Found Kitty a Home

I'm so excited! The kitty that showed up at my house on Christmas Eve was picked up last night. He has a new home. I feel bad for the original owner, but you know what....watch your pets. If they were that concerned there would have been some kind of ad or something. We looked all over. No micro chip, no ad in the paper, no response to the Craigs List about him. Well there were a couple, but it was not for him. He never even tried to leave my house. He was there all day and night. The first time we fed him the poor thing was starving. He was so hungry. It took a couple feedings for him to slow down. I don't think he had been fed in a while. He was a fatty, but you could tell he had not eaten.
So the lady who wanted him called late last night. She needed to bake a cake for a work function and wanted to know if she could come by later to meet the kitty. I said sure. She didn't call again until almost 10pm. I was OK with that because I knew as soon as she saw him she would take him. Her other concern was that she had plans to go out of town and would not be back until Saturday. I told her that if she decided that she wanted him, I would keep him at the house until she could pick him up this weekend. So she came out. After picking him up and looking him over and he was headbutting her and just being the big old lovable teddy bear that he is...she said she would take him......right then. She decided to take him home last night and not go out of town. She wanted him. He was just the sweetest kitty. I just couldn't bring another cat in the house with the 3 I already have. Aly was not too happy with him even being outside. Kodi seemed to like him though. And poor Cammy does not like any other cat at all anymore. She gets along with Kodi, but Aly picks on her. I couldn't do that to Cammy. I was so lucky to find him a home.
Have a safe New Year's Eve!

The Streak came to an end.......

I'm so freaking bummed. I forgot to blog yesterday. I was having a horrible day. Horrible. I was going to blog in the morning, but then some stuff came up with my kitty. I have been going back and forth with putting her to sleep, and....I just don't want to talk about it. Then on Christmas Eve a cat showed up in our backyard and is still there. He is there 24 hours a day and has not left. He was obviously an indoor kitty because he is fixed and declawed. But we can't find any postings for someone looking for this particular cat. He wants in the house so bad. And it's cold outside. We have been feeding him and have given him a box and blanket, but I don't want him in the house because I don't know if he has Feline AIDS or Leukemia. And both can be passed to other cats. So outside he stays. Poor thing. I took him to my vet yesterday and had him scanned, but he is not chipped. Yesterday afternoon though I found a home for him. Then it started to snow, so they couldn't come and get him. I'm hoping today they will pick him up. He looks so sad now. He wants to be in the house, but I just can't do it. So that upsets me too. It was just not a good day yesterday.
But the snow was beautiful.

Gonna Relax

Very short blogs the next couple days.
Or just blogs about nothing.
I need a mind break.
I'm so tired.
Blah.
I have been so busy these past couple weeks.
I try to cram so much into a few days.
I should be more prepared.
But I never am.
Whatever.
I put off doing stuff knowing that I still have time.
And then it gets to where I don't.
So I run and run for days.
And then I just crash.
Like right now.
So tired.
Yawn.
**Katie: OK...Cinnamon Whiskey. Will look for it**
**Bon: Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a Merry Christmas!**

what a long day.....

Came home from Seattle today. Had breakfast with Bryan and then tried to watch the Seahawk game, but they stunk. We came home and then I got ready to have dinner with friends. Just got home. I love them to death.....but I'm exhausted. I'm old. And pathetic. I mean seriously, I can't even stay awake for a 3 hour drive and then have dinner with friends with out yawning the entire time. So sad. But we laughed and laughed and had a good time.
But now....I'm going to bed.....

In Seattle

oooooopsie.....
We left early this morning to come up to Seattle to have Christmas with Bryan & Celina. I should have prepared a blog earlier, or last night to post today, but I forgot.
Robert, Katie & I drove up this morning. Celina was at work, so we all went out to lunch. I can't even remember when was the last time we had a meal just the four of us. Nothing wrong with that, it has just been a really long time.
When Celina got home from work, we exchanged presents. It was close to 5pm by that time, and Katie needed to hit the road. She has to work at 2am, so she wanted to get back to Vancouver. She is staying at our house to take care of the kitties, and she forgot her work clothes. So she had to go all the way to Portland, and then back to the house. She is already in bed asleep. She's had a loooong day. It was so sweet of her to come up to see Bryan & Celina for Christmas.
We just got to the hotel from having dinner. We went to a really nice place in the Capital Hill area. I had a drink that Bryan said was really good. A Baked Apple. It was Apple Cider, Cinnamon Schnapps and Hard Dry Cider (like an apple beer). It was sooooo good! Katie said she had something similar. Hot apple cider with cinnamon schnapps and whip cream. Yum!
Well....its been a long day, so I'm going to bed.....

~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It's the hap- happiest season of all

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time of the year

~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

Memories of Christmases long long ago.....

By popular demand.....
I give you Robert from Christmases long long ago.....
ENJOY~

Early 90's. Digging the striped socks and sweater!

Late 80's at the rental here in Vancouver.

Late 80's at the same rental. He's a little curled up in this one!

HA! This one I know the year and the day! December 25th 1985. There is a good story behind it!

We were living in Salem. I was pregnant with Bryan and spent most of the month of November in the hospital sick from the pregnancy (thanks Bryan). On Christmas Eve we went over to the neighbors. Really nice people who moved back to Wisconsin after we moved to Newport. Guess they just couldn't live there anymore if we were gone :-)

We went over to celebrate with them and after mixing a few drinks for Robert, they decided to start mixing drinks of straight alcohol with no soda or anything. They would throw in a shot of rum with a shot of vodka and tequila. Or some other shot or two of booze. After a couple of those Robert started weaving back and forth.....while sitting down! I asked him if he was OK, and he kinda mumbled something about not feeling well. So I took him home....and the fun started. He puked...and puked...and puked all night long. Kinda like I was doing in November, but I was...you know....pregnant....and he was.....you know.....suffering from alcohol poisoning. I had no idea that the neighbors had done this until a while later. I thought he was just drunk. Christmas morning we were trying to open presents with Katie, and Robert would open a present. Then barf. Open. Puke. You get the idea. He even threw up in his slippers. We should have stayed home, but we were young and stupid, so we drove from Salem to Vancouver to have Christmas with the families. I drove. He puked in the car. We got to his sisters place, and he promptly went into the bathroom and....I think you get the idea. He actually laid down on her bathroom floor and passed out for a hour or so. Fun! Then we went to my moms....and he threw up some more. Then we got that classic shot!

After he was feeling up to it, we opened presents. Every present he opened from my mom, sisters, brothers....was booze! Bottles of rum for the drunk!

~~And here is where it all began~~

~~Can I get an "Awwwwwww"~~

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

only 2 more.....

So today's blog isn't so much as a "memory" as it is about "lack of memory".
Have you ever bought a Christmas gift early, then put it in a "special" place, and then completely forgotten about it?
Yeh...
I do that.
A lot.
I find them in the Summer.
I had bought 3 ornaments one year after Christmas.
That is the best time to buy them.
Can't beat 75% off!
So I bought these ornaments, and then forgot about them.....
FOR 3 YEARS!
Now that's bad.
I bought clearance ornaments last year, and would you believe that I remembered to get them out of their hiding place!
Although I just now remembered that I didn't wrap them yesterday.....

Just a few more days of Memories

Well...
I finished my shopping today. Now I am wrapping.
Oh boy...
Do I ever remember year after year staying up on Christmas Eve wrapping presents. It took hours.
And hours....
There was always so much of it.
I would get all the wrap out.
All the ribbons.
All the bows.
Tape.
Scissors.
And I never had a pen.
So I would have to find one.
And then after wrapping a few presents...I would have to search for the tape.
I would be wondering what the hell did I just do with the tape. I just had it!
Sometimes I would drop it to the left of me.
And then I would set it on the right.
But then I would find it behind me.
Then I would lose the pen.
I would put all the paper scraps to the side so that I would have it for the smaller stuff.
And I would have a garbage bag full of tags, and trimmed pieces of paper....and hangers from the clothes.
Does this all sound familiar to you???
I'm sure we have all been there!
So off I go to finish wrapping.
Yes you heard me....
I am getting it done early :-)
I get to sleep this Christmas Eve~

Can I even come up with more memories???

My brain is tired today.
The whole Christmas Season is getting to me.
It does every year.
So I guess maybe that is my memory.
I remember how every year I stress out about Christmas.
I never think I have bought enough.
I never think that what I did buy is good enough.
I never think that people will like what I bought them.
So I stress.
And then I shop some more.
Why do I do this?
I remember when it was so easy to shop for gifts when the kids were little.
Robert has always been hard to shop for.
Always.
I never think he is going like anything I bought.
But I don't think he has ever returned anything.
If he has, it has been very few.
Oh Christmas Stress.....Why do I continue to embrace you????

Christmas Memory for Sunday

I still, to this day, love Christmas cartoons. I watch them all. If I missed one I would be so disappointed. But now....I have most of them on DVD! But I still try to watch them when they are on TV. It can be hard to find them though. Some are only played on cable, others not at all.
My favorites....
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Frosty
Santa Clause is Coming to Town
Shrek the Halls (ok....its a new one)

One that I never seem to find on TV anymore is The Little Drummer Boy.
But one of my favorites that is never on is one that was played on the Bugs Bunny Show. It had that little mouse, Sniffles I think its name was, anyway, it was trying really hard to stay awake to see Santa. I really loved that one.
Wonder if it can be found on YouTube????
OMG! I FOUND IT!
ENJOY!

Christmas Memory

My mom used to bake. A lot. Now...not so much.....actually not at all. She is just too tired from working full time that she just doesn't have the energy to bake now. Besides, she knows Terri and I bake enough for an army. Today I am making a cookie that she used to make that I completely forgot about. We talked about it last week when we got together to bake. For Christmas she used to make thumbprint cookies, fruit cocktail cookies and these little applesauce cakes with gum drops. Today Terri is making the thumbprint cookies and I am making the fruit cocktail ones. I wanted to make the applesauce cakes with gum drops, but no one....no one....sells regular gum drops. Only the spice ones, and you don't use those. They can be bought online, but they come in a 5 pound bag. Maybe next year...
She also use to make peppermint tree and snowball candles. They were so cool and the house smelled so good when she made them. It's not just a peppermint smell, it's sweeter. You know how something is just right at the front of your mind but you just can't grasp it? That is how I feel when I think about those candles. It's like the smell is just about there, but then its not. I'm hoping that next year we can make some of those.

Here is a picture of the snowball candle. I stole it from online :-)

Kittehmas Memory

Every year we filled stockings for our kitties. They each had their own stocking with their name on it, but you could never get them to stay out of each others stockings. I'm sure the catnip had something to do with it :-)
Our original 4 kitties were outdoor cats. They would come in to visit, nap, whatever, but they were usually outside. Christmas morning we would bring them in and let them find their stockings under the tree. I would put stuff like toys, can food, treats and old footies filled with some catnip and then tied in a knot. They loved those. But as soon as they would get a stocking they would start rolling around with it, and kicking it with their back feet, and just plain making a mess out of it all! Do you think the catnip had anything to do with that?
I have not filled stockings yet for Kodiak and Alyeska. Since they are indoor kitties I didn't want them to think that the tree was a giver of the nip. They pretty much stay away from the main tree. Now the little fake white tree that sits on a table in the front window is a different story. Aly gets up in the window and then sits there and tortures the poor feather butterflies on it. I think she has successfully killed all but one. She has knocked off the occasional glass one too, but for some reason they have not broke. Now if I drop one on the hardwood floor they shatter into a million pieces. But when she knocks one off if just becomes a toy for Kodi to chase around the floor. Guess she is just a really talented cat.
I am thinking about filling stockings for them this year. I have not made a nip sock for them yet.
This might not be my best decision ever made......
Mary: Thanks for stopping by the other day :-) I love my jewelry tree. I loved hearing about turning your mom's dress into special bookmarks for everyone. What a sweet thing to do!
Dreama: Thanks for stopping by yesterday :-)

Christmas Memory

Yesterday I showed you my Jewelry Tree....Today I will share my Nativity. This is another Christmas decoration that has been in the family for years. And again...I have no idea how long we have had it. All I know is that it has been set out every Christmas for as long as I can remember.

I think my dad bought it for my mom. I don't think it was passed down from grandparents. I'm pretty sure it was just one of our decorations growing up. Again....another of my favorites. Mom gave me the Navtivity several years ago and I put it out every year. Poor Baby Jesus though. He has a brokeded arm. There is no way to fix him. Poor little baby....

Wednesday Christmas Memory

For as long as I can remember, my mom had a Jewelry Tree. This is like a picture, but 3 dimensional. It's a Christmas Tree made out of old jewelry and then put on velvet and framed. My Grandma Gus's brother and SIL made ours in 1962. So this decoration was made before I was even born. I really should get the whole story behind it. I'm not sure if it was my grandma's and then my mom got it, or if it was made for my mom. Maybe I should have done a little research before blogging. Nah. That would have been to easy. It is so much more fun not knowing what the hell I'm talking about! All I know is that my mom had it forever, and then she gave it to me several years ago. What is so funny about this tree is that even though it is a Christmas decoration, it hangs in my living room year round. Has been there for years. I love it so much that it stays up. I don't care what time of year it is, I love to just look at the old jewelry. I took a cell phone picture of it this morning so that I could upload it here at work, and it won't show up in my email. I will try again.

There it is. I had to send it to a different email account. I love it. Not only because it is full of old costume jewelry, but also because it was made by my great uncle Joe and his wife Helen.
I think of it as my own little piece of family treasure!

Really Quick Christmas Memory because I am behind.....

Ugh....
I have been on the run all day. It's been one cluster f*ck after another. Don't ask....
Tonight is our Office Staff Christmas Party. We always go over to the Brokers house and have dinner and have an ornament exchange. A few times we had a cookie exchange too, but that doesn't always work out. So this time, just the ornament exchange. We have also played a game called
"Who Would You Do" heh heh heh......I won't reveal my choice :-)
So my "memory" for today is from the first Office Staff Christmas Party. It was my first time "partying" with my co-workers. I was hired in January, so I had been working with them for the better part of a year, so I knew them pretty well. The Broker was serving us wine, and she likes to serve them in huge glasses, and she likes to keep your glass full. Well by the time the party was over I was really tipsy. But I acted like yeh yeh everything is fine I'm good to go. I started driving home and realized that I was not good to go. Thankfully my sister's house was not far away. So I drove there and had Robert or maybe Katie come get me.
I'm such a cheap drunk.....
And I have been good at every Staff party since :-)

Christmas Memory for Monday

Every year that I was at home that I can remember, we put out a Santa similar to these. I really liked him growing up, but then he started to creep me out a little. I think it was the eyes. Don't ask who that kid is...I have no idea! I stole the pic from online. My sister has a collection of these types of Santa's in all sizes. About 15 years ago, my father-in-law brought over all of his Christmas decorations because he had sold his house and they were going to travel full time in their fifth wheel. In the boxes was one of these Santa's. We put him out a few times, but now he stays in the attic. I need to bring him out more.
I just have to get passed the creepy eyes!

Christmas Memory of Shopping

I come from a family of 7. Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, 2 sisters and me. I was number 4. Better than being number 2! Sorry Terri :-) (she reads this)
Mom and Dad would give us a little bit of money to buy presents for our siblings. I would be surprised if it was more that $5.00. Then we went to downtown Vancouver to the 88 Cent Store and Wolworths. I loved the 88 Cent Store. Because everything was 88 cents! Go figure. There was so much stuff to look at. The toys were all downstairs. We would go down there and then try to shop without having a brother or sister come around the corner to see what you were getting them! Then on Christmas Eve we would get to pick one present from a sibling and open it up. The rest of the presents were opened in the morning. I remember one of my favorite gifts was from my brother Mike. He bought me a mini tea set. It was white with little pink roses on it. Loved it.
I went to the old 88 Cent about 10 years ago. It was not the same. Kinda like how the Dollar Store is now. And they didn't have all the toys downstairs like they used too. Then they closed the downtown location and had one at another location in town, but I think that has closed now too.
But I still have the memories.

Christmas Memory

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the tree.
I have a three special ornaments on it. They are special because they have been on our tree every year since the very first Christmas that Robert and I spent together. I remember that on Christmas Eve I went over to his place and he surprised me with our first Christmas tree. He bought it when he got off of work....for $1.00. And he picked out some ornaments for it. I have three of them still.




These little glass birds. There used to be 6 of them. I have lost the green and clear ones. I think they must have been left on a tree at some point. And I think the yellow one broke. But I'm super careful with these three now. It's funny to me how these have been on every tree we have ever had, and for the past few years I have bought so many little birds to go on the tree!
I also still have the very first Christmas present he gave me. A gold chain. I may not wear as often now, but I will never part with it. I can't remember what I gave him. I was super poor. I just asked him. He said "You expect me to remember something from over 27 years ago?"
Guess not :-)
Men....gotta love em!

My Friday Christmas Memory

Grandmothers can be silly sometimes.
The very last Christmas that I had with my Grandma Gus was interesting to say the least. I was in Junior High, or the 6th grade. For some reason my Grandma must have thought I was still 6! For Christmas that year she gave me a little toy. It was from some catalog ordering company like Swiss Colony or Lillian Vernon. I should also remind you that this is my grandma who was blind. I opened my present and when I saw the box I was hoping that she had just reused the box and what was on the outside was not what was on the inside. My hopes were dashed once I opened the box. She gave me a Baby in a Walnut. Ummmm...Thanks Grandma. What was I suppose to do with that? It was a plastic walnut about the size of an egg, and inside of it was a plastic baby. Yeh. Thanks. But that was the last gift I ever received from her. She died the next Spring. I kept that baby for several years in my top drawer. I seem to have lost it now. I must have got tired of packing it around, or maybe at some point threw it away. I don't remember. I just wish now that I had it.
A few years ago I was at my sisters for Christmas. We were standing in the kitchen and she came up to me and said " I got you something." I told her that we were not suppose to be exchanging gifts. She said it was OK and I would understand when I opened it. It was a Baby in a Walnut. Not like the one Grandma gave me, but a little tiny real walnut shell with a little plastic baby in it made into an ornament. I started laughing, and then I started crying. Gosh darn it....now I'm tearing up. I hang that every year on my tree and it makes me think of not only Grandma, but my sister Terri too, and how she made me cry in front of the entire family.
The b*tch....Just kidding :-)

Christmas Memory

With it being so cold this week, its only 28* right now, it reminds me of our Christmas last year. Our very first White Christmas. I can not recall ever in my lifetime having a true White Christmas until last year. And last year was definitely a white one! We had 18" of snow. It was so much fun. I loved every minute of it. Oh I'm sure I complained at some point about it (like when I had to drive in it), but deep down, I loved it. I had to miss some work though. No one was going in, so we just kept the office closed. So I did miss the paycheck....
Waking up Christmas morning and actually having snow on the ground was something I will never forget. We have had heavy frost (which we call a trace of snow:-) and we have had a couple really nasty ice storms, but not snow. As a kid the first thing I would do Christmas morning when I woke up was to look out the window to see if it had snowed. It never did. But I looked anyway. A kids gotta dream. Unfortunately as an adult I still look. Every Christmas morning I look out the window to check for snow. Last year I didn't have too, we had enough snow on the ground to last for weeks! I envy people who always have a White Christmas. Robert and I have said many times that we want to go to the mountains for Christmas, but we never do. We have gone sledding the day after, but someday we will go to the mountains somewhere for Christmas. Reminds me of the movie White Christmas. We will go to Vermont for Christmas.

Snow, it won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow, I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Snow, I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow, oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow Where it's snowing
All winter through
That's where I want to be
Snowball throwing
That's what I'll do
How I'm longing to ski
Through the

Snow, those glist'ning houses that seem to be built of snow
Snow, oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow

What is Christmas with no snow
No white Christmas with no snow
Snow

I'll soon be there with snow
I'll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I'll build a man that's made of snow
I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye
Go to sleep
And dream
Of snow, snow, snow, snow, snow

A girl can dream.....

Another Christmas Memory

Divinity

Divinity

Russian Tea-Cakes

We, unfortunately, did not go over to my mothers parents house very often. We went over on Christmas Day until I was maybe in Junior High. Maybe. I can't even remember the last time we went over. It just became too much for my mom to get us all ready to go, and the house was super small, and super over stuffed with people. My mom's family is very large. And quite a bit younger than the rest of us. My mom was several years older than her sisters, and she actually has 3 kids older than her youngest sister! Yep. I have an aunt who is only one year older than me. And she not only has a son in Elementary school, but also a baby. So I have cousins young enough to be my grandkids! That is just so wrong on so many levels......

What I remember most about going over there was that it was always really hot in the house, and grandma always made fudge, divinity and Russian tea-cakes. I ate the fudge, but was not fond of the other two. My sister loved them though. So this year we are going to attempt to make divinity and Russian tea-cakes. Terri said she has made them before, but it was a long time ago.

Should be fun to give it a go!

a little bit late Christmas Memory

I have been really busy today. Errands, mailing Christmas cards (half of them) and then addressing the other half. Even got in a little shopping. Just a little. That is why the late blog. I was going to do it earlier, but got side tracked. Oh well....

We don't exchange gifts on my side of the family. At least that is what we say. I like to make little things for everyone, so I still give stuff. I don't do it every year, but most of the time I do. So instead of buying gifts for everyone, we buy a $10 gift and then we play the game where you can steal a gift some else has already opened. Does this game even have a name? Well one year my mom bought a stuffed Santa. I think there was another one too, but I can't remember what it was. Anyway...Katie ended up with it. People were still picking gifts, and Katie was trying really hard to get rid of the stuffed Santa. When it was someones turn to pick a gift, she would take Santa's hand and wave it frantically around saying "Pick me! Pick me!" We were laughing so hard! It was so funny. I can't remember if she ended up with them. I think she did actually. She did. She donated them the next year to the Teddy Bear Toss at the hockey game.
I'm sure they went to a good home!

