I AM Smiling!!!!!

Whish! The days are just running by--at warp speed. Don't you feel it too??? It's November 8 & Kari @ Just Livin Large, keeps reminding us how many days til Christmas and I AM NOT READY!!!

Anyone watch the CMT awards last night? I really like this music, and have just figured out why---the country music of today reminds me of the "southern rock" of the 70's--well, sweet home Alabama---I'm right at home with this. And those guys are soooo cute---not that I'm paying too much attention!! But that Brad Paisley and John Rich can get my attention! Love those songs--Somewhere Between Raisin Hell & Amazing Grace. Now that sounds like a song I live to.

Not too much happening around here today--and that can be a good thing. Shopping with sis & daughter on Saturday; birthday dinner for dad, sis and son in law Saturday evening. Then Sunday--Hafli Dinner. A local church, St Anthony's Greek Orthodox, hosts a Lebanese dinner at this time each year and it is YUMMY!!! Cabbage rolls, tabouli, baklava, and other things I can't spell.

Tomorrow is payday---yea!!! I'l have a dollar's worth of change again!!! Means I shouldn't call in sick--I really wanted to cause I'm so behind at home, but on PAYDAY????? No way!

Tonight is "put away things" night. All the Halloween decor is sitting in the middle of the dining room table. Folded clothes are also there and in a chair next to the table. Magazines strewn hither and yon!!! Shoes, shoes, shoes, just the two of us at home, but shoes, shoes, shoes in every room--how did that happen???

Gotta run--just saw the time & it's time for the shower ---"wash away my troubles, wash away my pain, with the rain of Shambala" Who remembers that song?????

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!!

Ahh--this is the street in my town; this is where I shop and meet all my friends during the holiday season; this is where we go for hot cocoa and gingerbread---NOT! But isn't it dreamy??? And wouldn't it be great if this were our town???

I actually received the first gift that I ordered online in the mail today--Fisher Price!!! There is nothing so fun as shopping through magazines and toy store fliers!!! Remember the wonder as you shopped for your want list? I remember we always got the Spiegel and Penny's Christmas catalouges in the mail. My brother and sister and I would spend hours purusing the pages, listing item after item we wanted from Santa. Didn't matter one iota if we got something on the list or not. Christmas was always wonderful--

Does anyone else remember Otasco's Christmas television ads? The ones I refer to were on in the mid-60's and featured a little elf named (I think) Tom??? I loved the commercials for toys!!! I also loved (and still do) all the Christmas specials on TV. Remember the King Family Christmas??? Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra combining families for a Christmas singfest??? Charlie Brown's Christmas, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas??? All the cartoon versions--weren't they the best??? After my kids grew up, I used to watch them ALONE--but now!!! Now I have Hank to watch them with. And to teach about Christmas lists!!! The wonder has been rejuvinated!!!

I still hang stockings for my kids--as long as you believe~~~ And I don't care one bit if it reeks of secularism. As strong a Christian as I am, as spiritual as I am, I LOVE SANTA and all the other fantasy people of Christmas---And all of the excitement surrounding the holiday.

I was in Hallmark Sunday and there were ornaments replicating "A Christmas Story"--you know the one "You'll shoot your eye out"! So, my son in law (who loves that movie) is getting the "leg lamp"ornament--it's foreign--from Fragile!!! Oh I love this time of year.

One of my favorite things is to find special gifts that represent what someone likes and play to that. Things someone else might over look. All year long I make lists of what my family & friends mention they like, what their interest are, etc. It's quite the game with me.

Well, enough about that.

I hope all of you are approaching this season not with dread, but with the enthusiasim of childhood. Slow down and make cookies--drink hot cocoa. What gets done, gets done. What can be attended, so be it. Just slow down and enjoy!!!

Happy Days Ahead!!!

The Dwarfs Arrived!!!!!

Wow! This picture came through from a co-worker via email!!! I'm so smart--I figured how to save & send it!!!!

Anyhoo--there we are--the 7 dwarfs! Ok, so the costumes aren't the most creative in the world, but we only decided to do this a week before Halloween. Don't know if you can tell, but the tree on the wall has branches that hang from the ceiling!!! I'm the one kneeling in green--yes, Dopey!!! How appropriate!!!

We have tons of fun at work, we all get along wonderfully, and we all add our own character to the day. There are also 2 men (the bosses) who we allow to work with us!! I'm sure they feel intimated----NOT!

So, I just wanted to share this pic with all of you. Good Night!

So, This Is How It Is!

This was supper--banana & peanut butter sandwich. I was sitting here thinking (dangerous), back (way, way, way, way back), when hubby & I were engaged. I remember thinking that life would be perfect. I would always fix dinner; the house would always be clean; the kids would do whatever we wanted; we wouldn't age; we wouldn't ________

And now, it's banana & peanut butter sandwiches! And dear hubby is at he local football game, where he runs the time clock at home games. The house is a mess--no really, A MESS! And the kids, well, they are at an age that we don't know what they do!! But, they didn't always do exactly what we wanted. Still don't!! Didn't want Ashley taking my grandson & moving. Didn't want Alex to have to suffer through divorce. Didn't want them to grow up--but they did!!

We actually did age! A friend & I were visiting at a high school graduation reception when we looked over and noticed our husbands in conversation. Our husbands grew up here, graduated together, and were considered "hotties" in the day. They are now both paunchy, balding, harder of hearing, and not too keen on staying up past 9 pm. I laughed and said, "Think we should warn the graduating gals that this is what happens to the hotties?"!!!! We had a good laugh at that. Boy, how did we know that time would go by so quickly?! And yet, when I think back on how much we've said & done, how many we've known & said goodbye to, how much we've worked & stayed at the same place-----time went quickly slow!

Enough contemplating that. Darn that banana & peanut butter sandwich!! I don't know what it contains that took me back. Maybe it's the fall season.

On to better & more uplifting things. I got a call today from the convention center in a local community (of 30,000, so not a massive center). The gal who is in charge of the facility reservations knew of my catering (??), and took my information to pass on to a church that is booking an event in April. She said she would probably be calling me alot---hmmm. I'm not getting my hopes up til the deposits come in, have had things fall through, down & out before, but still---it's promising. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Maybe I'll be able to take this catering thing to the next level before I qualify for social security!!!

Well, Reba is on TV--I love, LOVE those reruns. So, I'm going to say good night you all. Bye Bye. Sleep well.

Goblins, Ghosts & Ballerinas, Oh My!

These are Hank's "downtown" pictures. "Minnie" is a 2 year old who lives next door to my in-laws & plays with Hank when he's there. They also attend church with us, so we know them quite well!

Now, I know this doesn't look like the hat a pumpkin costume would have and it's not! Hank wanted to wear my "dwarf" hat so badly that I made him one to wear with his costume!!! He had a BLAST!!! He thought this was the biggest, best party he had ever been to! And he tasted his first sucker. He gave us a look that said "why have you all kept this secret for so long????".

Remember I told you about the office we were decorating & that we were the 7 dwarfs???? Well, the pictures taken with my camera were blurry, so I'm depending on a co-worker to email me hers so I can post them. We had alot of fun. As the afternoon wore on, one of the gals came up with our "hooker" names. It was too funny!!! Hope you all had a fun Halloween.
















Our office is attached to a bank, actually we rent space from the bank, and each year these people go NUTS decorating & dressing up!! Their theme this year was "60's --Groovy!" They all dressed in 60's "hippie" attire, they had this psychadelic bus, and they even had one of the offices as a "black room" with incense burning, blacklight posters and lava lights. It was really cool!!
















These are ghost brownies I made for the office on Halloween. Wish I could say I had this brilliant idea, but Penny shared this with me. So cute!! They were a hit! We all brought food (any reason to eat!), had a baked potato bar, dip & chips, and sweets!! Yummy!

And They Played & Played!

