Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy 2009!


My wish for you is a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous, Loving 2009!

1231


"Today will forever be known as 12/31."

Did you hear that all 1st generation Zunes all froze and died today? I wouldn't have believed it unless I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

On Zune's forum on their website there are 271 pages (at the time this was posted) bitching about it. Few people want to sue MicroSoft. HAHAHAHA. Someone said that this was a terrorist attack. Hence the quote at the top.
It seems as the devices have all freaked out because of a leap year issue. Today isn't 365 it is 366.....so tomorrow they should all un-freak and carry on.
I will say it did piss a bunch of people off. So far I haven't had many problems with my ipod. :)

2008 losses

This last year has been a hard but good year. I have many things to be grateful for and many people that I will miss this coming year.

We have had four very important people in our lives pass away this year.

Tina, who watched my son daily for years, will be greatly missed. She and I had many laughs over the years and also we just got each other. It is rare when you find someone that just "gets" you. Tina, I miss you.

Deanous, my second mother, passed in May. I have known Deanous since I was in the first grade. She taught in the school that I went to. Her daughter, R, was the first person I ever sat next to when we moved to the big ole little town I grew up in. There was one particular thing she did for me that I will never forget. We were on a band trip in high school and a teacher was giving me a hard time for no reason. Deanous stood up and basically yelled at the lady to leave me alone and that she would take full responsibility for me. She then came and gave me a big hug and told me that she was going to call my momma (as the lady giving me a hard time was my mother's cousin). All through the years she treated me and my brother as her own children. She loved my child as her own grandchild. She died two weeks before her own grandchild, a beautiful granddaughter, was born. My heart aches for R, as I can only imagine how losing your Mother and having a daughter all in the same 2 week period.......wow. I love you Deanous. I wish you could have physically held your granddaughter. She would have made you smile that beautiful smile of yours. You would be so proud. I miss you.

Also in May, Daddy M, our beloved grandfather whom we named our child after also passed just days after Dean0us. I have no words to express the loss we feel without having him here. He made me feel like I was the best thing that had ever happened to his grandson. He also loved to sing and made everyone around him feel like singing and dancing. Even though he knew that Mamaw smoked and drank he still never said anything. I have always had the utmost respect for him. He never pushed his opinions on anyone. He led by example. I will forever cherish the picture I have of the four generations together.

Grandad also passed this year. He passed a couple of days before the Hurricane Ike hit Texas. He was preparing us all the last few years that he was ready to go be with his wife, Punkin, in heaven. Well I wasn't prepared. He was the nicest most sincere man I have ever met. I don't think he had one mean bone in his body. His smile was contagious. He made everyone feel that they were the most important person in the world to him. Just thinking about him make me tear up. I can still hear him like it was yesterday. I hope I can always hear his voice in my head.

I know that this is a downer post.....but I need a place to say goodbye and also remember these special people in my life.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

As promised....here are a couple of pictures.

First we have the lake near where we are staying. This is just the most beautiful place on earth....I think!

Next, is the red-headed son making snow angels. This was within minutes of us arriving at our destination in Colorado.
If you are wondering....we are in Grand Lake, Colorado. It is 30 or so minutes from Winter Park. It is just beautiful here!
Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday's....whichever you prefer!
May your day be filled with love, laughter, family, good health, and maybe a strong glass of eggnog!
Peace out.




Saturday, December 20, 2008

We are leaving in just a few hours.

Colorado here we come.

I am hoping to be able to grace you internets while I am in CO but I am not sure there will be access for me. I will find a way to get some pictures uploaded of snow.

Just a side note - it will be 80 degrees and raining on Christmas day here at our house....it will be snowing where we are in Colorado.

Happy Holiday's ya'll!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Colorado or bust

So I have been knee deep in preparations for our trip to Colorado for Christmas. I was also asked to help make a DVD of picture for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary in the midst of all of my planning and preparing.

This morning I was overcome with panic as I was trying to get the DVD's to copy and also find time to go run all of my errands. I was ready to check myself in the looney bin. I just couldn't see any progress in any of what I had been doing all week. I made 10 DVD's for my Mother and it took 45 minutes for each of the boogers to copy. I had been working on this project all week which included contacting each of my younger cousins to get me update pictures of themselves. The pictures that I had dated back to the first of the 20th century to present.

It was awesome to get to catch up with everyone that I did talk to. I hadn't seen or heard from 5 of my cousins for over 20 years. It was a nice to get updated pictures and reconnect with the little/now big rugrats.

Once I was done with the big family project, I got down to business regarding our trip to Colorado...well after lunch with my Mother, of course.

