CONQUERED IT.......

Maxine is right today.....BUT we finally conquered the contacts on Kennedy. Replaced two torn ones so far this week and finally took Ken and the contacts down to Darrens office to have his secretary Tara, show us how to put them in........then this morning WOW Stress again.  Finally I held his head back and Brayden got them both in.  I am half blind without bifocals and can't see if the bowl is the right direction with a little rim on top and then there is the right one and the left one!!!!  He had to go to school two days without them.  I told Brayden if we didn't get them in today his folks would never let me baby sit them again.  You do need lots of time when your learning to use them......like ALL summer. We teach our kids early on about sticking things in their eyes, and can you imagine what your eye thinks when that big finger with an object on it is headed for your eye????I would blink too......yes Maxine, I know what you mean.  Maybe I'll just go back to bed.

STILL SHOVELING.......

  Nope....not one of those days, one of those months.  It can't  stop snowing and the poor road crews can't keep up with the cleaning of roads and sidewalks. I thought beings snow was also an S word this little sign could say it all for us in Utah this month.  Only one more day of January and maybe February will bring some change,  Still in Vernal baby sitting and hibernating.  All is well except struggling with Kennedy's new contacts of which I know squat about......tore one again last night so he had to go to school without them again today!  Poor little guy he is as frustrated as I am....and Brayden.  I would gladly trade the job of potty-training him again as to training him to put in contacts.....I know potty-training!  Oh, and I think GIGI is constipated...she kept me up all night wanting to go out......we are both tired today. Going to watch Ken swim after school and then the boys and I are going out to eat.  My big day out all week.  I have been busy with my computer, books, Kindle, knitting,suduko ......and watching the poor horses from next door out in the pasture dig through the deep snow hunting something to eat!!!!!  Lets see, I wonder what they are doing down in the Bahamas today?

GRANDKIDS.......

 Grandkids, a great bunch.  These 8 spent Christmas with me and you can see we didn't leave even one out.  Alex is the cute cutout! I just read an email to me from Alex from Brazil, still amazes me how all that works, I love Mondays because they are his PDAY. My Tiff is head of here department, Nicci moves so fast I am not sure of her position, Will is a senior at the U of U. Alex in Brazil on a mission and in 8 days Richie will leave for Mexico on his mission.  Annie a cheer-leader Junior and signing up for a two week work trip to India. Brayden, also a junior, is the hardest worker I have ever seen.  He was up at 6:00 and pushing snow here at the house and then off to clean roads and sidewalks at their apartment buildings before school......and no parents around cracking the whip. (They are in the Bahamas......) and it snowed 8 inches last night.  He is in charge of the horses, chickens and getting Ken to swimming today. Most kids would be moaning......not Bray. Ken and Scott are young and also very busy.  Me.....what did I do today?  Well in this modern of modern houses, I am trying to figure out their dish TV, figure out their phone system, figure out how to operate the humungus stove and learn what light switch turns on what light......there are dozens.  BUT, I do know how to turn on the microwave!  When the boys get home I will have them check me out so I can feel modern too.

BRAYDEN AND KEN & CHANGE OF SCENERY

Here are my two charges for the week eating a real DING DONG in the Bahamas.....I think?  We got up early to drive back to Vernal and miss the storm that is hitting Salt Lake.  Karrie just called and said it was snowing there, so the weather man was right for once.  The roads were good coming into Vernal but we hit a lot of fog banks.  Got clear home here safely and got stuck in the front yard!  No one had bothered to shovel or plow while they were gone.  Cute Brayden got right on it, till it snows again! It is a pretty sight to look out over the white fields, even the lake is white, with the poor cows and horses trying to keep warm.  winter, winter everywhere. Wonder if I can manage a whole week without any Retail Therapy????  Looks like a good week to hibernate.E

BABY SITTIN........

So somewhere in the world the sun is shinning.  I am tending these two grandsons for a week while their Sherrie and Darren are down in the Bahamas sunning it up......but as you can see they were down there once upon a time. Brayden ran down to Mapleton to pick up his snowmobile that was being repaired and could care less about anything else.  Kennedy and I have been hanging out watching TV and I had to do some packing to last a week in Vernal, we head out tomorrow so they will be home to go to school.Pizza and "Wreck-it-Ralph" movie tonight........ I think.  Woke up to a huge fog bank, but this afternoon much better.  Karrie and her family are in Park City for the weekend.....once last hurrah before Richie leaves on his mission (11 days),I  see neat pictures on Face Book of them skiing up a storm.  Pam came by last night with her new baby schnauzer for us to see.  She is so tiny and cute and the Panniers are very proud of her. Ice storm or fog bank?? This winter is really testing me.

"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm"

WABI SABI......

 When is winter going to let up?  I don't mean really go away, but this below zero, inversion and yesterday an ice storm yet.  My friends and cousin called yesterday and said don't go out if you don't have to.......ice everywhere.  Today I did go let Karrie's dogs out and hit the dollar store and the roads are OK .  I love the thought of Wabi Sabi, the Japanese proverb of always finding something good in every situation.  We talked about this at bridge the first of the week, and most people feel if we could live that way, life would be easier. When I read the following I said, "yes".  "To all the people along the way who hurt me, lied to me, betrayed me and broke my heart.  You forced me to see the change I needed in my life and gave me the determination, motivation and a belief that I needed to change.  You gave me more than you could ever take from me so.....THANK YOU."  Take the good and move on.  When my X left and I got through the hurt and pain, and I sent him a THANK YOU note for leaving the girls and I so we could get on with the good in our life.......The past 27 years have been wonderful.  Try it such a good feeling of control in your lives.  The Christensons are leaving for the Bahamas tonight and I will tend the two boys for a week......in Vernal.

BABY BREE....

My family keeps growing, this is the newest four legged, hairy one.....BABY BREE!  A little tea cup Schnauzer.  I guess the Panniers couldn't hold off, they missed Charles too much.  They have big Drake, the duck dog,  but not so cuddly. Pam said he slept all night, her first night home........which is more than Charles was doing, but now comes the potty training, which is much easier in the summer and green grass, than freezing weather and snow!  But she will have Pam and Rob trained in no time..........and Will.  I wonder if her favorite things will be chew on shoes or clothes?.We are a family of dogs......or would you say our family has gone to the dogs?

Sometimes you just need a moment for yourself.....when overwhelmed, I try to remember stress is only temporary. In the days, weeks and months to come, worries will be eased, questions set to rest, problems solved, needs met and ----best of all----my wishes fulfilled.  I know this from my past life of 80 years.  It is easy to get stuck in stuff....but "This too will pass" and "Things happen for a reason, just believe" have gotten me threw it all.  I try to keep these thoughts in my mind as we freeze through January......and yes before I know it I will be complaining about the heat!