I am sorry to have been absent lately, but the stomach flu has had me sidelined, and now mom and my brother George have it. I was home yesterday but had to go with Rocky to the chemo lab since mom was too sick to get out of bed to go with him.

I hope that you escape the evil flu. It is a violent and terrible thing. Brady has had it for over a week, and is also battling ear infections, bronchitis, and the vomiting. We all had shots, so am not sure why they didn't include this particular virus in the bargain.

Stay well, I will try to write more tomorrow, and I hope to see you soon.....here on my country road. God bless, Becky
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My Christmas holiday began well enough. I worked Friday, leaving in the early afternoon for two reasons. The first because I wanted to start Christmas vacation early, the second due to a terrible headache. It was a portend of things to come.

Saturday morning I woke early without the headache and went to WalMart. By seven I had everything I needed to stuff stockings and a few other things for Brady. My brother George was to arrive from Shawnee, Kansas in the afternoon, so I unloaded everything and went to mom's to help with the cooking. I hadn't been hungry all day, which is odd for me. By the time we got the food done I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Thank goodness George arrived early and we were able to eat. They were going to watch TV, but I was tired, and walked home to go to bed. I did turn in by eight, but woke in the night with the stomach flu. I had hoped to have escaped it, but no. I spent the rest of the night and all of Christmas eve too sick to leave the house. I did walk down in the evening to take my stocking stuffers and the gifts. I stayed just long enough to open my gifts, and came back home to bed.

I lost track of time, sleeping most of the time, but on Christmas day I felt some better. By evening I was hungry for dinner, and although Brady stayed home with his mama due to the flu, my son Jonathan came for dinner and gifts. Santa was good to my in spite of feeling so bad.

This morning I am going in to work just to do what has to be done, then I will be coming home to visit with my brother George as he will be leaving tomorrow. I was hoping to have some Christmas pictures to share of Brady, but I will have to wait until everyone is well and go out and take some.

Hopefully your holiday was full of good health, family, and friends. I am grateful to feel better, and trust that at last I am on the road to recovery.

Until tomorrow,
Becky
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As I wrote yesterday, I have been a little tense that the gifts I had ordered to finish out my list wouldn't arrive as promised. In the past I have used the same process, but the gifts didn't get here in time for Christmas eve. The target date was Friday, but I had hoped that it would be before that.

Last night was a cold miserable rainy night. As I came home from work I was weary and ready for a hot meal and warm dry clothes. As I pulled into the drive my headlights fell on boxes stacked on the porch. It didn't take me long to bail out of the car and hurry to the porch to see if the most important one was there. Since the boxes were smaller than I had expected, I had to carry them into the house and check the item numbers.

Once I had verified everything had in fact arrived two days early my heart soared. Earlier in the day I had a conversation with a mother who was trying to preserve her youngest child's belief in Santa Clause. He had come home from school upset because someone in his kindergarten class had told him Santa wasn't real. I gave her the best advice I had. Childhood is a magical time of innocence and wonder, especially at Christmas. While we know that the holiday celebrates the birth of the Christ child, it is also a magical time for children. I can remember ''hearing'' the sleigh bells while watching the snow fall at dusk when I was little. In the whole scheme of things, belief in the wonder of Santa is a work of love and magic. Those who don't believe miss the joys of the season.

Like everything else, belief in Santa is a choice. I choose to believe in the wonder that lights a child's eyes when they first see a Santa during the holiday season. Even the most hard hearted grinch can't withstand that. While I always taught my children the real meaning of Christmas, I saw nothing wrong with letting them be a child as long as they chose to believe in Santa Clause. Reality comes soon enough.

Now you can say that it was technology that brought my gifts so early if you want, but I know that it was a bit of....Santa magic. I hope that today your life is touched with the wonder of the season as well.

Becky
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Technology is a wonderful thing. I wasn't able to get out and finish my shopping for the little stocking stuffers and last minute gifts I like to give for Christmas as I was baby sitting Brady last weekend. I resorted to online and QVC shopping to rush me the things they ''guaranteed'' to arrive Friday. Color me suspicious, but I will have to hope that Santa helps them fulfill their claims.

