More Snow

Here is a shot of our front porch. I have never seen snow hang off the eaves like this or a two foot drift. People are going to have trouble getting to the door.

Blizzard Conditions

It is now noon on Saturday the 22nd of December. I went out at 8:15 to workout and get my hair cut. Between 9:30 and 10:15 it had snowed over 2 inches. The weather forecast say we will have snow until around six tonight. If that is true, we will have one of our rare white Christmases. I took the picture because the snow is blowing sideways. There are no big white fat flakes here. It is very fine and dry. We had planned to go out and finish our Christmas Shopping today, but it looks like it will be waiting till tomorrow.

Christmastime is here!

Last night my friends and I all gathered at Olive Garden for our annual Christmas dinner. We ask to sit in the corner because spirits are imbibed and we tend to get a tad rowdy. Actually this year we were verywell behaved. We exchange gifts and the part I enjoy more than anything else is when we put all the gifts on the table to divide up. There is something about the mass of bags and boxes and just makes me feel like the holidays are really here.





Merry Christmas Everyone!

I am in love....with IKEA

I just got back from a week in Portland, Oregon. I was attending training on Foreclosure Intervention and Loss Mitigation which is a post in itself, but too depressing to actually write about. The training was really good, and will be very helpful in my work. I didn't get to enjoy the joys of Portland because I got the flu on Monday evening, and spent the rest of the week dragging through the classes and then going to bed. This pretty much shatters any dreams of a glamorous business trip to a hip city.

However, by the last day of class on Friday, I was finally feeling chipper enough to venture out to shop. Portland has a fantastic public transportation system, a good portion of it is free and the rest extremely reasonably priced. When I had come in from the airport, I had seen the Ikea sign from the train window, so I went out Friday afternoon. As you can see, it is big as a Walmart, but so much better. Ray and I have always loved Scandinavian furniture, but after leaving Houston, it was difficult to find at all, let alone be affordable. Now I know, it is all at the Ikea store. I spent hours in the store looking at furniture and accessories. Everything is boxed up unassembled, so I was able to buy stuff to put in my suitcase and take home for gifts. I even called Ray from the store and told him about my new passion. Wyatt needs big boy bedroom furniture. There is an Ikea store in the Dallas area. We are going down there after the first of the year and get him set up.

I also went to Nordstrom Rack and got some great clothing for Nicole and myself. I found a great Greek Restaurant too. I had Dolmathes, orzo and steamed vegetables and Baklava for dessert. There was a poster of an old Greek man smoking a cigarette in front of me and I decided he was as good a dinner partner as any.

One afternoon and evening saved me from thinking Portland was no fun. I just want to go back when I am healthy. I only took about eight photos there, and these two were about the best. Gives you the idea of how it was for me.

Friendship is a gift in itself

Today I went to another one of our Christmas Traditions. Each year, my friends I worked with at Bank IV go to Riverside Cup of Tea for high Tea. This group of friends is a little different. Husbands are welcome to come along. Ray went last year and was of the opinion that one high tea was enough for him, but Diane's husband Ron came along and enjoyed the tea, scones, clotted cream, cucumber sandwiches and toffee bars with the ladies. Sandy brought along her niece who enjoyed the afternoon outing with the adults. Karen, Sharon and I came by ourselves, but all of us had a wonderful time.

Dubious Grandparenting Behavior

The picture above shows an addictive behavior we visited upon our innocent two year old grandson. He loves to watch a Youtube video of the Muppets singing "Menah Menah". He is even at the point where he will sing parts of it with us now. When Wyatt comes to visit, the demand to see the video comes right after the request for a cookie and chockie (chocolate milk) Of course, being the obedient servants to this child that we are, we do his wishes. When he tires of this video, we watch another muppet video of Beaker singing "Feelings" also known as Mi Mi. Secretly, I am waiting until Wyatt figures out how to use the mouse to hit replay. I am up restarting the video every 2.28 minutes, until he finally loses interest and goes to play with his toys.

