OK.....long overdue update. It's the beginning of Spring Break and it's pouring down rain outside. Nothing new there...living in Oregon, it's typical. Have been going crazy with work, again nothing new, but looking forward to taking a few days off at the end of the week during Spring Break.

Jake's in Santa Fe, New Mexico this week. Went down there with his girlfriend's family. We might see him at the end of the week for a few days before he goes back to college. Emily has a new boyfriend so we haven't seen much of her either...So it's just Paul, me and the dog. I think we might all be able to come together next weekend.

I am soooooo ready for Spring weather, not just the calendar's indication. It seems like it has been a VERY long winter this year, time to come out of hibernation. My dearest friend has posts on her Facebook about spring growth starting to poke out and it makes me smile thinking of seeing her sunflowers again this year. I sure wish we lived closer to where they are, they are the kind of friends that are like family and are truly near and dear to our hearts!!

Watched 'Twighlight' again last night on DVD. So loved the book and a bit disappointed with the movie watching it for the second time. Watched it at mom and dad's after Paul's bday party with the rest of the family and they all had a kind of wishy washy thought about the movie. They didn't really care for it. I am anxious to see how the subsequent movies do compared to the books.

Off to Montana this week for work... love the beauty of that state. Not as much as Oregon, but not far off. My goal with travel this year is to try and take a little time to actually enjoy and take in some of the sites of the areas I am visiting as opposed to just running from one location to the next.

After an already very long morning of work, thought I would take a break with some coffee and a post to my blog (I have to keep reminding myself..."me time"!!).

So what to write about today...well, it just so happens it is our dog Libby's birthday today. She's 8yrs old. Well it's sort of her birthday. We found her in a shelter and fell in love with those big brown eyes. Really, she picked us the way she looked longingly at us to take her home. When we got her she was around 7 mos old and so we estimated her birthday and picked Jan 21st. So while this means nothing to her, our family is BIG on birthdays so of course Emily and I were already talking about how we are going to celebrate (we'll tell Paul what the plans are when he gets home). Maybe dinner and a movie, maybe just dinner and shopping - Emily is going to Winter Formal and needs a dress. I'm sure Paul will be excited with the prospect of shopping.

Of course none of this directly involves Libby and in fact she will be left outside with her cedar bed and some food and water, probably even a pig ear, while we are out celebrating. We will let her know all about how much fun we had on her birthday and thank her for giving us an excuse to celebrate. Oh sure, we'll throw her toys around and play catch, hide a treat under her cedar bed to find, play tug o' war, her favorite game, and maybe even take her for a walk. She is so spoiled 365 days of the year I don't know that this day will be any different than any other day for her. She has brought so much fun to our lives. She's a lot of work, A LOT of hair, and a horrible case of neurosis, but she's part of our family. Happy Birthday Libby!!

Jumping for a snowball in the air...she loves to play in the snow!

She's ready to go in now, all tired out and time for a nap.

THEY'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! Costco finally has these delicious little snacks back. We got hooked on these as snack for camping and then Costco stopped carrying them around Halloween. We have tried different substitutes (the Blue Diamond Wasabi Almonds aren't bad) but nothing compares to the wasabi kick these have. They're terrific and thankfully, they're back!!!!!!!

Have you ever had the perfect day...? Well this one was pretty close. A beautiful setting, warm sun, cold snow and great friends. This is what life's great momments are all about!! We drove up to the Ochocos, to the snow park just past Walton Lake and hiked in. We stopped along the way to soak up some warmth from the sun before heading down the road. Hard to believe we camped here this summer in the blistering heat!! What fun.