New Pastry Chef in the Derry Household!

This year I was really worried that I wouldn't be up to making the traditional fragunas on Christmas Eve but Tim promised since he had the day off (and the Country Club was closed) that he would help me. However, he insisted that he would only help on the condition that he could experiment a little. He had some strange ideas including lemon juice instead of butter which I nixed. I made sure that I had all the ingredients including those for his unusual variations and as we prepared to start the assembly of the fragunas, mixed the dough in my mixer with the dough hook and set it aside to rest while we gathered all the other items, we realized that there was no ROLLING PIN in the house. My old rolling pin had severely cracked last year and Tim had thrown it away and not told me. So we set to work trying to locate a rolling pin to make our pastries - we called Mary-ellen, no luck, called Ron Preller - his was in use, Giant and Home Goods didn't one either. We tried to peel the label off of a bottle of wine but that didn't work so we ended up using my tiny little pastry roller.


Tim was very proud of how his dough had risen in the bowl. (It didn't seem to matter I was the one who told him to cover it and place it in a warm dark corner.) He proceeded to make several new variations of the old family favorite. Of course, I insisted on some regular old standbys but Tim moved on to honey, cinnamon, raisin, nut in one roll, regular with nut in another roll, chocolate raisin nut in another, next came chocolate cinnamon raisin, and finally the last roll was cooked whole and sliced after cooking.

Honey was a disaster - it seemed to ooze out while cooking and everything was a bit too sticky and not very sweet. Those with nuts (chopped walnuts) were good. The chocolate ones seemed to have concentrated in a small area of the pastry so we need to trying refining it in the future but worth another try. Tim seemed to enjoy the experience of trying new variations - I wonder if the bottle of wine had anything to do with it.

She's here! She's here!

My first "granddaughter", Molly Kathryn, made her premier appearance at 4:48PM on October 25th (I was only 4 hours off in the baby pool) weighing in at 6 lbs. 10 ozs. Mom was only in labor about 5 hours and everyone is doing just fine. Nonna is thrilled!

Mom Molly and baby Molly Kate went home today and Grandma Kathy will be lending a hand for a few days. I'll be popping in to see them for the first time on Saturday. Can't wait!

Nonna

Vacation and Nonnahood

Tim and I arrived in Myrtle Beach yesterday evening and found, much to my dismay, that we were assigned to the 15th floor with an Ocean view. The view is spectacular but the height scares the crap out of me. Of course, Tim thinks it's hilarious.

Tim and Mary-ellen headed out to the golf course this morning (meeting brother John there) and I sat down to finish the review of one book and the last 4 chapters and review of another. I also worked on Baby Molly's birth announcement. When what happens???!?!?!? I get a text message that Little Miss Molly is at the hospital. My baby pool pick last week was:

Monday October 25th 8:36PM 7 lbs. 7 ozs. We'll see how close I get.

When Tim got back and had lunch, we donned our swimsuits and headed to the pool so I could do my water aerobics. 15 minutes later we are ordered out because of an approaching thunderstorm. We got back just before the deluge started. It was so bad we couldn't even see the horizon. Now we can just sit and wait for news.

Cheli becomes water baby!

Well, the time has come for me to admit that I can't handle regular old exercise anymore. My back is degenerating at the pace where walking and biking are too painful, and the spine specialist says that it's time to hit the water. So, I signed up for the arthritic water aerobics (twice a week) at the Olney Swim center.

Yesterday was my first session, and when I got home after a 1¼ hour session at the pool, I was POOPED! I spent more time continually on my feet in that one session than I had in three months (maybe not that long, but close) and I can see where the water is going to be helpful. Many of the exercises in the pool mimic those that the therapist had me doing in PT. The instructor says that she works with rehabbing soldiers and I can see her as a drill sergeant very easily.

So twice a week for the next 13 weeks, Cheli is a water baby on Mondays and Wednesdays. I think I'm the youngest member of the class but I could be wrong. Hopefully, this will get me in better shape for village construction, due to start in a few weeks.

Shower of gifts

Tim and I hit the road yesterday traveling to Spartanburg, SC for the baby shower honoring my newest "grandchild" Molly Kate - who is due on October 30th. We arrived around dinner time and got to spend some family time with the parents-to-be (Molly and Bryan), Tim's sisters (Mary-ellen and Kathy), Molly's brother Bradley and his wife Leslie, and later a few minutes with Niece Theresa, Great-niece Caitlyn and Tim's other sister Sheila.

