Christmas shopping

Well I thought that I could quickly finish my Christmas shopping when I got off work today - but everyone else had the same idea! I wonder why we all wait until the last minute? Anyway I think next year I'm going to do all my shopping online....but there will always be those little things that you need for the stockings or the meals.
And last year I finally got things wrapped before Christmas eve - but this year?? I keep meaning to wrap things as I get them....but it's easier to hide them in the closet and not wrap them right away.
It will all get done somehow.
Hang in there and remember who we are celebrating!

Light up the darkness

Yesterday was a rather dark and gloomy day - the way so many are this time of year. As I was finishing the Christmas decorating, I was really struck by how the lights pierced through the gloom and made everything so much more hopeful. And that is exactly what Christ has done - He brought light to a dark and hopeless world - and has given us hope again. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined."
As you enjoy all the lights this Christmas season - think of our great light Christ!

Twas the week before Christmas

Is it just me, or has Christmas come quickly this year? We are trying to slow it down and enjoy each activity - even as our days and evenings are filling up. Andrew will be able to come home this weekend and will be here for his birthday next Sunday.
Thursday evening is our Women's Christmas party and I am doing the devotional...I am praying that God will show me what to share. Tomorrow is my day off work and I hope to finally get some Christmas cookies baked... it's supposed to snow in the morning, so it should be a fun day to bake!

Update for Wednesday

I hope all of you are enjoying this Advent season, taking time to reflect on the amazing truth of Christ's incarnation! I've been putting up decorations, slowly, and just really enjoying the season. We even have had a little snow in Cincinnati last weekend, which was delightful as we attended our first of the season Christmas party!

The snow is gone today, replaced with rain and cloudy weather....which makes the Christmas lights really stand out and reminds me of how we need to light up the darkness!

I now have two herniated discs in my neck and am getting cortisone injections by way of the fluroscope (that they use for angiograms) and the doctor uses an epidural procedure to put the steriod in the right spot, hopefully to reduce the inflammation. Of course the steriod makes my blood sugar go crazy - so I have to take special medicine to counteract that. The worst part is having to lay flat for 24 hours afterward, to avoid a spinal headache. The good part is that in 4-5 days I get some relief from the pain. So I'm off to the hospital this afternoon, I have sloppy joes in the crockpot for dinner and that's my Wednesday update!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope yours was as nice as ours - we enjoyed having all three sons home for the weekend with lots of eating and talking! Today all of the guys helped their dad & I outside. We've had a spell of cold and wet weather and never got our backyard, deck and porch closed down for the season. So since today was sunny and going to be the highest temp in the next few weeks (49) we took advantage of it and have accomplished alot! I even got my winter rye sown!
The guys were so much help - and doing it together, made it easier on all of us.

Making Changes

Hi everyone!
Well I am in the middle of making website changes to hopefully consolidate some of them and make it easier for me to keep up with. So over the next weeks, there will be some sites that go down and others that will have new sections. The first one I'll be working on is to combine my prayer page with the Kathy Kogitations page.
Hang in there with me as I try to get my websites to a manageable size. I hope all of you are planning to vote on Tuesday - we need everyone to make their voice known!

Car problems in New York

Yesterday at my mom's I went to back my car up, so she could move her car out of the garage. And when I tried to turn my car off - it wouldn't turn off! The key was stuck in the on position. I tried everything and even my brother-in-law who works on cars couldn't figure out how to get it out....but he did know how to get the engine to turn off. With my new saturn I have roadside assistance and they came and towed the car off to a Saturn dealer, however due to some New York law - they couldn't take it to the one that is here in town, because the service dept was closed (although the sales was open) And had to take it to one over an hour away...but no one can look at it until Monday.
I'm supposed to drive home Monday. Well - you know that Scripture tells us that we should aways say "If God wills....I will do such and such tomorrow" And here is a great example of having to put my plans in His hands. I don't know if He is keeping me safe from an accident, or having this happen while I'm still at my mom's instead of halfway home - at a rest stop or something - but I do know that I'm glad to have my sovereign Lord in charge of things. So my plans are delayed, but I am not dismayed.

