It's Snowing!!

Yippy! It's going to be a perfect day. Going to clean up dog poop and then let the dogs out to play. They love snow. Me too, could ya tell?

Feeling Thankful

No matter what other problems are going on in my life I know I am blessed. All my kids and grandkids and spouses and friends will be gathered round the table together today. There have been years where we were not all together and it's never the same.We may be broke but I am rich in food. My daughter Heather is cooking her first turkey right now. She called me freaking out at the thought of waking up and shoving her

hand up a slimy ice cold bird. Nope, I never liked it either. Ya gotta do it anyway. I always think of my Thanksgivings as a litle girl. I miss my parents and grandparents so much. I was looking for pictures of us all but couldn't find them. My dad was a photographer and we had lots of pics. I love having my Moms old china.Her mom gave it to her as a wedding gift almost 60 years ago. It was so special we only used it 3 times a yr. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Before she passed away Moma gave it to me. I love eating on plates that my family actually used so many years ago. I try to picture my Grandma eating from the plate I am using. It makes me feel connected in a small way. Having family traditions is such a wonderful way to keep our families together and pass down to the little ones,stories of their family that is no longer with us. More than any other time of year I feel my Mother beside me as I cook. I wish you all a wonderful day and many blessings. Posting a picture of my Dad and his dad. My grandpa was a conductor in Los Angeles on the street cars that used to run there and later on the Southern Pacific Railroad.

ROAD TRIP Part 2

You can see by the pictures we all had a great time. and they all lived happily ever after.

ROAD TRIP Part 1

What could be more fun than dragging 3 kids from their warm beds at 5:30 A.M.and loading them into a van? Well if one if them(Natalie the 23 mo. old) was up most of the night puking that would certainly do it. It also means the mom( my daughter Heather) got even less sleep. I agreed to go along because even though I am not a morning person I couldn't let Heather drive 100 miles away to the airport with 3 kids alone. We were taking my oldest grandson Christian to El Paso Texas (nearest airport) to catch a flight to Atlanta to spend Thanksgiving with his dad and grandparents and great grandma. Grandparents are super nice and love Christian and have the $ to fly him out several times a year.This was a last minute thing and must have cost a pretty penny. They called and asked Heather on Saturday if he could fly out on Monday. We really did not think they could get a flight at that late date but they did. The ride there was not bad cuz the kids stayed asleep till the sun woke them up. Heather and I looked like hell.I had on a jammie top instead of a sweater. Even though she had cleaned Natalie up as good as she could in the middle of the night there was a faint smell of barf in the car. It really wakes you up better than coffee. It was a strange thing to witness birds of prey hunting for breakfast and geez there was so many smashed rabbits on the road. Only 2 coyotes though.GOOD MORNING WORLD!

We left extra early because last trip he made in Aug they were 5 minutes late and he couldn't get on his plane. Once the luggage is on ,thats it. Heather made real sure that didn't happen this time. Flight left at 9:45 and we arrived at 7:50. Upon check in we were told his flight was delayed. Yippy! Sleepy sick kids love hanging out in the airport. For hours. The worst part was that I never go with them when he is flying out. I know I will get upset. I forgot about that till his plane started to taxi down the runway. Tonight he is safe and sound in Tennessee. Soon as his plane touched down (3 hrs late) they drove to Grans house in Tenn. I love you Christian.

Books From Biddie

Thank you Biddie for sending Gage these wonderful books. I have read them both over and over and over. He gets to my house at 7:15 each morning. By 7:30 he has found his books and begging for me to read. What a nice thing for you to do, thank you. Check out the door decor from Gage. Crayons are tough to get off.

ALL BEATLES ALL DAY

What can I say? I love em.

Christmas Pictures For Biddie

Pictures from Christmas past. My Mom and grandparents and my brothers and I. During the Pixie hair cut days. Then last year. I cannot believe it's almost that time again. Oh my! P.S. yes, that wall is a horrible color and I won't tell you what was my reason for doing such a thing. Just know I am hoping to paint it over before Christmas.

gage asked me to post his picture

hes on my lap and its hard to type. he wants this pic put here for all too see. he loves this 1.

Say A Prayer And Cross Your Fingers

Even though Joe asked for and got a raise last month it just isn't enough. To make matters worse since the raise they are driving him crazy at work. He loves to work and is a very honest kind of a man. About 3 months ago a friend from church who is retired military, told Joe to come out to the AFB and apply for a job with the company he works for. Joe has been going to college at night to get a degree and take the I.T. job at work. He had to take a break from school this sem due to the fact that the classes he needs are only being offered during work hrs. It's been nice because he can get in overtime and it makes a huge difference in paycheck day. Even so, he is the only one of his 6 siblings to get to college and it means alot to him to finish and I know he will. Back to my story. After hours with our friend typing up Joes resume and calling each week to check the status of jobs, nothing came of it all. First choice always goes to retired military. We pretty much blew it off and that's when Joe asked for the raise. Since then lots of people have been disappearing from work. A man who had been there for 40 yrs got his walking papers last week. They are pinching pennies they say. Oh, I have never told you what "work" is. Joe works for a Chevy dealership. He took the job in a time of great hardship in our family. He was going to school due to his other job had moved to China. What a blessing. His job title is "guy who fixes everything". Gets side jobs fixing everything at the big bosses big homes on the week-ends. My husband was made for better things than this although I believe this job has been a great stepping stone it's not a career. Over the week-end Joe ran into friend Todd again who this time just gave him the big boss on base phone number and told him to call first thing today.He did. Nice and friendly type of guy and told Joe he has 2 openings. Has been too busy to do any interviews. He took Joes cell # and will be calling him with a time to show up for an interview.He just took off last Friday to accompany me to my Dr appt cuz I was afraid I was dieing. Clearly I am not. I was worried they would not let him off and what excuse would he use. He assured me that for that kind of money he will certainly think of something. Think good thoughts for us please. We are not poor but we can see it from here. Way too close for us.

Good Sunday Mornin To You

Tis a lovely morning here. I should be in the shower and getting ready for church. We have not been in 3 weeks. Busy or out of town and what can you do? I do enjoy the feeling of missing being there. That sounds weird but it is true. My Dr visit went pretty good. She's a very cool lady around my age. She dresses in nothing but black including her shoulder length hair . She has a sense of humor and puts me at ease. I go to a clinic and just when I get a Dr I like they find better work and they disappear. Iilanna says she is staying and I can relax. They took more bool and I look like an old junkie. One of the side effects of one of my problems right now is bruising and bleeding. Which explains why that huge thing on the back of my leg( the size of your open hand) is still here after 4 weeks. I have to go to the hospt for a viral load test but they will do the liver function test with the blood they took Friday. Maybe I do want to be around for a long time. I got pretty scared.

Yesterday Joe hung my new drapes in the living room. He bought them for me 9 months. It took me a while to have money to blow on sheers and then to pick out what I wanted. I have never had new drapes before. I always got things from people when they get new things and pass me down their old stuff or tried to make my own. With 5 kids to feed and clothe, we just didn't have money for such things. Cady has so much more than the other kids did and she has no idea how spoiled she is. They do.

Joey and Jessie and Gage are all moved into their new house and they love it. They have alot more room. The old auntie has been in the nursing home for 2 weeks now and Sara and I are trying to get it cleaned up and cleaned out so her and Alan and Madison can be moved in by Christmas. It's a big house and it's alot of work. The auntie smoked 2 packs of ciggs a day for 45 years in that house. Yes, you can see the nicotine running down the walls. I have to call the paint store and pray that Kilz will cover it and we won't have to scrub all those walls.We took down all the drapes Friday. That got rid of alot of the smell. We had Maddie with us and wish there was someplace else for her to be until we get it cleaned. Maybe Grandpa will help. Maddie only really likes to be with Cady if shes not with mom. Too bad Cady is in school while we are working on the house. I never did post about week before last when I spent the night in Albuquerque with Heather and Jimmy. Jimmy had surgery on his ear. He had lost 85% of his hearing in that ear. After another surgery in 3 months they will be able to restore most of his hearing back to him. Albq. is a 3 hr drive through the desert. I am not a fan of the desert. When I was in Georgia we drove for hrs from Atlanta to Savannah and I loved every mile. After 5 minutes on the road in the desert you have seen all you are going to see. To me it's like locking yourself in the bathroom and staring at the wall for 3 hours. Don't I just have a way with words? Here's a couple pics of the pretty spots we passed.Oh, and the purple house.

Moving Right Along

Guess I need to stop obsessing about my health or the lack there of and post my Halloween pictures. When it comes to obsessing, I am the queen. Here is an assortment of grandkids and kids and friends. It was a fun night for the most part. I love trick or treating and see no reason to let age stop anybody from getting free candy once a year. This year Christian (my oldest grandchild-12) trick or treated with his friends and their parents. Cady was pretty bummed about it. She felt too old to say "trick or treat" without Christian there beside her. I took her damn bag and I trick or treated and nobody gave me any trouble. Just candy. I had my pain pills for my knee and back and was able to run and keep up with everyone and it was the best time. Gage is dressed as Batman, Natalie is Tinkerbell, Madison is a little witch, Seth a pirate,Cady is a vampire and the little baby devil is Gavin the son of Saras old friend, Angela.

I Think I Am A Tad Scared

I have tons of Halloween pictures of the family that I cannot wait to post but I am a bit freaked out by a phone call from the Drs office. I had bloodwork done last week and I was told I would hear from them if there was any problem. Well when I got home yesterday I could see on the caller I.D. that they had called. It was after 5 so I couldn't call till today. This morning I returned from driving Cady to town to school and they had called again. Geez, they were open for a whole 10 minutes before they called me and I started feeling the stress level climb. After a long wait and lots of elevator muzak I got a nurse on the line. She says the Dr has ordered more bloodwork for me and most of it has to be done at the hospt. It seems I have elevated hemoglobin and hematicrit. She mentioned some other things that I have yet to look up and have no idea what they mean. She asked me if I smoke as this is sometimes the cause of elevated hemoglobin. I do not smoke,,anything. I found out 7 years ago that I have hep-c. A parting gift from someone in my past. I have not had any liver problems even so. My enzymes and or viral load was okay 7 yrs ago when tested.Maybe things are not okay anymore. The nurse kept telling me she was so sorry. I mean hell, she said it 4 times. That has me more freaked out than anything else. I am afraid. I cannot talk to my one person I always talk to, Heather my oldest. She called me crying last week. She had a nightmare that I had died and was more than a little upset. My husband is having hell at work right now and since there's nothing to tell it seems lousy of me to burden my family with the endless possibilities of what could be going on with me. I have taken alot of things for granted. Like even with the hep-c I am just fine. Most people die with it and not from it. I begged for and was given 10 minutes with my Dr in the morning. Maybe she will put me at ease.