Oh Christmas Tree....Oh Christmas Tree....

Today we are going out to get our Christmas tree!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!

I love going out and cutting down the tree. Last year was fantastic because it snowed on us. Nothing stuck, but hey, it snowed! I have put in a picture of Katie last year when we were out at the tree farm. You can see a little of the snow! Hey....at least there were flakes coming down, so it counts! Yesterday we got the decorations down from the attic and I set up my new mini white fake tree in the front window. I only have a few decorations on it though. I will finish that later. But for now the main goal is to get the big tree here and decorated! I will post a pic tomorrow.

Christmas Time is Here

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of the year

Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here
We'll be drawing near
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year...

Tis the Season. Today Katie's Timmy is coming over to help get the decorations out of the attic. Robert is in so much pain still today. The trip to the chiropractor helped briefly, but this morning he is worse. He is now thinking of going to the doctor Monday to get a muscle relaxant. Until then, I went to the store and picked up some Doans. I'm hoping that will at least take the edge off the pain. I think he needs to stay home from work a couple days, but getting him to do that is almost impossible. I think he went 15 years straight without a sick day at one point. So today I will sort decorations, set up my new mini white fake tree in the living room. Scrapbook a little, Do....gag...a little laundry...

Enjoy the video of my favorite Holiday cartoon with my favorite Holiday song!

Black Friday....Yep...Gonna do it...

My sister and I started shopping on Black Friday about 10 years ago. We get up at 4am, and stand at the door, or sit in the car if it's really cold. And then we fight the crowds for socks. Yep...socks. Ladies freak out over 1/2 price socks. Cracks me up. Actually we are usually in the Photo Electronic Dept getting our DVDs, TVs, DVD players...whatever the great bargain is that year. This year we are going to be getting those video picture frames. I also always get new towels and sheets since they are 1/2 price. Sometimes we will shop at multiple stores. One year we made the mistake of going to the Mall. That is a mistake we will never make again. We stood in line at Old Navy for over an hour. It was horrible. One thing new about this year is that for the first time I have to go to work. Usually we would be done with our shopping by 9am or so, and then I would go home and go back to bed for a couple hours. Nope. Not this year. I have to be to work by 9am. Sucks......sooooooo....baaaaaaaad......I will be the only one there. I just know it. No one is going to come in. There will probably be only 10 calls, and half of those will be Robert! But the good thing about working is that I will have all day to work uninterrupted on my scrapbooks. And I really need that time. There is nothing I need to do at work but answer the phones. So I will sit there at my desk and work on the books. Yay! I'm going to get so much done. I'm trying to sound positive about this...is it working???? LOL!

So I will shop on Black Friday. I will do my best to help get our store in the "Black". So I ask all of you who read this to do the same. Go out and spend some money. Help your favorite local store get into the black. I know I am going to.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

One of My Favorite Thanksgiving Memories

I think one of my most favorite times in my life was when I was in Junior High. I loved school, I enjoyed my teachers, and I had 6 really close fantastic friends. They were all new friends that I met when we started the 7th grade. Jenny, Beth, Annie, Lori, Vicki and Diane. I am still really close with Jenny, Beth and Annie. Lori moved away to become a teacher and we have not seen or heard from her since the 10 year reunion. Vicki has not been heard from even longer than that. Diane....well that could be a whole other blog, but I don't want to go there. People grow up, some don't, and they just grow apart.

One of my fondest memories of these girlfriends was the year we had a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. We had so much fun. Before we had our big dinners with our families, we got together and had popcorn, pretzels, jelly beans and toast. And laughed our heads off! I wish I had pictures of that day. I wish I had pictures of any of our times together. We did so much. And we never took pictures. Sometimes a parent might take some pictures at a Birthday party, but usually not. I have a few pictures from the last day of school for 8th grade. And one year for either Christmas or my Birthday, Jenny gave me a picture of me, her and Vicki sitting on the quad in front of the school. I think when we were in the 9th grade. The picture is hilarious because in the background is a guy getting tossed into the bushes of the quad. This was a little ritual the 9th graders did if someone other than a 9th grader was sitting on the quad. That was a privilege just for the oldest class! There was a similar ritual in High School. No underclassman better get caught stepping on the Chieftain head in the main hallway! I don't remember what would happen to them though. But I'm sure it was not nice!

I love that memory of our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. If only we had pictures of it.......

