I found myself excited. So excited I couldn't sleep. Just like that commercial with the two little children trying to go to sleep but couldn't because the next day they were going to Disneyland. I tossed and turn. 9:00 a,m. couldn't come too soon. I eventually got a few hours sleep and awoke at much too early for a Saturday. Showered, Hair dry. I was ready by 7:00. Don and I decided to go out to breakfast since it was so early, Afterwards we dropped off my car to get new tires, then took his truck and drove to the farmer's market. Strange for me to be there without one of our dogs. I like to socialize them there. Oh well, maybe next time. My watch said 8:20. "Why don't we go there and just wait for it to open?" Don could tell my excitement. "Sure," he said. There were many, many cars in the parking lot already. "Oh no," I said. I saw the sign on the door that said they opened at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. I hope it's not too late, I thought. As we opened the door to the building, we could hear dogs barking as though they were greeting other dogs and cats meowing as if they were saying, "I'm so cute, please come play with me." There were 3 in line at the counter as we approached. Patiently we waited our turn. "May I help you?" asked the receptionist in her maroon scrubs. "Yes, I called yesterday about Sammy. Do you still have him?" The young woman laughed. "Oh yes, we still have him. Would you like me to bring him out?" "Yes!" I could hardly control my excitement. She walked around the counter and entered a room at the end of the hall. After a few minutes, she returned with a black fluff-ball. Sammy looked so much like my toy Pomeranian, Zack, that they could have been related. Well ... except for the fact that Sammy was a standard Pom who was twice as big! The young woman gave me the leash as Sammy tried to run, twisting and turning and jumping. I'm sure he's happy to be out of that crate, I thought. It was love at first sight. "Why don't you take him outside and walk him?" the young woman suggested. "Great!" I said.
 

Boy have we been busy getting ready for our Hawaiian vacation! We decided we'd like to take a laptop with us but then the question was, do we want a mini (10.1" screen) or a smaller laptop with about a 14" screen. I liked how compact the minis are, but the keyboards were also small. So we started looking at the laptops. But last night we were in Sam's Club buying coffee and decided to look at the laptops. We ended up going with a mini Toshiba as it had a keyboard with fullsized keys! We then went to the kiosk in the store and got a Verizon air card. I absolutely love them. Only problem at the beginning was that the air card installation came on a CD, but the mini laptop didn't have a CD drive. (The sales girl at Verizon assured us all we had to do was "pop" the air card in and it would automatically install. I need to call her to tell her that's not the case). I ended up copying the CD on my desktop computer and saving it to a flashdrive, then installing it from the flash drive to the laptop. As my brother always says, "there's more than one way to skin a cat." (Where did that saying come from, anyway? That's pretty disgusting!)

So here I sit, in the living room with my mini laptop, typing on my blog. This is great!
 

Another weekend ends. Seems the weekends take forever to get here, and they're gone in a flash. Yesterday was a relatively quiet day. Don was up most of the night again because of the pain, and he couldn't find much comfort during the day either. I barely slept either because of the pain in the collapsed disk in my neck which resulted in me waking with a migraine. But thank goodness the medication the doctor gave me works great and I was pretty much back to normal by noon. Don had been craving Italian food from the Macaroni Grill in Roseville. I introduced him to the Macaroni Grill in Long Beach last summer and we've been talking about it ever since! The closest one is an hour away, so we invited Crystal and Mike who only lives about 25 minutes away, and Catrina. The food was great, the service was wonderful and the company was superb! It was to have something take Don's mind off of his pain.

This morning Don and I went to church, and Shannon and Aubrey joined us! It was such a joy to introduce Aubrey to the pastor and some of our other friends there. Everyone was anxiously awaiting her entrance! She slept soundly through the service, which was a miracle in and of itself - between the band and the sermon, I'm not sure how anyone could sleep! After church, Shannon and Aubrey joined us at Subway for sandwiches. This was Shannon's first venture out alone with her ten-day old baby, and she did wonderfully! At the restaurant, Don sat in the sun and he commented on how good it made his body feel. By the end of the lunch, his body was feeling so much better. And by the time we got home, we was actually up and going about daily chores! Amazing what a little warmth will do!

This afternoon Catrina and I went to the Bridal Fair to get ideas for her upcoming wedding. They still don't have a date, but are leaning towards 8/9/10. We didn't stay too long, there really wasn't much to see - just a lot of the same things: briday gowns, photographers, DJ's and cake decorators. We came away with some ideas for invitations that I can do with my Cricuit Expression, so I guess it was worth it. Guess I'd better start practicing my card-making techniques!
 

