Merry Christmas!

How did it get to be Christmas already?   Only 3 days and it will all be over.....again.   I love the season, I love the spirit of Christmas, but it also makes me sad and blue. 

We're having a 'white' Christmas this year.  Don't think there was ever any doubt about that.  It hasn't  been bad yet....but it's only the 2nd day of winter.   January and February are looming.   What snow we've had so far has been beautiful.  And as long as I don't have to drive in it, I'm good looking at it thru the window.  Mailia on the other hand loves it.   She doesn't seem to ever get cold, and still tries to sneak out of the house with just a T-shirt and jeans, instead of long-sleeves or a sweatshirt.  She went ice-fishing with her Dad today and caught 8 fish.  They're going out again tomorrow. 
I love this picture of her with her Ron Jon boogie board in the snow.   lol    Santa is bringing her a sled, but in the meantime she made do with what she had.  She said the boogie board was "ok", but the skim board is "lightning fast".  
She joined the 4th grade girls basketball team and is doing really well.  Plus she loves it.  So now we spend one night a week at karate, two nights a week at b-ball practice, and then b-ball games every Sat. starting in Jan.   She wears us out, but we're all enjoying it.  Santa is also bringing her a basketball hoop which will cause shrieks of joy!   We got a letter in the mail today from the school saying that Mailia has been selected as student of the month.  Another proud mommy moment. 

Otherwise not a whole lot going on up here.  I lost my job b/4 Thanksgiving when the trucking co. I worked for went under.  I'm desperately searching for another job, but like just about everywhere, jobs are few and far between.  I worry that Jan. and Feb. will be even more depressing if I don't get out of this house and do something. 
I miss Florida.  I miss the sunshine.  I miss going to the grocery store in my capris and a t-shirt.  I'm going to miss planting my garden in Feb.  I'm seriously going to miss the Daytona 500.  I miss our house.  I really think we made a mistake moving back.  We both wanted to be close to family, but because we live about  35 miles from the nearest family members, we rarely see them.  Not at all what I was expecting.  It's actually quite depressing.  No family get-together for Christmas this year, so I don't expect to see anyone except my mom.  
Oh well, just kinda feeling sorry for myself I guess.  I'll stop complaining now and post a few pictures.   I'll be ok when spring rolls around and life is new again.  I'll miss the smell of orange blossoms, but so looking forward to the smell of my lilacs. 

Oh yeah, I miss walking my dogs in my shorts and flip-flops.  Takes me 20 min. to put on enough clothes to go out and walk them now.  But it's so quiet and still when we go after dark that I always enjoy those walks, regardless of the weather.

Hoping you all have a VERY Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

AND.........DID I MENTION???????

JIMMIE JOHNSON WINS HIS 5TH NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Pictures!

Hello from Blogger-land!

Wow!  Where did the last 3 months go?!   I've got lots of catching up to do.  Seems facebooking is quicker and easier than blogging.  But for those who don't facebook, I'll try to update a little more often.


When I left off, Mailia was just starting 4th grade.  A lot has happened since then.  She loves her new school, new friends, and riding the bus.  She joined a karate class and is enjoying that very much.  


 In late Sept. I travelled to England to visit my sister, Cindy.  What an awesome time we had.  We visited York, which is a city established by the Romans in the 8th century.  It was breathtaking.  We also visited the home and burial place of the famous Bronte sisters, Emily, Charlotte and Anne, where Wuthering Hts. and Jane Eyre, among other famous books, were written.  I love, love, love old history.  We visited pubs, ate fish and chips and Yorkshire pudding and took tons of pictures.  I was there for 9 days, but it was gone in a flash.  Hoping to go back in the spring or early summer. 

October was warm and beautiful.  Went for walks and drives just to view and photograph nature at her best.  I've missed the fall colors.

 I started a new job when I returned from England, but sadly, it ended just 6 weeks later.  The owner couldn't keep the place open in our present economy.  I'm looking for work again.
 Mailia was an astronaut for Halloween.  It was a deal we made last spring when we went to Kennedy Space Center and she wanted that astronaut suit SO badly.  Fortunately it still fit.  She went trick-or-treating twice....once at the lake where Aunt Sheila and Uncle Ron live.  We all rode in a little hay wagon around the lake, while she jumped off and on for the goodies.  She scored HUGE both nights.


We also rode a zipline this fall, at one of several visits to local apple orchards and pumpkin farms.  We even talked my 76 yr. old mom to try it...she did and she loved it!   Mom, Mailia and I did a corn maze too.  Will probably not ever do that again.  lol   

In late Oct. we went to Greenfield Village & Henry Ford Museum.  I hadn't been there since I was a kid, so I enjoyed it all and Mailia was totally fascinated by everything.  We rode in a Model-T Ford, and visited the garage where the first Ford was built, the lab where Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, and the Wright brothers cycle shop. 

