Hope all is well with you and this season of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas finds you with your family and those important to you.

From all of us with hugs.

Dagnabit

I've been working, cleaning and (gasp) community organizing. See blog here: www.northoakwood.blogspot.com

I'll get back to this -- fall is a'comin in. I'm prioritizing projects, sad about the cancellation of October visit by our daughter. However, I am planning Thanksgiving dinner with our son, daughter-in-love and Romy. Then, I will plan Christmas dinner with our daughter & BF. So, they will come to visit.

What is your favorite part of fall? I like the smell of the leaves, the promise of indoor fires, and nesting.

Take care.
-B

You knew those weren't the only internet sites I visit......

This site is maintained by someone I used to work with. He's retired now. His links are amazing. Check them out! They range from photos, philosophy, science, newspapers; I could go on and on. If you have a bit of time to kill, go there. I guarantee you'll learn something. His site is how I discovered WOOT.

Yes, Woot is a fun site. So is Shirt.Woot and now Kids.Woot and Wine.Woot. These sites sell a different item each day until they sell out or another day comes around.

"Regular" woot generally has geeky stuff, but they also seem to like vacuum cleaners.

Kids is brand-spanking new, just about a week old as of this post.

Shirt.Woot sells T-shirts. Some are a little wierd and all are very creative.

I have only ordered cheese from Wine.Woot and it was fantastic.

New New New

Yes, it's August already. Yes, it has been for, oh, 22 days. Sometimes I'm slow on the uptake.

Today I'll talk about the internet: how we get there and where I go. We get there through our BRAND NEW MAC desktop with its amazing 23" screen. I can finally see. Everyone over 50 should get a MAC just to be able to see with clarity. Where do I go on the internet? You may find some of these sites interesting.

Facebook: Yes, I have a fairly active FB page. Mostly centered around family & friends, books, movies and old high school acquaintances. My name is so common that if you want to contact me via Facebook, please just contact me here. It's easier, believe me.

SYD: Yup, a "diet" site. It's an amazing place with lots of tools to use to track what one eats and exercising. It has sections with philosophy and "help". It encourages formation of online community with blogs, private email messages and message boards. It is less than 10% of the cost of WW. Take a look if that's what you're into. And, yes, I have lost 15 pounds so far. My goal is, well, let's say it's down the road a ways but at least I can see the path.

NYT: This is our home page and favorite newspaper online and on paper. (daily, mind you)

BBO: This is an online bridge playing site that I go to infrequently. Gates and Buffett have been known to show up from time to time to play a hand. It works with the MAC which surprised me because I had heard rumors to the contrary.

I am pondering this: Grace

Someday I'll post the blogs I read, too.

Barbara

Ok I should post more often

My new August resolution to post more often. If I can find something useful, interesting or just plain fun to write!

** Our trip through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and back again was fabulous. We saw many relatives and friends, did some genealogical digging, visited our daughter and her beau, saw some awesome windmills, and got 26.5 miles to the gallon!

** It's August and school-time is coming up. Will be a big adjustment as Dan hasn't been teaching this past semester. He's already gearing up.

Take care! I'll find some more to talk about soon.

Jun 13, 1970

It has been forever since I've posted.
Today is a special day, so fitting to return
To the world of bloggers
With my Sweetie.
xxoo

Habits

No, not the kind the nuns used to wear. Those other kinds, the actions that stay with you even though you wish they wouldn't. The actions that you find yourself doing without even thinking. The kind that one minute you think " sheesh, I just .................". Oh, those habits! The bad ones, yeah.
I'm one of those to whom bad habits stick like glue. I'm peeling them off one by one. Smoking? Gone. Biting fingernails? Gone.

Now, on to the good ones! Exercise daily! Yes! I'm currently in a bit of physical therapy mode (nothing serious) and find that performing even the teeniest exercises daily requires a bit of a ... push? Thinking and nudging myself to do it. It'll take five minutes. I'll take time to enjoy the satisfaction that comes after as well.

What bad habits have you shed? How do you keep the good habits going?

Done!

100% of the way there! ZERO left!

Congratulations to Dan for finishing his treatment! Yay! Now we'll wait for the side effects to subside. These last couple of weeks have been a bit troublesome. I would say not terrible, though. The Med Team said it will take 8 weeks to get back to normal. Here's hoping for a quick 8 weeks!