Christmas Memory

Here is one of my favorite stories of sibling one-upmanship.
I needed a dress to wear to an event. Most likely it was for a work function for Robert. I didn't wear a lot of dresses back then, still don't, so I borrowed one from my sister. That was when we were the same size. Now she is quite a lot smaller than me :-(
When Christmas came around I still had not returned the dress to her. So being the smartass that I am, I wrapped it up all pretty and took it to the family get together. If I remember correctly, when she opened it she said something like "This looks like a dress that I have." Too which I said "That's because it is your dress." We all got a good laugh.
Now I don't remember if it was the next year, or if it was a few years later, but she got me back.
We were all together, exchanging gifts, and she gave me my present. It was heavy. And in a big box. Everyone was watching me open my special gift. I took the lid off the gift and the tissue paper was kinda wet. I took the tissue paper off and there in the box, still kinda wet, was the toilet plunger that I loaned her! Hilarity ensued! Of course it was only wet because she put a little water on it....but it was still gross!
She won~

Christmas Memory

One thing that I really missed when my kids were growing up was the lack of a Christmas Program at school. There were the occasional Winter Programs, but it seems like they were few and far between. I recall a program that Katie was in that they sang the Dreidel song. What I miss is the programs like the ones we had in school. I loved getting up on the school stage and standing on the risers singing all the Christmas songs. It was so much fun. And we always had a huge Christmas tree in the Gym. And we would gather food for people in town who needed help. I don't understand why we can't just celebrate the season by embracing all of the different customs and celebrations of the entire community. I don't care if it is based on religion, or based on a old Pagan ritual. It's just fun to celebrate the season.

Christmas Memory

Today we went and cut down our Christmas tree. We have not bought a pre-cut tree for years. They dry out so fast. It was cold. 32*. But the sun was shining so it was a fun time. There have been many years where it is just miserable out. But we go, get wet, muddy, and sappy.
One year, and only one year, we bought a permit and went up into the mountains and cut down a tree. It was Christmas 1983. Katie was not quite 2 years old. Robert and I went up into the Cascades and looked for a tree to cut down. I'm sure we must have left Katie with my mom. So off we went. It was cold and there was snow. It was a lot harder than you would think to go into the mountains for a tree. When you go there in the Summer you see so many trees and you think..."Now that would make a great Christmas tree!" We tromped around in the snow until we found the perfect tree. And then we killed it. Yep. Cut that sucker down and took it home. Robert got it into the stand, which I'm sure took a long time, and maybe a trip or two to the store :-)
Then we took it into the house. Or tried too anyway. It was too big. It was huge. We thought it was perfect when it was up in the mountains, out in the large space sitting in the snow. But when we tried to get it into the house, not only was it way too tall, but it was way to wide. Robert trimmed a lot off the top to be able to get it in the living room, but that did nothing for the width of it. It took up most of the living room! I started to decorate it and then realized that the branches were too thin and weak to support most of the ornaments. So now not only was it too tall and too wide, but when you hung an ornament on it the branches looked straight out of a Charlie Brown Christmas!
I tried to find a picture, but for some reason there isn't one.
You will just have to use your imagination!

Christmas Memory

My Grandma & Grandpa Gus always had the same candy at Christmas every year. Stuff like this....

They always had these kind of hard candies. I liked the ribbons and the ones with a little filling in them.

And these....

I would eat so many of these Orange Slices I would get a stomach ache. Now I can't stand them.
Another one Grandpa liked.....



Chicken Bones. Similar to the Chick-O-Stick...but slightly different. I think it was the coating that was different. I liked these too!

The next one though....not so much....


Ack! The Circus Peanut. These were so chalky. And they felt weird on your teeth when you bit into them. And the taste....bleck. Don't see how they could call this "candy".

After eating tons of junk I would then want these....

These little mint pillows were like rolaids for kids. They had a way of soothing your tummy. I don't remember stuff like homemade candy and fudge at G&G Gus's...just this hard candy. Oh...and this stuff....

Bleck. LOL! Yeh...didn't like the licorish ones either. But this is what they had. Do you remember any of these? Did you eat them too?

Christmas Memory

At our house, the gifts are always put under the tree Christmas Eve. Because, you know, that's when Santa comes!
When the kids were little I would wait for them to go to bed, and then bring out all of the unwrapped gifts and sit there for hours watching Christmas movies while wrapping all the presents and getting them under the tree. As the years went by, the only presents to get bows were the last ones to go under the tree. It got to where I convinced myself that you couldn't see the bows on the presents buried underneath, so why put ribbons and bows on them? I was just getting lazy.

One year, I decided that I didn't want to spend all night Christmas Eve wrapping. So as I bought gifts, I wrapped them and put them under the tree. It was so nice to not have to stay up really late wrapping. We got up, and the party started. Then it came to a complete halt. As we started handing out gifts, Robert pulled one out from under the tree for Bryan. He looked at me and handed it to me. One end of the gift was open. We started pulling out Bryan's gifts. Every single one of them had been opened on one end, and then put back under the tree. Not just opened and taped back shut (like i used to do when i was a kid), no these were ripped open on the end! I was not very happy at the time, and I think maybe I wanted to cry, but now I love that memory. It makes me laugh every time I think of it.

That was the one and only time I put the gift under the tree before Christmas Eve. I still don't do it even though the kids have moved out.

Now I worry that the kitties will rip them all open!

Christmas Memory

One of the things I enjoyed about Junior High was giving gifts to my friends at Christmas. We always had so much fun doing that. I loved buying the really huge candy canes or Hershey bars. Do you remember those? They were so big. You could also buy really big Sugar Daddy's. Is that what that big caramel on a stick was called? So much fun! I swear they were like a foot long. I am going to google it and see if they can still be bought.
Be right back!

OK....A word of warning....
When you google "large sugar daddy" you don't just get sites about candy.....

**stop your snickering this instant!**

According to a site about old time candy, the manufacturer of Sugar Daddy stopped making the 1lb Sugar Daddy some time ago. Bummer. Every kid needs a pound of caramel on a stick!
I still have Christmas cards that friends gave me in school. I should take pictures of those and upload that, but I am at work so that would be kinda hard.
Did you ever give out one of those big Sugar Daddy's or the candy canes?

Christmas Memories

Today is December 1st.
I am going to spend each day from now until Christmas morning sharing some of my favorite Christmas Memories. I hope that some of my memories will bring back some of yours!
Happy Holidays Friends!

