Bargains and "Bellibuttons"

There was another "patio" sale here at the park Saturday morning. They are called "patio sales" versus "garage sales" since nobody has garages. Makes sense I guess.

Anyway, you know how seniors like a sale.

Gets them out in droves.

The sales started at 7:30 am.

I rolled out of bed at 7:45 am, got dressed, brushed my teeth and my hair, robbed Jim of any money he had, and hopped on my bike.

I was on a hunt for two things: cushions for my patio chairs and a crock pot.

I got a GREAT deal on a patio set at the last sale - TEN BUCKS for a table and four chairs!

But the chairs needed some kind of a cushion so your butt didn't ooze through the vinyl straps, you know?

And as far as a crock pot? Well, let me tell you the crock pot story.

You got a minute?

I had an old crock pot. In fact, I think it was a present from my FIRST wedding, 27 years ago! But it worked, nonetheless.

Anywho, the park was having a Chili Cook-off here last week. Jim wanted to enter. (He was still in the cooking mode from having to cook the two weeks I was gone.)

He wanted my chili recipe but he was going to "doctor" it up and make it hotter.

I told him to get his own damn recipe.

So he did.

He found some kind of Texas no bean chili. He went out, bought all the groceries he needed, came home, sliced and diced, etc., and threw everything into the crock pot. The smell of jalapeno punched the air.  The chili cooked all night. The next day he added another bottle of beer.

I had to admit, it smelled pretty damn good.

I tasted it.

Holy Macaroni! I thought my lips were going to burn off!

But then again, I don't eat spicy foods. But my lips were numb for about 10 minutes AFTER I tasted the chili.

Anyway, Jim was proud as could be when he carried the crock pot full of his homemade chili to the ballroom to enter it into the contest.

I was next door at my friend, Judy's, place.

Jim came back a few minutes later, went to our trailer, then came out, and stopped by Judy's. I thought he had forgotten something.

He came in, sat down, then said, "Well, we're going to have to buy a new crock pot."

"What? Why?" I said, thinking what an awful time for it to stop working!

"I dropped it and it broke."

"WHAT?"

"Well, the door to the ballroom was slightly ajar, and I tried to open it with my elbow while carrying the crock pot. The whole thing slipped out of my hand and crashed to the floor and broke! The chili splashed down my leg, I ran to the bathroom because it was burning me. By the time I came back, Camille (the Activities Director), was gathering up the pieces of the crock pot and trying to clean up the mess."

Okay, call me cruel, but I DID laugh first.

Judy was nice enough to ask if Jim was okay.

Luckily he didn't burn himself, but he did get cut in a couple of places. Not bad, but he DID need a band-aid.

The Chili Cook-off went on without him.

He could have been a contender!

They had to put a rug down on top of the "accident" to cover up the mess. We lifted it up when we left and saw all the meat sticking to the rug and had a good laugh. Jim was a good sport about it.

And THAT'S why I needed a new crock pot!

Because Arizona is a desert, it's quite brisk in the morning and you have to bundle up, and by 11 or 12, you're stripping off your clothes. It's crazy. Then by 5:00 you're putting them back on. But between the hours of 11 to say 4:30ish, it's great! So it was in the 40's when I started riding around on my quest.

I struck gold on the next block and found a crock pot that looked brand new - one of those large oval ones for $10. I didn't bother to try and dicker with the price. I was happy I didn't have to pay full price for one. The problem was, it was so large that it didn't fit in my bike basket, so I quick walked home with it, then walked back and hopped on my bike and continued on.

I ran into a few friends along the way.

One was looking for stackable plastic chairs.

I hadn't seen any but I told her that I'd keep my eyes out for them.

I told her that I was looking for chair cushions. She hadn't seen any of those, either.

I dawned on me later, as I was pedaling around the park, passing people on their bikes, or just walking, that we should all hold up signs that say what we are looking for. Wouldn't that be easier?

A person could shout out, "Hey - I saw cushions for sale over on 5th street!"

Or - "There are chairs for sale on 7th!"

How cool would that be?

I didn't find any cushions at the patio sale, but I DID find something else.

It certainly wasn't on my list of things to buy. But as I was talking to the woman who was having the sale, this little box caught my eye.

I just HAD to see what it was all about.


The woman figured that this was left over from the 60's. I can't imagine her carrying it around in her fifth-wheel all these years, but she did have a lot of junk for sale.

You could attach different sayings to this "button", then GLUE it in your belly button, FDA APPROVED, of course.

Then wear your hip huggers and midriff shirt, and, well, show people your message.

Does ANYONE remember these?

This is what the kit included:

Stickers, button, glue (all hardened, now) and "handbook".

Here are the different messages that you could stick on the button:

 

The title of the pamphlet? "A Handbook of High Etiquette and Correct Usage of the Bellibutton".
The first section is called, "Mystique and Power of the Bellibutton Through the Ages" and humorously rewrites historical stories to include the "bellibutton".

Here's an example:

"Contrary to popular belief, it was not a stone that young David killed the giant Goliath with. The latest translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls relates the story as it really happened. David, with no stones for ammunition, found himself facing Goliath in the middle of the desert. David, thinking quickly, plucked his Bellibutton, loaded his sling and fired it, killing the giant in a blink of an eye. You shouldn't have blinked, Goliath!"

The rest of the pamphlet tells you the wheres and the whens to wear your "bellibutton". It really is quite cute.

What a bargain for a quarter! I wonder what I could get for it on e-Bay?

NOTE: You may have noticed cushions on the patio chairs above. Here's a close up.

 Later on that same day I went to Goodwill and found these cushions at the bargain price of $2 each! (It was 50% off day!) 

I am NOW sweating like a fat girl!

Did you make New Year's Resolutions this year?

Have you already broken them?

Don't feel bad. Most people do.

I resolved NOT to make any resolutions this year!

I'm doing great at keeping that resolution, by the way!

But I DID decide this is the year I'm going to get healthier.

Yeah, I know, I wasn't happy about it either. I was downright cranky about it. But hey, I sure enjoyed putting the weight on, you know?

While we are in AZ, I usually go to my water aerobics class. It's a nice, "easy" class. Mostly stretching. I do get my heart rate up, but only for a few minutes. It's still better than nothing, and the gossip session at the end of the class makes it all worth while.

We have a pretty good gym here in the park, which I have avoided for years. Jim goes there M-F.

You might have wondered what happened to the Zumba DVD I bought or the one class I attended. Humph.

Parts of me were shaking that haven't shook in years.

And they hurt.

My bones couldn't take all that jumping.

I probably have to wait until I'm down about 50 pounds. Then I'll try it again.

But I spoke to a woman from the Zumba class, Gloria, who I also know from the park. She talked to me about joining the gym. She told me that she had hired a trainer (available through the park) to teach her about the different equipment in the gym and to make up a fitness plan for her. Gloria's husband told her that HE could show her how to work everything in the gym. Her reply? "I didn't want HIM telling me what to do!"

Exactly! Because Jim had offered the same thing! Last year he showed me a few things; I worked on some of the weights and he put too much weight on one of the machines! I was so sore the next day!

SO, a couple of weeks ago there was a program called, "Get to know your gym" (NOT: Get to know your JIM *wink, wink*), and a friend of mine, Viv, and I attended, along with like a gazillion other people (who's New Year's Resolutions I'm sure was to lose weight!)

It was so crowded that we couldn't see all of the demonstrations. So Viv and I decided to hire the trainer for one hour (I felt like a movie star - I have a personal trainer!) She designed a program for each of us; mine varied a little from Viv's because of some issues I have with my joints.

This looks like me. Only I'm older, fatter, I have shorter hair, and it's blond. But otherwise it looks EXACTLY like me!

This is what I have learned so far:

1. That saying, "You sweat like a fat girl"? Now I know what that means! I didn't sweat until I started working out. Huh.
2. The industry must be against fat girls working out because I can't find an exercise bra in my size. And believe me, fat girls NEED exercise bras. It's downright DANGEROUS to be bopping around with my girls flopping around. I mean, seriously, I could get a coupla' black eyes!
3. I'm embarrassed to exercise, but if I wear earphones and blast my music, I won't hear any snickers like "Look at that fool!"
4. When they say that you feel so much better and have so much energy after exercising? Yeah, I'm waiting for that to happen. Right now I'm pretty exhausted. 
5. I have no sense of balance. Some of our workout routine is on the yoga balls. First we sit on the ball and then lift one foot up and then put it down, then switch to the other foot and do the same, like we are marching. Easy peasy, right? Wrong. Or try doing upper crunches by sitting on the ball, then leaning back, WITHOUT MOVING THE BALL BACK, then move forward again. I almost fell off the ball. I looked over at Viv and she was going back and forth like there was no tomorrow. WTF? I obviously wasn't clenching my buttocks as firmly as she was, because I was saying, "Whoa!" and the trainer had to "spot" me. Seriously. How embarrassing is that?