I guess I'm just unedjumakadid

Well I had the crap scared out of me this morning at 6:22AM. The phone rang and woke me up out of a deep sleep. I waited to for the answering machine to pick up to hear who it was. That was a long six rings, but I needed it to get my heart to stop racing. Then I heard my mom's voice all quivery and well that just set the ol heart off to the races again. "Barb? Are you home?" I picked up the phone in a panic with thoughts dashing through my head....accident??? had heart attack and in the hospital???? WHAT WHAT???? "Yeh. I'm here." She had locked her house keys in the house and could not get in. Sigh.....Thank god. I started to calm down. "OK....I will be right there to let you in." "No. I'm at work." Whaaaa??? I was confused. And still half asleep. She explained to me that she was warming up the car and scraping the frost off her windshield. When she was done she just closed her front door all the way and jumped in the car. Then she realized she had left her purse in the house with her house key in it. Why the hell she does not have her house key on the same key chain as her car key is beyond my comprehension at 6AM in the morning.....I love my mommy!

Yesterday at work an agent from our other office called to talk about his ad in the paper Sunday. I knew exactly what he was going to say. Last week when I was gone on Thursday he called and made 2 changes to his ad. I had changed the phrase "gentleman's room" to "gentlemen's room" and the word "its" to "it's" He was tweaked last week and wanted the words changed back to the way he had them. Since I was not working that day, someone in the office who has nothing to do with ads had to try and get a hold of someone to make the changes. All of the people who I have listed for these calls did not answer. She kept getting assistants or other people. She even sent a fax. Finally someone called her back and said the changes would be made. They weren't. He was pissed. Then he started giving me an English lesson on the proper usage of "its" and "it's". Not only did I not give a rip, I was right in the middle of training our other receptionist on how to do ad cards since she will be doing them on Sunday's now. I told the guy I was right in the middle of training and that he was just being to nit picky. I said the ads are full of improper words and terms and abbreviations, commas, apostrophes and everything else to make them fit. He was being too picky and that in the larger scheme of things it was not that big a deal. I told him that since I do not work on Thursday, all changes now had to be made by 3:00 on Wednesday. Nothing would be excepted after that. Then he proceeded to tell me that I was not allowed to make any changes to his ads. I was to input them exactly the way he gives it to me. Oh really? OK....I guess that means I will not be allowed to fix any of his typos, or add very important ad information that he forgets in every one of the ads he submits to me. Info that I guess just miraculously appears in his ads. Because you know....I am not allowed to make any changes to his ads. Until he sees what is printed in the paper the next time.

Oregon Coast

We went to the Oregon Coast this weekend with our friends Scott & Jody. We ate tons of food again, and laughed and had a great time! We always eat way too good when we go camping. This time we had bbq'd steaks, grilled vegis, grilled red sweet potatoes and beer bread. Dessert was hot apples and cranberries with cinnamon and brown sugar and vanilla ice cream. And this was after a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, eggs, fruit and also lunch of Mo's clam chowder and fresh baked bread! LOL! Oiy.....

We just hung out at the Yaquina Head Light House and then walked around down below to look at the Harbour Seals. Then Jody and I dropped off the boys at the campsite so that they could get fire going, and Jody and I went to a scrapbook store that I saw. The store had some great Christmas embellishments that I needed!

I hope everyone else had a great weekend too.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday Week!

Hugs.....

~Barb~

Katee & Joshua

And this last one is just to powerful for words.....






Thank You Carol for telling me how to upload a video. I was close...but missed a step!
Thanks!

Jessica and Will

I wish I could upload the video. Sorry.
But this is another one of my favorites dances from last season.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpcSy_0RY5A

Mercy

Well.....I wanted to post a video in todays blog, but no matter what I do I can't seem to get it to load. I will have to look into this more....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnMmON6vrfw

The Bane of My Existence

I'm a little tired. I wouldn't be so tired if I wasn't trying to cram everything possible into one night. Except laundry. There is always time to do laundry another day. Why do I hate doing the laundry so much??? I don't understand this flaw in my character. Unfortunately I passed this flaw onto my kids. They were taught how to run the washer & dryer when they were probably in the 6th grade. I didn't like them coming to me at 10:00 at night on a Wednesday saying they needed clothes washed for school the next day. Well tough tooties. I had to work the next day same as they had to go to school. So wash your own dang clothes! OK...it didn't go down exactly like that, but I think you get the picture. I was working full time and they needed to learn how to do it. I'm good at "washing" the clothes. It's the "drying" and "putting away" that I am horrible at. Hubby will come home from working 12 hours and if he has a full load, he will do it. Freak. And put it away. Major freak. I've tried. I just can't seem to do it. Now I have a load in the washer, dryer, and sitting on the trunk at the end of my bed. And I do not want to think about it. But I know I have to. But there is so much more that I want/need to do today. But I will be strong. I will do it. Or at least some of it....

