Snow Day!!!

Well - it was for some people anyway. We got our first snow fall in quite some time this morning. It ended up being only a couple of inches, but it was enough to close all the schools and prevent people from getting to work. Del was not happy about having to drive the Porsche in the snow and freezing rain, but it (and he) is back safely in the garage.

The pictures are taken from our back porch. Maggie, our neighbor dog was enjoying (or not so much) the snow. She's pretty funny - she doesn't like to get her feet wet, but willing to sacrifice to get her Milkbone treats from her favorite neighbors.

We are expecting more freezing rain tonight, which should be fun for the morning commute, so we are off to go pick up bread and eggs for breakfast, since we will probably be stuck here until the ice is melted later in the day (darn!!).

Stay warm!

Until next time...

Weekends go by WAY too quickly...

Another weekend has come and gone. Didn't get to do much this weekend - did get my hair cut and spent a lot of the time working, which was OK - earned brownie points with the boss! :o)

Mom is back at the nursing home and still in good spirits. They moved her to another room which, she says, is much better than the last- quieter and she is closer to the window.

Del and I went to check out the Charlotte Table Tennis Club. Let me tell you, they take their ping pong seriously. In watching some of them - ALL of them play - only a few seconds, I knew it wasn't for me. Del, however, could probably play some of them and beat them - one day - but not today. It was fun to watch, though. We're planning on checking out some rock climbing next weekend - can't wait! I'll be sure to have my camera with me to post.

Until next time...

Mom Update...

Mom had her surgery today. She did not need to have surgery on her right heel; the doctor believes it will heal on its own as long as she stays off of it. He fused the bones together on her left ankle with screws. He said her bones were very soft and brittle and he is a little afraid that the screws won't stay in place, so he has ordered her to stay off her feet completely - no pressure on the feet whatsoever - for three weeks. So she will be going back to the nursing home for the proper care and therapy.

The part that really stinks is her birthday is Thursday. It's never good when you have to spend your birthday in someplace like a hospital. It sounds like she may have a long haul ahead of her yet, so please keep her in your prayers.

Maybe for a belated birthday gift and a you-made-it-through-recovery gift, we should take her on a vacation. I'm sure she'd be glad to go anywhere other than a cruise! :o)

Busy few weeks

It seems like quite a bit has happened since my last post. Other than the normal day to day activities we have here in NC, there was a quite an eventful week, particularly for my mom. Let me start from the beginning....

For Christmas and her birthday, we kids bought mom a ticket to go on a cruise with my two sisters, Tina and Jenny (and their significant others). Although excited about the trip, Mom was very nervous about the trip...worried she would get separated from the others, worried she was going to get too sick to enjoy the trip, or worried that something would happen...well, happen it did. Mom bunked with Jenny and Brian the first night and insisted on sleeping in the top bunk so as to not split the couple up. In the middle of the night she needed to go to the bathroom and slipped off the bunk ladder and came crashing down on both of her feet. Turns out she broke her right heel and both the inside and outside bones of her left ankle. Since this happened on the first night, she had two more nights on the ship before they were scheduled for land fall in Grand Cayman. The hospital doctor in Grand Cayman insisted she needed to go home to get immediate attention - meaning surgery! The ship was set to sail at 4:00 that afternoon, and it had to sail without mom. Tina and Jenny had to figure out arrangements for mom to get to Detroit as soon as possible - without them. They were lucky enough to find a connecting flight through Charlotte so I was able to make arrangements to get a special needs pass to meet mom and take her to her next gate and spend the 3-1/2 hour layover she had in Charlotte before heading on to Detroit. She made it home and was in the hospital for a couple days before they had to send her to Heartland-Holly Glen to await the swelling to go down before surgery can be done. What a mes this has been. The surgeon couldn't understand why neither the ship doctor or the Grand Cayman doctor didn't set mom's ankle. He is afraid more damage has been done than expected and is only hoping their hasn't been a lot of tissue damage - something we won't know until surgery is performed Over all, though, mom has been in pretty good spirits and has really been a trooper. She told me she was having a good time despite the circumstances and did not want to come home, but the doctor made her. The picture below was taken in the Charlotte airport waiting for her plane. Please keep her in your prayers.

In other events...

Del and I attended the Charlotte Checkers hockey game this past Friday night. It was Family Dollar night at the Checker's game. It wasn't something we normally would do, but it was fun, and at least gave us something to do. The Checkers beat the South Carolina Stingrays - five to nothing.

