Duke

After many years of faithful companionship, Duke went to be with God. Yes, I believe all dogs go to heaven. Duke put in many years of patient play with a housefull of humans and a couple of smarty dog companions. His later years were spent letting his grand little person climb all over him and laying in the warm Phoenix sun. You will be missed, Duke.

Finally downloaded my camera

As you know we went to AZ for the Christmas holidays. We took Jhary so she could see her Brian DaDa. She was in her element when Brian was home.

















Part of the fun was seeing my First Great Grand daughter. She loves to cook. Making pancakes here. And rolling out some gingerbread cookies. And drawing pictures with me. Such a sweety.


















At the end of the visit I wanted to make sure I had a picture of everyone (too many to post). Christopher got up, found out what I was asking of him and went back to his room. Hmm, I thought. Thats the end of him today. But shortly he came out of his room wearing his new suit jacket and tie... just for a picture with his grandma. Tears in my eyes, Oh My.

100 things

On another blog I found this list of 100 things to do before you die.

In bold are the things I’ve done — all without a list reminding me to do them. I see I’ve done 63 of the 100. That’s pretty impressive, especially when I think about the other things I’ve done that are not on this list – Like Walk on the top of the Amazon Rain Forest; Ate a guinea pig; Been to Machu Picchu; Been to Angkor Wat; Seen the Killing Fields; boated on the Mekong River.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (does orchestra count?)
4. Visited Hawaii (lived there too)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (I climbed on a mountain)
9. Held a praying mantis (and an Australian walking stick and a poison dart frog)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (and don’t plan to either)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (Let’s see, I’m on Oahu (in the middle of the ocean) and the storm is pretty awesome. Does that count?)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (How about the top of Macchu Picchu? It’s higher than Liberty)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (don’t intend to either)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (just on Lake Coeur d’Alene)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (I’ve been to Israel – some ancestor thing going on there).
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa (a safari is on my wish list)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (not a big one for me)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (how about the prison in Phenom Penh?)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (Fried Perch eggs in an egg batter count?)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards at the Memorial for the Unknown Soldier (Original list had in London. The Unknow Soldier one was more meaningful to me).
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (alas, only from the air)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (I haven’t been inside, but I’ve seen it from the gate outside)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury!
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Dead Sea (the original list had The Great Salt Lake but the Dead Sea is saltier)
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

I’d like to add joining the Peace Corps is something I vaguely consider whenever I think that I’m not doing anything honorable with my life. Also the list did not contain Voluteering in a classroom (which I’ve done). That could probably go on a list like this. I would also like to take a balloon ride.
Of all these things I don't think breaking a bone, having chickenpox or being involved in a lawsuit is something I would want to "try" to do before I die.
How would you do?

Happy New Year

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Here in is my Christmas synopsis for the year 2008.
What have I done with my life this year, you might ask. Well even if you didn’t, I’m going to tell you.
Last January we went to Phoenix to visit Brian’s family. Only stayed 5 nights. That was adequate. Came back to snow – schools were closed for a week. Also started volunteering in a local 6th grade classroom. It was a most rewarding experience. I don’t think the teacher knew exactly what to do with me (hers is a room of not very involved parents and I was not a parent to any of those in the room). I latched onto the two refugee children in the class and worked a bit with math and English. What can you do with only three hours every Friday morning?
Through the spring I kept busy with committees, Red Hat Chapter, Sewing Club yadda, yadda, yadda. Then at the end May I went in and had my bunion removed. That was fun…. No weight bearing on my foot for six weeks. Recovery went well. I couldn’t sit at the sewing machine for any length of time (the foot would swell and throb), so I sat on the couch with my laptop and watched episodes of various PBS sewing programs. And listened to books on tape. And read books. And tried some hand sewing. And was in general lazy. The foot is all healed up now but I could not stand on my feet for more than 45 minutes without the left foot hurting, the arch aching and my whole body screaming at me to sit down. Went back to the doc and he suggested orthotics. While wearing them I am able to walk more but will probably always be aware of the stiffness in the foot.
In October Jerry was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, so we have been learning about diet and exercise with a whole new slant. My allergy to milk and the naturopath’s telling me to stay away from sugar (in its many forms) has been good, so now we just have to watch the carb intake (in all its forms). Getting older is sure a learning experience.
Brian’s wife would like to go back to Italy to visit her family. She thought September of 2009 but with the economy …. With that in mind, I started taking Italian classes because I want to go with her. Quite interesting but it really makes my brain hurt after a two hour session.
December brought Robin and her family to Spokane for the snow. They got it. Spokane had record levels of snow in December (I’m sure you’ve seen the figures). Robin was able to visit with her aunts and cousins, take the kids sledding every day, get introduced to Jerry’s kids and see my apartment. I accuse her kids of praying for all this snow – told her yesterday she could have them stop asking for it now.
And to escape the hassle of Christmas gatherings that don’t go well (that was the idea anyway) we decided in August to head south to Phoenix for Christmas. Well the gatherings happened before Christmas and were rather pleasant. The stay Phoenix was nice but too long (Christmas day through New Years Day). Brian had to work most of the time so was unavailable. He bought a Shipping store and has to man the shop nearly every day. He is struggling to make ends meet. My heart goes out to him. Wish I could afford to live down there (snowbird style) so I could give him a break. Guess you never stop being a parent either.
Didn’t visit with Aaron this year. His wife is in nurses training now so I didn’t want to descend on her and knock her studies out of whack. Maybe in 2009.
The adopted kids are fine. Jhary is doing well in her program and her job. We took her with us to Phoenix, mainly because she hadn’t seen Brian’s kids for some time and was still envisioning them as little kids (they are all grown up now). Uma has had to move into a program with 24 hour care because she is not taking care of her Type 2 Diabetes and needs more supervision. This is making it hard on here because she cannot live with her husband. Job opportunities for her are slim. Traivon now has three children without benefit of marriage (or a job). I feel sorry for the kids. Tyrone is dealing with Bi-polar syndrome so he too is not working. My, I sure picked a group, didn’t I? Well, maybe 2009 will show improvements in their situations.
There is always hope that the New Year will bring better situations for everyone. I am certainly praying for that. As I age I see how things get bad and then they get better. You just have to have the stamina to wait things out.
Hope your kids and grand kids are all faring well and that you all are in good health and are not wanting. Good health to you. Thanks for staying a friend throughout these long years.