Thanks

Today is a good day to think about what you are thankful for. Most of us would start that list with things like family and good health. At least that is where my list would start. I would add that I am thankful that my eyesight and hands are ok so that I can still knit and crochet as well as send greetings to you all through this blog. I am also thankful for silly things like that my husband is not a great outdoorsman. That means that I can look at the beautiful new snow on the mountains at my son's Utah house and not running amok on a cold mountain breathing the smell of snowmobile exhaust. The turkey is in and others will start arriving soon. It's all good.

He Likes It

One of the most useful things my husband has he says (besides me that is) is the external hard drive he bought. He collects music to play on his ipod or his computer when we are home. We also take a lot of pictures. Having a portable place to store these files is very convenient as a back up and a way to carry them from place to place. Now if we know we are going to visit someone we may want to share pictures or music with we can just grab the hard drive a cable and go.

Too High For Me

I got this picture to share with you in an email last night. The upper photo is my son, James to everyone else, but Jimmy to the family. He works for a company that does repairs and maintenance on light poles among other things outdoor lighting related. Evidently he was showing Jordan, his son, a bit about what he does at work in the lower shot.

It is not work I would want to try but Jimmy seems to enjoy the challenge and being outdoors. It can be dangerous but he knows what to do to keep himself safe.

Do You Love Dogs?

Each week on the EtsyBloggers Street Team blog a different team member is featured. I have a lot of fun writing these posts and it is my small way of contributing to the group effort to showcase the work of other artisans. I think things like doing the blog posts creates good Karma and the good will come back to you.

This week the feature was a very fun shop, Nanjo Dogz. The artist specializes in polymer clay dogs. These are made as beads and for this time of year ornaments. Other figures are done as well but the focus is dogs. Let me show you.

Isn't that cute? What about this one?

Want to see more?

What are you waiting for? Go shopping already!

I Want This!!!!

This technology seems so cool. My computer still works fine but.......

Veterans Day 2008

To all who served or are serving now in any branch, thank you.

My Veteran

I am married to a Navy veteran and have been for 32 years. He served for 20 years, 3 months and 1 day before retiring in 1993. Every November he jokingly reminds me of this and says I should be nice to him because he is a veteran. Most days to me he is just Jim, the husband, the father and the grandfather.

There is something in him however that him that made him a sailor. He loved his ships and being at sea in a way few people probably understand. I learned early not to take this love for the sea as something that took away from love for home and family but rather enhanced it by a call to service that protected those things even when it meant sacrificing time spent at home. His first ship was the USS Proteus and you see it here in the top photograph. This was a subtender that was home ported on Guam. While serving aboard her he became a BT (boiler technician) and learned the skills needed to do the job well.

The career he started on the Proteus as a young kid ended 20 years later on the USS Duluth which is the second ship pictured. In between there were others ships and shore duty assignments. He was serving on the USS Norton Sound in Port Hueneme, CA when we met. After we married he did a second tour on the Proteus that let us have our first home on Guam. Following that we spent several years in San Diego and then ended up in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jim was made a chief (E-7) after 12 years of service and master chief (E-9) after 17 years and most will tell you that the speed of that advancement is a tribute to an outstanding sailor. He wanted to end his career on a ship and he did. While I stayed behind with the kids in Salt Lake he did his final sea tour aboard the Duluth. He was the command master chief aboard this ship and his retirement ceremony was held on her decks.

He has been retired 15 years now and every once in awhile I ask him if he misses being at sea and the pride of serving in the Navy. The answer is always yes.

FYI

I love Google Reader! I collect every crafty, knitty, Etsy, interesting blog I run across. My morning reading over coffee is filled with many, many interesting posts. I have a list of just over 1000 blogs.

When the new followers widget came out I thought it was fantastic and I still do except...
I was going through my Google Reader subscription list intending to change all the blogspot blogs on the list to blogs I follow when I ran into a problem. Blogger has informed me that you can only follow 200 blogs at a time.

If you are using the follower widget I thought you would want to know.

So Glad!

It has been a long time since I felt proud of America's choice for President. Even though I am in a red state (Arizona) and a red county (Pinal) I am so glad that I decided to vote.

I hope that this president can restore America's standing among other nations. I have always felt that cooperation is not a sign of weakness but rather strength that goes beyond the temporary success of a bully and leads to peace and prosperity for all involved. This man can be, I believe, the leader that takes us in that direction. I wish him well.

Yes I Did

For the first time in many elections I felt my choice was important. If you feel the same way please vote if you haven't already. It was so easy and my polling place had no lines!

It matters!

In this election more than any in a long time I truly believe it is important to make your voice heard. I will admit I sat by and whined when this country elected W for a second term. After that I decided never again.
Vote!
Won't you join me?