New Years Eve

Mom and Ray bought us gift cards to go to Red Lobster, so we took the whole family over there for lunch.

 We had some good laughs and a serious discussion about whether God could resurrect a body that was cremated.  We decided nothing was too hard for God, so if you wanted cremated it would be okay!  How's that for a philosophical discussion?  We heard several different viewpoints and came to our conclusion.

 Our waitress was very attentive to our needs, which is good for the size crowd we were.

Afterwards, everyone went their own directions and Scott and I went in search of the counter top place.  We found it quite easily, but the return home was a little more challenging.  We had to turn around a time or two.  I decided to take pictures and not be worried that Scott didn't know where we were.  I had a lot of fun, but I was relieved to see the highway 70 and 50 sign!  I think I've really gotten into the picture taking thing.  I couldn't take our expensive camera, but my little one still did a pretty good job.

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/NewYearsEve#

Picasa Web Albums - Elaine - Kitchen Remodel

Here it is Monday night.  Scott got everything put back together enough for me to work in the kitchen again.  Right now he is working on staining the new cabinet so it matches the rest of the kitchen.  We are going to e-mail the counter top guy tomorrow and get scheduled for that process to start. 

We went out to Chili's tonight as a respite from all the insanity.  It was nice being together and not thinking about the kitchen.

I took about 50 pictures, but I only posted 14.  Bear and Chloe are in here too. 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/KitchenRemodel#

Kitchen

Scott stepped through the kitchen floor about a month ago, so we decided our bonus money would have to go to repairing the kitchen.  He just pulled out the kitchen sink, counter top, and dishwasher to find out what was happening.  The dishwasher is the culprit.  It was leaking pretty badly.  I actually saw that it had been leaking when I got my new dishwasher put in.  Fortunately, the floor trusses are not damaged.  My kitchen has been torn apart since yesterday afternoon.  Scott is hoping to get it back together by tonight.  I took pictures but haven't gotten them to Picassa yet, so they will be in a later posting.  We have sawdust, drywall dust and regular dust all over the place combined with dried mold!  My nose has been running, I've been coughing and sneezing.  I will be glad when it is all put back together and I can get my house back under control.  We are going to pick new countertops next week sometime.  Then, we will pick our flooring and get a date set for that to happen.  It sure is a messy process!

Christmas 2009

We had a very nice Christmas.  Scott and I took a lot of pictures but I've downloaded just a few for your enjoyment.  I love it when the kids are all home.  We do so much laughing.  We had breakfast at 9:30 consisting of baked omelet, and Scott's famous cinnamin buns.  After kitchen clean-up, we opened our presents.  It was a riot when we gave the cats and dogs their gifts.  I only got a good picture of Bear with his toy.  Chloe snuck off with hers and tore it to shreds.  I still have white fluff all over my dining room that I will need to pick up.  After our turkey dinner, we cleaned up and then the kids went out to see Sherlock Holmes (movie).  I took a nap and after I got up the kids came back for pumpkin pie and crackers and cheese balls.  Now most of us are sitting and visiting and using our laptops!  We didn't watch the Grinch, so Joel and I are going to watch it after the rest of the kids go home.  The Grinch is a Christmas must for me!

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/Christmas2009#

car registrations

We kept sending in Scott's car registration and trying to pay for it.  They said it hadn't been inspected, so we sent a copy of the passing inspection to them with the payment again.  We got a nasty note yesterday in the mail saying the car had not been inspected and we'd better do it.  Scott stayed at home to work, so he could go to the motor vehicles and deal with it on his lunch hour.  Julia gets home at lunch time and said she was pulled over because her cars inspection needed done and her registration was overdue.  Here, I had done Scott's car in July and they never sent us the sticker or the paperwork and I didn't notice.  I thought his car was the 1995 model and Julia's was 1996.  Here they are both 1995's and thus the confusion.  Now we have a $150 ticket!  and two cars that aren't up to date.  Scott will have to go in and get a duplicate car registration and another sticker.  Scott took Julia's car in to get inspected right after she got home and of course it failed.  He is going out tonight to try to get it fixed so she can finally get this resolved. 

It has not been a good day. 

Picasa Web Albums - Elaine - The moon

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/TheMoon?authkey=Gv1sRgCLHY-5n_tOqcygE#

The moon has always been a fascination for me. The Psalmist calls it "the faithful witness", I think that is a very good description of her. I usually view her from the early morning hours as I go to bed early and rise early. This morning it was raining cats and dogs and felt like 23 degrees so I didn't go on my morning walk. The rain doesn't usually stop me, but it was so cold and icey that I thought it might be dangerous. The dogs have extra energy and are on high alert because of their lessened activity!

cats - December 18.09

Having more fun with the camera! 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/Cats#

Pre-Christmas

 

We've had great weather here till today.  We are under a winter weather advisory.  I think it's going to stay mostly west of us.  I got Scott's new camera out and starting playing with it so here are some pictures.  I included one of Mandi Salgado, my new Dad's dog.  I've never gotten a good picture of Bear with my little cameras, so I was delighted to be able to see all of his face.  He just turned six in November.  Mom, I'm glad you will be able to see the pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/Christmas#

Christmas is coming

I got signed up for a site called Flylady.net     I've been following her for probably about a year now.  I've lost track.  Well, in November she talked about getting your Christmas presents.  I finally got everyone's list and started buying.  Then at the beginning of December she started talking about wrapping them.  So, it's December 16th and I have all my presents bought and wrapped.  I also have all my Christmas cards made and sent.  I feel pretty organized!  It sure is a lot less stressful.  Now, I'm thinking about our Christmas breakfast menu and how to get that made ahead so Christmas morning can run smoother.

The Dr. always seems to want to revamp my thyroid medicine near Christmas.  I had to go on the synthetic medicine and just last week, she decided she had to double it.  I keep getting way too tired, so it is a real nuisance. 

Joel is doing better.  I took him to a neurologist a few weeks ago and he put him on some different medicines and he is finally perking up.  He's down to two migraines a day instead of five or six.  The two are more easily gotten rid of too.

The cats love Christmas.  As soon as we pull out the Christmas tree stuff, they start watching.  As soon as the tree is decorated there is a fight about who is going to sleep in the branches!  It is pretty funny to watch them climb out of it. 

Julia got a little netbook computer.  It is so cute.  I'm thinking I need one too because of my train trips.  It sure would be a lot easier to carry that with me! 

I love new gadgets!  I come by it naturally.  Some of my kids were born with it too!