One more day then back to work

Well, one more day and I am back to work after having quite some time off for my travels. I am not dreading it, but I know that it will be a very long week, with inventory next weekend. But after next weekend it will be smooth sailing for a while! Thankfully!!

Yesterday I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for my family. Since we were gone on Thursday we didn't have a chance to have a dinner together for the holidays. After dinner we pulled out all of my Christmas decorations and started getting them put together. I have alot of Christmas treas and I love me some decorating! I was able to get the small white tree decorated with the gold decorations, and today I am going to decorate the green trea with all of my country and wood decorations and then also try to get to the big white tree with all of the silver and blue decorations. I also have alot of those animated characters and animals to get set out but that requires me to pack away our normal decorations so we will see how far I get. I also have a set of 3 pine trees ( the skinny trees) that I will need to find a home for this year! How exciting

I haven't started my christmas shopping yet but I am about to start looking online for some good deals! I want to do the majority of my shopping online and since we are being very low key this year it shouldn't take long to do that.

I will leave you with a few of the pictures I took yesterday of my daughter and her two cousins.

A couple more pictures of the scenery where I was raised

I keep thinking that I should just move back down here... We went by our old house last week, wow, did that bring back memories. My reference points were all so much smaller in real life then they were in the picture that my mind had drawn in my head. Our yard was much smaller then I remembered, it was just amazing how being away for 27 years has changed things, some good, some bad.

My mom is coping pretty well with the loss of her oldest son. She made a comment to me today that she should not have outlived any of her children. I told her that she can only raise her children, she can't force them as adults to live a clean and sober lifestyle. My brother made choices in his life that ultimately lead to the end of his life. That was god's will for making poor choices, I guess. At 49, I would still like to be living an active, vibrant life doting on my child and any children that she might have at that time. With God's will, I hope that my dream will come true.

Here are a few more of the scenic pictures I took of the lake I grew up on:

I wish it wouldn't have been hazy that day.

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and thanks for the well wishes with my brother.

Kenneth Rettko Jr. 1-59 to 11-08

Rest in Peace, my brother and give Daddy a hug for me.

I have arrived

I have arrived in Texas
Here is what I saw when I got here:

I think I am home.. I have arrived.

meaning of life

Last Tuesday I received a phone call from my brother telling me that one of my other brother's was really ill and in the hospital in ICU. My brother Kenny lives in Texas and is an alcoholic. I am not ashamed that he is an alcoholic, I know that it is a fact of life that some people have this addiction. I want to back up a bit to give myself a chance to reflect on the history. Some time ago, four years or so, Kenny was very ill, this illness was brought on by his alcoholism. The very thing that he loved and maybe hated more then anything nearly took his life. He recovered, with the admonishment that he never touch the stuff again or it is going to kill him.

Fast forward two years in August of 2006. My father died suddenly and Kenny and my second oldest brother and a cousin made the trip up here for the funeral and to lend support to my mother. During this visit, Kenny started drinking again. This time not to stop.

Another fast forward to this past week on Tuesday. This time, his liver is complete done for. No option for repair and maintenance this time. He needs a new liver. Unfortutely to his family and friends, alcoholics are not typically eligible for transplants until they can prove sobriety. In his case he must remain sober for 5 months before he will even be placed on the list. It is doubtful my brother will live long enough to reach that level of sobriety.

He is really going through detox right now and is so very hurtful and angry to his wife, it tears me up. I have been absent for blogging over the past few days because I have been dealing with my own feelings about this and wondering just how I could make this any better. I still haven't come to the conclusion and I am hoping that writing this down will make it easier for me to deal with 1200 miles away.

I am going to try and go to Texas next week and visit and see if I can be of any help. I really truly hope that I can find peace with it and move on. All things happen for a reason.

Please pray for my brother and his family.

new camera and not so mad photography skillz

Well, there is definatley a learning curve with this new camera. My Kodak Z1012 IS is wonderful and really isn't hard to learn but I guess I am not camera inclined anymore.

Example.. tonight my husband was burning a bunch of wood and things he brought home from the shop. I took this picture of us, try to look past the no make up and bad camera angle on myself and then look at how nicely I cut off his head :) Then you can notice the effect that the fire has on us.. we look like we are on fire as well. In my defense this is one of those one handed hope you get everyone's face in it photos... probably not to bad?

This weekend I hope to have some time to figure out this camera and all of the things I can do with it. :) I also hope to finish up a scarf I am knitting for a special present! :) Both of these things will probably not happen.

I have recently gotten back in touch with my best girlfriend from High School. It has been nice to have a little bit of time here and there to chat with her. :)

No, this is not poor photoshop skills, yet another victim of the flames:

New Camera.. I am such an impulse shopper!!

I have many faults but one of my biggest ones is that I am a very impulsive shopper. If I want something I normally just buy it without regard.





I chose this camera.. mostly because it really resembled my current camera, same brand of camera. And, I totally loved my previous camera! It was the best I had ever!!





This new camera is a 10.0 MP with a 60X zoom..The true test was tonight at the basketball game.. It took good pictures in that dark crummy gym!!!





Here is my new baby:

Bad Camera, no cookie!

Argh.. I am so upset at my camera. The pictures are coming out so cruddy... I know I know.. it is probably the photographer you say... To that I say pish posh... two months ago it was taking fine pictures... and now that I am trying to take pictures in a cruddy ole dark gym... it isn't working out well.





I need advice on what new camera to get. My budget is $300 for a new camera and I really would like to stick with my budget!!





What to get get, what to get... It takes fine pictures outside, just this gym... this gym is my nemesis... I must be doing something wrong... phooey!





Yes, I drive and take pictures at the same time. Safe? I think not!

Another Halloween Slips Away

Being from a fairly large family, it is funny to me that my one and only child is growing up. 14 years after her birth I find myself wanting to enlarge our family, I have this deep seeded need to either adopt a child or become a foster parent. You see, I really don't want a new born child, that is not saying if the big guy saw fit for us to have another child then I suppose I wouldn't have much choice in the matter. My longing is for a 5 or 6 year old child, even older, I don't mind. Hopefully the opportunity will arise one of these days :)

Anyway... another Halloween has come and gone. This is for sure Haley's last year with dressing up and going out trick or treating, I guess next year will bring high school parties and more teen ager things (boo-hoo). We picked her and her friend up from trick or treating and along with my nephew we took them to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was a good time with alot of laughs and full bellies!





Rachel and Haley have been friends since we moved to this town. Only a couple of fights have seperated them for a bit. My brother works at the Post office and he often says how much they act like sisters when they go to visit him. It is cute.