On This Day Of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for so many things. For the first time that I can remember I woke up on Thanksgiving day and my first thoughts were of the things that I am thankful for. There are so very many things, too many to actually list but here are a few in no particular order. As I looked through my many pictures tears came to my eyes realizing what a rich life that I have had. It is not to be taken for granted.

As Lenny was growing up I knew and liked his many friends. As they became adults I was able to keep in contact with those friends and for this I am grateful as well because they are all wonderful adults. I am also thankful for the friendship that I have been able to develop with Lenny's Dad and his bonus mom Alisa...it was a long time comin but life is much better this way.This one is a tough one because I miss her so but I am thankful for having had my mom as long as I did. She passed much too early in our lives but the impact that she made will never ever be forgotten. Damn it I miss you mom and sometimes life is just not fair. Anyway....Mom gave me some great memories
From Isla Mujeres Mexico

To Ambergis Caye Belize
And Jamaica
She loved to travel with us as much as we loved having her. She was one of a kind.

I am thankful for our family and our grand kids. I so enjoyed raising Lenny, adding my bonus kids(Ry and Rachel) and their spouses to my life and now am thankful for the ability to have our grand babies as well. What a joy they are.



For my constant four legged companions who love me unconditionally

I am thankful for our ability to have worked hard all of our lives which then gave us the joy of purchasing and building our little slice of heaven.
And where we are able to enjoy views like this daily




I am thankful for my very good friends. I so love you guys and my life would not be as rich were it not for you all.





And mostly I am so very thankful for my husband who has been with me and supported me through many difficult times. The most recent being my many hair changes which of course was due to chemo treatments which were necessary due to my breast cancer.....which we beat.
And now David and I are about to embark on another much awaited journey. When we began thinking about this our friends Mikey and Jan were 5 years from this goal and David and I were 8 years from it. Three years ago Mikey and Jan began the journey of traveling full time in their motorhome. During those three years it was their job to 'get the bugs out' so that when we went on the road it would be smooth sailing. It seems that they have gotten many of the bugs out and we cannot wait to join them. We will not be full-timers we will be well I guess third timers:) And I am very thankful to have this opportunity to travel with my husband in our 5th wheel living life on the road for a few months.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May your day be blessed and filled with good turkey, stuffing and all of the trimmings...yummm.

A New Controversial Medical Recommendation

A team of experts have now found that women under 50 who are not 'at risk' do not need mammograms and those over 50 only once every two years. At risk is typically a person (I say person because men can and do get breast cancer) who has a direct relative-parent or sibling- that has had breast cancer or who has the breast cancer gene). WTF......I was 48 when I was diagnosed and I am not an 'at risk' person. Had I not had my mammogram that found my breast cancer I would not be here today. My cancer is one of the most aggressive and fast growing ones there is...I would not be here. They say that mammography causes too many false positives. I had a false positive many years ago, a benign lump in the very same breast of my cancer years later. I have no problem 'putting up with' an extra test to prove it is a false positive as opposed to not being able to have a test that will prove a positive and save my life.
The real concern here is of course that because of this new study and recommendations mammograms will no longer be covered under insurance for those under 50.
So apparently Dr Susan Love is one of the experts that came up with the new recommendations. She is a very well known and respected breast cancer expert. When I was diagnosed I was given her book by friends Mikey and Jan and found it very informative. I guess that I am really surprised by her thoughts now. However she is saying that we need to find a new test that is more reliable. I agree with that but man oh man do not downplay the only test that we have available to us UNTIL we find another method of detection....ahhhhhh. I wonder if how many of these twits making this decision have had breast cancer......crabby, makes me crabby.
I am going out on a limb here....go ahead no more mammograms for those under 50.....and what the hell, don't have your flu shots or immunize your children (another controversial thing in the news.) and we might as well have all of the old time diseases come back and take us all.....I know I know there are friends of mine that do not believe in immunizing themselves but I care about you and I say get your shots.
My next post will be more upbeat I promise and I may even add a few pictures :)

