Anticipation and the New Year

The new year is upon us and am wondering what the future holds. I know who holds my future though. There is a tremendous amount of anticipation and trepidation in my heart. It's like I have gifts but am apprehensive as to whether they will be good enough.

I must cast every care upon Him for I know he cares for me no matter what.

Christmas!

Thankful for the little things in life. Especially grand babies!

Christmas Festivities

Paging Dr. Fric! Paging Dr. Frac! Paging Doctors Fric and Frac!

Sky was Dr. Frac in "Doctor Newheart's Christmas Cure." He had lots of fun and enjoyed being comical in his new role as a doctor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Finals I vegged for three days, then it was off to see The Nutcracker with friends!

Next is a time of fun and games at the Naditchs, Christmas Eve breakfast with Juliana and Maria, then dinner with the Goodenough's. No plans for Christmas day just yet but am working on it.

New Year Resolutions

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Year Resolutions for 2009

Don't whine in '09. . .
Let Jesus Shine!


Continue to read my Bible and pray every day.
Pray the Lord's Prayer completely through more often.


Not let my schooling rule my life. Somehow manage my time so I can have a life. Sometime I get so busy that I drop the ball. I even miss important information on major issues that could save me lots of grief. I'm over whelmed and can't keep up with my responsibilities.

This clip captures if for me.

For the remainder of this school year spend more time helping Skyler with his homework.

Although he gets tutored three days a week he still need help to take his education to the next level.

Find free and affordable forms of entertainment that we can go to locally.

EXERCISE three days a week!!



Spend more time with family and friends.



Take care of myself.
Keep a cleaner house.


Keep up with the food journal. Keep trying new recipies!!!



Get This Calendar...

Learning how to cook again

Well I needed to learn how to cook better any way.

Since living in poverty for so long I just gave up on cooking fancy things. My menu is usually very simple or I'd eat on the run because of a demanding schedule. Now things have changed, I can experiment a little and even have fun while doing it.

My recent trip to Misha's was inspiring. My daughter is a fantastic cook. She keeps a recipe book and plans out her meals. I learned how to make quiche and crepes. Something I've always wanted to do.

In order to stay on top of things, I'm keeping a food journal and discovering lots about my self and food. I read somewhere that those who keep food journals loose twice as much weight and they keep it off as well.

Since my surgery, I've had a tremendous problem with nausea. So much so that I have become dehydrated. I discovered that if I make my protein drink with skim milk it adds 10 grams of protein and helps the drink to rest easier in my stomach. Also by adding in water to the drink I am able to get some water down. My goal is to drink at least 40 oz of fluid a day. Right now I'm at 28 oz a day. By drinking hot ginger tea it fills in some of the gap.

The Bible states, "Without a vision the people perish." With the new year approaching, I've already started my resolutions list. Many of the items I have already been working on but helps to have it in writing. It creates a point of reference. With the food journal it also creates accountability. Looking forward to 2009 and the discovery process of a journaled journey.

The trek home

The trip was very pleasant. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. David and I took two plates of food to Misha at the hospital.

The only dark spot was when Skyler got the flu. Then Cylas, then David. I prayed that I wouldn't get it because of how close we were to leaving. The Lord was merciful. I stayed reasonably healthy.


Well it was going to take another 24 hours to get home. I got up at 2:30 in the morning. Skyler dressed over the top of his pajamas with sleep on his mind. David was gracious enough to take us to the Bus station.

Other sleepy people joined us.

I enjoyed the scenic drive that I missed when we took the first bus and night. Lots of farms, woodlands and factories. I noticed many warehouses for lease and signs of businesses closing.

We stopped at various bus terminals to pick up more passengers. The most unusual being in a small town that had a portable toilet house for its amenities. The first picture is the Bus Terminal. The second is the out house, the third is the street sign identifying the business establishment.

As we approached New Jersey scenery changed, then when we hit New York it was obvious. Cars, traffic, noise and smog.

I saw a touching scene as we were driving through the streets of New York City. A long line of reasonably dressed people waiting in front of a Methodist Church. A man in a logo on his blue cap came out with a clipboard in hand and sat on the steps. As you can see those first in line were eager to get his attention. I recalled reading in the news how hundreds of thousands of people are loosing their jobs. The national unemployment rate is almost 7%. I'm positive some of these people were hit by the crisis because many of them were clean an well dressed.



Then it was time to find were to meet the Super Shuttle! What an ordeal. My cell phone bill is going to be astronomical. Roaming charges are fifty cents a minute!! I had to call four times to make sure I was in the right place. I got lost twice.

Finally the driver called me and asked me if I could see a pharmacy. I told him YES! He said to just stand in front of the door and he'd find me. What a relief. There was so much noise I could barely talk on the phone. The minute we stepped off the bus I got a headache from the fumes and was in culture shock. I had just come from quiet peaceful Pennsylvania to a mad house!

