I'm getting in the Christmas mood....



With Thanksgiving approaching and Christmas just around the corner, I'm starting to get in the mood. I'm scouring through my craft patterns and materials to come up with ideas for something to make for a new Christmas decoration.

I have started my Christmas list and have been going through Black Friday Ads to find the perfect item for each one on my list. I'm a little amazed this year. My hubby is one of the hardest people to buy for because he just likes simple things and is not big on hobbies. He doesn't go out much except to the store and work so clothing is not a big issue and he is so easy on his clothes they seem to last forever. But the amazing thing this year is that I have 6 ideas for him, which is very rare!

The grandkids are never a problem. They each have their own favorites when it comes to toys so they are easy to buy for. I'm working on ideas for the grown-ups in the family right now. I have a few thoughts, but I also "spy" and eavesdrop on Thanksgiving while they look at the Black Friday ads. They may think I'm busy in the kitchen, but my ears are tuned in for clues.

My Black Friday partner, my daughter, will be working on Black Friday this year so I'm going to have to adjust my routine. I normally hit local stores around 5:00 a.m. until about 8:00. Then I pick her and the kids up and we head to a neighboring city where we can hit Target, Kohl's, Toys R Us and the mall.

Now so many places are opening at 10:00 p.m. or midnight on Thanksgiving, I'm not sure what my new game plan will be this year. I think I will go my normal early morning and just head straight to the neighboring town and skip the local stores. But who knows, I guess it will depend on what I need to buy and where I need to buy it.

I fortunately will not be getting any electronics or rare items this year so I shouldn't miss out on any deals by waiting until morning to head out. Ten o'clock at night is for sleeping in my world, not for shopping.

Of course, not everyone gets into the thrill of Black Friday and I accept that. But it's what I enjoy.

Welcome to my world....

Do you ever have weeks where you just wonder what in the world is going on?



A couple of weeks ago, my check transmission light came on in my car. Then it went off and the car wouldn't go in reverse. It was in the evening and I couldn't get my car guy. I called him the next morning and they picked it up, kept it for several days and couldn't find a single thing wrong with it. So I went and got it back and have been driving it without a problem. It was raining hard and I was going up a steep hill when it came on so they think "my driving" may have caused it to slip for a second or have a little "hiccup" as it caught up with the hill.



Thursday, my Internet would not connect on my home office computer. I tried everything. It has been acting a little flaky for days, but all my virus scans were fine and all my cookies and spy ware is deleted daily. I defrag weekly so I wasn't sure what was going on. I even plugged it directly to the modem and took it off wireless and still no Internet.  I finally took it to the computer doctor for him to figure out what was going on.

Friday, I went to go to the store. I started the car and let it warm up. When I went to back up, it made an awful clunky chunky metallic noise like something was about to fall out. Then the check transmission AND the check engine lights came on. I waited awhile and started it again and now the check engine light is on and it flashes the words Check Engine then Check Transmission, but the check transmission light isn't on. So it's back to the car guy for another once over. Thank the Lord I bought a 5 year warranty and I've only had it about 6 months.

Yesterday afternoon, I called the computer guru for an update since they had hoped to have the computer ready yesterday afternoon. Turns out that despite all my firewalls and virus protection, I have gotten a bug of some kind. It is randomly deleting large sections of files that are required to run a computer. He has identified over 30 missing system files (so far) that are mandatory for a computer to run. Bottom line is he is trying to replace the files and find the virus, but he needs access to the Internet to fix some of the problems and without having those problems fixed he can't access the Internet. There is talk of having to reinstall my original disks. I keep disks forever so you would think that would be no problem. Well, thanks to the recent move, I can't recall where I put the disks so I'll be doing detective work today.

Now, you might wonder how in the world I am holding up with all this going on. Amazingly enough, I am not stressed. I am not in a panic. I did have the foresight to back up my documents and my Outlook before I took it to him in case things get lost. There are some of my older files that I didn't get backed up (lack of DVD's) but he doesn't think he will lose my documents, but Outlook is iffy. But that is the one thing that I do keep backed up so I should be okay.

Through this all, two of my favorite bible verses keep running through my head:

Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God...

Isaiah 30:15 -  ...in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:

Have a blessed day. 

A Thank You to our Veterans

Thank you to those who have served, are serve or will serve to keep our freedom free.



What will be on your dinner table?



What graces your dining room table on Thanksgiving? Are you a turkey buff or do you prefer a ham?

