COME CELEBRATE WITH ME.........................

It was a rough close to 2009, and so far no better in 2010. I lost many good close friends this past year and
heard many heartbreaking stories of people suffering. I was not sorry to see last year go. I looked forward to
the fresh start of a New Year. I was looking forward to helping Carter celebrate his 3rd birthday at Disneyland and to see our Katie tu rn two. Our friend Nichoel and her boyfriend planning a wedding at the Wayfarer's Chapel, located on the Pacific Ocean, with McKenna and Gavin serving as flower girl and ring bearer.

All these events are happy events and went off as planned. Had a great time in Anaheim with a couple of tours to Corona to see Luke, Maggie and Gavin, as well as the parents, but the Biegers had to cancel due to some sort of bug that had infiltrated their household. We were sorry not to see them, but were happy they were not willing to share their germs. Carter and Bennett and parents and grandparents enjoyed two days at Disneyland, while Greatgrandma, that's me, vegged out at the hotel, sat by the pool, and even ordered up room service one night. I loved it. After a week of rain it was wedding time and thank you God, the w







eather was clear and bright, too bright, the sun created such a reflection on the ocean, pictures with that beautiful setting were impossible. Didn't darken the spirits of the bride and groom tho. The wedding was beautiful, the
reception was fun and the food was good. McKenna and Gavin danced the night away. Another good weekend.

BUT............And there always seems to be a but, in these few short weeks since Jan. 1st, I have lost several good friends, attended memorial services (or missed them because I was in Calif.) learned of two more people diagnosed with the big C and just this past weekend got downed by some bug of my own (feeling better tho)
oh yes, my TV developed a mind of its own turn it on and it will kick in anywhere in the next 24 hr period and then shut off whenever it feels like it. Dawn and Chip graciously donated their bedroom tv to me ( I think they want to get a flat screened one) and came out and hooked it up. Sure enough, I felt so lousy I stayed in my room and watched the little one most of the weekend. This morning my first e mail was to notify me of another friend's passing and the second one was warning me if I didn't read the whole thing and forward it to all my friends bad things would happen to me. I deleted it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, you are probably wondering why I am celebrating?

I was sitting here feeling pretty sorry for myself, when I looked at my calendar, and thought hmmm, I should change it, it is February, yo u know. February 1st and my mind drifted back to another
February 1st, 1982. 28 years ago when I had a radical mastectomy and God has seen fit to keep me cancer free all these years and I realize God does have a plan and who am I to question HIM.
I love him and he loves me. Lord, thank you for my life and thank you for my friends and family.. I know you have aplan for all of us and I ask that you receive my friends into your loving care and comfort those who have lost friends and family and hold my friends who are battling illnesses in your healing hands. AMEN

CHRISTMAS PRACTISE

Christmas is such a busy time of year, and so much gets lost in the shuffle. I like staying home for Christmas, I am comfortable at my own church, and this year I will be doing the power point at all 5 Christmas Eve Services. The comment was made that even the pastors don't do all five, but as I pointed out, (no pun intended) they have to stand and speak, I get to sit and hit a button. Dawn and Chip will be going to New Mexico for Christmas and so I decided to go to So.
Calif to practise Christmas there.

We (I) picked a weekend and it was compatible with all concerned, so I decided I would drive down to Corona on Saturday and come home on Monday. Driving was pretty much the only option as I had so much to take with me, and the airlines don't like that so drive, I will. I planned to leave on Saturday morning and we would all get together for dinner on Saturday nite. As usual, the best laid plans, etc, etc, etc. The weather chose not to cooperate. Remember, I have to drive thru the Cajon Pass, which can be tricky in bad weather. It had turned cold earlier in the week and we had an all day rain (unusual for our area). It cleared up later in the week, but a big storm was predicted for Saturday, so on Thursday, I decided I would leave on Friday and avoid the storm.

I planned to leave around 9 AM, but again, fate stepped in and I was still in Henderson at 10:30 am. Not too bad, got rolling and it was cloudy and threatening, but by the time I got to the state line the sun was shining and it was beautiful. A tad chilly, but good driving conditio ns. So with a Christmas CD and God in the passenger seat, we had a good trip. Got to Barstow and the clouds ahead were very threatening, but I pushed on. Darker and darker as we approached Victorville, with a murky looking bank of fog (smog) on the horizon. There is one really steep downgrade coming down from the pass, where we literally passed thru the clouds, it was a brief
period of time, but it was so eerie --almost like slow motion and weird--and then those clouds were hovering over m y head. No rain, but strange. Others must have felt the same way I did as everyone was driving rather slowly and I did not see even one crazy person. T hank you God. Got in some stop and go traffic between the 60 a nd the 91, but truly again, no nuts. Must have been no California drivers on the 15 that day. Arrived at Beth's in Corona about 2:45.

Mel and the kids came and got me and I went over and had dinner with them. Beth and Tony had a Christmas party to go to. Melanie made a pot roast with potatoes and we had a really good visit. Such fun seeing the kids and their parents.

Saturday morning Beth and I went back to Melanie and Brian's as Beth was babysitting. We had fun with the kids and Beth even taugh t them a new game. She put her I phone on a timer and
we had a contest to see if luke or gavin would keep quiet the longest. Luke won, he went over 8 minutes.

We came back for dinner later on Saturday and the Biegers came over (they actually picked up the dinner and brought it with them. Three delicious pasta dishes, salad and bread. the kids were anxious for presents, which Santa had brought while we were babysitting and that silly man in the red suit dumped them in my trunk so we had to bring them over.

I believe I forgot to mention that the weatherman called it correctly and it rained all day Saturday, sometimes a light rain, but of course everytime we had to be out in it, it was pouring.
After dinner the rain had let up a little bit and the kids wanted to go carolling. Beth, Melanie and Shannon took McKenna, Luke and Kyla and Gavin and went to the neighbor's houses, singing for them and then leaving them gifts. Of course the further away they got, the harder it poured, so they had to give up and come home. Our house was the last house they carolled at and they were so cute, singing their hearts out and looking like drowned puppies. Maggie came and stood next to my while the sang her song "Tinky Bells, HAY!" (Jingle Bells) Oh what fun. Poor Mags had lost her voice, so she could only "shine" her eyes were shining, her smile was shining and she was just enjoying the whole thing.

Now, it was present time. The girls got bracelets and the boys got roadbots and lots of candy.
Maggie can tell you that you cannot take a giant gumdrop and put it in your mouth all at one time, you have to take bites. Kids were place in new pajamas (getting out of their wet clothes)
Dessert time for the grown-ups, some photo ops, kids worn out from carolling and grandma looking like she had been out in the rain way too long, but love filling the air. Even Katie looked at me this time, didn't smile, but didn't look down either.


Where does the weekend go? It's Sunday already. Beth and I met Sherri for lunch and then met Melanie an Gavin at the Menswear shop where Gavin was measured for his "suxedo" He and
McKenna are going to be in Nichoel's wedding in January. I think Melanie is still in "sticker shock over the price of renting a tuxedo.

Sunday was a beautiful day, and promises of good weather to come. I planned to go home on Monday, and was able to get away on time. 9AM was the plan and I was home and had the car unpacked by 12:40. Very little traffic and very little wind.

Thanks for sharing our Christmas Practise with me, Now we are all prepared for the REAL thing
and GOD BLESS US EVERYONE

A STOLEN THANKSGIVING POEM

They caught me by surprise one night
and oh my heart was full of fright!
They threw me in a big old pot
And boy, the water was very hot
I knew I would have a very short night
Oh Oh, here comes the knife
But, it stops and they say "grace"
Now here it comes, finally at last
and all the pain is long gone past
It's now a battle I have lost
along with corn and cranberry sauce
THE END

A STOLEN THANKSGIVING POEM:

NOVEMBER/THANKSGIVING

I guess everyone has a month in their lives that they would like to skip over each year and get it over with. November has long been that month for me. It is a bittersweet month for me, one in which I lost many people I loved very much. Oh yes, I have lost people in other months, too, but November is the one I don't like the
most.

I LOVE holidays, so it doesn't seem fair, but that's why it is "bittersweet" I am grateful for my life, my friends,
and most of all for my family. God has been good to me and blessed me in so many ways. In a recent visit to
Idaho, our relationships with many of Wayne's family were renewed. Our facebook relationships, too, have taken us to a new level with being able to communicate more closely with family and friends separated by miles, yet connected thru the internet.

I am always reminded at this time of year of those I miss so very much. Let me tell you about two Thanksgivings that come to mind:

The first was in 1982 (I hope I got that year right) It was Thanksgiving, and everyone had gathered at our house on Shipman to celebrate the holiday. Not too much stands out in my mind about tha t Thanksgiving being any different from many others, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. It was the Tuesday following the
holiday that I got a frantic call from my mom, saying "Dorothy, something has happened to your Dad, can
you come over?" Yes, my Dad had slipped away quietly during the night. Thinking back to the T hursday
before, I recalled my dad and mom leaving our house and Dad kissed me good-bye, Not unusual, we always
kissed when saying good-bye, but what was unusual, he also hugged me, and said "This was the best Thanksgiving ever, Thank you" I never spoke to my dad again.

Then a few years later, another Thanksgiving is etched in my mind and heart. My wonderful husband of 35
years had just passed away, the week before the holiday. It is ironic that this year, 22 years later, the calendar is identical to 1987. On the 1st of November, an ambulance came and took Wayne back to the hospital. His cancer was winning.l It was a tough 19 days, with many calls to t he family that today could be
the day. Rev. Box, the chaplain at the hospital said, just t ake it one day at a time, look forward to Thanksgiving, but in my heart I knew that was not going to be. On Thursday, the 19th, one week before the
celebration of Thanksgiving, I had been at the hospital all day, as I had been the other 18 days. Beth and
Henry decided to take me out for dinner to give me a break, and said they would bring me back to the hospit al
later, if I wanted to come. We went to Coco's, a place Wayne and I had gone a lot, and the manager came up
and asked us where Wayne was. We explained the situation to him and the next thing we knew the waitress came up and told us the manager had paid for our dinner. Henry (always thinking ahead) said where can we go tomorrow nite and do the same thing.

