Monday With YaYa

Monday with YaYa is sort of like "Tuesdays with Morey"..only much more boring.  I had a low census day today. It was my turn and I took advantage of it! It meant I could sleep in...Check! I won't embarrass myself by saying how late I slept in. But I did get to see Kelly (Rippa) and Michael on TV so it wasn't like noon or something!  But some of the sights around here were interesting. Kinda....

 First thing I noticed when I came downstairs for breakfast. What is that?  Oh, it's Squeak's butt....why is the cat sitting  there? Just looking outside? Oh no, it's much more interesting than that...Don't look if you have a weak stomach:

She puked on her bed...into the washing machine ASAP! Time to focus on other things.

Like pretty flowers to make me think Spring just might be near..in spite of the fact that the deck was covered with ice and it was cold and rainy all day!

Easter decorations here and there.

Some on top of the kitchen fireplace.

Speaking of fireplaces...this is the livingroom fireplace with it's stockpot sitting inside filling with rain water...yep, we have a leak from the same place as last year when they fixed the roof..only it's not the roof. It's the chimney.

I crawled up and took a pic to prove it. Hopefully the nice man who came last week to check it out will be fixing it ASAP.

 I made bread to take to a nice older couple in our Church that I drove out to visit. I had a great chat with them and I hope they enjoyed this with their lunch today!

Cake also went to some Church friends I visited today.  I spent most of my afternoon making visits.  It's good to have a day to do that kind of thing. 

As I was getting ready to leave for my visits,  poor Squeak was wondering where her bed was....thankfully I pulled it out of the dryer just before I left.  It was so nice and warm, I don't think she's gotten off of it all day! Yes, I  have exciting Monday's off every so often.  Tomorrow it's back to work...hey, I couldn't stand anymore fun!

Lucky Stiff!

This afternoon we stopped at our good friend Greg's place of work.  Well, it used to be his place of work but he retired and the insurance office staff gave him a fond farewell open house.  Now I could really call him a "Luck Stiff" for being able to retire. But he's worked long and hard his whole life. He's contributed to our community in a big way by a being on city council, school board, many other "boards" throughout the town. He goes to our Church and has served in every leadership position you can imagine. But at 68 he and his lovely wife Gayle are going on a mission for the Church.  He was planning on working a couple of more years, just part-time, but when he was asked to serve he and his wife didn't hesitate to say "Yes!". So off they will go and we wish them all the best.  I know for a fact that "Luck" has nothing to do with his success in business, personal life, church life, or community life...the harder you work, the luckier you get...that's all there is to it.  Congrats Greg! We will miss you!! (Plus he was our insurance agent and we'll miss that too!)

Jack and Greg.

Greg and his wife Gayle.

This was really cool....I want candy bars when I retire with my name on them!

This was just a small portion of the food served.  The conversation Jack and I had about the spread tells me how well my hubby knows the real me.  ME: "Jack, the food looks really good, are you going to have some?" JACK: "Oh? It does look good". ME: "Seriously Honey, you should go and get some food...get a nice big plate full."  JACK: (His eyes get squinty and he looks really carefully at me)"Why? What are we having for dinner?" ME: "Ummmm....whatever is in that buffet line."  Yep, I'm a Lucky Stiff being married to such a smart guy!

Something Nice

To say we had a beautiful weekend would be an understatement.  It was..gasp..sunny..and...gasp...warm!  The nicest of the two days was Sunday.  I didn't check the thermometer but I'm guessing 70 would be the magic number.  So I hung outside and walked around the yard with the dog.  Got a teensy bit of a sunburn even.  The phenom was Squeak the cat.  Usually this is how you will find her once the temps drop or the rain falls:

Curled up in her "spot".  But she knows when the weather changes. She wants out!

Hello.

Perhaps this is my better side?

Couldn't resist snooping at the Kindle could you...Remember what curiosity did to the cat!  Anyway, as the sun sunk in the West, Jack's thoughts turned to a little fire in the fire pit.

Help me...I'm sinking!

Burn, baby, burn! Sitting around the fire and talking was nice and also noticing little things around us...Like this:

X marks the spot right above us.  I try not to think about planes doing this..flying over or under each other.  I'm heading out in one in a few weeks....oh, I just got a chill.....