The family came with and I went grocery shopping as well as we went and got all of our snow gear. After that we hit Target and then headed home. It feels awesome to know that 78% of all of our stuff is ready to go. I just need to finish up and go to a couple of Christmas parties in between.

Next week, we will be on vacation for Christmas in Colorado. I will be very sparse around here....I know you are shocked, right? okay.....whatever. I do promise to try and check in with a picture or 2 while we are gone.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Sunday's picture

Santa, Mrs. Clause, red-headed son and an elf.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I have a freckle....

Honestly, I have lots and lots of freckles as I am a pretty fair skinned person. But how many people have freckles on their hands?


See it? My son has one on his hand too. I have never known anyone else to have one on the palm of their hand.....but then again I never really looked!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I hate the sensation of falling.

I hate even more actually falling.....like through the ceiling....

see the hole here?
looking up at the hole...
My good friend/neighbor was with me when it happened. After she made sure I was okay and got me to stand up we both started laughing hysterically. I couldn't believe what happened and that it happened so fast. I didn't even have time to yell a cuss word as I am known to do.
Seriously....that fast. It felt like an eternity though.
Hubster has had many phone calls by me that started with "Honey, I am fine, but......". This was probably not the last time either!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Sunday's picture

I know that I just posted a bunch of pictures but I wanted to post this for my Sunday's picture....

This is my red-headed son. His nickname starts with a "M" so here is my little SuperMan!


bubbles and smoke

I am taking a photography class and I have a project due tomorrow. I am just playing around with some stuff I have at home.

First off we have bubbles...
A single bubble...

smoke....
more smoke with a cool curly spiral...

and more smoke....I like how the light lit this up...


I have to have 7 or 8 pictures.....hmmmm what else can I do? Any ideas?

Saturday, December 6, 2008

blog, blog, blog....oh blog

I am sorry I have neglected you. I just haven't felt up to doing well much of anything lately. Don't get me wrong...I did do things this week....like me and the hubster went to the post office.

Usually someone can go to the post office and get their mail or send off their mail but we actually had a horrible few days dealing with the post office. You know it is one thing for someone to not help you but it is entirely a different thing when someone ANTI-helps you. Hubster gave me the definition for ANTI-helping ~it is past the point of someone helping you they actually work against you.

We ended up going to the post office 3 days in a row due to their incompetence. All we were trying to get was our mail. I know real hard concept for the USPS. On Monday, they let us wait for one and 1/2 hours and told us that they didn't know how to help us and for us to call back the next day. We do as asked and call on Tuesday, they tell us that our mail is there and to please come back and get it. We get to the post office and do exactly as told and they come back to us over an hour later telling us that even if they had the mail they wouldn't give it to us, they were going to return to sender.

Well that about did me in. I think my head spun around on my shoulders a few times. I saw red. I asked for the supervisors name and number. On the way home, I called the number and spoke to the supervisor. She was not friendly at all. She told me that there was nothing she could do.

When we got home I got on the computer and found the name and number of the postmaster for our big metropolitan city. I wrote a long email of complaint to that gentleman. I explained myself and kept out all of the profanity that I sooooo wanted to pepper it with. I had the hubster review it with me as I was in such a frenzy when I wrote it. He helped edit it and then I sent it. Oh that felt good. I just let the USPS have it! I told him exactly what I thought and how it was one thing to help and another to waste my time.

A few hours later, I received a response from the post master. I about fell out of the bed when I read it. He actually responded and said that I would be helped the next day by the supervisor that I had spoken to.

On Wednesday morning, I called back the supervisor and she said she would look and see if they had the mail. She found it and said that she had it on her desk and to come back and call her and she would bring it out to me. I told her I would be there within the hour.

We show back up at the post office and I called her again. She said that she would be right out with the mail. Hubster and I waited patiently.....and we waited and waited. We waited for over 30 minutes.

Finally a guy that worked there was coming out of the blue solid door we had been standing in front of and I asked him to please go and get the supervisor. He said he would. He came back a minute later and told me that she was in a meeting. I told him that I needed him to go get her as I had just talked to her and she was holding my mail. He left and went looking for her. A few minutes later he returned and told me that she was still in the meeting and he couldn't help further. Just at that time another lady came to the window who I know wasn't the supervisor. She asked me what I needed and I told her I needed the supervisor by name and then she proceeded to throw my piece of mail at me.

This was what we dealt with this week. I think that the post office was laughing at us. I pictured them sitting in the back of the warehouse area smoking and laughing at the poor souls who they got to torture. Like I said....it is one thing to not help me but another to ANTI-help me.

It is now Friday night and I am still upset with the post office. Our issue was resolved. We got the mail we needed. But I am still mad as a hornet. I mean come on.....what the hell?!?

Hopefully, next week will be better.