GREETINGS FROM TROPICAL HANNIBAL MO.

We loaded the last of the supplies into the trailer, put the perishables into the truck.......and it wouldn't start! I guess it was tired of sitting in the below zero temperatures and decided this morning to refuse to turn over. So Bob-a-Loo and Chip crawled under the hood to see what was wrong.
Ernie jumped the truck with the van and soon it yielded to our demands and cranked over.

And we were ready to go.....10 below or not!

Let me introduce you to our traveling companions. First in the back on the left is Aqua Maria, friend of our granddaughter, Madison. Next to her on the right is Jammin' Jaden, friend of granddaughter, Jaden. In the front we have Chip with the bulging eyes, owned by grandson, Ben, and the much loved Bob-a-Loo, who belongs to granddaughter, Anna. We were only going to take the girls' friends, but somehow Chip got in there too. I tried at the last minute to get a friend from grandson Nicolas to come along, but Nicolas had already left on his trip to the Wisconsin Dells so we couldn't get permisssion to take anyone along. Maybe one of his friends can accompany us to Alaska next summer.

Everyone was excited. None of these extra travelers had left the state of Minnesota before!

They saw forests of wind generators in north central Iowa.

And lots of clouds of steam and smoke by the big cities billowing up into the cold, calm air.

There wasn't a lot of snow, but it was really sparklie, a nice touch for New Year's Eve.
Farm buildings silhouetted against the golden sunset make a nice picture,

as do the bare trees and bushes.

It was a very nice sunset in southeastern Iowa and we enjoyed it for many miles.

The travelers were tired and ready for bed when we stopped in Hannibal Missouri, where the temperature is a balmy 23 degrees. Above zero!

FLORIDA - HERE WE COME!

It's official. We are leaving in the morning. Yes, it's a day early, but there is snow expected again on Thursday, so we'll just head south tomorrow, going as far as we can, and hopefully getting away from the snow. I'm almost finished packing, but have a load of clothes to wash yet, and the frig to clean out.

We are going to be accompanied by a few little beanie babies or stuffed animals from the three littlest granddaughters. We're taking them on an adventure.

Hope we find a place with wireless tomorrow night so we can give you the details of our first day!

Happy New Year!

NO SLEEP AND THE BUG

I thought my hair cut and doctor appointment were today, but they are tomorrow. Thank goodness! I did not sleep last night, and when I got up this morning I felt sick. Yup. I am sick. I guess I caught the food poisoning my sister had! And I also guess that she didn't have food poisoning. It's the stomach flu bug.

Then this morning Ernie announced that we should maybe leave on Wednesday instead of Thursday because snow is expected on Thursday. I can be ready, if I start feeling better soon so I can get back at the packing and laundry.

But first I'm going to take a nap if the stomach cramps will allow it.

JUST THOUGHT I'D MENTION THIS....................

TIME TO PACK UP AND HEAD OUT!

This tiny sad looking tree will be taken down today. It is missing many ornaments. I had bought clear glass ornaments,

had gone to the bank and requested brand spanking new bills, and then rolled up the money and stuffed it into the clear ball and hung them on the tree for the grandkids. My money tree! The kids seemed to like the non-traditional way to receive their Christmas money. And it was easy!But today the thoughts are here! Time to dig out the little Nomad and

pack her up and head South. I just realized I haven't given you a tour of our home for the next two months, so I just put on some shoes and my jacket, and in my cute pink jammies I went out to take these pictures for you.
This is my stove. Just three burners, no oven. There is a small microwave above the stove though. Wish I had recipes for cooking in the microwave.....I seldom use mine! But I will bring my crock pot, and I do enjoy using that often.

This is the TINY bathroom. There are four inches between the seat and the counter, and maybe even less on the door side, so it's tight! There is a small shower on the left side, but we won't be using it as a shower. It's going to become a storage unit! I plan to have my dirty clothes, a Rubbermaid container of extra jackets, blankets and shoes, and other large items stored in here. Our closet is about 18 inches wide, so there isn't much room there.

We will have to shop about every other day for produce and meat as this is the fridge we will have for the next two months! It, too, is small. I think we'll also have to have a cooler to keep some water and juice in. We lived in here for a week this past summer, but never for two months. It may be a little tight!

