HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WOW!!! Where does the time go? It seems like only a few days ago we were just coming into 2002, and today is the last day! WOW! This year has certainly had its ups and downs, but as usual, we've picked ourselves up, and made the best of things. I'm still getting used to being unemployed, but hopefully that will change soon.

We visited Nat and Alex yesterday evening for a fun time of games and laughter. Alex had a friend over, and they played some games with us too. Nat made some Chex-Mix and I made some of my chocolate covered peanuts. We knew we'd have a few beers so we planned on staying over. We slept on the floor, but we were comfortable. We got up early and headed for Midland. Did some grocery shopping, dropped off a Christmas gift to Dave's boss, had breakfast, and washed the truck.... all before 11:00 am!!! Pretty productive if you ask me!

Today will be pretty quiet. We were going to go to Walt and Sally's tomorrow, but Dave's uncle Frank died and so most of the family will be spending some time at the funeral home. The funeral is Thursday in Hemlock. As we missed Dave's folks this year on Christmas because of our trip we were planning on delivering gifts on New Year's Day, but we will most likely stop over there sometime later this afternoon. I know we won't stay too late though, Dave is pretty tired!

Well, here's hoping everyone has a SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
See ya in '03!!
O&O!!!

Hi! We had a great day! It's always nice to get together at mom and dad's for the family Christmas celebration. Dinner, as usual, was great. Of course, once again we ate too much! Diet... here I come! wow!!! The kids are growing up fast too! The girls are in their early teens and Geoff and James are Seniors in high school. David is already in middle elementary school, 4th grade, I think! Wow!! Seems like yesterday they were babes! Well, the holiday is over, but let's hope the Spirit will carry us through another year. Peace on Earth to All!

O&O!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!
Hi all! We are still at Melissa's house. Everyone but me is napping! We've been staying up late and talking and getting up early trying to be involved in each day to the fullest, and today I guess it just caught up with us. I did have a short nap too, but I had to get up or I would feel too crappy later on. We had a nice time here with Melissa, JacLynn, Jeremy, and Austin. We had dinner with Jeremy's grandparents. The kids got tons and tons of gifts, but not from us, and not from Melissa and Jeremy either! The older folks around here really spoil those kids, but Jeremy said he is laying down the law next year! I believe he'll do it too! We ate way too much yesterday also! Oh well, that doesn't happen too often!

Today we went to the Antientam Battle Field. It is where 25,000 people lost their life fighting in one of the Civil War battles. Very interesting! This national park is pratically in Melissa's back yard! There are lots of other places we could have visited too, but it would be better to do it in the summer. We will be back.

Melissa and Jeremy are moving at the end of next month to the city of Hagerstown so Melissa's day care has a better chance of working out. We saw their house, and they have lots of work to do before they can move in, but it is a bit bigger so the kids will each be able to have their own room. Right now Austin really doesn't have a room when he stays here because JacLynn took it over.

Dave and I will be leaving early in the morning to head for home tomorrow. We are hoping the weather is good. We had a white Christmas here, but the roads are all cleared off now, but we heard they had lots more snow in Penn. They should have the roads cleaned off pretty good by now though. We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the 28th.

O&O!!!

Howdy!

It is a gloomy day here in the big town of Beaverton! Only a little sun first thing in the morning and since then, nothing but rain and drizzle! It beats yesterday though! ICE!!! I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere yesterday.

An update on our female cardinal: She wasn't around for 2 or 3 days, but yesterday she was back. I thought maybe the sun made the reflection on the window so clear she thought she would be outside, but she was here yesterday and today, so the sun doesn't play a factor as to when she comes. I think she is just confused. She does not hit the window very hard, but you can hear it in the next room.

Well, that's it for now! Oh yeah, Thanks for the chat, Jan!
O&O!!!

Hey!
I wanted to tell ya about a good book I read this weekend. The title is "A Different Kind of Christmas" by Alex Haley. It is about a young man from the south who attends college in the north. When he meets some Quaker "friends" he becomes confused about his whole belief system regarding slavery. I don't want to say any more because I'd hate to give it away, but I'll bring the book to Mom and Dad's on th 28th in case anyone wants to borrow it. Just let me know!

