January 2002               

Another New Year.  We watched the Rose Bowl Parade and then straightened up the 5er and got hitched up for the trip home.  The weather was sunny and in the low 40’s when we left the lake.  It was cloudy and some rain sprinkles by the time we got home.

We had a little sleet right after we got home, only lasted 10 minutes or so. We had cold weather for a week or so, temps down in the 20’s for a couple of nights.  Had fires in the fireplace, which really feels good. That is one thing I will really miss when we go fulltime.

   Dick had decided a couple of months ago that we should add another cat to our family, so we began seriously looking for one after the New Years weekend. On the 6th, we took a trip to the SPCA and found her.  She is a 9-month-old Siamese mix who we named Ming. She had to stay and be spayed, so Dick went after work on Friday the 11th and picked her up.  She did great riding in the truck and likes her carrier. Looks like she will make a good addition to our family. We will start introducing her to the 5er while it is parked in the driveway, so she will be well acquainted with it by her first trip. Right now she and Missy are just hissing at each other. It will take awhile for them to work it out.

    After being with us for a week, Ming developed an Upper Respiratory Infection and we had to go to the vet.  Dr. Smith says she is a great kitty, just a little underweight. She weighed 5 ¾ lbs.  The infection is not unusual for animals from shelters and is very contagious.  Yes, Missy has picked it up.  Ming is nearly over it and hopefully Missy will be in a few more days.  We are still hissing and growling, maybe after Missy feels better things will improve. 

   As I (Millie) took the Christmas décor down and packed it up, I mentally tried to think of what pieces I could use in the 5er.  The kids will have a lot of stuff to divide up.  I also went through my closet this past week and weeded out some more clothes that I no longer wear or need.  Debbie and Russell will be moving this weekend and hopefully some of the things they want can go to their place now.  Richard and Diana are supposed to come by this weekend too and I have a couple of boxes ready to go home with them.  I am making progress in sorting through things but still have a long way to go!

   We took Millie’s mom Ann to the Container Store to get the sliding baskets for her kitchen cabinets.  These were her Christmas gift.  We had given her some last year and they really make it easier for her to get to the things she has stored in the lower cabinets. While there we looked at some different storage ideas that we could adapt to the 5er. This store has so many storage options. They will be seeing a lot more of us, I’m sure.

     We are getting the itch to hit the highway again, but too much here to do for a couple of months.  We’ll see next month how much we get accomplished.