The old saying Christmas in July means something happened smack dab in the middle of the summer that rates right up there with Christmas.
Why do I feel like its Christmas in July?
- I got a new car! Not brand new, but new to me and pretty new too considering my old one was 12 years old and the one the girls drive is 18 years old. Wow 18 years old! Anyway-so very nice to be able to drive to and fro and not worry about ending up on the side of the road which has happened several times in the last year. Of course those side of the road break downs almost always happened when it was coming a torrential downpour and I had a trunk full of guitars or groceries.
- The Deer Hunter got a new job with more money and less STRESS!
- The Pressley Girls’ first cd is getting close to being finished and it sounds AMAZING!
- We’ve had plenty of rain this summer.
- I’m no longer feeling the suffocating broken hearted despair over losing Pap. I still mourn his passing and I know I always will but at least I’m not wallowing in grief like I was last July.
In honor of my Christmas in July feeling I’m giving away 2 of Pap and Paul’s Songs of Christmas CDs.
To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. *Giveaway ends Sunday July 23, 2017.
If you’d like to buy one of the cds go here.
Tipper
Mike-great to hear from you! Yes the girls still let Paul and I tag along with them : ) You can go here to keep track of their schedule:
http://www.thepressleygirls.com/the-pressley-girls-schedule-january-23-2015-the-john-c-campbell-folk-school-in-brasstown-.html
Wow, congratulations, your are being blessed. Nothing like setting on side of the road and your buggy want go.
tipper…im sending hugs and gentle healing thoughts to you. I think us girls always will miss our fathers…I was blessed with a wonderful dad…and I know pap was a kind and caring father with a voice of an angel. glad you got a reliable car…you deserve it…
much love to the girls..i cant wait to get one of their cds. your posts have been so wonderful to me..i love learning all about your home and the heritage…I have been thinking of Christmas too…actually id love to jump right to September…this heat is unbearable.. I still want to try the zucchini pie.
thanks for the chance on a cd….
sending love and ladybug hugs
New car, new job, new cd, and plenty of rain? That is wonderful. I’m northeast of Denver and we could use lots of rain. Most of all, I’m happy to hear that you are not grieving so much anymore. I’m just now getting to that point since my Mom and Aunt passed, 8 1/2 years ago. I would be so honors to win Pap and Paul’s CD. I know you and your family miss Pap so much and so do I. I always enjoyed you telling his stories and listening to his beautiful voice.
Glad to hear this string of good news and events. Most of all, Tipper, I’m glad the sharpest edges of grief have gotten a little bit smoother.
Congratulations to the Deerhunter on his job change! Less stress sure can make it easier to leave for work in the morning.
You may laugh, but my “new” vehicle is a 2004 🙂 It replaced my previous 2000 workpony wagon which I would have kept running forever if I could have, and which didn’t owe me a thing when I reluctantly retired it. Now the new one is so clean and pretty and I’m so pleased with it (just bought it in May) that now I’m afraid a tree will land on it or something.
So glad things are going well for you. I feel totally in control until my vehicle has a flat or breaks down. This always made me feel vulnerable, and that is not a good feeling. I often wonder how I traveled all those years before cellphones.
I knew the deep grieving would ease, but first few months are bad. It is wonderful when you are able to get to the point where you laugh with others over the cute things your loved one said or did. Maybe that is why I love The Blind Pig so much. My Dad was a true mountain man, and his speech was filled with the words and saying unique to Appalachia.
I know all the Blind Pig readers are happy for the good fortune you are enjoying this summer!
Dear Tipper, I am truly glad that those good things have happened to you. I had a great blessing today also – my sixth grandchild was born and he is adorable. Praise the Lord for all the wonderful things He does for us.
I enjoyed your post today, as always. I am so glad I found you! Hope to get another CD!
Amanda Burts
Well Tipper: You sure hit the right notes on your post today! Hope all is well with your family and your blueberry bushes are loaded!
