What should we do on a snowy Saturday??

...we should have the newlyweds over and make Christmas cards... After the morning walk.....

So that's what we did after a fun morning of shopping and having breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Love that place. The "General Store" is all Christmasy and pretty. And the biscuits- the lightest and the best around. Mmmmm - my face was all sorts of happy!

Found this cute little tin and K-mart and know I had to have it...one of my decorating philosophies is that every room needs a little splash of red...and this cutie-patootie is just what I needed...

The pups couldn't believe that after Randy had shoveled for them yesterday, it snowed all over again on their green grass. However, we are on a "schedule" which includes our morning walks...

PS - Lulu, the fashionista, refuses to wear any kind of sweater, or coat, or hoodie..she thinks she look silly in them...Braxton loves his sweater. He's not sooo vain...

So after the walk they just sat in the window and watched it come down in big-ole flakes..and tried to console each other..

The card-making was a great success- even the groom got in to the action....

He's pretty good I think....and he just came up with those ..I kinda need an idea..or a photo..or a kit...so I made these...

These are some little library card holder-thingys with pull-out invitations to our neighborhood gathering...inside, on the pull out, is all the stuff about the invite..

The bride's cards were lovely - she'll always make certain things are perfect - and they were!

And what's a card-making party without munchies?? I don't know...I've never been to one..

Grandma's homemade fudge....and the usual..cheese & crackers, chips & dips..a really good hard salami that Randy gets cut really thin.....I can almost hear my arteries slamming shut....

It was a really, really, really good day. The kind we need on a snowy Saturday in December....

Hope your day was great too.

-me

..Da girls.....

...I love saying that!....and seeing how I was born in Chicago, though we left when I was just a little kid..I do remember hearing what I now think of as an "accent" - you know ,"da Bears" and "da boys" and one of the funniest I've heard in a while - garachkey .....garage key! Oh, and there's fronchrum...as in "don't chu leave dose wet boots in the fronchrum! "(front room!)

Anyway....for those who don't know, I am the proud survivor of breast cancer. Yeah me! 11 years and I still am buying green bananas!

But, in the course of it all, I lost "da girls"....

Yep, both. "Second base" is gone. Someone stole second base...Hmmmm...

So, we went shopping for some new girls..weird experience...you get to feel those little jelly-bags and try to decide it you want an instant "boob job" by choosing ones that ate larger, or a reduction by picking ones smaller...oh , too many choices!

So I get 2..... thought 3 would be a little odd.....and one would look like my chest was 'winking' ...though that would have been fun to see the reactions from people on the street..

Because I hadn't worn a bra since the operations, the bra-thing felt weird to start with. Then try adding what amounts to two water balloons and just try to look and act normal...bwahahaha!

So I opted NOT to adopt the 2 new girls in town. Figured that going bra-less should be a perk not a downer. Enjoy the freedom and all!

......BRA- Battle Ready Armor....

And I am.....enjoying the freedom....

Because I am a , uh. not-petite-person, when my girls were still with me, they were big girls....

LARGE gals.

Do you remember when going bra-less was the "thing"? They said you could do a little test to see if your girls could go unencumbered by the "pencil" test - if you could place a pencil beneath one and it stayed put, you should probably NOT go bra-less.

...I could have held a Volkswagen under mine......strong ...big girls....

So I opted to just have people think I must have really bad posture 'cause no one could be that flat...

Oh, and the tummy I really never saw because the girls were in the way??

O-MY-Gosh! First time I was in the shower after all had been said and done..I was washing, enjoying the water when I looked down and saw "it"...(insert "Psyco" shower scene music here..)
Guess it had been hiding in the shade of the girls..but now, well my first thought was that there was something wrong with my eyes...

Hmmm..not so much...oh well, "Hello Tummy!"

So, now I wear a sleeveless T-shirt. Get them in the men's department - cheaper that way- in the Women's department they call them "teddies" or "camies" or something to justify them charging more...

In the men's department, you can get 6 of these lovelies in a plastic bag for half the price...Course I have to fight to get them, what with all the mechanics, lawn boys, and badly-shaped-neighbors-who- cut- the-grass-in-the-summer-oh-my-poor-eyes-get-a-whole-shirt-on tries to beat me to them...

First time I put one on, and I still have to tuck them into my granny-panties, Randy said that was the biggest "onesy" he'd ever seen...hahahahahaha.......ahhh..........gotta love 'em....




Anyway, today's thought is take care of your girls. No one knows them like you do. Listen to the Doc's but really push it of you think there's something going on- I know I had to- and I am still here to buy those not-so-ripe bananas and I'll be here when they fully ripen....

Have a great Saturday...



-me

And you thought YOU were cold...

.......yesterday, it was cold at work. Very cold. Waaay beyond Chilly-wompers.

Our walls are concrete. I work in a warehouse..

The walls are so cold to the touch, I’m afraid if I stick my tongue on the wall, it would stick.

....and why would I want to stick my tongue on a wall? Go figure…

Anyway, my back faces the wall, and it get so cold even through my chair, that I need to have my jacket over my shoulders.

Then my legs get cold. Ever notice we layer on top like crazy – undershirt, t-shirt, over-shirt, hoodie then jacket?? – but the legs? .......just jeans…

(I do have a R19 insulation rating with my chubbiness…..but I still get cold. )

I wear socks. I wear closed shoes. (they don’t make Crocks for winter – yet)

Then my hands get cold. But it’s hard to process orders with gloves on, so I go to my favorite store – the Dollar Store ......

...uh...excuse me.............how much is this?

“a dollar”

….oh thanks, how much is this one?....

“ONE dollar”

.....ok,well, how about thi.....….

“ONE DOLLAR lady...Get it???!!!??!

Ok ok geesh… well aren’t YOU grumpy-gus !!…

...and I actually want 2 pairs of knit gloves.......

.....so Mr. Grumpy-gus..... OK ... are they a dollar per glove, making it $2 for the pair??? Thus making it $4 for the 4 single glove(s) or do you sell them as a set as in “glove(s)” and not “glove” …singular?? Making it $1 for each pair, or $2 for the two……………………pairs…… ????????

“GET OUT OF MY STORE.....”

So, off I go with my 2 pairs of gloves (for only $2 !!)….and cut off the finger tips.....

Off of JUST one pair. Don't need them both to be cut right now.

I'm saving the other pair for when my WHOLE fingers need to be warm..

Put on the now tip-less gloves and look at my hands.

Flashes of Michael Jackson come into mind…I fear I might just break into “Billie Jean” and moon-walk around the office.

Soon the tip-less gloves are kinda rolling down on my not-so-thin fingers.

It looks like a little quartet of singers in black turtle-neck sweaters!

Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons comes to mind- with Frankie, the thumb, being shorter that the rest of the “Seasons”. (were there 3 Seasons or 4?? winter,spring, summer and fal...oh yeah...4)

And he always did sort of want to be apart from the group.

Soon, they are all lip-synching to the Christmas music on the office radio.

They have some smooth moves, those little turtle-necked guys, don’t they?

Note to self: Be careful that the tall guy in the middle bows at the same time as the others…and that he’s NOT facing the boss when they all bow but him….

Message for today…have fun. Don’t take things so seriously. Get cheap gloves if you’re going to cut the fingers out.

...............And, whatever you do, don’t let the tall guy bow last!!
-me

I guess I'm kind of a Ms. Scrooge when it comes to........

...................showing photos of my Christmas decorating.

I have a valid reason.....um......it's....that......um.... ........I actually haven't really started yet!


However, here's a little look around my tiny home - and, as you will see.... ........I L-O-V-E words..they're everywhere!

I also love things with their own story......

This shelf Randy made - I call it the Sullivan's -- as you can see, it has 3 cowgirls and one cowboy - that would be my sisters and me and my brother - all raised in Arizona.

This next one show a part of the cabinets he made for us as well..the photo is Mother & Daddy - don't they look like Mr. & Mrs. Claus?? The 'Chef Santa' was a gift from my sister to Randy - our own resident chef.
Some of my favorite shelves...with books , very old books and fun stuff...



...and on this shelf- last Mother's Day Bi-Annual Gathering of the Girls.....

Here are some of my painting from years back. I actually sold some as a secondary income while I was a single mother. I have only a few left and I think I want to start painting again. A couple of years ago, Randy bought me all the supplies, so I have no excuse.

No time you say?? Nope. Can't use that one on him. When I painted before and we were just dating, I was working double shifts as a waitress, had 4 little kids to support and I was dating!

And I found the time to paint..... ....after all, I had learned you do need to feed the kids...every day...all of them...three times a day...and water too... so the extra money came in handy. .....ah sweet youth...stupidity....and a WHOLE LOTTA COFFEE !!!!!

