Happy Birthday to the King

I wouldn't feel right if I didn't acknowledge Elvis' birthday. How old would he be now...100? 150? I can't remember. Yesterday was Mom's birthday. She is 83 now. Dad will be 83 next month. Indeed, time does fly. Here it is, well into 2009, and I haven't made any resolutions yet. I had some vague notions about losing weight and exercising and some other nonsense like that...but I'm over it now. No point in setting myself up for failure. My only goal in life now is to get by with a minimum of grief and pain. I've given up on all those youthful ambitions...like becoming rich and famous. But Hey! Not to worry...I've already outived the King by a decade. By all accounts I'm a late bloomer. I have many more years to go, God willing, and I haven't peaked yet!!

The In-Laws

We made the trek up to Mem's cabin on the mountain on Christmas day. Pictured here is Miguel's mother, Bertie, Me, Mal...Miguel's brother, Britts and his wife Pam. Also here are Mem's chihuahuas, Markie and Cuppie. It was a warm, sunny day...nice, but I still prefer a little snow during Christmas. Maybe next year.

Some of the people that I love

I suppose this will have to do for the family Christmas photo. We're an informal crowd. It is getting harder and harder to get everyone together in the same room at the same time...everyone has such busy lives. I'm just thankful I got to see everyone during the holidays. Quite a motley crew, but they're mine (no one else will have them!).

Merry Merry from the gals in the office

It's the annual Christmas celebration and staff party at my boss's lovely home. She made the traditional lasagna and spinach/strawberry salad. Beth made a "real" cocoanut cake which was to DIE for. OMG, she actually got a cocoanut and milked it and grated the stuff. It took a whole week to make. It was awesome. As part of our annual "sharing" campaign, we collected household goods to donate to the battered women's shelter in Pittsboro. Even Sadie, the dog, got into the action.

More family photos

Just wanted to post this one from Thanksgiving Day at my brother's house. My nieces and daughter in the back and the grandfathers in the front. That would be my dad and the other grandfather...my brother's father in law.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just got back from Virginia. My brother is hosting Thanksgiving at his home this weekend. His in-laws, about 40 of them, have come in from all parts of the country, so Dad thought this would be a good time to meet that side of the family. It was great to see my little nieces again. The girls are 16, 14 and 11 now. I can't believe it. The younger girls are taking harp lessons, so they played a few songs for us. It was wonderful. I thought about how much mom would have enjoyed seeing them. She absolutely adored having her children perform music. I used to have to play the piano anytime we had guests and I just hated it. Of course now I wish I had been a better sport about it....for mom's sake. Oh well. Anyhoo, I'm glad we had the chance to visit and I'm glad to be back home. I'm looking forward to a long, uneventfull weekend.

Dead Sea Scrolls

Today I went to Raleigh to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science. I'm taking a class on the Old Testament at UNC (non-degree seeking adult) and I was lucky enough to score a ticket at the student rate. Otherwise, I probably never would have gone--it's kind of pricey. Our instructor said unless we travel to Israel on a regular basis, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm glad I went. Very interesting stuff. Unfortunately you don't get to actually handle the fragments...I was hoping they would tear a piece off for me to take home as a souvenir. Oh well. After checking out the scrolls, I had a little time to scoot through the other exhibits...dinosaurs, bugs, native plants, etc. I love museums. I also love Hershey's chocolate cherry kisses and I think I hear them calling my name. I'll be right there, my little darlings!