Where Did the Year Go?!?

It's hard to believe that 2012 will be over in a few hours.  It seems like it just flew by, and I keep thinking that spring will be here before we know it--yay!  If only we could make the time go a bit slower during spring and summer.  So far, we've had pretty mild winter temperatures, not much wind and not too much snow so that makes the winter more bearable.

We had a busy Christmas week.  M's sister and her family were here for almost a week, and it was just a party every day!  Throw in M's mom's birthday on the 22nd and our nephew's birthday on Christmas day just to add more reasons to celebrate.  We used to always have Christmas Eve supper at the in-laws and Christmas Day dinner at my house.  Now that the in-laws have moved to town in the winters everything happens in town.  That might make it easier for everyone else, but we don't like it.  I have no reason to get my house cleaned and decorated since no one comes to see it, and I really had a hard time getting into the spirit this year.  There were 18 in the house on Christmas Day--that's too many for me although I don't know who I would have kicked out!

R is camping out in the house at the farm enjoying the quietness.  He has two roommates at school and says there are usually 5 or 6 people there all the time so he's happy to have his own space for awhile.  He's been helping with cow feeding chores, and Marty is taking advantage of that and getting some other things done.

J took off today for his annual snowmobile trip to Cooke City.  I always breathe a sigh of relief when he comes home safe and sound.  I remember that the first year he went I cried.  I kept thinking of the fun we had going on family snowmobile trips and now he was all grown up and going without us.  He didn't even check in with me before he left this time--bad boy!

We are looking forward to the new year as we always do--hoping for a healthy family, good crops and maybe a bit more fun and a little less work.  So, I'm off to my couch with a glass of wine hoping I can make it until midnight.......or ten o'clock.  Happy New Year everyone!

We've had a bit of fog...and frost!

Piper dressed up for Christmas

Surprise!

One of my brothers and I had the best idea to surprise our other brother on his 60th birthday.  So, bright and early on Sunday morning we start out on a 400+ mile jaunt across the state for supper.  We were blessed with decent roads and weather and the smiles, hugs and "what are you doing here" made it worth the trip.  We had a nice visit and good food (of course) and beautiful scenery with the snow-covered mountains and trees.  He's on his way to the state legislature so we had a lot to talk about.

Some may think it crazy to make that trip for just an overnight stay, but we don't get together often enough and you never know how many more of those moments you'll get.  My brother is one of the most wonderful people I know, and I'm not just saying that because he's my brother.  He's smart, kind, sensible, and a no-nonsense kind of person (it's genetical), and I love spending time with him and his family.

The bonus was spending time on the road with another brother and helping him Christmas shop for his wife.  We think we travel well together so may have to be planning another road trip!  Love you guys!!

Back To Work

I finally went back to my "real" job this week.  Up until the middle of last week I really wasn't feeling up to it since I have to be on my feet all day.  I was pretty tired by the end of the day but didn't have much pain so that's a good sign.  My boss accused me of throwing things on the floor so he'd have to pick them up, but I swear that wasn't the case!  I also had to have a coworker pull open the door of the safe for me--that sucker is heavy--and get some things off the bottom shelf of of a cabinet.  I'll be so glad when I get out of this stupid, uncomfortable brace and get some mobility back.  It was payday the day that I was there, but there was no paycheck for me since I took the whole month of November off.  I felt a bit left out.

We have had crazy weather with rain (never good in December) and then ice.  M fell the other day and whacked his elbow and worries about me falling.  I'm pretty nervous about that, too, so am super careful and really, sadly, don't get out much.  I do most of my walking on the treadmill which I don't enjoy too much but have found that I can read at the same time and the time goes by much faster.  Something has gone haywire though since it says I'm walking 180 mph and I do about 75 miles at a time.  Yeah, I'm a super woman!

I have been going crazy over my dirty house since I can't vacuum or sweep.  Actually, I do sweep (slowly and carefully) but then I have to leave piles of dirt (and dog hair) for M to scoop up when he gets home.  I finally got him to vacuum the other day, but he needs to do it again.  I don't think I will get much Christmas decorating done without his help, and I don't see that happening, so I may be off the hook for that, too.

M has been busy working on his cow water project and hauling cows and calves around the area.  He's out on his last scheduled load today so the fall run may be over and maybe things will slow down for him a bit.  We're usually in Hawaii this time of year, and I'm sure there are days he really wishes we were there this year.

We've been busy the past few days planning our trip to Florida for the Daytona 500 in February.  M wouldn't make any plans until he was sure I was going to be healed up and ready to go.  I should be back to normal by then, I hope.  Merry Christmas to us!