A little relief

Brother Pat just got out of surgery and it went well. I am so relieved. Now I'm waiting to hear from Dave's support group. So, I'm not totally relaxed yet! Okay, now I can relax even more. Dave is out of surgery and doing good. Thank goodness for modern medicine!

Work, sleep, blog

I've been seeing a lot of the back of Jim lately, usually up on a ladder. He is determined to get his shop finished and when he gets determined...

This past week Gavin came down with strep throat. Friday he made it back to school, then to the movies with friends, then to a birthday party where they went go cart racing, then back to the couch for much needed sleep.

Me, laundry, reading, blogging (Tyson likes to help). I did manage to get Squash out for a brief ride. It didn't take long for my legs to start screaming at me to STOP THIS NONSENSE!

One down, two to go

My beautiful sister Marty is still recovering from what turned out to be major surgery to remove her parathyroids. As some of you know I had this same surgery a few years ago and recovered fairly fast from it. Unfortunately Marty's parathyroids were elusive so the surgery took longer and her recovery time has been painful and slow. But, she made it and looks forward to better health.

Monday morning two more loved ones face major surgery. Brother Pat (not to be confused with brother Tom who has an inoperable tumor on his pancreas) is going in to have a tumor removed from his pancreas. And Jim's stepdad Dave goes in as well for bypass heart surgery.

I thought only plane crashes happened in threes. Why am I disclosing all of this? As we go about our day to day business we sometimes forget how fragil life can be and how important our family members are to us until we face possibly losing one of them. I have faith in my heart that Pat and Dave will be fine but find myself remembering special moments shared with both of them.

Financial Peace at last

Jim and I have been attending a class every Wednesday night on Financial Peace. We both have struggled in the past with sticking to any kind of budget. So far this course has been a huge eye opener for us. We are trying very different ideas on how to come up with a workable budget and stick to it. We are both very excited about working together on this and then teaching Gavin what we've learned. I don't remember ever learning anything about managing money in school. Jim's boss is paying for all his employees who are interested in taking this course. I think this is a great idea on his part. I'm enjoying getting to know everyone that Jim works with too. I noticed that this book is for sale on Amazon.

Julian Beever

My niece Mandy sent me the following email along with these amazing pictures of artwork. I've never heard of this guy.

Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion.

I like how different people are posing in these pictures. Or maybe that's Julian himself!

Game Day

I know what I'm doing today. I'm cheering for the Saints. Hopefully they can keep marching on!

As far as the Patriots vs Colts...may the best team win.

For the New Orleans Saints to continue their dream season and reach the Super Bowl, they'll have to defeat the Chicago Bears and their ferocious defense at what's likely to be a cold and raucous Soldier Field on Sunday.

Cool Site

Jimbo introduced me to a new site that I just love. It's Pandora.com and you can type in what kind of music you like and it will play similar music without commercials. I typed in Diana Krall (one of my favorites) and I've been listening to not only Diana but similar songs by similar artists. This site is a must if you love listening to music while doing just about anything within hearing of the computer. And its free!

A Wedding Trip

HERE COMES THE BRIDE!

Jim and I made a whirlwind trip to Belfair, Washington this past weekend. From the looks of the weather, we got in and out of there just in time. The occasion? A wedding. I love weddings and this one has to go on my top list of most fun. One of the reasons this wedding was so much fun was because of all the old friends we got to see. A lot of them didn't know we were coming and so that was fun too. So, our old neighbor Mike Stanton is the lucky groom and I've never seen him look happier. I had heard so many wonderful things about his bride so I was very happy to meet her. One of things I heard was how great she could sing. She treated us all to her singing after the wedding in the lobby of the Alderbrook, which is where quite a few of us stayed. We stayed up late, not wanting the special evening to end. Thank you Mike and Shannon for a wonderful magical time.

Herminator

Which one is real?

Only the toes knows...

More Crazy Football

Seahawks WIN!

Romo's botched hold on a 19-yard field goal try with 1:19 left forced the Pro Bowl quarterback to scramble left, but he was tackled at the 2 and the Seahawks escaped with a 21-20 victory in the wildest of wild-card games Saturday night

Another crazy ending to a very important game. Gosh, I never felt so happy (for the Seahawks) and sad (for the poor Dallas quarterback) at the same time. We started the day out at the anual RV show over at the fairgrounds, looking over the hundreds of pop up tents, camper trailers, and motor homes. Wowza, they sure have gotten fancy. Then ended up the day holed up in the man room watching this nail-biter of a game. This football stuff is starting to get to me!

Yes, we are still celebrating here in Boise!

Football Fever

After nearly freezing to death last night at the MPC Computer Bowl, I am looking forward to relaxing in our cozy living room tonight to watch the Fiesta Bowl. We have been waiting for weeks for this day to arrive. It sure has been fun getting caught up in the football fever here.

Go Broncos!