I found this a while back on Weird Friends. I don't know where I'd ever use the fabric but the designs in it are pretty good. Look at the reindeer and some of the tree shapes. They would work well as applique designs.

So many of us are in the deep freeze that I thought this would be a good time to share these photos of females on the beach. I took these photos when I was in California not long ago…

This lady was in her 80s if she was a day. Honestly, I hope to be as fit as she is at that age!

My son Chris is helping me with my social networking skills today. While I have had a Facebook page and a Twitter account for a long time, I really have not used them. I blog, right here, and am happy to just keep up with that. But there is hope that this will change a bit.

I've got a new Facebook fan page. That's where all my facebooking is going to happen from now on so if you have a link to the old page, and you want to keep up, please click here and then click the button to become a fan. If nothing else, when I make a new blog post or find something to tweet about, you should know!

Last night the pool was inaugurated! Steve, Chris, and Jeff jumped in.

It was 37 degrees outside, the water was close to 40. I just couldn’t make myself jump in!

We had a fun evening planned, but as it turns out I came down with a stomach flu right after the plunge. The guys don’t want it. Thankfully it appears to be a 24 hour virus and we’re all on the mend.

I should have had my camera out more, but I didn’t. When our son, Jeff, was 2 he wanted a Barbie and her Ferrari for Christmas. That was all he wanted so we got it for him. My dad was not exactly happy – until he watched Jeff.

Jeff took all Barbie’s clothes off (never could get that poor doll in clothes again) and he put her in the Ferrari. He’d occasionally take her out of her car and – well the best way to put it is that he would admire her form. After my dad saw that, he decided that Jeff and Barbie were OK together.

Jack loves Elanor’s Barbies and he plays with them pretty much the same way Jeff did. So they both got new Princess dolls. Jack’s did not stay dressed long.

This is Jeff, Jack, the Princesses reading Jeff’s new book about Stinky, the garbage truck.

I’d share photos of the rest of us, but I didn’t take them. But I have good memories of this Christmas and it’s not over yet. We have a big dinner and games planned for New Year’s Eve. Life is good.

When I left off, we were in Oklahoma City on Christmas Eve during the blizzard of 2009. We visited on Christmas day, rather than doing any work on the fence and that was a good thing.

We did shovel snow off of the driveway. Those of you who do this often probably have snow blowers. I was using a leaf rake with the tongs pointing up and that worked surprisingly well. Steve had a shovel with a flat end. We made piles of snow. Mom is standing in front of one that I ended up moving a couple of days later. If I had to do this again, I’d know where it’s best to pile snow.

We did venture out in the afternoon to go to Steve’s family dinner. Our
kids didn’t drive up from Texas because of the ice on the roads. It was fun and everyone got home safely.

The next day, December 26th, we started early. Mom called at 5:30 AM to say that she couldn’t get her car out of the driveway to take Christy to dialysis. You know, some things have to happen regardless of the road conditions. Luckily the truck (with the dented door) did just fine on the ice. We delivered them and went on to Lowe’s at 7:00 AM to buy the stringers (those are the horizontal 2x4s in a fence).

A lot actually happened between buying the wood and this photo. There was a lot more snow shoveling. We got Mom and Christy home. We went back to Lowe’s twice to get the fence pickets – the first time they were buried under snow so we had to wait for them to be dug out. The streets were crazy and there were abandoned cars scattered here and there.

The kids showed up after lunch. Lorna visited with Mom and Christy inside and they kept Jack and Elanor entertained. I worked outside with the guys. Jeff and Christopher unloaded and hung pickets (the vertical fence boards) while Steve and I continued with the stringers. That’s Jeff in the orange hat…

…and Chris in the blue.

The weather was pleasant – clear and just above freezing. The snow and ice made you pay attention, but it could have been a lot worse. We were able to finish it mid-afternoon on the 27th. We were all happy!

And then the guys had a snowball fight!

Elanor joined in…

I’ll post a bit more from our Christmas soon.