Christmas Traditions

Eighteen years ago a very important event took place in my life. I became a mother. As Emile's first Christmas approached, I was overjoyed at the prospect of spending the holidays with a baby of my own. She was only two months old... but that didn't matter. I still had a wonderful day with her. One day I was working on her baby book. One of the questions asked was about Christmas traditions celebrated when her dad and I were growing up. Neither of us could really remember any specific things done year after year. I remembered reading from the Bible on Christmas Eve and opening one gift that night, but that's about it. Right then and there I decided things would be different for my own children when it came to Christmas traditions.

At some point during the next year, I came across a very special book.I can't remember how much I paid for it... perhaps around $10.00... but this single purchase became the beginning of what would eventually lead to many special Christmas memories. By Emile's second Christmas she was a little over a year old. She was beginning to enjoy storybooks. Most of the stories in the book were a little too long, but she still enjoyed looking at the pictures.

As time moved by, Brie came into our family. What was fun with one child was doubled with her arrival. Within a few years I was doing all kinds of fun things with the girls. Besides the obvious "trimming the tree" tradition, here are some other special traditions which were started for my girls....

1. Visit with Santa Claus
2. Reading a Christmas story each night. What started out "little" ended up becoming something that even I looked forward to. Eventually I had collected enough books that I'd begin reading Thanksgiving evening and continue straight through to the middle of January.Here are just a few of our "favorites." There are many, many more to pick from.
3. The Candy ChainEach evening after we finished reading our Christmas story, the girls got to take a piece of candy off the chain. Obviously there were two chains and each one had 24 pieces of candy counting down the days to Christmas. It became too much for me to make this each year so I found something a little different.I'd tuck a little piece of candy in each pocket and the girls would move the emblem each evening after they took the candy out. It ended up working just fine.
4. The Pickle OrnamentI'd hide the pickle on the tree. Each Christmas morning the girls would search the tree to try and find it first. Whoever found it received the "pickle gift" and a year of good luck. The gift itself was something small and family oriented so everyone could enjoy it.
5. The Santa KeyI had to make sure I hung the Santa Key so that Santa would be able to get in the house since we didn't have a fireplace.
6. The Spider OrnamentWe also placed a spider on our Christmas tree. This was the result of the following legend.

~A long time ago in Germany, a mother was busily cleaning for Christmas. The spiders fled to the attic to escape the broom. When the house became quiet the spiders slowly crept downstairs for a peek. Oh what a beautiful tree! In their excitement they scurried up the trunk and out along each branch. They were filled with happiness as they climbed amongst the glittering beauty. But alas! By the time they were through climbing, the tree was completely shrouded in their dusty grey spider webs.

When Santa Claus came with the gifts for the children and saw the tree covered with spider webs, he smiled as he saw how happy the spiders were, but knew how heartbroken the mother would be if she saw the tree covered with the dusty webs. So he turned the webs to silver and gold. The tree sparkled and shimmered and was even more beautiful than before.

That's why we have tinsel on our tree and every tree should have a Christmas spider in it's branches.~
7. Christmas PJ'sThis was started by Grandma Bobby when the girls were 2 and 5 years old. When she was a little girl her parents always made sure she and her sister had them. From then on Emile and Brie had matching jammies for Christmas as well.
8. Mexican Food on Christmas EveThis tradition began when I was still married. The entire Lopez family would get together on Christmas Eve and have the most wonderful array of Mexican food you could imagine. After eating we'd do our gift exchange and relax. Eventually most of the family would head out for midnight mass. I decided this would be a wonderful way for Em and Brie to remain connected to their roots. It was another fun thing to look forward to on Christmas Eve.
9. Watch "It's a Wonderful Life"This tradition started because of Emile. I don't remember ever watching this movie until she was around 8 years old. She fell in love with it.
10.Reading from Luke 2One final but most important tradition was to read the story of Christ's birth from the Bible. This was done either last thing Christmas Eve or first thing Christmas morning. It just depended on what was going on. Either way we always made sure we remembered the true reason for the season.

