2008 IN PICTURES

IN LIKE A LION.........the year of 2008

Even the dog was tired of it.. this is the trail the king made for her around the yard.

The King helping out the neighbor lady

AH, FINALLY SPRING AND SUMMMER

AIRPLANE HIT A DEER AND WENT THRU THE FENCE

THE KING'S SUMMER WAS FILLED WITH REPAIRING VEHICLES.

grandson accident, mother wanted it for a second car

grandson's second vehicle....after the King and he, painted it...

THEN THE OTHER KIDS AND GRANDKIDS STARTED IN FOR THEIR VISITS

son #4 with his daughter

Son# 1 and family

Son 3 family

Son #2... and wife... from Wisconsin...
Rokon learning how the computer works, so she can grab her printed word out of the printer

Misty helping with the weeding...

New windows went in this year...

Then came the fall with the fair....

Fall leaves changing

And a promise of a new bypass (we have been waiting for over 50 years)
Here are the officials saying it is so... let's begin.

grandson celebration #18

And here goes 2008.... out like a LION...

Many cookout with friends, meeting friends for coffee, and special days at 4th of July, and other events...figured you are pictured out by this time....

MAY YOU ALL HAVE A GOOD AND HEALTHY 2009

addiction

I am sitting here and wondering how much longer I
will be blogging. For I have found another addiction.
Something that takes my time, and thoughts away
from life.

It started last year, but I was not addicted to it,
as it was someone else's. So I used it, and didn't
abuse it.

This year, it was a gift on the 25th, of which I
started using on the 26th. I used it just a little
bit, just to get use to it. To see if I would even
like using it. And before I knew it, an hour was
gone. Wiped out of my life. But some how I
feel it was for the good.

It brought back all the old times of playing
the pool games in the winter and softball
in the summer for a local tavern. The good old
days when I was in my 30's.

I went thru a part which plays different parts.
And then tally and tells you not bad for a 72
year old... 72 YEAR OLD!!!!! I am only 68. Well,
I had to say I had slowed up a bit from when I
was 30. So I tried it out again... I can do better than this.

Yes, I know I can... hit harder, maybe easier,
I will try just for a bit, I have a few minutes.. What
do you mean 2 hours are gone...

Hurry, get my work done, so I can go face it again.
I can cancel my Netflix, I don't need it any more..
I don't have time.. Hurry take the dog out... can I
put it on pause? Do my chores, and back to my
addiction. I know I can do better.. Got a new
part to it, more things, got to do better.
Eat? later, I am busy..

Then late at night and the next morning, my body
aches, I think I know where each muscle in my body
is.


My name is Cis, and I am a Wii junkie....

40 Days and 40 Nights???

the slide...on Sat. night today

Parades....

I love parades. Always have.
The floats, the bands, the marching..
Sings to my soul.

But lately watching the parades on
television, it sure takes the heart out
of it.

Be it Macy's or Rose Bowl Parade,
Christmas, you name it and it is ruin.
What I don't like about television parades,
is the talent show. Where or why do we
need some "star" singing, and some dancer's
dancing in the street?

I am here to watch the floats, to hear the bands,
to watch the marchers. NOT listen to Hannah
Montana, or who ever, sing. Why do they
think they need to switch to someone who
we can see any night of the week? And I
get to see the tail end of a float that went
around the corner.

They sure ruin it for me.... so I guess I will
have to stick to the real and live ones locally.

icicles and birds of different feathers...

birds hiding in the tree and in flight, to and from the bird feeder in the front yard.

these are rock chickens and are of a different feather....

icicles hanging from the street light on the corner

SPRING IS COMING... SPRING IS COMING..

I know because I got my seed catalog today...

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ALL OF US....

I don't know about you, but I looked out the window and it is snowing and blowing...

I'll stay inside where it is warm, with my blanket....

Merry Christmas to you all...

The Wordtosser, the King, Misty and Rokon

My Christmas Card List

Once again, I send you the words of one, George A. Gladden Sr.
as he says it so much better than I can...