World cardmaking Day

Well today is World Cardmaking Day! My mom and I are working on Halloween cards for her grandchildren (my niece and nephews) I am enjoying beautiful Fall weather in Western New York this weekend. Have a great weekend!

Made it to Hamburg

I had a pretty good drive although went through about 30 minutes of a downpour in Cleveland. Great to see my mom - we are enjoying getting caught up. Rained all night and this morning, but the sun has come out now and it is pretty but cool. We're going to work on cards in the sunroom.

Heading off to Hamburg

One more day of work, a dentist appointment, last minute packing and I'm off to Hamburg to visit my mom and sister! I did most of my packing today - because tomorrow will be so busy....but on Tuesday I'm free as a bird! Looking forward to a wonderful week with lots of time to visit! Prayers for safety on the road will be much appreciated - this is one of the first times I've driven up by myself...but I love driving my Saturn Ion - so I'm looking forward to the trip.
I'll post some pictures when I get there!

Busy weekend

Still canning - salsa and pizza sauce this weekend. I think I've finally figured out how to get the church's accounting software to work correctly - so there is hope that we can finally start our new ministry year on the right foot. My cell phone finally died after 8 years! So I have a new red samsung. Is it just me, or do you just hate having to learn how to work a new phone? It will take awhile to get used to - but it does have features that my "dinosaur" didn't have.
Still cleaning up tree limbs from last week's wind storm - but at least our electricity is back on...5 days without it was beginning to get old quickly! We are pretty spoiled!
Heroes starts back up tomorrow and of course right at the same time as Dancing with the Stars....I think I'll watch Heroes.
Have a great week everyone!

Toothache

Owwwww! Getting closer to the end of my tooth dilemma but not quite done. Long 3 hour appt with dentist on Tuesday - yesterday wasn't too bad - but last night and today I am really hurting - the dentist warned me that he was bruising alot of my gums.
So, hopefully this is the last day of pain. My new crown won't be ready for 3 weeks.
It is so tender that I still cannot chew anything. I'm getting really tired of yogurt.
Well, we are having more beautiful fall weather so I'd better take some tylenol and get outside.
Here's a picture of One of my flowers:

Busy....Busy

The end of August is the end of our fiscal year at work - so as you can imagine - I've been very busy closing the books and getting the new budget in place...right as my tomatoes are needing lots of attention! So not much time for computer stuff. But thought I'd better check in with everyone. Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend and have gotten the little ones back in school. It's strange to not be getting anyone ready for school - no lunches to pack - hard to believe that stage of life is over!
One of these days I'm going to get my vacation pictures posted, but looks like it'll be a few more weeks.
Here's one more for you:

Bear Story

In Yellowstone the traffic always stops for wildlife to have the right of way...it also stops when someone spots a "picture moment" alongside the road. We were stopped in a long line of traffic and I could see a bunch of people out of their cars with their cameras, taking pictures of something. We were about 5 cars back, so I said to John, "I'm going to get out and take a picture" So I jogged up to the spot, not really noticing that everyone else was on the other side of the road! A little girl started to cross over near me and a father shouted for her to stop....at that point I turned to my right to see that I was face to face with a black bear! About 5 feet away from me. I slowly raised my camera and got just two shots before it dawned on me that I was way too close! I slowly backed away, but the bear was more interested in the berries than me! Thank goodness! So that was my close encounter with a black bear. We also had buffalo walking along right next to the car. It was great!

Tomato Day

Well, I'll postpone the bear story for a few more days because I have another story: On Tuesday I had a bad experience with an ear of corn - I broke off my front tooth!
Needless to say I've had a few painful days and still have quite a few dentist appts to get through. That was one expensive ear of corn!

