~TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE WE GO~

Thanksgiving dinner was just THAT good this year! We had so much fun with the family all there. Every other year we get everyone of the kids to come home but, Stephanie and Jon haven't made it for a few years so it was a real treat this year to have everyone there. We even had Grandma Verna.

I am so glad that Grandpa Bob wanted to go to the cabin. I was pretty set on having Thanksgiving at home this year but he convinced me that the cabin was a better idea and as usual he was right. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! John helped the little ones build a tee pee outside and they had a blast playing in it all weekend. I love knowing that they will have these memories one day to look back on and that they will always bring a smile to their face as they recall all the fun times they spent with their cousins at the cabin! I have so many of my own that bring me such joy as I think back. I was such a lucky girl to have such a wonderful childhood with great parents and wonderful cousins to spend ALL my days with! Now I see my grandchildren doing the same thing and I wish they knew right now how lucky they are to have such good friends in their lives forever!

We certainly ate until we hurt Thanksgiving day. Nobody left the table hungry. Nobody left the couch hungry or the kitchen or the great room or the cabin for that matter. There was enough food for another dinner the next day. One day I am going to learn to cook just the right amount of food. But then Skyler would be so disappointed that there were no left overs...

~UP ON THE ROOF TOP~

I've tried not to complain but honestly this is just getting ridiculous! I know I am a control freak and probably need therapy but most of you have gotten used to me by now and have accepted that flaw in my character, however the blood on my keyboard as I try to type this post is rather disturbing, and I keep typing the wrong letters because I can't use my "pointer" finger. This is actually a "2" episode story...I'll try to explain:

Thursday, my favorite day of the week, I decide that I would hang up the Christmas lights on the roof before it got too cold and there was snow to contend with. I pulled out the "Little Giant Ladder" and feeling much safer than I ever have in years past hoisted all the lights up on the roof top Ho,Ho, Ho! I am into the process a mere one strand when I stand up and nearly fall to my knees again as my back decides to not only not straighten but spasm at the same time! OH MY HECK! I thought someone had shot me! I looked around for a lone gunman at the same time feeling for blood, there had to be blood...it hurt too bad not to have BLOOD! Then I had to admit to myself that I was responsible for this incredible amount if pain. I should known better than to put my body in that nearly fatal position in the first place, did I really believe that I was still 30 years old...well, sort of. Taking advantage of the slant of the roof and the fact that I could no longer stand I crawled to a sunny spot and laid myself down thinking that this was the absolute most optimal position for a situation like this...Ive have been in situations like this before however, the roof was new. Minutes went by as did a few of my neighbors and I am beginning to think that if I were driving home and I saw my neighbor lying on their roof would I stop and ask him or her if they were alright...yes, yes I would...NOT ONE OF MY NEIGHBORS STOPPED! In fact, I dare say that not one of them even slowed down. SURE, I am laying on my roof in NOVEMBER suntanning...fully clothed, no, better yet, I have just decided to take a quick NAP before finishing the lights! Meanwhile as I am trying to figure out what they could possibly be thinking the sun is starting to go down and it is getting cold! I have got to figure out how to get off of the roof. Now, only those of you who have had back trouble will completely understand this next little complication...I CAN'T MOVE but, I have to. I roll painfully over onto my stomach and proceed to crawl army man style up the asphalt shingles to the top of the gable and then looking over the other side to where the trusty Little Giant is waiting right where I left it, many, many asphalt shingles below. If I can get turned around and aim myself just right I can land feet first right on top of the fist rung of the ladder and be down in possibly 10 painful steps. Still, no one has come to my rescue. By now I would have thought that the neighborhood grapevine would have had the chairs set up and popcorn for sell...

I did manage to make it down off the roof with all the rest of my body parts in tact and because I work where I do my good friend Dr. Ashby "fixed" me with some remarkable steroids and I am now back to my spunky, sarcastic self. However...the following Sunday, a mere 2 days later, while making dinner for my WONDERFUL family, I sliced the top of my finger off with my Pampered Chief Slicer (i.e. the blood on the keyboard). The finger is healing nicely however, I think it will take approximately 2-3 weeks for it to stop bleeding! I will have a slightly malformed pointer finger on my right hand from now until that great day when all body parts that have been lost due to circumstances beyond our control...are restored and everything is back to perfect. Quite frankly, I can hardly wait because I think that the restoration process will also include my BRAIN!!!