I will never forget that feeling of being a small child believing in Santa Claus. As an adult I am still really drawn to anything Santa. Especially if it is an Old World type of Santa. Or one that looks like it came from the 50's. But my favorite memory of Santa is when I actually saw Santa. No, not the Mall Santa (those are just Santa's helpers silly), but the real Santa....flying in his sleigh!
It was Christmas Eve and we had come back from my grandparents house. We always went to my dad's parents house on Christmas Eve, and my mom's parents on Christmas Day. It was time to go to bed, and most likely I was not wanting to. My dad was by the front window and he got all excited and told me to come look outside....Santa was coming! I ran to the window and my dad pointed out the lights in the sky. Santa! It was him! "Look!" he said. "Do you see Rudolph?" YES! There was a red glow at the front of the sleigh! Santa with Rudolph leading the way was flying over the woods. I could see them. He told me that I had better get to bed because Santa knows when you are sleeping...and he knows when you're awake. So I ran to bed. The next morning Santa had indeed come to our house!
I still believe that I saw Santa that night. And Rudolph.
Even though a few years later I figured out that Santa took the same path that the planes took to the airport.
But the child in me still believes.....

yeh...this about sums up today.....

November is almost over.....

I can't believe how fast this month...well this year actually...has gone by. So fast. I really don't know that I was that busy to make it pass so quickly. But it has. Tomorrow is the last day of November already. And then before you know it, it will be Christmas. Hubby got the lights up today. I'm sure just about everyone in town who is putting up lights, got them up yesterday or today. The weather was beautiful. I stayed in all day and got 85 Christmas cards finished. **pats self on back** So glad those are done. I only worked on them last weekend while camping, and then finished them today. Now I can start on my craft project. I should be able to get those done in an afternoon. Not much to them, but I have never made them before so could take a minute or two to figure it out :-)
May upload a couple pics when I get them done.
We'll see.

thppppppp......

I was feeling all guilty for not blogging yet, but no one has even been here, so now I don't feel guilty at all. In fact, since no one has even been here today, I'm not even going to bother trying to come up with anything.
So there.
thpppppppp..............

Turkey Coma

I've been in a Turkey Coma all day. I don't want to think. I really just would rather be home in my warm bed watching a movie. A holiday movie like It's A Wonderful Life, or Elf (you smell like beef and cheese). But instead I am here at work. It's been so quiet today. I have had less than 20 calls. I think everyone is out shopping for socks and toys instead of houses.
Had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. After dinner I went over to my sisters for a little while to visit. My nephew was there with his family. He has the most adorable toddler. I'm sure I have talked about him before, but....you know....turkey coma. Anyway, my nephew was getting his 2 year old to repeat lines from Strange Brew. Such as "Take off you hoser!" and something else about a knob. We were laughing so hard. And then my nephew referred to his son as "The best toy ever." I was laughing so hard that. So funny to call your child a toy. At the time it was so perfect because Richie was being so funny, and we were having so much fun playing with him....just like a little toy! So wrong...and yet too funny to not be true :-)

I am Thankful for....#01

My Hubby.
My Husband. Mr. Barb_Wa. My Better Half. My Spouse. Daddy.
Robert.
He means the world to me. Yes....I love my kids with every fiber of my being. But they don't always want to do the kinds of things that Robert will do for me.
**get your minds out of the gutter this instant**
Things like.....
♥Have the newspaper on the bed when I wake up on Sunday mornings. Or on Thanksgiving morning. We don't take the paper anymore, so he has to actually go to the store and buy it for me.
♥Do way more things around the house than me and not complain while doing it. There are things he won't do...like change the kitty litter...but he does clean the bathroom. That in itself makes me very thankful :-)
♥He takes me on FANTASTIC vacations. I love Hawaii...but I will remember every minute of our Anniversary trip to Europe forever.....
♥Cook for me every Sunday. When the kids were still at home, I did all of the cooking. Now that it is just the two of us, we don't do a lot of cooking on a daily basis. We're just not that hungry anymore. But every Sunday, he makes me breakfast and cooks dinner. And dang it all anyway....he cooks really well. Makes me kinda jealous....but mostly thankful!
♥Be not only my husband...but my best friend. We really do enjoy the same things. It makes it so much easier to figure out places to go and things to do because we both pretty much love the same stuff. It's either that...or he his great at suppressing his own desires........ Naw....We enjoy the same things!
♥He gets me mochas. He is in fact doing that right now :-)
♥He saves his children. He is in fact doing that right now :-)
Apparently Katie locked herself out of her car when she went to work last night. Robert was at the store when she finished her shift and realized that she left her keys in her car. We have an extra key, so he brought her back here, got her key, and drove her back to work. He does this in nasty Winter weather too. Driving her back and forth to work if it is too bad for her to do it. She does give it a good try though. And she bought chains for her car. And knows how to put them on!
♥He takes care of my mom. He will do the same for her that he does for the kids. Picks her up at 5am to take her to work if it is icy or has snowed overnight. Or he will go to her house when it is 106* and try for 2 hours to get a brand new air conditioner installed and then try to get the dang thing to work. **it was defective** But he does these things with no complaint. He just does it. If mom needs something, he's there.
♥He is loyal to not only his family but also his employer. He has worked for them for something like 31 years. They are the only company he has ever worked for. That doesn't happen much anymore.
♥He volunteers. If someone needs something done for a charity, he is at the top of the list for people to ask for help. A guy that he works with was having difficulty getting people to sign up for a walk. It was getting close to the date of the event and he needed teams. All Robert had to do was send out an email and the guy got his teams....and then some!

I could really just keep going and going. He does so much for not only me, but family, friends, co-workers and the community.
But he has returned with my peppermint mocha.
And for that.....
I am soooooo Thankful.....
**love you**

I am Thankful for....#02

My Kidlins. My Adult Kidlins that is.
I have been so lucky to have great kids. I know they're great because a lot of people tell me they are. It's hard for me to really know for sure because they piss me off all the time. OK...maybe not Katie...but Bryan for sure is a constant thorn in my side. Wait a minute.....Why am I thankful again???
:-)
All kidding aside, they are pretty great. They're smart. Smart enough to not tell me during High School when they were doing something that would make me angry. They knew better than to make me angry. I get all green and my clothes rip as my angry muscles burst....OK....I think you get it. Bryan has "confessed" too many things already. Now I just don't want to know. Ugh....don't tell me any more about how when you were in Middle School you used to go to the school roof to skateboard and then jump off when security came. Nope. Don't tell me. I want to stay blissfully unaware of your shenanigans. Katie never did stuff like that. She was too busy. Now I think she is trying to make up for it. Just kidding. Unless you call having a few drinks and singing Karaoke as acts of rebellion. Guess it all depends on the song choice.
They are good kids though. I love em more than chocolate cake. Not a lot more mind you. I'm not stupid. We're talking chocolate cake here. I do love them more than beer. I'm actually not very fond of beer. So I love them waaaaay more than beer!
And maybe....someday... they will get married and have their own families so that I can teach their kids to do stuff like pour soapy water on the kitchen floor and do belly slides. Or poke sticks in their puke to remind them what they had for lunch. I can teach their kids the proper way to stab their sibling in the butt with a letter opener so that it inflicts just enough pain to get the message across without actually causing any damage to the poked buttock. I can teach them that if they write stories in school that are just warped enough to scare the teacher then their parents will have to go talk to the principle.
OH MAN.....
I CAN'T WAIT!!

