Grattitude

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. Both Princess and I wish all our friends and family a wonderful, safe holiday.

We are spending Thanksgiving at home. Princess has put the 25 LB Tom in the oven, basting him every half hour. Pies have been made, casserole dishes prepared and waiting to bake, and jell-o is in the fridge.

This year, Princesses Mom Linda is with us. Her dad is in San Jose, CA helping the big guy up at the North Pole obtain all the little kids wish lists along with who has been naughty, who has been nice. He will spend today with some surrogate family in California, then back to the mall on Friday.

We also have Princesses Aunt Marcia and Uncle Howard here too. They arrived around 1:00 AM this morning from Utah. We spoke throughout the day and they had one doozy of a storm in Wyoming from SLC to Denver. We're glad they're here, safe and sound.

What am I thankful for this year? A list that most of you would probably not want to peruse it would be so long. So here is my short version.

Technology: It allowed us to track Aunt Marcia and Uncle Howard as they drove here. Also the advances in medicine that have kept my Mom battling her Cancer.

Family: The most important of all, and not just those of you who are blood related, but those who have chosen us and vice versa we have chosen. The Blackhursts, The Jacobsen's, The Mocks, The Lackmeyers, The Criblez, The Jones, The Estradas, The Castenedas, The Whites, The Nielsens, The Hammers, The Kellers, The Prusseys, The Winnermarks, Our Waco 2ND Ward, the list goes on.

Jobs: In these trying times, I am extremely grateful for a job that I am passionate about and love doing. I have a terrific boss who keeps me motivated and growing. Co-workers on my team that are the best people the world has ever known. And of course, those "customers" that I serve in Commercial, R&D, and our individual plants.

I am deeply grateful for my faith. For the soldiers and others who fought to make and continue to keep this country free. I am grateful for a man who came to earth, who I have not met, who gave his life for all of us.

Whether you're near or far, know this, we Love you all, we wish you only the best and safest Thanksgiving holiday ever.
Jim

"Cause You're..."

So this week I was in Idaho for company business doing audits. I flew into Boise, ID and then drove the 113 miles to Twin Falls. I love this drive, the grassy, rolling plains with the mountains on either side of the interstate.

When I got to Boise, I headed straight to Taco Time for some lunch. Princess turned me onto Taco Time over 20 years ago when we went to SLC planning the wedding. I love their crispy meat burrito and chips and cheese. After lunch - I headed out on my drive, i-pod in hand, connected to the radio listening to Christmas music (I know, it's not yet Thanksgiving, but I can't get enough of Christmas music).

Arriving in Twin Falls, I was in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express (see, now you know why I'm so smart)when my Commercial buyer walks by on her way out for a walk. Well, "A" accompanies me inside, I check in, and we both head out for the walk. We walked the rim of the canyon where the twin falls are, saw some beautiful landscape, and while we're talking and walking age comes up. I tell "A" that I just had a birthday, she replies that hers in on the 17th of November (Happy early Birthday), then she states, "You're older than me". To which I reply, "so, the fat in my face smooths out the wrinkles and makes me look younger"!

Well, the next couple of days, "A" is saying things like "Cause you're older than me" and "oh, I see, it must be an age thing" to which we both laughed. I really like "A" and we have a good working relationship and I consider her a very good friend, at work and away from work.

Wednesday, I got to see Princesses sister, brother-in-law and nieces and nephews. We had a good visit, but it went late into the night. Thursday I was going to go see them, but the audit went late, I got some dinner, and by the time they were home from parent teacher night, I was bushed, and decided to just call it a night. I was in bed by 8:30 PM.

I arrived in Austin, got my car, and headed out onto I-35 North. Oh wait a minute, that wasn't I-35, it was a PARKING LOT! I sat there for 30 minutes inching my way up to the next exit, exited with all the other people, but got turned around and went south to 71 West to get onto the Mo-Pac and skirt around downtown. Seems there were three accidents all on I-35 Northbound in about a 7 mile stretch. I zoomed up Mo-Pac, worked my way back to I-35 thinking I was smart to avoid the toll section, only to discover another accident and traffic standing still. This one however I got past and got home about 4:30 PM.

I reached our humble abode, greeted the girls and started laundry. Right now there's one of the last batches in the washer, when it's done, I'm showering, then I've got a bit of work to do this weekend before I head out to Portland on Monday. Oh, and Princess is with a group, no a gaggle of women at a "stamp/scrap booking" retreat weekend, where all they will do is make projects, and bash our husbands :-).

Fun Times

Our Saturday was quite fun.

I got up at 6:00 am and let Princess sleep in. I quietly started the laundry, then came into the den to boot up my laptop. While going through the close to 400 e-mails, I would get up and do the changes from washer to dyrer. Well the phone rang and I jumped up to get it so as not to disturb Princess (little did I know she was up and showered. Well my neighbor called and informed me the "farm" was out front. You see, across from her, one of the neighbors has about eight chickens that they keep in their back yard (and let me tell you, there are no pens there).

Well, neighbor X had left for the weekend and left his back gate open. I went up and knocked on the door to try to wake up their teenage son, but that didn't happen, and in the meantime, Princess had come up the street to see the commotion. We could have been on America's funniest home videos - Princess and I decided to round the chickens up and put them in the backyard. It was too funny, Sue kept laughing and then Nita another neighbor came out and she laughed, then Princess and I started laughing, it was a riot! Picture, me with a stick running around a neighbors driveway shooing chickens through the back gate. Afterwards, we stood around and laughed about it.

Later, Princess, Sue, Macy and I went to see the Bee Movie (really, the kids did not get the jokes - more sienfeldish than kid funny). I would rate it a "Bee" :-D

We then did errands, watched "In the Land of Women" on DVD and went to bed. Now it is Sunday, lesson prepared, and going to iron my dress shirt. Have a great Sunday!
Jim

World Traveller

Well, since it has been a while and I received so much grief about it that Princess had to blog (for the first time)to defend me.

It is true that I have been very busy with work. Busy enough to work on Saturday and sometimes, print out my auditing templates and itineraries on Sunday for my trips. Because of this, I put blogging aside to concentrate on what is really important, my family. I know, my friends are very important also, and for you dear readers of my blog, extended family and friends,I am sincerely sorry for any disappointment I have caused.

Let me give you a breakdown of my travels in October:
First Week - I travelled to our plant in Pennsylvania to support a group of technicians in our company that my group works very closely with in resolving issues at our plants.
Second Week - Princess's birthday, I got to stay in the plant for two days and I travelled to St. Louis, MO, for a very important meeting with a vendor which has struggled to supply our company.
Third Week - As acting group manager, I was in charge of our bi-annual meeting between my group and our purchasing group. It was a good meeting, and it was also the meeting where our newest team member started working in our group full time.
Fourth Week - I just returned from performing 5 audits in 3 different countries, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. In Ecuador, my hotel room looked directly out onto this most gorgeous view of the Guayaquil temple! And I didn't even plan it that way. I have pictures, and I will post. In Colombia, we saw some beautiful countryside in Medellin and Bogota. In Venezuela, we saw a beautiful country, but felt for the first time in the trip that we were not safe. The country, once very rich and prosperous, struggles under oppressive government policies, and there were very poor people everywhere we went. All in all, it was a good trip.

During all of this, my Mother has had setbacks dealing with her cancer. Her numbers soared to almost 12,000, then dropped to 1,000 (normal is under 30). She has been admitted to the hospital twice - once I do not remember the reason, once for a bowel obstruction (very serious), but again, she was blessed by my Dad and Uncle and her body healed itself with her faith and antibiotics, and no dangerously invasive surgery. She is a pillar of strength and her faith is a testimony to me of the power of prayer and Priesthood Blessings.

Next week, I will be off to Idaho, where I will see much of the state driving between Boise and Twin Falls, and also around the Caldwell area. The best part is that I will get to see Princess's sister, brother-in-law, and the wonderful nieces and nephews! I am stoked.

After that it is on to Washington and Oregon for some audits, then the IN-LAWS are coming for Thanksgiving along with Princesses Aunt and Uncle! Very excited, as it has been over a year since we have had any out of town visitors.

So Dear readers, keep the faith in me alive, keep patience with me, and I promise to blog when able (like early on a Saturday morning to keep you updated)
Jim

Finally a new posting!!!!!

This is Princess's 1st publishing for the blog. Per the request from many fellow bloggers I will retire Jim's last blog about boobing at church. I taught the Sunday School lesson for the 1st time today. I still prefer the Sunbeams. I got too nervous up in front of everyone. They did like their treat. I can always come through with treats.

Jim is so busy with work these days, so everyone needs to cut him some slack about the blog. He has been busy working from home on the weekends and spending time with his girls. He is off to Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela this week. He will blog when he gets home.

I hope everyone has an awesome MONDAY!!!!!!!

It's Official

I'm a boob. No, not a female anatomy part, but a big blubbering boob!

Today I had to teach about our Heavenly Family and the reason we came to earth. And about 3 minutes into it, I began tearing up. I mean really tearing up! I kept plugging through, trying hard not to let my emotions get the best of me and at one point, I had to turn by back to the class to get my breath!

The lesson material was great! I had good participation (probably scared that I would break down again...which I did!), but my feelings were just right at the surface! No matter what I did, I had a hard time getting control.

