Another Year Has Come and Gone!

How did I get to be so old!! My mind is still young. I wonder how this young mind got into this old body! If I stop to think of how old I really am, it could really get me depressed. I am going on Medicare now!!

Well, since I cannot do anything about my aging at least I can still act like a kid and try to have as much fun as I can. This can be hard because sometimes I live with the GRINCH. The Grinch has had a cold for two weeks now and so he is even more Grinchy. Men get really grumpy when they don't feel well. Of course, he hasn't been able to really enjoy the holidays because other than being sick, he can't have sweets. It seems like even no sugar added desserts still make his blood sugar go up. Diabetes is a really pain. What's the holidays without sweets?

We have a lot of fun things to look forward to so I hope the Grinch gets better soon. Can I say I really hate Winter!!! Looking forward to Vegas to break up these Winter blues.

December Birthdays

I would like to wish a happy birthday to:

Alex Riehle, Dec 26 19
Monica Riehle, Dec 28, 44
Sid Moulton, Dec 29, 15

Alex has now moved out of the house and lives in an Apt with his friends. It's hard to believe he is now a young adult.

Monica works for school lunch in Tremonton. She is a very good homeaker and wonderful mom. She loves to cook and bake and do crafts.

Sid is in his 3rd year of Spanish. He lives in Seattle. He is Mr. Intellegence. Sid is going to Spain in June with his Spanish class. He will get a chance to use what he has learned and be able to be around Spanish speaking people and learn how to communicate in Spanish in a Spanish community. How fun! What a great opportunity.

My camera has been taking blurry photos lately; mostly when the light is bad. Above are photos of my friends Lu, and Roseanna. Then there's Savannah showing off the gift I gave her. She was so upbeat and happy and so talkitive. She is a real cuties.

For Christmas I got a photo printer and perfume and calenders plus lots of gift cards. Randy and I got a Dyson vacuum together. It is lightweight and really picks up the cat hair. We also got a cute cat planter. I received a large package of Shampoo, Conditioner, massage oil, a candle and bath gel from Bath and Body Works and a massage pillow for my neck and back.

We went to dinner at Tammy's and had a really good meal. Randy has been sick with a cold for over a week and unfortunately it has gotten worse and he now has a bad cough. So this Christmas seems to have been kind of bad for him. We have had such bad weather here and so much snow and cold. Other than that, Christmas was good.

A week before Christmas, I went out with my old friends from my old job at the College: Roseanna Hollier and Luelma Bradford. We went to Sizzler and enjoyed a nice supper. We talked for a long time about our families, things we remembered from work, etc. I have known these ladies for 23 years! When Roseanna and I were leaving, we got stuck on the ice and Roseanna had to push really hard to get us out as I steered. I hope she didn't get a hernia.

Randy and I also enjoyed a visit from Kipp and Tina. We took them to the Olive Garden and we enjoyed fine dining and planning a cruise. Yes! we are going on another cruise with Tina and Kipp. They have not been to Alaska and so Randy and I will go to Alaska with them on a cruise in June. Randy won't fly so we will drive to Seattle and have Jen and Rob take us to the ship. I hope Randy likes it. I know he will like the food.

In February we are going to Las Vegas for three days. Jen and Rob are renewing their vows there. It will be 20 years for them and will be Jennifer's birthday the 13th and she will be 40! We will stay at the Golden Nugget. Matt and Kelly and Tina and Kipp plan to go to so there will be some family members to help her celebrate. Some of her friends are coming as well. They may have an Elvis renewal. And then after June, we will probably camp most of the summer. So I hope we stay well so we can enjoy.

The Christmas Sweater

Glenn Beck

Randy and I got free tickets from Humana to go see Glenn's Beck's The Christmas Sweater. I had a tough time getting Randy to go. He said he wasn't interested. But he did go and loved the production. I even saw him wipe a tear from his cheek. It's true that some people will need a box of tissues. It was a very inspiring story for Christmas without all that commercialism that I hate this time of year.

Randy's Contibution

Randy wrote this and I think he should start his own blog.

This morning, at 5:20AM I was awoken to the cry's of a kitty at the back, outside door to the patio. It was Little Guy and he wanted to play. Now mind you it is in the teens outside and about 6" of snow on the ground. This door is off the master bedroom. Dutiful, I arose and stumbled to the other back porch door with 8 cats in tow. This is the door Little Guy will only come in as there is food and water and a bed for him in there. But does he want to come in, Noooooooooooo. He wants to play outside, climb the tree, be rubbed, make foot prints in the snow. I'm surprised he didn't make a snow cat. What a guy. I finally got him to come in to the back porch when he commenced to eat and drink and let me pet him. Visiting hours came to an end and he wanted to go back out so out he went. I guess he loves this weather. I gave a cursory thought to going back to bed but coffee and morning medications beckoned so I turned Fox News on and had coffee and a muffin with my cats. Well, this is my story and I'm sticking to it. Have a great day and be safe out there.

