Friday Fill-Ins

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1. These are a few moments in time I will always cherish!.

2. I’m cooking a hopefully delicious holiday dinner.

3. What’s that I hear the sound of church bells ringing.

4. The peace of the season makes me feel grounded in the quiet, quiet.

5. Some of my favorite holiday memories include time spent with my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Janet in particular. We always were together. Like Frick and Frack. Lucky me.

6. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sipping champagne, tomorrow my plans include enjoying the peace of the day with Hubby, Mandy and M. and Sunday, I want to enjoy some time with Janet and Dave!

I Skied

On Thursday Hubby and I got up early and headed to the County Ski Area. I’d never been to this one before, but I had decided that this year I would buy my season pass there, as we are County Residents, and get a break with the cost. I’ve also heard that this area has some nice, easy, skiing and beautiful views. Today I discovered this Mountain, so very close to my home.

It was cold and snowing when we arrived, but it didn’t last too long. About half an hour after we started  to ski, the sun broke out and we were able to get these pictures.

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Hubby took this on the lift up to the mid way point. The top of the mountain is still not open due to the fact that this is all man made snow!

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In the back ground is Lake Winnipesaukee. It’s New Hampshire’s grand lake. It is starting to freeze over now. In February, they will have the Annual Fishing Derby out there!

I did pretty well with my return to skiing. I was doing so well on my last run down when I caught an edge on my ski and went down, face first, into the snow! All my dignity was lost!

I am feeling a tad sore tonight (Thursday), but not too bad. It’s really just a matter of slowly getting myself back into the skiing habit and back into shape!

Thursday Thirteen

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The Skiing Edition

1.  I have not been skiing in two years. Today I go for the first time. Call me nervous!

2.  I decided that this year I would get a season ticket at our county ski area.

3.  It’s known for the most beautiful views in the area.

4.  It also has lovely Intermediate trails. Just my speed, next to the Bunny slopes!

5.  My skis are quite old. 9 or 10 years. I never worry that anyone will steal them.

6.  My ski poles are 24 years old! Ha! No one will take those either.

7.  I have a fabulously beautiful ski parka that I bought about three years ago. It’s a soft lilac color and I feel very pretty in it.

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8.  I have conned Hubby into taking me out for lunch after, as we have grocery shopping to do in the afternoon.

9.  I love my boots. I got them at a ski swap and they were all broken in. Perfect for me!

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10. I was so reluctant to go skiing again, but Hubby would not let me say no.

11. I had a ski accident 4 years ago and hurt myself. That really scared me.

12. I hope to overcome my fears this year.

13. Wish me luck!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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1. Share your Christmas Eve traditions.

We don’t really have any. This year we are doing Fondue, just Hubby and me. I have gotten some bubbly, and plan to make my favorite pie (pumpkin) for dessert. Since we have no snow, I cannot go out and play with the dogs in it, but I think I will still have a warm fire in the hearth!

2. What was the best book you read in 2010? (we’re not going to include The Bible here)

I think it was “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. I have had trouble reading with my less than perfect eyes, but getting large print books works. My biggest problem now is that there aren’t a lot of best sellers available in large print. In fact there is one I want so much, and it hasn’t come out in large print! Grrrrrrr!

3. Do you have pets and if so do you allow them on the furniture?

I have four dogs. There is just Hubby and me and they outnumber us. So yes, they do. Just the dackels, not Fritz. He has his own bed on the floor.

4. What event from 2010 are you most thankful for?

That my retinal surgery was successful and I can see. After having both of my eyes damaged by detached retinas, I am thankful each and every day that I can see at all!

That my cousin Janet completed her cancer treatments successfully,beat an serious infection and surgery, and found the most wonderful man in the world, Dave!

5. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before.

I made Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon and I also made Julia’s Roasted Chicken! I think I made myself slow down with my cooking and enjoy the experience more. I’ve never done that before!

6. Brussel sprouts…friend or foe?

Oh, definitely friend. I love them just steamed, or cut them in half, steam them briefly, and then saute some bacon until it is done, remove the bacon from the pan. Add a little olive oil and saute some chopped onions, until the onions are done. Add sprouts to the saute pan. Toss in the bacon fat, onions and olive oil until done. Crumple up the bacon over the whole thing, toss and serve!

7. Who would you nominate for man/woman of the year?

Besides my husband? (Who puts up with me, each and every day of the year!) I don’t think any one person can be called “a person of the year”. I like to believe that it takes many  people to make this world work.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It seems I recall all those beloved people in my life, past and present, during the Christmas season. I recall those precious moments spent with them, the laughter, the smiles, the brightness in their faces, and the warmth in my heart, and theirs.

I see all those Christmas trees, and dinners and presents opened. I hear the jokes and the laughter and can almost smell the cookies as they bake in the oven.

I can hear the choirs I’ve listen to and sung in, and hear the services I’ve attended all around me.

Ah yes, Christmas is such a multifaceted holiday, isn’t it? I can feel and see and hear it all around me.

Matching Up An Older Model With A New Model!

Those of you who are my regular readers will remember that we purchased a new television over the weekend. While this is good news, and we are thrilled beyond measure with our Christmas gift, we have run into a little problem.

You see, the TV is a 2011 model, our satellite box is a 2010 model, the DVD is a 2008, the VHS is a 2004 and the receiver is from 1995! So, where does this leave us? In a pickle!

I spent part of Sunday trying to get everything all connected and all I seemed to accomplish was locating an awful lot of dust in our TV cabinet.

I broke out the dust rag and a bucket of clean water and started cleaning. I worked and worked and I thought I’d done a pretty good job with the cleaning.

Monday morning when Hubby left to go and ski, I decided to take an hour and “hook up” the receiver. I opened the cabinet and there was almost as much dust as their had been before. This did not make me feel very good!

Actually there was less, but I had to use a dust gripping cleaner and cloth, and just finish, but after that I still could not figure out the system of connecting the home theater. (Several frustrating hours were spent trying!)

Shoot!

As Hubby was gone all day, I stopped torturing myself with the TV Sound System and started doing the Christmas cleaning and laundry. I made great headway with both, and about 4:30 sat down with a cup of tea, telling myself that I really didn’t want to make dinner.

Too tired!

However, I kept going and tossed a couple of white sweet potatoes in the oven, washed the spinach and when the time was right, grilled the meat, and boy, was that a good meal!

Things still need to be sorted out with the wiring, but I think I will wait until after Christmas. I do not want to torture myself and lose sleep. I need to sit back, and relax and allow the Christmas spirit to come upon me.

Songs, food simmered over a warm stove and the love and caring of my family and friends.

How wonderful!

Happy Birthday Mandy!

What was your best Christmas present ever? Mine was a number of years ago, when I delivered my first child into this world!

My labor wasn’t too bad (I think. I don’t honestly remember.) and when she was born and I saw her beautiful face, I knew that God had sent me an amazing gift.

The gift of a healthy, happy, beautiful and brilliant daughter!

Amanda’s Birthday from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

There have been many Christmases since that one, and I have gotten many gifts along the way, but none have been as wonderful or special as the day that my daughter entered this world and my life!

Happy Birthday, Mandy. I love you with all of my heart, and I always will.

What Men Really Want

Hubby and I ventured out into the vast madness of Christmas shoppers on Saturday. Hubby and I had decided that we would buy ‘our gifts’ for each other, together. I don’t need very much to make me happy, and certainly a lot of gifts don’t tell me how much I am loved, but I figured I would go to keep Hubby from doing something truly silly, like buying me a new set of pots and pans or something.

We went to Sam’s Club first and started looking at their TV’s. We’ve been wanting to upgrade for a while and today we thought that we would get a TV.

We looked and there it was! Our new TV. We didn’t want to get it….but we couldn’t not get it. We did, in fact, go to two other stores before returning and buying our ‘dream‘ TV.

As we stood in line, several men started talking to Hubby about the TV. I could see he was enjoying talking about our new purchase.

Every man in Sam’s Club wanted that set and it made me happy that this was what we chose to give each other as ‘our gifts‘ for the next three years! LOL!

Did we have our station wagon with us? Nope, the sedan! So we put our new TV in the trunk, tied it down and then I badgered Hubby all the way home to drive safely, so we didn’t leave the new TV on the highway!

We got it home and switched out the TV’s and Hubby worked setting the stand up for this TV. We have a lazy susan on our TV stand and he had to drill new holes for it.

Eventually we set it up and turned it on! We both stopped breathing for a few moments! It was that beautiful!

I still need to figure out how to connect my DVD player to the TV, but the VHS player and everything else is working, and Hubby is one happy man, and frankly, I am one happy woman!

The TV is fantastic!

I haven’t been this excited about a TV since my grandfather  bought my parents their first color TV back in 1968! Oh, my goodness! Pure joy and excitement!

Engage Brain!

Friday I raced around, trying to get a lot of things done, and by 4 o’clock in the afternoon when I sat down to catch my breath I realized two things.

I have to slow down and engage my brain.

Hubby came in from his eighth day of skiing, at noon and we sat and ate lunch together. Hubby is very good at calming me down.

I’ve been under this imaginary deadline to get reports written and filed, rooms cleaned and laundry done, when the fact of the matter is…none of it has to be done this very second.

So I stopped. I fixed myself a cup of tea. Grandma always said that there wasn’t anything that a cup of tea couldn’t fix, and perhaps she was right. After all, while sitting there sipping my tea, I was finally able to relax for the first time in a couple of days.

During my tea time, we talked a little about the holidays and he helped me realize that I was being far too hard on myself. Gotta love that man!

So I finished up the paperwork slowly, made dinner, slowly, and then walked the dogs one by one, slowly! Hubby made me a wonderful fire in the hearth, and I’m sitting here enjoying the dogs, and Hubby and the fact that I’m just about done for the night.

“Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas”!

Friday Fill-Ins

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1. What in the world was I thinking when I lost my grocery list.

2. My dogs are always well fed.

3. Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and every where. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.

4. The box of precious books arrived and then was sent to a friend, far off in another land.

5. I keep praying and praying.

6. Christmas is coming ready, or not.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a fire in the hearth, tomorrow my plans include a trip to the mall (groan) and Sunday, I want to finish some paperwork, and read the Sunday newspaper!

Making A List

Thursday morning, Hubby suggested that we go out for lunch, and then do our grocery shopping. This was good planning, as over a period of the last 10 days I had made a good and detailed list. I made sure that I carefully folded the list into my purse, along with a pen, then off we went.

At lunch I pulled out the list and added three things that I had thought of. Then we finished our lunch and headed off to the grocery store.

As we pulled into the parking area, I hopped out, while Hubby went on to fill up the car with gas, and then park.

Once I got into the shop, I opened my purse to get my list, the only thing was, I HAD NO LIST!!!!!

I used my cell phone to call Hubby, in the car, to see if I had dropped it. I hadn’t. It was sbeven miles back at the restaurant, on the table, or by then, in the trash! Great!

Well, this required me to use my superior brain to recall all the things that we needed. And I did try. I think I may simply have forgotten a flashlight and a fresh can of light whipped cream.

Oh well, over the weekend I plan to get my recipes out for the holiday meals so I can make sure I have all the ingredients that I need, and make a final list out.

This last list I will then glue to my forehead!