November was relatively quiet...the weather turned cold, the beautiful leaves were gone and it was time to stay mostly indoors.  Mailia joined the girls basketball team at school.  Her first game is tomorrow.  She made the honor roll for first semester with ALL A's.  The school had a nice ceremony to honor all those who made either all A's or A's and B's.    Mailia and I went to get flu shots....Mailia was out of sorts the next day, but never missed any school.  I, however, was down for nearly a week.  Never had a reaction to a flu shot before.
We celebrated Thanksgiving twice!   Wonderful food and good times with family.  The day after, we put up our 'fake' Christmas tree, and hope to get our 'real' one this weekend.    Dec. 1st came and gave us our first measurable snowfall.  It wasn't a lot, barely an inch, but it was enough for Mailia to make snow angels and try out her snowboard she bought at a yard sale this summer.  She can't wait for the really deep snow to go sledding and ice fishing.
I think that brings us fairly current.  I'll post some pictures of the above events.  

First Day of 4th Grade

School finally started here this past Tues., day after Labor Day.  Mailia was sooo ready.  She loves her new school, has made many friends already, and the bus picks her up and drops her off right at the end of our driveway.   Couldn't be much nicer for a parent.

Fall is definitely around the corner.  The 80s and 90s are gone.  Most days are low-mid 70s falling to the upper 40s at night.  Just a few leaves starting to turn.

I start a new job on Monday.  Am anxious to get back to work.  And with Christmas coming, the timing couldn't be better.

We're still settling in here.  But the stacks of boxes are gradually dwindling.  Still doesn't feel like 'home' tho.  I'm thinking it might take a year of 'firsts' before it becomes 'home'.  Still half expect to find Darrell's mom sitting in the living room.

So many things I miss about Florida, but then there were so many things I missed about Michigan when we were IN Florida.  NOT looking forward to the long, cold winter, but the glorious fall leaves and the rebirth of nature's best in the spring, will make that one season seem worth it.  I'm looking forward to planting some tulip and daffodil bulbs this fall that we will get to enjoy next spring.  And the lilacs in May.  Yes, I'll be counting the days until spring.

New GM (gov't motors) Car

Public Service Announcement!!!

(borrowed from a friend)


Information about Gonorrhea Lectim:


The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'em," and it is a terrible obamanation.

The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum. Many victims contracted it in 2008...but now most people, after having been infected for the past 1-2 years, are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is.

It's sad because Gonorrhea Lectim is easily cured with a new drug just coming on the market called Votemout. You take the first dose in 2010 and the second dose in 2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again; otherwise, it could become
permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it.

Please pass this important message on to all those bright folks you really care about.

Summer Continues

Let me get my complainin' outta the way first.......It is SO FREAKIN' HOT!!! Window air conditioners can only do so much. And it's not cutting it. Feels just like Florida summers, but at least there we stayed indoors in the a/c and didn't notice the heat so much. I am SO looking forward to fall, although dreading what comes after :-/

I have so much I'd like to do in this 'new' house, but way too hot to attempt anything right now. Darrell, however, has spent most of the last week in our flooded basement. We had some heavy rains over the past few days and at it's worst we had 4" of standing water in the basement. There is no sump pump down there and not even a drain. Darrell bought a pump, then he and Mailia spent hrs. and hrs. down there trying to suck up what they could with the shop-vacs. Darrell has found a couple of leak sources and repaired them. So hoping there aren't more.

Took Mailia to check out her new school this week. She liked it all except the uniform policy. It is much, much stricter than her school in Kissimmee. But overall she came away with a good feeling and we immediately headed out to start shopping for school supplies. She's excited about going back to school now, but school here doesn't start until Sept. 7th. About 3 weeks later than Florida.

We spent another day last weekend on the water with my sister and brother-in-law. Applied sunscreen liberally! We finally got our own boat running and hope to get it in the water maybe tomorrow. After all the work on the basement this week, Darrell wanted a down day...so today was it.

We took Mailia to our local drive-in movie theater last night. She thought that was the coolest thing ever! We took our own popcorn and stopped at the local rootbeer stand for a gallon of the good stuff. We saw Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me and Mailia laughed through both of them. She can't wait til we go again.

It's not Daytona (not even close) but Michigan Int'l Speedway is only about 40 min. away from us. So guess where we'll be on Aug. 15th? :-)

Will try to post an assortment of pictures. We had 2 fawns in the backyard this evening and I was able to get some pretty good pictures of them before Mailia opened and slammed the backdoor. :-/

Mailia is fascinated by the Amish, as we see them in stores and on the roads. I took a picture of one of their horse and buggies parked next to us at the boat launch site last weekend. None of them were in the water, so I guess they just came down to watch the boats.

And my newest niece was born this past Mon. Dannica Lynn arrived weighing 10# 2 oz.!!!

Do you have the Obama Countdown Widget?

Do you have the Obama Countdown Widget?

4th of July Weekend

We had a great holiday weekend. Lots of water and sun. And no sharks or jelly fish or even gators to look out for. lol
Mailia went tubing for the first time and LOVED it. I see skis and wakeboards and kneeboards in our future.
Saturday was very relaxing with a bbq and paddle boat rides. Sunday was tubing day, accompanied by sunburn (me). But it was all worth it.
Spending time with family and making memories is priceless.
Today, Monday, is a day of rest. We're staying home. I think.