These past few weeks have been crazy. Our computer crashed after a power surge, but we got a new one so I'm back!

My step-daughter, Shannon, gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl on January 19th. She's absolutely beautiful. I've been busy taking lots of pictures and helping the first-time mother along with the many questions of motherhood - at least I'm trying to help her along - lol. We just came back from a long visit with the new family at their house. Crystal and Mike went with us and we had a wonderful time! The baby's name is Aubrey Lorraine, and she is such a good baby. She only cried once when she was hungry ... and it was such a soft cry. Shannon is so very lucky in that regard! I wish they lived closer. I guess it's really not too far, only about 20 minutes away. And I guess it's really a good thing they don't live any closer or I'd probably become a pest visiting too much.

Don is still about the same since he was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis; the pain still hasn't subsided. It started Christmas morning when he awoke in severe pain and couldn't get out of bed. Two weeks ago they started him on new medication, but it won't take affect for 6 to 8 weeks, so he's still in a lot of pain. He's had to ease up at work, and some days he just can't even go in because of the pain. I feel so helpless. But the hot tub has been a real blessing. I never realized at the time we bought it how much it would impact our lives. I'm so glad we "bit the bullet" so to speak, and doled out the money for it. You just can't put a price on easing someone's pain.


 

This long work week is finally at a close and we will be entering a three-day holiday weekend! I stayed home from work yesterday with a migraine. This was the first sick day I'd taken in seven months! By 11:30 am I was completely better but the long commute didn't warrant me trying to make it in for 1/2 a day. So I lounged around and finally baked my dad's famous Pistachio Nut Bundt Cake for Don. He absolutely loved it!

Don got the results of all of his blood work that was taken last week. They confirmed that he indeed has rheumatoid arthritis; now the trick is to get it under control. They gave him some very strong medicine that he has to take once a week, and I'm anxious to see if it will work. It's hard to see him in such constant pain, but he has managed to work everyday. I honestly don't know how he does it. The man continues to amaze me!
 

Don has been slowly feeling better, at least the swelling has gone down. Last night would've been a perfect evening for relaxing outside in the hot tub, the rain was falling in sheets. But instead we built a fire and watched American Idol. I know, I know, it's like watching a train wreck ... you start watching and can't stop. I'm sure tonight will be more of the same! The rain did bring me a sore back, however. Seems whenever it rains or is overcast, my back and neck alert me to it. I'm my own weather forcaster. Guess my body is telling me I need to retire to Hawaii - lol.

And still no baby!
 

I can't believe it's a new year alread. I've been so busy that I didn't even have time to blog. For Christmas Don gave me a Cricut Expression and I've been playing with it every chance I get. For those of you who don't know what a Cricut Expression is, it's basically a computerized cutter for scrapbooking. It cuts letters and images up to 24" each. It gave me incentive to start on my scrapbook of our last Hawaii trip in 2008 - figured I'd better get it done since we are going again in 7 weeks!

Don hadn't been feeling very well since Christmas, in fact on Christmas he couldn't even move. He stopped taking his Naprosen because the doc said it was sodium based and bad for his heart. But apparently it had been masking his aches and pains for 30 years! Looks like after numerous doctor visits, a ton of blood work and x-rays, it appears he has rheumatoid arthritis. He's starting on different meds today, so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon!

All in all, Christmas was very nice. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the entire family which was a real treat. It was so nice having a baby around again!

And my step-daughter Shannon still hasn't had her baby yet!!! We are all on pins and needles!
 

Christmas is only a few days away, and all the presents are wrapped and under the tree. This weekend brought the smell of cookies throughout the house. My neck and back have been giving me a lot of problems, so I only made one type of cookies this year, an easy recipe called Magic Bars. I like to give the secretaries in my office something homemade, so Don and I wrapped them up in decorative plates and I brought them to work today. And now the smell of cookies is radiating throughout our offices!

Church yesterday was wonderful, it was started with the singing of the beautiful classic Christmas carols. The first song started and Don and I watched the door for Shannon who had not yet arrived. I was completely surprised when I saw my best friend Cathy and her husband Tim walk through the doors. Cathy is the sister to my ex-husband, but she is like the sister I didn't have. In fact, when she introduces me, she introduces me as her sister. She and Tim have become an important part of my and Don's lives. They don't normally come to our church, so I was totally caught off guard. Don and I both jumped up when we saw them and rushed to greet them, then found seats altogether. Then Shannon arrived. What a wonderful Christmas present! The service was then followed by more Christmas carols and a powerful message delivered by Pastor Jim.

