AH AH ACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Welp....it feels like I am catching a cold....BUT I am going to fight this thing. I just hate the idea of dragging off to school feeling like this....Urgh..... I am going to do all that I know to do. Water, water, water and vitamins, barley green and salt water for my nose. Sometimes I can really cut the time. It is no wonder with all the sugar I have been eating. For some reason I can't eat much sugar without feeling pretty badly.

I am off to the bathtub and then we are going to Longview to return "Sbee"....what I have been calling the granddog, GatSBY. Two syllables are just too much for me. He did well again last night....I hardly knew he was in the crook of my knees. Jim, Sbee, and I were off to dreamland after watching an episode of House. Then I dreamed I was having a conversation with Hugh Laurie about his piano playing. We had a nice discussion about piano greats and I told him we were going to see Bruce Hornsby soon. He said he wished he had tickets to that concert as well. I hate when dreams seem so real and you are having a great time and BOOM it is back to reality. Painful! Hugh was even speaking in his British accent...haha. I am glad my dreams are accurate that way.

The "Great" Kreskin is on Fox and Friends predicting campaign results for 2008. He has been around since I was a kid...so that makes him like 80 or something. He is saying the war on terrorism is going to last 30 years and he said there will be a war on gangs in this country. Has he ever been right about anything? Good grief....if he was so good he would predict the numbers for the power ball, right? I am not looking forward to the campaign....I have a lot of trepidation over this presidential electin. I want a strong leader who doesn't have a propencity for socialism. (aka communism light.) I resist the idea people are too stupid to manage their own finances and the govt has to STEAL it from you and hand it out to others who know better what to do with it. WHATEVER.... I am praying we don't get the govt. we diserve. After watching the recap of the year....a year where Paris Hilton was in the news nearly daily!!!.....Lord help us.

Gotta pack up Gatsby's belongings. He has more than just a toothbrush and a pair of clean underware. He has a suitecase full of stuff...toys, sweaters, tee shirts....carpet cleaning spray...which we didn't need, YIPEE! Mommie and Daddy thought of everything. They will be glad to see their kid. Later....

Feeling thankful....

It never fails that with all the build up to Christmas......shopping for gifts, groceries, writing Christmas cards.....there is always a "let down" afterwards, but it is not like it has been in the past. The house pretty quiet now, but we had a wonderful Christmas. Since Josh and Randi have been married Christmas has been great ....as Randi's, parents and grandparents have included us in their family's festivities. They are so nice and lots of fun. In the past Christmases in Louisiana it was always sorta a sad time due to us being so far from our families in PA....we would do the Christmas morning thing ....and have our Christmas dinner, spend a couple hours on the telephone with family....and take a long nap. It was a very quiet sedate time. Josh would sometimes get together with friends to compare toys and to play. There were a couple Christmases when we invited some elderly ladies from church and that was a lot of fun....but there was always a sad undertone. I know when Josh and Randi have children Christmas will be even more fun. Christmas keeps getting better and better.

I am thankful for so many things.....for family......for good friends and neighbors......for the Lord's tender loving care. My parents drove three hours to my sister's home in Western PA for Christmas and they got there safely and returned safely. I am thankful. Jim's Sister and brother in law...along with some friends and relatives went to a bed and breakfast. (...a house that formerly belonged to my step grandmother.) ..and they had a great Christmas dinner. I am thankful. We are both so thankful for Jim's sisters and their husbands who spend their time taking care of Jim's Dad. There is so much to be thankful for. I am thankful for my position at the junior high and I am thankful for the lives I am priviledged to be involved in. I am thankful that Jim was able to retire this year....and presently I am thankful for Josh and Randi's safe travel to San Antonio....and I am praying for their safe return.