I got out in the garden early this morning to find LOTS of red tomatoes! So I picked them and more peppers and have put up 6 pints of diced tomatoes and 6 pints of quartered tomatoes. I've prepared a big batch of black bean & corn salsa, but won't get that into the jars until after dinner. We're having stuffed peppers tonight! So it's been a great garden day all around.
I just love harvest time and seeing all my mason jars with pretty vegetables in them lined up on the counter.

Starting to get back to normal!

I don't know if we were just invigorated by the high altitude or we just exhausted ourselves and didn't realize it until we got home - but we have been so tired all week!
I just came in from the garden with a basketful of tomatoes. We enjoyed our first eggplant this weekend in eggplant parmesan (one of our favs) and also celebrated the tomatoes and cucumbers with our annual falafel dinner. For those of you who don't know what that is - it is a middle eastern dish that I learned to make while living in Israel. And it was GOOD!
Our weather is still quite moderate for August - I hope we get a little heat so my tomatoes ripen.
Still swamped with bookkeeping work at church as we end our ministry year and get ready for a new one September 1st! New budget, statements to send out, books to close. And more doctor appts this week. I'll give everyone a full health update at the beginning of Sept when all the tests are back. I feel great though! Walking every day and gardening helps.
Well, time to get ready for work....more soon. Here's another greatly requested for picture from Yellowstone.....the black bear! I'll tell you the story tomorrow.

How does my garden grow?

Michael took good care of my flowers and garden. Everything is growing well except the spaghetti squash - it died. Can't tell why as the other squash in that bed are doing well.
Looks like I'll be canning alot of tomato sauce this year! I'll have to get out there with a camera soon. Besides going into work extra this week to catch up - I've got a bunch of annual doctor appts. No fun! Anyway, I'm heading to sleep soon as I need to be downtown and in the endocrinologist's office by 8 am! Not looking forward to I71 during morning rush hour.
Here's one more picture for you:

On our way to Yellowstone we stopped in Coralville Iowa and Andrew treated us to an anniversary lunch at the Mongolian Grill. Here's a picture of him with his motorcycle.

Back Home - Back to Work!

We made it home! It's a long drive to Wyoming! Got home last night at 6 pm - unpacked, went through the mail, Michael bought dinner for us at Noodles & Co. - what a treat to not have to cook after driving all day!
Well I meant to get some more up on the blog today - but I had to work and now I'm too tired to do much. I did manage to get some posted to Facebook - so you can check those out until I get more on here.
www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006017&l=e2b37&id=1180077531

Hello from Wyoming!

Well we finally found an internet connection. Sorry for those of you who were hoping to follow our trip...but we took alot of pictures that we will post along with a recap of our WONDERFUL trip! It has been amazing...sights that took our breath away and made us Praise our Creator for making such a marvelous world. Until yesterday we have had perfect weather and enjoyed hiking 5 miles each day in Yellowstone and seeing a good bit of the famous sights. Our trip out was LONG - it is quite a drive to make in 2 days. Omaha was HOT! And our first night in the tent had us wishing we had purchased that little battery-operated tent fan. As I lay awake, I thought and prayed for our missionaries, the Crestingers, who are in Africa and having to adjust to the heat and lack of electricity to run fans.

The second night was glorious - camped right next to the Snake River in Wyoming. And it got down to 45 that night - what a contrast! We marveled at the number of stars we could see in the sky!

Then we picked up our little motorhome and parked it at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone. It was wonderful to have a "base camp" and the ability to bake in the oven. We appreciated the bathroom as well. One thing I learned this trip is that the long walk to a camp bathroom at 3 am is not as easy as it used to be!