Yesterday was our office Christmas snack day. After working all day and eating things I am not used to, I went down to mom and Rocky's so mom could help me with a new afghan pattern she is determined to teach me. Since I normally crochet, knitting one on circular needles is a challenge I didn't need a week before Christmas. However, I am giving it a try. After leaving there, I had to come home and bake yet another cake for our crew party today. Just shoot me. Can you die from eating holiday food? While I was up late baking the cake I was wishing I had volunteered for the deli tray.

It will be today's job to get my cake, the gifts for the crew, my briefcase, my bag, and forks, plates and napkins to work without dumping something. Oh yes, and we have to work in between treats! This is the last of my holiday party obligations before this weekend when my brother George arrives for Christmas. I will be happy to eat carrot sticks and salad until then!

So, today I am on Santa watch. Let's hope that all of my gifts arrive on time so I can relax. I trust that your gifts are all where they are supposed to be and you are enjoying the last few days before Christmas.

Happy Wednesday. Let's make it a good one!
Until tomorrow,
Becky
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This weekend I had planned to finish my Christmas shopping, mail my out of state packages, and write my Christmas cards. However, as is usually the case for me my weekend and my plans got redirected. I had walked down to mom's for a cup of coffee Saturday morning, as I have been doing since Rocky began this second round of chemo. He sleeps late, and mom and I enjoy a cup of coffee and visit. She had just set a cup of coffee and a warm cinnamon roll down in front of me when my cell phone rang. It was my son, who wondered if I would babysit Brady while they went to Springfield to do their Christmas shopping. Now I ask you- I had just been telling someone the day before that I never get to keep Brady. With visions of unfinished Christmas chores dancing in my head, I readily agreed to watch him.

Rocky got up early and I enlisted his help in getting my many packages to the post office. By some miracle we found a parking place right in front of the door, and I only had to wait on one person who was finishing up when we arrived. In no time my packages were on their way and we started home. Since that was the most important thing I had to do, I was happy.

After my son dropped off the baby, we played for a while and he got sleepy. The little angel slept for two hours! During that time I was able to watch QVC, who was having a big last minute Christmas shopping weekend. Not only did I get the rest of my shopping done, including stocking stuffers, but for no extra charge it is all to arrive before Christmas. The rest of the day was spent playing with Brady, which was a joy.

Yesterday I woke early, wondering how on earth I was going to get everything done I needed to. I made a pot of coffee and was enjoying that when I saw mom walking Mandy. Setting my to do list aside, I joined them and walked down for pancakes. We visited a while before I began to feel pressured, seeing the hands on the clock continue to spin, so I went home and started the laundry and housework. I was straigtening the office, picking up two boxes to put away when I had the urge to look inside. Now I have had those two jewelry boxes sitting there on the desk for several months, and have looked inside them at least once a week since losing my necklace. As I have done a hundred times before, I opened the one on top and looked inside. There nestled on the black velvet was my lost necklace! I was so shocked it took me a minute to grasp what I was looking at. Talk about a Christmas miracle. That necklace has been lost since August, and I have written about it on several occasions. God blessed me with the finding of it in His time. Not wanting to keep the news to myself, I put on the necklace and walked down to mom's house. I met her just coming out of the house and I stood there while she told me why she was on her way to the garage. She noticed the necklace a moment later, and was rejoiced over the miracle.

The rest of the day passed with joy. I worked on the housekeeping and laundry chores, picked up clutter, wrapped gifts, and got all of my Christmas cards done and ready to mail. In the middle of the busiest season of the year, I had a whole weekend of unexpected blessings. God gave me time with Brady, helped me get all of my ''to do'' chores done, and revealed my lost necklace. As I leave for work today, my heart is joyful.

I hope the same for you today. It is kick butt Monday, and as you go about your day I hope that you feel the same joy and peace I do this morning. Thanks to all of you who prayed for the necklace to be found. Our prayers have been answered!