My second week of working out is done. I'm alternating doing my water aerobics and working out 3x a week. Something's gotta give, right? Now if only I can stop my partying and drinking......


This looks like me when I'm done exercising. Only I'm not green. Oh yeah, and I'm not a FROG. But otherwise it looks EXACTLY like me!

Get Out Those Pens!

Did you know that January 9-16 is National Letter Writing Week?

No?

Well, now you KNOW!

Sadly, writing letters seems to be a lost art.

(Except for those fans of Justin Bieber.  The USPS processes an average of 6,761 pieces of mail PER SECOND for Justin Bieber alone. Real Simple Jan 2011.)

Instead of writing letters, people send texts and e-mails.

Can you think back to the last time you received a letter in the mail? And I'm not talking the "copied" Holiday Family Letter. I'm talking about the letter written specifically to YOU. A nice, newsy letter, that makes you want to sit down with a cup of coffee or tea before you anxiously open it up to read.

Remember when it was popular to have pen pals? When I was in grade school I had 17 of them! I wrote to people, well, girls, all across the country! I still remember one of their names, Elizabeth Moran, from New Jersey. That's ALL I can remember about her, but, hey, Elizabeth, if you're out there, how ya doing?

I would get so excited to receive a letter from a pen pal. Especially from another state. We didn't do much as a family because we didn't have a lot of money. So it was almost exotic to get a letter from another state! I remember Elizabeth's return label saying New Jersey - the garden state. Boy that left a lot to the imagination!

Our mailbox consisted of a slot in our front hall closet. It always seemed like an adventure to get the mail. First of all, our closet was ALWAYS cold, and it was stuffed with winter coats so I'd have to shove them aside, then drop down the little wooden door to the mail box, and our mail would be sitting there. But I'd also have to make sure there wasn't any mail stuck at the top of the slot. I'd have to reach my arm in the hole all the way up the cold drop box and feel for the top. My heart would beat faster if I found some more mail there! I'd try and tug it down through the slot, but sometimes it would be stuffed so much that I'd have to go outdoors and pull the mail out that way!

My father had been dead five years before my mother passed away. They had lived in the same home for 45 years! All of us kids had the task of cleaning out the house and getting rid of everything so we could sell the house. My sisters and I spent hours in my parent's bedroom, shredding documents and old canceled checks. Imagine our surprise and delight when we stumbled across two love letters that my mother had written to my father. One was before they were married and one was when my father was away in the service. My mother wrote that she had been saving up for their wedding and she already had something like $2.25 socked away! What was so interesting was to see my parents in a different light - to see them as young lovers - and also to read my mother's sense of humor. My sisters and I laughed and cried while reading the letters aloud to each other and it helped ease the pain of losing our Mom.

How about when you see people save their old love letters, tied up lovingly with ribbon then stashed away in a shoebox and stored on a closet shelf? It doesn't seem the same to print out a bunch of emails and staple them together, does it?

So in honor of National Letter Writing Week, why not write a quick letter to SOMEONE, ANYONE? Write a letter as a secret admirer, or a thank you note, or to tell someone they are doing a good job, a love note, a forgiveness note, a this-is-why-I'm-NOT-forgiving-you letter, write your Congressman/woman, write the President, heck you can even write a fan letter to Justin Bieber if you want. Knock your socks off.

 

If you are interested in writing to a soldier, click the link here for more info.

Who doesn't like the possibilities of a fresh sheet of paper and the sound of a great flowing pen as it scratches along the paper?

So get busy and write! And to give you inspiration, here are some songs that sing about the subject of "letters".

I just LOVE the gravelly voice of this lead singer. And he's trying to look oh so cool while he's singing!


"The Letter" by the Box Tops



How nice that this guy wants to hit on his secretary the day after he finds out his wife is cheating on him!

"Take a Letter, Maria" by R. B. Greaves




Even if you are NOT an Elvis fan, you can NOT help falling in love with him after watching this video!

