Thank you all for your wonderful words and support. You have no idea how much they all mean to me.

The memorial service is over, and life is going on - back to normal and weird that Michael is gone - for real. The service was nice with them playing his favorite music, but at the same time, made it harder. Now it's time to heal and learn from all this.

I'm so looking forward to spring this year. I am ready to get that garden going! I've got my Alpine Strawberry seeds in the fridge going through their needed cold treatment, and can't wait to get my seedlings started. Will soon be time to plant them and the onions as well as some flowers.

I did a few rows on my socks for CIC. I just can't get into knitting them right now. I've hit a dry spell for one reason or another. So, since I needed to be doing something this week, I finished a memo board kit from Stoney Creek. I'm very pleased with how it came out, and it's hanging on my fridge as I write.



I know it's a Christmas design, but feels good to have something finished and framed and up. I needed that permanence right now.

I hate late night phone calls. With DH being on call all the time, you'd think I'd get used to the phone ringing - but each time, I hold my breath and wait. Last night I held my breath and heard the "I'll get her" and knew it wasn't good.

My aunt called with the news that her son, my cousin, died of a heart attack. He was only 43. No how did I see this one coming. I sat and listened and didn't say much. There was nothing to say. I still don't have much to say, as I'm working down the phone tree to alert all the relatives. I can't believe what I've heard - he's just a tiny bit older than me and we were so close growing up. We stayed that way until he got married and his wife was a control freak that stepped in between his relationship with everyone in our family. Including ours.

Now it's just numbness. We aren't supposed to be at this crossroad yet and I'm not figuring out how we got here. The natural order has gone out of whack. I expected many more years to visit and see him - to reconnect our relationship. I hadn't seen him in 8 years - since the death of my mother.

I must learn to live each day like it's the last - because lately, it has been the last with both the loss of a couple of family friends and now my cousin. All of which were in just a couple of months - and all had been put off being seen for one reason or another.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

We had a nice day today. I started it off with pink cream of wheat for breakfast and then we set out baking the rest of the day. Each child wanted to make their own contribution to our Valentine's Dinner, so DD made pink chocolate chip cookies and DS made no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal drop cookies. They wanted "mom's fudge" for dessert, and we planned an interesting "pink" meal together. We had ham, pink mashed potatoes, corn and pink bread with pink a lemon lime drink.

For a lovely surprise, DH got me a wonderful Carvel ice cream cake in the shape of a heart that had a single red rose on it. Each year since our first Valentine's Day together, I've gotten a red rose of some sort. On our first Valentine's Day together, the rose DH gave me had my engagement ring attatched to it. Who says men can't be romantic?

Well, we made our trip out to the house and it's definitely not for us. The house sits in a big basin and says lots of drainage problems - plus there's no usable land to garden on. When I say no usable land, I mean there's nothing around the house and garage - just about enough to walk around it, and that's it. It makes me think of my mixing bowl - with trees. The house was interesting. It had ceilings that just cleared my 6' husband and that was both upstairs and downstairs. The kitchen was a galley that had the distance of just a couple of feet from one countertop to the other. I think if you opened the cupboard door, one could not be between the door and the cupboard directly across from it. It was travel trailer size - and I think even those have more room. The other rooms were very small, too. Not a place to put an expanding family. Ah, well. I'm sure they will find just the right person for it. Would be great for a hunting cabin.

After a long talk with our new buyer agent, we took the kids to Pizza Hut and then Walmart. Timed the trip to Wally World just right. DD had pretty much outgrown her clothes, and we were lucky enough to hit the end of season clearance! She basically got a whole new wardrobe - down to the undergarments and socks for $77! She's thrilled, and it sure didn't break my budget :-)

I finished up my Valentines Chocolate and just in time. I'm hoping to be able to get around to stuffing it and making it into a door hanger for Saturday.

After deciding that we were doomed to stay here and live in town, we stumbled across a listing for a house on 10 acres - and in our price range. Yah, right - like that will still be there or so far away, we'd never be able to get it. DH said to call and find out about it, so I did. Oh gosh! It sounds like a dream. The listing is so new that there's no picture up on the web yet - or at least that is what I was told. I wonder, though. Seriously, I'm expecting problems with it.

Anyhow, we've got an appt. to see it tomorrow evening, so we'll see then. Not getting my hopes up on this one.

Valentine's Day is just a couple of days away. I haven't figured out how time has gone by so quickly, but it has, and continues to.

I picked up one of the socks I'm doing for CIC and worked on that some. I just can't get "into" my knitting these days. I think it has to do with the warmer weather coming. I do seasonal crafts - all my needlework changes with the anticipation of the next season. Wonder if anyone else is like that. It made it difficult for me as a model stitcher to cross stitch when I really wanted to knit things for Christmas. It's such a pain to be so undirected :-)

Snow, snow, snow, snow.... that's what we see here :-) Friday DH couldn't get to work because of the snow and ice storm we had, and it's been awful trying to stay connected here to post. Will make this short and sweet....

I'm here. I'm snowed in. I love winter!!! So beautiful and so peaceful looking.

Wow! Has it really been that long since I last wrote?! Time sure does fly - especially when you're busy, doesn't it!!

I sent off my package to the Online Angels. I had a total of 140 items which included, preemie hats, preemie blankets, large squares and regular size squares, baby booties, and some misc. items. I'm pleased with the amount I sent. This will be my last package for a while.

I've left most of my groups and have stepped down from being the contact person for St. Anthony's. I would have loved to continue on, but life leads in different directions after a time. I'll be starting a 10 week class next month, our adoption homestudy is almost finished which means we'll be ready to start seeking a child/children. Then there's homeschooling the kids and spring cleaning is coming up, and then the garden.... So much excitement! :-)

Valentine's Day is almost here. I looked all over for a neat valentine something to make, and came across a freebie called Valentines Chocolate. I've been working on it a little each morning before everyone gets up, and I'm pretty sure I'll have it done before Valentine's Day.



I had a wonderful online album done on Topcities - had been working on it for a good month, and went a couple of weeks later to link to it and do a copy of the page - and it's gone! POOF! I'm not a registered member or anything now. WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! I don't have any idea what happened - as I didn't receive an email stating that they would remove my page, yada yada, yada. Ah well. This is what happens when you use an online editor and don't do any kind of back-up while you are working on it. Worst part of the whole thing is, I didn't have some of the information written down - so it's gone for good, and that included materials used, changes made, etc. :-/

But hey - it keeps life interesting, eh? :-)