And it continues to snow!

I cannot believe how much snow is falling here! They are predicting 6-10 inches of new snow today! That will put us at about 5 feet of snow for the month of December! I sure hope we aren't getting this much snow at home!

We went to Kellog and bought Mike's new truck. What a nice, easy car buying experience! No haggle price, a fair price for a trade in, no pressure to buy extended warranty, etc. We saved several thousands of dollars by buying through Dave Smith over buying from a local dealer in Utah. So all in all a very productive deal. He got the inferno red 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab. It is a beautiful truck! Hopefully he'll be happy with this for a few years!

Today is our big day for Christmas celebrations. Our whole family will be here later this afternoon and evening. We'll have a big meal, lots of laughter and fun and then presents from my parents. This is a day I look forward to all year. It's just family and we have so much fun together!

Well, I need to get in the shower and get ready for the day to start! Merry Christmas!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

After 12 hours of white knuckle driving we finally made it over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house! The passes were tretcherous but Mike is a very safe driver so we made it fine. I do have to say that isn't true of many people who ended up in the ditch. We saw several very bad accidents on the way. We were supposed to go pick up Mike's new truck today, but that would mean going back over one of the passes and it is still snowing so we won't be making that trip today. It is supposed to stop snowing later today so we'll see about going over tomorrow afternoon when it is a little warmer and the plows have had a chance to do their job.

Mike has a really bad cold so that didn't make traveling any easier. I slipped and fell at a gas station in Dillon, MT and now my neck and back hurt. I am really hoping it is just pulled muscles. Chelsea is the only one doing okay I think! Dad and Mike are out pulling one of my nieces out. She got stuck on the main street of Coeur d' Alene!

It is nice to be home for Christmas and to have Mike here enjoying it with my whole family. I am going to be lazy, take naps, do a little scrapbooking and probably eat too much. Since I put on several pounds in the last week due to meds. I figure one or two more won't hurt! It sucks that I was able to keep the weight off for two years and now I'm almost back where I started. I looked back at my weight and I was exactly 10 lbs lighter on Nov. 21st of this year! Crazy!

I was hoping to get some running in while I was here and even bought some Yaktrak's which go on running shoes to get a grip in the snow, but with so much snow right now I don't think that's going to happen. I don't want to risk really doing something bad to my neck!

I need to take Chelsea to the mall later so I may just do a couple of laps while I am there. At least it will be warm!

Well, I need to go spend some time with my wonderful mother. I'll post later, hopefully with photos of the new truck!

Life is Crazy!

School is over for this semester, thank God! I have also completed all of my internship hours for the semester. I've spent the last few days making 75 Christmas cards. Next year I'm sending store bought!

Tonight we are hosting an open house and expect about 150 people! We are making it a fundraiser for Sub for Santa because so many people are struggling this year and they are so low on donations.

I've spent the last week working on appetizers, etc. for the party. Should be a great time!

Lucky for me my cousin Robin is coming down from Twin Falls, ID and she will be a big help!

I am trying to finish a few last minute Christmas gifts as well. We cut way back this year, but I think the girls will really appreciate their gifts more.

We cut back on the girls, but Mike is another story. We are picking up a brand new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab truck while we are in N. Idaho. We got such a good deal that it is worth going there to pick it up. Plus we are going to be there anyway for the holidays. Our attempt at stimulating the economy!

Life is so good for us and we just hope it continues. So many people are having a hard time that we feel guilty for having such a good year.

On a bad note, I have another herniated disc in my neck. Yes, the third one. I had one fused in 2000 and one in 2002. The dr. says I won't find a neurosurgeon who will fuse a 3rd because it really just becomes a vicious circle. Once they fix one the risk of another one going dramatically increases, and I'm living proof of that. Unfortunately there's not much they can do non-surgically. I am now on prednisone which has actually helped. The bad thing, though, is that it really packs the pounds on me! I put on about 3 lbs over Thanksgiving, just from eating too much, and now another 7 lbs. since I started the meds. And on a 5' 1" frame 10 lbs is a lot of weight. Oh well, at least I don't have shooting pains down my right arm!

And I will aggressively work to get rid of the extra weight after the New Year. I am back to running again and go myself the Wii Fit. I will probably lose 5 lbs just by quitting the meds, which run out tomorrow. Then the rest will be up to me!

Well, I've got to get busy getting ready for tonight.

If I don't post again before Christmas I hope you have a wonderful, Christ-filled Christmas.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for. I am healthy. Mike is healthy, Chelsea is healthy. Harley is healthy. Eline is healthy. Scruffy is healthy. All of my extended family is healthy. I have a wonderful, loving husband. I have a great kid, a great step-daughter and a great Dutch daughter. I have a beautiful home, lots of nice things, no bills except a mortgage and a comfortable income. I have great friends. I am getting a great education. My life is so good. God has blessed me so much that I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve all of this. I am truly blessed.