Yes....I do believe that laundry is the bane of my existence. I went online to find the meaning of this phrase, and I have decided that it fits perfectly for how I feel towards this dreaded household chore.

"The Bane of My Existence"

To say that something or someone is "the bane of my existence" means that the person or thing is a constant irritant or source of misery. As a clich , "bane of my existence" has lost its edge to a large degree over the years, and today is most often applied to something that may profoundly annoy us but is certainly bearable... "Bane of my existence" is now almost always used in a semi-jocular, "what are you gonna do?" sense. But "bane" was once a very serious word. The Old English "bana" meant literally "slayer" in the sense we now use "killer" or "murderer." Early on, the English "bane" was also used in the more general sense of "cause of death," and by the 14th century "bane" was used in the specialized sense of "poison," a sense which lives on in the names of various poisonous plants such as "henbane" and "wolfbane."From this very literal "something that kills you" usage, "bane" by the 16th century had broadened into its modern meaning of "something that makes life unpleasant, a curse."

Yes....I do believe doing laundry is a curse. I have been cursed I tell you! Cursed! Damn you dirty clothes! Damn you!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to be a GREAT day!

Actually nothing big is going on today. But that is what makes today so great. I'm working until 5:30, then I get to come home and work on scrapping with my friend Sandy! YAY! LOL...Hubby is out of town again tonight, so it's just me and the kitties sprawled out across the entire bed. That's good! I wake up a lot when he's gone, but it's kind of nice to have a bed to myself...and 3 kitties. And I don't have to work tomorrow! Double YAY! I like the idea of having a day off in between work days, but I also really liked 4 days off in a row. I will get to have that shift back when everything picks back up. So buy some houses people!

Today is the kind of Fall day that I love. Cool, breezy and leaves blowing all over the place. I love it. OK, maybe breezy is to lite a word. More like blustery! Gusty. Windy. E:All of the above.

Have a great day!
~Barb~

Ugh.....Changes....And GREAT NEWS!

Bryan & Celina Iowa 2002

I have been so busy today. First off, I was up until 2am searching for the Thanksgiving Hatchling eggs on Facebook. I never did find the corn that hatches cute boy or girl Indians. I found 6...yes 6...pumpkin/gourds that hatch boy or girl Pilgrims. But 3 of them I lost to others claiming them first. That happened today too. But I was able to send one to Glynis. I did get both of the Indians though because Mikey and my Facebook friend Arnie sent me the corn eggs. I will look for a while tonight.

So...Changes...I have a minor work change. They have changed my days and hours. I now work Mon-Wed-Fri 8:30-5:30 instead of Mon-Tues-Wed 9-6. It's kind of a bummer, but it will be OK. I just need to get used to it. I won't be able to spend Fridays with my mom going to movies for a while. She does take some Thursdays off, so we can go then. I'm just thankful to still have a job. Besides....Tuesday is free popcorn day at Regal! WOO HOO!!!! I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of Tuesdays by myself in dark theaters! Unless Katie has the day or afternoon off. Then she can come with me. It will fine. I kept really busy today. I worked on cutting out all of the papers for my Christmas project for the family. It took all afternoon, but I'm done cutting out the papers! I'll work on them some more tomorrow night when my friend Sandy comes over for Arts & Crafts Night! Weeeee!!!! LOL! I'm looking forward to it!

And now......GREAT NEWS!!!!

My son has finally....FINALLY...proposed to his girlfriend Celina! YAY! They have been together for 7-1/2 years. Joined at the hip, inseparable since the Summer after their Freshman year of High School. We love Celina like a daughter. She has been on many family vacations. Our first big trip that we took her on was the Summer of 2002 when we took the trailer to visit family in Iowa, stopping in Custer, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons on the way home. It was a long trip, but so much fun listening to Bryan and Celina interact. She kept making him talk like Stitch from the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch. Then she would giggle. Good times. So we are really happy!

Very happy!

