Family posts

Well, I've definitely neglected this blog, so it can now become EVERYONE'S blog -- well, everyone in our family anyway.

I'm still trying to finish baby quilts to get in the mail. That's why little Willow is waiting to be born, she knows Grammy's not quite finished. Ha!

And, just to see if you guys are reading this. I'm going to Olympia the first week in December. Date to come, yet.

posted by MOM

Stress

Well, stress has a way of creeping into our lives doesn't it? This last week, it sort of got slammed into our lives because some morons stole my purse out of my locker at the Y this week. Along with it, my bonus check of $500. We needed the money, so that sucks.

But we're trying to stay positive and I'm giving the cops an incredibly hard time about not doing anything. The bank on the other hand has been wonderful.

Our first grandchild -- Mason -- started school this fall, so that's scary. We're getting older. That sucks too.

Hey, I promise the next post will be cheerier.

Trips and moves

Well, we just got home from our big trip to Minnesota. It was great. I guess Minnesota was really the "vacation" part of the trip, though we just about got to see everyone.

We only spent two whole days, and three nights with Elaine. We had a blast and want to definitely have a family vacation at her brother's resort White Birch next year.

Tubing down the river was fun -- slow, but fun.

We managed to squeeze in a short trip to the Mall of America. Then we stopped in Ames to see Tonya and Brad. They were moving, so we helped unload furniture.

Then we went to see Sondra, Mason and Shane. They were moving, so we helped them pack one box. Left before they made us lift anything. Just kidding. Did take Mason to the doctor.

After that we went to G-ma Betty's place. Aunt Mo is fine. Big news there -- Joyce and Gordon have their house on the market. Apparently, they went to visit friends in Tennessee and bought a house while they were there. Now they are moving. Have no idea where exactly, they haven't told anyone in the family. It's weird how money changes people, or maybe they were that way all along and this just brought out their real personalities. We wish them well, just a little stunned by it all.

G-ma Betty is going to have a cancer spot removed from her arm. We tried unsuccessfully to get her interested in ANYTHING. She just sits and picks at her arm, and caused a staff infection. Frustrating. I don't understand why people just quit living after they get a certain age. Just waiting to die. I plan to live my life to the very last second.

We hate leaving sometimes. Aunt Mo cries everytime we leave. She's so sad since Bucky died. Please remember to send her a card now and then.

The only person we didn't get to see on the trip that we had hoped to see was Barb. We had wanted to swing down by St. Louis and see her, but wanted to rush back to see G-ma. Well, that and the next time we're up we definitely plan to stop by Aris' in Jeff City at lunch to share a carafe with Phill and Lorie.

That's the vacation in a nutshell. Lots of fun, lots of family stuff. Now, we'll concentrate on getting to Washington. We're missing the girls growing up and that makes me so sad. :(

Counting the Days

Less than two weeks, we'll be going up for Mason's baseball game. Can't wait to see him. It's been almost seven months. Seven months. That's the longest we've ever gone without seeing him. So we won't let that happen again.

Last night we saw a dad and his three little girls. They were all so cute, and definitely daddy's girls. We wondered if that was going to be Brian.

Reunion

Well, I've been thinking it's time we had a realy reunion. So I'm going to call some of the Snyders and see if they are interested. I don't think ya'll have met too many of your Snyder clan folk. Heck, your dad doesn't know all of them.

So it's time before too many more die out. This comes because I ran across an old letter (cleaning out my "must do" list.) This letter was two years old, and we meant to respond -- you know I'm dad's secretary. We never did, and Walter passed away last year. So it's time to do this, and it will take a year of planning, but it will be worth it.

Anyway, how's the world out there?

Take a long look

Have you ever just taken the time to really look at the people you love?

You should, sometimes it's just looking into that familiar face that makes you fall in love all over again.

