One week before I leave for San Diego!!!

I am in countdown mode, and making my list and checking them constantly. One week from now I will be on the local Amtrak train heading to Chicago. Then we will have a couple hour layover before getting on the Southwest Chief headed to LA. I am so geeked just about the train trip and traveling across the country again.

I do love to travel and see the land as it slips by! I don't like flying, I will do it if blood and my family are involved, but you don't see anything from up there. I want to know what lays between here and there. I traveled across the country by car when I was 15 with my family. I was so lucky to see everything between here and California. Now many years later, to do it by train, comfy, convenient, a potty traveling with you and taken care of! Just being able to get up and walk around anytime I want, sure beats nagging my Dad that 500 miles was enough each day! LOL But what wonderful memories!!!!

Lots of stuff happening lately. Hubby and I got to go with Shannon & Shawn to see her latest ultrasound. Our soon to be grandchild, waved, kicked, sumersaulted, stood on its head and generally was a busy little kid making sure we saw them! We are still looking at August 15th as the due date. So far so good, but continued prayers for all to go well are appreciated!


On Friday, actually early Saturday morning they finally uploaded the videos of Todd's platoon and we got our first glimpse of our soon to be Marine! He looks so good and I am really anxious to see him and get a hug! Today he is at camp Pendleton, CA going through the gas chamber, with mask of course. Then 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning he begins the last of his training. The Marine Corp Crucible, which is a 54 hour, nonstop, 45 mile hike, with obstacles calling for teamwork, problem solving, physical exertion and no sleep, ration food and finishes up with a warrior breakfast, and the Globe and Eagle ceremony with his Drill Instructors. Where our recruit will formally become a Marine!!! Todd said he is so looking forward to this and especially the big breakfast!! LOL He is so excited to see all of his family and promised not to cry to much. I won't be able to tell the tears will screw up my vision for sure!!

So, I am making those lists, making sure Randy has food while I am gone, shaving the legs (it might get warm enough for shorts, you never know"") and getting the guest room ready for my SIL, Elaine to stay over when we get back. Our train won't get in until 10:30 pm on the 15th. Xavier and Grammie have been counting down and putting our red X's on the calendar!

Huggies to you all, stay warm with this upcoming 12-18" of snow they are calling for!
Dilly

That light better keep shining at the end of the tunnel!

Well just when I thought things were looking up, we had another loss. Shannon's friend Patty came home for spending the day with Shannon and friends to find her hubby face down in the snow. Shannon and I attended his memorial service yesterday. Lloyd was a young 50 and a sweet man who loved his wife very much. I never really got to know Lloyd, but Shannon & Shawn were close friends. Patty and I had become friends over the years with the adoption of her collie, Leah, that I had arranged with an internet friend. Life is so precious take advantage of every moment and never fail to pass a smile or an I Love You to those who mean so much to you!

I got a wonderful letter from Todd yesterday! I really needed a pick up and this was a very positive letter. He is doing so well and we are on a short countdown now to see him in less than 2 weeks! I am so frigging excited to see him this afternoon on a platoon video that will be posted on the net. Then I can start packing and checking my lists to make sure I have everything for my adventure! Heather got all of our San Diego Zoo tickets! So we have the day after graduation all planned! That will be a lovely time spending the day with all my kids and my Grandson in a very special place!

Hubby and I have been invited to go with Shannon on Sunday for an ultrasound! We will get to see tiny little Baby Binks, our grandchild due in August! That is so cool I got to see Xavier when he was a lot farther along, but hubby hasn't seen one of these since I had one done for Todd, 25 years ago!! That will be a very good day even if the little one is the size of a peanut! :D

Winter is still here and keeping it cold and white outside. But the days are getting longer and we get daylight now almost to 6:00 p.m. which makes it a lot better. Another month and it will be much, much, better!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and huggies all around for everyone!
Dilly

Been a rough week, but we are making it through!

Having a light at the end of the tunnel (going to see Todd) has allowed me to make it through this week. Loosing Twiggy was difficult, having Shannon go through the death of a very close friend affected me because of the constant calls and knowing the wife. In there were some major headaches, a eye appointment that was all that cheery, and freezing weather!! Right now it is -6 degrees outside as my friend Ellen calls it, snot freezing weather! I can't think of a better description.

