I Can't Keep Up!

Here's a picture of Zach & Benji - aren't they so cute!

I am astonished that February only has a couple more days left in it and I have neglected to write on my blog - I made a point of writing February 1st and didn't even finish it, I left it hanging - so for those of you who visit and read it, I'm sorry.

I am getting used to my new computer and have installed programs to help me make better dvd's. Quite a learning process but the results so far are great. I'm starting off by making a dvd for Chloe. Chloe is 6 and her Dad, Erik, has been great about sending me photos of her throughout her 6 years. Of course I have a bunch of pictures I've taken myself but added to the pictures from Erik, I have quite a selection of pictures to choose to put into the dvd. I add music and comments and I'll try and put a little bit on here so you can see what I'm doing. Of course if Chloe is first - the other 5 should not be far behind!

In January, my cousin Judy and I were bemoaning the fact that we need to lose weight and get healthier. It's amazing how when you get in your 60's you think, whoa, I want to live a lot longer and be able to involved with the activities my family is involved in - and - watch all these people grow into the people they are going to become - I WANT TO BE PART OF ALL THAT!! So Judy and I talked about giving each other support to try and get healthier. I said I would try to get something started so we could invite other people and communicate with each other online. I was able to create a private group for us and I called it "Can We Do It ~ YES WE CAN!!!" This is the little logo I found for our site - I like it, it looks Happy, Positive and says everything our group feels - we can do this with each other's help! So far, it's been a really big success. Our group consists of my cousins - Judy, Jani, Linda, Jani's daughter Emily, Judy's daughter-in-law Judy,
my sister Connie, Connie's daughter Gena, my daughter Tina and me. We started with changing a few habits - drinking 6 - 8 glasses of water a day and doing 15 minutes of exercise a day. Those don't sound like big changes but they've been difficult to do on a daily basis - so we continue to work on changes - it took years to get in this shape and any and all positive changes we make are all for our own good. I think the best part is the encouragement and support we have all given to each other. We know someone is out there checking in on our group and will hopefully write a few words for discussion, being able to vent our frustrations and always send words of encouragement and inspiration. The weight loss is a slow process but the changes that I've hear about from all of us are amazing. Portion control, reading labels, getting up and exercising when we don't feel like it, drinking yet another glass of water - sharing with each other - I'm so happy we are doing it together!

I'm so busy with my computer stuff that I've neglected other things I love to do - reading - I have read quite a few books, both with my Kindle and books in my stash, but not the amount that I would normally do in the winter. Sewing - I'm kind of in a stuck position right now - my new computer doesn't work with my sewing program and my old computer isn't acting too good right now, so I haven't been too creative and I miss that process - but - I am working on getting the old computer working again so I can sew. Gardening - woe is me!! In an earlier post I told you my sweet pea seeds didn't grow and I wouldn't be having any sweet peas this year - I am so sad about that!!! I'm thinking I might go down to my GREAT local nursery - King's - and buy a couple of 6 packs and plant some and hope they grow. The yard is kind of a mess but I always am amazed at the little plants that live through the winter to give me beautiful flowers again and again. This year I actually pruned my roses and I'm looking forward to how they will do this year. So it seems that Spring is on it's way and I better get with it and get back to these all these activities.

As Spring starts it seems the whole family comes alive with all sorts of stuff to do - for our grandsons - Little League is just getting started - Benji will be turning 3 on March 9th - Matt (he's getting older I'm trying not to call him Matty - No - he'll always be Matty to me) is turning 11 in April - Zach will be 7 in May - Our little Chloe girl has pneumonia again, for the 3rd time in her little life but is back to school and feeling a little better, Cyrah is almost finished with her 1st year of high school and hoping to get an internship at a place in San Francisco to learn about marine biology and my Joe Joe will be playing Little League in the farm system this year. Kenny is always hopeful the Dodger's will do well this year and is counting the days until retirement is a reality for him. Mike, Tina, Erik & Jeff all seem to be doing well and we'll all start looking forward to our camping trip in June up to Richardson's Grove in the redwoods.

Chloe on New Year's Day Matty getting ready to start building his biggest Lego project "The Death Star".

Cyrah, Joe, Tina and Erik playing a game on New Year's Day.

Okay, time to close for today, as I write it's storming out-

side and getting ready to dump a ton of rain on us. I hope that everyone reading this is in a good place in their

lives, getting ready for a wonderful Spring & Summer. I continue to LOVE retirement and look forward to the time when Kenny will be retired (the very near future) and we'll see where that next section of our lives leads us. In March, we have been together 46 years - in May, married 44 years, so retirement for both of us will be a whole new world!

My thought to leave you with today is: Change can be a very good thing, embrace it, enjoy it and live it!

Until next time . . .

This New Year is Already Speeding By . . .

My gosh, today is already February 1st, January just zipped on by. Well, I'm typing this post on my new computer. I ordered it from Dell at the beginning of January and it just got here last Thursday. And let me tell you, Windows 7 is so confusing!
Learning how to use this computer is going to be a real test of my persistent nature. In addition to the new computer I also got a new photo program to use with my program that let's me make dvd's out of our photos. None of it makes sense to me at this point but I'm going to try and make some little movie that I can either put here or on YouTube so you can see what I'm trying to learn.

Speaking of my persistent nature, I called Connie the other night to tell her I was, Oh so Proud of myself. Connie and I both just have a gene that makes us keep trying to do some things (not exercising, or cleaning and especially not losing weight) until we finally have figured something out and end up being successful, where a lot of people just say "Why do you insist on keep trying to do that?" I'm talking mostly about computer stuff but for Connie it's also house stuff and for me it's usually some sort of craft/sewing thing. Anyway, getting back to me being oh, so proud!! My old computer has my sewing stuff on it but it turns out those files cannot be used on the new computer, which really screws me up because it's a very long process in the first place and this problem just made it a lot worse. Well, I kept trying and trying to figure out how to print my designs from where my old computer is at in the other room and I finally did it!! I created a network and pushed the print button on one of my designs and it came out of the printer in my craft room just like I had planned it. I really don't know how I did it to tell you the truth. But basically that's how my whole computer learning process has gone, I don't do anything the right way, I just figure out a way and keep doing it like that.

I'm going to stop for right now, I'm not finished, I'll finish up tomorrow but I wanted to get started on this. So if anyone is reading this, check back later tomorrow for the rest, it's so facinating isn't it?