How terrific to be able to celebrate Christmas with grandkids, friends and other family! Mom and Dad, sis. Jana and husband Bruce and their son, Kyle.James giving little sis. Winter a big hug at the Ward Christmas party.Baby Zuzu (Charlotte Addison December Snow) and I show off our Santa hats.
Big traditional Christmas Eve Dinner (in San Diego) with turkey and all the 'fixins' with the kids waiting impatiently for the moment when they could finally unwrap their one gift...Winter (2 yrs. old) l-o-v-e-d her miniature wood guitar - now she can play along with big brother James who takes guitar lessons - and James said "This is just what I wanted!" when he opened his talking dart board game. Sure miss being with my other grandbabies, Quinton, Taylor, Evan, Sara and Scott but I sent them love and goodies! The dog is an English Shepherd I fostered for a few months - a great companion who helped James get over his fear of dogs.
After celebrating in San Diego it was off to FL on a 'red-eye' flight - leaving 10:pm and arriving 12:30 pm...the next day...is how it earned the nickname...BUT scored a $400 voucher by volunteering my seat to a very stressed-out traveler for whom much else had already gone wrong...Sweet!
WONDERFUL to see all you beloved friends and family and get to spend time with y'all! Fishing, boating...ok, so I didn't actually go out in the boat (Dad's clunker) but it did start and is now owl-pellet free...haven't touched the discarded snake-skin in the front bow under the seats tho', rather have a resident harmless yellow rat snake than rats...While fishing from the dock (with little to show for it) Dad finally decided to prop his pole for a minute to talk to the young handyman who stopped by for his payment. No sooner had he gotten a few feet away than crash! bang! SPLASH! and the whole rig went in. The six inch red-tipped white bobber was submarining across the canal and for the next few minutes we all watched as it zig-zagged the water, popping up here and there unexpectedly but not leaving the canal. Had no luck trying to bring up the rod and reel with various long handled tools. With little hope of success we tied on a 6 in metal lure with 1 1/2 inch treble hooks to my rod. Cast it out, and, shocker!, snagged the line on the first try! Was able to bring in both rod and fish - the fish was a huge 5 lb. catfish who was quite happy to be gingerly released - saltwater catfish have evil spines which are poisonous due to the bacteria-laden covering of slime. It was the second catfish of the day; meaning time to call it quits. All-in-all, tho', it was a fun way to spend New Year's Day, 2009, and certainly was great to enjoy the balmy weather.
Tomorrow, the 5th of January, it is back to San Diego and my fun "Sing'n Speak Spanish" teaching job. Looking forward to moving into my own apt. right across from daughter and family...The marriage turned out to be a bit of a mismatch yet enabled me to be in San Diego to help out with my daughter's health crisis, finish my bachelor's degree (begun back when the earth was cooling), and find a new career. SO, remember, "Mi casa es su casa." - there is much to see and do here in San Diego!
