just what i'm looking for...

The Day AFTER...

Greetings family and friends,

A little snow flurries are predicted on the weather shows, but so far - not much here in the valley. I've decided to choose the print I can read w/o my glasses. Does it bother you? These postings will be short, I promise.

We've spent the day eating: breakfast takes a while... then it's time for lunch - which I have to figure out from the frozen food I bought last week... tonight we will feast on little smokies while we watch WVU beat the hell out of Pitt at 7 on ESPN2 and cabbage.

Barbara told me to look for some stuff in the files to expedite the estate settlement, I did, I found it; and so we are on our way to settlement... in February I imagine. These things can take up to a year; but, I don't anticipate that.

I found a picture of a cute smaller house on line. I'd like to see inside it. I wonder if any of you recognize the location... It's a mystery you can solve if you have good skills ... hehehe.

If I can get it to post on this page, I'll send it up; if not, I'll make it anouther post by itself ( and it will be another mystery unless you've read this post. hehhehe)

Greetings family and friends,

Happy Holiday and Count Your Blessings Day! This has been a busy week (and it's only Thursday.)

First, I am thankful that my children and grand children came to visit on Monday of this week! I couldn't have wished for a more pleasant surprise than to see both daughters, et al. (I knew Trisha was coming - but, I hadn't planned to see Tracy until after all the hoopla was over this week. Much better this way however!) Had my DEXscan, too, and everything looks ok - results later...

Delia was the major architect of our Walls' Christmas tree which is sitting in front of the picture window now - just right for celebrating any holiday in style!

Zoey is as curious as a kitten and into LETTERS - recognizing and repeating their names! She's walking all over; she's just tall enough to reach into the tall kitchen garbage can to retrieve interesting straws...- gotta get a lid on that pretty soon! (If I can get out of the house on Saturday, I'll try to get a pack n play so she can entertain herslf and take a nap when needed.)

And of course, there was the obligatory stringing of the lights outside on the deck and along the handrail. And thanks to Keith and Tracy, we now have TWO holiday deer, lighting up the front lawn to show Santa where to graze his herd.

I, for one, am thankful that Barbara and Ed came to WV to help get the paperwork started on all this legal work that has to be done before the end of February. We went to the courthouse on Tuesday (where I forgot my photo ID - and that's another reason I'm thankful for good friends - Jan Warner Bozarth went out of her way to get me the message I left it there and get it back to me.) And on Wednesdy, we went to the BANK to get accounts closed and opened - and to FBW, then to the Post Office... business, business, monkey business.

Daddy and I met the new occupational therapist, Joe, who has shown us some new tricks to keep Dad movin' and groovin', and who gave us some ideas for getting him out of the house to dr appointments related to his hand.

I met the new physical therapist, Karen, who will be visiting at least two times a week to help Dad with his Ninja skills - she brought a big stick that seems to be a good part of his action hero practice.

Sandy and Linda have been big supporters. They have their own family gatherings today but they were here Monday and Tuesday to cheer up the place and give me time to go grocery shopping, get monkey business done, and check the mail. And I'm thankful that Kim Sandy called me to offer to come and help me get out of the house to go Christmas shopping etc. this weekend. I'm gonna call her [smiley face insert here]

Of the many little and BIG rituals that come to mind at this time of year, we, here in the valley, enjoy seeing the smiling faces of our families -- close and far away. So, post those dinner pictures! I'm sure there will be a variety of settings, food choices and new rituals that each and every family group can show us.

I'm going to try to post a picture that Jerry Hovatter sent us yesterday, which I thought expressed the "new" way we can look at these holiday rituals - like holiday lighting, for example: [see photo]

I call it WV Christmas...

Hope you all enjoy a very restful Thanksgiving. I know we will! Love ya all!

Friday the 13th in November

Greetings Gentle Readers,

As you all know - the last two weeks have been a series of a life changing circumstances beyond anyone's control.

All I did was try to hang on.

You all did marvelously. Thank you for your patience.

Today, Friday the 13th - the dishwasher finally stopped spraying water on the dishes in its care, so Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ed and I went shopping for a new one. Needless to say, but I will, we shopped several places, talked to several salespeople and finally:

We purchased a dishwasher from SEARS and it will arrive in town on the 17th of November, to be installed sometime after that.

On a personal note: the Rhumatologist visit worked out fine - I have a DEXscan on Monday 11-23. This will not interfere with anyone's plan to help clean up some of this space I live in ;-) Furthermore, Aunt Barb and Uncle Ed will be here that evening, but will help with paperwork on Tuesday and Wednesday.

So you can see, we are getting back into a routine: Daddy had fish for dinner and now we are waiting for the WVU - Cinncinati game @ 7:30, not 6:00 as advertized....

Thursday night - no snow ;+) tomorrow in the 60's

From weather forecasts to geographic information -- the world is FULL of interesting stuff: personally, Grandma is doing better than expected, Daddy is resting and getting ready to sleep the night away, and I, who have just consumed a huge slice of pumpkin pie, am settling down to sleep - knowing I won't go to school again tomorrow. This is not the most blog worthy materila, but I don't think its stuff to post on facebook either....

here goes my blog attempt anyway...

The photo is the Ethiopian Rift in the heart of EAST Africa soon (10k to 100 thousand years) to open and create another Ocean in the midst of the desert... I love stories like this in the news. Much preferred over shootings and murders followed by Fox News in such great detail. I saw not one main news agency report this sort of interesting science/geography story except the internet and of course, aol.