Christmas and more

It has been a month since I was able to blog. I have to say I have missed it. For those of you who do not know what I do for a living (besides raise 3 teenagers, like that's not enough!) I am a florist. Now the name is a little easier to understand. Aunt Tilly's family garden. aka Aunt Tilly's Flower Barn. This was my second Christmas season. Last year was a blurr. We lost our electricity on the 19th with all the snow we had last year. We borrowed a generator from some friends of ours and proceeded to arrange Christmas centerpieces to the tune of 30 a day in 13 degree weather. Thank goodness for "lifer friends". You know the ones that no matter how late, or cold, or tired we may be, they are there to help you. My husbands favorite part was the chaining and unchaining for the west hill deliveries. Well....that was last year. This year we had electricity and a warm shop to work in. We were just busy! I count that a blessing in the state of economy we are in. Flowers are a funny thing, you can remember a birthday or special occasion at 10 am, and have a dozen roses at their doorstep by 2pm. In the "flower world" people can be last minute. So Christmas eve we were delivering right up till the Christmas eve service at church. It never acquired to me that when I decided to have my own shop I would never have a holiday any other place but home!

Something else happened this season that I would like to share. I only talk about this to see if I can spare someone else from the embarrassment and hardship. I was working away one day at the shop and my phone rang. The voice on the other end was a rely operator. For those of you who do not know what that is, it is used for hearing impaired. The operator reads the text message to me and them types my response back to the hearing impaired person. I had a lady that was ordering 25 poinsettias and she needed to have them ready to be picked up the following Tuesday. I had never taken a order like this before. She gave me her visa and asked for the approval # and asked that I set up the details for the shipper. The credit card went through and I gave her the approval code and set off to purchase 25 poinsettias. I got everything ready and she called back and asked if I could add 20 more. The rely operator this time said to me, " you know this is a scam". I was taken by surprise and wasn't sure I heard him right. I said excuse me? He said this is a scam made with stolen credit cards. I wasn't sure what to do. He said it was probably coming out of Nigeria and that it happens all day long. I was sick to my stomach and shocked that I could be tricked into such a horrible scam. He also told me that he would be fired if his company knew he told me. The companies stand on this is that they can not guess if the call is legal or not. Thank goodness for a honest worker at this phone company. He was willing to risk his job to help me not get in any deeper with these awful people. What about the 10 other operators I talked to in the process of getting this order together. Where was there integrity?
Just so you know the rest of the story, I called my bank and told them what had happened and that the credit card that was used was stolen, I also needed to know what to do. You know what I found out? (this story does not have a happy ending in case you want to know this up front). There is no protection for the small business owner. So I am out shipping and the cost of poinsettias plus the hours and embarrassment that I endured with the scam from Nigeria and the rely operators. I hope this will be a learning experience and a help for all that reads this.

Christmas its self was wonderful. We had a lazy day and watched football, ate till we were ill, and open presents into the evening hours. It makes me so grateful for the gift of family and friends. I will blog more about Christmas and the comings and goings of the season, I wouldn't want you to miss the story of December22nd and the whole family at the ballet.

give your all

Well Thanksgiving is here and gone on the calender, but hopefully not gone in our hearts. This was a particularly happy Thanksgiving for me. All my children (sounds like the soap opera) were home. Not only that, but my whole family was present and accounted for. The only missing link was Ben's wife. We had two new places at the table. Gabriel, my three month old nephew. It is so fun to have new life around. So often we think about getting old and forget to celebrate youth. On the flip side, or should I say on the other side of the table, both literal and age wise is Wayne. Mom's new bow. He has years of wisdom and humor to draw from. The rest of us, just filled in the gap!

I hope that the traditions that I try so hard to instill in my childern will live on.
People ask me why I don't make it easy on myself and use paper plates, or have others bring things. After 4 days of dishes I asked myself that also. The answer was still the same has always, I want my family and friends to know how special they are to me. It's easy to take shortcuts, or to take the easy way. Thats not who I am, and not who I want my childern to be. You see, the choices we make, even in the little things, determine who we are and the qualities we hold. I'm not saying that if you use paper plates, you are not showing good qualities. All I am saying is for me I want to give my all. You get one chance with this life and I want to make a differece.

So I will continue do dishes, wrap each gift with pretty bows, set a festive table, decorate every room in the house, and be an example to my friends and family. Remember to live each day with Thanksgiving in your heart.

