So I headed to the ranch on the 21st so I could spend Christmas with my Dad. It had been really cold there- near zero leading up to the time I was to go but when I got there they had had warm weather- in the 40's so it was mud everywhere! I got into San Fran and had to wait for 3 hours to catch my plane to Redmond. But I got there and Dad and I stopped by a friend of his and then we were off to see grandma and then to church. I was cold in the church but I had a cute scarf to wear so it wasn't too bad. I did have a hard time trying to stay awake. Nothing against Jack's preaching but I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep the night before and Oregon is an hour behind AZ so it was late for me.
Thursday we started off the day by going to the Post Store and visiting with Zeb and anyone else who came in. The Gillens are logging up past our house so they stopped in and Ron and Zeb had quite a time telling stories and trying to come up with people's names. That we stayed for almost three hours, then we headed home and had breakfast/lunch and then proceeded to head up the hill to pick up some pine that the Gillens had chopped up for us to get. So we loaded that (my exercise for the day) and headed back to the house. After a while we went back down to the store and had a soda then home. I had made chicken and dumplings in the crock pot that turned out well.
Friday we got up early to go to the store and then on to Bend where we saw my dad's cousin Linda and his uncle Charlie. Linda's brother was in the hospital with an open heart surgery so we didn't go see him since he was still in ICU. We then went to Costco and I think everyone was in there. The people were wearing on my patience and it was a good thing we got out of there when we did! We headed to Redmond and I stopped at my favorite store that I always go to when I'm home- Big R. I love it!!! I picked up a few Christmas presents then it was off to grandma's house and church again. They had the Christmas service on Friday night. It was nice. Before we went to church, we stopped and had a bite to eat. This couple walked in and said hello to my dad. I thought I recognized the woman but didn't have a clue as to who the guy was. Come to find out, it was a classmate of mine, Wade Page and his wife. After dinner, I stopped over to say hi and it was funny because he didn't recognize me either! I didn't think I had changed that much since high school but in 13 years, I guess you can. It was nice to see them.
Saturday we hung around the house and then went over to my favorite people's house- the Wolverton's. Tom and Beverly are like second parents. We had a great visit and I had hot chocolate with some Bailey's butterscotch- it was yummy. We exchanged gifts and the best part was that Dusty- their oldest son- was coming home. I hadn't seen him since I was a sophomore or junior in college. So it was a great treat. We didn't visit with him and his wife very long because I knew they weren't able to stay long so I wanted them to have a lot of time with just Tom and Bev. Dusty's wife is really neat. She suits him well.
Sunday was Christmas and we went to church and then over to grandma's for dinner. Dinner was good and we watched a movie before heading home. When it's wintertime, you can't stay away from home long or the house will get cold and the pipes will freeze (we have only wood heat at home).
Monday we headed back to town because my favorite blood aunt was coming to visit. Aunt Elaine lives in Camby and came over for the day. We thought she was going to be over to grandma's sooner so we made it to her house by noon only to find out that they weren't going to be there till around six. But we spent time with grandma and then Aunt Elaine. Aunt Elaine and I were thinking along the same lines for grandma so we decided to go to Bend the next day to get grandma's new glasses and get her a stove for her birthday. It just happened that the Sears in Prineville had a stove so Uncle Nolan and Dad picked it up and installed it while we were coming back from Bend.
Tuesday, after the trip to Bend, we all had lunch and then I headed off to the airport. My flight was at 3:30 pm and flying into Redmond you really only need about 45 minutes before your flight leaves to be there but I always go an hour early. My flight was delayed out of Redmond because of fog in SF, so I missed my connecting flight and ended up sleeping at the airport because the United customer service has a lot to be desired. They basically suck at their job and it's no wonder they filed for bankruptcy! Anyway... I caught a flight at 6:30 this morning, landed at 9:30, got my luggage at 10:15 and made it to work by 12.
I'm glad I went home but I am never flying united again.
