Time for a break

I have been up to my eyeballs the past couple weeks in year end paperwork. Unless you own your own business you can't appreciate how much bookwork it involves. I am not complaining tho especially when it seems every day I see on the news where another business is closing and more people are out of work. I am thankful for the type of business we have as everyone has electric and sooner or later it needs repaired. Locally the commercial building sales have remained steady and we have been blessed with getting a lot of contracts. As soon as the weather breaks we will be swamped and probably have to hire temporarily in order to keep up. That also means that i will have to leave the comfort of my warm house, put on my hardhat(which by the way is pretty cool looking) and be hands on at the job site. I kinda enjoy it if it isn't bitterly cold. I have taken breaks from my paperwork to work on a scrapbook for my hubby's b-day and our anniversary. I made him one for his 50th and it was about all his outdoor adventures since he was a child. This one is about our 36 plus years together and ended up being 37 pages long. It was fun going thru pics and it gave me the idea that when I catch up I am going to put together a slideshow of all my family from years ago so be prepared. I'll be sure to put captions on them so you will know who is who. Brooke tells me I have to post a pic with my post and I really didn't have anything lately so I am posting one I took from the deck last weekend of Jay ice fishing on the pond. He slides the boat out and fishes out of it on top of the ice. Not me!!! Later

Fun in the snow

Amy took the girls to her sis-in-law Robin's house so they could play in the snow with cousin Waylon. Looks like they had a blast. Enjoy the pics.

Very nice afternoon

After awakening to temps in the mid 30's and pouring the rain it turned out to be a beautiful day. The rain had stopped by the time we left church. Les and Rob asked if we would keep the kids while they went 4-wheeler riding with friends after church.Ethan spent most of his time with Papa outdoors. Brooke and I relaxed inside watching GSN.The 4-wheeler riders ended up here later in the afternoon after a several mile ride from their friend CH's property. They then continued on for another hour or more. I met up with Les later with the kids. I think Les was a little worried about the whole 4-wheelin scenario before they left but seemed to enjoy it tho. I know Rob did. If she had been riding with her brother-in-law Cory, she would have had a reason to worry. I rode with him one time and it didn't last long as I asked him to PLEASE let me off.Scared the "cadabors" out of me. Now Amy rides with him all the time and is not a bit afraid.I have seen them ramp a high clif and go airbourne and Amy calmly hangs on and laughs.She's a brave sole.We are to have one day of nice weather then ole man winter is to move in again.God blessed us again this week with the winning bid on another big commercial job.Looks like we will be very busy again this winter. YEA GOD!!! Later

Fun Sunday Afternoon

Happy Birthday Lou!!!

Just had to wish a special B-day to my "younger" sis. Here she is with 2 handsome men in her life -my son Bob and her grandson Gabe. Just want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am with all you have accomplished in your life. Also, congrats on the beautiful new grandaughter you have been blessed with. Hope you had a great day.

Christmas 2008

We had x-mas on Wednesday night because on x-mas day Bob's kids go with their mommy to her family and Cory and Amy spend the day at his family. For the past 10 years Les and Rob would go to his family on x-mas day before heading back to Indiana but this year his family is coming to their house on Saturday.The kids all had so much fun opening their gifts and it is so neat watching their faces as they do. They are as happy with a $1.00 gift as they are with something expensive. Jay and I spent x-mas day lounging around and reading books.We did finish getting a blueprint bid together that needed to be faxed in this morning.After we finish a bid , especially if it has a lot of $0000 behind it i usually take a deep breath, say a prayer and hit the send fax button. We leave it up to God as to whether we get it or not. There have been some that we didn't get and later down the road when the project starts we see why as there are problems with the project. So God knows best and he is looking out for us. Les, Rob and the kids came down for a while in the afternoon.I put together my first slide show and it is not quite perfect but I will figure it all out later. Enjoy.

Christmas Photos

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Polar Bear's everywhere

Quite a few years ago our former employer bid at a benefit silent auction for the first place tree and ended up getting it for a whopping $850.00. She decided we should have it. The theme was Polar Bear Express. It came permantly decorated which I have in the past couple years completely taken apart and revamped. It came with a big polar bear wreath, a big sleigh with a bear in it and an electric train set under the tree. I have been down with the stomach flu the past couple days but I mustered up enough energy yesterday to get it up. Thought I would share some pics with you.

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We started out with rain yesterday morning, turned to freezing rain last night and now snow. Are expecting 3 inches and then back to freezing rain. It is beautiful outside this morning with the big flakes coming down.Double click on this pic to see just how beautiful the snow falling is.

Paige and Heidi

Paige and Heidi spent the night last night. We had a great time with them as usual. It is so easy to put Heidi to bed. I just gave her a sippy cup and her 2 dollies along with her favorite blankie(which by the way her Mama Truber-my mom made for her) and I lay her down and she doesn't say a word and is off to sleep.She layed down at 9PM and slept til 8 this morning. I let Paige play some Diner Dash games on the computer and she went to bed at 10 PM. Amy picked them up right before lunch today. Seems like yesterday that Heidi was born and now she will be 2 in Feb. She is as ornery as any of the boys. Do I have cute grandbabies or what? I think they are all beautiful. Of course I am a "little" prejudiced.