O&O!!!

Well, it is one more week closer to Christmas! Boy the time sure goes fast, even when you're not working! wow!

We had a pretty good weekend. I helped Dave with some projects in the garage on Saturday and then we played cards in the evening. We ended up staying out quite late, but it was a fun time. Sunday we just took it easy. Today I spent some more time trying to track down a part for Dave's ford. It's pretty hard to find parts for a truck that old, but I'm sure we'll find it. The part he wants to repace isn't totally useless yet, but it is starting to go bad.

Well, that's it on the homefront. Talk to you all soon!
O&O!!!

Hi again!
I'm visiting the folks for lunch. I invited myself over for the best salad in town! :)

That cardinal is still trying to get into the house! Oh well, she must not be hurting herself. She is there everyday!

Not much else going on. Dave and I went out to eat last night. It was a welcome break. We are going to Maryland to visit Melissa over Christmas. Should be a nice trip. Hopefully we don't run into any bad weather. Since Melissa has been there she has bragged about how great the weather is and since we planned the trip they have had 7 inches of snow! There is an ice storm predicted for this week out there, hopefully all that crap will be out of its system before we have to take off. The sun is still shining here! That's nice.

Well, that it!
O&O!!!

Howdy!
Well, I was going to blog yesterday, but I got caught up working on my other web site. So.... here I am today! Nice to see the sun shining.

As for that poor female cardinal, she is still hanging around here and still trying several times a day to get into the bathroom window! She flies straight at it and hits it with her beak.

An update on the contest at WHNN: The last time I called I actually got through, but I was caller #2, 10 calls too early, and of course it was busy on the redail! Oh well, it would be fun to win a key to try for the big prize. I didn't bake my cookies on Friday, but I did get them done yesterday.

Well, that's the updates from here!
O&O!!!

Hi Family!
Wow!! I didn't realize it had been so long since I last blogged! Sowwy!

Anyway, here is a rundown of the week. First of all, my house is cleaned and my bedroom closet is organized. That's about time! WOW!!! I've gathered many more items for our spring rummage sale. And... I've made a little more progress in my computer room. Well, that doesn't look like much when written down, but oh welll!

For the last 3 days a poor female cardinal has been trying to get in our bathroom window. I first noticed the poor thing while getting dressed one morning. She kept hitting the window. I'm not sure how she got confused, but she was there again this morning, only this morning a male flew up and she followed him. I hope she is straightened out!

I'm also trying to win $5,000 by listening to oldies 96. I can't even get through their phone line, but today I have a plan! If I get through I ll let you know how it worked! Well, that's about it for today. I think I'll bake some Christmas cookies today! Have a good weekend!

O&O!!!

HI!
I just wanted to blog about the weekend. It was great! We had a wonderful traditional dinner at Mom and Dad's place. Almost the whole family was there, with Dave being the only absent one (he was hunting!). We did a lot of catching up with each other, so needless to say, it was a little noisy at times. It was great to see everyone and to meet Jan's friend, Susan.

Friday we did Thanksgiving at deer camp. Dave and I cooked a turkey on the grill, and Darrell and Dar did a bunch of deep fried munchies in their turkey cooker! So it wasn't the healthiest of meals, but it was good! Mary brought chocolate cream and pumpkin pies and Jackie brought the veggie tray. We had lots of laughs around the campfire with good friends. Saturday most of the group took off early, but Dave and I decided to stay one more night. We had breakfast around 11:30 and then took a good long walk. We were gone for about an hour and a half. We were sort of hoping to see some wild life, but no such luck. It was a nice walk anyway and there was a nice gentle snow fall while we were out there. We came back and stoked up the fire, and a good thing too, because it was FREEZING out there! We cooked dinner on the grill, but ate inside and then we tried to enjoy the fire for a while, but gave up around 9:30. I'm not sure how cold it was outside, but it sure felt like it was subzero with the wind! We went to bed somewhat early and got up early and broke camp. Home by 11:30, but off for another visit by 2! We had dinner at Matt and Jackie's house and played a few games of cards. I can't believe the snow we got during the short time we were there. I'm glad I don't have to drive in it!!!

Now it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
O&O!!!