Monthly Archives: November 2010

Baby It’s Cold Outside…

A Danish Christmas tree illuminated with burni...

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Okay, well maybe it is not cold today…right at this moment…but, I’ve looked at the weather forecast for the rest of the week. (I am a weather geek–that is what I do) It’s going to be cold. Like in the 30’s cold. Like very windy, cold. Like wearing thick sweaters and cozy socks cold. My kind of cold!(She says as she dances around the house in her turquoise socks and red sweater humming the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside”.)

I want to decorate for Christmas tonight. I sort of started yesterday…just a little bit. Tonight I want the full, decorating blow out. I love to decorate for Christmas. Really. Love. It.

There is only one problem. I have to go up to the attic and drag down boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. I will enlist my family to help in this little adventure. I am hoping that none of our rodent visitors found their way into our Christmas decor. I also hope the trapped birdie we had in the attic did not leave any “presents” on our holiday finery. It would ruin my mood….cause there is nothing like cleaning bird poop off the decorations that says, “Merry Christmas!”.

I would like to watch White Christmas or It’s A Wonderful Life while decorating. I might be forced to give in and watch a newer movie. We could watch The Christmas Story. That was made in the 80’s even though the movie itself was supposed to take place decades earlier. All my children were born in the 90’s, so they’d still think an 80’s movie is vintage.

 

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Country Life?

Green Acres

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Song Lyrics & Words–Green Acres

Green acres is the place to be.
Farm livin’ is the life for me.
Land spreadin’ out so far and wide.
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.

New York is where I’d rather stay.
I get allergic smelling hay.
I just adore a penthouse view.
Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue.

…The chores.
…The stores.
…Fresh air.
…Times Square

You are my wife.
Good bye, city life.
Green Acres we are there.

Today I am having  “Green Acres” moments….

1. DREAM: My deck that I had high hopes for….in my mind I saw the relaxing hammock, a nice cushioned sitting area for my husband and me, to sip our morning coffee, flower baskets hanging off the deck railing. Sigh……

REALITY: The two dogs have taken over the deck. They have flung their dog food all over the place. I trip on dog bowls and boots. The cats lay on the lawn chairs and occasionally puke on the deck when they feel the need. There is mud and dirt tracked all over and forget the flowers, the poor things would never last.

2. DREAM: Acres in the country, wide open spaces.

REALITY: No trees, no windbreaks. Gale force winds that threaten to blow one to Kansas if not careful.

3. DREAM: No street lights so I can see the stars.

REALITY: NO STREET LIGHTS—pitch black darkness, almost tripping and breaking my neck on the way to the barn. I need a flashlight that WORKS.

4. DREAM: Getting back to nature.

REALITY: Lots of wild animals. With hooves, and claws, and teeth. Most of these animals are nocturnal. This means that while I am out wandering around in the dark (see #3) I might run into unknown animal.  Also, many, many deer…..that like to cross the road at night when one is driving 50 m.p.h.

5. DREAM: Picturesque farms dotting the countryside.

REALITY: The farms really are beautiful. Sometimes one has to overlook the smell of manure and fertilizer. That is just the way it is:)

 

Dreams and reality might be a little different….but, I’m still glad we chose to live here. Rural Ohio is beautiful.

 

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May Your Days Be Merry and Bright…

Hallmark Channel Logo

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I’m watching a holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel. My husband teases me because I become a Christmas movie addict from now until Christmas. Can’t help it. I love the holiday movies! I don’t care if they are silly, or sappy, or whatever. I could watch them 24 hrs. a day. (and sometimes I do!)

I plan on watching all the classics. Plus I have a couple of old, black and white movies I want to watch (ordered from Amazon)….that I’ve never seen before. Two I want to see are, The Shop Around The Corner (1940) and It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947).

