I haven’t written in my blog since this past July, between the garden, the yard, the house, and then teaching three classes and consulting for the Writing Center at EMU there wasn’t any time left for my blog. It took me twenty minutes to figure out how to even get here with passwords and a new site. As I said in my Holiday letter: this past year has brought about many changes in my life.

First, I bought a small house in January. It is perfect for me, with three bedrooms and a family/dining area off the kitchen with a fireplace. I love having a fire in the evening, it’s very comforting and calming after a long day of teaching and consulting. The smallest room is my office, where I grade, write, and have room to draw, create all kinds of projects. The house also has a full unfinished basement that is great for storage, laundry and my summer furniture along with a few plants.

The second big change, was the passing of Tobias Lorenzo, my little Yorkie of almost sixteen years, on April 9th. I was devastated. He went almost everywhere with me and had almost as many flying miles as I do. He is buried in the backyard in his own little garden next to my tiny barn.

The third biggest change was adopting a rescue puppy. Little Orphan Annie came into my life on May 19^th. She was born in Corpus Cristi, Texas on January 17^th, the same day I bought the house, my mom and dad’s anniversary, and Michelle and Richard’s anniversary. The universe picked her for me! She came to Bottle Babies Rescue and I picked her up at Pet Smart in Dearborn. She is now eleven months old and still in training. Being half Yorkie and half Havanese (we think) she’s stubborn, smart, and a little beasti-girl! It took me about four years to train Toby and it looks like it will take just as long to train this little twelve-pounder.

This year for Thanksgiving we all met at my oldest son’s home in the Kansas City area. It was a special time with my three children and seven of the eight grandkids. The Sunday before Thanksgiving I picked up my granddaughter in Cleveland and she stayed with me until we drove to KC on Wednesday. She talked me into buying matching PJs for the grandkids and me. My sister bought the girls matching socks and the guys matching hats.

As you can see above, it turned out to be a very special moment for the McCombs/Dobson Thanksgiving Sleepover!

We had not all been together for eleven years, at that time the two youngest girls were only two and now they are thirteen! One of them is taller than me, of course, most of my grandchildren are taller than me.

What does 2019 hold? Who knows, I don’t see how it could top 2018.