Thankful Too

Our second Thanksgiving was at Mildreds. She and Nan had been in the kitchen for a day and a half preparing enough food for the salvation army. By that evening, we all felt like stuffed Turkeys.

On Friday, November 25, 2016, we rested. All day, we rested...and ate leftovers. 

We got good news that Phyllis was coming home from the hospital Friday too.

On Saturday, November 26, 2016, we went back to Mildreds for dinner. She had cooked for Travis' birthday.  The rest of the day, we just lounged around.

Sunday, November 27, 2016 was church, lunch at Chili's, a visit at moms and then a visit at dad and Phyllis's.  Our way back home, we stopped in to visit brand new Hollyn. She was born while we were in Florida last week, but this was our first chance to visit.

I laid around the house all day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

They have began construction on the 15 new town houses on Stevens Street. Not sure why they have to lay down bedrock before they start building.

We got up and went to church on Wednesday evening, November 30, 2016 and had dinner at Cracker Barrel afterwords. 

Hard to believe tomorrow is December 1st. 

We sure are Thankful for all these days of rest. Rest is scarce around the Hayes House

There's a lot to be Thankful for

Although I was ready to kick into slow gear, "aint nobody got time for that". I got up a little earlier on Sunday, November 20, 2016 because it was my Sunday to bring breakfast to church. After breakfast, church and lunch at Chili's, I headed to Sparta to color my moms hair. She wanted to darken it up a little because she said that she "looks stupid with blonde hair at her age".  She almost backed out of coloring it though because she said it freezes her to get her hair wet.  We managed to get the color on and keep her warm long enough to get her hair dry.

And I like to play on snapchat with her too...

So, after I got mom all dolled up, I went to visit daddy and Phyllis for a while too. When I got to dads, I was in for a surprise. I didn't see Phyllis at first and then daddy told me that she was in the bedroom. I started to sit down on the couch, but daddy told me to go on back to the bedroom.  He told me that Phyllis couldn't get up because her titanium brace on her hip had broken and she was going to have to have surgery again.  How does that even happen?  After all her recovery, she has to start over on her right side.  I didn't visit long because I knew she was uncomfortable and wanted to rest.  Life sure can throw some curve balls.

Thank you God for blessing me with both a mom and dad in my life for the past 41 years.

Phyllis' surgery went well on Tuesday, November 21, 2016. Stroker and I went to visit her at the hospital later in the evening. She was in pain, but in good spirits.

I worked all day on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 and then came home to cook for Thanksgiving.
I made mashed potatoes, corn, mac-n-cheese, potato salad, dressing, gravy, rolls and desert. Basically everything (except the turkey). This was the first year that I cooked the whole meal myself.
Later in the evening, breaking news came across the news that a Gatlinburg wild fire had started and the high winds of 60+ mph was spreading it fast. Gatlinburg has been evacuated and hundreds of structures are burning. The drought and the wind are feeding the fire.

Thank the Lord we are at home safe tonight and prayers for those affected by this.

We got up Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24, 2016 and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade while we got ready. We took the morning kind of slow and headed to moms around noon.
When I got to moms, I got the table set and the rolls warmed up. Darlene and Gary dropped off the turkey and headed out.

It was definitely a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year. 

There were only four of us there for dinner.

Kevin dropped off drinks and left, Tiffany, Kendal and the kids stopped by for about 20 minutes and Katlin came by for a few minutes. 

Times are changing and so are people.  

The world we live into today is based on convenience.

Traditions are a thing of the past. 

Truth is, people will one day be a thing of the past.  

Thank you Lord for another Thanksgiving at my momma's house.  

Here lately, I catch myself watching momma and conciously trying to grasp what it will be like to not see her in her chair, or pouring a glass of milk, or munching on Frito chips. 

I look at her in the present and visualize who she was 20 years ago when she could cut the grass, plant rose bushes, trim hedges and work in her garden pond.  When she kept a clean kitchen, polished furniture and swept floors.

I miss momma then, but I sure am blessed to still have her today, sitting in a rocker, in her housecoat, enjoying a plate full of Thanksgiving.  God is so good.

5th Annual Christmas Shopping Trip

Last year, we barely got our shopping trip in before Christmas. This year, we didn't take any chances.
I got up early on Saturday, November 19, 2016 and got ready because I knew Maleigha would be early  (he-hem)  I mean on time.  Just as I predicted, she was in my driveway, just before 7am.
We made plans last year to wear "Ugly" Christmas sweaters while we shopped this year...so that is what we wore on Saturday.

We had the best time as usual.  We hit up Cracker Barrel, Prime Outlets of Lebanon, The Avenue in Murfreesboro, MiMi's Cafe, Target, Kirklands,...and all the other traditional spots except Old Time Pottery.  Maleigha dropped me back off at my house after bedtime. 

So, I hauled everything to my bedroom as quietly as I could and said goodnight to another day.