I was able to finish the lesson...a lesson I brought props to. I had pictures of Princess, Mom & Dad, Mom and Dad Princess, friends, cousins, grandparents, nieces, nephews, Princesses sister's family, you name it I brought pictures! After the lesson, there was one sister really crying, tears running down her cheeks. I went to apologize, only to learn that her husband had recently died. He is a member of the Church, she is not. My lesson on eternal families was for her, not for me, not for my Mom (still not doing well), but for her. She needed to feel the Spirit, and this helped to break through to her. I don't know what the future holds for her, but I know that my ramblings and blubberings were for her.

Ya know what? I'm grateful to be a boob (the big blubbering kind)!

Way Cool

Have you ever opened another person's blog or web or anything and when you clicked on a link it opened in a new page or tab? Well I loved that feature and I just found out how to do it.

There is a blog out there called betabloggerfordummies. I found an html script that you insert into the widget code that allows all of your links, blogs, etc to open in a new window or page. It is so cool!

Here is the link -> ☺

Click on links (orange tab in header), then expand the "50 types of links and how to make them work", then look for number 8 and the highlighted word "e-mail". Then scroll down to "opening links in a separate window". The code is highlighted in black. Remember to back up your template before making any changes.
That should do it! Have fun

Jim

Too Much

Or too heavy? I'm not quite sure. I guess I'm liked (read) more for my witty repartee than for my deep, spiritual, thinking side (I state this only because on the Nerd scale, I received 5 comments, yet matters of great concern I only received one comment).

So dear friends and family, I will try to not pour out my soul/heart too often and just thrill you with the life and times of the TexasPricetags!

This past week has been a doozy.
• Last Sunday evening I started off feeling poorly, awoke during the night with sweats, chills, etc and found I had a fever. My scratchy throat from Saturday was not just allergies, but a cold. I weathered it pretty well sleeping most of Monday

• The rest of the work week was spent dealing with issues and trying to catch up on audit reports, expense reports and firefighting.

We haven’t seen too much rain lately, but I know for a fact it will rain today or tomorrow, independent of what the TV, Internet, Radio, and Newspapers say! Why do you ask? Because for the first time in 6 months, both cars are washed, waxed and clean! It is a sure sign that rain will be opening from the heavens any minute now, or at least while we are at Church this afternoon.

Speaking of Church, my new calling as Gospel Essentials Teacher is going quite well. I usually have about 10-15 people attending, some new, some old. The new ones don’t quite scare me as much as the old ones, cause they don’t usually get out there on tangents that are pretty deep discussions. I do try to steer the class back to the topic at hand, and gently thank the tangent taker for their comments.

I added Princess to the blog so she could start posting, or create her own blog and link to it from here, but no such luck yet.

If I have any exciting happenings at Church today, I will describe it in detail here on these pages.

Jim

Blessed

That's how I fell today. Blessed beyond measure. Many of you dear readers know that I try not to let my Mormon influence get the best of me and become to "preachy" with the blog. However, I am blessed more than I could every imagine.

I want to declare my love for a beautiful Daughter of our Heavenly Father. Her unconditional love for me and those that surround us. I truly don't deserve all that she does for the girls and me.

I am grateful for loving parents. My dear Mother has struggled, fought, climbed, and torn her way through 4 years of hell. She is dealing with Cancer. They found ovarian cancer in 2003, just after her Mother passed away. She was given 12 months. 13 months later, she was given 12 -18 months. Now, 3 years later, we learn that her numbers are climbing, the drug study she is on is not working, and tumors are growing. I have held her hands, felt her tears on my cheeks, heard her voice quiver and shake from 1350 miles away, yet through it all, her faith holds her, her testimony of God, his son Jesus Christ, and the plan that He has for us. Now with this latest round of chemo unsuccessful, the Dr's are giving her 3 to 6 months to live. I don't know what the next 3 to 6 months hold (heck not even the next 24 hours), but I do know this, I love my Mom. She is a fighter, she feels that God is not done with her yet, and I know that she prays that His will be done.

I pray for her every morning, noon and night. I pray that the pain will not be too much for her to bear, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that my prayers are answered.

My sister Buffy (not her real name, but my nickname for her from high school) has had my Mom at her house for the past several weeks. Here she is, fourth of six kids, having to manage this burden with her husband and my younger brother and his wife. I know that she has learned more unconditional love through serving my Mom, than anything other trial in her life.

I love my family. Please forgive me for being so sappy, so emotional, so overjoyed in God's blessings to me and to my family. Remember to keep your loved ones closer, love those that spite you, and pray for guidance in your lives.

Jim

Blame it on Todd

I haven't really blogged lately - too much work, too much house work with Princess, being way way too grouchy - you name it, I'm a lazy bum or I just don't care. I did however pickup a cool tidbit over at three girls and a boy I picked up this:



Todd is more nerdy than I am, - no scratch that, I am he only scored 48 "lightly nerdy" while I scored 60! GREAT!

Think you're not a Nerd? I challenge you to go take the quiz!

I'll try to be better a posting. Princess got this yesterday (the corner unit)and we put it up this morning - we worked too long and hard on it, going without food or beverage and I ended up grouchy and a jerk. Thank goodness that I have a wife who loves me unconditionally...even when that condition is jerkiness.
Jim

Excitement

So this week I began a new adventure at work. For the first time in over 21 years, I get to dress up in business casual clothes for work. My whole career at work, I have had white uniforms to dress in...aka good humor man (a comment not lost on me by Princess and friends). What did I do when presented with this new challenge? SHOPPING of course. Princess kept me in check, but I did get some new pants and some new shirts (this weekend we're going again - even if she doesn't know it yet).

Thursday, I travelled to Little Rock, AR for work. It was a short flight, uneventful hour long plane ride from Houston to Little Rock (Home of Bill Clinton if you didn't know). At the airport, I met up with two co-workers from the East coast (Stacy and Jack). A note about Stacy, she is the purchasing manager for a variety of different commodities we buy. Stacy is petite, but don't let the size fool you, she holds her own with the toughest of the rednecks we met in Arkansas. Picture "Preppy Mom" in about a 5'4" frame, that has no problem taking you down a peg or two (it was a blast to be with her - it was my first time meeting Jack, so I'll have to size him up and let you know. We all travelled to the vendor's location so that I could perform the audit.

We were touring a rice milling operation and of course, Thursday's high was 104F! With humidity that hovered around the SAUNA level. Work went good, we had a nice dinner at the country club, and then toured another rice location on Friday. After the second tour, we jumped in the car and headed back to Little Rock to eat some lunch and catch our flights home.

We decided that we did not want airport food, so we headed into downtown, where we lucked upon a parking spot, and then perused the local eateries. We sauntered in the lovely 99F sunshine and SAUNA humidity, all the way down Bill Clinton Blvd, and Stacy even bought some paraphernalia at the museum library store.

We grabbed lunch at a pub, "The Flying Saucer" home to about 300+ different beers, lagers, and ales. The food was...how shall I say it...nothing to blog about :-). We arrived at the airport, checked in the rental car (me forgetting to give the keys to the new 2007 push start Altima and running back with sweat pouring down my back, legs...well, you get the picture, and then settled in to connect to some WI-fi and do some work.

Little Rock airport has free WI-fi for Internet connections, but it was down yesterday so we chatted about the trip, families, work, etc. Stacy jumped on her plane headed back to the east coast, me waiting for a 6:30PM flight home...WHICH DIDN'T HAPPEN!

The 4:30 flight left at 5:15, then returned to the gate at 6:10, deplaned, and left again at 7:00PM. No announcements were given by the CONTINENTAL staff as to the delays for the 4:30, nor the 6:30 (which eventually boarded beginning at 10:30PM (of course dear friends, Continental sent my flight to Waco on ahead of me, and booked me on the 11:00 AM home today!). I slept all the way to Houston, bumpy ride and all, navigated to the rental counter (of course, my name was NOT on the gold list), and obtained my rental car at 12:30AM this morning(can you say inept workers)).

I navigated the interstates, toll roads and highways between Houston and Waco with the greatest of care due to the tremendous amount of water on the roadways (HA - hardly a puddle - but we delayed the flight 4 hours for the torrential flooding that took place yesterday afternoon), arriving at my abode around 4:00AM, where I was greeted by Princess and the girls.

But, the surprises were not over! At 7:30 this morning, Jenna strolled into our bedroom and announced that she was ready for breakfast (I believe having been awake for about an hour on her own, and telling me I need my pajama top on when I slept). Seems that Jenna is the proud big sister to Elizabeth (who decided to come about a week early, and also very quickly from the story). From the pictures Princess took, I can't wait to see this new bundle of joy!

So, here I sit in the computer/craft room typing out my woes. Princess made us pancakes and fruit, and is now showering. I'm next, then the fun of our Saturday begins. And all of it on just 3.5 hours sleep (I should be just lovely out and about with the back to school crowds)!

More adventures to come.
Jim

MMMHHH!

So this week I was supposed to spend the whole week in the office. I had planned everything out to the proverbial "T". Finish some reports, catch up on expense reports, start prepping the trim on the house to give it a good coat of paint (I know, I wait until August to do this, BUT, we have had record rainfall during May, June and July, etc.

I was busy at my desk on Monday when I got the call from an R&D associate stating that he needed an audit performed right away and how fast could I do it. I explained my schedule, he gave me the contact, and next thing I knew, I was planning a trip to sunny Los Angeles area.

Now you might be wondering, why I have titled this post "MMMHHH". Well it is because while in sunny Cal-i-for-ni-a, I ate several times at my favorite burger joint in the whole wide world...In-N-Out Burger!