Speaking of, I'm sure missing some familiar faces and we need to make a trip to Missouri soon. We're thinking we're going up to Grandma Betty's for Mother's Day. Maybe we can meet there? If not, we'll trek up to Mo. because we miss the little red head. Speaking of, wonder if Mason has any hair yet.

I had a dream last night about a little girl with dark curly hair. She was holding my hand and had a fistful of bubble gum. Hope it's not an omen. Brian sure wants a boy. But you can always name her Sam (antha).

Love you all.

Growing up

Wow. We like Brian and Robin's soon-to-be home. It's weird seeing your kids all grown up and self-sufficient. Thank God. Hee hee.

We're proud of our children. Brian and Robin are good parents. Brian's a good daddy.

I know Sondra's still struggling to get through college. We're so proud of her. And, Amanda's still finding her way. She will. Sheldon's one heck of a hard worker. He never misses a day of work, so they'll be ok once they find their path. Hopefully, he's going to be getting into this program at Bob Howard Auto Group. They hire people for six months, then send them to school for six months etc. That would be perfect for Sheldon because he wants to be a mechanic -- if you can call them that anymore it's so high-tech now.

Dogs and easter eggs

Dogs don't do a very good job of finding Easter eggs...just kidding. But that was our Easter -- alone with two dogs and a cat.

It was quiet though, and sometimes quiet is good.

I'm crunching trying to get all the stuff done for the podcast. Not like I haven't been planning it for several months now. May 1 -- no kidding. Look for it.

Exercise nuts

Well we joined the Y two weeks ago, and now it's starting to become a daily habit. Ray is really going overboard, walking at noon and then going to the Y and working out for one hour to an hour and a half each day. I'm usually the one who's ready to leave.

The Y here has a cool thing called "FitLinx" The machines automatically record what you do and when you do it. Miss a day, and it gives you a message like "where have YOU been?" Keeps you honest and you don't cheat on the weights.

That's our life right now. Work, gym, sleep. Well sort of sleep -- still on the old mattress. We're keeping our fingers crossed that tomorrow is the day our new mattress will be delivered. If not, we might get cranky.

We have no plans for Easter. None. We were going to a cabin (my mom's idea) at a lake, but dad's not up to traveling. We probably should go see Grandma Betty, haven't done that in a few months. Amanda kept asking us what we were doing so we tried to include them in our plans. Nope. They are going to Vernon. They wanted to know what we were doing coz they want us to babysit the dogs. Are you kidding me? Kids, I swear :)

Cars and more cars

Wow. We had lots of fun yesterday. Decided to go to the "free" car show at Rose State College. That was a small car show, but lots of fun. They had new cars (my favorite) and old muscle cars (dad's favorite) and then they also had the import cars that kids like these days and there were even a bunch of low riders. It was definitely and eccletic mix. We sort of liked that.

Well this is the hot rod show weekend, and we didnt' go to that show because tickets are $15 a person. Too much for us cheapskates. So instead we did what the news told us NOT to do. Apparently South Meridian up to NW 10th has become an "unofficial" cruising spot for the last few years. Some years they even set up concessions. We wanted to check it out.

The police were doing their dang best to ruin the fun, setting up roadblocks every other block. The cars were amazing. The crowds were amazing. Whole families, young and old. It's really too bad that OKC doesn't embrace the event, put it somewhere where it's away from the residents who complain. It was fun. Muscle cars, hot rods, there's always been an element of lawlessness that goes with the whole thing.

Anyway, we got home and finally watched King Kong. Great flick. I was surprised and totally expecting not to like it because Jack Black was in it. I don't like him. He's annoying.

I promise to blog more on here. :)

Missing the grandkids

Yet, another day of missing our grandkids. You know I didn't think I was going to be one of THOSE grandmas that always talked about the grandkids and had pictures. I am. So is papa. We see the eyes glaze over when we say the word "grand..." but we keep talking.

