THANKFUL

Thank you all for your kind comments following my last post.  I'm realizing that mornings just are not good for our Gracie-girl.  If she is not shaking, she is disoriented and it takes until well after lunch for her to get her bearings.  When she is like this, I put her harness on and lead her.  Otherwise she finds herself in a corner staring at the wall. 

Another thing.  We have surrounded our bed with tall suitcases, stands, etc. so she will not inadvertently jump (she actually tries to fly) off the bed in the middle of the night.  We've already put our bed on the floor for her, but still it is a little high for her.  Now though, she goes half way down the ramp and gets afraid, then tries jumping either over the side of the ramp or to the bottom.  Ugh.  Gracie, Gracie, Gracie!  Needless to say, I usually do not rest well as I continually worry for her.

I know.  I know.  I should have never let her sleep in our bed with us to begin with.  Well, that's water under the bridge.  I will be hard pressed to take that luxury from her at this point.   

Yesterday (Thanksgiving Day) she had a shaky morning.  When we put her in the car for a little outing, she shook terribly and I considered taking her back inside.  But, it was only a ten minute drive and by the time we got there and got her out of the car thankfully she had calmed.  She loved smelling a new area and of course she had to push a dime sized poop out.  Just enough to sit in and smear over her hind end.  Thankfully, I had napkins in my car.  But in cleaning her, that dime-sized poop managed to cover my bare hand.  Thankfully, I had some Clorox wipes in the car too.  Problem solved.  

So amidst the chaos I have my son texting me, "We are going to stop by" and my daughter texting me, "are you home yet?" and my other son whose car was broke down waiting for us to deliver his dinner.  So with one hand I held the  phone and tried reading the texts while with the other hand the poop was waiting for husband to get me one of the Clorox Wipes... meanwhile a big fat bee was contemplating hitching a ride since the passenger door was hanging open. I was thankful when husband swiped it away and he didn't swipe it onto me.

The day before Thanksgiving I had picked up take-out dinners from a great restaurant.  Thankful I did not have to cook.  They didn't charge me enough, so I asked them to re-check the price and then I paid more. Fifty dollars more.   Husband says - "something's wrong with you."  LOL.  He thinks I enjoy paying more.

The restaurant is a half-an-hour away.  When I got the dinners home, I was missing a salad, a dessert, and a gravy.  Maybe there is indeed something wrong with me.  Ha!

We had a good day yesterday and a full house.  Gracie, in her old age does not bark or try to intimidate guests anymore.  She just smells their hand and walks away.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!! SENDING LOVE!

Frustration!

I have a blogger-related frustration going on right now.  I will leave deep, detailed comments on blogs that I visit only to have them disappear and never posted.  It is frustrating because I love visiting my friends blogs and the way to communicate is through comments and ... well... you get the picture.  It's really weird because some blogs take my comments and some do not.  

So as I try to figure out that dilemma, I will share a little of my Thanksgiving day with you.

This was not my year to cook (every other year) so Penn Alps was the restaurant of choice for this year.  The wait was about an hour but well worth it.  

During the waiting, there is plenty to do.  Like shop, or as you can see by son #2's photo below...  read a book.

Our group gathered as we waited ~ laughing, talking, anticipating good food soon.

And not to disappoint, Penn Alps served up one of the best Thanksgiving dinner's I've ever had.  Yes!  It was delicious!!  And I did not have to slave away in the kitchen the day before or clean up afterwards.

Talk about being thankful!!

There is so much to be thankful for, indeed.  And on this day, we tend to stop and think on those things.

  I hope you, too, had a blessed day!

All this talk of turkey and cake...  and all I got was a lousy bowl of roast beef and some time alone at home.  I've marked my calendar for next year.  Turkey at our house!!!  Period!!  ~ Gracie

See Ya Next Year

Dear November,

Sorry I didn't pay a lot of attention to you, but time change and I do not agree with one another.

Not a fan of shorter days, I kinda glazed through the month's events without making too much of a fuss.

Now here we are on the downside of January, or as I like to call it, a prelude to spring...

So to make it up to you, I will share some Thanksgiving pictures on my blog.

I realize I went through the entire month of November without a post.

 No excuses.  Just life-busy.

If all goes well, I'll see ya next year, November.  

And if all goes well, God willing, Gracie will too.

Dear Child

Dear child without a name,

I would like to introduce to you my granddaughters.  

They look beautiful in their new fairy princess dresses that I recently purchased for them.

I will admit, I spoil them just a bit.  Well, maybe more than a bit.  I have two grandsons that I spoil as well.  They tell me what they want, and just like magic... it appears.  The joys of being a grandmother.

But really.  Deep down inside I know I do not do them any favors by caving to their every whim.  Don't get me wrong...  they are good kids.  Very kind, considerate and appreciative.  

But.

They do not know what it is like to do without.  Food.  Shelter.  Clothing.  Water.  And all the extras.  Their play room looks like an isle at Toys R Us.  

I'm a bit embarrassed to say the same for myself.  I have it all.  

We.  As a country.  Have it all.  Yet we are never satisfied.  Always wanting more, more, more.

Proof of that is something we call Black Friday which has now grown tentacles stretching out into Thursday which was once a day of Thanksgiving for family but now has become a day of shop-till-you-drop and hurry and get that bargain before the next guy gets it.  Yes, the tentacles of materialism have grown into the weekend and into Cyber Monday where you can get even more bang for your buck as well.  

I've probably lost you by now, little one.  You are innocent and unaware of our worldly traditions of self gratification here in the good old USA.  

Kohls - Thanksgiving Day

So lets change the subject.

You see, little one...  you have given me a gift far beyond one that can be purchased with cash.

