THISILDO: LIFE AT THISILDO

Hi All,

I am proud to announce that I have now voted for the first time in America. I have been watching debates, speeches, documentaries etc. and feel that there were better choices this time, than there were in the last election. I learnt a lot, but know I have a lot more to learn about the history of the candidates, but feel pretty sure, most of them will be an improvement on Bush!

As usual, voting was not without a bit of drama. I received a phone call from Alex who asked if I had plans for the day. I told her I was pretty flexible (I will ditch housework at the drop of a hat!). Anyway, we decided to vote first and then make plans. Alex agreed to go ahead and scout out the election venue to see how busy it was, as she was already on the road. She called to say it was relatively quiet, so I ventured out to vote, agreeing to meet her there.

The roads were a bit hazardous from the recent snow fall (was still snowing, but I would have voted in a blizzard). I got to the township hall and as I know little about cars (only that hers is blue), I was unable to spot her immediately so went in to vote. The people on duty was awesome and very helpful to a "newby". I proudly voted, and got a sticker to declare that I had voted. I won't tell you who I voted for as I have friends who are Republicans and friends who are Democrats and I would like to keep it that way. I then ventured around the car park, peeking into the window of every blue car! Still no Alex! She called to say she was definitely there and told me where she was parked. Needless to say, I still couldn't find her! Turns out she was at a different venue.

All is well that ends well, as we decided to meet at a restaurant and have lunch! We had a great lunch, spent the afternoon together and John meet us for dinner/supper back at our house, after which I was inducted into the American game of hockey. John is a huge hockey fan, but he did patiently explain it to me and we sat and watched whilst his team got annihilated! Don't know how he had fun - anyway, I am now a supporter of the Detroit Red Wings!!!! However, from the way they played, I doubt we will be having any celebration parties in the near future. I might add that it was my turn to treat Alex for lunch and once again, I didn't have any money!!! I keep forgetting to take money with me, just a credit card and in small country towns, they don't always have the facilities to accept it. Alex saved me from doing the dishes, so I guess we will have to keep doing lunch til I pay her back!

The 16th January is Damien's birthday, so Paul and I called to sing him Happy Birthday - it seemed he was less than impresssed and drew the conclusion that he was born into a dysfunctional family. Apparently, Kelly had called before us and sang to him as well. He did say her voice was better and that perhaps Paul and I should consider singing lessons. Well from now on, Paul and I will sing to him at every opportunity, until he develops an appreciation of the finer things in life!

It would have been nice to be there with him on his birthday, but it won't be long and we can have a belated celebration. It is hard to believe he is 31! Soon people will begin to think we are brother and sister (unless of course, he is aging extremely well).

As I have now learnt the secret to living a long life (Paul told me), I was able to pass it onto Damien and now I will share it with all of you "keep breathing as long as possible"! Seems like a good idea to me!

I really should keep a running diary as it is always hard to remember exactly what we have been doing to fill our days since I last wrote.

I know we have had some wonderful snow storms. It seems we are always running to the store to get our 'fixins' before the storm arrives.

Last week on the Thursday night and Friday, we had a really big snow storm, and early on Friday morning (6.30am), we had to set out to Lansing (Michigan's capital), for a court hearing. I was asked to appear as a witness in a custody case. The drive to Lansing would normally take between 45mins to 1 hour, however, the roads were snowy, icy, unplowed and the snow was falling heavily most of the way, so the trip took 2 hours at a top speed of 30 miles per hour. Needless to say, our convey of 3 cars arrived safely. We don't have a verdict in the court case yet, but I was appearing on behalf of a neighbor who is seeking custody of his baby girl. We are hopeful of getting a favorable verdict sometime next week, so say some prayers please.

I was finished with my court appearance at midday, and it was our intent to travel onto Ohio (Dayton), for a surprise 60th birthday party for Kelly's father-in-law. We had more or less made up our minds not to go because of road conditions, however, when we left the court house, the snow had stopped. Erin called to say that the storm predicted to hit Ohio had not materialised, and that her investigations revealed the roads that way were okay. We decided to press on and pull into a motel if it was too bad. The further we travelled, the better conditions became and we arrived safely at our destination around 5pm, in time to relax, shower, change and head off to the party.

Soon after our arrival at the party, Kelly, Nate and Kyler arrived!!!! He has certainly grown, but almost daily photos (at my insistence), prevented me from being shocked!!! He turned 4 months old on the day of the party, and he is a beautiful, healthy and extremely happy baby.

Doug (father-in-law), got a huge surprise when he walked in and saw the waiting gathering of family and friends. Evidently he had no idea!!! It was a great night - great food and wonderful company.

