New Year's Eve

Yay - Bob & Ann got to the Ranch safely!!  Steve & Rhonda must have gotten home safely.  Linda & Al were leaving today.  Dave & I watched the Cyclone men's basketball game this afternoon and now we're seeing in the new year the same way we usually do.  We'll go to bed early and skip all the festivities!!  Every year for the last 21 has come in regardless of whether we stayed up until midnight or not!!  Sounds like we're getting old, doesn't it?!

It was 65 degrees in Des Moines today - about 57 here.  Although the wind was blowing pretty hard, so it didn't exactly feel that warm.  I have friends who said their daffodils and crocus are coming up!  Boy, are they in for a rude awakening!!  We're supposed to have a day or so of cold weather and then back into the 40s before we leave for points south!

Happy New Year to all of you!  See you next year!!  More later...

Bummer...

I've had a good day...however, about 3:00 it got icky!  I am really bummed.  I thought my Cyclones could beat Rutgers, but maybe there was a Yankee curse on them or something.  We just didn't play our type of football...it was really disappointing.  Bad way to end a year.

It rained here today, but it was still mild.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be around 56 degrees - and it's December 31st!  What a nice December we've had!

Today Dave finished caulking our bathtub and he cleaned the shower doors with white vinegar.  He's so good! Then he put everything back together.  I get to use my own shower tomorrow morning - yay!!  Tomorrow he's going to work Habitat, so I'm just hanging out.  I'm hoping staying off my feet will help my knee heal!

More later...

I'm tired of this!!

We had a beautiful day here!!  It was in the mid 50's...hard to believe that it's Dec. 29th...in fact, it's still 43 aqt 7:30 PM!

I'm tired of my knee hurting!  I talked to my surgeon the other day.  He put me on ibuprofen 3x a day after meals..and it still hurts.  The ONLY time it doesn't hurt is when I'm sitting in my chair with ice on it!  I guess I need to pretend that I just had surgery and stay off of it for 3-4 days in a row...then maybe it would get better faster.  If it doesn't get better soon, I'll probably have to have a shot in the knee - yuck!  That just doesn't sound pleasant at all!!

I worked on paperwork today.  I got all of it filed so I can bring everything with me for tax season.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?  We took things over to Bob & Ann's today so they could pack their car for the trip back to the Ranch.  They're leaving bright and early tomorrow!  I'm ready to go back too...too bad we've still got another week!  Next year we'll plan differently!

More later...

Ahhhhhhh...

I had a massage today and did I ever need it!  I haven't had one since before my surgery back in November!  My shoulders were tight, my back was tight, and needless to say, my knee was tight!  I'm pretty sore tonight, but it's a good sore.  I hope I sleep well!

I'm reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on my Kindle.  It's nothing like I thought it would be.  I don't know for sure what I expected, but I didn't expect intrigue!  I'm also reading Enchanted by Nora Roberts.  I'd started it before I got my Kindle, so I read it at night and "The Girl" during the day!!

Rhonda and family took off today to go back to Texas.  I hope they travel safely!

My mind is tired tonight.  I know I had several things I was pondering, but I can't think what they are!  We've got to take a little box over to Bob & Ann tomorrow, plus our plants and my Gulf photograph.  I sure hope they have room for them, but if they don't it's not a big deal.  I'll try to keep the plants alive until next year when we drive down again.  As for the picture, I could hang it up here, but I envision it in Florida with us.

More later...

Good Day for Resting

Today was a good day for resting!  Dave and I both got a little nap in our chairs this afternoon.  I played with my Kindle for quite a while before I fell asleep.  I actually got it all set up, entered my gift cards, ordered a couple of books, and started reading one of them already!  What an easy way to read.  It's so lightweight!!  I also got online and ordered Dave a Kindle Fire.  It'll be in Florida when we get there!  I think he'll really like it! He can order his own books and we cane even share them with each other (if the author/publisher allows sharing).  Fun!!

Here are some pictures of my family taken yesterday at our family Christmas.  The first is of my three nieces - beautiful, intelligent, wonderful young women!  They are from L-R, Linda, Vicki and Rhonda.

This picture is of my "greats" - my great nephew, Kyle, his fiance (Cassie) on his right..my great nieces in front - Cheyenne, Allison and Kaylee.

And, last but not least, this is a picture of Kaylee and Vicki "snooping"...you see, all of the packages are behind the tree - so I caught them trying to find packages with their names on them.  Vicki, can't you wait??

We had a really great day yesterday.  Kaylee has to be in Denver tomorrow for orientation.  She's a junior at Wartburg and her spring semester will be spent in Denver.  She is taking two classes and will be doing an internship at the Y there.  One of her classes is a required religion class and one is a writing class - based on her experiences during her stay in Colorado.  She thinks they'll be going to help various churches with homeless shelters and soup kitchens, etc.  Should be fun for her.  Her best friend/roommate is also going, so hopefully she won't get homesick.  She'll be back home about April 4th.  Linda and Al were taking her to Colorado today and tomorrow, staying in Kearney, Nebraska tonight.  Rhonda, Steve, and Cheyenne are leaving for Texas tomorrow I think.  Keep them all in your prayers for safe travels.

More later...

Lovely Day

I  can't remember the last time we went to Bob's for Christmas and only wore light jackets or sweatshirts!  Well, we did today!  It was a beautiful day!!  It was also beautiful inside.  We had a lovely day with family and a wonderful Christmas!!  It started out with turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, noodles, corn, relish tray, apple salad, cranberry salad, deviled eggs, and rolls.  (I think I forgot something, but I can't think what!!)  Then chocolate ice cream pie (or Bob's pie as we affectionately call it!), pecan pie (Dave's pie from Dear Abby's recipe), and Apple Cream pie for dessert!  PLUS, there was candy and cookies to munch on!!  Quite a spread!!  Then we started opening packages...Oh my, that took us until it was dark outside!  I'll post pictures hopefully tomorrow - I'm too tired tonight!

More later...

Merry Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful day today!  Got up early and Bryan had fixed bacon and scrambled eggs - yum!!  Then we all went to church where Pastor David gave a great sermon!  I really miss him when we're in Florida.  His sermons are so inspiring and thought-provoking!  I can't wait for the Evangelism Commission to get his sermons on the website!  Then I'll be able to be inspired even when I'm in Florida!

After church, Bryan and I came home early.  He went to wash his car and I made a cheesy hash brown casserole that was really good, if I do say so myself!  Bob & Ann came over for dinner.  We had pork chops with a mushroom gravy, steamed baby green beans with slivered almonds, the hash brown casserole, garlic bread, and Bryan's cranberry salad.  Then for dessert, I had made a key lime pie!!  Pretty good food for Christmas.  It was beautiful here.  I don't know how warm it got, but we were outside helping Bryan load his car to go home and we didn't even have to have coats on!  It was really a nice day!

Tomorrow is our big family day.  I can hardly wait to see my nieces and my "greats"!!  We're having lunch at noon and then after the dishes are done, the festivities will begin!!  Actually, I think I should call it a marathon instead of festivities!  Unwrapping presents takes HOURS!!  It's fun though and this year we'll have another family member - Kyle's fiance, Cassie, will be joining us!

More later...

PS - Oh, I had a cute thing said to me at church today.  One lady said I could sure tell that Bryan was your son...he looks just like you!!  I didn't tell Bryan - I don't know how he'd feel about that!!  I just thanked her and told her that I was his step-mother...she said her step son looked like her too!  Funny!!  Merry Christmas!