MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013

Loved having family here to celebrate Christmas a little early!!
Wish I had some pictures of Holly and Randy.  

SPRINGTIME AT OUR HOUSE!

Now that I'm retired I've been trying to spend a little more time working in my yard and garden.  I've made some headway getting rid of weeds and grass, but I've still got a long way to go. I'm so lucky to have a nice yard and garden.  We just don't enjoy it as much as we should.

These are from the back yard...

I love this fountain because there isn't standing water for a child or animal to fall into.

My swing gives a nice backdrop to the whole yard.

 

Randy built me a simple window box that always looks nice with the impatiens.

He also built a house for the birdies!  The roof got dented a few years back when a limb fell on it and it's needing another coat of paint.  The Christmas wreath has been hanging over the "doorway" for a couple of years.  We've just never taken it down.

Ferns are one of my favorites but it's hard to keep enough moisture on them once it turns really hot.

 Here are some shots from the front....

The wicker chair was bought with Christmas money from my brother, Terry, back before we had the girls.  I can blame my having a concrete goose on my Aunt Elsie & Aunt Bobbie.  They got mother started and then I had to have one too.  Her outfits were getting a little faded so I got a few more made this spring;

 

 This hosta looks great right now, but soon the hot summer will take it's toll.  I plan to eventually move this one to the cabin where we have more shade.

 Daylilies, one of my favorite flowers.

They are so "springy."

 This morning I found this squirrel in my birdfeeder.

I haven't been able to figure out how to get this picture turned a quarter turn, but I love that I got his face in this one.  So just turn your head a little and enjoy!!

At The Cabin

Randy & I headed over to the cabin last week to spend a few days.  The weather was fabulous with cool evenings and warm days.  The lake is up since we've had lots of rain. As you can see the creek is pretty good size right now.

We went to The Berry Patch out past Austin and picked up a few flowers for the cabin.  I added red geraniums to the pots of ivy to give them a little color.

I filled the hummingbird feeder, but didn't see any little hummers around.  Hopefully they've found it by now.

I'd like to have a fern for the cabin, but in the past I've had trouble keeping one watered while we're not there.  If you have any ideas, please share.  We do have some wild fern growing down on the hillside.

I Lost My Shadow Today

Today has been one of the hardest days of my life.  Anyone who has never had a pet would not understand, but if you've had that indoor cat or dog that was a part of your life you would.
Toby has been with us since January 2000.  He was just 8 weeks old when we got him.  He was just a little black furball.

Toby loved going camping with Randy and me. Here he is in our old camper.

We were a little worried when the grandkids came along because he'd never been around kids before.
There was no need to worry.  First up was Katie....

 

 Next came Gabby....we didn't get to see her quite so often since they were in Kansas but she loved Toby too when they got to come visit.

                                         Next was Nate...Can you tell the love was mutual?

Toby was included in pictures with me and the whole crew.

Toby doggy.....you will be greatly missed!!!

October 31, 1999 - April 11, 2013

Spring has NOT arrived!

Even though I posted over a month ago that spring was trying to arrive early, it did not!!! And now it's truly spring, but still feels like winter.  Not only is it cold, but they are predicting snow tonight and tomorrow!!  booooo!  Come on spring!!

Spring is trying to arrive early!

I know, it won't be spring for another 5 weeks, but today we drove over to the cabin to look at some storm damage (thanks Pam for alerting us to the problems) and the daffodils were beginning to bloom! 
A storm blew through a week or so ago.  A small community north of here actually had a tornado.  Handyman had to replace a few shingles on our house yesterday but I hadn't even thought about there being any damage at the cabin.  A neighbor called after she and her son had taken a walk over to the cabin and found that a tree had landed across the steps that handyman built last summer.  It broke the handrails but that is just minor damage.  We also have some shingles missing on the cabin roof.  The back screen door had the screen blown out of it and it's bent.  A year or so ago the same thing happened to the front screen door.  Handyman got it fixed..it's not as pretty but it functions just fine.  The screen on the porch is loose in a few places, but we've been having that issue each year.  We'd like to find a better way to attach the screens and possibly have it glassed in for part of the year.  Maybe another project is looming in the future!! 
I'm looking forward to spending more time at the cabin this spring and summer.  Hurry and get here!!!!

