How Sweet It Is To Be Loved…

Don’t you just love how there is at least one song for every possible situation in life–and you usually don’t have to search long to find it, thanks to Google.  Recently, I was making (another) video montage of our family.  This one in honor of Valentine’s Day!  I didn’t have to think very long before I thought of the perfect theme song for it–which also happens to be the title of this post!

As I was creating my video montage, I began to ponder, Is there anything sweeter in  life than loving and being loved?  I didn’t have to ponder long before I knew my answer…  I wouldn’t trade having all the gold and riches in the world for the honor of loving and being loved!

I still remember how I felt, all those years ago, when Ed and I met and fell in love.  We may be older, with a lot of miles on us, but our love for each other is just as strong and true as it was forty-two years ago!  In addition, the truly amazing thing is, who knew that forty-something years later, we’d be surrounded by so many loved ones who have made our lives so much sweeter over the years?

Six years after our marriage, Ed and I were blessed with a new love–in the form of an eight pound baby daughter.  We loved her and nurtured her, and she in turn, loved us back.  Over the next seven years, Ed and I were blessed with two more bundles of love, otherwise known as our sons.  With those three wonderful additions, Ed and I became so much more than just husband and wife–we became a family!

We all lived happily together in our little circle of family  love, until one day Ed and I blinked our eyes, and discovered that our children had grown up!  Before long, Ed was walking our daughter down the aisle, and giving her away to another man.  But we didn’t lose our daughter, we gained another son, in the form of a “son-in-law”.

With that wedding, we learned how to open our family circle of love, and include others.  Over the next ten years, Ed would make two more trips down the aisle, to serve as Best Man at both of our son’s weddings.  Twice more, our family circle opened wider to include new daughters.

For a long time, Ed and I had no idea that the sweetest additions were yet to arrive in our family.  You know, those little bundles of joy that you can love, spoil rotten, then send home with their parents–otherwise known as grandchildren!  We opened our family circle just a little bit wider, and it didn’t take us long to figure out that we loved being grandparents!  Our first grandchild arrived just over five years ago, with two more following!

For now, our circle of love has been enlarged by three  precious grandchildren–one girl, and two little boys.  Just the same as it was so many years ago when Ed and I were raising our little family!  Each addition to our family has been a blessing, and we treasure them all, whether they married into or were born into our family.

How sweet it is to love and be loved!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Imagine My Surprise…

Last Friday morning began pretty much just like any other day.  I got out of bed, took my Synthroid (thyroid medication), and turned on my computer.  As usual, I didn’t have a blog post prepared, so I sat down in front of the computer and began to write. I decided to write about some of my Valentine’s Day memories.  I titled the post, “Valentine’s Day Revisited”.  I finished my post within a couple of hours, hit the publish button, then left the computer to do other things.  I was away from my computer for quite a while…

Imagine my surprise when I returned to my computer later in the day and found comments from people–lots and lots of people!  I was still trying to figure out how all of these people found my blog, when I finally read a comment which said “Congratulations on being freshly pressed!”

I quickly clicked over to wordpress.com, and sure enough–there was my Friday morning blog post, featured on their “Freshly Pressed” page, under the heading which read, “The best of 470,540 bloggers, 771, 857 new posts, 909,777 comments, and 144,741,224 words posted today on Word Press.com” !  I couldn’t believe my eyes!

I quickly grabbed my camera and took a picture!  I wanted to capture my 30 seconds of fame!  (Of course, later in the evening my son reminded me that I could just save the screen shot, and we did!)  Silly me!  I’m going to show you my picture anyway.  My post is the one in red with the box of Valentine’s Day candy.

After taking about a dozen pictures of my computer screen, I immediately sat down and emailed my husband with the news.  I just had to share my exciting news with someone!  Ed rarely reads my blog, but I knew he would be excited for me, and he was.

Imagine my surprise, as I discovered several interesting things happen when your blog gets featured on the Word Press home page!  First of all, your blog gets visited–a lot!

I still  remember starting my little blog about three years ago, and being absolutely thrilled when I finally had twelve visitors in one day!  I’m still thrilled with my twelve visitors, plus a few more, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked at my stats and saw this–

I know the image isn’t very big, but if you look close, you can barely see those very low columns across the bottom of the graph, followed by three  tall columns at the right of the graph. Those low columns represent my usual visitor stats of around 100 per day, while the tall columns represent my visitor stats for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My little blog had a total of over 6,200 visitors over the weekend!  All I could say was, “Wow”!

