LOVED watching all the snow hoopla in Virginia! I talked to Gab last night and it’s supposed to snow again on Friday. I just laughed (sorry…, sort of…). Moffett’s cousin, Mary, sent photos/video of herself sitting in their kayak, in the snow. Gail wrote that Donnie and friends cooked up a batch of Brunswick Stew (I’m envious of the stew).

Four of my elementary school years were spent in Alexandria, VA and we loved snow days! Then we moved to England. No snow days then but – we did have one day that the school bus turned around and drove us home due to the fog. Next was Alabama and nope, no snow days there. After that it was Michigan. Lots of snow one day and we were sure that school would be closed. It wasn’t, we almost missed the bus. Back to Alexandria where the first snow saw my sister and I trudging off to the bus stop in the snow, only to have a neighbor yell out to us to go home as the schools were closed. In college (a women’s school back then) in Virginia, there were snow days but it only meant that we could wear pants. At that time, late 60’s, there was a dress code and no pants were allowed, unless it snowed. As a teacher (in Richmond, VA), I loved snow days. Plus, we’d end up with early dismissal days if it started snowing in the morning, after schools had opened. If the kids had lunch, it counted as a full day so the cafeteria would rev it up and they’d eat lunch at 10 and then get on the bus to go home. Yay, no makeup days for early dismissal!

And now, working at the church, there are days that the parish office doesn’t open because – I can’t get there.

I still love snow days!

The January photos are here: (and yes, it includes the turkey frying…)

It snowed, again – supposed to be just a little – ended up with 7 inches. It was on Monday and we had nowhere to go, so we went nowhere. It snowed again on Tuesday, supposed to be just a few flurries. Well, it wasn’t.

The view from the treadmill – I have finally learned to use podcasts and put them on my baby iPod, the Nano. I am on the treadmill almost every morning for 20 minutes of walking (not running!). The treadmill is in the downstairs bedroom and faces the sliding doors looking out on the yard, the lake, the mountains. It’s nice but I need something to listen to. Many years ago, Moffett bought a whole set of “Oldies but Goodies” cd’s and I have them on the Nano. They’re great for striding along on the treadmill. As each new tune begins my mind wanders and the memories start. It’s fun. Being an Army Brat, I usually equate music with where I lived when I first heard a song. And so, there are good memories.

Back to the podcasts… Radio stations are few and far between up here in the woods. One program I miss is Garrison Keillor’s Sunday mornings on Lake Woebegon. (I’m spelling it incorrectly and will have to look it up – fixed it!) I always thought it was mildly amusing but living in a small NH town, it’s more amusing. You can’t get the whole program due to copyrights, etc… but there’s almost 20 minutes each week. So now, one morning each week I get to chuckle as I listen to Garrison chat about Minnesota and the weather. The rest of the week I bop along listening to the oldies.

Other exercise includes shoveling snow. And yes, I do help. Not often but sometimes… You know the old saying, “Heating with wood warms you twice, once when you cut it and once again when you burn it.” Most sites give that quote to Thoreau, others to Lincoln. Here, we give it to my dad. In any case, we shovel some of our snow several times. We have a plow guy for the driveway and Moffett will shovel out the part of the driveway under the deck (that the plow guy can’t get to) and move that to the plow part of the driveway. Then it’s time to shovel off the deck – umm… onto the driveway. Then – yes, there’s more – if there’s been a lot of snow, he rakes the roof, onto the deck and yup, back onto the driveway.  After finishing our house, he picks up Kevin and they go over to dad’s house (which is still for sale) and shovel the unplowable areas there in addition to the deck (and sometimes the roof).

Last year at this time, we’d had more snow and could barely turn around at the top of our drive. Not a big deal but – dad’s funeral was being held and people (cars!) were coming. We talked to the church’s plow guy and tried to hire him to come up here with his front loader to shove some of the snow down the hill. He came, he brought another man with him along with the front loader. They moved snow, they shoveled snow and then he wouldn’t bill us. He said it was his way of showing respect for dad’s army service. He had never met dad, just read the obit. Another reason to like living in a small town…

Some photos…

Tomorrow it will be one year since dad left us (tried to write died but…).
Yeah, it sucks but as one Desmond said (I think it was Sean), he knows they’re all up there having a great happy hour and just chatting away. We miss them all, Gerald & Jean, Lil & John, Bill & Dottie, Mae & Dan, Helen, Peg. We still have Uncle Bill Traber!

Dad had to have surgery in June of 2008. On the day I drove him to the hospital, I had to tell him that his brother, Bill, had died. He wanted the details and then was quiet in the car. Then he calmly said, “I’m the last one.”

We were/are lucky, I think. Our families have kept in touch for the most part. Dad was always so thrilled when nieces and nephews sent cards and photos. He’d look at me closely and say, “You did this with your computer.”  He loved it when the staff at the nursing home would let him know that he had received the most mail on his birthday/Christmas. You guys were AWESOME when I asked for your support. When dad first became ill in 2005, Gerald sent a “Get Well” card and let me know it was the first one he’d bought and sent in many years. Some of you who live close by were able to visit dad, he loved the visits and enjoyed taping up the visit photos on the walls of his room.

That’s all for tonight. Tomorrow I plan to visit some of his friends at Golden View, the nursing home.