Life Is Good!

This week has been the beginning of the second month as a retiree.  I must admit that I'm not working too hard these days.  January was a bit hectic trying to close out the 2012 financial year at church.  I found myself working at least 3 days a week there.  After getting those pesky W2s and 1099's out in the mail things returned to less hours needed at church.  I've only gone in to work one day this week.  I do check my mailbox whenever I'm at church for other things, but so far, nothing pressing has shown up in my mailbox this week. 
On Wednesday morning I got an early start by heading to Kroger before 8:00 to get my 10% off on Senior Day.  It wasn't too bad that early.  I ended up saving $18.00 by shopping on that special day.  It's not a huge amount, but as long as I can beat the big crowds by going early it's worth it.  After my grocery shopping I went the United Methodist Women's group at church.  They had a nice program on finances.  Lunch was provided after the meeting.  They had a nice fruit salad, chicken casserole, crescent rolls and a decadent dessert.  (It was similar to Hello Dolly Cookies, but they had used white chips, craisins and I'm not sure what else). 
I've also done more quilting this week. I have 6 of the 12 squares in my quilt top finished.  It's quite an accomplishment to get those 6 done in about 4 weeks, when it's been sitting for for well over 10 years with nothing being done on it.  Hopefully I'll get it finished before summer. 
Today was an absolutely beautiful day.  I spent a little time quilting this morning, then went over to the elementary school and had lunch with my little friend there.  Then I went out and worked in the back yard cutting back some of the dead foliage from last summer and bagging it up for the trash.  After a bit of time on the computer and reading I cooked country fried steak and gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans for supper.   I cheated and pulled some biscuits out of the freezer.  I knew they wouldn't be as good as fresh, but since we had frozen them I thought we should go ahead and eat them.  One of my goals now that I'm retired is to actually use all of the food that we put in our freezer!  We try hard not to waste food that we've cooked and eat left overs quite often.  But we have been lacking in keeping track of what is in the freezer and letting some of that food go to waste.
Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment at 8 am. Actually, it's not a dentist appointment as I'm going to the hygientist for a cleaning.  I'm not sure what possessed me to make that appointment so early.  I may need to rethink that time when I schedule my next appointment.
All in all, this has been a great week.  But I do feel a little guilty every now and then when I'm not being very productive.

FAMILY HISTORY

I've spent the past few days trying to make some sense out of all the papers that I've inherited from my mother along with diplomas, birth certificates, etc. that we have managed to accumulate.  I found this beautiful scrapbook with "Family" monogrammed on it and thought it would be a perfect place for all of those keepsakes.  I found that it was difficult to arrange the pages where they made sense.  I ended up trying to place "like" documents of couples together.  My parents had sent each other invitations to their graduation - even though they were both in the same class.  I thought that was rather cute!  My mother had saved them, so I did also.  I wish that I had more copies of the documents from other relatives but am thankful for what I do have. 

The next task is to take some of the not so important keepsakes and put them in an album.  I have some of the first greeting cards that our daughter made when we first got a computer with a printer, letters from camp, newspaper clippings, etc.  Then I have a few pictures to go thru.  Some of these were ones that had been sent to my Grandmother Jackson which are duplicates to ones I already have.  I noticed that on our girl's birth announcements, she had numbered them.  She wanted to make sure she remember who came first  I know it's hard to keep track when you live far away and seldom see people.  I also have a lot of 5" X 7" photos that have been framed at one time or another that I need to get into albums.  Hopefully I'll get this project completed by spring!