Today dawned beautiful, the boys headed off to the golf course and the girls, family and friends of Molly, gathered for a great baby shower fully of the cutest items for a little girl you've ever seen.

A great time was had by all and little miss Molly Kate will be beautiful outfitted when she comes into this world in a few weeks.

Fall Behind - Can I be helped?

This week I began realizing that I was tremendously far behind on projects that I wanted to finish this year (Mainly because my reading was taking priority.) and wondered if there was some motivation that I could give myself other than guilt to get my projects caught up.

I send myself reminders of the projects, I have them on a checklist on the refrigerator, I walk pass them frequently, but how do I get myself to put down that book and start working on the project? Maybe it's that word "working" that gets me. Is there any solution? I really want to do them, and once I start in on them, they do consume my attention, but it's that starting point that's the kicker.

Do you have a magic process that keeps you on the straight and narrow when you have a number of projects that are going on at the same time?

Where did a month go?

I thought that once I finished up my big project at the golf course in mid-July, I would have plenty of time to get things in order and be able to spend some time with my Mom and read some books and do some needlework and finish the plans for this years village, but no such luck!

I can't begin to figure out where 4 entire weeks went. We had big storms and power outages (thankfully ours was of short duration) visitors because of their lack of power while we were still chilling out, doctors, dentist visits and crab feasts.

Then this week I lost my appointment calendar! How in the word am I suppose to function without knowing where I'm supposed to be at what time!?!?! I think that I have tentatively reconstructed my appointments, but if I missed anything, I sure hope it's not that important and can be rescheduled.

This weekend starts a bounty of special events in the next few weeks.

1. The annual Maryland Terrapin fan tailgaters crab feast on Saturday the 21st
2. Our friend Marshall's wedding on Sunday the 22nd (it was also my Dad's birthday)
3. I see the Spine specialist on Tuesday the 24th
4. Dentist to replace an old filling on the 26th
5. Bingo on Friday the 27th

That's just the first week. Then we hit the road to go to South Carolina for the Baby shower for Molly and her first little one due at Halloween, return so that Tim can go to the Maryland v. Navy football game on Labor Day, Bowling season starts on the 8th, and then a surprise birthday party for Tim's Aunt Phyllis in West Virginia (she'll be 95!) interspersed with 2 sessions of bridge (29th and 1st) and MahJongg whenever we can get 4 players in town and free on the same night. And somehow we need to fit Bunko in the schedule too!

Busy....Busy.....BUSY

Big Project coming to an end

Well, I've been working on a big project for the last few months. The Ladies Golf group for which I am the secretary is holding an Invitational Golf tournament tomorrow and I was selected the Chairperson. So I have been very busy with invitations and menus and decorations and phone calls, and now it is all coming to an end. Tomorrow is the big day and our little Summer Fair (that's our theme) is ready to open. Yesterday a large group of us got together and made little gift bags for our visitors and stuff popcorn bags and finished up the decorations. Tomorrow morning we are due at the golf Course at 7AM (UGH!) to set everything up so that the visiting ladies will be greeted at 8AM with breakfast and a FAIR TO REMEMBER (sorry I couldn't resist!).

I'm taking my camera so hopefully I get some good shots of the fun we're expecting. I'm just praying for no rain!

Snoozing to the TV

Tim's 40" plasma TV went on the blink recently. It had been having a problem with intermittent power outages (he thought was something overheating) but it always seem to come back to him until a few weeks ago it went off and didn't come back. So he called up the repair shop and they came and took it away. While it was on it's hospital leave, Tim and I had to share the new LCD 42" TV that I had gotten for Christmas. (He could have gone upstairs and watched the regular TV but that was only 19" - what a hardship.) Anyway, I don't understand what the todo is because while he was downstairs with me (watching what I wanted) he snoozed away. I had to turned the sound up to cover up his snoring. Yesterday, they brought his TV back -repaired - it needed a new power something or other. So I thought when I went up to check to see my happy little camper he would be beaming away watching the shows that he wanted. Nope... snoozing away.

Ugh! My MP3 as gone down for the count!

I guess I wore it out. My beautiful little MP3 zune that I purchased for my Canal Cruise 4 years ago has finally stopped playing. It wasn't very big (only 1GB) but it fit in my pocket or purse without any problem. I wore out 3 sets of earphones using it.

