Happy New Year

I'm just coming off of two "working in high gear" days. (Lots of work at The Silver Hanger for Wednesday and Thursday.) Previous to that I had four "low gear days". (Hanging out in Dallas with family). Now I'm looking at two days off and thinking, hum... should I try to tackle my huge "to do" list. If so, where should I start? If I think about it very much, I'll get overwhelmed and discouraged. If I don't think about it at all, I might proceed in a very unorganized manner, hopping from one activity to another and probably not finishing anything. Or should I just take a couple of days off and not worry about the things I need to get done? Which way to go? What ever is getting done, is not going to happen until tomorrow. For tonight, I'm just thinking "happy new year", (my brain is mush), I'll figure out a plan tomorrow. hehe
Plus no big celebration here- I doubt if I'll even be awake at midnight. :)

Santa...

must have left all of the toys somewhere else!

Pretty low key day here- not even any snow to play in. Breakfast for three, at 8:00. Open a couple of presents. I scrap booked, Ron read a book, mom went to church. Leftover salad for lunch.

We were invited to have dinner with some friends.

Now, I'm just waiting for "little kid pics." to start showing up on the blogs, so I know how every one's Christmas day was :)

Now that Christmas is almost over, we can get on to the important stuff- like going to see some of the kids! :)

Happy Holidays

On Vacation

Ron and I are both officially on vacation. Ron for the rest of the year. Me until next Wednesday. When mom asked Ron tonight what he is going to do "on vacation"- he said, "I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I know what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to get up at 4:45 am." I said, "Good, that means that I'm not getting up at 5:30 am either." Now if I can just convince myself to do "whatever I want" instead of just "working at home"- life will be great. And if my free time doesn't get all cluttered up with "stuff", life will be even greater. We are not going anywhere (at least not until Saturday) and no one is coming here for Christmas- probably by Saturday, we will be bored to death and ready to do almost anything- like drive to Dallas :) Ron said, "Maybe we should try to borrow some little kids for Christmas morning!" :) :)

All Is Fair...

in love and

pics! :)

Happy Birthday Jesus

I am always trying to think of fun, activities to do with my nursery class. I try to come up with something new each Sunday. Usually just something small, like a new game, or toy, or book, or simple activity. (This is for about a dozen, 3-year-olds) I decided that a good Christmas activity would be a birthday party for Jesus. Nothing real fancy, just simple, in keeping with the sabbath day. I took my wooden, child proof, nativity set. Small white cakes, juice boxes, birthday napkins, and red balloons tied with green ribbon.

Then I made cute "Happy Birthday" cards and a small picture for each child to color. I put those in a plastic bag with a candy cane and a holiday bookmark, with each child's picture on it. (The bookmark was more of a gift for "mom" than for the 3-year-old.)

Let's just say, that in theory, everything was a good idea. In reality, things didn't quite go as planned. Because of some unexpected circumstances, things didn't turn out perfect. But what 3-year-old expects perfection? :)

All I Want for Christmas

I finished decorating the house. (or let's just say, at least I'm not getting any more stuff out) We put a few lights outside. (although Ron needs to try to figure out they keep "shorting out" :) My shopping is mostly done. (Just 1 more gift left and I'll be able to take care of that on Monday) Everything I needed to ship is gone, the last packages left today. I still have a huge "to do" list at the store, but on the top of that list is just 1 black jacket to be ready by next Wednesday. (I am hoping to do that tomorrow) I have two dinner party's to plan (very small- one Sunday evening and one Christmas eve), my Christmas cards to do (no promise on getting those out before Christmas), and a birthday party for Jesus for my nursery kids. Today was one of those days when I could tell my list of things to do was getting smaller and I was on mission to work as fast as possible to keeping checking things off. Looks like I might actually be ready for Christmas soon. (Good thing, huh?!, running out of time :) I'll be ready and all of the kids are off some where else! Good thing, over time, they eased me into this plan of Christmas with just Ron, mom, and I. I don't expect it to be overly exciting :)

I am now to the point, where I can say "all I want for Christmas" is....

three days of nothing but scrap booking!

My plan is for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm going to stock up on photo splits, ink for the printer, and paper trimmer blades. I don't want to have to "run to Wal Mart" for anything. I will still plan meals, but nothing else. I hope Ron has some football to watch, or something. I hope he wasn't planning on spending Christmas with me :) :) Besides, he will get to spend some quality time with me in the car on Saturday. (we are driving to Dallas, that day) I'll get back to you on how well my plan works. I've got the last five Christmas' to do in my Christmas scrapbooks. lol

Christmas Decor

I did what Annie suggested, "don't get out the whole sha-bang" on decorations. Here are a few pictures, although the pictures don't turn out very well. As you can see I have "funny taste" in decorations- kind of country, kind of western, kind of whatever :) Ron also helped me put a few lights out side on Monday evening.

