Five years have past!

                                                               Christmas 2012

As you get older  the celebration of Christmas  changes! Part if the change is the natural progression of life.  Somehow, we want to hold on to the Christmas of the past but each year a little more slips away and is replaced with new traditions and new memories. For me, the meaning of Christmas changed on December 14, 2012,  This was the day of the Sandy Hook shooting!  That Christmas it was not the same.I tried to figure it out but...

                              ...... Something missing !

Every year I decorate the house.  I decorate inside, outside and wherever there is a bare spot to hang another decoration.  My two sonsTodd and Davin and their wives,Melinda and Amy ,are still in the Kansas City area but we are very lucky to have my daughter Tami, her husband Mark Both of their sons and their new wives here!

                                 …….still there was something missing!

                                                                   
I stood in front of Walmart and handed out "comfort shawls" which I had crocheted.  The shawls were beautiful!  They were made with bright fun colors that made me smile to look at them.  There was a nice fringe on the shawls which gave a calming glow.  It was nice to be able to do that  and see how much it meant to the people who took the shawls.

                              …...still there was something missing!

One  day I made my way to our coffee group and I wore my Santa hat!  We handed out cards to the staff  and had a fun time both with our friends and the other people in Starbucks.   Off to Quick Trip to get refueled.   I was really trying to feel the Christmas spirit.

                                …...still there was something missing!



We met grandson,Joshua, for lunch and we were happy to be able to spend time with him and grateful that he was here with us!

                               …...still there was something missing!

                 

My daughter, was on active duty in Washington D.C. helped lay wreaths on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery.  I wished I could be there helping her to make a difference...but I am too old to be climbing up and down on a semi truck! lol! I am so proud of her and the job she is doing!

                              ......but still there was something missing!

I played Christmas music, danced to " I want a hippopotamus for Christmas ", and spent a week trying to download Christmas ringtones!  I said my prayers for all those who are sick, for those  who are lost and those  who have died and their families and prayed for peace!

                              ....still there was something missing!

       Well, then it hit me....what was missing are the children!  The children with their dancing eyes, their impish smiles and their sense of wonder and innocence!  Then my mind went, once again, to the children of Newtown and their families and their friends and all who are mourning the loss of the children and adults who have died during this holiday season and their loved ones..  My heart goes out to all who have lost children and loved ones this holiday season. Knowing that the children and especially the children of Newtown are what are missing this Christmas, I will never forget the 26 people  and will honor them each Christmas to keep their spirits alive! 

                              ....now I know what was missing this Christmas!

God  Bless! 

R.I.P.

                                                    December 14, 2012 will be remembered…..

On our way to San Diego! Goodbye Las Vegas!

We have spent the last two days here in Las Vegas. We've had a good time visiting MaryLou, going to lunch and doing some shopping. It is not like the old days! Somehow we have aged. Somehow we have become older. Somehow we don't walk very well!

Tomorrow I will start taking more pictures. I will use blogger to post on Facebook. Hopefully this will work well for me.

For the past three days my steps have numbered well over 3000 per day. This is a great accomplishment for me. For so many weeks I have been under 1000 steps per day. My leg is feeling better and my back is basically feeling better. I do have to sit down after I walk for awhile. I am looking forward to getting better. 

S

We have ben a Transition Home for dogs for the past year!

When a church is looking for a minister  they  sometimes  get a Transition Minister.  The Transition Minister prepares the congregation to accept a new minister, especially when the minister has been at the church many years and it is going to be difficult for the congregation to accept another person.

For the last year we have been a transition home for dogs.  Each dog has been a joy and has prepared us for the new member of our family while also preparing themselves to being able to be a good companion to their new owners.  When we got Mocha,a Morki puppy, 1 year ago, we learned hawe were not cut out for a hyper puppy.  Mocha moved across the street and is a wonderful dog.  She taught us not to over think what we were doing  !She still loves us even though we re-homed her.

                                     




                                                              MOCHA
                                                         
Molly, a 3 year old BichonFrise/ Poodle,, bless her heart taught us a lot about how stubborn both dogs and humans could be.  Most of all the shelter neglected to tell us that Molly was a runner and a jumper.  When we took her back to the shelter they put a restriction on Molly that she had to be adopted to someone that had a 6' fence.  Bichon's are known to be jumpers, we just did not know that!  When we took her back, one of the workers told us of Molly's history of running and jumping!

                                                                         MOLLY               


Next came Gabi a 8 week old, Cotton de Tulear!  She was so much fun and what a puppy she was....until we moved into the condo.  She loved going out on the balcony and seldom barked.  Things were not right from the first night she was here at the condo.  She stayed with her breeder while we moved into the condo.  Gabi barked every night for 56 nights.....until the night we took her to Shelly's to re-home her.  We tried everything but she was scared to death.  Likewise her  sudden howling scared me to death.  From sundown until she went to bed, she was poised at my feet ready to get the ghost and she would turn rigid and growl.  Wide invited her to look in the closet, Vicki and I each had 2 talks with the spirit .  We put food in the closet to see if we had a rodent but we did not.  Gabi went to a retired school teacher whose daughter and grandchildren live next door and have a lapso for Gabi to play with. Gabi was well socialized and needed to be with another dog and with younger people!