Crystal and Mike have started looking at other houses. It doesn't look like the insurance company is going to pay for the damage done to the house they had put the offer in on, so now they have to start all over. It's hard buying a house in a city you've only lived in for a couple of years. When they find a house they like, they have to ask a lot of people a lot of questions to find out if it's a good area or not. At least when we bought our house we didn't have that troubleb because I've lived here all my life and Don's been here for over 20 years. Think we need to leave it in God's hands and he will show them where they need to be in there lives.
 

It was just another Wednesday afternoon, so Don thought. He was busy at work doing endless paperwork in his office when the front office called him and told him someone was there to see him. That's nothing unusual, his "clients" drop in on him constantly. But this was different. His son Nathan, daughter-in-law Laura Mae, and granddaughter 16 month old Jaycee gave him a surprise visit all the way from Hawaii. He was thrilled, to say the least. He was relieved that Jaycee didn't hesitate at all to be held by her papa. I'm not sure how, but I think she remembered him from the last time he saw her six months ago. Afterall, we babysat her quite a bit when she and Laura Mae had come for an extended visit last November while Nathan was in Iraq. Don is thrilled to have his "baby" back for her second Christmas with us, as well as having Nathan here to celebrate as well. This will be the first time that all of our kids and significant others will be together. And I'm happy to see Don so thrilled! And I'm really happy we bought a 17 lb. prime rib for Christmas dinner. Just don't ask me how we're going to fit it in the oven - lol. When I told Crystal about it, she reminded me she hadn't even met her step-brother Nathan yet! I think this Christmas is going to present quite a lot of photo opportunities! Better get ready to scrapbook ....
 

Yesterday, Monday, the sun peaked through the clouds and graced us with its presence. Typical Monday, though, hard to wake up, hard to embrace the work day. The day brought much sadness for my friend and commute partner, Kathy. She has had an extremely difficult year. Her office downsized this past year leaving her as the only "support staff" they had which required her to work under the three attorneys. She is able to wear three hats now, receptionist, secretary and paralegal due to her superior organizatinal skills. But when it came time for the annual Christmas bonus, there was none. No small gift card, not even an a apology or excuse, not a word. Her feelings were crushed. It was a long ride home.

Don was waiting for me when I got home, I could tell how tired he was also. We went out for a quick bite and then home to a relaxing evening in the hot tub. We are so thankful to have such blessings in our lives.

My daughter Crystal called me about some pictures she had emailed to me. I could tell by her trembling voice something was wrong. She proceeded to tell me about a pipe that had frozen and burst in the house they were buying. It caused the ceiling to collapse in three rooms and flooded the entire house - the water had leaked outside and into the pool causing it to overflow. After looking at the pictures I could see why she was upset. There was plaster and insulation everywhere. We talked for a while and after she realized that it may be a blessing in disguise she felt better. Their realtor had told them the owners had insurance and it should be covered, then the floors and ceiling would be repaired and they could have it done the way they want. As of today they still hadn't heard anything more, so now it's a wait and see.
 

The rain continued all weekend. Not bad, just enough to be a nuisance. Friday night, Saturday night and tonight, Don volunteered at the church for the "Miracle of Christmas" drive through. He is one of the disciples at the Last Supper. My brother, Joe, and my (ex) sister-in-law who's my best friend (yeah, it's complicated) and I drove through on Friday night to see it. It was beautiful although wet. I was hoping Don's scene had an overhang since it the scene ws supposed to take place indoors, but it wasn't. When he got home, he didn't have one inch of dryness on his body anywhere. Saturday night was much better, the cars kept coming and they eventually had to put the barracades up to stop more cars from coming in. It only rained for about the last 15 minutes. It's lightly raining right now, so I'm hoping he won't be too wet tonight. The show itself was wonderful. Everything was created by members of the church, all the costumes were hand-sewn and the backdrops were painted. So much talent!

Catrina came to visit this afternoon (hang-out, as she calls it). It was nice to have her here; we don't see her very often as she is so busy. Then this afternoon Don and I enjoyed soaking in the hot tub - in the rain. It was so wonderful and relaxing. It made us realize that luxuries like that makes working worthwhile!
 

