49th Friday, 12 Month, 2010th year....

Let me see - where to begin. I know - with Page2's report card that Leah txt messaged me earlier this week. We are so proud of both Page2 and Leah for all their hard work in getting her to this point. Great Job!!! BigD and I are going to get with Page1 and start "contributing" to the "good grades fund"! As nice as our long weekend at the coast was this past month, we are SO looking forward to our time this month with our babies. Had a really long chat with GG's youngest daughter who is one of mine and BigD's favorite people in the world. She is always such a joy to talk with - full of wit, common sense and news! I'm hoping BigD and I will be getting down to OBX for a short visit after the first of the year. I'm sure we will all have fun.I also had a nice short but sweet FB chat with one of my young friends who is up there close with Page as being one of the strongest young women I know. Isn't she absolutely gorgeous? On top of that, she is tres' smart and brave. I know my friend Roseanne misses her as much as I miss my Page even though we both know they are doing great where they are and we both feel happy and proud for that.I agree - this isn't the best picture of me (taken by an impatient BigD) but I wanted Page to see me wearing one of the nice sweaters today in service that she brought me to the coast. I'll be wearing the other one next week because it is going to be cold, cold, cold. As a matter of fact, I got a txt message from Leah telling me they were having snow flurries and the weatherman just said we are having some snow tomorrow. Anyway - after having a small epiphany yesterday during and after my appointment, I picked Ruth up to go with me out to a huge mall (I hate malls) to pick up an order and we had a nice lunch. We talked about it and even though we like to think we have "freedom of speech" (we had a nice talk about that earlier this week), we both have come to the conclusion there is no such thing as "absolute" freedom of speech unless we don't care about how we make other people feel. I hope her new undershirts are keeping her warmer. :)Lee came by earlier to pick up the "homemade" sausage we ordered for him and his family and he picked up the Martha Stewart dusters and brushes I'm sending to Ann. I love this picture of him with my beloved (yes - I'm giving it to her) Ostrich Feather duster. I hope she likes them but I'm sure there will only be a few she really wants to keep.
BigD and I love Lee - he is absolutely one of the sweetest young men we know. I know he misses his Dad every single day. We are both very proud of him and his lovely bride who are working so hard to create wonderful memories for their two beautiful children while working hard to help their parents and siblings.Lee kept telling us how much Miya liked him and we reluctantly had to tell him she is like this with everyone who walks through the door - especially if she thinks they don't like cats! That is when he told me to look at Ann's blog which broke my heart. She had to help her beloved Zu go to sleep after being her constant companion for 16 years. I cried when I read it as I'm sure she did as she wrote it. Of course there was another entry that wasn't much better pertaining to a little girl who decided to take care of her "poopie" diaper herself without very good results.
So overall, I'm feeling pretty doggone good today - long day in service with good friends, great wine, great dinner, great conversation with people I love and now I'm going to try to get to bed before too late. I'll leave you on the note of one of my favorite song writers.....As we look at his picture we can all "Imagine".......Imagine no possessions; I wonder if you can; No need for greed or hunger; A brotherhood of man; Imagine all the people; Sharing all the world. You may say that I'm a dreamer; But I'm not the only one; I hope someday you'll join us; And the world will live as one.