Tis The Season...

For kitties under the tree.

Moe & Chloe

They get quite annoyed when we dare to put presents under their tree!

Christmas Wrapped In My Mom's Love!

Since my mom retired several years ago she has taken up quilting.  I have many amazing quilts that she has made me, but one of my favorites is the huge Christams quilt.

It's extra special because my mom, some of my aunts, some cousins & my grandmother all hand tied this quilt in my mom's living room on a quilting rack that belonged to my mom's ancestors.  Everyone who helped tie my quilt signed it.

Oskar loves the quilt too.

To go along with that she made me a matching tree skirt.  There is one special square in the skirt for each of us, myself, my husband & John & Jack.

You can see that Moe the cat loves the tree skirt also!

Decorating the tree is a garland made of cloth circles called yo-yos.  My mom cut out & hand sewed each of the yo-yos and my other grandmother, who has since passed away, sewed them all together into garlands.

This Christmas is especially important to me since it will be my mom's one year anniversary of having survived breast cancer.

The holidays can be a trying time for me, but being surrounded by my mom's love makes me so happy to have these things in my house every day of the holiday season!
  

NoBloPoMo NO GO!

All I had to do is one little post yesterday, just slapped up a picture of a turkey and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving, but no my bi-polar brain was just freaking out about having to go to a social occasion.

The great news is I had a great Thanksgiving.  No melt downs, no major panic attacks and a wonderful dinner with extended family. 

Sadly I forgot my camera, but I have lovely memories. 

I hope your Thanksgiving was a nice and peaceful as mine was.

My Beautiful Present

I met my dear IRL friend Diane, through her blog Good Mourning Glory & if you don't know, she is an amazing artist! 

I ordered a card from her Etsy shop, and I loved it so much she framed one for me for my Christmas present.  This pic shows the way she painted the frame.

This one shows the artwork.

She is also a very talented photographer, so please check out her Etsy shop for lots of great goodies for your holiday gift giving.

ILU, Diane!

We Have A Wedding Date!

No, no one here in Mimi-ville is getting married I'm talking about the royal wedding!  April 29th & I am psyched.

My friend Rebecca from Knit By God's Hand & I are thinking about having some type of blogging event.  Is there anyone else out there who is as excited as we are?

Will you be getting up early in the morining and watching every minute, or are you sick of the whole thing already?

OK, Now I'm MAD!

If you've been a reader of Screaming Mimi for any amount of time, you know that I sign my posts like this:







I also sign many of my comments that I leave on other blogs the exact same way.

Apparently some Anonymous person thinks that this is phony.  I couldn't possibly "love" the people who read my blog.

You know what I say to you Anonymous?  Screw you!

My blog has been a place where I have met amazing friends.  Some that I've met, some that I haven't.  Some people may stumble onto my blog without me ever even knowing it.  But you know what?  I wish those people love and would probably hug most of them if I could.

I'm sorry, Anonymous, that you have a small life with nothing to do but leave negative comments on other people's blogs.  I'm sorry that the simple words "hugs & love" on the screen somehow make you feel uncomfortable.  I'm sorry because you're probably not a very happy person, but I'm not sorry & I will not be changing how I sign my posts or my comments.  So just for you, Anonymous,

Have You Felt This Way?

How do you speak from the heart, when your heart feels empty.  I don't feel empty as in a lack of love, but as in a lack of inspiration, spark, energy, fire, drive, desire, as in a lack of joy.

This picture was taken of me last week when I didin't know my picture was being taken.  When I saw it I was surprised at how much my expression in the photo matched how I am currently feeling.

Living with bipolar this happens, but I would appreciate your comments, love, prayers, healing thoughts, positive vibes and anything else that you think might help.  Thank you.

Oh Jack!

Jack's latest look!

Wanna Win An 8G i-Pod Touch?

Then head over to Setting You Free & you can enter for yourself!

