Merry Christmas and Pass the Vodka...

Well, it's that time again people. Christmas cheer, family, birds 'banging', me falling...oh wait...that's just a Friday for me, I forgot.
I hope you are all readier for Christmas than I am!! Nope, not in the least bit ready...sigh. And we're getting the tree today....where did I put those decorations??? I believe they're under a my small mountain of small kitchen appliances in the storage closet. You know, the one that's so crammed full of junk you can't close the door anymore...sigh.
Holly had her surgery on Tuesday. She's doing very well, but has a mouthful of cankers that are causing her more pain than her teeth. Poor Holly! But she has found some solice in swigging vodka every once in awhile. Either it helps the pain or she just doesn't care anymore!! Merry Christmas Holly!
Well, some good news. Ashley, Rob and the grandbabies came on Monday. The kids are getting so big! and so are the grandbabies..lol. I love having them here; I just want to keep them forever..all of them. Somehow, we'll pull this mess together and make a beautiful Christmas of it because I have all the main elements for the best Christmas ever. I have my loving family here all together for the first time in a long time and that's all the Christmas I need.
So, now for 'Adventures in Toryland'. Ashley, Ariel and I go for a simple trip of grocery shopping yesterday, but it was snowing like blazes. We took our bundle buggy with us and when we came back we got stuck with the buggy in the deep snow. Ashley and I are pulling and pulling until I (of course) fell down. That was it. I could not get up no matter how we tried. I was about ready to get out my blackberry to phone Rob to come and get me, as everytime Ashley tried to help me, I would fall again and spin. We look up, and there's a man shoveling snow. Ashley asked him to help us and he came over and helped me up and even pulled our cart for us into the building. It was then I realized it was my next door neighbour! Embarrassing! Ashley couldn't stop laughing long enough to be of any help to me at all...the rotten kid. She's just like her sister...sigh.
Anyway, school is going great and keeping me busy. Homework and more homework, but I'm enjoying it.
Just in case I don't write again before Christmas, may I extend God's Richest Blessings to you all from my family to yours.
Take care

Heaven..I'm In Heaven...

Well, peeps, I am in 'Nanny Heaven' right now. I have Ashley, Rob and my three special grandchildren with me for the week. I am loving every moment of it. My baby Scarlett has grown into a little sweetheart, and Ariel and Stephon are getting big as well. I wish I could keep them forever. But no, their mother is selfish and won't give them to me. I just want to borrow them until they're 20 or so...what's the problem. I wish they lived closer...I want to be with them so much more than this. However, It does tend to make this time sweeter and maybe I wouldn't appreciate them as much if they were around all the time. Good news is...once Ashley is finished school, they will be moving back around here and I will never take my grandchildren for granted...ever! I don't want to even think about the time for them to go home...I'm going to just enjoy the moment.
That's why I haven't been doing much on my site lately..however, there will be new pictures coming soon on the photo/video blog, of course of my wonderful, beautiful family.
I hope you all have the best week, like I am.
Take care
Tory

A Blast From the Past!

First, I will henceforth be writing any further blogs in bold, as it makes it easier for me to see...and I just discovered the button...duh.
Well, I had an interesting day. Ashley called, and as some of you may know, she is taking the Social Worker Program at college. She is actually in her last semester. She is my personal hero, as she does school with tons of homework, takes care of 3 kids under 5 years old, and is a real go getter. And to his credit, her hubby, Rob, is a terrific father and watches the kids while she's at school, working around her hours as much as possible. They are very plugged in to their kids. Did I mention that Ariel has started school? She absolutely loves it and the kids and teachers love her back. She's a big girl now, and is saving all her pictures she paints at school for nanny to frame. I'm telling you, she's brilliant!!
Anyway, I often help Ashley out a bit with her homework. Today I wrote an essay on post-traumatic stress disorder for her, and e-mailed it to her. She needed a patients perspective on it for her big project and I fit the bill. (Come on, you guys knew I was a freak when you met me...!)
I went into my e-mails and found a note from an old friend, which really made my day. We go back a long way, Bambi and I. (Of course Bambi isn't her real name...do I look like Walt Disney to you?? Actually, in profile I do, mustache and all...sigh!) We've been through a great deal together, including my divorce from Fang and me meeting my new and improved hubby. We lost touch a few years ago. I didn't realize how much I'd missed her until I saw her e-mail. So, I grabbed the phone and gave her a call...it was like we never paused...just picked up where we left off, more or less. She's as crazy as I am, and we have spent a lot of time together laughing when we should have been crying and crying when we probably should have been laughing. We really truly 'get' each other and that means a lot. Both our lives have changed a lot since we last spoke and we have a lot of catching up to do. Hubby and I will go visit her on Sunday. That will be fun.
Did I mention to you all that Hubby quit smoking on New Year's Eve? He's doing great! I'm so proud of him.
That's all for now, kids.
Take care
Tory