Great Day!

My mom and one of her best friends--Lois Thomas

Mother and my dad's nephew--John Burns

Mother and New Concord friend, Marge Linkhorn

We had a great day on Sunday celebrating (late) my mom's 80th birthday. She did not want us to go to any trouble and we really didn't as Copeland Oaks did the catering and set up and did a fabulous job. I cannot say enough about how great they were to work with! We had a spacious room and great food and all went really smoothly.

We were so happy to be able to have almost all of the family here to celebrate her special day---the only ones who could not make it was granddaughter Rachael and her fiance Nate who are in Nevada. We missed them a lot but with a new job and travel complications it just was not going to happen but they were there in spirit with us!!!!

Not quite sure how many folks showed up ---at least 100 and maybe more and I think my mom was surprised at the turn out-----she did not think anyone would be able to come with it being so close to Christmas but all in all--I was happy with the way the day turned out. We had good food, lots of catching up with friends and visits from family members we had not seen for ages so that made it even more special!

Now we are all disbursing to our various different locations. Chris and the boys and I have been staying with my sister and her husband in Columbiana and we are going to my mom's this afternoon. My brother Mark is still there. Our boys left this morning---Micah for NYC for his annual New Year's Eve trip and Aaron back to Raleigh. Carla Jo and Christopher headed home today back to Black Lick, Chris and Shari and Rebekah headed back to Ashland last night with Rebekah heading back to Buffalo later this week. Thomas and Xuan are still here but heading back to New Mexico on Wednesday. We are all going our separate ways but we had a fabulous time while we were together. I am blessed.

The pictures I posted may not be the best but hopefully you can see that we had a great day of celebration----a little tiring as they usually are--but fabulous. We are so blessed to have a family like ours---not everyone can say that they have that experience but I can say that I do!!! My Christmas has been fabulous and it isn't even really over yet!!!!

A Day of Celebration and Fun

Paula and I partying!

The Party Girl and some of her New Concord buddies

Christopher and Carla Jo Morris

My mom and the 4 kids

Rebekah's handiwork

The whole gang (Below)

The biggest Ohio State fan ever!

Carlton showing off his Ohio State swag! The only non Ohio State gift he got this year was a cell phone and gift cards---he got it all! From a blanket and pillow to a wallet and laundry hamper----all emblazoned with Ohio State Buckeyes. A true fan tho I suspect he loves it because it is RED! He was in his glory today ----I do love my brother in law!!!!

More Christmas from Lima pics

Aaron, Grandpa and Micah

Carlton, Colleen, Dad and Chris

Micah looking studious

Meredith, Colleen, Dad and Bryan

More Christmas 2009 at Lima!

Aaron and his luggage---he had been packing in garbage bags so this is an upgrade.

Aaron being Mr. Tech for the entire family---me with my new Mac book and Meredith with her new Dell netbook.

Micah being Micah

Meredith and her new IPod that Gpa and Chris and I got her

Merry Christmas to All!!!

Buddy and the Zhu Zhu pet....

Surf and Turf Night!

The awesome crab legs!

Colleen and Meredith cooking the legs!

The legs!

Steak, scallops and crab legs!

We feasted at Colleen and Bryan's tonight on crab legs, scallops and steaks. It was fabulous as usual. Colleen always does a great job and it was a feast as usual. We have gotten kind of used to our crab feast at Dad's and Colleen said she would do it at their house so off we went! It was awesome and we all got our fill. Aaron came in late but he got his fill too! We also celebrated Chris's birthday and Bryan's birthday which is next week. It was a great night with the family and fabulous food, of course!

The weather in Lima has not been too bad. We are going to the Dayton airport tomorrow to get Micah so hopefully the weather will hold in Austin and here for us to get him on time! We will have a white Christmas unless it rains and melts all the snow here.

Hope all of you have a blessed Christmas and that you enjoy time with loved ones!

Happy Birthday, Chris!!!!

It's his birthday, it's his birthday!!! Happy 50th to my special man. Someone asked me the other day what made me fall in love with this guy 30 years ago and there were lots of reasons. Number one---he is kind and he has a good heart. Not everyone knows that side of Chris, especially if they see him in the work environment,(I think he can be strong willed there!!!) but what they don't see are the times when his heart hurts when something happens in the work world that is hard to see, decisions that have to be made sometimes that are just difficult, or feeling the pain when people that he works with go through hard times. He keeps that hidden sometimes.

When I first met Chris we were in a Bible Study in a dorm at college and I saw him and I just thought he was the most intelligent guy that I had ever met. I still believe that today and wonder why he hooked up with me but all I can say is that it is a God thing---we balance each other pretty well I think. I was this ditzy college freshman bopping around the campus giggling and flighty and he was Mr. Serious Academic dude. He loves to learn and I often call him a sponge because he just soaks it all up. He has more useless knowledge (along with the useful stuff!) in that noggin than I have useful knowledge.

