He is spoiled…but entertaining…

Buddy has his ways of  asking  pleading for attention. This happens most often when we wrongly think we have played with him enough…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9glhXfyFEdk&feature=player_embedded

It’s a matter of degrees…

As I write this it is -3.5 outside which to many of you seems cold…to me also. However, it is 31 in Washington, DC and 21 in Burlington, VT.

When I talked with the girls in the DC area tonight and asked about their weather, they stated that it was cold. This made me think of the days when I lived in Wilmington, NC and at that time I thought 35 was cold and later in Annapolis, MD I thought anything in the 20s was cold. Last week as I arrived at work one morning it was -8 and I found myself saying “only -8…not to bad today”.

In NC on the rare times that we had snow an inch or so seemed like the end of the world and in MD when we would occasionally get a foot or more it really did seem like the end of the world. I remember one time while working in Baltimore we had about two feet of snow and just as I arrived at work an employee contacted me to say she could not make it to work because of the snow. I knew she only lived three blocks from the hospital so I explained that if I could drive 32 miles to work she certainly could and would make it to work with in the next 30 minutes or…she took my advice and showed up.

I admit that moving to Lead, SD from Maryland required me to rethink my idea of cold and how much snow is really snow. I have gone to work in temps of -35 and with four to five feet of new snow. We have had as much as ten feet of snow in a five-day period in the past and yet the kids here only missed one day of school. This is one of those winters when we have not had much snow. We have only had about six feet so far. In 2009 we had 31 feet and in 2010 we had about 22 feet. On May 3, 2008 we had a late spring snow that dropped 5 feet of heavy wet snow on us and of course on June 2, 2003 we had 4 inches of snow. We had moved to Lead on May 29 and my first thought as I got up expecting summer was “what have we done”.

Summer here in SD has also required an attitude adjustment. We get up in the morning and put on jeans and a fleece, then we change to shorts mid-morning and at sundown we change back to our morning outfit. We have watched 4th of July fireworks when it has been 40 degrees and yet we had one summer with a week of 100 degree plus weather and in the summer of 2009 we only had two days over 90. We also feel like we are wilting away on summer days when the humidity gets over 35%. We rarely need AC unlike NC and MD when a night-time low of 80 felt good.

So I guess what we think and feel depends mainly on where we live and what we are used to or can get used to.

It was a very good visit…

Last Wednesday morning I flew to DC to see my granddaughter and of course her parents, her aunt Leigh and future uncle Chip. It was a busy five days. Almost three-year olds are exhausting.

Wednesday we had a birthday party for me which included yummy cupcakes and a take out dinner from Chipolte, my favorite fast food restaurant. On Thursday I used my daughters car to drive to Baltimore to have lunch with Kris and Vic, my old co-workers and friends. It was a change to borrow a car from her instead of earlier years when the phrase “can I use the car” was frequently heard.

Friday I spent with Leigh and we had a great lunch together and also took care of some of her upcoming wedding details.

Saturday I watched Miss H at her gymnastics group. She did not want to go, but we finally got her out of the house and into the car. Upon arriving at gymnastics, she did not want to get out of the car, but finally agreed to go inside to see her friends. Once in side she ran right into the class area , into the center of the group circle, put her arms in the air and announced in a loud happy voice “Hadley’s here, I’m here”… you would have never known she did not want to be there just thirty seconds before.

Following the class we made a stop at the toy store to finish up some Christmas shopping for gifts from Kathy and me. After this it was home to play with Thomas the Tank engine train stuff and Play Dough. In the afternoon we took a ride to the National Arboretum to feed the Koi, but unfortunately they do not allow you to feed them in the winter. We did get to see them however. We then took the opportunity to explore the paths and fields in an attempt to wear the three-year old out. Needless to say this does not work very well. She has a very short recovery time. Saturday night Leigh and Chip joined us for dinner and I got a second birthday dessert. Leigh made me a great cake with strawberry icing and we all enjoyed it. Speaking of deserts, Miss H professes to not like chocolate, but will eat brown cake and brown icing.

Calling the Koi

Columns at the arboretum from the Capitol Building

Columns in black and white

Sunday in another attempt to burn off energy from Miss H we went to Fort Washington to walk around, climb on things and slide down hills. Leigh joined us there and we had a really good time.

Fort Washington

Hill sliding with mom

Head Valet and Lady in Waiting

The rest of Sunday was spent watching football, playing with trains and making shapes with Play Dough.

On Monday I flew back to SD and summer like temperatures in the 60s. Tuesday our temps were also in the 60s and then as the sunset the temps dropped about forty degrees and the snow started. By the time it stopped this morning we had about eight inches of snow and temps in the single digits and that is where they stayed for the day. We also had wind  gust to 50 mph which put the wind chill when I went to work today some where around -24.

I had a great trip and enjoyed spending time with family, friends and future family.

Today is all about me…

Nice thought, but not realistic. The world really does not need to be all about me and neither do I…been there, done that and the results were not pleasant.

Today is however my birthday…how old am I you ask…well maybe I’ll tell you and maybe I won’t. I will say that I’m old enough to know better and sometimes I actually do. I’m old enough to be responsible and sometimes I am. I’m old, but rarely act that way. I work part-time out in the cold so I won’t sit in front of a TV all day.

I’m 69, but younger than some of the people I know who are actually younger than me…

A perfect end…A perfect beginning

Morning on December 31, 2011

Afternoon on January 1, 2012

I think the above pictures say it all.

The only thing left is to wish family, friends and readers a great 2012. A year in which you can live your dreams, know serenity, peace, grace and achieve your goals.

Santa takes a vacation…

If you have ever wondered what Santa does when his long night is over and his years work is done, well here is the answer…

Santa takes a break

Yes he goes skiing and hands out candy and gifts to kids and adults at Terry Peak in the Black Hills of Western South Dakota aka the Far Frozen North land.

A reason for going to work…

There are many reasons for going to work, but my favorite is the sunrise views
I get to enjoy every day.

6:45am on Terry Peak

View from the road to Terry Peak

Of course, the extra cash, getting out of the house and exercise are also good reasons for going to work, but we are blessed to be able to have the view we have in the early morning.

Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night…

Buddy hates hats

We hope all of you,…family, friends and readers have a wonderful Christmas, a happy new year and experience peace, love and joy in the year to come.

Always

Kathy, Ross and Buddy

It is our day…

Today is our anniversary. We were married in 2002 and moved to SD to “live our dream” in May of 2003.

Back packing in the Tetons - 2009

Need I say more…

It was a hard day at work

A really hard day