Happy New Year!

Well Christmas AND New Year celebrations are now over, but my wishes are still valid :)

I don't know about you, but my holidays were AWESOME! Two things missing - Ashley and Eric - that would have made this year really OUTSTANDING! I had four days off from work for Christmas and that just added to the great feelings. Last year I had four days off too and was sick for the entire Christmas time as well as extending to the New Years. Ugly!

I left early on New Year's Eve and took another four days off while I ran around KC with my friends. That was a blast. New Year's Eve was spent with Deann's family at her parents. I was the designated driver, which was okay with me. Laura and I drove back to her house, then went to Deann's for New Year's day with her family AND Tim's parents. Great time! Great time!

I went to Becky's for the final two nights in KC and proceeded to lock myself out of my van before I even got to her house. After calling the locksmith and he got there, come to find out that the back door had not connected and therefore was not locked! Oh well, who knew that after trying three doors out of five, I should have kept going? Not me, but we have a new theme now...Check All The Doors! You might have a get out of jail card waiting!!!

Becky and I ran around on Saturday - it was so warm!! Wonderful weekend to be sure. I found lots of after Christmas sale stuff for my mom, who was very appreciative. I found some things for me too, but mom got really lucky. Who can pass up 75% off sale? Not me!!

Going back to work on Monday was hard...I had over 300 emails waiting for me! Took me all week to get caught up, just to get behind again last week. Had a person out for two days that meant I had to do part of their job, which took priority over my job. Now I am behind, way behind again. I went in for four hours today and really didn't put a dent in it to be honest. I am getting up in the morning, brushing my teeth and hair, getting dressed and driving myself to that office. With any luck, I will see no one! And if I do see someone, too bad - got stuff happening man!

Ashley got engaged Christmas Eve! The wedding has been set for St. Patrick's Day. Judy, Kaycie and I are flying out there for the wedding. Robert wanted to rent an RV and all of us ride but that would take too many days to get there and drive back. It is just too far. It would have worked if she was just a little bit closer! I don't know if his family will make it or not; my mom and dad are not able to make the trip.

I am looking forward to the trip, even if it will use up all my vacation days practically and all my money from taxes. I have never been to Washington or Oregon, so this will be fun. Judy and Kaycie are flying Northwest and I am flying American Airlines. We go on the same day, but depart and arrive at different times. Doesn't bother me - I am the one that has to wait around - four hour lay over in Dallas and four hour wait for them to arrive in Seattle. Coming home, not as bad, although....leaving at 6:10 a.m. I am NOT a morning person, that is all I have to say!

Marcy called me with wonderful news today. Billy Joel and Elton John are going to be in ST. Louis in May. Sign me up lady! Yes, we are in the nose bleed section, but this is Billy Joel and Elton John!!! Worth it, I promise you. This will be the second time she and I have seen them together plus we saw Elton John when she lived in Texas. Billy and Elton do not know this, but they go way back with Marcy and I! Loving this!

My new year is starting out with a bang and the wheel is moving along rather fast. I just hope that I can keep the pace. Another year and another birthday = 57 years old now...try that on for size people. Live! Love! Laugh! I am.

Santa Claus Is Coming!

I've been making a list and another list, then have to make another one as well...I have to check it once, twice, thrice, etc....While Christmas shopping is going fairly well for me this year, I find that I keep adding to the list, relocating the list (alright! it's lost!), and giving up and starting over. Santa can keep his job 'cause I don't want to help him! Getting too hard.

Life has been busy and I have been tired. Just too tired to write a single word. I thought about it, wanted to, but just didn't have the energy or time to come 'visit'. I am getting a lot done though. It has been crazy this week with a person out sick, someone that I have to step in and do part of their job in addition to my job.

With enrollment deadline, the emails just keep coming. And the stupid ones are right in there! I say that no question is dumb or stupid if you don't know the answer. HOWEVER....(you knew that that was coming, right?) you have GOT to read the information you have in front of you. We send out direct deposit emails, which let's the participants know that reimbursement was generated. Do you know how many emails I get asking when will I get my check? Okay people, what did you think direct deposit was exactly? Or the really bitchy spouse who wants information for the account and we can't give it due to HIPAA...how long has the privacy law been in effect? Worse yet, we just had this email communication three months ago - it hasn't changed people...

Then there are the fun ones, where they send us an email in error and sign it LOVE (that wasn't the first clue, but still..). My favorite will always be the one where they were talking about their 'job done' and it was cosmetic job (reference ears and nose, it was obvious). I didn't even send her a response saying, Hey! Think you sent this in error. I didn't want to embarrass her so I just let her think it is in cyberspace, floating around.

Today, Jacquie and her husband David are coming to town. Bringing me a computer and picking up a toddler bike for the grandson's Christmas. David's b-day is today (Happy Birthday David!) and he purchased a lap top for himself for his birthday. Jacquie is liking that pretty RED computer...but has been told more than once, no! Anyway, the one that he bought two years ago will just sit in the basement, so we made a deal. My computer is almost 10 years old, I am looking forward to hooking up the new one and getting a faster hook-up. First things first!

I don't know exactly what all is taking place today, but it is David's day so what ever he wants. I think I will be invited to eat with them, but if not it's okay. I understand. Obviously, I would rather grab a meal with the two of them, as food is my friend! But I still have a Christmas tree to put up. I will be doing the tree and lights tonight and the decorations tomorrow. I learned a long time ago to take it in stages. I have too many lights AND too many decorations to do it all in one day!

Bad weather coming our way. I thought it was happening today as when I woke up it was dark still with a touch of orange/yellow around the window. A strange color outside people! Tomorrow the rain/sleet/ice/snow it heading our way. Oh what fun it is to slide, I mean ride....

Got to get back to my list, now where did I put that?

CREEPY!

I work down town, in a not so safe spot. We have to park in the back of our building across the alley. Now, it isn't so bad for the most part. However, since the time change, it is a little spooky. It is dark and I am on a small path, with a brick wall on one side and a 9 foot drop over a retaining wall to the bank on the other side. No, there are no bars to prevent a person from being pushed, falling or slipping on ice down into that parking lot. I have met a gentleman in the alley twice now. He has been polite and even once let me walk the sidewalk and waited by the alley. The side walk isn't big enough for two people and let me tell you, I debated about walking towards him...In any case, he was just being a nice guy - this time! Yes, my imagination has started running wild upon occasion.

Now, we have to watch in the day time too. Trish left early today and had a person who was obviously agitated, walking back and forth in the alley. He was acting so strange, she called to let us know. A lot of homeless people will take shelter in the small places that we have in different places along the alley. A couple of years ago, a murder took place about two blocks to the east of here. I haven't forgotten this event for a second. Don't tell my mom, she thinks I am safer here than in KC. I may be, but then again... I just find that I am less apt to stay late to work, even if I needed to.

A person can try to be as safe as possible, but there are no guarantees in life. You can only do what is humanly possible. I often wonder if I would have the ability to fight off an attacker. I would like to think that I would try and succeed, but the truth is you just never know. I lock my doors, I look around me as I walk toward my vehicle or door to my house, I always try to be looking around and taking observation, simply because of my hearing, but I am still limited. Grandma and the boogie man has a place in my past...my head and my heart are not always in headed the same place.

I think about the man who 'tested' a stun gun recently as a measure to get a law passed allowing these for protection. Are these better than pepper spray? Does it matter since I don't have either one? A gun simply isn't an option for me. I am reminded of Pam on Army Wives, who has one in her house since she was being stalked. But she was a cop and KNEW how to handle a gun. Yes, I have shot a gun before. You don't get raised on a farm and not understand the basic gun safety, which includes using a gun. I didn't like it, but it doesn't mean that I couldn't use one if I needed it; I just don't want to go there.

When does a person truly feel safe? At what stage do we let go of the fears that lurk in our minds? I think it is health to have a certain level of fear, but I also don't dwell on these things until something happens to bring them to surface.

The girls!

WHOOOOSHH!!!!

I felt the bite of old man winter this past weekend. I traveled to KC area with several of my friends to just meet and hang together. We had lunch and then went to Weston, Missouri, a small historic town north of KC with a lot of little shops. We traveled in and out with some of us purchasing something and others just looking around. By the end of the afternoon, we were cold from the wind so we ended up in the cafe for an early dinner, afterwhice we traveled down the road (by foot) to watch the official lighting of the Christmas tree (yes, Christmas is coming soon!) but the wind was so cold that we lasted just a few minutes. There were reading The Polar Express from the back of a caboose and we had to move to keep warm not to mention that the baby didn't like it when we stopped! We met back in Independence for those of us who needed to travel back East to congregate. Of all places, we met at the Bass Pro (thank Laura for that one!). It worked out very well as they had a Christmas tree set up (see, I told you it was coming) next to the fireplace and we had our picture taken. It was great!