Yup It Was My Birthday

And a nice day it was. Along with all of the birthday wishes that I received (when you all have a birthday don't let Mikey and Jan know as they just may flex their vocal pipes on your answering machine....and it is ear splitten!) there were a few very fitting cards and a nice day spent with David. We took a long drive on the WoodTick Trail my camera in tow...not a shot to be had however...to Hackensak for breakfast. David got by pretty good as it was Veteran's Day and he got his breakfast free. Later the dogs and I took a long walk in our woods and then David and I headed for the casino for supper and a little table play. Nope Ry we didn't play Texas Hold-Em that night but we did play three card poker and came out of the place $125 ahead....see Mikey and Jan we won two times in a row. Still way better than your jobs :)
I do have to share a gift that I received from a good friend of mine who has a great sense of humor...Karen. I opened this up and laughed until I cried. The only thing better is if it would be on a T-shirt!Opening of deer hunting just wasn't the best, for David anyway. Lenny shot himself a nice doe Saturday morning and unless David gets something this weekend it will be the big skunky poo for him. The first time since we have been together that he has not gotten a deer...IF he doesn't get one this weekend! The excuse has been, the full moon so the deer run all night, the weather is too warm it messes up the rut. OK ok so all of this is true but really David.
While David and Lenny spent the days in the woods I spent the days in the house with Kelly and Julia. That little girl talks constantly and is all over the place. She does listen to no no however and I didn't have to put much of anything up out of her reach. Momma sort of cringed when Grandma 'helped' Julia climb up on the back of the couch to look out the window with Peeko. I can't wait for the days of, 'What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's'. David and I would have all three of the girls spoiled rotten and have a blast doing so.
So again, thanks for all of the birthday wishes.

The Hunt Is On

It is the season opener and it is just not right. The temp is 54 degrees, the sun is shinning and the grass is green! Deer hunting is supposed to be danged cold with snow covered ground! Hey I'm not complaining but the hunters may be. This warm weather makes it difficult to track a deer that has been shot and it just messes with their regular rutting patterns.
Len, Kel and Julia arrived Thursday night. On Friday morning David and Lenny took a drive to scope out an alternate hunting spot and to check for signs of deer at that spot. They had not been gone 30 minutes when Kel spotted a nice doe in our back yard. I saw a second doe run through the woods and a bit later there was a nice buck drinking out of the pond. After he left another buck came through the back yard obviously after a doe. I got the binoculars out and saw that his neck was quite thick and he was...well he was salivating...I am sure that there is a hunting term for it but what do I know!
Here is the first buck that we saw.
And of course this morning neither Dave nor Lenny saw a single deer. Dave says he spooked some out of their beds when he was going to his stand but do we believe him???
Since the day was gorgeous yesterday we all took a walk in the woods (the season started today so we were safe in the woods:) Julia loved the woods and would have preferred to walk without holding onto daddy. Here is Julia peeking around a tree at grandma.

And here she is trying her walking legs out on our driveway with a good tight grip on the leaf.
More later with a better deer report...we hope.

Another Year

Has gone by and. I am a four year survivor. It seems like it has been way longer than four years.
This year I am in Nicollet playing Grandma. I attempted to post a picture of Julia but can't seem to figure out the how to on this new device of mine!
Anyway, happy anniversary to me.

Texas Comes To Minnesota

Our Texas kid was able to spend a few days with us again, this is his second visit in a short time and we so enjoy having him. Of course he did have a specific (and very good) reason for this visit...he interviewed for a job in the Duluth area. The interview went well and we are so hoping that he gets the job. It would be wonderful to have Ry and his family closer to us...in fact he would be our closest kid.
He had to give us a taste of his Texas life. When he is not working he spends some time playing Texas hold-em and had to teach us to play. He and David played and played and played. As you can see Peeko wanted to go to bed (it was way past bedtime) and I got tired with it and took a few pictures. This is a serious game, as you can see by the look on the fellas faces...and by the shine coming from their heads.... However, that nice big pile of chips that is in front of David did not last long. Ry had each and every chip by the end of the night.
Being from Texas, Ry brags about the tacos down there. We had to show him what tacos are like up here in northern MN. A little bar/cafe in Boy River has a fry bread taco special on Wednesday nights. They are fabulous and even impressed our Texas kid.Mikey these are a must try next time you guys are here. The fry bread that they use is the best I have ever tasted...beats that heck out of that stuff you and David ate way too much of.
Ryan flew out yesterday after his interview, we were sad to see him go but are crossing our fingers that he will be back to stay.
Grand baby update. Little Julia scared her Mom and Dad (and her Grandma and Grandpa) this week with a 102.9 fever along with a difficult time breathing. After taking her to the doc she was diagnosed with Croup...no fun to be sure. She is doing as well as can be expected under the watchful eyes of Len and Kel. It really is hard to be so far away from your kids and their families especially when things like this happens.

