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!

MEMORIES.......

Ah yes, memories.  Good old Woolworths. When I grew up this was our Walmart, Kmart and Target.......heaven forbid Costco.  We had to go to Cortez, 18 miles from Mancos to shop at a Woolworths.  And, of course the prices were not what they are today everywhere, but people had much less money in those days.  They had a lunch counter and what a treat if there was enough money to get some lunch or a drink.  No Drive Inns for fast food way back then.  This would have been in the 40's.  A fond memories is of my cousin and I who are 9 days apart, she lived in Cortez and I would go stay with her and her mother, my aunt Frankie, would let us pick things from her garden to sell.  We would put them in her little wagon and go up to the main road.  We were rich if we could get a quarter or 50 cents a piece.  Then she would take us to Woolworths and you could get a pair of anklets for a dime and beautiful ribbons for your hair was 5 cents a yard.  My kids or grand kids will never know the thrill of memories like this!  Thank you Woolworths for those wonderful memories.......

As I look back at my family and my life I know I share some DNA, but few physical or mannerisms with my parents.  I guess my mom and dad might have just as well selected their first born from an animal shelter. W hen I was young I had big dreams, liked good music and to dance, and wanted to travel.  My folks wouldn't let me join the circus! They seemed very content with what I thought was a very dull life in our little town......but the memories I have of those days are wonderful. "If you never try ......you will never know.?"

WOW......MY WORD

Now that the inauguration is over I am with Maxine with the wish of putting some wise men in the White House......I have stopped watching news on the TV and think Maxine gets wiser by the day, much more entertaining and doesn't lie. Today on Face book was a few more interesting words.  'Five Deadly Terms Used by a Woman"  If you have not used

these phrases, file them, they could come in handy. #1.  FINE:This is the word women use to end an argument when she knows she is right and you need o shut-up.  #2.  NOTHING; means something and you need to be worried.  #3.  GO AHEAD:  This is a dare, not permission, do not do it.  #4.  WHATEVER: A woman's way of saying SCREW YOU!  #5.  THAT'S OKAY:  She is thinking long and hard on how and when you will pay for your mistakes!  OH yes, there is one more word and I blogged about it yesterday, it just keeps popping up......BONUS WORD WOW.  This is not a compliment.  Shes amazed that one person could be so stupid!  Listen for this word, it has so many great uses.  Hair and laundry day, finally getting some things done.  Tomorrow is bridge and I know that's a lost day.  A storm is suppose to come in tonight and move out our freezing temperatures.....here's hoping.  Think I am coming down with something!!!!!

OBAMA'S INAUGUARTION DAY.....

WOW....WOW! One of the simplest of prayers, "WOW", often uttered with a sharp intake of breath, when we can't think of another word to describe something!  It can be when we see a sight of shocking beauty, or destruction, an unbidden  insight or unexpected happening. "WOW" means we are not dulled to wonder.  I think I said it most when I found out Obama had beaten Mitt Romney........Wow, what is America  thinking? Wow, what will our next four years look like, after the horrible mess he has made of these past four years.......Wow, he is a complete black dictator like they have in Europe and other countries.  You say wow when you are stunned to the place beyond word. We like to be in control and understand our situation.  When something keeps us from being able to chip something down to manageable size and then to file it nicely away, then we find WOW is our prayer. WOWS come in all shapes an sizes..... a quiet silent prayer.wow, I can't get through this long list of chores........and at the end of the day a loud, energetic WOW, I can't believe I got through my list today.....and a middle sized wow am I tired now.  Wow, has a reverberation-----wowowowow-----and this pulse can soften us, like the tingling electrical stimulation. I have a dozen WOWS a day......the first thing in the morning I say WOW, thank you God for another day.  I know in four years and we elect another president, one we like......, we will say Wow we survived eight years with OBAMA and this too will pass. I refused to watch one minute of his inauguration as he has stolen too many of my precious minutes in this life.  Just turned off the TV.  Cold, cold but did have an email from my Brazilian Missionary so I have a warm heart.

