Dear Reader:

Yesterday started with a text that had me sitting right up in bed. Lachlan needed to have his adenoids taken out and originally it was scheduled for Monday morning…but MUSC called last week and said it would have to be postponed until after Christmas. I had already planned to go with Mollie and spend Sunday night since it was an early procedure until it was cancelled.

Around 8:00 Monday morning…my beeping text (from Mollie) said the nurses had just come for Lachlan and he was getting his adenoids out after all…Apparently there had been some sort of miscommunication glitch between departments at MUSC with mixed dates and times.

Mollie told me everything went well…he was knocked out on the “happy juice” but as soon as he was released he was crazy wild instead of sleeping like everyone thought from the morphine…When they got back he was mad about the procedure and hungry…he wanted breakfast.

It was a long day for everyone involved…but when Mollie later checked on Lachlan…Rutledge had joined him in bed…and they were both “sleeping in heavenly peace.” Most deservedly so…Sleep well Dingle family. Night, Night!

The only good thing about an unexpected turn of events…like this one… is that it whizzes by so quickly  all one can do is go into survival mode and breathe a sigh of relief when it is over. Hopefully Lachlan will be free of these colds and nasal/throat/lung infections he has kept on a continuum basis…Now making Christmas healthier and more enjoyable for him.

Vickie, Maggie, and Fuzz (the cat) stopped by today bringing me a Northfork Island Miniature Pine Tree! Isn’t it beautiful? I am praying I can keep it alive and plant it later in warmer weather. ( Do you notice the “Sammy the Cardinal and wife” note cards beside it….( title photo) Cindy Ashley dropped them off last week….love them!) *After my birthday Sammy never pecked again…or pooed on my side car mirror. Good birdie!

Then when I went to the mail box yesterday afternoon…I had my annual original Christmas card from Joan Turner…I could hardly wait to open it! (* Joan, all I could think of was “Five little doggies jumping on the bed…one fell off and hit his head” (except it looks like six…an addition?) I wish I could get my four (or five) grandchildren in a picture with me…now that would be a Christmas miracle. You might have to just come paint us.

Remembrances of earlier cards….

Speaking of Christmas miracles…this was the first year Jakie wasn’t terrified of Santa and screaming in the picture…Way to go Jakie!

  The Last Christmas with just the “Two Bro’s” Together!

And to think it all started with just one grandchild… not so long ago…But oh how far we have come…and grown!

Another cold morning…the frost on the rose was just gorgeous early yesterday morn….

Susan Cadwell…I keep waiting for my CD (you gave me a few years back) to blow up…I have played it so much…fourteen wonderful Christmas songs on the piano!…It is the perfect gift-wrapping and dining music…and I love my Ady Grace Christmas photo! So glad your children and grandchildren will be in Conway for Christmas…I know you are happy!

Isn’t the Christmas season a mixture of profound, whimsical, complicated and funny? But most of all it is filled with surprises and I love surprises…never knowing what one might find in the mailbox or on the front porch or on a walk through the neighborhood…everyday is filled with anticipation.

So until tomorrow…I was going to ask for prayers before Lachlan’s adenoid surgery (I thought in January) but now I think the prayers need to be for mom, dad, and big brother as Lachlan “recovers.” More crazy times in store I feel sure.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh