Changing Times

I can't believe it's August already. This year zoomed by. Some of our schools started back at the end of July. Unbelievable. We didn't return to school until after Labor Day. Parents and children alike, rush to get in quality time with each other. They barely have time  to turn around, then it's time to shop and ready the kids for the next school year.

My grandson has been to camp, spent a few days with a friend, a few days and nights with us, here and there. He spent a week at the lake with his other grandfather, a week in Florida, and has just returned from a cruise with Mom and Dad, and friends. He has one week left before attending school. He's growing up so fast.

When I think of everything I need to do before year's end, it boggles my mind. Last year I barely made my (second) deadline of addressing Christmas cards. I'm hoping to improve on the schedule this year. The list has dropped from around two-hundred to under one-hundred. Some people moved away, some passed away, others send online good wishes, still others have, for one reason or another, stopped sending cards. Some were employees of businesses no longer in business. Sad.

My card box is filled with beautiful cards I picked up on sale in January. Buying in January reminds me of a sweet Jewish couple I worked with for a while. If they were going to give birthday gifts, the after Christmas sales found them busy choosing. Usually  a money card is what their family received, which at one time I thought was something I'd never do. I love choosing a special gift and watching the receiver's eyes light up. But, as the children have gotten older, me too, I find money is the one thing children love the most. They can buy whatever they want and not feel they have to smile and say thank you for something they already have or have no use for.

Gifts under the tree has grown smaller by the year, but the kids always make a beeline for their stocking. Filled with fun things, something small but special, and that one flat envelope they know will be inserted.

So, I guess you can tell I'm already planning ahead for the holidays. I'm also looking forward to them.

What has changed in the way you plan holidays these days?

 Carol DeVaney

www.caroldevaney.weebly.com

Look for my next novel before Christmas

Not My Own blurb

After nine years of being estranged from her father, Megan Phillips now faces the second most difficult time in her life. The man who hurt her the most, has summoned her back to Vail, Colorado, her childhood home. Even in death, her father dishes out the last word. One thing she knows for sure is, she won't allow her father to dictate her future from the grave.

Either Megan procure responsibility for Adam, a seven-year-old brother she hadn’t known existed, or she loses a vast inheritance. Megan wants nothing from her father, and refuses the inheritance. But, her father's love child has nothing to do with the rift between her and her father. She can't abandon the child, but her search at finding a home for him, alters her in ways she never dreamed.

Then, there’s her father's lawyer, the hunky Bret Evans. A bachelor, all business, Bret is married to his law practice. Love and a family of his own is far down the ladder of achievements. Megan, the woman who catches his eye from the start, could be the one who removes a few rungs in his ladder.
Whatever will Megan do with a man who makes her forget she never wanted children, a family? The man who takes her breath away.