Valentine's Day

Which was yesterday, but this is what we did with the weekend.  I'm getting less interested in celebrating holidays on the day specified.  I do so many things in a week, and just trying to keep up with regular housekeeping after the few outside things I do (babysitting and knitting group) that I get so tired just thinking these days and trying to keep ahead.  I would like to get to more de-cluttering, but it is only a very little at a time project at the moment.

Besides, one of my friends has a daughter that said... 

"Because we love each other we don't have to celebrate only one day a year.  We can celebrate every day!" I like that idea,says her mom, and I like it, too. 

Even though Jim has never been much of a "let's spend lots of money on candy and flowers for Valentine's Day" guy, he would do it if I reminded him.  I don't need flowers and candy to know he loves me.  He gets my water when I am tired and too lazy to get it. He makes me cocoa after a long day to have with my snack.  He makes supper on the days I just can't find the energy to do it.  He makes gooey scrambled eggs just the way I like them.  

He does lots of things for me, and I am thankful every day.  

So, what did we do Valentine's weekend?

We went skiing.  Well, everyone else went skiing, I just went.

This is the weekend our public school has parent teacher conferences so when the kids were younger we went to Wyoming to ski on that weekend for years.  As time went on and grandchildren came and kids grew up, and I had cancer, things changed and I didn't always go, and Jim would take Lynette and go at different times and with other friends.  

But, this year it worked out, that this was the weekend.  

And I came along.  I was looking forward to a day in the motel, working on projects all by myself.  I made a bunch of cards I had ready for gluing and put some old photos in an album.  I knitted some, read some, and ate some of the red velvet cake I brought along (with cocoa).  

The second day Jim took Lynette and Anthony up to the mountain and came back again to spend the day with me.  We drove around and went to a few stores and had some lunch and went back up the mountain to wait until they were done.  

I love this house!!

Looking over Laramie.

Jim is lucky to have a wife that likes looking around farm stores. 

On the road to Snowy Range. 

Skiers, way too busy having fun to have a photo. 

Before we left for the weekend, we went to see Zane do his cup -stacking during the halftime of the basketball game.  The "little stackers" as they are called, practice twice a month after school.  This time, the group did a relay race, stacking and gathering up both big and little cups.  

One-Twelfth Gone

Here it is the first of February.  

My poor husband is outside in 5 degree weather moving snow, in the wind.  He started out with the tractor that has no cab, but it is so cold, he went to get the skid loader that has a cab and moved snow at the shop, before coming back to do a few more neighboring driveways.

You know, he really wouldn't have to do that.  It's freezing cold out there. Yes, we get money for it, but not very much. Some of the work if for favors received.  He does this because he is a nice guy and he likes driving equipment.

After several days of 40 degree highs, then 50 degree highs, then 60 degree highs, and then a 70 degree high day.  We were loving it.  

Now we have plunged back into the arctic regions and the start of a new month.  

Going back to January, however, I have a few stories to tell.

I go take care of  the boys on Wednesdays this semester while my daughter goes to class.  She's had a few volunteer days where the little boys come to me.  

My lovely huge picture window in the front of my house is a great place to view the birds, the neighbors, the sunset and the weather.  The kids always liked to watch for Dad to come, and the grandkids like to watch the outside, too.  

However, it complicates picture taking with all the light coming in.  But, I take them anyway.  We had a table set up by the window to do puzzles on and the boys loved to be up on it.

Barry

 Christian...

...makes a really cute lump.

I know this photo was in my day by day.  This picture shows the whole yellow mirror that matches my yellow wall,  I told that story here (the last day.)

How much I love my sunrises.  We had a rainbow sunrise this morning.

I was cleaning out a closet the other day.  I was looking for my 80's prairie blouse with the side button and ruffles that was in the dress up box.  I found it, cleaned out the closet, threw out a bunch of the dress up clothes, and made room in there for some of the things lying around the basement.  

I also found this: 

There is a story behind this skirt and it is a bittersweet memory.  I was 13 years old and "everyone" was wearing long dresses to the Christmas concert that year and I wanted one.  I wanted one badly.  And I made a nuisance out of myself begging for one.  

It was the first time I made my mother cry.

(The only other time that happened,  I also wanted something really bad, and I played dirty pool on that one and it isn't a pleasant memory.)

I didn't understand then that Mom really didn't have the money to get me a new dress.  She obviously didn't even have the money to buy material to make one.  This material was some leftover in her stash.  She used a pantyhose top for the elastic and Velcro instead of a zipper.  

The sweet thing is, I loved this skirt.  I was so happy to have a long dress to fit in with the other girls in my class.  I wore it proudly to that concert with my homemade curls that soon fell out.  (My hair didn't take well to curls.) 

A good rule of thumb is to only keep things that make us feel good.  I'm not sure whether this falls in that category or not.  My mom made this for me out of the best that she had, and I loved it. 

Our garage still looks nice. (I cropped out the mess at the back of the garage since we don't have shelves in yet.)  And so does the load of wood for the fireplace. Jim went wood-cutting with the our neighbor.

The afterglow is just as pretty as the sunset sometimes.