Mom & Dad – early 50’s – West Point

I’ve been humming this for two days! 

Chris arrived yesterday, on time, in the snow!

Last night’s feast included the roast beast (think Whoville)  (a prime rib that Moffett found on sale – No, Russ, it was not a turducken), and Yorkshire Pudding (recipe compliments of the Roberts family). Unlike Gab and Mike, I have managed to NOT set off the smoke alarms and burn the kitchen (hee, hee) when following their recipe.

Today’s glorious food was fried turkey. We (Chris) fried two as we have several friends who want to try it.

Here are some frying the turkey photos…

Moffett, Chris & Kevin

It’s done!Chris & Colleen

THE turkey – and boy, was it yummy!

Hope everyone will enjoy a wonderful 2010!

December’s photos:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a quiet one with a delicious dinner, a few gifts and a few phone calls. Dick and Lorraine sent shirts, bourbon balls and ham. And yes, for those of you who have been here, there’s a new clock!

We fixed ham, herbed potatoes and yes, the green bean casserole.

The guys are in KC together, and as I write, they’re buying a new, used car for Kyle. He is still driving the Integra we bought Chris in high school and it’s not doing so great. Kyle is working and so, it’s time. They survived all the KC snow, even went to the movies on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, we’re having more fun with plumbing than anyone should have. On Christmas Eve morning, we noticed water in the basement utility room. Called our plumber (our plumber is a long story that I’ll write about some time, he’s a wonderful guy – he and his wife even came to dad’s funeral Mass). He came, worked on something – seemed to be fixed. Tonight, I reached under the kichen sink to retrieve the cutting board and… it was wet. We’ve shut off the hot water at the sink. The plumber will be here first thing Monday morning.

Christmas Morning

Moffett made biscuits this evening – following a recipe from Lorraine.

Finally, a foggy afternoon today and sunset this evening.

 

We’re so enjoying the snow falling somewhere other than here!

And, so wanted to post this for our Richmond friends.

And yes, we know it’s closing.

Here’s another box of slides, 1975 & 76, I think. If you didn’t know us then, they’re probably boring. They’re probably boring anyway but the lake and winter photos are nice.

Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

And so it begins – a snowy winter.

Yesterday wasn’t so bad. We didn’t leave the house all day, just watched the snow blow and blow. There’s barely any snow on the deck – just one big drift outside the porch door. Our road was plowed this morning. Our plow guy came this morning. I even made it to work today. According to reports, we got anywhere from 8 – 10 inches of the white stuff yesterday.

Right now the wind has kicked up again and it sounds awful out there. But Moffett’s got the wood stove going so it’ll be toasty warm soon.

We STILL haven’t decorated the tree. It’s on my list for tomorrow, along with trying to get the Christmas cards done.

A few old photos… My Christmas gift in 1999 was MY first digital camera. It was a Sony. It was big. It used floppies to store the photos. I loved it! And Chris (whose idea it was) realized he’d created a monster.

Kyle & Chris, Chesterfield Mall – early 80’s

Chris & Kyle – one of the first photos with the Sony Camera

Weekend Photo Album

I’m taking this idea from a friend. On weekends I’ll try to post a couple of photos. Some will be new (it’s snowing! right now) and some will be old.

I’m enjoying the comments!! Just go to comments below this post and you can leave one. Your email is NOT published.

Turkeys in the yard this morning – there were a bunch!

The snow started this afternoon – you can barely see a few flakes.

By 6 this evening, plowable snow!

An oldie… Mom & Dad – 1970’s – probably Christmas Day

We don’t have the tree up. We’ll do it but it takes time. Those of you who have visited know that we have a great cathedral ceiling in our living room/dining room/kitchen. A few years ago, I rashly purchased a humongous tree because I knew it would just look so pretty. It does but, I curse it.

Until 1987, we ALWAYS had a real tree. We have fond (NOT) memories of our first Christmas tree. The year was 1974 and we lived in an apartment in Richmond. We picked up Moffett’s Aunt Felicia and the three of us went tree shopping. Found two great trees, one for us and one for Felicia. Felicia and I went shopping (at Woolworth’s) for ornaments for us. I still have some of those first ornaments. We got her tree up and our tree up – and decorated. That weekend, we traveled to Front Royal, VA to visit with Moffett’s mom, grandfather and another aunt - and pick up furniture they were giving us. We drove back to Richmond on Sunday afternoon, trying to find the Redskins game on the car radio, with the car trunk tied shut to hold in the furniture (a dining room table – we were psyched – we were using a card table). When we arrived home we were a little worried. We were keeping a color! TV for a friend as our apartment complex had had some issues with burglaries. As we walked into the apartment, we both looked to make sure the TV was still there. It was – BUT – we had the deadest tree, worse, much worse than Charlie Brown’s tree, sitting/shedding in our living room. It was unreal. Brown needles piled up, ornaments on the floor. I almost cried. First we emptied the car of the furniture, then we un-decorated the tree. Then Moffett took the tree out and dragged it to a treed area near our back door. The next morning, anyone could see the path of brown needles going from our patio to the wooded area. The next night, the three of us went tree shopping again – as Felicia’s tree had done exactly the same thing.

I didn’t even take a picture of the stupid, dead tree. But believe me, it looked bad!