MENTORING

This morning I went for training at the elementary school where I will be mentoring.  The training was very short.  The guidance counselor spoke for a few minutes, then the principal had a short power point presentation on the school.  They are currently constructing a new building that will be ready for students for the 2014-2015 school year.  The school provides free breakfast & lunch to every student.  97% of all students qualify for free lunches which allowed them to qualify for a community grant to pay for all lunches.  The school has a very transient population.  There are only 320 or so students in the school today; however, this school year they have had over 400 different students to attend. 
After the presentation we got to met our students.  Mine was already at lunch so we went to the cafeteria and the principal called her over and introduced us.  I asked her if she wanted me to sit with her where she had been sitting with her class, but she preferred moving over to tables that are set aside for the mentors to have a more private lunch with their student.  It was easier to talk with her one on one rather than have lots of kids around.  They gave us a questionnaire with questions to ask our students to help break the ice.  I found out quite a bit of information about my little mentee.  She's
in the 1st grade -- right in between my granddaughters, Kate & Gabby.  Her favorite colors are pink and red.  Her favorite food is sandwiches and her favorite thing to do is play.  When I asked her what she like to play, she said she liked to play outside.  I asked her if she liked playing out in the cold and she said yes, other than her nose getting cold.  I told her that she needed a nose "mitten."  She thought that was funny.  When asked what she buy if she had a million dollars I was surprised when she answered a dog.  Hmmm, a million dollar dog??  That goes along with her favorite books -- they're about Biscuit, the dog. 
She asked me if I'd be there forever.  I told her that I didn't have any plans of leaving and planned on being around.  She also told me that she was afraid.  I'm not quite sure that was what she meant as she didn't seem afraid at all.  She seemed excited and happy and I even got a hug from her. 
I think our first meeting went very well and I'm looking forward to going back and spending time with her.

W2's COMPLETED - MOVING ON TO ANOTHER ADVENTURE

I've been working at completing the W2's and all of the reconciliation paperwork at church for a while.  Last week I went ahead and handed out/mailed the W2's for all of the employees.  I let the Federal, State, and local forms sit in the file cabinet for a few days while I stewed over them hoping that if I had made any mistakes it would magically come to me.  There is nothing quite like completing forms for the government.  I always worry over my own tax returns that I file.  I can say that I always try to fill everything out completely and honestly.  Today I went to the post office and mailed all of the forms to the government agencies.  What a relief to get them finished for this year!   I should be able to cut down on the hours that I'm putting in as treasurer now that all of the year end paperwork is completed.

Tomorrow I go to the elementary school for training so that I can volunteer as a mentor.  Plans are for us to meet our "mentees" after the training.  I hope mine is there.  Evidently a lot of kids have been out sick lately.  I'm really looking forward to this adventure! 

RETIREMENT

It has been so long since I wrote a post that I'm not sure I'll be able to remember how to publish it!  As of January 1st I am officially retired.

So far I'm lovin' it.  I've been staying busy at home and at church.  I've spent a lot days going into church to get organized.  I've been working as treasurer since July but I felt like I was just doing the bare minimum to keep bills paid and payroll done.  Now that I have more time I've been cleaning out drawers, emails, files, etc.  Some things are getting stashed in a place where I can get my hands on them, if need be.  I don't think they're necessary, but I don't quite have the confidence to toss them yet.  When I was in school, many years ago, I could not do my homework until my room was all picked up.  I'm going thru the same thing at church.  I've got to get everything in order before I can dive into the W2s that need to be completed by the end of the month. 

At home, I've done a little photo organization.  I've sorted through duplicate photos that were my mothers or grandmothers.  I've labeled my photo albums by year.  This is a very loose labeling and I do know that there are some pictures in a few of the albums that don't really belong there, but there were empty slots or pages where those photos would fit.  More than likely, if you know the year that a photo was taken, you'll be able to find it.

I've also done a little quilting.  I embroidered a quilt top when the girls were in high school.  The youngest graduated in 1999 so  you can see how long it's been.  The quilt top has been stored in the closet with the backing and batting pinned in place.  Since I've retired, I've quilted 3 of the 12 squares in the quilt.  That's not bad....so hopefully I'll get it finished this year.

 

Guess I'd better get off of here for now.  I have a lemon cake in the oven and I need to get down to the kitchen.