BUT, we are excited to use our new cabinet. The bed/sleeping spot used to be the two bench seats on the side that are also the two beds, and then there was a cushion across the back, also for seating. We found that we never used that spot. With the table there, it would make it very awkward to get in and out if we were to try to sit there. So we took the cushion out and had a friend build this cabinet for us. Before the only storage space was the two overhead cupboards where you see the doors. That's not much space. Now we have three shelves behind the upper doors and a nice big spot on the bottom of this new cabinet. I think it will be great! And didn't Pat do a super job of matching the interior?

Now it's time for me to get dressed and as soon as Ernie plugs in the heater to warm up the camper a bit, I'll get out there and start packing stuff in. The hardest thing will be to remember not to put anything out there that might freeze! All the toiletries, cleaning supplies and foods that are in anyway liquid will have to be packed in a laundry basket and hauled in the back seat of the truck until we cross the freeze/no freeze line!

THE MAIN FOOD FOR CHRISTMAS

DEER SAUSAGE
PICKLED HERRING

THE COOKIE TRAY!

THE REASON

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head

The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes

But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.

I love Thee Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay

Close by me forever and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care

And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.

My friend Joni over at Morning Coffee is playing a game about favorite things starting with a specific letter. It goes like this: If you want to play you leave a comment saying you'd like a letter and I'll assign you one. Then you write about 10 things that you love that start with your letter. Post it on your blog, have people comment, assign them a letter, and the chain continues. I thought it sounded like fun, so I am playing. Joni gave me the letter "M".........here goes!

Mom.....the beautiful lady in the purple is my mom. She has been living in heaven with Jesus since July 15. I miss her. I love her.

The other pretty lady is mom's sister, Elaine. I love her too!

My Morning coffee, made with fresh ground beans and in a French Press. No better coffee on earth!

And I love Joni's blog, Morning Coffee ! I really should count this twice!

I love Minnesota! I love the four seasons. I love the trees, flowers, lakes, birds and all the wildlife. I love our State Parks. I love Lake Superior and Duluth, and the North Shore.

However, right now I'm already tired of the winter we're having this year. One storm is followed within days by another storm. Snow is pretty, but wind and cold temperatures aren't!

And I love Mountains. This happens to be Pikes Peak in the summer of 2007, but I love all mountains. Denali in Alaska is breathtaking. The Canadian Rockies are awesome. Glacier National Park is easily one of the best places to view mountains. And flying from Amsterdam to Venice over the Alps is a thrill! Mountains are beautiful!

I love Music. Almost all kinds of music. When we were kids, my dad would play the Boston Pops for us, and we grew to love their music. We had a record player and I remember the 78 records. I especially loved The Grand Canyon Suite. Right now I am listening to Peter Ostroushko and the music he composed for a PBS special on Minnesota and the early settlers on the prairie. I also love his CD called Postcards.

I love Michelangelo! I love him even more since I was privileged to go to Italy with the art classes from the college where I worked. The Sistine Chapel is absolutely wonderful! David is so beautiful. And the Pieta takes your breath away. I stood in front of the glass protecting the Pieta with tears rolling down my face. It was one of those moments I will never forget.

I love Marriage. I love knowing my hubby will be there, always. Just to know that no matter what I do that he may not like (like write about his Garmin!) he will still be there. I am not always lovable, but he loves me anyway.

This picture is my parents on their wedding day. Wasn't my mom the most beautiful bride you have ever seen? They had a great marriage. I never once heard a discouraging word!

I love Merlot. Several nights a week we have a glass of wine, either before dinner, or with our dinner. Just one.

And I love Material, or fabric (but that starts with F!). I like to make quilted things, table runners, quilts, etc. I like what you can to with different colors and designs, and how changing one little element can change the whole thing.

There. I think that's 10 M's. Remember, if you'd like to do this, leave me a comment requesting a letter, and I'll give you one!

Things sure move around when you're trying to put text alongside the photos. Sorry about that!

THE SWEET LADY ON THE DASH

I'm guessing that hubby will get out of his recliner today! This morning the Christmas gift he ordered for himself (he said it was for both of us....thanks.....just what I wanted!) arrived and he will be out playing with it, for sure. He bought himself a Garmin. Now we had a GPS already, a gift from two of our kids several years ago, but it was a hand held one, and I guess he needed the real bi*ch on the dash one.

