Editor correction

Brought to task by my editor (BF), I must print a retraction, re: weight of corn bags in yesterday's blog. Editor advises that the sacks only weighed about 3 lbs. each, not 50 lbs. as I had indicated. Each bag contained about 8-10 ears of corn. So there you have it, but I must admit the bags certainly felt like 50 lbs. when I was hauling them in the car.

Beautiful day out today, have put away my holiday decorations, straightened up the storage closet and looked at the paper. Only holiday specials still being advertised appears to be autos. Which I am not interested in at this time. Have a pedi/mani appt. this afternoon and probably a ride-by Wal-Mart. Black eye peas are at BF's house for New Years Day. We will celebrate at home, and happily so, to say goodbye to 2008.

#399 in "Life's Little Instruction Book" says : "Focus on making things better, not bigger". and here I thought bigger was always better. but then, good things come in small packages, etc. Think about it...and enjoy the day....:-)

Making a guest appearance

Buzz is such a funny dude. He figured out the best way to get his corn was to just jump right in and enjoy, rather than hanging over the side. Since he no longer gets his corn on the cob, he has to settle for loose corn. Corn on the cob was running about $3 + for a 50 lb. sack when I first started purchasing it for him in H'town at SW Fertilizer. Last time I was there was early March and it had risen in cost to over $8 for a 50 lb. sack. Inflation had already begun for squirrel corn. Now BF has been purchasing loose deer corn at Wal-Mart and Buzz seems to be enduring it. You can always tell when he is out of corn, he comes right up to the dining room window, looks in and stares at you to get his point across.

The BJ's (blue jays) have come back around also, along with Brown Creepers and some beautiful Red-headed Woodpeckers. It's fun to just sit and watch the creatures. I told Dave when he protest his property taxes again next year, he should ask to be designated a "wild life" reserve. Not to mention the deer, racoons, and other characters..

With the New Year fast approaching, I've decided this would be a good thought to keep in mind "Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle". Tuck that into your smile when you meet someone new. :-)

Peaceful Saturday

I've decided today is my day of rest and relaxation. A chance to look once again at holiday cards and check them on my list, make some crockpot soup, and just enjoy the day. To start the day with a peaceful beginning, I've put on a new CD that I purchased

while visiting my friends in Tucson, Melanie (a/k/a Doc)(pictured)and her husband, Larry, we attended a very "high-end" craft fair. The CD is entitled "Emergence", Native American Flute Solos. No drums, no loud music, simply pure flute music. Boring you think. Not really, the music is clear, fresh, dreamy and sooo relaxing. The artist is Laughing Crow, a/k/a Richard Maynard from Nachogdoches, Tx. The CD is over an hour and I'm on my second go round. My thought today is on Faith - I've had this taped on my computer at home and when I worked, it's very true I believe, no matter how one celebrates Faith - "FAITH is the assurance of things not seen, with G-d all things are possible." enjoy your weekend. :-)

'Twas the night after Christmas...

and all through BF's house, the paper pile was mounting.....the gifts unwrapped, the holiday food consumed and suddenly it was over. What happened? How did it end so fast? Listening to all of the holiday music, looking at lights and such and now it's on to New Years Eve. BF had to work today so off I went to do some shopping. Not that I needed anything, just to be out once again in the crowds. The traffic was just as before the holidays, the stores crowded and folks were in fact using their gift cards, taking advantage of sales, and still having fun. Hanukkah continues, still a few nights more to celebrate and light the candles. (I confess, I opened all my gifts already)...The holidays still brings out the kids in us, hopefully....even Buzz, our infamous squirrel made an appearance at the corn feeder today, stuffing his cheeks with corn. The blue jays and woodpeckers also appeared, I guess because of the warm weather. Hope everyone enjoyed whatever/whichever holiday you celebrate and "peace on earth good will to all" prevails.

Halleluhah!

After much hair-pulling and trauma, I think BF has finally been able to drill it into my head how to use my camera/cellphone and download the pics on to my computer. So much new stuff, and sometimes the instruction manuals aren't worth woo!

Now, on to more important stuff, my oldest son, Stephen. He visited from Seattle and it was so nice to have one-on-one time with him. Sometimes visiting the family just doesn't allow for special time with each of them individually. It is a treasured time. We had our barbecue, twice as a matter of fact, and some really good Mexican food....Stephen also brought along a copy of his new catalogue for REI of the bikes he designs. Pretty cool, not that I'm up to riding any of them. It was great though to see how his dreams of bike designing have been successful and how lucky he is each day to go to a job he really loves and has made his career.

Fortunately he was able to catch the only flight back to Seattle on Monday, before the Seattle blizzard became worse. I know he was relieved and happy to return home in time for the holidays.

I'll have more pics to post tomorrow...In between, Happy Hanukkah and/or Merry Christmas. Whichever you celebrate, enjoy. It is a special time of the year. Today's special thought :The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts". Think positive....:-)

I've been busy

Doing all the holiday things one does. Wrapping gifts, making cheese bread for neighbor gifts, listening to holiday music and just enjoying it all. Maybe one night before the holidays BF and I will check out the lights.

My oldest son from Seattle has been visiting. His plane was delayed by 2.5 hours for de-icing and he arrived a little tired and ready for a Shiner Bock and some barbeque. Knowing he was arriving late, I ran to the trusty Vernon's Kounty Barbeque and picked some up. Barbeque at 10:30 p.m. is fun, especially listening to Stephen talk catch-up with all the news from Seattle. He's in H'town today for a memorial service for his uncle and he'll return tomorrow for more visiting before returning home to his beautiful wife and my wonderful grandchildren. Probably will indulge in either more barbeque or mexican food. Being a native Texan, he misses those goodies.

