Karaoke Christmas

My mom is always looking to make the holidays enjoyable, so she came up with karaoke Christmas. She called up all of the family and invited them to come.

This is my sister (left) and my brother (right) The girl in the middle is my cousin Ashley.
If anyone was to meet my mom, they would see why I am as silly and goofy as I am. This is my mom in her Mimi outfit. The song she is singing is, You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man.

This is when we first all arrived and we were all sitting around. My mom wanted everyone to feel liven up, so she got some palm palms and ran around the room cheering. Come on everyone get up, lets go, lets go.

I had to remind her it was Christmas and not Easter, lol.

Then my step dad decided to dance with my mom.

I do have to say that it was a great experience. We all came together as a family. This is the first Christmas that I spent with my mom and Greg, with his children and their family. As the night started the separate families were on opposite sides of the room, due to some of them being shy. By the end of the night it was like we were all a family.

A Little Humor

Dinner at Golden Corral anyone?
Sure, why not. This is where some of us that work together ate at to celebrate Christmas. It was great to get out and have fun with everyone that was there. To add a little more humor one of us workers wrote a little note.
Just in case you can not read it, here is what it says. You should put fruit cake out for the holidays.

The story behind the fruitcake is what makes it so funny. Angela and I were at a UK basketball game and it just so happened so was another one of our fellow workers were there. So Angela and I went over to visit with her. Well, it was at the same time that the cheerleaders were throwing foil wrapped items. Angela thought it would be funny to tell this fellow worker that they were giving out fruit cake. I laughed thinking she would know better, but she really thought it was fruit cake. Bless her heart, we couldn't help but laugh. Go Angela, one of the many reasons I love her.

My Sisters Story

For all of you that does not know I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I have just found out recently that my sister is having health issues. She is only one year older than me, turning 28 in April of "08". This is her story...Okay so just when you think life is good and finally going the right direction that is when you know to cherish every moment because soon the bottom is probably going to fall out and everything is going to come crashing down on you. This is a lesson I have learned very well recently and unfortunately had to learn the hard way.
For those who do not already know, what started out to be a trip to the doctor the day after Thanksgiving just to make sure I didn't have strep throat snowballed into a major ordeal for me. My doctor noticed my blood pressure has been running high, so he put me on a strict diet and exercise plan and a 5 day blood pressure check to see if I was going to need medication for my blood pressure. Thankfully the diet and exercise have been helping with my blood pressure, but on the day of my follow up another problem was noticed. At this point I am told I have a heart murmur, not to worry because it could really be nothing and we are going to run a few tests just to be on the safe side. What started out as a couple tests then turned to three, then four tests. After that a trip to the cardiologist where I find out that my Aortic Valve is not closing all the way and it is allowing blood that has been pumped into my artery to flow back into the left ventricle of my heart. This means that eventually an open heart surgery will have to be done to replace my valve with another valve and that my entire life is going to have to change in major ways. In my case I will be having surgery probably within a year or two so that it can be done before the valve does damage to my heart. Thankfully so far it appears that there is no damage yet and my heart is handling the extra work just fine.
Some how in all of this every moment of your time, every bit of energy and focus you have becomes about your health issues. The way you eat, sleep, exercise, think, everything you do and think changes. Also with concerned family members to call needing updates, every conversation you have seems to be about your health or somehow involve your health issues. For the last month every moment of my life has been consumed by my health to the point that it's almost impossible to get the chance to just be me instead of a person with a serious health issue. Sometimes you aren't even sure who you are anymore because somewhere in all the madness you just get that lost.
So, to all my family and friends I am begging and pleading! I love you all dearly and appreciate the concern, but this year for Christmas I am only asking for one little thing. All I want for Christmas is 2 days to completely forget about my health issues, and get to enjoy being me again. For December 24th and 25th please respect that I do not want to discuss my health issues or anything related to my health issues. It would mean the world to me!
And to each and every one of you please have a blessed wonderful merry Christmas!

As a sister I am very concerned for her health, I ask that everyone to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. When I read the last paragraph I could not keep from crying. When Angela asked me a while back what I would like for Christmas, I did not really know what to tell her. If I was to be asked now I would say that I would like for my sister to be back in good health and for this to have never happened to her.

The Angel Tree

As long as I can remember there has been an angel tree that has been put up in churches and at other locations. When I was a kid I remember seeing on for the first time. I thought to myself, that is a neat way to decorate for Christmas, I thought it was just for looks. I never did understand what it was for until one morning in church. I was about 8 or 9 years old and the pastor announced that there were still a few angels left on the tree, and if there was anyone that wanted to take one they could. So I went back to the tree and took an angel off of it, looked at my mom and said, I got us an angel for our tree. That is when my mom explained to me the purpose of the angel tree. The Angel Tree program provides new clothing or toys for children of needy families. A person takes the angel off the tree and goes and buys the child a gift. I looked at my mom and I asked her if we could help this child. She told me that she would love to but after buying for 5 kids it was hard to do. I look at my mom and I said well, why don't I just give them some of my presents, I don't need anything. I guess my mom figured one more round of gifts wont hurt, we will take the angel. We go out and buy the kid an outfit and a toy and return the gifts to the church.
That is when I realized that Christmas was about giving and not receiving. It made me feel better to know that I helped a child that would have gotten nothing for Christmas. To me being with the ones you love and enjoying our happiness together is what Christmas is about.