The Pleasure of Our Business

We missed the Feast of Thanksgiving yet again at church on Sunday, November 13, 2016 because immediately after morning church service we headed south to Florida. We traveled throughout the day and arrived at the Marriott Lakeshore Reserve just before 11pm.  Too late to swim, but not to late to check out the fitness gym, the sauna and the steam room.

We didn't hang out anywhere long because we knew we needed to get plenty of rest for the next day.

On Monday, November 14, 2016, we got up, got dressed, and went to breakfast at Denny's.

Afterwords, we headed to Universal Studios Islands of adventure.  Now that I am in my 40's, roller coaster adventures are not what the adventure that they used to be.  Stroker and I hung in there for the most part, but toward the end of the day, we were sitting on benches while the girls rode the rides.

We stayed at the park until dark and then headed back to the hotel to relax in the hot tub. Well, I relaxed in the hot tub...Brooke and Mary swam in the pool and lazy river.

We got up early on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 and headed to day 1 at the IAAPA.  They only purchase that I made at IAAPA on Tuesday, was a fan that neutralizes oders.  We walked for about four miles of booths and sampled all sorts of food.  We tried out some neat fair rides and the girls tried some virtual reality rides.  

When we left the convention, we went over to Disney and had dinner at the 

Hoop De Doo Musical Review

What a tiring day Tuesday was.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 was more of the same...wake up early, head to IAAPA and Sample, eat, see, experience and walk. ALL DAY LONG!.

 

 Wednesday evening at our hotel, Brooke and Mary enjoyed pampering and room service while Stroker and I went to dinner with our insurance company at Texas De Brazil.

We took a break from all the trade show walking on Thursday, November 17th and relaxed on Cocoa Beach for a while. 

We shopped a little at Ron Jon's Surf shop. You can't visit Cocoa Beach without stopping at Ron Jon's.

Later on that day, we ventured back to Disney and took a stroll down memory lane where we got married. We stood in the very spot where we said "I Do".

Then                              and                            Now

 Of course, Disney has changed the scenery by adding bungalows along the water front, but it was still good to visit the place.

We rode the monorail around Disney while we were there. That is beginning to be an annual tradition.

We thought about staying for the Luau, but it had been getting cold and night and our long sleeve shirts and jeans were back at the hotel. 

We were wearing down too. We had been going non stop all week.  

Back to the hotel we went.

On Friday, November 18, 2016 we headed back home and arrived around 8:15 pm. 

We unpacked, showered and got ready for a good nights sleep in our own beds.

Changes

I loaded up my momma and took her to get her hair done on Monday, November 7, 2016. She was overdue for some attention.  It took hours because she got a haircut and a perm. She was sooo tired by the time she got out of the salon. We stopped on the way home for food and got her settled back in so she could rest. Her hair is a cut and curly and ready for the holidays.

Stroker went to the churches "mens meeting" at Golden Corral for dinner. I had dinner with my little momma.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 was the dreaded election day. All this Dem vs Rep; Conservative vs Liberal junk has everybody confused. Stop voting on labels and start voting on qualifications. I agree and disagree with certain beliefs in both parties, so I guess that makes me a Republicrat.

Re·pub·li·crat

rəˈpəbləˌkrat/

noun

1. a person whose political philosophy is a blend of policies and principles from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Most people are determined for a republican to be in the White House because we want change. The only problem is that two Democrats were the candidates. Am I the only person that has seen

THIS interview where Trump states that he identifies as a democrat?  If I wear a label that says "skinny", will people see me 50 lbs lighter? Just wondering.

On Wednesday, November 9, 2016, America woke up to the biggest shock ever. No one really expected Trump to win. What do we do now? Well, I'll tell you what a lot of people did. They made racial remarks, insulted ethnic groups and bullied fellow Americans. I was so upset when I picked Brooke up from school and she told me stories of how kids were telling a hispanic kid to show his green card and chanting "build that wall" as they walked down the hallway. Online, I read other hurtful stories about how a lady walked up to an Arabic woman, yanked off her hijab and told her "those aren't allowed anymore".
In the midst of Making America Great Again, we have condoned these types of actions and our youth feels that it is okay to treat others this way. Sadness.
{climbing off my soapbox}                      Went to church....and prayed.
Oh... one thing I didn't expect on Wednesday...stocks rose.
{Moving on}
I savored the goodness of my brocoli and cheddar soup in my bread bowl at Panera on Thursday, November 10, 2016.

It was sooo good, I could have eaten 2 of them. Unfortunately, we had to get back on the road and head on into Nashville, so one was my limit.  We arrived at CHRISTMAS VILLAGE around 5pm. We had to park kind of far off because the place was already packed when we got there.  It took us around 3.5 hours to journey through all  of the buildings, but we finally got through every booth.

  I cannot get over how quickly 2016 came and went. Here I am Christmas shopping...and I feel like it should still be Springtime.  I sure am not up for all these Christmas shopping crowds.
We went to Gainesboro Friday evening, November 11, 2016 and then we went to dinner at Longhorns. They actually cooked the steak thorough enough for Stroker. That's a big deal.

