Happy Birthday, Jeanne!

Wow! 30 years old today! It is definitely making me feel old now that my nieces and nephews are turning 30! It is fun reflecting back over the years, though. Remembering my brother when he came into Gospel Meeting that Sunday afternoon. He wasn't walking--he was floating! He had a grin from ear to ear--his Jeanne Rae had arrived! Such a fun kid--wanting to learn everything. As soon as she was talking, she wanted to learn the really big words--like calculator--that was always a fun one to listen to. It was fun when Jeanne lived in Indiana and headed our way on the weekends. I think she missed the noise of a big family and came here for a dose of it! We really had a good time getting acquainted with her those years!

Anyway--I could go on and on--but I'll just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEANNE!

New Year's (Revolutions?!)

'Tis the season for already wondering about those New Year's Resolutions! I've appreciated the earlier posts about our resolutions for the New Year, both the spiritual and natural.

As for myself--I'm already finding myself having to go back to the beginning of the month and RE-motivate myself. Between my house, weight loss (?) and exercise--it's a full time job gettin' going!

My house--organization--(oops! I'm even having trouble spelling that word!) that one is a horribly hard one for me as my dear husband can vouch for! I have the best intentions to be SO organized--and then forget all those wonderful areas where I was going to keep everything JUST SO! I like checking out the FlyLady web site, but the week she wanted me doing my kitchen I did go with the Master Bedroom instead. Kitchen should be done for a while--maybe a few things to rearrange, but not enough to worry about yet. The Master Bedroom has been the dumping ground for too much since all rooms upstairs are filled up now. (Meaning that Carlin is now in the only guest room we had.) I've been trying to learn how to down size and haven't quite figured it out yet! Thanks to Leann for the house cleaning calendars she experimented with on me I am slowly getting going there.

As for the weight loss--well--it is going, but I would like to just find the magic pill and shed it all at once. That is another thing I can thank Wayne for. He decided to sign up with Weight Watchers at Work. Quit laughing--I know he didn't need to lose much!! (Our insurance offers incentives to keep cost down so that does help.) Anyway, he reached his goal in six weeks but I told him to still pretend he needs to lose so he can keep me motivated!

Exercise--Hmmmm! Boring!!!! But necessary. I'm kind of laughing at myself over that one. For some reason I've decided I want to attempt jogging?! I have always hated jogging--go figure! I started walking when we were traveling with Wayne this summer and decided to keep it up. I can only do 1 1/2 miles out of three so far--and that is to switch off between walking and running. Must have been a moment of insanity to think this plan up!

Does This Really Save Time?

I had a request to post my latest "new toy" so here it is! I can't decide whether to call it a he or she but it usually ends up being a "he"!
Roomba is a robot vacuum that cleans my kitchen and living room area. I go to work and come back to my house vacuumed! Talk about a good idea---but, while it does clean the surface area it really doesn't do deep cleaning. It picks up what all gets tracked in from outside and cleans the top layer on the rug. One thing I can't do anymore--I can't leave things laying around on the floor. I wonder if Wayne had an ulterior motive when he ordered this??? Hmmmmm!

I'll add a bit more to this. I have it set to do the kitchen on certain days and the living area on other days. On Wednesdays I have it do the whole downstairs. There are two sensors that tell it which area to do. It is kind of cool watching it start and stop. When it starts up it has a little song it plays. When it is running out of charge it works its way back to its station and pulls up on its little docking pad to recharge itself, then it plays another little tune!

It won't fall down stairs because it senses a drop and stays away from there. It will go through doorways unless you have the sensors set to keep it from other rooms. It will do the kitchen, dining/living room, and hallway in about 1 1/2 hours. Some of my rugs it doesn't like to do so I just leave them rolled up so it won't go on them.

Update On Donna

Donna is coming along pretty well since her accident last Thursday. She has had surgery on both legs and has plates in each. She got off her breathing tubes the past couple of days and is doing okay. If the nursing home has an opening, she should get moved this weekend. Therapy started this week and she will be having that for quite awhile.

What Once Was Old Is New Again!

I found this old Aladdin lantern at Mom's when we were there. I remember as a kid when the electricity would go out, Mom and Dad would light the lanterns. They got it for a wedding gift, so it is close to 70 years old. Several pieces were missing from it so we ordered some new ones and got to try it out yesterday. It is about the same as a 60 watt bulb!

Some not so good news.

Thursday, Wayne's sister, Donna, was injured in an accident on the way to her work place. (She is his mentally handicapped sister that lives at home in MN) The van she was in hit another car broadside. Donna has two broken legs, broken ribs and punctured lung. She had surgery on her legs yesterday and plates were put in. Today her lung collapsed and she is to be given more blood. Not out of the woods yet, but hope things start going better.

So many roads and NO way out!

This doesn't begin to show how deep it is.
The mud goes up over the truck tires in the
bottom photo!

In an earlier post I showed some pictures of a seasonal road in the area. Now our everyday road looks about the same. Thanks to several warm days, the snow and ice all melted and the road thawed and sank The buses can no longer come through. Tonight I saw the first car I've seen all day. (only trucks have gone through) Needless to say--it sank!
A call to road commission says "Sorry, their trucks can't make it through?!" Hmmm! I was glad for a 4-wheel drive today, but after several trips through to meet the buses I decided to park down the road where we can still get out. We had an inch of rain last night and are to get a couple more tonight. If this is spring thaw in January, I wonder what spring time will be like?!

We miss these folks, but sure LOVE their new house!

So cute--(photo above) Paige pulling Carlin!? She would just
get him started and then let go.
Don and Leann have the perfect hill for sledding--as long as you stop
before the woods!

Sledding is hard work! Paige was sick, too. She fell asleep
on the dining room floor. Hope you feel better now, Paige!

Engineers as work--mounting gates on the stairs! Sorry Hudson,
no more escaping!

The guys building shelves for the playroom

Maybe a little to the left?!

Now what do you think if we try it like this?....

It looks great!

Little Hudson wondering what to play with next!

Let's see if we can throw all the balls out

We stopped to see Don, Leann, and 3 1/2 on the way back from NE. Had such a great time there catching up! Not nearly long enough, but special just the same. It is so neat to see their place in real life and not just on the blog! The pictures don't begin to tell what it really looks like! The boys had fun taking Paige and Marina sledding (and exploring).
Don and Leann will have to show the final results of the shelves. We are going to have to get to IKEA, Leann! (and we made it there since I started writing this!)
The time there was great--the trip home not so great. Just had to try out another snow storm, but eventually made it home!

On to Omaha....

We got to spend Saturday night in Omaha and see Paul and Nancy.

Christmas Vacation

Mexican Train

Fitting into new slippers

A morning of music

Relaxing

Fun getting to see the cousins again

Who says kids need big presents? Give
them a box of dominos and blocks and they
are set for the week? (Kyle was quite glad
to get home to the computer again though!)

...And Wayne was glad he had his computer along!

Christmas dinner--I hadn't seen these dishes in use in years

Happy New Year!