http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james recent pleonast.com entries by user melissa_james en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=596537 But I thought I would post an update. Fall is in full swing and the leaves are now on the ground. We had nine puppies and were able to get rid of eight, and we kept one and named her Ginger. Not that I really want three labs, but I was over ruled. We were bummed with the election but life goes on. The worst part is that assisted suicide got voted yes in Washington! How gross is that? 2008-11-06 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=562717 James' parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, so he and I are heading down today for a quick trip. Julie is watching our kids for us. We're just hoping our dog, Molly, doesn't have her puppies while we're gone! 2008-08-14 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=539345 I love summer. School is out, the weather is gorgeous and I just got home from my sister's home in Roseburg, OR and picked many, many strawberries. We ate strawberries until we could eat no more. I made 6 batches of jam, brought home a cooler full of frozen berries and several pounds of fresh berries. We had strawberry shortcake every day. It was strawberry heaven. The one huge blight was the poison oak. Luke is violently allergic to it. The other three kids climbed all through it and got not one spot on them. Luke touched a leaf, washed his hands and he's now unrecognizable. I had to take him to the urgent care place in Roseburg and they gave him some shots. That was Thursday and by that evening he was worse. His left eye was swollen shut and his face was oozing and puffy. We drove home Friday - 8 hours with barely a stop - took him to the medi center here and they sent him straight to the hospital. They gave him an I.V. and he's doing better now. I, however, woke up at ... 2008-06-14 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=499943 A puppy followed me home this morning on my run. He was following this other man who walks, then he decided he liked me better I guess. I got to our gate and left him outside, but he managed to worm his way through the fence. Our other dogs are so happy, and the kids are outside playing with him and they've named him Randy. We have Simon, who is almost 2, a golden Lab. And we have Molly who is a 9 month old golden lab, and our nephew's and niece's dog Lucy, who is part black lab, and our neighbor's dog, Marley who crawls under the fence every day, a golden retriever. Too many dogs around here. I'll have to post some signs today. *sigh* He has no collar. 2008-03-03 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=486828 We're getting ready for our Florida trip. I checked the weather and it's warm there! Last night on our way home from karate, the car was making a funny noise, I thought a window was down but it ended up being a flat tire. Thankfully James was nearby and he and another friend came and fixed it. It took almost an hour and it was freezing outside. It took me a couple hours to warm up afterwards! My last flat tire was long before Luke was born, so this one should hold me over for another 15 years or so. We went skiing on Wednesday. Nathan and I stayed on the bunny hill - that was enough excitement for me. It snowed and the wind blew the whole time. Brrr. James and the girls hit the big slopes and had a ball. It's going to be so weird to be in 85 degree weather on Monday. I'm actually looking forward to thawing out for a few days! 2008-01-31 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=480168 James decided to use his frequent flier miles and four of us are flying free. We were going to leave Anna and Nathan with my sister, but I just didn't feel happy about that, so they are coming too. We got everything booked and reserved. There are so few christians out here, and going to lectures is so uplifting and energizing for us. It's important for the kids to see so many christians together, hear the talks, meet friends, etc. Our congregation numbers around 30, and there is only one alto (me - which isn't saying much) so our singing leaves much to be desired. So being able to sing praises with hundreds of other voices is moving beyond words! We're really looking forward to going down there! 2008-01-14 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=471823 I thought I just didn't have time this year, but as cards come trickling in the mail, and other users have posted their pictures (Hollie and Stacey) I decided to do it. Our picture's not the greatest, but we're all in it and I pick them up today from WalMart. I guess better late than never! I'm also almost done Christmas shopping. It's so much work! I appreciate my mother more and more the older I get! 2007-12-21 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=458899 I haven't been on for a while. A lot has been going on since I last posted. James and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in Sept. by going on an Alaskan cruise. It was very awesome. The weather was perfect - it didn't rain until our last day on the cruise. School is going well for all of us. The kids are taking some "homelink" classes. They go once a week and get assignments and help etc. on a certain subject - Luke has Algebra and spanish, Luke and Rachel both are taking science. It helps me out and they make some good friends. All four are still doing karate, and I'm helping out (more than I want to) at James' office, so we are keeping busy. James nephew, Chris, and his wife, Darcy, moved out here a few weeks ago. Right now they're living in our fifth wheel, until they get a house. He works for the county, repairing computers. It's so nice to have them here! Very inspiring in every way! We're having a houseful for Thanksgiving. Total head count is 30, that will be 1... 2007-11-17 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=421473 I love days like this when the calendar says summer, but the thermometer says fall. I'm canning peaches today so the cool weather is very welcome! It was nice running in the rain this morning, then coming home and picking raspberries in the rain. Yesterday James decided to tear down our pasture fence, so he and the kids tackled that. It has been falling apart and we need a new one, and we don't plan on getting more cows any time soon. So I guess he figured now is a good time. On Saturday we drove to Silver Falls, which is a park near Salem, OR. It's about 240 miles one way, just a day trip for a family reunion. Tiring but fun. We leave here Wednesday morning to go to San Jose, CA, where James' nephew is getting married. We'll be home Sunday, then we start school on Monday. We'll be home for two weeks, then James and I are going on an Alaska cruise for our 20th anniversary. We wanted to go to Scotland, but didn't give ourselves enough time to plan it so we'll have to save that for an... 2007-08-20 http://www.pleonast.com/user/melissa_james?l=5&entryID=413665 Okay, here are some pictures of Simon and Molly. Simon is a year old and Molly is about 3 months old. Also Nathan (6) and Anna (8). 2007-08-01