The air seems to be even colder that it was yesterday. The local news station confirmed it - a new record low. My, oh my. Crystal and Mike picked up their dog Rock yesterday. We were dog sitting while they went to Reno where they got snowed in. They ended up staying another night. I love dog sitting Rock, he's like a big teddy bear; but he's an inside dog and we need to keep him outside at our house. So I was worried he would not acclimate to the weather. He did pretty good. At night I heated up an old bath towel in the dryer and as he lay in his bed, I tucked it in arover him and then wrapped him with a heavier blanket. He stayed tucked in all night - smart dog! Meeka I don't worry about, she has her winter coat. But she slept next to Rock on her own blanket. I tried tucking her in as well, but she would shake the covers off, so I knew she must have been warmer than Rock.

The hot tub got delivered yesterday and it's beautiful. It looks perfect there, right next to our bedroom slider. The electrician is coming Wednesday, so hopefully by the end of this week we'll be able to enjoy it. I'm so looking forward to it! And so is Don. I think he especially needs it since he's been working so much on the house lately putting up all the Christmas lights and decorations and pouring cement. He's going to need to relax in a nice warm hot tub!
 

Well, there was a chance of snow here last night. Can you believe that? In "sunny" California, in the middle of the northern valley? It's snowed here before, many, many years ago. Probably around 20 years ago, I remember my daughters were small the last time it snowed. Our front yard was 1/3 acre and it was covered with so much snow they were able have snowball fights. But last night I guess it just wasn't meant to be; no snow and we only received a small amount of rain. Oh well, the winter is still young.

Then I got to thinking - - wouldn't it be funny it snowing since today is the day the movers are moving the hot tub in. It sure would have been nice to already have it in and going on cold evenings like this, but I'm sure there's going to be many more to come! At least the hot tub will be there when I get home from work tonight. The electrician will still have to come and get the wiring done, but at least it will be here! The cement work that Don did on the patio looks real good, he did such a great job! I'm wondering if there's anything he doesn't know how to do!
 

My goodness, winter I think has set in. I had a really good day after a great night sleep. I was busy all day at work which I love since it makes the day go by faster. In mid-afternoon the property management company of our building at work held a mini-Christmas party in the lobby. My co-workers and I wondered down the hall to grab one of the truffles we had heard about; and imagine our surprise when we found it had been catered with sandwiches, chicken skewers, egg rolls, assorted Christmas cookies and, of course, truffles. It was nice to take a break from our busy day to visit with others in our building and listen to the Christmas carolers decked out in their Victorian garb. What a treat!

When I got home, Catrina's fiancee Jeremy and his friend were there visiting with Don. Jeremy's friend will be doing the wiring for our hot tub. They continued with their "man talk" and got things squared away with what he needs to do and he'll come back some time next week to do the work. Jeremy works for a construction company, so he has many talented friends/co-workers. Looks like things are coming together!

I was so cold all evening, not sure why because the thermostat said 72 degrees. So after eating a bowl of homemade clam chowder in a bread bowl for dinner, I curled up in the recliner with the heating pad, rusty, zack and my favorite fluffy afghan wrapped around us. What a great way to relax in the evening!
 

Is it Friday yet? What a terrible day. Started with a terrible night. I forgot to take the Flexiril the doc prescribed for the spasm in my neck, it really helps me sleep. Woke up 3 times with severe neck pain. Finally got up at 5:00 with a migraine and stayed up. Put the traction gizmo on my neck for a while which helped, and took an Imitrex and a HOT shower. Wanted to call in sick, but I have no sick time left, used it up when I had the tumor removed from my leg (which, by the way, has returned). But, by 6 A.M. I was feeling human so got dressed and by 7:00 I was functional, although my neck still hurt. Nothing like a long commute to work when you don't feel good. But I made it and by 10:00 I was nearly normal. Days like this makes me wonder why I delay the surgery on my neck. Good thing they are few and far between. And my dear sweet husband takes such good care of me. He really is the nicest person I have ever met! I mean REALLY NICE. In this day and age it's hard to find nice, sweet people. I'd like to think I'm pretty nice, and my two daughters are very nice, and my step-daughter is very nice; but my husband is at the top of the list!
 