I am Thankful for....#03

My Family.
As in my siblings, mom, etc....
Every family has its problems. No one is perfect, therefor no family is ever perfect. And mine is not. But I love them. I don't have a lot of contact with some, others a ton. Such as my mom and my sister Terri. I see them all the time. Some I never see at all. Like my dad....But lets not go there.....
I'm very thankful that I get to spend time with my mom. We try to get together every week for lunch and a movie, or just shopping. I know my mother won't be around forever, so I get in as much time as I can. She really is not old at all, 69. But you just never know. He parents are still alive. They are just the cutest grandparents ever. I really need to make a better effort to see them more. I do have them on my Birthday/Christmas Card list so I send them cards every year. But I need to spend more time with them.
Having lost a sibling makes me so thankful for the three I still have. We don't always agree...but I still love them.

I am Thankful for....#04

My Friends.
But first off....I totally jinxed myself with the last blog. I wrote that Wednesday because I was headed to the beach for the weekend. At the time of writing it I was fine, but then later in the afternoon....not so much. They have been working on refurbishing our front porch at work all summer. They started it, then left it all torn apart while they went off and worked on other stuff. Which kinda pissed us off because people were getting all confused about coming in the back door. Anyway....they were working on it Wednesday and did not get around to installing 3 of the pillars. So one of the guys asked if he could store them overnight in our entry instead of loading them back in the truck and taking them back to the shop. I asked him if they were dry and if they smelled. He said they were dry and that they did not smell. OK. I didn't want to be a bitch and say no. Well he lied. They stunk. They used an oil based paint on them and by the time I left Wednesday night I had a sore throat and my nose was all plugged up. I was like that all weekend at the beach. Sucked. I still feel like crap but I had to work today because Diane is on vacation all week. I could have used a day in bed with meds. But I'll live.....
Back to what I am Thankful for....
Friends.
I have the best friends ever. Seriously...I love my friends. Some I have had for a few years, others for over 30. How great is that? REALLY GREAT!
I even got back in contact with my very first friend from childhood, Christy. I loved getting together with her and talking about old times and what has been going on her life lately. We enjoyed it so much that we thought it would be fun to find all of our old neighborhood friends and plan a get together. So we did. I found everyone, or most of everyone, on Facebook and with only 2 weeks notice they all showed up for pizza and laughs. It was so much fun. We decided to have a big get together next summer with all the families and have a big old neighborhood BBQ. Can't wait!
I also love that I still talk to so many of my friends from school. They mean so much to me, and I am so grateful that they are still in my life. I meet Jenny and Beth for lunch all the time. I get to see Annie when she comes into town. And now that she is on Facebook I can keep up with her doings more! She is one busy bee!
And I have my camping friends. These are friends of both hubby and mine. Couples. They are all so much fun to camp with. We didn't camp as much this year, at least I don't think we did. Maybe its just because there was such a gap in the last time we went out. July until November. Big gap. I had fun this weekend, but since I was fighting this cold/paint reaction whatever it was, it was not as fun as it could have been. I tried really hard to not think about how crappy I felt, but sometimes it just got the better of me. Except the day we went to tour the Rogue Brewery. I sucked it up, and then drank beer. I'm not a big beer fan, but they had an Orange Honey Wheat that was really really good. Too bad it was only on tap. I would have bought some. Well...I could have filled a growler. But that's a lot of beer to drink. But it was yummy. And I am now a Citizen of the Rogue Nation! I have the card to prove it!
Sorry....I am really off track today.
Friends. Yes...I am so lucky to have so many friends that mean the world to me. If you are reading this...then count yourself in there as one of my friends who are so very important in my life....
Aren't you lucky ;-)

I am Thankful for....#05

Good Health of Mine and My Families.

We seem to be a pretty lucky bunch. For the most part, we have all stayed pretty healthy. My co-workers (yes you karen) have been all over me about getting another mammogram. I have had 2, but the last one was something like 5 years ago. And they want me to get a Pap test done too. Its been 5 years since that also. I know I need to do it, but I just keep putting it off. I rarely get sick, so I don't think about going to the doctor. Doctors are for when you are sick. Not perfectly healthy :-)

I know I need to schedule those 2 tests. **deep sigh** I just don't want to. The last time I had a mammogram I ended up with a 3-4 inch cut under my boob. Yes...I said boob. Boob Boob Boob. It freaking hurt, so now I don't care to go again. But I should. But I also swear they told me that since the 2 that I had looked good that I didn't have to have another one until I was 50. That is 5 years from now. But my co-workers say that you have to have them every year. Argh....I don't want to have it again. But I will.

Maybe....

OK...I will call.

Maybe next month.

Or after the first of the year....

Maybe.....

I am Thankful for....#06

COOKIES!!!!!
OMG I LOVE COOKIES!
COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES!!!!!!!!
COOOOOOOOOOOOOOKIEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
Hahahahahaha!
OK....I'm done.
No I'm not.....COOOOOOKIESSSSS!!!!!
heh heh heh
I mostly bake cookies at Christmas time. Several dozen of different kinds. I want to try some new ones this year. I get cookie recipes sent to me every day during Christmas from (I think) the Food Network website. I signed up 2 years ago, so I have all these recipes saved up. Some of them I will never make, because they just don't sound that good. GASP! Did I just say that a cookie doesn't sound good? The horror.....
Last year the new cookie that I made was Cracker Jack Cookies. They were really yummy! My friend Donna gave me the recipe. Everyone loved them. Not sure if I will make those again this year or not. I really want to make new stuff. Everyone has their favorites though. Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Snickerdoodles, Spritz, No-Bake and these chocolate fudge ones that you roll in powdered sugar. Really yummy. Like little fudgey brownies. MMMMMM......
So we'll see. My goal is to find something really fun and make that this year. And maybe some of the favorites too :-)

I am Thankful for....#07

The Film Industry.
Today the second Twilight movie comes out. New Moon. Can't wait to see it! Actually......I can and will be waiting to see it. I don't want to have to fight the crowd of teens running in there to see it the first day...weekend....week maybe. I wanted to see the first movie, but Katie told me it would not make sense if I had not read the books. So she told me I had to read them first and brought over the first book. I read it in a day. I had to wait 2 days I think for her to bring the rest over, and promptly read all of those in 4 days. I could not put them down. Then we went and saw the first movie. It was OK, but you really needed to know the story before seeing it. I have heard that this second one is so much better, so I'm really looking forward to it.
I just love movies in general. I take my mom almost weekly to a movie. So we see a lot of them. Sometimes I will even go on my other day off when she is working. Either by myself or with Katie. I have even had my own private showing! That is fun...except the one time that I was the only one in the theater when I saw The Strangers. Not a good movie to see alone. It freaked me out! Here I was....sitting in the middle of the theater...alone....eeeeeeeek! Scary. At least one of the theater workers came in with their little red flashlight once. I don't mind going to the movies alone. I enjoy it actually. The only problem is that you don't have anyone to discuss the movie with afterwards. And let me tell you.....some movies need to be discussed afterwards. When hubby and I went to see a Nicholas Cage movie this year, I think it was called The Knowing, boy did we ever talk after the movie. We were both so pissed off that we wanted our money back! It was a pretty good movie, with pretty good special effects, but then the ended ruined the whole thing. Ugh....it was horrible!
So yah....I see a lot...A LOT...of movies.
I don't think I could ever give up going to the theater. Seeing the movie on the big screen makes it so much more special!
Don't you agree?!

