an Untitled Update

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a while... suppose I should update.

Julie, love the pictures from Chloe's birthday! That cake is simply AWESOME!!! Your talent knows no boundaries.... Your children are so lucky to have YOU as their mommy....

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Dyan & I were just talking about being pregnant..... she seems to always have some sort of complaint or other... and I just pointed out to her that I wish she could be happy & enjoy her pregnancy. I think I struck a nerve... LOL It's good that she's close enough to me to be able to tell me anything, and I love that. I just remember when I was pregnant, that I truly enjoyed every minute of it because we were told that we wouldn't be able to conceive naturally. Well, when God proved the drs. wrong, I was so happy, and loved and cherished every moment of both of my pregnancies... I just was trying to tell Dyan that I wish that she could feel the same way, but she pointed out to me that our situations are different. She's right... But still, I want her to really enjoy this experience. I do think I struck a nerve, tho.... sorry, Honey. Sometimes moms just have to learn to keep their mouths shut. I'm not very good at that. :-O

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Cymbalta has been working well for me, so far. It's a new med that the dr. put me on before Christmas, when I just couldn't get out of my funk. I'm better. I think it also helps that Christmas is not looming... Right now, my days are my own... and I love that. No pressure to do anything.

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Okay, so there's drama at church again. Ugh.... but, I believe that the decisions that Pastor Brad made are the right ones for our church. I just feel bad for the people that have been let go. But, it was necessary. I support our pastor and the church board on this decision. People will be okay. The Lord will point them in a new direction for work. When you think of my church, pray for my church. I am excited to hear what Pastor Brad has to say regarding his vision for our church on Sunday night...

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KCC started back up this week. Dyan & Meg switched positions. I think that this is a good fit. Dyan loved teaching the little ones, and Meg filled in like a pro in Choir 3, organizing music for this semester, helping out with rehearsal... I love that both of my girls are involved in this ministry. I'm very lucky. I'm a lucky mom.

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It's snowing right now, and its beautiful outside. I just talked to Christian on the phone, and he's excited to get his snow clothes on and go outside and play. He says, "Hiiiiiiiiiii Grammy Grandma!" That's what he calls me..... LOL

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I switched my coffee maker from the Tassimo back to my Krups latte' maker. It's cheaper to use, and makes a cup of coffee as good as I can get at Starbuck's. Speaking of, I think it's about time for latte #2.

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Today's plan: Get another cup of coffee, get myself cleaned up & makeup & hair done, and straighten up each room in my house the flylady way, and then clean. I ought to go to the grocery store, but eh.... it's cold outside. Right now the fire is going to help warm up the house, and Cali is laying on her bed in front of the fire, which she loves doing. She loves being warm.

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The girls took me to see Twilight last weekend. It was, eh....... okay. I'm still not interested in reading the books. I dunno..... the girls love them. I guess I'm just too old to get caught up in those books. Didn't care for the Harry Potter stuff either.

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The media is all GAGA over Obama..... I just don't get it. They're touting him as the first black president.... he's not ALL black / he's half white. And the ideas he has for our country are totally scary to me.... I have to keep praying for our country, and trust that God will be in control.... I'm so sick of the media being so enamored of him.... its like this morning, on The Today Show, they were all saying how excited they are to be going to Washington DC to see the inauguration and they're talking about the parade & balls.... Did they talk this way when George W. was inaugurated??? Heck no.... It's sick. I'll watch it on Tuesday, only I'll be watching Fox News, the only network that will give a fair & balanced approach....

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I have a few "free" weeks.... well, actually, I'm working on KCC alot, getting ready to launch our spring musical ~ "Camp Wallaballa". Lots to do to get that ready to kick off... And we leave for Cabo in a few weeks. I can't wait to go. I desperately need some sunshine & warm weather, but then, who doesn't??? Don & I are going alone this year..... and that will be nice. We'll have the condo all to ourselves, and not be responsible for anyone else. Is that selfish? Probably.... but we need a break and we need to just relax and think about ourselves. It's okay.

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Time to get busy.

And that's my life so far...

Mexican Riviera New Year's Cruise 2009

Here's some salsas we made in Mazatlan, and a Spanish speaking parrot in Puerto Vallarta...

Making salsas & guacamole in Mazatlan. Yum!!!

In Cabo... Lorene & me at "The Office". We were also having cold drinks at Una Mas in Cabo.

Our ship ~ The Vision of the Seas on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines...

The large gingerbread village on the ship.

My friend, Dianne & me in Long Beach. And Don & his best friend, Tim...











Zip Lining pictures from Puerto Vallarta...

Yup, it's been a long time since an update.... so yes, I thought it was about time to get busy. I spent the afternoon uploading pictures from our cruise for my facebook page.... so thought I'd go ahead and update here too.

