Here in Oklahoma, you don't hear the word blizzard, but that's what we had on Christmas Eve. Between 6-8 inches of snow. Yippee!!!!! The only bad thing was that we were stuck at home on Christmas day. We don't own a 4-wheel drive vehicle. My brother was good enough to come and get us and take us to my mom's. His son took the daughter and her boyfriend. We were stuck at Granny's till someone took us back home. My sister and brother-in-law got stuck in their driveway, as did their daughter and family. (Bubba and Sissy) After about 4-5 hours of trying to get unstuck the neice had someone pull them out and the brother-in-law got his tractor and flatbed trailer and that is how they got to granny's for christmas. 4 miles away.....Let's just say this was an interesting Christmas....I was told that if I ever asked for a "White Christmas" again, the family was gonna let me have it......
Needless to say the candlelight service at church was cancelled.
Santa was pretty good to all of us this year. I was better than I thought this past year, haha!!
We are now waiting on some more snow tonight.......I love it!!!!!!!!
Ritzy thinks i am nuts.......
He had plans to cut wood this last week on his days off, well, with all this snow, that did not happen.
I guess I will just wait and see what the new year brings..........
With that Ritzywife is out for now...............

Yes, the days and weeks leading up to Christmas are my favorite times of the year. I love the anticipation of watching the little ones opening gifts, seeing their faces as they see what "Santa" has brought them. I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by this year. I have been thinking about this time last year----Ritzy had just returned from Iraq, we did not know yet that my niece had brain cancer. Life sure throws curve balls sometimes. Everyone goes thru something...
An older man who I have known nearly all my life went to be with the Lord a couple of days ago. His wife is in my sunday school class. His funeral service was today, I played the piano for it. Mom, Dad, my sister and niece all sang. It was a good service.
I will be praying for his family over this Christmas holiday.

Back to Ritzy and I - we are still adjusting after his return.
Always keep our soldiers and their families in your thoughts and prayers......
I have a special place in my heart for these people who sacrifice so much....
I know because I have been there.......

SNOW!!!!
Here in Oklahoma we have a very good chance of having a "White Christmas" this year.
I love it!!!!! It is definitely going to be cold, as it should at Christmastime ;-)
I just hope we can get the snow without the icy roads.
We are supposed to go to my sister's (Nana's) tomorrow afternoon to watch her grandkids open their gifts. It is going to be fun. Tomorrow night at 8pm we are having a candlelight service at our church. Looking forward to that also.
Christmas morning we will get up and exchange gifts here in our home, then we will all go to Granny's for gifts and lunch. Mom usually has breakfast cooked when we all get there.

Ritzywife wants to wish everyone a

Merry Christmas

Well I don't have to wonder where the cold weather is anymore. It has finally arrived here in Oklahoma. We have the woodstove going good and the electric blanket sure feels good to Ritzywife at night.
My neice finished her radiation treatments last week. Her report looks good for now. She still has to take the chemotherapy for a year. The baby that was born early is doing wonderful.
I finished ALL the Christmas shopping yesterday. The tree was kind of bare and I could not stand it so I wrapped all those gifts today. They are now under it. I am glad it is done.....
Now all I have to do is wait on Santa. Ritzywife has tried to be good this past year......
We have put a new metal roof on the house, painted the gutter and trim. I have done a few more things inside. This has been a very busy Fall. Ritzy stays busy cutting and selling wood.
Our trip to Wisconsin is a "no-go" Ritzy decided he did not want to risk driving in any bad weather. His Mom said she was glad he had changed his mind. Besides that, the daughter started a new job and the son said he did not want to take off work. This was going to be an everyone go or no-one goes trip.
This is and has always been my favorite time of year as far as holidays go. I love Christmas!!!!!!
The decorating, the music, just the "feeling" in the air I guess.......
As I sit her I have my ear buds on listening to a christmas cd by Third Day. It is a good one!!
Anybody could be talking to me ( or about me ) and I would not have a clue, haha!!
With that Ritzywife is out....................

The past couple of weeks have been very busy. Last week I started redoing my bathroom. I just finished tonite. I love the way it turned out. Put up "beadbord" wallpaper and country bath border. Painted the closets dark blue with coffee trim. Put tiles around tub. But first I had to take off the old ceramic tiles. Did that tonite. We just finished cleaning our mess up. Ritzy cut and glued the tiles and I put them on the wall. Last weekend the family put a metal roof on our house. Looks good. Now Ritzy gets to paint the gutter. I already have the paint waiting on him. haha!!
I put new border (apples) in my kitchen yesterday. Now all I have to do is put new border in the living room. I am waiting on that to arrive. All this started when I decided to redo our bedroom a couple of months ago. My body is saying (((((enough already))))).....
I cannot beleive it is November already. The weather still feels like summer. I think it is supposed to cool off in a couple of days, tho.
We are planning a trip to Wisconsin with the kids in December, weather permitting.
We have never visited during the "holidays" all these years we have been married. Ritzy was always afraid of having to drive in bad weather. Ritzy, the kids and I discussed this trip as being our Christmas present. You get to a point and receiving "things" doesn't matter near as much as spending time with family. You never know how long you have with them.
My neice has only 2 weeks of her radiation treatment left. She was saying today that on her birthday, November 30, they will be taking an MRI to see the progress of her treatments. I told her it would be a wonderful birthday present not to have any of that nasty thing left.
I have gone with her a couple of times to watch the kids while she takes her treatment. It only lasts 10-15 minutes. We just stay in the car and I play with the kiddos.
WOW, I have "nothing" planned for tomorrow. What will I do???????
I'm almost sure something will come up. It always does.....
I'll be giving this body a rest, I guess....sounds good!!!
It is getting late so I better go.
Ritzywife out!

I know it has been awhile but our internet has been very slow. It would take a long time for the pages to load and I just didn't have the patience to wait. It is still not as fast as it should be. It's all because of this thing called "Fair Access". We have satellite internet and if you use too much bandwidth they slow you down. I think it "stinks", but what can ya do???? We are paying for it, we should get to use it....Enough of that.....
My neice has just finished her second week of radiation and chemotherapy. The doctors told her that everything is looking "good". The baby is doing great.
She weighs 6 1/2 pounds and is 20 inches long. I have not been around the baby since she was able to come home because last week I came down with a cold. I sure wasn't going to get her sick. I can't wait till I am over this so I can hold her. Ritzy can't wait either because my night coughing keeps him (and me) awake...
It has been wet and cloudy for a while and I am ready to see a sunny day. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny.
It is after midnight and I am wide awake. Could be because of that frozen coffee I drank around 8 tonite ;-)
The daughter was telling me about them and I had her get me one on her way home from work tonite. Quik Trip has them. It sure was good, but I am paying for it now. I went to bed and tried to fall asleep, but that wasn't working so here I am........
Ritzy and I bought some new furniture and it was delivered yesterday. I love it!!!!
A large couch, a chair and 1/2 and a large ottoman. NICE!!!!!!
This should last Ritzy and I quite a while....."it better as much as I spent on it, haha!!"
I have already told those 2 adult kids no eating, drinking, or dogs on it....I expect them to follow the rules...
We saved the old couch, for whoever moves out first, hahaha!!!!! nothing really wrong with it except it reclined on each end and was smaller than the new one. I was ready for a real sofa.....
I was telling the daughter that we have enough furniture in our garage to furnish a small apartment, hint, hint.........
Ritzy has been busy cutting and selling wood. Wow, that big woodpile dwindled to almost nothing the past couple of weeks. People are getting ready for winter.
My sister's and neice's friends are having a benefit supper at our church for the neice tomorrow night which I hope does well. I told Ritzy that is where we are going for our supper. (I smarter than I look, haha.) That way - I don't have to cook or clean my kitchen.......
This is about all I have for now. Hopefully my next post won't take as long....
Ritzywife out!