For the ♥ of Books

When I was in Elementary School I read a lot. One year, I think it may have been the 4th Grade, we had an assignment where we had to write a letter to our favorite author. There was no doubt in my mind who I was going to send my letter too.
Zoa Sherburne. She wrote my favorite book...Why Have the Birds Stopped Singing? I loved this book. LOVED. I always remembered the basic plot of the book, and certain sections, but one thing I had not remembered was the name of the main character. Until my daughter brought the book home from her High School. She knew I had been looking for the book every time we went to an antique store or a book store that carried used books. I could never find it, but she found it in her High School library. Why it made it to that level I have no idea. I had read the book in Elementary School. So she brought it home to me. I was so excited. And then I saw the name of the main character...Katie...my daughters name. I guess the book meant more to me than I even knew! I had to have it. I had looked for years for this book. So I did something that I had never done before, and I have never done since. I kept it. I did not let Katie return the book to school. I have always felt guilty about keeping the book. But I just had to have it. At the end of the year the school office sent a letter saying that Katie still had a book checked out and needed to either return the book or pay the fine. I paid the fine. Hey....they gave me the option. The book is now one of my treasured possessions. Along with the letter I received from Zoa Sherburne. I was one of the few kids in school that year who actually received a letter back from the author they had written too. I still have the letter. But it is up in the attic in a box of stuff from my "formative years" ie:before marriage & kids!
The plot of the book was this...
"During an epileptic seizure while visiting her ancestral home, sixteen-year-old Katie is transported back in time and mistaken for her great-great-great grandmother who also had epilepsy at a time when the disease was greatly misunderstood."
I remembered how "Katie" awoke from her seizure to find herself locked in a strange room. And that is where she was kept by her father because he thought something was wrong with her because of the epilepsy. And then how she was rescued by the handsome.....
OK....I won't tell you the story since it really was written for pre-teens. I just loved it so much.
In doing a little research for this blog, I came across an article in a Seattle newspaper from October of 1995. Zoa had passed away a few days earlier at the age of 83. I was sad to see that. She has been gone for so long. I would have loved to have written her again. Telling her how much her book had meant to me. About how I still have the letter she wrote me. And that meant even more. About how I....uhhhhh....refused no matter how much my daughter pleaded, to return the book to the school library. Wow....feeling a little guilty again.....

I'm a dork

I completely forgot to take pictures tonight of your Fondue dinner with friends. It was so good. Robert made 2 batches of the cheese and then the chocolate one after we were done looking at the Europe pictures. I'm so full. I'm so sorry that I forgot to take pics.

Dreama.....We are not closed on Sunday! I was just really busy today so I could not stop by very often. I hope you were able to figure out the Facebook. I'm headed there right now to see if Bebbi was able to get her Nest all set up!

See you all tomorrow!

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.
Hugs.....
~Barb~

ps: I will tell hubby about the batteries......scary....

busy busy busy

I have been on the run since getting up this morning. First off....I stayed up until 2AM last night trying to find the new Koi Hatchling egg. I finally found it 1:37AM and just stayed on to finish my round. I was so tired but could not stop thinking about Hatchlings. I'm so addicted. At least I now have Glynis, Berry, Adri and Mikey with me! My right hand was so cramped. My pinky finger was kinda stuck! I'm such a dork. But it's fun.

Today we have been getting ready to have friends over tomorrow. We are making Cheese Fondue and Chocolate Fondue. We went to Panera Bakery and picked up a Country White and a Rye bread for the cheese. We will also have apples. And for the Chocolate pot we picked up bananas, strawberries, apples and brownies. Yummo. We are going to hook the laptop up to the big screen TV and have a slideshow of our Europe pictures. Will be an excellent day!

I will blog late tomorrow all about it!

I hope everyone has been having a great weekend!

~Barb~

For My Friends

Here For You

By Nicolette J Proffitt

The past you cannot forget or undo,

The Future is all we can look forward too.

I wish I could have been there by your side...

For all the times you've weeped and cried.

Know from my heart, what I say is true...

That I hurt for the pain you have been through.

Never alone shall you be,

Someday, freedom you will see.

May your hopes and dreams come true,

No matter where you are, I'll always be here for you.

Nicolette J Proffitt

We all have to follow our own path. I just want mine to lead to a good bottle of wine shared with friends.

And that is all I have to say......

Hallowgivingmas

I love this time of year. The beautiful Fall colors, the special Holidays. We have already celebrated Halloween. But we still have Thanksgiving and Christmas to prepare for.

Halloween this year was spent in Bend. I had been planning on walking with my sister, nephew, and his wife while they took their completely adorable little Richie Trick or Treating. Maybe next year. That is one of the things I miss about Halloween. Dressing the kids up and taking them around the neighborhood. I can't wait until I have grandbabies so that I can enjoy watching my kids dress up their kids!

Can I just say...I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!! I think I love it so much because it is all of my favorite foods. Turkey. Mashed potatoes w/gravy. Stuffing...w/gravy. Rolls....dipped in gravy. Mmmmmmmmm..........Can't wait. The biggest thing I have learned to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving is...Portion Control. I would have the worst stomach ache from stuffing myself fuller than the turkey. But then the all blessed Turkey Coma hits and you sleep some of that ache away so that when you wake up you have room for pumpkin pie w/whip cream!