I am Thankful for....#08

Craft Supplies.
I loooooove me some crafts! There is just something about making something and then giving it to someone. Whether its a card, a scrapbook, cookies whatever, I love to make something and then gift it. And I love to get homemade gifts. Some of my favorite cards are when hubby makes something. It's so funny and cute when he does that. He probably doesn't want me to think of his craft abilities and "funny and cute" but they are. I love it when he makes the "attempt". Lately though he has someone in his office make cards for me. They are homemade, but its also cheating since he is not the one making it :-)
I like to make things for the family for Christmas. I made pillows one year. And scarves another. Last year I made everyone a mini scrapbook with old family photos (sorry bubba i still need to put the photos in yours...i know you still love me though) and magnets. The magnets were super easy and fun to make. I can't say what I am making this year though. Family reads this :-P
But they will be super super easy to make....and cheap! HA! I give my family cheap gifts. Considering that we do not exchange gifts, I think they will take something cute and cheap!
As for my Thankfulness for craft supplies, I must give a shout out to one of my favorites. Decorative Papers for cards and scrapbooks. GAWD..... I love the papers that are out. I spend so much on paper. You can never have too much of it though. When you make as many cards as I do, for a wide variety of people, you need several options!
That is my story and I'm sticking to it.......

I am Thankful for....#09

Soup.
Come on....Who doesn't love soup! It's super cold here today. 44 degrees. And yes...to me that is super cold. I'm freezing. I went to Subway for lunch and saw that they had potato soup. Yummmm! But I swear they never have it when I want it. So I asked. Nope. All they had was a tomato pasta soup. Wasn't feeling that one. So no soup for me. Bummer. I was looking forward to some hot soup to warm me up. **le sigh**
For how much I love soup you would think that I make soup from scratch all the time. Nope. I never make it. I have made stew, chili, goulash, navy bean and potato soup. But I'm pretty sure that I have never made a homemade chicken noodle soup. My favorite. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just afraid it will taste bland. I bought Katie a soup cookbook for Christmas last year, and then didn't let her take it home. How rude was that? I know. Pretty mean of me. I wanted to look through it and write down some recipes before she took it home. And guess what? I have not looked at even one recipe. And I still have it. 11 months later. And I even loaned it out so that my sister could copy some recipes. Bad momma....
I am now promising to look in that book for a chicken noodle soup recipe and I will make it before Christmas! I will let you now when that happens....

I am Thankful for....#10

Home Made Chex Mix.
Yummmmm.....
My sister told me Sunday that she had made some Chex Mix the day before. Well that just made me want to make some. So Sunday afternoon I made two really big batches to take to the beach this weekend. Problem is....I have been snacking on it since it came out of the oven. Its like crack I tell ya. Once you start eating some then you can't stay out of it. Hubby and I ate so much of it on Sunday. He asked me to put some in a baggie for him to take to work. Then I have been taking some in a container to work for my afternoon snack. I'm surprised we are not both sick of it already. I'm going to try to stay out of it now until we leave Thursday. There won't be any left for the beach if we keep eating it! My sister makes really good Chex Mix. She has been making it for so many years that she knows how much seasoning to put in it. I just dump in what looks like a good amount. I think she does the same. I kind of measure the cereal portion of it, but it still ends up being way more than the 7 cups that it calls for. We both only use the corn and rice chex, no wheat. No one ever eats the wheat so why put it in. And we both use honey nut oats (like Honey Nut Cheerios) to give it some sweetness. She was the one who gave me that little tip. The other thing we like to add to it is Cheeze-It's or Cheese Nips. Both are good. And you also don't have to buy the more expensive Chex brand. We just use the off brands. Cheaper and they taste just as good. Then pretzel sticks, mixed nuts, extra almonds and cashews. The seasoning is a stick of butter, whorchestersire sauce, onion power, garlic salt and Johnny's Seasoning.
Yummy goodness!

I am Thankful for....#11

Sweaters.
I think one of the main reasons I like Fall and Winter is that I get to break out my sweaters. I love sweaters. In fact I bought 3 new ones this past weekend. Did I need 3 new sweaters? Nope. But they were a good price. And it is an unwritten rule that when you see sweaters on sale for a good price that you are required to not only buy one, but at least one more of the same style but in a different color and then one more that is completely different. I think that has been a Shopping 101 Rule for quite a long time. I am wearing one of the new sweaters today. It's so warm and comfy. Good thing because we have quite the storm that has been brewing all day. It's very windy out and its suppose to get worse. I just hope its over before Thursday when we leave for the beach. brrrrrrrr......
I will just have to take a lot of sweaters with me.
Good thing I bought some new ones :-)
** have i managed to justify my unnecessary purchase yet?**

I am Thankful for....#12

Binoculars.
My sister and I went up to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge this morning and we saw some really cool things. Things we have not seen there before.
Some of the usual suspects were there....
Great Blue Heron
Red Tailed Hawks
Harrier Hawks
Bald Eagle
Northern Shoveler
Pintail
Cinnamon Teal
Mallards
Coots
Buffle Heads
Canadian Geese
Grebe
Tundra Swans
Osprey
Wrens

But the new ones that either she or I had not seen there before were....
Great Horned Owl (I have seen. Not sure if she had seen before)
Snowy Geese (new!)
and.....
12 Otters! 12! TWELVE!!!!! There were so many of them. Katie and I had seen 2 once before, But they were in the larger lake swimming around, so we did not get a really good look at them. But these ones were swimming in one of the smaller creeks, so they were right next to the road. They would get in and out of the water, eat little fish, roll around in the grass, play with each other. You could hear them talk to each other. It was so much fun to see them!
As soon as my sister uploads some photos I will steal some for here.....
Hubby just said she posted so I will go steal!

River Otter
awwwww....cute cute cute!

Blue Heron
Commorants
Can you see the Bald Eagle??
Really cool tree
Crossing the river on the way out. Love this shot!

I am Thankful for....#13

Bargain Stores.
I love Bargain Stores. There is so much stuff to look at, and I sometimes find really good deals. I'm not talking about Goodwill and Value Village. Gross. I can't stand going into those stores. They kinda stink. I'm talking places like Tuesday Morning and my new favorite.....Home Goods. I love that place! Mom and I went there Thursday. We were there for a couple hours. That's how much stuff there was to look at. I found some kitchen towels/wash clothes really cheap. And then I found these......
oooooooo.....ahhhhhhhh.....
My mom, sister and I love Christmas ornaments/decorations that look old fashioned. There were 4 of these and we bought all 4.
We walked around for quite a while and then when we went up front and I found these.....



I fell in love with them the moment I saw them. I love em! And they were cheap! 4 dinner plates were $6.00 and 4 side plates were $5.00. So I bought 4 boxes of each. You know....in case of breakage....or very large family gatherings at Thanksgiving with grandbabies.....because I'm hoping for 6 grandbabies.....hint hint....
So this Thanksgiving I will be starting the tradition of using these plates. I never really cared for using my china at Thanksgiving because the pattern is a really pretty spring floral one. It just never really said Fall Holiday when I used them.
Now I have these~

I am Thankful for....#14

Friday.
What is it about Friday that makes you so happy? Doesn't matter if you are at work, or just have that day off. Just the thought of Friday makes you feel so good.
ahhhhhhhhh.......Friday.....
Say it....Frrrrrriiiiiiidaaaaay.....
See, don't you feel better already!
The only thing about THIS Friday though is that it is Friday the 13th.
EEEEEEEEEEEEK!
And to top it off, I have a black cat. I'm wondering, do I have to avoid my kitty when I get home? Do I not let him cross in front of me? Because if I have to do this, I'll be jumping around like a crazy woman all night. If there is one thing that cat likes to do is to get all tangled in my legs. He trips me constantly. I actually think he does it on purpose. He winds around me legs and then if I start walking he moves right in front of me, and I trip over him. Which freaks me out because then I fear stepping on him....and I don't want that to happen. The thought of squished cat guts all over the floor does not appeal to me. OK...the visual on that is seriously gross. Sorry.
Be careful the rest of today.
Watch out for any ladders, don't break any mirrors.
And don't step on any black cats!