Well we now have it. I doubt if it will find a shorter way to town......we know which road is the most direct. There isn't much you can do differently in four miles! It will be like the trip up north with Neil a couple of weeks ago where there was a constant argument between the driver and the voice inside the little box. The lovely lady on the dash starts yelling at you "turn right immediately. Recalculating," every time you don't do what she says, which was at least 50% of the time. How is that little sweetie supposed to know about the Burnadotte cutoff, or the Brownton short cut? She sits on the dash and spends most of her time recalculating because you don't follow her directions. So why do you need it? You're going to go your own way anyhow!

Do you think for one minute that I believe you'll follow her route to Florida? Say, just for instance, if I would ask it to find the closest quilt shop, or Starbucks or Cold Stone Creamery along the way. Will you go there? Don't answer. I know you will drive right on by.

Guess what? I'm not real happy about this joint Christmas gift! Do you think there is a way I can go inside her pretty little brain and delete all the golf courses?

WAITING FOR THE NEXT SNOW FALL

Notice all the sunflower seeds on top of the snow? One of the feeders was blown totally empty of seeds. Hope the birds find it on the ground before it gets covered again tonight and tomorrow with the next five inches.

I opened the front door to this scene the other night!

During the minus 12 temps and the minus 35 wind chill!
Lot of snow sculptures out there.
Ernie shoveled our driveway, but the neighbor didn't do his!

M4GW (Minnesotans for Global Warming)

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD!

NOTE: ESPECIALLY FOR LISA: I did not take these pictures while driving! Ernie was driving, so I could just shoot away. They're still all taken through the windshield, but I wasn't driving!

This is one of the hills in town. It doesn't look like much from the high seat in the big Ford truck, but it's quite steep, and we were going very slow.
An intersection at the bottom of another hill. SCARY!

Why are all these people in town anyhow? Don't they know it's a blizzard? Silly people!

Heading home. And I'm glad I'm not driving. The weather outside is frightful. Hey, that should be the line of a Christmas song!

We're only about 4.5 mile from town. Glad it's no further.

Limited visibility........

It doesn't get any better either!

There is a water tower in the above photo.........a bit to the right of center......

Only two blocks from home............

Isn't it beautiful? If you were at my house for coffee this afternoon, you would all be spending the night. It's a good thing you're not here......my house needs cleaning. Now I'm off to make Pioneer Woman's Molasses Cookies.

FEEDING THE BIRDS

I took this out the dining room window through two panes of glass, but it shows clearly the gray skies and the feeding frenzy of the birds. With the blizzard warning in effect, I think the birds know their food will be buried tomorrow, so they'd best stuff themselves to overflowing today.

RANDOM PHOTOS

My little kokopelli is tired of the snow and is ready to head south. We bought this stained glass window insert for our camper down in Mexico last year about this time.

The weather was quite different from the weather we are experiencing this winter. These photos are from last week's storm, but we're getting a new one tonight. We are under a blizzard

warning so these scenes will seem like a peaceful Norman Rockwell painting compared to what we are promised tonight.

Out on the road last week.....

I know, I shouldn't be taking pictures through the windshield while I'm driving!

This was the sunset on Wednesday as we came back from visiting our daughter Gail, about 2 hours away from our home.

COUNTDOWN

Is anyone paying attention to this countdown?---------------->
I am! Getting close!

HIGH TEMPERATURE TODAY

Minus four!

THE TRIP UP NORTH LAST WEEK

We didn't have time for much other than the visitation and funeral when we went up North last week, but in the hour before we needed to be at the church we went for a little drive and checked out some of the family landmarks in the area. This is Clearwater Lutheran Church, the church my husband's family belonged to when they lived up there by Oklee. There are no longer services being held at this church, but it is an important piece of the history of the area. The cemetery is across the road, but it was too cold to get out and take pictures of the headstone marking the spot where Ernie's parents are buried. Isn't it a beautiful little country church?

This spot is the place Ernie's grandfather lived. That house has seen better days, don't you think?

This next picture is the place that our kids remember as grandma and grandpa's house. They lived in a small trailer with an addition on it. Obviously it has burned down since. At the time Ernie's parents lived there, we were living at Grand Forks Air Force Base just 90 miles west of here, and we spend many weekends over at the farm. Many years before this, when Ernie and his seven brothers were growing up, they lived on this farm in a small farmhouse that burned down in 1958.
See the big rock under the tree? Grandma planted a few flowers there and called this her rock garden. If you followed that road to the left and crossed the peat field, you would come to the river where the kids liked to play. Once when we went down there, Kevin had on his knee high white tube socks and they got filthy in the peat. Grandma gave him a wash board, a piece of home made soap, and made him scrub his socks.

