mimiwi's Xanga Site

February 13, 2009

HI!
It’s Mimiwi!!
Remember me?????? lol
I am really getting bad about blogging.
I do want to say that I read all your blogs through my e-mail subscription, just don’t come and comment much.
I have gotten hooked on Facebook.
But Xanga will never be totally forgotten. I have made too many special friends here.
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I talked to our traveling daughter-in-law. Caught her at the laundromat this past weekend. Normally just talk to Jeff. She is loving her massage therapy classes. She says they even have personal trainers on staff, and she can work out with them at any time. Judy has some problems with tightness in her neck, and often when she gets to school, one of her instructors will give her a neck massage to make her feel better.
Granddaughter, Gretta, was there with her. The laundromat has internet access, so she e-mailed me pictures of Catalina right away. These were taken on New Years—obviously. Catalina has the big blue eyes all of their kids have.

She would have been 4 1/2 months at the time.
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I had talked to Jeff a few days earlier, and asked him about the elderly man they went and visited—the one with the huge house on Tampa Bay. He was a career military man, and when he retired he went into real estate in Florida. I was figuring that if he stayed in the Air Force for 20 yrs. and he is about 80 now, he would have retired from the AF about 40 yrs. ago, in the late 60′s—-just when Florida was really starting to boom.
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Back on the homefront, I have been a LITTLE more active. The weather has improved, and there has been more sunshine. The snow has been melting, but still a lot around. Under the trees we see the ground now.
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We have a Mountain Ash in our front yard. It got more berries on it this year than it ever has before. The robins came around in Fall, but didn’t eat many this year like they usually do. So, there were lots of berries on it all winter until now. This picture shows the way one of our heavy, still snowfalls accumulated on the berries. Really neat!

Then, last week I thought we were being visited by female cardinals. Then I realized the coloring was wrong. It was a flock of Cedar Waxwings. They LOVED the berries!!
Here you can see several in the tree.

A closeup of the first photo shows two of the Waxwings with berries in their beaks.
They were here for less than a week.
This is what the tree looks like now.

Just the stems of all the berry clusters left, with a berry here and there. The birds are all gone away. It was fun watching them the few days they were here, though. I do miss looking out my front window and seeing all the red berries—brightened up the drab view!!
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This picture is my profile pic. I have had this on here before. But for new viewers I will explain.
This picture was taken on Valentine’s Day 1961. My boss had given me a bridal shower at her home. Afterwards, Ken came to pick me up. My boss took this picture of the two of us. Her hubby is reflected in the mirror behind us.This was a week before our wedding. Thought it was an appropriate picture for Valentines Day.
My, how we have changed!!!!! Wish I had that 24 1/2″ waist back! lol I know it is under here—-somewhere.

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Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!

February 2, 2009

Well, I finally heard from the travelers over the weekend, and thought I’d let those of you who are interested know what is going on with them.

Daughter-in-law, Judy, starts massage therapy school today. She has a 25 minute commute from the campground to school. The school is in Apopka, just N. of Orlando. She met someone who had gone to a MT school, and this gal gave (or lent) her the text book she had used. Judy found out that she already knows quite a bit of the information in the early part of the book. She is a VERY smart gal, and I know she will do well—even on the fast-track she is on. When grandson, Jacob, flew to Florida at Christmas, Judy helped him study for his first chiropractic boards exam, and she knew a lot of that information, too.

It will be interesting with son, Jeff, staying home alone with the kids. The two older ones won’t be a problem, but just hopes he has patience with the baby. She seems to like being fussy a bit!

Jeff told us an interesting encounter they had over a week ago. They had moved bit further north to a campground south of Tampa. They met an elderly man there—who wasn’t staying at the campground. He was dressed kind of shabbily. Got talking with him. He is around 80 yrs. old. Guess he was very interested in their lifestyle. He said he had always wanted to do what the kids are doing. He said he had renovated a school bus at one time, but never went “on the road” for any length of time with it. They had a nice time talking with him. He gave them his phone number, and told them to give him a call, and come and visit him.

I guess they weren’t really planning on taking him up on it, but on a whim called him last weekend. He gave them his address, and they went to visit him. Talk about a surprise!!! This shabbily dressed old man has a 3-story, 10,000 square foot home right on Tampa Bay, with a large pool, jacuzzi and boat dock in his back yard. He took them out for a ride in his sailboat. His wife died 11 yrs. ago, and he met his second wife online!! He was a test pilot for the Air Force back in the ’50′s, and flew fighter planes in Viet Nam. Don’t know how he made his money after that. Possibly an airline pilot??

