$460

Cold feet for 47 years of skiing.  I am so tired of cold feet.  I've been looking into heated insoles and the price range is huge.  Now that I have titanium parts in the feet, the cold seems worse.  Today wasn't even a cold day.

My long underwear is 47 years old.  Is the $ saved over the years by not purchasing lots of unnecessary clothing now available to sink into insoles?

My feet are crying, "YES!"

My miserly pocketbook screams, "Well, maybe."

Chronic Venous Insufficiency

got thinkin about the blog

which led to looking at the snow report 

because I am not skiing today 

because I will sew beads on youngest offspring's wedding dress

no new snow to speak of 

going tomorrow if my friend doesn't wimp out on me

Saturday will be a ski day

a point .....  stinks to be the gal in the bunch

guys will go without gal, but never reverse - frowney face

checking my "ski" bookmarks

find a link to article from a medical journal on Chronic Venous Insufficiency

I do seriously sourced medical research

bookmarked under "ski"?

Hmmm, legs ache....

pathetic, small snowflakes comin down

maybe I'll get dressed

look at the wedding dress

or head out for a pancake

and not bead

wish i'd skied

glad to not have chronic venous insufficiency

End of the Year

Megan and Josh announced that they will be having a baby in June. They are so excited and we are very, very excited.

This year Christmas is a little bit different because all of our kids are spread around the United States. Rache,l in Alaska, will not be able to come for Christmas nor will Megan, Josh, Tyler, Emily, Mason and Milo.

Because Dennen will be doing a rotation in upstate New York, Hilary, Finn, and Margo will be coming to stay at our house for three months. They all will arrive on Christmas eve and stay until April.

The Fraziers had their Christmas early since they will be traveling.  We were able to FaceTime with them and see Finn open his presents. He opened Margo's for her and said, "Oooh look Margo little teeny clothes for you!" He then set them on her lap.

Martin and Sue (now living in Elko) will be able to come spend Christmas. Denise and Greg are also coming for Christmas. Mom and Dad are up for Christmas from Yuma. 

October

So what's to say about October?  We have had uncommonly warm weather for the month so Garth and I have taken advantage to the bike trails in Utah.  We have pedaled the entire length of the Legacy Parkway Trail.  It runs from Roy to the State Fair Grounds in Salt Lake.

Seeing the play, "Mary Poppins," at Tuachan and "The Marvelous Wonderettes," at Cedar City broke up the month a bit.  We liked the one in Ceder City better.  At "Mary Poppins," we were behind the back row on folding barstools.  It was awful.  Informing the purchaser of the $50 price tag for those miserable seats might have steered her toward a movie at the local theater instead.  We stayed at the Boehner's condo in St. George and had a very relaxing time.

Riding the Rail Trail from Coalville to Park City and back to Coalville is always wonderful.  It is a gravel trail, but very smooth and manageable.  Probably the biggest challenge was the Deer Creek Trail to Midway.  Basically, we had the wrong bikes for the trip.  Mountain bikes would have been better than our commuter bikes.  That trail was not graded very well and had lots of ups and downs, usually with loose gravel in the downs.  However, the breakfast place that we found in Midway made the trip back to the dam quite pleasant.

Since my mom and dad are off to Yuma, Arizona every fall, we had my mom's birthday party early.  It's always fun to get together for birthdays.  She's 81 this year and as feisty as ever.

I didn't put up any Halloween decorations, but I certainly enjoy looking at the work of other people.  I guess if I had the youth of the family closer I might do something.  I am lucky that my good friend, Conna, lends her grandkids to me for visits, parties, hugs, and kisses.

I enjoy riding the Provo River Trail.

My good pal Debbi Anderson and I ride most afternoons up the Provo River Trail and I have been riding to work on Mondays and Wednesdays because there is absolutely no parking at BYU.  It takes me longer to drive and find a parking space than it does to ride and I arrive in much better spirits when I ride.  I haven't figured out how to have pretty hair with the helmet, however.

I hurt my shoulder(s) while gardening.  One was a chainsaw accident, but don't ask.  The other was a snowboarding/ski/garbage bag heft combination accident.  After a few visits to the doctor, they finally injected both shoulders with cortisone.  Awesome relief!  That stuff really works.

September Blessing

On September 28, Margo Atlin Jane Frazier joined the Frazier family.  Hilary had close monitoring throughout her pregnancy because of the complications with Finn and because of the loss of Rowan Sage.

The great news is that she was delivered healthy and happy.  Mom, Dad, and Finn all did well with the new addition.  Hilary developed a pregnancy tumor on her gum that made life pretty uncomfortable in addition to the regular pregnancy and delivery challenges that come.  She had surgery a few days after Margo was born and is was removed.

I was able to visit when Margo was a couple of days old.  Dennen's mom was there right before Margo was born and helped out a lot with the management of hospital visits and watching Finn.

Margo is a pleasant and happy baby.  She basically has no problems and eats, sleeps and cuddles.

I had a delightful visit in Maine.  We had a great time at an apple farm where we sampled donuts and cider, listened to some bluegrass, and visited the animals.

Hilary and Dennen had a bit of a challenge trying to train Finn to treat her gently, but he got the hand of it after several squishing and pulling episodes.  Deciding that there is a difference between a toy and a real baby is not an easy task for a three-year-old boy.

Ride

Started out the day in West Haven. Delayed because of rain. Had a wonderful breakfast at the Comfort Inn with waffles fruit and yogurt. As luck would have it the rain stopped and off we went.

...sometimes it's good to put up a really bad picture just to make others feel good...

It was kind of a wet ride through Roy then Clinton

Clearfield

Layton

Kaysville. Eventually we made it to Farmington where they were having a huge dog show.

We had a donut and a Diet Coke at Harmons in Farmington. 38 miles.

Mourning

Today the Smith family suffered a loss. Upon the second diagnosis of my blue spruce tree, the arborist proclaimed that there was no hope. I remember my mother getting very upset about the loss of a tree and I thought she was totally overreacting. 

I would think, "What's the big deal? Just plant another tree." However, when you have babied trees along, watched their growth, and enjoyed their beauty, the loss is heartfelt.  We had a stunning display of Christmas lights on that blue spruce for several consecutive years.

There is an impact that the loss of the tree makes on the surrounding yard. First of all it's a big mess getting the tree out and hauling it off. Then, there's the replanting because of the shade lost for all shade-loving plants.

Goodbye hostas, goodbye inpatients.

It takes about 25 years for a tree to even come close to maturity. When I look at my lifespan, I realize that planting a tree will not be for me, but for future generations.

When we moved in, this lot had five trees.  We now have 35, with several lost along the way.

Coping with this loss will include chocolate, Diet Coke, and a trip to the nursery. Garth will need to get his chain hooked to ol' blue and commence yanking so the planting may begin. 

I think I'll start with the chocolate.