Here you see the lane into the home place. If you turn left you are on the South road which takes you to the Big Grade. The road straight ahead was the New Grade, or the road by Land's place. When Ernie and his brothers get back up there, they slip right back into the lingo of their growing up years. And they continually point out spots along the way: "This is where Larry shot that 10 pointer." "This is where I was posting when that big doe ran right across the road in front of me." "This is where Milton rolled the car." And on, and on, and on.
After the funeral, as we were heading back to southern Minnesota, the sun came out for a spectacular sunset. We didn't stop the car, but I took a couple of shots through the window of the moving car at the huge orange ball in the sky.

We got home close to midnight, after being stopped by a cop. We were riding with Neil, Ernie's brother, and he was getting a little tired of driving so he pulled off the highway at a small town, drove down the snowy deserted street, pulled a u turn, parked and got out for a little fresh air. As he got back in to leave we noticed a police car up ahead at the intersection, but it just sat there as we pulled out, turned left, and headed back to the highway. All of a sudden we saw the lights and the policeman pulled us over. Seems Neil u turned on a one way street, so he was going the wrong way on a one way street! We needed a little excitement to keep us awake for the last hour of our journey!

SAGA ENDED

The saga of the tooth is ended. It's gone, and we're not going to talk about it again!

Our weather has turned frightful! When we left for church at eight this morning the temperature read 37 degrees. It really felt warm, and I ran from the car into the church with just my sweater, no coat. After church and Bible Study it had cooled off, but it still wasn't really bad. We went to brunch with my sister Betsy and her husband Ross, and my sister Lois, and when we came out it was noticeably colder and white stuff was coming down. I needed a few things at Sam's place, so we stopped there, and when we came out the wind had really picked up and the white stuff was blowing sideways. And the temperature was 7 degrees! A thirty degree difference in four hours!

Now I'm home, and going to go through a couple of cookbooks to find something to bake that the grandkids will like, but that I won't like, so I won't be tempted to eat it. And I have a bunch of pictures to post, so I'll be back later this afternoon.

THE TOOTH IS GONE AND QUADS

Okay, so we got back from northern Minnesota at about 11:30 last night, and I had to head off to the dentist this morning to have my tooth pulled. Dr. K couldn't get the back side to numb up, so it took five lovely shots of Novocaine to get it deadened enough to pull it. It cracked in two as he pulled it out, which he said proves that it would have given me trouble had it remained in my mouth. Anyhow, it's done, doesn't hurt too much, and mashed potatoes really do fill a person up!

But, as I walked into the dentist's waiting room a woman had just entered pushing a double stroller, and right behind her was her husband, also pushing a double stroller. They are the parents of two year old quads! The husband parked his stroller and left, leaving mom with the four kids. Were they ever beautiful! The kids had dark eyes and dark hair....I'm guessing mother was maybe from South America, but she spoke very good English, and was obviously highly educated. I found out later that the husband is a professor at a University. They had moved here from Texas where the babies were born.

The kids were there for their two year check up. Mom took the first little girl, Elizabeth, and stripped off her snowsuit and took her in to the dentist and left the other three in the strollers, under the watchful eyes of the receptionist. Soon little James wanted out, as did William a few minutes later. Samantha was shy and wanted to stay in the stroller, buckled up, just like mom left her! Soon mom brought the first one back and took one of the boys. By now all of them were playing with the puzzles, blocks, and snap apart beads on the floor in the reception room. Up down, back and forth, in and out, and up and down again! Oh my! Two year old quads would keep a person busy. And they are probably the reason that mom was very slim and trim!

The kids went in, one by one and as I was heading back for my "procedure" the last little girl was brought into the cubicle next to me. The dentist was so gentle with her, playing games of counting her teeth and showing her his mirror, etc, but she wasn't happy, and screamed the whole time. Poor thing was scared. But, those four beautiful children had been a wonderful distraction for me, and as I settled back into the chair I think I actually had a smile on my face, and I was ready to "Open Wide!"

