New Years Eve

Wishing everyone a very Happy and Wonderful New Year!

Stay safe tonight. Enjoy the celebration of bringing in the new year. May it bring us all joy and growth...although not in the pant sizes. I could go for some shrinkage in the pant sizes.

Hoping

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was white and wonderful. My hubby has until the New Year off of work so things are really relaxed around here. I've pictures and other things to post but not time right now. I haven't even had time to read everyone's blogs. :( hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon.

Someone is Missing at Chrismas

Today marks two months since dad died. I heard this song on the radio and broke down and cried. I miss him. He's here with me but I miss him. There is a big hole in our family right now.

My little family has a tradition of a special Christmas Eve Dinner where we have the grandparents come over and have a nice sit down dinner and little Christmas program. It's very relaxed and time for our kids and us to just enjoy the company of parents and grandparents.

Dad won't be here tonight. And that makes me sad.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I'm thinking that I'll be taking a break from bloggerdom for the next while until after Christmas. There is much to do.

I want to wish all of my blogger buddies a very Merry Christmas. May you have joy and warmth in your hearts and homes. And may the true meaning of Christmas ring out in your life throughout this season and carry you through the coming year.

Merry Christmas
(His name shall be called Wonderful by Simon Dewey)

An Early Christmas Present

This post is an early Christmas present for my niece Bradie , since she's the one who asked about this in the first place. Merry Christmas Bradie! Love you and miss you.

When I was little my mom was a stay at home mom. As my younger brother and I hit our Jr. High and High School years mom decided to go to work. She went to work at a school for handicapped children as a teachers aide.

My mom is an amazing lady. She has one of the biggest and softest hearts you will ever meet. This was the perfect place for her. She loved those kids. Each of them crawled into her heart and made a special place there. The children she worked with had Autism or similar challenges.

There was one little girl who had Rett Syndrome. I remember mom would talk of this little girl often. Mom made up a special song for her. She loved the movie The Little Mermaid and she was always looking down at the ground. Mom made this song to get her to look up and hold her head up. She also sang it to her grandchildren and they remember it.

I got mom to sing it to my daughter the other day and recorded it on my camera. Mom says she doesn't know where the tune comes from but she came up with the words.

Enjoy.



I love my mom. She has amazing Faith. If I can have just a little bit of the faith she has I think I'll do o.k.

(Oh and if you know my mom and see this. Don't tell her. She'd die if she knew I posted this on the internet. But it's too good not to share.)

Chrismas Party '08

This past week we celebrated Christmas with my family. We have to reserve the church because there are so many of us but we love it. Unfortunately Jona's Christmas concert for percussion was on this same night. So Ty, Jona and I were only able to stay long enough to get something to eat. Then we had to run. But I left my camera there and they took pictures for me.

Most everyone was able to come, even though it had snowed most of the morning. I think that the only ones that weren't there were my brother Boyd (who was working in Nevada), his kids who are in Alaska and my niece Bradie and her hubby James who are in the Southern U.S. We missed them all.

Here's mom and I before I had to leave.

After we left mom sat down to read the smaller kids a very special story.
Can you see what it is? Can you? I'm sure you can't but can you guess what it was? Come on...guess!

It was....
Davey and the First Christmas!!!

I didn't realize that mom still had her old well worn and loved copy of this book. The pop ups don't work but all the pages were there so she took it to the near by copy center and had color copies made of each page. Then she put each page in a page protector and put the book together in a white three ringed binder for each of her kids. How cool is that?

Sidenote: Another VERY cool twist on this whole Davey and the First Christmas is that one of my dear online friends found a copy for me at another place online. When I went to look at it I wasn't really thinking that I could get it because it was a little over my budget and I didn't think that it would be able to be shipped and get here for Christmas. Guess what? Go ahead guess....

The place that is selling it is just a few towns over from where we live!!! I was so excited that I asked Ty if we could make it work with the budget to get this for her. He said yes. I made a call but unfortunately the store isn't open on Saturday's so I left a message for them seeing if I can just come in and buy it from them instead of ordering it online. I may be able to get mom this book after all! YAY!!! (Thanks so much Festi!!)

