January Blues

No posts last week because both Mike and I got worse before we got better. Mike is back to work this week and I am finally on the mend too. The weekend was unusual in that I had no voice. I think maybe Steve liked it because I was very quiet. We did get to a Walleye Hockey game with our friends Ed and Hilary and although the Walleye lost it was great to see the new arena. The seats were fine in our opinion and according to Ed and Hilary much better than the benches with numbers on them in some stadiums. The local buzz is that the seats are too small and too close together.

We have a little snow this morning and it looks like January in Ohio. Steve will take to the ski slopes in Northern Michigan this weekend with the RCO group so I will have some down time. I have plans to see a chick flick and get some cleaning done. We are at 22 days and counting for Hawaii now. Better start doing some golf stretches to get ready.

Some pictures from the last weeks.


Pretty centerpiece from the RCO Winter party





Dining room with paint and wall paper waiting for the crown molding


Finally pulling the plug on the outdoor Christmas lights :(

Tuesday

Slow, make that very slow weekend. I was down for the count on Sunday...better now but it was sinus, head and stomach yuck! That left plenty of time for Steve to finish painting the woodwork in the dining room and it is almost ready for the wallpaper. This project moved along quickly.

I am off to BG to see MIke this morning. He called and seems to have the same thing I was suffering with Sunday. I am bringing him some chicken soup and hugs along with a medicine chest of cold remedies. Just a mom making sure it is not something more serious.

We continue with the grey weather this week. Temperature highs in the mid 30's but no sunshine.

Friday Updates

Chistine is now a certified RN. Congradulations and glad we could be part of it.

The dining room project continues with most of the walls and woodwork primed and ready for paint which will be this weekends tasks. The wall paper is in but I will not start that until all of the painting is done. Besides the odd wall is a conversation piece. The decorator I have been working with finally got me to consider window treatments in the kitchen and she delivered those with our picture today. This just about completes the kitchen.

Wednesday

We saw sunshine and warmer temperatures today! What a relief. The winters might not be quite so terrible if we got the sunshine more often. I think the gray skies are the real problem with our winters here in Northwest OHio. It is actually suppose to get above freezing for the next 4 days so we may see some of the snow disappear. Still it is kind of nice to cocoon in for a few weeks after the holidays.

Monday night we had the pleasure of John and Christine Stanford's company. Christine was in Toledo to take her NCLEX nursing certification test on Tuesday morning. We haven't heard yet but are hoping it went well so she and Marcus can boggie off to Oklahoma.


Tuesday was a down day. Mike had been called to serve on a Wood County Jury but when we made the call he was told the case had settled. Too bad. He had to go to work then. I spent a little time in the dining room and took this picture to remind us of our first attempt at red 9 years ago. When it was definite it was not going to happen I guess we went a little crazy. It will remain under the next coat of wallpaper to surprise someone years from now.



Wednesday was my day to spent at the computer working out the details of our Hawaii trip. It still looks like tourism is down based on the bookings of condos in Maui. No one is really dealing yet but there appears to be plenty of space available. Just need to make the right contact I guess.

Busy Weekend

Taking pictures everyday has been easy. Getting them uploaded and writing about them takes more time. So this morning I will be posting Friday Saturday and Sundays picture.




Friday was our first major snow day. We got about 4-6 inches of new snow from late Thursday through mid day Friday. It was the light fluffy snow because the temperatures were in the low 20's. It was very picturesque.




Saturdays picture show that Steve and I are at the redecorating projects again. The dining room was the first room we decorated when we bought the house 9 years ago. It has worked well but we always felt it was a little too formal for the house and the way we live and entertain. So it was off with the wall paper and crown moulding and in with the winter weekend paint and paper projects.



And Sunday is my favorite picture story. After Kristin moved out last summer Mike needed a couch. We found one in BG at a garage sale for $50, on a Friday after work. Not having the cash or a check we decided to think about it and come back later in the weekend. When we got back on Sunday the couch had a FREE sign on it. So it became Mike's first couch. The $50 was probably too much for the couch but the free was a deal. Flash forward to fall and Mike was home and saw a garage sale in the neighborhood. He walks down and sees a nice couch and wants me to go back with him. It didn't happen but voila in January the house has to be cleared out and the owner calls me up to see if Mike still needs a couch. His second free couch. This one is much nicer than the first.

Gone "Fish" ing

Can't quite read the name on the game of cards but it is Fish. We played and of course AJ beat me.


The snow came in around 1PM and we have about 3-4 inches on the ground.

Wednesdays Picture

As we change seasons into winter we also change Special Olympic seasons into basketball. Mike has not practiced with the team much because the swimming season extended into the basketball season for those athletes that went to the State Swim Meet. I believe Mike has been to two practices and has had one game Tuesday night, and his second game last night. Although Mike's team lost they do show some potential. The volunteers appear to know basketball and were actually trying to help the team set up some plays. As the photo shows Mike was going to have a hard time blocking out his opponent.

The forecast for today is for our first snowstorm of the season. The prediction is for 3-5 inches of snow starting later today and snowing through the night. Guess I better get the snow blade on the tractor.

Tuesday

My lighted tree in the front yard looks so much more holidayish with the snow. Unfortunately you can see our live Christmas tree at the curb ready for recycling.

Snowy Monday

Winter has arrived with COLD temperatures and more than a dusting of snow. Don't really want to hear about how cold it is in Florida because it is warmer than it is here. And the sun is probably shining.

It was great to start the first week of the new year. Getting organized while holing in for the month is my plan. I think I could be a bear and hibernate for a couple of months and live off the fat from the previous months.

Eagle Scout Ceremony

Today we attended the honor court for Tim Bosserman to become an Eagle Scout. This is something I had never experienced before and it was quite impressive. Tim and 2 other members of his scout troop were inducted into the select group of Eagle Scouts. Both Steve and I enjoyed the ceremony. It is a definite honor to reach this level of scouting. Congratulations to Tim and his parents. I found it especially interesting that both parents were honored in the ceremony. It is obvious that parental support is a vital factor in attaining the Eagle Scout badge. The pictures are of Janet pinning the badge on Tim, and Tim and his 2 friends saying the Eagle Scout oath.

Todays weather in Toledo was cold and sunny. We have a dusting of snow on the ground. The high temperature was 20.

Happy New Year

The list of resolutions is complete and I will again be attempting a picture a day. It was a wonderful way to start last year and unfortunately after my camera broke I never regained the early momentum. Much like all usual starts on resolutions, once a day is missed it is hard to recover.

We rang in the new year at midnight for the first time in many years. It is good to have the holidays over. They were more enjoyable than last year but still stressful in the missing of John. But as I looked back on last years blog entry I cannot think of better words for this year. So in my own words....

"We will enjoy each other and we will continue to live the life we have. We are blessed to have many friends and family that continue to surround us with love and support. We hope that when we say "enjoy your family" as we have often this holiday season, you remember...they are what should be important in your life. Think about what you would want if those people weren't here next year. Hug your babies, love your parents, kiss your spouse. Life may be short, don't have any regrets."