Now I have to find something to replace it and I'm lost. I want something the same size (approx. 2" x 1" x ¼") and I would like to have something that has a bit more storage but it absolutely has to be able to handle my wma files for the books from the library.

To be continued....

Nonna again!

The past few days I have spent with my niece Molly and her husband Bryan and his parents. They came up from South Carolina to do some sightseeing and family visiting since Molly is pregnant and due in October and probably won't be traveling for a while after that. We had a great time visiting and looking at pictures of the Little Miss in ultrasound. She's just to cute!
And the great news is that I get to play Nonna again! Judy (Bryan's mother) said that she was more than happy to share the new arrival and then she and I proceeded to have a great time at the baby store plotting and planning how we were going to spoil this precious little one.

We have determined that Little Miss enjoyed Nonna's cooking because I made this Butterscotch caramel Pound Cake that even my husband Tim said was really good. And it was so easy. We finished off that cake in two nights!

We're going to go down to SC for a baby shower on Labor Day so I'll have to get to work on my shopping - such a hardship!~

Irony - grab bar too late!

My terrific day after my birthday, started with a slip in the bathroom on a wet floor. I fell on both my knees which were already in bad shape (I had just had a cortisone shot in one on Tuesday) and slammed my shoulder into the wall. Luckily, I didn't hit my head. My shoulder is turning a pretty shade of purple but I don't think I did any real damage other than severely straining it. I can lift my arm all the way up and reach out though it is painful. I'm icing it down, but do you realize how much you use your shoulder when you are reading a book? I sure didn't. Guess it's a good thing I'm going audio for June.

Anyway, I had to call Tim on the golf course to come home to take care of me because I couldn't get the ice out of the ice maker. It's in the upper part of the freezer section and I couldn't get my arm up there without almost passing out.

Irony - yesterday we bought a grab bar to put up in the bathroom so I wouldn't slip. It was completed a day too late.

Memorial Day Observance

This is Memorial Day Weekend and everyone is planning trips to the pool and barbecues on the patio but are we forgetting the reason for this holiday? It's not just to officially acknowledge that Summer is upon us, but to acknowledge that there are brave and generous men and women who dedicate their lives literally to protecting us and our loved ones.

So next time you see someone in uniform, thank them for their service. They may not have made the decisions that lead to fighting a war, but they are the ones that fight it and we should show our gratitude for their service. I, for one, wonder where we would be without them and hope that we never have to find out.

Many happy returns!

I don't know what that means....year after year I've heard the saying "MANY HAPPY RETURNS" said to people having a birthday and I don't know what it means or refers to. Anybody know?

Anyway, today is my birthday but I have to share it with other people at LibraryThing and my husband's golf buddy, I don't get to have it all to myself (It's okay, I really don't mind, at least that way I know someone will remember to wish me a Happy Birthday.)

So what am I doing to celebrate? Well, I didn't sleep in - in fact I got up earlier than usual so that I could go have breakfast with my husband, Tim, before he started his round of golf. Then I came home, alone and read most of the morning (I played a few games in peace and quiet).

Then Tim returned and took me out - where you say?

TO HOME DEPOT

to get new numbers for the mailbox, a grab bar for the bathroom (I can't remember how many times I've nearly slipped getting out of the bathtub), and some new shelves for my study. Now I have been listening to the pounding for the last several hours as he puts the shelves together. His time is running out because we are headed to Mom's to pick her up and take her out to dinner to celebrate. (She was there 56 years ago and we felt maybe she'd like to join us.) We're going to her favorite restaurant which is just down the street and makes the best crab cakes, YUM, YUM! Tonight I may splurge and get dessert too! So sometime tonight, I hope that Tim remembers to wish me a Happy birthday or Many Happy Returns (Whatever that means)!

My blog is Carbon Neutral

Everyone who knows me well, knows that I am not an outdoor person. Mosquitoes seem to know as soon as I step outside my door and I am swarmed upon and am bitten to death in less than 5 minutes. That said, that doesn't mean that I don't think that our environment can't or shouldn't be watched over so if I can do something as simple as ask for a tree to be planted in my blogs name to reduce carbon emissions, I'll do it.


