Rudy vs. the Garden

Well - if it's Rudy vs. the garden, I think I might know who the winner will be! It'll be real interesting to see how many of my perennials come up all bent out of shape this year!!

Constantinople

Can you do this? What talent! I'm not even sure I can spell it even after I listen to it!!

Sister's Weekend

What happens in Birch Bay, stays in Birch Bay, right? But what I can say is that I had such a great time! My sides hurt from all the laughing and it was wonderful "sister therapy." Linda and Janie - be sure to get your teeth before our next get together!!

Hawaii

What a great time we had in Hawaii! I'll wait to share wedding photo's until Jen has given the "OK". But I can tell you that it was beautiful and Jen was a gorgeous bride! After the wedding, Aaron, Lleslie, Norm and I spend 4 days in Kihei enjoying great weather, fabulous scenery--Norm snorkeled and could hear the whales talking. Truly! I left a really busy desk at work, but didn't think once about it while we were gone, so it was totally a week of fun and relaxation. I'd go back in a heartbeat!

Palm Desert

We're enjoying Palm Desert even though it's been rather cool and even rained yesterday. But we did golf today and plan to tomorrow as well as Thursday... so, we are getting in a lot of golf while home is getting hit with snow. No pictures here as I can't figure out how to download them on this computer, but just f0r the record, I did have my photo taken next to the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile the other day!

I've been wondering if Face Book has taken over our blog.
I'm miserable today with a bad cold. Think I'll make some chicken soup. I think I caught this cold from Linda or Jackson, so maybe it doesn't matter if he spends the week-end with me while Linda goes to Warrior Spirit. I'm looking forward to having him here. He's having a friend over tomorrow if TJ's mom isn't afraid of my cold. Then Sunday, we'll go to a movie. Love to you all, Mom, Grams, Nana

Cohen

Just wanted to tell you Kathy, I thought that picture of Cohen eating the coffee table was taken in my house. He did that here and I saved the marks for a time. I wondered if he was teething. If I could have gotten sound, you would have loved Trisha laughing.

The coffee table in the living room held special interest for Cohen when he visited on his way to California earlier this month. After they left, there were little slobber prints under and on top of the glass. And I guess I must be fully into the grama mode because when I was dusting and vacuuming later in the week for a party we were having, I couldn't bring myself to wipe off all the prints. I left the ones underneath...sort of a tattoo of gramahood and testament to the fact that I am totally captivated by that little guy.

Gourmet Dinner Club

Larry and I are part of a new gourmet dinner club. We're keeping it small to begin with - there will only be 4 couples so that's good. The first dinner is next week. We are scheduled for April at our house. I've been trying to come up with themed ideas but haven't figured it out yet. Mardi Gras came to mind. Next week's dinner is a French theme. The main dish is prepared by the hosts and they give the other 3 couples a choice on a side dish to prepare. We're doing dessert. A Queen of Sheba cake. So I'm making one today to try it out. It's chocolate and ground almonds - not much flour so must be pretty dense. It's cooling now and smelling so good! I'll let you know if it turns out.
We have cloud cover today - it may rain, but chances are slim. We sure need some rain! Wish we could have some of Washington's!!

Tyler's love

Tyler is a modest daredevil. I wonder how many members of this blog realize how he gets all those bruises and broken bones. He still loves the sport.

Linda's BD - 12/4/08

I was just going over pictures in my camera and realized that I hadn't shared the pictures of Linda's birthday party. So here are some of them. It was a fun night!! Jackson and I played on his wii - good workout, huh Jackson? And the company was great. Cute picture of Linda and her cake and flowers. Who is that in the birthday hat?? Happy New Year to you all!

Winter Wonderland

This picture was taken outside my front door. As much a bother this snow has been at this time of year -- certainly is beautiful. Think I might use it on a Christmas card next year.

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

White Christmas for sure

My goodness...I think we'll have snow 'til April. And more is expected before the end of the week. After we took this picture, our house looked so cozy to us that I think we'll cancel our trip to Dallas and stick around for the rest of the month. Not sure what we'll do about our friend who was planning on house-sitting for us. Hopefully she'll accept our invitation to come over anyway and we can treat her to an O'Banyon B&B experience with Baggy Omelets.

Poor little birdies

Marmie was feeling sorry for the birds this morning, so she braved the elements and filled up the bird feeder. It didn't take long for the news to spread in the bird communities - they were enjoying a treat within minutes.

The major wind storm didn't materialize for us last night, thankfully! But I stayed overnight with Mom last night, just so we'd each have moral support. We woke up to a bit more snow, with a freezing rain topping and now it's snowing again. White Christmas for sure this year - at least on the ground anyway.

Well, my Christmas cards are nearly done and I've made cookies...haven't wrapped yet, but will likely have time tomorrow as I don't think I'll be going to work.

(Guess I'm blogging on Mom's page, but I couldn't remember my password over here)

Lindalou

Tyler's 19th BD

Somehow, this picture didn't get posted with my message. Will try again. This picture is Ty on his 19th BD with Mom at my house. He has been breaking shovels when making jumps for his bike runs, so that's what is leaning against the wall - a gift from his Mom

Santa said Laya was such a good dog, she could have anything she asked for -- Huh Jackson

Grandma, GG, and Auntie R Sing to Cohen

I had to share this video with the fam - it was at Kathy's for their post Thanksgiving brunch (it was delicious I might add). Cohen is just the cutest little guy! Where did we all learn that song anyway???????????

Monday morning chill

This weather is getting in my way of shopping. It's 20 degrees this morning and I just don't drive in the ice and snow. Maybe I can finish my cards today. I only have 75 to go!!! I had a breakfast for Tyler's 19th BD yesterday. He doesn't seem to want to smile for pictures, but thought we should make a record of it. Charlie, Amy, Janie, Linda and Jackson were here. Picture later when I figure out how to do it.

My "Ah-Ha" Moment of 2008

Making oatmeal in a double boiler was my ah-ha moment of 2008. I have been cooking oatmeal for years, and most every time, it boils over and leaves such a mess. I knew mom cooked it that way, but I thought that it took a long time. So after seeing her fix it for us when we were up, I tried it at home, and lo and behold......... it cooks up fast and no mess on the stove! Much creamier too even when I use water! So if I think real hard, I may be able to come up with another ah-ha moment, but for now, it's cooking oatmeal!!

Hot time Saturday night!

Well, I'm the last blogger - thanks Renee for helping me - I couldn't figure out why I couldn't contribute! This will be a fun way to stay in touch!

Jackson and I finished decorating our Christmas tree last week while he was home from school with a bad cold. He's better now - well enough to have a couple of buddies overnight. I fixed dinner for them and they just polished off a pan of brownies and are now watching a movie. They're sort of oblivious to the snow falling outside, but if it continues overnight, I'm sure they'll be excited with the possibility of missing school on Monday.

I joined Facebook this week - is anyone else on that one? One of the Warrior Spirit people invited me to join and all of a sudden, there's a whole community of people I'm connected with. It's kind of fun and makes me look forward to working on the next workshop in February.