And to prove how loving I am to Princess, here is what I ate at IN-N-Out->


I even had the audacity to call her and let her know what I was eating that very moment while we were speaking! :-) She wasn't too impressed I must tell you. I don't really think her tone with me was all that pleasant either! Go figure!

I made it home safe and sound, and today is a day filled with errands - and sshh, I've got to find a 20th anniversary present for Princess and she has given me no clues whatsoever to get her! It's not like we don't have all that we need, but still, it is our anniversary (she has put up with me for 20 years after all), so she rightly deserves all the attention and accolades she can get!
Jim

More Family Reunion

This is so cool!

July

July started out with a bang- literally a Fourth of July bang. We had a great party with our neighbors, then were home to not enjoy all the crazies and the fireworks.

Then on July fifth, I travelled to Mexico for work. There I got some bad news about my Mom and her Cancer, where of course I doomed and gloomed. BUT, she recovered from her issue, and she is at home and undergoing tests for a study she was FINALLY accepted into.

The rest of July is a blur. I made two separate trips to Canada, one to a really beautiful point in Northeastern Quebec, the other to Toronto for meetings. Both were good, but not a cool temperature wise as I would have liked.

Then a trip to Chicago for a team meeting, then a trip to Mexico again for work, and I just returned from Minnesota and Winsconsin.

Wenedsday night, we were driving back to Minnesota from Wisconsin and fortunately did not go near I-35. At 6:00 PM, an older bridge section collapsed in rush hour traffic, causing multiple deaths and injuries when about 50 cars plummeted into the Mississippi river. If we had gone the way our vendor told us to go, we might have been on that road stuck in traffic or worse. Instead, we followed Hertz Neverlost for the quickest way back and arrived safely at our hotel. I am glad I followed the inspiration given to me to use the Neverlost instead of following directions/maps.

So, you can see just how busy I have been with work and travel. Sorry for boring so many of you dear readers with no updates. I'm not even going to promise to do better. I will state that I will blog when I can with time permitting.

Jim

June

So in June we took our vacation to lovely Boise, ID to partake in Princesses family reunion. I dreaded the trip, 10 days with family and lot's of kids. Boy was I wrong!

We had a blast. When we arrived at the airport, we had rented a small car for the week (heck we were only going to need it to get to her sister's house, and for errands. Well, because of my travels for work, we were upgraded to a Subaru Tribeca (their SUV). It was lovely. Drove smoothly, had a great sound system, and had GPS navigation!

Each morning we got up with the in-laws and the kids, had scripture study, and then went to the park to do a mile around the track. Princess and I walked, while the kids all jogged and timed themselves. Then it was back home to eat breakfast, shower and get on with the day. The reunion was Friday, Saturday, & Sunday. We had the Aunt, cousins, etc and had games planned and a craft idea for the adult women. Princesses Uncle took all the kids swimming at their hotel (about 10 or 11) and they had a blast. We barbecued, played badminton, catch, jai-alai, it was great.

Matt playing catch with the kids

Dave, Jared, Kerry, and Aunt Marcia enjoying watching the kids and each other in the shade.

After Church in the Mike's flowers for a family portrait.

All in all it was a really good time had by all. Now I only have to "dread" it for the next two years:-)!

Jim

O Canada

What a beautiful country our neighbor to the north is. I flew into Toronto on Thursday, only to connect to another flight within Canada to continue my journey. While in Toronto, I caught up with another employee from our company. We both flew with our vendor rep to a small town called North Bay. The views from the plane were spectacular.

From North Bay, we drove to a smaller town called New Liskeard. We were right on the Ottawa river, where it is wide enough to create a lake. All this beautiful scenery and I forgot to take my freakin digital camera out of my bag! At this point, we were about 6 hours north east of Toronto by car.

We continued our journey the next day to a small village called Laverlochere within the province of Quebec. As many of you know, Canada is bilingual, English and French. Well, I don't speak French (I thought my Spanish skills were going to be no use to me) but boy did my knowledge of the Spanish language help. All the documentation was in French, but with my Spanish help, I could interpret what was written even if I could not read or speak it back to them.

We finished our business, to begin the 1.5 hour journey back to North Bay to fly into Toronto. Of course, what did I do? Forgot to take my camera out of my bag! See, age is getting to me and I'm becoming forgetful!

I finally got home on Saturday afternoon about 2:45 PM to spend some time with Princess. Now it's off to Church to teach my class, then home to rest, have roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, and a new lemon cake that Princess is developing for dessert! Now we all know why I'm as fat as I am, too much cooking/eating, not enough exercise.

Have a great Sunday - Jim

Time

Not enough of it that is. I was reminded the other day that I haven't blogged in quite a while - sorry dear friends/family that life has been extremely busy for the Price household.

After Sacramento, Princess and I loaded up on an airplane and took off for 7 days to, to, to...Boise, Idaho for her family reunion. We had a blast - I promise to post pictures so that you can see the whole family.

We got home, had two days to recuperate before work, and then it has been hectic. Fourth of July was in there and also a trip to Mexico for my work.

My Mom is back in the hospital. On top of her cancer, she has gotten an intestinal blockage. The Doctor's are skeptical at best. Four years of chemotherapy have taken their toll on her poor body. One Dr's prognosis is grim, the other's is not that much better. We are praying for her, asking Heavenly Father to do His will, but still wanting some more time. Only Faith and time will tell.

So, there you have it in a nutshell. My life on the "B" list (b for busy).

Jim

Heat

Dry Heat that is!

I'm currently in Sacramento, California! The high yesterday was 103 and today's was 105!! It felt like an oven, heat blast every time you left your car, hotel, vendor's office, you name it, it felt GREAT!! I could sweat, and it evaporated right off of me. No clinging wet clothes, just a nice dry heat. I know that some people are thinking I'm weird. So maybe I am a little weird, but it has been sooo nice to have felt what I grew up with for all my life.

I have eaten at In-N-Out burger three times in the last two days! De-li-cious! I asked Princess what I could bring her and she said a burger. Too bad I can't get that through security tomorrow morning!

Also, I got upgraded on my rental car. Ready...

A brand new 2007 Infinity G35! Sweeeeett! I have been in heaven for the past two days - I'll post a picture of it later.

Gotta run - early flight to get back to Texas, heat, humidity, sweat - Geez, I'm missing the dry heat already! :-)

Family

We just got back from Sydnee's first Birthday party! She didn't know what to do with herself and all the presents, it didn't help that she is walking sooo fast, that I stepped one way, she came back into my path quicker than you can say walk, and I knocked her flat on the floor. She cried, big sister Ava cried, and I felt horrible.

While at the party, I got to thinking about family. We go throughout our lives worrying and caring for our families, Mothers, Fathers, Siblings, etc. Somewheare along the line in this journey, we meet people, acquaintances at first, then friends, then family. Sometimes this process only takes a minute, sometimes much longer with much laughter, and some tears. Above it all, I'm thankful for the "friends" that are not defined by blood relations and have become family.

Such was our case today. Princess and I went to the Blackhursts to celebrate the festivities. Everyone else that was there were tied to them through blood or marriage, except us. But we never felt like outsiders, just the contrary. We felt, feel like family, and they also to us.

This scenario has played out for us all our married lives - friends that are family. There is no other word for it. How grateful we are for this miracle in our lives. Dear friends we've watched you start families, in some cases, been at your weddings, been part of Baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, etc. We are so appreciative of the time that you spend with us, and the joy you bring into our lives.

Whew! That was just a little too deep for me - so I'll just say thanks - you've blessed our lives immensely - and we had fun at the party too...boy can that girl scream when she doesn't get her way!

Not enough

Blogging that is! That's what I was told by a friend of mine last night. I was amazed and confused. I really guess that my friend hasn't been reading thoroughly through my posts to find out that for all but three weeks of this year, I have been doing two, yes two jobs at work. My own lovely job, and that of my boss.

Quick recap "gilligan, gilligan, gilligan" as we move back in time! December and my boss has a beautiful baby boy, is out three and a half months. She comes back to work, and three weeks later, is promoted and moves sites and I am "awarded" the position of interim group manager. So the group has been without one person now for 6 months, I'm working tons of hours , not counting the travel (around 10 to 11 hours each day, sometimes more), the laptop up at home, fielding calls at 8:00 PM at night, and now checking on work things with the east coast, so that I can assure supply to one of the plants.

I certainly did not mean for my dear readers to think that I was neglecting my blogging duties, it's just hard to type when you come home from work, eat dinner, do the dishes, sit down for a few minutes and you're asleep in your easy chair.

Now back to the present - I'm typing, Princess is lying in the Mickey room, and we have a super busy day - so we're off to shower, hit the Golf Tournament to help set up goodie bags for kids, then on to Sydnee's 1st birthday party, then who knows what we'll do next. It's going to be a busy day and a very "bumpy ride". It's also become hot and muggy here - can you say 77 for an overnight low with humidity around 80% - YUCK! Summers here, Summers here!

SIX...

...years!!!

Happy Anniversary!! Today is the day six years ago that we boarded a plane at McCarren International Airport and began our journey in Texas! I swear to you that Princess cried for half the plane ride from Vegas to Austin (we flew in there, and then drove up to Waco). We joked then and still laugh about it now, "that we had soap in our eyes, stinging them, and that is why we had cried.