One of the new Christmas colors is turquoise-

so I added some of that this year.

Here is my (small) partridge in a (red) pear tree,

along with a funny elf that mom got last year.

Here are some of my glass decorations,

and canned "snow".

I love the "long trunk" trees...

(this tree is decorated with fishing items, mountain animals, and cowboy stuff)

and black bears (on a bandana tree skirt).

One of the things I decided not to put up is the big tree. I'll try to take a few more pictures, now that we have some lights up. Even just having a few lights makes all the difference.(Like Annie's boys looking at their tree)

Christmas Lights and Cookies

I guessed a couple of things wrong for our trip to Bandera. Our first stop was at WhataBurger for dinner, on Friday evening. But instead of brisket at the barbecue restaurant, for lunch on Saturday- we tried out the enchiladas at "The Old Spanish Trail". It was really good. And I didn't have the opportunity for ice cream from Sonic- I could have had ice cream from Dairy Queen. But somehow on a cold, grey, drizzly day, I just wasn't in the mood for ice cream :) This first picture is at "The Old Spanish Trail" restaurant.

Christmas lights on deer antlers!

This is...NOT our property with the cedar all cleared out.

This is our property with the cedar all still there.

This is...

NOT the river behind our property.

This is the river behind our property.
It has been too rainy for them to be able to clear our lot. The first river picture is what the river looks like just downstream from us- so there is still hope that the river will come back. At least there was some water now, rather than none. (Just up stream from us, the water goes underground, so with the drought and the water level so low- no water above ground. Then just downstream from us it comes back up again.) So, should we pray for rain for the river, or pray for a dry spell, so they can clear out the cedar? :) We are going to back about the 1st of January to look at things again. We drove back home on Saturday afternoon.

I did get home in time to make cookies for Sunday.

This Saturday

At home this Saturday, I could be doing Christmas decorations. Or I could be shopping, wrapping, and shipping. Or I could be baking. Or I could be writing Christmas cards. Or I could be printing out pictures to go in those Christmas cards. At my store, this Saturday, I could be sewing. Or I could be doing inventory. Or any of the other endless items on my "to do list" there. This Saturday, Ron could be mowing, edging, weeding, and trimming. Then putting up Christmas lights outside. Or taking care of various chores on the car and the house. But instead of all of these things, we are going to Bandera tonight. (Bandera is just west of SanAntonio- so we will spend 4 hours in the car tonight and another 4 hours in the car tomorrow ) Then in between wander around on a piece of property - hoping to see the cedar trees cleared out and water in the river. I'm guessing that some where along the way, I will get a WhataBurger and fries, a holiday mint blast from Sonic, and brisket at the barbecue restaurant in Bandera. And maybe see a few Christmas lights in cowboy country :) So everything else will have to wait- short trip with my honey instead. All I can say is I hope Ron's love language is "quality time", because I'm making a big sacrifice here. lol

Hey Micah...

we love you and Happy B Day.

You will get a real card in the mail-- soon, but not today :)

Christmas Cheer Needed Here

Over the weekend, Ron and I were both sick, and with all of the Friday night excitement... I am a bit slow on the Christmas decorations. All I got done Saturday and Sunday was put away the Thanksgiving stuff. Mom always tries to tell me, "don't get anything out". This year, she said, "no one is coming here, you don't need to decorate". Should I tell her the decorations are just for me? :) I started getting the boxes out of the attic tonight. I'll do alittle more tomorrow, then I will be busy and things will have to wait until next Monday. I'll be lucky if I finish next week :) Then I'll have to take a few pictures to decorate the blog with :)

Angels Among Us

For any of you that look at Annie's blog, here is the story.

Mom and I were both at work at The Silver Hanger on Friday. It was a pretty slow day there, other than the fact that there is always work to be done. And I did have one bride come from Georgetown to try on her wedding dress, even though the streets were snowy. At one point, mid day, I was thinking that if the snow continued and the streets were bad, mom and I would just go home in her car and I would drive. But by late afternoon, the snow had stopped and the streets were clear. Mom and I were closing up the store at 5:00. As she and I were both doing the tasks of turning off lights, locking doors, turning off computers etc. - the phone rang (probably about 5:10) Mom answered it and it was a call for me. While I was talking on the phone, mom decided to go ahead and leave to go home. (Not an unusual thing- we don't very often actually leave at the same time) It was probably about 5:30- 5:40 when I left the store. Which put me at the intersection of Franz road and highway 99 at the precise moment that another car decided to turn right in front of me.(Normally I would go home on I10. When I left the store I had decided to go home across Franz road rather than on I10 because all afternoon I10 had delays because of the weather and even though the roads were clear I10 was still backed up) I was driving east on Franz road, I had a green light and the other driver had a green light , but the other driver did not have a protected green arrow for turning left. (He was driving west bound on Franz and turning left to southbound 99) When I realized that he was turning in front of me- I hit the brakes and steered to the right, but I knew that I could not avoid a collision. After impact I ended up going over a cement curb and coming to a stop on grass. His car spun back around and came to a stop in the center of Franz, facing east. One possibility is that the first impact hit on my drivers side front corner and then the second impact was on my drivers side rear door. (that is an explanation as to why the front of the burb was all torn up and the rear door on the drivers side smashed in). Although I never really looked at the damage to his car or spoke to the other driver. I did see him get out of his car and he was limping around, but he did not leave in the ambulance- so I assume he was okay. I was busy with the three angels surrounding me. One was a lady that was in a car following me. She watched the entire accident from behind me. She saw my brake lights come on and she was the first person there to help me. Even though the burb stopped after I hit the cement curb, the engine was still running. Her first words were "turn it off". Then she helped me get the driver door open- it was jammed and hard to open. The two other people were in a car that was behind the other driver. So they witnessed the accident from behind him. They were also waiting to turn left onto south bound 99. They had no explanation as to why the driver decided to turn when he did. In fact they were completely surprised and could see that the only outcome was "bam". Those three people stayed by me on the side of the road and told the police man what they saw. I have some bumps and bruises and sore spots, but I was wearing my seat belt and did not hit the steering wheel or the wind shield. (no air bag in a 94 suburban:) I had to call Ron and ask him to come and pick me up. He had been sick all week and was at home taking a nap (because of the snow, he came home early from work) What a call to get when you are sleeping, "come and pick me up, I think the burb is totalled". So the burb is gone, but I am so grateful that I'm not gone :) While I am telling this with my funny sense of humor, I am serious about my gratitude. We take so many things for granted- one of which is how quickly something unusual can happen. We get so busy with the challenges of life, that we rarely ever think, "that in just a quick moment things can change forever". I am so grateful for those three strangers that were there as witnesses and for my aid. They each had other places to be, but choose to stay there with me. In a quick moment, their lives were affected also. So...sorry Karen... but the burb is gone. But it gave a good fight, even refusing to die until I turned it off :) And there really are angels among us- both the ones that are seen and the ones that are unseen.

Global Warming

With all of the evidence recently that the global warming theory is false... here is more evidence of that....

IT IS SNOWING IN HOUSTON, TEXAS!

Big huge flakes, as we listen to "A White Christmas" on the radio :)

Boys are Great...

but here are the Princess' Petes!

Home Sweet Home

The best part of our Thanksgiving trip was coming home to my own bed! (Just kidding!)

Our family Thanksgiving together was perfect! (except we missed Mike and Carrie) :(
But it sure was nice to get home last night. Our only casualty of the trip was Ron came home sick. So he is home in bed and I'm at work. I have tons of work to do this week. Lets see how much I can get done before I get sick!!! I'll try to catch up on my gratitude posts and our family Thanksgiving later.
I go away for just a few days and now I have this huge list of blogs to look at! hehe

G25

I am grateful for clear weather and a good trip to Denver. Everyone arrived last night, except Aud and Sam. They are driving across scenic Kansas today and will arrive later.

Gratitude 23

When the kids were younger and we would get ready to go on a trip, I would always have an endless "to do" list. When it was time to leave, I would be totally worn out. (which is how Annie and Ashley will be) What ever was not done when it was time to leave, was left undone, time to "be on vacation". Now that the kids are gone my "to do" list at home is not so long, but I also have a "to do" list at my store, that needs to be done in order to be gone. I am grateful that I got through my home list today. (Okay actually, I had to cross off two things, because I ran out of time. But everything else is finished). Now I have 4 hours at the store tomorrow to get the store list done. Then it's off to Colorado. Yippee.