Shacking Up

Cohabiting Seniors

Reasons Senior Couples Say No to Marriage

We don't this to make waves; it's just something that we feel is right at this time.

Photo: Digital Vision / Getty Images

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that from 1990 to 1999, the percentage of unmarried senior couples 65 and older rose significantly. Forbes reports "In 2006, 1.8 million Americans aged 50 and above lived in heterosexual "unmarried-partner households," a 50% increase from 2000, figures Bowling Green State University demographer Susan Brown."

These are senior couples who at one time believed in marriage. These are senior couples who are facing the disapproval of their children and religious faith.

It is expected that this percentage rate will continue to rise. So why are senior couples cohabiting? For many senior citizens, marriage simply is not financially practical.

Here are some of the reasons senior couples are choosing living together rather than marriage.

Financial Reasons Seniors Cohabit

• Tax disincentives.
• Loss of military and pension benefits.
• Fear of incurring liability for partner's medical expenses.
• Credit rating protection.
• Separation of current debt.
• Ability to share expenses.
• Health insurance.
• Asset protection.
• Alimony.
• Social Security benefits. There seems to be much confusion on this topic. Depending on your age, you may not lose Social Security benefits if you remarry.

"In general, you cannot receive survivors benefits if you remarry before the age of 60 unless the latter marriage ends, whether by death, divorce, or annulment. If you remarry after age 60 (50 if disabled), you can still collect benefits on your former spouse's record. When you reach age 62 or older, you may get retirement benefits on the record of your new spouse if they are higher."
Source: Social Security Administration

Wishful Thinking, Retirement and Aging

Me and My Former Boss and My Ex-coworker: Michelle Kendall:


Me and My Former Boss, Sondra Boulter

My boss when I worked for the State retired last week. She is the same age as I am. I went to her retirement party and found out that most of the people I worked with there are either retired or gone elsewhere. Things have sure changed a lot during these last 3 years. I am so old that I now am going to be on Medicare. One thing good though, everybody there said I looked younger and happier than I did three years ago. They said I get younger every day. Well I wish I could keep doing that as the years go by, but I am sure that is just wishful thinking.

Christmas in Days Gone By

Today I was thinking of the Christmas in years gone by. I used to get so excited about the lights and the tree. We didn't put our tree up until just a week before Christmas. It was always a real tree.We had to brave the cold and walk through all the tree lots to pick that special tree. The smell would get me so excited. My brother and I would just sit and stare at the lights. We had a really warm and fuzzy feeling inside. We had some fun lights called Bubble lights, that bubbled when they got warm. I liked to go window shopping in Provo. Orem didn't even have any stores much then. I loved to go to what we called Toyland where all the toys were displayed. I loved the colored perfume bottles, the smell of candy and cinnamon buns in the air of the stores. It really wasn't the toys and stuff we got for Christmas that was the most exciting, it was the spirit, the lights, the music, the frosted window panes, the trees and lights glowing in windows and smells that were the most wonderful of all. When I was in grade school, there was a large Christmas tree in the hall and all the kids and faculty would stand around the tree and sing Christmas carols, kind of like Charlie Brown. It was really special. It seemed like it was months and months between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The school holidays for Christmas seemed really long. Now Christmas comes so fast that I hardly know it's here and the excitment is just not the same. Kids still have wonderful imaginations and can really appreciate Christmas. I even imagined that I saw Santa putting presents under our tree when I got up to go to the bathroom. The tree was all aglow and Santa was bent beneath the tree with his bag and bells around his waist. I was so sure I saw him.

On Christmas Day, it was often a letdown knowing that is was all over; an anti-climax I guess. I loved the smell of the new doll I got though and all the pretty perfume and lotion and new flannel nightgowns that I got and the oranges, candy and nuts.

Wedding in Idaho: New Great Grandson

For Thanksgiving we went to Mimi's Cafe. It was really crowded but we had reservations. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner there. Then we went to vist Tammy and Monica (Monica was at Tammy's house. We also visited Matt's magnificent Christmas light display. That must have been a lot of work and a lot of money.