My neice is doing ok after her surgery. She still has to talk slow and sometimes can't think of the word she is trying to say. A BIG difference frome the way she used to be. The baby, a little girl, is still in the hospital. She is finally starting to drink from a bottle. We are hoping that by the end of the week she will get to come home. I learned today that my neice has Astrocytoma - grade III cancer in her brain. That is not good at all. She has been to the dr.'s who will be treating her the past 2 days to set up a treatment plan. She goes to get the staples out Friday and next Wednesday she starts 6 weeks of Radiation 5 days a week. She will also be taking a chemotherapy pill for a year. This is going to be a long haul for everyone. I realize that sometimes healing doesn't take place. God never promised it would. What He does promise is that He will be there to help us through whatever happens. I am going to leave it at that.
It has been busy around here. We were either going to the hospital or down to my sister's or babysitting here at home the past few weeks.
I still cannot believe this is happening.
She is the first grand-child of our immediate family. Of course I spoiled her rotten when she was little. She was 4 years old when Ritzy and I married. We have always been close. I could always tell her what I thought, good or bad. Granny & Papa have 20 grand, great-grandchildren now. No thanks to my two kids ;-) I wish they would contribute their part, haha!!!!!
On to other things............the weather here in Oklahoma has been wonderful lately!!!! I know it won't last, but it will be hard to see it turn colder.
I think with the weather pattern we have had we are due for a beautiful Fall. I see the leaves on the trees turning and it is really pretty.
Ritzy is talking about bringing some wood up to the house to prepare for the cold weather.
This looks to be a busy week also, and with that Ritzywife is out.............

I don't know how else to say it. What do you do????
My neice just delivered her baby 9 weeks early. Baby weighed just a little over 4 lbs. She is doing very well. As for the neice, not so hot. During the pregnancy she learned she had a "mass" in her brain. The plan was to let the baby be born and then do a biopsy on the mass. Well that did not happen. Tuesday she was having a bad headache and her baby doctor suggested a ct scan. It showed the mass had grown significantly in the past couple of months, so......change of plans. Wednesday, they put the neice out, delivered the baby by c-section, and immedietly went to brain surgery. The surgeon told us ge got "all he could" (maybe half to 3/4 of the tumor) without hurting her. She was still having a few problems thinking and talking, dont know if that is due to the tumor itself, the surgery or the swelling, but Ritzy and I went to visit her last night and she was not doing well at all. Could not think,or tell us where she was and had a very limited vocabulary. I was more than a little worried. We found out this morning that the mass is malignant cancer. Geez, she is only 28 years old with a husband, 8 yr old son and daughters - ages--4, 10 months and newborn.
This Aunt is ticked off and that is putting it nicely!!!!!!!!!!!
We will be pulling together as a family and helping with the kids or neice or whatever. I think they are going to send her to Houston soon for treatment.
That is about all I have for now.
Ritzywife is out!!!

While catching up on news today I saw an article about an AP photographer taking a picture of a Marine in his final moments. A lot of people, including our Secretary of Defense had a problem with the publication of this photo. As I sat here and looked at the photo I was saddened that this young man lost his life. Some might say he knew this could happen when he enlisted. Yes, he did, but not for such a cause as this. I stopped and said a prayer for his family, I was surprised that it caused so much emotion in me. I guess being an army wife all these years has caused me to care maybe a little more, I don't know.....
As for the photo, I believe it should be published along with others so people can see the reality of what war brings. WAR = DEATH, that's the bottom line and if you don't have anyone affected then you have nothing to lose. Those who have loved ones fighting in this war have everything to lose.
What are we really doing over there anyway. Those people are never going to change and what right do we have to invade their country and take over when we haven't done such a "hot" job of our own. Yes, there needed to be some repercussions about 9/11 but we did NOT go about it the right way.
On to better things, life does still go on here in "another world"......I did get that bedroom papered and loved the way it turned out. Got it done before Ritzy got home from work, just barely...... I laid tile in the kitchen and have been doing some VERY heavy cleaning this past week. It felt good to get all that done. While Ritzy was gone I just did not care about anything and he has been back almost a year now and I just now have felt like doing all this work on the house. Pretty soon we will be putting a new roof on. It will be a metal one. That ought to be fun ;-)
This is Labor Day Weekend and the "last" summer holiday. I am sad to see the days getting shorter (unlike last year when I could not wait until Fall cause that was when Ritzy was returning home from Iraq) and the leaves start to fall from the trees. I know it won't be long until the trees and bushes will be bare.
Monday we will be eating Bar-b-que at Mom & Dad's. Yummmmmmmm.............
I have all my housework done for the day, nothing to do now except go outside and watch Ritzy work ;-)
With that Ritzywife is out..........

A person can usually count on August being HOT and humid, but not so much this year. It's been a pretty decent August except...... the other thing we can count on here in the Sooner State - ragweed....YUK!!!!
The daughter, a neice, Ritzy and I have all been having itchy watery eyes and sneezing. The daughter asked me what was going on and I told her it was probably ragweed causing her problems. I let her know that it will only last until that first freeze.
The sun set before 8:00pm tonite. It always makes me a little sad to see the daylight get shorter.
I have a surprise for Ritzy tomorrow....hehehe!!!!!! I am going to paper the bedroom,put up border, put up new blinds, and change all the bedding. Mom is going to show up early in the morning and we are going to try to be finished by the time Ritzy gets home. I have had it "hiding" in the closet for a couple of days. You see, Ritzy and I have separate closets, so he doesn't have a clue.
I hope he likes it.........Darn - he came in here and started to look at the screen and I had to tell him he could not see it yet, but he would find out tomorrow why.
I am excited to start doing the work, sure hope I get some sleep tonite ;-)
Well, I better call it quits for the night and "try" to get some rest. I gonna need it!!
Ritzywife out...............

Around here I see leaves falling, the grass is not as green or growing as fast. I know some of this is happening because of lack of rain. Oklahoma has had an unseasonably cool August this year. Ritzy and I have been eating our suppers out on the patio each evening, then spending time on the porch swing listening to & watching the birds or watching traffic as it goes by, or just sharing our events of the day. Usually in August it is too hot to even breath outside, but not this year.......like I have said before: it's been a strange one....
Our garden is mostly gone, only the okra and a few pole beans left. I need to pick the grapes and make some jelly in the next couple of days. We only have one vine, but it is loaded. It takes up about 20 feet of fence. Dad planted that vine there when I was a teenager. That thing is OLD!!!! hahaha!! This has been the first in a number of years that the weather has cooperated and I have been able to have grapes to pick.
Our last official summer holiday is soon coming upon us. The hours of sunlight are shrinking. I have to get myself ready to face the fact that Fall & Winter are just about here. Don't get me wrong, I like all the seasons, but Spring & Summer are my favorite.
I guess that's all I have for this time. Ritzywife out..........