UPDATE ON TOOTH

Cast of characters: Dentist, Endodontist, Periodontist and me

After the dentist appointment this morning where I was told I needed a root canal, I had lunch with hubby (a bowl of butternut squash soup that was wonderful!) and then went home to regroup and brush before going to the endodontist. I was still a bit numb from the Novocaine at the dentist when I got to the endo guy. He immediately takes Xrays, which I had just had at the dentist! Can't they share? Then he shoots my already numb mouth full of Novocaine. He proceeds to take off the temporary crown which the dentist had just put on two hours previously, and then started digging around on the tooth. Eureka! He turns off the lights, takes the rubber dam thing out of my mouth, sheds his rubber gloves, and proclaims that he has bad news, and then tells me that he can't fix the tooth. It is cracked, so I will have to have it pulled, and then decide between a bridge and an implant. Oh, goody! just what I wanted to hear! But, meanwhile, I'd best go back to the dentist and see what he recommends. I told the endodontist that I think he and the dentist and the periodontist get together for a beer after work and plan what next they can do to Marge! He thought that was funny. I was serious!

So I take my doubly Novocained mouth and head back to the dentist, about 4 blocks away. See, I told you they are working together, they're close so they can send folks back and forth between them! Funny thing is that hubby was just driving in for his appointment! He got in first, and after the dentist numbed hubby's mouth he came out to talk to me. Okay, new plan. Now I get to go back on Friday to have this tooth pulled. It's the next to the back one, so it won't show, so I can just let it heal until we get back from Florida. THEN, I will get to have a bridge put in, after putting new crowns on the tooth in back and the tooth in front of it.

What is the periodontist's part in this? Well, I get to cancel my appointment with him, unless, of course, when they are laughing in their beers over this, they decide to create something else for me so I can go back to him, too.

THE TALE OF MY TOOTH AKA MY MILLION DOLLAR TOOTH!

I went to the dentist a few weeks ago for normal cleaning. Nothing hurting, nothing wrong, no problem, just due for my 6 month cleaning. After digging around they decide my gum is goofy by one tooth and there is spongy gum or bone starting or something like that.

Off to the periodontist. Yup, bone loss around the tooth so that needs to be fixed with donor bone tissue! But first the crown needs to be redone on that tooth.

Back to the dentist this morning to have the prep work done to replace the crown. Take the crown off and discover the botched root canal from eons ago. Nope, can't do the crown until we do another root canal to correct the bad one.

Now I head to the endodontist this afternoon for an emergency root canal.

Heading up north Wednesday for a visitation on Wednesday night and funeral on Thursday. Back home Thursday night.

Back to the dentist on Friday morning to hopefully complete the new crown prep that we couldn't do today.

Back to the dentist on the 22nd to set the new crown.

GO TO FLORIDA!

Come home on March 1. Back to the periodontist to start the procedure on the gum......that involves donor bone tissue?!?!? And how many visits will that involve?

This is not a fairy tale, but a huge nightmare that ought to be banned!

THRIFTY SHOPPING

Before meeting my daughter for lunch at our favorite coffee shop, I stopped at one of our local thrift shops. I spent $3.00 plus tax.......

A small lap quilt for 50 cents

An apron for 25 cents

A feed sack for 25 cents

An expensive table runner.......$1.50

And a faded old tablecloth for 50 cents. Well, they were all on the half price sale, so it's really $6.00 worth of treasures! All handmade. Love them! I'm going to make curtains for my sewing room with the floral table cloth. I hung the apron in the kitchen. The table runner is on the back of the futon in the sewing room, and the lap quilt will go in the rocker in the living room. I haven't decided on the feed sack yet.

I'M A GEEK!! (I THINK)

At least for the moment I am thinking I'm a geek! I seemed to have fixed my skipping letters and spaces problem. Last night I started checking geek sites and reading questions from users and replies from the tech guys. Well, after awhile I found that a huge percentage of the questions were about keyboard problems, especially skipping letters and spaces. This was happening to folks using gmail. The suggested fix was to go back to an older version of gmail, which is very simple to do. You click on the button older version which is on the upper right side of the inbox page. I figured there was no way my computer would be any worse if I tried and it didn't work, so I bravely pushed the button at midnight. In the next fifteen minutes I wrote two lengthy emails, both with not a single missing letter or space!

So the moral of the story is: new is not always better, as in the newer version caused the problem. So at least for now, I am back up and running, thanks to the geek in me! Ha. Ha. Lucky shot, I know. But it worked!