Too funny. I'm up at 3 a.m. because I woke up from a bad dream. And, Ray was talking in his sleep. He's looking for a good used older jeep and he's driving me crazy. So, if you see an older jeep for sale, ask the price, mileage, four-wheel drive or not and size of engine. Your dad would probably drive for a while to get it.

I just want to travel

Dad and I are getting restless again. Blame our trip to Washington. We've lived in Oklahoma for nearly four years now. Of course, we don't want to move and leave Amanda and Sheldon all alone. Besides, I think it will be at least a couple of years before we move.

But we want to live near EVERYONE. We miss the grandkids and want to be able to see them whenever we want. We really were spoiled when they lived here.

We're trying to find a lake that we can all get together at for Easter. So plan for that, ok? We'll pay for gas etc.

Hide and Seek

Well, I'm not sure we're up to babysitting dogs anytime soon. We babysat Sheldon and Amanda's dogs last night, and Nuka jumped over the fence and took off.

We looked for that dang dog for hours. Amanda joined the hunt after she got off at 9 p.m., then the dog comes running back from across 36th street -- busy street. He stinks to high heaven, is limping and crying because his hurt leg hurts more.

Too much stress for us. We're looking forward to a quiet evening -- without dogs.

All alone

Man -- this house seems empty now. Yep. That's right. Amanda and Sheldon moved out Saturday to their own little apartment, so now we're officially empty nesters. We can't quite get used to it. We've never lived in this house by ourselves so it's really empty.

The apartment is cute, and we've managed to furnish it. Sheldon and Amanda bought a dining room table and a stand for their t.v. She took the desk and a dresser and bed from their room, so now it's officially theirs. And, we loaned them (gave them?) our pink floral couch and a coffee table, plus an end table. They bought a lamp, dishes, etc.

It looks cute. Red and black is the color scheme.

Ray is especially proud because we moved everything over there in the PT cruiser. Yes, even the couch. Amazing. I'll post pictures next time.

Back again

Geez, Louise it's been ages since I wrote on this blog. Shame on me. Our trip to Washington was well worth it.

Chloe and Mikayla have grown into absolutely beautiful little girls (see Brian's blog for photos). We're thrilled beyond words at getting to be around them for at least a while.

We just can't get over Mikayla -- probably because she was just a baby when ya'll moved. We're so bummed we weren't there to see the transition. Every time we see Mason, he looks like he's grown a foot.

It's already been two whole months since we've seen him, and probably won't get to see him until April. Dang it all.

But glad to hear Brian promise that he and the girls will be back soon for a visit. We'll have to get them down to see the greats too.

Looks like our next trip is going to be to Fort Worth to see Willie Nelson for our anniversary though. Yep. He's at Billy Bob's on April 1, and we thought we'd do something just crazy and just for ourselves on the anniversary since we didn't get to on the big 20th last year.

So...we're taking the Amtrak -- way more affordable than flying or driving!

Still hobbling and the Super Bowl

Hey, am I allowed to say Super Bowl? Apparently if you haven't paid some enourmous fee, you're not allowed to use the words "Super Bowl" - copyrighted.

So much for our First Amendment right of speech. Anyway, we're cheering for the Steelers. So we're digging out the black and gold stuff today. I think we might have some :)

My apologies to all for not calling etc. Gridiron, work, injury. I'm still hobbling on the knee and have just given up and use the cane all the time now. Sucks.

Hey, Aunt Sylvia bought a silver PT Cruiser (2006). Hmmm. Reminds me of someone's car, just can't put my finger on it.

Busy busy busy

I don't know why I do this every year. Right after Christmas and New Year's we kick into the Gridiron rehearsal schedule. It's grueling. With basketball, our fav reality shows and football play-offs all luring us to the tube, which we really don't have time for -- 'cept Saturday mornings, which have unofficially become our "watch everything on Tivo mornings", work and everything else, January has been a blur.

Which is probably good, because it's a long month and like most people we are so broke, we wouldn't have time to do anything else if we did have the money.