And, we're getting a hint of spring! The last 2 days the temps have been in the 40's and 50's. It is so uplifting to not worry about falling (ya, we've experienced that this winter), taking twice as long to get to work, being shut-in because the old Volvo is surrounded by snow and ice -- you get the idea.

Water & Ice

Brrrrr

We did get hit by the winter storm. I think this is our first this year. It really wasn't bad, but the layer of ice in between the 2 layers of snow made things interesting! Schools were closed, even U.D. Many businesses were closed, too. Dan didn't have treatment yesterday because they closed the clinic. So................

86% of the way there! Only 6 left after today!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Today

82% of the way there! Only 8 left after today!
Amidst all the snow, cold, economic depression and personal issues, there is hope.
Love,
Barbara

Change in the air

Tomorrow Barack Obama will be inaugurated president of the United States of America. We will have a quiet celebration at home. We are so very happy this moment has come and are so very hopeful once again for the United States.

We cannot stop now and just let those in Washington work for change. We have to continue the grass roots movement in our own communities. Choose your cause, an issue that is near and dear to your heart and volunteer to help it move in the right direction.

Here are some words from our President-Elect

Dan's Treatment

70% of the way there! Today was 30 of 43!

You go, Dan! So far, Dan has held true to the doctor's prediction that he would "sail through treatment". Here's hope that it continues. There's just 13 more to go, less than 2 weeks' worth of treatments.

Although there's no discernible difference, the first 25 treatments were more "general area" radiation treatments. Now the radiation is centered more directly on the prostate and not the surrounding area.

Technology and Me and Thee

Technology and me and all my family and friends is what that title really should read. We just got finished Skyping with Lena and Tim. It was especially touching because it's been a bad day. Lena was in a car accident this morning. She appears to be OK -- bruised and shaken up with a bump on the head -- but it was a scary accident with the car flying off the highway over the service road into a field.

It was soooo wonderful to see her face and make her smile and see that too. We looked GREAT in our PJ's and sweats, I'm sure. We joked about bringing Tim's family into the world of technology. I bet his nephews would LOVE Skype.

Our granddaughter is growing up Skyping every week with her grandparents who are in two very different parts of the globe from her. We laugh and sing and talk about elbows.

So, if you are reading this and you would like some help to do "voice and video over IP" (= FREE), drop me a note or a comment and I will help.

For those of us far away from people we love, it's the bees knees.

Making Progress

50% of the way there! Today was 22 of 43.

Today Dan crossed the 50% mark! He seems to be doing great. Side effects are relatively minimal at this point. Tiredness is the main issue. He's been sleeping a lot more, taking naps during the day and sleeping longer at night. I've always needed more sleep than him, so now we're equal. Well, at night anyway. I don't get naps!

I'm so glad he's on medical leave so the pressure isn't there to teach/work a full time job. He would have trouble finding the energy to teach.

Giving

That's one of those things I'm going to work on this year. We do okay by our nuclear family, but that's about it. There are so many other people out there who are important to us and who give to us --- and we are remiss in giving back. We have not yet sent out our Christmas cards, I have yet to send my sister and her family anything for Christmas. (now, granted, they were out of the country for the holidays, but still........), and there were others here in town who gave us/me presents where I just gave them a smile.

I feel overwhelmed. I don't shop that much, so seldom "pick something up" for someone when I see it. When I go shopping I can't think of what to look for. And, currently I'm not organized enough to make anything. I do think of other people, it just doesn't translate into things......

A smile is nice, but in this situation it's not enough. Do you have suggestions on how I can get a handle on this?

Speaking of giving, our niece just gave a kidney to a co-worker! Kate has done a very special thing by providing something to someone to allow him to live.

Happy NEW Year!!

I've waited too long and-I have a dozen things to post. I'll take one at a time, per blog. Most importantly, Happy New Year! 2009 is going to be a good one, I can feel it. (knock on wood).

I've made a few easy-ish resolutions that work up to bigger ones. Two are: take a walk a day (for Dan, Boo and I) and do chores on Saturday mornings. Well, you see, that second one comes from being a total slob and a sloth on Saturdays. The plan is I'll do chores on Saturday morning so then the rest of the weekend is FREE! Okay, so those are the 2 resolutions that I'll share today. If I keep some of the others for more than a week, I'll share those too.

Dan's treatment has been sporadic these last 2 weeks -- we were out of town, the computer system was on the fritz, holidays, more holidays. These next few weeks should be five days a week.

44% of the way there! December 29th was 19 of 43.

We wish you the best in 2009 for you and your family.
And, if we ARE your family, we love you !