The End of 2011

Well the end of another year is fast approaching and it has seen some major changes for members of our family. We saw moves, a new arrival, a new dog, a retirement, a knee replacement and an engagement. In many ways we were a family of movers and shakers; so to speak. So come on Fiddler Kin and share the year in your life on the blog!

John and I started the year with a trip to Hawaii---wooohoooo! I highly recommend Hawaii in the winter. I must say there is nothing quite like sitting on a beach chair in the ocean while talking to your sister back in Kansas and hearing about the snow that is falling. A partly cloudy day in Hawaii still beats a snowy day in Kansas.

The year flew by and as usual John and I led pretty boring lives---eat, sleep and work was our MO for the most part. In May we started the never ending home improvement jobs or as I like to think of it "the feeding of the money pit beast". The first little project was a new and improved toilet for the upstairs guest bath. It is powerful flusher. You don't really appreciate a good toilet until you have one that has to be flushed twice. We also tiled the upstairs bathroom. In October the beast was fed again. We started with the atrium. We finally replaced that leaking all glass roof with a real roof. It only took us 8 years. John and his new worker bee Gary did the work themselves. John added lighting and a ceiling fan. We are replacing the outside doors this week and getting rid of the glass on the north side. Next year we will hopefully be able to replace windows in the atrium. "The Beast's stomach will be growling by then. We also replaced a great deal of the deck. I didn't realize it but our deck is over 600 square feet. We were just going to replace some of the boards, but wouldn't you know it the joints were bad so we had to replace the entire upper deck and the stairs. The lower deck will hopefully be next fall along with the ballisters(sp?). Have to feed the beast next year too. We also made another gate for the lower deck. That board we had nailed up was a bit tacky, but it kept the dogs on the deck. Maybe next year we will finally work on the kitchen, or not. We also installed a new fireplace liner. The wood burning fireplace insert we have downstairs weighs about 600 pounds, so you can imagine the fun John and Gary had removing it and putting it back. Just for fun John dug up two 20 foot redbud trees and transplanted them in the puppy yard to offer shade to the atrium in the summer ----if they survive that is. They did get several inches of rain after the planting so that was a good thing. We still have dozens of projects that will take us into 2012 and beyond. Well I hope 2012 brings good health to all, new jobs to those who seek and an abundance of laughter. Happy New Year Everyone!

Tis the Season

I have not posted for awhile. Hope everyone who reads this is well. Today is sunny and beautiful, although cold. We are grateful for the rain we received yesterday, but we love to see the sun when we get up in the morning.

I was moving pretty slow this morning. Normally, I jump out of bed and get ready for church. I usually go to the 8:00 service, but today I could not make myself get dressed and leave the apartment. Instead, I drank coffee and watched early morning tv. There was a heavy frost on my car windows and I did not feel like scraping them. I ate breakfast, and after awhile I did take a shower and go to church. I guess I am getting old.

Yesterday we unpacked our Christmas decorations and decorated the apartment. We have a wreath on our door. Our nativity scene is lit by a few white Christmas lights. It sits on the file cabinet by the window. That nativity set is about 30 years old. Doug bought it at Sears the day after Christmas for around ten dollars. We lived in Broken Arrow at the time. It has survived several moves with all the figurines intact. We have two snowmen and one Santa Clause standing by the a pot of artificial pointsettas. We also have a Santa sitting on top of our clock. He is preparing to go down a chimney. A bowl of Betty's homemade ornaments sits on top of a bookcase. We look like we are ready for Christmas.

On Friday Doug presented an advent calendar to Beth. He made it for Jacob. Beth and Jacob glued Hershey Kisses in each day slot from the first to the 25th of December. Beth remembers that someone sent a Christmas calendar to her and Tom when we lived in Oklahoma. That person also provided Hershey Kisses for Beth and Tom to enjoy on the days leading up to Christmas Day. This is a special memory which Beth wants to share with her children.

Beth and I went to Walmart to look at toys yesterday. I hoped to see a special doll that would melt my heart. There were a lot of dolls at Walmart, but they were not very appealing. Remember when we were kids and we would pour over the Sears and JC Penney's catalogues just looking at the toys. The dolls then were pretty or cute or both. My favorite doll of all time was the Tiny Tears doll I received one Christmas when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was overjoyed to receive her. That Christmas is one of my favorites.

I just finished reading two books with a Christmas theme. One is the christmas train by David Baldacci. The story is about a man, Tom, who is traveling across the country on a train a few days before Christmas. Tom is writing an article about train travel and wants first hand experience. Tom meets a lot of quircky people and eventually all of them become snowbound on the train. The book is entertaining, unpredictable, and educational. I would like to travel by train someday.

The other book is by Dave Barry, the humorist, who shares his childhood memories of Christmas. They include the yearly Christmas pagaent at church, and the family dog Frank. Frank is a huge friendly dog who is more like a family member than a pet. One Christmas Eve Frank dies. The events that follow are touching, amazing and hilarious. The name of the book is The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter, The Christmas Miracle Dog. This is an easy book to read and should not take over an hour to finish, if that long.

I have not sent out Christmas cards yet. I have bought greeting cards. So far I have lacked the discipline to actually sign, address and stamp them. It is early days yet, so there is hope.

Speaking of hope, I hope the week ahead is a great one for everybody. I am living a quiet life in Emporia, Kansas. I don't have a lot of news to share, but I am glad I have family to share it with. Take care Fiddler kin.