ANOTHER DAY.........

...Don't you hate now days everything has to have a password and your expected to remember them???? I never memorized my drivers license number, but I know my social security number, my house number, my phone number and several phone numbers of my kids.  Now when I can barely remember all that I have to know how to get who called on my message box, my computer,  the password to my blog, to my facebook, Pintrest, the code to my safe, how to unlock my TV channels etc. etc. etc.Maybe it is a good idea to make them all the same "INCORRECT".......It would solve a lot of may problems.  I love when you get an inspiration like those little ladies had. I have another list of Inspirations that help me stay on track......#1. You have to make good things happen! (think positive and look for the good.)  #2.  Past mistakes lead to future success..(you can't believe how much better my life has been these past 26 years since my divorce......I know happy now.)  #3.  Your better than good.  You re great! (If you have no one else to tell you that, tell yourself.)  #4.  Expect the best....you deserve nothing less.  #5 You have so many reasons to be proud of yourself.....(Yes, I am a good mother, grandmother, sister, friend.  I have many talents, I have traveled the world and love my God.)  #6 Dream bigger, doubt smaller. #7. Say yes to less stress.....(I am learning "Things happen for a reason, just believe."....this too will pass.  Still freezing cold....Obama inaugurated Monday.

MISSING MY MISSIONARY........

In this cold, cold weather I am warming up with memories.  Here is my cute missionary a couple of weeks before he headed to Brazil and the MTC, now ELDER CHRISTENSON.....He is at "Zuppas" having lunch with his mom, aunt Sherrie and oh yes, his Gram.Just looking at those big bowls of hot soup and big rolls to dip in it makes me hungry   Alex has been gone almost 10 months and is good to email me every Pday.......I love getting together with my sweet family, in fact I live for it. 

I was reading people should give themselves a "WHATEVER DAY"......I think as you get older you start having quit a few whatever days.  I have a clock in the kitchen with all the numbers fallen to the bottom and on it is written "WHATEVER", I look for the time and just think whatever? Whatever days are a good self-care prescription that can restore us and help us to cope with future tasks and events.  Too many of us are taught from an early age to care for the needs of others before caring for their own needs.  Effective ,ongoing self-care practices may be absent from our lives. Commit to some free time for yourself, take breaks throughout the day, stretch often, listen to favorite music, take hot showers or baths, get adequate sleep and exercise. Eat your favorite foods and visit with family and friends! You only live once, but if you do it right......once is enough.  Cold, cold off to the grocery store.

THE LATEST SCIENCE ON AGING.....

 

This is a picture of my three daughters and I on a cruise to sunny Mexico where it was WARM last year.  I keep thinking if I think warm thoughts maybe it won't seem so cold here.  It is still in the 20s and forecast to stay that way for another week or so. 

I know getting older is inevitable.  Feeling and looking that way isn't.  It turns out a smile is worth more than a thousand words.  In a study of 1,000 photos of people with a variety of facial expressions tended to underestimate the age of those who were grinning....by two years or more.  Also I was glad to hear the American Academy of Neurology showed  hat among 230 men and women with an average of 73, those who spoke more than two languages were four times less likely to experience cognitive impairments than people who were bilingual. MAGIFIQUE AND, UM, ESTUPENDO! A cocktail a day could keep the doctor away.....does my glass of wine at bridge club help?  This study found moderate drinking can reduce inflammation, rise HDI, and improve insulin function, all of which help prevent illness.  Walking helps memory decline......that's why I go shopping every day!

Do you realize "Jealousy comes from counting others' blessings instead of your own?"

Going to get bundled up and go see a movie with Shirley and Bonnie........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SISTER.......

