January 31

This is my niece Arianna and their family dog. Oscar. Aren't they both cute? My sister lives around the corner from me and I snapped this when I ran to her house to borrow something. I was cooking and as happens to me frequently, I was missing an ingredient. I'm thankful for my sister and the fact that she lives close enough to save me the occasional trip to the store!

January 30

You may remember a few weeks ago when this post showed invitations a friend and I were making for a night with a few of the women from church to say good-bye to our friend Nancy, who happens to be our Pastors wife.
Tonight was the night. Several people helped with the meal and one of the women did a lot of the decorating. We had 18 women here and the picture above shows the tables lined up in our family room, waiting for the meal. We all ate too much, but had a wonderful time; sharing stories, laughing, crying, talking and praying.

January 29

It's snowing again! It's supposed to snow all day tomorrow. This is a row of pine trees down the road from my house. Don't they look pretty with a fresh layer of snow?

January 28

Today I had to go for my annual physical, which I had been procrastinating on for a few months. My Dr. is very nice and I really don't mind it except for the crazy scale they make you stand on. I really shouldn't shouldn't postpone it like that.
This is the entry at the building. It's got blue tinted windows with a huge bird mobile hanging. It makes quite an impression when you walk in.

January 27

It's another cold day here, but the sun has been shining. This little bird feeder in my side yard is sporting a tall snow hat!

January 26

This isn't a beautiful picture but it shows what parking lots in our area are looking like. This is our local grocery store. There are mounds of snow surrounding the parking lot. If we get much more, I don't know where they'll put it!

January 25

I took this picture on my way home from work today and changed the color to sepia to reflect the age of the building.
This is Engine House #5. It was originally built in a nearby city in 1880. It was going to be demolished and a local man who owns a fire services business bought it for $1. He then had it taken apart, brick by brick and re-assembled in out town. It is now a Fire museum with old fire trucks and equipment in it.

January 24

Snowmen!
Today the cub scouts came to the Nursing home to make snowmen. They made three of them them on the patio which is off our dining room. This way the residents were able to watch them playing in the snow, and each time they go to a meal, will see those snowmen outside.
They love to see kids, but were quite worried about them being out in the cold! (it was about 13 degrees this morning)

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These boys were busy making a mini snowman.

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They had fun making this snowman who they said was tired, so he was laying down.

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I think this one is quite cute. He quite short - about 4 feet, but is wider than he is tall!
We really appreciate volunteers like this who come and spend a little time making our residents happy!

January 23

I have 2 sisters that I'm very close to. They get together every Friday for lunch and when I have the day off, I join them. My sister Cheri, was going away for the weekend with her husband, so Terri and I had lunch together. We both like Chinese and Cheri doesn't, so we thought this was the perfect day for lunch at the Chinese restaurant near her home.
We always have a good time together and the food was good. It's so nice to spend time with family!
PS - My fortune was:
"You will re-connect with old friends"

January 22

Thursdays are a big day at the Nursing Home where I work. The beautician comes every Thursday and the ladies line up to get their hair done.
A few years ago, a daughter of one of our residents came in and painted scenes on the walls of the beauty shop. Both the men and women enjoy coming here and being pampered.

January 21

I had the day off today and went for a cold walk. As I walked along my road, the sun came out from under the clouds for a few minutes, letting me see this beautiful sky. (Which always looks better in person than in a photo!)

January 20

When I was working today I saw these little birds sitting on the pergola that covers our patio. I got cold just stepping out for a few minutes to take this picture, but they seem to handle it just fine. It made me think of the Bible verse in Matthew that says God takes care of the birds and dresses the flowers, so we shouldn't be worrying, as we are more valuable than either of them and God will take care of us!

January 19

I took this picture at work this morning. It's a picture off our patio as the sun was coming up. It was very cold and frosty, and looked so pretty with the pink sky behind the trees.

January 18

I got to help out in Sunday school this morning. This is part of our 1st grade class. We had a lesson on prayer and then we made "Prayer Pretzels". We talked about the history of pretzels while we were rolling the dough. The kids each made 2, one to keep and one to share with a prayer request. They had fun making them and handing them out after class!

January 17

It's Saturday and I have this weekend off. It's still very cold here. It was 2 degrees when I went to bed last night. I had to make a run to the grocery store and I thought while I still had my coat on, I would go outside in search of a photo subject for today. This is our sundial, accumulating more layers of snow!

January 16

I had today off, so was able to do some fun things.This morning I went to a friends house and passed this field, down the road from my house. The trees looked so pretty covered in snow. I had lunch with my 2 sisters and then did some shopping. It's still cold here, but not as bad as yesterday!

January 15

Brrrr! This is a thermometer we have in our kitchen that tells the outside temperature. You will notice it says 5.7 degrees. This was taken this afternoon, even though the time says something else. Last night it was -5 around here and our high for the day was 8. We are breaking records that have been held since the 70's. It's supposed to be a little warmer next week. They are predicting some balmy temps in the 20's!

January 14

This is our hydrangea tree. These flowers start out white in the summer, then change from white to pink to a dark rose color in the fall. Many of these flower heads fall off, but some hold on. I always find it fascinating to see them hanging onto a bare branch, covered in snow in the middle of winter.

Award

Thanks to LuAnn over at Daily Blessings for sending this award my way. It's the "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" award. Isn't that fun? I've just gotten to know LuAnn a little through our picture a day blogs but I can tell that award is perfect for her. She even has a post tonight about finding a blessing in ironing!
I'm supposed to pass this on to 10 other bloggers and it so happens that I have 10 followers so I'm passing it to them:
Sara at One photo a day for a year
Susan at Project 365
Dot at Dot's Photo a day spot
Susan at Penless Writer
Vicki at 2009 Photo project 365
Andy at Agile, Mobile, Hostile
Kristie at This life I lead
Kae at All my Blessings
Linda at Reflections from Home
And, back at LuAnn!

January 13

I had the day off work today. A friend came over and we made invitations. Our pastor is leaving and some of us women are having a gathering to thank his wife for all she has done and all she means to us.
We had a fun morning, cutting and pasting these!

January 12

My husband had to go to a meeting at church tonight, but decided to catch a little nap before he left. Cleo decided to join him and take one too!

January 11

As I drove home from work today, big snowflakes were floating down from the sky. It's been snowing every day, and snow is predicted for the next week. This is our front walk, which you can also see pictured on January 4 before the snow started again. Our little lights may soon be buried!

January 10

I work in a Long Term Care Facility and with that kind of work comes working weekends. This is my weekend to work, so I took this picture of some of the ladies playing Bingo in our Dining room today. Bingo is played twice a week and lots of our residents enjoy it. There are no big money winners here - they play for candy!

January 9

It's been snowing again! Today I went out to get some shoes that are a little more practical to wear in this weather than my usual clogs. I had enough of wading through snow in the parking lot at work in the last month and decided that once Christmas was done it had to be a priority. I got some Merrills that should keep me warm and dry!

January 8

This is where I spent most of the day today, in the chair under that blanket. I got the flu last night and had to call in to work today. I have been working at the Nursing home for 18 years and have only called in twice. Once was to take my son in to the ER and the other time was when my Mom died. So - this was unusual. I'm feeling better now and hope no one else in the house gets this!

January 7

Lots of cooking going on today. I made a total of 13 freezer meals. It makes for a long day and a messy kitchen but it's worth it when you're done!

January 6

Does this look like a spoiled cat or what? This is our cat Cleo and Heather has spread her blanket out on the couch so Cleo has a soft warm place to sleep. What a life!

January 5

This is Shakespeare. He lives in the Nursing Home where I work. He doesn't talk but certainly can make a lot of noise!
Many of the residents stop by and talk to him as they pass by. He does bring happiness to many of them.

January 4

Icy Day
We left for church this morning and were surprised to see a coating of ice over everything. Everyone was walking like old people in the church parking lot.
This afternoon we had to go to the Funeral Home for visitation for Bob's uncle. It's still icy and kind of foggy too.
The picture above shows the coating of ice over our front walk.

Jan 3

It's Saturday and I accomplished a lot on this day off. Laundry, baking and some cleaning. The refrigerator, the hall closet and this pantry were cleaned out! This may not look perfect but it's a lot better than it was!

Jan 2

Karla and Diane came over and got to go on the webcam and see Andy for the first time since he left for Korea. It was fun for all!

January 2009

January 1, 2009


I read about this on another blog. The challenge is to try and take a picture every day. It's a way to chronicle a year of your life. I may miss a day here and there, but I'm going to try it.