Well, now that I've completely bored you to the point of drinking hard liquor, or eating extraordinary amounts of cookie dough....I'll leave you with a few outdoor scenes of this week....



Hey! One of those pictures has Santa waving from the window! I am not such a slacker after all! Have a FUN day..
-me

...so we were kinda pooped last night....

...we've been working & planning a surprise bathroom shower & kitchen floor make-over for Randy's Mom while she visited her other son, Robert & his wife Colette, in San Diego.

(their home was not damaged by the Southern California fires, Thank you Lord...)

The surprise went off without a hitch & I'll share photos soon, but we were up WAY too late the last few evenings finishing up, so I'm just going to say what's been on my mind for now...then go take a shower..

Some things I’ve been thinking about…..

So, who guided Santa’s’ sleigh before Rudolph??

I mean, he says “Rudolph, with your nose so bright…yadda, yadda. yadda.....” and Rudolph was so young…..who did it before??

What do you say to someone who asks “What day is Christmas this year?!” and not sound like Miss-smarty-pants? (uh…..December 25th??)

Oh, and I’ve updated my dictionary:

Bumplies – anything with bumps and ridges

Rememberies – good memories – at least the one’s I do remember….

Chilly-wompers – Very, very cold

Way-sale – a bargain too good to pass up as in “Honey, I bought it because it was on WAY-SALE!!

Umb-rella – a tiny garden fairy

And of course Thanks-mas – that holiday we celebrate between Thanksgiving and Christmas…

So, have a good day and ponder those 'keeps-me-awake-nights' questions of your own.........inquiring minds want to know after all....

-me

Hey, got some paper??

......a while back I saw a booklet called Tear Bears. It was intriguing because I am a bear-sorta person.

Love bears. Stuffed ones, that is.

I guess, grumpy-old-men bears too. (Hi Hunny!)

Actually, Randy is not a grumpy-old-man-bear............he just exhibits grumpy-old-man-bear tendencies sometimes.

He's actually kind of a teddy-bear sort of guy.

Like Sunday night, while looking around a book store (yes, real men do go to book stores)..I saw a polar bear. Stuffed. His name was Marshmallow. Can you imagine??

Anyway, at the check-out, Randy told the check-out-person to add Marshmallow to our bag! (I think he said "that bear" not "Marshmallow"...)

Anyway......a while back I made some of these cute little bears from scraps of paper and thought I'd bring them out of hibernation (bad timing, huh?..) and show them to you.

Maybe one of you likes bears as much as I do. All it takes is paper, a little glue, a marker and your fingers...

And, with the price if greeting cards these days, you can turn them into a card...

....or a scrapbook page element.....

It's one of those things I can do while watching TV. cause it's hard to just watchTV and not be doing something else...a little ADHD going on here?

Actually, I think I have the ADD part, but not the H - I have ADLD (Attention Deficiet Lazy Disorder...)

So, the next time you're bored, watching TV, or just wanting something fun to do.....

...find some paper, glue and a little imagination......

...and you could have something doggone cute!

Have a great day...from me & my Hunny..............

-me

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!!

Look what we woke up to today............

These are both from the front window....

I didn't know we were expecting snow...but that's not too unusual. I don't watch the new very often...........too depressing.

So it was a wonderful surprise! We still haven't gotten around to the tree, but we did add a few touches of the season.................

.

I found this little book at Cracker Barrel Restaurant. It's one of my favorites, not only for the home-style food, but for both the atmosphere and the store!

Imagine eating & shopping at one time. I like that they have "old" stuff - this book is filled with ads for old toys, the prices and all. It's a flash-back to another time and place....

These are 2 of my dolls that reside in the little crib Daddy made for Brandi (and I stole!)

I think one of the BEST smells in Christmas morning is a new doll. I can't explain the smell, guess it's from hugging and kissing my new dolls when I was little, but the smell always brings me back. I have to get some sort of new doll, even if it's very small, just to have that smell.........

.....although now it's probably a toxic smell from China....heard that one on the news in the car...darn radio news!

Anyway, when driving past the bowling alley with their new electronic time-and-temperature-read-out, it said it was 4:03 pm......check......and that it was 83 degrees.....ah.....don't think so....

No, those are not chair pads on the swing...and the table top is under there..about 8 inches under....and my poor little light bulbs are heavy with the wet snow...

So I guess my days-lesson is to believe little of what you see "electronically", and listen to CD's in the car....because that 83 degrees is mighty chilly!

g'night all...

-me