Happy Birthday to my baby sister.  I was 11 when she was born.......the perfect baby-sitting age, and got to do it lots.  She was seven when I graduated and went away to college so I was not around while she grew up, but we have made up for it in the past 26 years.  We have had some wonderful trips around the world. We have lost two sisters in the past few years so I cherish the one I have left.  Yes, sisters are different flowers from the same garden........four girls with the same parents, but each one so different.  Leslie, a railroad engineer???? So brave and gunho in life.  Dixie, a loner who loved to sit out on her ranch by Moab and being alone was her thing, she even carried a gun in her pickup truck and she knew how to use it........Scary....... Joan, loved to read, only one to graduate from college and teach school and was a deep thinker.  Then me, Betty Ree, the oldest who wanted to get out in the world and meet people and travel, travel, travel???? We don't even look alike, so when your plant a flower garden just enjoy each blooming flower for what it gives to you.  Leslie Ruth Yeomans is 70 today so Happy Birthday.

Been invited to lunch with the Cooks......off to the Blue Iguana, give Richie a real taste of  Mexican food before he heads to Mexico for a two year mission!  Temperature forecast for today........... 21 degrees.

GREATEST TREASURES.....

COLD, COLD, COLD.  The weather is unreal, Our whole state is under this cold cover.  A few days of it is OK but they forecast this for the next week or 10 days.  So I found this neat picture of the people who warm my heart most.......This was taken on a warm cruise in the Bahamas about this time last year.  It was my 80th birthday celebration.  Yes, this is the time of year to pack up and head out on a warm vacation.  Sherrie is heading down to Atlantis in 10 days and I am heading to Vernal to tend the boys and dogs.  Vernal is always 10 degrees colder than Salt Lake, but maybe by then the cold spell will be over........ Braved the cold last night and went to bridge, -0 when I got home at midnight.  Patty just called and wants me to hem some sweat pants for her 98 year old mother who is freezing!!!!! Glad to help out. My sweet Richie just arrived with my chairs and stuff from the farewell........and to vacuum the dog hair from the five dogs that were here this weekend.  It really is a good day when the grandkids are around!

BIG FAREWELL........

 Well the cooks can now wear their missionary T-shirts.  Today was Richie's farewell.  He gave a great talk thanking all the people who were important in his life and included me, of course that brought tears.  I am really having a hard time facing the fact in three week he will be gone for two years, maybe because I am 80 and I only hope I am still here when he gets home.  I also went through this with Alex, my first missionary.  I am not sure how I would handle it if it were a son, but in my heart I know what a wonderful experience it is for a child.  They so grow up and learn to give and take, be tired, hungry and lonesome for their families make them ready to face the REAL world.  Karrie and Rich worked very hard and had a great party after church.  A ton of people who ate a ton of food.  All my family came including the X. Man he is looking old.......Pam baby sat him.  It was fun having Sherrie for two nights, and sorry Brayden was sick.  We had Scot and the two big dogs Saturday night, so Karrie could keep the house clean. Tomorrow is P DAY for Alex, always look forward to hearing from him.....nine months down.

LIFE GOES ON.......

Oh boy its cold and snowy, but see where Phoenix is also 20 degrees and they are not use to that. Gandolf is affecting the whole country.  Had Sherrie all night and the boys and Darren will be here tonight and tomorrow is Richies Farewell. Maxine tells it all......I have almost quit watching the news........bad news ruins your day.  "EVERY MORNING IS THE DAWN OF A NEW ERROR".....which no one is above.

"You have to take the good with the bad, smile when you are sad, love what you have got and remember what you had.  Always forgive but never forget , learn from your mistakes but never regret, people change, things go wrong, just remember life goes on......"  Hope everyone stays warm and well, there is a flu epidemic in Utah.

GANDOLF STRIKES......

WELL GANDOLF HAS STRUCK...........that is a big snow storm.  They are now naming snow storms and the first big one to hit Salt Lake this winter.  We even made the national newscasts. 19" on the bench so far and this storm is expected to continue through the day ending tomorrow sometime as it moves on into Colorado! This is a picture of the Christensons but taken last winter when Alex was still with us........he is now in sunny Brazil.  I know this is making many skiers and boarders and snowmobile rs jumping for joy, but after I got my White Christmas it could end as far as I am concerned.  Utah did make front page of three ski magazines........good news for the ski resorts.  This picture is at the Christenson's cabin in Park City.  Guess I will hibernate a couple of days till it passes.

