We have landed on our feet, running!

I really dislike finishing the seasonal work so close to Christmas. It seems there just aren't enough hours in the day, and even more pressing, enough days between now and when the jolly fatman comes.

Of course it does not help to have extra errands. But we will do what we can.

We have not had Christmas at our house in six years. The last time was when we learned of Reid being on the way. 2004 saw us move Christmas to February 12, 2005 and Trc hosted it at her house. That was the one we started at the bowling alley, took in a girl's city league basketball game, had the tree, went shopping, had a style show, went to Abuello's and ended it with the first (and only) Texas Hold 'em family poker tournament. 2005, we moved Christmas to June and celebrated it in Cozumel, Mexico. This was just a small gathering of us and Trc's family. 2006 we returned to Trc's home for a scaled down Christmas. Krl and I had completed the seasonal work and returned to Abilene December 18. Rian's family did not come in, and his sisters blew in just long enough to collect the loot! 2007 did not see our kids get together. Krl and I drove in Christmas Day from the compound to spend the day at Memama and Pepas. None of our kids made the drive. Ironically, by us driving in, it made ALL the kids have the shortest drives possible.

This year we are having Christmas at our home, and with the exception of Makai and her live in, everyone is welcome to come, but we aren't going to beg. Makai has been exiled until she remembers where she left her brain and hopefully it will take a charge.

I am thinking it has been two years since I have seen the oldest grand-daughter. Of course she has been busy with work and school, and she probably has passed closer than a mile from our home hundreds of times. She has her own agenda. To old and too busy to check on her Meme. Put her at the end of the list. We'll see what we have left.

The second oldest grand-daughter I have seen once in the past year. She too is becoming self absorbed. Got her driver's license and is looking for places to go. Meme's just isn't one of them. What a change from the child of a few years ago. I'll toss that one back in the hat for later.

Kathryn keeps the best tabs on her Meme of anyone. She loves to come over and stay with Meme and help out and cook. Problem is she doesn't always have transportation to get here. (But that is a problem when you are nine years old). I'm going to put her first on my list!

Addison is probably the need-iest of all the grand-children. She needs lot of things, but first of all she needs a Mother and Dad. It is difficult to know what to buy for her because you always fear her Mom will return it for store credit or cash and spend it on herself. Addie is a gorgeous little girl that needs to be taken care of and loved, not used as access to aid. She needs to build self confidence. I am so fearful that her Mom is teaching her all that is wrong. A few weeks ago Meme called Addie to talk and she was very ugly and rude. Maybe with appropriate penance we can get her something for Christmas.

The three hooligans from Lubbock do good just to talk to Meme and Dandy, but they are getting better. Any more when Reid does call Dandy's phone he wants to talk to his Meme. Holt is a REAL talker. He is one of those three year olds (almost four) that has developed some sort of hybrid language. It is very fast and Dandy can just pickup a word every once and a while. Drew is happiest when he can see his Mom and food is available.

At Lubbock yesterday they had a major crisis. At school Reid had wrapped a large box with a poem on the outside that said something like this: This is for my Mom and Dad. They love me and take care of me. Feed me and clothe me. This box is filled with My Love. You cannot see it, but you know that it is there.

It is intended to never be opened and year after year to be placed under the tree. I think it is neat and I wish I had the actual poem. Problem was Holt opened Reid's box of love! It seems that nothing deters Holt from opening at least a gift a day. Rian says you can bust his butt and the next time you aren't watching the tree, Holt will get another gift.

Needless to say, when Reid called his Dad he was heart broken. He was sobbing and could hardly breathe. "Holt opened my box of love and now I don't have any more love", he would sob.

His Dad told him that his Aunt would help him find a bigger box and wrap it. After a while he finally agreed. I suppose it was some satisfaction to see Holt in the timeout chair waiting for Mom to paddle him with the wooden spoon!

The last frontier! Ollie is twenty-six years old. Divorced. But, (thankfully) working. A former rookie of the year in Lubbock Real Estate who poofed it all away and made a lot of really poor choices. She has had a very hard time keeping a job more that two or three months (if we are lucky). Her latest hurdle has been transportation. Her car was totalled (Her step Dad tells me it was number 5, only to be followed by his truck she was driving later being number 6). Miraculously, only the last one was her fault (she hit a deer and then a pole).

Currently she has the best opportunity since her Real Estate career. (You can't believe how many careers this girl has had. In careers, she is an old woman). The problem was no wheels.
Krl and I discussed it and decided to help her out, or at least try to level the playing field where she has a hope of succeeding. We decided to try to find her a car. Nothing flashy, just dependable transportation. I had been looking at American Classifieds, and had told Rian to keep his eye out. He called me back quickly saying his boss had a Toyota Camry for sale. We made a deal and told the man we didn't need the car for two or three weeks. Actually I was trying to figure out the logistics of delivering the car. In the mean time Ollie was supposed to be lining up her insurance.

I have explained to her that at twenty-six, she should be getting her bearings. Of course I am sure it is confusing when her twenty-eight year old idiot sister has just moved back in with their mother, "live in" and daughter in tow. But, I told Ollie this is our last attempt. From here it is up to her. We are doing this as a business transaction. There is a lien holder on the car, and this lien holder is ready and willing to come and get it. All the appropriate insurance coverages are in place.

Yesterday, Rian drove from Lubbock pulling a car carrier trailer with said car loaded. I met him in Roscoe and we made the drive to Angelo. Just as we pulled into town, I told him to find a station and we would fill both vehicles up. Shortly we arrived at Ollie's workplace and unloaded the car. We gave her all the extra parts and pieces the previous owner had boxed, including all the maintenance records from way back. We did a few small things like put the new windshield registration sticker on, and Rian tightened a faring bolt before Ollie arrived and drove the car to employee parking.

Rian and I loaded up and began the trek back to Roscoe. He had made a dinner date with Memama on Wednesday and I had confirmed it for him on Thursday. You can imagine his disappointment when he called them and they had just returned from Abilene where they had eaten supper. "Come on by, I'll put a baked potato in the oven for you, I've got a doggie bag", she told him. I'm not stupid and I could tell that he has his taste buds set for chicken fried steak! He wanted me to call Krl and see if it was all right to eat before I drove home. From there it was a discussion of where to eat. Big Boys or Ma Allen's buffet. Ma won out. I ate my money's worth of potato salad, squash, and fried chicken. Rian was not a value buy from the restaurant view point. Before we were through I ordered an order of chicken to go with a pint each of squash, potato salad, and peach cobbler. If Krl was awake when I got home she was in for a surprise!

She wasn't.

It was a very enjoyable time with Rian. We discussed lots of things. Some we agreed on, others we agreed to disagree on. He is growing up. We talked about their housing situation, the lot they have bought, what he would like to have, and what is realistic. We talked of job aspirations, of not over loading the boat, how sometimes less money is better than more, if the job is right. You can certainly tell he plays a lot of political games being an administrator. It was a good day overall!

Hope your day today is a good one!

By the way if you see that fat man in the red suit, I would pay to "delay" him about a week!

FATHER thanks I needed that. Forgive me when my faith wavers. Thank YOU for showing me results and the potential for future results.