The trees to the South:

Just looked interesting and ended a weekend that was something nice for a change. Warm, sunny, quiet, and restful. (Even with the time change!)

Good Morning Tonight!

Sunday morning at 2am everyone who has to do the time change thing should shout all together: "Good Morning!" Don't ask me why, I just thought we could all bond over this silly need to "Spring Forward". Frankly, I'm not even sure why we need to do it or if we actually lose or gain an hour anyway.  I don't mind the lighter later result of the Spring forward...but when it's happening this early in March having daylight in the evening is a waste since I can't plant anything, or mow anything, or work in the yard. (Except I could do some doggy cleanup I guess)  The real bummer is having my morning commute plunged back into darkness for a bit.  I was just getting used to seeing my world in detail before spending my day in rooms with no windows!  This week I took a picture every morning so I could remember the light until it reappears in a few weeks. I hope it's only a few weeks!

Monday and I caught the glimpse of a sunrise and a promise of a clear day.

Tuesday and I caught the clear day leaving and the promise of clouds and snow approaching.

Wednesday and I caught the huge (I'm saying this with tongue in cheek!) snowfall that had everyone ready for the end of the world as we know it....fortunately for us, unfortunately for teachers and students, it was a fizzle of only a few inches.  Come on people, we live up North and a little snow shouldn't bother anyone!

Thursday and I caught the result of the melting of the Wednesday snow...alas...snow was a "no show".

Friday and I caught my coworker Shay with a big TGIF smile as we walked across the parking lot, down the sidewalk, across the street, through the hospital parking lot, into work!

But not before we stopped to see the sun peeping from behind the trees on the horizon.

And not before we rushed to get the cross walk light before it turned, making us wait longer!  So don't forget to change your clocks, get to bed early so when it's dark again in the AM you'll be ready.  Good Morning Tonight!

WOOD..You Believe It?

Every Winter I do a post on wood.  Exciting? No. Hard work? Yes. Pretty? No. Necessary? Yes.  We heat with wood.   It makes the house nice and toasty warm.   Heating with wood  helps with the utility bills.  However, last year the electric company wrote us a nasty letter.  They noticed we weren't using as much electricity as we should if we were heating with just electric heat. Well, duh. We would also be frozen if we just used electric heat.  What they are really saying is they aren't getting as much money as they think they should.  So to help us out they raised our rate. (took away the "all electric" rate)  If we would (wood) have responded to their notice and said we weren't heating with any alternative methods they  threatened  cautioned us that they would come to the home and inspect it.  If they found out what we were using they would calculate a bill on what they thought we should be paying and then charge us interest on that amount. I kid you not. I still think I live in a free country...just don't tick off the utility companies. What I'm trying to figure out is if we discontinue to use air conditioning and just open the windows would they come and do the same thing? We only use wood about 3mo. of the year. The big whiney babies!  None the less, we chop, gather, move, split, load, lift, clean out ash, and continue to heat with wood.  Oh wait, when I say "WE" I don't mean "ME."  Although I do help occasionally, it's mostly the two fellas featured in this post:

Sorry they are so blurry...they move faster than the speed of camera!

Big pile of loveliness! I'm betting Jordan isn't thinking that!

As I said, it's a bit messy in the yard until Spring comes in with nice warm temps and we can quit all this.
We were suppose to get a big snowfall tomorrow.  I'm getting different reports so I guess we'll just wait and see.  In the mean time, I'm glad for the work and the wood and the warmth.  And my two favorite lumberjacks...one who actually is named Jack!

Eddy agrees!

Milestones

When I think of milestones I always imagine the biggies....walking on  the moon...discovering America...first baby...last baby...a cure for something...and birthdays.  I've had a few milestone birthdays in my life.  I have had a few surprise birthday parties for those.  I remember my 50th....my whole family showed up in my house on  a Friday morning around 8am.  I was up and dressed, thank goodness.  I came up from our rec room in the basement to find them standing in my livingroom.  Scared me to death but we had a great time.  They all had traveled from Chicago and my one brother came from Atlanta. Great family!  A big surprise party happened that night that not only included family, but friends from Church and work.  Good memories. Well, I've hit another "milestone" today.  I'm 60.  I can hardly say it and make it seem real. I'm not opposed to growing old...really, I'm not. Everyone has to do it and the alternative isn't what I want at this point in time. I'll save that milestone for another time, thank you!  But really...60?? When did it happen? I keep thinking that if I'm really 60 I should be different somehow. I  keep thinking that I should feel like a grown-up..that I should be smarter or something.  It came so fast that surely a "sonic boom" should have been heard! I remember when I turned 30 and was really upset. My generation always said: "Never trust anyone over 30." I felt sooooooo old then!  Now they say  30 is the new 20. Knowing some 30yr. olds I do believe they are right! It seems youth rules in 2013...more than it did in 1953.  Looking at old pics of my Grandmother holding me as baby, she looks just like she did when she died at age 94 in the 1980's! White hair and all!  Well, I'm not my Grandmother. I do trust people over 30.  I still have the greatest family. My super wonderful husband who puts up with me everyday. My great kiddos and grandkiddos. They are the hot fudge on my sundae of life.  My Mom who is my inspiration at age 86.  My sister who makes me laugh and loves me no matter what. All my brothers who are the best brothers on earth.  My friends and co-workers who add the spice.  My BFF Donna...you rock girlfriend! She put together a wonderful 60th birthday surprise carry-in at work today.  So much food! So much fun! So many cute decorations! Thanks from the bottom and top of my heart.  So now I'm going to flow through 60 years of my life quickly...hang on.  It's going to go fasssttttttt

I'm starting with age 5....

Moving on to age 8....Love the teeth!

High School....In this day and age all the kids get a million poses with outdoor and inside shots. Back in 1971 everyone just wore a sweater with a necklace, sat down, turned to the right, left, front...done!

Weddings....where are those crazy kids today?

Then came the babies.  That was also how we did it in my day.....first came love, then came marriage, then came us with the baby carriage!  Now Moms don't even need a Dad..just a container and a syringe.

I had to add this....I love Halloween and all the world loves a vampire! (I'm a 5mo. preggo Vampire here in 1983!)

TaDa!!!! Me at 60! I still can't believe it, but I'm going to enjoy my day.  It started out fun with my party at work:

Our early morning meeting included celebration:

Yummy food...this was just a teensy sampling of what was brought in!

These little tidbits were really good.  Spinach, feta cheese, cream cheese..all rolled in cresent dough...YUM!

This little message was on our message board:  I just noticed the Nursing Law note above my Happy Birthday..."the quiz is set up like the BAR..BAR means: Basic Annual Review...not BAR like "Club 42" bar.  If you live in Ashland you know what the Club 42 is!

When I got home a few surprises awaited:

Flowers from Craig and Amy in Oregon

Candy from my Sister in Chicago....and yesterday Jack got me a fun new popcorn maker because he knows how much I love making real  popcorn and with a ceramic top on our new stove, it's not recommended. Thanks Babe, and all my family and friends! I'm going to go now and contemplate how in the heck this all happened...and how blessed I am to be here to enjoy my life.

 

Eleven Is Heaven!

Last night we celebrated our Grandson, Anthony's,11th birthday.

He's the nicest 11yr. old I know! He's so funny and sweet (don't tell him I called him "sweet!")

Can you tell from his cake that he loves football?  My son took him to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio for the day. (Yes, he played hookie from school!)  They had a blast and enjoyed the time together..just the 2 of them.  Kiddos need those together times with Dad!

His little brother Cameron was eager to help celebrate!

His Mom made his request...Tacos...It was a taco fest! They were very yummy!

Some of the other party goers were his older Sister Driana.  She snuck in after she was done working at her very first job.  She got her very first paycheck too..a milestone moment!

 His other older Sister, Summer wasn't as happy about getting her pic taken...no time to doll it up...but I think she's lovely!  She's the artist who surprised me with this lovely painting she did.  I love it Summer! Thank you so much!

It's fun to get gifts when it's not your birthday!

Gifts were opened....tacos eaten..and then:

Candles blown out!!  Happy 11th B-day Buddy!  We love you tons!  (Now stop getting so old, it makes me look bad!)