What an adventure we have had so far! Our first Texas friends were the Blackhursts (newlyweds at the time and we called them "the kids") and the Estradas (definitely not newlyweds at the time, but their kids were small enough we could pick on them without fear of getting beat up). We spent many a night with these couples playing games and eating, learning new sayings, like "ya'll", "fixn'to", and "howdy" come to mind right now.

We fed a huge portion of the Missionaries here in the area, gone on discussions with them, and been invited (post mission of course) to many wedding receptions for them.

We've had to stand on our own two feet (parents and family being 1,350 miles away and all) and learn to "cleave" together and be united.

So, a big thank you to the following who have helped shape and share our journey here:
The Rich Whites, The Frank Duty's, The Josh Whites, The Shumates, The Sterling Jones', The Collingwoods, The Blackhursts, The Estradas, The Ameney's, The Schlitts, The Works, The Moore's, The Hodsens (both sets), The Jacobsens, The Heath Nielsens, The Mocks, The Lackmeyers, Lynn, Laurie, Ken and Nancy, The Merritts, The Carters, The Bacchus, The Johnsons, The Lockes, The Watts, The Askeroth's, The Castenedas, Dr. Miller and K-Paul, The Loggins, The Plasketts, The Milligans, and a myriad of other friends. We love you and thank you for your friendship, time and energy with us. We are truly blessed and our lives richer because of you!

Princess and I are truly blessed to have all of you and those I can't remember in our lives. This journey called life is a great blessing from Heavenly Father and living here in Central Texas is a little slice of Heaven on earth because of our friends, neighbors, and those we have even met and befriended at our local HEB!

Here's to another 6 great years of fun times and supporting one another!

Jim

Mother's Day...

...A little late! Since I had come down with the lovely Bronchitis bug on Mother's day weekend, we didn't get to celebrate the day for Princess. We did eat lunch at Pei Wei (I couldn't taste a thing) and that was fine, but it wasn't anything special.

Sooo, last night, we went to a local eatery here called 1424. Why is it called 1424 you ask? Because that is the address on Washington...1424 Washington, Waco, TX. Princess had the pork loin with fried plantains, mango salsa and a salad. I had the pork loin with balsamic reduction, potato medley, and baby carrots. MMMMMHHH! It was Delicious.

If you haven't been to 1424, it is a little pricey, so that is why we go there on special occasions, like Mother's Day celebrations, Anniversaries, Birthdays, etc.

Speaking of Moms, both our Mother's are doing quite well lately. We spoke to them on Mother's Day, Princess longer than me cause of my voice and cough.

I am better! Antibiotics rule man! Also, I'm singing a solo today in Sacrament Meeting. Wish me luck as I hope my voice will be able to handle it.

Jim

Monday

Well, I am supposed to be at our corporate HQ for a week of training, but like my last entry stated, I am under the weather with Bronchitis. I am on day four of antibiotics and feeling a little bit better. I still have the cough and congestion in my chest. As such, I am at home. I am working from home, but took a second to blog about my trivial day.

So far this morning, I have had six phone calls from solicitors on the home line. I answer then hang up. I have had three work related phone calls on my cell phone. Thus far, a little bit of a boring day. The girls keep coming and going through their door in the kitchen, the TV is on to provide a bit of white noise for me (makes me think that I am in the open office environment at work). I've got a couple of reports to finish, along with a couple of expense reports.

So, it's back to work.

Allergies...

That's what I thought Friday a week ago, then yesterday, after a week of suffering through sinus drainage, congested chest, a cough that wouldn't quit, along came a plugged ear. Soo, I call the Doctor, get an appointment and what do I get? Sympathy you say? No, No, do not kid yourself with that one. I got an ear full from the Doctor. Now in this day and age when they are trying hard not to give medication to you at the drop-of-a-hat, I was doing what was advised the last time I got sick...give it 7 to 10 days, if the symptoms do not clear up, call us.

Well, with the ear being plugged and a three and a half hour plane ride to New Jersey on Sunday, I went in. My Doctor gave me an ear full, "You have asthma. If your symptoms last past three or four days - you get in here!" He continued "You cannot let your chest get so tight, that I'm going to have to administer som cortisone to relax it and allow you to breathe!" So, thirty five dollar co-pay, an ear full for doing what I thought was right, a shot in my right butt, and forty dollars at the pharmacist, I finally slept all through the night. Only to awaken to a sick Princess. She too now has antibiotics and has taken some cough syrup to help her sleep.

We are just a lovely bunch today...although, I made her take a shower with some VICK's up her nose to help clear the nasal passages. Later, I'll go to the store for groceries, etc, then come home to iron for my trip.

By-the-way, I haven't blogged in a long time cause there hasn't been any time. My boss got a promotion, and I have been filling in for her since the 24th of April! Not complaing my loyal friends and family, just stating what has been going on in our lives.

Also, for my fine loving neighbors, the landscape crew is suppossed to come on Monday (yes this Monday the 21st and finally plant the trees, shrubs, and mulch the beds! Yessirree, I am stoked.

Well, gotta run and make Princess some soup - keep her happy is my goal today.

Jim

A Day of Rest

I am so glad today is Sunday. I had a very long week this week. The trip for work to Guatemala was excellent. I will be finishing the reports as I travel to New Jersey tomorrow for some meetings. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier (if I did, chock it up to old age and Alzheimer's), anyway, we stayed in the City of Antigua in Guatemala, just one night. We stayed at this old (like almost 200 years old) convent that had been rescued and turned into a hotel/resort like location. The walls were super thick rock/bricks and that kept the temperature pretty stable.

When I got to my room, passing about 100 thousand centuries old statues of saints (one our hosts said the place gave her the spooks), I entered my room which was "warm" and set about to find the air conditioner...WHAT, no a/c?! I then looked up, and no ceiling fan! I about died. I opened the french doors to the patio (did I mention a common patio that all the other guest could just walk right up to the french doors of my room?) for some fresh air. When we left for dinner, I found that the doors had these metal things hanging on them by two of the panes of glass. I picked one up and could push it through this little hole and lift the pane of glass to an angle and get fresh air. So I did, and when I got back to my room (at 11:00 PM - those Latins take way too long for dinner), my room was re-freshed and the temperature had dropped about 5 degrees. I slept with those windows open and at some time during the night, I actually pulled the blanket onto me as I slept.

Anyhow, each day was up at 5:00 AM, and to bed at 11:00 PM. It just about killed me. So I am glad that today, I got to sleep in until 7:30, came and finished preparing my Primary lesson for Church, and now have caught all of you up on my whining.

Okay, switching topics, Princess and I have been doing more gardening here in the last two months than the entire time we have lived here in Texas. We have the front bed cut out of the grass (waiting for the landscaping guys to come and prepare the bed, then plant the bed with bushes, crepe myrtles, and two trees out front. We have bought shade plants for the bed under our bathroom window, and we some sun loving plants for the side by the garage. (side note, Princess did do all of the planting of the shade bed and garage bed, I just did my normal, edge mow, blow down the patios thing...not wanting to take credit away from her hard work.)

Our next big feat will be to remove all the Christmas light screws from the fascia boards, fill in the holes and paint the trim. Boy, I'm looking forward to that! NOT!!! But it has to be done, so it is our/my task.

Here it the Sabbath, the day of rest, and I am thinking about my honey-do list...as Jenna would say "Jim, you're crazy!" And today I would say to her "You're right, I am crazy!"

Jim

Home Sweet...

Home!

I just got home from a wonderful trip to central America for work. The weather was not too warm, and the countryside was just beautiful. Now I'm going out to do some mowing, weeding, and touching up.

Princess and I finalized on a simple plan for the front planter area that we carved out, and have accepted the bid to do the work. Now we just have to wait a couple of weeks for the workers to get here to do it. I'm tired of digging in hard clay-type soil, so I'm letting some one else do it. Bye-Bye bonus money! Oh well, at least when Sarah comes for a visit with Sterling and the kids, she won't know which house is ours.

BTW Sarah - Happy 36th Birthday!! We love ya!

Jim

Where's Spring

I’m in Chi-land and experiencing some of the most bizarre springtime weather. I woke up to snow this morning and it snowed for about 6 or 7 hours, then has turned to rain. We’re in SPRING people! And it snowed! We’re supposed to get more snow tonight! I was smart for the trip to Chicago; I checked the weather online and packed long sleeve shirts, an overcoat, gloves, but no umbrella or hat. Maybe I’ll be smarter next time.

After last weekend in San Antonio, where we had a cold snap, the weather hovering around 36 F with a northern wind driving a wind chill and making me wish I had more than t-shirts and shorts. We did have fun with Jen, Dan, and the kids. Colored eggs, stuffed eggs, made deviled eggs, jiggler eggs, jiggler jelly beans, get the picture, pure Easter fun.

It snowed in Waco, enough to build snowmen, and we missed it, but got so see the remnants of them when we got home.

When I talked to Princess today, it was 80 F today in Waco. I can’t wait to get home and mow my grass and plant some flowers.

Be good and safe.

Parents

Just got a call from my Mom. Her CA 125 number is up after only three months without Chemo! She starts another round in a couple of weeks. She sounded so down. I love her so much. She is so strong and exhibits so much faith. I can only walk in her footprints, and hope one day my size 12 fills her size 8.

I Love YA Mom! Hang in there cause we need you here with us.

Love, Jimmy (Only she is allowed to call me that)

San Antone

This weekend, Princess and I are heading to San Antonio (San Antone for born and bred Texans) to visit with dear friends who moved there from Vegas. We will be having Easter at their house, going to Church on Saturday Night with them instead of Sunday (Group decision due to our having to travel home on Sunday afternoon), and having an Easter Brunch on Sunday Morning along with the egg hunt.

Ben and Molly, Dan and Jen's kids are super excited. We're taking the girls with us, and they just love them soooo much. Sadie is even excited, knowing something was up last night when Princess started ironing clothes, other than her dental assisting uniforms.

We're going to color eggs, stuff plastic eggs, shop (Princesses favorite past time), and just have a great time. Both Princess and I need the break and the relaxation...well for me anyway. Ben and Molly are dying to have Aunt Melanie cook for them. They just love her food and have informed their Mom that she is not to help Aunt Melanie in any way shape or form. We rolled on the floor on that one.

Remember, Easter isn't about eggs, isn't about frilly new dresses, or brunch, but about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His atoning sacrifice for us, taking on our sins, death on the cross, and His resurrection make it possible for us to return to live with Him and Our Heavenly Father. So dye the eggs, pack the plastic ones, and as you do so, talk about Christ with your families, teach them His story, and I promise you, that your home, your weekend, everything we do at this time of year, will feel warmer, more loving, more beautiful (sorry to be so preachy, but I just felt inspired)

Happy Easter.

Surviving

...Tornadoes, Princesses desires for a beautiful yard, out of control weeds, you name it and I have been doing it. So lets start with the first one.

Last Friday, March 30, 2007, we had another Tornado warning. Princess, Sadie, Sasha, and myself, gathered cushions, water, medicine and ourselves into the guest/hall bathroom following all the weatherman's warnings. We huddled together while waiting out the storm, winds, rain - lots of rain, and hail came, flooding the back yard, and delivering about 5 to 7 inches of badly needed rain. Then it left, and overnight we had just a little bit of rain, to keep us from being in a drought.

For the past two weeks we have been buying plants and putting them in all over the house (really, around the house). We rented a sod cutter, removed a bunch of grass to create a planting bed in the front, got a landscaper out for a quote on trees and preparing the bed - not planting it, just preparing it, Princess is making me plant the bushes and flowers the landscaper recommends (no rest for the wicked...or in my case the fat and ornery).

Killing weeds has become my favorite past time. Pulling them out by their tap roots, applying herbicide etc. Man if I could grow grass and plants like I grow weeds, I would have the best lawn in all my neighborhood.

Been working lots and lots of hours still - hoping that it will calm down and I will be able to get back on the road and get some audits done.

Easter weekend we're going to San Antonio to visit the Martinsen's (friends from Vegas - yeah baby).

Be safe and Happy

Life

...sometimes it just passes you by.

I am remiss. I have been so busy with work lately, that I have not posted for over a month. Let me catch you up...readers digest style.

1 - Been to Beaumont Twice - work (got to see Sterling, Sarah, and the kids on my way home)
2 - Went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas once - Work
3 - Spent one week in Waco at the plant.
4 - Spent one week at home (Las Vegas) my dear sweet Aunt Hattie passed away suddenly. (I did get to spend some good quality time with family (no friends this trip) and see my parent's home re-do in Hurricane...then went to Kanab (did see some friends), then drove home, 24 hours straight through. Thank Goodness for technology and good dependable cars.

Music. My Uncle Gary asked us (Princess and I, my older brother Rich, his wife Dawn, their son Richie, Younger brother Bert, his wife Alisa, and my younger sister Christina and her son Kyle). We sang Love at Home, a classic LDS hymn and one of Aunt Hattie's favorites. As usual there was the hemming and hawing over singing the song in parts, Rich, Bert, and Richie all sang bass (really rocked the part), Kyle and I sang Tenor, Princess and Christina sang Soprano, and Alisa and Dawn sang Alto. We had so many compliments, on the arrangement and on the way it sounded. Made all the worries worthwhile. Also, Bev Abbott played the piano and did a super job under some very stressful times for her.

Whew - that's quite a lot of stuff to cram in one month - so you see why I have been so lacking/remiss in posting.

My wonderful boss comes back from Maternity leave on April 2nd, and I get to hand over these reins to her and resume my lackey post and get back to some auditing.

Our friends the Hammers had a baby girl on Sunday - named her Sarah, and she is being loved to death by her big brothers.

Also, we found out that our friend, Rachel (evil one) is having a girl!!!!! This after three boys. Go Rachel and Josh.

That's enough - no great words of wisdom, lot's accomplished...like the plants we planted last Saturday and the mowing and tree trimming (thanks again for the ladder Sterling), trying to get the house/yard in shape.

Jim

Timing

I know that I have been lacking in my posts lately. Work has been tremendously busy. So much travel and so much to do while filling in temporarily for my boss.

This past week I was in Beaumont again for work. On my way home, I was going to stop and see the Joneses but I was hurrying and didn't make the stop. Boy am I glad I didn't. Seems like the flu bug has invaded their home...and mine. When I got home on Thursday, I had a fever of 101. I came home, put on sweats and climbed into bed while Princess went out to dinner with her friends from work (I was invited but didn't feel up to it). Little did I know how the fever would come to play. For about the past 36 hours, everything I have eaten (10 Ritz crackers and some chicken broth) has come screaming out of me. I don't know if this is a combination of flu virus, or of eating something bad on my way home. Either way, I am starving and trying not to eat anything other than broth and crackers. My fever finally broke last night and this morning I am feeling better, except for my tummy.

Princess has a busy day ahead of her. First the Primary activity, which I'm not going to, Second, a baby shower for Andrea (her third, and another boy)! I will stay home, finally shower, and work on laundry to get that chore done.

Tomorrow is Stake Conference - via satellite at the Chapel - we're not going - I don't know how I'll feel, and I don't want to infect anyone else with this little gem I have been experiencing. We got a couple of new movies, The Prestige and Zoom. I'll let you know how they are after today.

Mother

Today is the 62nd anniversary of my Mother's Birth! Happy Birthday Mom! I thought I would share with you photos of my Mom. The photo on the left was Christmas Day 2006 at Christina's house. The strapping man beside her is my dad - Hola Ricardo! And the little tyke is Mallory Kate Price, Bert's newest addition to our clan. The picture on the right was taken in front of my Grandparents house in Henderson when Mom & Dad were dating. Aren't they still the cutest couple.

Some interesting things about my Mom!

1 - She married at 16

2 - She celebrates her 46th wedding anniversary on 12 February

3 - She can sing beautifully

4 - She can dance better than any Mom I know

5 - She can sew (remember the purple shirt with the zipper?)

6 - She can paint

7 - She can quilt

8 - She can needlepoint

9 - She can crochet

10 - She can cross stitch

11 - She knows how to can/bottle

12 - She makes super home made bread

13 - She has unselfish love

14 - She has Christlike love for anyone and everyone she meets

15 - She has undying love for Dad

16 - She has style (even without her hair due to Chemo)

17 - She has a work ethic I cannot keep up with.

18 - She has always been organized

19 - She continues to have trust and strength in the Gospel of Jesus Christ

20 - She has outlived her Oncologists life expectancy

21 - She is a fighter

22 - She is a lover - of husband, God, Family, and others

23 - She is smart

24 - She is kind

25 - She can be ornery

26 - She is ornery when us kids fight

27 - She is a peacemaker

29 - She has a sense of who she is

30 - She played baseball with me in little league - even slid into third base in shorts!

31 - She is scriptural

32 - She CAN COOK

33 - She loves life

34 - She has never had a life of luxury, but she has made her parents proud

35 - She is a Grandmother

36 - She is a loving Aunt

37 - She is 3rd of four girls

38 - She and Aurella are the surviving members of her family

39 - She never forgets - dates, birthdays, anniversaries, etc

40 - She has never forgotten Audrey (dog biscuit eater of the family :')

41 - She received her GED when most of us kids were in grade school

42 - She worked at Skaggs, K-Mart, Pizza Inn, and Snavely & Golden

43 - She never asked for thanks for working to help the family

44 - She can build a fire in a fireplace that can run anyone out of a house

45 - She is a voracious reader

46 - She has buried one daughter

47 - She has 8 grandsons and 3 granddaughters

48 - She was an awesome RS visiting Teacher

49 - She loves to have someone rub lotion on her feet

50 - She endured many nights of sick kids

51 - She passed on her Lilly white skin to way too many of us kids/grand kids

52 - She has beautiful brown eyes

53 - She has a smile that can melt battling generals

54 - She always is encouraging

55 - She is thrifty

56 -She loves to surprise people with small acts of kindness

57 - She stretches her God given talents - like painting on candles, etc

58 - She has always supported Dad - except that one morning of the motorcycle race

59 - She has a huge tolerance for pain, emotional and physical and is a testament to us

60 - She is enduring (the end is a long way off for her)

61 - She is truly a Latter-day Saint and a pioneer

62 - She continues to shine

Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you can feel my Love for you, and know that the tears I shed while writing this are tears of love! God Bless You!

Jim

I'm IT!

I have been tagged! I can’t believe that anyone would think that I could have anything so interesting in my life that it needs to be shared. HA! I have been told by Princess, that I should have been a stand up comedian! I told her then, and I stand by it today, that we would have starved to death if I had been a stand up comedian.

Our friend Debbie tagged me after Sarah tagged her. I am supposed to blog about my idiosyncrasies. As if I have any! Once Princess saw that I had been tagged, she began to make a list for the blog. I kindly thanked her, took the list and put it in the paper shredder! As if!

So, without further ado, here is my list:
1 - Eyes. I have a fear of anything or anyone putting, touching, blowing, just breathing on my eyes. It all stems from a time when I was about eight years old. Medical technology was not the greatest and I had need to go see the Dr. because my left eye hurt every time I blinked or touched around it or anything. So at the Dr.’s office, the Dr. tells my Mom that he needs her to hold me down. So she does, he comes close, grabs my head tightly, and then proceeds to shove this paper strip under my eyelid. I SCREAM bloody murder, jerk upward and knock my Mom and the Dr. backwards. They yell for the nurse, and all three are holding down this screaming eight year old skinny kid! Needless to say, the Dr. got the strip under my eyelid and my eye turned yellow. He could see where I had scratched the cornea and need to have drops and wear an eye patch for about 3 weeks. It was a real kick to see this toe head of a kid (me) walking around Henderson in shorts, t-shirt, sneakers and a bloody pirate’s eye patch! I got honks, hollers, and all kinds of comments. Fast forward to present day and as an old man, I need/must wear glasses to see clearly to read and to work on the computer. I still can’t put drops in my eyes like normal people…read, I must drop them in the corner of my eye (with the lid closed), and rotate my head and blink them into the eye. Still, about half the drops run down my face cause I am too freaking scared to open my eyes while anything is in them. And now as an adult, I can’t even do the freaking glaucoma test at the eye Dr.’s because of my trauma.

2 - I can’t stand to have anyone touch my hair or head! It drives me nuts. I like my hair to be just so…coifed…if you will even with the new messy hair do (unlike my old Opie style), I can’t stand to have my head/hair touched! My head is sensitive, I am prone to migraines, and I don’t like to have my hair not look like it is supposed to when I am finished in the morning. Go figure.

3 - Made beds, dusted shelves, are a must in my home. When we were newly weds, Princess worked part time on Saturdays at a Hallmark store. While at work, I would clean our tiny apartment from top to bottom, doors, windows, baseboards, tub, toilet, mirrors, etc. I would do the laundry, fold it and put it away. If I found her drawers to be messy, I would organize them for her…boy was I naive! Princess would come home from her 8 hours at the store and then she would cry! Why, cause she said I made her feel bad about the way she cleaned house! I can sure tell you I was mystified, confused, and just plain stuck! We would argue about it not being important, then I would have to make it up to her. Long story short, 19.5 years later, I have learned to live with clutter, a lot of dust, and a little disorganization. BUT, my closet, drawers, etc are completely organized! Shirts must all hang the same direction on the hangers, and the closet is organized with the top row, suits, then dress slacks, then Sunday shirts, then short sleeve button shirts, then long sleeve button shirts. The second rack has shorts, jeans, then work causal pants (like dockers). On the shelf are my IRONED t-shirts (not under shirts), Polo shirts, etc, and the bottom row of my closet is reserved for the sheets for our bed!

As I said at the start, I have no idiosyncrasies! NONE, NIL, NADA, ZIP! I have posted these simply to prove my point. As I learn more, I will enlighten blogsphere minds at large. And to those that read this little corner of the WWW, careful, you never know when I’m going to tag you!

Jim

Still Cold

Last week I was in NJ and PA for work. Our company's corporate headquarters is in NJ, and I had to do an audit in PA. Best part of the whole trip was the four plus inches of snow on our car Thursday morning in PA!

Now I'm back in Beaumont for work. The drive down was cold and drizzly, all the way from Waco through Houston and into Beaumont. I spoke with Sarah and she said that I needed to stop bringing the bad weather with me to Houston.

Princess was under the weather on Sunday and stayed home from Church. I had to not only prepare my Primary lesson, but also sharing time all by myself. I've got to stop relying on Princess for help and just bite the bullet and do it myself.

Gotta get back to work.

Butt Freakin...

COLD!!! That is what is has been here for the past week!! Princess had late starts on Monday and Tuesday due to sleet and frozen rain (what's the difference!!) Sleet is frozen rain.

Then on Wednesday, we had over an inch of ice on our driveway, over two inches on the roof, and icicles hanging down about 10 inches off the eaves! We both were homebound then! I'm not like those other crazies, if I can't get my car out of the garage and down the driveway without control, I'm not gonna drive on it!!! Come on People! STAY HOME when it get's like this.

Made another trip to Beaumont for work - kinda like my home away from home lately! Stopped off a late Christmas present to the Joneses in Houston, and then came home.

We did some mild redecorating of the windows in our bedroom - took down the toppers that matched the old quilt and hung up some new sheers for a fresher, cleaner look. I think that we need to add more panels, but now I have to wait for Princess to decide - Isn't more always better???? You know, if chocolate makes you feel good, then more is better...AM I Right?!!

Anyhow - I seem to be ranting - could be due to hunger setting in - gotta run, get ready for Church and get out the old ironing board to get ready for the cold in NJ this week.

Later!

Okay

Okay...okay...okay - I have been a little busy this week what with my first week back to work in three weeks off.

My Primary class went really well. We set down some guidelines for the class (not rules, there are enough, and I want learning the New Testament to be fun and somewhat exciting). Had a great first lesson, and got off to a really good start. We'll see what next week brings. If I don't stay on my toes, "H" Nelson will be teaching the class the kid is too dang smart!

I figured up how many hours I worked this week and (drum roll please) how does 62 grab ya! Yep, 62 in 5 days - you do the math! I am dang tired, but the fun part was getting to go down to Beaumont, and stopping and visiting with the Joneses! I should say, Sarah, Indie, and then Morgan (Jordan is her real name, I've just always called her Morgan for fun). The other kids weren't out of school yet, so I didn't get to visit with them.

Our friend Sarah is soooo smart and very talented with cameras, photoshop, scrapbooking, decorating, etc. I got to see her office with the painted walls and the very shiek black desk and black shelf - way to chic for this country bumpkin! It was good to visit and to hear the puppy potty training trials, mostly accidents on tile, not on the carpet.

Sarah and Jordan also got to see my attempt at a goatee! I don't think that they really liked it, I tried to get them to feel how soft it is, but Jordan was like no way! Sarah said it didn't feel soft, but wiry - go figure.

I think we're going out tonight to the OG for dinner, that is if the Tornado doesn't come and crush us to death with high winds and rain.

Have a good night on that note :-)

New Primary Class

Today begins with a bit of trepidation. I have been up since 6:00 AM worrying about teaching the 11/12 year olds in Primary at Church. Over the past year, I had the 9 year olds and they were a great class. Now I'm moving to a bigger class (number of students) and older (I won't be able to bluff them and have to be more prepared).

In my defense, I "browsed" through my lesson earlier in the week. I read the scriptures and I read the lesson using Evelyn Wood methodology. This brings us to today/this morning. Up at 6:00, showered, and dressed, in our home office studying and preparing the lesson. I have prepared the activity, hand written out my lesson, said a prayer that all will go well, and now I will leave it up to a review.

For 2007 we have moved from the early block of meetings (9:00 AM start time) to the late block of meetings (1:00 PM start time). For any of you not familiar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this means that all of our Sunday meetings are held in a block of three hours. It saves time. It saves energy (both at the building and gasoline traveling back and forth to the meeting house). It also makes it convenient to iron your Sunday shirt on Sunday morning when you have procrastinated during the week.

So, say a prayer for me and wish me luck. These 11/12 year olds are way to smart and are going to keep me on my toes with all of their questions.
BTW, the facial hair almost looks good, so it didn't come off this morning! Maybe you'll get to see a bonus post with picture after Church, then I would love to know, keep it or shave it off, you can post your vote in the comments.

Jim

Happy New Year...a little late

Happy New Year...on January 3rd 2007! I'm late posting because; 1) I have been a little under the weather with a cold, 2) Princess and I have been busy doing some much needed chores (will explain later), and 3) I have been busy with some work issues ensuring that all runs smoothly for our plants.

We got all of our Christmas decorations taken down, packed and put back in the attic. This all accomplished with me having some sinus/cold issues. I must say, Princess is pretty patient with me when it comes to me being sick. I don't like to be touched, massaged, or held, just left alone with a blanket, and she manages to dance on the "egg shells" of my moods. All in all we have been pretty effective with our time off.

As you know, our 4th bedroom is our home office, or as I like to call it our room from "he**". This is due to our differing filing systems, mine is to file everything into file folders in drawers, and Princesses is to make piles and then when you cannot see the desktop, then she files. We cleaned up the office and now it is a much more pleasant environment to work in. Now don't go beating me up, Princess is a wonderful woman, we just have different filing methods. So now that her desk is cleared, she actually worked on some of her scrapbooking/cards/stamping supplies that she received for Christmas.

Well for the past week I have been trying to grow a goatee! We had a policy change at work and now we can have facial hair. The operative word is TRYING to grow this facial hair thing! After 8 days, it looks like I have dirt on my face. No kidding - look at my picture below:



Don't mind the five head (you know instead of a forehead), just look at the "dirt" around my chin (s). You can't see the mustache hair really well cause it has turned blonde/white already, but the other is quite red. I don't know if I'm going to keep it, only time and my mood on Sunday will tell (if it looks this bad by Sunday...off it comes!)!

We're pretty laid back today, going to Target (pronounced Tarjay) to return a shirt, then to HEB for some groceries.

Happy New Year - Jim

Christmas Day

Not a creature was stirring...except me. My body alarm clock woke up at 5:30 AM. So I got up and did the whole bathing thing, got dressed quietly, and headed downstairs.

I turned on the Christmas tree lights, put on Christmas music on the stereo, and then tackled the dishwasher. Next I washed all the dishes in the sink, dried them and put away those that I knew where they went. I then proceeded to clear the table so that I could set it. I now know where Princess got her filing system from...her Mother. Piles and Piles of paper, I carefully put on the computer desk. Then I scrubbed the table top and dried it (I tell you, raising parents is tough business).

The phone rang and interrupted my cleaning frenzy. It was Princesses niece Kara. We talked and laughed and then she asked to speak to "Grandma or Grandpa". I told her I was the only one awake - now about 8:30 AM and she said "Uncle Jim, go wake her up and give her the phone!" Now being the dutiful Unlce, I obliged and snuck back upstairs, snuck in her room, and announced "Old Woman, your granddaughter Kara would like to speak to you" to which she replied "Hush up old man!". We laughed and she took the phone.

I went back downstairs, and was joined by Linda who helped me start breakfast, then came Princess, and finally Bill. After breakfast, we proceeded to exchange gifts. I got some good cologne, Euphoria, and it smells great. Cleaned up the kitchen and then we all headed to Christy's house in Henderson for the meet up with the whole "fam damily".

Everyone enjoyed their time together, no fights, no yelling matches, good food, and Mom cried her eyes out when she opened her present and found a memory box with pictures of her and Dad, and all us kids, and all the grandkids decoupaged in a very beautiful arrangement. Then other presents were shared, all the sisters-in-law gave each other candles. It was great! We played Dominos with Christy, Shane (her hubby), and nephews Kyle and Tanner.

Next we skeedaddled to OLDER brother Rich's house to visit and to see my lovely niece Nicole (better known to the world as CPK "Cabbage Patch Kid"). Back to Vegas amongst the neon and Christmas lights to head off to dream land.

It was a wonderful Christmas with the families for the first time in 6 years.

Vegas Day Four and Five

Saturday was hectic. We got up did laundry, grocery shopping, and then went to our favorite sub type sandwich shop, Capriotti's. If you ever get to Vegas, you must, and I mean must, eat at Capriotti's. It is not "Subway or Quiznos", it is great sub sandwiches, from shredded turkey and roast beef, to cheese steak. MMMMM, they are delicious.

Saturday night, we were invited to Bert's house for dinner. Papa Murphy's take and bake was had by all. It was good to visit with them and to have time with my B.J., RL, Kelley, and our newest addition to the Price family name, Mallory Kate. Brownie, their dog was smitten with Princess and followed her all over the house.

Sunday (Christmas Eve) I was up at 5:30 AM, showered, shaved, and shined, to iron my shirt and steam out any wrinkles in my suit and Princesses dress. We attended our old Church Ward so that we could see everyone. It was great! As we sang the closing hymn, Silent Night, Cardon, our dear sweet friend, began to cry. She said it was too much, the music, the talks, and us sitting beside her at Church like old times. She made us cry too. We Love you Very Much Cardon!!

After Sacrament meeting there, we headed back to pick up Linda and go to Princesses old home Ward. We saw many familiar and smiling faces, some tears were shed, but it was great overall. The music from these two Wards was overwhelmingly superb. It still gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. Also, it being Christmas Eve, we went to Lindo Michoacan for Mexican food (again). Then home to wrap last minute presents. Got to bed late, so late, I even heard Santa's bells ringing on his sleigh.

Vegas Day Two & Three

The next several days of our vacation at "home" we spent running errands to tidy up the Christmas shopping.

On Thursday, I was at our Vegas factory at 6:30 AM for a conference call with our purchasing department. Three hours later, I was back at the in-law's helping Princess make some Holiday treats for the big Christmas dinner at my sister's house. We then headed back up to the factory for a retirement party of one of my former bosses. It was great. Princess got to see a lot of our old friends and we had a great time.

We went to the Sunset Galleria Mall to do some more shopping, got a call from our friends from Utah, and the wife, Carollee and the kids, Spenser, Addison, Mollee, and Emillee, were at the mall while Doug was at the NY NY Hotel. We hooked up with Carollee and the kids, did some shopping and then caravaned back to the NY NY to pick up Doug. Off to our second favorite Mexican restaurant, then up to the LV Temple to see the sights and lights of the Holiday, then back home to bed.

Friday I took Linda while Princess took Bill and off we went shopping in separate directions. When we re-grouped, we headed out to Del Taco to eat lunch (are you seeing the trend? Mexican food everywhere), then to the mall and Costco. Later, we headed up to Danny and Paulette's where we were joined by Dan & Teri Willey. Pizza, wings, cheesecake and lots and lots of laughter. It was great to see them, visit with them and to be able to continue our tradition of getting together at Christmas time.

Vegas Baby - Day Uno

Merry Christmas...late, and Happy New Year early! Ha! I know that I have not been keeping up with my blog - too much work and too little fun time. So a quick re-cap.

We left for Vegas a week ago today, at the crack of dawn 4:45 AM. We arrived in Vegas at 9:00 AM PST and were greeted by my brother Bert at our gate (he works at the airport) and it was pretty cool to have that happen since all the regulations changed back in 2001. Bill & Linda (Princesses parents), met us in baggage claim, where surprise! Our luggage was number 1, 2, & 3 off the plane. We gathered it up, and headed to the in-laws house.

We dropped off the luggage, headed off for some errands and got a bite to eat at...the suspense is killing...IN-N-Out Burger!!! We then went into Henderson to my younger sister's to pick up my parents car (no rental car charges). While there we got to see my two nephews who have been living in New York state with their father, then my younger brother's wife came over with 3 of her 4 kids, and we got to hold and make kissy face all over my new 2 month old niece, Mallory Kate. She is such a cutie patootie!!! We left there, did some more errands and hooked up with our wonderful friend of many years Cardon. We got Linda to meet us and we ate at Macayo's for dinner...our favorite Mexican Restaurant. Bill is a professional real bearded Santa and he was working at a live Show at the FASHION SHOW Mall on the Las Vegas Strip (It was quite a production).

We got back to the in-laws around 9:00 PM and crashed! It was a very productive day.

Aussie Trip Recap

Arriving in Sydney, going through the usual customs immigration etc. I grabbed a cab to the hotel and $50 AU dollars later arrived at the hotel. It was now about 8:30 PM Friday night. I was beat and had no desire to go out and about by myself. My other travelers had arrived earlier and had departed for sites. Sleep drove me to bed about 9:30, and I was finally able to check my e-mail just before bed.
Saturday morning we ate a very expensive (in my opinion) breakfast, then headed out to the ferry over to Manly beach. I got some great photos of the beach, ocean, and cliffs. We walked, and walked, and walked. My poor old fat body was dying at the end of the day. For dinner, we headed out to Watson’s bay and ate at Doyle’s Restaurant. A 106-year-old establishment and I ate fish for the first time in about 30 years. I ate Snapper as my fish and chips (fries). It was delightful, not fishy at all, and very delicious. I even ate it without drowning it in tartar sauce.
Sunday morning we ate breakfast at an open-air café right by the Sydney Opera house. Beautiful view and really good food. We decided to head to the airport early to travel to Melbourne. In the end, I went ahead alone cause my ticket was changeable and my other workmates tickets were not. Left a cold and rainy Sydney for a warm and dry Melbourne.
Sunday night we dined on the balcony of an Italian restaurant overlooking the Yarra River in Melbourne. Monday we headed out for a 2.5-hour drive to the next audit. I audited all day; we finished and drove about 2 hours to Ballarat. My company has a plant in Ballarat. We met up with some Aussies from the plant and had a wonderful meal lakeside in Ballarat.
Tuesday drove about 2.0 hours to do a follow-up audit, saw more of the Ocean and some very beautiful but dry countryside. The state of Victoria has had drought conditions for about the last 7 to 8 years. We were hosted Tuesday evening at a barbecue at the home of one of the Aussies. Steak, Sausage, Lamb chops, a delightful potato salad and equally delicious green salad with Avocados, Mangos, and what they call "Rocket" greens here.
Wednesday visited and toured the plant in Ballarat. Great site, lovely people, and a wonderful production facility. It is so good to know that even 14,000 miles from home, the processes and standards are uniform throughout.
We left the plant and I was delivered to the airport in Melbourne to depart from Hong Kong. Which is where I am recording this while in my hotel room. I’m gonna post this and the NZED recap, then check out of the hotel, take a train to the city and sight see before my 11:00 PM flight tonight.
CAN’T WAIT TO GET HOME! Look out Texas, here I come.

New Zealand Trip Recap

So the past 11 days have gone very quickly. No time to get homesick for Princess or the girls cause work was so demanding.
I havenÂ’t had much time to blog, with the travel and spotty Internet connections. So I have resorted to using Word to record my travels and then be able to post them to the blog. I have posted once whiletravelingg, and I hope you will let me re-cap in this post.
Arriving in New Zealand (henceforth Nzed) as they call their country. Very green country from the plane. Anyhow, I digress, I went through customs and Immigration without a problem, took my two suitcases and comp bag, jumped on a bus and went to the domestic terminal, where my two bags were over weight by 1 kilo and I had to pay $20 NZ dollars to check them. I went through security, and waited to board my plane to Christchurch, on the southern island.
In Christchuch, I met up with my NZED contact and my Aussie counterpart. We then flew to Invercargill where it was coldÂ…about 6 degrees C. We got right down to auditing and finished the day at 5:00 PM. We checked into our hotel (the old post office turned into long term apartments). It is a beautiful old building with lots of charm and character. Tuesday back to auditing, finished, then fly to Christchurch again and drive to our destination. We did the meet and greet, set the audit schedule, and drove to our little town about 20K from the plant. We had a great meal and great views of the ocean from our hotel room.
All day Wednesday we audited our facility, ending about 6:00PM. Thursday, we finished up the audit, drove back to Christchurch and flew to Auckland. We went to dinner at DINE, a divinely inspired restaurant that had delicious food. I was ordering the duck (first time) and the waiter suggested the NZED beef. I changed, and was greeted with a beautiful portion of meat on beetroot green and beets (first time also).
Friday morning we flew to Whangarei (Fongarei is how it is pronounced in Maori) to audit. Beautiful portion of the Northern island. We audited, ate a delightful lunch (as you can see, food is very important to my two chins and me), finished the audit and I flew to Auckland so that I could fly to Sydney.
It was a whirlwind trip in NZED, but a wonderful lifelong dream fulfilled by work.

