Back by popular demand...

...and a special shout-out to my faithful who missed me! Thanks for letting me know you kept checking...it is not easy to post when traveling, you know? I hear people stirring in the house and might have missed my chance for the shower, but can always sneak downstairs to use the shower in the lower level. I am staying in Lori's "bead room" and love being on the same level as the kitchen and bathroom. My knee, praise be to the Lord, has been doing just great, no more problems. Jessica was correct, not the time to panic!

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Having a gimpy knee caused some reflection on my part, making me realize that I am getting older and the things I expect of my body are no longer realistic. At least, not with me in this present condition! Until something is gone, we often do not fully appreciate its value (don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til its gone...Joni Mitchell) such as working joints, clear vision, endurance, a sense of humor, to name a few. I rejoice that my humor is in place although sometimes I am laughing at myself or by myself! My heart is in good condition, too, in many ways, especially now since I am with my family and loading it up with great memories and fun times. Those two little guys, Gabe and Manny, are just a delight to me in my old age and cannot imagine loving them any more than I do now. Lisa and Noah are excellent, caring parents and it does not hurt one bit that the kids are so darn cute to boot!

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Justin has been keeping in regular contact with me, sending me text messages when something strikes him as "Mom would love this" or to tell me how cold it was in Jacksonville that morning. He had it twice as warm in Jax as we had here, so we were both freezing! His holiday time was busy, too, with meals, shopping, a birthday party, and football watching. Yay! The Packers won!!! He said they decided not to shop overnight at Best Buy as the guy they were shopping for did not want anything. Justin was going to get jeans on sale, a huge markdown, at American Eagle. He needs new jeans since he has lost weight, because he is also loosing his pants!

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Wednesday I drove to Judy's house in MN straight through from Manty and she met me in town at the visitor center. We left my car at her church and she took me to her home. There we visited and made some preparations for their dinner in advance so she would not have to do it all on Thursday. Their son and family arrived in the afternoon which was a true delight for me, to meet her people, or at least, some of them! We all went to church together and then Judy and Jerry got me lined up with the bridge back to WI. Only it was pitch black outside and rain/snowy mix...AHHH! It would not be so bad if I knew exactly where I was going and all that so it freaked me out totally. David gave me different directions to get to their house and I followed them, all the while with a death grip on the steering wheel as I made my way along the black roads in the snow. Oh, I was sooo glad to see their house and them coming out to meet me when I arrived!!! I am getting too old for this and my Superman glasses did not seem to help much at all with the navigating thereof!

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The fireplace has been a blessing to me, a curse to Lori as she is as hot as I am cold. Always has been, or at least, has been for years, the case. Their home is lovely, they are excellent hosts, with six of us staying here and not banging into each other at all. Lisa and family are downstairs with Dusty taking the couch, Alayna sleeping in the living room on the second level, and me up here with the view of the bluff and the country road---and no steps!

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The house is waking now so I had better get at my toilet, my shower, that is. We are meeting Mom and Lynn for breakfast, they staying in Holmen at a hotel, and then enmass we are driving back to Manty. Kerry is driving over from Oshkosh and Jill is making supper for us all this evening. Tomorrow will be worship and then in the evening is the Ladies' Advent Service where my sisters and Mom and Alayna will be seated at Linda's table. Lynn and Alayna will sing with the ladies choir, and Linda, too, I think. Cannot wait to kick off Advent this way but also face the end of my time here in the north. In a few weeks we will reconvene, at least a mess of them will, at my house in the south! Their hospitality here will be a tough act to follow but they are already aware that breakfast will be their responsibility....so funny!

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