HOME AGAIN!

FINALLY! We are not all the way moved in yet...ok so there is no furniture, no towels or kitchen items, only a few clothing items...but our Christmas tree is up, the cats are back home, and I have been sleeping there for two nights now (on a sleeping bag on the floor). Don't care. It feels like home and I LIKE IT.

Everything is freshly cleaned and painted, new carpet is installed, and the bathrooms are ALMOST done. I have almost everything I need. All that's left is for Jim, Beth, Woody and Bunny to come home, and for us to introduce our new kitten to her new home! Ok, and then unpack 100 or so boxes of stuff that is right now located in a POD on our driveway. We'll get there.

This did make for a most wonderful Thanksgiving! Beth made a vegetarian dinner - green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberries and home made pecan pie! Yes, Jim and I did ruin the vegetarian theme by putting turkey gravy on the mashed potatoes :-) A good time was had by all, and it was nice to spend a peaceful and thankful day together.

And today, we met Molly, Jamie and Molly's 'friend' Brandon for lunch at Trucadero's in Milwaukee. Haven't seen Molly since vacation in August, haven't seen Jamie since her birthday in September, and have never seen Brandon before. So that was like icing on the cake, and just made the whole week more memorable.

Now I know why it's called "Thanksgiving!"

On Limping to the Finish Line

Almost there! ALMOST THERE!

In a few weeks we should be moving back into our home! It has taken twice as long as originally thought. That's how things go sometimes...the best laid plans, as they say. We are all excited and cannot wait to get back to our home. I can feel the adrenaline as I start to plan for what tasks and activities need to take place to accomplish this task. I feel as though part of my life has been "on hold" since we had to move out.

I'm grateful, however, SO GRATEFUL, that we had a beautiful home in Grafton to live in while our Cedarburg home was repaired. It has been nice to live here, but there is no place like home.

There is an enormous amount of work ahead of us. We literally have to go through every single item we own and determine what to do with it. Put everything away. Arrange furniture. Hang artwork.

I can't wait! Mostly, it feels great to see that finish line just ahead.

10/10/10

Since numbers are my life, is it any wonder I make special note of a date like this?

Hope you have a memorable 10/10/10.

Welcome Henry Steven Conley!!
Very proud to announce and welcome a brand new member of the family - Henry Steven Conley - born to my husband's nephew Matthew and his wonderful wife Jessica on 9/18/10. Big brother Holden will have a new playmate! Great Grandma Barb and Grandpa Steve I know are smiling down from Heaven.

We love you Matt, Jess, Holden and Henry, and cannot wait to smother baby Henry with kisses. Sorry Henry, but Great Grandma Barb would have wanted it that way!

Working through it

There are times in my life, I have discovered through experience, when things are unpleasant. Can be due to a miriad of factors, some more serious than others: health, financial, social, emotional, family, spiritual - the list may be endless. I also know from experience that how I deal with or react to these times is part of what not only reflects, but actually makes up the fabric of my character.

And despite the fact that I know all that, there are times when I'm weary and don't want to deal with the unpleasantness. I just simply want it to go away. I want to pull the covers up over my head and ignore what is going on around me. I want the world - my world - to be back in balance. I don't want to have to work through it, figure it out, or whatever.

*sigh*

Then, I realize that there is no easy way through these times. I have to work through it. But when I do, I come out on the other side a little bit smarter and a little bit more experienced. And in all likelihood, the fabric of my character is woven just a bit stronger.

Just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening.

How Sweet It Is!

I am so excited! I have TWO wonderful things to blog about this month! And each of them is very important to me, although in very different ways.

First I want to talk about being in love. Later this month, my husband and I are celebrating 18 years of marriage. There is SO much I could say here about this, but I will keep it to the basics...He has taught me SO much about what love and partnership really are, and I cannot express how grateful I am to have him in my life. For anyone reading this, my wish for you is that you too may be blessed to share your life and your love with a soul mate. It feels like it is truly one of God's greatest gifts to us mere mortals. I love you, JR.

The second thing is on renewing old friendships. Thanks to the Internet (thank you Al Gore :-) ), I was strolling around cyberspace and 'bumped into' a very dear friend who I had not had contact with for ... *ahem* ... let's just say many years.
I can't even explain what it was like. Like finding your absolutely lifelong favorite book. I felt instantly warm inside and was overcome with memories that just floated over me. If I were a psychologist, I would have analyzed what brain chemicals were being released at that very moment so I could replicate it and make a fortune. But I'm an Accountant, so I just luxuriated in the moment (Accountants are prone to do this). I am looking forward to reconnecting and catching up, AND building new memories. I love you too, DC.

So, I am very excited in how September is shaping up. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE STILL A LONG WAY FROM BEING ABLE TO MOVE BACK INTO OUR HOME BECAUSE OF THE FIRE DAMAGE! Nope. I am not going to let those feelings interfere with my euphoria. Wish I had been a psychologist.

RENTSCHER ADVENTSCHER!

Just returned recently from RENTSCHER ADVENTSCHER 2010!

Location: Rhinelander, WI

Agenda / Activities: Bananagrams 'Till You Bust, Cable-Coma, Fish-But-Don't-Catch, Squeeze Me 'Till I Wine, Don't Ride The Horse After a Big Cowboy Breakfast, Birthday Sing-Along, Impromptu Gift Exchange, Moccasin Mania, and my personal favorite - Whose Makeup Is Floating In The Toilet?

Conclusion: IT'S GOOD TO BE A RENTSCHER!!

Parting seems to be the hardest part...

I hate this. My 12 year old German Shephard, Jasper, is going to be put down this weekend. I'm not going to go into the painful and ugly reasons why. It is the right thing to do for him and my family. But it is SO very hard to do, and it takes SUCH a long time to heal after that, I am really not looking forward to this weekend at all (DUH).

Guess I just 'publicly' want to acknowledge that he has been the best dog. E.V.E.R. And I know for a fact that he has kept my family and home safe on many occassions when there was a real threat. For that I will always be grateful.

We have tried to be the best pet owners we could. I think he had a pretty good life and I think he would agree with that. He will always hold a very special place in my heart, right along with Trixie, Sham, Sandy, Taffy, and Pokey. God, I'm a sucker for a fuzzy face!

Another Fab Four

If you are not old enough to understand the title of this post, "The Fab Four" than don't bother reading on. You probably won't get it.

If you ARE old enough, then let me expand on that a bit. I experienced my own FAB FOURsome. Actually I'm writing about it because I only just realized it existed...and now it is dissolving!

For the last 3 years I have enjoyed the fun, friendship, frenzy and all-around companionship, right here in my job, of 3 wonderful ladies that have come to be my very close friends. We have struggled through many business difficulties, lots of change, much drama (thanks to our children), and innumerable laughs. Now, 2 of them are moving on to new positions in the company, so inevitably our relationships will change. Probably not for the worse, but still different. It makes me just a little sad, because I have shared with them a relationship like I haven't had since grade school. We have giggled, gotten teary, gotten yelled at, celebrated successes, schemed, and shared complaints and joys. I felt like a kid again. More importantly, they helped me grow. Alot, and in many ways. I am very grateful. And if you are reading this and you are one of the Fab Four (you know who you are)..thank you and I love you.

Return From Chaos

It's been a busy busy 6 weeks. About mid-May, our house caught fire. yea.
Exactly. It was awful. A fan in a bathroom ceiling shorted out and apparently started something smoldering. Even though the circuit breaker cut off the power, the smoldering mustered its way into a full fledged fire...in a ceiling in our home.

Luckily, a friend was actually in the house when the smoke alarm went off. Although she couldn't see any fire, she got the dogs out of the house and called the fire department (BLESS HER!). She, along with the fire department (BLESS THEM TOO!) and the Hand of God (THANK YOU!) saved our home from complete destruction.

Although this is damned inconvenient, I actually am very grateful that nothing of really 'value' was lost. We consider ourselves very lucky.

So that has kept me pretty busy for a while. We are working on putting our lives back in order and with God's help we will get there soon.

Happy landings!

A Strange Thing Happened on the way to the Forum

Last week when I made my way to my blog, each attempt to access was met with the screen jumping to some other blog. Alway the same one. Sort of 'dark' appearing if you know what I mean. I could not figure out what happened or how to fix it. Worst part was how guilty I felt for not feeding the fish for so long (I really do know they are not real fish).

Anyway, today it is all better. I have given up trying to explain the weird things that sometimes occur with technology. I have better things to do.

So, it's nice to be back! The fish have been fed (twice)! And all seems right with the world or at least this little bitty corner of it.

Enjoy the day!

WELCOME ALEXANDER!

I have a new great-nephew this month!! Alexander James arrived (in the usual way) to proud new parents Lisa and Alan. And it sort of dawns on me, that this is the first of that generation in our family that might even live to see the turning of the new century to 2100!! Well, first things first, so I just want to announce his arrival to the world, and send him and his family a message that he is welcome and loved!!

ANOTHER big step!

I am now on facebook thanks to my 17 year old. I don't know what that means, but it's pretty exciting.

Olympics

Ok SORRY I'm having too much fun watching the Olympics to spend time blogging. I'll be back in a few days.

Suggest you tune in as well - It is amazing!

a short one

very busy today only have time to stop here to feed the fish don't even have time to capitalize or use punctuation

have a great weekend

More WINTER is OK with me!

I admit, I'm one of those really strange individuals who enjoy winter. And as of this very moment we are in the throws of enduring one of winters' best snowstorms. 14 - 16 inches close to the lake. It's the light fluffy kind - not so good for making snowballs or snowmen, but fantastic for cross country skiing and any type of sledding. Schools were closed for the day. Travel was a mess. But you know, there is some sort of connection that everybody seems to feel on a day like today. Like confirmation that indeed 'we are all in this together.' Strangers smile at each other even as the snow flakes sting their cheeks. People get out of their cars to push others who may have gotten stuck. That type of thing. And somehow with that in the air, and a fresh coat of fluffy white covering everything, for just a few hours everything looks a little better.

Have a great day. I'm going to go play in the snow!

...and that's one good part about Winter.

Winter is the best time to be able to get things done inside without feeling like you are missing out on the activities and nice weather and sunshine going on outside! Then, when Spring finally does present itself, you can freely get outside feeling very good about what you accomplished while everything else was in hibernation! (hey, whatever works to keep my butt off the couch and get some things done around here...and that seems to work for me).

ok, now back to painting.

Fan or Fanatic...you decide

So, tonight I have tickets with my family to see Jeff Dunham at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. I don't think I could be more excited, and sometimes it worries me that I get this thrilled about going to see...a ventriliquist.

But for some reason, he absolutely make me laugh so hard I practically - well let's just say I find him extraordinarily funny! Have all his DVD's. I even have a CD (yes, a CD made by a ventriliquist). So, let me know if you think I am just a fan, or truly a fanatic, and I'll let you know tomorrow how the show was tonight!

p.s. www.jeffdunham.com

SUN'S OUT!!

WOW. I had forgotten how nice it is to see the sun out! It has been a rathere grey (gray?) year so far. So, this blog will be short because I am going to enjoy some sun by going out for a short walk for lunch!

Hope you enjoy it too!

It's pretty quiet here today...

ha.

When was the last time...

...you went ice skating!??? I went over the weekend and I cannot believe how great it felt! We live on a pond which was well frozen over (!!) and although the ice was somewhat bumpy, my husband, my dog and myself entertained ourselves (and possibly a few neighbors) demonstrating our lack-of-ice-skating-skills for somewhere around 30 minutes. It was much more fun than it sounds here, I swear. When I went back into the house, I was so energized, I washed the entire wood floor in our living room! What an accomplishment I felt.

Now, if I could just figure out a way to get that energized every day...

End of 0110

It is very nearly the end of January, 2010! Can't say that I'm sad to see January go (because then we are that much closer to Spring!), but by the same token, it certainly did go FAST! I've been trying to slow down a bit and appreciate each day for what it is, and that does feel better. It does not, however, slow down the speed at which each day passes.

Whoever you are, whereever you are, and why ever you are here reading this, my hope for you is that you are able to appreciate each day also, and make the most of it!

I love lunch

What's not to like? It's like a mini-weekend. I really do need to take them more often. Even if I'm not doing anything earth-shaking with them - like perhaps I'm just updating my blog - it still makes me feel better about the day then if I just blow right through it and work the entire stretch. So it's resolved, then: I'm going to take a lunch break every day. Hey if you are available give me a call - maybe we can lunch together!

Hiding out

I can see where it would be deceiving here in this internet world...it feels as if I'm hidden from view and just keeping a journal...and yet the whole world can see it (although wouldn't want to :) )

I'm just sayin', that seems to get alot of people in trouble of various sorts. As for me, I'm just planning on being a VERY good girl, as always!

Enjoy!

I'm stepping in...

This is scary. I think I have just set up my own blog! I am actually stepping into the 21st century! I hope I don't hurt myself.

oh, yes, I almost forgot..if you are reading this - WELCOME!