Simply Gorgeous

Because of the glorious sights outside my office window I really enjoyed myself at work today. I even spent my lunch hour taking more photos. Here's a few more for sharing. Enjoy.

Ice Ice Baby

There is something about snow that stirs the soul, allowing the ordinary to be transformed temporarily into something awe-inspiring. I spent some time today out in my yard trying to capture a bit of this awesome show of nature, mindful of the danger lurking overhead as the ice-burdened limbs creaked and cracked. Mother nature may have wreaked havoc in the region but she has blessed us with an awesome fleeting beauty. Take time to appreciate it before it's gone.

Turning Points

With the new year comes a hopefulness that 2009 is going to be a turning point for me and for my husband.

My new camera is providing me great pleasure as I learn to use it. I have been taking pictures of ordinary items around my home as I learn to use the different settings and lenses. When looking through the lens my creativity has been unleashed as I zoom in to see things in a different light. So I am beginning the year with an attitude of fun. I have also signed up to take a beginning pottery class which begins next week. Once a week I will be getting muddy. Oh, childhood memories revisited!

Just today I enrolled in an online medical coding course so I can put the credentials with my years of experience on the job. I hope to have it completed within two months so I can sit for the exam by March or April. Wish me luck for this endeavor.

Last night my husband mentioned that our town was enrolling citizens in its Move It Lose It program and he wants us both to join. So for the next six months we will be going weekly for the weigh-ins and other activities as our schedules allow. Since he is diabetic and we are both overweight I could not refuse his request to be his partner in this life-changing venture. Goodbye Big Red. Hello water?

While the economy is on shaky ground, my husband's business is expanding. With a new addition to the facility in the process and a new general manager coming on board this month he is very optimistic that 2009 will be the turning point for him and his partner. While I am a bit nervous about it all, I stand behind his desire to grow this business. We have discussed the possibilities but have determined that the risk is worth it. No matter the outcome we will still have each other. We are hopeful and that is what our country needs right now from businesses.

The expansion of my husband's business also means that 2009 will be the year we move closer so he can have more day-to-day direct contact at the plant. So this spring we will be preparing to sell our house and move to the hills of southwestern Indiana. I am reluctant to be further away from the city than I am now but at the same time I am looking forward to the changes it will bring. I hope all my friends and family will still come to visit me in podunker.

We are looking forward to June when my daughter will be flying in from London with her family for a long visit. I cannot wait to see them again. While here, we will be celebrating her 30th birthday and will also be having a family reunion so all the cousins can reconnect. With all the new babies in the family it will be great to have everyone together again. I am hoping for a great turnout. We will also be having a get-together with my husband's family, albeit on a smaller scale. With my father-in-law's health in a precarious state I am glad that he will be able to meet his newest great-grandson. Here's to noisy, crazy, happy days ahead!

Both my daughters have recently begun new careers and I believe they are on track to do great. They are both beautiful, intelligent women with big hearts and open minds. I am very proud of them both. A parent couldn't ask for any better. I love you Andie-bird and Tealey!

On that note I leave you this morning to consider your 2009 and all the good things in your life. Here's to love, health, and happiness. Cheers!

Picture Perfect

With our plumbing problem finally resolved last night I was able to get the house in order before going to bed. We arose around 3am to webcam with our children and grandchildren as they opened their gifts in London. It was as wonderful as it could be, short of being there in person, to be able to watch and hear the excitement of our little granddaughter as she squealed with delight over her gifts, to see our grandson sitting like a little angel in his bouncy seat, to know that my daughters were enjoying each other's company, and to see our son-in-law stealing kisses from his wife. It occurred to me that a bit of our traditions were still alive, but with a twist. Our oldest daughter giving us the wakeup call, just as she did when she was young, anxious to begin the celebration. Sipping coffee and Baileys as candlelight flickered bright then dim around us, bathing us in memories of Christmases past. The Christmas stockings now hanging not only on our mantel but on theirs as well, filled with tiny treasures and treats. The silly red and white Christmas hat perched atop my husband's head for no other reason except to make his granddaughter smile. For about ninety minutes we were able to transport ourselves into their living room, gather around their tree, and join in the wonder of the morning. Then we said our goodbyes and Merry Christmases, extinguished the candles, and went back to bed.

When I arose again around 7:30am I went quietly down the hall, leaving my husband to sleep in as late as he wanted. There seemed to be no reason to wake him since the best of the day was done. We had our own gifts to open but there was not much excitement attached to that prospect since we really already knew what we had gotten for each other, or rather what we had gotten for ourselves from the other. There was only one big box for me and a smaller box for him that was actually a surprise. I contemplated lighting the candles again and decided against it. I popped open a soda, put on some Christmas music and settled into the rocking chair with the book I have been reading. Somehow the rest of the day didn't seem as if it would be much different than any other weekend day. Eventually my husband got up and joined me in the living room. I started the coffeepot for the second time and plopped down on the sofa, half-heartedly asking if we should go ahead and do the gifts. So I passed out the gifts and we laughed as we pretended to be surprised, oohing and ahhing in fake admiration. Finally I handed his one true surprise gift to him and waited my turn. I envisioned a set of cookware inside my box or perhaps some glassware. I could not have been more wrong. My husband, who at times is so involved in his computer and video games, football and tv that I sometimes feel invisible, gave to me a gift most precious. Inside that box was a very nice digital camera, with assorted wide-angle and zoom lenses, tripods, carrying case, spare batteries, eveything I need to get started with the photography I have been dreaming of for quite some time. Above all, inside that box was the knowledge that he really had been listening and was giving me a gift of the heart. I was moved to tears. Maybe now he will get his recliner.

