A Perk

You know why it's no fun to watch a TV show or a movie by yourself?

Because there is no one to share a look and a snicker with when something strikes your common funny bone.

I love watching with Maddie, because we always laugh at the same things. Everytime something is funny or has a double meaning or a silly Sargeant-meaning we look away from the screen and share the "isn't-that-funny?- look-and-snicker."

I do it with my mom too. And Amy.

Not so much Jeff. Not because he doesn't share the same Sargeant sense of humor and common meanings, but because he takes longer to process things and is more one-track-minded. He is always saying, "Wait, wait! What was that? Rewind it!" He GETS it. It just takes him longer.

Watching TV shows and movies together. Just one of the perks of a family...

Cruising the MexRiv

I just love that phrase-MexRiv. I feel so worldly saying it. Like I am a real world traveler.

Instead of a hanger-on who was invited to tag along on her mom's real estate continuing education cruise. (Same price for two as for one, pretty much. Much more fun for Grandma D. to hang out with me for a week than be alone in the Mexican Riviera!)

So I got to take a break from all the worrying and nerves of no work and a recession and just forget it all for seven days!


Mom and I in the plaza in Puerto Vallarta. We took a taxi to the beach with her co-worker Dianne and enjoyed a day in the warm sun and water.


In Mazatlan we, hmmm, enjoyed a day in the warm sun and water...Here we are on the grounds of the Hotel Playa Mazatlan, where Mom had been a few years ago with her friend, Dee.

We also enjoyed a folklore show in Mazatlan with the Papantla Flyers.

I tried to upload video of their worship ceremony, but no luck. They climb to the top of this 60' pole and let themselves down by an ankle while the pole spins. Very scary. These "world heritage people" are from one of the oldest Indian tribes in the world, according to their narrator.


The beach in Mazatlan was warm and calm also. We watched parasailers take off and land on the beach all day. I used to be adventurous, but not so much anymore...I just enjoyed watching the parasailers.

Our last stop was Cabo San Lucas at the very southermost tip of Baja California. Mom and I were quite proud of ourselves here as we arranged for a water taxi to take the two of us on a tour of "Land's End" where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean and then to drop us off at a beach to snorkel. The driver agreed to return in two hours to take us back to Cabo. We were a little nervous, both about the arrangements and about the snorkeling, but it all turned out well and ending up being our favorite day. It was an adventure!


The rocks we snorkeled around at Pelican Beach. We saw SO many schools of brightly colored fish. We both wished we had underwater cameras.


The view from Pelican Beach back to Cabo. (Okay, so we weren't that far from civilization and there were other people there, but it was an adventure to US, okay?? You must remember that Mom is 74 years old! And she was snorkeling in Mexico!)


The Pacific Ocean side of Land's End.

I got lots of reading and writing done on the sea days when Mom had classes. I also took a scrapbook class, watched a live cooking show, watched some movies, swam in cool pools, went to a comedy, magic, and music shows and took a tour of the ship's galley (wow!) Yes, Princess is an "old people's" cruise line. Also had lots of quality visiting time with my mom. ("We get to go to lunch together more than once this week!" she said the first day!) A good time was had by all.

Happy New Year!

We had a quiet celebration this year. Jeff, Maddie, Julie and I went to see "Avatar" and got some dinner. Then Julie went home to sleep and the rest of us played "Apples to Apples" and watched the last episode of "Monk" on the computer. At midnight we pushed the panic buttons on our car and truck, beat some pans with a spoon, shouted "Happy New Year," toasted with Martinelli's sparkling apple cider, kissed each other, and went to bed. Man! We are PARTY ANIMALS!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Tyler

Can you believe this handsome little guy will be going to kindergarten next fall?

He is a smart, happy, good, loving, faithful and kind boy.

What a blessing to have him as a grandson.

Home Sweet Home

This morning a ton of realtors buzzed through my house.

They were enthusiastic about its space, layout, and workmanship.

They kept saying things like "it just goes on and on, doesn't it?" and "wow, this is very nice."

Considering we have dropped the price $150,000 over the last year, I'm thinking one of them might actually sell it in the next little while.

We NEED to sell our house. We have no work, we have debt, we have three people in a five-bedroom house. We could use the money we'd get from selling our house. It is time for a change. We need to downsize. Selling our house would be good.

So why do I feel so sad?

This is more than a 68-year-old Hoover Dam Electric Company house. This is our HOME.

This is where we basically raised five children, two of them knowing no other home. This is where our children brought their friends and their future spouses to meet the family. This is where we spent every Christmas morning for the past 19 years (minus one) in a giant pile of wrapping paper and bows. This is where myriads of people were scrunched around makeshift tables for a plethora of Thanksgiving dinners and desserts. This is the place where countless birthdays were celebrated with lighted candles and off-key renditions of "Happy Birthday." This is where five grandchildren have entered the door running to give GrammaLinda/Nana a multitude of hugs and squeezes. This is where extended family has occasionally filled up the bedrooms that have emptied as our children have grown up and gone. This is where countless games of "Apples to Apples," "Trivial Pursuit," "Nerts," and "Imaginiff" have been played around that same dining room table and on the family room floor. This is where entire DVD seasons of "24," "Alias," "Gilmore Girls," and "Magnum, PI" have been devoured while piled on Mom and Dad's bed or flopped on the floor. This is where photos were snapped in front of the green door on the way to each new grade of school. This is where entire books of scripture have been patiently read nightly, chapter by chapter. This is where voices have been raised and yes, occasionally things have been thrown (!) but always apologies have been made and things have been learned. This is where yearly "first-day-of-school" and "sickness-healing" blessings have been given. This is where bids have been prepared that have resulted in the work that has supported us, gotten us ahead, and sometimes just kept us afloat. This is where a daughter with a broken neck in a halo was nursed back to full and complete health. This is the place that has been filled with laughter, tears, happiness, sorrow, contentment, and joy.

This is home.

It will be hard to leave it, when the time comes.

I don't like change.

Catching up...

There are three new posts tonight, although they are all cleverly dated to fit where they should have. If you are interested, scroll down through the last three "new" posts!

Christmas Photo Shoot

Okay. We are not professional photographers. We are not even good amateurs.

But we are poor. So. We take what we can get. Thanks Ally and Brian for taking our photos.

We should have done it when Amy was here over the weekend.

This is the one we like the best. But it says it was taken February 7, 2007. Maybe Ally can Photoshop that out for us...


This is our second favorite. It has one of Dad's "funny faces" in it, and you can see Charlie.


We took this one for some project someone is working on...


This one too...


This one is actually the best of the three of us. But it has some extra cuties in it...Since we couldn't get the whole family together this year we can't use a partial...But I do love those cuties...

Merry Christmas! If you're on our Christmas list, you might get a hard copy of one of these...Aren't you lucky?!! :)