Friday Fragments

Nothing much going on today, so I'm going to try some Friday Fragments with Half-Past Kissin' Time.

We think my husbands kidney stone may have passed painlessly.  He hasn't had any pain since Wednesday night.  He's not using the little pee strainer he's supposed to be using, he says it's too annoying.  Of course he would be mad at me for not doing that.  He's supposed to catch the stone so that they can see what it's made of so he can avoid them in the future.  Men!

My anxiety has been up.  The holiday season is always bad for me.  My depression gets worse & my social anxiety disorder kicks into high gear with so many events, gatherings and parties.  I really hate that this disorder can take away the joy that so many others get to feel.  It's not just me, it's no fun for my family, cause I'm always super stressy.

Plus the holidays are filled with tons of food everywhere, much of it I would love to eat, but can't because of my gastroparesis.  Wouldn't that make you grumpy?

I think I want a Kindle for Christmas, but if I get one I think I want the new $389 one & not the $150 older version, but what if I don't like it.  It wish I could go into a store & see it, try it before I buy it.

I can't find a Stretch Armstrong.  When my boys are little they had them & called him Stretchie-Betchie.  Jack wants one this year (yes, he's 15) and I don't think they make them anymore.  Toys R Us online doesn't have them.  If you see one let me know.

I think that's all the fragments I have time to share today.  Have a great weekend, friends!

Great Prizes For Your Pets!

Over on Oskars Blog we are involved in the Holiday Hop for Pets Giveaway.  There are over 62 participants so you can win tons of great stuff for your pets.

A linky to all 60+ giveaways is over on Oskar's post.

*Kidney stone update - Still not passed, but hubs says I am NOT posting a picture of it on this blog, lol!

Have a great day friends!

My Hubs Is In Pain!

Chris, Oskar & me this summer

I'm used to being sick & being in the hospital, but it's so much worse to watch someone you love in the hospital and in pain.

My handsome hubs Chris left work yesterday and drove himself to the hospital.  If you knew my husband you would know that this is serious.  He never leaves work unless it's an emergency & he usually ignores it when he is sick.

He's home now with a painful diagnosis, a kidney stone.  Well I shouldn't say he's home he's just not in the hospital anymore.  Being the man that he is he is, of course, at work today.  He now has the joy of severe pain whenever this little sucker is on the move with the added bonus of having to pee in a hat-like contraption in hopes of catching this little devil.

Screaming Mimi readers are so awesome at sending prayers and good wishes, so I'd like to ask for some for my husband, Chris.

And yes, you can expect a picture of this tiny terrror of a stone when it passes.  Who doesn't love something to look forward to, right?

Prince William Is Engaged? How Can This Be?

I remember watching his parents getting married, and remember when he & his brother were born.  And of course I stayed up all night that horrible August when his mother died.

Source

I do enjoy following the royal family, but wouldn't call myself an Anglophile.  I just can't get over how he could possibly be 28 years old already!  I must be imagining that I watched the wedding of his parents, surely I was only a baby then...right?

I do hope that the press that litereally hounded his mother to death have learned their lessons, and that these two beautiful young people can have a long and happy marriage.

I Am So Lucky

When I sit at my computer I am surrounded by things that inspire me & make me smile.

I was having a bad time this weekend and I found this on my computer desk.

My husband?  He's a keeper!

The Drawbridge

When I went to visit my beautiful friend Diane from Good Mourning Glory a few weeks ago, I got lost.  That is not news, I get lost a lot.  I was stuck in a scary part of Detroit while I had to wait for a drawbridge to let a freighter pass through.  I would have enjoyed the event more if I wasn't concerned for my life, but it was still somewhat cool.  (There are nice parts of Detroit, for those of you who only know what you hear on the national news.)

The pics are from my cell phone, thru my car window, so they aren't the best quality.  You can watch the progression of the boat going under the bridge.  It took about a half an hour in total.