"Return to Sender" by Elvis Presley



I like this version of this song by the Carpenters.

"Please Mr. Postman" by the Carpenters




Can you think of any more to add to the list?

Embarrassing Moments

It's that time again, when I share with you some of my recent embarrassing moments.

Did I tell you about the pool incident?

No?

About a month ago I had purchased a new bathing suit and was anxious to wear it to the pool. Not to show off my figure, mind you, but to finally be in a NEW bathing suit compared to the old rag I had be wearing for months.

It got pretty hot just lying in the sun, so I decided to go in for a dip in the pool. I grabbed my "noodle" (a flotation device) and walked into the pool.

I felt a pulling in my crotch.

I ignored it at first.

It hurt more than just a suit-up-the-butt-pain. The was a definite tug on my hair.

WTF?

I quick reached my hand INTO my bathing suit and pulled out the PANTY LINER that I forgot to remove after buying the suit! I could have discreetly thrown it away, but no, not me. I held it up in the air and said, "So THAT'S what's hurting my crotch! I forgot to remove the panty liner!"

Luckily there were only women around me in the pool and we all had a good laugh!

****************************************************************************

When I was home for the holidays, I met up with a friend of mine for dinner. We went to a local Mexican restaurant. While we were there, I saw this young man sitting at the next table who looked an awful lot like my son's friend Ryan.

My eyes kept straying to him throughout the evening. He was sitting with a young woman who I assumed was his wife, 3 young girls, and possibly his parents.

I mentioned to my friend that I thought this guy was my son's friend, Ryan Day.

"That could very well be," she said, "because I heard that lady call him 'Ryan'."

Aha! Granted he looked just a smidge different from what I remembered, but it had been at LEAST 6-7 years since I had last seen him.

Finally Ryan got up to leave and I said to my friend, "I've just GOT to say something to him."

Ryan passed my table and I called out, "Ryan Day?"

"Yes?" He said.

"How ARE you?"

"Fine," he answered, a little hesitantly.

"I'm Pat ________, Jason's Mom?"

"Oh!"He said.

We hugged each other, and I asked how his kids were doing.

"Fine," he replied.

"Are these your little girls?"

"No, that's my sister and those are her kids."

"Oh. Well do you have pictures of your kids?"

"Yeah, yeah I do," he said, scrambling for his wallet. He pulled out a picture and said, "Here's my son, Garrett."

Now it was MY turn to be puzzled. "Don't you have a daughter named Brooklyn?"

"No."

"Well, who has a daughter named Brooklyn?" I KNOW one of my son's friends named their daughter Brooklyn, who was born around the time my great niece of the same name was born.

"I have no idea."

"Wait a minute," I said, the light bulb finally going on. "Who ARE you? Are you Ryan DAY?"

"No, I'm Ryan PETERSON!"

WTF! He must not of heard me say "DAY".

So bottom line - neither of us knew each other. We had a good laugh, I apologized profusely, he said it was fine, and we went our separate ways. 

Ooopsie, my bad.

Can you say "AWKWARD"?


***********************************************************************

Anything you care to admit to make me feel better?

How Rude!

Here's a question for you.

Why do people have to be RUDE?

Does it make them feel better, I wonder?

The other day Jim and I went to library. The branch that we normally go to was closed due to a burst water pipe, so we went to the main library. We were unsure of where items such as the new fiction, mysteries, science fiction were placed. We split up and wandered around, then met back up before checking our items out. I found the section for new Sci-Fi books and wanted to show Jim, so I said, "Here, Hon, I found the Science Fiction books," and stepped over to the bookcase. Unbeknown to me, a woman was standing about 5 feet away from that bookcase and looking at the books.

Which means I stepped right in front of her.

This pissed her right off.

"HOW RUDE!" She exclaimed.

I whipped around and said, "Oh, I'm sorry!" and quickly stepped back out of the way.

She didn't leave it at that.

"WELL I WAS STANDING RIGHT HERE!" She bellowed.

I said, "I'm SORRY! I didn't SEE you!"

Geez, Louise, I didn't know if this woman wanted me to kiss her feet or what, but I thought my first apology was enough.

Now if I were looking at some books, and someone stepped in front of me, first of all, I'd probably not say ANYTHING and just move over a bit, but IF, just IF I got up enough nerve to say SOMETHING, I MIGHT squeak out a little "excuse me".