G22

I am grateful for Sundays. Especially on the schedule that we have right now- it's the only day of the week that I don't have to set the alarm clock. We go to church at 1:00 pm, so if we wanted to, we could sleep ALL morning. I don't think Ron and I could actually do that, but it could be a possibility. We can actually sleep in (compared to our normal schedule)and still get alot done before church. I realize that things are much different for people with kids- especially with kids that don't sleep in :) I guess this is one of the blessings of being old- empty nesters- a peaceful Sunday morning. Speaking of peaceful-
one morning this week Ron was saying the prayer and asked for our home to be peaceful. I had to keep myself from laughing out loud- if things got any more peaceful around here, we would be dead :) Oh, sorry I got sidetracked- I'm grateful for Sundays and my opportunity to go to church, to be taught and to be of service to others. (All of that and being able to have a nice breakfast with Ron :)

G21

Oh what to be grateful for? I have several things that I could be grateful for today, but the one thing at the top of the list is being able to be with family for Thanksgiving next week. Basically I keep looking at pictures of the kids and grand kids and "I'm missing them something fierce!" :) I have lots to do before I will be ready to travel on Tuesday evening, but come 6:00 pm on Tuesday, I will officially be "on vacation" and nothing else will matter for the next 6 days. (Also- looks like the weather is going to cooperate!!) Now if we can get through the airport without touching anything with flu germs on it- life will be great. LOL

G19 and G20

I am thankful for another day.
So after trying to tackle all of the things that didn't get done on Wednesday, on Thursday, I was too tired to post last night. I decided to "sleep" on things. I knew that everything on my mind would not go away during the night, but I was hoping that I could view things with a new perspective when not so tired. My store is at a "crossroad"- which way to go? (It's too early to even give any good guesses at this point.) Let's just say a "miracle" would be good :) Remember, I believe in those.

G18

Today was one of those days when you know right from the start that there is not enough time to get everything done. There were certain things that had to be done today. So, I had to try to focus on those and put everything else on hold until at least tomorrow. It was like...okay get through today and then I'll "regroup" tomorrow and figure out what to do next. I think mom was annoyed with me this morning because I didn't help her decide what we are going to eat the next few days. Basically I told her- get whatever you want. (I'll think about that tomorrow) Today I had my peanut butter sandwich for lunch and my chicken sandwich for dinner. I'm grateful that I actually had time to eat them and I'm grateful today is almost done. The bed is looking really good- then I'll get going again tomorrow with everything I didn't get to today :)
And I'll start thinking about the next few days and our trip next week. One day at a time :)

G17

This maybe more of a gripe than a gratitude. And it's a gripe about myself. I am annoyed with myself for having an impatient attitude toward a complete stranger in WalMart last night. I was in a check out line that was taking forever. There was a lady in front of me with her cart of groceries and her newspaper clipping of ads from other stores and her coupons. One of the policies of WalMart is to give you a lower price on an item if you bring in the ad showing the advertised price at another store. This lady (and her husband- who was in another check out line, doing the same thing) had carefully chosen items where they had an ad from another store for a lower price. So of course the clerk was carefully checking each ad and the item to be sure it was correct. Then on top of this the lady had her coupon pile- which the clerk also carefully scanned. At one point the lady had four coupons for four items, that she had already gotten a discount price on. So the computer did not like taking a "$1 off coupon" on an item the cost 95 cents. The lady, her husband, the clerk, and the manager took several minutes to solve this situation. The manager finally got the computer to honor the coupon. My second irritation, besides having to wait for all of these transactions, was the idea of a discount price and then a coupon for such things as 3 boxes of Trix cereal. I have always had a problem with coupons when they entice you to buy products that you normally would not buy, just because they are on sale. Who knows- maybe this lady really likes Trix cereal, but I have my doubts. So my biggest gripe is not even with this lady and her husband- they were just trying to save money. My gripe is with myself that I was so irritated with the situation and being very judgmental. I am grateful for repentance, so that I can ask forgiveness for my unChristlike attitude.

G16

I took a little time out today- sort of :) I don't watch very much TV any more. (No time for that.) When I heard that Sarah Palin was going to be on Oprah, I decided I wanted to watch that. So I made sure that I was home by 4:00. Of course I couldn't just sit down and only watch TV, I also had pictures that I needed to print out of the computer. So while I printed out those pictures I watched Oprah. So that was my little "break" for today. I don't know whether I'm more grateful for a time out or for the fact that I have plenty to do and hardly ever take a time out.

G15

Okay we've made half way, on this gratitude month. I already know that the week of Thanksgiving will be a tough week for blogging, since we will be traveling. It will be interesting to see how that works out. Thanks to the computer technology, I have several friends who I don't actually see very often, but I am influenced by their lives. I know their "ups and downs", I know somewhat of their dreams, I see pictures of their family, and I know of their everyday activities. For these women, I am grateful.

