ONLY 3 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

Many of my friends and family members are having a white Christmas but I am happy to not be one of them. The photos are pretty and I am sure it feels more like the Christmas of my childhood but I will just settle for the pictures and movies that show the snow and cold weather.

December is a big month for birthdays for my family. Mom's birthday was the 5th. Bryce and Anna where the 13th. Carol is today. Maison's will will be the 24th and Josh Robinson (ours by adoption) will be the 27th. Happy Birthday to all of you. I love you very much and celebrate your life and the joy you have brought to mine.

ANOTHER WEEK WINDING DOWN

In fact the month and the year are also winding down. This has been a good week. I have so much to be thankful for. I love living here. It has that hometown feeling.
I spent the week (after going to the gym everyday) visiting with friends, taking neighbors to the airport, delivering cookies, going out for lunch and even made it to the pool.
The only bad thing is my asthma is acting up. I went to see my doctor. He had surgery last month to remove a tumor from his thyroid but is doing fine and back to work. When I told him that I was praying for him and had called the office to check up on him he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and thanked me. He probably isn't the best doctor in the town but I love that personal touch.
More answered prayer is that we now have a new pastor at our church. I have met him and his wife several times. They are moving from Colorado and he is going to start preaching the second Sunday of January. The new year looks like it is going to start off good!
I have been giving my tile hearts to many of the people that have added so much love to my life.

Every time I get one ready to give I realized how truly blessed I have been my whole life. I wouldn't say I am the emotional type but when I think about each of these ladies and the place they hold in my heart I can't help but wipe a tear from my eyes. It is true joy!
Merry Christmas and God Bless you!

I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

Last year about the only thing I did for Christmas was bake cookies with Cheryl. My kitchen was torn up and it had been a hard year so this year it is fun to be back to normal.

It was nice to have time to bake and not rush through it. Since Cheryl took off on me it did take a lot more time but it is such a good feeling after all the tray are decorated and ready to be delivered.

TGIF

You didn't expect that from me since this is the first week I have been unemployed, did you?

Well, as many of you know the job on the street corner didn't come through for me and last Friday, mom's birthday, was my last day at Lifestyle.

I am exhausted and very happy that today is Friday. I didn't have to work this had at my job. They let me sit at my desk, answer the phone mark the sales orders when we received shipments, place an order, update the catalogs and fabric and mostly play my games on the computer.

Well it hasn't been like that this week. "The General" as she has been referred to by people close to her has had me going to the gym for an hour everyday (which is very hard for a 55 yr old overweight woman) baking Christmas cookies (6 different kinds so far), putting up Christmas decorations, going to talk to the mortgage people, shopping for Christmas, going to dinner with friends, entertaining friends at our house (which meant HOUSE CLEANING), signing up for unemployment, making calls to the investment office, delivering payment to doctor's office, taking care of the church finances, meeting with people about church expenses,washing ironing,
cooking dinner and packing Dave's lunch, standing in line at post office for 50 minutes (but I did make a few new friends while I was there),...the list goes on and on. I am taking the weekend off but it isn't 5:00 yet so I better see how much more I can get done.

MY NEW JOB

I didn't even update my resume and I found a new job. Tell me what you think about it?

PART 2 OF THE PINK SLIP

Well, just as expected the second half arrived today and Friday will be my last day. I have never left a job, when it wasn't my ideal before this but I am fine. For some reason it was much more traumatic when it was Dave losing a job. The only 2 times it happened to him the companies went under. This company is going to try to hang on but it doesn't look good.
I will once again be an unemployed bum so if you hear an unexpected knock on your door it just might be me coming for a free meal.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving Day was nice. Dave had to work so we had our meal in the evening. Rolf and Rikki joined us. Rolf had his first Thanksgiving Dinner with us two years ago and this was Rikki's first.
We told them that we had decided to visit them in Germany this September so they succeeded in getting us very excited about our vacation. We have nine months to plan and we are hoping for a stronger US dollar.