Today I'm going to try and spend time AWAY from the computer and work on my Christmas gift project for the family. Not going to talk about it here. (shhhhhh it's a secret) But I have to start now or I will never get them all done. We don't exchange gifts anymore with my side of the family. It's just too big. So I like to make something and then just give it to them right away when we get there. No opening anything up, just here I made you something. I did that with knitted scarves a few years ago. Or I just bake a ton of cookies. My brother one year made videos of our old family movies. That was fun. And one year Bryan made videos of Rick. That was touching and made us all cry....but in a good way. I wish we did not have to exchange gifts with the inlaws any more. It's really just too much. I have tried suggesting drawing names, or playing the $10 gift game like we do with my family, but they just will not do it. Robert and I don't even exchange gifts anymore. We don't need anything. If we do want something we just go buy it. So last year we bought the big screen TV and stuffed each others stocking. This year he asked me what big thing we should do. I said I want the flooring for my craft room. YAY! I get to remodel my craft room! Although now I'm thinking I want to switch it to Katie's old room, and leave the elliptical machine in Bryan's and add a nice comfortable futon in there so that the kids have somewhere to sleep when they come over. Right now they have to sleep on a air mattress in the Family Room. Not very private. So I will talk to hubby and see if he will agree with me. But I know he will!

Let's Twist Again...Like We Did That Summer

As I kid I loved to play games. I still do. I think that is why I am so addicted to the Hatchlings search on Facebook. It's a game. Like Hide & Seek. We played that a lot when we were kids. In the Summer we would have neighborhood Hide & Seek games. After the sun set we would all run around between the houses and hide. It was so much fun. We would set area limits such as "You can go as far as Christy's but you can't go down to David's." Then we changed it up a little to include our daylight football game. We would work in groups and take the football and hide. Can you imagine our kids now even thinking of playing outside like that??? It's kinda sad actually. But then again....they are so far advanced in computers because of all of the computer and video games they play. But I would pick running around in the dark outside hiding a football over paying Zelda.

I had so many games that I loved to play. I don't think I ever took a trip to the beach with out buying a new deck of cards. I could play Rummy, Slap Jack, War and Go Fish forever. And when I couldn't get anyone to play cards anymore, I would play Solitaire. I loved board games too. Candy Land, Monopoly, Clue, Sorry, Parcheesi, Chutes and Ladders, Yahtzee, Scrabble, and the always fun Twister. There was one board game that I loved to play, but I did not own it. My friend Christy did. It was called Masterpiece. It was a game where you collected your favorite works of art. I loved this game. I don't know why I never asked for it as a Christmas gift. The funniest thing about this game was when I was in Chicago at the Art Institute, I saw so many of the pieces of art that were in this game! It amazed me to be standing in front of the real painting of some of my favorite cards to get in the game. I may have to look around and see if I can find Masterpiece and just buy it for myself!

Anyone want to play????

HOLEY CRAP! IT'S FOR SALE ON AMAZON...BRAND NEW FOR.....

$169.99!!!!!

yeh....don't think i will be buying it brand new!

i also found original games on ebay for about $16.00 and up. but i hate to buy stuff on ebay. looks like i won't be getting it any time soon :-(

Old Lady, You Freak & The Princess

Do you have kitties? I have 3 kitties. Camile, Kodiak and Alyeska. Also known as...Cammy, Kodi and Aly. Also known as Old Lady, You Freak and The Princess. Ever since we returned from our trip they have been connected to my hip. Right now they are sitting on the table behind me. Earlier Aly was in my lap. She has never really been a lap cat. She would only jump in your lap on her terms. Now all I have to do is call her and she comes and jumps up. I love it. But I feel bad. Was it that traumatic when we were gone that now they don't want to be far from me??? It's not like we left them alone. Katie was here. According to Katie, they did the same thing to her. Followed her all over the house, and sat in her lap a lot. I have had cats almost my entire life. And don't recall cats ever being like this. But them again, I have never had indoor cats. They have always been outdoor kitties until these 2. Cammy still goes outside, but only if the weather is decent. Other than that, she won't go out.