Eva Nell
Sorry, but it is NOT Christmas in July in our neck of WI. Was awakened by city workers at 3am with news that at least 50 feet of our front retaining wall had gone out and they were closing the street in front of our house, fearing more was going to come down. We have had rain, rain and more rain. Last night we had 5.5 inches more. Came down fast and hard. More people in town with retaining wall problems. We have lived here 44 Years and fixed a similar washout in 1975. We are now 75 & 76….to old for heavy and difficult work. Hope we can find someone with the answer and the right fix-it. More heavy rain tomorrow.
However, congrats to Tipper on her new car……always a big day, and the Deer Hunter on his new job…..hope he is happy there.
And the Breedlove guitars are made in Bend, OR. not Bent. Bent is where my brain is.
Oh, dear! Please add my name to the chance list. I love their singing. I can’t wait to hear about the girls’ CD availability. I just love Christmas in July. One just never knows what will come your way as a surprise!
Glad for you on all counts Tipper!!
My dad has been gone for more than 30 years and my mom for 30, and as you said, you will always will. The good memories go on and on, too, though.
May blessings continue for you!
OH! and take my name out of the hat for the Christmas CD. I already have it. I could use a free one but that would deny it to someone who doesn’t.
Congratulations on your new wheels and to Matt on his career change. I would be interested to know what he is doing now. Really!
I will have one of The Pressley Girls’ CD’s if at all possible.
We have had a “God’s plenty” of rain here this year. A little more than I would have wanted but it’s what God wanted us to have and he gets what he wants. I am grateful!
I have made some progress toward my own Christmas present to myself. I have found a dealer in downtown Hickory who has three Breedlove guitars. I plan to go check them out this afternoon. I often say that Hickory is one of my favorite places to stay away from but this might be worth the pain. I am not much of a player but a good guitar might make me better, plus just the name means a lot to me. People with common names see them often on different products. When is the last time you saw Breedlove on anything, much less a quality guitar made in Bent, Oregon, USA?
Christmas in July? It’s like Christmas ’round here every day the Missus and I wake up alive! Merry Christmas to y’all, too! I ‘rescued’ a little Dodge Dakota about 5, maybe 6 years ago, fixed few things on it and intended for it ti be my last vehicle and so far it has served us well with just a little preventive maintenance. It’s not but 27 years old.
I’m glad to read that your grieving for Pap ha tapered off though we both know that it’ll never go away completely. I lost a brother last November and I’m still not over it; Dad’s gone these last 22 years and Mom left in 2012. I have to remind myself from time to time that it’s the natural order of things…
I’m so glad for yall! I was able to get a new car in 2015 (altima Nissan) and I am still thrilled about it. The one I had was twenty yrs old but I do miss it. It was a Lincoln Town Car and the trunk would hold just about anything. Now I fill up the Nissan about once a month!!
I’m thankful for the Deer Hunter’s better job. It’s so hard to spend the day being stressed plus a raise is always welcome. Hope the girls will make a million with their CD.
I miss Mama so much even after six years but, like you, the first awful tearing grief has passed. I’m so glad you have reached this stage. We enjoy remembering Mama’s sayings & doings and your posts often remind me of things she did and said. . She was a character!
We’re getting to needing a good rain here in middle Tn but I have never seen so many green beans on our four short rows! And very few bug bites so they are easy to break. I canned three cookers of pints yesterday. That makes eight batches so far.
So happy for your window of Christmas happiness and good karma, Tipper. Look forward to your blog every morning.
Blessings, blessings, blessings…showers of blessings indeed! Praise the Lord!
Tipper,
I’m so glad The Deer Hunter got a new job. Seems they took advantage of him at the school, working long hours and all. Some folks never learn, he’ll be awful hard to replace. And I’m glad you got a newer car, both mine need replaced. My Jeep Larado is about 21 years old, but except for the poor gas mileage, it has been a good one. I need a 4 wheel drive where I live in the Wintertime.
For those of you that like good Christmas Music, the Songs of Christmas CD’s can’t be beat! They play lots of Gospel Songs on our local Radio Station by Paul and Pap, Ray and Pap, the
Wilsons, and my favorite…Chitter and Chatter..such lovely girls. …Ken
Dear Tipper! SO happy to hear that you are feeling some relief from the overwhelming grief. There truly are so many stages to it, aren’t there? I would love to be entered in for the CD giveaway. God bless you, my friend.