Week 1 in November

What better way to begin November than with a dentist appointment (yeah right). That was how Tuesday, November 1, 2016 began for me. It was just a cleaning and check up, but it was first thing Tuesday morning. I also got moms car tags renewed, had lunch with Maleigha, had Mixto face treatment which is also called fractional resurfacing for my sun damage and picked up Brooke from school. That's a productive first day of November.

On Wednesday, November 2, 2016 my face looked terribly sunburnt.  Most people would have stayed inside, but I went on with my daily routine. We put the dunk tank in winter storage and had dinner at Shear Delights.

We voted on the incoming president on Thursday, November 3, 2016.

I haven't mentioned it much here on my blog, but the race this year has been complete chaos. Somehow the two people that no one wants to be president ended up as the two nominees. It's like we are creating our own reality show to watch ourselves crumble. 

Friday morning, November 4, 2016 We went to the Rose-garden and Ella joined us. That is the best little restaurant. Especially if you get there before they run out of the special of the day. The menu starts getting slim by 6:30.
Since Saturday, November 5th is so close to Brooke's birthday, we went ahead and got her new iPhone 7+ that she has done nothing but talk about for months. I cannot believe how ridiculous phones have become over the years. And no way are you gonna get a great deal on one now. They add $37 a month to your bill for two full years. Not to mention we lost a $25 monthly upgrade credit that we were getting until today. I've done the math...that extra $62 per month that we have to pay winds up being $1488 that we wind up paying for this phone.  Gee-zoo that is crazy. Yet we did it.

Ella spent the night again and we went by to tell B happy birthday.
We celebrated Brookes birthday after church on Sunday, November 6, 2016. We went to Red Robin and the Sephora store in Mt. Juliet. She seemed very pleased (and she should). She even got a gift from the universe this year. How awesome is that? Daylight savings time began today she she had a 25 hour birthday.

No Slowing Down

Friday, October 14, 2016 was Jerry and Robbie Hayes' 40th anniversary.  Byrd invited us to attend their surprise anniversary party. So we went and had an awesome time. 40 years...that is a lifetime.
We visited dad and mom both on Saturday, October 15, 2016. We had some deliveries too. My niece Tiffany is building a new house, so daddy took us by to see where it was. Phyllis came too. She gets around quite well with a walker these days.
Our church property received some dozer work on Saturday, but with the lack of rain, we were not allowed to burn any brush.

We were back in church Sunday, October 16, 2016 followed by three deliveries all within 5 miles of us. We had deliveries made and still made it to lunch at Cheddar's to meet Sterl, Deb, Lee and Judy.
Afterwords, we went home for a nap.  Easy Sunday.
I felt pretty good on Monday, October 16, 2016, so we took Kimba to Cane Creek for a walk.

Must have worn me out because our next outing was church on Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
On Thursday, October 20, 2016 I went to visit mom and Devin went with me. It rained a little for the first time in October.

We were headed for a drought, and still are. When we got home from moms, Devin let me cut his hair for the first time in a year.  It was a hot mess.

Devin and Brooke had a dentist appointment on Friday, October 21, 2016 but Devin never showed up. He thought it was funny, but I chewed him out.
Stroker and I went to the WCHS bbq dinner later that evening. Kurt and Beverly sat next to us for a while and then a guy named Tinker and his wife sat across from us for the rest of the evening. We had a good time, but didn't win anything.
We knew Saturday, October 22, 2016  was going to be a hectic day before we even started. We had eight stops to make and they were in two different counties. In Monterey that evening we informed residents of a gas line that they were surprised to know that they had  running to their house.  That's us, always making discoveries.  And that's God, always protecting us from disaster.

We got up and headed to church on Sunday, October 23, 2016 and then went to Cheddar's for lunch. I had a hair appointment Sunday evening. Brooke went with Mary and Ella to Amazing Acres.
On Wednesday, October 26, 2016, we moved the TV to an alternate wall and put in a fireplace. We didn't make it to church. We went to Sparta to pick up the dunk tank for a late season rental. The warm weather is really holding out this year.
On Thursday, October 27, 2016, we went to Cumberland Auto and had dinner at Cracker Barrell with Lee and Judy. We stopped and took our picture by the Mystery Machine.

We made a trip to Monterey on Friday, October 28, 2016 to get a head start on a super busy weekend. We had two new outlets installed in Brooke's room.
We got up Saturday, October 29th and sat out on a sold out day. Thanks God.
We did stop by moms for a minute. She was rooting for the Vols.

Sunday, October 30th  was kind of a repeat after church.  We went to Livingston, Doyle and Alpine and Monterey.
The final day of October...Monday, October, 31, 2016. What a relief. I even dressed up this year. Kate's costume beat mine though.

It was around 70 degrees all throughout trunk or treat. I decorated the car around 4pm because trunk-or-treat started at 5pm.  I bet we had over 300 trick or treaters come through.

Brooke went to a costume party.