Thank goodness through all of the above what has kept me in good spirits is counting the days until I leave to see Todd! Plus Hubby has had a great week going with Ebay, which always contributes to better spirits around the house!

We have finalized the menu for our trip, Heather is sending out shopping list for everyone! We will be sharing meals at the house we have rented and are splitting the cost of food. Plus now we are into looking for discount tickets to visit the San Diego Zoo on the day after Todd's graduation! It is one place my parents visited years ago when they flew out to see my Aunt and Uncle. Not being real Zoo people they thought it was wonderful! As our children grew up we hit all the Zoo's in our part of the U.S. That is probably where Shannon's love of animals and especially Giraffes came from. So it will be a treat to share it with all of them and Xavier too! So keep your fingers crossed that it is a beautiful day to be checking out the Zoo for us on Saturday the 12th of February!

Not much new around here other than trying to stay warm and praying the heat bills don't go through the roof!! Have a great day everyone!

Dilly

A very sad day in our family!

Today we lost a beloved pet that has been part of our lives for 15 years. Twiggy aka Shannons Handsome Man came to live with our family many years ago. Shannon worked at a vets office in Eaton Rapids at the time. She gave me a line of baloney that they vets clinic was being painted and all the animals they were housing needed to stay someplace for the weekend. A cat she had been talking about was going to spend the weekend with us. He had been dropped off by his owners to be put down because he was hit by a car. His pelvis had been shattered and he had been in a Halo with pins to hold him all together. Being the softy I am I said the kitty could stay with us during the remodel. Here came this beautiful cat who acted more like a dog in cats clothing. He was no longer in a Halo and moved around pretty good. I will never know if they actually ever painted the vets clinic that weekend. But the weekend lasted for 15 years and Twiggy, which Shannon described as a tall skinny guy made his way into our hearts.

Now he may have had his pelvis crushed, but the vet must have put in bionic parts. Twiggy could jump up to the top of my china cabinet, then jump up to the top of the woodwork over the doors, windows and arches in our 10' ceiling house. This was the healthiest jumping cat you ever saw!

He did jump once to often. I can't even remember if I was home at the time, but I believe it was a beautiful bouquet of flowers and knowing Shannon they were probably hers. They were on my fireplace mantle along with a large lithograph leaning on the mantle and candlesticks. Under the mantle on the floor was a huge glass candle settin in a raised stand on the floor. Twiggy went to inspect the flowers and dumped everything on the floor! It was a total loss I figured a replacement cost of $350 wipped out. He was safely shut in Shannon's room until I got over the need to boot his butt to the curb. I also got a Please Forgive me with a stamp pad copy of his paw on it!

When Shannon and Shawn married in 2005 Twiggy went to live with them. He made buddies with Shawns cat Kolbe, and Daisy and Dillon their Great Pyrennes. Anytime we would visit the Twig-Meister would always come for some loving. He was so affectionate and loving.

Last night Twig had some kind of seizure or heart attack and was gone in a matter of minutes. Shannon and Shawn rushed him to Dr. Snow who immediately put Twig out of his pain and sent him to Heaven to romp and play with Sheba and Buddy! I am sure they are all happy to be together again! Bless you Twig and may you rest and play in peace we will miss you so much!

Dilly

I am in countdown mode!

23 days, yup that is how many days until I get on the train to make my cross country trip to see my boy!! I am so excited and Xavier and I just talked about all the things we get to do on the train! I know the trip will go fast and there won't be enough time to spend with him or everyone else, but blessed and wonderful memories will be made. Plus tons of photos of course!

To make my day even brighter, hubby invited Xavier to spend the night last night! Grammie was whipped from 4 days on the road, but Xavier was so excited to spend the night it was worth it! Plus Papa did most of the work, what a sweetie, he knew I was hurting so he picked up the slack!


We watched movies, had popcorn, slurped soup, played with trains, and jumped on the bed. Ok, he jumped on the bed, I just prayed that he would eventually wind down. Would you belive 11:30 p.m. He went from giggling and kicking his feet to dropping his head on the pillow and gone. I had to check him I was so worried he was just sound asleep there with his little feet up against my back and holding his stuffed monkey!! Great Memories!