Oh, Christmas Tree

We finished off decorating for Christmas yesterday. I got the Christmas dishes out today. We are officially in the Christmas Season now. It was the first Sunday of Advent at church this morning. Every week a different family lights the advent candles. We did that a few times when the kids were at home. We start singing Christmas hymns as well. My goal this year is to enjoy the meaning of the season and not just the busyness.

PSA

Tomorrow is Friday, it is going to be here just barely in time. That is all.

Wyatt

We watched Wyatt last night. He is talking so much now. I was telling him "I love you." and he was telling me "I love you." right back. That is what warms a Grammy's heart.

Senior Pictures

I took some senior photos for Monica on Friday. We both enjoyed it a lot more than shopping. I sort of miss the photography work after I do a shoot for friends. But then I remember the aggravation of the business part and decide I am much better off just doing the photos for fun.

Thanksgiving Plus Three Days

It has been three enjoyable days since Thanksgiving. Here is a picture of the guys busy frying the turkey on Thursday. This involves beer and chocolate milk depending on the age of the participant. We had Nick's brother, his wife and new baby over and my Dad and Stepmother stopped by for a while too.

We have so much to be grateful, seriously and frivolously.

1. We were able to gather together as a family and spend the day not only eating, but just being together enjoying each other's company.

2. Even though Andrew couldn't be with us this year, he is happy at his new assignment and for the first time in two years is not planning for a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

3. Winter has finally arrived complete with snow, even though it was gone by late morning. It was nice to see some on the ground when we woke up.

4. Nicole has had a good year. Her leukemia has remained under control, she has graduated from college and is in the management program at work.

5. Nick's year hasn't been as good, but we are praying that after January it will steadily improve.

6. Ray and I continue to be healthy and satisfied with our lives. We are planning for our future retirement and looking forward to it.

7. I finished my Christmas cards this weekend, so that major project is done.

8. Ray has the house decorated outside for Christmas and we have most of our shopping done.

All in all, that is a lot to be grateful for. I wish the same for all of you.

One more day until Thanksgiving

I only have to slog through one more day of work until Thanksgiving. Nick, Nicole and Wyatt are coming over for the day. Ray and Nick will be frying the turkey again. I never expected to like a fried turkey like I do. It seems like such a redneck thing, but they do taste good. We will be having all the usual side dishes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie.
My plan is to eat until my arms and legs stick out and then take a nap.
Hopefully, I will have some pictures to post as well.

Girl Friends

Here are my friends Diane, JoEtta, Joyce and Toni. We all used to work together, now Diane and I work elsewhere, but we are all still good friends. We email each other during the day and get together to talk and have fun. Having friends like these women is priceless for me. We care for each other even when we aren't being particularly adorable. That is wonderful.

Wedding Wishes for Blake and Elizabeth

I photographed the wedding of the daughter of a friend of mine yesterday. We had pretty good weather for an outdoor wedding in November. Liz was getting pretty cold by the time we were done with the photography however. I also helped her mother make the wedding dress, so I had more than a little interest in how everything turned out. It was a beautiful wedding and lets all wish a very nice young couple a wonderful life.

Wyatt and the Geese

The temperature is in the mid seventies today. It may be the last good day of the year, so Ray and I took Wyatt to the park. He is enthralled by the playground equipment, but even more so by the large flock of Canada Geese that live year around in the park. Whenever, adults come near the geese they scatter, flying away to the safety of the pond or off to other locations. However, Wyatt does not pose a threat to them and they allowed him to come within a couple of feet before moving away. I was concerned that they might be aggressive, but were not. The flock acted more like a group of good natured dogs, not running away, but not letting Wyatt get close enough to touch. We enjoyed watching him as much as he enjoyed chasing the ducks

Read my Blog????

There was an article in the newspaper explaining all the tricks to getting people to read your blog. If everything it said is true, no one will ever read mine. Here is what works; no pictures, write about one topic. use a distinct voice, comment on other blogs more than you write on your own. This is all good and I bet there are bloggers out there that will take the advice to heart and become rich and famous. However, that is not me.

I started this blog because my friends on ScrapDawgs wanted a forum to post challenges for photos and the like. I also felt the need to write somewhere on a regular basis. As a scrapper, you need to be able to write and have a level of competency that people understand what you are trying to say. For some reason paper and pen don't have the same ease for me that writing on the computer does. I think I have improved some. I am comfortable with my writing, I am not going to be the next novelist, but I am not shaking my head when I am done.

