Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Better late than never! Like most we were short on cash for the holiday. I am NOT creative, at least when it comes to putting a vision into reality. So we were going to pretty much ignore the holiday, just putting up a few lights and spending the holiday with family. Instead we were given (through an online thing) a gift card. The gift card let us give gifts to the family we spent Christmas with and give cards. It was nice to do something for them. We did not get gifts for each other. Well nothing under the tree. Paul did a bunch of stuff with the truck for me. He and Ron put new wipers on, replaced my light switch, put a trailer brake controller in it, steps (yeah I'm short!) and put the stereo in from the blue truck. Pretty nice! Paul got a harmonica and some time to himself, a much coveted thing. It was exactly what we needed. The family did much the same thing that we did, keeping it simple. I spent Christmas eve with Ron and Lisa at the barn and at work with Paul watching movies. Christmas day found us at Mick and Julies. We played games, visited and worked on a murder mystery puzzle. It was one of those rare picture perfect days. This morning the peace of Christmas continued. We went crabbing with the guys in the bay. More visiting and camaraderie. We ended up with 18 rather large crab. Th day was finished with a Christmas dinner with Ron, Lisa and Teresa. I love this peace that has fallen over our little part of the world. I really hope it continues and wish that each of you have the same peace in your part of the world as we do.

seven Pounds (WARNING SPOILER ATTACHED!)

My husband works at the movie theater. Because of that on occasion I get to sit in on a preview of amovie before they actually open. This is rare and a special treat. Last week was one of those times. I watched seven pounds. I am not sure what I was expecting but what I saw did not match . The basic flow was alright, eventually coming together. It held my interest and I didn't fall asleep (We started it at 11:3opm). The acting was pretty good. So what was the problem? It was the topic of the movie that did me in. It was all about making amends by suicide and thus donating organs to save 7 other people. A heart, eyes, kidney, parts of his liver were donated. As you know my mom was a transplant patient, receiving a kidney and a liver. You may also know that Paul's dad committed suicide as well as my godfather. Both subjects are a bit touchy for me. The movie left me with afeeling of being rather lost, lonely and thinking about those two people and their families who gave their organs to mom and our family. I would like to thank them, but I don't know who they are. So its a silent thank you to them. Anyway, I am done rambling.

Truck

Alright, an update on the crash. For those that don't know we ended up with 94 Dodge Ram 1500 with a canopy. It is an automatic (I am pretty lazy when it comes to driving and don't want to drive a stick), has a 360 V8 (not a clue, but LOTS of POWER!). Overall its a nice truck. A few scrapes and scars but they give it character. It gets really bad gas mileage (12 mpg roughly). With the big engine that makes since. So you may be asking why we would buy this. Well it does everything we need. Its a 4x4 so snow trips wont be a problem and neither will mountain drives. Camping will be a breeze, dogs can be taken to the beach without a mess and whatever we need to haul wont be a problem. also it can tow a horse if needed to do so. Yesterday I got a chance to use her for hauling things. We needed beet pulp and discovered that there is currently a shortage in our area. Not sure why. So we were off to coquille for it. We ended up with 12 bags (600lbs). Then it was off to farrs where we picked up 3 bags of pellets (150 lbs) for the stalls. All of which was put in the back of the truck and i didn't even notice that 750 lbs was in the truck. The cost off all this peace of mind? $3600. Not bad Not bad at all.