He has been a wonderful supportive husband---he has always been my number one supporter and cheerleader and for that I love him. He has always believed in me and pushed me to be the best that I could be in whatever role i am taking on and for that I am ever grateful. He loves me for who I am and has never tried to change me one bit.

He has also been a very good daddy to our two boys----they go to him for all kinds of advice and just to talk and even in the years when he was gone a lot and not always home he still made time to spend one on one time with them and those times were always special times for all of them.

So on this day when he celebrates his birthday I am thankful that God had our paths cross 30 plus years ago and that we have been able to endure some tough times along with some incredible times together. Birthdays are a reminder that each day is a gift and today I hope Chris gets a triple dose of gifts!!!! He deserves it more than anyone else!!!

A Christmas Story

I haven't been too bloggy lately (is that a word?) but one of my friends sent me this story in an email and I felt it was worth passing along to all of you. Good reminder as we go through the Christmas season. Thanks, Becky, for sharing!

A Beautiful Christmas Story

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her. On the way, my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted .... "Ridiculous! Don't believe it! That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go." Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down." Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team. I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95

A New Strategy!

I have been battling the deer in my bird feeders....I have some in the back yard on poles that are just their height and they clean them out. I have some in the front close to the house...they clean them out. I just want to feed the birds---it isn't working. So today I bought some corn and put it in the birdbath. I am thinking I should move the birdbath way far away from the feeders but I was hoping this would work. It didn't. They ate all the corn and then went to both the front and the back feeders. At least their bellies will be full tonight.

KarmaTube: Joshua Allen Harris' Inflatable Bag Monsters

KarmaTube: Joshua Allen Harris' Inflatable Bag Monsters

Winter Wonderland

Snow pile from driveway

Redneck mailbox!!! The snowplow totally destroyed it so this is the quick fix!

Frosty view through the window in the sunroom.


Micah, this post is for you......<3

We have dug out of our winter wonderland and it is pretty out but very cold. I think it is minus 3
and with the windchill it is about minus 17. Brrrrrr. Thankfully I snagged three guys who were clearing sidewalks for the assisted living place and condos and hired them to do the front walks or else we would be working endlessly thanks to the snowplow depositing all the road snow on our sidewalks. But that is what happens when you buy the corner house ....lesson learned. Don't buy a corner lot in a state where it snows. Or if you do, have a snowblower! We may still have to get one.

The snow storm was good for staying inside baking and getting excited about Christmas which I am!!!! We have simplified our Christmas gift giving a lot over the past years and my family chooses a charity to give to---this year it is looking like the vote is going towards giving to Feeding America
(www.feedingamerica.org) which is a great way to help feed the hungry in the US. I think that this was the best thing our family did years ago even though at the time I was sad because I always loved to shop and find the right gifts for each person. But now I am the biggest proponent of it---funny how my view changed!!!

The other event coming up is Chris' 50th birthday on December 18th. I am sure he is less than thrilled to know I am telling everyone in blogland but it is a milestone!!! His AARP card came in the mail the other day and I think he was a little disturbed by it and was ready to throw it out so I confiscated it and will check it out later and see if it is indeed worthwhile for him to have! Any comments from you over 50's out there would be appreciated!!! Anyway, if you think about it---send him a card or an email to help him celebrate his special day----he is a special man!!! I mean really---he has put up with me all these years and that takes someone special.

So maybe more snow pictures will come-----I know all you warm climate folks love that it is us and not you!!!

Kiva Fast Facts

50
months old

$105,968,360
raised

98%
repayment rate

260,967
entrepreneurs funded

605,437
Kiva users

173
countries represented

You guys know I <3 Kiva and thought I would repost some facts and a letter from the CEO about Kiva and how it all works. Check it out sometime if you haven't already!!!

Dear Kiva Lenders:

We noticed, following some recent stories in the press about philanthropy and Kiva, that some Kiva Lenders may have incorrect assumptions and some misunderstandings about Kiva.

In the spirit of clarity, we want to state a few facts:

1. The borrowers listed on Kiva are real people.
Over 267,000 people have received a loan through Kiva. These are real people, and their picture, name and location are listed with their loan request (when privacy considerations permit). In many cases these people are in remote places, and much effort has been taken to ensure they are represented accurately on the Kiva website. Any suggestion that these individuals are not real loan recipients is categorically false.

2. Kiva Entrepreneurs do receive the loans listed on the Kiva website.
Kiva works with Field Partners on the ground that are under legal contract to ensure that each Kiva borrower listed receives their loan funded on the Kiva website. Kiva conducts audits to ensure that our Field Partners are doing this. To suggest that this is not taking place is to suggest that Kiva's Field Partners are in violation of their contract with Kiva.