Good news is always wonderful!! Congrats on the new car and the girl’s forthcoming CD. I am glad to hear that Pap’s death is weighing less heavily on you. Having been a daddy’s girl, I know the pain of losing a special father. We don’t get over it, but we learn to live with it, and hopefully grow in the process.
Your litany of good news is a Christmas gift in July for me, Tipper! God bless your family!
I think I hear sleigh bells! The Pressley family is having a Joyful July!
Tipper,
First, I have the Christmas CD’s so redraw if my name should come up…
I wanted to say there is nothing better than ” blessed and happy days”! Christmas and “Christmas in
July” rates at the top of the list!
I am so happy for you and your family. His “PLAN” that we know, in our mind, is always in the background. Then the blessings come, happening when we have been doing our best, trusting, trusting…living and just “keeping on with our keeping on” another Christmas in July happens…Wonderful!
We had a bit of Christmas in July yesterday….confirmation we hope by September! Tell you later!
Thanks Tipper,
I thank the good Lord for your shower of blessings. He must have dropped ‘handfuls of purpose’ for you all.
I’m especially glad the Deer Hunter likes his work and work situation much better. Our work life takes a big chunk of our life time so when it is a dread and a drag, it affects our whole life.
You all can be proud of that Appalachian spirit of ‘use it up, wear it out, make it do’. The world wants to give it a bad name but it is a close cousin to having a garden and doing home canning, that is self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
I recently sold a 20 year old car to a neighbor and his wife drives it 15 miles to work every day. It just depends on the luck of the draw, road conditions and upkeep. Some will last many years and give trouble free service while others are junk when driven off the dealer’s lot.
All the wonderful ‘gifts’ are so deserved, but I’m guessing The Deer Hunter’s new job is the most exciting. Hopefully, the girls will sell enough CDs to buy themselves a brand new car. I will be waiting in line to buy one.
Congrats on the new ride and to the Deer Hunter on his promotion.
Less stress is always a good thing.
I am starting to look for a newer truck too. Mine has 210,000 and like me things are starting to show some wear and tear.
I’m happy to hear the grief of losing Pap is getting better. Time really does heal our hurt.
When the new cd is ready I hope we will be able to purchase them.
Merry Christmas in July!!
Merry Christmas!!
I replaced my 14 year old car last summer, and it sure is nice to leave home without worrying about getting back. Also, frees up a lot more time that was being used up with diagnosis and repair work. This one may outlast me…Good to hear about your blessings this summer. Hope they continue.
Good for you. I have an appreciation for old things that have served well but all things must come to an end sometime. Then you start over.
Well Merry Christmas! I enjoy your posts so much. Reading them makes my heart happy! It is nice to know there are still people out there that appreciate the simpler times.
Congrats on the car change and the new job for Deer Hunter. I will be visiting Burnsville August 3 to 6, what is the girls music schedule then? Do you and Paul still go with them?
first saw youall in Blairsville a couple of moons ago. Thanks for a wonderful site and cool information. Mike T.
it sure is nice to have someone talking about good things happening, rather than the bad things we hear on the tv news etc.
I love Christmas in July! And congrats on your new car – that does relieve a lot of stress. My husband finds old (not antique) vehicles and makes them run so I do appreciate having a newish car. I’ve not commented before but I so enjoy your blog.
Nice, I love my old jeep
He is 21 this year. Congrats on your new car. Sounds live uou got all the goodu out of it, lol
Yes! Merry Christmas in July! Things are looking up, indeed. Grief takes it’s own time and it’s best not to try and circumvent that process….it goes quicker if you don’t fight it.
The Deer Hunter is much happier in this new job and we are all grateful for that. The new car is lovely, makes me realize I really need to trade cars….and I can’t wait to hear the new cd!!
August, 2017. The new forward shift is starting!
It really is Christmas in July for you! a new car is nice. I’m intimately familiar with the almost Russian roulette feeling you get driving an elderly car. And for the Deer Hunter, more money and less stress? Fantastic.
Above all else, my daughter will be excited to hear about the new CD.
Still want you guys to play at my school! I’m studying on it and plotting!
Glad things are going so well for you! 🙂 Congratulations 😀