#themostwonderfultimeoftheyear...

and so it begins...

happy CHRISTmas season!

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

so thankful...

when i woke up this morning,

it was still dark outside.

i looked at the clock,

6:16.

i smiled,

my favorite day of the year...

~@~

me: happy thanksgiving, my little dear.

john: oh, yeah...

me: i'm most thankful for you.

john: gah, you're silly.

it's true:

i am,

and

i am.

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

i know...

in this season of giving thanks,

i am most thankful

i know...

God.Loves.Me.

~@~

when i say,

"i know,"

i.know.

~@~

when we were children

we were taught 

the Bible tells us

God loves us.

it does

and

He does.

when we grow up,

we search for our own truth.

only He can reveal it to us.

if we do

He will.

~@~

i know...

because i did

and

He did.

~@~

when He did reveal the truth of Himself

to me,

i tried to be perfect

only to learn

it was impossible.

only.HE.is.perfect.

little by little

i let in a little more of me,

the me He created...

the me

He loved in my imperfection.

~@~

i learned

He created me to be me.

i learned

He loves the me He created me to be.

~@~

how do i know?

~@~

i know...

because

HE.TELLS.ME.SO!

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

for a fun time...

mom: this is the first time we've ever done this.

 i've had a really good time.

me: didn't you know i'm a fun time?

together (in unison): for a fun time, call dani!

laughter

~@~

it's true, my mom and i 

had never gone on a trip together,

just the two of us.

however, last friday morning

we did just that.

on thursday night i looked 

at the new york times' best seller list

looking for a book we could listen to 

on our way to and from georgia.

not knowing much about 

those at the top of the list,

i downloaded an old favorite of mine,

jan karon's, at home in mitford.

19 hours of father tim, barnabas, 

dooley and the gang...

perfect timing.

first thing friday morning,

we packed mom's little pt cruiser to the brim. 

as we pulled out of mom's subdivision,

i got settled and pulled my iphone

and auxiliary cord from my purse.

mom: what are you doing?

me: oh, i downloaded a book

for us to listen to on our trip;

but, i don't see an outlet for my aux-cord.

we both looked only to find

there wasn't one.

i returned my aux-cord to my purse

and proceded to plot our trip 

on my phone's map

before placing it in the cup-holder

between our seats.

siri began routing us to

augusta, georgia

usa.

with that, we were on our way

to visit our cousins,

ralph and ruth latta.

siri: in one mile,

turn right for i-75 south.

~@~

we drove for a little over 2 hours

before stopping in lake city, tennessee

for breakfast and gas.

there weren't many patrons

in the local mcdonald's.

however, among those there,

there was only one topic of discussion...

rattlesnakes!

apparently, someone in the area

had 50 snakes, which had gotten loose!

needless to say,

we were happy to finish our biscuits, 

fill up with gas, and get out of dodge!

~@~

mom and i talked and talked

and were making great time

until we made our way out of atlanta 

to i-20 toward augusta.

a digital traffic sign read:

right two lanes closed

3 miles ahead

due to traffic accident.

merge left.

in less than 50 feet,

we came to an abrupt, complete stop...

(one of those stops you see in cartoons

where the front bumper nearly eats the road

and the middle of the car arches!!!)

in the seat behind me,

there were two, large,

kentucky legend,

football hams,

a large bag of ice,

6 diet cokes, and

6 diet sunkists

all inside a large igloo cooler on wheels.

as the car came to a halt,

 the cooler slammed into the back of my seat!

mom: that was close! did i scare you?

me: well, i did curl my toes a little.

laughter

me: i can see it now...

"mom kills daughter with 'kentucky legend' ham!"

laughter

~@~

we sat for nearly 30 minutes

before mom asked me

to turn on my "i never meet a stranger" charm

and

ask the truck driver beside us

if he knew what was going on ahead of us.

mom rolled down my window,

and he rolled down his.

i apologized for bothering him

then proceeded to ask if he knew

what the issue ahead of us was .

he replied he didn't know

but he did know there were 

now three of the four lanes closed.

after thanking him,

i took my phone from the cup-holder

and keyed in the words

i-20 wreck, atlanta, wesley chapel.

a fox news story posted only 3 minutes prior

popped up on my screen.

"pedestrian hit and killed

traffic backed up for miles."

i read the story to mom.

my heart sank...

she shook her head: why would anyone

be walking out here on the interstate?

me: maybe it was a hitchhiker.

after another hour-and-a-half or so,

the traffic started to slowly move.

when we made it to the scene,

only emergency vehicles,

police, and a cleanup crew remained.

so sad...

~@~

we stopped again

about 80 miles outside augusta

to fill up with gas.

mom: do you want to drive the rest of the way

since you know how to get to ralph's and ruth's house?

me: sure, i don't mind.

the last hour of our trip passed quickly.

siri: in one half miles, 

take exit 199 for washington rd, 

ga-28 toward augusta.

siri: turn right onto washington rd 

toward augusta state university, 

medical college of georga, 

and paine college.

me: we are supposed to turn right

at the lone star steakhouse.

siri: in .1 miles turn right onto berckmans road.

i looked ahead to see a large water tower

standing on the corner.

me: this isn't where we are supposed to turn.

mom: are you sure?

me: i'm positive; we always turn right

at the lone star.

siri continued to try to reroute us

down the next three roads.  

when we passed augusta national,

i knew something wasn't right.

we were heading toward downtown augusta.

mom: just turn around and go back to berckmans.

me: okay, maybe they tore down the lone star

and replaced it with a water tower.

  

~@~

finally, we pulled onto ralph's and ruth's street.

we came in from a different direction though.

in the driveway stood ralph

looking in the direction 

from which i normally come.

wrinkling his forehead,

he looked at me curiously

as i pulled mom's little pt into his driveway.

ralph: what are you doing?

did you get lost?

me: well, kind of...

after hugs and kisses,

i explained what had happened.

me: did i pass the lone star?

ralph: naw, they tore it down 

and put a walgreens up there.

well...

that explained that!

(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx