Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone celebrated, Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a good time AND remembers it all!

My plans changed some since I last wrote. Things at work got a little busy and I wasn't able to leave at noon on Wednesday so worked through lunch and left around 3:00 p.m. My kids were both celebrating in their own way so I decided I'd drive down on Friday. I spent New Year's Eve watching old movies and playing computer games. New Year's Day I was in front of the TV like a lot of Iowans watching the Hawks win their bowl game. It was a good game, as long as you were an Iowa fan!

Barb called late in the afternoon to send me greetings and asked what I was doing. I was doing the same thing she and Jim were doing. Eating and watching football. On the spur of the moment I decided to leave then and head west! I got to Barb's around 7:30 -- not too bad a time! I perfer to drive in the daylight during the winter months but the roads were all great so no problem. I always call Barb when I pass "Ted's Place" (which is an auto repair shop on 2nd street) and this trip was no different. She said they had decided not to have soup for supper that we were going out. So we did! Jim went home and got Mandy and we had a nice supper together at Okeboji Bar & Grill. (Hey Barb did I spell that right?) We came back and Barb gave us all our stocking stuffers!! Mandy wasn't feeling real good so they decided they best go home. Before they got out of the driveway she was sick and back in the house. She apologized to everybody but all I was worried about was her. She was fine after being sick. She also had a doctor's appointment the next day and was going to talk to him about having an upset stomach more than she thought she should. Her appointment went fine. The doctor told her to eat slower and eat more often. She's doing so well and the baby's fine too!

Friday everybody had to work but me so I enjoyed my time at Barb's by reading, watching TV and using my computer. I did a little cleaning for her (not much, but a little). We were having our Christmas that evening. Mandy brought a delicious chicken pot pie and Barb and I had made cookies before everyone got there.

We took pictures. Barb used the timer on her camera and Mandy figured out how to work mine so we got some good shots. I still haven't figured it out but she did!! She also forgot her camera and I've attempted to send her copies of all the pictures I took. Hope she got them!!

We had a fun time opening our gifts. We missed Jim & Mandy at our annual Davis/Sass/Foels Christmas party but Barb brought all the gifts back with her so we had the pleasure of watching them open their gifts.

Barb bought a taller tree a couple of years ago and I just wanted everyone to see it. We made so much fun of her 'little' one that I had to put a picture of the new one in!

The kids were real happy with all their gifts. Jim did get 2 docking stations and tried his darnest to talk Mandy into two more remotes for his game but he failed at that one. Glee, the basket you got Mandy was a great hit.

She couldn't figure out what is was!! Ya think!! She told me when I talked to her on Sunday that it was sitting on the hearth and the cats love it!! I got a beautiful Fossil watch from them, and a snack set that Mandy's dad's wife (Deb) made. It's really cute and hopefully next Christmas I'll be able to use it. Cute idea!! Barb got her heated mattress pad and loves it! It was a nice evening.

We slept in on Saturday. Barb had a couple of errands to run so got myself dressed and off we went. We left some things off at the Salvation Army and then stopped off at the scrapbook store in Ankeny. It's a great store and I had considered going Friday and just browsing but stayed home and did nothing instead. Barb is heading to Vegas in February and picked up some paper and stickers for her next scrapbooking venture. I'm working on 2007 Christmas, my Colorado trip from 2007 and more baby pictures for Beth and Glee. I'm still lovin' every minute of it. I've also started collecting paper and stickers for the new granddaughter we shall soon have. That should be fun.

Barb took me to an ISU women's basketball game on Saturday. They have great seats. Right down on the floor and close to the action. They played Vanderbuilt (spelling). Vandy is ranked 20th, ISU is not rated at the present time. It was a great game. I really enjoyed it. They won!! With about two minutes left of the game the PA announcer told everyone it was starting to rain and some was freezing so everybody drive carefully, blah, blah!! Well he was certainly right about the freezing part. The sidewalks and parking lot were plenty slippery! I'm a big chicken when it comes to ice. I have no control over my feet (or body) and also none over my car when I'm behind the wheel. Barb was a sweetie. She drove extra slow because of me. I know she would have used the passing lane a couple of times but because I was with her stayed behind a car that was only going 30 mph as some times. It took us almost an hour to get home. We did slid past her driveway but made it up to put the car away. The decision was made not to head to Jim & Mandy's. The news was reporting that the city and state officials were asking people not to drive unless it was necessary. So we stayed put.

Sunday the streets in Barb's complex were glare ice. Looked like a skating rink! I kept checking the road conditions on the internet and everything pretty much cleared up but parts of 151 close to home. And Barb's complex -- it was still very icy! People were driving but very cautiously. Jim & Mandy came over around 2 and had lunch with us. Jim was heading to work (he's only about 10 minutes away at Barb's) and Mandy stayed and we had a great visit. I had made the decision to stay in Ankeny for another night. The last time we checked the road conditions they were finally fair around Dubuque but I really didn't want to drive in the dark so stayed put. Got home Monday afternoon. Everything was okay. But you could definitely see where there had been a lot of ice! Not my favorite kind of weather. It was a great visit.

Now it's time to take all the Christmas things down. I hate loosing all the colors. My tree will probably stay up until Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday holiday. We have that Monday off and it'll give me 3 days to get all my stuff down and put away. I invited the kids but they all said they were busy!

Well I've bored everyone long enough. Here's hoping we all have a great year. More adventures and more journeys for all of us. Take care and God Bless.

I had other pictures posted but when I went back into edit some of the text I lost the pictures. I've tried at least a dozen times to get them back in here but it's just not going to happen tonight. I'll try again either tomorrow night or later in the week.

You'all take care.