Last weekend we attended Contessa's wedding. She was married in Rigby Idaho. I can't believe it, it seems just like yesterday when she was born. Marty is very young to have a son-in-law. Her married name is Contessa Zippay, (not sure how to spell it) The groom's name is Loren and he is from Ohio. They are now living in Springville UJT. Loren's parents and grandparents attended as well. We enjoyed ourselves very much at the wedding and getting to see more family. I also got to see my new great grandson John Rockford. He belongs to JJ who is Monica's son. I can't believe I am getting so old. JJ lives in Indiana and is married to Samantha who he met in Iraq. I was so good to see him as he lives so far away.

On the way home we ate dinner at Little America in SLC. We have an enjoyable weekend.

Happy Holidays

I have a lot of news to write about; so many things are happening but for now I will just tell everyone that I hope that have a wonderful Holiday Season. As for myself, I don't even have any plan yet. But I have been listening to Christmas music and looking at all the pretty Christmas pictures online. I have added some to this site.

Happy Thanksgiving

Randy and I hope all of my family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Randy and I are going out to eat at Mimi's (we had to make reservations), I hope our family isn't upset that we didn't go to their place. I would have loved to but Randy is used to eating out or going to eat with families that are very small.

I know I said I was thankful for my health and maybe I should not have said anything so soon. I have since been having a lot of pain in my feet and my arm. Pain that comes and goes a lot and I have no idea why I am having it. I think my it's the fibromyalgia kicking in. But I feel a little better today.

The Holidays

I have never been big on the holidays since I was a kid. I think because I feel like I am pressed to do so much and not because I wanted to, but it is expected during the holidays. If you are not happy then there must be something wrong with you. That's how I feel it is sometimes.

I have decided to try and enjoy the holidays this year. I want to enjoy peace and love and not worry about all the commercialism and have a small Christmas Eve party at my home.

So we will probably go out for Thanksgiving and then enjoy a movie. John and Kathy will be with us and we can enjoy time with them as a family.

Thankful For My Health

After reading Tammy's post, I decided I need to write what I am thankful for. Today I am thankful for my health. My health is so much better than it has been for a long time. I owe a lot of this to Randy for making me feel happy again. Now he is having some health problems and I hope can help him get through them. I do have a wonderful family. I don't see them much but I love them all.

I am glad for my blessings that I enjoy. I am glad I have been able to rid myself of guilt for not living up to what I feel I should. I now understand that I am living as I feel is right and it has brought peace to me and ridden me from guilt and depression. I realize I need to find happiness from within and that it cannot be dictated to me from others. I believe my health has improved now that I have stopped feeling guilty.

November Birthdays

Our family celebrates 3 birthday this month:

November 9 Kathy

November 15 Cherise

November 19 J.J.

Happy birthday to all of you. You make our family special.

Life is Hard Sometimes

Randy has always had a bad back but now he has hurt it some more. He has been in terrible pain for two weeks and could not take pain meds because they made him sick. He went to the Dr. yesterday and was given yet another pain med and so far this one has not made him sick.

A sad thing will happen tomorrow. Randy will put his cat Bud to sleep. He is old and senile and disoriented and very skinny and now he is having trouble with not using the litterbox and going any old place he sees fit to. Randy is very sad as he loves his animals just like kids. It is a hard time for him. But there is no treatment for this old cat and to leave him to live out his life would be hard on him and us and just postpone the inevitable.

Halloween at Eagle Mountain

The Eagle Moutain Folks really know how to have a spooky, scary Halloween




Visit Matt's spooky graveyard with flying monsters, screeching sounds, skeletons and everything spooky to make a scary fun Halloween.

Look at Savannah, a cute witch with hot pink hair
See Jacob in his wild shirt

Kelly's Birthday/Excuse My Forgettfulness and Senior Moments

I just realized it was Kelly's birthday on Oct. 17. I keep forgetting things these days. So I am wishing Kelly a very very happy late birthday. I have really enjoyed having Kelly in our family.

One Year Anniversary

Can you beleive it? Randy and I have now been together for one year. Actually we didn't meet in person until the first part of November, but the 16th of October was the first time we talked on the phone and chatted on the computer, which was probably over 8 hours. Above is a photo of us in an AZ restaurant celebrating.

Our Trip Home from AZ

On the way home, we stayed in Kanab Utah. We visited the Angel Canyon Animal Sanctuary there where they care for unwanted animals and animals with special needs. They are a no kill facility. They also try to make the animals adoptable. They are the ones putting on Dogtown on the Nat Geo station now. We enjoyed the tour and of course we wanted to adopt all the animals but we are doing our share with all those cats we have. Now that we are home, we are busy as can be cleaning the house after being gone nine days. Above you will see photos of animals and the canyon and also the entrance to a large pet cemetery. When animals die there, they are buried in that cemetery.