1. I love the movies where it snows on Christmas .

2. I enjoy small town warmth and friendliness as well as Christmas in the city.

3. I enjoy listening to Bing croon White Christmas.

4. It’s nice when George finally understands how blessed he really is.

5. A movie with a holiday romance in Connecticut makes me smile.

6. Who doesn’t like a Red Ryder BB gun and a leg lamp?

7. I love Cary Grant as an angel.

8. The classic Christmas cartoons I grew up with, make me nostalgic. (Charlie Brown, Frosty, Rudolph, The Grinch, Kris Kringle)

9. I believe miracles really CAN happen on 34th street.

10. Ghosts that visit in the middle of the night and change a life. “God Bless Us Everyone!”

So, grab a warm blanket, pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate, pop some popcorn and take some time to enjoy some of the fun of the holiday season, by spending some time watching the classics.

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Survival Of The Fittest

Christmas shoppers in the Bullring

Image by markhillary via Flickr

I’m glad to be able to relate to all my blog readers that I am not dead. I did indeed survive Black Friday from 12 a.m to 7:45 a.m. It was quite a new experience for a newbie Black Friday (BF to those seasoned veterans) shopper like myself. I got good and caffeinated for the excursion ahead. I didn’t get sleepy…not even once. It was exhilarating! Walmart, Big Lots, Goody’s, and JcPenney. Me and the posse’ got some serious door buster sale items. The free stuff was fun too. We got a free ornament at JcPenney. Very cute. Walmart was handing out doughnuts, and five hour energy drinks around 3 in the morning. Cool. All this caffeine never killed anybody. Maybe a twitch or the shakes, but that eventually calmed down, not that that happened to me, you understand.

1. At my Walmart people were in cluster groups. Some things went on sale at midnight. Others not until 5am. People were in packs waiting for the goods. If I were a psychologist I could have done some serious research. It was kind of like reality TV up close and personal.

2. I wasn’t there to get anything in particular so I could stand back and watch without putting myself in harms way.

3. Most people I came in contact with were nice. Got into a nice conversation with a lady at bed linens.

4. Bought some nice Christmas gifts. For good deals I might add.

5. Nice Walmart ladies were roaming around the store at 3am, handing out the 5 hr. energy drinks that I mentioned earlier. Nothing like people being hyped up on caffeine AND in a shopping frenzy.

6. We were the first ones….sitting in the JCPenney parking lot at 3 in the morning. They opened at 4am. People began pulling into the parking lot and as it got closer to 4….we all huddled in the freezing cold wind, at the door. They don’t call it “door buster” sales for nothing. Just sayin’.

7. Back to Walmart to pick up the stuff that didn’t go on sale until 5. Snatched up a couple of deals. Good stuff.

8. Stopped by McDonald’s at a little after 5 for some nourishment. And coffee. Woo hoo! Had my second wind. Me and 3 trillion other people.

9. Back out to Big Lots for some Christmas lights and wrapping paper. It was very crowded, but people were nice. Two ladies were snatching up all the child chairs. You know the kind that mirror adult chairs, but are child size. I don’t know what one person wants with all those chairs….maybe she has a lot of little people at her house?

10. Finished up at Goody’s. Seriously, love this store. And it smelled really good in there…..not that smell had anything to do with the good deals. But, it certainly didn’t hurt. It made for pleasant shopping.

Had been awake for 27 hours straight. Came home, sat down in a chair, and promptly fell asleep.

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I’m Goin’ In!!!

A picture of a New Balance shoe

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I have been talked in to participating in Black Friday. Me and my posse’ are hitting the stores at midnight.We’re roaming the streets until the early morning hours. ‘Cause that’s how we roll.

1. Why I allowed myself to be talked into this…just proves that my mind is going.

2. I’m wearing my running shoes in case of any stampeding going on.

3. I hope I don’t get beaten down by some big mama hyped up on caffeine.

4. I’m a little nervous.

5. People get crazy over a good sale. If I’m in the way of someone getting a big flat screen TV…I could get shanked at the Wal-mart and left to meet my Maker laying on the floor at Wally World, forced to listen to canned Christmas music as my life ebbs away.

