Major detour!

I'm writing this from a hospital bed in Kingwood Hospital- possible gall bladder sugery, and breathing treatments. Life is never fair - at least sometimes! Luckily this happened while I was in Houston and not on the highway...................
More on this saga later

Happy New Year!

On the road, in the air (hopefully)!

I'm,, heading out of "Gypsy Kids" territory in the morning, flying,  and will hopefully cross the Texas/Mexico border, driving, on Tuesday or Wednesday.......I'll post, on down the road, in sunny warm San Miguel on Thursday, probably......hopefully.

Surprises of Christmas

It is the first Christmas of the "Gypsy Kids" even though they were married and pregnant last year. BUT this year, with Mz. Matilda in attendance it was all it could be. Last year there was no tree, as John had just had a hernia operation and Lisa was waaaaaaay pregnant. So, in reality this was the first Chirstmas "celebration". And it was a celebration.

I was in for a delightful surprise. It was seeing my son carry on traditions from his childhood. Little things, like buying candy canes to hang on the tree. Buying greeting cards to write special message in and putting those on the branches of the tree. He was so excited about buying stocking stuffers - just like his dad did. It warmed my heart. He has waited so long for his own family and it is beautiful to see him revel in his joy with his wife Lisa and his baby Matilda. THAT was my Chirstmas present.

Their day begins around 5:30 or 6 depending on baby's awakening. I've been draaaaaaaaging myself up to share in the quiet morning coffee drinking and baby sharing. It's been well worth it.

I've been down on the floor every day with Matilda. She is a quick study. I started patty cake with her and now all I have to do is say the words and she starts clapping. She loves when I put a napkin on her head and say, "Where's Matilda?" as she pulls it off her head and peals with laughter. The simple, beautiful things of life.

As far as presents go, they are fun, but not that important - except for the kids of course. In that vein, the "kid" in me got a martini shaker, a "vintage" one so I can make Tequila Sunrises, Martinis and a zillion other drinks. By turning the top of it, it tells you the ingredients. You can rest assured it will be tucked into the suitcase for Barra and I'll be "shaking it" down the beach with limes tucked into my beach bag along with other goodies.

So the Grammy stage ends on Monday and then the Beach stage begins...............

By the way, I tried for two hours to be able to download photos here at the internet center and for many reasons I couldn't so you'll just have to continue to be patient for the photos when I get back to my own computer..........sorry.

Feliz Navidad

Last year was Oaxaca, the year before Veracruz and, of course, this year the "frozen tundra" of Colorado. My point being, you never know where you'll be a year from now. I never in a million years would have thought I would be here. It HAS been great. But for the first time, homesickness is creeping in. Not much longer til I head South.

2009 will be FINE! 2008 was GREAT! If all goes well, hopefully for next Christmas I'll be in the arms of a "honey" whoever that might be. But goals are good, aren't they? I have someone in mind too.............

Just had to take a minute to tell all of you that YOU are always not far away from me in my mind and heart. Wherever you are and whoever you're with, I wish you PEACE and SERENITY and of course LOVE. All of you have brought much JOY to my life!

EIGHT DEGREES - NEED I SAY MORE?

I actually went out in THAT yesterday! A blood vessel in my eye burst while we were having breakfast - never happened before and I'm blaming it on the cold! I NOW understand gloves, scarves, hats, coats and thermals. God help you if you got all that on and then changed your mind.
My toes are in mutiny. I hate shoes and so "toes in the sunshine" are my preferred method of living. Not now! I actually dislike too many clothes also, hence my love for the beach, but right now I have so many heavy clothes on, I could fall over and not feel it.

So, ok, I'll stop whining. It has been a shock to experience this though.

Did you see the article about the Continental jet crashing on takeoff at the Denver airport heading to Houston? Everyone escaped by sliding down the wing. The firemen on the scene couldn't believe that many people didn't die. Wow! I'm now imagining myself sliding down the wing of a 737. Not my idea of a Happy Holiday vision.

In a few minutes, we're all heading to Old Town in Ft. Collns to wlk the strets and see things. It's up to 22 and everyone says "Wow, it's so nice". I'm looking at them as though they just lost their minds.

Tomorrow Lisan and I will bake Christmas cookies. The next day make dressing and relax onChristmas with Mz. Matilda, Lisa and John. Ahh, the Big Day is finally here.

And, two weeks from today I'll be in Barra - but whos counting? ME

Toes in the sand, nada, but little fingers on the table, si!

Thanks to Steve for that line. It brought back some memories from the last four weeks and new ones from the last twenty four hours.