Imagine my surprise, when I noticed the huge increase in comments, too!  I normally average getting five or six comments per post. I have received over 100 comments on that featured post!  All of the comments were very sweet.  A few of the comments were odd– but still sweet.  Every comment is very much appreciated, and thanks to all who took the time to leave one!

Thank you, Word Press, for featuring my little Valentine’s Day post on your “Freshly Pressed” page! I don’t know how or why I was chosen, but I’m honored and absolutely thrilled to have been featured!  One thing’s for sure, I’ll never forget this early Valentine’s Day surprise!

Valentine’s Days Revisited…

It’s almost here, folks–that over-commercialized holiday called, Valentine’s Day!  I knew it was “officially” almost here when I began seeing the commercials for “Hoodie Footies” and “Vermont Teddy Bears”…  I wonder how many women will receive those pajamas with a hood and feet?!  How unromantic!  I personally overheard Jennifer telling Brad that he better never buy her any of those!  

 

As for me, I could go for that HUGE Vermont Teddy Bear, but I already have a HUGE one sitting in the bedroom.  He takes up an entire chair, or half of the bed–depending on where he is sitting!  It wasn’t a gift from Ed, but from myself, one Valentine’s Day.  Yes, I actually bought myself a teddy bear–because I loved him when I saw him…I’m funny like that sometimes.  I came home with it riding in the back of my PT Cruiser, about five years ago!

I still remember Valentine’s Day as a child.  I loved addressing those cards, and I loved opening the envelopes containing the funny little valentines.  Back in my day, valentines actually still came with little white envelopes!  I don’t like these new valentines that fold and have a sticker holding them closed.  Has anybody else noticed that the stickers DON”T STAY STUCK?

Ed and I were married before we ever got to spend a Valentine’s Day together.  It never worked out for him to be around on that particular day.  I don’t remember my first Valentine’s Day gift from him, but it was probably a box of candy, because that was what people gave in those days–before Valentine’s Day became so commercialized.

My daddy always gave mama a box of candy, and Ed’s daddy gave his wife the same.   I remember Ed’s mama’s was always one of the lacy, frilly boxes of candy.  Now that I’m thinking back, I think I remember Ed’s parents buying me a box of candy one Valentine’s Day while he was overseas.  They did a lot of sweet things like that.

I remember getting my first flowers from Ed, for Valentine’s Day in 1974.  Ed didn’t like to spend money on flowers, and had never bought me any before.  That year, I strongly hinted that I would love to receive a bouquet of flowers…  Ed and I were both working at the same hospital, in the radiology department, at the time, and he had the flowers delivered to the little office where I worked.  I was absolutely thrilled!

I remember Valentine’s Days with each of our three children, while they were growing up.  Sitting there at the table with them while they addressed their valentines for school…then later, sitting and watching them enjoying the valentines they’d received!  Of course,  I enjoyed giving them little Valentine’s Day surprises from Ed and me, too…(sorry no photos handy)

Flash forward many years, past the raising of our three children, and I was working at school–in the first grade.  Valentine’s Day is a BIG DEAL to first graders!  We would spend days making Valentine’s Day decorations for the classroom, then finally we decorated those little white Valentine’s Day bags to hold our (yes, I had one, too) valentines.  A day or two before Valentine’s Day, the students would bring their cards to school, then carefully drop them in to each other’s bags.  It was so much fun to watch!  On Valentine’s Day the students could hardly wait to tear into those cards, and the level of excitement equaled that of Christmas time!  As for me, I always came home with a bag full of sweet valentines, and usually a few gifts, too.

It was while I was working at school that I realized just how commercialized Valentine’s Day had become!  I can’t begin to tell you how many “gifts” are delivered to school for the students for Valentine’s Day!  It’s way past the point of ridiculous.  It’s more than enough to keep several adults rolling several carts filled with flowers and stuffed animals, and making deliveries ALL DAY LONG!

What ever happened to exchanging sweet cards and giving boxes of chocolates–and just enjoying the simple pleasures of life?  Everything has gotten way too complicated, don’t you think?  Wishing everyone an uncomplicated weekend, filled with life’s many sweet simple pleasures!

Not Me Monday…The Day After!

Happy Monday everyone! Time to begin the week with a few “not me” moments from the weekend.  If you enjoy my post, hop on over to Mckmama’s blog hop at http://www.mycharmingkids.net and join in the fun.

We did not begin our Valentine’s Day weekend here in southeastern Georgia with snow!  On Friday evening it did not look like a blizzard outside because the snow was falling so hard.  We hadn’t seen snow in these parts in 20 years!  My grown sons and son-in-law did not play outside in the dark–in the snow–for nearly two hours!  They did not remind me of little boys.

Brandy and Brett posing with the "Southern Snowman"

On the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, I did not send my husband out into the wild frenzy of Wal-mart shoppers to do some grocery shopping for me…I would never do that, especially since he brought roses to me on Friday–to “avoid the crowd”…I would never do that!

While my husband was fighting the frenzy at  Wal-mart, I was at home baking and decorating Valentine’s Day cupcakes with my daughter, Brandy, and granddaughter, Madison.   Brandy did not volunteer her husband to go with my husband to Wal-mart…to get him out-of-the-way…

By the time my husband returned from fighting the shoppers at Wal-mart, I was tired from all the baking– since I haven’t been feeling well lately…He offered to take me out to eat, but I did not tell him that I’d rather just lay on the couch!  My sweet husband then went into the kitchen and made a supper of spaghetti and french bread for us…I am so blessed…

I volunteered to cook lunch for our entire family on Valentine’s Day, so I decided to skip church and cook. The last time I cooked, then went to church, I could barely hold my eyes open… My daughter came home from church to tell me that the entire family was on our “family pew” except for hubby and me.  Ahhh…I did not feel guilty.

the girls enjoying some humor during lunch

My youngest son, Brad, and his new girlfriend did not have the most interesting Valentine’s Day story about their gifts to each other…She gave him a box of candy–which he accidentally dropped and spilled outside in the dirt…she also gave him a Georgia Bulldog mug, which they kicked off the table and broke during some “horseplay”!  He  gave her some chocolates, which she left in the car during church–and returned to the car to find them melted…I hope this is not an omen….

After our family enjoyed a Valentine’s Day meal of baked ham with all the trimmings–including a heart-shaped ice cream cake, we retired to the living room to play the Newlywed Game.  When the game ended,  Brad and Jennifer came in only 3  points behind Ed and me…Pretty impressive!  A couple of 4 months versus a couple of nearly 38 years–either they were very good, or Ed and I are pretty bad…

grandkids opening Valentine's Day gifts...

Being the southern, a bit ”red-necky” family that we are…we did not settle down to watch the Daytona 500 Nascar race for entertainment!  The race was not stopped with 78 laps still left to go…because there was a pot hole in the track!  Give me a break!!!  After only an hour and a half delay to repair the hole in the asphalt, the race resumed.  By then, everyone had lost interest, and gone home.  As for me?  I stretched out on the couch and took a nap…complete with snoring… I never snore, not me!

It was not the best Valentine’s Day weekend that I’ve ever had…one that I will never forget!  Have a great Monday everyone!  

***Now to announce the winner of the weekend giveaway….the winner is Tabitha!  Tabitha was commenter # 14–the winning number chosen.  Congratulations, Tabitha, and thanks to everyone for visiting and leaving a comment.  Your prize will be in the mail as soon as I get your address!  There will be a new giveaway on Friday…

Six Word Saturday

Welcome to Six Word Saturday…The meme that requires that we describe our life–or something in just six words.  This meme is hosted by Cate over athttp://www.showmyface, and it’s fun.  Hop on over and give it a try!

My six words for this Saturday are:  Will Never Forget This Valentine’s Day!