We spent the Saturday hanging out at Doug and Cherie's place, taking it in turns to hold Kyler when he was awake!!! We managed to share him without any fights. Erin and her boyfriend Chris also arrived on the Saturday morning. They couldn't make it for the party, as Chris has a second job writing up sporting events for his local newspaper and he had to cover a game on the Friday night.

Cherie put on a wonderful brunch on the Sunday before we all headed back home in various directions. Their hospitality is always amazing and we always enjoy our time with them - even if we do have to share Kyler!! lol

Sunday was also Paul's birthday, so it was nice for him to be able to see "his girls" on his special day! Unfortunately, he spent the greater part of his day driving home, and the evening was a bit of a non-event as we were both a bit tired. We will go out together with friends in the near future and give him the celebration he deserves.

In the past couple of weeks, two of my nephews wives' have produced beautiful baby girls. One was born in Australia to my nephew Chris and his wife Julene and her name is Phoebe - she is beautiful and healthy and a much loved little sister to their son Oliver. My other nephew Glenn and his wife Melanie, also had a baby girl born in Hong Kong (they are working their for a year or two). She is their first child and her name is Evie. Evie is fair haired and beautiful, whilst Phoebe has dark hair.

It is about time that my children and all their cousins started producing off-spring in earnest. Mum and Dad had seven children and between us we had 26 children and currently those 26 have produced 18 with 2 on the way! Goodness know how many we will have in the future, but I expect there will be many more before they are all done. A family reunion in the next few years would be wonderful.

Life this week has been fairly quiet - just routine with a few trips out because once again, we have had a lot of snow. There is more on the way and by Sunday our temp. will be around -20 F with the wind chill. Hard to comprehend eh?

Last night we had a games night here with some neighbors. One neighbor, I have only met briefly called and said that Paul had mentioned that we enjoy games and asked if they could come over one night. I always enjoy getting to know new people - it sure helps prevent cabin fever when snowed in, so we phoned up a few others and had a great night. We talked more than we played, but we did manage to get in one game of Balderdash and had lots of laughs.

We also decided to have another night in early March - not a games night, as we are hopeful that a lot more of the neighbours will be able to come (last night we had 10). It is so good to live in a neighbourhood with so many fun, friendly people.

I did notice today, that Lynn, one of our friends who was here last night, was out skiing on the lake. It was snowing lightly at the time, so I must applaud her stamina!!!!

I should also mention here, that Dave, her husband, has just about finished setting up a web site for our lake association. I will put the link in here, particularly for my Aussie family, as if you click on the link, you will see a lot more of the area in which I live. There are photos of the lake, a map and other details. A job well done Dave!!! He is currently working on getting us a shorter web address.

http://web.mac.com/dkbaer/iWeb/www.deltoncrookedlakeassociation.org This link also appears again below, in case you want to finish reading this before clicking on it!

It isn't long now til Alex and I head off to London, and I am starting to get organised (i.e. filling the freezer with meals for Paul, check list of things to take etc.) and I am getting excited. Keep your fingers crossed that there are no snow storms on the 15th of this month. Due to the severe winter weather, many airports have had to shut down because of fog and ice/snow etc. As long as the airports remain open, I will ensure we get there, even if Paul has to take us on his snow mobile!!! Can you picture that - a two hour drive to Detroit on a snow mobile with Alex on the handle bars, holding her case and me behind Paul, clutching my case with a camera around my neck!!!! I am sure it would be possible - convincing Paul and Alex would be the hard part. John of course, would have to stay at home - it would be unreasonable to ask Paul to fit him on as well, and I certainly wouldn't want to appear to be unreasonable!!!!.

It appears February is a very special month - Happy Birthdays go to Paul, Doug, Murphy, Sid and a very special birthday greeting to Sr. Lucille who will be turning 70!!!! Mary almost made February (at the end of January), so special greetings to you also.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Paul has been okayed this year not to give me flowers as I am leaving the next day and won't be here to enjoy them. I guess he will just have to lavish (not ravish), me with chocolates or dollars instead!!!! lol

Well folks thats it until I get back from London, probably with lots of photos of Damien, Lauren, Kerryn, Michael, Owen, Belinda, Matt, Queen Lizzie, Charles and his gargoyle and other city sights!!!

I have as usual puts some pictures at the end of the blog for those of you who may be interested.

After 15th of this month, please send any emails to me at kate-mack@hotmail.com as I will be checking emails only at that address while I am away. It is an old email, but it still works.

Lots of love to all, Kathy

House in the snow - compliments of Lyn Nitto