A new hobby.

Here they are, Our Little Ponies!!! We were always fans of 'my little ponies' and now they are back-- Life size. We have named them Cricket and Clovelly. Keri's pony is the chestnut, Cricket. Ours is the paint, Clovelly. Cricket is 2 months younger than Clovelly. We are now able to take them on walks around the block. They are 7 and 5 months old. Clovelly is not as accepting of us as Cricket is, I think because she was older when we got her. They had not been handled before coming here, except to have their feet trimmed, and I'm sure that was not a nice experience for them. We found a really good home for Legend, she is thoroughly loved there and became quickly a favorite in her new family. I am hoping to try again next year to find a horse we can all ride, that will fit in with 'Our little ponies'. We are expecting a new grandbaby next year in April, courtesy of Jay and Jill. We are excited with that prospect!! Now we are braced for winter, Thanksgiving is almost here, and then it will be Christmas! Life goes on!!

Maine 2009

It's been awhile, but 'I'm back...' Prize if you can tell me what movie that's from. It has been a busy summer. Roger, Adam and I went to Maine--that's definitely the highlight of this year. I wonder if I could remember the highlight of the last 10 years? Hmmm, I'll have to think about that one. Anyway, back to Maine. It rained, and rained and rained... But, being who we are, and how much we love rain, we did not let it ruin our trip. We had an awesome time with Andrea and the 3 wonderful kids. It was SO good to get to know them and enjoy their company. They are very polite, witty, sensitive, spontaneous, fun and good kids. Oh... and Adam was a joy to be with too, he is great company. We loved being with them. So... Here are some pictures so you can see for yourselves.

Jury Duty

Yesterday was a very eventful day. I had received the omenius news the night before that I was to report for jury duty. I left home at 7:30 am and went to Trax, where I caught the train on their recommendations. I was supposed to be there at 8:30, and the train pulled into the downtown area right at 8:30, where I discovered that the instructions had neglected to add that I needed to change to the University Line. I had to speed walk about 5 blocks to get there, arriving about 15 min late. Oh well, others arrived later, and all I missed was the beginning of a movie on the jury selection process. After filling out several forms, and waiting, and waiting, we were taken into a court for the jury process. this is were the judge asks us (there were 25 of us) questions like- have you ever been convicted of a felony? Do you know of any one personally who has been a drunk driver or been affected by a drunk driver? Do you have anyone close to you in law inforcement? the only one I answered yes to was did I reframe from drinking? Anyway, they took several people in a back room and talked with them, they being the judge and the lawyers. then they came back and announced the people they had selected. To my shock and horror, they named me first!! I had been keeping a very low profile, and considered myself safe from selection. They picked 3 men after me, and then dismissed everybody else. We were then given instructions on the case and the order of events, and sent out for an early lunch. It was about 11:15 at this time, and we were told to be back by 12:45. The trial commensed about 1:15 pm, and I will l tell you all about in the next installment! See you soon.

I've been scanning a lot of pictures for family history and came across this picture of me that I had not seen for a long time. It is very slow going, trying to get together and scan pictures of family, but it should be worth it. I am probably about six in this pic. Its taken at a Sainsbury's Christmas party.

Can you tell that Debbie is a hoot to be with!! If you ever want a traveling partner, call Debbie, you'll feel 16 again.

My mums birthday party

January 2009 found Debbie and I flying about 5000 miles to help throw an 80th birthday party for my Mum. It turned out great, she enjoyed it immensely, and we saw family none of had seen for a very long time.

Picking adam up from school.

About a month ago, while Adam was in 8th grade, my car was in the shop, so I had to go pick him up from school in 'The Van'. It had sat in the driveway all winter, and had been pooped on by several hundred starlings, it was quite a mess. I was late picking him up, something that does not make him happy, so I went to get him before going through the car wash. As I pulled up to pick him up, one of his friends said to a girl, is that your van??? they were all laughing about it. another asked Adam if it was his ride, he said it was. and they laughed and said "dare you to go get in it then", Adam proceeded to climb in, much to the shock and horror of his friends. You should have seen their faces!!!