Sydney's antics

Our darling dog is quite a Houdini. She is very psychotic and has terrible separation anxiety. She stays in the house with us while we are home or for very short periods of time. Because Sydney has the anxiety, she destroys things when we are not around. After trying several methods of containment, we finally found that a cheap radio underground fence would work................or so we thought. Wednesday, I get a call from mama, who lives across the busy road from us, telling me that Sydney was at her house. We couldn't figure out how she got down there, but were happy she didn't get hit. Thursday, Andy, my brother, gets to mama's and finds Sydney there again.......we were glad again but very upset that she escaped again. Gary really investigated her fence and collar and couldn't figure out what was wrong. He put up string all over the yard and flags hoping that would be a visible barrier for Sydney. He fiddled with her collar & fence settings and decided to go buy a stubborn dog collar. After buying that, he found out that the old collar had gotten reset somehow to only beep and not shock. Nonetheless, we'll be putting the stubborn collar on her until she gets used to it again and stays home!

December.....

Well, I have finally gotten the house decorated. Cameron and I (mainly) got the decorations out the Saturday after Thanksgiving, as usual. We got the tree up and most of the boxes down from the attic. Cameron got the tree up and I put the lights on, then he got started on decorating the tree. I placed all my Santa's on the hope chest where they live during the season. It's easy to reminise while putting on the decorations. Louise, Gary's mom, used to give him and his sisters ornaments every year. Those go on the tree with the Chrismons that she has made. CJ and Cameron have their special ornaments, ones they have made or ones that they have been given. Gary and I made ornaments with the scroll saw the first year we were married and painted them together. The wreath on the kitchen door is decorated with Santas also. On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck and my left shoulder was out also. After finding an emergency chiropractor, on Tuesday, I wasn't much better. She mentioned that I had bad scholiosis and suggested I get xrays to monitor it. I was able to get in with my chiropractor Wed and Fri and found a massage therapist that could see me on Friday. Whew, what a week. It took days after that to get back to feeling better. I was on the phone a lot at work the previous Monday and I think that had a great deal to do with my neck being out of alignment. The boss said I could order a headset and it is on the way.
I think I am finished buying everyone's presents, but I have to check. Because of my neck & shoulder being out of whack, I have not wrapped anything yet, so the tree looks a little funny with nothing underneath it. I do have to make Andy's, my brother, lasagne. That's his Christmas present every year.
Gary happened upon a Hoosier (kitchen cabinet which is a baking center, with shelves and a flour sifter) at a job he was working at. I have always wanted one. Mama has one and both my grandmas had one. At first the lady said she thought her daughters wanted it, but after Thanksgiving, neither of them did so she let Gary know it was available and she only wanted $100 for it. Because of my neck & shoulder problems, I couldn't go see it, but Gary took pictures of it. It was exactly what I wanted. He finally got someone to help him get it loaded and brought it home last Thursday. Gary got to looking at the tag still on it and Googled the name. He found out that what we got was a genuine Hoosier, made by one of the 5 companies in the early 20th century. Ours came from Elwood Indiana and was sold in Henderson NC. What a bargain! Without getting it appraised, it's hard to tell what our (MY) cabinet is actually worth, but I am thrilled nonetheless.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Gary, Sydney & I went to Gary's mom's for lunch. She changed the time this year to lunchtime so the boys didn't get to go. They go to their dad's side of the family at lunchtime. Mama fixed lunch for Andy & Nicholas, but Gary and I will scavenge her left overs for our supper. Mama's church sold pork Boston butts so we took one to Louise's and it got gobbled up. I think we'll do the same for Christmas when the fire department sells pork shoulders. It's one less thing that Louise has to cook. We'd rather everyone take something to her house instead of her cooking, but she insists on cooking while she still can. At 80, no one really wants to argue with her. Thanksgiving is a hard time to get all the Thompsons together. Jackie & Susan (Gary's sister) always go to the beach. Betty & Phil (Gary's oldest sister) were headed to the mountains right after lunch. Ray, Heather & Miranda (Gary's nephew) were at her parents. All the greatgrandkids were actually there except my boys and Miranda. Most of the great grandkids are shared betwixt & between their parents so it's hard to get them all together at the same time. Well, Sydney is trying to push buttons on my computer and she's half lying on me so I'm going to have to get off now.

For starters

OK, so bear with me, this is my first attempt at blogging. Since this is by invitation only, y'all all know me. What most of you don't know is how busy I am! I'm sure Gary has no clue as to how many organizations that I volunteer for, he just knows that I have meeting after meeting. He's just glad to get some good food when I don't cook supper because I'm at a meeting! Here's a glimpse of the family life.

Gary has just gotten his license in Residential Building after studying really hard. He's still working for Evans Construction, just in a job that is more stressful mentally, but less stress on his body, particularly his knees. He is obsessed with genealogy and has found out that he and I are related, a long way down the line! He has very extensive lines in his family and is highly regarded in the genealogy field. Some of Gary's pictures are published in a book on the Snipes family. The funny thing is, I had to convince him to buy our first computer and now his spare time all he does is work on the computer digging up his family tree.

CJ is a senior at Orange High School and has just joined the Army Reserves. He can go to drills each month until he graduates, then he will go to basic training for 9 weeks on July 3 in Ft. Leonardwood, MO. After that, he will go to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) to become a Combat Medic. That's in Ft. Sam Houston, TX. I am very proud and very scared. CJ has some major problems following the rules at home, so I hope that the Army can get him straight. I cannot deny his right to serve our great country, as both sides of his family have very strong military ties. We, overall, are a very patriotic family.

Cameron is a sophomore at Orange and just got his drivers permit the day before Thanksgiving. Be very careful when you see my car coming! He is a very conscientious person who often thinks of others before himself. He's always been a very caring and giving person. Just this past birthday, he mentioned that he wanted to get a used PS2 system so he and Cj didn't have to share. After he got some birthday money in, he gave me $35 of that to go to OCIM for the bike-a-thon he just rode in (I'll tell about OCIM later). I said to him, what about your PS2? He said "I want the money to go to OCIM. They need it more than me".

Now, the queen of the house....Sydney. As someone recently said, she's a rare breed dog, meaning a mutt. Gary fell in love with her in the pound 11 years ago and she has captured our hearts ever since. To say she's spoiled is an understatement. She who lets us live with her loves the beach, where we usually spend our vacations. Gary and I have some great photos of her playing in the water. My blog would not be complete if I didn't mention her and her antics!