Sylvia wants me to go to Odessa this weekend, but it's just not happening. Money, time etc. We have rehearsals on Sunday. We're shooting a commercial on Saturday, and I have five articles due in the next week plus the Lawton Clean Air campaign needs my full-time attention right now. AND, I have to get a whole lot done for the week I'm gone. Craziness, but I love it.

NOW, if I could just hire a maid.

January or is it March

Either way, I hope it at least rains in March. No rain, despite the weatherman's promises for at least three days of it this week. None. Nada. Nil. Ziltch.

So your dad is watering the grass this morning. I have to get control of him though because he seems to think he can till the ground and ready the flower beds. Heck, if it doesn't start raining, I'm thinking xero-scaping. You know, change the grass in our yard for rocks like they do in Arizona, plant a cactus or two, preferably where the neighbors cats like to come lie in our yard. A cutout of a howling coyote and it's Arizona!

Yes, I know some of you are sick of the rain. We pray for it every day. Weird world. Or God has a sick sense of humor.

Snow maybe

Yeah. Snow is in the forecast. Rain maybe. We'll take either. It's so dry here that we've had to water our grass regularly because we're worried some person who never listens to the radio or television or newspaper news might throw a cigarette ash -- if not the whole cigarette -- out of a car window and on to our lawn. I don't know why people think it's ok to throw trash out in the yards of houses on the corner. That was a problem when we lived in Canyon too, and in Columbia. Geez, do we have a thing for "houses on the corner?"

Feeling better today. Maybe because we just had a stress-free day yesterday. No work. No thinking. We joined NetFlix -- at least we're trying it free for a month. I think it's going to be worth it in the long run. So today we're watching movies. Yesterday, I watched all the shows I recorded during the week. I don't have time to watch television during the week at all anymore due to Gridiron.

Found out Integris, which is only a few blocks from us has a health center complete with pool and Tai Chi classes. We're calling them to find out just how "affordable" "affordable is -- that according to their ad.

Hug the kids for us...

The week in review

It's been a long week. Probably because we've had two four-day weeks in a row. Of course, Ray has another four-day week next week due to the MLK holiday.

I've been getting a lot of press for one of my clients, good news and bad news. More work for me!

I'm headed to Lawton on Monday. The Clean Air campaign kicks off in March and I have tons of stuff to do. In the middle of it all, I was too much of a wimp to say no when the editor of one of the publications I had been freelancing called. I wrote a story for them. Too much work, and not enough time. I'll be sitting here this weekend finishing up more projects.

My cousin Lydia emailed me and said she's retiring from Texas Tech. Dang. I feel old.

I'm late on birthday cards and calls, so I'm sure my name is mud in some circles. Oh well, nothing new there.

I got more photos put on disk, so that's a good thing. I've still been having the intense chest pains this week (been ongoing since the first week in January) so I guess I'll break down and go to the doctor. I almost drove myself to the E.R. today, but I decided it was just stress. I start Tai Chi next week, so I'm hoping that will help relieve some of the stress.
Gridiron is not much fun this year. I'm thinking it might be my last year. We'll see. -- I think I say that every year. My friend, John G. from the Capitol isn't in Gridiron this year. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and just had surgery. He'll be out for a while, so they sent someone else to sub for him at the press room. Ryan -- the ass -- got promoted this week so he's no longer at the Capitol. They brought out the young girl who had just graduated the year before (I call her the editor's "cha cha" girl, so you get my drift) She's the one they had wanted to replace me with, until I threw a hissy and they sent McNutt out there. Oh well, some people work their way up, others sleep their way up.

Anyway, that's my week in nutshell. We were supposed to go out with S&P tonight but we're curtailing any eating out, movies, etc. until after the trip to Washington. Still need to check about Mas going up with us. BTW -- we're already starting to plan the 2007 trip to Walt Disney World. Everyone will go. We're renting a huge house, along with Jerry and his family -- total three houses. We're paying for the stay and park tickets. Just plan to pay for transportation and some eats -- unless I win the powerball this weekend -- yes, Oklahoma finally has powerball. If I win everyone in the fam should expect a new car and a new house. ha ha. Cross your fingers.