"You never know when someone

May catch a dream from you

You never know when a little word

Or something you may do

May open up the windows

Of a mind that seeks the light

The way you live may not matter at all,

But you never know- it might."

G14

After two people have been married for a long time...seems like they start thinking alike, acting alike, talking alike, looking alike (?). So, I think Ron and I have been married long enough that I can speak for him :) He is grateful that I take care of the house. And I am grateful that he takes care of the yard AND my car. Thanks!

G Friday the 13th

No bad luck today- the wedding dress that arrived 3 weeks late and I had to do "next day alterations" left this morning. The bride thought it was PERFECT. Not to boast or anything :) but the alterations that I do are good! The word "perfect" is alittle scary to use, unless it's the bride saying it :) It's been a long week and I am tired, but grateful.

G 12

I am grateful for miracles that happen at the store. I just cut 4 inches off of a wedding dress that was too long for a customer. I have that same style dress for another customer, that needs 4 inches added to her dress because it is too short. Now I have the fabric I needed for the dress that is short. Amazing :)

G November 11

Today, November 11, I am grateful for my brother that has a birthday today. I am grateful for his sense of humor, for his courage, for his tender heart, for his humility. He has come through some tough things in life, but has many blessings to count. He now has a Q to go with his G- always cute to see emails signed, " love GQ". We don't see each other very often, but he is one of those people putting his foot prints on my heart. Happy B Day! (and no, you didn't even get a card in the mail- sorry :(
But see you at Thanksgiving- can't wait :)

G10

The girls don't like it when I take pictures of decorations- I can see the eyes rolling already- because I'm taking pictures of the bathroom :) Upstairs at our house there are three bedrooms, a room that we use for a double office (half for me and half for Ron) and a small bathroom. With just Ron and I sharing the bathroom it is fine, but when we have company it's much too small. I guess I ended up decorating it with a specific theme- "miracles". Of course with very little wall space it didn't take much to have over kill on decorations. One says, "Miracles Believe in Them", one says, "Miracles Happen to Those Who Believe", and the third one just says, "Believe". When ever I'm feeling like the bathroom is much too small, I remind myself that it is indoor plumbing, it has great water pressure, it has just enough storage space for all my stuff and it cleans up well (everything is still in good condition). Then I am grateful. Ron calls it the "miracle room" because it's where I fix my hair and put on make up :)

G9

Even though today is my day off (the store is closed on Mondays)- I came to work at 7:30 this morning. I had a bride come in, shopping for a wedding dress in July. She picked out a style and we ordered the dress for her. It was supposed to arrive about the 3rd week of October. For some reason the shipment was delayed and we have been checking on this dress for the past 3 weeks. Finally it was sent to me "overnight" on Friday evening, which meant an early morning, on Monday delivery. I knew it would have to arrive by 10:30 am, but I wasn't sure how much earlier than that it might show up. So just to be safe, I showed up early. The dress did arrive- actually 2 of them. Since this is one of my most popular styles and we were alittle uncertain of the exact size we needed- I ordered both a size 6 and a size 8. So now when the bride comes in tomorrow, we can see which size works the best, make a few alterations (if needed), and everything will be ready. Oh....did I mention that the wedding is Nov.21? (It was originally scheduled for Dec. 5 and then got moved to Nov. 21) I am sooo grateful the dresses are here :)

Now I'm going to go home and clean my house- which is what my original plan for today was :)

Look Out

Look out world, Karen helped me discover a "photo shop" website. When I told Annie about that last week, she said, "It's all over, you'll get hooked on it". Any way... I tried it out on my Halloween "ghost box" pictures. They turned out pretty cute. Nothing fancy, just simple until I get the hang of things. I can hardly wait to see what cute Christmas stuff there is :)

Gratitude 8

We have a new schedule for church today, and a new building. Okay so it's not actually a "new" building, in fact it's an OLD building, but we meet in a different building as of today. Our schedule is now 1:00- 4:00. A couple of good things about that time is I don't have to set my alarm clock. And we can just have brunch and dinner now. (we can skip a meal :) I'm hoping things aren't too disarrayed having a new room for my nursery kids- I'm sure we will have a "get adjusted" time period. I told Ron that this will be a "whatever" day! Besides I have my bubbles and I'm taking a squeeze can of cheese and crackers- what more could we need? (Ron thinks the cheese will be everywhere, except on the crackers :)

Gratitude 7

So far, it looks like the yard man will have a spectacular day for yard work. (I say "so far" because it looks like the clouds are rolling in) But our weather here has been great for several days. Almost every Saturday is yard day for Ron. In the next few months he might be able to skip a day, but all the rest of the year, the grass needs to be mowed every week. He does a great job of weeding, mowing, edging, planting. It is usually a "whole day" job. Only on rare occasion, like when the bugs were out in force and the sprinkler system was on the blink, did our yard look less than perfect.