Until tomorrow,
Becky
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NOT MY JOB CONEST WINNER FOR 2006




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Since he is used to all of us now, we don't often see Napoleon's newly grown tail, but mom was able to snap these pictures last weekend. As you can see, he is beginning to look just like a grown up peacock. When the sun shines on his feathers, the brilliance is almost blinding. I can see why the saying "Proud as a peacock" came to be. Napoleon is quite the character, and he struts around like the royalty he is. Isn't it wonderful he chose us? We can't imagine life without Napoleon now. He has mom trained very well, and gets his little sweet treats several times a day.

Instead of a partridge in a pear tree, we have a peacock in an oak tree.

Until tomorrow,
Becky



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We were happy to have Brady, my son Jonathan and wife Aimee, and her mother Lena join us for Thanksgiving dinner. While Brady was tired, cutting jaw teeth and fighting a cold, he is always a joy. I gave him this baby Tad to keep him occupied until dinner and keep his mind off his teeth. As you can see, there is nothing wrong with his head now. The doctors pronounced the surgery and Brady's new little head perfect. According to his parents, he may be a little hard headed at times, but I think he came by that naturally!

I was out to see Brady and the family yesterday, and he was learning some hard lessons about the ornaments on the Christmas tree. It is funny to see my son disciplining his little one. Jonathan is coming to learn the truth of the phrase "Paying for your raising."

Well, this is kick butt Monday, and two weeks from today we will be gathered around the Christmas tree with our families. Two good reasons to go out and have a great day! Do something special for someone today, it makes your heart grow and gives them a blessing.

Until tomorrow,
Becky
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A couple of days ago I received an email from a man named Don who had done a search for Raleigh's Ointment and my blog site came up, as I have written about it before. He told me that his father was the Raleigh Man, one of many that sold door to door to folks who lived in rural areas. This practice was part of the fabric of country/rural life in days gone by.

I had written in previous blog entries about the blue can of Raleigh's Ointment that was always in our hall closet when I was growing up. It was great for everything, from chapped lips to a chest rub for a cold. My grandparents also kept a can of Raleigh's, and any time we were visiting and had a minor medical emergency, that can of ointment came to the rescue.

When my grandmother died, mom inherited her can of ointment. When I received the email about Raleigh's, I forwarded it to mom to see if she had any information that could help Don in his search for information about the company. She didn't, but I did find a great number of links through Google. Hopefully this will help Don in his search for information about his father's old employer.

Do any of you remember having a blue and white can of Raleigh's Ointment in your homes growing up, and if so what was it used for? I think it will cure a host of ailments according to the few articles I read about it. Just a little piece of nostalgia from times gone by.

Until next time,
Becky
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They say a picture says a thousand words. These pictures tell the story of the ice storm that hit my country road last Thursday night. I listened to the creaking and breaking of the limbs in the mighty white pines my grandpa planted for my grandmother when they moved here in the early 1960's. Each ice storm takes a little more away, but they still stand. The big white birch also lost several big branches this time. Thankfully my house wasn't hurt.






Mother Nature is a powerful force. Have a wonderful day, and I hope you count your blessings each day and find you are as blessed as I am. Happy Tuesday everyone.

Until next time,
Becky
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We have been very worried about Napoleon, as we hadn't seen him since the big ice storm. He finally came strolling up to mom's porch, where she feeds him his bread and treats Friday afternoon. I took these pictures for you when I went down to her house for coffee Saturday morning. We were very glad to see him.


Napoleon never passes up an opportunity to admire himself! Even his shadow is handsome.

I should send this one into a magazine. He likes to drink out of the heated birdbath.

Enjoying mom's cinnamon rolls on the front porch.

Still high up in the big oak tree he likes to roost in. It was still very early yet.

Ah, my breakfast awaits...

Napoleon loves to sit and preen while he sits in the tree. This one is huge, and this is as close as my camera would zoom in. His colors are brilliant now, and his tail feathers are really getting long again after his summer molting.

Tomorrow I will show you some of the ice damage in my yard. This is kick butt Monday, so get out there and make a splash! See you in the morning......here on my country road.

Becky

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