Costs Of Winter

There has already been one cost hike to electric and gas here and now they are talking of another. We are already watching, very closely, the temperature we keep in our home. At night we lower it to 61 degrees; during the day it never is higher than 68 when we are home and maintains the 61 when we are out. I'm not sure what else we could do other than wearing more layers than we already do during the day and adding more blankets at night. I feel for those who live in colder areas than we do. Winter has its beauty but there is also the cost.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Have A Fun Weekend!

A New Mexico High Desert mesa - the scenery here is breathtaking.

Iron Chef I'm Not

It's funny, since the vertigo I don't cook very often - all the movement and finding things makes me dizzy. I do still cook though; if I'm having a good day etc... Have never been a great cook - but adequate. Whenever I cook John likes what I make (I'm thankful for that). John is a whole different ball of wax: he can cook with anything. He just looks in the fridge and freezer and puts things together. He is very inventive. He learned a lot being in restaurant management for all those years and, of course, he took a Culinary Arts class too. He really enjoys it too.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Wishful Thinking

Love this cartoon. It speaks of hope, imagination, and a positive outlook on life. We all seem to be so negative much of the time. All the difficulties in our country and the rest of the world make us skeptics and negative thinkers. We live in a country that is all about hope, possibilities, and freedom. We need to focus on those things and our part in it. Do what we can to make life better for others, our families, and ourselves. Our forefathers would be happy if we did this and so would our God.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Marcelle Learns To Drive

Marcelle had an exciting day the other day. Her neighbors have a little motorized car they allowed her to drive. The button had a bit of an electrical problem but she still managed to have a great time. Just hearing her joyful laugh makes my heart happy. She got a little distracted watching the other children but, boy, did she have fun. She is too cute! Sorry, Gramma is allowed to be proud!!

Video courtesy of: Misha and Alan

Protect Yourself!

With all that is going on in our country, I think our little friend has the right idea. Then, on the other hand, if we all hide nothing will change it will just get worse. This is the scary part: if we do nothing and it gets worse we only have ourselves to blame. After all, we elect people to do what is best for the country and when they don't we blame them. We need to hold our elected officials accountable, at all levels, for what they do and don't do. Campaign promises are easy - fulfilling them is another matter. Sometimes we all forget, especially those in government, that they work for us - we pay their salaries and for all their perks, etc... and they truly don't appreciate it and, in fact, look down on us - the plebeians - and speak of us and to us as if we were very small, not very smart, children. I am a little sick of their attitudes. They only care about their agendas and really have lost sight of the long term effects of what they have done and what they are doing.

Sorry --- just had to vent a little.

Cartoon provided by: Reader's Digest

Sad Sunday - Happy Sunday

Mixed emotions yesterday:
Sad: Chicago Bears lost the conference championship to (yuck) the Green Bay Packers. It was not a good game for them at all - they went through all three of their quarterbacks. The third string, Haney, was actually doing quite well at the end of the game until he was intercepted at the very end with less than a minute to go. Very sad - almost, but not quite. Have been a Bears fan since meeting John over 32 years ago. Love to see them win. Had a good year this year even with this loss.

Happy: Our very dear friends came over to celebrate my birthday and watch the Bears game. They are so sweet; brought a great gift plus pizza and a home baked birthday cake. We had such fun watching the game as one of them is a die hard Packers fan. Lots of laughs.