Turkey Tales -- Thanksgiving, Too!

Thanksgiving may officially be over for the year, but here are some things that happened over the holiday weekend that I'm thankful.
I'm thankful that Ryan and Becky could go with us to Texas (although I'm really, really NOT thankful that Dylan had to stay behind)!
I'm thankful that Jonny sent me an email to say he received our package! (It always brings a smile to my face.)
I'm thankful that we got a LOT of Christmas shopping done!
I'm thankful that the weather was so nice we could take a hike in the last wildlife area of Dallas County, even though the only wildlife we saw were four dachshunds!
I'm thankful that Rex was along for the hike Kathy, Becky, and I took after our Thanksgiving meal, so he could lend his handkerchief to Becky when her nose started to bleed! (My lone tissue just wasn't doing the job.)
I'm thankful that we DID see some wildlife around Kathy's house -- the scorpion who joined us for Thanksgiving dinner, the giant spider on Kathy's porch, the wasp sitting on a roll of toilet paper in the upstairs bathroom, all the geese that flew over her house, the moth flying around in her house!
I'm thankful that Kathy could take Mom & Dad to see Uncle Raymond (who's not expected to live much longer)!
I'm thankful that we had a lovely visit and made it safely back home!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for:
FAMILY -- including my two new girls, Ryan's Rebecca Rose (Becky), who officially became a part of our family on their wedding day, August 5th, and Nathan & Teresa's new daughter, Ryleigh Elizabeth, born three weeks ago. Now the Christner women equal the Christner men!
FRIENDS -- former co-workers I try to stay in touch with through monthly lunches (except for Jean, who, if I'm I lucky enough, can manage a yearly lunch!), fellow Altos in my church choir, old schoolmates whom I don't have a lot of contact with but still think of fondly, and others who've crossed my life and touched a special place in my heart.
CO-WORKERS -- new and "old"
RELATIVELY GOOD HEALTH
RELATIVELY GOOD SENSE EDIT
Thanksgiving is officially over; I have had my pumpkin pie, and it was delicious. Thank you
and a RELATIVELY GOOD LIFE!
Happy Thanksgiving!

A Peace of Portadown

Yesterday I finally mailed a package to Jonny, our Northern Irish teen from the 2005 Ulster Project. I meant to mail it about six weeks ago, but ...
The Ulster Project pairs American teens with Northern Irish teens (Protestant American girls with Protestant NI girls, Catholic American boys with Catholic NI boys, etc.), in hopes of helping build peace between the two religious factions. The organization's website (www.ulsterproject.org) states: The Ulster Project is dedicated to promoting a peaceful parity of esteem between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland by building tolerance, trust, and ongoing positive relationships among potential leaders from these Christian traditions.
Hutchinson sponsors twelve American-Northern Irish pairs of teens each summer. Our NI teens come from the Portadown area in County Armagh. (Other American cities sponsor teens from other parts of Northern Ireland.) We were lucky enough to be a part of the Project last year with our son, Dylan. And we were lucky enough to get Jonny Laverty as our NI teen. It was a great experience, and I encourage anyone who has the chance to participate to take it. It takes a lot of time out of your summer, but it's more than worth it -- it will change your life. I can't say enough good things about it.
Just be prepared to have a lot of Oreos and Mountain Dew on hand, and to send care packages filled with these items back to your NI teen!

Cataract Catch-22

Today was a beautiful day -- too bad I couldn't really enjoy it.
To have temps in the 80s in November is fantastic! And I was home for about three hours during the middle part of the day. But I was home because I'd had an eye appointment (to check on getting cataracts removed) and they'd dilated my eyes. It would have been great to sit outside to catch some rays and read, but it was too bright outside for me and I couldn't focus to read. And if my eyes had been well enough for me to sit outside and read, I wouldn't have needed to be home to recuperate. I would have been at work.
Tomorrow's supposed to be almost as nice, but I'll be inside at a workshop most of the day. Darn!

Rock the Vote/Voting Rocks

REMEMBER TO VOTE TUESDAY!!
There is NO excuse for not voting, short of being critically ill or similary incapacitated. While I won't tell you for whom to vote, I feel the need to make some observations on some of the upcoming local races.
First, let me say that I am a registered Republican, attend church regularly (sing in the choir, serve on committees, etc.), don't smoke or drink or use drugs (other than the multitude of meds prescribed for my migraines and assorted other maladies I've acquired over the years), and am basically a just a mild-mannered midwestern mama. But there are two Republicans I hope are not re-elected: Attorney General Phill Kline and Kansas Board of Education member Ken Willard. I encourage any of you who can to vote for Paul Morrison for Attorney General and for Jack Wempe for the Board of Education. I also encourage you to vote for USD 308's bond issue, if it's on your ballot.
But no matter who or what issues you're for, please vote. You have nothing to complain about if your candidates and issues don't win, and your vote CAN make a difference!

Moving In

Today and yesterday we helped Nathan and Teresa -- and Ryleigh! -- move into their new house. It was more "putting together furniture from boxes" than actual moving, though. Before we left today, it was looking a lot more like a home, since most of their furniture was there. (What we didn't put together was either delivered new from stores or brought over from their apartment.)
I took lots of digital photos of Ryleigh in order to email them to people, and I'll try to add some to this blog.
(I'll try hard to make my next post about something other than Ryleigh!)

Ryleigh's Here!

Ryleigh Elizabeth Christner finally made her appearance at 7:37 am on October 31st! She's our first grandchild, and my parents' first great-grandchild, so she's sure to be spoiled. (Oh, and she's also the first girl on my side of the family.) I'll try not to saturate this site with too many Ryleighisms, but I can't guarantee that I'll succeed.
Welcome to the world, Ryleigh!

In the beginning ...

I'm just learning how to blog, but hope to improve quickly. Unfortunately, the main thing on my mind right now is my two-day-old granddaughter, Ryleigh. (I went without sleep for almost 48 hours and haven't fully recovered.) So please excuse any random wanderings that don't make sense!