It is dark when I leave work now, another sign that winter is coming. I will get use to it but I am less likely to stay at work longer with the dark nights. My office just isn't in the best of places and I just feel the need to NOT be there when it is dark!

I will be getting three of my nieces this weekend. Birthday pictures will be taken at Sear's even though one is really late (Ginny's birthday was in May). Oh well, life moves on!

Reflections

It is the last day of October and not only Halloween, but my dad's 75th birthday today. He and my mom both just don't act their age. They are constantly doing this and that, going here and there, and NEVER at home! I think that is great. I remember my grandparents at that age and they didn't have half the energy my parents do. It is all in the mind and very much shows that how a person feels as well as their state of mind makes a difference. This would be true whether it regards your health, your family or your age.

The leaves are changing, my favorite time of the year. The mornings are crisp and clean; the days are bearable even if I am outside; and the evenings are cool that I don't have to run the a/c or the heat. Love it! Love it! Love it!

Then I realize that another year is about to pass me by. I look back over the months of this year and realize that I was very lucky in a lot of things. While Ashley moved to the Wild West of Washington (now Oregon), I worked with her the first part of the year and got to see her almost daily with the weekends included. I miss her a lot. I tell her this, but try not to emphasize how much I miss her because I know that she is still getting homesick. But the truth is, I REALLY miss her smiles, her laugh, her absentminded talks while she is texting, watching movies together, baking cookies so that she can lick the beaters, bowl and spoon, her smiles, going to garage sales, going to Wal-Mart and looking at the clearance items, her laundry all over my kitchen floor, her laugh, and most of all, her ability to see things that I miss in people, events and everything. I know she probably thinks I miss her ears the most, but I haven't thought about it until just now.

I realize that I have seen Eric twice this year when usually, we get to see him one time only. Granted the first time it was due to his mom being in the hospital, but every thing turned out well and he spent the fourth of July with his family. Big event for us! I just saw him last weekend as he is home on leave. He has grown so much! Not talking about his body, but his mind, actions and mannerism.

I realize that I have a really great family! We have our faults, but who doesn't. We don't always get along, we don't always agree, and we don't always say the things that might be on our mind. In my case, I pretty much say what is on my mind to some and not to others. Depends on the person and the situation. Most of the time, people know where I stand.

I am getting older, every minute of every day. Some days I feel my age and others, it is a toss up to guess if I am 56 years old or just feel like I am! (I tell people that I am older than I really am - that way I am assured that people think I really look good for my age! Hey - it works for me! Don't knock it!) The older I get, the faster time races by. Not enough hours in the day to do what I need or want to do anymore. Too bad retirement doesn't get here quicker...watch, I will wish that I wasn't retired when it does arrive.

My parents are moving, again. I think this will be there 19th or 20th move, I have lost count. It is easy to do when I am not moving with them. I guess I shouldn't talk as I have moved a lot of times as well. My friends say it is the Ashford name and moving is the game. To make matters worse, the move is temporary so they will move again. I am not for sure if the temporary moves count or not really. The last house was suppose to be the final place. The house ended up being bigger than they needed or wanted. In addition, my mom fell this past winter and as a result hurt her knee. Surgery this past summer took care of that, but I think they realized that down the road, they needed less space. They will be perfectly happy with smaller space until the family comes to visit...we will see.

I think about my grandparents a lot lately. I always miss them, but certain times more than others. I was so lucky to have them for as long as I did. They were wonderful people who certainly loved their grandchildren. My mom's parents were more invovled since she was an only child. Harder to split your time among multiple children and their offspring...sometimes!

Looking back, this past year has held a lot of changes, good things, not so good things and lots of family time. I absolutely love that my parents are not going to Texas for the winter any more, but if that is what makes them happy, I want them to do it. It is their golden years, not mine. I am happy purely for selfish reasons, can you blame me?

Christmas is Coming!

This is really a P.S. from yesterday...my trip to St. Louis was eventful. Full of good and not so good things happening. The BEST part of the trip for me, was finding the radio station that was playing Christmas songs all day/night long! I found it on Friday night and had it stationed there until I got out of area on Saturday night. See how little things make me happy?