Sunday ramblings

For many years I used email to send family messages.  It was one of my New Years Resolutions many years ago.  Well, after I started blogging, I stopped the weekly "Sunday News" message.  I was not motivated to do both.  Sometimes I miss those days of sitting in front of the computer on Sunday and just catching up with all of you on various events in our lives and passing on things that I 'gathered' from talking to some of you through the week.  I thought this posting could be kind of like that so I will try to duplicate some of those days past.  Blogging seems to lend itself to a different format though.

Movies:  We have watched a few movies lately.  Winter is a good time in N. Michigan to catch up on the movies that are out.  We have a great 'independent and community opperated' movie theater in downtown T.C.  It often shows the more unusual movies and brings back to the 'big screen' the movies that have been nominated for awards but are past the popularity at the multi-plexus.  We went to see Social Network last night.  It was interesting.  I think it is a generational thing, this Facebook.  I checked it out again today before starting this post.  I find it mildly interesting and a good way to catch up on daily activities of the younger generation but I wouldn't be interested in keeping 'in touch' with people that are just casual friends.  I am not interested in finding out what someone I knew in high school is doing with their life unless they are still friends.  The movie was interesting but I found that I didn't like any of the characters very well.  They really lacked social skills.  If it is an accurate portrayal of those people, they definitely have a LOW emotional quotient. However, they make more money than I do so there are probably some trade offs.
True Grit was another good movie that we saw recently.  I loved the little girl in that movie.  I see that she is up for an Academy Award for that performance.  I would vote for her for that award.  All around the movie had something for everyone with lots of action and good acting.  The King's Speech  is my final favorite recent movie that is up for awards.  It was a very well acted movie and just a 'classic' style of movie.  I liked all the characters in that movie.  I stuttered when I was little so I have been told.  Mom used to say that I started stuttering when she tried to make me stop sucking my thumb.  When she let me suck my thumb again I quit stuttering.  I guess I got what I wanted. I was a pretty 'strong' and difficult child too.

Garage:  We now have siding all the way around the garage.  The siding looks great.  I need to get another picture on the blog again.  Kevin primed the siding boards before he put them up and it is tinted the same color as our house or close.  However, we are thinking that we need to change the house color a bit to make it look better with the new garage doors.  We are getting the whole house painted in the spring so maybe I will be soliciting advice from you for a new color, still in the same color family, for the house.   We are very happy with the garage even though it has taken longer to build than we thought.  Kevin does a great job of paying attention to the details that make the garage look like it was made just for our house, not just slapped up as an after thought.

Volunteering:  I am still going out to Kingsley once a week and helping Molly with what ever she wants for an afternoon.  This past week I taught a Math lesson while she tested kids for report cards.  I always go early enough to have lunch with the crew and catch up with other teachers.  Then I stay the whole afternoon.  This past week I stayed until about 4:30, helping Molly get her report card envelopes all ready for the next day.  I know the routine fairly well and know what Molly wants so I am able to do things without much direction.  I enjoy her class and spending time with children for that afternoon. 

Projects:  I made a baby quilt for a friend to give to a niece.  I just finished that up this past week and now I am back at Diana's quilt.  This one is a little different.  I have the front done and will post a picture when I get it quilted.  My goal is to get the back done today so that I can take it to the quilter this coming week.  I have pillows and curtains to make to go with the quilt too.  I want to get all of it done before we go to TN the beginning of April.  I think that will be fairly easy. 

Winter:  It seems that the winter is LONG this year and it seems that we have a lot of snow.  It seems to snow almost every day.  The snow is always white and clean in the morning. We have been getting a little "cabin fever" here.  Bud thought about trying to get out of town for a short weekend trip but realized that we would have to drive too far to get out of the cold.  Diana said that they have been out of school 9 days so far this school year.  Of course, they close school much easier there because they don't know how to drive on the snow and don't have snow removal equipment.  I think that TC has only missed 1 school day so far this year.  The snow piles in the driveway are getting quite high even though we had a big thaw earlier in December and the snow disappeared for a couple of days.

Bud:  He continues to work hard every day.  His schedule starts a little later now that I am retired.  He often doesn't leave the house until 9 in the morning but he is working hard every day.  He was very busy the month of December and things have slowed down a bit to an easier pace this month.  He isn't going in on the weekends as often which is great.  He continues to work little by little on the wiring of his garage.  Last weekend he installed a motion sensor light on the side of the garage. 

Della's new habit:  I have become one of those people that goes out to get the morning paper in my PJs.  I never thought I would be that kind of person.  I only do it now in the winter because I throw on Bud's big warm coat that goes almost to the ground and covers up the fact that I am in my PJs.  I try to get up by 8 every morning, read the paper and have breakfast at my leisure.  Then I try to watch The View if I am home.  It is my 'guilty pleasure' of daytime TV.  I have been reading a lot lately.  All those good books that I received for Christmas keep calling to me.  I just finished two books by the same author, The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger both by Markus Zusak.  Both were very good and captivated my attention for several days.  I bounce between my sewing room and the comfortable chair upstairs, trying to divide my time between sewing and reading. 

Well, that is the update of the news up here.  I will go and work on the quilt for the afternoon.  Happy Sunday to all of you.