New Year on the horizon

Although it's only the last day of November, and a whole month away from New Years, I'm already thinking about what kind of resolutions I'm going to make. I remember reading that 100 million people in the United States make New Year's resolutions.

In addition to the "standard" resolutions of "lose weight" and "save money" and "exercise", one thing I want to do is start a "gratitude journal". And actually write in a journal, not type, like I'm doing now. Pen and paper for a change. I need to take stock each day of things I'm grateful for. I get bogged down with all the tedious things in life, and then get bummed out. Time to really look for the good things. It's all just a frame of mind, and I need to get into that frame more.

I'd like to see family members more, but everyone is in the same boat. Too much work, and too little time and energy. I have to think about that one, and what might be done......

I need to make sure I'm doing what I can environmentally. I passed a church that had something on it's sign out front about "this planet being God's creation; what are you doing to honor it?" I worry about the world my grandkids will be living in when they are adults.

And of course, we need to weed out all the junk we've accumulated AGAIN, and simplify.

I'd like to experiment with baking more, but again......gotta find the time. Marco's our cook, so I should be able to find time to do some baking.

So....I still have 4 weeks to think about resolutions and how to implement them and keep them. I've never really made any before, but this year I'm going to try. Maybe in 4 weeks I'll have mine done....

You stay warm Columbus.

I love: pay day

Farewell Thanksgiving

Ugh, I am probably the only one in the whole U.S. of A. who hates Thanksgiving, but so be it. Exhausting buying and fixing and taking stuff. The kitchen is a hundred degrees even with the window open. My knee is killing me..... well, I won't dwell on it. Christmas is a bit of a hassle with all the food and stuff, but somehow it's pretty much okay. Anyhow, I'm so glad Thanksgiving is OVER.

We had friends who camped outside of Best Buy for a couple of days in order to get all the specials, and Marco had them pick me up a Sony Vaio laptop, which of course was the best part of the Thanksgiving weekend. I'm so proud of it, I had to post it. Now I can take it in to Panera, and "be like everyone else". I swear, everyone who comes in to Panera has a laptop. And speaking of Panera, mmmmmm, it's my favorite place to hang out in the mornings and keep filling up the coffee mug with delicious coffee. While eating a fabulous pastry. Mom loves it too, and we go there a couple of times a month together. Once in a while, I get to go there by myself, and just chill out. But not very often.

Finally got rested up from the trip to Raleigh. Very nice town, by the way. But very glad to be home. I need a few things at the store, so I think I'll venture out today. You couldn't have budged me out of the house yesterday. Marco went out and said traffic was horrible. I'm getting spoiled, which is okay, after 35 years of having to go out and deal with the world every day out of necessity. Ahhhh......

Okay Columbus, you'd better start decorating your outdoor stuff while the weather is nice and warm!

I love: my own laptop to carry around. :-)))

Here's a better pic

Here's a pic of sweet little Ava. We got down to Raleigh to see her by the time she was 3 days old, so that's not too bad. She slept most of the time we were there. I must say, she looks mostly like her dad, altho I think she looks a little bit like Margaret, Aubrey's mother. I know it's crazy to look at a 3 day old baby and "see" the likeness to other family members, but I think a lot of people do it. Silly grandma's and grandpa's. But of course, she smells wonderful.....just like a baby, and I just couldn't cuddle her enough. Aubrey is feeling just "okay"; she had a lot of stitches, but really looked good. Todd and Aubrey are both happy that everything went well this time, and the rest of the family is too.

We had wonderful connections at the airport, and this was the first time we flew U.S. Air, and it was great. Then I read a story in today's paper about U.S. Air having the worst performance and quality of service in all the airlines. I'm glad I didn't read that story before we left. I would have been awfully nervous. Also taught Marco to play Sudoku, and he caught on just fine.

So...gotta get cracking on some cooking and baking...so I'm outta here.

Have a great THANKSGIVING everyone.

Add One More!!!

Ava arrived just 3 days before her due date. She weighed 7 lb. 3 oz, bigger than we thought she was going to be. And Aubrey was in labor during the OSU~Michigan game, which they got to watch from their TV in the birthing room. All of the grandkids have been born in "birthing rooms", with the exception of the twins. They were born in the operating room, "just in case". They were full term twins, and since they each weighed almost 7 pounds, the doctor wanted to be in a sterile room in case a c-section had to be performed. Luckily, it didn't. But I digress...... I still can't get over having a baby in a room that looks like a nice hotel suite. Couch & chairs. Refrigerator. Television. Good grief.

Aubreys mom flew down and made it in time for the delivery. Everything went smoothly, and the pics of Ava show her to be very alert. Todd said she had her eyes open for a long time before she dozed back off. We weren't sure that Todd would ever arrive at this place, as he was quite the playboy for a lot of years. Also, Aubrey is the last of her sisters to have a baby.

We are attempting to get airline tickets for just an overnight stay, but this week being a holiday week, it may be impossible. The drive is miserable thru the mountains. That part that goes thru the panhandle of Virginia is a nightmare. Anyhow, grandpa is on his computer seeing what if anything we can get.

I'm happy to report that I won $500 in one of the football pools yesterday. Nancy and I got a few squares in a couple of the games, and we split our winnings. If I had played alone, I would have won $1,000!! But I'm happy with half that. Nancy is too.

That's it for now...more pics of the baby as we get them. Shutterfly doesn't let us enlarge them, so we have had to settle for teeny pics.

You stay warm, Columbus.

Before the Rush

I've been having so much trouble with Blogger that I stopped messing around with it as it was taking too much time and nothing was working. I'll try to post jut a little bit today, but everything keeps freezing up and I have to do a "Ctrl, Alt, Delete" and I get booted off and it's all just too much of a hassle. Plus, no pictures will upload.

Actually, I don't know why I'm even blogging. Today is beautiful, in the 60's and mild, and I don't have much scheduled. Then, starting tomorrow, I have all kinds of stuff, starting with haircut and weave, and then several dental appointments, car maintenance, along with Christmas shopping. Luckily, the kids mainly want one big item or gift cards, which makes things a lot more simple.

I am still limping along. I just don't want to confront what needs to be done with my knee at this time of year. Hopefully, after New Years, I'll check into it. I haven't had a haircut in almost 7 months, and I know my stylist thinks I went to someone else in that time period. Just wait till she see how long my hair has gotten. Much too long for this old granny.

The presidential crap goes on. Now we are less than a year from the next election. Let's just all hope and pray that this time we get an accurate count. Also the oil spill in San Francisco infuriates me, so badly I can't even talk about it. The world seems full of unaccountable idiots. My koi don't know what to do with all this warm weather. They are loving it. They'vd had warm weather for over 7 months now, which altho' is good for fish may not be good for us humans. I love that "stop global warming" commercial with the train coming - the man (who's probably my age) saying it's not going to effect him, and he steps out of the way, and then there is a little girl, about Logan's age, standing in it's path. Very effective, but I doubt if it changes anyone's point of view.

On the home front, Marco and I, the birds, the dogs and of course, the fish, are all doing pretty good. Todd and Aubrey are 1 week away from the due date of our newest grandchild, Ava. Aubrey is pretty miserable, but who isn't at that point. Can't wait to see the new baby, as the 3-D ultrasound shows her to look more like her daddy than her mommy. A little female Todd. Oh, also, today is Amy's birthday. Happy 38 sweetie. The next birthday is mine, however, I'm skipping it this year and for the rest of my life. Just too dang old.

Okay, I'm going to try to publish this, and hope it works instead of freezing up. Hope everyone in Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina and Missouri are doing well.

Be awesome!
I love: mild November days