Pre-wash

Some of you know that my cousins and I have a house in Billings. The 4 kid-cousins, Eric, Marissa, Sadie Rose and Luke live there along with my cousins Kay and Sharon. I visit often.

The house is really nice. The neighborhood is a good one; it's mostly families and there is a park across the street with playground equipment and picnic tables.

The house has a lot of room for the kids, the rooms are of a good size and it is well lit and functional. The bathrooms are a nice size and the fixtures are all nearly new.

The appliances aren't top of the line, but we will upgrade them as needed in the future.

There is one appliance we feel very blessed to have. It's top of the line and has extra features that I believe make it better, by far, than other appliances of its type.

I hope we never have to replace it.


Please pardon the poor quality photo, I didn't have time to get the real camera and had to take this shot with my cell phone.

I hope you all have a fabulous New Year's Eve and that all your hopes and dreams come true in 2008.

I love you all.

Naughty or nice?

At the request of someone near and very, very dear to me, I am updating my blog. In honor of this person, the topic today is love.

There are many different kinds of love. All of them are portrayed here, photographically, in random order because I didn’t have the time to sort through.

There’s love of nature, love of a pet, or pets, there’s familial love, there's friend love and there’s the other kind of love; that of a man for a woman, or a man for a man or woman for a woman for that matter. It’s the kind of love that takes your breath away and makes you want to be a better person.

It’s the kind of love that comes only once in a lifetime, it makes you melt and when you are with that person, you are complete and whole for the first time in your life.

It makes you weak and strong at the same time and makes you wonder how you could be so lucky as to have them in your life.

Taken in Paradise Valley, MT.

Emmy, one of the cats that owns me.

Bobbi, my co-worker and dear friend.

My brother and his dog, may she rest in peace.

They "eye of the needle" one of my favorite oddities of nature.

Sadie Rose, after her knee surgery

My brother, Mike, playing Santa at the nursing home.

"I love you Santa"

My son and kid-cousin Eric ready for the concert.

Shasta, the Disasta, in her beloved pickup truck.

Our friend Danny at his birthday party at the nursing home.

The cake, lovingly made by a friend of mine.

Christmas, 2007, spent with the cousins. A good time was had by all!

Dale, gone from this plane of existence, but never ever forgotten.

The brat pack cats, trying to help me pack for yet another road trip.

Cousin Kay, who was "thrilled" to receive numerous pairs of thong panties for Christmas, because a girl needs sexy underwear...dammit!

Daddy.

Apparently someone thinks I've been naughty...can't imagine who!

Merry Christmas all and I hope you have a happy New Year!

Just for laughs...

Shop til ya drop!

Tomorrow, kid cousin Sadie Rose has surgery on her knee. She has had an infection behind the knee cap for some time and they decided the time has come to go in and remove whatever is causing it. It's out-patient surgery and she will be home by 2 pm tomorrow, so it isn't anything dangerous or horrible, but kind of scary to a 9 year old (and to a certain 51 year old).

Being typical women we decided some retail therapy was in order and we hit the mall with a vengeance. We left the house at 3:30 pm and only returned when they shut the doors behind us at 9 pm (yes it's Montana...the sidewalks roll up early here, even at Christmas time). The only time we stopped our shopping extravaganza was to use the rest room and haul bags to the car when our arms got too tired to haul them around any more.

We finally arrived home around 9:30 and unloaded some of our bounty. We were giggling and laughing on the way up the walk. I turned around to use the remote to lock the car and somehow managed to hit the alarm button. I had so many bags in my hands that I couldn't free a finger to push the cancel alarm button and when I finally did I accidentally opened the trunk instead. By now Sadie Rose was practically ill with laughter and I had to admit, it was probably quite the scene. The car lights were flashing, the alarm was...alarming and the trunk was wide open.

I looked around to see if anyone was watching and noticed the new neighbors to the west were staring out their living room window. The lights of the house to the east suddenly turned on and I hoped they weren't calling the police to report a theft next door.

I finally managed to extricate myself from the bags, push the proper button(s) and the ruckus stopped. Sadie was giggling hysterically but we finally got the car locked, the trunk shut and staggered into the house.

Six hours of walking, shopping and hysterical laughter later, we are both in our jammies, tired but content. Everything is going to turn out just fine for Sadie...that much we know. It does, however, remain to be seen if I survive the opening of my next credit card bill.

UPDATE: Sadie sailed through the surgery and is doing just fine. She's already home and set up like a princess in the family room, remote in one hand, bon-bon's in the other. We will be waiting on her until she heals. Life IS good!

B-B-B-bad to the bone...

Yes, you heard it here folks, I'm a bad blogger (as if you didn't already know that)! It has been many weeks since my last blog post and at least a week since I read anyone else's. I can't remember the last time I left a pertinent comment on any of your blogs (maybe never) and I do apologize for that.

I guess I've just been too busy living life to the fullest to take the time to write about it. Between my crazy work schedule and my fun-filled personal life, I've got little time left over for sleeping, let alone blogging. I wish I did, because some very interesting and fun things have happened since I last updated and I even have the pictures to prove it if only I had time to download them and organize them into files.

For example; my brother and I threw a birthday party for one of the men at the nursing home where dad stays. Danny turned 65 on December 5 and Mike and I both took vacation to be there for him. He doesn't have much family and they don't visit often. Danny enjoyed the birthday party we threw for dad so much that we decided he needed one too. Danny's favorite activity is bingo so I had a friend make him a huge bingo cake. We brought gifts and balloons and nearly everyone at the nursing home came. It was a fun-filled, joyous occasion for all of us.

Another example; I had not been to a movie in a theater since Austin Powers (the first one) came out, and in the last 6 weeks I have been to 4 of them! I saw "The Bee Movie", "Hairspray", "Across the Universe" and "The Golden Compass"!

I had not been to a house party in literally decades and I have been to two of them in the recent past! I had a blast both times!

I've made new friends, gotten reacquainted with old ones and spent more time with my family than ever before.

It has been a wild ride, but a fun one. And to be honest, it's only beginning. I am happier than I ever thought I'd be and all because I'm letting go, living in the moment and opening myself up to life and love.

I highly recommend it.