Happy 2015 Y'all!

Hi y'all! Just wanted to pop in and say I fervently wish that you have a safe, happy, healthy, peaceful, loving,  prosperous and much blessed 2015. I hope you spend this day reflecting on 2014 and all it brought us to and through. We are so blessed to live in a free country (largely because of our military personnel) and have freedom of speech and religion. I, for one, am very happy that I have been blessed to witness so many growths and changes (some good, some not) and to have been blessed with this many years to share all the things I have shared with family and loved ones (both those that have gone on before me and those that are still here sharing with me).  I cherish each and every memory made, even the not so pleasant ones as they taught me things I needed. I am a very fortunate woman to have LOVED and LIVED a lot! I have great caring friends and a most wonderful loving family that I am so proud to have in my life! I am retired, fairly healthy, and surrounded by my awesome fur babies and able to do as I want and like I want, so I am a very happy lady! I look forward to a remarkable 2015 for me and for all of you! Remember to cherish each day with your loved ones and let them know you are happy they are in your life, as we never know when it may be the last time we see or get to tell them. Let's all make 2015 the most memorable year ever! Love and hugs is sent to each and everyone of you! Until next time...God Bless us all! Mat

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Merry CHRISTmas from the fur babies and me.  We have been so very, very busy and with the problems I am experiencing with the double and cloudy vision...I have not been a very good blogger or been on the computer much.  It gets very tiresome trying to focus with one eye shut....LOL! Anyhow, that will be taken care of in February!
I finally got this home level again and now, all my pictures on the walls need to be rehung and straightened...ROFLMBO here! They came in one day and dug all the holes and put all 18 piers in, then came back next morning and filled all the holes with dirt and gone.  I am happy to have it done and over with, but my bank account is so tired of me asking it for more money....LOL!
I have tenants moving in on the first. A nice young couple.  Of course they had to like cats and the Dallas Cowboys as number one and two priorities...!  They just love the duplex and are very anxious to move closer to their jobs. I am happy also to have passed inspection and have some rental income coming in for that complaining bank account!
I have finished with the baking and house is clean, last load of clothes in the washer waiting to be placed in the dryer and my favorite movie just came on...."It's A Wonderful Life", so think I will make a very short post and go watch it again.  I wish all of you a very, very, very Merry CHRISTmas spent with family and/or loved ones and that you have a very safe, healthy, happy and prosperous 2015.  Make lots and lots and lots of great memories to share and to look back on. Love to all of you for now, chat more a little later. Hugs, Mat

Goodbye my friend....

My friend Carol Cook Rodgers passed away this week....shocking everyone! I created this tribute for her on Facebook using a photo from a Halloween party a few years back and a gorgeous QP by Linda at Random Thoughts at Linda's Place.  Carol and her husband Ken joined the motorcycle riding chapter that I belonged to in 1997 after they purchased a Pearl White Goldwing.  She always told everyone to not breathe a word of it to her mother if we met or saw her, because they had not told her about the motorcycle.  Ken and Carol were very active for the first few years of joining, even fixing breakfast at their home for the chapter, cooking jalapeno poppers at one of many Halloween parties, inviting us the their new home when they moved to another city, being an escort in the Hotter than Hell 100 for bicyclist, escorting the Toy Runs, becoming staff members promoting motorcycle safety, planning rides and participating in all the various events the chapter supported.  Their teenage daughter, Krystal, was always included in these events as we watched her become a beautiful young lady. Their son Kraig was away at school, married and gave them their first grandson Micah that we have seen grow up, then Chase and Cami came along!  Carol always had a big smile and kind word for everyone. She was a "throwback hippie" kind of laid back, but when she got "started" she was so hard to stop.  She had wonderful and kookie ideas (which is very important at some of the events we attended). She loved Ken and her family to paraphrase "more than life and to the moon and back again".  She lost her beloved Ken in 2004 and asked the chapter to ride their motorcycles to the National Cemetery in full chapter dress, then afterwards we gathered at a restaurant to celebrate his life...very memorable event.  Carol and Krystal stayed as active with the chapter as they could with them being so far away, we didn't get to see them as often as we would like, but we had e-mails and Facebook to stay in touch. Carol had recently gotten her real estate license and worked with an agency in Granbury.  She had been fighting a case of Acute Bronchitis when God decided he needed this special lady to come live with Him and Ken to ride on their Wings of Gold.  Her funeral will be this coming Wednesday, a sad day for sure, but as with Ken, we will all gather to celebrate her zest for life and what she meant to all of us!  My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to Krystal and Kraig and his family! Remember all the good times and be comforted that Dad and Mom are together again, watching over all of you!  .Goodbye my friend, I love you, my life was enriched and blessed for knowing you! Mat