I could go in to great detail about my little "finger" trauma but, the reactions that I have gotten from family members on my mishap thus far have not been favorable so, I will spare the grim details but, I will never eat cooked carrots again without thinking of my poor finger tip and I grantee that if you ever ask me about it NEITHER WILL YOU :)

~GONE TOO SOON~

Like everyone else, my life's story will read someday that I lived, I loved and I passed on. What it may not say or what many might not ever know are the obscure people who touched my life and helped make me who I am. One such person lived, loved and passed on himself this last week. Torn from his family too early he leaves a legacy of gentle wisdom, and a love for family that few men attain in this life. Lucky him! He told me once that he felt that of all the people that he could remember from our high school class I had probably made the most changes...not sure how I felt about that at the time but, as the years checked themselves off I realized that it was a sincere and genuine compliment, ment only to help me achieve even more good things in my life. He knew what I was capabale of even back then. I have thought of him often and smiled. I will think of him still. He was and will continue to be one of those people who if you were lucky enough to have him touch your life in some way you were truly blessed.

~NINA & SKYLER~

Nina and Skyler were married last night. What a cute couple they make. The day was beautiful with our first real snow storm adding to the pre-holiday spirit. Christina was dazzling in her dress and looked so pretty as my dad, her grandfather, escorted her down the isle. It's not often that you see my dad in a tux but the guy wears one very well! I'm beginning to think that 80 isn't a bad place to be in life if I can be 80 like him.

I know that Nina's thoughts were with her dad a lot yesterday. We all miss him so. Life has not been the same without Bruce. Especially for Nina. In so many ways she is very much like her dad. Resilient, determined, and with a little bit of that "Clark" stubbornness, all great qualities to get you through life's good and not so good times. Bruce would have been proud of Nina yesterday and I know that he would have had no one else but our dad walk her down the isle if he couldn't...things were as they should have been yesterday. If we could have changed it we would have but, that isn't up to us so, we do the best we can and I think we accomplished just that. We will ALWAYS take care of Bruce's Nina until he can once again take her in is arms and tell her himself how proud he is of her and how very much he loves her.

CONGRATULATIONS NINA & SKYLER!
November 14, 2009

~MISS MADDIE TURNS "2"~

We had such fun at Maddie's birthday party on Sunday. She turned "2". I can't believe how fast the time goes by. Maddie's mommie made a beautiful cake for her. It seemed almost sad to have to cut it but, not only was it gorgeous it also was delicious! Two year olds are SO much fun! Maddie loved eating her cake and ice cream so much that she finally decided to just pull the ice cream scoop out of the container and use it as her spoon! She is just so darn cute! I almost got her to look at me in a couple of the pictures that I took...almost. She is really good at avoiding the camera. I think that one day that will all change but for now I keep trying to catch her looking at me...just once. I think it is sort of a game between the two of us. As soon as I put my camera down she never stops looking at me. When I pick it up...well, you can see what happens then! No doubt about it, she's got me wrapped around her little finger!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!

~THERE'S A LITTLE "KID" IN ALL OF US~

Stephanie and I had such a fun weekend with her kids. I hated to see them go home. They are growing up so fast and because they live in Vernal I don't get to see them as often as I would like to. She is such a great mom always trying her best to do what is right for them. They keep her very busy but I don't think that she would trade being a mom for anything else in the world. Raising children can be frustrating and fascinating at the same time. It can bring tears and laughter about every ten to fifteen minutes and there are times when you just want to pull your hair out but, in the quiet times when things get real, there is nothing that can compare to those little ones. What they say comes straight from their hearts and that's when you know that there is no one else on earth loves you the way they do.

~BACK HOME AGAIN~

Sometimes I think that there is a little bit of New York in all of us. Especially when I have to leave knowing that it will be a while before I return again. There is just something about New York that tends to make you want to return and return. Fascinating? Yes. Diverse? Absolutely. But, more than that there is an atmosphere that tends to draw you in. It's like you find yourself thinking..."I could live here." "I COULD LIVE HERE!" I know that it would probably get old after a while. Just like every other place does. You would probably grow tired of the theater, the museums, the shopping, the different cultures, the food, the night life, the people watching, the...traffic, the crowds, the ipod zombies... But it is interesting to be here for a week and take it all in. Honestly, unless I had a VERY lucrative job, I couldn't live there. I couldn't afford to! When you pay $20-$25.00 just for lunch everyday ( and that is a cheap lunch) you have to be making some good money to make ends meet! A cheap apt. will run you $150.00 a day! WOW! A little out of my league :) I can't really complain. I love where I live and that I get to visit NYC once every now and again. We tried to pack as
much into the time we had there as we could taking in one show after another. Eating at all of the places that people had suggested we try and orienting ourselves once again to the metro and the Uptown/Downtown way the New Yorkers do everything.

We happened to hit the very busy weekend of Halloween and the New York City Marathon. It was well, shall we say interesting to say the least. Halloween takes on a whole new dimension in New York! Move over little kids because the BIG kids are out to make a SPLASH! The bigger the better!

Steve and I watched the NYC marathon runners come in from Central Park. It was wonderful. Such a beautiful place to be. We sat on the rocks up above everyone else and looked down on the course as the runners came in. Our own "birds eye view."

We had a blast and if there was one thing we might have done different it may have been to stay just a little longer!

I might have had a few more chestnuts also!