My mom likes to talk about my first kitties and why she had to get me one. Apparently when I was around 3 or so, I used to crawl around on the floor meowing. Mom said I did this for hours, for a really long time. She convinced my dad that they needed to get me a cat so that I would stop. So dad brought home 2 Siamese kitties. I don't remember these cats, but I remember seeing a picture of them once and I thought they were statues. They were sitting on top of the TV and did not look real. Very beautiful. Wish I did remember them. Then we had several cats. And when I was a kid, you never got cats fixed, so we were always having kittens. One spring we had 3 cats all have kitties at the same time. We were able to find homes for most of them, and we kept a couple. Then I had a friend and she had kittens and I fell in love with one and begged....PLLLLEEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEEE....begged begged begged to bring it home. They let me. I named him Scamper. He joined Licker and Teddy who we still had. Teddy was around for years but then disappeared one day, like cats do. I grew up, moved out, married, and mom still had Licker and Scamper. I think those kitties ended up being around 20. One day my niece brought a kitten over to my moms and asked her if she could keep the kitty for her because she could not have it where she lived. Of course that kitty had kittens, and that is where we got Baby, Cammy, Leo & Cleo. They were born on the first day of Spring 1990. We lost Baby in June of 2004, Leo in May 2005, and Cleo in November 2005. And Cammy is still here. She was the smallest of the siblings, but...well...the bitchiest. Makes me wonder if that is why she has hung on for so long. She is 18.7 years old. She is olllllllllld. And we love her, but we think she is deaf, and she moves really slow. But as long as she eats, and sleeps, and poops and pees, and purrs, she will stay with us. With Hubby, me, You Freak and The Princess.

Eggcellent Adventure

I have a new obsession. There is a game on Facebook called Hatchlings. You search for eggs that hatch into cute characters. They release new ones on Sunday nights, and sometimes another one during the week. It's always fun on Sunday to find the new one and then wait to see what hatches out of it. In fact...I enjoy this silly little hunt so much that I bought a Hatchlings mug! It's my new favorite cup to drink ice water out of! Last night they had 2 new ones. A red poppy egg with a Veteran on it, and one that hatched into a koi fish. The poppy was one that does not hatch, but still counts towards your "special" egg count. So far I have all of the special eggs. With a little help from a guy named Arnie. The last I checked he had found over 21,000 eggs. I have found over 4,000. There is one retired egg that you can "buy". But it costs 5,000 shells. You earn one shell for each egg that you find. So he spent some of his shells and bought me eggs that I did not have. It was really sweet of him. So I paid it forward, and did the same thing for a woman named Darlene. She was not able to find all of the Halloween eggs. So the other day I bought 5 of the retired Halloween eggs and sent them her way. She was so excited. Now I know why Arnie sent me the other ones. It feels good to do something so simple and silly, just to make a stranger happy.

TV, Movies and Popcorn....Oh my....

**SPOILER**

I just do not know how I feel about this past Friday nights Ghost Whisperer episode. I know, I know....it's just a TV show. But It's my TV show. I love this show. I have seen almost every episode since the first season. I hated..HATED...when they killed off Aisha Tyler's character Andrea, and now her husband! WTF??? I knew he was going to die for sure when he went back to the house. It was too obvious. Well you could actually tell from the stupid trailers that they show all week what will be happening the next week. They kept Andrea's death a secret up until the reveal, but they blew it on this one. Why did they need to kill off Jim? And it's just the beginning of the season? Not happy. Nope. Not happy at all.

Speaking of trailers...why do they have to show you all the best parts of a movie or TV show in the trailer? Can't they just do a few clips with a Don Pardo voice over giving you just a little teaser about what the movie or show is about? I go to the movies....ahem....a lot. Like almost once a week....and...ummmm....sometimes twice. There are a lot better things I could spend my money on, but there is just something about going to a movie and sitting there in the dark with your popcorn, diet soda, and Peanut M&M's. (I hear the diet soda eliminates the M&M calories) So I see a ton of trailers. I love to see a good trailer for a movie I have never heard of. Such as the Brad Pitt movie coming out called The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Ooooooo...it looks so good. I love a movie that is unique, like Memento. I also quite enjoy just a silly comedy. Hence the disappointment of too many trailers. I'm am really looking forward to the new Reese Witherspoon/Vince Vaughn movie, Four Christmases. It looks hilarious. But I'm so afraid that I have seen all of the best gags now. That has happened before. Music & Lyrics. It was such a disappointment because they showed all the best stuff in the trailer. AND....they even had clips in the trailer that were not even in the final cut of the movie! I hate that! It it happens more then you think. How can they have something in the trailer, and it's funny, and then it gets cut from the movie???? Kinda bugs me. Yeh...I kinda get a little wrapped up in my movies....

My Fine Feathered Friends

Good Morning Friends!