And there you have it. Some of our family traditions. I hope the girls enjoyed the times spent together as much as I did. It's not the same now as they're getting older. Memories are sweet though. I also hope that some of these traditions are carried on eventually with their own families. Merry Christmas.

Ugly Politics and Smear Campaigns

Most people who know me well enough know that I'm fiercely conservative in my political views. I still believe in the Constitution and in the liberties it provides for citizens of The United States of America. I also love this great nation in which I live. I cannot imagine living anywhere else. This is my country and I love it dearly.We are about to enter an election year. In 2012 we will be electing our President for another four years. Without a doubt I hope that President Obama is defeated. Since the beginning of his term, he has done nothing to stabilize the economy, stop the influx of illegal immigrants into the country, reduce the risk of terrorism, or bring the citizens of this great nation together. If anything we've become more divided and at risk than we've ever been. I want to see a person in the White House who knows what he/she is doing, loves this great nation, and will serve the people honorably. Gee, what a novel idea.So far we've had an interesting array of candidates to emerge. It's still too early to determine which will earn the Republican nomination, however, some have interesting ideas and thoughts about how to correct the problems we're facing. One such candidate was Herman Cain.Cain was the CEO of Godfather's Pizza for many years. He was started off doing very well in his campaigning and held his own during debates. He introduced the "9-9-9 Plan." This plan would replace all current taxes (including the payroll tax, capital gains tax, and the estate tax) with 9% business transaction tax; 9% personal income tax rate, and a 9% federal sales tax. Some people called it foolish and totally out of the realm of possibility. Seems to me that at least he was thinking outside of the box. Unfortunately, it appears Cain was gaining enough support and ruffling enough feathers for a serious smear campaign to be launched against him. He was accused of infidelity and sexual harassment by some women, which he denies. It was enough to cast doubt in the minds of his supporters and his poll numbers began to fall. A few days ago Cain issued the following statement......

"The allegations have cast a cloud of doubt over me and this campaign. As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign. I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt . . . on me, on my family, not because we are not fighters, not because I am not a fighter. The pundits would like for me to shut up, drop out and go away. I am not going to be silenced, and I am not going away."So there you have it. The first candidate to be brought down by the ugly politics. I'm certain this is only the beginning of the ugliness which will continue for the next year. I fear that things are going to get worse for the citizens of the U.S. before they get better.

As a side note, I did a little research. I discovered that the following U.S. Presidents were guilty of infidelity....
1. Thomas Jefferson (Democrat and Republican)
2. Andrew Jackson (Democrat)
3. Martin Van Buren (Democrat)
4. James A. Garfield (Republican)
5. Grover Cleveland (Democrat)
6. Warren G. Harding (Republican)
7. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)
8. Dwight Eisenhower (Republican)
9. John F. Kennedy (Democrat)
10. Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat)
11. William Clinton (Democrat)
I heard so many people commenting on how they could never trust a candidate who would cheat on his wife. Imagine that! I've got to say.... I've got an issue with this as well. I don't think it's ever okay to have an affair. EVER! So while I agree with not electing a man who would not remain faithful to his wife and the vows they entered into, I find it hard to swallow that we have elected men such as this for years and years. Infidelity is nothing new in politics. We actually have some candidates who are men AND women with upstanding moral standards. Unfortunately, more than likely, they will NOT be taken serious or receive the nomination. It seems the nature of the beast to overlook people with integrity. How sad is that?

Our New Addition

The Oxford~Lopez family is pleased to announce the addition of the newest member of our family. Introducing...... LILY.Lily is a miniature schnauzer and she was born December 1st. She had two sisters and three brothers at birth, however, one of the little girls died. She's a precious little puppy and the smallest of the litter. We won't be able to bring her home until February 1st. Until then we'll visit her every couple days in order for her to bond with us.Brie picked out which puppy we'd take. It's hard to tell, but she instantly fell in love with Lily. ☺ Many thanks to my friend, Robin. We appreciate you allowing us to share in this wonderful experience. We're very excited and can't wait to have Lily in our home.

