New Granddog

Here is the newest addition to my son's family. He is a Mastiff named Sid, He joins another Mastiff named Maggie. They are the sweetest dogs and are terrific with the kids.

American Girl Doll Store & Thomas the Train Trip

The reservations are set. Mercy & I will be traveling to Chicago on April 10th to go to the American Girl Doll Store in Chicago. This will be her birthday present from grandma. She is very excited. She does not have a doll yet. We will get her one when we go there. It will be a very expensive birthday. She will be 5 on April 7th.

On June 19th, Little JT's 4th birthday, I have purchased tickets to the Thomas the Train show in Connersville, Indiana. We will leave in the morning on the 19th, go to our hotel, let the kids swim and then on Saturday we will go to the Whitewater Valley Railroad Museum. We will have a total of 14 of us going. My cousin Dianne is taking her son and 2 girls from work are taking their kids. Dianne took Nick last year and he loved it, and wanted to go again this year. They have an actual real train painted like Thomas that we can ride on. The conductor is dressed as Sir Toppin Hat. The show is only there for 2 weeks.

JT's New Business

Jt has started a new business. He is a photographer. He does not have a lot of experience. He did do my wedding photos back in 2001 and I was very happy with them. He has a good eye for this. He is very excited to get some business. Mercy likes to be his model. I think she gets it from her dad. Here is a picture of him posing.

As a mom of a Marine, it is always sad to hear of someone in our armed forces pasting away. Pvt 2 Ryan Stabnik died this week at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. I had heard the story on the news. I just found out he is the nephew of one of our neighbors. He was loved and will be missed.

Found a Job!!

My husband had a lead on a job from the Cornwell Tool truck driver. Steve told Louie that Expect Tire on Western Ave. was looking to hire an experienced mechanic. Louie stopped in there yesterday afternoon and the manager gave him an application and told him to take it home and fill it out. Then come back today and they would sit down and talk.
He hired him. He should start sometime next week. They are waiting on his drug screen and background check to be completed. I am so glad he has found something. He was told they have great insurance. It is also days, thank goodness. He was on 3rd shift. With the current economy, I was a little worried how long he would be unemployed. It is a big relief to us. We are lucky, he was only without a job for 6 weeks. I have heard of people who have been looking for work for over a year.

Proud Grandma

I babysat last night for JT & Mercy while mom was at school and dad had to work. When I got there both kids were not dressed. I told them that they needed to go get dressed so we could go out for dinner. This is how my grandson dressed himself. I thought I was going to die laughing. Shirt inside out and backwards, pants backwards, no socks, only slippers, and this hat. I fixed his clothes, put socks and shoes on his feet, but I let him keep the hat. He is so darn cute and funny.

6 Months

Tomorrow, February 10th, will mark 6 months since I quit smoking. If you have ever smoked, you know just how hard it is to quit. I miss it the most when I an stressed out, or totally bored. So far I have managed to beat down the cravings. Not once have I picked up a cigarette since I quit. I know I can't smoke just one. One is all it would take for me to start again. The thing I really notice is I can't stand the smell of smoke on people's clothes. I still like the smell of a cigarette burning through. I do feel better, but I can't seem to be able to lose the extra pounds. I have joined a gym, but I am bad about going in the winter. If it is cold, I go home, put my pajamas on, and eat comfort foods. Now that the weather is getting better, I hope I will go and workout more. I love walking outside. I seem to do better when I can get out in the fresh air.

Spring Is On The Way

I found this picture of Mercy from last summer. She is pretending to be asleep on the swing. After the warm weather yesterday, I am so looking forward to spring. Louie and I went to Menard's and purchased 2 new storm doors for the front & back doors. I hope he gets the front door done today while the weather is nice. He made fun of me yesterday when I said I can't wait until I can mow the lawn. I love working in my yard and planting my flowers. This is a picture of one of my flowers from last summer. I hope that darn groundhog is wrong and spring will be here soon.

Retirement

I attended a retirement party for my cousin Ron on Saturday. His last day of work was Friday, January 30th. He worked 40 years for Koontz Wagner. I am so happy for him. I bet it will seem strange to him after about a week or two that he doesn't have to get up and go to work. I look forward to the day I can retire. 20 more years if I am lucky.