Friday morning we had to turn in the RV and then planned to drive as far as possible before stopping to tent camp. We decided to take 3 days to drive home. As we neared our planned stop - we went through a bad thunderstorm - pea-sized hail. Storms really can roar across the wide expanses out here. It hit while we were driving through the Great Divide Basin - so there was nothing to slow down the wind! We had to pull off the road for awhile. We decided to treat ourselves to a night at the Cheyenne La Quinta! Boy, did that hot shower in a "huge" bathroom feel good. We couldn't believe how big the room seemed after living in the little RV for 4 days! Anyhow - we had wireless internet with the room - so we wanted to give all of you a little update. We hope to camp tonight near the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois.
More to come after we get home!

Packing!

Well vacation is almost here. My first peppers are harvested, chopped and frozen. Most of my garden can just grow while I'm gone. It's supposed to be HOT - so Michael may have to water a bit. All the meals planned, groceries have been purchased, now we just need to pack the car! If we can't fit everything in the Ion - we'll take John's truck - but we're packing light because it will be much cheaper to drive the Ion -better mileage.
Until my first "on the road" update I'll leave you with a picture of Yellowstone.

One week away!

The countdown has begun to our big 30th Wedding Anniversary Trip to Yellowstone!
I'm getting sooooo excited. I have the whole first part of the trip planned. Today we've been checking out the camping gear to see if we need to replace anything.

This morning I took a great card class at Archiver's - we made 4 cards using Acetate paper. It was a really good way to learn how to use this popular technique.

We're going to take the computer and I hope to post updates and pictures. Believe it or not most of the campgrounds have internet access available! We'll see how it goes.

I've got a busy week with getting everything ready at work for me to be gone 10 days...but this time next week we will be in Omaha Nebraska!

Tomorrow's "Reveal" Day

Extreme Home Makeover is in our neighborhood helping a family who has two daughters with SMA - they are both in wheelchairs and were unable to get around inside their house. The community has been great with supporting this project. Tomorrow is the big finale....but I don't think I want to stand in line for several hours to go see it - I'll just wait for the show to air this fall. It is very hot here and we've had a smog alert today and another one for tomorrow. So standing outside with thousands of people doesn't sound too good. When they announce the date the show will air - I'll let everyone know - we are all very happy for the family!

Back Home Again in Indiana

Michael and I got to take a quick trip to Indiana this weekend! A big "shout-out" to all of my relatives! It was so great to visit with you-if only briefly. We so enjoyed seeing everyone and reminisce about the good old days when we all lived close and got to share in each other's lives on a regular basis. I miss those days.
We were so excited to see my cousin David and get to meet his bride, Lori! And what a treat to see all the children that have grown into young adults! I promised my uncles that I would try to keep this blog up to date more - since I know they enjoy checking in on us.
Today is a beautiful day in Cincinnati - but the heat is supposed to be on it's way to us tomorrow and the rest of the week...so I'd better get out to the garden today. Of course before I can do that - I have to do my work for Deaf Ministries - I always make deposits for them on the 15th and the 25th....so I need to work a bit before I can play outside!
So - off to work now and I'll be sure to make more effort to post regularly!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all of you moms have a great day tomorrow. My Mother's Day has already started ... my oldest son took me out for breakfast at Panara's this morning (try their new little quiches - they are delicious) Then he took me shopping for flowers. He bought me enough flowers to do 8 hanging baskets and 6 planters! And I bought my pepper plants, cabbage and broccoli plants - since I didn't start those from seed this year. After planting everything - Michael helped me start 10 lilac slips, a maple tree, 3 little bushes that have sweet smelling white flowers and berries (I'll have to find out the name of the bush) We also dug up some perennials and re=planted them in different places. It's great when your yard starts producing enough things that you can propagate your own bushes and plants!
Well...it's been a great day! I'm a lucky mom!

