Category: My Life

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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We live in New Hampshire, and as most of my American readers know, on Tuesday we have the Primary Election to see who will be the Republican candidate to run against President Obama. I have to tell you, we have been getting calls day and night trying to sway our votes one way or another. On Sunday alone we got FIVE Ron Paul calls in the span of 5 hours! What a pain. I wouldn’t vote for him just because of all the silly calls!

The weekend was a busy one, because we were de-Christmasing the house, cleaning and looking for new furniture. The furniture shopping was stressful, right up to the end, when we found exactly what we wanted (see yesterday’s post). It is also sad to put everything from Christmas away for another year.

In fact I was feeling bad about it, until I realized that by Christmas next year there will be a new baby in our lives and at six months old, he’ll/she’ll be smiling at us all! What a joy, and what a blessing!

I took the garlands and tinsel off the tree, next I bid ado to my precious ornaments, then the lights. Then I took the tree apart, which is akin to chopping it down (lol). I stored it in it’s big box. We closed all the boxes, and then I climbed into the attic and Hubby passed about a dozen boxes up to me! All I could say after that was, “Oh, my aching back!” But it is done!

The week ahead is not necessarily a busy one. However, I have decided to spend two hours each day on my New Years Resolution of organizing the house. I admit to enjoying time reading or being on the computer, but I know I need to buckle down and get this work done.

I might also slip away and ski a day or two this week. That was another resolution, to continue to get into shape.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

I am thinking that when you read this, I will be out skiing for the first time this season. No we don’t have any natural snow, but through the miracle of snow making machines, there is enough snow to at least strap on my skis and go and freeze my self to death get my first day of skiing, under my belt!

Hubby is really excited, and if I come home with aching joints, chilled to the bone, then he will be really happy. However, I do want to move more, and I also think it’s a positive thing. You know, get in shape before the cruise. Here is a picture of me last year. All dolled up and hopefully, STAYING WARM!!!

Please note, that I wear full protective gear. I feel everyone out there should. One wrong fall can do serious damage, and I am just an average skier, so I have a lot of respect for the snow and ice!

TGIF!

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

Happy, Fruitful, Loving.

2. Do you like shrimp? What’s your favorite way to have it prepared?

I love shrimp. I don’t think I really have a favorite way to eat it, but I do know that Shrimp Fra Diavolo and I do not agree, but almost any other way is terrific!

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

Not yet, but by the end of the week, I will have taken it all down. My tree is a big job. Since I use an artificial tree, I have to take it down, section by section. First the tinsel and garlands, (I reuse tinsel), then the ornaments, then the lights then the sections of the tree. It’s a big job!

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

Nope, not at all. Real life is scary enough!

5. ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

I have enjoyed all but snowboarding, in my life. At different times, of course. I skated and sledded as a child, and now snow ski.

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

Up until I turned 10, I could hide in the upper branches of a tree in our yard. I often hid there to escape. We moved and after that I would take off to my Grandma’s house. I always felt safe hiding there.

7. What’s a place or space that motivates you?

The kitchen. I love cooking and trying new things, so when I am in there, I simply love it! Just call me Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray or even…Julia Child!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Well, the New Year has begun and now I need to pack away the Christmas things, and attack my home with my resolution to clean and organize! Since the house has swallowed a few things, I am determined to get it all organized and ‘find’ these things. After all, if I don’t, no one else will.

Friday I went to get my hair done. I was a nervous wreck! Not about getting my hair done, but because it had started to snow. Slowly, at first and then as the morning went on, the snow fell at a slightly alarming rate! I do not like to drive in snow or ice. Yes, I am a real chicken, which I think, makes me a smart driver…don’t go out if you do not have to, but today was my hair stylist appointment! Short of a hurricane blowing in, I wasn’t about to miss this.

The roads were pretty slippery on the way over to Margarita’s Salon, but I stuck the Jeep in 4-wheel drive and drove slowly. I made it in plenty of time, and even had a chance to eat lunch before she started to work on me.

It’s wild, you know, my hair had grown a full half an inch in 5 weeks! I was amazed. I thought perhaps I would just have my locks dipped into the fountain of youth, and not trimmed, but after speaking with the ladies in the salon I decided to go for it and continue flirting with the slightly shorter hair style.

By the time we finished, the salting trucks had run down the road and the surface was nice and clear. I spoke with Hubby who told me he’d not gone to get the mail after he skied, so I stopped and picked it up. Nothing earth moving, mostly just ads.

Then I came home and Hubby needed the magnifier and I could not find it. I’d moved everything during Christmas and since I still have all my decorations out, I could not find it. After nearly an hour I gave up and went out to our camper and got the second one. I know Hubby isn’t happy, but I also know I will find the other one when I put everything away and get things back in order.

However, it always upsets me when I can’t find things. So another resolution is to ORGANIZE!!!!! Which is tough, when you are basically not an organized person!

Oh well, there is much about me that is great! The Lord must have felt I could get by without the organization gene!

Happy New Year to all of you!!! And…here we go!

1. Wait, wait The New Year is here and we have many days to fill with joy.
2. No doubt about it, I am sure things about me are a little different.
3. In addition, I would like to thank everyone for making the last twelve months so wonderful.
4. Help yourself, and feel at home, is the way we do it here!
5. At the end of the year, I like to look back at all that has been and then look ahead to all I can see ahead of me.
6. My grand-baby is one of the things I’m looking forward to in 2012.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a warm fire in the hearth, tomorrow my plans include getting a few things for New Years Eve and Sunday, I want to watch parades and make a nice brunch!

