I Did It

I finally made a goal and kept it. It was one that I think I made subconciously long before I made it a "for sure" goal. In fact, my siblings made a similar goal and I think it was subconcious too. My Dad passed away when he was 56. A very young age as I see it now. As I got closer to that age I thought it would be nice if I made it passed that. My older brother actually decided to get a good health check-up at 56 and found out he had the early stages of prostate cancer. It was treated and he's been cancer free for 5yrs now. My other older brother had a kidney transplant around the age of 56 and he's doing very well now also. I'm sure my younger siblings will be thinking along the same lines in a few years. So thankfully I've been very healthy this past year up until January when this dang bronchitis decided to attack and then it attacked again this past week. I thought I would be a goner for sure! But lo and behold, antibiotics helped again and I made it to age 57. I plan on making it past that too, but who knows? For now I'm grateful for my health, my family, my friends and all the blessings that I really don't deserve. As for the adversity that must come my way, I'm grateful for those challenges that makes me who I am and help me stretch to be better. I think my birthday wish is for a good year for all...good health, stronger faith in God, and happiness in what ever situation finds us. Happy Birthday to me!

A Not Boring Thursday Night

Phil and Amanda had to run some errands last night and the girls stayed with us for a few hours of cooking, eating and fun.Alexis and I decided we would make some cookies for her and Addy to take home. She was a very big help and didn't even spill any flour all over, like I usually do! So we made the kind she wanted:Oh baby, yep, that is the most important ingredient..Chocolate chips!
What a pro!
Mmmmm, the sweet reward, licking the beater!
While Lex and I were making cookies, Addy was happily munching on her dinner, and was just having a good old time..unitl I turned around and saw the real reason for her delight...
So this is why you were so happy, and laughing! Eddy, you are a sneaky guy. Don't worry, I took the fork away and replaced it with a nondoggy one.

Surprise, Surprise

I just had to tell 'ya about this treadmill...that's what this is bytheway...(the dust has been removed by the nonuser)I replaced it with another piece of equipment that I'm sure will also not make me thin, but I never give up hope that if I buy it, it will work. I guess you need to use it to make it work, but anyway here's the story. I get a call from Sears saying my 5yr warranty will expire Feb.26th and did I want to renew. No I say, but since I didn't know I had a 5yr warranty, could someone come out and check it because I'm giving it to one of my kids and it has an annoying squeak. Sure...so the repair guy comes, checks out the nook and crannies and says "It's broke"...now for the punchline: "You get a new one". A new one??? Are you kidding me?? I never have good luck like that. Not only a new one, but one worth up to (not over) $900.00. So I'll pick out a pretty one Craig and Amy and I'm trying to get it delivered to you up north. P.S: Should I purchase a 5yr warranty???Hmmm
This is the treadmill replacement: The eliptical, better for my knees and also a wonderful towel rack!

What could it be?

We have no windows in the operating room. The cafeteria has windows, but I don't very often eat down there. So knowing what's outside is a mystery. It's dark when I arrive and sometimes dark when I leave. But today I left an hour early..I was blinded by something really weird...something I haven't seen since before Ground hog day...Jack was waiting for me in the parking lot to give me a ride home and I had to stumble around until I found the biggest vehicle I could touch...his van/aka the "snake"( that's another blog for another day) Could that be what I think it is??? Dare I say it?? The Sun?? Holy cow! It was beautiful. It was melting all the heavy snow off my roof, porch, cement, unfortunately not the deck...it sits in the shade after noon. Jack and I sat outside on patio chairs and soaked up the sun. I tried to pretend I was sitting on a beach and the sound of dripping icesickles was the ocean. That really didn't work, but it was glorious non the less!
This makes me want to sing:"Blue Skies..nothing but blue skys!!"
Ahhh...I just want to keep looking up!

Weekend of Cheap Love

Every Feb. we have the annual "cheap nite out/chili cook off" at the Church. It's cheap entertainment and food and the chili selections are usually interesting. I actually won second place for the spicest chili..that means you could eat it without burning your mouth off! Not first place, but I hey, I'll take it. We spent Saturday doing some cheap events too. We went to a home and garden show in Ashland. It was pretty good for out little town and we had a fun morning with our friends Greg and Gayle. Then we headed off to Jack's office for some cleanup and then out for a chinese lunch. So were does the love come in? Well, I spent the weekend doing simple things that I love, with my sweetheart that I love so what more could a girl ask for??

