We're off to Susanville today. I'm taking the kids with me - AJ will need to watch Alli for me occasionally, and Ralph gets a little overwhelmed if he has her full time for the weekend. I was hoping to get out of here around 9:00, but....it looks more like 10:00! I am still doing laundry, and I can't pack until that is done. Oh well, that will give the road more time to thaw!

I made a hat for a girlfriend's daughter - and it turns out the pattern must have been written for a doll's hat. It fits my Cabbage Patch doll, anyway! I was very disappointed! It is the cutest 'cupcake' hat I have seen! I have started it over in a larger size, but that means I have to wing it from the pattern - not always a good thing for me!



Here are the flowers sent by the Bank - beautiful arrangement!

A short post today. Dad died Saturday night - possibly of a heart attack, but we don't know for sure. He had been ill for so long, it could have been almost anything because of the stress his body was under. RIP Dad.

It is still raining! This last storm is a wet one - over 3/4 of an inch of rain since midnight! We have recorded almost 5 inches of rain in this series of storms - good for the land, but I am ready for a break!

AJ seems to be on the mend. He was supposed to go to a scouting event today, but didn't make it. It is the Merit Badge Powwow, and he was going to help the leaders out, not to get any badges for himself. I figured if he didn't feel good, he wouldn't be a lot of help with a bunch of young (i.e. energetic, wild, etc.) scouts, and just might be detrimental for them!

It has a week of losses here, too. A sister of a friend died Wednesday unexpectedly, and a former co-worker of Ralph's died over the weekend. We will be going in two different directions next weekend for services. I will be in Susanville, and he will be in Grass Valley. I think I will have the kids and dogs with me, too. Also.....Dad fell yesterday in the bathroom, injuring his back (again). X-rays didn't show any more breakage, but did show fluid on his lungs, so he is on some antibiotics, and some pain drugs for his back. He wasn't a happy guy before this, so now...he really isn't happy.

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The first of many storms has hit - lots of rain and wind last night. We are up to 3/4 of an inch of rain for the storm(s). According to the news, we are set for a new storm every 24 hours - lots of rain, and wind, and cold! The traffic cameras show snow at Bogard, Lassen Park Entrance and Fredonyer Pass, but not at Shingletown. I have to run into town today, so hopefully, I can catch it between storms!

I'm glad I have the day off today - it has been a quiet weekend, and I hope it continues! It was quiet even with extra boys here every night. I swapped kids yesterday, taking David home and picking up Michael on the same trip, and Dallas came over last night as well. I swear the boys all speak a private language - WOW (World of Warcraft) I try to stay semi-involved, so I am watching and learning about 'raids' and 'drops'. AJ has promised that he won't play computer games as much when he goes to college and "has a life" in his words. At this point, I haven't been able to get close to the TV in a week! So much for keeping up with my Wii exercise!

What a week! I ended up with a touch of Alli's cold, not enough to call in sick to work, but enough that I felt like I could barely drag myself through the day! Alli got sick last Saturday, and missed part of the day at school on Monday (yes, I sent her to school sick! She seemed fine to me in the morning!) but bounced right back - just a case of congestion (sniffling, sneezing, etc.) That is pretty much what I had, too. AJ seems to have missed the whole thing, but Ralph caught it. He hasn't missed any work, but that is all he has been able to do. He is pretty wiped out the rest of the time.

I had a fun visit with Dawn while she was here. We made it up to Susanville, and visited with Mom and Dad, and then out to Janesville to see Michelle. It was a quick trip. I didn't want to drive on a lot of ice, so we left late in the morning (9:30) and left Mom's early afternoon (3:00). Our drive was almost as long as our visit! Dad is doing about the same - not much activity from him - watching TV, eating and sleeping. Mom did say he felt better in the middle of the week and was moving around more.

We are set for a series of storms coming in today. We already have almost a 1/4 inch of rain so far today. The reports I heard ranged between 3 and 7 inches of rain this week, depending on who you listened to. I had AJ and his friend David help me rake the last of the leaves yesterday and get them off the lawn while they were still relatively dry. Any weekend I had free lately has been a wet weekend, and I hate raking wet leaves! They are done now, so we should be good for the rest of the winter. I still have a lot of leaves in the flowerbeds to cleanup in the Spring, but....they will wait!