“My blog is carbon neutral” was started in Germany by the “Make it Green” programme, and their goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. They will plant a tree for any blog and the tree will help neutralise carbon footprint generated by your blog over the next 50 years! Help the environment in a small way and make a big difference. Every tree counts!

So if you are reading this - Go green on your blog too!

36 years of Wedded Bliss

Our anniversary is almost over and looking back at the entire day, it wasn't exactly what I would have wanted but at least we were together, and that's what's important.

I started the day out visiting the Orthopedic doctor because both of my knees have been a major PAIN! since I started PT for my back. So when the Physical Therapist kicked me out because I couldn't do some of the work because of my knees, I headed back to the Ortho. So at 9:30AM this morning I was having pictures taken, not for my anniversary, but of my knees - XRAYS - which showed thankfully, no issues. So as a gift - what did I get? - a cortisone shot! OUCH!!
Heading home, I remembered getting Cortisone in my shoulder and how I was miserable for two days afterward and hoped that it wasn't going to be the same for my knee. (I only had one knee done to see if it would work.)

I picked up Tim and we headed to the Country Club. Tim had been scheduled to play in a Senior Men's tournament last Tuesday but it was rained out and rescheduled today. So I got to be the official Scorekeeper for Tim and his teammate. We finished around 4:30PM and since my knee was killing me, we headed home. Rather than going out to dinner like we had planned, Tim got takeout (Popeye's) and I sat with my leg up, ice bag on and watched Dancing with the Stars while Tim napped.

Not the most memorable anniversary, but like I said, at least we're together.

What else do I do?

I had a friend come back into my life after she had been out of the country for several years. We were trying to catch up on what we had been doing, and she asked me what else I had been doing other than reading (most of my blogging activity takes place on my book blog Chèli's Shelves.) I had to think for a minute but then started the whole list of activities.

1) I have 3 different groups of ladies that I play MahJongg with - the Tuesday night group plays twice a month, the Wednesday night group plays once a month and a Monday afternoon group plays twice a month.

2)I have three different groups that I play bridge with - Friday night group plays twice a month, Wednesday night group I sub in, and the Sunday afternoon group (I am the coordinator) plays twice a month at the Country Club. If the club is busy on the days we are to play, then Tim and I host at our house. We've been trying to grow this group so we've actually been teaching bridge and I have been developing little training manuals for the beginners.

3) I am also a member of the Ladies 9 Holers at Montgomery CC. Tim signed me up 2 years ago, and though I don't play well or often, I really enjoy the ladies there. I was elected Secretary of the group last year and also serve as the Invitational Chairman. We are holding an invitational in July so I am busy with Budgets and menu planning and door prizes and sponsorships. It's nice to know that I can still organize events.

4) Tim and I belong to the Montgomery CC Wine Club where we get together once a month and have an event - dinner or wine tastings - and I have been working with the event coordinator to come up with new ideas for our events.

Those are my outside activities - (and Tim was worried that when I retired I wouldn't get out of the house!).

All these activities leave me little time to concentrate on my village and my needlework when I add in my reading. But I'm a happy little housewife/homemaker/retiree and that's all that counts!

What would I be?

I borrowed this meme from Helen at HelensBookBlog and thought it looked liike fun. Some were easier than others.

If I was...

a month, I'd be March
a day of the week, I'd be Friday
a time of the day, I'd be Midnight
a sea animal, I'd be a dolphin
a direction, I'd be North
a piece of furniture, I'd be a recliner
a liquid, I'd be wine
a gemstone, I'd be diamond
a tree, I'd be a magnolia
a tool, I'd be a q-tip
a kind of weather, I'd be a snowy afternoon
a musical instrument, I'd be a harp
a color, I'd be forest green
an emotion, I'd be peaceful
a fruit, I'd be an asian pear
a food, I'd be gnocchis
a material, I'd be velvet
a scent, I'd be sandalwood
a flavor, I'd be butterscotch
a sound, I'd be singing
an element, I'd be air/wind
a mammal (other than human), I'd be a Newfoundland dog
a phase of the moon, I'd be full
a berry I'd be a blueberry
a bird I'd be a eagle
a book I'd be The Flame and the Flower
a place I'd be Napa Valley

Blogiversary passed by and I didn't notice!

Well, two weeks ago was the anniversary of this blog and somehow or other I was so busy that it just slipped right by me. I set up this blog to let my friends and family keep track of what I was doing and what was keeping me busy. So, I've decided that an update is in order.

