A Child is Born

On Saturday at 4:15 pm, our family was blessed with a new addition. My niece,( brother Wayne's daughter) gave birth to a darling little boy. His name is Isaac DeDupre Gutierrez. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 21 inches long.
Everyone at the hospital said it went fairly fast for a first born. I was there the whole time but I have nothing to compare to since I had experienced NO pain during my childbirths. Seeing her in pain during a contraction made me realize how fortunate I had been.
In the course of 6 hours she had dilated to 9. Her husband has fingernail marks on his hand (probably permanent, LOL)from her grasping tightly. She did great!! Before giving birth, her doctor had told her the baby would be around 6 lbs. (The baby's father is small framed and she had gained only 17 lbs.) Boy was he wrong. Pictures will be in my next blog.
Currently I'm baking and preparing party stuff for our Office Christmas Party. We invite around 700 clients in which about 200 usually come. It is an open house type of party. BUT !!! It is so much work. I decorate the office and cater all the food items myself. The party is on Wednesday. Hey, you are invited!

Your room is Ready !

To my dear friends, Dawn and Cathy.
Dawn (or do you prefer Helen?) Anyway , your room is ready. I'm so excited that you and Gary will be coming by for a night.
Also, my home is open for Cathy and her hubby, should they like to come for a visit someday.

A Walk in the Park

Some times my friend Lucy and I walk over to the park and back. (The distance is 3 miles.) We went today so I took my camera. The park is so beautiful this time of year.
This is where Bob and I had our first date. We went for a walk in the park and for the most part, it has been a walk in the park ever since. On our 10th anniversary we re-newed our vows at this park.
Before I broke my wrist, we would go to the park and Bob would ride his bike next to me while I roller bladed. This park has special memories for us. I have hung up the roller blades for a good pair of walking shoes. (I don't want to chance breaking a hip!)We walk there alot in the summer.


When Bob gets home from the office, we always go for a walk before dinner. We just stay in the neighborhood. This is the same walk I take early in the morning before I start my day. The trees are in so many different colors right now.


I try to wear this when I walk to measure distance. However I need to add 1.20 to this total because I forgot to wear it on my first walk at 7:30 am.

The Love Dare

Recently, Bob & I went to see a movie. It was called FIREPROOF your marriage. Awesome movie. If you haven't seen it...you must! It is on relationships between a husband and wife. It is a Christian movie and very powerful. I'm am babysitting my gr. kids so my son and his wife can see it today.
I have actually ordered 10 of "The Love Dare" books on line to give out to family and friends for Christmas.
If you have seen the movie, I would like to hear your comments.

Happy Birthday Cathy !

I know that Cathy's birthday is coming soon. I had hoped to meet up with her during my visit with my cousin since she lives nearby....but luck wasn't on my side. This trip was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Every time I tried to plan it, something always came up. I was looking forward to seeing her as well as my cousin.
I did bring a birthday gift for her. Knowing she likes tea pots,I had bought a cute tea pot night light at TJ Max. (I love that store) In fact it looked just like the one she put on her blog! Same color too. Since she already had one,I returned it and bought this instead. So, Cathy, here is your birthday present. I'll wrap it back up and save it for you. Hope you like it.

Grim Reaper visits a local Rest Home !!!

The grim reaper actually got a warm welcome on the eve of Oct. 31th.
My grand children visited a local rest home on Halloween. All the people in the home seemed as excited as the children who trick or treated. The kids made their way from room to room as the old people filled their bags with candy.
After they left, Jacob (grim reaper) asked his mom and dad why there were so many old people living in one home. They explained to him the diferent reasons as to how or why some one goes there to live, then quickly added that their grandmas would live with them when they get old and need help. AHHH isn't that sweet!

In God's hands

My surgery went well. The doctor said all the things that could have gone wrong, didn't. I was admitted to the Paradise hospital at 9:30am, taken to surgery at 11, in recovery at 12:15 and arrived home at 3 that afternoon (minus a gall bladder).
I was so afraid to be "put out" for surgery. I remember thinking of Helen's famous words to me from high school, "DON'T WORRY SHIRLEY!" But still I did.
My surgeon came to see me before I was "put out" and in a calming voice said, "You know you are in God's hands." He was so RIGHT!
I haven't done anything to blog about but now I'm ready to do something fun.

In a Blink of an eye...

