Has everyone recovered from Thanksgiving? Mine was easy, we went out to eat. No mess. No leftovers. But next year I have to cook. I'll think about that when the time comes...
When I wrote Gracie's Diary, I never really thought anyone would be interested in reading it... aside from family and close friends. So I have to say that the 'attention' that I am getting is a little uncomfortable at times. This is the second week in a row that my pastor at church has made the announcement about my book. Last week he had me stand up in front of the 200+ people there. Ugh! I know. I need to get over myself, right?
So yesterday I had fun getting the free books ready to send out to the winners of the Thanksgiving drawing. Hopefully you will get your books within a week or so.
It's been a busy time here. The book. The husband. The grandkids. Work. The dog. Christmas.
The house is a mess. But I'll think about that tomorrow...
My 2nd book review: (its kind of exciting to get on Amazon and find out someone said something nice about your book. I'm just waiting on the 1st bad one, where my heart will drop... and then I'll say, 'what do they know?' LOL. sour grapes, right)
I finished reading this book over the Thanksgiving break, curled up with my little dog. I can see why this is a story that the author felt needed to be written for it was one of faith, endurance and pure commitment. I found myself completely captivated by the lives and the stories told within the pages of this book. I was new to the subject of "parent alienation" and felt that the author did a very excellent job in explaining this and how everyone involved was affected. I admired how she and her husband continue to be advocates for this cause. I was truly blessed by this story, knowing that Bobbi's strength comes from Christ (and knowing that He provided Gracie for the journey). Gracie's Diary portion was truly priceless (and laugh out-loud!). Thank you for sharing your story!
Dear Diary, Mom says this is the time of year I get clingy. A girls gotta stay warm. I am resourceful. She should be thankful for a very smart dog. Gracie.
And my son saying he wants a $5 royalty check for each time his name is mentioned in the book. He's so silly!
So I got the kiddies together to do our book drawing and we decided to draw 6 winners instead of 5... just so each of them would have the same amount to draw. Here are the results:
Congratulations! I will be sending you all a free copy of Gracie's Diary.
Now if you could email me at bobbiphillip@yahoo.com your addresses, I will get your books out ASAP!
Dear Diary, Cruelty to Animals = your family going out for Turkey Dinner and bringing you home just a teeny tiny chunk of turkey and an annoying Christmas hat. Gracie.
It was 2 years ago. The day before Thanksgiving. My appointment with the dermatologist after 2 long weeks of waiting and worrying was here.
The biopsy results were in. I sat in the waiting room paging through a magazine, not thinking about what was inside, instead thinking about my life. My death. My family.
It was 5:30 PM and light had faded into darkness and I could see and feel the cold through the office windows. It was a scary time in my life. Thanksgiving Day was tomorrow, but I couldn't even think about it. I was consumed. What was in store for me if the biopsies had tested positive for the deadly melanoma? I trembled inside of myself as the nurse called me back.
I sat in one room alone for a few minutes before she came back and said, "The doctor wants to talk to you in the other room."
I knew then, this could not be good.
I followed her to the next room, ready to accept my fate and praying for strength.
The doctor asked me to sit down. He sat on a stool just feet away and looked me in the eye.
"Is your husband here with you today?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
I wrung my hands... waiting.
"Here's what I want you to do," he said. "I want you two to stop on your way home from here and get a bottle of champagne, because today is a day of celebraion for you. I was 99% sure I would be giving you a death sentence on this day and I even thought about changing your appointment till after Thanksgiving so I didn't have to give you the bad news before the holiday."
He was smiling.
"Your biopsy came back benign," he said. "But I was sure that had to be wrong, so I sent it 2 other labs and they too, came back benign."
Then he called Gary in and talked to us both. Champagne was in order. A surgery would come later, but for now it was a time to celebrate.
We walked out into the dark, cold night but it no longer felt dark and cold. The sun was shining in my heart and I was relieved and truly THANKFUL!
Two years later, and 2 additional Grand-angels later (one is still in the oven, due soon).... I would like to take this time to thank GOD for my life!
Tomorrow our family will come together. We will enjoy good food and lots of love and laughter.
We never know when our time to leave this earth will come. It can be an ongoing sickness or it can happen in the blink of an eye.
LOVE those who are in your life TODAY. FORGIVEthose who do not deserve forgiveness and it will HEALyour OWN heart! Once in a while allow yourself a good BELLY LAUGH and don't take this LIFE too seriously. One day it will end. And all that will be left behind is your LEGACY.
Have a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving, my dear friends!
I read "Gracie's Diary: A Memoir" over the weekend and I strongly recommend this non fiction book to readers. I laughed, I cried and I shook my head in amazement. I am usually disappointed with court hearings and their rulings...too many "good" people are most likely the recipients of a "poor decision" of a judge..And this book solidified my opinion. If you love children, dogs and adults...you really need to purchase this book....All of the characters in this book will steal your heart...
Don't forget! Leave a comment here to be eligible for the drawing that will take place on Thanksgiving Day for a free copy of the book.
Dear Diary, I hope this book of Mom's is a flop. I am not into autographs.. not at all. I just want to eat cookies and sleep. That's all. Gracie.
I had to call a meeting with Cupcake the other day. I'm a little concerned. The Summer girl aka NumNum has not shared one single cookie with me yet. I asked Cupcake, do you think she doesn't like me? Is it my breath? Is she afraid of me? Do I intimidate her? Wadda ya think it is Cupcake?
Now Cupcake and I go way back. She's been sharing cookies with me since she was knee high to a grasshopper.
Cupcake is all wise... and she did have a point when she reminded me that her grammy seems to have been without cookies in her house for the past year... ever since her quest to lose weight. So now I need to talk to the Summer girl aka NumNum.
One look at the grammy with those baby blues and the word 'cookie' should do it.
In the meantime... I wait patiently.
Yesterday morning during our walk, I walked into a rosebush and came back home with a bloody ear and foot. I'm okay now.
Oh. And Mom has published parts of my diary in her book and called it Gracie's Diary. Without my permission I might add. This is really embarrassing. Gracie.
What do you do when life's challenges are more than you can possibly deal with?
What do you do when your past mistakes come back to haunt you and you're only recourse is to face your demons... head on?
What do you do when the youth you so richly embraced not that long ago has left you and all that remains are wrinkles, larger-than-life hips, and back to back hot flashes?
What do you do when your nest is empty and your need to nurture goes to the DOGS (literally)?
You write it all down, then call it a book!
Oh, my dear friends.. I have been in writers prison for the past six years and NOW, FINALLY, I AM PUBLISHED!!
This is a humbling experience for me. I have never been one to want to share my life drama with the world. But every time I tried to walk away from this project, God kept pulling me back. The story needed to be told.
I don't consider myself an author. But Amazon says I am... so I guess I'll just go with it.
Oh, and by the way... I owe you a big thanks for being here and cheering me on. Some say it's horrible how relationships have gone cyber, taking away from face to face friendships. My take on that is different. Blogging comes from the heart. There are a group of you that I feel like I know better than I do some of my own physically present friends. Daily... you enrich my life, teach me a thing or two, give me something to think about, and make me laugh. You are my **heart** friends.
You will find my book here on Amazon but don't buy it just yet. I'm going to give away 5 books so if you leave a comment on this post, I will do a drawing on Thanksgiving Day and hopefully you will be one of the five!
There are a lot of loose ends... so I will need to go and take care of them now. Thanks again for your friendships! I hope to be back to normal blogging soon.
Oh, and for those of you who will be interested... a Kindle edition will be up soon as well along with a few other venues.
All work and no play makes a dog really tired. But the final edits are finally finished! And though mom refuses to change a word in my part of the book...
She sure had a lot of mistakes of her own. She said it's okay if I have misspelled words or even punctuation that is off. I'm a dog.
I'll just be glad to have mom's whole lap back. I'm tired of sharing it with Mac. Gracie.
I heard all the propaganda from both sides.Obama was evil, and the possible
anti-christ and Romney was only interested in rich people. Obama stood up for many of the
things I felt were biblically wrong.But then again, with Romney... we all know that just because one seems Christian doesn’t mean he holds true to his faith.I decided I would observe both parties
more closely.I am, after all, a
girl who has been known to change her mind a time or two.
The TV ads were all the same.First Obama put Romney down, then visa versa.Ugh!
The presidential debates were more enlightening.There I saw our president lie.I’m sure the other candidate told some
whoppers as well…but I couldn’t
prove it.But Romney
seemed more like a leader.He
talked about the importance of jobs and how he was going to create more
jobs.To me, this is
important.I have too many family
members living off of welfare, food stamps, and government help.It’s more profitable for them to ‘not
work’ than to work.It kills their
self esteem.One told me just
yesterday, “I get up.I eat.I play some video games.I eat again.I watch TV.Then I go to bed.”Very
sad.
Is it really beneficial to our country to have 15 million more people on food stamps in the last 4 years? If this trend continues... God help our country.
Would Romney have created more jobs had he been elected
president?I guess we’ll never
know.
Then there’s the moral issue.
I have friends and family who:have had abortions, who are gay, who live off the
government, who believe our president has done a good job and has decided to
re-elect him. etc.
I may not believe or think the way that they do, but I love
them just the same and I respect their right to believe what they believe and
think the way they think.If
everyone thought the same way we wouldn’t need an election now, would we?
Here it comes….
This is ONE of the BIG reasons why I voted for Romney:I saw our president over and over again
arrogantly mock, disrespect, and make fun of the ‘other party’.That would be me.And yes, I take that personally.
Facebook has been inundated with voters who mirror the acts
of our president. WHAT?!
Where is our country’s class?What has happened to our leadership?Where are we headed as a nation?
To those of you who are my friends and disagree with
me:It’s okay.We can respectfully disagree and still
be friends.
To those of you who agree with me:Let’s be sure and not fall into the same trap as many others
and ‘put down’ those we do not agree with.
As a Christian, I have read posts that have been hurtful and
labeled ‘me’ as a Christian, stupid for believing what I believe.My decision to follow Christ did not
come from brainwashing or lies.It
came from a heart that was changed… and the Word. Can’t you as an unbeliever respect my stand as a Christian?I would not put you down for what
you believe.I may not agree…but we each need to come to our own
conclusions.
I try to be careful and not post about political stuff…but I need to stand up for what I
believe in.
LUKE 12:51Suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
I just realized.. Thanksgiving will be here a little early this year. Where did the time go?
Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away!
Last year I cooked. This is our 'going out' year! It's fun!! And it's hassle-free, work-free! All I have to do is sit there and enjoy the grands!
I am thankful! Last evening I finished the last of my edits on my book!! I am hoping and thinking that my goal of early December for release will be right-on!
But what I'm most thankful for...
is...
Summer all year round....
'Ralphie' from A Christmas Story
She fell asleep in her walker
Summer
Dear Diary, One flea. One single, simple, solitary, lousy flea. That's what my mom is obsessed with these days. Stop. Drop. and Roll. That is what I have to do the minute her and I lock eyes. You see.. she looks at me and all she sees is 1 Flea. The one that got away. The one that could have been pregnant. The 1 flea that could multiply and become dozens. Just one flea. Ugh! Gracie.
My name is Gracie What-Is-Your-Problem Phillip. I bark at dogs walking their owners past my house. I jump for joy when the cookie carriers come to visit, often scaring them and almost knocking them over. I jaywalk. I lunge. I poop multiple times during my walks so that mom the nag has to stoop down and pick it up (because I like to hear her complain). I beat mom to the door whenever I hear the UPS truck outside and she has to push me back and squeeze out the door as I bark and lunge and try to get out to get him. I beg for food at dinner time. I look sad whenever I don't get my own way. I love to make the folks feel guilty.
