Christmas Tears

It is the last day of November.

Most of us have started or even finished our Christmas shopping and are wrapping gifts for under that tree we decorated the day after Thanksgiving.

And some of us are thinking we should probably seriously begin to think about getting those rotting pumpkins off the front porch.

Me? Of course my tree is up! My baking is beginning and I am busily watching Hallmark movies on the new Roku tv I gifted to myself on Thanksgiving day. No Disneyland for me this year, but I am happily ensconced into my little home and enjoying the days off that would normally be spent at Disney. I am beyond happy!

Which brings me to the reason for writing today. In the middle of the day while my sweet potatoes are baking. (More about that Christmas Cookie Recipe in another blog!)

MOVIES. Specifically Hallmark movies! I have not made it a secret that I am no fan of normal cable television or even less of a fan of the Hollywood crowd. Quite honestly I don't want that garbage in my home or more importantly in my mind! So I made a decision years ago to let go of that after a short and thought provoking Bible study on Psalm 101. David of the Bible, although a total screw up at times, was, after all, a man after Gods own heart! I cannot think that I would not want to be like him in that respect!

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate of them that turn aside: it shall not cleave to me."

Psalm 101:3 

So I got rid of the cable connections, don't have an antennae, but I DO have internet. I was excited when one of those companies started advertising they were going to do an 'a la carte' package where you could pick and choose what you wanted and pay for only what you wanted. Pack of lies, of course. It was not that at all. You will get to choose extra programs for those already in your pre-chosen PACKAGE. And that package deal came with things I don't want in my home. Gotta tell you! I LOVE my smart television for a-la-carte is exactly what I have and did I mention that I LOVE IT?!?!

I have HGTV, Hallmark, His Channel, One Place and of course QVC. I mean really. Where else am I going to be buying old lady clothes that I will probably never have the place to wear them to?

But as it is coming Christmas, I have been enjoying the movies and going through Kleenex like I have stock in their company! I ran across 2 that I think you should know about, ones you may want to watch with your family or even alone. I promise you, they will touch your heart and pull those strings....help you to remember the most important thing about this season of love and giving.

The Santa Suit. Don't miss it and not just because Kevin Sorbo is in it. Don't miss it because we all need to believe in the magic of love and how love can change your heart!

A Dog Named Christmas. The. BEST. Movie. EVER! Comes from Hallmarks Hall of Fame, it is worth the time to watch so cuddle up with a cozy blanket, popcorn and of course, your best friend!

Merry Christmas, my friend!

Revelations in the mysteries of family life.....

I guess I can rightly say that this particular post was inevitable. A long time in coming, but without a doubt, inevitable.

Life does that sometimes. Hits you upside the head with a freakin' 2x4.

Many, many moons ago, my Daddy introduced me to a new author, or at least an author I had not known about. It was the summer of my 10th year of life and I, like most 10 year olds, was underfoot, in the way and about as useful at tits on a boar hog, as my Grandma would say. As summer waned, it got worse. But my Daddy, God rest his soul, saved me from boredom and unlocked for me a marvelous journey and adventure that long summer. One I shall never forget and will be forever grateful for.

Our family has always been made up of voracious readers. I can remember a time when each member of the family has failed to hear a beckoning from someone else due to the fact their nose was buried in some book or another. We all varied in our tastes of literary genius, but we ALL had a taste for the written word. One of my pride and joys is the fact that I, in turn, fostered that same love into the lives and hearts of my two children.

But that summer, a new series of book was published in a book club edition wherein if you signed up, you got a set number of books each month for a set dollar amount. I don't recall the name of the book club, but they were published by Walter J. Black INC in Roslyn, New York. The author, yet unbeknownst to me, was a man by the name of Zane Grey. My love affair began.

I am not sure why Daddy thought these books, by this author would appeal to me. My age alone would suggest that I was too young to appreciate them fully, if at all! Perhaps he was just tired of hearing my endless questions as I followed him around his work and he simply sought a way to shut me the heck up. Looking back, it is difficult to fathom that I was only 10 years of age, because upon introduction to this author, I began devouring book after book after book! Daddy eventually had the entire library collection and today, depending upon the title and the condition, you can find these books everywhere on Ebay, Amazon and any other vintage book nook. I have yet to achieve the entire collection myself, but believe me, it is my intent, as I never finished reading them all. There were SO many! I asked Daddy what his favorite title in the collection was and he said it was a toss up between two. #1; Call of the Canyon and #2; Under the Tonto Rim. Under the Tonto Rim was one of the last books Daddy got before I moved out of the homestead and struck out on my own, so I never read that one while Daddy was still on this earth.

I finished that book tonight.

I learned a lot about my Daddy during the reading of this book, but I hardly had identified this throughout the book until I came to the last chapter. I know now why Daddy loved it best. My Daddy was ever the romantic. I see that now where I did not see it before I read this title, but he was! He was a big, lovable, goofy, backwoodsman, romantic marshmellow! My Dad, the lumberjack! My Dad, the fearless soldier of D-Day! My Dad, the ultimate homestead provider! My Daddy, the one who bought Mom tires for her Toyota for their 32nd wedding anniversary!

Yeah that totally doesn't fit the mold of a romantic and believe me, God broke that mold eventually and the world lost a generation of the best men ever created. But in the reading of this book, it all became clear. Good and true and fine.....noble and generous with a back bone of steel and a simple way of looking at life. He was there. My Daddy, the man who raised 4 of his own blood children, and a daughter of his wife and that daughters child. I met my Dad in this book in a way I never dreamed I would, never had a clue I would. And I fell in love with him all over again.

Family is a messy thing. A wonderful, convoluted, frightful, messy thing. But now, Daddy, I understand and I want you to know. It is okay and I am fine and I will make it, many thanks to you and all you taught me. I will do my best to hold onto the lessons and the picture of you and the memories......oh the memories! And you know what Daddy? Those tires for your 32nd wedding anniversary? They were just PERFECT!

I miss you.

Every good gift is from God above

My favorite season is the fall of the year. I am not sure why, but I just love this season. It is almost as though you can feel the expectancy in the air. I simply cherish these days before the cold and bareness of winter sets in.

I have found in my lifetime that fall is not just a season of changing colors of leaves, it is a season in which the biggest changes in my life happen. 2018 has proven this again.

The homestead of which I had such hopes is now gone and a new dream has taken its place. The woman whom I was doing the sweat equity deal with changed her mind and I would have to be out by the first of the year. A new home for my ever growing family needed to be found.

My front porch on the cabin

I HATE moving.

Especially when your little farm has grown to be what mine is now. Moving is difficult in the extreme, takes a LOT of time and is always a pain the bazootie to complete. But it is almost over now. 4 more horse pens to take down, one more horse shade to dismantle, lumber to move and the garden tires to relocate to the new place.

Life is full of surprises and never turns out the way that you think it will. But I can see the fingerprints of God all over this move. I have gone from a rustic one room cabin that has no running water, to a cute 2 bedroom home, with a huge mud room for the pups, that has more usable land in 2 acres then the other had in 10. My days of dreaming of a GINORMOUS canning garden have now become a reality.Well at least when spring happens again!

When I made the deal on the cabin, there was this little home down the mountain below me that had these HUGE porches and I just drooled when I saw them. I actually thought, "Now why wasn't that home available BEFORE I made this deal?! I would have bought that!!!" And so through the 2 and 1/2 years I lived in the cabin, I watched as renter after renter when through that home and slowly but surely wore that little home down. They even removed the porches! (You could see the place from my front porch and I drove by it every day on my way to work!) By the time I finally confronted and figured out that this woman I had made the deal with on the cabin, was not serious and had no intention of actually selling the place, there was again, another renter in the place. And then, as if ordained, it happened.....the last renter left and the place sat empty.

The little home I coveted...

One Sunday soon after, as I was late and preparing for church, I was in a VERY foul mood. I wanted to go to church, but I didn't want to go. Especially since I did not have enough water to bathe before I went. I argued with myself, argued with God. I was angry and pissed and to my shame, I might add, I flowered the air with choice words that would make a sailor blush. So giving up the trip to church, I went to fill the tank on the back of the truck so that I would be able to water horses, cats, dogs, chickens, myself and take a bath. I was NOT a happy girl, but lo and behold, on my way home, I was passing the little home and the gates were open. The owner was there fixing the place!