They have met other interesting people during their travels. Jeff is a VERY sociable guy, and will talk with anyone. At another RV park, they were parked next to a guy with a million-dollar rig. That guy was retired from his company. He was a driller. His company would be called to drill air and rescue holes at mine disasters.

A couple of you asked about the granddaughters in Nashville. Hannah did get the managerial position at Walgreens, and Mindy is still at Olive Garden. They have played at the local VFW a few times. Jeff said that Hannah called them and said that now that Mindy’s boyfriend has moved down there, Mindy isn’t as interested in practicing and writing songs. Time will tell what will happen with them. It has been a good experience, whatever happens.

That is all from here. I have been a little happier—the temps over the weekend got up in upper 20′s–low 30′s. Tonight wind chills back down to around 20 below again, with snow overnight into tomorrow. Back to my cave!! lol

January 31, 2009

Hey!
I actually came out of hibernation for the day.
We had church this morning, and then went shopping.
Picked up a digital converter box for the TV in the basement, which isn’t hooked up to cable.
Now, I just have to hook it up. Probably tomorrow.
Younkers had mukluk type slippers on sale, and picked up a pair of them.
Josaju had bought a pair for her trip North, and I thought they were neat.
Well, they were out of her style, so just got some plain black ones.
Sometimes my feet are warm enough in my regular slippers, but my lower legs get cold. These slippers will help that. I have them on now, and they are nice and warm.
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I was on Facebook tonight, and saw grandson, Jordan’s status entry from a couple days ago. He said he had no time for Facebook because he is studying lines. Someone he knows put up a video that was a commercial for a production being put on in LaCrosse. By doing some hunting online, I found out that he is playing Jesus in the LaCrosse Community Theatre’s production of “Godspell”!!
I would love to see him in it! Ken doesn’t even know about it yet. Found it out after he had gone to bed. Jordan is the only grand from son, Jeff’s family that still lives in LaCrosse. He is 23, and works for a utility construction company, and gets laid off during the winter. So he has time for something like this in the winter. He has a great voice. I always thought he should join the two granddaughters in Nashville, and they could be a trio. When we were in LaCrosse a few years ago, he and Mindy sang a duo in church—”My Prayer”. He sang part of it in Italian. It brought tears to my eyes. I have a CD of Charlotte Church singing the same song with Josh Grobin.
Jordan also performs with a singing/dancing group there in LaCrosse called the “Grand River Singers”. They perform at various functions in the area—Riverfest, Oktoberfest, and things like that. The park along the Mississippi holds most of these functions, and there are a couple stages there.
I’m glad he found something he really enjoys. He is also taking college courses online through University of Phoenix. Haven’t talked to him since summer, but keep up with his doings through Jeff or Facebook.
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Granddaughter, Lydia (the one who worked with the St. Louis Rams this past summer, and attends Concordia University down near Milwaukee), is in Nebraska for the weekend. She is the Athletic Trainer for Concordia’s girls’ basketball team, and there is a tournament in Nebraska. I was happy that the icy weather stayed south of where they had to drive through.
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Haven’t heard anything from the travelers. They spent the last couple weeks down just south of Naples, FL, in a park on the edge of the Everglades. They were supposed to be heading north to where Judy will be attending massage school. I called them, and had to leave a voice mail, but haven’t gotten a call back yet.
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So, you see that there isn’t much new with Ken and I, but I usually have news of the kids or grands. Don’t know what I would talk about if I didn’t have them!!!! lol
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Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl? Juls doesn’t have to answer, I know who she is rooting for!! Because her love of the Steelers has rubbed off a bit on me (except when they play the Packers, of course), I’d like to root for them, but since I am from Arizona, I also want to root for the Cardinals—-even though they moved to AZ long after I left there. So, I guess I’ll be happy no matter who wins.
Actually, I am just looking forward to the commercials!!!

January 26, 2009

Nuthin new!
Just had to change my “theme”. All that frost was just too depressing!!! And I am depressed enough. The valentine header that Bonnie (BLB) made for me a few years ago always makes me smile!
Didn’t leave the house this past week.
This week I get to go out for a haircut on Wed., and to church on Friday.
WHOOPPEE! lol

Back to my cave.

January 22, 2009

Still in hibernation!