But, we had a very happy anniversary on 7/30/2009. Ritzy and I got away for the evening. Just to spend time together without any interruptions. We just "chilled" in the hotel til dinnertime. Went out to eat at Olive Garden, came back and did some more"chillin". After spending last year's anniversary alone, with Ritzy in Iraq, it was wonderful just to be together.
It doesn't take much materially to make Ritzywife happy. I just wanted to spend time with Ritzy. We really had not had a chance to do that since Ritzy's return last October. We were always doing something for family, his or mine.
I cannot believe it has been 26 years already. Where did the time go!?! Looking forward to whatever the future holds for us. Hopefully some grandkids, ;-)
My niece is going to have a garage sale here tomorrow and the next 3 weekends. I've been busy cleaning and finding things I don't need anymore. I did find some things for the sale, but Ritzy took a lot of it to the dumpster. It feels good to clean and get rid of stuff that I don't have any idea why I kept it in the first place. I just bet Ritzy had a big smile on his face as he was carrying that "stuff" to the dumpster. hehehehe!!!!!
Our daughter lost one of her chihuahuas (ROO) this week. It was the one she bought after graduating high school. I am sorry it happened, but there was nothing we could do. She still has a male chihuahua. He is a little over a year old.
She brought home 2 kittens, but they seem to have disappeared.
Today is "Sissy's" birthday, she is 4 years old. Her party is this Saturday.
It is hard to believe it is August already. The Oklahoma troops (The 45th Fires Brigade) that were deployed last year about the same time Ritzy was returning home have started to return to their re-deployment site. They should be in Oklahoma next week. There are about 800 of them. For the most part we will have all our Oklahoma National Guard home for the first time in quite a while. As I sit here I think about what their families are feeling and the emotions they are dealing with. I came across some pictures of the day Ritzy deployed and it brought back the feelings I had when I knew it would be a long time before I would see him again. Deployment touches you in ways you never thought of. That's why you should cherish every moment you have with your family, even if they are driving you crazy.
Ending with that, I am outta here..............

That's about all I can think of. I just got off the phone with a sister-in-law (brother's wife). Her mother had cancer surgery today. She only found out a couple months ago she even had it. It is lung cancer and she has never smoked. What the heck???? All seems well, but won't know for sure for 3 - 4 days til the test results come in. She was also telling me that my nephew and his son (her son and grandson) were in an automobile accident tonight. They were both unharmed. Wish I could say that for the truck, it is totaled.
Tonight, Ritzy and I went to visit my neice and her family, (the one who is pregnant and has a brain tumor and Bubba and Sissy's mama)......She and I were talking about her health and what could the future could hold. The good and the bad. I just pray that she be able to raise those kids and enjoy a good long life.
My brother-in-law,(her dad and my sister's hubby) is still not well. He has been sick for almost a year now with no diagnosis. It gets really frustrating at times for everyone. It is really hard on them.
I have often thought about how blessed our family is becuase of no illness or problems. Then out of the blue, WHOOSH, it all comes at one time!!!!
My sister-in-law said tonite "Stick a fork in me I'm done!"
Our daughter's dog has been sick. I know it's only a dog but she loves that little dog and she took it to the vet today and she still doesn't know what is wrong. I don't know what to say to her cause I just don't have the concern for animals that she and her brother have. I do have concern for her tho and care about what is going on in her life, but she sees my so-called lack of concern as not caring about her pet or her. I guess you might say today has been a stressful day all around......
Ritzy is very concerned about his parents. He talks more and more about them and how much he misses them. All we can do is be there for each other....the good times & the bad times......that's what a family does.
In a couple of days Ritzy and I will celebrate our 26th Anniversary. I still remember last year, he was in Iraq and I was here in Oklahoma "celebrating" our 25th anniversary.
Saying that.....Ritzywife is out.......

That is about all I have to say about the weather here in Oklahoma the past week or so. We are supposed to get a little releif in a couple of days. It will only be in the 90's. haha!!!
I made 5 batches of wild or (chokecherry) jelly today. That sure warmed up the kitchen.
Ritzy and I picked those little things Saturday evening. It was no fun, they are about the size of a pea. We both had sweat dripping off us. The tree is in Dad's yard and earlier in the day he showed me they were ripe. We decided we would meet back up there in the evening and pick the fruit.
Ritzy and I showed up, drove the truck under the tree and started picking. We were making plenty of noise. Well, we were just about finished and my phone rang....it was Dad telling us to not come up there cause it was toooooo hot to do anything. I laughed and told him that Ritzy and I were just about finished, he could not believe it, so he came out the last 10 minutes we were there. I brought home the fruit and prepared the juice for jellymaking.
Blackberry used to be my favorite flavor of jelly, but I think I have switched to the chokecherry. It sure is good!!!!
Ritzy and I did some yard work in that baking sun Saturday. I don't know what got into us. As hot as it was, we spent the day outside in 103 degree temps instead of 70 degrees inside.
Speaking of hot, I think my brain is telling me it's too hot to think, and with that Ritzywife is out.......Stay cool!!!!!!

I hope everyone survived the ((((HOT)))) holiday weekend. We met at mom and dad's for the regular cookout and fellowship.
Watched the little ones play, shoot fireworks,etc.....
There is always good food. We just spent the day enjoying each others company. It started out raining. I woke up and wondered why it was soooo dark outside. Could not beleive the rain. Wasn't supposed to be doing that til late Saturday nite.
I thought I had just spent all that money on those fireworks and now we won't be able to shoot them.
Finally stopped raining and turned out to be a pretty good day.
About dark, the son and nephew started the night show. We all sprayed on the bug spray, took our seats and were ready for the "show".......
WE must not forget why we celebrate this holiday. It is our freedom that we celebrate. We must also be very careful or our freedoms can be lost unless we stand for ourselves and protect them. Also it is a time to remember all those who have given their lives for this freedom we enjoy today and to thank all those defending those same freedoms today!!!
I want to shout out a big "THANK YOU!!!" to our military and their loved ones.
It sure is getting hot here in Oklahoma....and it's just the beginning of summer.....
not good for the garden. We have dug our potatoes, picked a few small tomatoes. Can hardly wait for the okra to be ready.....
I sometimes find myself thinking about this time last year. I was waiting on Ritzy's deployment to Iraq to be over. It has been an interesting time since he returned, but I can say I would not want to live it over or trade the experience for anything in the world. With that Ritzywife is out!

Today was a good day for Ritzy and I. We left Appleton around 9 this morning and drove to Milwaukee for an afternoon Brewer game. They have a fairly new stadium (Miller Park). This was my first ever MLB game to attend. I was excited and The only thing that could have made the day better would be a win for Ritzy's Brewers.
Oh my gosh, it took 1 hour to go about 2 miles getting out of there. There were only 41,000 people trying to do the same, so it was going to take a while. We stopped at a resturaunt in Appleton to eat before coming back to the house. Finally got "home" at 8:30pm. Made for a full day.
It was HOT at the game, but we survived ;-)
We are going to just "chill" the rest of the evening........
Tomorrow evening Ritzy's brother and sister are coming over to clear out the house. It will belong to a new owner as of the 30th of June. It's sad to see the home go to someome else after Ritzy's parents owning it for the last 30 or so years.
I better save some for later, with that...Ritzywife is out.......

