getting up at “a decent hour” does not years of bad late night/sleeping in habits break. *winks*
Not so Proud…
One of the arguments Kevin and I often had was about accepting help – or “pity handouts” as he used to call them. He and I would go on and on and around and around about applying for public aid when we needed it, food stamps, Denali Kid Care medical insurance for the kids, so on and so forth. He wanted nothing more then to be able to provide for his family all on his own – and he did his damnedest to do so, and managed pretty well. He was a master at trading toys to get something new that he wanted for himself of me or the kids. We did ok. Sure – we were in dept and when he had money he could go through it like crazy and he drove me insane because he never had a clue how much things cost and so on and so forth and we argued and bitched and blah blah blah – but we did alright – and I applied for things as needed, when needed, and we did ok. ANd while we did ok, I always kept an eye out for those who weren’t. When we get food from the foodbank, the cans of things we won’t use are put back into the Canned Food Drives, We drop change in the Salvation Army bucket, we have adopted Angels from the Angel Tree and done Toys for Tots when we could. I never thought about it – it’s just something we always have done, because no matter what we had or didn’t have, there’s always someone who has less, and needs more.
Now, I’ve been trying to get over that proud streak, and accept the help that’s been given. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear him say “We don’t need that!” even when I know we do, and it takes something for me to smile and accept things. But one thing is for certain –
I am not so proud that I won’t say thank you.
Someone in Nana Moosie’s church anonymously placed an envelope in her bible when she was in the other room. Inside it was cash – enough to pay bills and make sure my kids get Christmas this year – with perfect timing because Nana Moosie and I had just started planning a shopping trip to Walmart for this weekend. The school also had a family “adopt” us, and I was notified today that I will be getting a box on Saturday (don’t panic Nana Moose! Auntie Ladybug is gonna pick it up since we’ll be en route home!) – My worries about making this Christmas something to remember for the kids, with good memories along with the fact that we miss Daddy horribly, those worries are gone, thanks to the generousity of people I don’t even know. I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me and my kids – it’s because of them that I can still function without completely panicing about the little – and sometimes big – things.
We made some jokes about how Kevin would be rearranging things up there and arguing until he gets his way – and well, there’s been other things that prove a bit of meddling too. I have a web update job that I do for about $100 a month. I found out that the guy is selling the business, and I’m not part of the package (thank god – I hate that site with the heat of a thousand suns!) and thus, in the next couple of months, that $100 a month is gone. Some minor adjustments and I’d have been ok, it was just a “gah!” moment, but not too bad. Imagine my surprise when I received notice from Social Security that same day. Four envelopes, which means it had something to do with the survivors benefits we are getting. I was leery about opening it, expecting bad news. Instead, i found that starting in january we will be getting a ‘cost of living’ hike – and adding the four additions together? it’s $100 more a month.
Yeah. Someone’s nudging some well placed elbows up round there, for sure.
So – while I still find myself in unexpected tears and expected tears, and my heart is still beating brokenly: I am saying thank you – to all those who hold us in your thoughts, in your prayers, and who have helped in 1000 different ways. I believe in paying it forward, and know that all your efforts are appreciated and will be not be forgotten.
Thank you.
