Abby Update

How about a quick update? The first month with Abby has been pretty good. She is such a fun little dog. We have both made some minor adjustments; and a few areas, we are giving her more time. She does have her own mind and is determined that it is going to be her way. Wednesday morning she had a dead bird that she was not going to let go of - no matter what. We played tug-og-war with a dead bird. Thursday morning she decided that she did not want to come back into the house. She ran and ran and ran some more until she got to the tractor. Then she hid under it so I could not get her. Oh, the joys of a new puppy.

Highlights of 2010

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Happy Valentine's Day

To All those that I love, have a wonderful day!

It seems like I have already had three Valentine's Days. When I got home from Austin, Rick had a card on the bar for me that had tickets to a Bill Medley concert, who is half of the Righteous Brothers. It was one of the best concerts that we have been to. He sang all the wonderful songs that made these guys famous. He went down memory lane and told stories about working with Elvis and the Beatles. There was a video with all the clips from Ghost, Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, Cheers and other shows with the songs that they did. His 24 year old very talented and beautiful daughter now sings with him and his band. It was a very fun night.

Then Saturday night we went to Clarks. They had a guitarist strumming and singing songs as people ate. Two nights in a row we got to hear good music with a little romance. On Sunday we did Valentines with the grandchildren. It was such a pretty day that we had a cookout. Rick cooked french fries and hot dogs outside in a homemade fire pit on the ground. I had Red Velvet cupcakes that we put candles in.

For this silly old romantic, Valentines 2011 was pretty special. I hope yours is too.

Snow Day at TCEA 2011

Another snow day, and I missed it. However, it was for a good cause. I am at the TCEA Technology conference in Austin and loving every minute of it. It is always such a treat to get to come to this conference. I love being here with the really computer nerds. I am always amazed of what is out there. Very seldom do  I go to the General Assembly because I would rather spend my time learning something rather than being motivated. However, the guest speaker yesterday was Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real mom from the movie, "The Blind Side;" so I did go. She is a beautiful lady with a very moving story. You can tell that she is the real thing.

Now is when I NEED a snow day to go back through the one million things I have been exposed to this week.

Four Days and counting

The weathermen missed the forecast a little. We were supposed to get a light dusting of snow or maybe one inch accumulation. When we got up we already had 3 - 5 inches, depending where you measured. It snowed throughout the day. By dusk we had 8 inches of snow. So what did I do today?

• Quilted
• Read
• Watched soaps
• Made and fed the birds bread crumbs
• Made snow ice cream
• Took pictures of the snow, the birds, and Abby

My back yard

Before

After

Notice I did not do any real cooking. I do need to go the the grocery store for a few staples. I am not bored yet, nor do I have cabin fever. I am enjoying this unexpected time off and the beautiful snow that God chose to give us this winter.

Bad Weather Days

Several weeks ago we had a snow day. It was such a treat. Never did I expect to get one, two, three more of these days. Tuesday, the first day, I baked a Red Velvet Cake and made some Tomato Basil soup. The rest of the day I was pretty much a bum - I watched soap operas and read magazines. Wednesday, I did a little more. I did sew on my quilt and a little housework, before I watched soaps and read. Thursday, I cooked a Cream Cheese Streusal Coffee cake and did computer work, before I did the soaps and reading.

 Today I am going to break this spell of staying at home this afternoon. We have Justin's 30th birthday meal. I know through the years we were home on several of his birthdays with snow on the ground. Daddy would go get Diana and the kids and bring them to my house on these snow days. One of our favorite memories is that the kids would make paper airplanes to sell. They would put them in the window with a price on them in hopes someone would buy them. There is no wonder that two of the boys ended up as salesmen. They started early.

"Junny", Happy Birthday. Thanks for the 30 years of memories. We are so proud of you.

An Abby update:
Abby has been having a rough time going outside to take care of "business." She does not like the cold winds nor the ice and snow.