Here's your wish Brooke!!!

Les said Brooke read my last posting to her and then said "boring". Les asked her why and she said cause there were no pics. So here you go Brooke! Figured if I needed to post a pic then it would be of you. Remember how warm it was a few months ago? Well you can look at this and dream about next summer. That will help you get thru the next few days of nasty weather. I love you Brooke.

Rain and Pain Today

Left early his morning and took my "baby" Les to the Periodontist over an hour away. Was a little concerned about the weather as it was raining and was to turn to freezing rain. We got along fine as far as the driving. Les had to have oral surgery to remove a tooth and have bone grafted in for a future permanent tooth to be installed. The procedure took over an hour. She was shaking so bad waiting to be called in that I had to smack her on the leg to stop her. She came out looking a little pale holding an icepack to her jaw. They gave her an extra one for the trip home plus a script for pain pills. She opted not to fill the script and instead took some ibuprofen. She has a cast on her teeth to secure the bone graft. I believe the cast bothers her more then the pain. She is not allowed to run for 2 weeks and that is really a bummer for her. Her stitches come out in a week. Amy's girls have had the stomach bug for 2 days and Amy has it today. She says she is going to start sending Paige to school in a bubble. Say a prayer for the sick and in pain members of my family.
The guys went all the way to Charleston, WVa today to do a job at a church. We got hooked up with an Audio Visual Group (they installed the A/V for our new church) and they have been giving us a job a week. They are a really great group of Christian men and we enjoy working with them.

Also remember me as I start a new venture in my life. For the past 2 years I have been the Community Team Coach at our church. This involved being the overseer of individual groups such as Women of Faith,Men of Faith, Churchwide Fellowship Events plus others. I have enjoyed it altho it has been a lot of work at times. Our church has a Vision Team consisting of 6 individuals that prayerfully oversee, guide and direct the church in all aspects now and for the future. Each member of the Vision Team serves three years with 2 going off each year. I was very humbled when asked this week if I would serve on this team for the next 3 years. After much prayer and discussion I feel led to accept. It is a big responsibility so I ask that you keep me in your prayers as I do God's work. Someone will replace me as Community Team Coach.
Later

Finally-a deer on the ground!!!

I finally got my deer with 15 minutes of legal hunting time left. It never got above27* today but I braved the cold and went to my blind at 3PM. The wind picked up and the temp starting dropping and I was praying for patience and endurance of the bitter cold. At 5:10 a small doe game in to my stand so I turned my scope on(the battery was getting low) and turned my safety off. She was small and I was certain a bigger mature doe would surely follow. Within 2 minutes here she came out of the wood line. The first deer was standing broadside to me and the big one stayed on the other side of her facing me making it impossible to shoot. After what seemed an eternity of me holding my ice cold gun up w/o gloves on I finally decided that if the small one would just take 2 steps forward I would aim for her neck. Well she finally stepped forward but the big one wouldn't raise her head so I aimed at the back/top of her neck and dropped her in her tracks. I came in to find my hubby anxiously waiting to hear the results of my gunfire. He was proud of me. I was so cold that I could hardly talk. After I warmed up a little we went to get her only to find that she was a he. He had a 1in spike on 1 side and a 2-1/2 in spike on the other but he was an older deer. Jay said it was good I took him as that was bad genetics as far as bucks go. They have to have at least 3 in antlers of some sort or they check them in as a doe. So I still have my buck tag. Bobby has a doe cut up and ready to can so looks like I'll be canning again in a few days. This is probably boring to all you non hunters but exciting for me. Later

Snow and cold

We have had a very cold week and it is white outside. We got about 1-1/2 inches of snow yesterday. No deer yet and the first of our shotgun seasons ends tonight. Our disabled friend Leah and her husband Jason arrived Friday from N. Carolina. Leah is such an inspiration to be around. She was in nursing school when she was 21 and was diagnosed with MS. When I first met her 6 years ago she could still walk but she is now in a wheelchair and only has the use of her right arm. She always loved to hunt and hasn't let her disabilities stop her. Her husband Jason is an angel in the 100th degree. We went to their home a couple years ago and they took us bear hunting. Jason will literally carry her up a 20 ft ladder stand on his back.She has 4 kids from age 6 to 16. Three years ago he carried her up in a tree stand, cocked her crossbow and then went to his stand. They communicate by radio. Boy was he surprised when he came back and she had shot a 250 lb black bear. If you are a Nascar fan you would love to live where they do. They are 40 minutes from Bristol, 1 hour from Charlotte and 2-1/2 hours from Martinsville. We took them to the Martinsville race the weekend we went bear hunting and had a blast. It didn't hurt that Gordan won the race either. They left right before noon for home today with the promise we would go over this spring and trout fish with them. We decided they would come next year and bow hunt when it is not so cold. Jason said he and the boys would come over and help build some handicap accessible blinds this next summer. Well I am back to the woods and hope to at least get a doe before the end of the day. Later