I see that I have forgotten how to use this site, as I have several spelling errors and I did spell check but it didn't apply the changes!!!!!

SURPRISE SURPRISE

Well I bet you never thought you'd hear from me again. I must say that I have been totally distracted by Facebook!! much quicker and broader. Well I must say that a lot has gone on since I last wrote in 2008!
Both of our kids have had there first anniversays. Tara and Eric had theirs in February and Chad and Lisa in May.
Tara is currently not working, she was laid off in December from her relatively new job at the county in District court. Lisas has had to lay off most of her employees but has managed to survive herself. Chads company had many lay offs but because Chad is specialized he was not able to be bumped by others and lose his job. When he first went to work at Sierra Pacific he took his own time and trained on this gianourmous crane thing. It's huge and runs on tracks and moves logs allover the place. Don and I are quite secure in our jobs as we both have been there for quite some time. Although the county itself is suffering very badly.
In May Don began experiencing what we thought were "flu" like symptoms.....wrong he proceeded to be hospitalized for apendicidus. He has recovered very well from that. They had not yet burst, but Dr reported that they were big and ugly. Quite a quick little surgery, three small incisions. Thankgoodness for excellent insurance... out of $32,000, yes thirty two thousand dollars for a very short stay we got a bill for $75.00!!!!!
We have enjoyed kayaking on Lake Quinault in the month of July with Tara and Eric. It is such a clean lake. We have discovered though that in the morning when we put in and the lake is so flat like glass that it seems to always change about 11 and gets windy and wavey. Our last trip was the worst, probably 2 foot white caps and strong wind. You felt like you were paddling and getting no where, and you were at times.
Lately we have experiences some scorching hot weather for here. Thankfully it did not last very long. Hit 101 or so one day, 105 just a bit east of here in Elma.
We are getting ready to replace our "perfectly good" cyclone fence with a wonderful
6' wood fence. Am looking forward to the privacy and landscaping the back yard.
My wonderful friend Sue, who up and moved to Tennesse, came for a visit and we totally redid my flower beds, added "yard art" and many new plants, one being a fig tree. Am anxious for it all to take off and fill in. Next year should be beautiful.
Well I best stop as I need to head to Aberdeen and get steaks and veggies for Lisa and Chads family BBQ sunday night at Erics. We will be celebrating their 25th birthdays. They are only 1 week apart in age.

CHRISTMAS 2008

We enjoyed a quiet white Christmas this year. Christmas eve Chad and Lisa, Eric and Tara, Bob and Ruth were all here. My folks did not come because of weather and I think they may have also gone to Madras, Oregon with Evan and Kim. We had our usual clam chowder for those who like clams and chicken vegetable for those who don't. Eric made his famous corn bread and I made gluten and dairy free corn bread for Tara and myself.
The roads continue to be horrible here in town. If you can get to the main highways you are fine. Montesano does not own a snow plow. I would not be able to even get out of my driveway and on to the street there is so much snow piled up on the edge of the roads. It has been raining though for 24 hours so it seems pretty soft and mushy now and looks promising that I might get out soon.
Christmas Day Bob and Ruth, Tara and Eric and Russ and Linda McCaslin were here for a turkey dinner. Of course there was a ton of food. Grandpa Bob was feeling better with his broken/cracked ribs, but had an awful time when things were funny because it hurt soooo bad. But good drugs helped him out a lot! Bomi Dad was not able to come because of the weather so Eric and Tara took off in the late evening to go spend the night with him.
Well that's Christmas 2008

WINTER BEGINS IN THE WEST

Usually when snow is in the forecast no one really pays much attention. But this time they really meant it. Today our special meetings were cancelled in Tenino due to the road conditions. We woke this morning with alot of snow (for us) and a sheet of ice over it all. Things began to start dripping but then about 10 or so it started snowing and has snowed all day until about 5:30. Well I finally got out of my PJ's and dug out the snow clothes bundled up and took a walk. As you can see Sadie went along with us. She was not so sure when I stuffed her in her front pack, but as we continued on she gradually relaxed and enjoyed the ride. I measured the snow in the front yard and we have 11".
Yesterday Dons dad took a tumble out in their driveway and broke some ribs. Eric, Tara, Ruth and Don took him up to McCleary to the ER and had him looked at. He wasn't wanting to go at first but called later to say he thought he probably should as the pain was very bad. The roads were awful and you had to pull over to clear the ice off your windshield wipers to be able to see. So Bob is in a wrap thing and on meds for pain. Tara took a tumble in the Safeway parking lot and she is feeling a bit sore also.
Don just said he heard that yet another storm is coming and more snow. I will probably be one of a very few that are at work tomorrow. My car is absolutely worth less with the wide tires (a girls got to look good in her ride!) so Don has been my chauffeur. I really really miss my 4x4 Tahoe. I think I'll check into some winter type tires for the Jetta.
Well the weather has given me lots of knitting time. So I'm just a few rows away from getting my Christmas gifts all knitted up. YAH !!!

It's been a long time.....

Well since it was Nov 2nd I last posted I could start with Thanksgiving. All the Smiths were together at Bob and Linda's. Eric's Dad, Bomi, was there and also Lindas brother and his family, and her Dad. We had a very nice day tons of food of course. Oh the Dickey family was there too. And that was Thanksgiving!
November also brought some not so great news, Tara is losing her job at the end of the year. Budget cuts in the County, last in, first out. She is bummed as she was finally starting to enjoy her new job. I don't think she is going to actively look for another job right away. Chads job seems to be okay at this time, they cut other shifts and so now he just has to work 5 8's instead of 4 10's. He did enjoy his Fridays off.
Tonight we attended the Festival of Lights parade here in Montesano. It is an annual event. It was cancelled last year due to the hurricane. This year was very good even had fire works. It's pretty with all the lights, it was cold though and even started to snow so that made it more festive.
I got two new books. Recipe books from the Cafe Gratitude restaurant in CA. A raw restaurant. So spent alot of the afternoon today making stuff....Coconut ice cream, Marinated stuffed mushrooms, and cabbage salad. Yum
Well that's it.

PHASE ONE OF HEDDIES MAKE OVER

Heddie's makeover has begun. Tonight the first layer of "Modge Podge" was applied along with my favorite coffee napkins. I could not believe that they even still made "Modge Podge". I found it at Joanne Fabrics in Olympia. I must have really wanted it because as usual at Joanne's its wait and wait and wait some more. I bought a few other things, one of them being a piece of fabric, I dreaded going to the cutting counter as it is usually slammed and you wait for a very long time, but to my surprise they were on number 43 and I was only 51. So....great got that done and headed to the check out line, yah right, I mean LINE, I looked at my watch and it was 5 minutes after, slowly creeping along I finally reached the register at 25 minutes after. The line was even longer now than when I had gotten into it 20 minutes earlier. I will say that they did have the most checkers I have ever seen working. I think I will go online the the Veterans day sale at Joannes and order the knitting needles that I wanted to go in and get that are on sale. I am not good at standing in lines, especially when I have many more errands to do.

Thank you Anita

Thanks goes out to Anita for her lovely gift basket. I felt a bit guilty receiving it as I am one of the "Lurkers". But, when there was a possibility of a prize.... well of course I could leave a comment. The box was filled with all sorts of lovely goodies. I attempted to take a picture only to discover that my camera was on video. I am going to try to post it here and see what happens.