Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of the day that Don & I hopped on a plane to Vegas and tied the knot. It has been an incredible 24 years!!!

When I am in the middle of life, doing whatever is next on my plate, it seems that the years have just flown by. We have had the sickness and the health, the better and worse, and it seems that as the years have gone by whenever we have struggled through a difficulty our bond has become stronger. I don't welcome adversity with open arms but from experience I know that it has the potential to reveal more of each of us both to ourselves and our partners. I am a very fortunate woman to have Don at my side.

On to the minutia of daily life, it has been raining again today. We had snow on the mountain peaks last week along with a respectable 1.5" of rain but this storm is much warmer with less moisture. I was looking at the garden yesterday to see how our "winter" garden is faring. The broccoli are putting on flowers but the brussel sprouts are just putting on leaves. The onions seem to be getting bigger but the cabbages are still very small. The tomatoes that we have in pots are doing just fine, flowering and setting fruit!! Don has been covering them at night as the temps have dropped into the 30s and we are sure that they are tender. The few strawberry plants that I have in a pot are also flowering and putting on fruit! Looks like we might have an occasional broccoli for dinner, a tomato for lunch and a strawberry or 2 for our breakfast.

After seeing the pictures of snow that Lisa sent from Kenmore, I'm really glad to be living here! My bones tend to ache when the weather fronts go through and the cold makes my muscles even more tender. I'm glad that my grandkids get the chance to grow up there with only occasional snow so they will have stories to tell when they get to my age.

Trampoline

I've been looking at trampolines for a while now. I saw a smallish one in a house one day and thought it was a great idea for exercise so when our local Kmart had them on sale I used some leftover birthday bucks to get it.

What fun! At first I was afraid that I was not going to be able to keep my balance but after a few short sessions I began to feel comfortable. It is low impact so my arthritic knees don't mind the jogging or jumping and there are so many things I can do on it!

At first I went to the website that was on the box but that was only to sell DVDs showing how to use it to exercise. Thank goodness for the web! I found ample material on UTube so now am bouncing away while watching t.v. ... much better than sitting in my recliner. I also feel a bit like a kid again. Now I will never admit to jumping on the bed, it is one of the best things a kid can do - just a moment of weightlessness.

I've been going a little at a time but am finding that the more I do, the more I can do. I don't have to go to a gym or try to ride a bike. Just jump around in my living room. Of course it is a good thing that I'm short and I have to keep the jumping reasonably restrained as I don't want to make any holes in the ceiling!!

Christmas is coming!

Now that i'm feeling better I noticed that we are approaching mid-December! Since all our family lives so far away I've got to get presents wrapped and sent off. Oh the travails of dealing with the post-office/fedex/ups! My birth family lives in Canada and I was dismayed to discover that postal service packages tend to disappear if not insured! After a couple of instances I now will only send packages via UPS as they are extremely reliable and fast. Packages to Washington or Arizona aren't as time critical but the system does get overloaded so best to get them out earlier.

We are currently in the process of redecorating our living room and what a delightful mess it is! I'm so looking forward to the end result but getting there is a lot of work! New fixtures, paint and floor coverings are top priority but all take quite a bit of prep work so don't happen as quickly as I'd like. I must remember to enjoy the process.....

The cats are bewildered. Where is that carpet that they lovingly sharpened their claws on? Why has the order of the furniture changed and what happened to that lovely dark corner they could hide in... Scamp, being a bit older, was completely unaffected by any of the goings on until he couldn't get into "his" chair for his afternoon nap. It was covered with "stuff" and pushed aside. Scamp examined and prowled around for quite a while until he was satisfied that his usual nest was unavailable. Of course we have a bed, futon and rocking chair in other rooms for him to rest on but it really wasn't the same. After dinner, when some order had been established, he settled into his chair with immense relief and slept until bedtime.

The winds have died down and we have been left with clear skies and low humidity. The forecast for next week is extremely cold so I want to spend some time outside before it hits. No decorating left to do out there as we got the lights up after Thanksgiving. We drove around a bit last night and it seemed to me that there weren't quite as many big displays as we have had in the past. Perhaps there is belt-tightening going on in our neighborhood.

