Happy Birthday Baby Girl

My baby is 16 today! Hardly seems possible that that many years have gone by already. She's such a beautiful girl, with a great head on her shoulders. Yes, she's goofy as all get out, and irresponsible at times...but that's just the normal part of being a teen! She is growing into such an outstanding young woman and I am so proud of her!

Getting Cory Home

The worst winter storm in 40 years - that's what the weather experts are calling it. We've been trying to get Cory home since December 21st and have had no luck so far. His flight was supposed to leave on that Sunday from Pullman, fly to Lewiston, then on to Seattle to make connections to Portland, then Eugene. If it wasn't for the weather, he'dve made it. But weather was conspiring against us and his flight was cancelled.

He was told if he could get to Lewiston, he'd be able to catch the flight there (they couldn't land in Pullman - too much snow), and then continue on with is flight. Poor kid...didn't know a soul at the airport, only had $8 in his pockets, with no way to Lewiston (45 minutes away on a good day). Luckily, God was watching out for him because he connected with another student who had to do the same thing. She had a car! So they drove to Lewiston, met the plane there, had their bags loaded and were just waiting to get on the plane...when that leg was cancelled. Total chaos ensued. There were going to be no more flights in or out of Pullman or Lewiston until after Christmas!

He finally arranged a flight out of Seattle on December 25th. And thankfully, the girl he caught a ride with to Lewiston, also got a flight on the 25th, so they can travel together. She (her name is Danielle) drove Cory back to his dorm, and there he's been waiting. I'm so thankful he's somewhere safe (and not stranded at an airport). But I hate the fact that he's ALONE in his dorm. There is not another soul around. He's bored out of his mind and tired of eating ramen noodles! Poor guy!

He & Danielle are supposed to travel to Seattle tomorrow (Weds) where he'll spend the night with his roommate and then hopefully fly out on Christmas afternoon. There's another storm brewing that is supposed to hit tomorrow...so we're praying that it misses the northwest altogether and that Cory can get home. If he can get to Seattle, and the flight is cancelled from there, we'll drive up to get him. I just want him home for Christmas!

Advent Conspiracy

Wow. Need I say more?

This is what the fuss is about...

So, I signed up. And within 20 minutes of signing up, I found my best friend from High School. I've been looking for her for almost 15 years. We lost contact about that long ago, and every so often, I'd try to find her through various internet searches - with no luck.

The funny thing is, she had signed up for Facebook the day before I did. On a whim. Just like I did. On a whim. How funny is that?!

I was so excited when I found her, I cried. We talked on the phone and have emailed several times, and maybe this summer we'll get to meet up with each other. She's trying to convince me to attend our 30 yr HS reunion. I'm not so sure about that, but maybe we'll be able to get together some other time!

As for Facebook...yeah...I'm hooked. So many fun games to play like Mob Wars, Dragon Wars & Mousehunt. It's stupid, I know...but sometimes you just need to spend some stupid time on the computer! Now if I could just break away long enough to work on some scrapbooking....

What's all the fuss about Facebook?

I don't get it. Facebook. What's all the falderol about?

I first heard about it when we were at Cory's college orientation. The college staff members said, "It's a great way for kids to connect here at school." Cory heard the same thing, and the very instant he could, he signed up. Of course, it was "off limits" to us because he didn't want us checking up on him. OK. Well. Be that as it may.

Now, a bunch of my scrappy friends have it. I keep hearing about it. "Join!" they say. "It's fun! It's addicting! You'll get to play with flair!" Do I really need to be addicted to one more thing? You betcha. Of course, today I signed up. I'm not impressed. What's flair and how do I get it? Hmmm...I think I'll stick to blogging. I have a hard enough time keeping up with this! hahaha. And Cory has no worries...I haven't invited him to be my friend. Don't want him checking up on me! *giggle*

Goodbye Pooh Bear

She was 14. We had to put her down today. In the last couple of weeks, we could tell that she was failing. She wasn't able to walk easily and wasn't eating much. Today though, her breathing was labored and she couldn't stand at all. It was time, poor baby. She was a good dog and she lived a good long life. I'll miss her. Goodbye big beardog.

I've been tagged

My friend Charlee, tagged me. I'm supposed to share, with the world, 7 strange things about myself. I don't think I know five people with blogs, and there is certainly NOTHING strange about me. I'm practically perfectly normal in every way! *snickergiggle*

Here are the rules:* If you are tagged, you must firstly post the rules:* Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all!* Tag 5 other people at the end of your Post.* Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

ok, here' goes...nothing strange here:

1. I collect Winnie the Pooh stuff. Started with a wrist watch that my Grandparents bought me at Sears when I was 9 years old. Back then, Sears was the only place licensed to sell Pooh (besides Disneyland/World). My Grandparents thought I was weird (ok strange) to want Pooh. Didn't I want one of the princesses? NO! I wanted Pooh. So now, after a few years (ok, LOTS of years), I've amassed quite a collection of Pooh stuff. A whole houseful! That doesn't make me strange...just weird.

2. My first car was a 1965 Mercury Comet. I named it Clyde because there was a little "mercury man" emblazoned on the steering wheel. My Dad bought it for me from my Uncle. It was supposed to be a "good little car." Ha! The first time I drove it any distance (like off to college), the water pump broke. Every time after that, another weird (not strange) thing broke. The right front wheel fell off one time, the tie rods broke another time. I had to change the spark plugs frequently. If it wasn't one weird thing, it was another. I finally got rid of that car and bought...guess....another COMET! This one was a 1964 Comet. I named it Claude. Ok, so I didn't learn from the first time. Go figure.

3. I love going to the beach and hunting agates. Hate the wind. Luckily, I've found a place reasonably close to home where I can hunt agates and stay out of the wind. Bandon Jetty. My family thinks this is a strange hobby and usually refuse to go with me anymore. I can literally sit for hours sifting for rocks, looking for a prized agate that is the size of a pinhead. If I'm lucky I'll find one the size of a thumbnail, but those are rare. I just love being at the beach and photosynthesizing. The dog goes with me. She doesn't mind sitting on the beach with me!

4. My daughter will disown me when I admit this...but I love John Denver & Barry Manilow. Now that's music you can sing to and understand all the words!

5. Nothing strange about this, unless you ask my husband...I love to camp but HATE sleeping on the ground. YUCK. Who wants to do that? I remember as a kid, I'd tease my mom about "camping" in a motor home. "That's not really camping," I'd say. Now I have to laugh at myself, because I'm thinking camping in a motor home would be perfect....though I do settle for tent camping if I can bring an air mattress with me!

6. My husband says this is strange (only because he has NORMAL knees)...I've had 2 knee surgeries on the same knee in less than a year, and it still hurts.

7. Ok, I guess the last thing would be...I so want to be creative. I look at other people's scrapbook pages, their art, their creations and I want to do that. I want to be that. I want to create like that. And try as hard as I can...I just can't. I'm not. It isn't there. The desire is, but the talent isn't. And the strangest thing of all is...I keep trying.

So thereya go Charlee! Now I've got to go see if I've got 5 bloggie friends I can tag and hope they haven't been tagged already! Here's who I've tagged:

1. Rachel. She just took a photo walking tour of Portland. Her photos are awesome!
2. Anne-Marie. She has the most amazing blog! Her artwork is beautiful!
3. Kathy. She took a trip this summer on Route 66.
4. Shirley. Hoping this "tagging" will inspire her to get blogging again!
5. Becky. I've "known" Becky for a long time. She is one of the most amazing scrappers I've "met". Someday I want to grow up and scrap like her!