Don't ever take away someone's hope...

I keep a saying on the bottom of every email I send that says to "not ever take away someones hope...it may be all they have." As I sit here tonight looking out through the window in the night, I have had a growing sense today that I need to remember hope.

Hope is defined as the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. I've never been one to have a continuing sense of Pollyanna-like beliefs that everything I know or feel will turn out for the best. I try. I really do! It's just that sometimes we allow life's little realities and difficulties to block us from being positive and productive.

I'm always joking, especially to Steve, to remember to see the "glass half full"! I suppose I say it so much that it led Connie to see a serving dish with that saying on it and decide it was the perfect Christmas present for me. And it was!

I think our family, and for me it is especially true that my children, offer us the greatest sense of hope. Hope for tomorrow, hope for next week and hope in this new year. Maybe it's easier when you are younger to see life in a brighter perspective. I don't know....I've known many that do not. I've also known adults that you just want to be around because of their positive outlook. I have to admit that it can occasionally be even annoying because they won't jump into the negativity tirade when you really need and want them to!

We have just had such a beautiful Christmas together. I will share photos once Rachel gets them downloaded on her computer and can send them to me. I lost my battery charger for my new camera over the holiday and had to depend on her Canon. I have now located it and it is charged and ready to go. Full of hope! But, too bad there are no children here now to take photos of. I think I enjoyed seeing the excitement that they all had this year in their shopping and sharing time with each other. Greg took the initiative this year to shop on his own for everyone's gifts. Well, he had his friend Michael helping him and I truly wish I could have been a fly on the wall! He gave me the best snugly socks to scoot around the house in because he knew the "moving Grinch" had eaten every pair of socks that I owned. I may never see them again! I think of him every time I put them on.

Mary Beth and Jon were in Las Vegas when she found my gift....a perfect gardening tool bag full of really GOOD gardening tools! Heaven knows they will get a lot of use when the spring gets here and I can hopefully have my spine problem taken care of where I can have some dirt therapy. I can just picture her lugging that heavy thing around while she was out shopping. I haven't even asked her how she got it through the security at the airport! Knowing Mary Beth, she talked her way through it somehow!

Rachel and Chris gave me a hardback book of all of my blog entries from 2008 including photos! They also found some neat bath fizzy things that you drop in your tub....they smell so good and make you never want to leave the bath. The book is such a sweet gift that I almost can't reread my postings yet because I get tearful. It all began in June with my first posting following a day of shopping with Mary Beth for her wedding gown. The thoughts and memories of those days are so precious....its like having a printed diary.

Hope. My family gives me hope. Every day. Most people that just know me at work might think that I'm typically pretty upbeat and like to be sarcastic and fun. But inside, I have to fight sad feelings some days just like everyone else. Those are the days when the hope of a better tomorrow may be all I have.

On a lighter note, I have a few photos to share. Speaking of hope!!! Ha!

Here's the last of the unpacked boxes. That's it! We have a ton of stuff in the garage for the garage sale in the spring...but we are down to these boxes.

The problem is that THIS is the closet that all of THAT stuff is supposed to go in and it is packed, as you can see. This is full of photos, scrapbooking supplies (I know, Mary Beth...I just COULDN'T throw much of it away!!) and file cabinets, etc for records and all. Lots of Greg's old gaming systems are here, as well as old yearbooks and camera supplies. Heavens! Where will it all go???

On Saturday, the Razorbacks played East Carolina University at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Hounie and Glo drove down for the evening to watch the game with us. Hounie tried out Steve's new recliner and I think it passed his inspection!

Steve was loving the game on his new television that we got when we moved. Why is it that men just LOVE getting the color and everything just right on their television? My Dad used to mess with it constantly and Steve has told me the same thing about his. Women are just not interested.

Good photo of Hounie and Glo together. We took one of Steve and I but I am still trying to deal with the haircut from hell and hate most photos of myself. That's ONE good thing about blogging, at least! You get to edit what photos make the cut or not!

A new year. Full of hope. Glass half full. Now spread the word. And don't forget to remind me.