ONCE UPON A TIME......

 lIt seems every life starts out ONCE UPON A TIME.......when we are born we are tiny innocent creatures sent to earth to prove our worth. BUT, as I add years I don't see every ones lives as ending HAPPILY EVER AFTER!  Each one of us has been faced with trials and challenges.....so through these oppositions we can learn wisdom, become stronger and experience joy.  Free choices lead us down different paths and we are free to choose. Three people could see the same accident and everyone tell a different account of it according to where they came from.. Perhaps what would be HAPPILY EVER AFTER. in one persons life....would not seem that way to another person.  The bottom line is to find Happiness in our lives.....and five good rules to "happiness" are:  1.  Free your heart from hatred......forgive.  2.  Free your mind of worries......most never happen.  3.  Live simply and appreciate what you have.  4.  Give more.  5.  Expect less from people but more from yourself.  But, my wish is for every ones lives to end Happily Ever After........My dear friend Patty, the poor man across the street, my old friend in the rest home, my neighbor up the street that has been in bed five years, they are being tested.  Well, the cold weather broke today only to get the news another big snow storm is due in tonight., yep it's January. 

DEEP FREEZE CONTINUES........

Well this happy group looks well prepared for  deep freeze winter.  I love this picture of  the Pannier clan New Years at West Yellowstone National Park as they toured the place enjoying one of the most wonderful and especially beautiful places in the US or maybe the world.  They took some great pictures of the wild life as they live through he winter, buffalo, fox, elk and moose.  Scott, Rob, Pam, Nicci, Bill, Liz, Will and in front Tiff.  Very colorful and stylish.  I am proud of this family..............

Life is very interesting with its twists and turns and how you may not realize it but God is listening to your prayers.  I ask each night that if I can help anyone in need help me to do it.  WELL, the man across the street called to see if I knew the Bishop of our church.  We just had a new bishop put in who had written all the members a letter wanting to get to know them and leaving phone numbers etc.  This man who has lived across from me for many years had taken in a girl who has not been the best kind of influence in the neighborhood and I am afraid we have been pretty judgemental about her, her friends and the schedules they keep all night.  He has been ill, has diabetes and had one leg amputated.  He said he needed some help for condo fees and had no food.  Said he had been living on popcorn and diet Pepsi....wow he is diabetic!  My poor mother would turn over in her grave if she knew I let someone go hungry I knew.....I was crushed and offered to take food over or anything. So I handled it and  I contacted a good member of the church on the condo board I know and ask him to get in touch with the new bishop and help me, help my neighbor.  We will be sure he does not remain hungry.......all I can say is be careful what you pray for.......you might get it. Someone up there is listening to prayers!

PROOF...WISDOM REALLY DOES COME WITH AGE.

The bright lights on Temple Square have been taken down, but Temple Square is still a special place for a family outing.  This is the Cook family enjoying the Christmas light down town.  The temple is the center of the city.  It looks pretty cold.......

Winston Churchill famously said; "We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give."  The older you get the more this makes sense.  Wisdom comes with age the article says........New research at Texas A&M University in College Station found that older adults are better able to evaluate both the immediate and delayed benefits of decisions than young adults are.  That is because younger people primarily use the brain's ventral striatum (related to reflexive learning and impulsivity) to make choices.  But aging prompts the brain to shift decision-making to the prefrontal cortices, the area that controls rational, deliberate thinking.   So I guess there are some benefits to getting old.....but not many.   Be thankful for what you have and you will end up having more. Whereas if you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough!  WOW......26 degrees today!

FOREVER TIMES.....

