Enjoying Winter

Enjoying Winter
Hi everyone. Just sitting here, a little bored. Thought I would take a few minutes and write a short entry. I am really enjoying the winter we are having. We have had a lot of cold days and a lot more snow than some parts of the North of us. We have also had a lot of MILD days. Like yesterday and today it got up to the mid 70s. Can't complain about that. I personally like the cooler weather, but hate ice, so I will take it as it comes and try not to complain. We had a great Christmas. It was white! All my kids and grandkids were here. Don't get to have them all over at once very often. The twins are ADORABLE....18 months and running all over the place. All the grands are beautiful. It was a great day.

Just finished a crocheting the 2nd of 2 baby afghans that I started this fall. I love to crochet,give most everything away that I make. And now need a new project. I will go to buy some yarn and inspiration will strike me there. I love having something started that I can pick up and put down as I see fit. DH is at work of course. It's dinner time. Can't decide on what to have. I'll figure out something. God, my life is exciting isn't it?

This week, I had two appointments. One for a dental cleaning and one with the Retina Eye Dr. I have diabetes and have thickening in the back of the eye. He keeps and eye on these little veins to make sure they don't start leaking or bleeding-in which case I'd have to have surgery. Plus I have small cataracts in both eyes. They are not ready to be removed. DH is thinking about retiring. I'm 6 1/2 yrs younger than him, so I won't be eligible for retirement yet. Then there is the health insurance to consider. With all my problems, we have to have GOOD insurance and now we do. So we're sit down and put pencil to paper to see how feasible it is this yeear. He wants to retire while he can still enjoy it. And I can't blame him for that at all. He is building a tear drop trailer to pull behind the 55 Tbird. Mostly it's just forcamping sort of. It's pretty small. He is also working on the Mustang. It has some kind of leak in it, I think the intake manifold. I don't know. I don't remember mechanical things very well at all. I'm sure glad he is handy. We save a lot of money on repairmen.

If you know Missie (her blog is What Comes Next), she is in the hospital with pneumonia and the possibility that she may have had a light stroke. She has had many many health concerns in the past year and I hope you will remember her in your prayers. I hope she has a speedy recovery. And keep our friend, Linda (Linda's world) in your thoughts. She lives up in the Seattle area and they have had a lot of snow and ice. Think I'll close this for now. Not a very interesting update, but update it is. Hope you all are staying safe wherever you are. I'm thinking of you!

Fun with Kids

Well, fall is here I think. A cold front came in last night along with wind & rain. The high is only supposed to be 45º today. I love it!! I do hope it warms up just a tad by Halloween for the trick or treaters' sake.
Which brings me to the fun we had yesterday evening witih my son Tom's 3 girls-Addi, Shelby & Kenzie. They went "Trunk or Treating." It was a church sponsored event where they have a large section of a parking lot marked off & people back their cars into their specified rows decorate their open trunks or wear costumes & kids go up & down the rows "trunk or treating." The kids have a safe fun place to trick or treat. Plus they have games, bounce houses & refreshments. We didn't get to stay as long as the girls would have liked as i had to pick up Chad's oldest Ashley, from band practice at her igh school. She's in marching band. She'll be marching in the Rose Parade Bowl next year. Ash plays the French horn.
Rain's picked up again. I just talked to Tom who's north of here near Amarillo. He said there was about 2'' of snow on the ground up there, I just checked the 5 day forecast for here. We are going to warm up to 70º over the next 5 days, I should have known fall wasn't here to stay. I just looked out & it's snowing! Big fat flakes, mixed with rain. But it's definitely snow.
That's about it for today. Hope you're warm & safe & dry where you are.

Long Time Comin'

