Oh Christmas Tree!

My beautiful new Christmas tree. Kara helped me to put it up and she gave me $$ towards it as my Christmas gift. Mike asked me not to put all my ornaments on it as it as enough lights, you really don't need many. So this year, it only has about 1/4th of my ornaments on it, but it looks so pretty. It can transition from all white lights to colored lights, either, or both. My presents are wrapped, my cards ready to send, now I can concentrate on Christmas baking of gingerbread cookies, English toffee, sugar cookies and all that real good fattening stuff.

Can't wait to see a picture of Bryan and Valerie's black tree. Merry Christmas to ya'll!

30 year boycott

January 15, 1978 Mike and I awoke to our first day of married bliss... or so I thought. I made Mike an egg and cheese omelet. Yes, I had not had too much experience in the kitchen and yes, it was a little too buttery, I admit. But to hear Mike tell the tale throughout the years, "it was so runny you could drink it with a straw". Needless to say, Mike would not eat it.

And at first, he just never trusted me to fix breakfast, so if any "fixing" breakfast was done, Mike was the one in the kitchen, not me. And then before you know it, it is almost 30 years later. Now Mike keeps asking me when he will get breakfast made for him. In hindsight, it was one of the smartest things I have ever done, but really, it was not on purpose. But seeing as how I don't like mornings and have never been a big fan of breakfast, I have had a 3o year boycott of making breakfasts. I could not have planned it better.. But now the question is..... On January 15, 2008, 30 years after that fateful day, should the boycott be over? I am not sure... Why mess with a good thing? Mike makes awesome breakfasts. Sometimes he even serves me breakfast in bed so I can cuddle up and read the paper and eat. .... And he never serves me blinky milk. (family joke) What do you think? Continue the boycott? or end it?

Family Fun

Almost the whole family gathered for Thanksgiving and we had a nice time visiting, eating and playing Scrabble.

It was made even nicer by all the little children. Addison performed 5 different turkey songs for us. Andrew discovered the playroom upstairs at Maurine's, a child's paradise. Owen and Caleb were passed around and enjoyed by all, especially by those of us who have not been blessed with grandchildren yet. Carsten and Mason, Joe's grandkids came to visit too. Austin showed us how good he is at impersonations. I think he may be the next Jerry Seinfeld. (sorry no good picture of Austin to show.)

Decoration Day

Kay, Ray, Kara, Uncle John and I went to Davidson, Oklahoma today and decorated the Wolfe family graves. Mema, pictured here with Kara, passed away in January at age 99. Kara promised her that she would help decorate as Mema always made sure that the Wolfe family gravesides were decorated. Mema would have been so proud as Kara raked, cleaned up and worked hard.

The ground was as hard as concrete, but we managed to plant daffodil bulbs and put out poinsettia plants to decorate for the season. We had a nice visit and lunch with Buddy (Papa's brother) and Jean. Buddy is 88 and still farming.

Surprise!

Maurine and Andy did a great job of planning Angela's surprise 30th birthday.

Pictures: The cute cake

Austin is playing "Happy Birthday" underarm style. (and later he showed us how he can do it with his knee too.)

Picture of the birthday girl

Picture of Andy and the kids leading Angela into the building blindfolded. (They told her the kids had a gift for her at a store but if she saw where they were going, she would know what the gift was, thus the blindfold)

30 years young! Wow, I am not sure I remember 30...

Season of Thanksgiving

What If.... we would all have our own personal heaven? And our heaven would consist of those things in which we have given thanks. What would you find in your "heaven"?

In this era when a lot of people think that the more that you have, the happier you will be, we need to just take time to be thankful for what we do have and realize how fortunate we are.

This was on PostSecret today in response to someone sending in a postcard saying that they were poor and their children didn't know it.

Once I was driving up Pacific Coast Highway on my way to work on a movie set at a mansion on the beach in Malibu. It was a nice day and there was a clunker of a car driving next to me with all the windows open. It was a 'poor' Mexican family. They were all smiling and singing. The father looked kind. The kids looked happy. I saw them and hoped that someday I would have a rich life like that.

Message found in a fortune cookie: Rich is the man who knows he has enough.
Wishing you a rich life, full of friends, family, and the simple things that bring you joy!

Oh, yes, I am thankful for so much, but most of all my family and friends!... and a nice job... good neighbors.... comfortable home, .....and the list goes on.....and on.....