Trimming The Tree

Our family has had a tradition for as long as I can remember of putting up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. I'm not really sure when we started doing it that way, but it has been at least 10 years now. Anyway, I had invited everyone over for dinner (the usual crowd... Em, Matt, Dakota, Tibbs, and Tibbsette). I also told the missionary's to come over if they'd like so they could help decorate the tree. They arrived at around 6pm and the fun began.

It was just great having the missionary's help. They both really enjoyed it. And obviously so did Dakota. I still have a little bit to do to finish up with the decorating, but the majority is complete. Now to take care of all the rest of the things I need to do before Christmas arrives. At least I can enjoy the beauty of our home and tree.

Let the holidays begin!

Fun, Family, Friends... And Fire

A couple weeks ago I decided to have a "Stromboli Night" and invite Em, Matt (and Dakota), Tibbs, Tibbsette, and Chelsey over to join me and Brie. We had a really fun night making Stromboli from scratch. I even made the dough. I put out pizza sauce, hard salami, ham, and pepperoni. I had sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms and added them to sausage. I put out provolone, mozzarella, cheddar, and Mexi-blend cheese to use. Each person got to customize their own Stromboli to their individual liking. Dakota even helped!

When we were all finished eating we went out back and made a fire so we could roast marshmallows and make S'mores. That was a blast.It's scary but true that I let Brie light the fire. I now believe her when she says she hates camping. Watching her light a match and start the fire was painful to say the least. It's a good thing she's not depending on making fires for her survival. She'd die. Any way, she finally got the match lit and threw it onto the wood.We have fire! Brie was so proud of herself. She cracks me up.Before long everyone was outside (along with chairs from three different rooms). It was a chilly night but the fire was nice and everyone was having fun. I think Dakota had the most fun.This was his first time eating S'mores. He loved them. I loved watching his expression when he tasted it. You could tell he was hooked from the first bite."Grandma" Brenda even got to help roast a marshmallow with Dakota. He had a great time. So did everyone else.I will admit, I ate one marshmallow and had a tiny (I mean tiny) bite of a S'more. Just enough to satisfy the desire to taste it. It was just enough and I enjoyed it.When all was said and done we all agreed that it had been a pretty cool evening. Brie and Chelsey stayed out back after everyone else came inside or left to go home. I just love evenings like this.

Oh, Christmas Tree....

It was time to go out and search for the perfect Christmas tree. I took Brie and Chelsey out so they could enjoy the search with me.

I thought it would be easier to drive but Brie wanted to ride her horse. You can see who won.

Chelsey led the way up the mountains to the highest peaks!

While Brie searched high and low for the perfect tree.

There were little trees....

bigger trees....

even snow covered trees.

I almost got lost in the forest.

Fortunately the girls got a snow "mobile" and came to my rescue. I was so grateful.

After a long and exhausting day, it was time to go home. Thanks for sharing our day in the forest searching for the perfect tree.

The End

Six Months and Counting

Here I am again. My very busy life hasn't gotten any slower, however, I still wanted to post my newest pictures of my transformation. Here goes.I'm getting totally physicked about this new and improving me! It's beyond wonderful to be able to do things I haven't been able to do for the longest time. You tend to forget what you weren't able to do until you can do it again. Life is getting better and better!!

A "Tale"

Once upon a time there lived a little boy. He was smart, witty, energetic, fun-loving, and as cute as a bug. He had incredible potential and dreamed every little boy's dreams. Someday he was going to be an Air Force pilot. He was going to get married and have a family. He was going to have a son; he would name the baby Leo. He and his family would live together in a nice house with a tree house in the backyard. He was going to be a good man and accomplish great things in his life. He had all the potential in the world....