Passing Gas

Not literally. Yesterday -- late yesterday -- we came home to find a note on our door that our gas had been shut off due to nonpayment. What?! We dug out the receipt -- my new filing system is paying off -- a file for each bill and I remembered to put the receipt in there. It was paid before Christmas! Anyway, I call the gas company, stay on hold for 40 minutes before finally speaking to someone.

Guess what? They say we're not shut off. Well, my house is cold and I have a note on my door. 30 minutes later ... they finally figured out someone screwed up after they call their dispatcher. Gee, we're sorry. Here's $50 on next month's bill (not turning that down) but we can't turn you back on until tomorrow because it's too late this evening.
So we traispe to Wal-Mart (ok, we tried everywhere else but Wal-Mart at first and finally had to go shop at the evil empire.) We buy two electric heaters, and some firewood.
We were warmer in our bedroom last night than we ever are. The house stayed at 68 degrees. AND there was actually still enough hot water for both Ray and I to shower this morning. So guess what. When they turn the heat back on, we're keeping the temp on 68 degrees or lower and continuing to use the electric heaters on really cold nights.
Maybe our next bill won't be $300+ like it was this last month.
So they actually did us a favor.

Gridiron time

Well, this is certainly going to make the time go faster -- we're already in rehearsals for Gridiron. Our last show is Feb. 18 -- so that means we have to leave the 19th, not the 18th as originally planned.

41 days. But who's counting?

That's how long it will be before we get to see our little Kayla and Chloe. We're are literally counting the days. A whole year is just too dang long.

I'm telling you -- you have to move closer. It about broke my heart the other day to hear Chloe -- and we love to hear their little chatter in the background when we're talking to Brian and Robin, especially since the little stinkers won't actually talk to us. But anyway, Chloe asked "Is my Mason there?" When B told her he was talking to us.

Ah...that was so sweet and it's great that she still remembers Mason. Those two used to hug like they hadn't seen each other in years when they lived here. We might not be able to pry them apart if they finally see each other this year. I wonder if Mikayla remembers Mason?

We're worried she doesn't remember us. It's been a while, and she was so little. The first time we had a long separation from Mason when he was little, it took him a while to let us hug him. He was mad at us. Kids don't understand "far away" and why people are so far away. Yep. I'm trying to make you feel guilty about moving. Is it working? I know you guys are trying, and we'll think positive thoughts for this year -- but Houston, or Denver -- you know there's clean up sites at both and both are far better than Maryland or Florida. But heck even those are drivable as compared to Washington state.

We hope Mason will get to go, but I highly suspect his school would say "no" anyway to him missing so many school days. So maybe you guys can plan a vacation this summer to come here if you're still up there.

We'll be in Fargo in June, but that's still 18 hours from Richland. That's a darn shame when Fargo, ND is closer to us than you guys are...

Coffee Time

Photos - finally

So it takes me a while to get photos developed. Here's a couple from last summer.

Papa's big fish

Craziness

It's great to go to Brian's blog and get a glimpse of the girls. What a happy family.

I'm glad that you and Robin do so many fun things with the girls. They are going to have some good memories when they grow up.

They've turned out to be quite the little snow bunnies, haven't they? We're planning still to go to Washington in February. We've already started picking up a few things -- the latest a Dora hopscotch puzzle mat -- to take with us. We have a whole year of spoiling to make up for in one week!

A whole year. That's too long. It's time to move closer (within one-day driving distance!)

Happy New Year

I resolve this year to:

1. Learn to design my own blogs

2. Post more regularly on this blog

3. Love you all even more.

I miss those I didn't get to see, but am looking forward to February 18!!! And, 2006 has to be a better year!

You all should: Resolve to go to church this year!!
Love you,
MOM