So, where do you clothes-shop for YOUR duck???

Do you remember Harmon?? He's our duck that my sister Kathy bought for me about a year ago..

He's been through a lot (actually lost his head once..)so when it came to inviting him to my Cookie Swap, I knew he needed a "make-over" for the holidays!

Trouble is, where do you shop for party clothes for your duck?

All the "Santa" hats were too big, and, the jingle bells, well, none were just "right" for him.....

Until I found these...! Here's his "reveal"!!..

OK, so he really doesn't like the paparazzi, but with looks like his, ya gotta expect some publicity..

So, even though they weren't here, I wanted to be surrounded by my family. Here's Gerri, me

(pre-gray), Kathy and Larry..

And Mother & Daddy, looking like Mr. & Mrs. Claus - all he needed was the beard..

Prepping for the party was an all-nighter...bags to be filled, cakes to be baked..."door prizes" to be decided...

Labels for the tops of the jar cakes to be cut out...

Quick! I need a diet Coke to help me stay alert!.....uh, at least awake...

Don't they look cute!!

All lines up waiting for their twine ties..24 of these little suckers...

Can you say .."ahhhhhh.."

Lookin' good...

You know, when you go to the dollar-store, you sometimes get "tricked" into thinking you're getting the "good-stuff" for a lesser price? I mean, they copy the labels and sometimes you have to read really carefully?..then you get it home and notice it's Ivery soap, or Spic & Spawn..

..or V-7 juice? How about Peter Pin Peanut Butter ?? Yeah..

So we thought we were safe to buy gift bags..when we found this poor misfit...

Notice anything?? Yep. Trying to carry this would be...akward..

Here's the one woman assembly line...

Lots of goodies from the House Party on-line party line (where you hold a party, and you have sponsors that send you, the hostess, gifts to promote their stuff..not like preach about it, just make the goodie bags..) http://www.houseparty.com/

Mother-in-Law picked up some door prizes as well...

Here's a look at some of the decorations..this strainer I picked-up at an Estate sale..(I bought it..didn't want you to think I "picked it up"..if you know what I mean..)

The nest is real as are the eggs(shells- no eggs per se)..

A rooster and a hen Gerri got for me..

Yes, even my kitchen has a "splash of red"..)

Because we were having s "soup day", I didn't want to have flimsy paper bowls and you know me well enough to know I'm not really "into" cleaning ..so we got these at the dollar store for the soup - then the guests could rinse them out and take them home..(notice I said the guests could rinse them??..yeeeaah..)

Some of the guest are arriving!!

We even had one young man who helped entertain the pups..so they got cookies too!

In keeping with a simpler Christmas this year, we decided to get a teensy-tree. That way I'll only get half as depressed when I have to take it down in March...hahahaha..didja catch that one? Seriously, I take it down the end of the first week of January..

Bring 'em young and teach them about cookie swaps early..

"Let the swapping begin!" Had so many cookies, we used 2 tables downstairs...

Yes, I made them wear name tage..after all, I was up late the night before and ..well..you know how easily I can forget things..like the names of my co-workers...

Braxton waited patiently for someone to drop something..(no one did) and Lulu was having a bad-hair day and decided she didn't want it captured on film...

Everybody's cookies were incredible as is evident on the faces....

There were 13 of us there, co-workers, neighbors and old friends...here's the "office" bunch...

Don't expect us to be serious for too long...

When the eating, the cookie swapping and the photos were taken, it was time for ....CRAFTING!

We made gift tags and origami gift boxes..all were adorable!

So, didja ever have one of those parties that you plan, work hard on to prepare, stay up late then get up early to be ready and no one has any fun????????

Me neither!!!!!!!!!!!

We all had a blast! Next year, I'd like YOU to be here too!

Have a great Monday and don't eat too many cookies.....yeah, right...have we meet??

-me

Thursday ramblings….

There are some questions that just beg new answers…

‘Watcha doin’?” is one that jumps to mind..

When someone calls on the phone (that’s a funny thing to say..what else would they be calling on..) ...or they ask from another room- our first response is usually “nuthin’”

I think I’ll start coming up with some things I have always wanted to be doing the next time someone asks..

- lowering my cholesterol

- seeing how long I can hold my breath before I pass out

- measuring the length of my arms

- learning to whistle through my fingers

- connecting the freckles on my hand

- naming my toes

- wondering if what I see with my eyes closed is really the insides of my eyelids

- designing u-turn signals to send to car makers

- trying to brush my teeth with my left hand

And speaking of Christmas – do you remember what your last doll was?

Mine was Pollyanna. I had just seen the movie with Haley Mills – I wonder if that’s available on disc?

Anyway – I remember her straw hat, gingham dress and bloomers. And her blond curls…

I love love love the smell of new dolls heads. Not that I’ve ever gotten just the heads – but I thought it would be silly to go around smelling…well…anything else.

Even after my kids were grown, I could be caught smelling the dolls in the toy isle..

Haven’t done that for a while – I wonder if they smell the same. It just makes me happy. I’m going to have to go shopping and find the doll section again.

Hope the great smells (memories) haven’t changed…
.
Do you have weird smelly-memories..wait...that doesn't’t sound right…out-of-the-ordinary-smelly-memories…memories of out-of-the-ordinary....

Christmas-smells..yeah..that sounds better..

OK, so remember, do your facial exercises...mine are working, huh?!

" Kissing your nose will tighten your waddle.."

Exaggerate your vowels....

Aye, Eee, Eye, Oh, You..

Have I mentioned I have ADD??

Yeah, nuff said.

-me

Well..hello there!...

Come on in...guess what I'm doin' ??


Meet my new best friend --not it's not "new" exactly any more..we got it to "go" with the kitchen a few years ago..Mr. B always wanted one and I always wanted one too, if it could be red....


Anyway, since I'm making cookies for the Cookie Swap I'm having on Saturday (for which any of you are welcome to stop by..)..I thought I'd actually try to use it..and guess what?

It works!

These are a new cookie recipe that I found on BHG.com..they're Berry-Sage Thumbprints...and they're YUM-O..made with sage, cornmeal, and eggyolks...with flour, vanilla, and the regular stuff...butter...Mmmmm!

Oh, and grated lemon peal..is that spelled correctly? It looks funny..p-e-a-l...pele..peel..Oh yeah...peel.. and even though they may sound weird - they're really good..

Last night I tried another new one- this one is "Sorta-Homemade"...you start with refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough, then add chocolate chips and crushed banana chips!

Then, just when you think they can't get any better, you roll them in that coarse sugar...Weight Watcher's forgive me for I'm about to sin...

I love bakery twine!!

Yeah baby..makes a bakin' Momma proud!

So, party time is almost here..soup, salad, and assorted breads first, then the cookie swap!

Gift bags for taking home and bakery boxes filled with everyone's "favorite" cookies!

What could possibly be better?

Oh yeah....if YOU could be here!

Have a safe Thursday and remember to LAUGH...(I'll bet it's good for those neck muscles, too!)

-me

Remember those boats that you pull the cord and it immediately blows up??

Sometimes that's how I feel...

History lesson- circa 1964 - a 14 year old very fair-skinned girl decided to get a tan - THAT DAY - so she slathers on Baby Oil and burns like yesterday's lasagna..

She finds if she keeps trying, she actually changes to a slightly darker shade of "fair"..
What? A tan line?? MOI??

Then after several week of blisters, sunning, more blisters, sweating and so on..
...the rains came..she can't go "tanning" for, get this... day or 2..and it FADES - it's gone..no tan line..nadda..

Flash forward several years...dieting..exercising..fasting..and whaddaya know?

I'm (I mean "she's") thin! Oh happy day! (yeah..DAY!)

So, I...uh...she feels she can now have that one owey-gooey piece of pizza...and then, just like the boat..somebody pulled the string and WOP! She was "chubby" again..

It's now years later...loosing weight again but worried about a massive waddle- you know...a chin that goes to her chest...

Learning about neck exercises, I've been doing some that I found on the web every day..As a matter of fact..several times a day...in the restroom, in the car...on my walks...

.."make exaggerated vowels A, E, I O and U several times" and "try leaning your head back then while back- "kiss" your nose!"

This may look funny to passer-bys,( ya think??) but I keep trying.

Then I remember my past - and I think about balloons...

..you know, you blow them up and they're nice and tight...but if yo let the air out...they'll never be the same...saggy and limp. Poor balloons. Poor chin(s)...

While they are chubbed out, at least they are firm...sort of.....if I exercise and loose the weight, will my chin look like that POOR balloon?

And if not, will I have to do these silly facial aerobics FOR-EVER??

Ah, such is life...and the pursuit of happi...I mean, firmness.

So if you see me and it looks like I'm havening some sort of "spell" ...just wave and keep going...

My chin(s) just might wave back..

-me

What is it about the Andy Williams Christmas show...

... that can transport one back to the 60's faster than a speeding taco?

Maybe because "in the olden days" everything was simpler...

yeah....right. I was a young mother of 4 little kids and a "starter husband" which, for most people, would make them shy away from marriage forever..

But I remember watching the Andy Williams Christmas special, wanting to be a part of his family. They all looked so happy and even his toddler daughter and his (then) wife, Claudine Longet, were dressed alike!

I thought it was the cutest thing ever..and, because my own toddler daughter looked very much
like the little girl, I thought ..well..maybe if I could sew..

Bygones. Couldn't sew then, can't really sew now. But if you catch it on PBS, you'll see what I mean - they were ADORABLE!

I remember lighting some candles, missing my parents who were in California (we were in Arizona) and it was too warm to even think about Christmas. I probably needed the "swamp cooler" on just so I could have the candles!

But, it was the BEST show of the season. And still is.

I saw one of the "extras" with barrel curls in her hair - remember those? In your fancy "up-do" you'd have these big, fat curls that were sprayed to rock hard...or, if you didn't have long enough hair, you could buy a piece with fake curls and bobby-pin in your own stumpy hair to make it look like a fancy up-do!

I hadn't thought about that in years...

The Osmond's sang, the Williams brothers were dressed head-to-toe in bright colors (even sporting red V-neck sweaters, white turtle necks underneath (unless they were...Heaven forbid..dickies!) and red pants AND shoes!

In the next year - they were all dressed in green - complete to the shoes. And the V-neck sweaters. And the white turtle necks..

But we enjoyed them then, and I enjoyed them tonight. Sweet. Not rapping-changing-the-words-to-be-cool , just good ol Christmas music.

If you get a chance where you are..watch..and remember..that is, if you're old enough to even know who Andy Williams is!

Happy December oneth..

-me