On with the party. After mom read her story a very special visitor came to hand out gifts for the kids. Santa himself made an apperance. Here is George telling Santa what he wants. Santa brought both he and McKenna Tech Deck Dudes with skateboards. They've been playing with them all day yesterday and today.This is actually the second chance our kids have had to visit with Santa. The first was at our ward Christmas Party a week ago. I didn't get a shot of George's first visit with the big guy but I did get Jilli and McKenna.

Here's Jilli telling Santa she wants a robot.
And here is McKenna visiting with the Jolly Old Elf. The second one is her reaction to me telling Santa "Don't let her fool you. She hasn't been good all year."

The elves that were there helping Santa on that day were cracking me up. They didn't crack a smile and looked like that was the last thing that they wanted to be doing. Maybe they were just over worked, tis the season for those poor elves to work hard and all. Or maybe it was just too early on a Saturday morning. Who knows? But they were funny.

Needs and Wants

I've seen this a couple of times around bloggerdom and thought it was interesting. Go Google your name and needs/wants after it. Here's my list.

Shanna needs....to get over herself (that is true some days)

Shanna needs... to proof read (yeah that's always a good idea)

Shanna needs... to go home to her kids (I'm pretty much here with them 24/7)

Shanna needs... to keep her cool (amen)

Shanna needs... to keep up the color and keep the makeup simple (Bahaha!)

And now Wants

Shanna Wants... Ice Cream (um, not so much. I'm not a big ice cream fan)

Shanna wants... a good relationship (who doesn't?)

Shanna wants... wants her children to understand and appreciate diversity (which is hard to accomplish in Utah)

Shanna wants... and iphone (actually I want the new Blackberry Storm)

Shanna wants... more kids (not necessarily)

Davey and the First Christmas

This is what I tried to get my mom for Christmas this year. It is a pop-up book from the 50's that I remember loving as a child. Ours didn't pop up so well any more but I loved the story and I know mom loved that book more than I did. Unfortunately that book was loved to it's death.

So this year I tried to get it for my mom as her Christmas present. It's out of print so I went to ebay. There were four of them up for sale. The highest I could go was between $55 and $60. The first two books I lost out on because I couldn't bid. Then I had my friend bid on the third one for me. Unfortunately she lost. Those first three went for the amount of money in my price range. The third one? It finished at $99 and the fourth one is sitting at $76 with seven hours to go. *sigh*

I actually looked around to see if I could find it elsewhere. I did. For anywhere between $170 and $250! So there goes that out the window.

However. The book was written in poetry form and I found the words out there on the web. So I may print that out for her and give that until I can get one for her, hopefully, next year. And if any of you out there are aware of some one who has this book and wants to sell it would you please let me know?

It's a really cute story so I thought I would share it here as well. Enjoy!

DAVEY AND THE FIRST CHRISTMASby Beth Vardon

Let's pretend there was a boy, and Davey was his name,
Whose family lived in Bethlehem when Christmas time first came.
Davey had a special pet--a donkey small and gray,
And what the two of them did best was getting in the way!

Davey named the donkey Tim. He never rode him though.
Either Tim was built too high or Davey was too low!
Davey's father had an inn where people came to stay;
And lots and lots and lots of them were coming there one day.

His father was as busy as six or seven bees!
So Davey said, "I want to help, can't I do something, please?
Tim would like to help you, too.
Find a job for us to do!"

"Listen, son," his father said; "Last week you broke three jugs.
You scared my two best customers with your pet lightening bugs!
You tracked in mud on my clean floor; you tripped and dropped the bread.
And though I loved the fish you caught--why leave them on my bed?

I've put up with your helpfulness as long as I am able.
So do me one big favor now, get out--and clean the stable!"

Davey sadly went and stood beside the stable door
It hardly seemed that anyone could clean that dirty floor.
He and Tim both felt so bad they started in to cry--
But then (thought Davey), "Yes, we can! Well, anyhow--let's try.

First, let's chase those chickens out. That's what we've got to do."
So, Tim began to flap his ears while Davey shouted, "Shooooo!"
The chickens clucked and flew and ducked, they fluttered wild and scary,
Until their feather filled the air, like snow in January

Yes, Davey chased those chickens out, He and Tim together.
But now he had to get a sack and pick up every feather!

