Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 has kicked our butts here at this old house.  We are celebrating some post-holiday days at our house by doing, well, nothing.  Yesterday Bob had to work but I stayed home watching movies, talking on the phone with my BFF and playing on the internet.  I got "Meet Me in St. Louis" on Netflix and watched it last night before I went to bed. What a great movie!!  Judy Garland's voice is so beautiful!.

Today, so far, we have watched another movie and talked about options for what we can do today.  It's nearly 2:00 pm and we are still on the sofa under our blankets and we are still wearing our pajamas so I think we are already doing what we're gonna do today. I made some Kona coffee and used my new Keurig electric milk frother and drank a couple cups of coffee along with some chocolate chip pecan cookies.  Now I'm jacked up on caffeine so probably won't be napping today. 
Robbie is gone for a few more days so we are soaking up the peace and quiet.

I got a lot of nice stuff this year for Christmas.  Robbie got me a really cute charm bracelet and a Starbuck's gift card (he knows the way to my heart) and Kaylyn gave Bob and I gift cards to Olive Garden and the movie theater even though I told her not to get us anything at all.  Bob got me the milk frother, a nice sweater, reed diffuser, two necklaces, candlewick trimmer, gravy boat to match my Christmas dishes and The Hobbit.  Robbie got a new Xbox and flatscreen tv and a few little things.  Bob got some clothes, "The Dark Knight Rises" dvd, WKU license plate frame, Xbox game download stuff (I don't understand how that works), Crown Royal and whiskey rocks.

Okay, what are whiskey rocks??  I found those on a website called Hammacher Schlemmer and they are 1" cubes made out of granite or soapstone and you freeze them and put them in your whiskey, wine or whatever and they cool the drink but don't water it down like regular ice cubes would.  He loved them!  There were 8 of them in the set and you just rinse them off with water, dry off and put back in the freezer to use the next time.  Bob likes to have a little glass of bourbon, etc. a few times a week and I thought that would be a good gift for him.  He just bought some maple flavored Crown Royal and we enjoyed a bit of that in our hot apple cider on Christmas Eve.  I might have had a couple mugs of that yesterday evening too :)  Yummo!

Hope everyone has had an enjoyable holiday this year. Happy New Year to y'all!!

(early) Merry Christmas!

                                           2012  Christmas in Rockefeller Center

We celebrated Christmas this morning and today here at this old house.  Kaylyn joined us :) and we got up early to open gifts and have breakfast before she had to leave for her family holiday gathering.  Santa even came through our neighborhood, as he does every year, riding on an old fashioned fire truck. We ran outside to wave to him as they drove by.

Robbie is thrilled with his new Xbox and 32" LED flatscreen...all his very own for his room. This means no more fighting over the tv downstairs!!  Yippee!  We all loved our gifts from one another and Kaylyn and Robbie made a very nice card for me and gave me a little charm bracelet that I will show off when we see everyone on Christmas Day. 

It has been a busy couple weeks around here with Bob and I both working like crazy to get caught up at our jobs so we can be on vacation for the rest of the year!  Today was the first day of an 11 day break from work and we are just enjoying our day with the 3 of us and it is so nice.

Bob grilled (yes, grilled) bacon and sausage for breakfast and I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the very first time.  Yeast, rolling pin and all.  The rolls and maple glaze were WONDERFUL!  It makes a big batch so I have a few pans of rolls to give away over the next few days and will use some for our company this weekend.

After Christmas Day is over Bob and I plan on becoming hermits for the rest of the week which means lots of pajama days and little contact with the outside world :) 

New York

I've spent many, many exhausting hours poring over information about NYC...air travel, hotels, land transportation, etc, etc, etc.  There are just too many options.  I don't want a bunch of options. I just want about 5 to choose from then I can make up my mind.  I guess that's why some people go through travel agencies but I don't want to pay more for my trip so tend to do my own planning. I typically use Google Earth to help with our travel plans because I can actually see where everything is in real life and even go to the street view to scroll around and see exactly what other businesses are in the same area.  I just get a little seasick using Google Earth because of all the movement on the screen.  I think I stood on the streets of New York about 10 times last night during my Google Earth travels.

I just cannot wait to get in the middle of all that is NYC.  I am pretty sure I have the airline narrowed down to one and 95% sure of the dates we will travel. The biggie is choosing a hotel.  And it's kind of funny how after I see that staying anywhere downtown (that is reputable) it's no big deal to think that we will pay about $300 a night, or more.  That's probably comparable to about $100 per night around here.  At first I was shocked but now I'm numb to it and if we're going to go there we want to be all up in the middle of everything so we don't want to stay on the outskirts of town.   It's the big city folks, nothings cheap!  So, for $350 you'd think we would be paying for something like the Ritz, right?  Nope, that's like a Hampton Inn a block off of Times Square.  The Ritz is more like $700 per night for a little ole rinky-dink room.

We still haven't decided on 4 or 5 nights but I think we are leaning more towards 4 nights and just taking a really early flight to get there and a later one to get back so we can soak up as much big city culture as we can.  Right now we're narrowing in on Hilton properties including the Waldorf as we can get a bargain there for $315 per night but it's a little more east than I want to be.  Robbie wants to stay somewhere where we can have a room up really high.  The Hilton New York is where one of my blogger friends has stayed a few times and really liked it.  We are eyeing that one too. 

Hopefully we'll have more concrete plans by Christmas!  I think by then I will have memorized the entire NYC subway system.

Christmas Traditions

(photos found on Pinterest)

Elf on A Shelf scooping up reindeer poop

Over the years we've had a handful of Christmas traditions here at this old house.  Every year on whatever day is our Christmas Eve we sit out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for reindeer before we go to bed.  A few times we even put "reindeer food" in the front yard. It also contained glitter so it would reflect in the moonlite and making it easier for Santa's reindeer to land in our front yard. We have Santa's key to our house that we'd hang on the door since we don't have a chimney, reading the story Twas the Night Before Christmas, watching "A Christmas Story" together and baking and decorating cookies. 

The one tradition I wish I would have started (because it would be so much fun) is having the Elf on a Shelf live in our home during the Christmas season.  I actually didn't really know about the elf until a handful of years ago through other blogs I read.  I would've had so much fun setting him up every night before bed so that Robbie could get up the next day to find out what kind of activities the elf got into overnight (ie. photos).  It is said that the elf is in the home to watch over the children and report any good or bad behaviors back to Santa but he also has some adventures each night too...... being held hostage by some Lego Star Wars people

leaving a reminder to be good...Santa's watching

oops, he tee-peed the tree

Sometimes the elf can get into a little mischief too.  tee hee hee

I'm not in any hurry at all for grandchilden, in fact I hope it's not for another 10 years, but if I'm lucky enough to live nearby them I may have to consider having an Elf on a Shelf to set up when the kids come to visit me.  Heck, I should just get one now so I can set it up for Bob to find every day.  LOL!!!

p.s. I was able to publish these photos because they were already on the internet; I am just having trouble loading brand new photos onto my blog. Bear with me, I am considering starting a new blog for 2013. Same name, etc. but a different set up. For some reason the set up on this 2012 blog is all jacked up...my header photo only takes up half the page and I cannot adjust some things that I used to on my original blog. Hopefully over Christmas vacation I will have time to work on all of this. I'll keep you posted.

Miss Fluff Update

You know how I wrote about Fluffy and her anxiety, hair stripping (that's what the vet calls it) behaviors a month or so ago?  Well, call us crazy here at this old house for giving a cat a Prozac popper everyday and plugging in a pheramone sensor into an outlet....but you know what?  It is working!  She hasn't peed or pooped anywhere except the litterbox and although she seems to nap for 22 hours a day on our cozy Level 2 down comforter, she is relaxed, happy and doesn't even seem as afraid of Sheba as she used to be.

I make Bob give her the medication everyday because she really likes him anyway and was once scared of me because I was always the one taking her into the litterbox and forcing her to pee.  I'm trying to get back on her good side.  Giving her a pill isn't easy so we decided that dissolving the tiny tablet in a few drops of water then administering it from a syringe is more friendly than jacking her jaw open and forcing it down her throat.  If we remember to, we give her a little shredded cheese or few licks of ice cream for taking the pill.  She LOVES shredded cheese!

So she is in La-La land now and all is well in the house of misfit felines.

Christmas Cooking and Baking

I've decided to change things up a bit for my holiday baking.  Seems I tend to bake too much every year even though we give most of it away.  I get tired of dropping scoopsful of dough out over and over too.  I'd rather make a batch of something, put it in a pan and move on to the next recipe.  And, this year I'm only make one batch of each item so there won't be a lot of extras leftover for temptation later on in the week.  This year's roll call for holiday baking is:

Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Carmelitas (bar cookie)
Peanut Butter Fudge
Red Velvet Brownies
White Cupcakes (for Christmas Day)
German Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars (taking to work for a dessert contest)

I'll bake a pecan pie for Christmas Eve and one other cookie Bob has requested.

We will be having our little family Christmas celebration on Dec. 22 this year and I'm going to have brunch for us here at home.  I'm going to try this recipe I found on a blog for homemade cinnamon rolls then make a breakfast casserole and some other things for me, Bob, Robbie and Kaylyn.  We'll open our presents that day and maybe play a game and we'll definitely watch "A Christmas Story" at some point that day like we always do.  It'll be a relaxing, cozy, pajama-wearing type of day :)

December 23 will start off with preparations for Christmas Eve which will also be at this old house for a party of 9.  Bob's going to fry up a turkey and I'll be making homemade stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mac-n-cheese and spread of sweet goodies. 

After Christmas Day I will probably welcome a bowl of regular ole Cheerios and will probably not cook at all for a week or so while I'm off work.  ha ha!

I Love Peanuts

Christmas Decorating

Last night was the final night for adding any Christmas decorations here at this old house.  I always have too much going on to just start and finish any project within 48 hours.  For example, in addition to getting all FOUR of our Christmas trees up and decorated, we also had to put up lights outside and I had to decorate the little topiary trees I bought for our front porch.  I've been decorating for the past week which means there have been storage containers sitting out and things piled up on tables for that long.  Can't stand for things to be unorganized!  And, I found fabric to use for window treatments downstairs (after looking for 3 months!) so had to start that this weekend. 

I plan on getting the curtains for the sliding glass door done in the next couple nights then might wait another week to start on the valances for the other windows since there is more work involved with those.  Or, maybe I'll just wait until after Christmas. 

All I know is that I am ready to sit back and actually take in our Christmas lights, watch Christmas movies, etc. and try to relax for the rest of the year.  We have only a few more gifts to buy and that should be knocked out by this weekend. 

My wish list for the rest of this year is to:

1.  Pick up a good cup of hot chocolate and drive to nearby neighborhood to check out the over-loaded holiday decorations.

2.  On a warmer evening (if there is one), walk downtown to see the big ole Christmas tree and lights on the main drag through downtown. Maybe walk to the the local coffee shop down there for some caffeine or the martini bar for some alcohol.  ha ha!

3.  See "The Hobbit" a week from this Friday night.  We've been waiting years for this movie!!

4.  Watch "Bad Santa" and "Elf" at least twice.

5.  Have at least one pajama day during my vacation after Christmas and fall asleep in front of the tv while watching a bad Lifetime movie. 

Blog Update

Please bear with me...I am learning more about how to upload more pictures on here. Seems I may have to purchase a package for about $2.50 per month in order to continue to post pictures on my blog since I've capped my free limit.  I want Bob to check over this first before I agree to purchase extra GB.  I want to continue my blog since I use it as kind of a diary of our life and eventually plan on printing out some of my posts and place in a scrapbook of some kind for the future.

I did post some pictures on my Facebook page if anyone wants to friend me on there and look at our Thanksgiving pictures. 

Bob and I bought some new outdoor Christmas lights at Menard's tonight and some little Christmas trees in urns to place on the front porch.  We are going to decorate the outside this weekend and also purchase a live tree for downstairs.  I have 3 trees up inside so far and they are soooo pretty!!  The tree in the living room is decorated with clear lights and tons of ornaments in silver, gold and cream, with strands of pearls, gold mesh and my favorite angel tree topper. I could just sit and stare at it for hours. 

Of course, you saw previous pictures of our wine themed tree in the kitchen that I'll continue adding wine themed ornaments over time.  I put a small tree in the guest room window with all fragile, bright colored ornaments and multi colored lights.  And, finally, the live tree will have multi colored lights and all of our whimsical ornaments including Robbie's ornaments that I've collected for him since he was born.  We put a star on top of that tree. 

I just LOVE Christmas trees and ornaments!!  I think I finally "got" how to properly put lights on a tree too. I've studied the pre-lit trees and figured out that you have to run the lights over each individual limbs, then over and under each individual branch on both side of the limbs. It takes a while but it also lights up the inside of the tree and not just the outside of the limbs.  LOVE IT!

Thanksgiving 2012

Robbie and I got back from our trip to southern Alabama this weekend.  We had a really good time...toured Pensacola Naval Base museum, shopped at the NEX, watched the sun set in Gulf Shores, had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with Mom and Tom, did some late night shopping, toured Bellingrath Gardens Christmas light display and did more shopping in Nashville.

I have lots of pictures but when I tried to post them I got a message on here stating I had used my "quota" of free space on my blog.  I've never seen that before so I need to investigate further and will get pictures up on here soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!  Hope everyone has a great day and eats lots of yummy food.  Our menu here in southern Alabama is turkey breast, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, peas, corn, homemade yeast rolls, pecan and pumpkin pie.  Photos to come later.

Love to you all and I will see you at Christmas.

Amy

Wine Cork Reindeer

Here is a craft project I found on pinterest.com that I did recently.  I put up a wine themed tree in our kitchen and plan to add wine-themed decorations over time.

I made about a dozen ornaments over a couple nights.  I used wine corks that we've saved up, tree twigs from our yard and a few little notions like ribbon, pipe cleaners and bells.  Straight pins were used for either black or Rudolph-red noses.

I made both female and male reindeer.

Banquet Photos

The senior players and two coaches

Seniors

Robbie giving a little speech

Receiving a certificate and his third bar for his soccer letter

Church lady pie!!!

Banquet room

Sad :(

If you ever look at my Facebook page you will see that I am "friends" with Sandy Sisti's photography website.  I also follow the Yellowstone Park website.  The photos posted of one of the shot and soon-to-be-dead wolves was so, so sad.  I couldn't finish looking at the photos.  Wolf packs have such an interesting way of life and they are very smart animals and demand respect in the wildlife.  I just hate to see them hunted.

Killing of wolves from Yellowstone outside park triggers outcry

By Laura Zuckerman | Reuters – 2 hrs 17 mins ago

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Seven wolves that once lived in Yellowstone National Park have been shot and killed by hunters in recent days, triggering an outcry among conservationists and businesses that depend on the park's prized wolf packs.

 The wolves, all radio-collared as part of a park research program, were legally hunted outside Yellowstone boundaries after hunting seasons opened earlier this year in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

 The deaths have no adverse effect on a park wolf population estimated at 88, said Dave Hallac, chief of resource management and science for Yellowstone.

 But the controversy that has erupted in the wake of the killing does not appear to be linked to worries about the population's survival as much as its popularity, he said.

 "There's no question these packs are a focal point for visitors and that people who come here to watch wildlife become attached to the animals," Hallac said.

 The U.S. government in the mid-1990s released fewer than 100 wolves in the park and in the wilderness near Salmon, Idaho to restore an animal that had been hunted, poisoned and trapped to near extinction.

Today, more than 1,700 wolves roam the Northern Rockies but conflict over the animals has not lessened with their growing numbers. Ranchers and outfitters complain the predators dent livestock and big-game herds while conservationists contend wolves are an integral part of the ecosystem.

 Wolves last year were removed from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana, states that liberally allow shooting and trapping. Wyoming wolves were removed from the list on September 30 and hunted from the next day.

 While hunting is banned in Yellowstone, wolves that cross the unmarked boundary into parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are fair game. That is not playing well among animal advocates and people whose wildlife watching at Yellowstone has brought personal and professional rewards.

 Park and state wildlife officials were flooded with telephone calls on Friday about the dead wolves.

Sandy Sisti, a photographer near Yellowstone whose images of the park's wolves are snapped up by tourists and others, said it made no economic sense to kill members of packs key to the region's tourism economy.

Conservationists said the opening next month of wolf trapping in Montana would further reduce Yellowstone wolves. They are asking state wildlife managers to create a buffer zone outside the park.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission Chairman Bob Ream said on Friday commissioners will take up the question of a buffer zone next month.

 "But at some point you have to draw a line and, theoretically, the park is the line," he said.

 (Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Todd Eastham)

TTTT (too tired to title)

I suppose sometimes I might be the straw that stirs the drink without even purposefully wanting to do so.   ha ha!!  Just sayin'.

Robbie and I are looking forward to a little road trip next week to the Mayberry of Southern Alabama. I am cooking a big ole Thanksgiving meal for Mom and Tom at their house and will hang out with them for the week.  Bob is looking forward to some quiet time at home where he will work on his wine and not worry about having to share the tv with anyone but the cats.

I will post pictures this weekend but we just had our final soccer event this evening :(  It was the end of the year soccer banquet and was so bittersweet.  I don't know how I'm going to hold it together for graduation day in May when I can barely keep myself composed watching a soccer slideshow!  It was a very nice evening complete with delicious church-lady food at one of the local fellowship halls. Can you say "homemade pie crust"?  Mmmmm.  One of our neighbors is a church-lady and made the homemade pies for our meal.  The players received their certificates and made a few short speeches.  I still cannot believe high school soccer is over for us.  So sad.

Anyhoo, besides getting things ready for our trip, I've also put up one of our Christmas trees for this year.  This one is in the kitchen and has white and purple lights and is wine themed.  I made some ornaments including reindeer made from wine corks and small twigs.  I will post pictures of those too, after I upload my camera this weekend.  They are so cute!!

For now I'm off to bed as it has been a busy few weeks here at this old house and I fear it will not let up until after the holidays.

Blue Girl

In case anyone wasn't aware (which would be nearly impossible unless you just never met me, or are a client who I am not allowed to discuss my opinions with,  ha ha)  I am Pro-Choice even though I desperately wanted another baby but had two miscarriages and my husband is adopted. I don't feel any rape is legitimate no matter what a person wears, what they say or what their occupation is. I support peace vs. war even though there are people with military backgrounds on both sides of my family.  I believe in God, I pray and read the good book sometimes, but am not perfect and have my own way of thinking that does not seem to fit into any organized religion that I've found so far in my life.  I whole-heartedly support gun control laws even though my husband loves guns.  I believe in Evolution and Carl Sagan's "organic soup" which I learned about in anthopology class in a Catholic high school (where we referred to him as "Uncle Carl").  I don't smoke pot but I think if someone is going to put anything in their body it needs to be of a high quality. I don't care what people do in the privacy of their own homes whether it's two men, two women or a mixture of both; just so long as it does not involve children, animals and it is mutual.

And I voted in last week's election but have decided I will wait to tell the story of who I voted for and why, to my first grandchild, if I ever have one.  If not, I'll take my ballot choice to the grave with me :)  Sorry Dad, I ended up not writing you in like I said I was going to do on Facebook.  ha ha!

The following was emailed to me by my very, very, very liberal friend son sent it to her this weekend:

Dear Red States:

We’re ticked off at your Neanderthal attitudes and politics and we’ve decided we’re leaving:

“Legitimate rape,” is almost reason enough!

In case you aren’t aware of whom we are, we include Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York and the rest of the Northeast.

We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation and especially to the people of the new country of The Enlightened States of America (E.S.A.).

To sum up briefly:

You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.

We get stem cell research and the best beaches.

We get Andrew Cuomo and Elizabeth Warren.  You get Bobby Jindal and Todd Akin.

We get the Statue of Liberty.  You get Opryland.

We get Intel and Microsoft.

You get WorldCom.

We get Harvard.  You get Ole’ Miss.

We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs.

You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue.  You get to make the Red States pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition’s, we get a bunch of happy families.  You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that the E.S.A. will be pro-choice and anti-war and we’re going to want all our citizens back from Afghanistan at once.  If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals.  They have kids they’re apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose and they don’t care if you don’t show pictures of their children’s caskets coming home. We wish you success in Afghanistan, and possibly Iran as well, but we’re not willing to spend our resources in these sorts of pursuits.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of:

80% of the country’s fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation’s fresh fruit,

95% of America’s quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners), 90% of all cheese, 90% of the high tech industry, most of the US low sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, you will have to cope with:

88% of all obese Americans and their projected health care costs, nearly 100% of the tornadoes,

90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We also get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

38% of those in the Red States believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we’re discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy B*%#*%#s believe you are people with higher morals than we lefties.

We’re taking the good weed too.  You can have the crap they grow in Mexico.

Sincerely,

Citizens of The Enlightened States of America

 

So...

"My name is Fluffy and I've been really stressed out, especially today,"

We've noticed in the past few months that Miss Fluff has lost some weight AND I noticed last week that she has started losing hair on one of her front legs. This week the hair loss started spreading down her chest and the other front leg.  We decided she probably needed to be seen by the vet.

Bob took her to the vet today and when I went outside to meet up with him I noticed a smirk on his face and figured out what he was probably going to say.  Fluffy has anxiety and is stressed out!  All the labs they did turned out just fine...no diabetes, no thyroid issues, good kidney function, etc. etc. etc.  She has lost 1.5 lbs but is otherwise fine.  Bob got to experience what he described as "Stephen King kitty" when he took her out today.  LOL   Normally Fluffy seems so meek and babyish but when she gets pissed off another personality comes out and she will hiss and channels Linda Blair from "The Exorcist" personality that will scare even a full sized human.  He said they had to put her out just to get some blood from her.  I've taken her to the vet; I know what he is talking about.  She is scary when she gets like that.

"My name is Sheba and I'm small but I can take on cats twice my size.  I'm also very sneaky."

After they got home she was still hissing and even scaring Lucas.  He's been walking around with his tail down all day which is not normal for him.  Sheba, who normally engages in terroristic threatening,  has even tip-toed around Fluffy today.  I got the first dose of prozac in her and she is still coming out of the anesthesia and her pupils are still dilated. She is not acting like herself from all of today's trauma. We are being patient with her and haven't even forced her into the litterbox today.  In addition to the prozac we  now have this feline pheramone plug-in thing which is supposed to put off some kind of cat-only detected scent which will make "everyone" feel happy and good, like they are smoking some good ghanga at Woodstock or something.  ha ha!!

"My name is Lucas and I'm the golden child except when I eat too much then vomit all over the carpet.  Why can't we call just get along?"

Only here at this old house.

Weekend

I nearly forgot to post a picture of the bat cupcakes I took to the Halloween party last weekend.  I got the idea from Gigi's Cupcakes on Facebook.  The bats are made out of Oreo cookies and turned out so cute!!

We've had a good weekend so far.  I made a pre-Thanksgiving meal today for me and Bob and we will have leftovers for a couple more days:)  I bought a honey-glazed ham and made sweet potato casserole, homemade turkey-n-dumplings and we had rolls, cranberry sauce and pie.  I'm going to roast asparagus to have with our leftovers tomorrow when Robbie is home, because he loves roasted asparagus.

I've been living vicariously through our friends who are out in the Teton-Yellowstone area this past week. They've posted all kind of photos everyday and looks like they are having a great time.  There was about a foot of snow in some areas and the park roads officially close to private vehicle traffic this Monday.  I have also "friended" a photographer's website and FB page who lives out that way and is in the park several times a week taking photos so have been able to keep up with what is going on through her site too. 

We still have some things to do in our downstairs before I can say we are finished.  I'm having a hard time getting motivated to look for valance fabric, etc.  I'm having some problems with my foot again due to plantar fascitis and it is not comfortable to do a lot of walking even in my good shoes and orthotics.  I have decided I just need to return to the orthopaedic doc and ask for a cortisone injection.  I just hate thinking of the pain; even though it only lasts a few seconds, it is NO FUN. My pain is not on the bottom of my heel but about an inch or two beneath my ankle bone on the inside part of my heel.  If I stand for a long time or do a lot of walking (ie grocery shopping) the pain then radiates up my leg.  I need to ice and do more stretches, I know.  In addition to cortisone I am considering massage therapy. The lady I go to is also certified in orthopaedic massage and might be able to help me...just insurance will not pay.

Besides that, we are all doing good. We are looking forward Robbie getting to vote for the first time in a few days, going to a concert later next week, the opening of  "Skyfall" next Friday night, and a college campus tour next weekend.  Robbie and I are excited about travelling to see Mom and Tom over Thanksgiving for a short autumn vacation.  Busy, busy, busy.

Darrell's Annual Halloween Party

Jennifer and Kevin...

Me and Kevin...(I was a gothic maiden)

Timmy and Angel as nerds...

Me and Bob(scary bunny from Donnie Darko movie)...

 

And, what to my wondering eyes should appear...a green M&M staring at me through the kitchen window from the back yard.... LOL!

 

 

Breakin' it down to Donna Summer's Last Dance...

 

There was singing, dancing and about 6 different kinds of chili, hot dogs and 500 Jello shots at Darrell's annual Halloween party this year.  What there wasn't was any adult-high-school-drama!  It was pretty much just a bunch of 30-50 something-year-olds dressed up in costumes and having a good time.  LOL  We had fun and the night ended with Jennifer and I singing Thriller.   Can't wait til next year!

Introducing: Baby Emmeline

Meet the ultimate purse dog...Emme (pronounced  Emmy). All 13 ounces of her!  Emme is Kaylyn's new puppy and she (Emme, not Kaylyn) is a teacup yorkshire terrier.  

Baby Emme is sitting on Robbie's lap last weekend.  She is so small, like a rat!  ha ha

She is about 9 weeks old.  Her mama weighs 2# and her daddy weighs 1.5# so I guess she'll be around the same.

We emptied the candy out of my pumpkin and put Emme in there for kicks-n-giggles.  We allowed Kaylyn's mom to bring her over last weekend after the disappointing soccer game so that she could surprise Kaylyn.  A tiny dog for a tiny girl :)

Tricia Lawrenson

cfhusband.blogspot.com  (this is the link to this family's blog--you'll have to type it in because I cannot seem to get the click-on link thing to work)

Many of you who have followed my blog for the past nearly 5 years might remember me talking about a woman named Tricia (see above) who has Cystic Fibrosis. I've followed her husband's blog about their life dealing with Cystic Fibrosis all these years.  Tricia was on the waiting list for a double lung transplant in the fall of 2007 when she and her husband became pregnant. She chose to continue her pregnancy as her health continued to decline and she was hospitalized at Duke for many months.  She had their baby girl around 25-26 weeks gestation and not long after she received her lung transplant and both she and her baby were in the hospital until around June 2008 until they were able to return home to their home on the outerbanks, Kill  Devil Hills. 

I've continued to follow their blog and recently her husband posted that she needs another lung transplant and is currently trying to get stronger so she can go back on the list.  Their little girl is in the photos above with them and is doing pretty good for all she went through being born so early.  I just ask that you say a prayer for this family that Tricia can be placed back on the transplant list and that she doesn't have to wait too much longer to get some new lungs.