 I love this picture of Big Richard and his son Richard the day they went to the Temple and took our his endowments for his mission. One week from today my third grandson will have his Missionary Farewell.......and three weeks later be off to the MTC.  So hard to let them go, but so proud when they do.  I just emailed my second grandson who is on his mission in Brazil.  I tell him silly things about how cold it is here and how I am worried about the little birds lining up at the bird feeder for some food and where are they going to keep warm?  I am so sure he isn't too interested in these mundane things, but my life is really pretty dull compared the new and interesting things happening to him each day.  Some day he will look back and realize that.  Oh to live among the people in a distant land and learn their language and Oh, to be 19 again.  No, don't look back........... why can't I still do that? I'll put that on my BUCKET LIST!  Enough rambling and back to the real world.  Weekends are usually long and quiet but I have learned to handle that, and the best bet is to just do a little "Retail Therapy". So moving on...........

LOVIN MAXINE......

As the years pass you start finding people you can relate to.....like Maxine!  She seems to have all the answers for us in our later years.  As the Christmas Holiday is all tucked away safely until next December I start to make new lists for 2013, BUT I realize there are 1. Things I won 't do now.  2.  Things I won't do later.....and 3.  Things I will probably never do!  I have my bucket list, and my this month list and my this week list and things I need to do today list.  Laundry was big on my TODAY list and I did get one load of laundry in so far, but I probably won't get much else done.  It is about 8 degrees out side and I hate cold.  I want to write a letter to my missionary and put in some Christmas pictures, clean the fish bowl......I can barely see poor Arnold. Yesterday was a big zero as Patty and Ruth came by for coffee and five hours later decided their families would begin to wonder what happened to them.  We do this about once a month, our regular therapy sessions.......so I still have yesterdays list to do, which falls into category 2.  You can't believe how much time I can waste watching the hungry little birds line up to my bird feeder or play a few games on my WONDERFUL computer.  I do feel we are better organized if we make lists, even if we don't get around to doing anything about them!

IT'S COLD......

OK.....I am now moving into my 81st year in three months......why not?  With each day...each year...each minute you learn something that makes life easier.  This morning as I sat reading the paper and having my coffee....in my PJ's my sweet daughter Karrie and Richie walked in.  They came to put the Christmas Trees, the decoration and Christmas stuff away.....hopefully for another year.  Then they vacuumed and mopped the house and sent me off happily into 2013.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU..... I am not use to having others clean or do nice things for me and I still feel guilty when my kids have to step in and do all the things I have done for them all these years......and won't let me pay them.  In all my years I never had one day of house cleaners in my house, seems odd how nice it is for them to come without my asking. I watch my friend Patty go almost everyday to help her 98 year old mother who lives alone and think,YES that is me kinda. My mother died when she was 58 and I never had that opportunity to pitch in with her.....she wasn't a bit old!  It was a great Holiday but I am happy to get back to the normal routine.  Mailed bills this morning, had Christmas pictures printed and see the calendar is filling up with the usual.  It is cold, cold and I had to fill the bird feeder again, they are really going through the food.  Nice to know I am filling the stomachs for a few of those beautiful little birds.....who decided to to face the Utah winter......think much about my sweet missionary in Brazil, lonesome for Alex.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013....

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013.....I wonder how long it will take me to get use to writing this new year?  Been a great holiday, dinner at Tiberons last night and off to see "The Hobbit" today, not my favorite.  Got most my Christmas decorations boxed and ready to move on. It is freezing cold here today.
I watched the Rose Bowl Parade and the theme was "OH THE PLACES YOU'LL GO".....My favorite DR. Suess book. 
"Congratulations!  Today is your day.  You're off to Great Places!  You're off and away!  You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.  You're on your own.  And you know what you know.  And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.  OH THE PLACES YOU'LL GO."  GO.....is my middle name. Talked to my sweet little sister this morning, and one of my best friends Patty this afternoon...I am so lucky. If this weather keeps up I may just hibernate all winter.  We were spoiled last winter, it was so mild.  Why do we start each year walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, I should walk through the rooms of my life, not looking for flaws, but for potentials for the future.
"May all your troubles last as long as your New Years resolutions."......