The opportunity to give such a small little shoebox filled with toys.

You will be thrilled, I just know it.

I have watched the videos.  The ones where you receive your shoebox, tear it open and hold your treasures close to your heart.  

I had so much fun searching for just the right gifts.  I chose you, a girl 5 to 9 and my husband Gary chose to give to a boy the same age.

A prayer goes along with this small gift....  and I ask that you pray for me as well, and for all of us in this prosperous, rich country... that we can know innocence like yours.  That we can be grateful and content with what we have.  That we can learn a love like yours.  That we stop confusing need with want and that we know that true value is in that of the heart, not an accumulation of stuff.  

So in closing, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas...

And thank you from the bottom of my heart for receiving my small gift with such gratification and joy.  

God Bless!

 Dear Doggies in shelters and in homes where you are not allowed to sleep on king sized beds,

I have more than I need.  My toy basket overflows with squeaky squirrels, stuffed wally's, noisy birdie friends and tennis balls.  You can't have them.  But I'm just telling you what I've got that you ain't got.  BOL!  sorry.  Anyways...  what I do have is this huge king sized bed that has plenty of room yet.  I'm guessing we could fit a couple Corgi's, a Labradoodle, and half a dozen smaller sized poodles in there yet.  Worse comes to worse, Mom and Dad can sleep on the couch ... know what I mean, jelly bean?  So come one, come all...  to Gracie's king sized bed...   Reserved space available with just the price of two beef jerkey and a beggin' strip.  Oh, and if you get here before bedtime, I'll even let you play with my toys.   See ya later alligator.  (don't touch my alligator though...  it's mine.  all mine!)  Spoiled much?  Nah.  

Gracie.

The Fad and and Some Other Stuff

Last year on Thanksgiving:

(Awe Jasper...  I missed him this year)

Unfortunately, this year a family separation resulted in holidays without the boys so much...    Divorce...  ugh...   Family is scattered and things are never the same.

But on a high note:  I am Christmas shopping and I will be decorating soon.  Tis the season!!  And it will be one awesome Christmas!

So how was your Thanksgiving?

Did you go Black Friday shopping?  Not me! I shopped early on Amazon and I snagged that hard-to-get item for the grands (FIVE TOTAL!!)  at regular price ..... yep...  the hottest and most sought after toy ~ the one thats all the rage this year!!   Can you guess what that item is?  People are now
 paying five and six times the regular price because their kids just HAVE TO HAVE ONE!    Ha!
I'll let you think about that one.


Today I visited Ellie.  My niece.  My rambunctious, playful, annoying, wild, crazy, doxie/lab black niece.  It was interesting watching the antics of the little trouble-maker.   She'll learn.  She's just a kid.  Gracie.

It's Different

With #1 son post op and still not feeling the best and the grand-boys out of town with the other side of the family and #2 son working and not able to make dinner and morale kind of low because of the absence of my sister this year.....

This Thanksgiving day is just another day...

And so my daughter, her hubby and the girls (my angels) joined Gary and I for dinner at Rocky Gap Casino.  

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

We thought we'd venture out tonight to possibly 'Black Thursday' shop.  Gary for the shopping.  Me for the entertainment.  Upon seeing the lines we changed our minds.   Back home to watch a movie for us!

There are a lot of people hurting right now.  Friends & Family, going through tough times.  It's pretty quiet here.  A lot has changed and we are re-grouping and changing it up a bit.  

Anyhooooo....

Happy Thanksgiving!   Blessings to all!

Dear Diary,

I have absolutely nothing at all to be thankful for.  No turkey here.  No house full of cookie carriers to drop crumbs and play with me. Just an irritating sound coming from the irritating, annoying one...   C'mon Gracie, we have to take our Thanksgiving picture.  Nope.  Nothing at all to be thankful for here.  Except maybe the hotdog I had for supper. And my new squeaky bunny. That's it.   Gracie.

We Have some WINNERS!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  

Today was good food & good times.

A few laughs...

Some hugs...

A little clowning around...

And my son saying he wants a $5 royalty check for each time his name is mentioned in the book.  He's so silly!

So I got the kiddies together to do our book drawing and we decided to draw 6 winners instead of 5...  just so each of them would have the same amount to draw.  Here are the results:

Congratulations!  I will be sending you all a free copy of Gracie's Diary.

Now if you could email me at bobbiphillip@yahoo.com your addresses, I will get your books out ASAP!



Dear Diary,

Cruelty to Animals = your family going out for Turkey Dinner and bringing you home just a teeny tiny chunk of turkey and an annoying Christmas hat. Gracie.

The Thanksgiving Day Blues

Nothing fancy at our house.  

 Just paper tablecloths and yard sale decor.  

 A table set for the kiddies.  

Well...  for just one kid in the end...

After a call from #1 son at the last minute saying they aren't coming but they're going to the fiancé's parents instead.  

Honestly...  

the only real respect I get anymore is from my dog...  

...and that's only if I don't read her diary and find out what she's really thinking.

Hope you all had a great day of Thanksgiving.    

not_gonna_happen

Dear Diary,
My place is beside mom on her chair.    Velcro-ed to her Sitting beside of her and keeping her company. I used to shy away and let Rissi have her lap when she was here.  But I hear tell that there will be another one of these little peeps coming soon and guess what?  More lap time taken away from me.  Uh uh!  Not gonna  happen.  

"MOVE OVER RISSA...  I'M COMING UP!"  


There.  That's better.  


Oh.  back to you dear diary...  Anyway.  Today was T-Day.  I learned 2 things today.


1.  Beggin' for the T-bird all day makes a pup very tired.


2.  What they say about T-bird being a sleep aid is right on!


NIGHTY NITE!  GRACIE.