While sitting here at the computer with the window open, letting in a little cool, fresh air, I heard a wonderful sound. Geese flying overhead. I love the sound of Geese. In fact, I love the sound of birds. There is just something so peaceful and relaxing about it. One of my favorite things to do when I have alone time is to go down to our Wildlife Refuge and birdwatch. I love finding certain birds, like the Owls or the Cedar Waxwings. I rarely see either of these birds, so when I spot one it makes it even more special. I started doing this in 2002. We also have several feeders in the back yard. We are lucky enough to have a woods behind our house, so I brings in a lot of different birds to the yard. I keep track in a book when we have a new visitor. I have decent enough binoculars, but I really want to invest in some high quality ones. Especially if I take the trip that I want to. I so want to go to Costa Rica for a bird watching trip. The company that we just used for our Europe trip also does a trip to Costa Rica for 10 days. Hubby has no desire to go at all. He lived in South America for a year in his teens. As he says....been there done that don't ever want to again. I don't blame him. I have asked my sister who also is a bird watcher. But I'm not to sure that she will do it. She wants to, but I can't seem to get her to commit.

I guess I will just have to take a little drive down to the refuge soon. Take the loop past the trees, and the river and the lake. Look for my beloved Owls, and Cedar Waxwings. Look for the regal Bald Eagles. Maybe I will be lucky and the Tundra Swans will have stopped by on their migration. It is my little secret garden down there. My place to be alone for hours. My place to enjoy the soft call of the birds. My place of peace.......

Family, Friends & Food

Good Morning everyone!

This is a little bit of a test. I am writing this the night before and trying the Post date and time option to see if it will post tomorrow morning! Hopefully I will do this right so that I don't have to bug Carol to find out how she does it!

Halloween weekend we went to Bend, OR and visited our friends Jack & Donna. They are the most wonderful people. We are truely blessed to be able to call them our friends for over...gosh...23ish years. I know hubby first met Donna when they were setting up the new Fred Meyer in Coos Bay, OR. And that had to have been around 1983. I know we moved to Eugene, OR in late 1983. But I don't think we became really close with them until we moved there the second time in 1987. We knew them, but we really became good friends in 87. Jack & Donna are the type of people that as soon as they meet you, you are in their house eating a fantastic meal and becoming their lifelong friend. Some of you may remember how we went with them to Triangle Lake in Eugene this past August with our other friends Jimmy & Norma. Norma is our dear friend who passed away just 2 weeks after we were together. We had some good laughs in Bend last weekend sharing stories of Norma. Gosh...she is missed.

While we were in Bend, Donna made some of the most incredibly yummy food. We were so stuffed after every meal because you just didn't want it to end! So I begged her for some recipes. One of them that she gave me is for a dinner salad that is....TO DIE FOR! So I am sharing it with you! It will be a fantastic addition to your Thanksgiving table.

ENJOY!

Cornacopia Salad

1 head Romaine Lettuce chopped
1 cup celery
1/2 red onion sliced thinly
1 11oz can mandarin oranges
1 avacado chunked
1 appled diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries

dressing:
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 TBSP sugar
3 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 TBSP chopped parsley

Make dressing early in the day and store in fridge so that it can season well.

When you are ready to put salad together...

Put 3 TBSP of sugar in a skillet and add 1/2 cup of sliced or slivered almonds. Heat and toss around in sugar until well coated.

Toss salad, dressing and nuts together. Serve. You can also add Crumbled Blue Cheese or have it available for those who would like to add that to their individual salad.

If you try this be sure to let me know what you think! Needless to say.....we loved it!

I'll Take The High Road. The Low One Is Already Taken.

Good Morning Friends!

So far today is not moving very quickly. Hubby did not wake me up with his goodbye kiss, so guess who just crawled out of bed? I put on that eyemask and put in the earplugs and nothing wakes me up. I stayed up late again last night, and with the time change it meant I was up even later. This time change always makes me stay up late and USUALLY get up early. I like this one. I seem to be doing so much more. But I'm thinking that I must have needed a little more sleep this morning. I wonder what the kitties were thinking. I mean think about it. They have no clue that we changed the clocks back! They were probably sitting there by the door for an hour or more...."Dang woman! Where's my breakfast!"