December: Christmas. Came quickly, and went quickly. We spent Christmas Eve at my house with a big party, and then Christmas morning, we went to Meg & Drew's house. Her home was beautifully decorated, and we had a wonderful time. I helped her cook the dinner, and it turned out wonderful. She had, I think, 15 people over... and it was a fun day.

The next day, Don & I packed... ready to go on our cruise vacation to Mexico. We got everything done, and got to the airport several hours before our flight. Good thing, because of all the flights that American Airline was flying to Dallas that day, OURS was the ONLY ONE that was cancelled. I couldn't believe it. They gave us an 800 number to call, and the person on that line said that American couldn't get us to LA until Monday. Don was about to go ballistic. They said that they couldn't get us on any other flights that day.... but if we could get OURSELVES to Dallas, they could fly us out tomorrow... No way!!! Sooooo, I sent Don down to the Frontier counter, while I got on his cell & called Southwest. I told the gal, "Please, you don't understand, we HAVE to get to LA TODAY".... and she found a flight for us, direct from KC to LA, and that we could also go standby for earlier flights, which is what we did. So, we had several hours to kill at KC, but we did make it onto the early flight on Southwest. It was great.... only it cost us an extra $800.... oy.... I'm heading to my travel agent tomorrow to try and get our other tickets refunded. Anywayyyyyyyy, we made it to LA in good time... a 3 hour flight. Not bad. Once we got there, we hopped on the Super Shuttle to take us to the hotel in Long Beach. What should have been a 20 minute ride turned into TWO HOURS... We had 3 other old ladies to drop off first..., so we got the royal tour of San Pedro. Anyway, we finally made it to the hotel, which was lovely.... and had a nice dinner with our good friends from LA, Tim & Dianne... We walked around on the pier in Long Beach.. had a lovely time.

Sunday we boarded the ship... sailed a week to Mexico & back. We had a wonderful time... New Year's Eve was especially fun. Don & I got all gussied up, me in black sequins, he in his tux, and we danced the night away in the Centrum area, while drinking champagne, and watching 2009 balloons drop from the top of the centrum... The band was playing 70's music, ya know, DISCO, and then Big Band music....it was so much fun.... I got all sweaty, tho.... LOLOL

We cruised with our good friends, Jerry & Lorene. They have twins who are the same age as Dyan. They grew up together until early elementary years, when we moved away. We have maintained our friendship over the years... and had fun cruising with them this last week!

In Cabo, we went to the Glass Factory... tried to eat lunch at The Office, but it was too crowded since it was New Year's Eve.... So Don & I grabbed a water taxi and went back to the boat. Got some good sun that day.

In Mazatlan, we did the Salsa / Salsa / Margarita thing. It was lots of fun.. We learned to make 5 different kinds of salsa, guacamole, and 2 different margaritas (which were not that great). Then we learned how to dance the salsa. It was lots of fun. After that, we took a taxi to the old part of town, toured through the cathedral and "free" market. It makes me so grateful for what we have here in the states for shopping. Their market.... all the meat was just sitting out, same with fruits and vegetables. They had LOTS of PIG HEADS.... a traditional food for New Years. I couldn't believe my eyes...

In Puerto Vallarta, we zip lined. I thought I would be afraid, since I'm terrified of heights, but I made my mind up that I was NOT going to be scared. After an hour long ride in the back of a truck, we made it to the mountains and the jungle. We got all strapped up, and they showed us how to do it, and then off we went! First time for me, he said just sit back & lift up your legs.... and so I did it and away I went.... talk about FUN!!!! I could't wait to do it the rest of the afternoon! First landing was rough though... I ran smack dab into the tree trunk... bruised up my hip. I wasn't "breaking" hard enough. I fixed that next time around. I went before Don, so that way I could stand on the perch and watch him. Totally fun. I have lots of pics on my FB site if you want to see them.

The last 2 days at sea were very cloudy and a little choppy.... so we basically sat around and read / slept / read / slept / played dominoes / read / slept... Very relaxing.

We did enjoy our cruise and especially our time with Jerry & Lorene. However, I won't take another Mexican Riviera cruise again. I prefer to stay with the Bahamas or Caribbean... much warmer and way more sun. The Pacific was just too cold...

Now I'm back to the daily grind... well, actually, this week, I've hardly done anything except unpack & do laundry and clean up a bit. Don's been so sick, and I've been loading him up with medications and herbal stuff... He caught my sinus infection and it got really bad for him and has gone into his chest. He's now taking some coconut capsules from the pure extract, along with several other herbal stuff & nyquil... LOL He doesn't feel like he has pneumonia, but I bet he has bronchitis... I'm giving him some antibiotics that I found yesterday. I know, not great, but hey.... ya do whatcha gotta do. I worry about him, ya know,..

Okay, gonna upload some pics and call it a day. I'll try and not wait so long to blog again, Julie..... I've missed you too!

Happy New Year, everyone! May God richly bless each one of you this year!