I’ve posted all week about romance and Valentine’s Day…I’ve had some good Valentine’s Days, and a bad one…check out the post prior to this one for details…However, I’ve never received a Valentine written in the snow before…Check this out:

My hubby wrote this Valentine in the snow and photographed it

Isn’t that sweet?  It’s been over 20 years since it snowed here in Georgia, so there is a good chance this is the only snow Valentine I will ever receive.  It may possibly be the last snow that I ever get to experience.  What a wonderful way to remember the snow…and this Valentine’s Day.  By the way, my hubby also brought me these yesterday:

these roses are just as red as they look in the picture

I am truly blessed…Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.  Have a great weekend!  Oh!  There is a giveaway going on this weekend..Bath and Body Works  cream and lotions–3 different kinds.  Just leave a comment telling me if you’d like to enter.

My Most Memorable Valentine’s Day…

After an entire week,  I am almost out of love stories!  That being said, I will tell you the stories of my most memorable Valentine’s Day–and the Valentine’s Day that I’d like to forget!

My husband is not a man who likes to buy flowers.  He thinks they are a waste of money, and they really are…but I love them anyway.  Ed and I had been married for two years before I received my first bouquet of flowers from him–on Valentine’s Day.  

 At the time,  were both working at a hospital in Savannah–in the Radiology department.  I saw co-workers getting flowers all the time since I worked in the receptionist office.  I would always admire those beautiful bouquets when they were delivered–and wish that they were mine.  I sort of told Ed about my desires shortly before Valentine’s Day one year.

On Valentine’s Day of 1974, Ed finally sent me a bouquet of flowers! I’ll bet he grumbled as he ordered them, but  I was so thrilled.  They were absolutely beautiful!  I went home and took several pictures of them.  I remember there were tulips among the mixed flowers, and I love tulips (Ed didn’t know that).  I still treasure the memory of  having that first bouquet of flowers delivered to me at work.  Of course, I’ve received many bouquets of flowers from Ed since that day, but none as special to me as that first bouquet.

My other most memorable Valentine’s Day is one that I’d really like to forget!  Flash forward a few years… to those busy years of raising three children, and just trying to survive!  Remember those days???  I don’t know what in the world made me do it, but that year when Ed asked me what I’d like for Valentine’s Day, I replied “Just don’t worry about it– don’t get me anything.”  I don’t know what in the world made Ed do it– but he took me at my word and didn’t get me anything!  Oh my!  It was not a very good Valentine’s Day for either one of  us that year! 

A friend of ours still laughs about that Valentine’s Day–and about how Ed was out “looking for a gift” –the day after Valentine’s Day–” ’cause he was in the doghouse! “  Sure enough,  Ed came home the day after Valentine’s Day with this long, slinky, black lingerie–split all the way up the side!  I think I know what he had on his mind…but I don’t think he got it!!!  It took me a while to get over the disapointment of that Valentine’s Day!  Many years have passed since that Valentine’s Day…but Ed’s never neglected Valentine’s Day again…it was probably his most memorable Valentine’s Day, too! 

***If you are looking for Friday’s giveaway–here it is…just leave a comment to be entered to win it!  It’s 3 bottles of Bath and Body Works skin lotions and creams.  Perfect for dry, chapped winter skin!

Click here to enter your link in the blog hop and view the entire list of entered links…

Love???…My Sons Love NASCAR… plus… Friday’s Giveaway

It’s Valentine’s Day on Sunday, and it’s also the day of the Daytona 500 race.  I don’t care much for racing, I just like to watch the wrecks–that’s morbid, isn’t it?  It amazes me how those cars are involved in the accidents that  sometimes happen, and the driver just walks away.  Thank goodness! 

I have two grown sons, ages 27 and 24, and they are huge race fans.  Of course we are from the south– and lots of people around these parts love racing.  On any given Sunday, you will find my boys seated in front of a large television somewhere, watching the races.  They tend to get very involved! 

Occasionally, the two of them will get some tickets, gather up a couple more friends, and go to watch the races in person.  Strangely enough, they’ve never been to the Daytona 500, even though it’s only a few hours away from where we live. 

Both boys have been to the Daytona racetrack though, and both experienced speeding in an actual race car around the track–with someone else driving.  I suppose that is better than watching someone else ride around the track from the stands!  I know they both paid a” pretty penny” to take that ride, but both said they enjoyed every minute of the experience. 

Brad waiting to take his ride on the Daytona Speedway

Brett, our oldest son, is a Jeff Gordon fan.  He admires Jeff for all that he has accomplished during his career.  Brett was telling me last week that there is only one race on a particular track that Jeff hasn’t won during his entire racing career.  Brett’s wife, Christina, likes Jimmie Johnson–which makes for interesting couple’s race watching!  