Another week gone by

We've had some beautiful weather lately - which took us outside to begin to get the garden ready. John has all my beds tilled. My first group of tomatoes had to be transplanted into bigger pots on Saturday...they are looking good. Also got more seeds started. However I have battled all weekend with terrible neck pain - I don't think it was from working outside - because I was very careful and took lots of breaks. I first noticed it Friday afternoon at work when I was turning to one side - it sounded like my neck popped. Saturday I woke up and was unable to turn my head to the side. I've done ice treatments and muscle relaxers and today it is a little better. John wants me to see the doctor if it is still bad tomorrow. At times like this, I wonder if I made the right decision about NOT having surgery. I guess time will tell.
Lots of DMI work today and no time to play with my new stamp set but hopefully I'll be able to post up some new cards soon. I have found some wonderful blogs with tons of ideas and I'm anxious to get started on some.

Earthquakes in the MidWest

Yes we do have them! But I've lived here for 18 years and this is the first one I remember. I thought John was putting the garage door up - our bedroom is just above the garage and the door often gets stuck and just shakes...but I looked at the clock and it was 5:30 and John leaves for work at 4:30 - so I thought I was dreaming. Then I found out - it was an earthquake! And not only did we feel it in Cincinnati - Andrew said they felt it in Cedar Rapids too! Quite a memorable day!
In other news: we have a new mailbox! My neighbor did us a great favor by bumping our old dilapidated one with her mower...she felt so bad - but I told her that my mom had purchased a beautiful new one last fall and it was sitting in the garage just waiting for a good reason to be put up. So thank you Mom and now you can feel safe about the mail!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

Yesterday John turned 52!! Monday night the boys took us to Applebee's for dinner and last night I took John to Outback (don't you love any occasion that you can go out to eat??) The weather this week has been very finicky - several frost warnings and nights down to the 20's and days in the 60's....I think Spring is finally going to win out by this weekend though. That's good because I am tired of covering up things and hauling hanging baskets in and out!

Battlestar - Finally

First of all - I loved the movie "becoming Jane" An excellent movie, great acting and interesting background on Jane Austen's life.
Tonight I watched Across the Universe....a musical using Beetles' songs ... about the late 60's, vietnam, etc. I liked it but note that it deals with adult subject matter and has some graphic scenes. I thought it was unique and of course loved the music.

Well tonight is the season premiere of the last season of Battlestar Galactica on the Sci Fi channel. This is one of the few times I wish I had cable. But hopefully we'll be able to watch it online tomorrow.

Happy Weekend everyone!

April Showers

seem to be bringing more headaches than flowers right now! I have not planted many seeds this year - but will do the tomatoes today. I am thinking of growing more flowers than vegetables this year...but maybe as the weather warms up, I'll get more motivated. Today with a headache I just feel like a movie. I'm going to watch "Becoming Jane" the movie about Jane Austin. I'll let you know how is was tomorrow.

Facebook Rocks!

Thanks to my son Andrew, I've discovered Facebook! And I'm having a great time finding old friends and re-connecting! I really meant to keep up with my friends over the years and then I let the all the "busy-ness" of children and home and work crowd out something I wish I had made time to do. So before I lose any more time, I'm going to try to re-kindle some of those friendships. Relationships are the really important part of life. At our small group tonight, we all realized that even though we meet on a regular basis - we still could pick up the phone through the week and stay more connected than we do. God has put us in communities for very good reasons - One is that we NEED each other! We are not meant to go through life alone.
Well, that's my thought for tonight - hope to do some more updating tomorrow. I need to get my gardening blog up and running again for the Spring and tomorrow is Opening Day in Cincinnati so - GO REDS!

What a nice Birthday!

Had a great 51st yesterday! Lots of sweet smelling,pampering products from my sweet sister, Jacque! John gave me matching earrings to the necklace he gave me for Christmas. Another bath-time goodie from Monie - Lime Coconut Body wash - it smells yummy! Michael got me a gift card to Archivers (Yippee!) and Andrew gave me one from Caribou! I just love gift cards!! Lots of beautiful cards - everyone must have spent alot of time picking them out - they are on my mantel, cheering up the family room! My dear Mommy sent a check - which I will have fun deciding what to get with! John took me to TGIF for steak. The boys treated me on Wednesday night to lobster at Longhorn's!!!
And Daniel, who works at Blockbuster, brought me a movie that hasn't been released yet but I've been wanting to see. Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp! It was a perfect day!