Well, here I am over 10 months since my last entry. Blogger has changed so much I don't even know if I'll be able to post this entry. I am still not the most internet savvy person on the block. Not much has been going on really in the past 1o months. We're all a little older. Still have 7 grands and they are all growing like weeds. The youngest, the twins Caleb & Skylan are 1 6 mos. old. Growing up way too fast. Their oldest sister our oldest granddaughter, Ashley is a freshman in High School. Plays the french horn & is in marching band. She will be amrching in the next ROSE PARADE, next yr. We are very excited for her. The middle child, Hailey is 4 now and into gymnastics, dance and soccer.
Our baby, Tom, and 2 of his daughters had been living with us for 5 1/2 yrs. He finall y took the plunge and bought them a nice 3 bedroom house only a couple blocks awayfrom us. He works for the R.R. also so I babysit them when I need tol His girls are Shelby Kenzie & Addi. They are in 4th, 3rd and Kindergartern. It's different not having them here every night, but i am addjusting.
Oh our daughter, Robin took the marital plunge again for the 3rd and hopefully final time. they got married June 5th in Las Vegas. She married a real nice, hard working, wants to care of her, gentleman. A far cry from the first two she was married to, who wanted someone to take care of them. LOL Well, we had just bought a 2011 Ford Edge so we just decided to drive out there instead of fly. They had a real nice little ceremony and AJ's parents and grandmother, Aunt & niece were able to fly out as was our son Ton. It was really nice time for all of us.
In July I had another foot surgery. Another overgrown bone was rubbing a sore on the bottom of my foot so he had to take part of that bone out and voila` the sore has healed. It all has something to do with my diabetes and the peripheral neuropathy in both feet. The Dr had to change up some of my meds and I am happy to report that my blood sugar is well under control. Richard's too.
So that brings us just about up to date. I mostly do my networking on Facebook, where you can find me under the name of Barbara Whisman Miller.I would love to reconnect with more JLanders. Have a Happy Halloween.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED 2011!!!
How was yours? Ours was great. We had a wonderful morning with ALL our kids here and 6 of our 7 grandchildren here. We had baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, scalloped potatoes, wheat & white dinner rolls, etc. Our oldest, Chad had to be at work at 230pm. They had to leave a little earlier than the rest of them. It was the best holiday in 2 years. Really. Things haven't been the greatest for a couple years. I won't go into in my Merry Christmas entry. I have done some things to make changes in my life to improve things. I hope at some point, feel well enough to expound on those changes. In the meanwhile, I hope you all had a Happy Christmas & we at the Miller household wish you a prosperous, happy & blessed 2011. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! We love you all!
Barb, Rich, Tommy, Shelby, Mackenzie & our pets, Jake, Frodo, Calli, Coral.

Post It Tuesday

I'm doing a new little thing I found over at Missie's Blog "What Comes Next." She got it form ADVENTURES OF A SUPAH MOMMY http://supahmommy.blogspot.com/2009/09/post-it-note-tuesday-what-will-you-say_21.html Her blog IS SUPAH and she sends you to the link to make your own post-its. You just save them to your computer then add them to your blog entry.I have been putting REAL-LIVE post-its all over this house & on computers, iceboxes, tvs, underwear drawers, washers, dryers, microwaves for probably 20 years. YES. In this house if you see a post it you By GOD better read it!!

Have a "SUPAH" Tuesday.

News of the Day

Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have the "usual excuses." The Holidays. Kids home. Family meals to prepare & feeling generally like doggie doo most of the time. Sigh. I think it's time for a check up.

We have had a lot more cold weather than usual for West Texas. It rained & rained the day before Christmas Eve then turned into snow and snow and more snow. And stayed COLD. We had about 6" or so. Not so unusual of an amount for here, but for it to hang around a week or so...is unusual. So we had our first really white Christmas in years. It was wonderful. Not so much for the girls when they saw the POGO stick that Santa brought them. LOL My honey got me a watch I wanted & Santa brought us a Keurig Single cup coffee maker. It makes the best coffee & there are SO many varieties. I really love it.

The best Christmas gift we got was before Christmas, in case any of you missed it. We found out that our oldest son Chad & his wife Malizza are having TWINS this summer!! We have five granddaughters now. Chad's daughters-Ashley is 13, Hailey is 2; Tom has Shelby-8, Mackenzie-6, & Addi who is 3. We found out today the twins are A BOY & A GIRL!!!!!! We couldn't be happier. God knows we want healthy babies. But with all granddaughters, we are tickled blue, so to speak to be getting a boy in the family to carry on the Miller name! AND for his Daddy, Uncles and Grampas to get out all the trains, cars, and skateboards for him. Of course some of our granddaughters like all t hat stuff so they shall all have a grand time together. They are due around July 9th, but Malizza thinks she might be a couple weeks further along. That is the due date they gave her by size and weight. Of course twins can often come earlier anyway, so she thinks it will be sometime in June. :)

The weather has started it's roller coaster cycle it was on before the holidays. Warm, then cooler, then COLD, then warming up to almost nice & the descent again. LOL that's fine with me as long as we get some precipitation occasionsally, and as long as THAT isn't ICE.Well that is all for tonight. It's nearly 5am & other than napping on the couch, I haven't been to bed yet, so I'd better hit the hay. I just wanted to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all and let you know I'm still around. I'll try to better about getting around to your Blogs. I go on Facebook a lot as it is a bit quicker. Take care & I'll try to keep you updated on "the twins!!" (I just love saying "the twins." LOL ) Love you all!!