Wow, what a weekend we had. It was so nice to have four days off, we really needed it. My daughter had told us about a hot tub that her friend needed to sell as they just sold their house and the new owners do not want it. We have been talking about getting one for the past year, so my daughter thought of us. Although I consider this to be about the worst time to get one, especially with Christmas around the corner and trying to save up for our Hawaii trip in February, we decided to take a look at it anyway. The thought of buying a used one really didn't appeal to me; the thought of not knowing what kind of people used it or how they took care of it kind of scared me. But since we knew the owners, it didn't bother me. So on Saturday, we went to see it, and it was love at first sight. It had everything I wanted: 8 seats, a lounger, leg jets and neck jets. I knew immediately it was going to have a new home in our backyard. After we had measured it, we went home to see what adjustments would need to be made to our backyard. First, we had to pour cement to extend our patio, then we have to hire someone to run the 220 wiring, then we have to hire someone to actually move it. On Sunday, Don dug out the lawn and braced it for the cement. Hopefully we'll have it poured this coming Saturday and the electricity taken care of. At least I hope so ... we have to have it moved by December 10th!
 

This Thanksgiving was better than I had ever imagined it could be. The day before, however, ended very stressful. The partners in our office wanted to close it early, however one partner didn't finish his assignment, therefore everyone pitched in as much as they could to get it done. Unfortunately it came down to work that only he and his assistant could do, so the rest of the office basically sat there doing nothing. The office policy is such that if the work is not done, the entire office has to stay. But, at 4:30 my boss came to me and said since I couldn't do anything I could leave, which I did. It reminded me why I usually take the day off before a holiday as a vacation day. Since I commute with someone, we usually have to drive separately as I never know what time I'm going to get off that day. Oh well, at least I have a job, although very stressful and frustrating at times.

I awoke on Thanksgiving morning to the sun shining so brightly I had almost forgotten it was November! I love California! Don and I had our menu down, right to the minute we were going to start each dish. I was in a lot of pain with my neck and back, so I was very thankful Don did the turkey and I did my famous broccoli casserole and all of the condiments, as well as decorate and set the table. My daughters arrived with their significant others bringing mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs and Crystal's famous pumpkin cheesecake. After dinner Don and I were amazed at how smoothly everything went, not a problem from start to finish. Shannon and Angel arrived for their 3rd dinner of the evening, and we all enjoyed each others company. The entire afternoon/evening was so enjoyable, I love how everyone gets along.

And we got some good news! Crystal and Mike had their offer on a house accepted also. So within a few days, both of my daughters found out they were going to have their very own house! How exciting! We're already talking about whose how next year's dinner is going to be at! Wherever it is, I'm sure we will all enjoy it!

 

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time. What I don't understand is why we choose one day a year to sit down and list all of the things we are thankful for. Every morning when I awake, while lying in bed the first thing I do is thank God for the new day and for all of the blessings in my life. Even years ago when every day seemed like a struggle just to get out of bed, I thanked God for for the new day. I think that's what is wrong with so much of America, God has been taken out of just about everything; so many people I see every day have a sense of "entitlement". Well, I've got news for them - we are not "entitled" to anything. Any day we may lose every "thing" that we have because of some unforeseen circumstance; but if we have faith in God and praise him even through our storms, we really have not lost anything. He is the constant in my life and I will continue to have my own personal "Thanksgiving" every day.
 

The clouds are dark and a breeze is slightly blowing through the trees causing the orange and gold leaves to sparkle as if they were gems. Although it looks as if the storm is about to unleash, the trees are still quite beautiful. We were lucky enough to miss the rain on our commute to work this morning, however I don't think we will be quite as lucky on our way home. But that's okay, I'm not driving today and I have my neck pillow so perhaps I'll take a nap. That's the great thing about having a commute partner!

I'm anxious to start the weekend. We don't have anything planned, but I'm quite happy spending time around our new house with my husband. Maybe if my neck behaves I can do a little sewing. And if it doesn't, I'll just curl up in my chair in front of the fire and do a little crocheting. Yeah, it doesn't get much better than this.
 

One of the newsletters I subscribe to suggested keeping a "Joy Journal", documenting one thing a day that has brought us joy. This is a great idea. So many days go by that we forget about the simple joys of life and only remember the greater ones. With Thanksgiving approaching, I think this is a good time for me to start "Joy Journaling". So to begin with today, let me see... the thing that has brought me joy today is having a job where I can work with my two close friends, Maureen and Barb. They keep me sane on an insane day, and can always put a smile on my face even when I want to scream. They truly make it a joy to come to work; and to think I get paid for seeing my friends all day!