But, this grumpy old bear is sticking her nose out long enough to do another “tag” from Way Of The Wolf–Sage. An easy one.

Pick up the nearest book, turn to page 92, and copy down the 3rd sentence. Tag someone.

OK, here goes.

“He had not hesitated to disclose any medical or family history concerns on the Client Medical History section of the questionnaire, including his wife Carrie’s depression and treatment for such.”

From “Fresh Frozen” by Darden North, MD

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Anybody who wants to do it, be my guest!!

Now, back to my cave!

January 15, 2009

BRRRRRRRRR!

But, unlike Dec. 21, when the temp was “ONLY” 7 below zero, and the wind was blowing at about 30 mph., and it was snowing, today is a cloudless, beautiful, sunny day. So, as long as I can stay inside, I am happy!!

Our washer and dryer came on Tuesday. They were great. They called the day before to verify and give us an hour window when they would be here, and then called Tues. a.m. again to let us know when they would be here within a 1/2 hr..
I had about double the laundry to do, and it didn’t take even as long as a normal wash day would take before. And, the best thing is that the dryer keeps up with the washer. Before, the dryer was so small, most washer loads equaled two dryer loads. Laundry took forever! And the dryer dries quicker, too, and has more settings than the old one. YAY! Never though I’d get excited about doing laundry!!
I think I mentioned we just got top-loading appliances. Because it is just the two of us, we didn’t feel it was necessary to get front-loaders.
Ken did switch the door on the dryer around, though, so we don’t have to lift the wet clothes over the dryer door.
Yes, I have a hubby who actually reads the instructions!! lol

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We heard from the travelers last week. Some surprising changes with them. I don’t think I told you all that DIL, Judy, had learned massage therapy on her own. She had done massages for friends and family when they lived here in Wisconsin. In the last place they stayed, outside Orlando, a couple people found out she did massages, and asked her to give them massages. They paid her very well for it.
In the meantime, Jeff decided they would not go back to Yuma for the winter. The company offered him a different job there, but it was one he didn’t care for. He said it didn’t make sense to drive 2500 miles for a job he didn’t like! He also found out that the sign job for the golf tournament in Georgia in April has been canceled. So he doesn’t have a tournament job until May, up in Des Moines.
So, they did some searching, and now Judy will be going to a school there in Florida to get nationally certified for Massage Therapy. Since she knows a lot already, she will be on a fast track to get her certification by the time they have to go to Iowa. And she will be able to practice in almost all states.
Jeff will stay home and take care of the baby and home-school the other two.
They found a RV park to stay at about 20 minutes from Judy’s school.
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Their oldest son, Jacob, (the one in Chiropractic college in San Jose, CA), flew down to Florida to spend Christmas with them, and then he flew to New York City for New Years. He just got home a couple days ago.
He took a couple pictures of little Catalina.

I like this picture—it shows brother and sister, the oldest and youngest of our grandchildren. There is almost 25 yrs. between the two!!

When Jacob went to New York City, he stayed in a hostel. When he still lived here in Wisconsin, he worked at Olive Garden when in high school, and on breaks from college. He made lots of friends there. One gal moved to New York City. He made plans to visit with her while he was there. Unbeknownst to him, three other gals from Olive Garden came to New York for New Year’s, too. So, my 25-yr.-old bachelor grandson spent New Years with 4 beautiful single gals!!

So, what did he take pictures of??? Buildings!!! He said the gals took enough pictures of all of them, so he didn’t need to. I got the above picture off of one of the gal’s Facebook account!
Jacob has always loved skyscrapers. If you show him a picture of any large city, he can name all the main tall buildings.

Guess that finally brings you up to date with us.

Back to my hibernation! lol

I just remembered something. In December, I read the book “Mistaken Identity”. It is the true story of two families. Their two daughters were involved in a vehicle accident, and one was killed, and the other was severly injured and was in a coma. Long story of how and why, but their identities were switched, and it was 5 weeks before the truth was found out. Can you imagine what these families went through when the truth came out? One family, who thought they buried their daughter, found out she was alive. The other, who thought their daughter survived, found out she actually died.
This story was also featured on TV one evening over the holidays—on one of the magazine shows. In fact, it was one the day after I finished the book. Unbelievable story. And it was great to actually HEAR the families talking about what I just finished reading the day before.
But, what impressed me the most, was how the amazing faith of both families came through of every page of the book.
If anyone is interested in reading an emotional, heartwarming, heartwrenching, TRUE story, written by two truly Christian families, please read this book.
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NOW, back to hibernation!!