This lady wanted an all out battle. And which one of us was rude?


************************************************************************

Our resort park has numerous activities throughout the month; some are free, but the majority we have to purchase tickets in advance. The Saturday night dance tickets are hot commodities. Tickets go on sale the first Monday of each month at 8:00 am. We get in line at 5:00 AM!

Can you believe it?

And it's not like we're seeing the Rolling Stones or anything!

But, actually, the time goes by fast, and it's kind of fun to sit there with the other crazy people. This year they put a limit on how many tickets each site could buy: 4. (Last year we could buy 10 tickets, or a whole table.) So this means more of us have to get up early to buy the tickets for our gang.

Four of us met at 5:00 am in front of the locked building. We were first in line! Yes!

At 5:15 more people joined us. One man asked if we had asked the security guard to open up the doors. No one had. So he volunteered to walk down and do that. He returned and said that the guard would open the doors at 5:30 a.m.

At 5:20, an older woman, Phyllis, joined us. But before coming to the front of the building, she tried the side entrance and got in the building! We had been standing out in the cold for 20 minutes! We didn't think to try the side door since the front doors were locked and the lights were off.

We all rushed in and took our seats along the hallway. (The Activities Center is used to the line-up so they have folding  chairs set up for the crowd.)

At 5:30 the security guard came rushing in with his nose bent all out of shape.

"How did you get in here?" He yelled.

"The door was unlocked," Phyllis replied.

"That's BULL!" He yelled, stomping towards the doors, "I locked them myself last night!" He fiddled with the door and said, "They're STILL locked!"

Phyllis was trying to tell him that she got in the other door, not the one he was touching, but he wouldn't listen.

I thought he was going to frisk us all or something.

One could only hope.

I mean, seriously, we're a bunch of old people sitting on chairs. What the heck are we going to do?

HOW RUDE!

Fast forward a couple of hours.

We're still waiting for the office to open.

Most of us are still sitting in chairs. Other people are coming and going in the large ballroom behind us and setting up for the Country Store, which opens at 9:00 a.m.

My friend was standing in the hallway talking to someone.

This lady comes barreling down the hallway, she passes my friend up and yells, "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Excuse me?

There was room to get around my friend. This woman was just RUDE!

I sat there with my mouth hanging open.

Another woman standing near me said, "Did you hear that?"

I shook my head "yes".

She said, "I wonder who shit in HER cornflakes this morning!"

Then she followed her into the ballroom and confronted her! Yikes!

"Were you talking to ME like that?" She challenged.

"No - the other woman standing in the hallway."

So - she meant my friend.

Old people sure are grumpy.

Remind me not to get old.

Wait, aren't I already?

There is NO NEED for RUDENESS, people. Let's share a little love, okay?

Weekend Reflections - Art in a Mirror

I happened to capture this lovely piece of art reflecting in a mirror at an eclectic restaurant that we ate at in Peru, IL.

To see more of the artwork at the restaurant, click here.

To view more Weekend Reflections, visit James here.

"OBP" - Observations by Pat, and some Ramblings, too

First off, I just want to say, that if I haven't commented lately on your blogs, it's not that I don't love you guys. Really. It's that the Wi-Fi in this park sucks. Sometimes it takes me maybe AN HOUR to comment on 5 blogs. I follow at least 50 blogs, so you do the math. (I HATE MATH.) That's all I know is, I spend countless of hours staring at my computer, praying to the Wi-Fi god for a connection. I keep a newspaper or book near me to read while the computer takes it's time loading. THAT'S how slow it can be sometimes. So feel my love, people. I may be reading your blogs, but not commenting,  m'kay?

******************************************************************************

I think I should go on a "texting" diet.

Yesterday Jim and I ate at P.F. Chang's Restaurant. While we were waiting for our food, I sat back and people-watched. We were sitting amongst a cluster of tables and there were people all around us. Even though it was loud, and I think there was music playing in the background, the sound was muffled. I felt like a fly on the wall. Of course, the sound could have been muffled because my ear was blocked, but nonetheless, I felt like I was in my own little world, observing everyone around me.

At the table kitty-corner from us sat a family of four. I was trying to figure out the family dynamics. There were two small boys, maybe ages 4 and 6. There was a young woman, late teens or at most, VERY early 20's, and a man who had his back to us. The woman was CONSTANTLY texting. She texted before her meal came. She texted WHEN the meal came.