This is the flower bed I made before work called me back. I did it in 2 days.I moved the rocks and cemented them by myself, also haulded in the dirt and added a drip system. I could have done better if I had more time, but still it filled in that ugly corner of the yard. The planting was the easy part.






What happened???? I guess I had planted too many plants in a small area. Some are hidden under all the yellow black eyed Susans. (I had only planted 2 small ones.)
Wow! I had not noticed the huge growth since I was working so many hours. I looked out the window and was so amazed. Now that I have time off, I will need to weed, and move some plants.....maybe this flower bed is going to be more up keep than I thought.

No Work...Now All Play.....

Work for the season is finally over. It seemed strange this morning to not head out the door at 4am. (Of course my inner clock had me wide awake at 3am)

I had my appt. with the surgeon today. Gee, these doctors seem so young. What happened to the grandpa type's? Anyway, a good friend of mine (a retired surgeon) recommended this doctor. My gallbladder will be removed Oct. 14th.

The flip house is on the market . The kids did a great job and they staged it so cute. People who had seen it before they started were truly amazed. With the economy the way it is now, it is really scary. It is just a BAD time to try to sell a home.

I need to drag my camera out so I can post pictures.

As you know, I've haven't written since my heavy work schedule started July 7th.
Every day is Monday when you work 7 days a week. I am up at 3:30 and on the road for the 30 min. drive to work by 4:15. I do enjoy what I do. My shift is 8.5 hrs a day and fast paced. Before I know it...my shift is over and I'm driving home.
I do miss out on a lot of summer fun. I was having play dates twice a week with the grand kids after work until they started back to school. School starting was a good thing. I was showing signs of fatigue trying to keep up with all their energy.
I am known as a clean freak. I love keeping my home in order. But that changes when I'm working these hours. Bob helps me by doing the house work.( A man's idea of clean is not the same as a woman) As the season pushes on, I come home from work, smile and say "Good enough!"
When we slow to 6 days a week, it almost feels like part time! LOOKING forward to the end. Another reason for not writing is there's nothing to write about. I go to work, come home, go to work, come home. yada...yada...yada...

Where did the time go??

Two of my grand daughters with grandpa.


My three grand sons on the 4th.


I'm sorry it has taken so much time to get back to blogging.
The fires and smoke went on for over a month. The only clear day was the Fourth of July. (I guess the smoke took a holiday!)
I'm back to work at my summer job. It is 7 days a week in which I'm up at 3:30 am. So I try to get to bed early. I take turns having the grand children over for a swim and dinner after work. Thursday is with our daughter's kids and Friday is with my son's kids. I get my "grandma fix" and the parents get a little time for themselves. These swim parties last about 5 hours and we cram all the fun we can into it. Then I go to bed and die!!! Oh, too be young again!

OOPS! I forgot the picture

This is how it looks around here. This is daytime, not evening!

UGH!! I can't breath...

I'm sure you have heard on the news about all the fires burning in the county I live in.After the last 2 hugh fires, we had lightning strikes that started a bunch more. The Concow area and some of Magalia have been evacuated. There also fires by Redding and that area but I only follow the ones in my immediate area.
The fires did bring the Governor to Chico. Before he left he said, "I'LL BE BACK" (No.. just kidding, but he did come here.)
The air is so full of smoke! It has been like that for some time. No blue skies, just grey. The air quality is so bad they have ask everyone to stay inside as much as possible and to run their air conditioners. All outdoor sports activities have been cancelled. Your eyes burn, the sun has a strange look mostly because it is covered by smoke. Every thing outside has the smell of smoke, even the pool water!

Brain freeze!!!!!!!!!!

This is for Cathy. I did try your strawberry-mango smoothie. I got one at Taco bell. Yes, it did taste great. So great that I took several big sips of it and then had to pull my car over till my brain thawed out. They are so great tasting that they need to come with a warning...causion..may cause brain freeze!

Elueded by The TOOTH FAIRY...again!

My grandson Rannon had lost a tooth in the swimming pool. It was found and since he was spending the night, his mother promised to "call" the tooth fairy and give the tooth fairy Grammy's address.....Gee.... it had been a long time since the tooth fairy came to my house. Anyway, I told Rannon I would stay up and wait so I could get a picture of the actual tooth-money exchange. Well Grammy was really tired that night and fell asleep with camera in hand. I awoke in the wee hours of the morning, still on the couch with my camera. Panic struck quick! Did that sweet little boy awake and find that his tooth was still under his pillow? ... He was still asleep so all ended well, except I had failed to get the picture of the tooth fairy. Rumor has it, no one has actually been able to capture that picture!