Just call me...

International traveler.
I arrived in New Zealand on Monday 27 November and have traveled around the entire country...from Auckland to Invercargill (North Island to almost Southern most point on the Southern Island). I have seen a lot of NZ from the air and from a car window. Unfortunately, not a lot of time to tourist visit some of the wonderful places that are here.

Today is Saturday, 2 December and I am in Sydney Australia. Got here about 9:00 PM last night, unpacked, have sorted my laundry to turn in for washing, and had a really good night's rest.

Today I get to go out and about to see Sydney and experience Down Under. I'll try to blog about those experiences later today. So far, it has been a really cool trip. No issues, No problems.

I'm missing Princess a lot and my two little four legged girls. At least we have been able to talk for a few minutes each night.

Gotta run and shower to start my day.

I'm Back

Yes, I know that I have been away a long time. It seems that November just flew past me and that I didn't know what to blog about with my boring life. Work was busy, spending the majority of it traveling to audit suppliers.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. We had a total of 26 people in our home and fortunately we were blessed with Stupendous weather, that we could set up the tables and chairs on the back patio to keep everyone together. Now the 26 people included adults and kids an almost 50/50 ratio. Everyone got along really well and we had a great meal. Three turkeys, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls, orange fluff, green bean casserole, Josh's grapefruit punch, relish tray, deviled eggs (yummy), asparagus casserole, cranberry jelly, and cranberry relish/compote, and of course homemade gravy to pour on everything.

The Whites came. The Jacobsens came. The Pettits came. The Pancratzes came. The Ikedas came. And we had pies galore. Pumpkin, Apple, Special Pumpkin, Granola, Custard, and more!

After eating, the kids were bored and the Dad's and I walked to the community park. We swang, tossed the football and Frisbee, and had a great time. We got back from the park and Mark had purchased tickets for everyone (yeah Mark) to go and see Happy Feet! I highly recommend it - 4 Stars!

We came back from the movie, had pie and visited while the kids ran their pie off in the back yard.

I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for a wonderful Wife! Who can see past all my imperfections and help me strive to be a better person and to fulfill all that I do and say. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For freedom to worship as I choose. To have troops that I support 100%+ to ensure all of us to have the freedoms we enjoy. I am thankful for good health and good jobs. For parents and in-laws and out-laws. For wonderful friends. I am thankful there was a light breeze yesterday to go along with the sunshine (near 80 F) that made our day much more comfortable. I am thankful to have technology that allows us to be near when separated by miles.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as joyous as ours!

Jim

Another...

Year older and wiser...isn't that how the saying goes? Well yesterday I celebrated (albeit quietly at my choosing) my 42nd birthday. Not depressed. Not blue. Just very sedate. Probably cause we had such a good night on Saturday for Princesses celebration that I decided that I wanted quiet.

We had Rosati's Chicago style pizza for dinner. Princess bought me an ice cream cake from B&R (chocolate cake with chocolate chip ice cream) decorated with Lightening McQueen and Sally from "CARS". It was really cool and great.

What did I do to celebrate you ask? I took the day off - slept in, showered - no shaving - picked up the house a bit - and then ironed from the ironing basket while watching "When Harry Met Sally". I love that flick. I also played some computer games and I watched some HGTV, all the while it rained cats and dogs until about 12:30.

I ate junk for lunch and just really enjoyed the whole thing. Princess got me X-Men 3 and some new cologne (of course from the Sadie and Sasha too). My sister called to wish me a happy day, along with the "old woman" (Linda my mother-in-law). And then about 10:30, Mom called to wish me a Happy Birthday also. Was I mad about the after 9:00 pm call? Not! Even though everyone knows my rules (no calls after 9:00 unless emergency), but for Mom, exceptions are made and gladly so. Also, My Breast Friend Debra from school called - we talked for about 40 minutes and it seemed like seconds. Can't wait to see her, LJ, and their brood when we go home for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas - Princess is finally...and I mean finally going to a stamping party and will be making all kinds of cool stuff. I hope that this is her foray into scrapbooking and re-invigorating her crafting gene. I'm hoping that she will get ideas for Christmas crafts, etc. and that she will then work on all the wood projects that we own and are not even started! (I know, evil nagging husband gene just reared it's ugly head.

Have a great one

Monday Blues

Ever have the feeling that you entered a new week only to find that it is going to be a very long one? I did today. I got to the plant, and decided that I would not unpack my files in my rolling computer bag. I would only take out those that I needed so that I could stay focused and complete a task...HA!

Of course everyone I interact with needed...no wanted some of my time. I did manage to get progress on my project, but not completed so I could get feedback from some other associates at a different plant.

This of course comes on the heels of a marvelous weekend (see previous post for Princess). I will try harder tomorrow to get the project completed, take out a new file and make stupendous progress on it.

On the home front, it is cooler here in Waco and I've been home for the past 2 weeks with this being the third one in a row - a record. Procrastination has become my middle name. We bought a Crepe Myrtle a couple of...no make that a month ago and I have not planted it - that is my task tomorrow after work as we are leaving in a while to go eat dinner with our friends, the Blackhurts.

Sorry for the downer of a post, but hey...life happens - we just have to deal with it and move on.

Jim

Forty Never Looked Better

Happy Birthday to Princess! 40 years ago today, Bill & Linda welcomed her into their arms, family, and hearts. I am thankful that they have shared her with me for the past 19+ years.

Last night we celebrated by going out to dinner with our friends. We went to this wonderful restaurant here in Waco called 1424. That is the street number of the establishment here, 1424 Washington. Very wonderful food. The picture above is from said dinner. Princess looked fabulous in her new pantsuit that we shopped for. Light aqua/turquoise with chocolate brown accents and chocolate brown pants.

Princess also raked in the goods, a cool candle and portable filing system from Cardon, Perfume from our girls (the puppies), perfume from me and of course, the Little Mermaid on DVD! The neighbors saluted her with a wonderful new straw bag from Brighton! She loved it.

At Church today everyone came up to her and wished her a Happy Birthday. Some one said to her "29 again?" and she smartly replied "Nope, 40 and dang proud of every moment!" Man, you gotta love a woman who is confident with her age and her looks.

Again, I am truly blessed to have her in my life...So way to go Princess! Happy Birthday and here's to another 40 more!!
Love Jim

Happy Anniversary

October 6, 1960...45 Years. That's how long Princesses Parents have been married. I ran out of time yesterday, but I did call and leave the "old woman" (my endearing nickname for Linda for the past 19 years) a Happy Anniversary voice mail at her work.

I am so blessed to have such wonderful in-laws. Bill and Linda have raised two wonderful daughters. At the drop of a hat, they come running from Vegas to Texas to help us out. They love to visit their eight grandchildren in Idaho, whom they surprise every once in a while with sneak visits.

Bill and Linda are great examples of Christ like love, service and charity. They inspire us to do better, be better, and serve unselfishly not only in Church, but in the communities were we live. I have seen these examples reflected in the lives of their girls. They hold true to their values, morals, and ethics. They teach unwavering testimonies of Our Heavenly Father, His Son, and the Plan of Salvation to everyone they meet.

I know that as they age, they worry who will take care of them. They needn't worry at all! Their family will greatly cherish their wisdom among our own respective families. I only know that I can say...I truly love them as much as my own parents.

So kick up your heels Bill and Linda - enjoy...you've earned it.

Your Loving son-in-law (Old Man) and Princess

Time Flies...

when work has been this crazy. Lately, I feel like a visitor in my own house! Sadie looks at me on Friday night as I try to laydown my tired head with "Look dad, this is my pillow! You go find the one you were using at the hotel!" This as I push my furried little pup to the side and slide into our now crowded California King bed.

Princess has been a trouper with all my travel...and I found out that I may have to go to New Zealand and Australia November 26 through December 8. Excited but nervous. I do well traveling Monday through Friday, but miss the weekends at home - gets me a little homesick for some TLC (no that is not The Learning Channel)!

Sunday, Princess will be 40! We have been married for 19 years which means that I have known Princess for half her life (one year of friends dating and then the engagement, hence half her life). She won't tell me what she wants for her birthday - so I'm working on it. We are trying to downsize our extravagant needs and she is doing a really good job by not telling me what she wants. Crap - I give her anything she wants...does that equate to spoiled on her part? Cause I know she spoils me.

The photo is from our back patio potted plants - she truly has a green thumb and with all my work stuff and honey-do list, I stopped to smell the roses...or in this case, the flowers.

Will post soon with pictures of her b-day celebration.
Jim