Pain Pain go away

I hate to get on my blog and complain. So if you don't want to listen to me cry & whine log off now. LOL



I'm in PAIN. EXCRUCIATING,, DRIVING ME CRAZY, MAKING ME WANT TO FIND A VET WHO WILL PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY. (They shoot horses don't they??)

I'm USED to pain. There isn't a pain pill in the world that will treat MY peripheral neuropathy in my feet completely. It hasn't been diagnosed, the pain in my hands but every one of my fingers and joints in my hands feel like needles & knife cuts from fingertips to the palms of my hands. I have taken 2 pains (2 hrs early). I WANT A DR WHO CAN HELP ME & WON'T STOP UNTIL HE DOES. I have 10 tiny ulcers on one foot. Not a good sign. One on the other foot that has been open for over a year and 2 that forming on the toes the Ortho Doc was supposed to have straightened last spring. They are more curled under than they were before. On 2 of the toes you cant even see my TOES NAILS. My toe nails touch the freaking ground.

My sleep is erratic and I know that this isn't helping me. I was awake till 6:3AM this morning. Slept till about 11. Napped a little this afternoon. My other son, Chad & his daughters, Ashley & Hailey were here or I wouldn't have gotten up when I did, so I'm glad I got up.


Well for those of you who read me on FB, you've heard the news that we are going to be Grandparents again. Our oldest son, Chad & his wife Malizza are expecting again. They have sweet precious Hailey who is two & will be almost 3 when new baby gets here. They also have 13 yr old beautiful Ashley. Malizza is a wonderful, generous Mother. I love her like one of my own. Sometimes I think she doesn't think that. Well, just last Wednesday, Chad & Malizza stopped by. She'd had an ultrasound. Malizza is a nurse. As the person giving the ultrasound was looking all around & asked if the were "ready for this?" Chad said "Is it a girl." Malizza said "No--there are 2 of them!" Malizza started crying & the ultrasound tech showed them their twins. TWINS. I cannot believe it. I am over the moon. They were shocked but I think they are pretty excited. Ashley looked like she might have been in shock a little herself the next day when I saw her. So we'll go from 5 granddaughters to SEVEN grandchildren & if God chooses, maybe a grandson or 2. LOL I am just praying for healthy babies & mom. Chad is still laid off the Railroad. He is probably going to have to go to another state & work a while (the RR has nationwide seniority), so he can keep up their health insurance. We have really good health ins. thank God.

Tom's ex (the one who has his 3rd daughter) & their half sister by her 2nd husband have moved back to Texas from Arizona (where HIS family lives). I hope it the correct decision for them. Morgan got a job with an ATT call Center. I don't know what Aaron is doing.The girls enjoying spending time with their sisters. Morgan & Aaron, Addi (Tom's daughter) & Sydbee will be living at Morgan's moms, with her Mother, and Morgan's 4 siblings that are live at home. Morgan is also pregnant with her 5th child. I hope it isn't too stressful for her , being pregnant. But it will be good for the girls to be all in the same town & see their sisters on a regular basis and for Tom to be able to bond with Addison.whom he has not been able to see but once in the past couple of years. She needs to know her Father is Tom & that Aaron, whom I am certain is a perfectly wonderful person is her step father. I hope my feelings don't upset Morgan, but it is the way that I feel. I would never badmouth her OR Aaron to the girls. We all have to get along so they feel loved and not pulled in one direction or another. I am praying this is all a part of God's plan. I know Morgan has always hated being away from her TX family (who doesn't hate being away from their family?). I hope this brings her peace & helps her have a healthy pregnancy.

Maybe all I needed to do was sit & put word to paper. If you can call blogging that. I am beginning to feel better or all the meds are starting to kick in. The only thing that is absolutely killing me is my head. I KNOW in my head that colds only lasts a few days to a week generally. Well, I feel like I am going on week 4 of a cold. I was really thinking I had it beat a few days & I'll be darned if I didn't wake up coughing & sneezing yesterday morning. And it was worse this morning. Kenzie had strep last week. She's on antibiotics. I hope none of the rest come down with anything this week. I just can't get as sick as i did last year. I can't go through THAT again.