Unfortunately the weather has not been sunny, so I have not taken any more pics. I'll hope for tomorrow....

In keeping with the spirit "Happy Holidays to all" Enjoy.........:-)

Holiday cards, rainy day, music and cookies

Finallyyyyyyyyyy, at 11:30 p.m. last evening I finished my holiday cards. YEA! I'll probably re-think the whole process for next year, but now I'm just relieved to have finished them.

It is a rainy, soupy, cold day out. Lots of fog and wet sprinkles....BF and I have planned to dedicate today to making cookies. He has the info and 99% of the ingredients. Holiday music and a warm house. Nice.....We started with fudge, then proceed to raisin bars and finished with chocolate nut cookies. As each batch was completed, we did the taste testing to make sure they were good. :-)....

all of the cookies and fudge was sugar free and low carbs. I think this was the first year we did this (after 7.5 years)....about time. Thanx BF for a fun day.

Tomorrow it's off to do some errands, doctors appts., etc. Daughter and son-in-law leave tomorrow for Chicago and Thursday my oldest son from Seattle will arrive for a few days visit. Alot to look forward to....

Today's thought # 442 - "Do it right the first time" 'ya, like we don't all try.

Enjoy the spirit, smell a Christmas tree.

Pondering

the holiday season and holiday cards. Have been working for 6 days on Chanukah and Christmas cards. Since this year the two holidays fall within a few days of each other, it is like doubling the duty. When the calendar separates the holidays, by more than a few days, one has an opportunity to spend more time writing personal notes on the cards and it seems much more holiday-ish. Only another day or so and I will have finished and mailed all the cards. The other hindrance, my handwriting has become even worse than it ever was. And that isn't saying much. I've become a slave to the lovely itialic script of the computer, plus it is in colour. Also, I hand write all of the addresses and hope the postal carrier can read them.

Did have some holiday fun today with my neighbor and friend, Sherri. We left early to do errands and have some girl-time window shopping. Everything looked like something we really couldn't live without, but then we would start evaluating what we were going to purchase and ended up putting alot of it back in the baskets...with an eye on the penny and was it really a good gift and most of all, did we really need it. want and need, want and need, need and want, etc. a brutal choice. We had a delish seafood dinner at that old standby Long John Seafood which now partners with A&W, diet root beer in the keg. Not to shabby! and enuff to bring home and enjoy a second go round for dinner.

Still working to transfer some pics, don't give up on me yet...

Appropriately in Life's Little Instructions, #396 "Never give anyone a fruitcake". Honestly, I just opened the book and there it was. How could I resist....Enjoy the day, rainy, sunny, showers, whatever, it is special....:-)

And so it happens

Upon my return from Tucson (where it only rains a few times of the year) and the next to last day of vacation and rain, it began to snow in H'town and sleet on the way to Montgomery. Strange happenings.....however, if you do the research, and/or listen to the proper weather person, you will see that each time there is a hurricane in the H'town area, snow follows. How neat is that? or better yet, WHY?

Playing catch-up in all the normal things one must do upon a reasonable amount of time away from home, more stuff appears. Tomorrow is the "Christmas in Historic Montgomery". BF and I plan to go downtown to see all the vendors, shops open, people caroling and spreading good cheer. Sunday we drive back into H'town for the celebration of the newest member of the family, Benjamin Evan. He will formally be introduced to family and friends. BF and I are looking forward to seeing everyone.

Worked most of the day doing holiday cards. Trying to add a personal note or so but my handwriting has become worse as I have become more dependent on my trusty computer. It's nice though to hear from friends, neighbors, and co-workers from many differnt jobs. Although the holiday letters that come in some of the cards bring to mind that time flies, that we go thru life at a very fast pace and indeed time waits for no one.

#213 in my "Life's Little Instruction Book" says "Don't waste any time grieving over past mistakes. Learn from them and move on". enuff said....Happy Weekend....:-)

Greetings from Tucson, AZ. Having a wonderful time visiting my dearest, oldest, (well, actually I'm older) friend and her super duper great hubby. She has had me out walking, hiking, walking, hiking, etc. you get the drift. The weather has been beautiful, cool to cold a.m.'s and warmer days with once again cool to cold p.m.'s. It's been ever so much fun visiting, catching up and remembering lots of years past. I'll have pics and more when I return to Montgomery on Tuesday. Hope all is well with all my blog followers....take care, hang in there....:-)

Really nice news :-)

Dear little friend Grace just called to say she and Mo, her boyfriend of 11 years are engaged. Mo proposed about an hour ago and she called to let me know. Grace and I worked together for many years and then she left the firm to head downtown H'town to a bigger and better firm. We have stayed in touch and she was a mainstay and important person during my recovery. Never waivering in her afffection and attention, she and Kayla (my dear daughter) became friends and have stayed in touch also. Kayla and Grace were my mighty angels and I love them both very much.

Mo is a super nice young man, industrious, hardworking and a very pleasant person to be around. They make a great couple and I know they will have a great marriage. I just hope it doesn't take 11 years to marry as it did for them to become engaged. I might be 2222 old to dance at their wedding...

Best wishes, lots of luck and love to a sweet couple....