Once again, we seemed to have missed the earthquake. It must have been the fact we had three teenage boys in the house - who could feel an earthquake through that? There was a 6.5 earthquake yesterday off the coast of Ferndale at 4:30, and as far as I can remember, Ralph, Dawn and I were sitting in the kitchen about that time. I didn't notice the house rocking and rolling!

Speaking of boys - since yesterday was AJ's birthday, he took his annual swim. Sorry it is sideways - I forgot video doesn't flip! The entire video is less than a minute long, and he jumped in twice - definitely a short swim!



Dawn and I are off to Susanville today - which means I better get my day started. Alli was up at 5:00 - probably about the same time the boys went to bed! I've been trying to be quiet, so they can sleep! I need to go get my shower, get Alli showered, and start laundry etc.

Happy Birthday Alex! My 'baby' is 17 today. I still haven't figured out how he can be that old, when I am still so young! He is planning a big sleep-over tonight - four extra 16-17 year old boys here for pizza and video games. Oh boy! No sleep for me tonight, I think!

I even have company for the weekend. Dawn is in for a visit, so we are planning a Susanville trip tomorrow, and I took Monday off from work (Yippee!) to hang around with her. I am so looking forward to this weekend!

One of the crochet Yahoo Groups I belong to has a 'traveling crochet hook'. It is passed on member to member. When you get it, you have to make a project with it, and send the hook and the project to another member. This is the doily that I received along with the hook:


Isn't it pretty - the colors remind me of Spring!

And this is the project I made, and passed along with the hook!



This is a very pale pink, and is about 22 inches across. I thought it was going to be a lot smaller!

This time, I did take the camera with me on my walk! The dogs weren't quite as frisky, but they were also better behaved on the lead, too. They were very good even starting out in the subdivision! It was a nice warm day - I had a jacket on to start, but quickly took it off. I called a friend while I was walking, and ended up walking for over an hour (because I didn't want to walk the dogs on the street while I was talking - I just let them run around in the field.)






And....I finally finished a doily! I started this back at the end of September, and put it aside to work on Christmas projects. It is about 22 inches across - one reason it took so long, as well as the fact that it is full of cluster stitches. I am not a big fan of making cluster stitches, but it sure turned out nice with them!

Alli was up and running this morning at 5:15. I just threw her on the treadmill to try to work out some of her energy! I haven't put her on it in a while, and she was a bit hesitant about getting on, but....now she is doing the "Allison bebop", so it must be okay. I guess I should get on after her!

I actually have been doing pretty good lately. The guys got me a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas, and I have been doing some exercises with it. According to the testing I do, I need to work on my balance and strength - big surprise, right? I am so uncoordinated on some of the tests that the computer generated trainer has to try hard to keep from laughing at me, I am sure! I have graduated to beating AJ's score in a couple of games - good for me! I am even jogging on the treadmill!

Alli got in 15 minutes (0.496 of a mile) on the treadmill before her face started looking 'not too excited now, Mom' and I took her off. Pretty good! She immediately lay down on the couch to watch TV, so maybe it did wear her out just a bit!

Today feels like the first day of the year - yesterday being a lazy day! I say that, but looking back, I got all the Christmas decoration put away, and straightened everything up, etc. I was a busy girl! It just felt like I didn't do anything because I took a long walk with the dogs, and sat around and watch TV and crocheted in the afternoon!

I should have taken the camera with me when I took the dogs for a walk. It has been a while since I had taken them, and even then, they have stayed on the lead. The 'back field' (aka the dirt area) has been posted "No Trespassing" and a gate put up on the access road by the house, so I haven't taken them back there since this summer. Yesterday, I decided to try a different area to let them run loose (still part of the 'back field' but no gates or signs!) As soon as I took Jasper off the lead, she acted like a puppy! She ran around in circles, up and down, through the mud and water, back and forth like she was insane! Koori was a little more sedate, but not much. I guess they have missed it more than I thought! It is a nice walk for me - up to the entrance of the subdivision, and then back almost directly behind the house, so I got in at least over a mile of walking. (I can't remember if we are a 1/4 of a mile in from the entrance or a 1/2 mile! I'll check today when I go in to town shopping.)

Happy New Year to all! May this be the best year yet!