La Posadas at Emanuel Lutheran Church

At the church where Bob and I are members, Emanuel Lutheran Church in Dallas, there is a Spanish congregation as well as the English congregation. Last night, we celebrated the Mexican tradition of La Posadas. The congregation commemorated the events in the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We had candles to light our way as we walked around the perimeter of the church and stopped at three doors to ask the "innkeepers" if we could stay overnight. The first two "innkeepers" told us we could not stay there. When the owner of the third house finally learns who his guests are, he jubilantly throws open the doors and bids us welcome. We all went into the church for a potluck dinner. Here are some photos I took of the journey -- http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMmQ

Just Call Me The Bag Lady

I like to recycle whenever I can. I want to help the earth live longer. One of the items I recycle are bags -- grocery bags (I try to use the cloth bags now whenever I can.), gift bags, store bags, etc. I also recycle gift wrapping. When Mom moved to her retirement home a year and a half ago, I took all of her gift wrap and bags too. She sends money as gifts now, so I knew she wouldn't be using her wrapping paper and pretty gift bags. Today, as I got out the Christmas gifts to wrap, I had to round up gift wrap and bags from four locations in my apartment. Being an organized person, I took time out to put all of the gift paper, tissue paper, gift bags, pretty store bags and brown paper bags into piles. I plan to put all of these in one spot so that next time I can pull out just what I need for the occasion.

Thirty377 Blackburn Street

I finally took photos of our new apartment at Thirty377. You can see all of the pics at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMiA

The Worst Move Ever!!

Bob and I moved into a new apartment over the Thanksgiving weekend. We decided to move to save a little money. On our walk around the West Village neighborhood where we live, we discovered a beautiful apartment complex called Thirty 377. The complex has 10 buildings and each building is four stories. Previously we lived in a highrise, both downtown and in West Village. After a whirlwind trip to Tulsa on Wed. and back home after Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday, Bob and I started right in packing up last minute items about 6 p.m. I was originally going to use the moving company we used before, but a security guard, Darryl at The Mondrian, said he worked part-time with his cousins, Reggie and Marshall, so we decided to give them a try since their quote was a lot less than the other moving company. Bob and I were up before 6 a.m. to get ready for them, as they were to arrive at 9 a.m. At 3 p.m., only Reggie and Marshall arrived. Darryl is in Pakistan for his wedding. They got all of the boxes, our bed and dining room chairs on the truck. Those items were taken and unloaded at our new apartment and they finished at 11 p.m. We all decided that they should finish the job on Saturday since it was so late and we were all exhausted. They planned on coming at 10 a.m. at first, then 1 p.m. At 4 p.m., they called and Bob met them at The Mondrian, our old apartment building. I spent all of Saturday unpacking boxes at the new apartment and Bob went back and forth between the old and new apartment retrieving miscellanous items that would fit into our car. Luckily, our apartments are only three blocks from each other! Reggie and Marshall loaded up the furniture and unloaded it at our new apartment. They finally got finished at midnight! Bob and I were totally exhausted and my Fibromyalgia was in full flare up! Reggie told us that he was sorry we had such a bad experience and that he would give us $100 off on our next move!! We decided that next time we are using a BIG, well-known moving company and they will pack everything, move it and unpack it!

Our new apartment has some pluses and minuses, as all places do. This apartment is away from any major streets, so it is very quiet. I love "my" computer room, as it has a window and it is large enough for my doll cabinet. Previously the doll cabinet was in the guest/Bob's computer room. And the kitchen is much nicer too. We are still within walking distance of City Place, where Bob works and I work temp.

I will post the Shutterfly link for photos soon.

Thanksgiving 2010

Bob and I made a whirlwind trip to Tulsa and back for Thanksgiving. We couldn't stay through the weekend this time since we are moving to another apartment today. We drove up on Wednesday and back home yesterday after a yummy Thanksgiving lunch with all of Bob's family. We had a little extra time on Wednesday on the way to Tulsa, so we stopped for lunch in Old Town McKinney. I had never been there, but Bob had and he wanted to show it to me. It is another cute town with the court house in the center and lots of wonderful shops around the square. We had lunch at The Pantry, then walked around the square, but we didn't go into any stores. I will need to go back and investigate it more at another time. Possibly when my sister comes to visit. We arrived in Tulsa in time for dinner with Corbin, Christy, Caty, Carson and Christian - a.k.a., C5. We met them at Joe's Crab Shack -- the kid's favorite place to eat. They like to feed the ducks on the pond in back of the restaurant, but it was cold and rainy and I'm sure the ducks had flown south for the winter, so no feeding the ducks this time.

On Thursday, Bob and I went to his niece Keli's house for a yummy Thanksgiving lunch with all of Bob's family. In attendance were Bob's two brothers, John & Nick and Nick's wife, Sandra, Bob's two sister's, Marianna & Suzanne, Suzanne's two daughters, Keli and Marti and Marti's son, Austin. And Bob and me, of course!

It is always nice to be with family during the holidays!

If you want to see more photos that I took, here is my Shutterfly link -- share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMgI

My Son Cavan

Five years ago today, Bob and I were at Shand's Hospital in Gainesville, FL, gathered there with many of Cavan's friends and Lauren's family. On that Sunday afternoon, I was previously shopping at Michael's Craft Store when I received the phone call on my cell phone from someone at Shand's telling me that Cavan had had a motorcycle accident and that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as we could. Bob and I packed a bag and drove from Sarasota to Gainesville where we met Lauren's family and many of Cavan's friends from Jacksonville where he and Lauren were living at the time. We found out that Cavan had been at a practice race on a track in Jennings, FL. I talked to him the night before and he told me he had finished building a motorcycle to race. No one saw the accident, but according to Cavan's friend Dale, who was on the racetrack with Cavan, he and Cavan were trying to get around a pack of racers and Dale had gotten around them. When he looked back, Cavan had disappeared. The race ended and he couldn't find Cavan. After searching awhile himself, he finally got an official to get people together to start a search. Cavan was found "deep in the woods" that surrounded the race track. He was flown by helicopter to Shand's Hospital in Gainesville and the family was called. We saw Cavan and he laid peacefully in a bed, looking like he was sleep. We all kept vigil that night in a waiting room. The next day, we all met with doctors in a large conference room. Lots of Cavan's friends and family were in the conference room and the doctor's were surprised at how many of us were there. The doctors told us that tests had been run and that there was no brain activity. They said he probably hit a tree and died instantly. Cavan was an organ donor and his liver and kidneys were given to recipients that afternoon. Cavan lives on in DeWayne and Michael!

Home for the Holidays in Salado

I participated in my first craft show over the weekend. Bob and I have friends, Jody & Juanita, who live in Salado, TX and Juanita has taken over what used to be the Holiday House in Temple. This is her second year to have the Home for the Holidays (renamed from Holiday House) at her home in the country. She asked me to participate and sell my jewelry. I drove to Salado on Thursday and set up my table with the jewelry I have from NeeNee & CheeChee's Beaded Things. People started arriving at 4 p.m. on Thursday to shop. It was open on Friday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and on Sat. from 9 a.m. - noon. There were 15 crafters with gourd art, wood art, soaps and lotions, stained glass, jar mixes, candles, scrubs, wreaths, dolls, crosses and much more. Juanita said that the traffic that came through and the sales were down from previous years, probably due to the economy more than anything else, but I enjoyed participating and making new friends. I probably broke even after I had to buy a table, black cloth and some Styrofoam blocks, gas to get there and back and money for some food, but it was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. If you are interested in seeing any of the photos I took, here is the link: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMf4