Christmas is Coming!

With the Holidays Season in full swing, so much has been running through my mind. First and foremost, I have been concerned about how I will get all of the shopping done for my loved ones being based in Portland and flying back and forth on full flights, space available. Of course I love to bake and my concern has been how to get that accomplished. Finally, I have been wondering if I could even feel the spirit of Christmas as I am forced to be away from my family and friends during the best time of the year.

Yesterday, I was was working a flight from Portland to San Francisco. Everything was going smoothly and I was looking forward to deadheading back to Portland--which means, I only worked one leg then was a passenger going back. As we were descending into San Francisco, I was securing the galley and putting the beverage cart away. Our galley is super small and the cart is super heavy. I have done this particular thing thousands of times over my career with Delta and now SkyWest...no biggie...until yesterday!

Just as I was pushing it and turning it into its slot, one of the wheels locked up and apparently I was putting my weight into it at the same time. I felt a "pop" in my back on the left side. It was mildly uncomfortable but I thought nothing of it...that is, until I sat in my jump seat (which is NOT comfortable to begin with). All of a sudden this "mild" pain became a sharp, piercing, hot pain shooting down my back into my left hip. Of course we landed and sat on the tarmac for what seemed like hours...it was an unusually long time because we arrived early. As I was facing ALL of my passengers, I maintained a Nothing-Is-Wrong-With-My-Back-Smile...I was dying!!

I spoke with my Chief Flight Attendant who promptly sent me to an on-site clinic at the SFO airport. I waited for my turn (writhing in pain at this point) for what seemed to be an eternity, then was escorted into an exam room that felt more like a 52° meat locker and literally waited 1 hour and 10 minutes to be seen...

The doctor, who looked like an American Geisha Girl with soft, supple girlie hands, pink lips, rosy cheeks and luscious eyelashes looks at my back, has me twist and bend a few times, tells me this kind of an injury is slow to heal and then gives me a bottle of Ibuprofen 600! He tells me no lifting, pushing or pulling for at least 1 week until he can see me again and no flying. As he walks out of our 42 second exam, he says "I'll see you next Friday!" Uh, NOT...I'll follow up with my sweet Dr. Pitts, in Heber City, Utah thank you very much...

So I'm home. At least until next Friday and more than likely longer than that. I am SO FRUSTRATED!! Argh...!!

This means an OJI (on the job injury) with NO pay to my already minuscule paycheck. Great timing, right before Christmas...on the upside, I will more than likely be home for Christmas Eve/Day, but I was scheduled to be home on the 26th-28th as it was, so not a huge deal.

I will probably be home for the remainder of the Christmas holiday. My back is better this morning but Dr. Geisha Girl said it will flare up and to stop what I'm doing when this happens and lay down immediately.

On another note: A few Random things...

I am doing well with the passing of my daddy, but I have had a few days where I become completely teary at anything and everything. Days where I miss him more than I ever could have imagined and just long for him to take his poor little gnarly hand in mine, look me in the eyes with his cock-eyed baby blues and tell me how wonderful I am...because that's how he was! I miss the sound of his voice, his cute southern expressions and his oh-so-wise counsel. I just want to hear his voice one more time! You can never tell someone you love that you love them enough! He died with the absolute assurance that we all loved and adored him. Nothing more could have been said. It's like I told my mother, you can say "good-by" over and over but eventually, someone has to "hang up the phone". That's how it was for us with my dad. How blessed we all are to have had such an amazing father and patriarch of our home! His legacy of love and leadership will live on and I will forever be thankful and can never thank my Heavenly Father enough for sending me such great parents...

Another random event: My daughter is a single mother. She lives 4 houses away from me and raises 3 perfectly beautiful *little* ones as a single mother who is putting herself through school full-time. She struggles with her health and struggles with making ends meet. The other day she called to tell me that she had spent the morning so worried about how to get through the month (financially) with Christmas coming. She had agonized over how to pay certain bills and where to find money to buy groceries. She was totally stressed. She went outside to get her mail. About an hour later, she saw the mail lady stop by again and felt concern that maybe she was getting served or something. So she tentatively went out to her mailbox, picked up another stack of mail and went inside. She opened a few Christmas cards, had a few advertising fliers and saw one more envelope with no return address, only a postmark from our local town. The handwriting was not familiar but was pretty like a woman had written it. She opened it...inside was a cashiers check made out to her for...$500.00!!

She was so shocked, that she immediately took it over to my hubs to make sure that it was a real check! He assured her that it was. She was/is completely humbled and touched that someone would be so generous and kind to a struggling single mother with 3 precious little ones during the season of giving! As she was relaying this story to me, tears filled my eyes. What a sweet gesture that changed her month completely! Her biggest thing was that she was driving herself crazy with who could have possibly done this. She felt like she HAD to know or she would go nuts. I gently reprimanded her and told her to be gracious in her acceptance of this "manna from an angel/s". To do them honor by using the money wisely and share her thankful heart by passing it forward...not by giving $500.00, but by living her life as the Savior would want her to. By serving others and loving everyone. By helping out however she can.

It really doesn't matter the size of the check. In this case it was phenomenal, but the thought that someone gave generously of their substance to someone in need is touching and captures the real spirit of Christmas. I pray that the person/s responsible will know how grateful we all are at their selfless expressions of care, concern and love for a poor single mother with little mouths to feed. God Bless Them!