Well. Ritzy and I arrived in Appleton yesterday. We had a good drive up here. Weather was good, only a shower to deal with. I thought we were coming to cooler weather but I am thinking it followed us up here. It is only 10 degrees cooler here than in Oklahoma. (I guess that is cooler, haha!)
Was seeing that back home we are already under heat alerts and advisories. Geez it is only the 2nd day of summer. I guess we are in for a hot one this summer......
Ritzy's mom and dad are doing fine. We saw them yesterday when we arrived. His brother called yesterday morning and invited us to lunch when we arrived. Was good to eat with them. Enjoyed good food and visiting. After eating we drove up to see mom and dad. Ritzy's sister and hubby were there visiting also. A little while later, the brother who we had lunch with arrived. There were quite a few of us in that little space of Mom's. We had a good visit tho.
The daughter called and wished her dad a Happy Father's Day. Didn't hear from the son, but from what I hear that is a "guy thing".....He usually gets his dad a gift and say "here ya go",....I called my dad at 7:00 yesterday morning and wished him a good day and to let him know I love him. I don't think you ever get too old to tell your parents how much you appreciate and love them ;-)
This week Ritzy and I will leave the house around noon to visit mom and dad then return around 3 or so. Then the rest of the time we will just be "chillin'" ;-)
This will be our last stay in Ritzy's parents home because as of the last of this month it will belong to a new owner.
Well, I guess I better save some for later, and with that Ritzywife is out...

Today is their 51st anniversary. I remember all too well last year at this time. We (my sisters & brother) were trying to pull off a surprise 50th Anniversary Party. Well, what can I say.....we did it, thank goodness. No thank you for that kind of stress again ;-)
It was kind of funny, this afternoon Dad had Ritzy, a brother-in-law and a nephew working on a grain bin to hold his oats that will be combined in the near future. I asked Mom what her and Dad were going to do to celebrate and she just pointed to dad and the guys working and said I guess...nothing. So....she, "sissy" and I go to town to get gas for her lawn mower and when we get back she starts mowing. This was around 4pm. What she didn't know (as I found out later from Ritzy) was that Dad told the guys they were gonna quit working at 4:30pm. Dad and I were sitting in the shade and I asked him what he had planned for mom and he said "nothing I guess, she is mowing"......was kind of funny, hahaha!!!!
Earlier, Dad gave "bubba" a small level to play with and I was showing him how to use it. I told him to holler at papaw and say these words "Hey, papaw I have been looking at this level and it told me something about you - you wanna know what it said....you are a half-a-bubble off.......Dad just let out a chuckle. I told bubba I better be quiet before I get him in trouble ;-)
Ritzy and I came home and I finished making cushions for my patio chairs. Then we went to Claremore to get supper at Taco Bueno. Its been a couple of years since we had food from there. We got our food then went to Sonic and got our drinks. Neither one of us got cleaned up to go so we just ate in the truck.
Anyways it was a pretty good day.
With that Ritzywife is out for now.........

It's hard to beleive June is already here. Dad's birthday was yesterday. He is 72 years young. The weather here in Oklahoma has finally gotten decent. Warm days and cool nights, what more could ya ask for???
We better enjoy it while it lasts. We had a weiner roast Friday night. The son, daughter, neice, her husband and 3 kids were all here for a good time. Then, after working outside all day Saturday we decided it was too nice to go inside to eat so we cooked hamburgers outside and had our supper out on the patio. I love cooking and eating outside. In a few weeks it will be getting too hot to do that. The mosquitos aren't too bad now, so we are enjoying the time outside while we can.
In a couple of weeks Ritzy and I will be heading back to Wisconsin for a short stay. It sounds like his parents are doing as well as can be expected. This will be our last time staying in their home. It has been sold and the sale closes at the end of June.
We will be busy each day going to visit Mom & Dad, but that is why we are going. We are also going to Milwaukee to catch a Brewer's game.
I have been thinking this morning about all the things going on right now, Ritzy's parents, my neice and the brain tumor & her pregnancy, my brother-in-law (her dad) who is recovering from Lyme Disease, etc.....I still have so many things to be thankful for. Ritzy has been home from deployment for 7 months, our kids are doing fine, my parents are doing fine, Ritzy is OUT of the military for good...... We can decide to let things get us down or be thankful for what we have. I choose the latter, even tho I have my moments when I am concerned about what is going on.
That great-nephew has a baseball game at Chelsea tonight and I think Ritzy and I are going to watch him play. Those 7-8 year olds are so fun to watch. Poor Ritzy will probably have to eat a sandwich so we can make it to the game, but heck- it's better than nothin'!!!!!!! It won't be too bad tho cause it will be a BLT and I love those, the only thing that would make it better is if the tomatoes were coming out of our garden. That's ok tho cause we will have our own soon enough!!!!
The garden is looking really good. I can hardly wait to start eating from it. Geez, I am making myself hungry with all this talk about garden produce ;-)
And with that Ritzywife is out..............

That's right, the first holiday of the summer is upon us. A lot of people will be heading out to their area lakes for a leisurely weekend. Some will have a backyard barbeque. Others will just enjoy the long weekend at home.
But.......we must NOT forget why we observe Memorial Day. It is to remember those heroes, past and present who have given the ultimate sacrifice for serving their country. Don't forget about their families!!!!
Please take some time this weekend to say a prayer for the families left behind and for our soldiers (and their families) who are now serving. And to thank God that we have this country (even with all it's faults) to call ours. There is still no better place to be on this earth than in: The United States of America
I think about last year at this time. Ritzy was in Iraq and I was thinking that the time for him to come home would NEVER get here. As we all know it did and he has been home since last October. It's funny, I think about times of the year and where I was last year compared to this year. Makes me sad in some ways and very happy and proud in others. Can't explain it. You would have to be a military family to understand.
Our family always gathers on Memorial Day at Mom & Dad's for a cookout. Way too much food, but it sure is good. We always bless the food and say a prayer for the reason we are meeting.
I hope everyone has a safe holiday. With that Ritzywife is out.........