Unfortunately life was much more cruel than some could even begin to imagine. After years of abuse, mistreatment, emotional neglect, being told he'd never amount to anything, and a complete lack of support, he began to lose hope. Not completely at first... but a little bit more each day. He was fading away.... Eventually the pain he was living with became more than he could handle. He had to get away. There was nothing left. He was 15 when he gave up. Finally he could be free... even if it was only for a brief period of time. He had done his best to do the right things. There was nothing left to hold on to. He turned to something he had never tried before. He began using drugs to escape the ugly world he lived in. This life would become his new "reality." His life has been in turmoil ever since. To be more accurate, his life has been in turmoil since the day he was born. He has had more heartache than seems fair. This tale doesn't have a "And they all lived happily ever after" ending. Far from it.

This "tale" is about my little brother, Tony. Let me say this as clearly as I can. I LOVE MY BROTHER. I have always loved him. I will always love him. Some may see him and harshly judge him. To them I say step off! You haven't got a clue as to who he was. You only see who he "is" today. You are missing the man he is inside of the shell. Just as you, he is a SON of God. You are no better than he in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Perhaps, just perhaps, Tony is better than you are. He isn't judging you as you are judging him. He hasn't said anything about the people you are. He hasn't said "You had your chance." He hasn't tried to take something from you that means more to you than life itself. AND he'd never try to exclude you from maintaining a relationship with the people you adore.My brother did accomplish something great in his life. He did become a father. He did have a son. He did name him Leo. And Tony did the best he could to be a good daddy. Don't ever doubt that FACT for a moment. Tony loves Leo with all his heart. AND just as important, Leo loves his daddy. That is a bond that will NEVER be broken. Nor should it be. Right now Tony is about to lose parental "rights" to Leo. It's a very long story and very painful on many levels. Suffice it to say that I'm so thankful to not be walking in my brother's shoes. I cannot imagine the pain he is experiencing. It's got to be terrible.I had the pleasure of meeting Leo today. He is a wonderful little boy. He is 9 years old now. Leo was able to fly in for a visit with his extended family and meet all of us. It was great. The moment I saw him in person, I saw Tony when he was that age. It was bittersweet. I was taken back to when we were kids playing cowboys and indians. Leo has his father's coloring and gorgeous eyes. He's also very smart and witty. You can see that Tony did a good job parenting for the first 7 1/2 years of Leo's life (Tony dropped Leo off with a family about a year and a half ago).Leo has a tender heart and dreams just like his daddy did. Tony still dreams... of that I am sure. His dream now is for Leo to have a better life than he is able to provide for him. Don't mistake that for lack of caring or not loving Leo. That couldn't be further from the truth. Tony wants what's best for Leo.Tony, I give you my word. I will continue to do my best to make sure Leo is placed with the family that we (me, Cindy, and Teresa) feel is best suited to care for and love Leo. That family is the Douglas family... Lu and Steve. I know how much Lu loves you. She and Steve will do their very best for Leo and will never try to shut you out of his life. We will do our best to see that Leo's story does have a "happily ever after" ending.

My Very Busy Life

Calgon... take me away (and drop me in a tub with this hunk of a man). I need a brief vacation. I've decided this is completely necessary in order for me to maintain my sanity. Anyone out there agree with my theory? If you don't agree I frankly don't want to know. Keep your thoughts to yourself. I need to dream and dream big.

Ok, the dreaming is over. Back to reality. Life has been totally B-U-S-Y these past several weeks. I cannot believe it's already November. Where has the time gone? I feel like I've been swept away by a whirlwind since I started working as a PCA. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love what I'm doing. I just have no life anymore.I wake up and get ready for work. I get off work (PCA) and go to work (Home Healthcare). I get off work and go home. I get home from work and get things ready for the next morning so I can go back to work. You get the message? I work a lot. I'm averaging 67 hours a week now. That's crazy! I was having major trouble working 20-25 hours a week 6 months ago. Now I can work 67. Incredible. It's also nice being able to get caught up on expenses. In this economy every cent counts. I'm blessed to have the employment I have and I'll work as much as I can while I have to chance.

Other than that life continues to go well. Emile has moved out and is living with her boyfriend. I'm not thrilled with that, however, I must let her do what she's going to do. It's her life and she's going to have to live it however she sees fit. Brie is doing well and has adjusted to high school just fine. She's still a complete social butterfly. Imagine that.

