Random Things

I will be leaving Saturday for Ecuador. I was getting a few things gathered tonight and realized I had several photos on the camera. What better reason to blog?


First let me show you that I really did finish the baby afghan that I was making for my preacher and his wife's new baby boy. He will be born this week and it is in the 30's and 40's here so maybe they will be able to use it!



Then I found many really poorly taken pictures of Rebecca and her dance class during her Christmas Dance Concert. The only one that was even remotely good, isn't even of her dancing, but she has on her dance makeup and her really big red smile!

You know that I can't post without showing a photo or two of the girls! This first photo was taken on Christmas Eve. Andrew was spending the night at our house and he was obviously spending some quality time with his "sisters"!

A few nights later it was bitterly cold here. It was down in the teens. We used to have a Weimaraner like Molly and Ginger that was named Grace. She used to wear shirts and loved it. So we thought we would see what Molly and Ginger thought of shirts. I think maybe because it was so cold and we live in an old drafty house, they wore them. I think that was the only reason because we tried it again another night when it wasn't nearly as cold and they wouldn't keep them on. Anyway, it was cute while it lasted.

Okay, that's all for now. I will talk with you all after I return from Ecuador. Keep us in your prayers (January 26th - February 2nd). Thank you!

Exciting News

I realize that I am not a good blogger. I don't blog regularly and I am not a creative writer. I wonder sometimes why I started this - I mean there was already enough going on in my life without adding one more thing to feel guilty about. But here we are and I just have to tell myself, I will post when I post and that is all I can do and not worry about it.

That being said, I have 2 pieces of exciting news.

1. I have been with Leisure Arts for 20 years!!! I am one of the several employees that started working here, left for greener grass and came back. I first started in the Knit/Crochet Department in 1985. I worked there for nearly a year and was bored stiff. They had just split the Knit/Crochet Department from the other skills and there just wasn't enough work to keep me busy. I was the secretary and I was constantly look for something else to do. So I transferred to the Accounting Department (more in line with my banking background anyway). I worked there until late 1988. I quit to take an Assistant Credit Manager position at a potpourri factory. It was all fine and good until financial trouble hit the family owned business and I was pregnant - so I, along with another pregnant lady, the Vice-President and his wife were laid off on a Friday. That very next Monday in February of 1990, my old boss (thanks Barbara!) from Leisure Arts called me to tell me that she had fired her secretary and if nothing else, would I come back temporarily to get things organized. I did and the rest is history. I should have been happy with the grass I had, but you know how that is sometimes. . .

2. I am going back to Ecuador!!! I found out for sure last Wednesday that the trip was a go. For several weeks we weren't sure because not enough people had signed up. They say that the January trip is always the hardest because it comes so soon after Christmas. The last trip there were 24 of us. This trip will be much different because there are only 5 of us going. We will either be REALLY good friends when we get through the week or we will be ready to kill each other. Hopefully friendship will win! I am really excited to be able to have this opportunity again. Thanks to a few really good friends, an understanding and supportive family, and God, I will be leaving on January 26th and returning on February 2nd. I will try not to over do the post when I return, but this is something that I am obviously passionate about. Please keep us in your prayers.

For those of you that are interested, I will be attending CHA in Anaheim and I will be attending the Designer's Forum. I look forward to seeing you there!

My Baby

After posting the picture of the scary desk, I thought I would post something that I think is very pretty. This is my baby. She will be graduating from high school in May. It is hard for me to believe, but it is true!

These pictures were taken in the summer while she was still 16. She suddenly seems to look older now. Part of it is because she has a new haircut. She donated 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love (http://www.locksoflove.org/). It is a place that makes wigs for cancer patients and people with other health conditions that cause them to lose their hair. Her hair almost touches her shoulders now but not quite.

She is a good kid and I like her a lot!

Where is that letter?

I am still alive and kicking. I was off work for 18 straight days during the Christmas holidays.

I started my time off from work with a really nice stomach virus. I was sick for about 2 and a half days and I feel like I lost a lot of time. After that, I did a lot of cooking and eating, reading, studying, spending time with family and dogs (they are family too!) and playing on the computer (but not posting to my blog). We had a really nice Christmas with Mark's family, then my mom on Christmas Eve, then at home on Christmas day. It was all pretty uneventful.

Back at work now and while my desk may not look like this, it feels like it does! Today was the MONDAY of all MONDAYs! I don't know what happened because I woke up in a good mood and all was going just fine. Then just like the clouds moved in and covered the rising sun, they moved in on my mood! Then it was one thing after the other!!! Okay, tomorrow is a new day!

By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that your year has started off just like you hoped it would.