BARCELONA, SPAIN........Here are two of my favorite pictures. I flew to Barcelona with my friends for a trip down the MIDDIE CANAL IN FRANCE. We had a few days here to check out
Yes, travel does keep you young,,,,,,,It does this by simply putting you in situations that make you feel like a child again. When we are very young, everyday we discover some thing new in our world. Magically lost in a moment of discovery we forget our age as we see, hear, feel, smell or taste something new on a trip. Beautifully confused it could be the first time you awaken to the 5:00 AM call to prayer from the local mosque on Morocco's far Atlantic shore, (oh yes, I remember that day), the first time you feel the weight of the Egyptian sun on your shoulders, (Yes, I remember that too), the first time you paddle out over the shallow reefs of the Caribbean, or the first time you realize that people living in squalor can achieve happiness as easily as those living in mansions.
I love, love this picture! It's like the song 'I have the whole wide world in my hands'....... I HAVEN'T BEEN EVERYWHERE.....BUT IT'S ON MY LIST!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!.........I can not even begin to tell you what is in my heart tonight! There are tears in my eyes and in my heart for what I am thankful for........I had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with the only sister I have left out of three.....and a good talk with my little brother JIM ......who is headed for a back operation next month. I went to my nephew and his wife's house in Orem for dinner with my sister, LESLIE. Her daughter KRISTI and granddaughter Anna came up from St. George. My nephew's son CHASE and wife and baby Jude dropped by and played cards with us......MIKE's wife ANDREA and her three children SARAH, JAKE AND MAT were with us so we had quite a group. She set a beautiful table with china and silver and the smoked turkey was wonderful. Leslie and I brought Hordourvs.
Growing up in all my wildest dreams I never thought I would make it to EGYPT! Only in history books were the great pyramids, sphinx, deserts and camels and the wonderful Nile River. I had never heard of a Kartush....... (jewelry or picture with your name in their symbols.....which of course I had to buy). We flew to Cairo with wonderful markets. I don't think we missed a single temple....Luxor, Karnack etc. We did a lot of walking but it was all different...and yet the same. We spent hours in the museum and got to see King Tuts treasures. On the desert we took a ride on a camel.....my first....and my last. Then a short ride down the NILE RIVER in those interesting little boats called 'Fulukas' The last part of the tour was a five day trip down the Nile on a very interesting boat. We stopped along the way every day.....more temples and wonderful new sights......and fun shopping. Would I like to go back to Egypt? Yes, but not until there is more peace there......but it will always be one of my favorite trips.
WOW.....such a picture! My sweet Annie down in St Thomas sent this to the Face Book. I have been there done that several times......but to be with my sweet families down there makes you just a little "jealous'. Her title was 'St Thomas Charlotte Amelia at Marriott's Frenchman Reef Hotel.....Yes. We had a very nice November Day here in Salt Lake. I went to a movie with Shirley and we stopped for lunch, then to the store for a few items for Leslie's visit. She called on her way to Orem for a great-grandson's baby blessing and was worried about the roads as the weather around Cedar City were pretty bad. She also said our baby brother, Jim, was in Albuquerque in the Veterans hospital ......may have to have a back operation.
AHHHH,,,,,I can't help but wish I was in St Thomas with my grandkids today among the sand, blue water and wonderful flowers.....watching them enjoy their beautiful vacation. I have had some fun days on the beach and been to St Thomas several times .......I have left my foot prints there in the sand. I'm off to LUNCH with a dear friend from many years ago, Susan Holgreen. Our husbands were airline pilots together, Her husband is gone now......and so is mine kinda.......and it will be fun to reconnect and reminisce about our fun days learning to ski at Park City......the first year it opened. Washed my hair, did two batches of laundry, turned on the dish washer, took out the garbage and tending two extra big dogs. My life has turned into VERY BUSY. We are having bright sunny weather, but pretty cold.
5o years ago today President Kennedy was shot in Dallas Texas.......I think we all remember where we were that awful day! A terrible thing for any country to go through. However if that happened today????? I don't think there would be as many tears!
Can you imagine a family this large? This is not Marley and Izzy, but could be......several years ago Izzy had 10 puppies, and only 8 nipples so we had to keep rotating them so everyone got a turn. The puppies grew up to be beautiful dogs.......Tonight Karrie and Scottie brought MarMar and Iz over to spend the Thanksgiving week........ for me to tend while they take off for St Thomas. It was my turn because Karrie had tended my dog, Pams and Dons while we all went to Nicci's wedding in September. We are a family of dogs that is for sure.
STONEHENGE.......of England. Ann and I rented a car in England and drove through England, Scotland and Wales. One of the highlights of my trip through England was Stonehenge......oh yes, and learning to drive on the left hand side of the road. We were fascinated by this place, the size and the mystery of these huge stones. They think it was built between 3100-1100 BCE.
Yesterday it was toilets.......today doors. You can see I don't have a lot of exciting things in my life to write about????
HEY.......I am so excited! I have three, yes three new high rise toilets..... and a new bigger water tank!........When you let your kids move in......and I know most of my friends have had this happen to them on and off and they are use to 'the best of the best'........they are so great to up-grade your house-hold. 10 OR 12 years ago The Chiristensons moved into the basement for 7 weeks between homes and Darrren put in a new BIGGER hot water heater, well Rob and Pam are down there now until their new house is built and Rob decided he needed a BIGGER water tank, one to enjoy his morning shower so I got a new one today and the higher toilets. I REALLY NEEDED THESE AS MY KNEES ARE GIVING OUT AT 81, but he is only 56? I would have been thrilled to have one up stairs but they also put one in my upstairs bathroom. It has been a busy weekend for Rob he fixed the doggie door and put up some fun Christmas lights outside. Love him and I hope he never grows up! I can't think of a better Christmas Present.! Didn't get much done today personally, but feel we had a great day......Have a busy week coming up with doctor appointment, bridge, luncheon and the condo meeting. Bright and sunny today.....but chilly.
I am waving from the Crater door as I watch the family get suited up to certify in scuba diving and my cute youngest grandchild\, Scott, getting some help before he dives in.
As a blogger......I find a blog is the place to write how you feel and what you are thinking.......Well, as you know our world at this point is consumed by the mess the President of the United States has put our Health Care in.......he has succeeded in his plan to ruin it! So far I have not received a cancellation from my Health Care Plan as millions around the US have.....but every day I dread getting the mail, cause you might be the next. At my age I need my health care help. What is ahead for us........I wish I had a crystal ball! Do too many Americans have a bad attitude about it? Shouldn't we? I keep thinking some one is going to get pushed so far they shoot him......no I don't how to shoot? I wonder why Obama has dropped his big push calling his new health plan "OBAMA CARE" to just................. "AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE PLAN?".......It is so bad he doesn't want his name on it any more!!!!
From the Golden Triangle on my trip through Thailand and Burma we caught a long boat down the Mekong Delta River to a small village in Laos for an afternoon tour. Laos is a small country squeezed in between Burma, Viet Nam and Thailand. Such interesting people and culture and they seem to eat every bug that moves. They deep fry them like French fries???? There are many ethnic groups. The little village we were in was not much more than small shacks with dirt trails leading off in many directions. The little market had many bottles of liquor with strange looking animals floating in them. UGH. I did buy a cute little turtle that opens up with a small compass inside. There were many Kodak Moments every where you look. The people were as interested in us as we were in them.
These are my two beautiful granddaughters.....my oldest grandchildren........ pictures taken with me in October at Nicole's wedding in Minnesota. Tiffany, who was a brides maid and the bride Nicole. I was so, so excited to become a grammie when Tiff was born......my first. Then Nicci three years later. I have watched them grow into beautiful, smart and talented young women. Getting an education, marrying nice young men and working hard. Seems only yesterday I was baby sitting, making fluffy dresses they loved and blankies. Going to school programs, dance programs etc and always being a proud Gram. Their parents have done a very good job of encouraging them and supporting them along the way. I am thankful to have lived long enough to see them grow up and succeed and it also says I did something right along the way.......when your grandchildren succeed in life. My next goal is to live long enough to see some great-grandchildren........so I am waiting and waiting and waiting!!!
As I get older people ask me...."so what do you do to keep busy?"......Well I can tell you just transforming my vocabulary to fit in with my grandkids is a full time job. I feel like I have two sets of words to use every day......what I used the word for when I was growing up and what my grandkids use that word for today! Now you have to realize I grew up in the dark ages to this generation......we had wood stoves, the telephone hung on the wall and was a party line, we did have electricity, you know light bulbs........ no TV, computers or cell phones......but when the kids now days talk about LOG ON, they don't mean....... put some wood on the fire. LOG OFF isn't let the fire cool down. A MONITOR now days is a noun, when I grew up you monitored the progress of the fire in the stove and that word was a verb.. DOWNLOAD, we were asked to help take the wood out of the truck and stack on the porch. A HARD DRIVE.....was the trip to town in a snow storm on the old gravel roads that were seldom plowed. WINDOWS were what we opened in the summer to cool off and closed in the winter to keep the cold out. SCREENS were what we put on the doors and windows to keep out the bugs. BYTE.....was what mosquito's did to you. A CHIP was what we ate with a hot-dog and MICRO-CHIP was what was left in the bottom of the bag of chips. KEYBOARD, everyone had one by the back door to hang your car keys on. SOFT WARE was what you bought for a new baby. A MOUSE.....an animal you set a little trap for, in the pantry, with cheese on it. MOUSE PAD was where the mouse lived. ENTER was how you got into your house. CLICK, what you heard when you closed something.....DOUBLE CLICK when you had to close it again. REBOOT was when you took your boots off and then decided you had to go to the outhouse one more time before you went to bed!!!!. Now after being told about a dozen times what these words mean now days I am really making progress in the 20th century.....however I'm still not sure about Hard Drives, Bytes, and Micro-chips?