That pretty much says it. How do you deal with what life hands you?????? I have been thinking about this a lot the past week or so. First, after Dad's surgery and seeing how he was dealing with that. On Saturday before we left, we visited him in the hospital and he was finally realizing we had been there all week and he could not believe we were having to go. He had been on pain medication and did not know what was going on most of the time. He was upset that we were having to leave and it was hard to see him that way.
We said our good-byes and told him that we would be back in June.
Then......a few hours into our trip back home I get a phone call informing me that my neice (the mother of Bubba and Sissy and their 5 month old sister and....expecting again in October) had to go to the hospital that mornng because of problems she had been having the past month with headaches, nausea, seizures. There she found out she has some kind of brain tumor. She was then taken to a Tulsa hospital .
I was shocked!!!!
That is all I have been able to think about since.
Because she is pregnant, they are limited on the tests they can run. They are doing everything they can to let the baby survive right now. As of now she is still in the hospital. They are controlling the seizures with medication. If they can get her calcium controlled they will let her come home, but next thursday she is supposed to have surgery on her parathyroid.
At some time in the near future, whether it be after the safe delivery of her baby or the unfortunate termination of that little one, she will be facing brain surgery. It all depends on the next MRI to see if that thing is growing or if her symptoms return. Only taking one day at a time now and praying A LOT!!!!!
Bubba and Sissy know something is not quite right and they miss their mamma. She wants to be home with her "babies". I hope she gets to leave the hospital today. Her hubby is about to go nuts too, he is ready to stop having to sleep on that little couch in the room. I told him to just crawl up there in the bed with his wife and get a good night's sleep.
So, after we returned from Wisconsin where we made trips to the hospital and nursing home twice a day , I have made trips to the hospital to see that neice. I can't quite get back into my "routine" at home.
Looking for some sort of "normal" to return to my life. It has all changed since Ritzy returned from his deployment last October.
With that Ritzywife is out!

Here we are 3 days after Ritzy's Dad's surgery (other leg amputated), and he is doing fair. He was running a fever last night and this morning. Could not eat anything....Wants to sleep all the time. Geez he is 80 years old, ya know.... this has to be hard on his body.
He was hoping to be moved back to the nursing home today or tomorrow, but that is out because of the fever and no appettite.
We went to see him this evening and he didn't even know we were there. The nurses said he was confused most of the day. The strong pain meds could be causing the confusion and so much sleep.
This is so hard on Ritzy. We go to visit his mom in a town about 11 miles away. They are at the same Nursing Home/Assisted Living Location, but they don't get to see each other every day. I have wondered how I would ever survive that if I were in her shoes. She has only a couple of "good" hours during the day so we try to go when she is feeling good. It sure is hard watching your parents get old.
Ritzy and I are in the "Sandwich Generation" right now---just raised our kids and now have to start watching our parents. That's ok tho, cause we love them and would not have it any other way.....
We are supposed to leave Saturday for Oklahoma, unless complications arise with Dad. We will be coming back up here in June, which is our scheduled trip anyways.
It is so odd to be staying at Mom & Dad's home without them. All their belongings have either been sold or given away. Ritzy and I brought enough household necessities to get by on and we have made it pretty good.
If the house doesn't sell by June we will be staying in it again. I will probably just leave the stuff packed and have it ready to bring in June.
The weather has been wonderful this past week, only 1 rainy day. Next week it is supposed to cool off up here, that's ok cause I am headed South.......Hopefully Oklahoma is going to "dry up" soon, hahahaha!!!!!
That's about all I have for now.
Ritzywife out............

Here we are again. We stopped in Janesville for the night. Ritzywife was willing to drive the rest of the way last nite, but Ritzy wanted to stop, so we decided to stop. Ritzy's dad has to have surgery Monday morning so we decided we should be here for that.
We left a soggy Oklahoma,, it sure is good to see the sun!!!!!
Left the (adult) kids in charge of the house!!!! Ritzy was disgusted Friday because he wanted to mow the lawn, do some work for a neighbor and a couple of other things before we left. but,,,as you know it was raining AGAIN and he did not get to do anything . He works outside in his regular job, so I told him that it was good that we were going to be gone this week because he would be stuck in his office all week, ;-)
We should be in Appleton in a couple of hours, after leaving this hotel this morning. His Mom and Dad are in Assisted Living so we will have the house to ourselves. I guess we will get see how we are supposed to be living, haha!!! (with kids moved out back home) Heck, we may like it so much we may not come back ;-)
There is only one problem: the only things left in the parent's house is a bed, refrigerator, stove, card table and folding chair. I had to bring from home some items required to survive a week away. Even brought a small tv. Can't miss 24 on Monday.....
I guess this is almost like "roughing it", except we will have a flushing toilet and shower, hahahaha!!!!
Well I better get off here so Ritzy and I can get on our way to Appleton. I "feel" him getting impatient. What can I say, after being married for almost 26 years, I can tell what he is thinking and feeling. Wish I could say the same about him ;-)
With that Ritzywife is out.....

Can't believe it has been this long since my last post. I have just been taking it easy. I've been to a few baseball games, watching that great-nephew. They are really fun to watch. Got the rest of the garden planted. Bought a few flowers, and still have to plant them.
It is supposed to be wet this week around here. I kept looking for rain today but it never happened.
Ritzy's Dad is having some problems. I don't know why we aren't on our way up there. I told Ritzy that nothing is holding us here, but he is waiting, for some reason. Dad was supposed to have his other leg amputated either this evening or tomorrow. I'm guessing that since we have not heard anything the surgery is tomorrow. It is still a risky surgery for someone Dad's age and in his condition.
I just told Ritzy that if it was my Dad there would be no hesitation, I would be there!!!!
If it doesn't rain it out, that nephew has another ballgame tomorrow evening. I am planning to go watch him.
Beleive it or not that is all I have for now..
Ritzywife is out.....

Well, Easter weekend came and went. I am still tired thinking about last week. It was a very cool and wet Easter Sunday. Saturday, on the other hand was warm and sunny. That easter egg hunt at the church on Sunday at 5 took place IN the church. We had about a dozen kids and 510 eggs, so you could say every kid took home their share of eggs & candy. I am sure the parents will thank us for that.
Back to the weather. This weather has been something else. We turn on the AC for a few days then have to turn on the heater for a few days. It's been that way for a couple of months. The furnace is on today, but looking at the forecast it looks like we will be needing the AC in a day or so. But......that's how it is in Oklahoma when the seasons are changing.
It has been too cold to plant the rest of our garden, now it is too wet from all the rain we got this weekend.
Ritzy was working Saturday (splitting wood with the electic splitter) until later in the afternoon when I walked over to where he was and told him to shut everything down and come with me. I had ordered our Dinner at the Owasso Olive Garden and told him we were going to pick it up and bring it back to the house to eat it. Ritzywife's treat.......I told him he had worked hard enough for one day ;-)
We picked up the food, brought it home and ate it out on the patio. Was a very nice and quiet dinner.
I have supper cooking in the crock-pot now and the laundry is all done. I am just resting today to recover from all the running around last week.
With all that, Ritzywife is out for today.......

This has been one of the busiest weeks I have had in a long time. Earlier today I was trying to think about what I was doing Monday and I was so tired I couldn't even remember ;-) Finally this evening I remembered. It all started Monday when I was helping my cousin pack up her kitchen and dining room to get ready for some re-modeling she is going to have done. That little job took all day. Tuesday I made a trip to the Vinita Wal-Mart to buy breakfast supplies, plastic eggs and candy for our Sunday morning breakfast at our church following the Sunrise service. The eggs and candy are for an Easter Egg Hunt planned for 5 that afternoon. Wednesday I made another trip to Wal-Mart to get some Easter Lillies for the service and some "prizes" for the kids. I also had to fix some homemade chicken and noodles for our supper at church Wednesday nite. And.....in the midst of all this I had to get the Monthly report ready for Wednesday nite's Business Meeting. Today, I made yet another trip to Vinita to by my own groceries and pick up more plastic eggs. We stufffed the eggs I had bought earlier in the week, Wednesday nite and had half the candy left, so......more eggs needed. After bringing home the groceries and unloading them by myself. Oh, yea don't get me started there: the daughter was doing some excercises when I got home and asked for help to bring in the groceries. But noooooo, she was in the middle of her workout, well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,excuse me!!!!!!! Kind of ticked me off, can ya tell???
Anyways after unloading everything I went up to the church where 3 more ladies were waiting and we stuffed the remaining eggs. We ended up with 510 eggs. "Somebody" is going to have fun hiding all those eggs, and it ain't gonna be me!!!!
I finally got home at 4pm and had about an hour before I had to start supper.
The neice called and asked if I could watch the 4-month old (while she and her hubby coached their son's baseball game)and I said ok cause gee, how much trouble can a baby be??? She is no trouble. Well a storm was coming and it ended up that the game was cancelled and they came back and got her. I got supper ready, cleaned up the mess, took my bath, watched a little tv and here I am.
I am ready for a vacation!!!!! Gonna rest tomorrow and Saturday. I do have to color eggs and make my salad for Easter Dinner tho.
Sunday will start very early, (around 6:00am), getting that breakfast ready, the sunrise service is at 7:00am, then breakfast, then regular sunday school and church. Sunday nite starts with the egg hunt at 5:00pm then church service.
Ritzywife will be glad when Sunday has come and gone!!!!
With that Ritzywife is out!!

That's right, today March 31, 2009 Ritzywife turns((((50)))). WOW!!!
I can hardly believe it.
The daughter texted the "Happy Birthday" song to me early this morning, an aunt called and sang to me and the son left my gift on the table. Tonight Ritzy is taking me out to eat at one of our favorite places......Olive Garden.
I cannot believe it is #50. I still feel (and act) like a kid sometimes. Some days the ole body sure feels it tho.....
Yesterday was interesting, in the afternoon a cousin called and asked if there was a fire close-by, so I went outside and could not see or smell anything. A couple of hours later Ritzy returned home and said there was a fire in the pasture East of the house and he was concerned because of the high wind and only one other neighbor watching it. We went outside and I was surprised to see that the fire was that close and I did not know it. The reason I could not smell it was becuse the wind was blowing the smoke away from our house.
We watched it burn for a little while, noticing it was about to cross the fence line between some property we have and another neighbor's property. I decided to call the fire department and asked if anyone had reported a fire in our area and was told "NO". That really surprised Ritzy and I... The dispatcher was busy and said she would call me back. After some more time we noticed the big hay and equipment barn in this pasture starting to burn and I told Ritzy that there was no way anyone was watching this fire so I called 911 again and told them the barn was on fire. The dispatcher told me the firemen were on their way. This was around 5:30pm. They were still there at 9:30 when a line of severe thunderstorms moved thru and dumped a lot of rain. At 11:00pm they were still up there, I don't know when those poor guys finally got to leave.
During all this my son reminded me that last year the night before my birthday there were tornadoes and now this year a big fire right next to our property and severe weather on top of that. I told him that March 31st is turning out to be a "not so good day for some" ;-)
I am just going to sit back and see what the rest of the day holds..... Late this morning my daughter told me that I needed to go to my sister's (Nana's) house to meet my other sister cause she was running behind. I thought she was at Nana's getting her nails done so I thought nothing of it. I stopped at the little store across the street from the house to get "Sissy" (the 4 year old great-neice) something, told the daughter that i might pick up a sandwich too. I ended up getting a bag of pork rinds and Sissy some candy. We get to the sisters house and I notice some of the family's cars parked and didn't think anything of it til I saw a friend from church's car, then ((((DING,DING,DING,DING))))I realized what was going on. They had surprised me with a birthday lunch. It was so nice, we really enjoyed ourselves. Ritzy came home and took me out to dinner, so Ritzywife has had a wonderful birthday this year thanks to her family and friends.... Ritzywife out.....

Ritzy and I traveled to Oklahoma City this last weekend so he could turn in all his military "stuff". His last day in the military was March 21st, 2009. We then went to Tulsa to attend a Marriage Enrichment Seminar for returning soldiers.
This would be our last ever "Military" event....
We had a wonderful time. The weather on Friday was really odd. It started out raining, hailing, snowing.....that's Oklahoma for ya!!!
We got to the hotel around 2:00pm Friday afternoon. We registered for the event and got settled in for the night.
We were talking and I was telling Ritzy that I have been looking for this day (Military retirement) to come for many years, but it did not have the effect on me that I expected. I was expecting a big SIGH OF RELIEF moment. I guess it is just going to take some time to get out of "military mode". Just like his deployment and re-deployment, both those took time to get used to. Even tho he has been home for 5 months now, I still don't feel the way I expected to.
One thing I learned this last weekend is that after a deployment our life will never be the same. Our old ideas of what was "normal" are gone. We are going to have to develop or find a new "normal" for us. That takes time.
All I know is that Ritzy and Ritzywife's life and marriage is worth whatever it takes to get us thru.
Yes, I can say that there are some things I will miss because Ritzy is no longer a military man, but I am ready for us to find other things in our lives that bring us closer and make us stronger.
All I have to say is that Ritzywife loves Ritzy and is so very proud of him, and with that Ritzywife is out!

This was a pretty good day......a busy one too. Ritzy and I had a wedding to attend. A nephew was getting married at 4 this afternoon. I was playing the piano and the son was the Best Man. Was a really nice wedding. This nephew, before he got the girlfriend, was always over here on the weekend. He and the son would watch movies, play with the Playstation and Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Made for a pretty interesting time here in the house. I just sat back and listened to them having fun.
We got a new neice out of it. She is a really sweet young lady.
I told Ritzy when we were leaving that since we were already dressed up, no sense wasting our good looks, haha. We might as well go out to eat dinner. Ritzywife had the keys and was driving, so I bet you can just guess what we did. We went to Owasso to the Olive Garden. Had to wait for about 30 minutes but it sure was worth it. mmmmmmmm........
Back to the wedding - the son "caught" the garter, I said ALL RIGHT!!!!!! My cousin came over and told me she would help with the "wedding" plans. I said WOO HOO!!!! Now It sure is quiet in the house right now, I guess everyone is in bed. I just finished studying for my Sunday School class and am catching up on here. Sometimes it just sounds good to hear "nothing". Doesn't happen very often around here!!
I guess "Bubba" is going to come home with us after church tomorrow. He asked at the wedding and I told him he could. So......there goes the Sunday nap ;-(
I guess I had better get off here and go get some rest.
Ritzywife is tired and out for now.......

Ritzy has only 10 days left in his career with the Oklahoma National Guard. Ritzywife is very happy.
Ritzy called earlier and told me he had just taken a "joy" ride to Stillwater. It seems there was a typo on his e-mail and he is not supposed to be there til tomorrow. I asked him about that last nite, but I just the wife, I don't know anything ;-) He will be making the same trip tomorrow. Other people had shown up for this class also.
We have church tonite, not much else going on.
Ritzywife is out for now.