January 11, 2009

I have just been tagged by http://www.xanga.com/WayoftheWolf with the “4th picture tag.” It’s pretty simple: just go to where you keep your photo folders, pick the 4th folder, and then look for the 4th picture in that 4th folder, and add it to a post, and describe it. Then tag 4 more people, and so it goes.

Here is my “4th picture”. I am sure I have put this up before.

This is one of my favorite pictures! This picture was taken in Spring of 1990, when now-21 yr. old granddaughter, Lydia, was almost 3. We were visiting Greg and family up north, outside Crivitz, WI. At that time, Greg ran a small golf course on a ranch there. The ranch was owned by an extended family, and the golf course was just for family and guests. They were supplied with a home on a small lake, right on the ranch. Beautiful setting.

Ken and Lydia went down to the lake to fish one day. Lydia was on Ken’s lap, and helping him hold the worms. I just thought it was such a loving Papa/Lydia picture, with Lyd looking up at Ken. I entered the picture into a Kodak competition run through our local newspaper. This picture was one of 5 finalists. It was sent on to the National Kodak (KINSA) contest. I didn’t get anything nationally, but just for being a local finalist, I received a watch from Kodak that had this picture on the face, and also received a certificate.

I will not tag anyone. This is a simple, easy challenge, so any if you would like to participate, I would love to see your “4th picture in your 4th folder”!!!

January 6, 2009

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

We waited all morning for our new washer and dryer to be delivered.

Finally, I called Lowes at around 12:30.

The gal said that there was no delivery scheduled for us today. She checked her files, and said it was scheduled for the 13th!!! NEXT Tuesday.

Why didn’t they let us know!!!!???

On the slip we received, the salesman wrote:

” 1-6-09 Tues. A.M.

May change based on when washer comes in.”

OK. If it was changed, they should have let us know—right? RIGHT!

I told the gal that I would call on Monday, the 12th, just to double-check that it would be delivered on Tuesday, which she said would be a good idea.

Needless to say, I DON’T have enough underwear to last 3 weeks!!

Ken went to the laundromat this afternoon. I have enough jeans, slacks and tops to last, so he didn’t wash them. My hamper is overflowing, though. lol The new washer and dryer will get a good workout when it finally comes!

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Today, I am also undecorating the tree. It is a pain because certain grandchildren insisted on putting ornaments way on the back of the tree—back in the corner where nobody sees them. Had to pull the tree out and I did manage to turn the tree, so I didn’t have to crawl back into the corner—-which isn’t that easy for me to do anymore! lol

It will be nice to have it all taken down and packed away. This place is so small, that it looks so messy while it is in the process of decorating and undecorating.

Have to get it all done tomorrow, because Ken’s sis & hubby from out of town are coming Thurs. afternoon for a visit. Need the sofa empty of ornaments so they have a place to sit down! lol

My problem is that my back gets sore after slight bending over. Have to stop about every 15 minutes to rest it. Ends up taking waaay to long to do things.

It is cloudy, cloudy, cloudy and cold, cold, cold.

I didn’t sleep well last night.

I’m cranky!

Can you tell??? lol

Tomorrow is another day!

Hope YOUR week is going well.

I shouldn’t complain—I made it through the holidays without getting sick, and only gained 4 lbs.!!

January 1, 2009

December 30, 2008

Happy 72nd Birthday, Honey

We celebrated a belated Christmas and Ken’s early birthday on Sunday with family. Our local son and family were here, along with Ken’s local sis, Elaine, and her hubby, Richard, and our sis-in-law, Judy, who lives behind us. Richard’s 75th birthday had been on Saturday, so we were celebrating that also.

Some of the group: Can you spot son, Greg, hiding behind my empty chair?

Ken’s sis, Elaine, and hubby, Richard

Somehow, I missed getting a picture of sis-in-law, Judy. She must have been hiding—along with Greg and some of the grands!

Ken, blowing out his candle on his carrot cake.

It was a nice afternoon.

Last night I was in the kitchen taking my night meds before going to bed, when I realized I hadn’t even bought Ken a card for his birthday! I grabbed the post-it note pad, and jotted the following on it, and stuck it on the cupboard door where he would see it in the morning when he got up.

“Honey Bun” reminded me of a cute little kid’s song we love, which is shown up at the top of the page, and that gave me an idea!

This is what developed.

Close-ups of all the individual things: