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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

It's getting closer - I hope everyone is ready for Christmas by now. One of the things I really enjoy about the holiday is receiving all the cards and letters from everyone. We are so busy with our lives these days and it seems like the only time we hear from friends and relatives is at Christmas. That's okay because I know how busy everyone is. At least we have an excuse to get it done once a year.

Dave was gone for a couple of days beginning last Sunday. I think I mentioned that the NBA lockout is now over and so he got to go back to work. The first Trail Blazer pre-season game was on Monday and he wanted to get there a day early to "trouble-shoot" the system that hadn't been used in eight months. After the game on Monday, he drove home and was back here by midnight. That's the way our schedule is going to be for at least the next four months so we need to get used to it again.

What a beautiful December we have been having. It has been the driest December that I can remember in a long time and it is so nice to see blue skies and the sun coming out. I still have flowers blooming in my planters on my deck and I even had to give them a drink of water the other day. I have never done that in December - usually everything is pretty well dead from the freezing temperatures or soaked by the driving rains. We have had frost in the morning, but then it has warmed into the 50's by afternoon. But, I won't keep my hopes up that this weather will last for long - alas, this is the Oregon coast and the wet weather will be with us soon.

There is also a wide variety of birds that have been entertaining us at the feeders. The Chickadees, Junkos, Warblers, Flickers and Downy Woodpeckers, Towhees, Varied Thrush, just to name a few have found their way back to our place. Of course, the resident Blue Jays and Scrub Jays never leave. It is so funny in the mornings when I fill the feeders and stand back as the dozen or so Jays seem to drop from the sky to scarf up as much seed as they can. I play this game with them by placing a row of peanuts on the deck rail and watch to see who can get their first. They seem to know when it is time to eat and are so aggressive.

We are planning to spend Christmas morning at a brunch with the family in Silverton and then from there we will move to West Linn and stay at Lara and Greg's all next week. I promised I would take care of the girls while they are on Christmas break. It shouldn't be too hard as the two oldest (Jadyn and Jaysa) will be away most of the day being entertained at Winter Camp. I will just have Jordyn all day and I shouldn't have any trouble keeping her busy. Dave has three Blazer games in four nights next week so it worked out pretty good for us to stay there all week.

I think I mentioned awhile ago that I had a Kindle on my wish list. Well, the last time Dave and I were shopping he purchased one for me. I was excited to get it, but you know - sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for!! I have been really frustrated trying to get the darn thing to work. I am either really dumb as far as electronic gadgets or this thing is just not very "friendly". Dave even had troubles and he's usually pretty good with these electronic devices. We finally sent out a "help" to see if someone could assist us. A friend from the garden club answered our call and she spent about an hour getting us registered and explaining some of the features. I finally managed to download a book and I installed my Facebook. I'm really enjoying those features. I still have questions though, and am hoping that when I go into town next week with the Kindle in hand, I can bribe Kay Schlinkman's daughter, Terri into helping me. They volunteered to help me after I "vented" my frustrations in here last week. Terri has a Kindle and Kay says she carries it around like a "security blanket"! I am looking forward to having someone tutor me who knows more about this thing than I do. I admit I have little patience when it comes to these things and got so frustrated with this darn gadget that it almost ended up in the Nehalem Bay!

My surgery for my cancer is behind me now and with the removal of the tumor, the doctor says I don't have to have chemo or radiation. He called me the other day and gave me the result of the biopsy. He said it was malignant - just as we thought - but that he got it all and we're basically done. He just wants to see me in three months to make sure tumor hasn't returned. I am feeling great and back to my old self again. I even spent a couple of hours in the yard this week pruning and cleaning things up a bit. It was so nice outside and I needed to get some fresh air. I really want to thank everyone for all the love and support I received during this time. My family and my friends have been so kind and caring and feel I am really blessed.