It took all of 3 seconds for the thought to enter my head! I stopped. Immediately. I probably scared the man and his wife out of 7 years of living since I hadn't yet showered, but I approached them, we talked and we made a deal. As I had been packing boxes since January, I was ready and the move begin immediately.

That was one and a half months ago. I, and my entire family is now at the new home, but there is still much work to do.  Due to the stream of steady renters that preceded me, I find myself fixing and patching and painting and leveling and spackling and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, for there is no way it will pass an appraisal at this time! 

This place is indeed a mess, but I can see in my mind what it will be when I am done, and it has it's own well! Not a shared well, IT'S VERY OWN WELL!!! And so with the help of the original owner and his wife, who are just sweethearts,  I have leveled floors, pulled out flooring and replaced the sub-floor, added outdoor light posts, replaced insulation and all this in between working a full time job and moving 8 horses, 5 dogs, 5 cats, 18 chickens, a duck and one very precious ringneck dove and an entire household of STUFF.

This is as close to heaven on earth as it gets. I can turn on a faucet and get cold OR hot running water. I can shower ANYTIME I feel like it. I can wash clothes without hauling water, wash dishes (by hand as the dishwasher still needs to be hooked up), without heating the water on the stove first. My horses have large pens where the arena will be, as I work on the barn. My dogs have run of the out of doors as the entire place is fenced properly and when tiring of the outside, they can come into their very own bedroom, (the mud room on the rear of the house). My kitty gang hangs in the master bedroom that has been cleaned top to bottom, painted and spiffed up and sleep on a down comforter that covers the end of the bed. They even have their own air conditioner as I work on getting the duct work up that the last renter tore out. Although we won't be using that air conditioning for the rest of the year, we will definitely be needing it for the heating, which is gas, efficient and clean! I am actually planning on putting in a gas burning fireplace so no more chopping wood for this girl! I will get to use a remote and have white girl fire whenever I want it! AND it has my little goat barn already built, you know, the one I did the blog about years ago? IT IS ALREADY HERE! One side for the chickens and one side for the goats!

Goat and chicken barn!!!

Inside the south side of the barn that will become the chicken house and yard is the most lovely, lovely, lovely antique wrought iron fencing, complete with 3D acorns and oak leaves, lovely Victorian gas lamps and all. ( A total 'nother blog!) I cannot wait to put this up and complete that rose garden I have been dreaming of ever since I left the Whelan house in Bisbee all those years ago!

The antique wrought iron fencing. Just waiting its turn to be set up!

There is even a place for that orchard I wanted to put in and what with the well and all.....no problemo!

LOTS of work? You betcha! But with the sweat equity involved, I am getting quite the deal which means that I should, if I do this right, have this place paid off in SEVEN years! Even if it means that I must postpone my Disneyland trip for this year, I am perfectly content in doing so. Disneyland will be there next year unless California drops into the ocean, right?!?! And blessings like this don't happen every day.

They say God works in mysterious ways. Does not take a genius to figure out that if  things had been just a little bit different with the water and all,  I would have never been there to see the owner and make this deal. Sooooo..........?

Thank You, Father. 

Enchanted....TOTALLY enchanted!

So in the ensuing excitement of the upcoming Disneyland trip, I decided to watch a movie that I had purposely missed when it came out into the theaters.

The 2015 Cinderella.

Now I missed this on purpose for some good reasons.
#1:   Believe it or not, I never really liked the original movie in the first place.
#2:   I don't like supporting Hollywood.
#3.   How MANY remakes of this story can Hollywood make?
#4:   I DON'T like supporting Hollywood.
#5:   No way would I ever end up with a man who failed to recognize me in my boots and jeans after having met me in my little black dress!
#6:.  I DON'T LIKE SUPPORTING HOLLYWOOD!!!

If you have not yet seen it, you should! Below is my favorite parts of the movie....the ballroom scene and the first part of the escape scene.

The Ballroom! WOW! That DRESS!!! (And the Prince is not bad either!)

 How could the King NOT fall in love with her???  And WOW! That DRESS!!!

Never overlook the joy of annual.....

I heard grown ups talk when I was a child about the days going by faster as you get older. I never believed them. Most of the time I just did not understand what they were discussing, but back in my day children were to be seen and not heard. Now? I TOTALLY understand what they were discussing! I didn't think getting old would go this fast!!!

