no time

No time to blog, I'm cleaning house..finally! More specifically...I'm cleaning my closet. I shall post "after" pictures when I'm done. (If I can figure out what's wrong with my camera!) Generally, I keep my closet pretty clean, but it's gotten a little unorganized over the holidays. Between that and all the clothes that no longer fit me, it's just depressing. So...out with the old, and in with the...well, not much new, but at least I'll be able to find what's in there!

Sadness

I learned today that my husband's aunt, Elaine, passed away a couple days ago. The news leaves me very, very sad. Elaine was a dear, sweet friend to me. She always had my back and was so supportive of us. We sit in the balcony at church and she usually sat in the 2nd or 3rd row down below. She would look for me on Sundays and I would look for her, and if we were at the same service, she would smile and wave. She told me to always let it be a reminder to me that she was praying for us. I will miss her.

1/21/78

Happy Anniversary to my beloved! 31 years and counting!

Happy Birthday Boo!

Saturday was my youngest granddaughter's 2nd birthday..Happy Birthday, Bella Boo! Ain't she a cutie petutie!?

Joy And Sorrow Chapter VIII

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow." And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater." But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced...

by Khalil Gibran

1883-1931

You want fries with that?

Why is it that when you go thru a drive-thru fast food place, they won't give you ketchup? Is that tiny little packet of ketchup really going to bust the budget when they're charging almost 2 bucks for a soda these days? And what about when you specifically ask for 4 or 5 packets...and get NONE? How stupid can people be anymore? I have no patience for morons.

home again, home again, jiggity jig

We flew home today, from 68 degrees and sunshine to 38 degrees and overcast. Brrr... On the way home, we stopped in Olympia at JCPenney's to do a little shopping, at the encouragement of my daughter. The clearance sales prices there are unbelievable. I picked up 5 Christmas gifts for NEXT year for some of my granddaughters, for only $12! I also purchased a $65 coat that my daughter asked me to pick up for her while I was there, for only $9. I only wish I'd had more time! The next few days are going to be busy ones, and then I go back to work on Monday. As happy as I was to be in Nevada, I am SO happy to be home! Our youngest granddaughter's birthday is Saturday and she'll be turning two...Grandma and Grandpa couldn't miss that happy event! :)

What to do, what to do!

We spent the day today with a realtor looking at various houses. Out of everything we looked at, we've only found two that we like; well, one I liked and the other my hubby liked. My preference was for a smaller, very nice home on a small lot. The hubby liked the larger house on the larger lot that needed work, but which had a ton of potential. The house had "renters" living in it, although I got the feeling they were actually "squatters". They wouldn't let us into various rooms in the house, and actually had a bulldog in the backyard that had left a friendly deposit on the living room floor. The tenant didn't feel it was necessary to clean it up before we came in to look at the house. So strange.

I'm having such conflicting thoughts on this whole thing. As much as I dislike living in the town we live in, I am in no way ready to make a permanent move. We have too many ties to the community we live in, and I would never leave my kids or grandkids. On the other hand, with the current economy and real estate market, we would be able to buy a home at rock bottom prices right now and I am almost desperate to have a chance to get out of this town and reside, at least part of the year, where I can wake up to sunshine and blue skies, and be free of the drama of the small town I live in.

Finally, I'm feeling more than a bit guilty about the possibility of owning a second home that would sit empty for the majority of the year. For someone who works hard at being a good steward of what we've been given, and tries to live a fairly frugal lifestyle, purchasing a second home is pretty extreme. Lots to think about, and that's what our plan is right now. To go home, think and pray about our options, and then try to make a decision about how to progress from here.

It's pink!

For Christmas this year, my dear hubby got me such an awesome gift...the cutest little pink laptop computer you've ever seen! and I just love it!

It's an Acer and it weighs less than 3 lbs. I can actually fit it in my purse, and did I mention that it's pink!

I've never had a laptop and I've wanted one for a long time, but I never expected that I would get one. I just love, love, love it and it was SO sweet of my hubby to give it to me for Christmas. I've never had something so cool before. Thanks babe!

The great hunt

The hunt continues, or rather, goes on (and on and on...)

We have a binder the hubby put together, a laptop, a camera, a GPS unit and a Suzuki Firenza and we are stalking, er rather...looking, for a vacation house. I'm over it already. After only two days. I need a "fun" day. The hubby says "this is fun!" Like his own personal game of Monopoly.