When I cooked the Christmas Family Dinner on Tuesday for the Houston group, I had purchased a new Christmas tablecloth for the family. So here's the scenario, all the food is on the table, everyone is seated but the parents and one of the kids spills a few drops of iced tea. AND the fun insued. Unbeknownst to me, the tablecloth was water repellant and the kids were enchanted with the idea that the iced tea didn't soak into the cloth. The first few drops were quickly cleaned up into a paper towel, but, in order to show Mom and Dad when they came to the table, a few more drops had to be spilled so they too could witness the "miracle of the cloth". It was very cute and so innocent. I chuckle about it even now. Children's perspective of what is miraculous and ours is miles apart. Theirs, in my opinion, is more on target.

So, now I'm with the Gypsy Kids and Mz. Matilda who is beyond precious and EVERYTHING is with little teeny fingers. She sticks her pointer finger out for me to touch it and then peals in laughter. A miniature E.T.! She delights in this for minute after minute - her laughter makes me laugh. And, yes, I'm down on the floor at her level where we can communicate.
Watching her eat also brings smiles, today it was beets and oh my, she's like a little bird with her mouth wide open waiting for spoonful after spoonful from Mom or Dad. Finishing the meal, she is a HAPPY camper in her little outfit with footies. Why can't adults wear an outfit with footies? They sure look warm and snuggly to me.

The sun came out just as we were leaving the grocery store with all the food for me to cook for the next couple of weeks and darn, I didn't have my camera with me. It was a sight I've never seen before.

All the trees were covered with snow and ice, the ground is covered with snow, the sky is now azure blue and the mountains are in the backgound. It was a breathtaking sight.......you'll have to take my word for it. Now that the sun is out, all the white looks better to me.

Tomorrow's high - 17 degrees. OMG!

Snow outside..warm by the fireplace inside

Travel day yesterday, out of a zillion people in the Houston International Airport, the couple who sat down next to me, has a house in San Miguel, and were on their way home to Boulder! What are the chances? We talked and talked - what a cool couple! I KNOW our paths will cross again.

So, after the uneventful flight and the shuttle to Ft. Collins, I am firmly ensconced in my OWN warm room with my OWN BATH. HOW NICE.

Tomorrow is the 45th birthday of son John! How can that be when I so VIVIDLY remember my escapades at that age? It seems like only yesterday.

So, tomorrow, providing its NOT snowing, I'll head out and explore the area. There is definitely enough snow already to make an angel in the snow.......

I've taken a ton of photos to share but it will have to wait til I can download them.

Overall impression of my surroundings here - LOTS of white!

Adios from the "frozen tundra" of Colorado.

Moving On!

The "Houston portion" of the journey will end in a couple of days and I'll be in Colorado for two weeks. Looking forward to seeing the "Gypsy Kids", but according to them I'll be "arriving between blizzards". Oy vey!

Still to do here is cook a Christmas dinner tomorrow and have our "Family Christmas" and then head out Wednesday. The gifts are wrapped - all I have to do is get all my stuff from Houston to Kingwood for the next couple of days.

Saturday evening was spent with my brother and sister-in-law and my grandson #2, Christopher. You never know when you give someone a gift, if they will like it or not. Christopher got a microscope "with an incubator" he says, and a tiny digital camera. I saw this camera at Walgreens for $20US and thought," Well he'll have fun with it but I doubt it can take much of a photo". Well, it was the HIT. By the time he went home - a few hours later, he had figured out how to make a video on it! He had so much fun, much to my delight. Super kid!

Dining out in Houston is a treat - in more ways then one. With over 14,000 food establishments in the Greater Houston area, you can dine on anything your heart desires. Yesterday we went to Hugo's, a Mexican restaurant owned by a lovely man and his wife. Hugo Ortega is from Puebla. All the waitstaff is from Mexico. Our waiter was from Morelia and the manager is from Leon. Needless to say, I had conversations with a bunch of the folks. What a fabulous array of dishes they had. We ended the meal with frothed hot chocolate. Yum. I've had Chinese, Texas BBQ, of course, Tex-Mex, diner food at the 59 Diner and a few other delicacies that I can't even remember at this moment. You get the picture....a gastronomic delight.

So, that's about it...........doubt that I'll be able to blog before the end of the week - but, don't forget about me, ok?

A Noticeable Absence

My routine in Mexico is to get up, fix coffee, settle in, read the papers online and then read everyone's blogs, comment and then start the day! I LOVE that routine.......... Routine, I have had none during this trip. I'm "borrowing" other people's computers sporadically and trying to keep up with all you "favorites" of mine. But, alas, I'm way behind in all that is happening in all of your lives. I was thinking about that while stuck in traffic, all over Houston today. It's like I don't know what my "friends" are up to or going through or thinking about............geez and I miss ya'll. I won't be back in a routine til around the 22nd or 23rd of January and by then, heaven only knows what I will have missed. Boo hoo!

Friends Forever

Just a warning, if and when you become my "friend", it's forever! I can count on one hand those people who I've "lost" over a lifetime. And, I'm sad about each one of them. Many, many of my friends are from grammar school and on through the ages. Friends mean the world to me.

I had lunch today with one of those "friends". We met 28 years ago, dated, didn't date became great friends and he has been in my life ever since. When he married, I was his wife's maid of honor and we are all good frends. He has been there for me and is the reason that my design business got its start in the commercial world. He told me the company he was affiliated with was building a headquarters and I should call and meet with the owner. - I did - got the job and then died of fright at how in the world I would accomplish that big job. We laughed about that today.

He was there when my granddaughter severed her toe and sat in the waiting room with my family as we waited for that crisis to be over.......and the toe to be reattached, successfully.
I could go on and on. Always there through the good and bad. When he had a heart attack and was in a regional hospital I had a "hissy" fit and got him transferred to the Texas Medical Center. (You don't ever want to see me have a hissy fit) He says I saved his life. I tell you all this because to me that's what friendship is............going to the max for the people who you care about in life.

And, the payback is, if you need a payback, to see those friends happy, healthy and full of life and enjoy the fun of reminiscing about the good and bad times.

Thanks John for a stroll down Memory Lane today.

SNOW FLAKES on the windshield!

Snowflakes on the windshield, right now, right here in HOUSTON. I love surprises, but this was a total surprise. It's 33 degrees right now and I"m sure if I were in the northern burbs of Houston I'd hear front doors slamming as kids rush out to catch flakes on their tongue before the snow hits the ground and melts.

Houston goes crazy when there is a REAL snow and a little nuts even in this situation. I remember in 1974 or perhaps 1973 we had three snows in one winter. Never happened since. By the third snow everyone was over the thrill. But the first one saw people with cardboard boxes sliding down the off ramps of the freeways; telephone repair trucks with snowmen made and sitting on the roofs of their trucks as they drove around and other assorted humorous things.

Four years ago after Jennifer died, my daughter Julie took all the kids and little Christopher to the mall to see Santa and to see real snow. When they got to the mall the snow had not been delivered and the event had been cancelled. HUGE disappointment among the kids, HUGE< and my daughter turned to Chirstopher and ASSURED him that it would snow on Christmas Eve - that his Mom would see to it in Heaven.

Of course when I got up here and was told this story by Christopher I started backpedaling and saying, "Well, maybe it won't, etc." And he would look me straight in the eye and say"Of course it will Grammy". So, Christmas Eve came and Christopher , John, (the Gypsy Kid) Christopher's dad and I went out to leave food for the reindeers and yup, you guessed it, It started snowing. I mean really, REALLY snowing. Never before on Christmas Eve - never. (I had to go in the house, cause I "lost" it) but Christopher came to find me and he said, "See Grammy, I told you Mommy would send the snow". So..........maybe this is an early Christmas present to all of us from someone up in Heaven.........LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW.

By the way, I'm home where I'm staying and not leaving again til it stops..........

Whoosh!

It has gone from Saturday to Saturday so fast that I can't believe a week has past! I've shopped, ate with family and friends, had a day in Old Towne Spring with my daughter, traveled to Clear Lake, Seabrook and points south..............saw Amanda who is NOW walking 300 steps !!!! and then saw the unbelievable devastation of Galveston. I have photos but don't know how to download them from here.......

I walked the beach this morning, oh beautiful blue water, and if you didn't look behind, you would think there was no devastation..........I tried not to look, but oh my. I did put my toes in the Gulf.......wish I could have stayed for a week, but alas, other things to do. It was so great to spend time with Sue (Vandy was deer hunting) as they wait to start rebuilding their house in Galveston.

I arrived at my daughter's house to set off the house alarm and couldn't find any of the family to give me the code. OMG, I was freaking. No police showed up here though. I had visions of a SWAT team...........whew.

I'm off to a choir performance tonight, house decorating manana and then a performance of the "Nutcracker" on Monday night of my "special needs " twin grandchildren......

I'll NEED those two weeks at the beach in Barra when all this is over.
Ten days til I head to the "frozen tundra" of Colorado..............
Sure am enjoying the central heat here as it was 34 this morning.
That's the latest from Texas!