I guess that's it for now. Sorry there's not much more to report. It is what it is though. Adios.

Happy Halloween

I had a wonderful evening tonight. I got to go out trick-or-treating with a very special little boy. We had a wonderful time... and came home with lots of treats! I forgot how much fun it is to go out with little ones. Who knows, maybe next year I'll be able to go out again....

Are You Kidding Me?

Believe it or not, I landed back in York Hospital on the cardiac floor yesterday. I went back into "active" heart failure. I was stunned. I've been feeling so well that I didn't even consider the fact that I could be in trouble at first. Fortunately I didn't ignore the signs I was seeing.

I began feeling a little tired a week ago. I've been working very long hours so I figured that was the culprit. Then this past Tuesday (three days ago) I noticed I was walking slower through the school and a little short of breath. That DID stand out as being unusual. On Wednesday I noticed that my legs were very swollen in the evening, plus I had coughed up some frothy sputum that morning. I realized I was in trouble but figured I'd give it another day and see what happened. Yesterday I had the school nurse check my legs and see what she thought. She immediately told me I needed to call my doctor. I knew that was what she was going to say. I waited until school was over and called when I was on my way to my "part-time" job. The doctor said she wanted to see me immediately. I went straight in and before I knew it I was being sent to the hospital by ambulance. She wouldn't even let me drive myself.

By the time I got to the hospital I had an IV in, had 4 baby aspirin in, and 2 doses of Nitro sprayed under my tongue. My B/P was very high (180/140 range). I was given 40 mg. of Lasix which made me pee like crazy. I finally made it to a room at 2AM this morning and was back up by 6:15 to get ready to go downstairs for some cardiac tests. I got a total of 2 hours of sleep. Fun. I was so tired by the time I was finished with everything. All I wanted to do was sleep. There's nothing restful about being in a hospital. All the tests came back ok, my labs showed one elevated level which is consistent with heart failure. I was put back on a heart med (which had been discontinued when I had surgery). My B/P should come down as the meds start working again. Yay. Now I'm just waiting to see if I can go home this evening. I hope so. I want to get into my own bed and hibernate for a few days.

As a final note, I was warned that just because I had the gastric bypass and lost weight, it would NOT "cure" the CHF. It would, however, make the condition more easily managed and less likely to occur as often or as severe. They were right. It's a good thing I have made the positive changes so far that I have. I can only imagine how much worse I would have been had I not lost over 100 pounds already. Another confirmation that I made the right decision to have the surgery.

Five Months and Counting

I'm back. Here are this months photo's of my transition.I got Mr. S., the teacher I work with to take the pics for me. He's such a sweet guy. He's young enough to be my son... and I tease him every chance I get. He was a good sport about taking the pics for me. See you next month.

Brie's First Homecoming

Homecoming finally arrived and Brie was beside herself with excitement. She had been looking forward to this since Emile went to her first homecoming dance 5 years ago. Believe me when I say that the past few weeks have been insane to say the least. Brie is a total girly girl. She wanted everything to be just perfect. We searched for dresses a couple of times and she tried on over 20 dresses from four different stores. Finally she found the dress she liked the best. Of course she also had to have matching shoes and accessories. It was an experience in and of itself. When all was said and done, here is how she looked.She's so cute. She told me she felt just like a princess.A bunch of Brie's classmates went to one home for photo's to be taken. I was amazed that not one dress was duplicated. The girls all looked lovely.Here is one of my favorite pictures. It's my softball girls (minus one player) all dressed up and ready to go. They cleaned up nicely. It's so hard to believe how grown up they're all becoming.

A large group of kids went to Fujuhana for dinner, followed by the dance at the school. Chelsey came over and spent the night afterward. I'm glad Brie had a fun evening. She is making memories that will last a lifetime. Before she knows it the whirlwind we call life will blow the years past her. These are the times she'll look back on and smile when she remembers. One down, three to go.