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Have Presents – Will Travel

Posted on December 24, 2008 by auburnchick

Although the pictures are dated 12/23, the camera setting is wrong.  I actually took these pictures today (12/24).

Rooster woke up with a raging fever…day #3 of the virus…

I wasn’t sure if we would be leaving today.  Instead, I begged the doctor’s office to see him, and they kindly obliged.  The good news is that Rooster does not have bronchitis.  However, the doctor was concerned that the fever is still here after three days.  He recommended staying home another day to make sure it’s not going to turn into pneumonia.  The family revolted.  No way did they want to miss Christmas with family.

So, I took the Z-Pac prescription, a “just-in case” measure, tucked it into my purse, and crawled into the car.  We’re currently en route to a location known by me and those who know me personally.  The agreement is that if Rooster gets drastically worse, Mr. AuburnChick will drive us home.

As you spend time with family, I pray that you will focus on the Child Who was born 2,000+ years ago.  I know that finances are tough for many right now (including me), and that many have family issues to deal with.  However, God has a plan for every person.  That plan included sending His own son, in the form of mankind, to this earth.

Merry Christmas!

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Christmas Comes Early

Posted on December 23, 2008 by auburnchick

We have a tradition in the AuburnChick household.  Because we’re away on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (in fact, most of the Christmas holiday), we always make sure we spend one evening together as a family.  This is the night when we open our presents to one another…just the four of us.

Tonight was the night since we’ll be leaving early in the morning.

The tree beforehand:

I think we did a good job on the kids’ gifts.  They seemed to be happy.  Rooster got a shirt from Soccer Chick, a football, a PSP game, and a set of the most humongous drum sticks I’ve ever seen.

Chicky got an iPod adapter for the car (from brother), a Kohl’s gift card (she already went out and spent it on a really big collage picture frame), THE boots she HAD to have, and the devotion book A Call to Die:

The kids gave the Mr. the movie The Dark Knight (sickly Rooster and I are watching it right now), and a shirt.

Here’s what I got:

Mr. AuburnChick gave me an I.O.U. for an electronic row counter (KP) and the book 1776.  I love history books!  Soccer Chick gave me the C.S. Lewis book Mere Christianity and an insulated cup (it was from the Christian bookstore too).  Rooster gave me the pink skin that’s on my phone (you can barely see it in the picture above).

Oh, and we gave the kids the game “Urban Myth.”  Rooster and I played a round, and it’s a hoot!  He said that he likes it because he’s learning things as he plays…

An all-around good evening.  Now, if only Rooster would start feeling better.  After we opened presents, he was feeling rather poorly again, so I checked his temperature:  102.6.  Not good.

I’m hoping that the Lord, along with my tender loving care, will bring him back good health in time to really enjoy the holiday.

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Christmas Memory #23

Posted on December 23, 2008 by auburnchick

I love watching the expressions on the faces of those I love as they open their gifts.

When Soccer Chick was in the 7th grade, she begged for a cell phone.  Yeah, I know…kind of young…but she was starting to need one because of after-school activities and what-not.  So, after much thought, the Mr. and I decided that this would be her main gift.  We had been telling her no for so long that she didn’t suspect a thing.

I was psyched!  At the time, I worked at my local sheriff’s office.  The sheriff is a very kind man, so I asked him if he would mind leaving Chick a voicemail from “Santa.”  The sheriff’s deep voice was perfect for this.  He took the new phone into his office and closed the door, leaving me outside to wait.  He reappeared a few minutes later with a big smile on his face, handing the phone back.

A brief explanation of how Christmas works in the AuburnChick home.  Every year, we go to the Mr.’s parents’ home for the holidays.  We do our own private family Christmas either right before we leave or the day we get home, depending on how long we’re gone.  Santa always visits Grandmama and Granddaddy’s house, though.  He brings the main gifts, which are left unwrapped under the tree.  The kids are not allowed to go downstairs to see the tree until everyone is up.  I, as Grand Mom for the day, lead the way, camera in hand to capture the Moment.

Ok, so back to my story…

Christmas morning came, and the kids walked downstairs.  Soccer Chick’s eyes widened as she saw the phone.  I believe she asked if it was real.  We told her to see if it would power up.  It did.

She was surprised to see she had a voicemail.  She played it in front of everyone.  Santa had left a personalized message, explaining that she had been a good girl, and he hoped she liked the phone.  I can’t remember the rest of the message, but it made her day and gave us all a good laugh.

To this day, when she asks who left the message, I simply say, “Santa” with a smile on my face.

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An Update on an Old Post

Posted on December 22, 2008 by auburnchick

I’m not sure if you remember my post about buying Soccer Chick’s Chi on Ebay.

I thought you might like to know what became of it.

Well, I filed a claim with PayPal, and I escalated it so the issue would get resolved quicker.  Meanwhile, I waited.

And waited…

And waited.

In the meantime, I felt it prudent that I obtain this item through a more reliable source…Amazon, so I placed my order.

I received my Amazon order about a week later.

And a day later…

I found the Ebay iron waiting for me at the post office.

The country of origin was NOT the U.S.  It was China.  The seller had shipped it Express.  Although he had finally sent me a tracking number, I thought it was bogus because nothing came up when I plugged it into the post office’s tracking site.  Now I understood why.  You can’t track international packages.

I nearly fainted when I saw it.  Then, I went home and withdrew my claim.

Whatever will I do with two of these things?

I’ve considered that I could actually have my own for the rare instances when I lose my mind and decide to spend an hour working on my hair.

Then again, I’ll probably just resell it on Ebay.  Anyone need a Chi Flat Iron?

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Whew! What a Day!

Posted on December 22, 2008 by auburnchick

What a way to start Christmas vacation!

Soccer Chick and I headed out early.  She had to re-take the CPT Reading Exam.  High school students attending dual-enrolled classes are required to take the placement exam every two years.  She had failed the exam by one point last week.  When we got to the college, she discovered that she had forgotten her picture ID (I had driven).  Rats.  I really did not want to go home and go back again.  However, upon closer inspection of her records, the clerk realized that Chick’s scores were actually valid until May 2009.  There was no need for the exam today.

Whew!  We got lucky.

On the way home, we stopped at Sam’s to pick up another box of contacts for her.  Of course, things did not run smoothly.  Her old prescription had expired in August.  She had been to a check-up, but I had forgotten the new one.  Grrr…

The optician called the doctor’s office and arranged for them to fax it over.  We decided to head on home instead of waiting.

When we got to the house, Rooster was awake.  He was laying on the couch, and he told me that he did not feel well…his neck and stomach hurt.  The thermometer read 100.8.

Great…nothing like a sick child three days before Christmas.

Lucky for us, I had made him an appointment to have his ears flushed (he gets a lot of earwax, which impedes his hearing).  I quickly ran to Walgreens and bought Gatorade to help keep him hydrated.  I also picked up this:

Attractive, eh?

It’s a thumb stabilizer.  My left thumb joint started hurting a couple of days ago.  It took everything I had to pull up my britches today.

Lovely.

Rooster and I went to his appointment, and although he had all of the symptoms of the flu, the test came back negative.  It’s viral.  Lots of fluids, healthy foods, and rest advised.  I also picked up Zicam.  The child refuses to drink my homemade apple/orange juice.

With Rooster back in bed, I headed out to finish up some shopping.  After a good couple of hours, I am almost done.  I will try to get the last couple of things tomorrow.

When I got home, I clicked the garage door opener and was just about to drive in when I noticed that the garage door did not go all the way up.  In fact, it went up about two inches and went back down.  Several tries did not change the outcome.

Great.

I am a handy woman.  I went inside the garage and inspected, not finding the problem.  I manually released the opener, but I can’t get the chain to reconnect.  I also cannot get the door opened without using the electric opener.  The door seems to be suctioned to the floor.

