It's April 30th and we woke up to 34 degrees and this. Snow. Sarah, you are so lucky. The weather in Japan looks warm and beautiful from your pictures! Doesn't look like we lost the fruit yet, though, thank heavens. It didn't actually hard freeze so hopefully we'll still get peaches and pears. The Apricots have already set so we should have a good harvest of those despite the weather. The tall green shoots you see are garlic plants, the short green shoots in front of the pink peach trees are onions, and maybe you can see the chives, strawberries and rhubarb in this post. The potatoes, peas, and carrots are also coming up and don't appear to be harmed.

Oh, we are anxious for the sun!

Sarah

My baby is at this moment flying somewhere over Russia on a Chinese 747 heading for Osaka, Japan for three months to live. Without me, her mother. What is wrong with this picture? I have been obsessively watching the flight tracker status hoping and praying she will arrive safely. She has a layover in Beijing. It is hard to believe she has really pulled this off. I am very proud of her. For any family who wants to follow her adventures, feel free to go to her blog. She'll be posting entries and pictures of her trip over the next three months. It's http://gaijinzilla.blogspot.com/. That was undoubtedly the worst nights sleep I've ever had. I should have bought her a cell phone before she left so at least I could talk to her between flights. Sigh.

Grandchildren

Peter is getting so big! He loves to play in Gene's truck on Sundays when he comes over to Grandma's house.
Little children are so easily amused!

New Years Resolutions

This year my resolution was prompted by this photograph. This is my brother Daniel's birthday party where I am surrounded by freakishly thin and attractive young people. I am the one in brown dominating the foreground with my, er, "assets." This photo is being taken from a very unflattering vantage point. I had no idea that my nether parts had become so expansive. I don't spend much time looking at myself from the back. But can I just say Whoa! When did my bottom line get that big? I've never been a particularly thin girl, but boy oh boy, that's just downright large. Sigh. So I ordered Christine Avanti's book called "Skinny Chicks don't eat Salad" and despite the somewhat silly title, the book is marvelous and will, I hope, enable me to participate in the games at Daniel's next party with decidedly less in the caboose. I don't go to weightwatchers or anything else, but I will commit to being accountable to you, my family and friends. I could lie to you and say I'm concerned about the health risks of being overweight, but really I just want to look good in my clothes again. Better health is a nice but unnecessary fringe benefit. So far I have lost 13 pounds. It's been ten days. Wish me luck!