Kicking cancer's ass - day 2311

Merry Christmas.

I can't remember the last time I was so excited to give a gift.

Years ago, I don't even know how many, I had promised J that one day I would take him on an overnight train trip.  I promised him that we would take this trip before he graduated.... which is this coming May.  Time is running out!

 

We leave tomorrow for this long-ago promised trip.  We'll travel on Amtrak's Texas Eagle from Fort Worth to St. Louis, where we will visit the National Transportation Museum and spend the night in a hotel.  Then Saturday night we will board the train to travel overnight back to Texas.  

I could not WAIT for him to open his gifts (a museum train shirt, the train itinerary and the museum tickets).

I had only told a few people (NOT including his sister... ha ha) so we wouldn't mess up and let it slip.  I even talked to his manager at work and they pretend scheduled him to work Friday, but officially he has the next four days off.

He may be 18 now, but he still loves trains and I think he's happy with his gift (although he'd probably be happier if his traveling companion was his girlfriend and not his mom... ha ha).  
Between school, work, his girlfriend, my work and having to run his sister to all of her activities, I hardly ever see him, so I'm really looking forward to some mom-son time doing what he loves.

Yesterday was the first time I've gone to church since my brother passed away.  It wasn't a conscious decision to stay away, but I guess I haven't felt comfortable going.  I've always loved the Christmas Eve candlelight service, and even though it wasn't easy, it brought some peace to my heart to be there with my family.  (Minus J because he was working)

When we got home from church I baked meltaway cookies, which were my brother's favorite.  I used cookie sheets from his kitchen and had Dexter keeping me company in the kitchen.

Someone forgot to tell my children that they are teenagers who are supposed to sleep in.  Even at 13 and 18 they still wake us up before 7am on Christmas.  Yawn.  

Dexter agrees with me... he was NOT having any part of the Christmas morning festivities.  

He eventually perked up, but he stayed on the couch under the blanket the entire time we opened presents!  

Santa was very good to us this year.  

Most of the "big" gifts were experiences and not things.  Hubby got tickets to see Chris Stapleton and K got tickets to see her fave Chris Young.  And of course J got the big trip.

I got a new Fitbit that I'd asked for, and this fabulous leg massager that I should have asked for!

I asked J if he thought I could bring it on the train!  ha ha   It feels amazing, and Hubby hopes it'll help my restless legs.  Have I mentioned that I love that man?!?!?!?  💗  This is our 20th Christmas together and he still gives terrific gifts!

I'm very thankful that I have an amazing husband and kids who spoil me and whom I love to spoil on Christmas.  This could have been a very sad day, but the gift of giving warms my heart.  Having Darren's really cute dog (in a Cowboys shirt) in our family is a bonus.

I hope you had a merry little Christmas too. 

Kicking cancer's ass - day 2284

November 28, 2001

This tiny baby boy was born in the middle of a snowstorm.  Not the usual Abilene snow of an inch or less.... we're talking 5-6" of snow coming down fast.  Hubby likes to joke that it was the New Yorker in me that I was passing down to our son.  It wasn't the easiest birth, and at first he wasn't breathing.  There was a swarm of nurses and doctors crowded around the little table where he was, and all I could hear was, "He's not breathing.  He's not crying."

I was able to stop in the NICU for a minute on my way to my room, and as soon as I saw him there with the little heart shaped patch connecting him to a machine, my heart overflowed with love.  I looked at his tiny face and saw his dad, who had already completely captured my heart.  

I will never forget that day, or those scary minutes after he was born, or those hours I had to wait before I could finally hold him.  I never knew how much love a heart could hold until that day.

Today, November 28, 2019 my baby boy becomes a man.  Today, we celebrate his 18th birthday.

I remember everything about being his mom for the past eighteen years, and yet somehow I blinked and this guy has taken that little boy's place.

I don't even have the words to express how much he means to me.  He's the one who made me a mom.  He inherited his dad's sense of humor, his mom's soft heart and he's easygoing and friendly like his big brother.

He loves trains (still), video games (still), and band (still).  He works hard at his job and not so hard at his (piece of cake) senior year of high school.  He is quirky and handsome and loyal and smart.  He has surrounded himself with a wonderful group of friends and a very special girlfriend.  

I with I could adequately express how proud he makes me every single day.  Looking back through the hundreds (maybe thousands) of pictures I've taken in the last two decades, I had a hard time just picking some to post.  His smile and long eyelashes and sparkly brown eyes...... every picture is a memory that touches my heart.  

Happy 18th Birthday J.  Your future is so bright!