Mr. AuburnChick was absolutely no use.  He tried taking parts apart that should not be taken apart.  Why do men think they should do things like this?

His diagnosis? “The door is stuck.”

Ya think?!

A quick google search led me to the conclusion that a spring or two may be broken.  I’m calling in the experts tomorrow.

Good thing both cars weren’t in the garage when the door broke.  Can you imagine trying to finish shopping without a car?

Good grief!

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Christmas Memory #22

Posted on December 22, 2008 by auburnchick

Happy Birthday Audra!  (sorry…shout-out to a high school friend who doesn’t read my blog, but I always think about her on the 22nd)

Mr. AuburnChick’s parents have lived next door to the same family for 20 years.  I remember our first meeting…their twins in the stroller.

Two years later, the Mr. and I had our own child (Soccer Chick).  Because we lived in the same city and spent lots of time at the parents’ house, we saw the neighbors often.  Chick loved her older friends, and they loved playing with her.  They had a swing set, and she was there nearly every day swinging her little heart out.

It was natural for the families to spend Christmas Eve together at their house.  After my sister moved to town, they extended the invitation to her as well.  I don’t even know how many people were at their house each year, but the number grew as we expanded our families with new babies and siblings’ boyfriends.

Not too long ago, by unspoken agreement, we stopped going over.  It got to be too many people…finally.  I can’t blame them.  Kids were getting ready to go to college (the twins).  Some of the grandparents were getting more fragile.

What wonderful memories though.  All of the adults ate at the long dining room table, passing around two types of dressing, mashed potatoes, ham, and turkey.  For a short time, the kids’ room was quiet as they chowed down.  We always knew when they were finished because the noise level increased dramatically as they began making pleas for dessert.

It was so warm and comfortable.  It’s amazing at how large our families really are.  In fact, what defines a family?  It’s certainly not blood relations but those whom you cultivate relationships with, whether it be the physical therapist who got your child through knee surgery or the neighbor, who happened to be a pharmacist, who was always avaiable for late-night emergency medicine calls.

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Christmas Memory #21

Posted on December 21, 2008 by auburnchick

The other day, I happened to pick up one of the small picture albums I have sitting around the house.  The first photo inside is of a good friend’s children and their dog.  The picture was taken several years ago, when the kids were much younger.  It brought back memories.

Felisha and I got to be friends when her family moved into the third-floor apartment in my building.  We were on the first floor, so we saw them every time they came and went.  We became fast friends.  Her daughter was a year younger than Chick and a year older than Rooster…smack dab in the middle…perfect.

Felisha and I instantly hit it off.  We both stayed home full-time, so we spent many, many days together either playing with the kids in the pool or chatting while we watched them run around the playground.  It was a friendship deeply forged by conversations centered on our faith, child rearing issues, or common complaints about marriage.  I even bought her a pregnancy test when she suspected she was expecting child #2.  The test came back negative, but I was convinced it was wrong.  I was right.  A second test a few weeks later proved that.  Felisha was like a sister to me, so it was natural for me to “adopt” her children into my family as well.

One summer, Felisha and I moved into houses across town from one another, but we worked hard to keep the friendship going.

She had a large, extended family.  We didn’t have anyone close by, so we were often invited to their get-togethers.  Christmas was an especially fun time.  We were the only non-relatives invited to their party.  Her mom cooked the food, and let me tell you, boy could she cook.

During Christmas, her children came to my house, and we decorated cookies and exchanged gifts.  Right now, Rooster and I are drinking hot chocolate out of some mugs that she gave me one year.

Sigh…

I really miss her.

I’ve tried very hard to stay in touch since we moved to north Florida, but she’s had some major family issues and now I can’t get a hold of her.  It makes me sad.

Still, every time I see pictures of the kids, I’m taken back to the warm, fuzzy feelings of Christmas and times spent together.