My DVR is almost full & that annoys me. People tell me to DVR something for them, then they never come in to watch it. I DVR a lot of the shows I watch, especially in the shank of the evening with the girls getting their baths & getting ready to bed. You'd think they'd be winding down after a hard day at school or at play, but it seems they get this BURST of adreniline about 30 min before time to bed down. Kenzie has lost her first two baby teeth. She looks so precious. They are off a couple weeks for Christmas break. We will do a lot of coloring.
I've found the perfect way to get them brush their teeth appropriately longer. I tell them it's a contest to see who can get their teeth the whitest! Of course one girl wins every other night or so. Maybe even 2 nights in a row.Tonight it was a tie. They thought that was perfectly hilarious. Shelby is going to need braces & probably should be seeing the Orthodontist NOW. Robin (daughter) started going to the Orthodontist when she was 7 yrs old (Shelby is 8) & kept going till we was ohhh, I think 17.

We had all the kids & spouses over & some friends of ours, Friday night. It's been a tradition for years and years. Since our kids were all little. Last year was my year, but I had just gotten out of the hospital & there was no way i could get the house clean & cooking done. My dear friend, Rita said we'd do it at her house & do all the cooking. So this yr was my year. I fried chicken wings & tenders-left one batch plain, one BBQ, & one Buffalo style. Cocktail smokies in a crescent rolls. Tom took a sheet of mozarella cheese, laid it out with pastrami, salami, & re-hydrated sun dried tomatoes. Rolled it up jellyroll fastion this sliced them. Cruiditie tray with ranch dip. Baked a ham & some frozen rolls to make Ham slider sandwiches. Rich made 3 types of babyback ribs. Baked beans. I made a batch of peanut brittle & chex mix & Tom made choc covored pretzels. For dessert we had a Cheesecake factory cheesecake, a red velvet cake. Rita brought this pecan pie type dessert. I have GOT to get the recipe for that. It was a huge hit. WAY too much food. We sent home leftovers with everyone & have been eating ham all week. It was awesome. I got it at Sam's. It was a Member's Mark Boneless Spiral Sliced ham that came with it's own glaze. I cooked it in the crockpot. YUMMY. Best ham I have ever bought I think. I bought one for ham also & have a small turkey. I don't know if I will make both of them. I had enough food for the neighborhood. I honestly should have started knocking on doors & telling people to come eat!!!

I'm mostly done with Christmas shopping. Haven't wrapped a single gift. Helped box them up & my salvation, Tommy wrapped them. I don't know what I would do without him. When he moves out...whatever will I do. Oh I didn't mention...he's enrolled in school since he is still laid off the RR. He'll start next month. I think he is looking forward to it. I am so excited for him.

I got my last Christmas card written about 5a.m. today, then caught the end of a movie called Lakeview Terrace. Samuel L Jackson has an interracial couple move in next door to him and he DOES NOT LIKE IT. He played a divorced cop with a lot of psychosis. It was pretty intense 7 i couldn't go do bed even though it wasn't over till 6:15am!!

Well, it's just a few more days till the Jolly fat man in the red suit arrives. Do you have traditions that are special in your family at this time of year? I'd love it if you'd leave a comment or a link to a blog entry, sharing your tradition. We have a German tradition we learned from my hubby's parents who of German descent. It's hide the pickle on the Christmas tree. The one who finds it gets an extra present!! I have a glass pickle ornament, though in the old days they used a real pickle! Also, we usually have Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls, bacon & eggs if anyone wants those, hot cocoa & coffee. If I cook dinner we eat a late lunch/early dinner. Please feel free to leave me a comment or a link to a blog entry & tell me about some of your traditions at Christmas.

I know I haven't been by your blogs lately. I've been uber busy & uber lazy about blogger. I will try to get by your blogs soon. Please don't think I've forgotten any of you.

Also please let's all say a prayer for those less fortunate & those grieving right now. It's an awful thing to be ill or lose a loved one but especially sad we are preparing for a joyful celebration. My dear friend, Sandra in England who had to put down her beautiful lab, Jake from illness. She is grieving so. My son's best friend, who lost his Uncle this week. My son's close friend Lauryn who is going to college here in Texas, who is taking her 5 yr old lab, Bear back to California to put him down during her Christmas break who is also dying of cancer. I know there are many more out there need our prayers. I am thankful that so far this winter I've managed to stay as well as I can. And let's remember the reason for the season as we celebrate Christ's birth.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I wish you the Merriest of Christmases & a joyful & bountiful 2010! Love you all.



And a very happy New Year!