Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas
and a most Blessed New Year!

Wish I could remember how to put text beside a graphic --- going to have to look up my HTML notes and attempt it, again, sometime --- in the near future --- maybe    And it does amaze me how quickly I forget how to do something if I don't refresh every month or so..... or is that every week or so ??!! lol  

I am going into the hospital on Friday.  Will be there for 7-10 days.  Going to cut me from stem to stern and take out all the female organs they can find !!  [ I was asked if I wanted them -- what they take out --- why in Gawds name would someone want to keep their removed organs ??!!  YUCK --- grossed me out just being asked !!! ]  Anyway -----  needless to say my anxiety level is high and I am dreading the recovery time --- and of course, the PAIN !!!  Hope they give me lotsssssssss of them there powerful pain killing drugs   for a loooooooooooong time ---  'cause at my age it takes forever to heal !!

Guess I won't be doing too much Spring Cleaning this year --- shucks -- I knew I should have started it back in March !!  haha   Maybe I will plan on doing it in the Fall.  Gives me plenty of time for procrastination.  And that should work out just about right, for me, anyway

I am out of here --- take care of yourselves ~ and each other !

huggs ~~

" Wind to thy wings "

Life marches on -- and this time of year you can hear the crunch-crunch-crunch of the dry leaves under its marching 'feet'.  Makes you all the more aware of how quickly it is passing.   Wish someone would figure out a way to slow it down as I am feeling way tooooo old already and this quick passage of time is not helping, at all !!  Just sitting here typing I feel the wrinkles deepening and the bones getting more and more brittle !!  I swear I do !!   I'm just an old tree -- down to her last leaf !!   Ohhhh..... sheeesh -- I'm going to go hibernate !!  This is just too depressing !

Enjoy the season !!

So how did you spend the 4th ??   

I had my granddaughter all afternoon and early evening -- she sure can be a pill !  Kids stayed for about an hour when they came to pick her up so got to spend some time with the new grandbaby, too.  [Gawd-- he is such an adorably warm little bundle !!]   Had a late bar-b-que and then stood/sat on the front porch and watched some of the fireworks the city set off on the beach, a couple of blocks from here.  All in all .... it was a good day

Today I am going to play around ---- In PSP    and I don't plan on doing much of anything else.  It is going to be another hot day, so am not going to do anything outside.  [haha -- like I am out there that much, anyway !! ]

You all take care -- and do something nice for yourself !

" Wind to thy Wings "

I am working on a new layout. Sheeesh --- I can see, already, that I have forgotten a ton about changing the 'look and feel'.  When you get my age the only thing that stays in your head is something that you learned yeeeeeeeeears ago or something that you do over and over and over and over and .... well, you get the idea, right?!  And me changing the layout fits neither of those catagories.   So it will take a while to finish --- probably a long while

My grandson was born the 7th of May.  They named him Tayden Christopher.  He weighed in at 5 lbs. 14 oz. and was 18.4 " long.  Delivery was an emergency C-section and Mom and baby both came through it well -- then he got pneumonia in one lung and had to stay in hospital for 5 days.  Was scarey but never really touch and go... but with such a tiny one ... you never know.  He is doing just fine now -- back to his birth weight and growing like a weed.  He is a very good baby which is a good thing as his older sister still demands a lot of everyones time/attention. lol   Am hoping she soon realizes that he will not usurp her place in the family and she will go back to being more independent.  For her Mama's sake, for sure !!

We have found a lot to build a house on [ not a lot of them around here ]  .. now we just need to negotiate a decent/fair price.  It is on higher ground and away from the beach so not only will we be getting away from all the tourist activity but also will be above the tsunami plain [unless, of course, it is the BIG one !!  lol ]  but I do like that, as the last practice run we had was so poorly executed by those in charge that if there had really been a tsunami ---- my son and I would have drowned !!  --  we were stuck in traffic in one of the lowest spots in the town at the time the 'fake tsunami' hit !!  Scarey !!  

Anyway -- just talking about the lot to build on and looking at some house plans has caused some fairly large disagreements, already, so .... I can see how couples end up divorcing or worse -- when building their 'dream homes'.   We could be heading there and it has only just begun !!   yiiikes !! and  aaaargh !!   And to top it off our youngest son is going to be the contractor and has already warned us that once we make a decision about something --- it will not be changed without a darn good reason !  lol   This next year could be very interesting !

Ok -- I am out of here for now

hugs and take care ~ Lodi

" Wind to thy Wings "

Happy Belated Cinco Da Mayo !!