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Christmas Memory #20

Posted on December 20, 2008 by auburnchick

Technically, it’s still 12/20…Central time.  I’ve delayed in posting because…well, because it’s almost Christmas, and I’ve been busy!

On to the sharing of the memory!

One early Christmas morning, when Soccer Chick was quite young, but old enough to talk in that Minnie Mouse voice that youngsters talk in, she woke up the Mr. and me excitedly.  Well, actually she was a little scared too.

Why?

Because, as she told us, she had heard Santa’s sleigh bells and the reindeer on the roof.

We have always spent Christmas Eve at the in-law’s house.  We used to live in the same city, but when we moved to Miami, we began traveling up north for the holidays.  They have a two-story home.  Not that it makes a difference to Santa, mind you.

That year, Chick was a bit scared.  She was worried that Santa would go upstairs, and the thought did not thrill her.  It was all fine and dandy for him to leave the goodies…as long as he remained downstairs.

She slept the rest of the morning in our bed.

She’s almost 17 now, but if you ask her, she’ll tell you that she remembers hearing those bells and the reindeer feet.

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Christmas Memory #19

Posted on December 19, 2008 by auburnchick

Shortly after I got married, the Mr. and I attended a church that had a Living Christmas Story.  Around September or October, church members began transforming the grounds to look like different scenes from the book of Luke.  Then, for one week every December, visitors could drive slowly through, magically transported to long-ago Bethlehem.

The year the church came up with the plans, someone who knew someone was able to procure, on loan, costumes from Hollywood.  I can’t remember the movie the costumes were originally used in, but it was one of the famous ones…perhaps the Ten Commandments.  Talented ladies in the church made replicas of them before returning the originals.

Yeah…God working, eh?

The scenes included Mary and the Annunciation, The angels’ appearance to shepherds in the field, the inn, the Nativity, and lastly the empty Cross.

Church members volunteered to be silent actors…some as the major characters and others as the regular citizens of town.

Driving through was an incredible experience.  It was as if you dropped in at a few key moments of time.  Nobody acted as if you were there.  You were invisible.

While driving through was fun, even better was participating in it.

I had the privilege of being tapped to be Mary at the Annunciation.  It’s hard to describe the emotions that ran through me as “Gabriel” and I pantomimed the scene.  I tried to imagine what Mary must have been feeling when she heard she would be with child.

I was blessed to play Mary two different Christmas seasons.  The second time, I was pregnant with Rooster.  That was even more special.  There I was, babe inside, playing the part of our Lord’s mother.

Putting on the costume made me feel different.  People treated me with a gentleness, even though they “knew” it was me.  Strange, I know.  I remember that, like most pregnant women, I got to the point where I really had to pee.  All traffic was stopped, the town’s large gates closed, so that I could take a potty break, with someone assisting me with the costume.

This is one of the most special memories I have of Christmas.  It really put my focus where it needed to be.  The birth of a Savior and the awareness of what a unselfish act of love God displayed.

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Christmas Memory #18

Posted on December 18, 2008 by auburnchick

Since I’ve just posted about the beautiful weather we’re experiencing today, I thought I would talk about the first Christmas season my family spent in Miami.

When Soccer Chick was three years old, Mr. AuburnChick got a promotion, and we moved from north Florida to Miami.  The move occurred during the summer.

Moving to Miami presented quite the culture shock, let me tell you.  Summer on Miami’s beaches is, um, interesting.  Not exactly conservative like the northern part of the state.  I think you get my drift.

Well, Christmas season is just as interesting.

As the holiday approached, I watched people set up their decorations.  Instead of snowmen, people were setting up lighted palm trees and Christmas-y flamingos.  Nearly every yard down there has at least one palm tree, and people lit them up too (I’ll admit that I got to the point where I strung lights up on my tree eventually).

Lit up palm trees…very beautiful.  I love the way the lights illuminate the palm fronds…

And the Christmas songs…many of them in Spanish since there is a very, very large Cuban population in Miami.

Christmas in Miami…an unforgettable experience.

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