A Final Win for the 3

Wish I'd been at Daytona last night.
Jr. took the #3 to Victory Lane for his Dad... the very place that his Dad lost his life in the #3. A fitting tribute and emotional ending to one of Nascar's greatest, from Nascar's most popular.

Wish I could be at Daytona today too.
Love, love, love restrictor plate racing.
Love and miss the sights, the sounds, the smells of Daytona Int'l. Speedway.
All the best to the 24, 48, 88 and 5.

Sweet Sixteen

My oldest "little girls" are sixteen years old today. Andi and Kinker.
I found them abandoned on the side of a road back in the summer of 1994. They were maybe 4-5 weeks old, hungry and nearly emaciated. Someone had cut their whiskers off and Kinker's tail was broken.

They are both still very active and almost 'kittenish' at times. I love these little girls. We'll celebrate with tuna fish later today. lol

The Long Road Home

We have finally arrived in the Great Lakes State. The land of pine trees and corn fields and apple orchards, as well as frigid winters, the highest unemployment rate in the country, and Amish horse and buggies on the back roads. I remember it all, but after nearly 20 years away........culture shock is an understatement.

We left Florida late on a Sat. night, leaving most everything we own locked in a trailer in the driveway, but the most important 'things' were packed tightly and securely into the vehicles...our 6 cats, 2 dogs and the five of us. Your travel prayers went with us and we were very grateful. A normally 18 hr. drive turned into a 24 hr. road trip filled with many, many stops for potty breaks and dog walks.

We arrived late on Sun. night and then woke on Mon. morning to our new world. Hot and humid with NO central air. We took a trek around the property, investigated each room's nooks and crannies and then started work. The trailer with our things would not arrive until the weekend, but every room including the garage and basement still contained all of my mother-in-law's things. The sorting began.......keep, sell, donate, pitch. It took all week and we're still not finished today.

The carpet in EVERY room was all circa 1960 and I knew I could not live with it for long. We pulled back a corner of it and discovered gorgeous hardwood floors. So we began tackling the carpet removal as the sorting continued, with temps near 90 and 3-4 fans blowing hot air around in each room.

The trailer arrived on Fri. and on Sat. family arrived in droves and worked until it was all unloaded. All those nooks and crannies we had just cleared were soon filled up again, this time with our things. Boxes upon boxes, bins upon bins were everywhere, and they still are, but there are fewer of them each day.

I now know that this is where I will die one day, because I don't EVER want to go through this moving process again. It has however made me realize how much 'stuff' we had that we don't need.

What happens from here is anybody's guess. Still so much to do........scraping wallpaper, painting, some remodeling.......but we need to find jobs too. I'm not too worried about it tho, the good Lord brought us here so I'm guessing He has a plan.

Mailia loves it here. She loves her room, the freedom to be outside to roam, and the many, many cousins to play with. Darrell is exhausted and although he doesn't say it, I think he is missing his mom quite a bit. I too find it a little difficult at times, as I keep thinking she'll walk into a room any minute now. It doesn't feel like 'our' house yet, and I sometimes wonder if it ever will.

The 90 degree temps gave way to 70's yesterday and today and it is WONDERFUL. We found a window ac unit in a closet and then 'inherited' 2 more just yesterday. So when the 90s come back this weekend, we will be a little more comfortable.

I'll close this time with a few pictures from the move as well as our old and new houses. I miss many, many things already, and the list will probably only grow. But family is here. We can drive to each other's houses in 30 min. or less, and when we say good-bye it's so nice to know it won't be another year or so until we see each other again. Time will take care of the rest.

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Well blogger seems to be having issues with photos so I'll have to try to load those later. It's time to get back to work. We had the internet, our new phones and satellite tv all hooked up yesterday. It's so nice to be in touch with the world again.

Sports Award

We were invited to Sports Awards night, so we had a good idea she would win something.
She won the first place trophy for most miles ran by a 3rd grader.
64 Miles!
Those 7:30 am runs really paid off, along with the Smile Mile and the 5Ks.
Her coach is very proud of her (as are we) and is going to miss her on the team this fall.
Today is the last day of school. I'll be going over to pick up her records this afternoon. Still feels so unreal. But the moving truck will be here in just 6 short days.
Hoping God will sustain me.......I'm going through the motions in a fog.

And Life Goes On......

...but not without changes. Our lives were forever changed with the death of Grandma Hauer. Little did we know how much. But here we are just two months later and making a major life change.

We are moving home to Michigan.

It's hard to put into words how I feel about this, because my feelings change by the hour. But there is just no looking back now. The moving truck will be here in just 3 short weeks.

Many stars aligned so perfectly that we could not look away. A plan and a path presented itself and while it took me much longer than some to realize it, I eventually came to a similar conclusion.......this was meant to be.

And so it will be.

Much work to be done here before we go, so this may be my last post for awhile.

I would love your prayers for safe travel, as well as encouragement as we face our new lives.

Next post from Michigan, where Grandma Hauer's house will be our new home. Thankfully it is summer. The weather will be just one issue that we will have to adjust to.

Signing off from Florida..........




PS.......Yes, we visited Kennedy Space Center last weekend. :-) One place I wanted Mailia to see before we leave.