I also ask that you consider organ donation on your driver's license or in your medical records. 

My Birthday Weekend: The Second Half

The day after my official birthday we took the kiddos to the new riverfront park.  It was more than I ever expected it to be.  It will be ever prettier after a year or two when the plants and trees grow a bit.

One of the artificial trees on the playground...

It's so nice having the park right on the river. So much to do and see for all ages...

Griffin posing on the frog statue...

Sam having fun climbing...

Posing with Uncle Bob...they were starting to get very tired and hungry at this point.

After lunch at Chic-Fil-A and a nap we had birthday cake...

Robbie couldn't find any other candles so I got to blow out "21" once more in my life...

Such a sweet little face...

It was a very fun and memorable birthday weekend!!

#14

Freshman year...2009

Sophomore year...2010

Junior year...2011

Senior year...2012

I didn't think I'd be this emotional when soccer season was over, but I am.  Last night's game was a difficult one to accept because it was the end of Robbie's high school soccer career and he has played so well this year, especially the past few weeks.  I would say the post season games have been his best ever and I am so proud of him!  He's played defender this year and has done quite well despite the fact that he never really loved that position. 

He has started and played all the regional tournament games and these last two games he played all 80 minutes including last night's sudden death overtime where they ended up losing to another local team (that we don't like).  Needless to say, it was a tearful end to the season.  We said goodbye to parents we probably will not see anymore after the annual banquet next month, as the boys walked off the field towards the parking lot for their last team bus ride.  Most had tears in their eyes.  I certainly did.

It was a cool, damp Friday night...

And I was home at this old house with a slight cold or something and felt so tired I didn't even feel like getting up to plug in my camera so I could charge it and upload the rest of the pictures from last weekend.  I'm snuggled up on the sofa with a blankey and my favorite cat watching a movie and napping from time to time.  Bob's complaining of a sore throat so he's got his own comfy set up in the other room and is likely sleeping right now versus watching whatever movie he said he was going to.  Anyway, it is very quiet and serene in our home right now.  Love it!

The soccer team has held on for two regional games so far.  We won 7-0 Tuesday night and last night's nail biter was 2-1. Great game!!!  Robbie played the entire game and did a really good job (both nights).  Now we move onto the final tomorrow for the Regional Title.

Keep you posted...

And I'll get up sometime tonight to charge my camera so I can upload more pictures very soon!

My Birthday Weekend: The First Half

Friday was an exciting evening here at this old house!  I picked up the kiddos then we came home to wait for Bob and Robbie so we could eat Japanese food for dinner.  Lucas was found running around the house with this sign around his neck:

At the "fire rice" restaurant, as Sam calls it, for dinner. 

Samantha loves the soup and rice at this restaurant.  She ate all of her soup and nearly all of her rice!

It took some persuading (a dollar's worth of a bribe) for Griffin to try his soup.

We took a shopping trip to Big Lots after dinner to get new coloring books. Griffin ended up talking us into this penguin hat and Sam got some new cat house socks.

I made up an incredible little bed for Griffin in the guest room.  I would've slept there if I could! 

Sam got to sleep in the big bed... she is sporting her new cat socks before bed while Lucas decides where he will go to sleep.

The next morning the kids decorated a cake I baked for my birthday.  I let them use the sprinkles and happy birthday decorations of their choosing.

You know, it looks like a lot (and it really is, LOL), but all those sprinkles really tasted good on the cake!  It gave a little sweet-n-crunchy texture to the soft cake and icing. 

Look at how sweet this is....

Part 2 of my weekend will include our trip down to the new riverfront our town just completed over the past few years.  Let me tell you, it is AWESOME!!!  I wish they would've done it 10 years ago so we could have taken Robbie there to play.  I saw playground equipment I've never seen before plus the landscaping is really top notch!  It's fun for all ages too, and Bob and I have already planned on taking future date nights down there.  There are several sets of patio type swings that fit 3-4 adults lined up all along the riverfront.  It is just gorgeous!