Plumb Pudding

It's Christmas Eve day and I have the next two days off work. I should be in the kitchen cleaning and baking but fate has struck another nasty blow. Our kitchen sink is clogged, evidently with something akin to concrete. My husband, the handyman that he is, has attempted to unclog the drain, to no avail. What he did accomplish is to etch interesting patterns on the dirty silverware that was lying nearby on the counter as he plunged through the sulfuric acid-laced water. So what will be on my Christmas list for next year? No, not a new husband, takes too much time to train a new one, but perhaps a new set of silverware will be in order. I hauled all the dirty dishes to the bathroom and washed them in a very large mixing bowl set into the bathtub. The drainboard, piled high with dishes, is perched precariously across the stainless steel tub caddy. I just hope no tiny food particles made their way into the jets of the tub or we may be bathing in a stew the next time we use the whirlpool. I am adjusting our traditional Christmas dinner menu to allow for the absence of a usable sink. I suppose we will be dining with disposable plasticware and paper plates. And maybe we will just drink the wine straight out of the bottles! Even better, I may just use Christmas gift wrap as a table cover then when we finish our meal I can just lift the whole mess into a bundle and pitch it in the garbage. Voila! And done! Now that's the Christmas spirit! Hope yours is a happy one. Cheers!

Opposite Attraction

Friends come into our lives in such random, unexpected ways. For me, at the age of five, I never thought I would become best friends with the neighbor who lived across the street. When we first met I knew we could not possibly have anything in common. She wore a crisp pinafore over her pale blue dress and white ruffled anklets with her shiny black patent leather shoes, a bow in her hair, brushed back into a long, bouncy pony tail. I, on the other hand, in the backyard playing in the sandbox, wore nothing but shorts and T-shirt, bare feet covered with mud, freckled face smudged with dirt, hair cut short to keep it out of my face. As this neighbor's older sister introduced her to me I was already dismissing her in my young mind, thinking to myself that this prissy girl could not know how to have real fun, not seeming to be the type to get her hands dirty, to climb skyward into trees, to swing a bat, or catch fireflies. She was the youngest of three girls in her family, I was the fifth of six children, and just a year and two years younger than my two brothers. I was a tomboy by default. I remember thinking that I would like to push her down to see if she would cry. The meeting was brief and I went back to my play. The next time we met she came dressed to play, still a bit prissy, but not so intimidatingly girly. To my surprise we actually had fun together. Our friendship grew over time and we became inseperable, playing every day after school and on weekends. At my house, brimming with kids, there was excitement and chaos, rough and tumble play, messiness and noise. At her house there was privacy and a quiet atmosphere that I came to love as we played with dolls and games, a doting second mother who always seemed to have fresh cookies in the oven, and best of all, no brothers teasing and taunting. We each brought to our friendship what the other lacked. With our brown hair, blue eyes, and left-handedness, we sometimes dressed alike and thought it was funny when people mistook us for twins. She had a tandem bicycle that we rode together all over town, although she would always lift her feet from the pedals when a dog would come chasing and barking, leaving me to pedal furiously to get away without falling over. I had home-built go-carts and motorized bicycles to challenge her bravery as we flew around the oval track that my brothers and their friends had created in a field. During the summertime we spent our days together taking horseback riding lessons, gymnastics, and other activities through the Girls Club. We pretended to be spies while sneaking into neighbors' garages and yards, snooping on the mean old man around the corner, sure that he had something to hide. With a lunch bag in hand, we would crawl into the fire escape tube at the Junior High, climb to the top and eat our lunch, then go sailing down the tube on waxed paper, flying out the bottom like spitballs through a straw. At the theater she would sneak to the balcony if I went to the lobby for candy, then chuckle as she watched me trying to find her in the darkness. We made each other laugh hysterically to the point that we could not make eye contact without erupting into fits of giggles. My brother taught us to drive in his Volkswagon, on country roads on Sunday mornings when we were supposed to be at church. We spent countless hours at the local parks, swimming and watching baseball games. Boys and parties eventually replaced spy games and adventure but we remained close, sharing secrets, hopes, and dreams. Then came husbands and children and our lives took us in different directions. We still got together frequently, with children in tow, and our friendship remained strong. Throughout the years we have shared our lives with each other - the heartaches and grief, the love and the joys, the challenges of raising families, the successes, the disappointments. We have gone through busy periods of our lives when we didn't see each other often but then we were able to slip easily back into that comfortable closeness without missing a beat. She is and always will be my best friend.

Out Go the Lights

I knew there was a short in one of those strands of lights. Right in the middle of the tree. I just hope the rest of them stay lit, at least until the 25th. Hope your Christmas is merry and bright!