Dis and Dat In No Particular Order

Mother Nature has been up to her old tricks again. I don't think that we ever hit the peak color season up here because the snow came before the leaves could completely change. We did get some color but not the brilliant leaves that is our usual. In fact one day David and I took a drive through a nearby woods to find that no leaves had changed, they were all still green. Strange indeed. I had way too many tomatoes this year and I finally quit harvesting because I was sick of canning. I have not gotten the gardens cleaned up yet due to the turn in the weather but hope to get to it today. It is supposed to be in the low 50s so I best get to it. The deer have found what is left of my flower beds, they were munching away last night as we watched.
This old gal, who is 14, looks like a young pup when we walk in the woods.I have been able to catch a few colorful scenes. This one is on a drive somewhere or other up here in one of the many wooded areas.
At our place looking across the road.
On the path in our woods
And this is as good as my mums are going to get this year I am afraid.
And then came the snow.Some color hanging on to a snow covered fence
A colorful tree peeking out behind snow covered evergreens
This was an absolute blast. While on a drive we found a pair of eagles-this one fully mature and another that had not yet developed the white head and tail, feasting in a ditch on a roadkill. It was windy, cold and snowing but I stood in it for about an hour (while David patiently sat in the truck) sneaking up on and photographing the mature eagle. In this picture I was across the road standing stock still while the eagle (who had been frightened away from his task by passing cars) flew back into the ditch from the trees.A while later David and I moved to the opposite side of the road to get another view. I slowly walked into the ditch to watch. Each time a car drove by the eagle took to flight. I suppose people up here are used to this but I never ever get used to it. These huge beautiful creatures swooping right in front of your vehicle. It is startling when it happens they are just so big and majestic.

I was able to get pretty close to their feeding site. In fact he didn't even notice me until he got closer. I thought, hoped, that he would swoop right over my head but didn't.
Even though it was cold I would have stood there another hour just watching them. But it was time to let them alone.

Just another couple of weeks in the northwoods..........

Go Twins and Yay Vikings

Watching baseball in my opinion is way boring. However our Twins have done quite well the past couple of games so I have become a fair weather fan and am trying to watch the game against the Yankees. Gonna help pass the time by blogging...

A few weeks back I spent the week in Nicollet area visiting friends. When you have moved and go back for a visit it does get difficult to spend time with everyone that you would like to, but I think I did a pretty good job of it.

Chrissy and I spent a day shopping at Ikea and thrift stores, both of which were pretty much a bust. I did get a new lens for my camera though because mine had pretty much bit the dust given the rolls down various rocky areas it (and I) took. Of course I had to try it out....
Chrissy behind the wheel of my Honda.
The sun rays coming through clouds on the way home And look Jess, I take pictures of deer down south too!It was a fun (and exhausting) day Chrissy thanks for spending it with me.

Another day Jess and I and the dogs took a long walk in Rasmussen Woods.
Even though Jack and Peeko had not been together for a long time they fell right into their old walking habits....hunt hunt sniff sniff.
Mary and I spent a day touring her garden, talking about plants and had lunch at StPeter's forgotten place to eat, the cafeteria at Gustavus College.
My new lens has more of a wide angle and I was able to capture this nice shot. Gustavus' campus is gorgeous with their blooming plants.
And another day was spent with my friend Jan. Mikey was up north with his friend David...trying to catch some fish or maybe just having fun!
Jan and I did some route planning for our winter tour...exciting.
This is a picture of the flowers in her motor home reflected in the side mirror.
And finally a picture of four generations taken by Kelly's mom during Julia's birthday partyGreat Grandpa and Julia playing, 'You can't get my bear'I had to share this one as David spent a lot of time getting Julia to warm up to him. She finally did and then became grandpa's girl! Here they are on the deck watching the neighbor cut hay.And then back home again to find my mums almost swallowing up the menopausal maiden in the boat garden.
Last weekend David's brother Ron was able to spend some time in the northland and much to his dismay he did not win a game of cribbage against David!
Top of the 5th score is 2 to 3, Twins are not ahead......oops Yankees just scored 4 to 2. Might be time to turn the channel.
I have been meaning to say hello to Wes...so Hi Wes.