This is my attempt at landscaping. There use to be bottle brush bushes (say that 3 times fast!)along the front.

I've been busy the last couple days so I haven't had time to blog.
I did paint the trim on my house, finished my landscaping and had landscapers put the mowing strip around the lawn. I actually found it to be therapeutic. The hardest part was deciding which color to go with. Do you recall that commercial on TV where that lady is looking frantic and pulling her hair as she looks at paint swatches? It is a Lowes add I think. Anyway, that was me. Lowes and I are buddies. Did you ever see "Cheers" on TV and every time Norm came into the bar every one would say, NORM! That is me again. Every time I go into Lowes every one says Jesea! It sounds like I watch too much TV but really I seldom watch. My brother helped with the white trim along the roof line and those three little do-funnys up high. I don't have a before pic but here it is now.

Fire Contained

Flames from the Humboldt fire chewed through 23,344 acres, destroyed 74 homes, and damaged 20 others before it was brought under full containment. One life was lost. It is just so sad. Over 9,000 people were evacuated.
It was a big relief to see fire trucks going in the opposite direction.

More on the FIRE

52 homes were destroyed in the fire and 1 fatality.
We opened our home to friends who had to evacuate. The kids home was now in a safe area, so they left late after noon. We currently have only one evacuee, who should be returning home today. The fire is 20 percent contained. At least the winds have calmed down.
This picture was taken on the 2nd day of the fire. I took the picture from my driveway. The winds had kept all the smoke away from our home, but now we can smell it.
My brother Steve was also evacuated yesterday. (He had bought our parents house) It was a new fire in Oroville. All of you who know me, also knows that there is only one road out from the house I grew up in. He had 5 horses, chickens, rabbits,dogs and a cat to get to safety. I think he lost one dog to heat stroke.This is all so sad! Keep the prayers coming.

Fire update

The kids made it here safe. The fire as of Friday AM is only 10 percent contained. As many as 40 homes destroyed and 5,000 more at risk. It has burned 20,500 acres. All roads to Paradise are closed. Only Pentz is open for traffic leaving Paradise. No one can enter except emergency personnel. It is really scary. Please continue prayer for these families and the brave fire fighters.
The cause of fire is under investigation but they think it looks like arson.

FIRE !! FIRE !!

Kirk, Wendy and the 3 gr. Kids are on their way back to our house. ! I think everyone has heard of the Humbolt Fire on the national news. They are under mandatory evacuation and had to leave the Flip house. There are only 4 roads into Paradise, 3, which have been closed because of fire. It has already burned 8,000 acres and some homes and is heading towards Pentz Rd. The kids live right off Pentz !!!! Plus it is the only road left to get out. They are afraid this fire might destroy the whole town.
This fire started yesterday just about a mile from our house. The winds have been terrible. Lucky for us, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. I had gone to town to buy dishes, glasses, silverware, towels, sheets, etc. to give to a family that lost their home the day before in the huge fire in Oroville/Palarmo area. (21 homes destroyed in that fire.) I was shocked to see another fire burning and so close to my home. This fire reached Paradise so quickly.I never would have dreamed it would burn so far…so fast. These are 2 separate fires, a day apart. Bob’s main office is in Paradise.
We are anxiously waiting for the kids to get here. They called once saying traffic was stalled as everyone was trying to leave town.
Prayer is needed for all the families affected.
I’ll keep you posted.

Chainsaw massacre

Kirk had an accident while working on the Flip house. He cut his hand and wrist pretty bad. Blood was everywhere. He left a trail of blood to the neighbors who drove him to the emergency hospital. It took 13 stitches to sew it up. So he is taking a much needed break from work. It was very scary and looked much worse than it was. After seeing all the blood on the floor, I expected to see a chalk outline of a body!
Now kirk is tending to the kids while Wendy is doing the demo on the house. What a wife she is! She stands by her man and steps up to help with the dirty work. It is really hard for Kirk to NOT work but with a bandage the size of a boxing glove, he has no choice. (besides it's his right hand too) We call him "Lefty" now!