And Finally...
My neighbor called my hubs last Thursday evening as he was getting ready to attend a dinner for our local Boosters committee (we're both on the committee). She was panicked as her husband  (who was recovering from a recent hip surgery) was ill and hallucinating. Brad immediately dropped everything, ran over and helped get him to the hospital. Then he stayed into the late hours of the night just to be there to help with whatever needed to be done. His gift of time was every bit as valuable as any check and his willingness to give up a nice evening with dear friends, was evidence of who he is as a man and a great neighbor. I love him so much and am so thankful that he is the generous man that he is.

There is so much to be thankful for. My back is not in the best of shape, but this too shall pass. I have a head cold on top of my back, but that is temporary and I'm already beginning to feel a bit better. Christmas is here! It's not just on the 24th and 25th. It's right now! It's the sharing of not only gifts, but of love and care and concern and unselfish gestures.

 I pray that all of you have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate. I hope that your hearts are open to not only the giving but to the receiving of gifts. May God bless you all...

Thanksgiving; Where Are You?

As many of you know, my life has been turned upside down lately as I am literally juggling life from two different states. When I am home, those few precious days are usually spent catching up with dust mites, mopping sticky floors and reigning in other various household duties, not to mention spending time with my precious family...

I got back to Utah this past Monday morning at 2:00 AM. Yes, that's right, after a 12 hour duty day, I caught a flight out of San Francisco that delayed, delayed, delayed. No worries though, I got home and that's what ultimately matters. I promptly made a doctors appointment to check out my ticker that was acting up (hence the reason for coming home so early) only to discover that, although my heart is relatively healthy, it most definitely marches to the "beat" of it's own drum and I WILL have to have another heart procedure in the near future (ugh). But, thank goodness for modern medicine and modern surgeries that can ensure a better quality of life!

As I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my newest meds, I was overwhelmed as I entered through the sliding doors of our friendly neighborhood market only to be overcome with the sweetest smells of my favorite holiday...yes, Christmas. I was bombarded by the sweet melodies of favorite Carols and my eyes beheld the sparkling hues of every tint of red and green imaginable. It was beautiful...but wait, it was only Nov. 7th...where are all the gorgeous Fall leaves, scarecrows and gourds? Where is the homey aroma of Pumpkin Spice, Cinnamon and Clove? Did I miss this entirely?

As much as I adore Christmas, I am willing to wait a mere 4 weeks until breaking out the stockings, trees, garlands and mistletoe. I think Thanksgiving is vital and extremely important. In fact, I even think that it is necessary to ensure a GREAT Christmas...

You see, I believe we live in a world of "Gimme". I see it in adults, teenagers and little children. I am appalled as I hear about rambling lists of requested items from one person to another regarding "what you CAN GET ME"...are you kidding me?

My personal feelings about Thanksgiving transcends way beyond the usual obscene, copious amounts of food injested in one sitting. I believe that it is a precursor to the celebration of one of the most beautiful holidays of the year..the celebration of our Savior's birth. Thanksgiving should be a time of pure reflection for the bounteous blessings we have all been granted during the year from the obvious to the sublime. It should set the tone for the holiday of "giving". It should be a time of verbal expressions of gratitude that would no doubt set the tone of thankfulness through the end of the year and hopefully into the New Year which could easily be carried through each month, day and minute if we truly allowed it it's place in November.

I am personally sickened at the gaudy display of commercialism that is creeping into our lives earlier and earlier. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the beautiful sights, smells and sounds of Christmas, but firmly believe that "to every thing there is a season". Our weak economy dictates which celebrations we can begin to focus on and ultimately overlooks the precious, non-commercial holidays that seem to somehow "interfere" with projected revenues for ailing businesses. How sad...

Shouldn't we be embracing a holiday that brings to the forefront, gratitude, thankfulness, giving and most importantly, humility? Wouldn't this ensure a better Christmas and foster a feeling and attitude of love and gratitude rather than entitlement and greed? Is it really necessary to provide lists of requested "items" in order to have a Happy Christmas? My sweet mother talks of her pure joy and excitement of receiving an Orange in her stocking on Christmas morning...you see, during the depression where she lived, oranges were not plentiful and considered a luxury item...It is one of her favorite gift memories, in fact, I have never heard her speak of another favorite gift.

What has happened to our society that we have allowed the most sacred holiday to lose it's pure and simple meaning? Maybe if we allowed Thanksgiving its rightful place and time, gave it the respect and dignity that it rightfully deserves, just maybe we would all have a more peaceful, enjoyable and precious Christmas. Maybe people would focus on the "Giving" of ones self and not just of giving tangible gifts that often leave us with a trail of debt. How many of us stress over finding something that someone has requested thinking that if we don't find it, WE will somehow be responsible for ruining THEIR Christmas? Has our culture really become that selfish and shallow that the success of a holiday depends on how much we spend on someone?

My favorite gifts are neighbor gifts. They are generally homemade and unsolicited. They usually are accompanied by a thoughtful poem or story that evokes a warm feeling within my heart. My *Littles* draw me pictures...sometimes scribbles and I have EVERY ONE that they have ever given me. They are created with pure love and joy and I see them with my heart as it is busy melting as I cherish each one...My dad used to to say, "Let's enjoy Christmas this year and NOT give any gifts!!" (By the way, he LOVED buying gifts for each of us) but I totally get what he meant. This should NOT be a time of stress and anxiety. Would our dear Lord and Savior want His birthday celebrated this way?

I personally am thankful for so many amazing blessings that have bounteously been bestowed on myself and my family. There is no room in one humble blog to list ALL of the tender mercies that we have experienced during this past year. I will most likely be flying November 24th and who know where I'll eat dinner...if I even get to get dinner that day. But it doesn't matter because I am just thankful that my family is healthy, happy and prosperous. Welcome Thanksgiving...you are entitled to your day!