January Stuff

January already feels like a race, so much to do! How can it be the fifth day of the year and I'm already this far behind? The good part of this is, I have side jobs, and am also submitting a resume tomorrow for a great job. So why am I here blabbing, I mean blogging, instead of tweaking my resume/cover letter? No, I don't know, I'm asking you all why!

Sometimes I just plain can't think.

I've worked every day since I got back from Indiana, that's helped me to not be too sad, missing my grandkids. Noah is 8 weeks old! He's outgrown his newborn clothes already, and he smiles and laughs and coos all the time. He's so happy, and it's impossible to not be happy just looking at him. See?

Oh, here I am.

I lost my blog, I found it, but didn't remember what email I used, so I couldn't sign in. I forgot I created a new email just for it, so I searched my computer and ta-da!
So, anyway, I've had a great Christmas season, I spent time with my daughter and her family, which just happens to include my BRAND NEW GRANDSON! And of course, my wonderful grandaughter, who is 10, and my 16 year old grandson! Then back home, and back to work.
I'm trying to find people from Spaces that I followed, it will take a while to get settled here I guess.  

Happy Birthday Girls!

My girls are having birthdays. Lisa was 35 last Saturday, Nicki is 38 today. My son Jesse, turned 30 in January. I'm so proud of them, I could never find the words to explain how I feel. I love them so much, and I wonder why God choose me to bless as their mom. Thank You God. Thank You.

Yummmmm

I had a great holiday. Missed my kids, but talked with them all, and they're doing so well, it makes me happy. Got to see my cousins and aunt on Saturday. There were 19? of us. We had: Turkey, ham, dressing, cranberry sauce, cranberry & fruit crisp, gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, cabbage, cole slaw, fried apples, rolls, 4 kinds of pie, 2 kinds of cake. Most of the veggies were canned out of the garden from last summer. I cannot believe how much I ate. That girl can cook! That girl is in her 80's and I can never keep up with her. She still mows her yard, paints her house, and gardens.

At home on Thursday, I made turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, glazed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (I admit it, it was canned), 2 pies, green bean casserole, and rolls.

I've eaten turkey and sweet potatoes every day since Thursday, and I'm not tired of either. But I did have pizza tonight. lol.

When I was a kid staying at my aunt's or my grandma's, breakfast consisted of the whole family at the table, with eggs, oatmeal, biscuits, gravy, sausage, and one or more of: fried chicken, pork chops, or bacon. At home, it was Corn Flakes. lol. A big difference in having a stay at home aunt and grandma, and a working mom. As soon as breakfast was cleared away, my aunt started on lunch, another big, hot meal. Evenings were light, usually leftovers from lunch.      mmmmmmmmmm

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,turkey,food,cooking,family,cousins,kids

Thanksgiving Tomorrow

Thanksgiving tomorrow. I had a piece of pie as a warm up this evening. It's important to practice for important events. I thought my daughter and grandson in Newport News were going to come for Thanksgiving. I'm bummed that she has to work, but that means they'll be able to come closer to Christmas. That's the hardest thing about living here. I like the area so much, but I'm away from all my kids and grandkids. If they lived in the same area, I'd move there, no matter where it was, but they're scattered, so I stay put. I keep hoping they'll move here.

I'm cooking tomorrow and then I get to go to my Aunt's on Saturday. TWO Thanksgivings. I love going to my Aunt's and hanging out with my cousins and their spouses and kids. And last time there was a puppy there! Never did find out who he belonged to, not sure he knew either.     jan

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,family,kids,grandkids,aunt,cousins,puppies,food,cooking.

