Christmas in Heaven

My thoughts and emotions are all over the place this year. I am holding up ok, but quite honestly, I am just not in a joyus mood. I miss Lolly Pop Kid and my deployed son, LCpl Honda. I wish they were here. That makes Christmas a little tough to deal with. It is also hard to believe Lolly has been gone for six months as of yesterday.

I started thinking that Christmas in Heaven must be spectacular. It has to be so much more than just lights, presents and decorated trees. This thought gives me great comfort. Lolly is lucky to be part of something bigger than any of us can imagine. He really is getting the best gift of all. He is encompassed in God’s love and my family was given the gift of having him in our lives. For that I am extremely grateful

So even though I wish he was still here, I know that he is ok and that I will see him again. So this Christmas I will spend time with my family. They all understand. We will be grateful for the gift of our Lolly Pop Kid.

Merry Christmas Lolly. Sleep in heavenly peace.

A Christmas Tree for my Son

I am preparing LCpl Honda’s Christmas care package. Since he will not be here for the holidays I wanted to bring a little holiday spirit to him. I have been agonizing over what to send to him. He just keeps telling me he does not need anything. I know he is not deprived of anything since he is deployed on a Navy ship, but still I want to send him something!

Today I stopped at Walgreens and I this tree. I love it! The clerk loved it! Especially when she found out it was going to a deployed service member. Now my care package think tank is in full gear. Watch LCpl Honda, Christmas is coming!

Decorating Woes

My furniture is probably over ten years old. So I have been thinking about either replacing it or maybe covering it. It has a southwestern theme which is fine but I am kind of tired of it. I am striving for a simple decorating solution for my house. Although keeping Corvette from sitting out toy cars and machine gun shells from LCpl Honda is a challenge in itself.

I want to have a mix of Southwestern décor with a touch of modern motif. So of course, I resort to internet searches and I found a site that offers many options for my decorating dilemma. The Furniture Store has solutions for every room of the house. I really liked the selection of living room furniture.

I checked out the dinette sets because when we moved to our new house I bought a set that just does not work in our house. I want to sell it and get something that will work better in the space we have.

There is even a section for pets. I have been looking for a new affordable dog bed for Lucie for awhile now. I love my puppy but I am not willing to take out a loan for a dog bed. I found a large, plush dog bed for about $44.00. Not bad.

I am sure I will find what I am looking for. It just takes some time, but I will persevere in my quest to have my perfectly decorated home!

Sunday Brunch

Yesterday, family and friends came together and we planted Lolly’s tree. The week before, I prayed for cooler weather and that prayer was answered. I was a little worried a major storm might interrupted the planting but that did not happen. The tree was a little bigger than I expected. I have a VW bug. The tree is about 5 feet tall and it actually fit in my car. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. LCpl Honda dug the hole in the yard. Everyone arrived and we feasted on sub sandwiches and potato salad. Grandma M brought a carrot cake. Lolly loved baby carrots. Everyone took turns shoveling dirt into the hole. Then Butterfly and my friend’s daughter, Big Brown Eyes helped Lolly’s dad Tango make a well around the tree. Finally, we made a circle around Lolly’s tree and said a prayer and asked God to bless the tree.

It was a wonderful day.

After the planting, I gave everyone a picture of Lolly’s name in the sand.

I am posting our group picture, although we took many pictures that day. The rest I have chosen to keep private. I am also posting a picture of my dad, Grandpa DingDon, one of Lolly’s namesakes. No recipe today. Yesterday was simple, kind of like a picnic. Everyone knows how to make a picnic. Yes?

We love you sweet boy. Donovan. Our Lolly Pop Kid.

I had to add this drawing, done by Butterfly, Lolly’s sissy.

ps. The drawing was lying on my kitchen table today and my cat decided to walk on it. The blue background was done with pastel chalk. I just spent a whole bunch of time in my bathroom trying to wash the blue color off of my cat’s feet. Fun.

Yea, I think that is all I have to say about that…

Military Monday – LCpl Honda at Sea.

Here is a pic of LCpl Honda working on the flight deck in Combat Cargo. He is the one one the right. The Marines are moving a net that is used to transport cargo, food and other supplies from the the cargo ships and between the Navy ships. Combat Cargo also aids in assisting visitors or military personnel arriving and departing from the ship. It does not matter how high up in rank the visitor may be. Combat Cargo personnel is in charge on the flight deck.

LCpl Honda will be home on leave this weekend and then will deploy in Sept. It is going to be a long 7 months. He will however get to visit quite a few ports in many countries. Anyway, here he is:

God Bless our Troops. Happy Military Monday!

