Florida and Back

It has been sooooo long since I have blogged. I guess I ran out of things to say for awhile or I was really busy. But I wanted to tell you about what I just accomplished. I drove to Florida and back by myself. Now I know this isn't the first time anyone has driven a long distance alone, but for someone who used to be nervous taking Clairemont Avenue in Eau Claire in my 20s, it was a big deal. This is what I learned along the way:

1. It would have been cheaper to fly. Gas was between $3.59 and $3.99 a gallon and with the cost of hotel rooms for four nights, well you do the math.
2. Illinois is BORING.
3. Tennessee is beautiful.
4. Southern Georgia is wall to wall billboards, big ones, one right after the other, but it gives you something to look at while driving.
5. You can't avoid driving through Atlanta or Nashville, but try to do it on a Sunday. I counted 10 lanes on each side while driving through Atlanta in bumper to bumper traffic.
6. There is a Cracker Barrel, a McDonald's, and a Waffle House every five miles, I swear to God.
7. I like staying at Holiday Inn Express
8. I would move to Florida for Bealls and Bealls Outlet stores alone.
9. I had a peek at my future at the Elks Club in Florida for a Friday Night Fish Fry. I was easily the youngest woman there. But those older folks can DANCE!!!
10. I was the only person on the dance floor that couldn't do the Electric Slide. Note to self, learn it before going back.
11. There is a Grundy County in Tennessee and a Butts county in Georgia :)
12. I LOVE WISCONSIN!!!

Love, Gram

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

Today is Cassidy's 8th birthday. Happy Birthday Cassidy Leigh. Hope you are having a GREAT day! We can't wait for your party on March 6th - everyone in the bear pool - yay!

I HEART you!

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!!!

Love You - Grandma Chrissy

Places I have lived...

I have always lived in Wisconsin....always. I was born in Ashland WI because the Hayward Hospital was for Native Americans only. After I was born, I came to Hayward with my parents to live. I lived in Hayward until I was in second grade. My dad got a job in Ashland, so we moved there and lived near downtown Ashland. I went to Beaser School for second grade and part of third grade.

Halfway through third grade, we moved back to Hayward and lived with my mom's parents at Sands Riverside Inn - my grandparent's bar/restaurant. We had bedrooms, a bathroom and a playroom upstairs over the restaurant. Our kitchen was the restaurant kitchen. I have so many memories from the years I lived there.

My Grandpa Sands died when I was about 9 years old and then we moved into town (OK, this is Hayward so moving to town meant we were moving about 1 mile). We lived on South 2nd Street from when I was in sixth grade until I graduated from high school.

The only other town I have lived in is Eau Claire. When Grandpa Jim and I got married, we lived on State Street in Eau Claire and we stayed there for about 18 years. Once we were empty nesters, we sold that house and bought a house on South Pointe Court - over by the Oakwood Mall. We stayed there for five years. During that time, we also owned "the cabin" in Hayward and spent almost every weekend there.

Once I retired, we moved into the cabin and lived there for two years full-time. So now we are back living in Hayward again.

Once all the grandkids came along, we decided the cabin just wasn't big enough....so we bought the house we live in right now. I can't imagine moving again, but never say never.

I would like to live somewhere warmer in the winter someday....maybe out west....or maybe the Dominican Republic.

Do you remember all of the houses you have lived in?

Love you, Gram

Change is good???

So grandpa Jim and I are on a diet and we have been behaving and I have actually lost a few pounds. But today is Superbowl Sunday and I thought we would have something besides Nutrisystem food to celebrate. We decided on taco salads - I thought it would be a good idea to stick to low fat items - lettuce, fat free sour cream (yuck), you know, it's a salad. So I made a list of the things I needed and headed to town to go to Wal-Mart. Let's just say that every wal-mart in the universe totally changed their floor plan this summer, but I have almost re-learned where everything is, thank you very much.

I found almost everything I was looking for - everything except the "shell" for the taco salad. I know where they usually are - they weren't there. I looked everywhere except the candy aisle and didn't find them so I decided, well, I'll just stop at Marketplace on my way home. So I did.

Well, let's just say that the people at Marketplace were not to be outdone and decided to totally revamp their store too. New flooring, new shelving, new freezers, new coolers. They moved everything around - almost nothing looked familiar except maybe the card section (and let me just say all the people in Hayward have already bought their grandchildren Valentine's day cards, because there weren't any left in either store).

I got my salad shells.

I'm going to treat my shopping experience as brain exercise. Amen.

Snowy Days

Hi Kids....

It's a snowy day today. I LOVE snowy days. It has been gently snowing all day long and the sky is overcast. I also like nice dark rainy days. For some reason, I always feel like digging in a getting some projects done on dark, gloomy days. When the sun is out, it feels like it's sending me a message to get out of the house and work on the yard or run errands. When it's gloomy, it's an invitation to stay put and do the little things I tend to put off. This is what I did today:

1. Some ironing....Grandpa Jim needs his shirts ironed and I always put it off - I've been ironing three days in a row. Yuck.
2. Cleaned off the stairs. I had stuff sitting there that needed to be brought upstairs....just hadn't done it. Now it's done! Yay
3. Dusting. You wouldn't believe how much dust is in the air in the winter. I could dust every day and never catch up.
4. Swiffer the floor. I should do this every other day, but I don't, but I did today.
5. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation work.....the banquet is coming up on the 20th and I had to get all my stuff from upstairs and get ready to stuff envelopes. I'm ready to roll for RMEF.
6. Made the bed. Most days I do, but I didn't yesterday, but I did today.
7. Laundry - just a load or two.
8. Made an appointment for my car - I'm road tripping to Duluth on Thursday.

I'm sure there were other things going on, but that about sums it up.

What did you do today???? Leave a post for me.

Love, Grandma

Home Sweet Wisconsin

I'm home from the Dominican Republic and we had a great time. The big earthquake in Haiti was on the same island but out side of the island was not affected at all. It was hard to believe that such destruction was happening not that far from us.

The weather was warm and windy and very humid. We spent alot of time on the beach reading books. The food was excellent and we probably ate too much. We met some fun people while we were there.