My favorite holiday

It as been so long since I have had a chance to "blog". So many things are happening. I remember my mom use to tell me that once you were out of school, time go by so quickly. Boy, is that the truth! I thought I would never be done with school. Twelve years was a long time, (this was before I was even thinking of college). Now I have been out of school two and a half times longer than I was ever in! Ok ...almost three times.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and time being such a commodity, I thought I'd better talk a little about being thankful. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Most people like Christmas, don't get me wrong I love Christmas, there is just something that stirs my soul about thanksgiving. Its not that only good things have happened on thanksgiving. I lost my father-in-law at thanksgiving. When something like that happens, most people decide that they no longer want to celebrate, or it will never be the same. Of course it won't be the same, but that doesn't mean it can never be fun again, or we can't be thankful for other things. One of my favorite memories is also on thanksgiving. My oldest son Ben, was about a year old and my parents had moved to Camano, Is.,Wa. They had bought a 800 sq. ft. cabin on the bluff above sunset beach. The view was incredible not so much the cabin. My Dad was a visionary, and He knew someday it would be a beautiful home on water front property. One of my closest friends and her husband and Al and I, drove 5 hrs with two, one year old boys, (by the way we both have different husbands, same boys). It started raining on the way up, but it didn't dampen our spirits...remember we had already started our Christmas music, it is after Halloween. By the time we got to the Island the wind was blowing so hard that there tree branches in the road and stuff flying everywhere. The cabin sits on a 200 ft bluff that looks out over the San Juan Is. Along with the view, you also get the wind, the rain, the storms, even snow! The funny thing about this Island is that even though you do not have to boat to it, there is one road on and one road off. It truly has the makings of a good Halloween story. So you get my point...Anyway, we arrive and get settled in. Mom and Dad have the only bedroom. The master suite, 8x6. We are sharing the kitchen/dinnig room/living room. We brought our sleeping bags, things are good. The house smelled of turkey and pumpkin pie. We were excited to be there. Debbie and I were setting the table (in our make shift bedroom/living,dining and kitchen), when the lights started to flicker and then go out! The storm had won, and we had a half cooked bird in the oven. We found candles and Dad stoke the fire up in the wood burning stove and Mom finish cooking the turkey. We ate by candle light and instead of watching football and melting into the couch, a strange thing happened...we talked.

I'll never forget that Thanksgiving. A idea was born that became a tradition for me and everyone over the years that has shared my Thanksgiving table. I buy or make gifts for all that are coming. Not expensive, sometimes it something like homemade jam, but it is thought about, and hand picked. Wrapped and placed on the plate of the person seat at the table. It is my gift to each person, saying I am thankful on this day of Thanksgiving, that you are part of my life. There is a catch, everyone has to share one at a time, what they are also thankful for before they open their gift.

It does't matter if you are 3 or 93, everyone shares...everyone talks with each other, not at each other. A couple years ago, we were having our first Thanksgiving with out Ben. He had moved to Ct. It was hard on all of us, but especially Mackie. We often refer to Mack as "o man of little words". He was avoiding Bens phone calls, and wasn't texting him. He was mad Ben had left him. It really was that he was missing him terribly. As we were going around the room, taking our turn at thankfulness, Mackie was notably uncomfortable. I was getting prepared to hear " I'm not thankful for anything! or leave me out this year!" But to my surprise, Mackie cleared his throat and said, "I am thankful that Ben has found someone to love and that she loves him back". It was a heart thing, spoken out of my quiet sons pain.

You see most people think Christmas is the giving holiday. Thanksgiving is the giving holiday for me. Giving of one heart to another.

Free day

I woke up this Veterans Day morning to the kids laughing and singing to Arron Neville's Christmas CD, while baking leftover cinnamon rolls with orange icing from Halloween. I love it when the kids get a day off from school. They are so happy. It is different than a Saturday....there is something about getting a "free day"! The girls (Jordan and the next door neighbor Amanda) decided they were going to be spreading Christmas cheer all day. Tucker, who was a little less excited about the days events, and definitely not going to put on a Christmas sweater like the girls, decided to go back to bed. This did not dampen the girls spirits, they were singing and dancing around all day. I was thinking to myself when did the Christmas season become something to "fear"? You know what I mean....trying to schedule time for shopping, baking, decorating, entertaining and wrapping. Don't forget the Christmas cards, concerts, picking the perfect tree and still have time for enjoying the season. I say bring it on! I love this time of year. When I really think about it, the kids are a chip off the old block,(where did that saying come from? Its not very flattering!) I'd rather think of myself has fine china...a chip off the china teapot. Anyway, they have been raised with the knowledge that Christmas music is fair game after Halloween and we get our tree the same weekend that Thanksgiving is on.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I think the reason for that is because I am truly thankful for my family and friends, but also it seems like the kick off for shopping, eating, music and just having a great time. So I guess it is not surprising that with each generation it becomes a little earlier. Who knows, by the time my grandchildren are adults, we could be starting the Christmas music right after Labor Day!

Fundraiser or 12 hour sale

We went to a fundraiser auction tonight. It is amazing how most people look at it as shopping the 12 hour sale at Macy's. They forget the key word "fundraiser". This one happened to be for the athletic department for school. Athletics are very near and dear to my heart. I have 3 boys, they all played sports. Mackies football team last year practiced on 50 year old sleds. Rusted, broken etc.... Baseball had a scoreboard that worked half the time. Why is it that there is always just a handful of parents that understand the importance of sports? It teaches so many valuable lessons. Respect authority, work together, excel, push yourself to be better, help one another, not to mention the lifetime friends you make. Mackie played baseball with the same kids from t-ball up. He is now playing with some of those boys in college. If I were a coach and not just a parent standing on the sidelines, or say a "future employer", every quality that was taught is something I would look for.