Brett posing with one of Jeff Gordon's cars

Brad is a Kasey Kahne fan–and so am I.  I don’t really know why Brad likes Kasey, but I think he’s cute. LOL  I don’t watch races much, but if Kasey is having a good run, it will usually get my attention and I’ll watch.  My son-in-law tells me that Kasey is driving a Ford this year.  I’ll have to watch and see how that works out for him.  I’m a Ford lover who drives a Chrysler PT Cruiser. LOL 

I don’t know what the rest of the world will be doing  this Sunday on Valentine’s Day, but I have a pretty good idea what both of my sons will be doing.  As for me, I’m hosting a Valentine’s Day lunch for the family.  How about you, what are you doing for Valentine’s Day? 

FRIDAY’S GIVEAWAY..…Is your skin dry and cracked–like mine?  Then you will enjoy this Friday’s giveaway.   There is a 2 oz. bottle of  aromatherapy ”Stess Relief” body lotion, a  2 oz.tube of “Lay it on Thick ” intense moisture body cream, and a  2 oz. bottle of Japanese Cherry Blossom body lotion… packaged together in a cellophane bag, and tied with a ribbon bow.  A ten-dollar value.  All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment over the weekend–about anything, and let me that you would like to have the lotions.  How simple is that?  I’ll be taking comments until Monday morning, when I’ll let Random.org pick the winning comment number…Good luck!

Click here to see the entire Giveaway Blog Hop List….

The Third Time Is The Charm… A Valentine’s Day Love Story

For years, it seemed that our daughter, Brandy, was going to always be “unlucky in love”.  She’d spent nearly five years of her life dating “G”, her highschool sweetheart,  got engaged to him–only to have him practically leave her standing at the altar without an explanation. 

Next came “R” who was a good-looking, smooth talking guy, who came in and swept her off her feet.  ”R” was originally from South Africa, but  moved over here with his missionary family several years ago.   He  had the cutest little “British” accent, but after about a year into their serious relationship–Brandy soon found that most everything that came out of that “smooth-talking” mouth was a lie.    

Scorned twice by love, Brandy was almost afraid to try again.  Finally,  she agreed to a blind date arranged by a friend and fellow co-worker.  Like her mother before her, Brandy was cynical, and didn’t think too much would come of the blind date, but just like her mother–she was wrong! 

Brandy and Clint had a love connection from the beginning.  Brandy was surprised that things could move along so quickly, but I explained to her that sometimes you just know–immediately.  It was apparent, almost from the beginning, that Brandy and Clint were meant to be together. 

Clint has the sweetest “southern country drawl”, and the personality to go with it. I’ve never seen someone “court” a woman like he “courted” Brandy.  He was a man in love–and he wasn’t afraid to show it.  He’d leave romantic phone messages, he sent flowers, and every weekend he showed up bearing lots of gifts–lots of gifts!  It was a true southern courtship! 

Brandy and Clint had their first date on October 7, 2000.  Just four months later, on Valentine’s Day, Clint showed up with his arms full of gifts.  I am not exaggerating–it was a bag full!  The bag was filled with an assortment of stuffed Valentine’s animals, and other things.  Among the things  was a “Merry Moo” figurine of  one cow proposing to another cow, and it said “Will you marry me?” (Clint loves all things John Deere) A little further down in the bag was THE BOX–containing a large diamond engagement ring!  Clint asked the question, Brandy said yes, and the rest is history! 

Valentine's Night 2000--the contents of the bag are on the couch & on Brandy's finger!

The two of them wasted no time in planning their wedding.  They were married on July 7, 2001–exactly 9 months from the day of their first date.  The friend and co-worker who played “cupid” was their matron-of-honor!  It was a beautiful wedding, and we’ve never felt like we lost our daughter–instead we gained another son–and a granddaughter, five years later!!! 

...And they lived happily ever after

So I guess it’s true what they say, “sometimes a person may have to kiss a few toads to get to the prince.”  Brandy went through a few toads, but finally found her prince!  For her, the third time was definitely the charm.  I just love a happy ending….

Click here to enter your link in the blog hop and view the entire list of entered links…