Our family has both. I am the only one who doesn't eat turkey. I have tried over the years and even though chicken is one of my favorite meats, I have never acquired a taste for turkey. But I do love the aroma on Thanksgiving. But I absolutely love ham so we have one of each. The kids and hubby eat both so it works out well.

Our side dishes include the normal of mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, corn and greenbeans. But we also add a summer flair by including baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad and deviled eggs.

The dessert varies every year. But it always includes pumpkin pie and graham cracker pie. There is always a chocolate dessert for the kids, either cake, brownies or no bake cookies. Since my daughter-in-law's birthday is shortly before Thanksgiving, she gets to choose a dessert of her choice for her birthday cake.

I love the choices we have and I love the fact that we have leftovers. I usually shop the whole weekend hitting the various Black Friday bargains and any that carry over into Saturday and Sunday. So it is wonderful to come home happy but exhausted and find wonderful leftovers that I can piece together for whatever meal I want. It's a no cooking weekend and I keep lots of Solo plates and cups on hand for a not much clean-up weekend after the big day is over.

What will grace your table this year?

IT'S HERE!!



 

You have to understand that I am a true blue through and through country music fan. Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the year. I love the Country Music Association Awards show. I will be glued to the TV from 8:00 till 11:00. Popcorn, chocolate and Pepsi will be involved.

Here are the entertainers of the year. If you are a country music fan, who would you like to see win?

 

Brad Paisley

I really like Brad. He is down to earth. One of the good ol' boys. Even though I have liked just about every song he has ever sung, for some reason he has never been my "oh my gosh I hope he wins" type singer. However, when he does win, he is just so adorable with his speech...or should I say speechlessness and emotions that you just gotta love him.

Blake Shelton

I love, love, love Blake Shelton. From his first song Austin, I have adored him and have enjoyed anything he sings. And I was so thrilled when he married one of my other favorites, Miranda Lambert. I'm really excited about tonight. He is the one who did the remake song Footloose in the newest version of the movie. And tonight, he will share the stage with Kenny Loggins as they perform it together. If he wins entertainer of the year, I would think he deserves it.

Taylor Swift

Dear, sweet Taylor. She is a very talented young lady and I have been impressed with her from the beginning of her career when she was a teenager. She is always so humbled when she wins and you can tell she just loves to sing and perform. She wouldn't be my first pick as entertainer of the year, but I could live with it.

Keith Urban

If you have known me for any length of time, you would know that I was a die-hard Keith Urban fan for many years. I adored him. He would have gotten my vote many, many times in the past. But since he married Nicole (nothing against Nicole) he has changed his song styles a time or two and I seem to like only every other song he does. I'm just not as big a fan as I used to be. But if he wins, he will still deserve it.

Jason Aldean

Ooo, la, la. My oh my. Now THIS is MY man. He gets my vote. I simply adore every single thing he sings. I love watching him perform. He is southern, he is country and he has a little bit of redneck thrown in for good measure. If you don't think I'm a fan of his, you should ride in the car with me sometime. I have a 6 slot CD play and the first 3 slots are CD's by Jason. The fourth & fifth are various artist CD's that I have made that also have Jason on parts of them. So yes, I do love me some Jason Aldean. So if I were to be the one to pick the winner, it would be, without a doubt, hands down Jason Aldean.

And then we would celebrate by going for a ride on his big green tractor.

100 Years of Magic...but no Tinkerbell????

Growing up, Sunday night was for the Wonderful World of Disney. Baths were done, jammies were on and we would gather in the floor glued to that old black and white TV waiting for Tinkerbell to wave her magic wand and Jiminy Cricket to sing When You Wish Upon a Star. It was a magical moment week after week, month after month, year after year. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out we were going to go to Disney's on Ice 100 Years of Magic. Wow. I couldn't wait. Only three of the grandchildren went and they were mesmerized the whole time.

In true Disney fashion, Micky and Minnie skated out to kick off the event. I just love Mickey. Always have, always will.

Aladdin was next. Then Belle came out and things were going good until the scary music kicked in, smoke rolled and The Beast came out. That was it for Shelby. She scampered on my lap and spent most of the rest of the program on either my lap or her Mommy's. Any time some of the "evil" looking characters skated out, binky went in and blankie became a blindfold and she wouldn't watch.

They had the most beautiful Pocahontas I have ever seen and they did my favorite song "Can you paint with all the colors of the wind" ...(not sure of the correct title)

This part of the program was nothing short of brilliant. The toy army men from Toy Story were completely painted with a green paint that made them look plastic. There was nothing on them that wasn't green plastic looking. Even the blades on the skates, their faces, hands. Everything. And they marched and posed as if they were really toy army men.

I don't think Alexis moved the entire time. She was on the edge of her seat during the whole thing except intermission. I think she was truly envisioning a land far, far away.

They even had It's a Small World as part of one of the acts.

Caleb was having a ball. He really enjoyed the Toy Story portion of the program. Especially Woody and Alexis loved Jessi from Toy Story.

They had an awesome grand finale complete with fireworks, but the dude in front of us decided to stand up and stretch and gather his families things while I was trying to take pics so I didn't get the grand finale. People like that just kill me. If you are not going to stay for the whole thing, leave before it gets to the big moment so you don't block others.

When we got back to the car, we were putting coats in the back and getting the girls costumes off and Shelby must have decided she was done. Guess all the excitement was a little much for her and she was ready to get in the car.

As we were driving off, the kids were talking about their favorite parts and about the characters they expected that weren't there. I must say I was totally amazed that they would put on a Disney production entitled 100 Years of Magic and not have Tinkerbell make one single appearance. I was very disappointed and the more I thought about it, the more I thought Disney? 100 Years? No Tink? What in the world were they thinking?

An enjoyable mini-vacation...

I just took a four day weekend to enjoy some family time. What a wonderful four days it was.

Day 1 my sister and her husband came to town. We started off our day by visiting two of the local antique shops and spend a good deal of time browsing the stores looking for bargains we couldn't live without. As you know, I'm looking for vintage Pyrex bowls. I found a couple to add to my collection that I was thrilled to get.

This little bowl was a bargain at just $3.50. This is the perfect size for a casserole or baked beans.

And a price tag of $3.00 on this one lured me in. It is just right to mix up a small skillet of cornbread in.

I was looking for a set of green Pyrex bowls in the spring blossom crazy daisy pattern. When my sister saw what I was looking for, she realized a friend of hers had them for sale in her antique shop in Milton, WV. She called her and checked and the price for all three bowls.....$10.00 total!!! So now, I'll have those coming this way one day this week. I saw some of the exact same bowls in other antique stores for $35.00 for the set. I just love a good bargain.

But my favorite find of the day, was a new cup for my hot chocolate. I was very specific about what I was looking for. It had to hold 2 cups of hot chocolate and be oversize for the coffee house look. It had to look great and be something that shows a little of my personality. When I spotted this one I knew it was destiny. What better cup for me, the queen of chocolate, to drink her morning hot chocolate out of. It was $5.00 and that may be steep for a used coffee cup, but it was so "me" I just couldn't pass it up. 

I fixed my first cup of hot chocolate in it this morning. Once I had it made, I broke off a piece of candy cane and stirred it up in it to give it a peppermint flavoring. Then I topped it with marshmallow cream. I took a small grader and graded the rest of the broken candy cane on top of that and finished it off with a candy cane stuck in for decoration. It is delicious. This is a great idea for a quiet evening in front of the fire on cold winter evenings or for those cozy dinner parties with just a few friends. 

After shopping a couple of hours, we drove down to Parris Island, SC to spend the night. The next morning we attended our nephew's graduation from USMC. What an experience that was. Words could never convey how proud we were of him.

Friday, after graduation, we headed back home. Visit mine and Rachel's blog, Piggy and Wiggy's Place to see more about the graduation.

Saturday morning, I picked up my granddaughter Alexis and met up with my daughter and two more of my grandchildren, Shelby and Caleb, and we headed out to Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic. But that's a blog for another day.

Then it was a late lunch and a little shopping with the kids. Alexis spent the night with me and we had a great time.

Sunday morning, Alexis and I picked up Caleb and Shelby and I took the three of them with me to Burger King for breakfast. Then we met my daughter and headed to Sunday School and Church.

 Then Alexis and I went out to eat after church at Pizza Hut's buffet bar. We did some window shopping at Belks, TJ Maxx and Walmart. She is quite the clothes guru. I know we spent almost an hour looking at clothes she liked so she could give some Christmas ideas. This was one of my favorites.

I got home from our shopping expedition around 4:15 and had to be back to church for choir practice. We are working on our Christmas program, The Name Jesus. It is going to be fabulous. There are some awesome solos in it.

Then it was home for a quick bite of supper, a bubble bath and then crashing for 9 hours of sleep. I needed every minute of that sleep, but all the activities of the past four days has been absolutely divine and I wouldn't have missed a minute of it for the world.