I wish that when the fundraisers come around, that people would look at it as a contribution to our future. We are investing in a life that may someday run the country, or cure cancer. Maybe they will be a loving parent or a respectful spouse. Maybe the norm will be to stay married because of the time they learned to work together. Anyway you look at it, the world is a better place thanks to the coaches and teachers, the booster clubs, and the parents that support athletics. So when the opportunity comes to help, open your wallets and help the future. Look at it as a chance to pay double what it is worth in money, but priceless for our future.

The day Grandma was lost

Today was a busy day at the flower shop. Sometimes the day is filled with birthday flowers, sometimes it is get well, today it was funeral sprays. I know that is something that most people do not want to talk or read about, but in the flower business it is an important part of the biz. As I was standing there creating arrangements to fit the person they were to honor (which is hard from a piece of paper) I started thinking about when my Grandma Clark passed away. It was a hard funeral for me.....I hadn't seen my mom for awhile, my sister was the one helping her. Tucker was just a toddler, and Mackie not much bigger. We had a pickup truck at the time, and Al and I were standing outside after the service and the boys were running around in the back of the truck. Wendy came out of the church and as we were standing there talking, mom walked by and opened the door of her van. As Wendy and I visited we kept glancing at mom, she was crawling around on the floor of the van. Suitcases, pillows, old french fry wrappers were moving from one end of the van to the other. I gave Wendy a questioning glance, I thoughts she said that mom was looking for something of grandma's. So we kept talking. While Mom kept crawling, and digging. This continued on for quite awhile. Again I look at Wendy and she said " mom must still be looking". I am thinking to myself, "what could possible be so important"? But she continued on. It seemed like 30 minutes had gone by...(probably only 10). Finally I said to Wendy, "what is she looking for"? She is looking for Grandma...I interrupted and said "Grandma's what"? "Grandma! She is looking for Grandma"! All of a sudden I realized what she had said, Mom was crawling around under the van seats looking for Grandma's ashes. It struck me so funny, I thought I was going to die laughing! No pun intended! Wendy, Al and I will never forget the day Mom lost Grandma Clark under the van seat.

why I am doing this

Besides the need to get my 2500 words said a day....I'm doing this to leave something for my children and grandchildern. Lets face it, the day of the diary or even the journal is quickly becoming a thing of the past,or at least on paper. We have become totally dependent on computers. We e-mail instead of write letters. Facebook is even taking the need for e-mail out. At least the social part. We can now write to 300 friends (if you have that many) all at the same time. Or we can read what "Ed" is saying to his mother, class mate from college, and the butcher at the local meat market that happens to be friends with one of your friends friends!

Instead of fighting the future, I have decided to join it. My children, and their children will go to the computer before they will pick up a pen. So over the nexted few years I will write about stories, and family, the cute things that they did and said, and the ups and downs of their family from the eyes of Mom and Grandma (I hope someday!!) I am not the best at spelling, and I my not put paragraphs where they should always be, but I will help them understand their heritage, where they came from and hopefully a little about who they will become. It will not always be in order of years. I will probably jump around about different family members as I remember. I will let my thoughts lead me. I hope they will enjoy walking through our garden and meeting our family.

what about facebook

Its a whole new world out there being able to communicate with people you knew 20-30 years ago, or possibly met yesterday. I finally opened a facebook page last night. I couldn't help thinking as I was going to sleep last night, who might be there in the morning. Or....what if no one was there? Oh my Gosh, what if no one wants to be my friend! How would I feel? Is it worth the stress? What about the responsibility of maintaining it? What if it takes more time then I have. It could be an all day job just to comment on everybody site. What if I miss somebody, and I hurt their feelings? Maybe they are just being nice by excepting me and they really don't want to be my friend. I wonder what happened to good old e-mail.

Its all new to me

Today I have learned to blog. They say everyone has about 2500 words to say a day, some a little less and some a lot more...I think I fall into the lot more. With a ever changing life and kids getting older and going off to college and getting married, I find that I still have lots of words but not always people to say them to!
So even if no one out there reads this ( I'm still not sure how this all works ) I can get my 2500+ words out. It was a beautiful fall Sunday. Football was great and my company was even better. My life long friend, I try not to say my "oldest" friend came by to visit with her boyfriend. We had met before, but it was always busy and no time to get to know each other. We had time today and I have to say...I like him! This has always been important to Di and I, that we find partners that we all like and can be friend together. I think that is a important part of a relationship. Friends need to have friends as couples. What do you think? I think if they don't, you grow apart and find separete activities and separete friends. Dosn't have to be all, but some "lifer friends" as I call it. No matter what happens, no matter what was said, though thick and thin (as they say ) you choose to love ,not tear apart. Good Friends are few, lifers are a blessing, and if we are lucky enough in this life to have more than one, we are truly blessed and favored.