6. Why am I being so dark and morbid?

7. I’ll tell you why.

8. I’ll be out in the middle of the night…in the dark and cold….with 90 bazillion other people, strung out on over doses of turkey and mashed potatoes.

9. Hyped up on caffeine.

10. It’s a deadly combination.

If for some reason I don’t blog tomorrow…you’ll know why. I’m either sound asleep after my night life of shopping ’til I drop….or well, I’m dead. Run over by a mob of crazy Christmas shopping mamas-on-a-mission.

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Thanksgiving Facts About Me

A domestic turkey.

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The odd. The unusual. And the downright scary.

1. My husband does the turkey. I am creeped out by the cold turkey skin. And if there are any pin feathers that happen to still be stuck on it….gag.

2. A bare naked turkey in the crock pot, oven roasting pan, or deep fryer….whatever. It looks creepy to me.

3. I don’t like to know what the meat looked like “before”.

4. That is the reason I could never own a beef cow. I would name it. I would pet it.  It would be my friend. It would make it difficult to eat. And I like hamburgers so….that just wouldn’t do.

5. I really like pumpkin pie, or really any kind of pumpkin dessert. I like to buy pumpkin in a can. Too bad it doesn’t grow like that in the garden:)

6. I also like green bean casserole, creamy corn, sweet potatoes, dressing, and apple pie….with vanilla ice cream.

7. I like too many of the Thanksgiving foods. It’s a curse.

8. This isn’t looking good.

9. I will have to do A LOT of T-tapping to make up for today. I wonder how much sweating I’ll be forced to do to make up for the gluttony?

10. Of course, it takes 15 million hours in the kitchen for MAYBE 20 minutes of eating. That stinks. I think the cooking and baking should be an Olympic sport. Sort of like a relay race.

11. Then just when one is in a turkey induced coma…..

12. There is Black Friday.

13. Insanity.

14. I usually don’t go anywhere near stores on this day.

15. But Brittany wants me to go with her this year.

16. God, help me.

17. I could be killed in a stampede.

18. I could end up on the 6’oclock news.  Black Friday death. It sounds like a plague, doesn’t it?

19. In the meantime I will be thankful. Because I have a lot to be thankful for.

20. Counting my blessings.

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Thanksgiving

Logo of Kellogg's Kellogg's

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T-Today is a new chapter

H-Happiness is right in front of me.

A-Attitude is what makes it or breaks it

N-Near and Dear are my family

K-Kellogg’s Cornflakes because I need them to make my yummy, hash brown casserole

S-Savior that makes all else possible

G-Growing and Learning new things every day

I-Independence in the country I live in and as an individual

V-Visiting Family and Friends

I- Influence on the next generation

N-Night time sky filled with breath taking stars

G- Gobs of food and a full stomach

Plenty to be thankful for. Some stuff that even seems weird. All of us have things to be thankful for, it’s all a matter of perspective. Gratitude is all in how you look at it….or look for it.

Wishing you and those you love a very Happy Thanksgiving.

An Attitude Of Gratitude

There's nothing like a beautiful sunrise to st...

How many times do I gripe? Feel sorry for myself? Complain? Say, “why me”?

The truth is I have plenty to be thankful for. My human nature tends to focus on the bad or annoying and take the good for granted.

If we are honest, aren’t most of us that way?

Today I have made a pact with myself. I will only look for the good today. No, I am not neglecting anything. I am not trying to be Polly Sunshine, or ignore the necessary. I’m doing nothing but making a choice.

1. I’m thankful for my vision. I saw the most beautiful sunrise this morning. Breathtaking, actually. God, as master artist, paints the morning canvas with hues that can never be duplicated with the human hand. It is a sight to behold. And for that I am thankful.

2. So thankful for my hearing. I woke to the sound of rushing wind going by my window. I cannot see the wind, but I sure can hear it. The sound reminds me of a roaring river. I hear the morning noises of my family, the coffee maker humming and sputtering, and the cat meowing. And for that I am thankful.