Highway construction brings unexpected results

We got to spend an extra day with Andrew! Due to a horrible traffic jam and construction - he was unable to make his flight yesterday. So we ended up with everyone home last night - so guess what the boys did? They took John and I to Longhorn steakhouse for an early birthday dinner! So wonderful because on my actual birthday only John and Michael will be home in the evening. I had delicious lobster! And we came home and watched "Enchanted" which was a very cute and well-done disney film. Andrew flew out this morning and we just got a call that he's arrived back in Cedar Rapids to more snow.

Monday

Hope everyone had a nice Easter! Ours was very nice with all three sons around the dinner table. And it was a great Round One and Two of the NCAA tourney. At work I'm in third place with my bracket. Some interesting upsets. Glad that Xavier is hanging in there - on to the Sweet Sixteen. My big surprise of the day was my package arrived with my Stampin' Up order from my cousin! I am so glad tomorrow is my day off so I can play with my new stamps and markers! Check out my recipe blog for this week's new recipe - Corn Casserole! It was a hit with us.

Happy Easter Weekend!

We had a very nice Good Friday service yesterday at noon with each of our pastors and church planters speaking briefly on one of the last words of Christ from the cross. I was able to attend as we closed the office during the service.
Looking forward to a busy day getting ready for Easter - low-key celebration. Can you believe I still have Valentine decorations up? It seems like all the holidays have merged together this year...leaving very little time in between to get ready for the next holiday. Anyway, I'll probably just decorate the table. Andrew will arrive by dinner-time - so I'll also need to quickly convert the card-making room into a bedroom again.
Happy Easter everyone!

Updates

New posts on my Recipe Blog, Works in Progress and Prayer Page. Scroll down to links to these on the sidebar.

Snowing again in Cincy

Well after many days of rain and flooding in our area - it is snowing tonight! Hard to believe tomorrow is the first day of spring!
Not much news today - worked an extra hour at the church getting some 3rd quarter budgets out to the ministry leaders. I am excited about my day off tomorrow - it is the first time in many, many years that I haven't had to work on the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament! So Daniel and I are ordering a pizza and watching basketball all afternoon! Guess I'll also spend some time figuring out meals for the weekend.

Anyone still out there?

Well I'm going to giving "blogging" one more try. I'll probably have to email everyone to let you know I'm posting again, because I'm sure you've all given up on me. I think I'm going to work on just keeping up with this one blog for awhile and figure out what to do with my specialty ones. Just so little time anymore for being on the computer.

What have I been doing, you ask? Well - working lots of overtime at my bookkeeping job for the church, and also transferring all the Deaf Ministries data into a brand new program has taken many hours. Then my other new passion is card-making and I've spent many hours reading and learning how to do rubber stamping and card-making. My cousin Mary has a great blog on her card-making and is a big inspiration to me. If you are interested check it out: www.creativejuicesbymary.blogspot.com

My health has been up and down. I am really struggling getting all my medications co-ordinated and staying on track with my diabetes. Been trying to attend water aerobics classes as I can. Sometimes just getting out of bed is a chore.

Ranger, our cat, is having a spell of bad health also. He has an enlarged heart and we are trying to treat that...but this morning he got chilled out in a rain-storm and has been shaking all afternoon. We've been holding him wrapped in a blanket and trying to raise his temperature.

It's March Madness, so I've set up a bracket challenge group over at ESPN for all of us basketball fans at work. It's NCCC Hoops - if you want to check it out. Can't believe Easter is this Sunday - I am definitely not ready for it and haven't even thought of food! But AJ is coming home, so I'd better think of something!

Well, that's it for tonight...I'll try to post again tomorrow. Here's a picture of my latest card creation (borrowed the idea from my cousin Mary)