G6

79 degrees and sunny! It doesn't get any better than this. Now my only problem is that I was inside all day. But still, looking out the window at 79 degrees and sunny was pretty good, too. I am thankful.

G5

We had a dear friend that passed away 5 years ago... I am thankful for the knowledge that I have that death is not the end, but the beginning (or the continuation) of something much grander than life. Life is a test and some of us finish sooner than others, but all things are known to God. Even when things happen that we don't understand, His perspective is much greater than ours.

G4

Today was one of those days when I'm thankful for learning what "not" do.

G3

I am thankful for my store... I think :)
Even when I have to work late. (I'm still at the store) Even when I told the lady that wanted a David's Bridal color, to go buy the David's Bridal dress and I would make it modest for her. Even when the lady who wanted a denim wedding dress would have to settle for a satin dress with a denim sash. (I'll have to make the sash) Even when I told the lady that came in with a Vogue pattern that I would make the dress for her. Some how this store full of dresses did not work out very well today :) :) Oh well...we will see what tomorrow brings.

G2 (Gratitude #2)

The 2nd thing I am thankful for is called a "church family". All parents know that the kids grow up, leave home, get married and have a family of their own. That's how the plan works. Then the "empty nesters" are left to fend for themselves and worry about how the kids are doing. Ron and I worry a bit less than most parents, because we know that no matter how far away the kids are, they have a church family to help them when we can't. Our church family is world wide. Places like Bulgaria, Belgium, Finland, South Africa, Venezuela, and even (believe it or not) southern California, all have a church family there. No matter where our kids live, there will always be a church family for them. This past week that church family provided a "trunk or treat" activity for all of our kids and grand kids to have fun at :) On a more serious note, in Wylie, Stillwater, Pleasant Grove, Lehi, and Dublin there are bishops, relief society presidents, home teachers, visiting teachers, primary teachers and others that take good care of our children and grand children. Ron and I give thanks on a daily basis for those people.

Blog Stalkers

For all of the blog stalkers out there, like me...
I often go to one of our family blogs and then go through their links to look at other blogs. I have decided I ought to just add some more links to my own. So if I add your blog to my list and you don't want it there- just send me a comment. As I mentioned in my 1st "I am thankful for", I love seeing your posts and pictures- what amazing technology this is.

Gratitude Challenge

Annie has "tempted" :) everyone to do a daily post for November about being thankful. Other than the DAILY part- this will be easy for our family. We have tons of things to be thankful for and we each recognize that blessing. I have no doubt, this will spur some great posts for this month. I will try to have variety, as Annie suggested- some serious, some humorous, etc. For my number 1... this probably falls into a "worldly" category. I am thankful for blogs! I realize that the Internet can used for all sorts of motives, some not very nice- but the connections that blogs create is awesome. I suppose my bubble will get burst as soon as some thing bad happens with them, but until then, I will continue to enjoy them. I could hardly wait for today- I knew that the Halloween activities would just start popping up. And they did! I love the connection that we have with our children and friends. I love seeing pictures of all of the Bville kids having kids of their own. What a great window to the world- at least in my little part of the world.

Success!

The "trunk or treat" was a complete success- we came home without any candy!!! And to use one of Sam's favorite phrases, "I won". After seeing that Annie won 1st place for her chili, I decided I better "fess up"- I won 1st place for the trunk or treat decorating. I didn't even realize any one was judging that. I don't know whether they judged the chili or not. (Ron would have volunteered for that task :) The various games inside the church were fun. I just put my "picture ghost" in the foyer. I took 49 pictures. Now my project for this week is to get those printed and mailed out. (I may post a couple of those later.) Some times Ron and I talk about getting some other vehicle than a suburban, but I just can't let go...
I still need it for important stuff! :)

It's not too tough to decorate an already-scary-black suburban for Halloween. The pictures didn't turn out as well as the real thing, but you get the idea.

This is my prize for winning.

Gummy worm dessert.

Scary

Getting Old !?