MY CHRISTMAS CARD LIST

I have a list of folks I know,
all written in a book,
And every year when Christmas comes,
I go and take a look.

That is when I realize these names are all a part,
not of the book they're written in,
but of my very heart.

For each name stands for someone
who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become
the rhythm in each rhyme.

While it may sound fantastic
for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I'm composed
of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware
of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life
much more than you think.

For once I've met somebody,
the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word
or of a friendly face.

So, never think my Christmas cards
are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list,
forgotten in between

For when I send a Christmas card
that is addressed to you,
It's because you're on the list
of folks I'm endeared to.

For I am but a total
of the many folks I've met,
And you happen to be one of those
I prefer not to forget.

Whether I have known you
for many years or few,
In some way you have had a part
in shaping things I do.

And every year when Christmas comes
I realize a new,
The best gift life can offer
is meeting folks like you.

So may the spirit of Christmas
that forevermore endures
Leave its richest blessing
in the hearts of you and yours.

My Christmas Card List
written by George A. Gladden, Sr.

and once again... I wish you all.... my dear readers..

MERRRY CHRISTMAS...

with all of your friends and families...

Not fit for man nor beast....

They say that pictures say a thousand words...
so will let these speak for themselves..

Rokon (the cat) and Misty(dog) are cuddled up in blankets

in the chairs..

Christmas of long ago...

The first Christmas for me, I really don't
remember, of course, but it was told enough
and the following years were proof.

My father bought a Lionel train set for under
the tree for my first Christmas present. It was
a beaut. We loved watching it go around under
the tree for years ... I wonder what ever happen to
it. You see, it was mine... given to me.. but I was
too young to run it... even when I was 6 or 7. And
then it became my brother's, so I could not run it.
But dad wouldn't let him run it until he was 10 and
only by dad's very watching eyes and a little high
raise of the voice of "be careful..you are going to
run it off the track" (which did happen many times),
and a few other directions. It got to be a source
of entertainment for my mother and I.

I remember my brother and I taking a present a
piece(under a mutual promise of not squealing on
the other) and opening it very carefully, so not to have
Mom find out that we had peeked. Forgot what his was,
but mine was a Kodak Brownie camera...

There were other toys that came before that, that come to
mind. A Sparkle Plenty doll, that I posted on years ago.
If you read it, you will know I cut off the hair. Also there was
a barn set with all the animals. I undid the tabs that held it
together, when I would get upset with my mother. What a
rotten child I was. She caught on after the second time, and
the third time I had to do it myself. Never did it a fourth time.

Teens, brought clothes, and a piece of jewelry of some type.
The beginning of Christmas were nothing the day before, and
the morning was presents AND the tree. After my brother found
out there wasn't any Santa, and being the rotten sister I was...
I probably told him... we got the tree a week before and presents
the morning of Christmas.

My own kids got to open one gift on the Eve. The morning they
were allowed to get their stockings and look. But no presents
until we got up. We got up at 7am.

One year was especially poor, and the kids picked names out
of a bowl and they had to make a gift for that person. I remember
son #2 (he was 12)made a doll house for daughter #4(she was 8).
She loved it.

Downsizing for all....

Living on what you have is not easy. You have to downsize your wants.
And define what is really needed. And how much is needed.

I say this, as I see so much in the news about bail
outs and similus payouts. I have to wonder, why is it that business
don't downsize as well. Why do we think the government should
take care of our money problems, when we, in most cases,
caused it ourselves.

Why aren't companies downsizing starting at the top. CEO
should give up all of their bonuses. And huge raises. Why they ever
were allowed is beyond me. CEO's and officers below, get more
in wages and stock than any person on the floor, who makes the
product or gives the service. One bonus I heard that a Sears CEO got,
was more than I and most people earn in a lifetime.
And that was just one year for him... plus stocks and
his huge wages. And how did they get a package
when they are fired or quit. None of the rest of us get that?
So let's start with them.


Next, why aren't employee's downsizing to help
out the company they work for? I would have taken less
money for a company if I knew the economy was in bad shape.
If I knew the company I worked for could break. I rather have a job
with less pay than no pay at all. We did take a freeze on wages for
2 years when I was working. Also for 4 years I was at the ceiling
wage. Then got a coda raise of 7 cents. That ceiling was $9 an hour.


Yet I read that unions hold tight with their packages. No give,
just take. And then to decide that the government should bail them
out or even us. When they haven't even tried. They could split the
health package, keep the retirement, and cut the wages by $5.
Remember $5 isn't much to lose, when you make over $20 and
it could be next month you have no job.

We, ourselves, should be more accountable. When did we decide
we were entitled to all the toys NOW, and pay for it later. Credit is fine
for a house, a car, and small purchase to get you thru to payday.
But houses, cars, (the newest and best) sometimes 3 cars and trucks
of the latest years? Motorcycle, snowmobiles, boats, and alike. All just fine,
if you pay for them cash, or finish paying for one before you charge the next.
The American way sees to be who can have the most toys, yet we feel the
gravy train will always be there. We are our own worse enemy. We can
keep up with the Jones, even join them in the bankruptcies court. And
frankly, it upsets me when we did it the correct way, and those who did
not, effect our money. And expect the taxpayers to pay.

It is time we downsize. We did almost 2 years ago. It was amazing how well,
we did. Things we gave up, we don't miss. We refined our view of what we
NEEDED instead of WANTED. You will be amazed how well you will do.

When the times get tough, the tough will survive.

Good Bye Boston Legal

One of the programs I love to watch
is Boston Legal. I am sure a little bit
of it is because I am from the region of
Boston.

And it is quirky, and I have always love
the law, and watching shows even back
to the days of Perry Mason. Still do like to
watch Perry thru the old reruns.

So it is with great sadness I watched the
last of Boston Legal. It went out a winner.
With all of the quirky lawyers. From Alan,
the man who protected the little man as
well as the big ones. Denny Crane, the man
who use to be a man of pompous and grandeur.
To be struck down with mad cow disease, called
Alzheimer's to the rest of us. There is Jerry, who
is a great lawyer but has many personal quirks.
And all the rest who ran thru the halls of the
law offices of Crane, Poole and Schmidt.

Leaving on Shirley to be the sane one, who stood
for justice for all. Who at the end protested the Chinese
taking over the law firm, that she so proudly brought
to fame. Then she and Carl give up their dream wedding
to be wed on a fishing dock with Denny and Alan,by the
Justice of the Supreme Court.

I will miss the talks and suits that hit on the day to day politics
from the front pages of the news...to the economy taking
its toll on the law firm, to be taken over by a foreign country.
Even hits on the subject of our election.

The many fine actors who brought this whole show to us
in fine fashion. With humor and heart felt problems of the
world. Candice Bergen, William Shatner, James Spader,
John Larroquette, Rene Auberjonois, Henry Gibson,
Christian Clemenso, and all the lawyers, judges and etc.
who have entertain us all... thank you....

I will miss the balcony sessions of Alan and Denny,
with their cigars and whiskey and talking out the days
work to fade out of the night.

Good bye, Alan, Denny and the gang... see you on DVD.

Weekend Winds

Birds are back for the free food...


The wind is blowing at 35 mph....

windsoxs are flying straight out...

sun rises on the mountain...

but I don't see any skiers yet?

some more birds come in for food.

neighborhood equipment sits idle... maybe to Spring..

And Me??? well, I am sitting this one out with a good book and hot tea..

Snowy weekend.... and the wind blew

IT WAS A DARK AND WINDY NIGHT.... AND THE SNOW RAGED ON...... snoopy?



So we turn on the lights....

Rokon looks out the window and sees that "it is back" and her daily romps outside are over for the next few months or so....Rokon does not like snow... or cold.

This is looking up toward the mountain Friday afternoon...

We got about an inch and half by 3 pm

Now, Misty does like to play in the snow...

Misty racing thru the yard...

and down around the corner.... and yes that is an old time plow there...

The mountain starting to peek thru the clouds with a little sun

As you can see the wind started this afternoon... Saturday... see the wind sock straight out