I don't really care if anyone reads this, I enjoy it when they do. I suspect that people stumble across Life in Haysville once in a while. My hope is that they think it is all right for a personal blog before they move on to the next.

Oh, and I hope they like my pictures.

Duckie

Here is our little Duckie at the door for Trick or Treat. He is so cute. We had so few kids this year we loaded him up with candy. It seems like Halloween costumes are so much cuter than they were when Nicole and Andrew were small. It is a certainty that they are a lot less expensive now than the costumes I made for the kids.

Birthdays and other thoughts

Yesterday was Wyatt's second birthday. We went over for dinner and cake. Nicole made enchiladas which were excellent. At two, Wyatt understand the idea of gifts and cake. He even caught on to blowing out the candles. His mother put seven on the cake because two looked too few. She is the mother, she can do what she wants. Ray found a car carrier truck for his gift which was hugely successful. I am amazed at how your self esteem rises when a two year old grandchild likes the gift you give him.

Ray went to Oklahoma to clear out his mother's apartment with his brother and sister. It is as hard on them as it is for his mother. She just can't accept that she is no longer able to live on her own. They will be back tomorrow with her household goods which I guess we will store until Pauline no longer remembers she has furniture. I always feel sort of mean spirited, but I am so grateful for the continued good health of my father and step mother when Ray has to deal with all of this.

Because I don't have to interact with anyone tonight I have been reading blogs. There are so many people who are so interesting and write so well. It is a pleasure to find new blogs to read. I posted on a few tonight, but I realized that I was pretty pompous sounding. I wanted to sound like I was interesting too. I decided that I would come back here and post. Get the writing out of my system without sounding like an idiot on someone elses blog.

I need to go, I am helping a friend with her daughters wedding dress. I quit sewing a couple of years ago. You don't forget how to do it, but you just don't enjoy it like you used to. It is funny though, I think Scrapping is more expensive than sewing.

New Afghan Milblog

I just added a new blog by a soldier in Afghanistan. It is called 6 months in Kabul. Take a look, you will like it.

Helicopter Grandparents

If my husband reads this he will be rolling on the floor laughing. One of the groups these days are helicopter parents. These are parents who hover over their children long after said children should be out on their own.
I have accused Ray of being one, and now I guess I am a helicopter grammy. Wyatt and his parents are on vacation this week. It is all I can do not to call them and check on how they are. I miss seeing Wyatt and they have only been gone four days. This is so pitiful it is funny. My only salvation is that Ray will cave before I do and phone them. Then I get to talk as well. Bwa Ha Ha!

The First Born Crop

Here are some of the photos from the First Born Crop last weekend. We had a lot of fun as well as doing a lot of scrapping.

The First Borns

Here are my fellow First Borns. We get together twice a year in Denton Texas to scrap, talk, eat, drink and have fun. This year we needed the time away. We all have had a lot of things happen to us since we last got together. I don't know if it helped but we had a lot of fun.

We ate dinner on Saturday night at the Master Grill Restaurant. Master Grill is a Brazilian Churrascaria. There was more meat coming around to our table than I ever expected. The filet was excellent as well as the lamb, the pork, the chicken....... I would love to go back there again. I think my brother in law Leroy would love this place.

Wyatt is almost two

Wyatt will be two years old on the 25th. He is actually using words now to let us know what he wants. Right now the words are all cute, pease is please, denk oo is thank you. The speed that he is growing is amazing. I am grateful for the time to enjoy him, but it is still passing by so quickly that I am afraid I will miss something important. In the meantime, I try to take as many photos as possible.

PSA

On Scrapdawgs, people periodically post PSA's about something that happens in their lives that bear repeating.
My PSA is for those folks who are starting the slide towards not being able to make their mortgage payments. I am counseling more and more people who are in imminent danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Don't, I repeat don't ignore the mortgage company, call them, talk to them, try to get them to commit to a program to help you be current again. Then call a local agency like mine or call 1-888-995-HOPE. We will do our best to work with you, but if you haven't been in contact with your lender it is much harder. When this all started to heat up in my office, we thought it would be with our traditional clientele, the low to moderate income borrower. It cuts across all income levels. I hate telling people with $300,000.00 houses which are upper middle class in our community that their only option is selling their home before the sheriff sells it on the courthouse steps.