Funny things happen as we age. I have realized a couple of things this week. I am sorry to say I maybe gravitating toward the ugly shoes and the knee high hose. :) I have known for some time that is a sure sign of middle age. And ... more serious than that, the thought of living any where that gets 2-3 feet of snow in a couple of days, is unthinkable! I guess we are staying here in Texas. After the recent rain, we might even have our "river front" property back. :)

Duck Tape, Cardboard, Xacto Knife

On Saturday evening we are having a Halloween activity at our church. It will be chili dinner, carnival type games, and "trunk or treat". ( I already posted the picture of the witch that I am using to decorate my suburban for the "trunk or treat") Last Sunday evening, I was telling Annie that I had a "picture" idea, but I didn't think I had time this week to work on it. I spent Monday afternoon, in the rain, shopping for some items. I was disappointed in the Halloween decorations that were available. The party store stuff was too gory. The discount store stuff was too lame. Hobby Lobby didn't have much left. They have moved on to Christmas already. I finally found something at Garden Ridge that would work. I was hoping for something alittle more creative, but with limited time and limited choices, this was the best I could do. (Again, I was disappointed in Garden Ridge- no more cute crafty items and decorations. They now have lots of furniture and tables full of clothing, books, etc. Kind of flea market style. At least Ron doesn't have to worry about me spending much money there now.)
Any way...
Here is my "picture" idea. Of course I had to try it out on Ron. I am planning to take pictures with my camera and then give them to the kids.
It is geared toward the little kids- remember I am a nursery teacher :)

No Fall Pictures

Everyone is posting great fall leaves, trees, and pumpkins. I'm feeling left out...I guess I need to hunt around for some colorful fall items to take pictures of. (I'm not sure that Houston is a great place for that.) Does it count if I go to Hobby Lobby and take pictures of the fall decorations and garlands? :) The only "fall" activity that we did last week, was go to the drive in movie on Friday night-- wrapped up in our jackets and a blanket!

Glenn, Rush, and I

I drove to Dallas yesterday listening to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and country legends. So I spent about 7 hours in the car yesterday and 6 hours in the car today. I went to a few fabric stores, Sam Moons, and the apparel market. I also went to visit a friend yesterday evening. I ordered a few dresses for the store and bought some "cash and carry" accessories, at the market. I stayed at Sam and Audrey's house, even though they are on a trip to Connecticut this week. My plan for coming back home was to decide whether I was "wired" or "tired". I decided I was "wired" so I drove back this evening, rather than spending tonight in a motel and driving back tomorrow. Came home this evening with Delilah- sappy love songs all the way home :)

Couldn't Resist

I just couldn't resist decorating my blog with Halloween stuff. Halloween is not my favorite holiday, except for the fact that the black, orange, and purple decorations look good with all of my black furniture. (Actually from the pictures that I posted, all you can see is my white walls and not my dark furniture.) Some people need some fancy, expensive "toys" to keep them happy- just give me a few little cheap, cute decorations, and I'm good :)
One Halloween tradition, that is popular in our church is called "Trunk Or Treat". We line our cars up around the church parking lot- with the trunk (or back of the car) toward the center of the lot. We decorate the trunk and/or the outside of the car, then the children walk from trunk to trunk and collect candy. It turns out to be a good alternative to walking from house to house collect candy. Since I have a big black, scary looking suburban, it works well for such things. This year I bought a new witch to use in decorating my burb. I'll take more pictures later, so you can see how it turns out.

That Will Teach Me...

to fess up about my blogging addiction. This past week has pretty much been a blogging desert. Okay, Annie and Mike/Carrie both threw me a few cute grandson pictures and WE threw me a clever spending chart and an update calendar, but besides that it has been a cold turkey week. Everyone is either too busy, or life is too boring to blog about :) I've had a couple of hints that life has been too busy. Which is okay, life gets that way. We (I know that I can speak for Ron too) are so grateful for the great connections and good relationships that we have with our children! We are so proud of their accomplishments. We love all of the "spouses"! We are also grateful for the employment that our children have that allows them to provide for their own families. Times are tough, but we have the reassurance that our children all love the Lord and have strong foundations of faith. As for what to blog about- I may have to run around and take pictures of my Halloween decorations to share. Wait a minute...I can see the girls all rolling their eyes- they hate it when I take picture of decorations :) Maybe I'll just have to figure out some clever "trunk or treat" decorations for my suburban and post those- the girls might let me get away with that :)

I Must Confess

It was a year ago, that I gave in to peer pressure and let my self get addicted. It was one of those things where I was trying to remain innocent. I was trying to not let myself get into a tempting situation. I was trying to stay away from undo pressure- but I didn't have the strength to withstand. Especially when the influence was coming from my own family. Little by little, I let myself get involved, and now I am hopelessly addicted. My first point of weakness also led others into the same addiction. Soon we had a whole network giving into experimentation.