3. I’m thankful for food. As I was getting the coffee creamer out of the fridge this morning, I looked at the inside of my refrigerator. Really looked. It is packed to the max with food and trimmings for Thanksgiving. To be able to afford to feed my family…It humbles me. I know there are many who do not have what I have. I’ve been uncomfortable before, and hungry…but, never starving. When my husband went through nearly a year and a half of unemployment I knew what it was to have our family “eat cheap”. It wasn’t always great, but we didn’t go hungry. So, to have a full refrigerator makes me feel thankful.

4. I’m thankful that my husband now has a job. One that he is really good at. One that provides for our family. When one has walked through the valley of unemployment and been faced with the scary possibilities of losing everything….to have a job, makes me thankful.

5. I’m thankful for a healthy family. Sure, we all get croupy, or deal with sniffles, or stomach aches or occasion…but, we are healthy for the most part. Nothing serious. Having known the feeling of standing over the grave of a loved one, it makes me appreciate health all the more.

The truth is all these things that I just said I was thankful for…I could lose tomorrow. I could be in an accident, I could get a scary diagnosis, my family members could be hurt, and my husband could lose his job. These things happen. I am not immuned to the problems of this world.

If that were to happen I know that I still have the greatest gift of all. That is my relationship with Jesus Christ. His love knows no end.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…..No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:35,37-39

There is a deep peace, that passes human understanding, when those verses really sink in…and for that I am thankful.

 

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A Foggy Freak Out

Cover of "The Mist (Two-Disc Collector's ...

Cover via Amazon

Have any of you seen the Stephen King movie, The Mist?

I am a fan of Stephen King. Even though I think he is a bit “off”. If you know what I mean. Like one can’t write scary, suspenseful, creepy, stories without being a little cracked oneself. I like him anyway. Demented or not.

So anyway, back to The Mist.

It is foggy and thick as pea soup outside. I keep thinking that some sort of giant, spider monster is going to appear in front of the llama field at any moment. Of course I don’t believe in huge, man eating spiders that emerge from the fog. Of course not. That would be silly.

My daughter had to go over to the barn to let Jazz out into the field. Jazz is out there somewhere. Poor horse. In the mist. Hopefully, not eaten by a mutant arachnid. Just sayin’.

I was relieved to see my daughter as she emerged from the mist. She was not running, so I assumed nothing scary was chasing her.

I’m straining to see ANY of my beloved llamas….I can’t see past our front yard. Maybe they were breakfast for huge spiders. This makes me sad.

Isn’t it weird what fog does to people? Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I am the only one freaked out by fog. I don’t like not being able to see “what’s out there”.

I refuse to go outside. I think they can smell fear.

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Decision Points

Cover of "Decision Points"

Cover of Decision Points

I am in the process of reading President Bush’s new book, Decision Points.

Now some, reading my blog, might not like George W. Bush. That is fine. You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. If you can’t stand to hear about him then I suggest you not read my blog today. It would just upset you. And I love my readers, and I don’t wish for anyone to be angry, so I’m giving you fair warning.

With that said…..now on to my blog.

1. I am enjoying watching Bush’s interviews.

2. It is nice to see the president as a real person.Who laughs. Who tears up. Who tells a joke. Things we couldn’t really see while he was in office.

3. He is an opinionated guy. I like that.There is nothing wishy washy about him. Love him or hate him. He is who he is.

4. I think he has a big heart.

5. As president he had to make decisions that weren’t always popular. And he had to live with those decisions.

6. That is just part of being the president.

7. I wouldn’t want the job…”the buck stops here” is hard to handle at times, I’m sure.

8. He can tell a good story. I’ve laughed through parts of the book.

9. He does love God. His family. This country. The military. And Texas!

10. He isn’t perfect. There are some policies that I disagreed with on, while he was in office…but, I genuinely like the man.

I guess that is it for now. If you get the opportunity you should read his book. I think you’ll like it.

 

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