Military Monday – At Sea

I am a little late with this. There is a new series, “At Sea” on the Military Channel featuring the US Navy and the US Marines. It actually started last night, Aug. 9th. It is a three episode special focusing on Naval ships.  The second episode airs tonight Aug. 10th at 10pm eastern time and concluding with the third episode on Tues. Aug. 11th. Hopefully it will repeat at another time. There is an excellent article about the series here.

The series focus is to let the American people know how the Navy and Marines work together and what these joined forces do when they are at sea. Our armed forces are made up of real people who have chosen to serve the American people and the series conveys this message to the viewer.

LCpl Honda is currently on the USS Bonhomme Richard preparing for an upcoming  MEU. This is why I am especially interested in this program. He currently works on the fight deck in Combat Cargo. He and other Marines and Sailors are responsible for loading and unloading cargo and making sure that people get on and off the Helicopters safely.

Go to the Military Channel website and you can explore an aircraft carrier interactively, find out more about the program, “At Sea” and learn about ships of the future.

Military Monday – At Sea

I am a little late with this. There is a new series, “At Sea” on the Military Channel featuring the US Navy and the US Marines. It actually started last night, Aug. 9th. It is a three episode special focusing on Naval ships.  The second episode airs tonight Aug. 10th at 10pm eastern time and concluding with the third episode on Tues. Aug. 11th. Hopefully it will repeat at another time. There is an excellent article about the series here.

The series focus is to let the American people know how the Navy and Marines work together and what these joined forces do when they are at sea. Our armed forces are made up of real people who have chosen to serve the American people and the series conveys this message to the viewer.

LCpl Honda is currently on the USS Bonhomme Richard preparing for an upcoming  MEU. This is why I am especially interested in this program. He currently works on the fight deck in Combat Cargo. He and other Marines and Sailors are responsible for loading and unloading cargo and making sure that people get on and off the Helicopters safely.

Go to the Military Channel website and you can explore an aircraft carrier interactively, find out more about the program, “At Sea” and learn about ships of the future.

Surprise, Surpise

So last night my phone rings and it is LCpl Honda. He tells me,  ”Make a wish and then tell me when you are done.” So I did. Then he tells me, “Guess what? Your dream just came true!”

Huh? Right about that time the phone disconnects and the doorbell rings. I was thinking, “Who the heck is ringing my doorbell at 7:30 in the evening?” As Corvette went to answer the door, I put the phone down and went out in the garage to open the door to let some of the heat out. Since we live in the Desert Southwest it gets incredibly hot out there and I like to let it air out a little at night.  I stayed in the garage for a few minutes and then went back in the house.

Surprise!, Surprise! LCpl Honda was standing in my living room!

He was supposed to be here on Saturday to bring home some of his things before deployment. He was also only supposed to be here overnight. So lucky us!

My nephew Sgt. Red once surprised my sister Crafty in the middle of the night by climbing through the dog door. Thank goodness his dogs knew it was him. I told LCpl Honda not try any middle of the night entries or come in when we are not home (he has a key) because he will set off the alarm and then he will have some explaining to do. To the cops. Marine or no.

Oh, that wasn’t exactly my wish, but I will take it.

Surprise, Surpise

So last night my phone rings and it is LCpl Honda. He tells me,  ”Make a wish and then tell me when you are done.” So I did. Then he tells me, “Guess what? Your dream just came true!”

Huh? Right about that time the phone disconnects and the doorbell rings. I was thinking, “Who the heck is ringing my doorbell at 7:30 in the evening?” As Corvette went to answer the door, I put the phone down and went out in the garage to open the door to let some of the heat out. Since we live in the Desert Southwest it gets incredibly hot out there and I like to let it air out a little at night.  I stayed in the garage for a few minutes and then went back in the house.

Surprise!, Surprise! LCpl Honda was standing in my living room!

He was supposed to be here on Saturday to bring home some of his things before deployment. He was also only supposed to be here overnight. So lucky us!

My nephew Sgt. Red once surprised my sister Crafty in the middle of the night by climbing through the dog door. Thank goodness his dogs knew it was him. I told LCpl Honda not try any middle of the night entries or come in when we are not home (he has a key) because he will set off the alarm and then he will have some explaining to do. To the cops. Marine or no.

Oh, that wasn’t exactly my wish, but I will take it.

Just a Fun Ole Friday

Well, today I don’t have anything very profound to speak about, just some announcements and comments concerning my life.

First of all: Ta Da

I just ordered a new computer! Yes, I decided to take the plunge because:

#1 My computer is about 5 years old which makes it ancient in computer land.

#2 I am pretty sure my current computer has a few creepy crawlers because it does not always cooperate.

#3 New computer comes equipped with a wireless router so I can take that sucker in my bathroom/walk-in closet/”3rd” bedroom (those of you that have seen it know what I mean) if I so desire.

It should arrive either Monday or Tues. Here is a picture of my new favorite piece of electronics.

Ohh yes baby, it’s red.

In other news, I have an update on the arrival date of Hippie Guy and Flower Child’s twins. Looks like the second week of August if they don’t decide to make an appearance earlier. All is well with mother and children and Hippie Guy no longer has a deer in the headlight look. So we are looking forward to the birth and the baby shower next weekend with family and friends.

Other great news is Sgt. Red should be arriving from the Sandbox in the next couple of weeks. This has been a long year deployment and his family especially Crafty will be glad to have him home. His detachment was successful in the training of Iraqi Army soldiers. Apparently the IA no longer have trouble handling their own weapons as they have quit shooting themselves in the foot so to speak. Congratulation Sgt Red and the rest of your team!

LCpl Honda had been out floating with the Navy for about a week now in preparation for his upcoming deployment. Haven’t heard anything but I expected that.

So I saved the best news for last. Cinderella called the other night to tell me that she will be a college graduate on Oct 23, 2009!!! Way to go Cinderella. We are all so proud of you!!!! Look forward to seeing you in your cap and gown! (and beware, because I am sure you remember what you did to me at my graduation)  She also told me that she bought Miley Cyrus tickets for Butterfly and will surprise her with those in Sept. So everyone SSHHHH!!! It’s a secret!

I think that is about it except Happy Father’s Day to all. Be seeing you on Sunday Dad!

I am going to leave with a joke that was sent to me by my SIL, Ocean Girl (yea sweetie, you got a bloggie name now!) It is about Forrest Gump and considering the name of this blog I just had to post it here. Enjoy All!

FORREST GUMP GOES TO HEAVEN.The day finally arrived.
Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.

He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself.
However, the gates are closed,
and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.

St. Peter said, ‘Well, Forrest,
it is certainly good to see you.
We have heard a lot about you.
I must tell you, though,
that the place is filling up fast,
and we have been administering
an entrance examination for everyone.
The test is short, but you have to
pass it before you can get into Heaven.’

Forrest responds, ‘It sure is
good to be here, St. Peter, sir.
But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam.
I sure hope that the test ain’t too hard.
Life was a big enough test as it was.’

St. Peter continued, ‘Yes, I
know, Forrest,
but the test is only three questions.
First:
What two days of the week begin with the letter T?
Second:
How many seconds are there in a year?
Third:
What is God’s first name?’

Forrest leaves to think the questions over.
He returns the next day and sees St. Peter,
who waves him up, and says,
‘Now that you have had a chance
to think the questions over,
tell me your answers’

Forrest replied, ‘Well, the
first one –
which two days in the week begins with the letter ‘T’?
Shucks, that one is easy.
That would be Today and Tomorrow.’

The Saint’s eyes opened wide and
he exclaimed, ‘Forrest,
that is not what I was thinking,
but you do have a point,
and I guess I did not specify,
so I will give you credit for that answer.
How about the next one?’ asked St… Peter.

‘How many seconds in a year?
Now that one is harder,’ replied Forrest,
but I thunk and thunk about that,
and I guess the only answer can be twelve.’

Astounded, St. Peter said, ‘Twelve?
Twelve? Forrest,
how in Heaven’s name could you come
up with twelve seconds in a year?’

Forrest replied, ‘Shucks, there’s
got to be twelve:
January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd… ‘

‘Hold it,’ interrupts St. Peter.
‘I see where you are going with this, and I see your point,
though that was not quite what I had in mind….
but I will have to give
you credit for that one, too.
Let us go on with the third and final question.
Can you tell me God’s first name’?

‘Sure,’ Forrest replied,
‘it’s Andy.’

‘Andy?’ exclaimed an exasperated
and frustrated St Peter.

‘Ok, I can understand how you
came up with your answers to my first two questions,
but just how in the world
did you come up with the name Andy
as the first name of God?’

‘Shucks, that was the easiest
one of all,’ Forrest replied. ‘
I learnt it from the song,
‘ANDY WALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.’

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates,
and said:
‘RUN Forrest, RUN.’

Give me a sense of humor, Lord.
Give me the ability to understand a clean joke,
To get some humor out of life,
And to pass it on to other folks.