A belated happy birthday

Just want to wish a belated happy birthday to my nephew Clint - wow - 35 already - where has the time gone? I was just 35 yesterday I know.

And also to my little sister (you know - the spoiled rotten one and it's all us girls fault).
Here are a few pictures of her over the years.

She has gone from this cute little girl in 1970 (can you believe she's 12 in that picture):


To this ornery senior in high school:



To a fantastic Gra-Ma:



I miss the days when we all lived closer and got to spend more time together - now we are so strung out across the country, it makes it hard to put in that quality time. I love you both and have a lot of good and a few not so good memories of both of you but through all the ups and downs, we're still family and that is important. I hope your birthdays were great and that both of you have many many many more.

Love ya.

1980 Pictures

Guess my pictures didn't get uploaded so here they are:

FAMILY REUNION

Wow – here we are halfway through February and a reunion that seemed a year away is looming on the horizon. By the time I get back from Arizona at the end of March, it will be almost time to start packing to head back down. So I am making lists again.

I came across a little old 3 ring binder – it’s 3 ½ x 5, pink and I’ve had it forever – think it used to belong to my Mom. It’s the one I’ve always kept in the camp kitchen but haven’t seen it for a few years so thought I’d lost it. On the first page, it has my recipe for Clam Chowder – had to make that every time we went camping so liked to keep that recipe readily available.

Then I have a list of all the camping stuff we would need – tent, stove, lantern, fuel, insurance forms (back in the old days, we didn’t have insurance cards so always had to have insurance forms on hand just in case).

Next is a list of food needed for 9 days camping – this was my list for the camping trip in 1980 to Reservation Lake – John and I went up and spent a week and then Polly and Suzy and their families came up to join us for a week. It was so much fun – so much rain – the year of the tall wildflowers and the red mushroom. Then there was the giant mushroom.

Next I have a list of all the clothes we need to pack – even back then, Val’s list included - YAHTZEE.

Finally there are lists of meals for other camping trips – Easter 1981 at Taylor’s ranch – that was back before Max and Mary moved down so it was more or less camping, other camping trips up to the White Mountains - even for one camping trip for just JW and I.

Oh how I wish on a day like today that I could turn back the clock to that time when life seemed so much simpler, when I was able to spend more time with my sisters and their families. Oh how glad I will be when June gets here and we can all be out camping together again.

BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

So Monday night on the news they said that they had done a study and January 23rd (actually meaning the 4th Monday in January) is the most depressing day of the year. Why?? Because it’s a Monday for one thing, it’s the middle of winter, most everyone is facing huge Christmas debt (the bills are starting to come in) and by then most have failed on all their New Year’s resolutions. Hmmm – I wonder how much of my tax money they spent on a study like that?

Okay, so I start wondering, is that why I am feeling down and out of sorts or is it the overwhelming feeling of having a million and two things to get done this year and time is moving way tooooooooo quickly. So, I open up an excel spread sheet and start modifying my lists, changing expected completion dates and reprioritizing.

I’ve always loved making lists – pieces of paper everywhere with small lists – grocery items, things I need to pick up at Jo-ann’s, things to accomplish this week (just breathe). If I have a piece of paper in my hand, you can be sure I’ve jotted down two or three items for some good reason. But now with computers, I can make even bigger lists – excel is wonderful and I can make a worksheet for each thing I want to make a list for.

A different worksheet for each room in the house and things I want to do in that room – paint, flooring, change out the door knob. A worksheet for grocery items I need to buy to stock the pantry, another for grocery items needed for the week. A worksheet for the many quilting projects I’ve either started or want to start – right now, I have about 15 quilts in various stages of completion and fabric for another 20 or so (or course not all the fabric but some of it). It’s easy to make a column for an expected completion date, status, approximate cost and comments.

One of the items that has been on my list for a while was to reframe the southwestern embroidery that Mom had done for Dad. 1 huge pot with dried plants in and 2 smaller ones. I had them hanging in my house in Oracle and Ely but by the time we got them moved to Colorado, they were starting to fall apart from all the moving so I dismantled them and tossed the old frames. A couple of weeks ago, I got on one of my favorite web sites http://www.americanframe.com/ and ordered the frames. Last week, I spent a whopping two hours assembling the frames, mounting the embroidery on backing board and hanging the pictures. It’s nice to have something familiar back on the wall. (of course, the UPS lady wanted to know if I did framing in my spare time – she’s so funny.) So nice to be able to mark one of my tasks off my list and put a completion date on it.

So, working on one thing at a time and trying hard not to add too many more items, maybe I will get that list whittled down to 999,982 by the end of the 2006. Note to self: start a new worksheet for things to take to the reunion in June and don’t forget to add Salmon fishing in 2007.

Expecting the unexpected!!

So, just when I was thinking, okay have to get the dogs a bath and finish wrapping packages to head to Colorado and in four days the hectic activity of the holidays will be over, we get a phone call from John's brother that his mother had fallen and was in the hospital. By Thursday evening, things had gotten somewhat worse and John and I individually decided, he should fly to Arizona to be with the family and I should come to Colorado to spend Christmas with the kids and then we'd go from there. It is funny how after 36 years of marriage we can arrive at a decision of what needs to be done without evening talking to each other about the options.

So yesterday morning at 8:30, me and the dogs started the long drive to Johnstown getting here about 5:00/

After a trying day at the airport, John finally got to Tucson about 9:30 (3 1/2 hours later than expected). His mom broke something in her back so they have her in a hospice now totally on medication to ease her pain. Fortunately they have listened somewhat to the family and are not doing any heroic efforts to keep her going - no feeding tube. I would like to be with John to support him but sometimes, he is stronger around his family when I am not there so in my heart I know that we are each where we need to be at this time.

We are all praying that she will go swiftly now from this life. Meanwhile, I am in Colorado with the two 4-legged critters. First time I have spent Chrismas without John since the year Blaine was born. But we'll get through the day and God's greatest gift to the world - the birth of his son Jesus Christ our Savior will have more meaning to us this year than ever.

As we ponder the life of this wonderful woman who raised John as her own son. Who was a grandmother to my children and a terrific example to both of them and throughout their lives and to me for the past 36 years. Who even at Thanksgiving was thinking more about others than the pain she was suffering. She truly showed a Christ like love to everyone she came in contact with.

So, we'll live one moment at a time and decide what to do when the time comes to make a decision about whether I head back to Montana on Monday or stay here a while. Fortunately, I can go to the office and work here for a few days if needed. Or, I can take a couple of emergency vacation days and spend here - we'll just see how things progress.

Meanwhile, I'm so grateful for the sacrifice my Lord and Savior made on my behalf and on the behalf of all mankind. That we can all live again after we leave this frail existence and at that level, all pain and suffereing will end. Thank you Christ and happy happy birthday.