Good Thursday evening! We've had a false-spring day today, and I was out and enjoying it as much as possible. The best thing has happened!!! Remember when I worked out at Butterfly Life here and loved it? Well, when they closed, they donated all their equipment to a local huge non-denominational church out on the highway. I joined their gym last January, but they didn't have room to set out the equipment back then, so I quit going and switched to Curves. Yesterday, I learned that the BL pieces are now in a special room in the gym, so I went and joined this morning and had my first workout in 15 months on it. I smiled the entire workout! Can't wait to get back there tomorrow. :-) Today I enjoyed a much-needed lunch/chat with a lovely friend here. Then it was off to the library to help set up for the book sale this weekend, then on to the community center to get change and pancake tickets to sell at the bank tomorrow. I have to make a few posters for the ticket sellers to hang on their card tables when we sell this weekend. Tomorrow night at the center there will be a music program including lots of school kids and their parents, so my friend and I will set up there and try to sell more tickets. Suzanne, you probably don't even realize what an impact you have on your community, and those people are just paying it back showing their concern for Sweet Pea. BJ, good to see you, girl! Your SIL has my best thoughts and prayers for healing. Dinner tonight will be steak at the golf club with some friends we became friends with during the Fall. Should be a fun evening. THen home to get those posters finished! I would appreciate good thoughts as my dh has his long-awaited biopsy on his pancreas tomorrow. Thanks! Wishing everyone a good evening and an easy Friday!

It hit me several yrs ago that the first day of winter is also the shortest day of the yr; hence, each day from then on had a minute or two more of daylight. That fact helps me make it through the winter. An additional 2 minutes a day adds up to an hour a day in a month. Shirley

Hi Suzanne, Your dinner sounds yummy. I have not planned anything, so I guess I'll go freezer diving today! As far as advice regarding the DS#1 drinking, if I was you, I would talk too DS#1 FIRST, before talking to your DH. Get some info..: How often is he drinking? How much is he drinking? Is he still attending his follow-up support meetings and how often is he attending the meetings (once a week for a year is considered very important, but the more often , the better). Then ask DS#1 if he thinks he should maybe share this part of his life with his dad. Ask him how he feels about you sharing it with his dad. DS#1 is a grown-up person, and is holding a job, paying his rent, etc. I feel like we can't intrude on our kids or family's lives forever---sooner or later, they will do what they will do, and there is not much we can do about it. So, the short of it is, I'd ask DS#1 how much he feels comfortable with you sharing with your DH and DS#1 needs to share whatever he feels comfortable sharing---soon. I feel rather close to this, as I have an extremely successful, professional, highly productive sister who, unfortunately, is what the medical community calls a "functioning alchohlic". She has several glasses of red wine nearly every night and continues (for years) to own her own business, hold high offices in the community and in volunteer organizations, and apparently copes with the stress through wine therapy. No one can stop her as she puts up the argument of her maintenance of success for years on end, believes she is handling and compartmentalizing her drinking, and she says she is hurting no one, as she never leaves the house and drives or interferes in anyone's business when having wine. What can I say? I love spending time with her and admire her work. And I no longer try to talk to her about the way she's running her life---I gave up about 2 years ago. Just food for thought. Eventually, the heartache heals and fate takes over. We can't help everyone! ouch! Having shared that very personal moment, I will sign off, and wish you all a happy holiday! Peace on earth.

The winds were strong here as well and are supposed to be relatively strong again today too. Yesterday they were even stronger than forecast. I hope the same is not true today. There's a Red Flag Fire Warning in Texas, pretty far to our west/southwest and I feel sorry for those folks out there as they could have some dangerously strong winds today. I always dread February as I hate the combination of cold weather and strong wind, but at least it is starting out with pretty weather for a couple of days. Some years the February weather is just a vicious roller coaster and I ride the roller coaster by working outside on warmer days and hibernating indoors or working in the greenhouse on colder days. I need to heap up more compost and mulch on the asparagus bed today, as the first asparagus spear is poking its head up out of the ground, fooled by a few days with the high temperatures in the upper 70s. It is too early for asparagus, but my plants never let common sense get in the way of sprouting on hot winter days. I'm relieved cooler temperatures return later this week because we don't want for the fruit trees to bloom too early and then have the blossoms/young fruit freeze back. So far the El Nino pattern has given us really warm winter weather down here. We haven't even made it down into the teens yet at our house. I like that. I like it a lot. Even 40 degrees feels cold though when the wind is blowing.