Yesterday was most certainly an eye opener for me. I was very surprised at how some people are reacting towards our new President... Barack Obama. There are people out there saying that we now live in the U.S.S.R. I guess they think that because it, you know, does not exist anymore, so I guess, maybe we started a new United Sorry losers States of Republicans. OK...maybe that was a low blow, but this is all so ridiculous. And when did the word "Muslim" become a bad word? Why are all people who follow the Muslim faith considered evil? They are not evil. Radicals and Terrorists are evil. Not Muslims. Do some Christians not know anything about History? What about the Catholics with our Spanish Inquisition? What about the Puritans and the Salem Witch Hunt? What about Hitler and his hate for Jewish people in the 1930's-1940's? Why have some people not progressed? This is suppose to be the United States of America. We have all religions. Our citizens come from all over the world. And yet here we are, still referring to a man as a "Muslim" as if that is a horrible thing. Well guess what? It's not. And another thing...he's not! And you know what? Who the hell cares! I don't vote for someone based on Religion. I was baptised Catholic, but I....I'm gonna say it....I do not believe in any organized religion. I believe in love. I believe in honesty. I believe that people can have faith in whatever they want. If you have faith in that beautiful Maple tree that you pass every day on your walk through the park, I may think you are weird, but I will not hate you. Actually, I may just join you in that. Yes. Yes I will. I believe in that beautiful, powerful Maple, with it's many strong branches reaching out and protecting me from the rain. And I need that. It's raining.....

The Morning After

So....here we are. One Nation under Obama! OK....I just had to do that. I was so excited last night that I stayed up very late. I could not wind down. Last night was so special to me. I have never in my adult life felt so strongly for a politician. Well, strongly in a "positive" way! Ever since I became aware of Obama when I was in Chicago about 5 years ago, I knew that some day he would be President. And here we are.

I just did not pay that much attention when I was in my 20's. I was a young mother, 2 small kids, we were moving around yearly for my husbands job. I just didn't make the time to care about politics. But I was always a proud American. We have always flown the American flag at our house starting on I think Flag Day and taking it down after Labor Day. We even make sure that there is a light illuminating it since that is the proper way to fly our Nations flag! My husband has even made sure that we fly the Red, White & Blue when we are away from home in our travel trailer. He bought a huge flag pole and a beautiful American flag that he makes sure to bring down when it gets dark. It's cute how he makes a big production out of raising the flag in the morning and then taking it down again at night. I keep thinking I should get some kind of CD and play the National Anthem while he does this!

But this all makes me wonder why it is that some feel that you are not a Patriot or a Proud American if you don't agree with a current President and his policies. Being an "American" gives you the right to not agree with people. It gives you the right to say what you think, to say what you believe in. I believe that our current President did not serve our Nation well. He served the needs of a few, but not all of us. That is just my opinion. Does that mean I am not or have never been a proud American. No. It just means that I am not a follower of George W Bush.

I would love to hear your opinions too.

Thanks!

Have a great day!
~Barbara~

Finally.......

I can believe it! I can!
Finally my America is back.
Finally my kids will be proud to say they are Americans.
Finally the world will respect us again.
Finally.....
I can not put into words how I feel right now. This is just so fantastic. I was in the CHAT room with friends. It made this night all the more special. To hear friends from all over the US and Canada cheer and cry. My Canadian friends were just as excited. It was like they just saw their President elected. I don't think some people realize just how important what happened tonight was. We came together as a Nation and said we are tired of being treated as second class citizens. We are all Americans. White, Black, Asian, Native American, Gay, Straight. We all have rights, we all have a voice. All we want is to support our families and be comfortable in our old age. Not too much to ask. Now I think we will have a chance to improve our lives and get back to where we were 8 years ago.
I have never been so proud to be an American. Thank you to all of my Obama supporting friends! I love you all! Too my friends who were McCain supporters, I love you too. You will come to love President Obama as much as we do, because we all will be in a much better place with him in the White House. You will see. It will all be good!

A New Beginning.....

Today I am starting a new adventure. Blogging. I decided today would be the day because our Nation is also embarking on a new adventure. With it being November 4th, Election Day, we are hopefully coming together as a whole Nation with one purpose, to bring the USA back to what is was. No more rich getting insanely richer. No more oil companies such as EXXON getting richer beyond imagination. I heard this weekend that EXXON posted a 14 billion dollar profit last quarter. LAST QUARTER! This needs to end, and I am hoping that with a new leader it will.
Enough of politics....
I am hoping that as the days go on, more of my friends will find me here. I will post on Myspace and Facebook so that all of you know about this blog. I would love for all to participate. I have no idea what I will talk about. It will just have to be whatever my thoughts of the day are. There may be some days where I will not blog. But I will try to not let that happen. Regardless, we will still come and be here for each other.
Not much for the first blog. But it will get better!
Come and join me and together we will have good times! And when the bad times come, I will be here for you and so will all who come to share their thoughts also!
Have a great day!
And thank you for coming!
~Barbara~