I am Thankful for....#15

Advil.
Yep....Advil.
In fact I am so Thankful for it that I am going to go and take 2 right now.
I picked up Mom today at 11:30 and just got home. It is 6:34PM. I'm exhausted. We went to lunch and then since there were no movies that we both wanted to see today we went shopping. We both want to see Jim Carrey's Christmas Carol movie, but we want to see that after Thanksgiving. And I want to see the French film Coco before Chanel, but Mom doesn't like foreign films with subtitles because she thinks she misses most of the movie by having to read the dialog. I love foreign films, so I think I will go see that by myself Tuesday....OH Crap....never mind. I have to work Tuesday. Dang. Maybe I will go by myself Sunday. Anyway....we went shopping instead. And then I came home and changed and went right over to my sisters so that we could get our walk in.
I'm tired.
I'm sore.
I need.....
Advil.

I am Thankful for....#16

My Hairdresser Christine.
She is a genius with color when it comes to my hair. At least I think she does wonders for it. I would be totally gray without her help. I am, no was, naturally a brunette. But you would never know that now. I'm blond. But I'm only blond to cover the gray. When my hair grows after a coloring, I end up with a 2 inch gray stripe wherever I part it at. Doesn't matter where the part is, it will end up being gray.

See. I didn't lie....

I am very happy that I have her to help with my mess.


ahhhhhhhh....much better :-)

Unfortunately for me, not for her, she is pregnant and this is the last time she can do my hair until March. I will probably go and see my friend Sandy's hairdresser until Christine is back to work. I am very happy for her though. This will be her third child, second son. It is an unexpected baby, but one that she is still so very excited to welcome to the world.
I just hope my hair will not be too big a mess by March.....

I am Thankful for....#17

Today I am Thankful for.....
Computer Nerds.
Thank You to all of you Computer Nerds who sit around and create fun things to do on the internet. I am completely addicted to some games on Facebook. I seriously go to them several times a day. And whenever they add something new....well I just have to have it. Example: Last night the game Country Life added bee hives. BEE HIVES! Very cool! The bees fly to your clover, then back to the hive to make honey. And you can still use the pollinated clover to feed the cows! If you have not checked out Country Life you should. You plant crops to feed animals and then you get to sell the stuff. It goes like this....now pay attention....this is ueber important....
You plant clover, corn, tomatoes, wheat, carrots and grapes. The clover feeds the bees and cows. The wheat feeds the sheep or goes in the flour mill. Carrots feed rabbits, corn feeds chickens and grapes make wine. When you get milk from the cows who have eaten the clover, you can make cheese! The tomatoes make ketchup! When the chickens eat the corn, they lay eggs! And one egg is sold for $132! Sweet! The sheep make wool, the rabbits angora. It just goes on and on! Another good thing is that your crops don't wilt. But I'm there so much that it would never happen anyway. I still love FarmVille too. They added a Garden Shed, but for some reason I can't buy it for Kodi and Aly's accounts. I have no idea why. People are still buying it, so I know it is still available. I don't know if you have to be a certain level, have a certain number of neighbors, or harvest a certain number of flowers. And I can't seem to find any kind of answer on the main page for FarmVille. I emailed them, but just a generic answer came back about checking the most asked questions page. No help there.
So Thank You Computer Nerds for making me an addict.
Maybe I shouldn't be thanking them after all.....

I am Thankful for....#18

Some friends on Facebook have started to change their status daily showing something that they are Thankful for. They will do this until Thanksgiving. So instead of doing that on Facebook, I will do it here. Starting today, everyday I will blog about something that I am Thankful for.
These will be in no particular order. Just what I am Thankful for that day. Obviously there are things that everyday I am so grateful to have in my life. But for today.....
I am Thankful for my job.
So many people are out of work. My daughters fiance lost his job. He is so upset about not working. I don't blame him. It's hard. And the field that he is in, shipping, there are a quite a few men out of work. So anytime a job comes up there are hundreds applying. He gets a lot of interviews, but can't seem to get the job. He will. The perfect job will come to him and he will get it. I am so lucky to have a job that I love. I really enjoy coming to work every day. I like the work that I do. I love that I only work 3 days a week. I wish they would get busy again though. I liked having a huge ad to put together every week. Now it is just a few open houses. I hope that by next Spring it will be super busy again. Something has to change. I feel bad for the agents that have been struggling. Some of the agents though are doing fantastic. They are busy and making money. Which is a good thing....because I want to keep my job :-)

Well...once again the day has gotten away from me. OK....I'm lying. I just wasn't feeling like blogging today. I have not read any news today. It's been raining all day. I have been farming all day. Doing laundry off and on. Watching football. YAY SEAHAWKS! So I just have not made it over here. I was out late last night and thought that I would sleep in today. I ended up getting up at 7am...which is not sleeping in.
So there.
This is all I've got.
I will have to really think about what I want to talk about tomorrow. I can't keep doing nothing here.
Or maybe I will just keep doing nothing.
I'll just have try and surprise you with an actual blog some day :-)

Sleighbells Ring.....are you listening????

Ahhhhh....Christmas is in the air.....can you smell it???
I took my mom, sister and niece on our annual trip to Sleighbells today. Sleighbells is a Christmas shop about 45 minutes from here. We used to go Thanksgiving weekend, but OMGosh it is super busy that weekend. So we started going earlier in the month. I think today is the earliest we have gone. We always start out having a big breakfast somewhere, then we drive out and spend a couple hours wandering around in that big old house. You can get turned around in there and end up in some back corner. But you need to do that or you miss stuff! You have to look up too. Some ornaments are hung over the doorways on garland, and no where else. Which seems to be the ornaments that I always want! This is the one I had to reach for today.....

I showed mom and she said "Where did you get that? I didn't see that?" So I took her to them and showed her that they were up high and that they came in light blue, copper, gold and the silver that I was buying. She asked me to get her a silver one! They are prettier in person.
I also got a couple birds. I get them every year. So does my sister. She had picked out quite a few little birds and then I showed her the quail that I picked out. "Where did you find that one?" She said she better go ahead and get it because if she didn't she would just keep thinking about it! So I took her back to that corner and she grabbed one. Isn't it cute!


It's a soft peach color with some copper colored glitter. I also bought an ornament that is three little blue birds on a branch and two robin nests.
Then we went over to a wall in the area that had all of the bird ornaments and we were looking at some other ones. My sister saw some really pretty hummingbirds. She looked at the different colors and style and picked one. I thought they were so pretty, but I was trying to not spend too much money, and I didn't want to put back anything that I was already attached too! So she bought me one just like the one that she picked out!

Isn't it cute!
We had a great time. I may end up going back before Christmas though. But if I do, it will be mid week on one of my days off. It's going to be crazy there on the weekends!