She took a bite. Then texted some more.

She took another bite. I saw her phone light up indicating a text message was coming in. (Yes, we were pretty close to them.)

She'd put her fork down, pick up the phone, and text again.

Was something THAT important that it couldn't wait till after dinner?

No WONDER she was pencil thin. She hardly ate anything with all the texting she was doing.

I was waiting for the man to say to her, "Put down your phone and eat!"

I thought maybe it was a father out with his three kids. Then the man turned to the side and I saw that he was YOUNG! And he leaned over and kissed the girl! So! I can't imagine that she was the mother of these kids; maybe they were dating and the two young boys were one of their kid brothers. I don't know.

But back to the texting diet. If I tried it, the only thing that would get skinny on me would be my thumbs.

*****************************************************************************

I went to see a new doctor yesterday. He came into the room and said, "Hello, Dr. __________, " mentioning my last name.

I looked at him like he must be nuts and that he REALLY wanted to say, "Hello, Mrs. _____, I'm Dr. Smith. But AGAIN he says, "Hello, Dr. ______!"

I said, "Uh, no. You must be mistaking me for someone else."

"You're not a doctor?" He asked me.

"No."

"Well, it says right here," flipping through my chart, "that you are an Ob-Gyn doctor!"

How the heck did that happen? WHO do they think I am?

"Nope. Not me."

"Oh."

Now I'm wondering, would he treat me any differently if I WERE a doctor?

**************************************************************************

THIS is why I went home for the holidays

On Christmas Eve, my son, Jason, drove down to my daughter, Jessica's house and spent the night so we were all together except for Jim.

The morning of Christmas we called Jim up on Skype so he could be in on all the excitement of Lily opening her gifts.

We gave Lily one of those books from Hallmark where you can record your own voice reading the book.  This was her reaction to hearing Grandpa's voice when she opened the book!

I had a heck of a time recording the darn book! It took me FOUR tries to record the FIRST page! You are only allowed so much time, and I guess I was reading too slow. C'mon, you've GOT to put some ENTHUSIASM into it, right? You don't want it to sound like, "TwasthenightbeforeChristmasandallthroughthehouse" but that's almost the pace I had to read it at. Jim and I alternated reading the pages. Of course, he was able to record his page in one session! Bah! I guess this just proves I'm more, ahem, "colorful" and "full of excitement" then him. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! We bought one of these books for our other granddaughter, Lauren, and it was a LOT easier to record with experience under our belts!

Lily is really into ELMO from Sesame Street. She is sitting at the table that Grandma and Grandpa got her for Christmas. She was so excited to see Elmo. Here she is looking at an Elmo book,

and holding Elmo, both courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa!

What is that saying, how the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? When my daughter, Jessica (Lily's Mom) was growing up, she liked Elmo, too. I would imitate Elmo's voice and talk to her. I continued to do this as a joke, even through her high school and college years. One day I called her at her dorm.

A girl answered, whom I THOUGHT was Jessica.

I said in my BEST Elmo voice, "Is Jessica there?"

Waiting for a response of, "Hi Mom!"

Uh, no.

What I heard was, "Jessica, it's your MOTHER!"

To this day I'm wondering, how the heck did she recognize my voice?

Jessica found this great train book at a craft show. It comes with a little wind-up train. One page has several small stories about a train, and the next page has train "tracks", or grooves cut out in the page for the train to follow. Jessica wound up the little train and put it down on the book and when the train ran all over the track, Lily exclaimed, "WoW!" Then she put her little hands up and said, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

I bought Lily this Elmo ornament.

I asked her to hang it on the tree. She kind of had a hard time since it didn't come with a hook; just a small string. But I took a picture for posterity sake.

This is Lily when Mommy tried to take the ornament from her and REALLY hang it on the tree.

Lily is used to her Grandma constantly taking pictures of her. I don't know if that's where she got this idea, but for the past couple of months, she's walked around with a block that has a cut out arch, holds it up to her face, looks through the open space and says, "Cheese!" and pretends to take your picture. She'll say, "Dada - Cheese!" or "Mama - Cheese!" She's even gone so far as to try to get Venus, a.k.a. "Me-ma", the dog, to smile, by lifting up the dog's lip and saying, "Me-ma, Cheese!" So Santa thought it would be an EXCELLENT idea to bring Lily a camera. This is an actual camera and can hold up to 400 shots. She got such a kick out of the sound it made when taking a picture. The camera is a little heavy for her, and it seems to be easier for her to hold it backwards, so there are currently a LOT of pictures of her stomach and face, but we'll work on that!