These are Hank's private stock of pumpkins!! We went outside and he carried them around all over the yard, lined them up on every flat surface he could find, and showed them to the neighbor cat--who, I'm certain, was thoroughly impressed. So much so that the cat ran (RAN) home. Could be that Hank tried to let the cat hold them!!!













These are the last of the gerbera daisies that are out in the flower bed. This week has been quite warm, but I doubt if that will last, and good-bye flowers. This is the first year I've had these & I just love them. Anyone know much about them? If so, do tell. Are they perennial? I guess I could look this up online, but it's nice to hear from you guys & I'd like to hear your experiences with them.

















I stayed home from work today! Hank didn't feel well yesterday, so to be on the safe side, I kept him today. What fun!! He actually felt really good!! Ha ha ha

It amazes me that he has matured so much in 1o days!! One really does forget quickly what children do!! He's now interacting constantly, jabbering non-stop and playing reasoning games with me. He's a real lover & boy, am I enjoying that!!! He & his mom are spending the night tonight so they can be here for Halloween. Our town has a "goblin parade" and feeds all the kids hot dogs. The churches have begun "Trunk or Treat" and, lucky me, our church sits right on Main Street at the very end of the parade route!!! I'm making hamburger stew & cornbread for all the members who are participating in the "Trunk or Treat". And the church will give out hot cocoa.

Anyway, Hank, along with his mom & dad, will be spending the Halloween evening with us!!! Other grandmother doesn't really "get into" holidays and all the traditions we practice in our family. Works for me!!! Not only do I get to be the "spoiler" grandma, I get to be the holiday one too!!! Have already purchased all the holiday sets Fisher Price has & they sit on Hank's little table in the living room. It'll always be a holiday when he's here!!!

I'll be taking pictures of the gals at the office tomorrow--remember, we're the 7 dwarfs (or dorks!!). We put up our "forest tree" yesterday, and today they are supposed to be painting the boulders on the entrance to "mine" (another office!). The boss came out yesterday while we were transforming the office--I think he considers us all nuts!!! We told him that, as all the dwarfs were taken, he could be Snow White!!! Don't think that's going to happen--after all, he is a former football/baseball coach!!!

Hope you all have a fun, safe, and exciting Halloween. Then Thursday--it's the race to Turkey Day!!!

Well, I Meant To!!!!

Got through the rehearsal dinner on Friday night--I meant to take pictures of the display to show here & to use in a flier--notice the "meant to"!!!

We got there and people had arrived wanting hors d'oevuers!!! So we had to set up in a hurry!!! We sat out the guacamole, salsa, white queso along with tortillas & chips, and the drinks, and it looked like a convention of locusts!!! BUZZ they devoured the food!!!

But that gave us time to set up the dinner without anyone hovering over---and it was a hit!!! I always make my own salad dressing (unless different is requested), and had lots of good comments on it. In fact, one of the guests begged for the recipe. She even offered to PAY for it!!! hee hee I didn't make her, I just glady obliged!!! But the guests loved all of the food, and a few even asked for business cards, so I consider that an over-the-top success. Especially since it was in the higher end area of the city!!!

Funny part was, the host made margaritas, and as the night wore on, I don't think some even knew what they were eating!!!

I did see my ex daughter in law. It was quite civil--even friendly. We spoke, talked a bit & I gave her a hug--want her to know what she is giving up !! She made a point of telling me good bye, and I could see she was hurt. I don't know what issues she is dealing with in her life, but I am keeping her in my prayers. She obviously doesn't know what she wants, or which path to take in life. She really needs to get into a church based group for support and help. Enough of this!!

Halloween is around the corner, and as I LOVE HALLOWEEN, I can't wait. Baby doll Hank is coming for the evening, the church is having Trunk or Treat, and I am preparing hamburger stew for the workers. Hank is too young to go treating, so he'll dress up and hang out with me. Can't wait!!! We can see all the goblins together.

Gotta go to the real job, in the real world so have a great day & I'll be back!!!