I find myself needing my daily fix- sometimes even several times a day. I just can't break myself from the habit of logging in. It has become my life line to other people's business, every day gossip, even pictures, and videos. I usually end up with a grin on my face and a feeling of happiness. (Kind of a "rocky mountain high" only I 'm not in the mountains any more)

While most people celebrate anniversaries of addiction recovery- I'll celebrate anniversaries of addiction (with no chance of recovery).

Happy 1 year to "debnronILYLT" blogging. This was all Annie's fault :) Just keep those stories, pictures, and videos coming- I'm hooked!

The Calm After the Storm

Or is it supposed to be the calm "before" the storm? Anyway... this is the calm after the storm.
Did you ever take on a project? One that was a bit outside of your knowledge and comfort zone. One that you got started on okay, but then things just weren't working out quite right. So you put it aside and thought, I'll work on that later. Then when you got back to it, the problems were still there, making you frustrated. So you put it aside again, thinking tomorrow will be better. A few days later, and getting much closer to the deadline- let's tackle this thing again. Still can't quite figure out a solution. Okay, a few hours before the deadline- I've got to get this done. Help. Got some advice, then just go for it- time is a wasting.
Finally, it's finished. It's good. Whew.
That's where I was yesterday trying to get a jacket made and a dress hemmed. I know you are thinking, surely it wasn't that difficult. The jacket needed particular fitting issues fixed and the hem was a bubble- short in the front and tapering longer in the back. I know, some of you have no idea what I'm talking about :)
Anyway... it was done on time, it fit well, and it's gone! Today was the calm after the storm.
Usually when I get to this point, it's time to move on and get to the next item on the "to do list", but instead I find myself sitting :) Tomorrow, I'll get to the next thing.

The Essentials of Life

It's Wednesday and here is the update on my list of what I "need to do" and what I "want to do" for this week. I got one coat of paint on the wall at the store- it will need a second coat. I got some of the house cleaned- but not all. I finished the two jackets and the hem on the dress- basically

because I had to. I needed to get the first jacket in the mail on Tuesday afternoon. The second jacket and the dress needed to be ready by this afternoon. On my wants list- I finished my scrapbook project- everything else is on hold for a while. On Monday I had to add a couple more "needs" to my list, which is why my "wants" are still on hold. I forgot that I needed to go buy some essential items at Wal Mart...

photo splits, paper cutter blades, and glue dots!!

Oh, wait a minute, I meant cheerios, juice, milk, and eggs :) And of course on the way to Wal Mart, I got sidetracked at JoAnns (fabric for jackets), The HomeGoods store (a Halloween decoration), Michaels (just price checking on scrapbook stuff),and Target (a paint brush).

The essentials of life.

(Now if I could just get my desk cleaned off, I would be in good shape)

Oh Rats Part Four

Got him!

Oh wait a minute...that's not a rat!

That is an opossum!

Our Monday night activity was to drive 20 miles out in the country and let the opossum go. So now there is an opossum wandering around in a strange field, who can tell his friends he spent all day in a cage and then went for a ride in a car. :)

Needs and Wants

Today was a rainy, lazy Sunday. For one thing, our schedule today was a bit different than normal. We didn't have our usual 9 o'clock church, so we didn't get up until 9- amazing. We couldn't sleep any longer, we both had sore backs from laying down so long :) I guess it's one of those things that happens as you get older. As I am thinking about my week ahead- there are some things I need to do and some things I want to do. (Especially for tomorrow, since that is supposed to be my day off) I need to clean the house. I need to go paint a wall at the store. (We had a little remodeling issue there) I need to go make two jackets and hem a dress at the store. I want to finish a bunch of baby blankets that I started. I want to finish sewing a skirt for me, that I started. I want to spend a whole day scrap booking. I want to get out the Halloween decorations.(that one really needs to wait until after I clean the house :) So what will win out- my needs or my wants? Or will I spend too much time trying to decide what to do and get nothing done? Basically from Tuesday- Saturday, both my needs and my wants, will have to get worked in around my 11-5 schedule at the store. I'll let you know what I get done this week.
Here are a couple of cute pictures. They don't really go with this post--
just cute pictures :)

Papa and Owen

Ashley and Hailey