Now it was my turn to crash on the airport seats!

I stopped to get an Express massage before getting on the plane. I really needed it bad. As we were waiting for the plane, Skyler struck up a conversation with a very nice lady named Pat. She's an architect and lives in the Carmichael area. It helped to pass the time.

There is a website called sleepinginairports.com that gives ratings and tips about various airports throughout the world. JFK is doesn't have a very good rating. At least it was better that the bus station.

Glad to be home, but sure miss my grand babies.

Romalise

Romalise was born on Thanksgiving Day! She is so precious. I just love her lips. They are so perfect.


Proud papa, curious big brother and a happy yet worn out mother.

Cylas really took to Romalise. He was very affectionate with her from the first. When we walked into the room, he asked if he could touch her, then he immediately wanted to kiss her.

Proud and thankful Grandma!

Cylas has become watchful of his little sister! He wants to make sure that she is warm and comfortable, but most of all quite. Over all Roma is an easy baby. Thank heavens because her big brother is full of energy and exploring his world to its fullest!

Time with Family

Spending time together was very special as all were waiting for Romalise to arrive.

I enjoyed my time with Cylas. He is a very intelligent young boy. Always figuring out how something works or trying to put some new creation together.

One of his favorite toys is this tunnel. When vistors came over he'd plop it right in the middle of the floor and compete for attention.




Cylas loves dressing up. He uses his favorite hat to finish the outfit. Here we have Cylas trying on one of Romalise's dresses and a scarf purchased at a local thrift store.

Getting Cylas to take a nap can be a challange. This day Skyler decided to help. So he changed into his pajama's (inside out) and took a nap with Cylas.

Gaming with Dad.

Misha is a wonderful cook!
The first night there we had fresh cookies.

~~~

A BIG highlight for me was to visit the farm where they get their milk from. They only pay $2 a gallon for it. However, they must bring their own containers and pour it out themselves. When they get home they heat the milk up to 130 degrees in order to pasteurize it.

They put the milk in large glass jars.

After we purchased the milk, we were able to briefly see where the cows are milked and fed.



On each of their ears is an information tag that states their age, name and other information.

~~~

Presenting Cylas and his engineer's mind. The Cylasphone. He was imitating mom for a while, then starting talking to an imagination friend.

Snow

Shortly after we arrived it snowed!

I had to buy some snow boots for Skyler asap so that he could play War with his friends. Misha's house is nestled between two Russian families that have 23 children between them. There are still some young children that have yet to fly the coop, a few of which are close to Skyler's age. He had lots of fun trekking between the two houses.

Pennsylvania - Here we come!!!!!

It was a long trip. Almost 24 hours. We started by having a shuttle pick us up at the house at 8:15 am on November 18th. Then caught the plane from Sac. Skyler came prepared with his webkins buddy Zack to keep him company.

While at our layover in LA the pilot took a liking to Skyler and gave him a tour of the cockpit.






After reaching New York, another shuttle ride to the Greyhound station and a bus ride to Harrisburg, we were very tired. We stayed up all night long traveling. It was quite an adventure riding the bus. I have never seen so much industry developments in my life. At least an hour and a half of a four hour trip was driving by different factories.






We reached Harrisburg by 8 in the morning the next day (the 19th). Here we are at the bus terminal waiting for our ride.

I saved close to a $1000 by buying a ticket the way I did and by taking the bus. Crazy how plane fair changes. Just today a one way ticket from Sac to NY is $200 on Jet Blue.

Veteran's Day

For my birthday I decided to give back to my community and volunteered for a Veteran's panel that granted middle schooler's the opportunity to learn what it is like to be a Veteran. I was the only female in the group of three men, one of which happens to be a backslider named Fred Goode.


On the way to the school, I was sitting at a red light getting ready to turn left when I heard tons of noise and was over taken by three men on motor cycles. They pulled right in front of me. Instantly I knew that they were the Veteran's I was to participate with and started laughing. Wait till they meet the lady with the wheel chair!

The young teenagers met us with a sign welcoming us to their class. Their teacher was very patriotic.


I tried to focus my speech on women's rights and how far we have come. That being in the Military is now equal opportunity. Back when I was in, it wasn't so. Women where not allowed in the combat zone at all. We were in the supportive rolls. I also talked about how the influence of World War II had on my career. I was destined for sheet metal. Women have smaller hands and can do easily do detail work that men can't. I passed around pictures of "Rosie the Riveter" and two other pictures that were influential during WWII.

The men who spoke were from the Vietnam and Iraq wars. I felt honored to stand with such brave men.

At lunch break, the fellow's set out their bikes in the quad and the children gathered around.


At the end of each class the students were asked to shake our hands and thank us for our service. Over all the children were very respectful to us. They wanted to hear about the blood an guts of war. The men kept things simplistic so that they would not be grossed out.



After the school day ended, the men left in a noisy and demonstrative roar showing off how cool it is to be a Vet.