You should have seen how hard they worked! They stacked up all the wheat,

They straightened up the harnesses until they were nice and neat.
They fought with spiders bravely till they chased out every bug.
And since we must admit the truth--they broke another jug!

The very biggest job of all was stacking up the hay.
Davey climbed up to the loft and put it all away.
Look, Tim, You see how high it is? I'll make just one more trip."
Then clear up by the stable roof his feet began to slip!

Down came the hay and Davey, too. The stable looked so queer˜
All you could see was piles of hay--one sandal, and one ear!
Slowly they came out on top, and Davey didn't whine,
Though hay stuck out all over him just like a porcupine!

He put the hay all back again and stacked it up with care--
But left one armload down below to fill the manger there.

So Davey's work was done at last, and when it all looked neat
He picked some flowers to trim the barn, and some for Tim to eat.
"I hope it's clean enough," he thought. "At least I did my best."
And feeling very, very tired, he curled up for a rest.

Who woke up Davey from his sleep? Just guess them if you can.
Mary was the woman's name; Joseph was the man,

Mary said, "Oh Joseph, look! This is a lovely place!"
Then, seeing Davey there, she said, with shining face,
Your father's inn had no more rooms; tonight we're staying here.
So tell me now, are you the boy who cleaned the stable, dear?
And did your donkey help you work? We want to thank him, too."
Though Davey was still half-asleep, his heart was glad clear through.

So, that is how a little boy two thousand years ago,
Stayed on to hear the angels sing, and see the Star aglow.

As soon as Baby Jesus came to use the manger bed;
Then Davey's sack of feathers made a pillow for his head.
No one told Davey anymore that he was in the way.
His work had helped get ready for the world's first Christmas Day!

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

A joke. Courtesy of my wonderful 14 year old son who loves jokes and all things that make him laugh.

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?I don't know why?


To read the Chinese Newspaper.



Get it?



Neither do I. I get Newsweek.



*rim shot*

Blondie

Yesterday I went to my good friend Heather to have her help me with some highlights. I had bought one of these
I just wanted some lighter highlights. Heather did a wonderful job. We just didn't realize how MUCH lighter the hair was going to go.

This picture was taken in October. It's the closest "before" picture that I have.And these are the after pictures. I'm not quite sure of the color.

But I can deal with it.
Why can't I go through life with a soft light filter around me? It makes my skin look awesome!
These were taken later on in the evening after Ty and I got home from his company party.

So there you have it. I am now blond. Very, very blond. Heather told me that she could put in some low lights for me so it's not as blond. I do believe that is the plan.

Oh No She Di'int!

Things I absolutely did not do last week.

• I did not have my son go and get me a plate of only bacon at the ward Breakfast with Santa.
  

• I did not get sucked into watching (dude I can't even think of the name of the movie!) Oh yeah. John Tucker Must Die. That show is lame.

• I also did not watch a recap of the Rock of Love Charm School and totally get grossed out by the lugey that Brandie C. hocked at Destiny. (At least that's who I think it was that was in that altercation.)

• Oh and I did not laugh long and hard at the fact that someone. somewhere named their child Drewcilla. Seriously, who would do that to their girl? Someone who identifies with the ugly stepsisters and wicked stepmother?
  

• I did not contemplate making this list totally up out of my head because I can't remember the last week very well.

So there you have it. Short and sha-weet. What didn't you do this week?

Chocolate Diamonds?

If you have been listening to the radio this last while in my area you would be hard pressed to miss the radio ads touting Chocolate Diamonds.

In my mind I thought "Wow. Those diamond execs are pretty smart. They know that brown is all the rage right now and what do you know? They are sitting on all these brown diamonds! AND they know how women LOVE chocolate. We can unload these ugly brown diamonds on these women by telling them it's a "modern twist" on the classic diamond."


Then I went and image googled these so called "Chocolate Diamonds". I think I'm in love.

Finally a chocolate I might be able to indulge in without it going to my hips. It would just put a little extra weight on around my finger. And I'm sure I wouldn't mind that. Not at all. Actually I'm not much of a jewelry person but I do think that these rings are beautiful.




















The cynical side of me still does think that the jewelers of the world are really just trying to put a good spin on something that wouldn't have sold if not for the rage in brown and how women love chocolate. What do you think?

Listing

My original title for this post was "She's making a list. Checking it twice." But in my readings I see that Tanya had already corned the market on that one, sort of. So I changed it.

Ty and out went out shopping last night. We got a lot done too. But I still need to sit down and make a list of what's left to get. And then get out there and get it.

I'm so grateful to Ty for going out with me last night. I was not looking forward to go out by myself. It was all so overwhelming. When I asked him I don't think he wanted to very badly but then he said of course he would go. It was nice to spend some time with him. We haven't been doing too much of that lately.

So this morning I'll be listing. Listing and checking and then double checking. Because this morning I had a dream that I had forgotten some presents and I went out quickly to get them. Ended up at a carnival looking through the booths there for a gift and I lost a little girl who wasn't even mine. Not good. This shopping needs to get done now.

Giving birth at 70

Google it. It happened. Twice. One of the 70 year olds who gave birth, gave birth to twins. Yes, twins! And in 2006 there was a 67 year old who also gave birth to twins. According to the story on msnbc.com.

I heard a blip about this story yesterday and was amazed. So this morning I typed the words "70 year old gives birth" into that trusty little Google search bar and found out more.

It is her first child. She's been trying for over 50 years to become pregnant. She and her husband conceived the child through IVF.

I cannot even imagine. You go mama.

When what to my horrified eyes should appear?

But acid washed jeans, fashion from yesteryear!

In my travels around the web there are many side bar adds that pop up, as I am sure it is with you. The other day though, there on the side of some page I was surfing was a long leggy model wearing, yes, acid washed jeans....and they were pegged.

Not "skinny". Pegged. Lets just tell it like it is people. I guess Acid Washed Jeans are back. WHAT! Say it isn't so. Please.

And since I live in Utah...notice the date on that article? That was clear back in February. HA! I'm behind the times, people. Behind the times. Plus I don't go shopping very much, especially not to malls so I really have no idea what's out there.

Listen. I am a child of the 80's. I was there. I lived it. And lets face it, the fashion was bad.

The pegged jeans and not just the ones that were sewn...the ones
that were rolled. Did you know that Katie Holmes has been wearing her pants like this? Did you? Katie! STOP. People follow your fashion. They think you have some type of fashion sense but peg rolling jeans makes no sense. It looks good on, well, pretty much no one.

The same goes for the "skinny" jean. Seriously. How many people do you know that look good in a skinny jean?




And how about those layered Izod's with the collars popped up? Ha! I totally remember this. The most I layered and popped though? Two shirts max.






Now on to the leg warmers. Leg warmers? I didn't get those in the 80's and I saw some on sale at WalMart just the other day. And again. Who looks good in these? Who has the legs to pull of that extra bulkiness at the ankle? Not me.




And in my surfing for pictures to punctuate my rant. I have found that again. I am behind the times. I guess stirrup pants have been making a comeback as well. ACK!

Please can't we leave the fashion from the 80's in the past? Buried. Where it well and truly belongs? I'm beggin' ya.

Awwward (ie Awww thanks for the Awwwward)

Thanks so much to Jillene for giving me this sweet award. I do so appreciate it! I love reading her famous blog. And now I get to pass the love on.
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

The bloggers I choose to give this award to are....drumroll.....and the envelope please....

1. Spasm at Taylor Tidbits (I want to be as organized as she is. You should check out her other blog as well Got Org?)
2. Julie at Julies Thoughts (I've actually met this wonderful lady and adore her)
3. Erin at If You Give a Mom a Moment (I adore the title of her blog)
4. Brooke at Life in the Sagebrush (anyone who lives in the sagebrush and is as nice as she is deserves an award)
5. Festi at Neurotic Chic (this is a private blog but I love her and her blog and it's title. And I can give this award out to whoever I want ;) )
6. RamSam at Better Than We Deserve (she's in Japan right now how cool is that?)
7. My niece at The Fowlers Live Here (she'll probably be embarassed that I'm doing this but she cracks me up and I miss her)
8. And last but certainly not least is Mark at Blogito Ergo Sum (He doesn't blog much but when he does it's SO worth it. I look forward to seeing his blog pop up to the top of my blog roll)

There you have it folks! Thanks again to Jillene for the wonderful award!

Time Flies? And a dream

When I heard Ty getting up today I thought "Oh he must be teaching yoga today." I had skipped the whole week. I thought it was Saturday. Yes, yesterday was a long day.

A couple of nights ago I had a dream. I have been known to have some pretty strange dreams. I used to dream far more often than I do now. This dream was pretty mild on the weirdness scale.

My dream started out at the zoo. I was in a building looking at the bear. While I was there the bear started to make attempts to break out of his cage. As the bear got closer and closer to breaking free I realized that my house was attached to this bears enclosure and that my kids were there asleep in the house and I had to get them out. I rushed around as fast as one can in a dream when one is trying to move fast to get them out. We got out the door and locked it just as the bear broke free of it's enclosure but I knew that the wooden door to the house wouldn't hold it for very long.

I rushed through the zoo with my kids trying to find some zoo keeper to tell. It kept getting more and more crowded and I couldn't find anyone who would listen to me. In the process of finding someone to tell about this bear I lost my littlest child. I was in a serious panic. Just before I woke up I had been reunited with my daughter and the zoo officials were off to check on the bear.

I dislike dreams where I feel like I'm rushing to get away from something or trying to find something and I can't. This lovely dream had both. So I went to the online Dream Dictionary to see what it has to say about having a dream about a bear. Here is what it said

To see a bear in your dream,

symbolizes independence, the cycle of life, death and renewal. It may signal of period of introspection and thinking. The dream may also be a pun on "bare". Perhaps you need to bare your soul and let everything out into the open.

To dream that you are being pursued or attacked by a bear, denotes aggression, overwhelming obstacles and competition. You may find yourself in a threatening situation.

Interesting. Usually when I go there to find out about things that I have seen in a dream I can't really see the connection or I have to make my mind stretch to see it. Not in this case. In this definition about seeing a bear in my dream I can see where all of those things would be happening in my life right now. Especially the aggression. I have a lot of aggression and anger towards one of my brothers and I am trying to keep it in. And it keeps trying to get out.

Oh No She Di'int!

This past week...

• It did not take me three (possibly four) whole days to set up my Christmas decorations.

• I did not get confused about a friend request on Facebook and have to pull out my high school yearbook to see if I actually knew the person sending said request. I remember everyone from high school.

• I did not eat almost a whole Key Lime pie by myself over the course of the week. That would just be selfish and gluttonous.

• I did not rush up the stairs upon hearing the garbage truck outside repeating a bad word over and over in my head with each step because I was afraid that I wouldn't get the can out to the road in time and it had the carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey sitting in it just waiting for the neighborhood dogs to break down our fence and pillage our garbage can.

• I didn't want to tell my mom no when asked if I could pick my brother up from a class that he is taking. The thought of spending a 30 to 45 minute drive with him alone in the car didn't make my stomach turn over.
  

• I did not try to go out shopping a little today and have a mini-meltdown. I didn't.
  

Seven

That's number of kids I have here this morning. The number of kids I have to get ready for church and out the door by eleven o' clock. Seven plus me that means 8 (notice my mad adding skillz). So why am I sitting here in front of the computer? Will they magically get themselves ready? (Well two or three of them can probably do it on their own.)

I think I'm in denial. Usually we have a rule of no t.v. on Sunday mornings but this morning I had to put in a dvd because the kids were playing and their play was getting out of hand. So I have five of the seven laying on the hide-a-bed watching "Meet the Robinson's". I think while they are calm I better hurry and get in the shower and get myself ready. Then I can face them. Wish me luck!

p.s. I have no idea how my mom did this every Sunday. Especially before the block schedule. I can't imagine getting 8 kids dressed and out the door and then keeping 8 kids dressed and looking good in Sunday clothes all day long. She is amazing.

It is the Season of the Heart

My favorite Christmas movie is

I love the Muppet's. When I die I will seek out Jim Hensen and give him a huge hug and my warmest thanks. He was a genius and he gave the world such a gift in those soft, funny puppets. He made my growing up years so much better through Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

So every year we enjoy watching it. I love the songs in this movie. They are so catchy and fun. I just love this movie. I also love YouTube because they have little clips of the Muppet's and many other wonderful things.

I've been lacking in the Christmas Spirit this year. I know much of it comes from dad passing on. So in an effort to bring that Spirit into my heart I think I'll search out some of this movie and post it here. If it doesn't help me find it, maybe it will help someone else.

Here's It Feels Like Christmas. The lyrics are posted beneath the video. I've bolded my favorite lines.

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true
Wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas
A cup of kindness that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the spirit
The message if we hear it Is make it last all year
It's in the giving of a gift to another
A pair of mittens that were made by your mother
It's all the ways that we show love
That feel like Christmas
A part of childhood we'll always remember
It is the summer of the soul in December
Yes, when you do your best for love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the spirit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year
It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas
It's true, wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas!
It feels like Christmas!
It feels like Christmas!
It feels like Christmas!

People Died for this totally Random Post

Well in Ryzom they did.

I needed to know how to take a screen shot because I'm not all technically savvy. My hubby, on the other had, is. And he happens to be home. But I was too lazy to walk upstairs and ask him how, so I sent him an IM message using a little program called Hamachi. It froze his machine and he and the players he was trying to heal all were toast.

And here is what I needed from the screen shot.

Who is this secret crush? And how do they know what website I am on? They seem to follow me around cyber-space and, quite honestly, I'm starting to get freaked out. Do they have spyware on my machine? Are there camera's in my office that show where I am surfing to? I've looked but can't seem to find anything so it must be a very small camera if it's there.

I've heard commercials from Denny's (I do believe) Saying "We're Giving Away Breakfast!" Now what does "giving away" mean to you? To me it means that something is free. Well to Denny's "giving away" means $4.99. That doesn't jibe with me.

If a blind person lost their hands in some freak accident would they be able to learn to read braille with thier toes? Or their nose?

Why does my paper with all of my brilliant blog ideas keep disappearing? Is it my secrect crush coming in to steal it and reset the camera?

Thankful Thursday

Thanks to Tiburon for the Thankful Thursday idea and banner.

Today I'm grateful that I got to know my dad. I almost didn't get that privilege.

When mom was expecting me my dad was in a gas explosion while working. Dad worked road construction. He was down below street surface and some how a gas line had been cut or left on. I'm not sure which (and no matter how many times I ask I can never remember). He and another guy were working and dad realized something was wrong. Dad pushed the other guy out ahead of him but was caught in the blast himself. Thankfully he was wearing thick coveralls because it was cold. Unfortunately his hands and his face were burnt badly.

We used to have pictures of dad in the burn hospital. His face was so swollen, eyes swollen shut, hands all in bandages. I remember mom telling me once how horrific it was to have to go to the hospital because of what they had to do to dad. His burns had to be scrubbed out, scrubbed and I seem to remember her saying something about them having to use salt water. I wonder if she meant saline? Or if that's how she explained it to me. Sadly we've lost those pictures. Us kids would take them to school for show and tell often. I wonder what dad thought about that?

Because of that explosion my younger brother and I had a different dad than my 5 older siblings. They said that before the explosion he would laugh and smile more often. Growing up I was hard pressed to find dad smiling or laughing (unless it was around time for the deer hunt). Some of that soberness, I'm sure, came from coming close to death. Another part of it was that his skin was so tender and pulled so tight that it could have actually physically been hard for him to smile.

We don't have many pictures from when I was little. Our family wasn't very well off and pictures weren't a "need". This picture is one of dad and me at a Daddy Daughter Date that we had when I was younger. He would smile for pictures like this.


This is a picture of my sister Angie and him at a similar activity. I think that this was probably about four or five years after the explosion.His skin was healed but he wasn't smiling. He looks pretty good for having been in an explosion doesn't he?

Mom helped him take care of the burns after he came home from the hospital. They came to rely heavily on Lubriderm Lotion. Mom truly believes that dad looked as good as he did because they used this lotion everyday morning and night. Forever when I smell this I will think of dad.When I grew up and moved out I tried to make a point of giving dad a hug and a kiss whenever I saw him. Today over at Crazyland, Motherboard's bucket filler is "Give a kiss to someone you love." I say, DO IT! You don't know when it will be that last chance you have to give them a kiss.

Anyhow. Thirty-seven years doesn't seem like a long time to have your dad around. But it's longer than some. And for that I am Thankful beyond measure.