That's right!!!! Ritzy and I are in an Edmond hotel tonight. Tomorrow and Sunday is Ritzy's last National Guard Drill with the Oklahoma National Guard and his career as a soldier. We came to Oklahoma City this morning so he could turn in all his "stuff", but found out he needs to turn in his gear used for the deployment that was handed out by the unit he was deployed with first. That happens this weekend, and since he is retiring if he is lucky he might be able to turn in everything here at Guthrie , if not it means another trip to Oklahoma City toward the end of the month.
Now to explain why we are in Edmond instead of Guthrie. It seems there is a National Rodeo at Guthrie this weekend, so..........no hotel rooms. We checked about a half-dozen hotels before we found a place to stay. Took the first opening we found.
We will be staying in another hotel tomorrow night. If a soldier travels over 50 miles from home the army has to "put him up" for the night.
Turning out to be an interesting weekend. A lot of running around. We ordered pizza in tonight. Ritzy and I decided earlier this evening that we were not going to leave the hotel room. We were both tired.
Have to be ready to go early in the morning, Sunday morning too. Ritzywife is NOT used to getting up early!!!!!!!!!!!
The Guthrie American Legion and VFW are having something special for the soldiers Saturday. I think that is very nice of them to show their appreciation. Soldiers, young and old, deserve it.
There have been a couple of times that I have been with Ritzy while he had is uniform on and men just came over and wanted to shake Ritzy's hand and tell him they appreciate his service to this country. Made me very proud of Ritzy and thankful that there are still people who are not afraid to tell a total stranger ----good job!
We should all take a hint. If someone does a good job------tell them!!!! You never know what a kind word can do for someone.
With that Ritzywife is out!

That's right...... only 3 weeks and Ritzy is a FREE man. Free from the military anyways. Ritzywife is counting down the days........
March 21st is his ETS date. March is an important month this year...Ritzy retires from the national guard and on March 31st Ritzywife turns """50""". WOW. I can't believe it!!!!
Today in Oklahoma was a COLD day. Everyone here at home just hung around doing mostly nothing. Not much to do when it is 30 degrees outside with a windchill in the teens. Gonna get warmer toward next weekend tho. Supposed to be in the 70's. That's Oklahoma for ya, tho..Love it or leave it......
Next weekend is Ritzy's last Guard drill weekend. I am going with him. Just another excuse to get away from home and the adult kids for a weekend. Hey, we will take what we can get ;-)
Ritzy got some potatoes and onions for the garden, but we will wait til the end of next week to plant. Too darn cold out there now(((((BRRRRR)))))....
I let Mazzio's cook supper tonite. haha!!!
I have already studied for tomorrow's Sunday School class. Not much else to do tonite except to try and get some sleep. I have had a hard time getting to sleep. I thought that would change when Ritzy returned home in October but, he is so tired he goes to bed way too early for me so I just let him get his rest and I stay up til I am pretty sure he is asleep before I go to bed. I have never been able to just go to bed and go to sleep right away.
Haven't heard from Ritzy's family this week, I hope they are all doing ok.
With that, Ritzywife is out.........

Not too much to talk about during the past week or so. Yesterday, my sister (Nana) called to see if I could come down and watch her grandbaby (3 months old) while she worked on someone's nails at her home. She is a Nail Tech. So I go down there to play with the baby and big sister, the 3 year old. Sissy wants to come home with me so I let her. Ritzy was home and I figured the both of us could corral her ;-) WHEW!!!
Gee, that kid was everywhere...........we had fun tho. It was time to go back to Nana's and she did NOT want to go. I said "Too Bad sister", your ARE going to your Nana's...haha!!
This evening Ritzy and I went up to my parent's to visit. Bubba was there and Sissy showed up while we were there. The first thing our of her mouth was----"I go to your house." I said I didn't think so. They are spending the night with my Mom & Dad. YIKES!!!!!!
Don't get me wrong, I love these kids very much and would do anything for them.
They are fun to be around, for a little while anyways....just kidding.....
Ritzy has 4 more weeks until his ETS date. YAY!!!!!!!!
ETS is the date he is out of the National Guard.
His last drill is in a couple of weeks. I will be going with him. We have to travel around 170 miles to get there. I have been with him all the years he has been in the military (over 21) and supported his service to his country and I told him that I would be with him at his last national guard drill weekend.
I am so proud him and all he has accomplished in his military career.
It is getting late and he is already been in bed for a couple of hours. I guess I ought to try and get some sleep since it is Sunday tomorrow. I have to teach and play the piano at church. I still have not been able to go to bed early since Ritzy's return from deployment.
Ritzywife is out for now and going to try and get some rest.........

I hope everyone had one. Ritzy and I took my sister (Nana) and 2 of her grandkids (Bubba & Sissy) out to eat at Olive Garden today. Nana's Hubby wasn't feeling well so he stayed home. We got him something and brought it home tho. They had never eaten at an Olive Garden. I think they liked it......

Was pretty interesting with a 7 year old and a 3 year old. Not a dull moment ;-)

Ritzy was wanting to take me out, but I asked if we could include the others cause "Ritzywife" is always thinking about her family.

Nana's hubby has had some health problems since last October and they have not gotten out much. So we decided to go out together. I figured the 2 grandkids would be along to cause they are usually with their nana. Although "Doodah" didn't come, we all enjoyed ourselves. He just called me and told me thanks for thinking about them and he was sorry he could not come with us. I told him not to worry about it and that we would all get together when he is feeling better.

Ritzy got me a "mushy" card. Quite a surprise!!!!!!! His gift isn't in yet, he will just have to wait, haha..........This year I decided to wait and see just what he would do. He did pretty well. I reckon he's a keeper ;-)

As for our own kids, who knows what they have planned. I ticked the daughter off today. Oh well, so tell me somethin' I don't know......She will get over it. Haven't ticked the son off in a while, knock on wood........ told ya about that cart getting upset in the last post...

I thought I was about finished with that cold that had been hanging on since Christmas, but 2 days ago I started sneezing and the nose started getting stuffy. Today one eye won't stop watering on top of all that. I am pretty sure it is allergies. Wonderful, its only February and I am already starting the allergy "stuff".........That's the way it is here in Oklahoma I guess.

Ritzy and I are ready for a quiet evening...................sure hope we get it.

With that Ritzywife is out..............

Yeah, I talking to myself.......I have been either too busy or too lazy to comment the past few days.
I sit here tonight watching the severe storms move thru Oklahoma. Yup, the calendar says it's February but here in Oklahoma that doesn't seem to matter. Two weeks ago we were dealing with an ice storm and now this week we are dealing with tornados and severe thunderstorms.
Ritzy and I have been doin ok. We learned that his mother moved to the assisted living center with his father this last weekend. It seems so odd and at the same time sad, that they are not in their home anymore. I wish them the best. We will be going up there some time in the near future to help in any way we can. Whether for moral support, or getting the house ready to sell, or whatever is needed.....I have a feeling it is going to be a hard time for Ritzy, but, Ritzywife will be right there beside him, doing whatever he needs and offering support.
Things have "kind of" quieted down in this house since Ritzy's return from active duty. I better watch out cause just when I think things are goin good............................WHOOSH!!!!!! something happens to upset my little cart..............................
That is about all I have for today. I will just sit here and wait for those storms to come in, I guess.
Ritzywife is out.......