The blame for this spreads across everyone involved in these transactions. The fall out from it is going to hurt all of us.

Aspens by the Animas, August 2007

This is my current favorite photo. I took this from the train coming back from Silverton. I was trying different shutter speeds, but this one shot with a flash. I love the color of the aspen trunks with the water and the rocks in the background.

Just an Airman's Mom

One of the reasons I started blogging was because my online friends who scrapped started blogging to share photos and pages. These two pages are the first that I have ever posted here. I am doing my son's photos from his deployment in Iraq last winter. I try to keep my journaling neutral and non-son-embarrassing as possible. Both of these pages do reveal my views on what is happening in Iraq today. I didn't state them on the page, but this is what I felt when I did them. Comparisons is my son at eight with a toy rifle and him at 23 with the real thing. He chose the military without his parents urging. We are a military family so we are proud and honored he is serving. He serves his country and does his duty. He and every other military person serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing this country proud. It is time for the Administration and Congress to do us proud and find a way to help to get these countries back on their feet politically and economically without agenda and ideological biases. I am tired of other women's children dying. I am tired of Iraqi and Afghan Fathers, Mothers, Sons and Daughter dying.

Outside the Wire are photos of about twenty Marines getting ready to move out to a Forward Operating Base at dusk last February. Those young men, you want a reference? Look at the picture of my son again. Those young men were going out to some remote location in Anbar province to put their lives on the line. Count those marines. There is a strong probability that at least two of them are now dead and several more are wounded. I am crying now, I am angry and I don't know how any of this is going to change, but it has to change. This war is killing our national soul as well as our children. Who is going to make a difference?

READ THIS BLOG

Yes, I am yelling....

Click on this link and to go Clicked to read the posts about what is going on in Burma. The courage of the Burmese and their struggle to tell the world what is happening needs to be made widely known to everyone.


http://clicked.msnbc.msn.com/

Shopping in the Mountains

One of the things we have always loved to do on vacation is shop the vendors on the streets or in this case the panoramic outlook at Wolf Creek Pass. In this day and age when almost everything affordable is made in China, we still live with the hope that this jewelry sold by a young Indian woman was actually made by her or her relations. Ray bought a necklace for our daughter and another one for a gift. Nothing really appealed to me here. I ended up buying a silver astorite ring at a jewelry store in Silverton this time. It was more elegant and expensive, but definitely lacked the sense of a bargain found on a blanket in a parking lot.

Sympathy

Most of us who blog know that there are people here that we feel we know through their writings. We will never meet in real life but we know so much about each other that when something happens it hits you like a ton of bricks.
One of the officers who writes for the AWAC blog just posted that one of their newborn twins just died in a crib death. I was crying for this family. I can't imagine their loss, but I am grieving for them. Don't ever doubt that this world is real and think that people don't care. People do. Send a prayer or a comforting thought to Odie and his family.

Fun at the Fair

Ray, Nicole and Wyatt went to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson last Friday. I didn't go, but that is fine. State Fairs are once every ten year things for me and I haven't hit that yet. However, everything was new and exciting for Wyatt. He got to pet lots of animals and ride a pony. When Nicole first put him on the pony, he rocked back and forth like on his rocking horse at home. But when it started moving he really got into riding. Maybe we have a cowboy in our future.

The distance from the time spent raising your own children and watching the same learning experiences with your grandchildren vanishes in an instant. Wyatt does something and I think of something his mother or uncle did just like that. I may not have thought of it for over twenty years but it comes back immediately.

Durango Colorado, August 2007

Holy Cow!!!

I just realized that I haven't posted since the end of August. What have I been doing? Well, for one thing I have been fighting a nasty cold that delights in moving from my chest to my head and back again. I prefer a cold in my chest. My husband has some prescription cough syrup with codeine. I tried that and no cold stands a chance. My poor head on the other hand just suffers, I ache, get the chills and feel miserable. Anyway, that is part of my excuse for not writing.

