It's hard to believe isn't it???
I am glad to see 2008 come and go........It was a "rough one"...
Ritzy's deployment, & having to handle things on the homefront while missing him was not easy, but I somehow made it thru......
It wasn't all bad tho. There were 2 new babies born into the clan. A great-nephew and a great-neice. They are sooooooo cute!!!!!! Will spend 2009 spoiling them ;-)
I am ready for 2009, hoping it brings well being , peace of mind and success to all my family and friends.
Don't have too much planned for New Years' Eve. Just go to the parents house to "meet and eat".... Heck, I don't even know if Ritzy and I will still be awake to ring in the new year, hahaha!!!!
This year brought about changes to all of us. Ritzy and I - because of his deployment.
His parents are not nearly as independent as they were last year. Will be some hard decisions made in the very near future about that. We never look forward to our parents growing old, but all we can do is be there for them the way they have always been there for us. I know that is part of the reason Ritzy is going thru the emotions and feelings he is having right now. We live 800 miles away from them and that doesn't help either.
Ritzy will be retiring from the National Guard in a couple of months. I can hardly wait!!!!!!
I am so proud of him for serving his country and have supported him all these years, but honestly, I will be elated when he retires........
I finally get him to myself......and won't have to spend "that one weekend a month & 2 weeks a year"........yeah right........ without him ever again......
Well this is where my thoughts have taken me tonite. I hope everyone has a safe New Years' Eve. For New Years' Day, don't forget those black-eyed peas for good luck ;-)
Ritzywife out.................

Well this 2008 Christmas holiday is just a memory. A good one though........The whole family had a great time at Granny and Papa's. We met and opened gifts, watched the grandkids and great-grandkids being funny. Then came the wonderful Christmas meal.......mmmmmm.........
The only thing that could have made the day better would have been to see some snow, but that was just not going to happen here in Oklahoma this year. Oh well, maybe next year.......
I picked up a nasty cold somewhere, that didn't help either.....don't know who was nice enough to pass that around ;-)
I was going to town to get groceries and supplies today, but I just don't feel like it. Things will just have to be ok till I get to feeling better.......
Now, we can all look forward to the new year and wonder what it will be bringing us. I hope it brings prosperity and good health to all!!!!!!!!!
That's about all Ritzywife has for now. I am outta here........

Yippee!!!!!!!
I finally did it.....a new layout...I saw this and loved it.....
I thought I was never going to get this done....
I will be the first to admit, I am not very computer literate. You have to understand- when I was in high school the closest thing we had to a computer was an electric typewriter, hahaha!!!
My kids just roll their eyes and give me a hard time when I ask for help so I have learned to just stick with it and eventually I figure out what I am doing. Spent most of yesterday evening and today getting this done ;-)
I will figure out what else I want on here later.......
This has taken it's toll on Ritzywife's poor little brain......(((ouch))))!!!!
I am outta here for now!!!!!

It is just a week away. I am as bad as a little kid when it comes to Christmas. I love it!!!!
I have everything done and I am ready........come on Santa!!!!
Now all I have to do is wait, wait, wait........Speaking of Santa, I asked that great-nephew if he has written Santa his letter yet and that kid said there was no Santa........I told him -I guess since he doesn't believe in Santa then Santa doesn't have to bring him any presents........
I also let him know that Ritzywife still believes in Santa!!!!!!!!
Maybe Santa can bring me some snow, haha. Ritzy thinks I am crazy, but I love the snow. He is from Wisconsin and came to Oklahoma to get away from the snow. I told him that he did not get far enough south, hahaha!!!!!
It has been cold and a little icy here the past few days. Ritzy did not go to work til today. He cannot sit still, so he was about to go a little "'stir crazy" here in the house. I told him to go find something to keep him busy ;-) He went outside to burn some scrap firewood and to split some wood that he had cut earlier. Kept him out of Ritzywife's hair, for a little while at least. Don't get me wrong, I love having Ritzy around but he won't sit still and it makes me nervous just watching him sometimes......;-0
I haven't been anywhere since Sunday, sure saves on the gas....... I saw today that the price has come back up..........((((grrrrrrr))).
I guess this is all I have for today. Been pretty boring around here. Ritzywife is out for now.

Mom and I spent the whole day shopping for Christmas decorations for our church. After spending all that time shopping we decorated the church. This all started around 10:30 this morning and at 4:30 this afternoon I walked in my door at home.
I was NOT going to cook supper so..........Pizza Hut cooked our dinner tonite....Yea!!!!!!!
Ritzy and the daughter went after it.
Our ladies' Sunday School class' Christmas party is this Saturday........I am 90% prepared ;-)
Gotta get the games together........
This next 2 weeks are going to be busy. Ritzywife is gonna be draggin' her tail by the end of the month..............
The daughter's boyfriend came in tonite to tell the daughter 'hi', but said he was leaving to go Christmas shopping for the daughter. He didn't even stay for supper. That's ok cause I saved him some pizza...........
We are watching the weather. Looks interesting for the beginning of next week. On the anniversary of last year's ice storm we got a little ice. Ritzy came home early that day. Our electric was blinking on and off all afternoon and evening. The wind was blowing hard and probably blowing the electric lines together. After losing electric for a couple of hours it finally came back on. Ritzy spent the time "pacing" the floor. That drives Ritzywife NUTS!!!!!!!!!
I told Ritzy that he would not have survived the storm last year, hahahah!!!!!!!
Ritzy, the kids and I are all in the house together tonite.......they are watching tv and I am in the next room on the computer.............Ritzywife likes it...........
I have some more work to do before bedtime tonight so I guess I had better be out for now.....

That's right, ever since Ritzy and I returned from Wisconsin we have been trying to get the yard, house and everything else ready for winter. Trying to catch up on chores sure is fun,,,,,,,,not!!!!!!
I have been visiting that new great-neice. She is a doll!!!!!! She is only 2 weeks old......
Today I finished ALL my Christmas shopping and gift-wrapping, who-hoo!!!!!!!!!
Come-on Christmas!!!!!!!
Some sad news to report here in this area. Heard about a body found in a rock quarry yesterday in our area. That quarry is only 1 mile from our house. It seems this case is almost 5 years old. Glad it is finally getting solved. I was just telling Ritzy tonite that we never know who or what is driving by our house to the lake or what their intentions are. Kind of unsettling.......
Back to better things.
Ritzy is still trying to get used to being home and Ritzywife is trying to do everything she can to help.
That December 2008 Ice Storm anniversary is fast approaching and I often find myself thinking about what happened last year and wondering what this winter holds for us.
I love this time of year..........Ritzy is a bit of a Scrooge. He doesn't care for all the "stuff" that comes with the Christmas season. Don't know if I will ever win him over on this, haha!!!!!
Ritzy and I have a Christmas dinner to attend tomorrow nite, gonna be nice.........
That's about all I have for now. Ritzywife is out for now.........