I'm baaaaccckkkk

Well, it appears that once a year I write on this blog. I keep telling myself I will be better when I retire...or actually, when Milo retires, since I work with him. :)

This Sunday we leave for St. Lucia so I hope to blog regularly about our trip. I will be using my Ipad which is fairly new to me, so I don't know that I will get any photos uploaded until we get back home on the 28th.
Milo has board meetings to attend for the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Fund, where he is the Chairman of the Board. Once a year I try to pick a spot in the Caribbean and travel with him. This will be my first time in St. Lucia and I am looking forward to the Peton Range and the rain forest for a new experience.

I hear that communications and signals can be poor in St. Lucia, so if anyone needs to contact us, we hope to get email. If not, call 916-225-0618. We will have a "global loaner phone" that uses Milos cell phone number. My will not work there.

See ya on the flip side.

Oral Surgery - Piece of Cake (or should I say Pudding)

All that fear, all that worrying and nothing. I will not go into detail, since Cousin Judy is squeemish about this sort of thing, but pulled tooth, bone graft, gum graft and a frennectomy (don't ask)...and nothing. I heard numerous horror stories about the pain I would feel in the roof of my mouth....and nothing. I have enough vicodin, motrin and tylenol to endure limb removal...and nothing. OK, so where the stitches are below my front bottom teeth, it can be a bit tight if I smile. (I'm told not to - can you imagine?) With the lack of pain, that's all I want to do..smile. The plastic stent that covers the roof of my mouth is a poor fit and I am tired of applesauce and scrambled eggs, but the ice cream is wonderful. Can't wait until I can put the cherry on top!

Is it really 2010?

Well, It is well into 2010. February 1 to be exact. Where did 2009 go? So many of my friends were glad to see it go. Milo and I had a pretty good year and hope that 2010 will be even better. Hasn't started off quite right; nephew got really sick, oven broke, cousin had knee surgery and wound up in a terrible care facility, oven still broke,niece is on bed rest so baby doesn't come too soon, mother in law fell, and I have major dental surgery TODAY. I'm not supposed to move my lower lip for 4 days, which mean limited talking. I'm told I won't feel like talking anyway. Always encouraging!
On the positive side, the oven is fixed (although it rattles a bit), Scott is getting good grades in school, we have the potential to make more income this year than last year, we have a bit of sunshine today and tomorrow the dental surgery will be over and the vicodin will kick in.
Since my speaking will be limited for a few days, maybe I will find the opportunity to "blog" a bit more. Limited speaking???? Is this a test of some kind?

Topsail Beach

Our travels this summer now find us in North Carolina in a beach house on the ocean. I flew to Buffalo last week and visited with my family. We drove 14 hours to Topsail Beach on Saturday (and I use the term "we" loosely). I drove most of the way, but my brother-in-law, David drove a few hours...and thank goodness Cheryl stayed chatty to keep me awake. My "nephew/dog", Sketch road with us. It was Sketch's first trip to the beach. He slept most of the way along with my niece Melissa. The photo shows exactly what Sketch thought of the beach.

My nephews Eric & Ryan, along with Shannon, Eric's significant other....are here with Ryans dog Pogo. Wish our Scott could be here as well, but he is home being responsible and going to school. Check out my facebook page for more photos.

Tempus fugit

Well, time flies with barely a chance to talk about the fun time in OC with my sister-in-law and the rest of our delightful family. Now it's time to head out to Twin Falls Idaho with my husbands dad and that side of the family. (We hit my "sides" of the family in August). It's been quite the year for travel and other than the neglect to our garden, it's been lots of fun, with more to come.
I read my niece Kathy's blog today and she listed the 5 things that she likes more than most people...so here's my list.
1) Time with Family - I'm so lucky to love them ALL!
2) THE BEACH
3) travel
4) pizza - unreasonably so!
5) reading fiction
Do you have a list?

Anticipation

I am sitting the the Sacramento Airport anxiously awaiting a brief flight to Orange County. Affectionately know as The OC. My loving sister-in-law is celebrating a landmark birthday (which will remain uncounted for now) this weekend and I can't wait to be a part of the festivities to honor her.
Not to be one to miss a few minutes of frivolous free WiFi time, I took a few minutes to review my nieces blogs. The antics of my grand nieces and nephews always make my day, so I thought I would start a mini-saga for the weekend. Stay tuned for what is sure to be a visit filled with hilarity and most of all, the love of a family who accepts me for who I am. A very rare treat indeed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAN!

Back in the swing

I find it so difficult to get back to normal since our vacation. I find myself daydreaming about parts of the trip. Today I needed an escape from the drudgery of month end accounting, so I re-visited Brugge. One of my favorite places. See how happy I am? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh