It's been a weird month weather wise. I haven't worn anything heavier than a sweatshirt yet! And in the car we turn on the heated seats rather than raising the temperature.
Daisy and Bob love to curl up in the penthouse.
Manda and family sent me chocolates for my birthday! And Eddie drove up to see me, with Heather supervising and Jules in the back.
My adorable grand dog, Mocha!
My mojo is finally coming back! This is a ripple done in double crochet variations.
Manda and Steph got some sister time in with the kids.
An oldie but goodie! Taken in about 2000, Steph, David and Manda.
I've been reading a lot. Escaping from the insane world we live in. I just started Thunderhead by Preston and Child, a thriller. I'm reading my way thru several series, via the library and Kindle. I love our library, I can look up books in their database, request they be sent to the closest branch, and they email me when the book arrives! I can also renew books online.
And it's 52 degrees! The sun is shining, the sky is blue!
I love the look on Julianna's face! She's taking the books we got her to her room.
These are my other thrift shop purchases! Of course I looked them up online. The Coca Cola glasses sell for $8 each on eBay! The bowls, which were in the original Hallmark packaging, sell for $19.99! And the four tree dishes, which are Crate and Barrel, sell for $34 dollars! There were two sets of the dishes, and I bought both and gave Heather one. They are just so cute!
I have to look for this pattern, the gnomes are just so cute!
This is a huge tub of legos that were Manda's. Goal for the week is to start sending them to her, since Amary and Garrett are old enough to start enjoying them.
We got some sad news, Ralph's Aunt Dot, who is 93, had sudden onset severe dementia last year, and is now in a facility for her own safety. It was a hard decision for her sons, but her safety is paramount. She doesn't even recognize them anymore. Dementia is such an awful condition, it takes away all dignity.
This is my birthday month! I already got a coupon from Olive Garden for a free dessert, which I redeemed yesterday. Texas Roadhouse wants to give me a free appetizer, and Applebee's wants to give me a free dessert.
Finally, we're almost done with January, the month that went on forever. At least the weather hasn't been terrible, I haven't worn anything heavier than a sweatshirt.
I love the cemetery where our family is buried. Mike and Samantha put up a Cowboys flag for Joseph at Christmas, and it's still there.
Ali put this pic up of Joseph and baby Joey.
Here's an oldie! Mike, in 1984. He was 28.
My gnome family, all of them Xmas gifts. I love them all! Amanda made one, and Steph bought one in Germany. They make me smile.
I just printed out this pattern- aren't they hysterical?
We went thrift store shopping yesterday.
Jules is reading Stephen King, and I'm an enabler!
It's in the 60's out! Amazing for January, but it's happened before. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and I'm going to open a few windows and air the place out!
We did get a little snow last week. It was snowing really hard, but I couldn't capture it with my cell phone camera.
Ralph and his little Tina. She wasn't thrilled about being carried around.
A couple of weeks ago, we bought this cool rug for the living room. It's partially in the shade in the pic. We went back and got a matching runner. I love the tree, and it's huge! It's made of metal.
I got ambitious yesterday, and made 2 pounds of meatballs and froze them. I used the recipe that Ralph's Nana Rose gave me over 40 years ago. The difference is that she used to fry them in oil, and I baked them in the oven. I also browned 2 pounds of ground beef, and froze one. I made sloppy joe's for dinner with the other. We went to the Amish market for the meat, I'm sick of grocery store meat, it's never the right weight. If I need a pound, I don't want .82, or .75, I want a pound! The Amish will package whatever weight I want. I also got a quiche there and froze it.
Today is lunch with Frank and Charlotte, at Uno's. They have a terrific broccoli cheese soup that I always get.
Yesterday was January 4. A day that brings up a variety of emotions. In 2002 it was a wonderful day, the day Heather and Ed got married, with Manda and Steph in the wedding party.
In 2005 it was a terrible day, the day that Ralph's father Rocco died.
In 2020 it was the day that our friend Gordon was laid to rest. Gordon was one of our Cookie Swap husbands. As the guys retired, they started to attend out Cookie Swap events, and we were happy to have them.
Funny how one date can hold such a variety of experiences and emotions.
We have other dates like that. June 26 is the date Manda and Ben got married, and also the date that Joesph died.
Anyway, it's a new year. Happy 2020.
The end of the worst year our family has ever had. I'm so happy to see the end of it.
We lost these two, Joseph and Sly, two of my favorites. Both losses were devastating and have taken their toll.
The year was not all horrible. We redid our bedroom and both bathrooms, which was wonderful. We cruised with Steph and Dan, which was wonderful and fun. The whole family was together in August, which was great.
And today is the birthday of one of my favorite people! Heather was born this day 45 years ago! How is that even possible?
And I took up genealogy initially to honor Joseph and place him on my family tree, and it's turned into quite an interest!
So here's hoping (knock wood) that 2020 starts a wonderful decade!
I just have not had the mojo to post. Or to sew. Or to crochet. Or to do counted cross stitch. It will come back eventually.
What I have been doing is reading, and working on genealogy. I'm doing both Ralph's tree and my own. It's fascinating and time consuming.
November 22 was Joseph's 33rd birthday. Mike and Samantha put the balloons on his grave. Mike and Donna hosted a memorial get together on the 23rd at their house. Even though it was only announced a few days before, many people showed up to tell stories about Joe, and enjoy each other's company. Joey wanted a Dallas Cowboys cake, and wanted us all to sing Happy Birthday to his daddy. Donna and I cried thru that one! There was plenty of food, and people came and went, and many stayed most of the day. At the end of the day, we were talking about doing it every year.
A few years ago we had changed the tradition of Thanksgiving dinner at Mike and Donna's. It began with Steph buying a house in Oregon and wanting us there. That led to Donna deciding that she needed a break from the huge gathering. So now they go to Samantha's sister's house, and we vary our location. Two years ago Steph's, last year Manda's, and this year Heather's in laws. I will probably never again make Joseph's Trifle, which he so loved. I'd cry into it.
So we made it thru two firsts without Joseph- his birthday and Thanksgiving.