Chelsea's soccer coach

I am very angry right now. We live in one of the most medically advanced countries in the world. Chelsea's 23 year old soccer coach can't get treatment for his cancer, though. Why? Because he doesn't have health insurance. His skin cancer has spread, but because he can't afford the treatment he will die in 6-12 months. How's that for truth, justice and the American way?

A lot of people criticized Michelle Obama when she said she was finally really proud to be American. (Meaning, of course, that she hasn't always been "really" proud, maybe just somewhat proud) Well I think I know some of what she felt. It's hard to be proud of a country that lets people die because they don't have health insurance. Someone said to me "Well he should have gotten a better job so he'd have insurance." Great idea, except that's not always possible, especially when you are that young. And, when you've been diagnosed with cancer before your 22nd birthday it's hard to find an insurance company that will accept you.

So, once again Chelsea learns that there really is no justice in this country for people who don't have money. I just hope it's a lesson she tries to do something about when she's older. That's assuming, of course, that she gets a job with good health insurance, or doesn't get sick if she doesn't.

I guess his family will be thankful tomorrow that they got to have him for this long. Not much else for them to be thankful for.

News

I got the best news today! Eline is coming home in July for a month! I was so excited I almost cried when she called and told me today! I can't wait! I have a package to send her for St. Nicholas Day. I need to mail that tomorrow. Hopefully it will get there on time.

Chelsea is now working at Old Navy. She's not that thrilled about it but she just needs to learn that sometimes you have to do things you don't like in order to make a living, and she has a car to pay for. I think it will get better once she gets used to it, and once she is cashier trained.

She lettered in soccer a few weeks ago, which was exciting for her. But she got some bad news the other day. Her soccer coach, who is only about 23, found out his skin cancer is back. He was treated about a year ago and was doing fine, but last week he went in for his regular 3-month check up and the results weren't good. He went for a body scan, but we haven't heard anything back. I think that might mean the news is bad. He got skin cancer from playing soccer without using sunscreen. Just something to think about.

Mike turned 49 yesterday. I got him a bird house because he likes to watch the birds in the back yard. I also got him an iTunes gift card. He loves music and wants to download some of his favorite songs. We went out to dinner at Jasoh's. It is a really nice restaurant and definitely the best one we've eaten at in Utah. We like to try new places out and this one was definitely the best. We also ate out at a Vietnamese restaurant this weekend and that was really good, but definitely in a different class.

I know we eat out too much but school is almost over for the semester so I'll be back to home cooking again!

I two papers due and I will finish one of them today. I have two weeks to finish the other. Now, if I don't procrastinate too much I should be done in plenty of time.

We went and bought a new TV today for our living room. We actually have a great room, with a 26 inch TV in it and it is just too small. We bought a 46 inch one today so on Thanksgiving the guys can watch football on it. The kids will be downstairs playing Wii and other video games on the big screen down there.

I am home all alone today. Mike is watching football with a friend and Chelsea is at work. It is actually quite nice. I can listen to my contemporary Christian music with no complaints and I will definitely get this paper done within an hour.

Well that's all for now. I need to get back to work so I can plan for Thanksgiving. We are having about 20 people over so it should be fun!

Update

Lots to report. Chelsea got her license. She totaled her car after 5 days. She's okay, just some air bag burns to her face and neck. Won't leave any scars. I've spent the past week looking for another car. We bought the first one, she has to pay for the second one. It's a 2002 Buick LeSabre. Yes it's big, no it's not something a teenager really wants to drive. I don't care. It's safe and affordable.

Chelsea started her new job today at Old Navy. The best part is she brought home friends and family discount cards. And she will have money to pay for her car.

I got lots of advice about what to do about the wreck. It's been suggested that she pay for the first car ($3400) and now for her insurance ($300 every 6 months). Add that to the cost of her new car ($3000) and she'd be indebted for about the next six years. My philosophy is that she is a good student (B+ average), doesn't drink, smoke, cuss. She is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award (collecting crockpots and creating a cookbook for the Homeless Veteran's Fellowship), she's in marching band, and is trying out for drumline. She goes to church because she wants to, not because I make her go. The accident was because it was dark and raining and neither Mike nor I went over all of the controls on the car with her. She turned on the windshield wipers and they wouldn't stay on. She looked down to see what was wrong, drifted to the right and hit a parked car. Now I'm not saying the accident wasn't her fault because it was. I am saying it could happen to anyone. And yes, the police officer checked her cell phone to make sure she wasn't texting or talking.

So her punishment is that she has to pay for her new car. She has to give me 50% of her paycheck at Old Navy or $100 per month, whichever is more. She has to keep her grades up or drop out of any extra curricular activities. If her grades still are not at least a B average then she will have to quit her job and then she'll have to stop driving the car. I think that's fair. By the way, her insurance did not go up at all. Amazing. I love USAA. They are the BEST insurance company around!