Wow!! The Holidays Are Upon Us!!

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is one week away!!  Where has the year gone?  Well, let's see.. this time last year my daughter and I were preparing for our trip to New York City for 5 days of shopping.  That didn't all go as planned as far as the situation at home, but we did shop until we dropped.  If we go again Enola will definitely be pushing me around NYC in a wheelchair!  It was great getting away with my then 23 year old daughter and it's an experience we will never forget.  Also, I now have a "for real" Tiffany box with an overpriced silver ring in it.  But hey, it's real Tiffany and that box sure is a pretty shade of blue on display in my bathroom.

Valentine's Day my daughter became engaged and shortly afterwards realized she was pregnant.  What a rough 5 months of watching her throw up! lol  Brought back so many memories of my pregnancy with her.  I was actually nauseated right along with her, but thankfully, didn't actually throw up.  Bottom line on that situation is I have a beautiful little granddaughter that was born the day before my daughter's birthday.  Little Ava looks just like Enola did 24 years ago and since we were in the same hospital where Enola was born I was experiencing some major flashbacks!!  For a few hours I thought I was losing my mind and couldn't figure out if I was holding baby Enola or baby Ava.  Sometimes it tough being such a sensitive person... (okay, crazy person). lol  But seriously, what joy Ava is bringing into all of our lives.  Needless to say I'm about to have a new son-in-law whom I love very much.  Enola, Ava, & Chris make a beautiful little family unit.

I lost my dearest companion of nearly 14 years on May 6th when Prince Brutus Crow passed away.  It's been six months and I still ache for that little red Doxie!!  Hey, at least I only cry over him about once a week now instead of numerous times a day.

A great thing in my life is the fact my Mom and I are back together!!  She and I should get together and write a book about Dysfunctional Families.  I bet it would be a best seller and Dr. Phil would ask us to appear on his show.   Hey at least our family being so dysfunctional saved us all money on Christmas Presents!

Speaking of Christmas, Jordan gave me his list.... Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, blah, blah, blah.  He's 14 and 1/2 and I told him he needs to get a job if he wants all of those things.  He keeps talking about the 2012 Mustang he wants when he turns 16 and when I explain to him that I can't afford a car like that he simply points out to me that it will be 2 years old when he turns 16 and much cheaper to buy.  Here again, SON, GET A JOB!! 

I have been sewing curtains and crafting all sorts of things the past couple of months.  Of course, earlier in the year I was sewing for Ava and crocheting little hats and such.  Recently, I've been into making decorative monograms.  I have so many C's in my house I'm beginning to think it's a subconscious reminder to never get married again and change my last name.  Some of us just have to make more mistakes than others before we get the message.  That's something else I should write a book about... Marriage and Divorce.... REPEATEDLY .. How to Avoid the Fat Rat Bastards in life.  Sorry, hope this doesn't offend anyone....

Hope all of you are more prepared for Christmas than I am.  If I wait too much longer I might just have to take down all these burlap curtains I've made and wrap them up as Christmas gifts.  If your name starts with a "C" I can always pull one of my new monograms off the wall and wrap it.

Give me a shout and let me know how you are handling the approaching holidays.

Nanette Crow
 
 

 

Where to Find Happiness

We should all be aware that it is up to us to make ourselves happy and/or find happiness within ourselves.  You should never pin all your hopes of happiness on another person, whether it be your parents, or spouse, or your children.  I think it's a terrible mistake to think that you will find a partner in life and then you will be happy.  How many times have you had a discussion with a depressed person and they indicate that they will be happy when they find a life partner, or they will be happy when they don't have financial worries.  Well, if you feel that way then you may be in for a lifetime of ups and downs where happiness is concerned!!  Life is short and life is full of ups and downs for sure.  I've found that many of the happiest people I know have had devastating times in their lives, but they learned to not let it ruin them.  No one wants to be around a sour puss that can only talk about how stressed they are, how mistreated they have been, how rough of a time they are having financially, or how sick they are!!  No matter what there is always numerous things to be thankful for.... a roof over your head, wonderful friends/family, healthy children, food on the table.... the list goes on and on!!  It's up to each of us to make ourselves happy in this life, whatever it takes. 

I'll be the first to admit that whenever someone important in our lives majorly disappoints us it is difficult to be 100% happy and sometimes depression sets in no matter how hard you try to prevent it (or how many anti-depressants you take - lol)!  I am definitely speaking from experience here.  We've all been devastated by the actions of others or the devastation that sometimes just happens in life (such as your home burning or losing a loved one).  Sometimes our unhappiness stems from silly mistakes we make from time to time.  No matter what it is that makes us unhappy it is each individual persons responsibility to pull themselves together and make themselves happy again!!  Never look to others to make you happy if you can't find happiness within your own heart.  I'm not saying you have to immediately put on that happy face and pretend nothing bad has happened.  We all need time to mourn the loss of a loved one, the loss of what we thought another person was, the loss of our lifestyle or whatever it is that has temporarily taken away our happiness.

I've suffered somewhat of a personal shock these past few days and yes I've not been happy.  I've slept the weekend away, I've thought about it over and over for hours (whenever I wasn't asleep), I've cried and I've been mad.  However, tomorrow morning I will get up and put a big smile on my face and continue on with life as usual.  I've spoken with my daughter and a couple of good friends because I needed to vent, but I refuse to waste another day of my life being upset over the actions of someone else!  I've discovered that I'm a pretty tough OLD CROW, just like my Mama and Daddy and I refuse to be beaten in this game of life.  No one or no thing is going to drag me down to a dark place that I can't climb out of and I do mean that!!

I have so much in my life to be thankful for.  Other than my chronic pain which is a result of a birth defect and Tethered Cord surgery I am in great health.  Yes, I have depression and anxiety and that's mostly because of the Chronic Pain I live with 24/7.  I have two beautiful children that I'm so proud of and now I have a precious little granddaughter, Ava, that brings joy to us all.  I have a roof over my head and a dependable vehicle and so many wonderful friends in my life.  Some friends I see on a regular basis and some I just talk to on Face Book, but those friends are all so important to me.  Even the ones I've not met in person!!  I try to always have a smile on my face and a kind word for everyone I encounter in life.  Bringing just a little bit of happiness to others in this world makes me so very happy!!  I think I have so many friends because each of them know that I truly care about them and I always have time to listen to what is going on in their lives!!  Being able to do little things for others is a very important thing to me and it brings me much happiness.

I guess the point of this blog, in addition to the fact that I need to vent a little , is to remind everyone that happiness is within each of us and it is each persons responsibility to find that happiness within their being.  NEVER depend on another person to make you happy because you will get hurt!  Once you find your own happiness then you are ready to go out and share that happiness with others whether it be in a relationship, friendship, family, or whatever.  Just remember it is YOUR job to make yourself HAPPY!

As always, comments are welcome and I'm always available if you need to vent.

Nanette Crow
The Crows Nest