3. Your money funds the loans to Kiva Entrepreneurs.
When you lend to a borrower on Kiva, that loan is funded by you, and owed to you. There has been much discussion of the timing of transactions to get the actual cash to each borrower, which, as you can imagine, is often a difficult and complicated process. Regardless, the funds loaned by each Kiva borrower are owed back to each Kiva lender who lent to them. To learn more about how loan funds get to Kiva Entrepreneurs, click here.

4. Kiva is not a sponsorship organization. Kiva facilitates loans, not donations.
Unfortunately, some recent stories in the press have grouped Kiva with child sponsorship organizations and other organizations which accept donations. Kiva does not facilitate donations to individuals. Kiva is a microlending website which facilitates loans, not donations, to real individuals around the world. Kiva is not an organization through which you donate to a pool of money, to be distributed amongst various projects of Kiva's choosing.

Making Kiva work is a complicated practice and we strive to make it easy to understand. This is why we have always maintained in-depth details about how Kiva works in our Help Center. If you would like to learn more, you can do so by visiting the Help Center or feel free to contact our customer service team. We want to thank you for lending and for your continued support of Kiva’s mission: to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.

Our very best for a safe and happy holiday season,

Matt Flannery
Co-Founder and CEO

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!

I filled the feeders up yesterday but the poor birdies can't get to it!

A small wall of snow by the front door...

Funny thought today---a year ago I was sweating and complaining that the house that we were renting did not have air con in it!!! Today as the weatherman just reported that it is 1 degree outside and about -27 degrees with the wind chill I am bundled up in my cozy warm house with the gas fireplace going!!! What a difference a year makes!

We have ridden out the blizzard and I think we will survive. Looks like we only got about 11 1/2 inches of snow to add to the couple of inches we already had. The wind was horrific all night and most of the day and so the snow has drifted all over the place creating some pretty exotic snow art!!! I opened the front door to see how much there was and was greeted with a wall of snow---only about a foot or so there so it wasn't bad. The good thing is that the driveway is really almost clear without the aid of the snowplow dude. The wind is good for something after all. Never mind that the end of the driveway has a pretty nice wall of snow from the city snow plow---we will deal with that in the morning.

I don't mind a snow day now and then---it is nice to have the hubby working from home and to just be able to sit around and read and do some Christmas baking. I am happy to let everyone else go out in this and slide around. I did shovel a path from the front door to the garage but that was the extent of it and a good portion of it has blown shut again. Tomorrow is another day!!!

So the lesson learned today ----be content in all circumstances. Whether it is heat, humidity, rain, snow, sleet or wind----it will pass. And tomorrow is a new day. Not a hard lesson to learn.

Cluelessness prevails....

So today was THE day. The day that I decided was Christmas decorating day. Now many of you know that Chris and I sold tons of our stuff when we moved to Australia so after pulling down all the red and green bins in the garage (not an easy job to do alone, let me tell you) I figured out what I no longer had and what I wanted! We didn't want to decorate to the hilt---but we did need to make it look like we actually celebrate the birth of Jesus ! So off to Hobby Lobby, Joann's, Kmart and Shop Ko I went. And saw, and bought.

While I was in Kmart I was debating on some cute little stuffed snowmen and gingerbread men to put outside. They were in the 2-3 foot range and were on a high shelf so I pulled 3 down and had them on the floor looking at them. I was on the phone with my mom but I was looking at them and trying to decide what would work. Enter clueless woman number 1. As I am standing there looking she snatches 2 of the 3 up on the floor, puts them in her cart and trundles off. Now I know I was on the phone but it was pretty obvious that I had just put them there to look at them and was still standing RIGHT there looking at them when she plucked them up. Of course I did not chase her down---not my style---plus it would have meant hanging up on my mom which I wouldn't do either! Fortunately there were others that I liked more so I got those but gee whiz. I can not tell you how many times I have told Chris in the past month to "just hit me if I am that clueless"......

So long story short but the house is decorated as much as it is going to be decorated. I did not put out any of our favorite tree decorations, lots of outside lights or some of the favorite nativities but it does look at least like the people that live here are people who understand what Christmas is truly about---what a wonderful thing, don't you agree?

Thanksgiving picture

All good things must come to an end...

I have a huge sad face right now thinking that our vacation is almost over. We all leave in the morning to go our separate ways (well, actually Chris and I will go together this time even though we arrived separately) and the time went way too fast, of course. It was great to have the boys here for a few days and just be together for a bit. We had our pictures taken today on the beach, as you can see, and even though the boys tired of it after about shot number 25 they hung in there and we got some good pictures to have to remember our time here. Hopefully it will be the first of many Thanksgiving vacations to come.

All in all a great week---weather got nice at the end and even though it was never swimming weather it was sunny and bright and not snowing!!! That is a plus. So I am thankful, very thankful, for the week, for the down time for Chris and for time with my 2 favorite boys. Life is good.

Beach Photo Shoot Done!

Good food and Family

The best crab cakes I have ever had---twice in one week!!! Thanks, Barbara Jean's!!!

Love this man!

Love this boy!!!

Love this boy, too!!!