Christmas Blessings!

Paul & I went to Atlanta on Christmas Eve and spent several days there with the kids. Hey, you guys were great hosts and hostesses and thank you very much for that! These pictures are of our Atlanta Christmas blessings. We have more blessings floating around (like in Orlando, for example) but these are the ones we have pictures of to share from this Christmas! Enjoy!

The first picture is of Mr. Paul with his camouflage hat (decorated with Christmas bows!) and his waders (for metal detecting in the rivers, of course!) He seemed quite pleased with these things ... as his expression eludes to (I think?).

Next - the three amigos (left to right are Cade, Christian and Austin) eating their Christmas lunchables! (what else!?!) Next picture is a very blurry (sorry you guys) picture of Jenn and her husband Vic ... and Jenn is as "healthy as a horse" this Christmas ~ which has been THE absolute number one Christmas blessing and we are most grateful! Next pic is Jon and his Melissa ... followed by Cade, Austin and Christian the Builder (with his assistant Paul-Paul) and finally my very favorite picture of the three amigos ... they are so very precious and definitely BIG blessings! So ... more details later, just sharing pictures today! Paul & I are back home, safe and sound, and a little bit tired! Happy New Year to all!!!!! Paul & Cheri

Multi-Tasking!

As I'm sure the rest of the Christmas celebrating folks can relate to, 'tis the season to multi-task. Along with our painting projects, our insulating the basement, our day-to-day lives in Elk Park, NC, there has come this gargantuan task of preparing for the celebration of the Christmas holiday! I, for one, am a BIG celebrator of the joy and happiness of the holiday spirit, so I definitely prepare and celebrate!

As you can see, Christian and I fully decorated while he was here, so we are certain the spirit of Christmas will live in this house while we go to Atlanta to celebrate the days of Christmas with the boys! Whatever decorations we could not find in the "box room" are certainly not going to be missed!

Our packages are wrapped (I finished the last of it today~ YEAH!!!!!) and the mailings are finished. So, we can now return to the dizzying tasks we were ignoring. (you know, washing clothes, dishes, etc!) However, I still have quite a bit of holiday baking to do and we are entertaining for our first time since the move on Saturday night. Our first Christmas dinner in this house! Just hoping Paul will feel better and be able to enjoy his coveted triffle! He, of course, now has the crud that has so generously shared itself amongst us all.

Paul insulated the kitchen floor over the weekend (thank goodness it's so much warmer!) and was fully dust coated upon completion! We were lucky to have found a carpet business that was getting rid of "off cuts" and remnants. So, being the thrifty homeowners we have now become, we jumped upon that opportunity! It is proving to make wonderful insulation for our humble, albeit drafty abode! Only 2,000 sq. ft. to go!!!!

I finished doing the faux wash in the kitchen. It warmed up the room nicely (feels like a kitchen now!) and sort of looks like the background to an old world map! The above picture casts a pinkish tint that it doesn't actually have ~ I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Nice when a plan actually comes together!

We attended a Holiday Celebration at Dirk's house (Paul's boss) and met yet another slew of people. Eventually, we'll have a collection of people we can talk about ... for now it's mostly y'all! HA! Just kidding! We are still mostly tickled with our daily run ins with the locals and share all the little nuances of mountain life. It's actually been in the upper 60s here for several days! We have been very fortunate to have been warm for several days running! I know the cooler air is headed our way, but I'm so thankful to Mother Nature for having the heart to break us in slowly. I think our adjustment period might be coming to a screeching halt, but at least the Christmas shopping is done and I won't freeze going to and fro. :-) I'm hoping for safe traveling weather. We're going to Atlanta on Christmas Eve so we can have Christmas with the grandboys. Hopefully, the roads will remain clear going AND coming home! One never knows around here!

Hey, we also saw the new James Bond movie this weekend. A MUCH better flick than I had anticipated ... and so much better than the ones previously. I don't even like James Bond movies, but I somehow enjoyed this one. Could have been the blued eyed man that took over the 007 role. He was quite enjoyable. And for you men folk, there are some absolutely luscious ladies to watch. I know Charlotte's Web is probably the real movie to see, but I haven't seen it yet, so can't recommend it! ;-)

As of mid January I am going to be the ballet teacher at Carolina Cheer and Dance Company in Newland, NC. (The town with 2 stop lights) The gal who owns it is not from here either, and no one on staff is local. Should be interesting watching us break "them" all in! They haven't had a ballet program to date, so it'll be a new and exciting endeavor. I'm very excited about it, and excited to go back to work. I've had enough of being a renovator full time! Do y'all remember Ralph on Green Acres? Well, that's who I feel like most of the time! I'll be glad to get back to tights and leotards and plies and tendus. And for those of you who think I just began speaking another language, I did! It's french ... no worries. :-)

Well, will sign off and go check on the now sick Mr. Paul. He's probably ready to play x-box ... and if he's not, well, we'll know he's not feeling well at all. Y'all take good care and be careful out there running around with holiday spirit! Remember this, you mustn't try to be in the same place at the same time as another. There will most assuredly be impact! Cheers to all! Paul and Cheri

Lately!

Well, as you can clearly see, it's been snowing and frozen and cleared up yet again! I know it's frustrating to the snow boarders in town ... but I for one really appreciate mother nature just breaking us in a little at a time! I stay frozen, even when it's 50 degrees! The first picture is our beautiful wood pile and neighbors shed ... then there is a picture of where Paul works (Blue Mountain Metalworks) with a small blizzard in the back of his truck, then the frozen road in front of his workshop (which is right beside the police station in Banner Elk!) and finally, the full moon rising in my back yard (right out of my kitchen window!). Can you believe how blue the sky gets after the snow storm clears out all the gunk? It is absolutely breathtaking after the snow falls and the sky goes to blue. The air is crisp and the world is so silent and still! It's amazing! Especially coming from Orlando, I guess! I really enjoyed watching the moon rise up over the mountain! It was spectacular and took all of about 15 seconds!

We had a beautifully mild weekend. Paul worked on cleaning out the never ending mess in the basement (there is debris in there from the early 1900s, I'm sure of it!) along with trying to insulate a bit of it so we can feel our feet in the kitchen when it's really cold! The best part of the day was when Paul got to go to the local hardware store to acquire the burn permit. Isn't that where ya'll get your burn permits???? Lucky for us, that was the day we were going to the local Nutcracker, so he got to explain to Mike and all the hardware boys exactly what that meant! I would loved to have been a fly on the wall!!! But I was home faux washing the kitchen walls. Wow! Are they looking nice! I'll post pics IF I ever get finished! Christmas shopping has gotten in the schedule now ... so a lot of projects are on hold, yet again. When I went to the hardware store to get more staples, the boys did tell me they knew all about the Nutcracker now, and that they just don't think Paul's figured them out yet! Now, I ask you, who has who figured out around here!??! I'm still fighting this crazy cough and fever thing that I've had since Christian left. It makes me less than the girl I want to be! I have an appointment to meet with the lady who owns the local dance studio tomorrow about the possibility of teaching for her! Y'all keep your fingers crossed for me! It's time for me to get back to work (mandated first by the bank account, of course!) I know it's going to be an interesting change, no matter where I go to work. The Nutcracker that we saw was quite good, and a big different show than what we've been seeing for years! The director/choreographer/producer was phenomenally brave as she used 50 or so little uns (under 5!) and all kinds of things were extremely well done. The Cavalier was elegant and quite nice to watch. We left very impressed, and of course, I left shivering. By the time we walked the 3/4 mile to the car in 18 degrees, got in the not heated car, drove 40 minutes home, I was in uncontrollable shivers! I know I'm going to get used to this, and I'm all for that happening! It's just for now, I shiver a lot! I'm sure all of you are busy with the same things we're trying to get busy doing, decking the halls, wrapping the gifts and such! Hopefully it doesn't take you an hour to drive to Target, which I did experience today! But when I got there, it was so worth it! Made me smile to be in a Target again! AND I found a Starbucks as a bonus prize for doing all the Christmas shopping! Our lives have changed a lot and we are always aware of that. But we are blessed and we know it! Hope you are all feeling much the same! All the best to everyone. Paul & Cheri

So much fun!!!

