It is a glorious day here in the valley!

Saturday - the last one of the"vacation"... sunny, warm to cool... grass green and trim... no bunny guts on the back porch today (I swept them off yesterday).

Stan slept until 4 PM - we got cleaned up and he ate something around 6:30 (P.M.)

The days n nights are turned around.

Exxon in the news is a good topic for the blog.

The stress has not lessened. However, when the sun shines, I think there is hope for time...

Time to get a haircut: I cut Stan's hair today. I saw Oprah has a bob that makes her look 20 years younger. I want to look 20 years younger, too. Mebbe I will get a bob tomorrow... mebbe not....

Life looks do-able when I'm feelin' good; not so do-able when I need aspirin, or I'm sweatin' as I walk around...


All the tax checks have been cashed - the government got its share. Exxon stocks have been advertised in our paper as being VERY profitable this quarter. I guess that doesn't mean much to us as we drive gas-guzzlers - money in money out - the AC is fixed in the LHS - yes almost 1k. So that's @ 2k so far this year to keep it on the road. I couldn't get much of a car for 2oo a month payment, so I'm lucky.

In the idle moments, I think about decorating our living space.
It makes me happy to think about it; it makes me sad to know I can't afford much to anything for decorating.  Whenever I hear a lawnmower, I think of $$$.Whenever I see a commercial for an electrician switching out receptacles, I think $$$.


I used to consider the money; now I see money first, then the choices.



Good times: the girls cooked and cleaned up. The kitchen is vintage.



Good times: Delia drew the solar system and Zoey walked on the Moon.

 It's hard to get good pictures of my family. But I did manage these. ;-)

And so it goes.

We're gonna be in pictures...

 We have Easter/Spring Hats!

We also had a lot of fun things to play with and things to do, but Grandma got tired of waiting for this old computer to load the pictures and she quit for tonight.

Tomorrow, perhaps, she will have better luck with the technology and with her patience.

Life is a highway.

with parts under construction...
Never mind; when the road ends, that's where you are!

The trees are leafing profusely. Green is just popping out - even as I type. Grass, cut last Monday, is lovely, neatly clipped on top, growing longer as we converse, and shows only a few of those yellow-headed dandylions of last week.

I've changed my profile pic on Facebook to a Peony. (Patricia - pink peony. I didn't think pansy was appropriate with my "personality"... don't go there.) I hope the rain stops before the peonies are in bloom. They smell so good and look so good for such a long time, if they are not drowned by the rain. 



Sandy sent me a n Easter Lilly. It was here at the house before I got back from shopping yesterday. The lilly shows 5 blooms now and several for later. But it doesn't have much of a fragrance. Susie sent me a card for Easter. She echoes my thoughts every time she writes. I hope her situation is easier in the coming months. Butch is out of sight; Larry visits more often now.

The rain is intermittent - drizzle, pouring, sun-like, overcast, wet, wet, wet.

Stan is still asleep. I am guessing he doesn't want to wake up. It is now almost 11:30. The mail has come to the box by the road. The rain is lighter. I may as well get the newspaper when I get the mail.

Purple Irises might work. I like them too.

More than likely the poppy gets my vote, too, considering Memorial Day is close at hand. Lots of 'P' flowers in the spring.

Easter Plans?

Vacations, and the holidays attached to them, come and go without much fanfare here in the valley. We seem to have misplaced the joi de verve of these traditional days.

Next Sunday is Amanda's birthday. Happy Birthday Amanda. I haven't forgotten.  I was thinking about you, and that momentous occasion, when I read your blog just a few minutes ago.  Enjoy and do something you've decided is celebratory: something different from the normal day.

That date is shared every year with Grandpa's birthday in 1917 and , this year, with Easter.

Maybe we will have some "ship loads of gold" to celebrate or pickled eggs. I'm sure if Delia and Zoey get over here, there will be CANDY and some outdoor egg hunt. If it happens, they will bring the celebration, like they bring the sunshine when they come to visit. With just us, there is no energy to do anything extra.

I have done all the required things - paid the taxes, closed old accounts, prepared for the next go-round of medical activities... It's all just tiresome.
I hope Spring Break is more fun, but realistically, I don't expect it.

L8tr, Sports Fans.

Shopping

I stole some time to stop at Elder-Beerman on Thursday on my way home.
Of course, I passed through the little girls' dresses department on my way to women's feminine frilly things.
I saw hats and Easter dresses.
I did SO want to buy my granddaughters each a nice dress for Easter. But I've learned that girls don't want their OLD grannies to buy dresses for them. Or hats. Heavy Sigh.

Spring is in full swing here in the valley.
daffodills are growing from the OLD plants on the hillside. Squirrels are leaping from tree to tree. We also saw bluebirds, and little wrens, but the cardinals are not around today, nor the robins.




Not your average Easter Bunny, but much more current.
Thank you Charlie Sheen!



April Showers and snow and wind and chill-in-the-air

Hey family - We are watching the fabulous Ghost Busters on TV this afternoon. Wow, I knew I liked it, but the soundtrack is really fun. I guess it's one of my favorite mooovies.

...and everyone looks so YOUNG.

The sun is out, finally. And it is around 4 o'clock.

Laundry in progress; water filter changed; garbage out; dishes clean; ho-hos in plentiful supply.



Zoey Elizabeth Miller last year 2010 in April.



All's right with the world.