It's "Twenty-Ten"!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Thought I would start out with a smilebox of greetings. We made it through the first decade, as rough as it was. I want to believe this next decade will be a lot better. I have a feeling this decade of the "tens" will have its own surprises for us.

I wrote the paragraph above a week ago. I did not expect the surprises to come so soon or so horrifically. We are all devastated over the earthquake in Haiti. I know many of you do not live in an area where there is a large Haitian community so it might be difficult to understand how impacted we are here in Boston. Our Haitian community here is the third largest in the US. I have known many Haitians as they worked for me at the theatre. Please take a moment to say a prayer for the families who have lost loved ones or who do not know where their loved ones are. And if it is at all possible, please contact your local area TV stations to see if there is a way to help.

We are all doing well. Jessica passed her exams and is now a qualified EMT! Josh has passed his semester will decent grades, Jerry has gotten A's on his classes and Jenene will have earned several degrees by virtue of all the help she has provided with proof-reading all papers!

My hernia surgery will be on the 20th so I am busy taking down Christmas and getting the downstairs ready for my recuperation area to be set up. I am setting up the queen-sized blow-up bed in the living room so I will be on the same floor as the big TV! Also the kitchen! Tom does not want me to have to do the stairs right away. He and Josh have worked out a schedule where Josh will stay here at the house and commute to classes and Tom will work from home as much as possible. I am sure I will be in fair shape after a week. I know I will be going nuts by then.

I have been keeping busy knitting. I am working on a scarf for Jerry as he has to walk quite a distance from the ferry to his office. I made a hat too, but Josh and Tom say it is too "girly" so it will probably get sent to Jessica. The scarf is taking forever as Jerry is 6'3" and needs a long scarf!

We are in a heat wave as the temp has gotten to 40! Have the doors open and the heat down. I hope all the dirty snow melts away. We are supposed to have some more this weekend but I hope not a lot. Although with the snow on the ground you can't see my mud pit yard. I still have no idea what to do with the space. Pavers or poured concrete? Grass or mulch? My wants are so far beyond my funds. I wish one of those make over shows would just come in and do it! See how my mind works! Here are a couple of shots of the front and side. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Here is the front yard today.

This is the side yard. As you can see the yard is long and narrow. Any suggestions will be welcome.

Bye for now. I will add more after the surgery.