Since I originally started out, I have made a design change and I hope everyone likes the look. So on to the update.

1) My diet has been placed on hold. (I joke about having given it up for Lent) I'm having a bit of stress related issues (will explain later on) and I need either comfort food or I'll have to go back to smoking. I figure comfort food is better.

2) My freelance job for Tim's office has been put on hold so I'm watching my pennies again. Hopefully, they will realize how valuable my services were and get me back on the payroll.

3) My golf skills have not improved (maybe because my back has flared up again and so I'm back in Physical Therapy). I still meet with the Ladies 9 holers (in fact, I was elected secretary for the group as well as the coordinator of the lady 9 holers invitationals), so I have to make sure that I get enough ladies to play at the other golf courses on the event days. This year we are hosting an Invitational, and as the event chairperson, I am delegating decoration design and goodie bag development while I handle invitations, name tags, place cards, and menu. So even though I'm not playing golf on a regular basis, I'm still involved with the group and having a great time!

4) Tim and I are still working diligently to get the Montgomery Country Club Bridge Group growing. With the new members that we recruited last year and additional members that we are finding along the way, we are now playing twice month. When the Club has events and no room for us we play at our house.

5) On the home front, last October a "friend" who had lost his job over a year ago and his home in September moved in for what was supposed to be a short period of time. However, as of this writing he is still here and driving me CRAZY! It seems that our hospitality is being stretched to the max. So here in lies my STRESS! The doctor told me that I need to have him move out, and I asked him for a prescription for that! He laughed, I was serious.

6) I'm currently in the middle of the demolition of Derry town. Tim rushed me last year and I didn't get the inventory updated so now I'm updating the photographs and inventory listing. Since that was delayed last year I put off the home inventory which I'm hoping to get done this summer working room to room updating the info on the rest of the house. Eventually I would like to burn a CD of that listing with pictures and give it to State Farm for safekeeping.While I’m working on the home inventory, I will also be working on making my will current (the last one was 15 years ago) so if anyone has something they would like to be heir to, let me know. If that’s not enough I also have the 5000+ photographs from the Bill Derry’s that I agreed to scan into my computer and burn CDs for everyone. (I haven’t forgotten.)

7) I would also like to get some work done on the two books that I am writing. The first is a novel that I started in 1993 and would like to eventually finish. The second is a children’s book that I am writing for my “grandson” Jackson. (Those that know me, also know that having had no children, it would be hard for me to have a grandson. However, when our nephew Christopher and his beautiful bride, Melanie, were expecting, Ellen (Christopher’s Mom – my sister-in-law) and Melanie’s Mom, Gloria, said that I could be Nonna – the Italian grandmother – they are sharing their grandson with me and I feel so blessed by their generosity. ) Hopefully, I will make some progress on both of these projects soon.

8) We were part of the "fortunate" area of the country that received the double blizzard in February - all tolled in less than a week we received nearly 40" of snow. Tim even had to stay home from work one day - can you believe it!

9) For my relaxation time, I have been reading and stitching. As of this day, I have read 38 books in 2010 and my goal is 120 books for the entire year. (2009 I read 162.) I have joined LIBRARYTHING (LT for short) and I have met so many nice people who share my love of reading. I have joined into a number of challenges/groups which drive the need to read those 120 books.

a) the Main Challenge is the 101020Challenge. Here each person chooses 10 categories and 10 books in each category = 100 books but I added a bonus category of 20 books for overflow.

b) Chunskter Challenge is to read 6 books of over 450 pages - this one I've already finished!

c) Supplement to the 101020 Challenge are the 75 and BOYS (Books off your Shelves) Challenges which are basically the same books.

d) The last challenge is the one that Tina (my sister) and I devised together. The US Presidents’ Challenge is to read the Biographies of all 43 Presidents before the end of the term of our current President. That gives us at least 4 years and possibly 8 to get this reading done. So far, (I’m reading in order) I finished Washington through Tyler in 2009 and I'm up to James Buchanan so far this year. (They say he's the worst but I haven't gotten that far yet.) I’ve been reading background books as well – Gold Rush, Mexican War - those kind of things so that I can get a feel for the time in history that these men occupied. Thanks to all my new friends at LT I have found so many new interests in books. I have been stretching my normal areas of reading to include history, biographies, (these are what led to the Presidents Challenge), Award Winning books/Authors (these are probably books I never would have read), non-fiction, and Classics. That doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on the old standards because I am still reading oodles of mysteries (I currently have 50 series that I follow) and I even made time for some romances this year.

