It's A Wonderful Life

Am I the only person i the world who has never seen the movie, It's A Wonderful Life? It seems to be everyone's favorite Christmas movie, but my attention span doesn't usually allow for movies. But I'm living a wonderful ife so maybe that's why I have no desire to see the movie.



It's the time of year for reflection and evaluation so here's a look back in no particular order of priority...



The holiday season last year was very different at work. We had some very large orders in one department from November - February so we only got the usual paid holidays and not a full week like we're getting this year. Some were a tad disgruntled at not having time off but we all kept reminding ourselves of how fortunate we are to have a job. We got a breather after the facial tissue orders, but in May we started seeing large orders in plastic flatware. Overtime, again. And this time it lasted all summer. Do you have any idea how complicated it is to schedule production when 90% of your employee group has a cap on how much they can make in a month. Talk about disincentives to work! But we have jobs!!



In our family we were anticipating the birth of the 8th grandchild. At one point he was breech, but we prayed & prayed and then he wasn't breech!! Easter morning I talked to Laurie & she was getting her 5 children ready to go to church before she went to the hospital to have Harris. After five uneventful, fast birthings, we weren't anticipating any problems. HA! Harris wouldn't drop into the birth canal & contractions were squeezing him to death. A "splash&grab" C-section (less than 30 seconds start-to-finish) relieved his distress and he was fine immediately. Then Laurie lost 2/3 of her blood volume on the operating table but Dr. Crecelius is a great doctor and Jesus is THE Great Physician. Today both Harris & Laurie are doing great.

Katelee surprised us all by going out for cross-country running and doing well. (I think she takes her athletic abilities from me.) Tucker plays baseball and basketball and loves them both. Who knows which he'll gravitate toward! The Witt family went on a cruise in the spring and then on a familymission trip with 8 Days of Hope in November.

Carter was saved in July at Kids' Camp. His dad, Dewayne (an ordained deacon) had the privilege of baptizing him with many family/friends in attendance.

We were blessed to get together with extended family several times through the year to celebrate birthdays, holidays and other special events. When I say "extended" family, I mean all our girls' in-laws. Our joys and our challenges are shared by one and all. What a tremedous gift God has given us in the Witts, the Phillipses and the Tates.

This year has seen some "old" friendships reforged. I keep using the word blessing, but I just don't know how else to describe all these events. It has been a delight to get to know the grown-up versions of childhood friends.

There have been so many other blessings this year that I can't count them all. My Heavenly Father has blessed me beyond measure and far beyond what I deserve.

Middle of the Day Thoughts

Yesterday was a wonderful day. Bethellen came down from Horn Lake to get me and we went on to Nettleton to attend the celebration of Mr. Lester & Mrs. Gracie Weeks' 65th wedding anniversary. WOW!! Sixty-five years together! He's 89 and she's 87; they married when they were 24 and 22 respectively. As Peggy, their youngest daughter, said, "In those days Mama was an old maid." Well, she didn't stay an old maid and here they are 65 years later. Their 3 daughters did a wonderful job on the reception - decorations and food. And amazingly, they cooked lunch for an indeterminate number of people. There was fried chicken, bar-b-q chicken, meatballs, roast beef, all kinds of vegetables and all kinds of salads and desserts. While the food was very good, the fellowship was even better. I got to talk to many people that I haven't seen in years - people I went to church with, former teachers, friends of my mom & dad and so many more.

And I really enjoyed spending time with Bethellen. She's one of the friends I went all the way through school with, got in trouble with, laughed with, cried with and then separated from. Funny. We tell ourselves we'll be friends forever, then life happens and we move on. The blessing is that some of us have gotten together through Facebook, email and {gas} telephone. Oh, what fun!!

This morning we woke to light snow flurries and they have continued throughout the day. Did I mention that it's extremely cold and the Weather Channel alert for tomorrow predicts a wind chill of 3*. Can you say B-R-R-R-R? It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

I have the absolute best Sunday school class of older ladies. Last Saturday we had our Christmas party at Old West. You'll never meet a group that enjoys life more. There's always plenty of love and laughter and some pretty sneaky tricks. For one thing, how did everyone get such nice Dirty Santa gifts for just $5? Methinks someone spent more!

Our Christmas lunch at work will be Tuesday. Everyone always gets a nice gift and a nice gift card to Wal*Mart. We're hoping the nicest gift will be the decision to close the plant the week between Christmas and New Year's. It's been quite a few years since we've had a full week off and we'd all love that Christmas gift!! Our orders have slowed and we have some good stock, so as one of my employees said, "I'm just having a lot of faith this will happen."

Don't you think it's about time for a cup of hot chocolate?