Party Planning

I am getting excited about Ron's 70th birthday. I sent out invitations to all of our kids. Of course our local family will be here and as of this morning it sounds like we will have Jesse & Laura with three little ones staying with us. We will have to find some places to accommodate other guests – but I'll bet we can figure that out.

I am looking for ways to make this a really special celebration. Ron has already bought $50 worth of rib steaks so he is planning to barbeque in his outdoor kitchen as always. I will need to find a way to get him out long enough for someone to appropriately decorate the place! If you have any ideas – let me know. I need help to really surprise him.

If you are a family member planning to come you can email me at bettyderricott@hotmail.com and Ron will never know about it!


While the middle of our Nation is having a bad winter – we are seeing spring here in our beautiful Salem Oregon. The daffodils are blooming now. I have seen Azaleas in bloom up and down our street. My Christmas gift of Amaryllis is beautiful as you can see.


Mike & Cynthia invited us down for an evening of Bingo recently. It was such fun spending the evening with them. Mike had worked all day it appeared making wonderful food for us to share. With a few quarters thrown in to make it interesting – first Cynthia won big and later Ron took the pot! Par for the course – huh? Ron likes to win!!




Cynthia has been in charge of the Food Drive for her office. She has done a wonderful job to get everyone involved. I'm sure she will post all the activities soon. I made a cake to donate and Ron made the pretty box to display it in. Hope it helps!

My daughter got a new puppet. Yes – she enjoys any furry stuffed animal as well as her two cats. She brought the puppet to play with Sitka. Sitka wanted to eat it! I don't blame her. It is sure fun having a dog here again. We love her.


If you don't care to comment on my blog – do send an email to share your thoughts and ideas.

Happy Valentines Day to all!

Never a Dull Moment

It seems that our new year is flying by faster than ever. Here we are about to celebrate Valentines Day with our special dinner out. Ron's 70th birthday will be celebrated on the 4th of March, and we haven't had a dull moment!

We took time off for a winter trip to our favorite beach in Newport. We were surprised to see that the pelicans were there during the wintertime. They are supposed to travel to California – but the weather has been unusual with all the storms pushing California the birds have found better weather but less food in Oregon. The bird sanctuaries have been taking in starving pelicans and nurturing them back to health. Many have died.


The blustery wind gusts coming off the southern coasts caused us some problems as well. In January we got a call from our tenants at the duplex about 10:30 pm to inform us that the top of our 75 foot fir tree had landed on the front of the duplex and covered the driveways. Fortunately – there were no cars in the driveway. One was in the garage, the other had broken down and wasn't at home. So we all lucked out.


Insurance took good care of us – and no one was hurt so we cannot complain. We had the big tree removed the next day – the root removed and proceeded with the repairs to the duplex. Since the damage was to the front edge of the entire roof and one gable corner we decided to go ahead with the replacement of the roof. Insurance helped with the repairs. We have hired a contractor to remove the 3 layers of roofing and replace with a brand new beautiful roof.


When the rains stop – Ron & I will paint the duplex finishing up all of our plans to keep it in the best condition possible. We will also be landscaping the front yard where the giant tree left an ant hill mound of sawdust and displaced dirt. That will be fun!

Ron had his heart devise check up on January 22nd. We were thrilled to read the copy written up by the devise team who did an echo cardiogram and devise optimization. The report reads "Ejection Fraction – 45%"! At the time of his implant in July of 09 it was 23%. The cardiologist said if the devise would help as much as an increase to 28% he would be pleased. Needless to say – we are very happy. Ron is feeling great and is busy with his upholstery and looking forward to some hiking this summer.

Our son-in-law who has been unemployed for some time has a new job and we are thrilled! All of our kids have been affected with some form of wage reduction through reduced hours. They are all doing ok. We will make it!

We hope the New Year is finding all of you well and happy. Nothing is more important than feeling the joy of life each and every day. Love to all.