This is the New Year addition where I tell you all the things I am hoping to accomplish. In recent years I have been pretty successful, and I am hoping that 2012 will continue along those lines. So, here we go.

1. I need to get back on track with Weight Watchers and diligently journal what foods I am eating and how much.
2. Move more, We have been deluged with rain for most of November and December, and my little ski area has only opened about 2 days. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will get some snow and I can ski.
3. Of course we do have a stationary bike in the basement and a stair stepper, so on those icy days, I can go down there, and work out a little.
4. I’ve been thinking of doing Yoga too. I’ve heard it is great for arthritis.
5. I’d like to grow my hair back out some. People were kind when I got it cut, but after the novelty wore off and it started to grow, people told me how nice it looks…longer!
6. I would like to concentrate on one closet a month. I want to empty it, organize and then put things away.
7. I plan to put the Christmas decorations away in well marked boxes that have been organized. I don’t want to be missing my tree topper next year.
8. I would like to go for a walk every day. Be it short or long. A walk.
9. I would like to read one book per month. This means not messing around on the computer as much in the evenings.
10. I would like to spend time with Mandy and the baby and share in her happiness!
11. I cannot believe I will be a Grammy in June!!!
12. I want to see a few movies, maybe one per month in the theaters. (Should there be any good ones come out.)
13. Last but not least, I want to really enjoy my upcoming vacation with Hubby. We’re planning some really exciting things, like my first swim with Dolphins!

I’m borrowing this from my blog friend, Marti. It seems with the week being so busy my brain is all but dead of creative thought. I I am doing this Christmas Meme, the off I’ll go to wrap!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Both. It really depends on the item. I do have to tell you a funny thing. This summer I bought a present and wrapped it up. When I was in my closet taking inventory, I saw the box and could remember what was inside! I had to open it to determine whose present it was!

2. Real or artificial tree?

Up until a few years ago I always had a real tree. Then I discovered I had terrible asthma during December. Once I stopped getting a real tree and only used an artificial one I stopped having a problem.

3. When do you put your tree up?

Usually right after Thanksgiving, but this year I didn’t due to a sore back. I think it was about the 10th of December.

4. When do you take your tree down?

Usually about a week after New Years. This year I am doing a clear out of all the Christmas items I don’t use.

5. Do you like eggnog?

Oh I love eggnog! Sadly, so. It is so rich. I try to get the low fat version, but that usually sells out first.

6. Do you have a nativity scene?

Two, actually. When Hubby was in the military he spent time making them. One for his family and one for his parents. Now we have both.

7. Favorite Christmas Movie?

It’s a Wonderful Life”. After my car accident and the death of my younger daughter, I had so much anger. I felt I should have died and not Katie and many hours were filled with questions and desperation. One night during the year when “It’s a Wonderful Life” was on, again and again, the movie spoke to me. I was here for a reason. God doesn’t make mistakes. Now, all these years later, I see the lives I have touched and I realize that indeed, it is “A Wonderful Life”!

8. Favorite Christmas cookie?

Snickerdoodles & Lebkuchen!!!

9. Where will you eat Christmas dinner?

Home. Just me and Hubby. The day after, Mandy, Matt, Janet and Dave will come for a big turkey dinner!

10. Angel, bow or star on top of your tree?

A lighted star and red-haired Angel!

11. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

The pushing and the shoving in the stores. “Things” are not the most important gifts. This year my family will be getting small items that I know they love and need.

12. Do you like Fruitcake?

Yes, I do. If you warm it up a little and pour a tot of rum on it, it is even better!

13. What are you most excited about the holidays?

Spending time with Hubby, Mandy, Matt, Janet and Dave! The best.

14. Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?

Christmas morning.

15. Will you still be wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?

No, I have it programmed in for Thursday night!

1. Are you cooking Christmas dinner? How many will be round your table this year? What are we having?

We’ll be having two Christmas’s. The 25th it will be just Hubby and me (and the dogs) round the table. I am making Prime Rib, baked potatoes, brussel sprouts and pearl onions. For dessert, my much loved pumpkin pie.

The day after Christmas is when Mandy and Matt and Janet and Dave will be here for a family dinner. I’m cooking turkey and chestnut stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and green beans. Dessert will be apple pie and left over pumpkin. I love it. Christmas will last more than just one day!

2. What is one must-have Christmas cookie in your house?

I don’t think I have one. I do love Snickerdoodles, but I don’t have cookies in my house often!

3. Santa likes a glass of milk with his cookies. Do you? What kind of milk is on tap at your house-skim? almond? soy? full fat (Gasp!)

I have fat free milk on hand, but today I bought low fat eggnog! Oh total yumminess!~

4. Time magazine recently named their ‘Person of the Year’ for 2011. This is the person the editors believe had the greatest impact, for better or worse, in the past year. This year they chose ‘The Protester’. Your thoughts? Who would you name Person of the Year for 2011?

The people who stand outside, working for the Salvation Army. They ring the bells to help the poor and homeless. They do good works in a positive way and I say, God Bless!

5. December 21st is National Flashlight Day… when was the last time you needed a flashlight and did you know right where to find one?

Hubby and I always need a flashlight and we keep one right with our pills. We also keep one next to the back door for when we walk the dogs at night. I used the flashlight just this morning.

6. candy canes…yum or yuck?

Love ’em! But do not eat them.

7. What Christmas carol lyric means the most to you?

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright

Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

This always makes me cry, just a little.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We were up town today (by this I mean 30 miles from home) doing our last minute shopping, and I stopped in the vision center to see if my glasses had come in. THEY HAD!!!! I am so happy with them. Not only do I like the new frames, but I can see so much better! Yippee!!!!!