Grateful to still be here.

My last blog post until recently was at the end of 2014.  Quite a bit has happened since then;

My stepson and my son got married...you might remember them from an earlier blog called F-man and D-minus boy, which neither of my son's found humorous.  My stepdaughter gave us another grandchild.

Here's another view of three of my four grandchildren, I am the kind of grandmother that enjoys being around them as you can see.  When I posted this picture on my facebook page, I got all kinds of snarky comments about actually engaging with them.  As I tried to point out to them, this is far better then the time they brought a basketball into the house and tried to play catch, you can bet I totally engaged them then!

My daughter went to college in Japan (Chiba) for eleven months and I missed her terribly!  I took the trip of the lifetime by going to visit her for three days.  I had joked with her before I came that she needed to visit Mt. Fuji because, if she left without seeing it, did she really live in Japan?  So, when I got there, we went to visit Mt. Fuji.  Unbelievably majestic, all I could do was stare in awe.  And take pictures, lots and lots of pictures...but I won't bore you with all of them...although, here's one, I'm the speck on the left...

Ok...one more, the mountain was showing off that day;

I've had some awesome Peony years, the only problem is, I spend the entire month of May in anticipation, and then the day after they pop, a big storm comes and pummels them to the ground.  And yes, I could solve that with peony ring holders, but by the time I remember I should buy them, it's too late;

I bought a brand new popcorn popper...I love this baby!  It's got all the bells and whistles of a wonderful popcorn popper, and it beats popping (burning) it on the stove!

This is my boyfriend of twenty some years, we've been married for almost 18, and I'm grateful for everyday I have gotten from him.  And on days when I'm not irritating him, I tell him I love him.
And I do.❤️❤️❤️

So, now you're cut up on everything I've been up to since the end of 2014, well except for my two small strokes, my five days as a midday jock in Sheboygan, my dad's death from rectal cancer, the time I spent in the hospital when the doctors thought I was having a heart attack, the 30 pounds I've taken off and put back on and taken off again, the time I got stranded in Hawaii because I was stand by and couldn't get home...those are blog posts for another time...

I can tell you this though, I'm still grateful for everyday I wake up on this side of the ground, except for Monday's.  Monday's still suck.

My dad's 80th Birthday, January 23, 2017

So three years and two days ago, I took a puddle jumper from O'Hare to Mason City, Iowa to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday.  I told him I was coming.  The two hour flight was uneventful until we tried to land, too much fog.  So we landed in Fort Dodge, one hour to the Southwest.  And the guy behind the counter there told me I would have to find my own way to Mason City.  On a Saturday night.  Out in the middle of no where.  At 6 PM at night.

I asked one of the other six passengers, a girl who sat next to me on the entire flight if I could catch a ride with since her friend was driving down to pick her up.  She said no, because I was a stranger.  I offered her everything in my wallet (80 bucks).  She said she'd think about it.  Her friend said yes, but first they'd have to stop at the gas station.  To pick up beer.  With my 80 bucks...which they drank on the one hour ride North to Mason City.  They dropped me off in front of my dad's house, completely dark, and I feared the worst.  Banged on the door and he finally answered, "what the heck are you doing here???

Happy 82nd Birthday Dad, wish you were here.

Signs I'm getting old...(thanks daylight savings)

I hate getting old, I'm always losing things;

My car keys....my phone....one hour of sleep...

And then again, maybe getting old isn't that bad;

This is my neighbor Violet on New Years Eve 2019, celebrating her 94th New Years Eve, I asked her why she never seems to get worried or anxious about anything and she said, "well, I'm 94 so it it all goes bad I don't have that long to worry about it.