Wednesday, December 31, 2008

~ Home Sick ~




Yucky. That is how I feel. My head hurts, my ears hurt, my eyes hurt, my face hurts, my throat is sore, I am coughing, sneezing, can't breath out of my nose, my nose feels like someone has poured acid on it from blowing it so many times. Yucky.

HAPPY NEW YEARS! FROM YUCKY OLE ME!

Friday, December 26, 2008

~ The busy-ness of Christmas ~

Tree dressed
Groceries bought
Presents bought
Food prepared
Tables set
Present stress ...
Presents wrapped
Presents opened
Living room trashed
Living room cleaned
Travel here
Travel there
Visitors yesterday
Visitors today
Visistors tomorrow
Clean the house
Clean the house
Clean the house
Prepare more food
Another get-together
Grocercies bought
Food prepared .... and it's still going on


Enough!!!!


This sure was easier when I was a kid!


A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

~ Father Christmas ??? ~

My husband dressed up for his office Christmas party ...

Father Christmas ....


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Sharing Christmas

I thought I would share a few of my favorite Christmas decorations and ornaments ...



















I would have shared more, but it was taking so long to upload the photos and I am so tired... going to bed now.

Happy Holidays!

Blogging Advantages

My husband has recently started reading my blog and I have found that having your husband read your blog can have good benefits ...
He started reading it about a week before Thanksgiving. I was in the kitchen and I heard the KennyG song which is the first to play on my play list, so I took a peak into the living room and sure enough there G was bent over his laptop breezing through my blog, old post and all. I thought, wow, he finally got curious and I was flattered. The next morning I am working about the house and Gary has been outside working and I finally go out looking for him and he has got his bush trimming tools out and has trimmed our wisteria waaayyy back. Suddenly it dawned on me, he had read my blog entry of October 4 where I showed our overgrown wisteria ... I had to laugh and when he asked what I was laughing about and I told him I guess you read my blog huh? He laughed too, he said I had to go get my camera so I could prove that my husband wasn't totally worthless ... we had a good laugh, but now I know how to get things done ... hmmmm this blogging has it advantages!


FROM OCTOBER:



AFTER G READ BLOG:



Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Buyers Remorse ...

So, I had decided I needed a new camera and after research, I had made the decision I wanted the Nikon D60 and I knew there would be specials offered during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Sure enough, Circuit City did not let me down. They had a great offer going, so off we went - just to look this time - just to play with the store model and to think about it again ... best laid plans and all of that! How did I wind up coming home with a Sony a350 plus the 75-300 mm zoom lens? I kept it in the bag and untouched until tonight (Wed) just letting it sit there and fester ... I could have taken it back, but I thought what the heck, I needed a new camera, I have now read the reviews for this camera; something I should have done prior to what I consider a major purchase ... but the reviews were good. So, I guess it's a keeper. So, why am I still feeling the buyers remorse??????

Speaking of major purchases, my husband finally let go of his Mitsubishi Eclipse and traded it in for a mid-size SUV - it looks and drives great. I always teased him that the Eclipse was his mid-life crises, however, he has finally gotten tired of having to hoist himself out of that low sitting vehicle and is now going to be sporting around in his new SUV. As far as mid-life crises goes, I did not mind the Eclipse at all, better a car than a woman ...

Hopefully, I will have some snappy shots to post from my new camera soon.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

~ HAPPY THANKSGIVING ~




I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving Day. We all have so much to be grateful for and I will be sharing this day with some of my favorite people ... my wonderful family!

I will be spending "Black Friday" having a yard sale in Cullman. Anyone need a used sectional, romance novels, two skinny white dressers, gently used clothing ... etc etc etc ... Hoping there will be some people out looking for yard sale bargains ... Wish me luck!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

~ Stressed ~



Anyone else feeling any of this. It seems like just yesterday that I was this organized person, with little to-do lists that I diligently worked on and checked off and felt so good about my organizational skills ....



This is a very accurate depiction of how I feel here lately ...




If I could even come close to looking this (below) held together with the crazy panicky feelings floating through my head, I would almost be happy ...



