I am alive.............honest!

hi everyone!

I kinda have fallen off of the planet since thanksgiving. seems like I have been on full tilt since then and hardly any time to do anything other than Christmas gifts. the holidays were wonderful. all four kids were home for Christmas. it is fun watching the kids grow from little and Christmas being all about Santa and stuff, to now wanting to make sure they get the perfect gift for their loved ones. my youngest son and I had a conversation about Christmas morning, and when I told him how I have always enjoyed watching them open their gifts and the fun of it, than I have opening my own............he says ' you know mom, I am the same way now, I love to see every one's faces and reactions to their gifts . he took such care in making sure he found the 'perfect' gift for all of his siblings, his dad and I and of course his girlfriend too. he drug my behind around on numerous shopping exertions, which those that know me well, know I hate. shopping has never been my thing. I make an exact list of what I want to get for everyone, keep notes long before Christmas and then just try and swoop in and get my gifts and get out before I am trampled in the shopping craze. this year that was impossible. each on of the kids wanted to make the most fun of shopping trips, making sure their siblings knew that this trip to the mall must be for them, because they were not invited. everyone wanted to coordinate the gift shopping like it was an elite FBI tactical outing. we had to covertly shop for everyone together and make the most of each trip and leave inconclusive evidence and hints to confuse the person we were shopping for at that moment. I am sure you realize I am of course exaggerating immensely and enjoying it greatly! there really is a huge core of truth though, and I really did enjoy watching my grown children and their fun for the holidays.
many have been wondering how bill is doing with his last ankle surgery, it is wonderful to say that this one has been soooooo much easier than the last. before, he never got past the constant pain stage and never really could walk on his foot, this time he is healing so well that we have to remind him not to be walking without the crutches yet. of course with his new found wonderful health and lack of pain, is a desire to be 'doing'......so the boys tried to clear a spot in the garage for him to 'tinker' until he can do his beautiful wood work and metal work again. his friend rob, our neighbor , visits him often and they 'tinker' together . the kids bought him a weather station for Christmas. this is a curiosity and something he has had an interest in for years. his dad was very into it as well. bill being my bill, can not just have a weather station, it has to be an all informative one and then it can't just be mounted on the house...............nope, he has the kids and rob help him make an extremely tall stand to mount it on. when I say tall, I mean see it from the next town tall. then he didn't like the way the indoor station layed flat, so he had to make a stand that was nice looking enough to be furniture, but mobile so he can carry it to what ever room he is in. then this is all great , but now for the birthday, we needed to fulfill his vision and get the books and magazines to read. no not read, to educate him well enough to be the next weather person on the local news station. and the final and latest thing was the small, but wonderful weather station that now is mounted on the car interior. we must have something to stay updated while we are driving. I figure this way, he is now focused on a new hobby that is wholesome at least, and me and the kids have something new to tease him about. bill always takes his hobbies and interests to the highest level and at least as he has aged he can now laugh along with the kids as they tease him for being just a tad 'obsessive compulsive'.
OK, I have poked fun at bill, so now we will move on.......this last weekend Tyler and Megan flew up to Oregon to visit her family for her birthday and for Tyler to meet them. I must admit, even though he is all grown up, I still had some heart flutters........I realized that this was the first trip that he has went on without his family , or without his classmates/team members. he had a blast, likes her family. I only called to sing happy birthday to Megan, I worked hard at not 'checking up on them'. he did call and check in with his dad or myself though , to update us now and then. bill and I drove to Sacramento the day before their flight was due in. we wanted to celebrate bill's birthday and enjoy some 'us' time, now that he is feeling better. of course I was 'lucky' enough to wake up with a migraine the day we were leaving. I managed to keep it to a dull roar that day and we enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner out . then we watched a couple of movies together. the next day, I awoke with out any migraine, thank god. we had all day and until evening to kill time and have fun before the kids arrived. we went to the capitol building and since it was a holiday, we were able to take lots of wonderful pictures. there was not many people or cars like usual. we found the fallen law enforcement memorial, and took pictures of it and the names of those bill knew from work. then I took the opportunity to take pictures of the gorgeous mason work, statues and stone designs. although I will never be the wonderful photog bill is I am sure, I have been trying to fly with it a little on each trip or vacation we take. I have a fascination with design and beautiful stone work. we then took a drive around the streets of Sacramento so I could add to my ever growing collection of pictures of street signs. I have been taking them for several years now and have had in mind a collage that works them all together. we also took a trip into old town, I wanted to get a photo taken in the 'gangster/flapper' style. we had one taken when we got engaged, then over the years have taken several with the kids as well. it was a blast to set our engagement photo next to the new one. kryston my daughter decided to inform me that she couldn't believe 'how young' we looked in our first photo. I laughed and said we were, in fact I was younger than she is now............gees time flies. after our trip into old town, I stopped and asked directions to the nearest cemetery. of course I wanted to take pictures of the stone work headstones and angels. bill is not really into my 'passion' of this, so he happily watched from the car, following me so I didn't have to walk too far. he has his 'obsessions' and of course I have mine. I love using the photos of stonework in my collage and altered art. it is almost as bad as my love of old photos. he laughs when I buy antique or old pics from yard sales, thrift shops and such...........but all I can see is 'art' and the prospects of projects in their faces. I have even framed and hung some of them. I always laugh at the looks I get when people ask if they are relatives and I say no.........just a face I found.
kryston is going to be venturing into a new job sort of. the company that she works for has had a hard time with having a governing corp. over them. they have decided to branch out on their own and start their own company. a little scary , but she is excited. she will still be working with adults that are developmentally challenged, doing the same things just with a new company. she is excited that they are giving her a raise and are going to train her to do 'the bosses' job, so they can branch out further. she really is glad they have stuck with it even though there has been some stress along the way. her and her boss have become great friends, and she likes her co workers. when we had a BBQ for her birthday last April, they all came over to the house. many of her 'clients' have met bill and I and know our names. when the new company is up and running, I am going to do some art classes with her clients. I have helped out when they have done scrap booking and such, but I look forward to doing some other art forms with them.
Travis came home for Christmas and new years. he now lives in San Jose and works for a construction company. he is dating and having fun. although it was tough having him move, after moving close by, he is still close enough to visit. after he graduated high school, he went to San diego and could only come home once a year........so we were so happy to have him move back up to redding when kryston and tyler did. but alas , it was too small for him, he has become a big city person now. and now he has that with the bonus of being closer.
tony came home from the army and station in Georgia for the holiday. he drops into our lives once in a while and then poof , he is gone just like he came. he is talking about 're-upping' with the army. we are a little surprised, but also not...... you never know what tony is going to do, until it is old news. lol
I think I have gotten everyone caught up on our world, or at least parts of it. I wish I could upload some of my pics for you, but my computer is trying to be a royal pain. I can get on the Internet on krystons computer, but not mine. she does not have the scanner and printer hooked up to hers...........so until I get up and running, I will not be able to upload pictures or my art work. I hope to call and get someone to help me through the steps in the next day or so. times like this that having Travis here is a help, he is the puter guru in the family. I am lucky to understand the basics and bill's version of 'fixing' a glitch is to pound on it. so I will wait til I have help that will help rather than hinder. hugs and best wishes to everyone! sandy