Getting Ready For Christmas

I'm not really ready for Christmas, but the holiday will come whether or not I have the halls decked or the cookies baked. I have almost all my Christmas cards sent out and only one package left to mail. I guess I'm not as far behind as I thought....



I'm working this Saturday day shift with Mellissa anda Kristy, our new operator. It's been a fairly quiet day, as work goes. Duane is home...he's either putting up Christmas lights or sleeping in....50%-50% as to which he's doing.....



We'll be at Ann and Brian's house for Christmas Eve and Day...except for the hours I'll be back here at work. Brian's Mom will be there too so the house will be full. Aceley will be 3 this year so hopefully she will be up and excited early.



I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and A great New Year!!!

I am probably the WORST blogger ever- 6 months between posts....sorry!

I LOVE the Christmas holidays... the Carols, the lights, the trees, the cookies, the colors...everything about it. I also like to see is going to send me the first Christmas card of the year. It used to Du's aunt but she's now in a nursing home so I need to get her address and be sure to cheer her up this year. I'll be getting on my cards soon. I'm also sending as many as I can to soliders in Irag and Afghanistan...I need to get those mailed this week...

I worked on the hospital Switchboard for 10 hours on Thanksgiving so I'll be off for Christmas this year. 5 lovely days in a row off. I'm really looking forward to that.... I also got to spend time with my teenage niece after Thanksgiving- she really helped me out with a computer project I'm working hard on. I'm so glad one of us was paying attention in Computer Class...

Another project I'm working on is a fundraiser for a family who's 10 month daughter has been diagnosed with retinal blastoma. Kelsey K. is the cutest baby, and her smiles will light up your day. There will be a movie fundraiser at Cinefour Theatre in Logan. It's Saturday, December 12th at 10 a.m. (doors open at 9:30!!!). The cost will be $5 and there will be a special concession deal that will benefit Kelsey and family. We're also going to have some donation jars set about for those who want to contribute their spare change to the cause. If you can join the family (and see a movie or send the kids) please do...It's for an awesome cause...

Mothers and Others

When I was younger my 2 youngest sisters used to play house and they would refer to each other as "other mother". Now they are grown and they are both terrific mothers, one is even a Nana- she has a 2 year old granddaughter. My third sister is a "step" mother, and no, not in the fairy tale sense either. Her daughter will be getting married next year so we have a family wedding to look forward to.

I had a great Mother's Day, even though I'm not one....My niece and nephew spent the night on Saturday and they both wished me a Happy Mother's Day. Then my dear husband brought me pancakes, yellow roses and a cool card. A family I love who has 3 awesome children gave a book and a beautiful card that made me cry. Even though I was never able to have my own children I am so blessed to be around so many generous people who lovingly share their children with me...I feel like I get to be an "other mother". It's soooooo cool.

Spring is FINALLY here....the rain and snow is done for awhile and the tulips and other flowers are blooming up a storm. I planted impatiens seed and verbena in the hanging basket. I want to see how that goes this year. The birds have going crazy at the feeders and the last few Sundays we've entertaining a couple of ducks in our front yard. They come and eat the bird seed that falls to the ground from the feeders.

MAY DAY '09

Yesterday was May 1st....commonly known as May Day. When we were kids we would make baskets and put flowers and treats in them and give them to the neighbors. Mom usually saved the green plastic "crates" that tomatoes used to come in for just such a purpose. I really miss doing that kind of thing...I wish I'd thought enough ahead to do something like that again...maybe next year....

The tulips out front have blossomed and the jonquils are out as well. I'm finally getting SPRING... Today it's raining with more SNOW in the forecast but I guess this desert state will take all the moisture it can get. The birds have been cleaning out the food in the feeders daily. We're thinking of adding another feeder in the front and 2 in the back yard- if Harley will let them be. (Stupid dog-thinks birds are play toys....)

There isn't anything new and exciting going on around here; we're still Spring cleaning- going through boxes and closets and the like. Hopefully when the weather gets nicer we'll get out to the garage and get it squared away again. My friend Melissa really inspired me- she made enough room in her garage to put their boat And their van inside! Talk about organized! We've made 3 or 4 trips to donate clothes and toys to Somebody's Attic and I've been giving away toys, books and food to friends and coworkers. (Pretty soon they'll run when they see me approach with a bag...)

SPRING ....Never.....

Okay, I've now resigned myself to the fact that Spring will NEVER get here after I shoveled 3 inches of snow off of and around my car before I could get to work at 6 a.m. today. We'll just have winter until it's time to be summer in Cache Valley. I know, I do tend to whine a lot but I want to grow roses and tulips. I want a "good" reason to shave my legs all the way up! I feel the need for a long walk outside, without having to take an unbrella or have a parka "at the ready"! I no longer wish to be cold.

My sister has been painting her house that we live in and getting it ready to go on the market. Duane and I have been Spring cleaning- going through our years of junk and really cleaning out what we do and don't want or need. It's been for the soul- but soon I fear my friends will no longer want to see me coming their way with a plastic grocery bag in hand. A lot of items have gone to charity but we've spread books, toys and clothes around to friends and coworkers as well.