Living around international waters I have seen lots & lots of freighters in my time, but never one while sitting in the inner city. 

Once the bridge went down, I got out of there and found the lovely neighborhood Diane lives in safe & sound!

Fun fact: Michigan is the only place in the continental United States that is actually north of Canada.  Windsor, Ontatio sit across the Detroit river, south of most of Michigan.

My Outfit...

It's not pretty,

But it's cozy!

A New Phase Of Mimi

My friend Beth from I Am Heading Towards My Destiny wrote the other day about moving on to new phases in your life.

I'm working on shedding a skin and growing a new one.  I have spent the last 18+ years being Mom and that was my most consuming passion and role in life.  Now my boys are 18 & 15.  Their paths are diverging more & more from mine as they build their own lives.


John & Jack

 While the role of mom is no less important, it does take up less of my time.  I've defined myself as John & Jack's mom for so long, I don't know how to add more Mimi back into the equation.


Christmas picture outtake

I'm going to start by doing a cross-stitch project for my mom for Christmas.  I haven't done any cross-stitch in years.  It's a small thing, but something I got away from.  Hopefully my eyes are up for it!

I'll do my best to share my progress on this new path with you.  Are you moving onto a new phase in your life?

Sick & Tired

Today I am sick & I am tired. 

Here's a picture of my cat, Chloe.

NaBloPoMo post: check!

PS - If you haven't done it yet, scroll down to yesterday's post and read about an amazing family who is running their own orphanage in Zambie and how you can help make their Christmas brighter.

Help The Orphans At Amy's Assorted Adventures

Hello from Amy’s Assorted Adventures. I’m grateful to Mimi for offering me this opportunity.

I am a missionary in Zambia, Africa who faces many adventures of varying degrees nearly every day. Hence the name of my blog. ;)

Five years ago we started out on our greatest adventure to date when we decided that we needed to start an orphanage in rural Zambia. We had been living in Zambia for nearly four years at this time and had seen how desperate the situation for orphans was. Starting our own orphanage was a big step because we were just a simple missionary couple with six kids and no organization backing us. We only had a dream and (of course) God’s backing.

It hasn’t been an easy ride, building and renovating, training staff, taking in very sick and needy babies—losing some of the sickest ones, but it has been so very worth it. When I look around our home and see the babies that have grown up to be preschoolers and now kindergarteners, I know it is so worth it and I feel humbled and blessed that God has put us in this place at this time.

Johnny

Take Johnny for example: He was born to a mother who suffered from insanity. Sadly, many men took advantage of her condition and she ended up with a child. She couldn’t care for him properly and by the time she passed away, Johnny was in a bad state. He had a severe case of Kwashiorkor (a type of malnutrition) that caused his whole body to swell. It took several days of round the clock feeding with special high calorie milk before he responded but he did so well. Now, he is one of our brightest and most energetic children. He has a future ahead of him that is filled with possibilities. At the moment he wants to be an astronaut. Who knows where God will take him and what he’ll do in his life but I know it is going to be an adventure.

Johnny

Johnny is actually the inspiration for our latest project. After an episode of petty theft of food from the staff kitchen, we discussed the matter with friends and they suggested that children should have a few things of their own. We’re calling this Christmas project: Every Child Needs Their Own Space. It’s a bit of a mouthful but what it comes down to is that we want the children we are caring for to feel special and unique and not just one of seventeen, fifty or one hundred children but a Child of God.

To help them feel that way, we want to present each of our kids ages 3 and above with their own little toy box this Christmas. We are inviting people to send small toys that we can fill them with. If this is something you would be interested in, you can find more details here, Christmas Comes But Once A Year, and here, Missionary Monday.

If you’d like to learn more about all my adventures in Africa please stop by and pay me a visit at Amy's Assorted Adventures. I love having visitors!

Please hop on over to Amy's blog and help with their Christmas project or donate directly to the orphanage.