"Cootie Catcher"

We had the 3 grand boys spend the night. Joshua is 6, Jacob will be 8 next week and Rannon will be 8 in a couple months. Since Rannon has moved closer, I want the boys to get to know each other better. They started a "Cool Cousin Club." They swam, farted, ate hamburgers, farted some more, made ice cream sundaes and had a burping contest. They did their best to clean up the mess, putting the dirty paper plates in the "cootie catcher." That's what they call my trash can because it has a cool lid that goes up and down. These boys had so much fun, sometimes laughing till they had tears. I made them a big bed on the floor with all my cushions in the TV room. They stayed up late watching Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
I took them to church with me this morning. Jacob and Joshua go quite often with me, but it was a first for Rannon. (I generally plan my sleep overs so they can go with me to church. It is so important to plant little seeds!)
My sweet, noisy little guys told me they had a cool grandma! It sure warms my heart.
Well, this is one cool, happy, tired grandma who has a "cootie catcher!!!" I will have no problems sleeping tonight.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Ahh... yes, I'm having a margarita! Before I tell you the lastest goings on, I want to share a funny story ...about margaritas......
It was a couple years ago, a hot summer day and I had just gotten off work. (I work 7 days a week, July thru Oct.) A month earlier at a neighborhood pot luck I had ended up with a bottle of margarita mix in my bag of left over food.(We don't drink)
It had been a bad day at work so I decided to float around in the pool. I saw the bottle of Jose Cuervo Margarita mix in the pantry and decided to make one. A first for me I might add. It tasted really good and after I drank it while floating in the pool, I was so relaxed!!! Well, the next day I made another one and went out to the pool. I again felt so relaxed which i attributed to the buzz I was feeling. I was feeling naughty and started to make one more when something on the lable of the mix caught my eye....CONTAINS NO ALCOHOL... Boy, what a placebo that turned out to be.

Ahh...yes I'm having a placebo now. It had been a busy week. Bob's brother Thom and his wife came to visit for a couple days. They live in Mt.Vernon, WA. Thom showed me how to add pics to my blog. He has a great sence of humor and his wife is quick to giggle which became contages. It was a nice visit. They had margaritas while here so I'm using the mix they left behind.
I had my gr.daughter, Mallorie over for the night, then babysat all 3 gr.kids today at their house. They are so full of energy...they even had Grandma jumping on the trampoline!

IT'S TOO QUIET !!!

Kirk, Wendy and the 3 gr.kids moved out a few days ago. Gosh, I can really hear myself think! I do miss their sweet smiles.
We have bought a Flip house and Kirk,(a licenced contractor)is going to do the work. The gr.kids nick named it "the cat pee house." Alot of stray cats had made it their home. They have made it "livable" and are going to live in it while doing the work.(It doesn't smell anymore) Kirk is very talented and we we have confidence in him. It should be on the market in early July. They plan on selling it at a "they only want how much price?" and still should show a 40 grand profit. The profit will be theirs, and after a couple more flips, they will be on their own.
I must say it is a win...win situation. We are helping them get started and now they are living close to home. Now I can see the gr.kids when ever I want.
Gee...they just left from the bar-be-que a couple hours ago...and IT'S TOO QUIET!!

Splish...Splash..

Yea.... the pool is finally done. Now I need to finish the landscaping. We are going to bar-be-que later and let the gr.kids try out the pool. (If the pool boy gives the go ahead. He is coming by for a final inspection and to collect his last payment.)

Food, Family and 34 candles!

I think I have already told Cathy & Helen that Wendy, Kirk and my 3 grandchildren moved in for a while. (Wendy is my hubby's daughter.)
Anyway, it was my son's birthday (Joey)so he & Cheryl and my other 3 grand kids came over for a bar-be-que.
It was very nice. It is hard to imagine my son being 34. Sometimes I wish I could just push a button and have my son for one day, be 7 years old again. His oldest boy Jacob, (8 next month) reminds me of Joe so much.

The "pool boys" were here early this morning. They did the coping around the pool and will be doing the deck on Thursday. Of course the grand kids showed up with swimsuits, hoping the pool was ready. They had to settle for the sprinklers instead. Boy, does that take you back a few years!!!!

Well, got2go.

I did it !!!

I finally got my blog started. I owe Cathy a big THANK YOU. More blog stuff to follow shortly.