Well, it got to be pretty late, so I went on home, planning to return to the hospital first t hing in the morning when about an hour later I got "t he call". Of course, guilt set in, but in my heart I knew I wasn't supposed to be there, and he was in the best hands, all the nurses who lovingly cared for him in his last days. Dr. Rohde later told me that after he had passed away, you couldn't find a nurse on the floor. Several attended his funeral service. dr. R said it was an honor and a privilege to have served as his doctor. He made dying dignified.

Thanksgiving was courtesy of K-Mart that year. They had donated all the food to the hospital, and Rev Box (Ray) had thought of us.

Yes, truly a bittersweet time, sadly missing all our loved ones who have gone on ahead, but loving the ones who are still around to love. Count your blessings and and hug those close to you

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

ONCE UPON A TIME........................

It's Halloween and we have been facebooking about our "chili tradition" which got me to thinking about celebrating Halloween, when the kids were growing up. Our house was situated further back on our lot, giving us a fairly large front yard. About halfway to the street we planted two miniature stone pines the very first Christmas we moved in, having been told that these trees could be trimmed to 8 feet and never get bigger than 12 feet, well, 60 feet later we had two very large miniature pine trees with lots of pine needles littering the front yard..so, being very creative, Dad decided to use those pine needles as mounds, depicting a graveyard, with the appropriate tombstones. This was not quite enough for him, so he took one of his flannel shirts and an old pair of levis and stuffed them with newspaper,added an old pair of shoes, a ball stuffed in a pillowcase, with a face drawn on it and a baseball cap on his head, and proceeded to hang our new friend from the pine tree nearest the gate, where trick or treaters would come in for their treats.

Still not satisfied, he wired up a speaker near the tree, connecting to a microphone in the house,
where he hid behind the drapes and would talk to the ghosts and goblins who came to the gate.
The hanging man would then speak to the children. "hi Mr Cowboy, come in" What a pretty little princess, Oh my goodness, a scary pirate.. It really worked, he would ask them to help him get down, he asked one child to scratch his foot, and his footwas scratched.. Some little ones were
so scared they wouldn't even come in. Word soon spread and people were coming by in car
loads and dropping their kids off.

We continued this for a couple of years and then all the neighbor kids as well as our own, were growing up and no longer trick or treating.

Hope you enjoy this Halloween memory

HALLOWEEN

A brief disclaimer. I was asked to write a short spooky story for the mine as they will be touring
visitors thru a Haunted Mine this spooky season, so as my printer is not yet hooked up and I dont know how to forward stuff, I am doing it in my blog. Holly, this is for you

It's Halloween, a time to be thinking of ghosts and goblins and scary things that go "clunk" in the night.
We are about to enter the McCaw Mine, but before we do, I need to warn you about something---you may
not know, but miners are a very superstitious group of people. You will notice there is a horseshoe on the wall
about the portal of the mine. It it is pointing up, it holds all good luck, but if it is pointing down, all the good luck will pour out. A miner would not enter the mine, unless the horseshoe was in the upright position.

The legend of the tommy-knockers started a long, long time ago in England, Cornwall, to be exact. In the "olden
days" there was no modern equipment, and because the mines were hollowed out by hand, the tunnels were barely high enough for a man to enter. He usually crawled in and did most of his work scrunched down. Because they didn't have the equipment that they have today, the mines were not necessarily very safe. There
were many cave-ins and the mines could be filled with gasses. In any case, many miners were trapped in the
mines and died there. Being superstitious, the miners believed that the ghosts of these miners were still hanging
around the mines. They were convinced that these ghosts would play pranks on them, they would lose their
tools, their lamps would go out, lunches would disappear, they sure seemed to be full of mischief. On the other hand, it was believed that the ghosts were also responsible for saving lives and for helping the miners find the
vein of gold, or where great deposits of ore were to be found. the miners called them "tommy-knockers"
because they would hear strange knockings on the walls around them. The miners had respect for them and
definitely did not want to make them angry, for they were also known to be very mean, when they wanted to
be. In order to appease the tommy-knockers, the miners would leave them food and perhaps a pint of ale
and hoped the tommy-knockers would be good to them.

Now as far as I know, no one has ever claimed to have really "seen" one, but they all heard them knocking,
and some would see hammers pounding on rocks, held by invisible hands, seen wheelbarrows being filled with ore when no one was around, lamps going on and off for no reason, but above all, when the day was over
and the miners were going home for the day, the lunch bucket they had left for the tommy-knockers was
empty and the container holding the pint of ale was dry.

How did they get to this country. Well, when mining first started to become a big thing in this country, we didn't have very many experienced miners and they would hire miners from England. The mining company would ask the miners of they knew of anyone else who would like to mine here and they miner would usually say "well, now,
there's my cousin Jack, and if ye would pay his boat ride he would come work for you. So the miners from
Corwall would come over here, and brought with them the legend of the tommy-knockers. The Americans
generally referred to these miners as "cousin Jacks"

Now, I am not saying this is true, and I am not saying it's not true, but just to be sure, let's check the horseshoe
and leave some food.