I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. The size and cost of what we are looking at keeps going up, and my enthusiasm keeps going down, in direct proportion. CCR's? covenants, restrictions, rules...not me. I am long past the days where I want neighbors telling me I can't park my car on the street. The point was to get away. Time will tell. In the meantime, I had a dream last night that one of my granddaughters no longer would come to me and let me hold her. She didn't recognize me anymore. :(

Change is good?

Here I sit in sunny Las Vegas, enjoying the 60+ degree weather and sunshine. It's a far cry from the 2 feet of snow and 12 inches of rain that we received over the last 3 weeks at home, although i hear it's supposed to turn sunny up there in Washington state this week also.

The hubby and I are here on a brief get-away...while also looking at real estate and contemplating buying a house or condo. (Mostly to allow us a LOT more brief get-aways!) I gotta say, even though we seldom gamble, we love Las Vegas. There's always lots to do and things to see. Some people I've talked with hate it here...truly considering it the "devil's playground", but we just kinda like it...probably has a lot to do with that sunshine factor I talked about earlier.

The idea of buying a second home down here is somewhat frightening to me. It's a change...a BIG change. And even though I'm ready, even in need of a change, it's still a little overwhelming. I guess all change is like that for me. I would think with all the changes my life has gone through over the last few years, that it would come a little bit easier to me. Maybe some things never change, huh?

gotta love it!

One of my goals for this year, resolutions, if you will...is to treat myself better and take better care of myself. To that end, I went and got a pedicure yesterday and today I got a massage. My plan is to do at least one "special" thing a day for myself, to eat right and to start exercising again. Hopefully, this process will also allow me to lose 20 pounds. Tomorrow my plan is to spend one solid uninterrupted hour working on my journal and Friday I head to Tacoma...lunch at Nordstroms and an appointment at Gene Juarez. I'm kinda liking this already!

Lord willin' and the creek don't rise!

I took down the Christmas tree today...can we say "finally!!!" I normally take it down a few days after Christmas because my son's birthday is on January 1, but this year I just couldn't seem to get it done. I had to get it done now, though, because we leave on Saturday for a brief vacation. Yes!!! I can't wait. More on that later. Let's just say it's warm and sunny where I'm headed. And I'm probably going to actually shut my cell phone off for a couple days, too. Now that's a real vacation!

After three weeks and three feet of snow, the pineapple express has hit and it is raining, raining, raining! I-5 may be closed just south of us because of water over the roadway. The lake level has risen quite a bit, but it's still several feet below our bulkhead, and schools have a delayed start tomorrow because of all the water on the roads. Blue skies and sunshine are sounding better every day!

*By the way, that photo above was copied off flickr, not taken by me, and it's of the Skokomish River.

Missing D

16 But now this is what the Lord says:
“Do not weep any longer,
for I will reward you,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come back to you
from the distant land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come again to their own land.
Jeremiah 31:16-17

Meet Moses

About six weeks ago, as I was leaving work, I heard a soft meowing coming from the side of the building, next to where my car was parked. I looked over expecting to see a cat, and instead found a small box all taped up: top, bottom and sides. I took the box into the laundromat and opened it up and inside was a tiny black kitten. Written on the side of the box was a note that said "free kitty, can't find home".

Well, adopting a kitten that had been dumped off at our business was the last thing on my mind, but that's what I ended up doing. I tried and tried to get rid of it, but no one would take him, and in the end, we just decided to keep him.

He's funny and makes us laugh a lot, but I'm convinced that he may have brain damage. Either that or he's possessed. Actually, for the first 3 weeks I had him I thought he was a female and had named him Chloe. I believe he may have anger issues because of his gender misidentification. Since he was dropped off in a box and I adopted him, I decided the name Moses might be appropriate.

The highlight of his day seems to be finding as many ways as he can to attack and bite or scratch me. I spend most of the day dragging him around while he hangs onto one of my feet, biting me all the way. Trying to pet him is an exercise in futility, as he prefers to use my hand as a chew toy.

He did, however, come box-trained, so that has worked in his favor. Good thing. He needs all the points he can get on his side, especially considering this "free" kitten has already cost me $150 at the vet, just to get him checked over, tested for cat leukemia and treated for ear mites. He's good company, though, and I'm kinda glad I found him.