Lily saying "cheese" for Grandma.

I realize that I didn't take any photos of my son. Huh. I guess it's all about Lily.

Later that day we all drove up to my sister, Linda's house for Christmas dinner, where there was a total of 26 of us, 9 of those were kids!

And here's another reason why I came home. Besides seeing Lily, I wanted to see

the newest addition to our family, Gage, 2 months old:

Next comes Max at 4 months,

Then there's Taliah at 8 months,

Gracie Mae, 17 months,

Brooklyn, 2 1/2 years, and a REAL pistol,

Kaleb 4 1/2 years old

Arielle 7 1/2 years old

and Riley 10 1/2 years old.

Missing from the party Christmas Day were Tabitha (6) and Samantha (4):

Now I ask you, how could I POSSIBLY miss out on seeing all these lovely little children?

Views from a train, fun in the snow, and crazy animals

I flew back to Illinois for the holidays, then took a train to my daughter's house. She lives in north central  Illinois. The train ride was only a little over an hour; I wouldn't have minded if it were a longer one! The seat was comfortable and I enjoyed watching the scenery rush by. Here are some of the photos I took looking out the train window.

This is an old grainery building.

Doesn't this look cold?

 

Or this?

A bridge over icy waters.

I got a chance to spend several days at my daughter's house and a LOT of time with my granddaughter, Lily.

And here's the plus that Jim didn't come home with me......he's such a baby hog!

It's true!

I can barely get time with Lily when Grandpa is around.

But THIS TIME I had her to myself.

Well, Daddy was home for Christmas break. He's a teacher. And Lily's cousin, Isaiah came over a couple of days, so her attention was diverted a little. But mostly it was all about Grandma.

We played with blocks, we sang songs, I rocked her dollies.

When Lily calls your name, she tends to say it over, and over, and OVER.

Such as Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, MOMMA.

It's cute, but it can get tiring.

When Cousin Isaiah came over (he's 5), Lily called to him, "Zaya, Zaya, Zaya, Zaya, ZAYA!"

And he answered, "WHAT?!!"  Kind of annoyingly. It was pretty funny.

Here's "Zaya" playing with the blocks and Lily sitting in Dada's lap watching in fascination.

Lily got into a bag of new clothes that she received as a gift. She put them on in various stages; but not in the right spots, as shown here with the skirt around her head.

 

You've heard of the saying that it was so cold it was a "Three Dog Night"? How about a "Three Cat Night"?

 

It's unusual to see all three cats together. The only time they are usually together is when it's feeding time, and the only reason they are standing near each other is because their feeding bowls are all in the same place. The two female cats, Luna (calico) and Cora (small gray on left) don't like each other. This picture is deceiving because Cora is very small; weighs about 6 lbs, Luna is about 10 or 11 lbs, and Kahn, the large male cat is about 13 pounds. He was up to 19 pounds at one time! He's very big and long.

Here are the crazy dogs, sleeping with their heads together.

Venus is on the left, Atlas is on the right. Lily calls them "Me-ma" and "At-ee". She even named her doll "Me-Ma" after Venus.

My daughter had to work a few of the days while I was in town. Since my son-in-law, Dave, was home on Christmas break, he was asked to watch his nephew a few days.

Dave and I did our best to entertain the two kids. Dave is really a kid at heart, and he took Isaiah out to play in the snow. Lily had a bad cough, so we stayed inside to watch.

They decided to build a fort using the recycle bin to pack the snow and make blocks.

Zaya hides behind the fort in anticipation of a snowball.

Ready....aim

Fire!

Zaya liked throwing snow at the window and making Lily laugh.

Lily enjoying the fun.

Zaya makes a bold move.

Uncle Dave retaliates.

You can see that it was a fun day all around!

Weekend Reflections - Snow Capped Mountain

Somewhere in Utah, I spied this reflection as we were driving by on the highway. I quick got a shot off from our moving truck.

For more Weekend Reflections click here.