Seriously though, I need some prayer. I feel like I am so close to being overwhelmed - at work mostly. I am going to have to put in some late nights just to get my sanity back and I really hate working late, but I have realized that unless I do, my sanity will be at stake. The reason I don't like working late, is that no one in my building stays past 5 PM and it's a downtown 2 story building and it's just too eerie knowing you are alone in that big building and sometimes the timed auto locks are working and sometimes they are not and it gets dark so early now. Yeah, I know I am a whiny baby, scaredy cat, old woman (not in all situations though ...). I am afraid of the dark too. I have accepted all of this about myself.

Things probably aren't as bad as what I make it sound, I have just had four restless nights worrying about different things at work, and that has made me antsy - so I am stressing more than usual. I am wondering if my subconscious is trying to warn me of a possible catastrophe ... see still stressing. Laying it down to the Lord does make me feel better, but I am still only human and my weak human side fights to take control ... and then I can really screw things up!





Think this comes in chocolate?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Asparagus




Thanks to Mrs. Goofy, I made an excellent side dish for dinner for my parents. Yummy roasted asparagus. Drizzled it with olive oil and sea salt, baked it in foil for a while (20-30 mins) took it out sprinkled parmesan cheese on it and baked for a few more minutes, and wala! It was great. I will never go back to canned asparagus again.

(Photo from the internet ... just wanted y'all to have a visual aide ... )

Thursday, November 13, 2008

~ Quote for the Day ~

A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

by Maya Angelou

Monday, November 10, 2008

~ Over the River and Through Woods ... ~

We came from all over for a gathering of cousins in the woods ...

We had a great time at David and Ellen's hunting cabin ...

(Photo is from last year's get-together - I forgot to take a new one this year!)




Below are just a few of the photos taken of our weekend. I had a great time and I think everyone else did also. We enjoyed the outdoors. One evening, all of the women gathered around the firepit and had our girl talk night, while the guys were watching the Alabama game .. go Bama! ... We even got in a little antiquing, a little boating, the guys did a little hunting (no luck), a little fishing, alot of eating and alot of catching up - it was just generally a great time. We missed those who could not be there this year.

















~ Rainy Start ~








We left Friday morning for a weekend in the woods and drove through Mentone on our way to our final destination. It rained all the way to Atlanta, but driving through the mountainy area on the way there was just beautiful even through the rain! I had to snap off a couple of photos anyway! We had a great time.

For any cousins reading this, I will be posting the photos from the weekend soon.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

~ Another year older ... ~




One year older, and I hope a little wiser too! I love birthdays, I get to hear from my friends and my family and I get GIFTS! Yeah, I really like getting gifts. My friends and family showered me with all kinds of goodies, movies, gloves, jewelry, gift cards, books, note cards, playing cards, an antique metronome, all fun stuff! I had a wonderful meal cooked for me by my parents, G took me out for a great meal and then today my boss surprised me with a birthday cake! and a very pretty antique cup & saucer. I was touched by his thoughtfulness. Usually his wife brings me a birthday present, which is always great, but he actually took care of it this year - I must be doing a good job! Or it could be that he drew the short straw! Either way, it was nice!






Oh, and my age, hmmmm, well lets just say, I am definitely still in my 40s, for now anyway!

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Sunday, November 02, 2008

~ A Day in the Wood ~

Ahhh, wasn't Saturday gorgeous! We took advantage of the awesome day and went 4 wheeling again. We packed a lunch of PB&J, cheetos, bottled water and off we went. I learned some new trail hand language. When you meet a dirt bike driver on the trail that you almost have a head on collision with because the trail isn't that wide and it's also very curvy, and he holds 4 fingers up, it's not just a different way to wave... it means STAY where you are, there's four of us! The next rider holds up 3 fingers, the next 2, and so on ... Yes, I had to learn that the hard way. Dirt bikers ride fast and crazy on the trails; I don't.



Isn't it pretty in the woods ...



Me & my sweetie ...



Showing off my new riding boots which I duly christened with mud on the trail.




It was a good day.

We ended it with dinner and my mom and dads. My absolute favorite place to eat! It was my birthday dinner. She made roast beef with gravy, fried okra, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, creamed corn, homemade biscuits; for dessert, my dad made me a coconut cake, and mom made apple pie and chocolate pie. Wow, what a feast! It was great!





Yes,it was definitely a good day.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

~ Presto Chango ~

At the request of Mrs. Goofy, below are photos of my ottoman, before & after my slipcover creation ...


BEFORE



AFTER