CHANNEL ISLANDS OF JERSEY AND GUERNSEY.........Ann and I flew to New York and spent a day before boarding the QE-2 to sail for Southampton, England.......five days later we arrived in England. We took a train to the end of the of the line where we boarded a hydrofoil or high speed catamaran to Jersey. Arriving after dark took some hunting a taxi and then finding our bed and breakfast down some steep steps....interesting introduction to the island. Next day pleasantly surprised to find a fun village on the water and nice people everywhere. We spent three days on Jersey and three on Guernsey and was most fascinated by the big stone bunkers the Germans had built on these island during the war.....on a clear day you could see France across the English Channel. 
No matter how long you live you can keep having "Firsts" in your life.......This is my oldest granddaughter Tiffany and her husband Scott. They have been married three years and when she married Scott he had a big dog named Captain. Friday after work when Tiff picked Captain up from "Doggie Play Day", they informed her he had had a....... Viagra problem.......(you know the commercial for Viagra, if it lasts more than 3 or 4 hours call the doctor) well, Captains was all day and maybe she should have him checked.....alarmed Tiff called her Dad for help (Scott was deer hunting!).........and off to the Vet they went......they knew what to do for him thank goodness. I thought it was kinda funny, but they weren't laughing at the time. Never a dull minute when you have kids or pets!
No, I'm not perfect, but I am the way God made me. Thanks to my wonderful parents I was raised to like myself......I am content to be and do things alone because I like my own company and am very self-confident. I do not need a man or even a lot of rich or famous people
"WHAT PART OF 'NO' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND"? Why can't some people take NO for an answer? You say it as plain as you can and yet they give you 'BUT' and seem to pursue their requests! Good arguers know how persistence wears you down......your children for instance. After an hour of NOS you finally give in........for peace and quiet.......and your children know that. Or the Bishop asks you to accept a calling, you grow up to think if the church asks, you have to say yes......or feel guilty or lose all those blessing you get for your volunteer work etc. If you are not well, your schedules already full and then some, have a job that is demanding or you just don't feel qualified or even JUST DON'T WANT TOO.......SAY" NO." I know it's easy to say to someone else, but how many times have you said yes, I'll take food, bring food, come to the meeting, call a dozen people and the list is long and you hate yourself for it afterwards. If your heart isn't into a YES.....say NO. As you get older it gets easier......I think?
This tiny country of Andorra was such a delight.......We had flown to Barcelona, Spain to go up the Midi Canal, but decided to add another country to our growing list of countries. This little country was too close not to investigate. Our group rented a car and drove up the mountain to enjoy the scenery and the fun "Bask people". I remember there were many herds of sheep along he way and they always seemed to have the right away. There were castles and old buildings from centuries before. Our visit was way too short, but the people were warm and friendly and the one meal we had there was fun food. The shopping was good because it is all duty free.
Been watching Doctor Ruth on Kati Couric......she is 85 and collects turtles. She was an orphaned at 10, lived through the Holocaust and came to America where she was one of the first people brave enough to talk about sex on TV........which she has become famous for. Her love making tips for seniors slays me. Wear your glasses, to make sure your partner is actually in the bed....OK, good start. Set timer for 3 minutes, in case you doze off in the middle.......Set the mood with lighting (turn them all off). AMEN. Write partners name on your hand in case you can't remember.....Have Tylenol ready in case you actually complete the act. Make all the noise you want, the neighbors are deaf too! If it all works, call everyone you know with the good news!!! Don't even think about trying it twice.
When Ann ask me if I wanted to go to RAROTONGA.......I couldn't say it or spell it.....much less know where it was located. I discovered Rarotonga is located in the COOK ISLANDS.
Hey, there are some days when getting up isn't easy......Mondays are no different. You stretch, find your glasses, hearing aids and hair piece and move along. I find if I hear or read something funny it helps. I'm off to mail my house taxes for the year and want to be sure I don't make the mistake this poor lady is making.
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