How did I find time for this stuff?

I had forgotten what a huge "time sucker" the internet is!
I went to work this morning, and was sent back home less than 2 hours later- a combination of there being two dishwashers  culinary utensil sanitation specialists on duty, plus a total dearth of customers, plus I couldn't stop my sneezing/ sinus draining. Sneezing is NOT good in a restaurant situation... though I am always careful to cover my sneezes! Even if I had been 100% fine, they didn't need me there. I am additional income to our family- the other lady supports herself on this job. If one of us goes home, I feel like it is better that I lose hours than for her to have her income cut.

Guess what? I was looking back over the blog yesterday, and saw that in March, I will have been blogging here for 10 years. So, I am planning to come up with some sort of 'celebration'... with prizes or something. My readers have an outstanding chance of winning, as I have maybe 25 people who do read the blog!

For today, I just wanted to say "howdy, howdy, howdy!" again, and that I am so thrilled to be able to be online again! Thanks for reading.

I have INTERNET!!!!

We FINALLY got internet! I was reviewing some of my previous blog posts.. and saw that about this time last year, I thought we would have it by JUNE. Haha!
So, what have we been up to?
Samuel is about sixteen months from getting his Electrician's Journeyman license.
Daniel is in the big fat middle beginning of  applying for the San Angelo Fire Department. Since Ben applied, they have added a requirement of 30WPM typing speed to the requirements, and Dan has to hit that by Friday. (Currently at 27 WPM on the official tests). Saturday is the Civil Service exam. It takes about a year to actually get hired by SAFD.
Stephen (Tommy) is back in Dallas, after completing his CFNI training in Missions. He went to Thailand in September for field training.
Benjamin and his sweet wife Paula are expecting baby 4.3 in late April. They recently moved to a new home out in the country, some 18 miles from San Angelo.
Becky and Stephen are still helping Stephen's parents build their new home, which is nearing completion. Once it is finished, the great house swap will begin!
Speaking of moves, My Mom (Rose) and Ralph moved this summer. They sold the Ft. Worth house and bought my step- Mom (Kathie)'s parents former house in East Texas.
I am still washing dishes    culinary utensil sanitation specialist at the Spoon two days a week.
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BEEKEEPING!
Sam got two hives of bees, which are hanging in there! Tyrel (3.1) was awarded a whole beekeeping set-up. Becky joined Tyrel in beekeeping with a captured swarm, courtesy of Benjamin. Benjamin also got into beekeeping- I am not sure just how many hives he has now, with addition of a captured swarm this past week... and the hive he still needs to evict from his attic at the new house!
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GARDENING!
This past year's garden had us seeking new ways to preserve our great hot pepper harvest. While my jalapeño jelly remains a favorite, we also tried drying and grinding some. Tom had the idea to combine three different hot peppers... and our "Tri-Pepper Blend" is just fantastic. We will need to make MUCH more this year, as our supply is down to about another three weeks worth, for our household.
This year we hope to grow okra, tomatoes, green beans, a wide variety of peppers, zucchini, and possibly some winter squash. We had a few acorn squash "volunteer" at the edge of the compost heap late in the summer. Tom reluctantly transplanted them to the garden, telling me they would never survive. Oh. My. Gosh. They took off and produced SO much squash, that after giving away dozens,  and storing more than we had room for, we finally pulled up the plants in self defense! Acorn squash stores well, and I used the last one about two weeks ago. I saved seeds... so we can have more this summer.
Sunny, open space to garden in is at a premium here. Tom sadly and reluctantly cut down one of the trees that shaded the garden too much. It was either that one tree, or three or four larger trees that cast shade from the opposite direction.
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TRAILS!
Sam has worked diligently on trail building around the property. Daniel has helped with this, but Sam is the primary force in trail work. We now have two complete loops, which intersect with the original trail- sort of a lopsided figure ~8~~. It makes walking the property SO much nicer, and the twins invested in some trail bikes to better enjoy the trails! We are going to keep our eyes out for a couple of trail bikes for visiting grandkids.
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GRANDKIDS!
1.1 is 17! Wow! He is a Junior in high school, and has a job.
1.2 is almost 15. She started high school, and is in Band.
1.3 is 11. I got to spend some time with him in November.
2.1 is going to be 9 in just a few weeks. She was doing well last I heard.
3.1 is 10. He is learning beekeeping.
3.2 is 8. My birthday buddy is her Mom's right hand!
3.3 is 6. Growing so fast and overcoming her shyness.
3.4 is coming right up on four years old. She is full of personality!
3.5 is just over a year old now. She is walking, and just HAS to carry something.
4.1 is 4. He's quite the character. He is very smart, and very curious about so many things!
4.2 is 3. She's a girly girl, but set on keeping up with her brother. Usually has proof of her efforts!
4.3... My official guess is "boy"! We shall see! Due in late April.

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Thanks for reading. I should be better at keeping up the blog now that I have access!