And on a lighter note, YES, we are all thankful for the Penn State win against the Aggies....especially after what was said about Joe Pa at the pep ralley. Joe Pa kept it in perspective and used the old "sticks and stones" line. He just said it was some young guy trying to be funny and he laughed. He had all of his children and their spouses with him and his wife in San Antonio along with 16 grandchildern. The sports announcers said every place they went there were little Paternos. It was his 500th game and they won. Don't you know Joe is thankful.

I am also thankful Gatsby, young grandfuzz, slept all night. He has settled in and seems right at home with us. We will be taking him home soon and we will miss him.

Jim is working on a 2,000 piece puzzle....it is a tough one...all snowmen. I can participate for a while, but don't have the committment to such things. He said he is weary and it is "my turn" to work on it for a while. Duty calls..... and I am thankful.

Doggies and sweaters and toys, oh my! or GO PENN STATE!!!

Josh and Randi are off to San Antone for the Alamo Bowl....(GO PENN STATE!) and Gatsby, their surrogate child, is here for a couple days. We just love having him here. He adds a new demension and we are happy to be his hosts....even if he does need to go tee tee at 3:30 am. He is forever a little child...he needs a lot of love and attention. Should we get one of our very own? We have been thinking a lot about this question now that Jim will be home all the tme. We are not so sure we are willing to jump into this sort of committment full time. There are Yorkie-Poos in Jonesboro for sale and they will be ready to leave their Mama on Jan. 9th. We are not sure this is the size doggie we would like. Personally, I think the smaller the better. They are easy to travel with, but then they are a bit more frail.

Gatsby has to eat only dog food or he gets sick, but then it would keep us from feeding our dog things that doesn't need....and are not good for him. Jim thinks he would like a dog a bit bigger.....This will be Jim's choice as he will be the one to have to take care of the dog. They are a lot of company, but they are a lot of hassle sometimes, too. Plus I remember too well the way it was when Max (our 28 lb poodle) became blind, deaf, and got pancreatitus. It was so sad...

The football game isn't until tonight. Josh works with quite a few A&M guys so if Penn State loses he is in for quite a time. Josh knows so much Penn State Trivia and Joe Pa trivia as well. Joe Pa's salary was just revealed and it is $300,000 a year....plus he has donated a couple million to Penn State. He lives a simple, uncomplicated life. He is old school and we love him. At 81 Joe is the real deal. He won't pursue players who are not good students and he has passed up a lot of players that have gone to the pros (Tony Dorsett is one example) just because they didn't have the right GPA. Joe has never sold out. Some sports annoucers talk a lot of smack about Joe, but true Penn State fans don't care. When he does step down it will truly be the end of an era cuz he is a man of priciples.

About the videos at the bottom of the page...... I think I will try and change that out periodically. I had a hard time getting the clips I wanted, but these are ok.... I would like to chose one and a whole string pops up and sometimes they are not what I want.

Today I found some Joni Mitchell clips. She is one of my favorite song writers, even tho she is a super liberal. She has a way with words and is also an awesome painter....check out her art sometimes. I admire her for doing what she loves and doing it well. Her voice is an aquired taste and really is not my favorite girl singers voice. I think some people are like this about Bob Dylan....I am not a Dylan person. A new album is out by Herbie Hancock in honor of Joni with a lot of different artists singing her songs. There is a lot of admiration for her in the music world. I have listened on line and I really do like it a lot. It is called The Joni Letters. I don't get upset because Joni is so libreral because I was once right there with her and I pray she will see the light. Once I met the Lord I found out much of what I believed was backwards....and yes, there really was wrong and right and not just shadows and light as Joni sang....and yes, Joni, we can know for sure. I didn't listen to her for years after I became a Christian....afraid I wasn't strong enough, but now I am sure of my beliefs and I no longer look at Joni as any kind of guru or sage, just someone who knows how to compose music and write good poetry set to that music. I do pray for her. She is 64 or so now....she and Jim are about the same age and her madien name was Anderson and they are both musical.....maybe they are kin. haha. He shudders to even enteratain such a thought ...hahahahhahahahaa. He really doesn't like her and in the movie You've Got Mail they play her song River and Meg Ryan talks about how much she likes Joni Mitchell and Tom Hanks said he could never be with a girl who liked Joni Mitchell....well, that whole thing cracked me up cuz it has been like that our whole marriage. That is ok....(at least Jim appreciates Bruce Hornsby....he is my other music person. Jim got us tickets and we are going to Layfayette to see Bruce and Ricky Scaggs on Jan. 11th. I can't wait. That was one of my Christmas presents. Yipeeeeeee!) I will let you know what it is like.