TIKI

   

 

One week, 38 hours of driving, in 3 parts, a tiny puppy named Tiki, and over 100 bucks in rolled pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Vacations are a wonder*ful thing. Pat looked for months last year to find a Bichon Frise breeder she liked. Finally, she found one about 350 miles from here. She and I went to get the puppy, ended up getting two puppies, and fell in love with the whole family. My daughter (N), who has one Bichon for my granddaughter and has wanted another for my grandson (D), immediately said she'd wait for the next litter from L's dogs. We stayed in touch with L for almost a year, sending pics and updates on the doggies. All her people stay in touch, which is a cool thing to see how all the brothers and sisters are doing. So, when the mama dog was pregnant a few weeks ago, there was already a waiting list of friends and friends of friends for puppies. L had told N she could have first pick a long time ago.

I'm trying to make this short, it could be a book. Short version...N couldn't come to see or get a puppy, Pat and I went and picked out the puppy, with a lot of calling and sending pics over the phone while we were there. As soon as I walked in though, Tiki came up to me and said, "Oh there you are, I'm ready to go". There was no contest, it was obvious which puppy belonged to D. So, Tiki came home with me for a couple of days, until we could make plans to get the dog another 600+ miles to N. We left Wednesday, and left there to come back home Sunday. I'm still tired. It was wonderful to see L and her husband again, we took the other two Bichons with us, so there were 8 Bichons running around being funny. They are the happiest, most entertaining dogs ever.

The visit with my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids was perfect, except it was so hard to leave. Tiki and their other dog, Coconut, were immediately best friends, and by the time we left, Tiki was mostly potty trained and followed the kids everywhere they went.

There's so much more, it was a very special event, with lots of twists and turns, I might write more another time.

Gas prices! Went progressively higher heading north. Started at 3.73 here, ended at 4.19. Cost was probably about the same per mile, the low prices were where we were going over mountains, watching the gas gauge needle go down, higher prices were over flat land.

Technorati Tags: Bichon,puppy,grandchildren,Kentucky,Tennessee,Indiana,pets,gas prices

Back from visiting.

Hi! I've been gallavanting around the country, visiting kids and grandkids. I just got back from seeing my daughter N, and her family. Two grandkids there, boy 13, girl 8. Incredible! I had not been with them for a year, and they've grown SO much! You just can't tell in photos. D is 13, and about 5'9". He was about 5'3" last year. M is Gorgeous. She's always been the cutest kid anywhere, but that's turned into an incredible beauty, while still being Super Cute!

Homeschooled kids have so much creativity and energy. And usually far, far advanced academically. I've been home a little over 24 hours and I'm still in awe.

My kids have grown into the most wonderful adults. I am so proud of them, words just cannot say.

 

So, anyway, tears again. I haven't blog walked, it will take me days, I know. I wanted to say hi and to let you know I didn't get so Sidetracked that I disappeared or anything permanent.

Past Week

I had such a good time with my daughter L, and grandson. R is 11 years old, and owns 5 game systems, and of course spends a good deal of time playing video games. He had the best time here. We have a PlayStation 2, and he brought his WI and I have a Nintendo DS. He spent very little time with any of them. We even rented 3 new games for him. We went to Roan Mountain State Park, and he loved it. The weather was perfect for being outside in the mountains. We went on the Appalachian Trail, for about 10 minutes, while I told him some things about it, and now he can say he's been on part of it. And we talked to a couple of hikers and gave them a box of PopTarts. It's always a good idea to feed AT hikers, can you imagine how many calories they use a day? Then he stood with one foot in North Carolina, and one in Tennessee, and thought that was pretty cool. He hung out with me and his mom, and listened to family stories and history. At one point I realized there were four generations sitting in the living room talking together. Pat, L, R, and I played....BOARD games! I thought he would not be interested in that, but he found some, Outburst and a Monopoly game that was a Virginia State Parks theme, and wanted to play. We played both for hours. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention, he won Monopoly by about a gazillion dollars. He's very intelligent, and sat and told us all kinds of Virginia history. He lives in Newport News, which is by Norfolk and Williamsburg. His school class went on lots of field trips and taught them so much history! This is his first year there, after moving from Phoenix. I learned a lot! In the evenings, we made a fire in our little fire pit, and sat outside under the stars watching the lightening bugs and talking. It was so nice. I miss all my kids and grandkids so much.