10) I also have my Cross Stitch projects to do. (Molly , our niece and her husband Bryan are expecting in October and as "Nonna" I am doing the birth announcement as well as special Christmas stocking for Jackson. Lastly, I am still spending time travelling to Baltimore to visit with my Mom (she’s doing great) and I need to get working with my sister, Mary-Ruth, trying to finish up the cataloging of my Dad’s stamp collection.

So, Chèli’s Cozy Corner is very busy, but never too busy for the love of her life, TIM. This year we will be celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary and I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without this man who treats me like a princess and always, always, makes me feel loved beyond belief.

So, come in and sit down, anytime you’d like in my cozy little corner of the world. I don't post everyday, but hopefully, my postings are fun! Love to you all!

A trip to the Mountains

This week I set off to West Virginia to visit one of my best friends that I hadn't seen in quite a while. (The drive up was beautiful - the day was sunny and warm and the sky was bright blue and the trees were budding - a perfect day for a drive.) My friend, Chrissy, and I have known each other for over 30 years and though we don't get together as much as we used to, we do talk on the phone and e-mail back and forth but I hadn't actually seen her since August. We spent the time catching up on our activities and plans. We laughed, we cried, we got nostalgic.

We had planned to get together at the end of January but that was when all the snow storms/blizzards started and so we kept postponing until we could find a time that worked for both of us. Chrissy had been given a notebook computer last year and had asked me to come up and set it up for her so she was excited that we were finally going to get it done. I took care of her notebook, her picture keychain, checked out her scanner and NOAA device so her technological challenges have been addressed and she is moving forward in the 21st century. GO Chrissy!

It was great to see her and know that even with the distance between us, we are still the best of friends.

Florida - weather surprise

My husband Tim and I headed to Florida this weekend for a little warmth and family visits and well as some golf for him. It's his birthday Sunday so we thought it would be a treat.
We thought there would be warm weather and sunshine in Tampa - the west coast of Florida but instead we were met with strong winds, overcast skies and temperatures in the 50's.

We must have been on the wrong plane. Either that or I brought the wrong suitcase. I want to go home to my sweaters and blankets!

Round 2 - Mother Nature's displeasure

Well, it's snowing again. Mother Nature apparently is displeased with my area of the nation and is pounding us with an additional "blizzard" just when we thought we were beginning to move again. Hoping it won't be as bad as the first storm, but we shall see.


Here is another photo from Round 1. This is from my sister's yard. Do you think these deer are wondering where to go next? I'm wondering too.

More Snow

I guess I spoke (wrote) too soon last time. This weekend we were hit with 31" of snow. That is no typo - 31" of snow. The boys have managed to shovel down to the street but the plow hasn't come through yet so we are stilled "snowed in".

The back porch still has piles of snow and I doubt we'll get through the screen door to clear it anytime soon.

Snow, snow and more snow!

Usually, in our neck of the woods during the winter months, we get a few dustings of snow (2"-3"). Every once in a while, we'll get a wintry mix (ice and snow). Then maybe a few times we'll get a nice little snow storm (4" - 6") but rarely do we get hit with more than 6". So far this year we've had 5 measurable storms (usually on a weekend) - Dec 20th we got hit with 15" and since we've been hit with 5", 7", 3" , and now it is snowing again - expecting 3-6". Did we do something that Mother Nature thinks we need to snuggle up at home and slow down? I don't mind.

Busy, busy, busy

I apologize to all who follow because I have been so busy with family visits and reading and year end work for Tim that I haven't even wished you a happy new year.

So many things have been keeping me busy that I didn't tell you all about my holidays.

Christmas was quiet, Tim and I stayed home for the day and just tried to relax. We went to Richmond for New Years where we spent time with Tim's brother John, his wife Ellen, and Christopher, Melanie, and Little Jackson.

Since we returned home, I have been slaving away creating year end reports for Tim's office (I needed the money.) and trying to keep up with my reading. I have also been working on a blog/website for the Ladies Golf group that I belong to (since I'm the secretary I wanted to move us inito the 21st century.)

That's about it, more work to be done but I do wish you all