Fall was here in Kansas for a couple of days. I hauled out a sweater and wore long pants. I think I am ready for summer to move on. It went so fast though. The speed that my life moves at always amazes me. I turn around and a season has passed. I am reminded of an event that just took place and realize it was two years ago. I always tried to avoid wishing my life away, wishing for the weekend, or something to happen. As much as I tried my life is going on anyway. It seems that getting old should have the time slow down instead of having that happen when you are young.

Shiprock

We got back from Durango, Colorado last night about ten o'clock. Both of us had to work today which was not fun, but I am hoarding my vacation days for later in the year.

We went down to Four Corners and Mesa Verde on Wednesday. We had been past Shiprock years ago on vacation. I had to settle for photos from the highway. This year we drove several miles off the main road for a closer look. Shiprock is sacred to the Navajo and when you see it you can understand why they believe this. It rises out of the desert and we could see it from almost forty miles away. I will be putting up a slide show later on. I took 280 photos, I won't post them all, but I am happy with a lot of what I shot this trip.

Did you say it is Friday?

This is a photo of the park that is across the street from our home. We have lived here for 27 years. We have thought about moving several times, but the location, the convenience to schools for the kids and the fact that we had enough room for our needs kept us here. Now we cannot see any reason to leave.



That wasn't what I was going to write about though. I just like to post pictures. It makes things more interesting for me.



I wanted to write about our adventures in the world of plumbing yesterday. The water pipe comes into our house in the basement from the street. I noticed a little water sound a few days ago. Ray can't hear small sounds or high frequencies anymore, so he didn't notice. On Wednesday, the noise was no longer tiny, but the loud sound of running water. Ray took Friday off, called the plumber and dug out a four by six foot hole by the foundation in front of our house. The plumbers indicated that we might have to replace the entire line from the meter. Visions of $2,000.00 fluttering away filled my head. Not a cheery thought at all. Ray checked for the leak, water sprayed ten feet in the air and it was a tiny hole. Ray stayed home all day to wait for the plumber who showed up just before seven in the evening. We got lucky this time, the plumber only had to replace the leaky section and the pipe that went through the wall to inside the house. Instead of $2,000.00, it was $215.00. That felt better than winning at the casino. Ray did a great job of digging the line out. When he started I had some concerns, but he is like my Dad, once he gets started he is in it till he is done. For an old guy he did OK, no aches or pains the next day either, even though he had to fill the hole back up again.



Now life is back to dull again. We can enjoy walking to the park and not worry about the water bill.

A penny saved is a penny earned....

especially when you can get just about all the pennies you want from Grammy and Grampy. We found Andrew's piggy bank and Nicole's doggy bank. Wyatt has one at his house and one here at the grandparents. We have it on a table and put our change there for when Wyatt comes over. One of the first things he does now is check out the bank to see if there is any money to put in the pig. Tonight he brought my purse out later in the evening and wanted more change. He may be starting out small, but that pig is starting to get heavy.

Amber forever....

Amber is one of my favorite gems. It is warm and comforting and natural. The same description suits Amber. She is one of the important personalities on Scraplove. She has great ideas and a wonderful sense of humor. She has posted ideas on the board that take on a life of their own. That may be jealousy on my part however, I am a thread killer. But sporks were not a tool that I had given much consideration to in my life. Now when I see one I have to think of Amber.

I have a tendency to feel motherly towards Amber. We have known each other virtually for quite a while. Until I went back and read post and blogs again, I had forgotten that Amber is one of the groups that have moved along together from SB.com. All of us on ScrapDawgs have seen her be engaged, married and become a mother. That is a lot of life to share and I am honored to have been a part of Amber's life.

Amber is a great mother. Reagan is one of the most adorable babies around, with the exception of my grandson of course. She is devoted to her little girl. Of course, her other daughter Lily has this tendency to get into the trash given the opportunity, and Amber has not had much luck in curing this habit.

I hope to be able to meet Amber in real life some day. I want to be able to hear her voice in her writng too just like Tigger Says.

To Amber, another ScrapDawg original.

My Sort of Adventure

I have learned that you can have an adventure without anything really happening to you. I went out to dinner with friends last Thursday night. I gave the waiter my debit card to pay. He came back and said it had been refused. I paid with a credit card and decided that since I had closed my husbands account, that the bank had accidentally canceled my debit card.
I go to work on Friday and look at my account. There is a large overdraft protection deposit, but no checks to have caused it.

I was upset to say the least and called the bank, the CSR tells me there were two large debit transactions from Walmart and Kmart in California. I had nothing to do with these. The Bank had stopped the charges so there was no loss.I was instructed to report the attempted the attempted fraud to the police and then sign a fraud statement with them. I was so upset, I left work then and took care of everything then. The bank informed me I wouldn't have any losses, and that I would have a new debit card in a couple of weeks.

I go home, I am telling everyone my story. It is the same response, everyone said they were so much more upset when it happened to someone they know. I am no obsessively checking my account balance a couple of times a day, but everything is good.

I get home last night and there is a message on the voice mail for me. A detective in Redondo Beach California wants to talk to me. This morning I called and talked to him for about half an hour. They caught two people who were using my card and several other stolen cards. The two had been arrested at Nordstroms. At least they were stealing upscale. The thieves were buying stuff and then taking it back the next day for cash refunds. The debit card was counterfeit with my number and their names, they bought them from some ring that forges cards. The only problem was that my card had already been blocked and Nordstrom's security detained them when they came back to do the return. I think that was so neat. The detective said that there were seventeen counts against them. I still have no idea where my number was stolen, but the detective told me, that if someone is going to steal your number, you have no way to stop them.

I am just glad it ended well for me, the bank and for Nordstroms.

Pool Life

I love to post photos on the blog. This is of Ray, Wyatt and Nick in the pool a couple of Sundays ago. Wyatt has been taking swimming lessons since July. He does the kick and blowing bubbles. He just won't let you let go of him. But as you can see he loves the water. All of us are in the pool and he does not want to get out. You all remember how pruney your hands and feet got when you were children? That is what he looks like when the adults finally give up an make him get out of the pool. Nicole and Andrew were so blase' about having a pool to swim in when they were young. I hope Wyatt doesn't lose his enthusiasm for swimming.

The Ragin Cajun......

What can I say about Missy? We haven't met in real life, but I know her. like we all know each other on Scrapdawgs. Different things draw you to the people. What draws you to Missy is her wicked sense of humor and her great writing. The stories she has told us of her life are vibrant, engrossing and wildly funny. Mention Grinding Nemo and BTFH and every one smiles and maybe even chuckles. Not many people have the skill, of being able to make stories real, but Missy does. Her imagination has given us images and phrases none of us would every thought of as well. Hairbrushes smacking hairy a$$es would never have entered my lexicon without Missy in my world. Missy the roving reporter brings another dose of fun into our lives as well. Her humor drew me on Scrapbook.com, I was so happy when she came to Scraplove. Her leaving SB.com was typically Missy and unforgettable. Getting banned is outstanding. Coming to Scrapdawgs was a normal progression for all of us and it wouldn't be the same without her.

Missy is a teacher, and I believe a good one. I know she is dedicated to her students. Since her school district has been overloaded with Katrina evacuees, she had worked hard to help these students adjust to the vast changes in their lives. Teaching is a hard job and she keeps on serving her students year after year.

Photography is one of the interests we all share; we are scrappers after all. Missy is good and getting better with every photo she posts. I envy her sports photos of her nieces . Because of her persistence, I believe she will be a great photographer in time.

Last of all, and I am sure most importantly, Missy loves her husband Steve and her son Wyatt. When I imagine their home, I see it filled with love and laughter and lots of emotion. The creativity has to spill out in conversation and maybe a little yelling and hairbrush brandishing. From the stories Missy tells about Wyatt, he is her child. Funny and sure of his place in the world.

If I would win the lottery, one of the things I would want to do is meet all the Dawgs. Trust me, Missy is at the top of my list. Wish me luck!

If you can't say something nice.....

I am taking part in a challenge to say nice things about one of my acquaintances on ScrapDawgs. It is a lot of fun to read what has been written so far. I am also thinking very hard about what I am going to write about my chosen person. The obvious thought that comes to mind is why do people have to set up a challenge to be able to say nice things about each other. The obvious answer is that we don't. ScrapDawgs is one of the most positive agreeable sites I have ever spent time on and we spend a lot of time being "nice" to each other. I am going to use the challenge to say nice things in what I hope will be a more journalistic way than I normally do. My comments are more conversational, I want this to be more story.

Now I have set my self up for something that I may never be able to achieve, but then again, no goals, no gain. I just have to wait my turn.

Mohawk Boy

Wyatt came over last night and looked just a bit different. His mother and uncle had given him a mohawk. It actually was a mistake, Nicole was going to do a minor trim and had an unfortunate movement which required a major adjustment. Of course Grammy had to haul out the camera and record the haircut for posterity. I have done scrapbook pages comparing Wyatt and his mother at the same ages. I will have to do a page comparing Wyatt and his Uncle Andrew in his mohawk.

4th Avenue Blues

I just added this blog to my list. I found the blog on my random wandering around Blogger. Andrew is a good writer and a work in progress. I worship dull in my life and his hasn't been, but reading about his life is uplifting to me. He may not be for everyone, but take a look anyway.

Igor Medvedev

I am trying to get back into the challenges on Scrapdawgs again. This challenge was to post your favorite painter. One of mine is Igor Medvedev. I have one of his serographs in my dining room. I bought it before he started getting expensive. This picture is from a poster I got on our first cruise from the Art Auction. He paints Greece, Tuscany, all those brilliant places. He paints lots of boats. He believes that boats have souls.

Random Thoughts

I have been reading several people blogs where they were posting things that came to mind.
So I have a few things I am going to throw out there.

I love to learn new things, but I am really specific about what I want to learn anymore. If it is about scrapbooking, photography, history or pottery I am all over it. If it is work related, I have to really struggle. I learned this job over the last two years and it has been a struggle.

I love to read blogs, I read my friends blogs, but I will go click on next blog and just roam. There are some great writers, photographers and scrappers out there. I just have to spend so much time clicking past the ones I can't read and the porn. I never thought of myself as prudish, but I always click on the offensive button for those. Get the porn off my screen and I will be just fine. I think I would like to be online friends with some of the bloggers I have read, but I am not certain how to start the relationship.

The wrongness of the war in Iraq is eating on my spirit more and more. My son isn't there right now, so that worry is on hold. But the fact that so many Iraqi's are dying for no reason and with no hope for the killing to stop in addition to our young people being in harms way weighs me down. The fact that a large portion of the United States is oblivious to the costs to our national soul, the military fighting there and to the Iraqi people makes me sad.

My salvation for the bad stuff is the joy that my grandson brings to our life. He is spoiled and going into his second year with all the temperamental issues involved. However, he is the most amusing and entertaining person we know. Grandchildren are a gift from God.

Scrapdawgs is the group of the best friends I have never met in person. I actually have met some of the Dawgs, but I have learned that the in real life meeting is always just an extension of the relationship we have on line. We are a diverse group, but over the last several years we have known each other, friendship is truly the glue that holds us together.

Last of all, my husband is still my best friend. The comfort of 40 years together is something I would never have grasped when we started our life together.

Where I want to be in twentyeight years.

This is my Dad. I took this picture of him last week on his 88th birthday. We have all changed a lot since I was born 60 years ago. He used to be three inches taller than me, now he is shorter than I am. He still sees all right, but his hearing is bad and arthritis has limited the use of his hands. But he still lives an active and healthy life with my step mother. This is what I want for Ray and me. I don't expect everything to be perfect, but I appreciate my Dad's ability to live independently and have fun in his later years. I make a point to scrap every birthday party we have for him. However, we are all planning for a big blow out for his 90th birthday. It will be here before we know it.

Work Frustrations

In my job as a low to moderate income loan originator, the "easy" loan is an rarity. What I am working on right now is no exception. One of my clients has not been overly helpful in providing information and I just was informed that his house is in bad enough shape he will not receive down payment assistance from the city. Another client has to change loan programs because my lender now has rates that are above the legal limit in Kansas. Yuck, crap and gahhhh! I am afraid my first person will be turned down, and the closing on my second will be delayed until we can line up city assistance for the down payment. That means I will have Realtors and borrowers unhappy with me.
I may go home this weekend and drink.

Donna, Faery Queen and Cynthis Tagged me?

I was tagged. These are the rules...each play startw with 7 random facts about themselves on their Blog. People who are tagged need to blog seven facts about themselves and post the rules as well. At the end of the blog list 7 people you are taggging. Let them know that they are tagged by elaving them a comment.
1. My mother was a war bride from Australia. Until I started school, I was the only little girl in my part of Oklahoma who had an Australian Accent.
2. I have a broadcasting degree, but have worked in mortgage lending most of my life.
3. I still have friends I keep in touch with that I have known since junior high.
4. We moved 17 times the first 15 years we were married and have lived in the same house for the last 27 years.
5. I collect Hard Rock Cafe pins.
6. I drive a convertible, with the top down as much as possible.
7. I started turning gray at 17.

I am tagging Toni, MountainMama, April, Amy Z, Barb, Julie, Missy, Cynthia

Happy Fourth of July

July 4, 2007 is over and we had a lot of fun. We had a fish fry and a lot of the kids friends came over. The weather was great until it was time to shoot off the fire works then it started to rain again. This is certainly on year when the fire danger is non existent. This is a picture of Nick and Wyatt in the hammock chair. Wyatt has always like swinging there, but he thought it as even better with Dad.

Are we dry yet?

It has been two days without rain. The sun has actually shone, although it is questionable whether or not it will today. I am truly not a rainy weather person. The humidity makes me uncomfortable. I turned the temperature on the air conditioning down low enough to be uncomfortable just to reduce the humidity in the house. I know that we will have scorching days soon enough, then we will be wishing for rain. Kansas is just full of extremes.

Ray is off this week, he is doing some things with Andrew while he is home on leave. I had always hoped that the conditioning we did when he and Nicole were young would deter some behaviors we didn't want. No such luck. Our first failure was the anti tattoo campaign, Andrew has two that we know of. At least he knew we would not approve and tried to keep us in the dark for as long as possible. My second failure was this week when Andrew bought a motorcycle. He is using all the reasons, gas economy, etc. I still am worried about his safety on a motorcycle. He laughs at me. What do I know, he is young and bullet proof. All I can do is pray for safety.

I am now trying to decide what to brainwash Wyatt about. Maybe I need to start the anti motorcycle campaign now.

Wyatt's Swimming Lessions

Wyatt is taking swimming lessons at the YMCA. He really loves the water. He smiles and laughs all the way through the lesson. He kicks in the water and is learning to use his arms. We have been late in opening our pool this year, but will have it done by the end of the weekend. It will be not soon enough as far as Wyatt is concerned.

A general update

This is a photo of a trestle for the old mining rail line going up to Cloudcroft New Mexico from Alamagordo. There is a hiking trail that takes you closer to this one and another trestle. I want to hike it next year. I was crawling over the guardrail and getting too close to the edge of the canyon for Ray's comfort trying to get the pictures I took this trip.

The picture is just decoration for this post. Before I left on vacation, I whined about things that were going on. Nothing has been totally resolved, but people are moving on. My son in law has part of his legal issues taken care of and the attorney is working on clearing up final issues. My mother in law is going to be moved up here to live. Her doctor has declared her unable to live on her own. It is now up to Ray and his sister to settle where she is going. It is stressful for both of them. My car has been repaired and I am now very cautious when I put the top down. Life is not back to dull yet, but it is improving.

Wish we were there, Ruidoso, New Mexico

Here are some of the photos from our trip to Ruidoso last week. As always we had a great time and did not want to come home. This year was very low key, Ray didn't want to drive a lot of places because gas in New Mexico was $3.37 a gallon, so we stayed close to home. That is the joy of Ruidoso, you don't have to go far to have a good time.