Sick Again :>(

Nothing much has been happening lately as I've been sick again. Was in urgent care on Sat, got antibiotics and they have *finally* helped. I have slept so much you'd think that, come nightfall, I'd have had enough, but no. It's off to bed early. The antibiotics mention that they may make you sleepy so guess it is a bearable side effect.

Yesterday D & I went to Home Depot for some light bulbs and I was struck by how few people were there. Usually the aisles are buzzing and during the holiday season there used to be many more folks looking for just the right power tool for Santa to bring. The store just may be a victim of the "credit crunch" along with the lower housing prices.

We live in an older neighborhood. The houses here were built around 1961 so do not fit today's fashion of McMansions. They are, however, comfortable and well built with reasonable yards. During the time that prices were rising homes in our area were being remodeled up and down the street. Not only were interiors being improved but the landscaping was upgraded. As a result, the streets around us are much more attractive than when we first moved in. Even though a few houses are for sale, only a couple are due to foreclosure so most of them are well maintained. Since prices have gone down I've noticed that more young families have moved in and they seem to have the energy and capabilities to improve their homes even more. A good trend for the future.

TGIF?

Wow it has been a few days since I posted... Time flies when I'm shopping for Christmas gifts, getting the house ready for the holidays, and hanging out with cats.

Wednesday was a bit stressful, Yvonne had surgery to repair a torn ligament in her knee. Even though surgery nowadays is pretty safe, there remains that small chance that something will go wrong. Fortunately nothing untoward happened and she is safe at home recovering. Becky took time off from work to tend to Yvonne - I know she is in good hands.

Wednesday was also the last meeting of the year for our flying club, The Condors. We bought a bunch of tickets for the lottery and we won a warbird kit and $10 certificate from a local hobby shop. Don is hoping to have the plane ready to fly by Sunday. It is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day so the guys are going to fly military planes (warbirds). We have quite a few members who are veterans of that conflict.

Off today to meet friends for lunch and do some last minute shopping. Time to get some cards into the mail.

RC Flying

Yesterday afternoon we loaded up the van and headed out to the flying field. Sundays out there are very busy and I'm usually the only woman there. Don has been teaching me to fly. At my request he removed the gas engine and replaced it with an electric motor. Much cleaner and I don't have to worry about tuning the darned thing. I've seen more guys spend entire afternoons trying to get their engines running right!

The only downside to electric is that I get only a 10 minute flight out of each battery (we bought 2) and it takes *hours* to recharge them. As a result I have lots of time on my hands so I usually bring one of my latest books or a knitting project to keep me occupied. I used to go for a walk about the park but there had been some vandalism to our area so I have been more reluctant to go wandering by myself.

I've been getting more proficient at controlling the plane. It's tough, that remote thing. It depends a lot on depth perception and I find that mine isn't the best but I'm slowly learning what the profile of the plane looks like in different attitudes. Sometimes I get a bit disoriented but now I don't panic, instead I waggle the wings and usually can figure out what is going on.

So yesterday I was in the middle of my first flight of the day when BOOM... BOOM!!!!! A couple of sonic booms just about knocked me off my feet!!! It was the shuttle coming down to land at Edwards Air Force Base (north of Los Angeles). WOW it isn't very often that the shuttle lands in California and I always get chills. Remember that I was in High School when Sputnik changed the world as we knew it. Anyway, later a friend who flew jets off of aircraft carriers in the Vietnam war explained that the two booms were the result of the craft passing through the sound barrier and there were two because first the wings passed thru, then the tail surfaces passed. I didn't know that!! When he asked if I would go if the chance were offered to me, I said "In a minute!" He said something about danger but I replied that I've had a good, long life and if anything should happen at least I'd go out in a blaze of glory. Hum

That wasn't the only excitement of the day. I landed the plane by myself!!! I usually get really nervous when the plane gets too close to the ground - a result of too many crashes - but Don talked me through it and I landed that little thing. That was a great end to a fun day.