For the Love of Chocolate!

Do you feel this way when you eat chocolate? This is my grandson Drake at his first birthday party. His expression speaks for chocolate lovers everywhere!

Happy Easter!

Drake had a fever so he couldn't join us. He stayed home with mommy. Still, he was full of smiles and giggles even with his pink cheeks!

Wordless Wednesday - Grandma's Angel

All On a Morning's Drive

For the past several months, we have been a one car family. Aaron has been using the van since he fried his engine due to an oil leak of which he was unaware until it was too late.

So, with his going to school all day (Roane State Community College) and working all night, I have been giving the van over to him until he is able to repair his car.

As a result, I have been all but stranded in the house, and with the cold weather and snow, such as it was, it was starting to become quite confining. Finally, though, I had a rare morning of freedom as Aaron doesn’t have school on Friday’s, so I thought I would take the van and run some errands, as well as stop and see my grandson. It was a beautiful day with warming temperatures and melting snow, and I was looking forward to the drive. Imagine my dismay when I found the van on empty, actually less than empty, when the little needle hovers between stationary and the 0 mark.

Given that the nearest gas station is 16 miles from my house, through winding, hilly roads with nothing on either side but farms and fields, I was praying all the way. I was sure if God could keep a jug of oil from running dry, he could keep my gas tank from running dry (1 Kings 17:8-16 NIV). I did make it all the way there, and relieved to have a full tank of gas, embarked on the second leg of my freedom flight. Then, midway to my son’s house, without a care in the world, I noticed the tell-tale tic, tic, ticking of an engine without oil. Oh my, we certainly didn’t need a second car with a blown head gasket!

Son No. 1 had a spare quart of oil and fixed me up, but it was bone dry. Perhaps if I bought another quart, son No. 2 could at least put it in. All in all , it was a wonderful restorative day, despite my hungry car parts. My grandson is growing by leaps and bounds, already 9 months old, and the fresh air and cool breeze gave me the hint of spring I needed to keep going. I’ll be hunting for buds now; spring tends to come early in East Tennessee.

Returning home, I filled Aaron in on the events of the day, unremarkable in his estimation. He always makes it to the gas station on empty, and he doesn’t think the ticking of the oil pipes, so to speak, mean anything at all. “Just because 19-year-olds are indestructible,” I remarked, “doesn’t mean cars are (your car, case in point).”

Well, new engine now in hand, hopefully Aaron will have his car fixed by next Saturday when dear husband returns home from the road for this 3-day off-time. My van, and my time, will be my own again; and while I’ll likely mostly just hang around the house, as I’m a real homebody, it’s nice to know I can get up and go when the walls start closing in.

Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra, Ra Ra Ra Ra

Christmas dinner is a time-honored tradition. Undoubtedly like most Americans, I can remember childhood Christmases where we gathered the whole family for a huge dinner, turkey, dressing, cranberries, potatoes, candied yams, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin pies, the whole nine yards. Sometimes at our home, but more often at my aunt and uncle's home in another county in my home state of Ohio. Both my aunt and uncle were wonderful cooks and there was always an abundance of mouth-watering holiday dishes.

As the years passed, and cousins and siblings went their separate ways with their own families, my family carried on as many of the traditions as we could. But our fesitivities were always much smaller as we were generally living far from our Ohio homeland and unable to do much traveling. Funny how we always seemed to make the same amount of food, though, despite the fact that we had far fewer people to feed.

Now that my children are grown, our holidays are much simpler but just as delightful. This year, my eldest son and daughter-in-law and my grandson visited us on Christmas Eve. My grandson Drake's first Christmas--he is 8 months old.

What a joy to watch him, entranced as he was by the ribbons and bows and lights...more on that later.

We had our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve since we would all be together, the three of them, my husband, myself, and my youngest son who still lives with us. Same traditional foods, but I did manage to force myself to make just a little less than I had done in Christmases past. We had a wonderful time.

Christmas Day was uneventful for the most part; our youngest spent the day with his girlfriend's family, which left dh and I to fend for ourselves. With no big dinner to prepare for the first time -- ever -- we decided to go out to dinner with our dear friend Inez. I don't know about other parts of the country, but here in East Tennessee, NOTHING is open on Christmas Day. We had a choice between the local Chinese Restaurant and a Waffle House. We chose the Chinese Restaurant.

Do you remember the movie "A Christmas Story," made in 1983 with Darren McGavin? It takes place in a 1940's fictitious town in Indiana (filmed primarily in Cleveland) and centers around little Ralphie Parker's desperate attempts to convince his parents, his teachers, and even Santa, that the Red Ryder BB Gun would be the best Christmas present in the whole wide world. It's a wonderful movie filled with many of the wholesome traditions we all remember (but mine are from the 50's and 60's, not the 40's), shopping for a Christmas tree, standing in line to see Santa, presents under the tree, staying up late to put them together, and getting up early to take them apart, and most of all, Christmas dinner!

Unfortunately, those folks didn't get to eat their Christmas turkey because a pack of neighborhood dogs somehow got to it first, and as Ralphie explains in the movie, "The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey Hash! Turkey a la King! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, ALL GONE!"

Our trip to the Chinese Restaurant, Peking Buffet, reminded me of the next scene where Mr. Parker packed the family off to their local China Palace for a Chinese Christmas Dinner. What is tradition, anyway, without family? The togetherness in the celebration was what made it special. As was ours. Our Chinese Buffet was excellent and we had a wonderful time of togetherness.

Oh, but no one sang "fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra." And, thank goodness, I didn't have to cope with a Major Award, and there is no leg lamp, broken or otherwise, in my front window.

From Our Home to Yours - Christmas Blessings

Sharing with you the Glory,

the Wonder, the Miracle

of this Holy Season.

Have a Blessed Christmas and

a Truly Rich New Year!

. . .the Rathmell Family

Drake Elliot @ Lunch with Family