There is just nothing better than being a grandparent! I NEVER thought I'd be saying that! We had so much fun with Christian while he was here. And we miss him immensely now that he's gone back to his new house! I always seem to post the pictures in reverse order ... but you can still get the idea of our last weekend! Our neighbor (Mike - the hardware store contact) took us to his family tree farm and let us pick out the most magnificent live Christmas tree I've ever seen! We walked up a little hill (yeah, right - there are NO little hills around here!) and there it was, the first one Paul and I laid eyes on! As always, I am in awe of Mother Nature's gifts to us. As we went around the hill, we noticed the absolutely breath taking scenery. It's so beatufiul, there are not words to describe it. As Paul says, "look where we live!". Most assuredly I am speechless and overwhelmed at the generosity of Mike and his family. He says "Santy Claus done come and y'all just enjoy that". Trust me on that, we certainly will! Christian did ask "why does he talk like that?". Hmmm ... anyway .... then we went to see Santa Claus in Valle Crucis ... and boy did he have a big fat country accent! Christian had never befriended Santa Claus in the physical sense before, and he was quite brave! He walked right up, got up on his knee and proceeded to tell him he'd really like to have a new Cars movie and a new car. So, his theme for Santa Claus is cars ... however, he keeps telling us it's Thomas the Tank! The pics of Christian beside our 9 foot tall GORGEOUS tree captured his 4 x 4's in his hands, so there is a definite transportation thing going on in his little heart! And I'm sure Santa will figure it all out! After the Santa Claus visit we watched the Banner Elk Christmas parade. Oh my! What a great "small town" story! It was lead by the firetruck and rescue squad, as well as the sheriff and several snow plows! Then the General Lee (you know, Dukes of Hazard, orange "well I wish I was in the land of cotton" horn, confederate flag on the roof car) came down the street ... just like you'd expect. There were 2 high school marching bands and some other vehicles representing the mayor and some rich people who build cabins and condos! They all threw candy for Christian because he was so bright eyed and cute!!! So now we have 10 pounds (more or less) of parade candy sitting here for all to enjoy! After the parade we came home, introduced Christian to the tradition of hot chocolate and decorated our new tree ... or at the least the bottom third! We ran out of lights, so Paul Paul and Christian had to go get some more for us to finish! But the tree was decorated in time for Christian's mom and dad when they came Sunday night to pick him up! He was such a happy little fella to see his parents. Grandparents are a lot of fun, but moms and dads are first, and a perfect example of that was when the front door opened and mommy was standing there! So sweet!!!!

Now that Christian has gone home, it's very quiet here. Even the cats are quiet! We're expecting snow tomorrow, so we're just trying to enjoy the sunshine today! It's in the 50s now ... but supposed to be around 15 tonight! So all you Floridians think warm thoughts for us snowbunnies up here! I'm sure the snowboarders are going to be happy ~ they've waited a very long time for the white stuff to show up!!! We're looking forward to a weekend filled with household accomplishments and Saturday night we're going to see the local Nutcracker, presented by the dance studio where Paul's boss's (Dirk) daughter (Zoe) takes dance. They will be performing at the auditorium at ASU in Boone. And Zoe will be one of the angels, so we're very excited about the show! AND, we'll get to see the city again too! And it's supposed to be back up into the 20s by then! So, things are looking up! :-) Best to all! Paul & Cheri