Another 'iffy' day here on the coast of Oregon.  Doesn't know if it wants to rain or shine !!  Sure wreaks havoc with my sinuses!  I am seriously thinking of moving to a hot, dry climate !!   NOT !!   lol    How could I survive without the rain !!??  And hot, dry makes me sweat -- and I hate sweating/ perspiring/ glowing [whatever you want to call it] !!  I guess I will be staying right here   Though we are planning on building a smaller house a bit farther from the ocean --as it has become so crowded and noisy here where we are -- and not just in the summertime, like it use to be, but all year long.  A lot of the homes in this area have been turned into rental properties and not yearly rentals but weekend/weekly rentals.  It seems people that are here for just a few days are not overly considerate of others around them and the owners of the properties generally live in other cities, so it is not like you can get them to police their renters !  It is just gotten out of hand and I am old and tired of dealing with those that want to party -  loudly -  at all hours of the day or night !!  

How can it be less than a week 'til Thanksgiving !!?? 

I have got to quit blinking -- I am missing way too much. 

Though here is something I wish I could have missed  -- but -- of course, could not :

The death of my mother 

It has been a little over a month ..... and there have been many days when I think I can not bear the grief/the infinite sadness her death has brought into my life. Thank God it is something that you only have to go through once. 

The only peace I have right now is knowing she went suddenly and painlessly ... but, to tell you the truth,  that knowledge provides me with very little solace.  For, I selfishly wish I had known [ for just a little while]  that she was dying ... to have had a few moments to be with her and to say goodbye.  *tears*   Ohhhh, how selfish of me, huh -- because in order for that to have happened she would have probably had to have endure some amount of pain while I was getting to her to say those goodbyes.  Yes -- I know, I know !!  But all of grieving is basically selfish, isn't it ... so going that one step further is not totally without reason. 

I know this grief will ease ... but until then ... I am left with this one thought --- "The rest of my life will [perhaps] be a long time to miss her".

Anyway ---

As this holiday approaches I am trying to focus on the good things in my life and be thankful for each of them.   My heartfelt hope goes out to each of you --- that you too, will look only at the good that fills your lives and rejoice in that !

huggs and take care of yourselves -- and each other

Lodi

[ Has been such a long time since I have changed the 'look' of this journal that it took me forever to even get this much done !!  And --- for now --- it is as far as I go ! ]

September -- one of my favorite months of the year.  I love the feel and the smells of autumn!  And there is that haze that seems to envelope the days as summer winds down -- giving everything a softness -- smudging the edges of nature and starting to erase all colours but the browns, yellows and reds.

And of course there is  FOOTBALL --   which speaks for itself !!  haha

* just thought of a graphic I want to put in this post -- going to go find it and then will come back  ---

©pccrafters

Here it is June and I am still in a January mindset.  Too much sunshine makes me feel that I should be outside taking care of flowers and such.  But ----- I do not want to be doing that !!  How can one be lazy and do garden work at the same time??   Well ..... they can't.  And I must retain my laziness.  It is who I have become these past few years.  Lazy Lodi !  Goes well together, huh?!    But -- guilt has and will continue to drive me to the flower pots/beds and I will tend the little darlings ! haha

So what are you gonna do with your sunshine days?!?  Are you the type that could not wait for these summery days so you could get out there and do all the outdoorsy things or are you one that has greatly anticipated the warm weather so you can lay in a hammock and sip on mint juleps?!  If you are type 2 then tell me where you are and I will join you !!  For sure !! 

My older sis was here for a few days -- she officially lives just across the Columbia River in Washington state -- which is only about a hundred miles from me here in Oregon, but has, for the last few years been living in Texas, where here hubby's job has taken them.  Anyway ---- we have always been fairly close and have 'gotten along' with each other.  But ---- boy howdy, did we have some disagreements this time.  I am sure it is because she has gotten so old and set in here ways and her opinions !!  aaaaaaahahahaha    Can't be that I have also arrived at that same place !?  And believe it or not ---- one of the biggest 'squabble' was about some foikin' movie actress and what she had been in !!  How absolutely stupid is that !!??  Of course, we both backed off a bit and all was well in the end, but her visit and that squabble did make me think of how differently two people can act when they reach an age where you no longer feel that being nicey-nice is more important than speakin' your mind.  Ok --- so maybe it has taken me a few too many years to learn this, but I was raised in a time when you really were taught -- " if you can not say anything nice -- say nothing at all " -- and for the most part I still think that way and do think it is a good practice, but it should not be the rule when you are conversing with someone that does not play by the same rules, or ---- when dealing with and aging sister !!!  lol   I really did enjoy the visit and she will be back for a few days later in the month and I am not dreading that time, so ----- all is well

I am going to go do some lurking and reading ----

Stay well and play nice!!     

huggss ~ Lodi

" Wind to thy Wings "

Happy Mother's Day