I better shut up....I am sure once school begins again these long rambling blogs will stop..... so don't worry, Julie. I know you sure don't have time to read all of this blather...actually, I don't know anyone who does...hahhaa.. later, Deb

Metabolic Mysteries

Ok...I did it again....I feel like a TOAD. No, I didn't have any french toast for breakfast today...but I did eat a huge bowl of chex mix before bed while watching Ratatoulle. (Cute Pixar movie.) I didn't gain this vacation weight when I was 17 and I was probably one of the most sedentary teens ever. I could sleep the clock around (Maura, you are blessed with Aunt Deb's talent...and Josh is a close second.) I stayed in my room reading,sleeping, writing letters, poetry, listening to my tunes...yes, I had a stereo and my parents blessed me with headphones....and while I was in my lair I would eat white bread slathered with marshmellow fluff and peanut butter among other tasty health foods. haha I don't know if "health food" was even a phrase then. I don't do that now so the answer must be metabolism. I actually feel that I am more mobile now, so I am wondering if it is the way I breath now. Bears hibernate and their metabolism drops markedly, but so does their breathing. Is is all related to oxygen intake? Just wondering. There is my theory...so theoretically I can sit here typing away and just breath deeper and a bit more rapidly and burn some calories. My step daughter who teaches Yoga has talked about the importance of breahing deeply.

Bouncing along to another subject...the Star of Bethlehem. I found a website that facinates me. http://www.bethlehemstar.net/ Just check it out when you have some time. We now have computer programs that look back at the heavens. They can isolate and "see" what the stars look like at any pt. in history. This guy follows the heavens from Jesus's birth until his crucifixion. I was just blessed to see just one more piece of evidence of our Lord's attention to detail...to perfection. It is the same when I view the workings of he cell.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVUnzk40npw ) Check "The Inner Life of the Cell" on youtube....it inspires awe.

Josh and Randi leave today. I called to ask him when he was leaving and he said at 3:36 PM. Smartie pants. He knew he was giving me some of my own medicine. When he asks me to give him the exact time dinner will be served I usually say something similar. We are cut out of the same cloth and sometimes sparks will fly. I love that boy....even if he makes me crazy sometimes.

Now it is time to get on my eliptical thingie, get my bath. I will be checking into Genesis again....I really love that book...I think it is because of Joseph. He is defineately in my top ten when it comes to cool guys in the Bible. Hey, that could be a book title.

bread pudding vs. french toast

Slept in late again....well, we are staying up until 12:30 every night so I am really sleeping the same number of hours....about 6-7 .....as I normally do. I was so hungry when I woke up and I remembered my foray into the art of creating bread pudding and remembered what my daughter in law said....."bread pudding isn't much different than french toast". So I scooped up a chunk and put it in the micro wave, found the "maple syrup" and drizzled a bit on...YUM! It was great and the perfect breakfast. Jim never eats any breakfast and the mere mention of him eating anything makes him shudder....so I had to revel in this discovery all alone. Oh well, all the more for me.

"The kids" are at Randi's parents' home. They stayed over there for Christmas and were going to come over here for a few days, but moving all their belongings didn't sound like fun and I can't blame them. We love to have them here, but they have been here a good bit and we don't feel in he least bit slighted. We will be baby sitting the granddog, Gatsby for a few days while Josh and Randi make the trek to San Antonio to the Alamo Bowl for a couple days. Penn State is playing Texas A &M. Josh has been a Penn State football fan since he was a wee one due to the fact that yours truly's father is a graduate of forementioned prestigious institution. I always thought Josh would get a degree from Penn State, but the cost of out of state tuition plus the allure of free tuition, room and board won out. Randi was also in the pic by then and wouldn't have stood for her dear Josh to wander so far from her. It was bad enough he spent many hours on homework, but she never complained about that....moving far far away would have been different.

Anyway, Jim and I will be dog parents for a couple days. It will be a good test run as we have been thinking about getting a dog. We have been without one for nearly three years....we had Max, our "toy" 28 lb. poodle for 16 years. We are weighing the benefits vs. the hazards of having another mutt about. .....hmmmm Mutt, could be a good name just in case.....same name as Shania Twain's husband...haha. Sure isn't as classy as "Gatsby".

Jim asked for a Bible commentary set by J. Vernon McGee and Santa complied with that request so I started in on Genesis this am and read the first few chapters and have been reading the insightful commentary. I think I am going to enjoy having these books. J. Vernon is obviously dedicated to truth and doesn't appear to have any other agenda. I will be curious to see how he treats some of the scriptures I puzzle over. He wrote that it won't be long that the theory of evolution will be as dead as the dodo bird.....they keep finding reasons to disprove different evolutionary discoveries. With DNA testing he may just be right about this.

Time for me to get moving!!!! I wanted to visit the movies today, but I can't find any family members who are interested. We will proably rent a movie and that will that. This cold rainy weather places us in front of the fire place with the warm air blowing from our fire place insert.....love it! Everytime I think of getting rid of that insert I think of how wonderful the hot air feels.

Have a blessed day and stay warm! Deb

about this thing called blogging....

Well, I believe I will give this blog thing a whirl.....yes, it takes courage and for a bad speller like me this is beyond brave, but here goes. Here is a hint....I tend to write in "stream of conciousness" mode. I just jump from subject to subject like a person changing the channels on their tvs. So hang on and please try not to get too frustrated.

Christmas has come and gone and it happened so fast. Time always moves fast if we want it to go slowly. What is that about?! As usual Christmas was bitter sweet....sweet to be with people we love and care about, but it is sad we can't see all our family and friends who are so far away. In a perfect world everyone we care about would live in the same town within walking distance and it would be effortless to be with those you care about most. It would be like living in Mitford and we would be able to reach out and give a hug to those who mean the most to us whenever we felt like it.

Reflecting on the evolution of Christmas in my own psyche is something I have been doing....thinking back to my first rememberances of Christmas and trying to make sense of it all..... it is very surreal and sometimes scary. Like the first Christmas parade I ever saw....it was so vague with impressions of red sleighs and flashing lights, choirs, elves and of course the big guy himself, Santa!!! It was not joy I felt, but fear....afraid of what was coming around the corner next.....sometimes there were big scary paper mache elves (that creeped me out) or men dressed up as scrooge and it was just a lot to take in at the age of three or four.
I think The Christmas Story.....you know, "You'll shoot your eye out kid!"..... is pretty close to my first recollections. It was a much simpler time....and there was always a lot snow and sled riding.

Sled riding was the best part about winter and I spent many days and many cold evenings.....flying down a huge foot hill at the foot of "Old Baldy" only to trudge back to the top and do it all over again. It was such a huge rush .....with my trusty dog, Toby sitting on the back of my sled. I don't know who loved it more. I remember a couple magical nights when the moon was full and we were out there almost til midnight. Those were the days. We would sleep in, eat and go back. Mom, thanks for holding down the fort and doing all those mom things which enabled us to spend our Christmas vacation in pursuit of fun, fun, fun! No wonder I was skinny. Maybe if there were hills and snow in Louisiana I would be skinny? Hmmmmm.... maybe not.