I went and saw "New in Town" starring Harry Connick Jr. My friend Melissa and her daughter Cosette came along. It was fun. MY in laws are from Wisconsin and my Dad's from northern Minnesota (where the movie is set) and so the accents and some of the regional inside jokes were exceptionally funny. I can't wait to take Dewey to see it.

I guess I'll go and prepare to color all my Easter eggs white so we can hide them in the SNOW!!

Spring....Maybe.....

Yesterday was cold and snowing. But, the good news was that the ground is warm so the snow didn't pile up. You don't have to shovel it- just walk around the puddles. A lot of people are taking the blame for this one- a neighbor said it was her fault, she washed her windows. A friend's roommate packed away her heavy sweaters over the weekend. One of my husband's co-worker's got out the motorcycle and fired it up ....so it wasn't just my fault this time around...
Moral to this story is that the calendar says it's Spring but in Utah there are many seasons but Spring usually isn't one of them.

Day After "the" Birthday Weekend

I realized it's been awhile since I've posted anything and today seemed as good a day as any. Yesterday was my birthday but I've literally been celebrating since last Friday. My co-workers have given me wonderful gifts of dinner gift certificates (accompanied by Boston Creme Pie, no less), Bath and Body Works, and knic-nacs. On Saturday Dewey and I took our nephew Tyler down to Odgen where we got on the "Frontrunner" train and went to Salt Lake City. It was Ty's first big train ride. I loved seeing how excited he got! He saw freight trains, experienced the rocking motins and all the bumps, and was even brave enough to ride sitting backwards coming home. We visited the planeterium at the Gateway in Salt Lake and had a great time.

On Sunday the Loney family had Dewey and I over for cake and ice cream- I got a number of cool gifts including a money tree...but sadly it doesn't reproduce when you pluck the fruit...I tried it out. Erika did a really cool job of writing "NINI" on a cake adorned with balloons (the only ones at the party) in blue icing. And yes, I did eat blue frosting, just this one time.

Monday we both had the day off so we hung out and did house chores. I had to take a break and go see my dentist, Dr. May. Luckily they made room for me on their schedule and he was able to get me some relief from a sore in my mouth that threatened to ruin a pretty good birthday. Duane fixed dinner for me and we again enjoyed cake and ice cream. Du gave me a dozen yellow roses amd I got a card from my sister Genie in Oregon.....what a good day.

TUESDAY RAMBLINGS......

Today Barack Obama was inagurated as President of the United States. I only caught bits and pieces of the pomp and circumstance on TV but I read the transcript of his speech online and he has some very intelligent (and eloquent) writers. I'm sure he must have gotten a lot of cheers during the speech today. I'm looking forward to a new administration...someone different for a change.

My sister is home safe and well from her trip....got to spend time with Ty and Erika while she was away...we went to last Friday along with our friend Devon (his Mom just had a baby that morning) and we played at McDonald's....we shopped for trading cards and the boys got Transformers. Even toys that "used" to be fun are 'new' and 'popular' again...Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch dolls.

I had the weekend off so I relaxed, organized and cleaned. Sunday I had dinner at Loney's while Dewey stayed home and O'd on NFL football. He's quite pleased that the Steelers are going back to the SuperBowl and we're both interested to see how the Arizona Cardinals will handle being in their first SuperBowl. February 1st should be FUN!!

Back to Work

In the past seven days I've only worked my Saturday 6am to 2 pm shift so it almost felt like I was on vacation.

On Thursday I took my sister and brother in law to Salt Lake City to go to the airport for their 25th anniversary cruise to the Bahamas. They went first to Miami, Florida were it was 84 degrees- we were at 11 degrees! On Saturday when I went to work at 5:45 a.m. I had to chisel the ice off the inside of my windshield...it was 74 degrees in Miami...my sister said "wah"... But, I got to have Tyler sleep over on Friday night and sister Erika spent the night on Saturday. It's been fun so far.

Last night the 12th we went by our friend's the Morgan's...it was Tyler's 7th birthday and we had a gift bag for him and his siblings. He got a WiiFit for his birthday. It was so cool to see a 7 year old want to work out...wish I did!!

My Broncos have hired a new coach, and it's not John Elway. Oh well, we'll give this new guy a look see next season....

BRONCO BLUES

As I true Blue and Orange bronco fan I can't remain quiet about the goings on with "my" Denver Broncos.... Pat Bowlen, the teams' owner, decided to fire the best coach the team has ever had. I know this wasn't our best year(but it wasn't our worst). The firing of Mike Shanahan is going to show up in the dictionary when you look up the word "stupid". My solution is that the Broncos should hire John Elway...even if it's just for one season...and that would make the fans happy. His name is already all over the city of Denver and he's not someone they'd be able to get mad at so easily. After all, he's a BIG part of Bronco history. OK non-football fans, you may resume reading now....

Hmmm, guess which member of this family "forgot" to get their driver's license renewed on their birthday ...NO, my birthday is in March, but thanks for your vote of confidence in my memory ...

his was last November....thank goodness he's a 'very good driver'.

WOW! January 5th and I haven't broken a single resolution, yeah! Oh wait, I didn't make any. Oh well, it's going to be a very ggod year, I can feel it...