Here are some members setting up the tables that hold all the social food and chili. Looks like all the church social setups!
Typical church social fare..not a green, healthy food in site! I mean seriously, now that I see it a few days later it really looks bad!
The skits were all goofy and cheesy like this one by the Relief Society. A candy shop with no candy...except for the suckers holding up the counter. Hahaha
Awww, the High Priest group singing for their talent. I could make a snide remark about old dudes and such, but I'll be good and keep my comments to myself.
Come on Jack, don't look so sad...you know we had a fun time at the home and garden show! I showed you all the things I want for our home and garden!
Here's Jack's dream machine. It has everything a country boy could want except a dog sitting next to him...where's Eddy when we need him?
Since Valentines day landed on Sunday this year we didn't go out for dinner,instead I made some skillet ribeye steaks for my Honey. I usually grill my steaks but I haven't shoveled the grill out yet. (I'm still hoping for a thaw to do that!)
Mmmm...yummy cheesy braided Italian loaf that is easy make and looks so nice!
Monday's can be boring...and here's a good example of being desperate for some blogging material. We heat with wood here at the Pines and this is a familiar picture..unloading the wood that heats the house that heats the occupants that live in the house that Jack bought...poetic don't you think?
If you're like us and have a gazillion feet of snow, miles of pointy, drippy icesickels, and pale, no tan skin, take heart. Spring is here! How do I know? Didn't the groundhog see his shadow and head for the hole?? Are the Robins out singing in the pine trees?? Nooooo....But the Spring Oreos are in the stores! Yep, it's Spring alright! So smile, enjoy some Oreos and milk and don't look outside for atleast 5 weeks.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

As everyone knows, we had another snow event yesterday. Not as bad as last Friday, but it was still a snow shoveling day! As Jack and I were shoveling the drive our new neighbor Adam came over with his 4 wheeler/snow plow and plowed us out. We've known him since he was a little tyke and he and his wife bought the cute house at the end of our road last month. The house had been empty for a long time and I was so happy it was bought and really happy it was bought by a sweet young family that will take great care of it. He has helped other neighbors on our road too and it was so appreciated! Since he wouldn't take cash payment all I can do is say a big thank you and send over some valentine cookies this weekend! Here he is talking to Jack and Jordan (who had just come home from work). Jord hadn't seen Adam in forever, so it was a nice reunion. Welcome to the neighborhood!
While Adam and the guys were in the front of the house plowing and shoveling, I headed off to check out the back deck. How sad our deck table looks...all snowy and forlorn...the chairs covered in black plastic are just waiting for the warm days of spring to arrive..sigh... I took a deep breath, shoveled a small path for Eddy to use and decided I'd had enough for awhile...
Oh poor grill, I haven't forgotten you. One of these days I'll brush the snow off and fire you up. I am kind of hoping that all that will melt off. Silly me.
Donna Starkey is one of the most thoughtful people I know. Last week she went on a mission trip (see her blog:Stakey Hollow)and worked long hot days and nights helping to give sight to a kazillion poor people in the Domincan Republic. She endured 100de.days, huge spiders, scary mountain roads, flat tires and Dr. Gupta. On her last day she was able to relax and what does she do? She gets me a gift of my most favorite thing...Mexican Vanilla! This stuff is so awesome and yummy. Thanks so much Donna!
Well, all this kindness and thoughtfulness just makes two snow crazed people (us!)smile like goofballs! Thanks again Donna and Adam!

The Big One

Every Year we have to have a few "big ones"..Storms that shut down roads, cancel school, and make you shop for junk food to last a few days. This one hit on Friday and school kiddos and teachers were a bit disappointed because it was after school! I decided on Thursday I would take some call this weekend. Fridays are usually a good day for that because I can sleep in on Sat. if I would get called out. Great plan. Next time I'll check the weather report first. At 2:30am I was called out for a c-section. The roads were horrible, not plowed at all. I have no 4 wheel drive. Thankfully we had shoveled the drive out earlier, but it still was pretty snow covered. I headed out scared to death I would end up in a snowdrift at that God forsaken time and left in a ditch to rot! Well, I made it. White knuckled and grateful that prayer works! I will never say anything bad about my car again. I pulled into the hospital parking lot. Tromped down toward the entrance and landed on my keister! It was pure ice under the snow. That felt great.(inject sarcasm here) My back was already hurting from all the snow shoveling, now it was really killing me. Not one to neglect my duties or one to swear.Atleast not outloud. I headed into the OR ready to help deliver this little kiddo. The doctor got his car stuck in the snow and had to have the hospital maintenance man come and get him. But we were ready. Back hurting and now my left knee hurting too! Of course by the time the Doc got there she delivered the old fashioned way. Okey dokey..back home I will go. I plotted out my route, white knuckled it back to the Pines only to slide sideways on my road just before my driveway! I couldn't get it to budge..I ran into the house screaming:"JACK!!!!!" He came to my rescue. Thank the Lord! Car safely in the garage after about 1/2hr of shoveling, pushing and tire spinning. As I crawled back to bed I thought the same thought I've thought for 30yrs..why didn't I become a teacher??? Sorry this post is so long...traumatic events do that to me. Here are many pics of "The Big One"

After work Eddy and I headed up into the creepy woods for a quick jaunt. The snow was just starting and it looked so peaceful and lovely with just a light coating on the trees and down a path we enjoy taking. Things changed quickly!
After about 20min in the woods, we walked out to this lovely vision of a major storm beginning.
This is what the front of the house looked like this morning.Atleast the sun was shining!
Bird bath closed...see you in the Spring!
Cone heads? Easter eggs? How about solar lights on the front walkway?
The snowameter on the railings of the front steps say:Better luck next time coming in the front door!
Have a seat on the back deck..just grab the shovel and make some room!
Aren't you sick of shoveling all that white stuff Jack?
Next YaYa takes a turn at shoveling out a spot for Eddy in the back
Thanks for shoveling a walkway for me...but how do I get up to the creepy woods??

Long ago Days

On Feb. 3rd, 2000 Jack's Mom passed away. It's hard to believe that ten years has passed and so many events, holidays, birthdays and new Grandkiddos have happened and Nelda missed them. Atleast here in this world. I hope she's aware of all that's going on from her place beyond the veil. We miss her. Not everyone feels that way about their Mother-in-law, but I was very lucky to have her to help me grow as a new Mom, a wife to her oldest son, a young girl who moved away from her family and friends to live in Ashland, and a grieving daughter-in-law who was adjusting to life without my Dad who had passed away just before we moved here. We did many fun things together. She taught me alot about canning and cooking and we enjoyed many times of just "yakking" over a cup of coffee (for her!)She made a mean pitcher of sweet tea and when we joined the Church and didn't drink tea she switched to lemonade and to this day it's the best I've ever had. We picked delish peaches in the heat of August, and blueberries by the ton in the July sun. We planted a garden at the farm and tromped all over the back 40 to pick fresh blackberries and black raspberries. Her cobblers were so awesome!We made some pretty good grape juice and we learned that making applesauce in the Victorio Squeezo thingie didn't come out too great if the apples weren't peeled. We spit out peels every time we ate it that year! We got caught in a tornado on a raspberry picking excursion and laughed ourselves silly at ourselves as drowned rats! We would hop into the blue VW bus and she would put the pedal to the metal and off we'd go to some pick it yourself place...always an adventure.She loved the 4th of July and Christmas...my favs too, so that's maybe why we got along so well! She was a southern gal who liked to sit on the front porch in a rocker at the farm and watch all the hummingbirds that would come back every year to drink from the many feeders and hanging fushia plants. She had 4 boys and so do I and now I'm a Mother-in-law. I think it's different having boys who marry, then if you have a daughter. Girls seem to gravitate to their families more and we Moms of boys stand back a bit. This was not the case with us. I was lucky to have a second Mom here and hopefully she knows how much she was loved by me.I have many fond memories of Nelda Rae and I know that Jack could fill up a whole blog on her with his memories. So Mom, have a glass of sweet tea for us and go ahead and give a nice southern Rebel yell! See ya y'all...

New State, New Town, New House

We were able to go visit the kids this weekend in Michigan. The 41/2 hr. drive makes it not to terrible to do after work on Friday. We only stayed until Sunday but hopefully we were able to be of some help as they unpacked and reorganized their new home. It's a pretty house that just needs their touch to make it their "home". I know Ames doesn't care for the colors on the walls, but that's an easy fix, although not one without sweat! There are miles of purple, neon green, hot pink, shocking blue and faux finish walls to tackle. But her Mom (Donna) will be there in a few weeks to help with paint colors and curtains and I don't think we'll recognize it next time we come! We enjoyed the few days and on Sunday we attended Church with them. Amy gave an awesome talk, even though I thought it was a bit mean of them to assign her one so soon! But I'm sure the Bishop was inspired to have her talk because she really did a great job. She also was called to Young Women's as a counselor and Craig will be sustained in his new calling on Sunday. I'll let them tell you what it will be! This ward moves fast! So a new chapter starts for them again and as always they make each new town they live in a fun place to visit and they'll make new friends that will become like family. It's amazing that no matter how old our children get, we still refer to them as "kids". It's also great to watch how they interact with their "kids". They are so much better at parenting then we were! Here are some pics of the grandkiddos. I didn't take any of the inside of the house because Amy has many on her blog and facebook. I can't wait to see the finished product over the next few months. We were lucky that the weather was so sunny this weekend,even though it was cold. Atleast it wasn't snowing! I'm looking forward to coming up when the snow melts and we can head to Lake Michigan and see all the beauty that's in that state. I'm getting to know all the states much better since my "kids" have moved!

The finished basement is a great place for the grandkiddos to hang out. They played down there all weekend and I thought this pic of Sophie was so sweet. She was tucking her baby doll into it's cute little bed. She's such a good mommy!
Saturday night we took a quick trip to Costco while Craig and Jack and Taylor went to Lowes to get men toys...boards, primer, paint brushes..things to give to the little women to keep her busy! They will use every drop of the primer on those walls in the new house!
Cozy kiddos in footed PJS!
Sophie's a hard one to catch standing still...that's why this is a bit blurry!
As we pulled out to go to Church I took a pic of the outside of their new home. It's really a cute house in a wonderful neighborhood. Amy and I sort of met the next door neighbors. They were quickly going into their house and shouted out:"Well come and see you as soon as it gets warmer!" Okey dokey, see ya in July!
Taylor looking spiffy in his Church blazer...he was so cute walking down the hall holding his Primary teacher's hand, heading off to class. He's not shy a bit!
Katie giving a silly face before heading off to Primary