We, then, had some friends (John and Gina Bumgardner) over Saturday night for dinner. I was stressing about this one because I know that Gina is a very good cook. And as most of you know - I am not known for my cooking. It turned out to be a success and received no complaints - only compliments.

So far, I think Del and I are doing a really good job in keeping our New Year's resolution to have more fun.

Until next time....

Finished projects

As promised here are the two projects I've been working on. Both of these projects are from an online scrapbooking class I took from Big Picture Scrapbooking.

The first one is just a little book that has 14 different sections with blank 5 x 8 index cards. I plan on using this as an idea book - to sketch out scrapbooking layouts, or keeping track of things that inspire me.


This one is created from a 9 x 12 canvas. It has a picture I took of the path of Mauna Iki Trail that we hiked in Hawaii at the National Volcano Park. The bible verse is one of my favorites - Proverbs 3:5-6

Happy New Year!!

Ok - so I'm a little late in wishing you a Happy New Year! Our New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful, we were both asleep by 11:30 (how sad is that?). We spent New Year's day taking down Christmas decorations. I get really hiped up about Christmas beforehand, but once it is over, I am ready for it to be done. Out with the old...in with the new.

I want to send a special heartfelt Happy (belated) Birthday to my sister, Tina, whose birthday was yesterday. She tells me this is the last birthday she is celebrating - she will be holding steady at this age (which, for fear of her disowning me, I won't tell you what that age is!) Happy Birthday, sis! I love and miss you tons!

Del and I started our Saturday at Dream Dinners. I somehow convinced him to go with me. He wasn't thrilled with it and has vowed never to go again, however, I have proof that he went at least once and even wore an apron. He was thrilled that I had my camera with me. (Being the scrapbooker I am, I resolved to take more pictures this year, so I can even be more behind in scrapbooking my pictures!)

Last night we went to see Edward Scissorhands at Belk theater. A really good show - very well done. I never saw the movie, so I didn't know the exact story line. I was also expecting a play and musical, however, there was no talking and no singing. Just a theatrical epression through dance - a modern ballet, if you will. I really enjoyed it. Del said he actually thought it was better than he expected, too.

After church today, in response to another resolution, I spent the day doing laundry and scrapbooking (well, kind of) while Del watched football. I was actually doing some crafting that wasn't really scrapbooking. As soon as the two projects I am working on are finished, I will post pictures here. Until then...

Another Christmas has come to past

The drive home wasn't so pleasant (it only took 4-1/2 hours to go the first 200 miles), but our trip home to Ohio was memorable.

Tina and Kim hosted another fun-filled gathering with bingo and special gifts for Jeff and Kim from Jenny. Jenny and Brian also told us they set a date for their wedding - October 13, 2006. Congratulations, you guys! We are extremely happy for you and can't wait to share in your special day.

The Bristol Christmas was just as fun with the new Wii game being the hit of the afternoon. Only taking second fiddle to the infamous "Uno Championship of the World" tournament for the coveted Coca-Cola Uno cards.

Congratulations Laurie for beating your brother in the grueling match!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!

Del's holiday office party, which happened to be our first party, seems to have been a success. We had it catered and ended up having WAAAAYY more food than we really needed, which I guess is better than not having enough food. One thing that I found rather odd is although we had plenty of room in other rooms of the house, no one left the kitchen and no one sat down the entire time. However, this was also OK with us, since it kept everyone in close proximity to the food, which we were really pushing to get rid of. Del and I both found entertaining exhausting. Particularly when we didn't sit down for four hours.

Del and I just got back from seeing The Nativity Story .

Very much worth seeing, in my opinion! We always grade the movies we watch. When I asked Del what his rating was he said a solid B. After he thought about that for a second, he quickly added, "the story line itself, though, was a solid A+." I think he must have been afraid of being struck down by lightning or something. :o)

I give this movie a solid A. It is definitely a movie that will stay with you for a while. If you have the chance to see it, please do. You can find a review here.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This past weekend was a decorating frenzy for me. Since Del and I are hosting his holiday office party, we have gone all out on the decoartions this year - including outside lights, which we have never done before. Chalupa has even found a new favorite place (only when our laps are occupied by our laptops).

(Tina's contribution to the upstairs)

(Anna's contribution to the downstairs)

Upstairs tree

Downstairs tree

It is amazing how much the lights can lift your spirits and really get you in the holiday mood. You won't hear any Bah Humbug from us this year...