If you are 50 or over, you know about having to have a colonoscopy. Yup, I turn 50 next month and my dear Dr. decided it would be a good time for me to have this wonderful test done. I have spent today preparing myself mentally and physically for the test tomorrow.
Spent the day drinking clear liquids and jello. Just started late this afternoon on the Golytely. That is an experience in itself. I still have about a quarter of it to go. Let's just say me and the toilet have spent a lot of time together this evening ;-)
I mixed my "drink" with sweet tea and it has not been too bad so far. I will just be so glad when this is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ain't likin' it at all..........
Tonight is the business meeting at our church. For me that meant spending the day getting the church report ready. It took nearly the whole day too. Ritzy took the report and I guess he will have to make copies and someone will have to read it. At least I get out of that, haha!
The bad thing is this is the one night a month when we have potluck dinner at church. We have some really GOOD cooks at our church. My Mom & Dad for sure are at the top of the Good Cook's List.....Sucky timing for this kind of test...........(((hope my english teacher never reads this, hahaha)))!!!!!
The daughter asked earlier what I was fixing her and her brother for dinner : I said " nothin' ".
She could not believe it. I told her she had to be crazy if she thought I would slave over a hot meal and not be able to eat it, hahaha!!!!! This "kid" is 22 years old and plenty capable of cooking for herself.
I did tell her that if she wanted to go into town I would give her the money to get her and her brother something to eat. Don't know about anyone else but I think that sounds fair enough.
Oh well, after tomorrow this will be just a memory, good or bad though only time will tell........
With that Ritzywife is out for now.

Ritzy and I are at Norman for the Oklahoma National Guard Yellow Ribbon Event. We spent the day coming down here, signing up and finding out what we are "supposed" to be doing the rest of the weekend. Maybe we know and maybe we don't........
We came down here expecting to be put up in a "fancy" hotel, but...............like so many others found out only the meetings and such are being held in the "fancy" hotel and we are actually staying in about a half dozen different hotels. YIPPEE!!!!!!! NOT!!!!!!!
Oh well, the place we are at is nice enough and we are having a great time. Hope the kids are holding down the fort at home. ;-)
Glad to see the ice we received earlier in the week disappear. There is still some snow down here but it's not bad. My poor little truck is covered in salt from the road. It will be getting a wash-job soon!!!!!
I don't know why I am still up since we have to get up at 6:30 in the morning...........We just finished eating at Chili's. We split a hamburger and fries. Was Good!!!!!!!
I better get off here and try and get some rest, gonna be a busy day tomorrow and Sunday.
Ritzywife is out.......

The last time I wrote, we were finishing up moving the daughter out of the house. Well.................that lasted 3 days I think and then we were moving her BACK in ;-0 I will be SO happy for my kids when they figure out what they want and go for it!!!!!!!
Ritzy and I have to go to Norman next weekend for a "Yellow Ribbon" event to finish up their deployment. At least we get a weekend away, room and meals provided.....and in a nice hotel to boot..........can't beat that!!!!
I think we are both looking forward to getting "away" from here for at least a couple of days.
I spent some time with that great-neice today and her 2 month old little sister. Big brother was in school. Nana had to go pick him up so I kept the girls at her house so she would not have to take them with her. Holding that little one is so fun ;-)...........
Ritzy has a dental appointment tomorrow at the veteran's center at tulsa. I guess I will be going with him.
The weather was really nice today, but you know around here we can't get too used to it cause it is supposed to turn cold again. The weather just keeps teasing us this year, it gets warm then turns off cold.........
Here in Oklahoma, if we can make it thru February we just about have it made til those Spring thunderstorms start, hahaha!!!!
I think Ritzywife's brain just quit for the day, oh well we will see what tomorrow brings........good for everyone I hope.....
Ritzywife is out.......

Yeah, I know it's been a while. I've been busy these past few days helping the daughter move. Whew,,,,,I think it is just about finished. Anyways, one down and one to go, haha!!
Spent today watching her get most of her things together. It is a good and sad feeling at the same time. Good because Ritzy and I are at the age where we are ready for an "empty nest" and sad because I want my son and daughter to be happy and I hope the decisions they make will bring that about. But that is what growing up and becoming an adult is all about.......you take the good along with the bad and hope you come out in the end a stronger and better person......
Ritzy and I have to go buy groceries tomorrow nite. I make him go with me because I hate doing it alone. It is NO fun......
That great-nephew came home with us after church today. He played on the son's XBOX till it was time to go back to church tonite. We get there and about 10 minutes later the kid is "out". He slept till it was time to go home. We took him home and his little sisters were both out if it too. I sure hope they sleep tonight ;-)
Well I guess that's about all I have for today. Ritzywife is out.....

Last Saturday I took the Christmas decorations down ;-(
I always hate doing that because I know the "season" is over and it is time to start a new year and get back to "normal", whatever that has become over the last year.
Anyways, they are put away til later this year. Ritzy and I were buying groceries last week, but before I bought any food, I looked at all the discounted Christmas stuff and restocked for next christmas. Ritzy thought I was nuts, but I told him I was saving him money so shhhhhhh!!!! hahaha.....I paid for everything and sent him to put all my "bargains" in the truck while I started shopping for supplies.
I have started having him go shopping with me so he can see just how "fun" it is ;-)
Here I am writing and I haven't even had that first cup of coffee yet. YIKES!!!!
I have to start on our monthly church report in a little while, you can bet that will keep me busy for a little while, at least...
I guess I had better go and do some "real" work, so I am out for now........

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year. Ritzy and I went up to the parent's for a couple of hours. We took "Bubba" & Sissy" with us. Around 7:30 Sissy comes to me and says she is ready to go to Nana's. So off we go to Nana's. We watch a movie and when it is over Ritzy decides he has had enough "fun" for one night. By this time is is 10pm. After getting home we take our baths and go to bed. Yup, the old year went and the new year arrived while Ritzy and I were cutting zzzzzzzzz's.......
I guess that is what happens when you get old, huh??????
Today everyone met at Mom & Dad's and ate New Year's dinner together. The food was wonderful....and yes we all had our black-eyed peas. (for good luck in the new year)
When we all meet up there, sometimes there is dessert and sometimes not. Well something must have "gotten" into the cooks of the family cause we had just about as much dessert as food. There was cheesecake, cookies, pumpkin pie and I fixed a peach cobbler. I had some of those Porter peaches that I had gotten earlier in the year to use up. Mom even had vanilla ice cream to go with it all. YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
Now........ is guess it is time to get back to a normal routine......whatever that is. It is still taking Ritzy and I a while to get back to our routine. Since he returned in October, we have made two trips to Wisconsin, then came the holidays and now that they are over maybe we can start the new year getting used to each other again ;-)
I think I am about to get over this nasty cold that I picked up right before Christmas. Still have an annoying cough.
Time for me to start thinking about taking the Christmas decorations down. I hate doing that because I love Christmas and everything that goes with it.......
Now all that is missing is some of that winter weather........come on snow!!!!!!!
Ritzywife is outta here!!