Then at 7:00 a.m. he set up asked where Monkey was and we were off and running again. Eggs & sausage, hot chocolate for him, multiple cups of coffee for us, more trains, and his Mom and Dad were here to hit the road. I am so happy that we can do this with him and he is still so excited to spend time with Papa and Grammie. I know that time will pass quickly and we will be a lot lower on the list, but I will enjoy every minute right now!

So until the February 7th I will keep collecting goodies for my trip and start making my lists of things that need to be done, bought or packed! I might even slip in some more beads, clean the house and cook if I find the time!

Whatever you do, make the most of it and huggies all around for everyone!
Dilly

Happy Birthday Mom!

Good Morning all!

Yup today is my Mom's birthday. It's been so long since she passed away but she still inspires and I still miss her! Love ya Mom!! Here we are I think I was around 7 in this Christmas Photo! It's hard to believe if I was that age, Mom wasn't even 30 in this photo!



We are in the full swing of winter, with winter storm watches and snow falling everyday. It does make it hard to keep up the daily work schedule as far as hitting the roads. So yesterday became a more relaxed day. We did make two trips to Kalamazoo for a new door to put between the kitchen and sunroom. Lots of glass so way more sunshine in the Kitchen. Plus we came across new organizers/shelving for our redo upstairs making the former kitchen for the upstairs apartment into our laundry huge walk in closet! It's going to be so cool!!!

I am gathering the goodies for my trip to San Diego, got a new suitcase, a DVD player for the dark evenings, and picking up a few clothes. But I have most of everything I need. Now I need to go through what bags we have around here that I can use for a carry on, and see if I need to find something different. We are down to one month before Heather, Xavier and I hop on the train for our cross country trip! I am so geeked about the trip, let alone seeing my boy become a Marine!

So today, melting glass, keeping the sidewalks clear, paint if I can get around to it and light a fire under hubbies behind to get the boxes up here so Christmas can finally be put away. We made it to Epiphany it can go away now!! LOL

Have a wonderful day, stay safe and warm!
Dilly

A New Start to a New Year Happy 2011 Everyone!

I am going to give this another try. It's been really hard to keep this going near the end of the year! Sorry....but life gets in the way. Between getting ready for Christmas, keeping up the work pace, trying to keep up the bead pace, and all the other little things like writing Todd, trying to figure out how to make it to his Graduation. I just failed miserably at keeping this Blog going!

So a New Year, a fresh start and new adventures for me this year. I have so many wonderful things going on I need to slow down and enjoy each and everyone of them. First of all I am going to be a Grandma again. DD, Shannon told me I couldn't put it on Face Book, but she didn't say I couldn't put it on my Blog. August 15th, another little person will take a piece of my heart!! I am so excited and so thrilled that this gift of love has been given to Shannon & Shawn. They have been through so much, it has been an emotional been a roller coaster ride. Blessings to them and to my wonderful Sis who helped make this happen!!

Another wonderful thing is that between bead sales, gift cards for Amtrak from my daughters, $$ gift from my son and DIL I am going to Todd's Marine Graduation! That was a tearful wonderful present! I am going to travel across the United States with Heather & Xavier on the train! We will end up in LA and then drive down to San Diego, what a beautiful drive that will be! Then we are meeting up with my DIL Erin, Shannon, my sister-in-law Elaine, my sister and Brother-in-law Michelle & Glenn! Family day is February 10th with graduation on the 11th! I am so thrilled to have this adventure and see my boy again, plus share it with the people I love! Elaine will be joining us on our return train trip and make it the more the merrier!

Another wonderful thing that has started this New Year off with a bang is my beads are back and I am enjoying the ability to make them again! My thumb is finally 95% pain free, I still have a loss of movement but I have learned to deal with it! I am trying some new stuff and working on improving the old stuff! I am geeked to see what I can come up with!

I am blessed to have my health, my creative juices, my wonderful family, and to be surrounded by friends near and far. What a great start for a New Year!

Oh and my baby boy Dozer is now not quite 7 months old and two weeks ago 83 lbs. He is growing, growing, growing. Kylee is in for a big surprise when he ends up bigger than her! LOL


I wish you all a wonderful blessed New Year!
Dilly