                                                                                               

                                                                            GABI
                                                             

We decided That we would not get another dog....that lasted for about  2 weeks.  Gabi has been gone for 6 weeks and yesterday we brought Rosi home.  Rosi is a 2 year old MaltiPoo.  Rosi's caregiver died and Rosi was taken to the Humaine Society.  The shelter owner found her on the day she was to be put down.  I called about her 1 minute after she was posted.  As you can see in the picture below she was matted beyond repair!
                                               
                                                 

                                                                       ROSI

Rosi was picked up at the shelter yesterday and went directly to Pet Smart to be groomed!  Do you recognize her?
                                                

                           A re you sure this is our dog!?!  But then she kissed us and we knew it was Rosi

sShe has been sitting on my lap for 2 hours now!  She is so sweet that I can't put her down. Is it almost time to put her to bed?  I tried to put her in her kennel and she did not like it.  I tried her on the bed and there is no way that was going to work.  I did what I use to do with Gabi.  I held her for awhile and then I put her in the kennel and she did not make a single sound!

This morning we put her new sweater on her so she could go to Starbucks and meet all of our friends.  Everyone thought she was cute and she danced for Jack!




Rosi stands up when she wants to be picked up.  She stands up a lot.....no wonder her legs are so skinny!

Rosi is now using her grass to go potty!  We have to bring it inside while they paint the front of the building!

"Okay Mom's I am just going to sleep here on the new couch while you work on your computers!  I am nice and toasty"

"I like sleeping on my mom's laps the best!

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!
S'

Last day in paradise!

It was a beautiful day today, in San Diego!  The sun was shining brightly and the clouds were big and puffy just like they were when I was a kid!We went to Mission Valley for coffee and then dropped into Low's to take back the tile samples.  I t was not long and it was time to go to Santee to have lunch with Mary Lou.



Up in the mountains between Ramona and Julian is a place called Santa Ysabel.  This is the home of Dudley's Bread Company.  They have a small Deli in Santee, so we went there to pick up sandwiches to take over to Mary Lou's place so that we could have lunch with her!
She is doing very well and is anxious to be able to go home.  She needs to get a little stronger in order to do that.  Of course, I forgot to take her picture!


This is something you may not know…the leaves fall off the trees the last two weeks of December.  This is our fall! This is true of Phoenix also.  The new leaves start popping out in February.  It was beautiful here today!

Tonight we went down to Jerry's for a little while before we took Robert and Vicki to dinner.  Vicki is Jerry's sister and they are here visiting.  Of course, I forgot to take their pictures! We had not seen Robert and Vicki for 7 years and it was good to be able to spend some time with them!

We hit the road tomorrow!

Be careful out there!
               S'

The rain has been great but enough is enough!

The rain has continued and we tried to use 2 different roads that were closed!  As usual the rain started as we were heading home.  We did not see Mary Lou today but will see her tomorrow.
We will be watching the roads carefully as we head back to Phoenix on Saturday!
                                          
Vicki looks pretty and rested with her new hair-do!  I think she is starting to get use to not hearing anything out of her right ear.  She is feeling more balanced!


I am also feeling better.  Less pain in my leg,ankles and feet!  Tomorrow is our last day here.  We have enjoyed the rain and the down time we were able to have.


We are having the funniest thing happen to us.  Every morning when we go to coffee.  There is a security guard who stands in front of the building.  He says good morning and when we go back to the car….he leaves his post and heads toward our car…he walks past the car and then motions Vicki when to back out! lol!  It is too funny!

Be careful out there!
                 S'

Rain, rain rain!

Today was more of the same….it was okay until we were heading to the car after having our hair done….then it started raining and we ran home!
                         
We are safe now!  We made it home and we are 300 feet plus 3 floors up in the air and all is good!
The tile man came as soon as we got home and measured the bathrooms and the kitchen.  We won't have the itched done but I just want to know how much it would cost!  After the tile man left, the cleaning ladies came.  There are 3 of them and they are really good.  Boy, this has been a busy day and I am tired!                                                                              
                                                                
We went out to Grossmont Center for Starbucks and then to see Nancy,  our San Diego hairdresser.  We have been going to her for over 20 years and we really miss her.  We always have good laughs when we see her!  She knows our storied and is like a member of our family.  We all  played catch-up as it has been over a year since we last saw her.

Surprise, Surprise, they are not going to be able to install the furnace tomorrow because of the rain.  We cannot leave town because of the rain and we cannot eat lunch outside with Mary Lou because of the rain!
                                                                         
As you can see, the stadium is still not doing very well!

Be careful out there!
                S'

histHIS

Yesterday we were at our local Starbucks and Bill was there with his Breakfast Club!  Bill is on the right and is there every morning while he plays the stock market!

Everone is home getting ready for the rain to start.  Pretty short lines for Costco.

Okay, let's hurry up and get the piece of tile….it is starting to rain and we are in the flood zone!  We were not afraid…that is as long as the dam holds….someday it will break!  This whole area was a river when my mother was a child!

This is Mission Valley where the stadium is….the Chargers hope they played  their last game there

I was talking to Sandi on the phone and I told her we were just leaving the area that usually foods…22 hours this is what it looked like!

Mission Beach sits at sea level…..when we saw it, they were putting out the sand bags!

This is Ocean Beach….looks a little different than it did on Sunday when I posted!  I do think that I did not tell you that this is where Mary Lou lived when she was a child.  We were going to visit her today and decided since she is living over the mountain in the flat lands, that we should go another day!


It looks  like we made a good call….flooding in Santee was not a surprise in fact I am not surprised.  Mary Lou's house is on a hill and so is ours.  We are about 300 feet above sea level.  There are some streets in our area that have dips….and they flood!


See!  I told you so!

Have a good night and Be careful out there!
                            S'