This has been another tough year. (Like any year is not tough???) But this year has brought a lot of health issues and some battles against the Dragon of Depression. That Dragon has plagued me throughout the seasons, and although there have been victories, they have been scored through some major battles. I am about to cure myself of my depression.

The time has come to look forward to my annual trip to...DISNEYLAND!!! I am having a difficult time in the waiting aspect of this venture!!!

This year, I will do something I have never done before. I will go by myself. And while being alone has never before bothered me, I am curious as to how this will play out. For one thing, I am staying in a better motel then ever before. Usually, when I go with friends, I end up paying for everything, but this time, as I am by myself, I can afford to treat myself and so I am.

I am staying here. At the Anaheim Marriott Hotel.

The entrance is pretty dang spectacular.....

Here are some inside shots.....

Lobby

Front desk

Hallway to my room.....

 And my room looks like THIS.....

With my balcony.....

And my view....hopefully!

The hotel also has a Starbucks restaurant and marketplace...

Along with its signature restaurant and bar.....

And of course, the workout room for all of us who are SO inclined. (NOT me!)

And last but not least, the pool area.....which I will not be going in. Ever.

The last time I was in a bathing suit was back in 2002. My legs are blindingly white and I am afraid someone would call San Diego Sea World as one of their whales has shown up in the hotel pool.....

Now the big question. Can I actually afford to do this??? Well. No and yes. How you may ask??? By this little secret!

Get Away Today 

getawaytoday.com

I have been using this site for years to make my annual Disneyland trip magically go from a wish and a dream to a bonafide reality! And it is so much easier because they offer a layaway plan! If it were not for that layaway plan, believe me, I would not be able to do this.

So choose your desired time to go, type it in and get your deal! When you go to checkout, choose the "Set up layaway plan"  and pay a down payment of $125.00. A $50 set up fee will be added to the final cost, but BAM! There it is. The best thing is you do not have to make a monthly payment. You can pay whenever you want or can! The only stipulation is that the trip must be paid for 2 weeks in advance to your arrival. But if you are like me and plan your trip the day after you have left Disneyland from your previous trip, it gives you ELEVEN and 1/2 months, count 'em, 11 and 1/2  MONTHS to pay for your trip!

So what is included? Your hotel and your tickets to Disneyland! AND any other tickets you may want to purchase, such as, Sea World, Lego Land, Medieval Times, Universal Studios.....you name it, claim it and pay for it on a LAYAWAY PLAN!!!

Totally DOable! So I am totally DOING it!

My fav time of year at Disneyland has always been and will always be Christmas time. The decorations are simply mind boggling and spectacular! Many of the rides are fitted with a Christmas overlay, such as the Jungle Cruise becomes the Jingle Cruise. You have not lived until you see a HUGE elephant wearing a Santa Claus hat! The Haunted Mansion takes its cue from the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and Jack Skellington, along with the entire cast can be found in the most popular ride!

I will be heading out for my Disneyland trip, certainly not soon enough for me! In the meantime, I will be using my blog here, to plan and dream and schedule each and every aspect of my adventure.

I hope you will come along with me!

In His love,
cate

On my Bucket List....

I have always had a fascination with the historical event of the Titanic.

Such a marvelous monstrosity of man's hubris! And such a sad outcome.

I loved all the movies I have ever seen on this tragedy. Try this link, you will be surpirsed!
Movies about the Titanic disaster

I cannot even imagine the horror of that night, but I think the Kate Winslet/Leonardo DiCaprio film allowed us a pretty realistic glimpse. When viewing all those people stranded in the water, it REALLY hit me. Up until then, it was just another story from a history book.

So THIS is my newest addition to my Bucket List.....

I can't wait to go!

Oh yeah. I'd totally do it.

Home today. 2nd day with my poor little body full of hives from who knows WHAT allergy. A trip to the Urgent Care because of breathing issues, steroid cocktail shot and still I look like some alien with bumpy skin. Not to mention the calamine lotion that makes me look pasty.

Yowza. I. Look. Great.

Guilty pleasures while itching myself to an early death.....

Chocolate.

Dr. Pepper.

Fabio.

Wait. What???

Yep. Young or old. I'll take him in any one of these fantasies!