Catching UP

First of all - to the right is the reading list from 2008 and ratings, with a single + meaning you can skip the book entirely. Keep in mind I cannot be nailed down as to a particular type of reading or book so you are taking your own chances if you pick one I do like!

Next, HAPPY NEW YEAR. Can we all do our best to make this a great one, PLEASE? It's going to take every one of us getting up and starting the day off with positive thoughts to turn things around. You know as well as I do that the news people are anxious to bring the hammer down on the globe. We cannot undo what has happened in the last couple of decades but we can change our priorities and our thinking. Deciding to be a better person and make wiser decisions beats slugging along same-o, same-o, right? I'm in for catching UP; how about you?

We put my mom next to my dad yesterday. Now I'm the only person living who dwelt in the home my grandfather built. Hmmm. Funny what new facts fill one's head. It was a c-o-l-d day, having snowed early and more to come later. I quoted Anne Tyler's THE CLOCK WINDER and then blew some bubbles over her.

Then in a way that no one other than God could, we had an assignment to complete - getting Lazlo adopted! We met a couple who had expressed an interest in him. They came down from Racine, we went up from here, met in the church parking lot. Everyone loved everyone. He's settled into his new home now.

We even had time to do a couple of other things. We visited the house I grew up in - that the aforementioned grandfather built. It got small over the years. What used to be huge rooms with imposing distances from one end of a hallway to another turned out to be ho-hum. It's a business establishment now and I relayed some information about it to the current owners. Also promised to look for photos and came across one already. Even in the picture it appears massive. Maybe our memories of our childhood homes are what make the structures vast!

We visited Geneva, only a couple of extra miles to go. There's new construction going on, some already completed. We appreciate the older buildings. After all, a strip mall is a strip mall regardless of whether you use cheap or expensive construction. We were pleased to seem some familiar business and buildings firmly rooted!

Then it was time for the drive. Other than going farther west than ever before going south - it was uneventful. The change in route meant fewer stop lights and less traffic as well as more trees!