A Gift From A Stranger

Aw you just have to love this time of year, the kindness in the people is awesome and if only it would last year round!!!

Yesterday hubby and I were at the BX on the air base and I found a zune for Ashley. So while waiting in line to pay ( crazy price for a little bitty thing) this woman that was looking around saw what I was buying. She drags out this zip lock baggie full of coupons and says to me “I know I have something in here that you can use” I was like mmm is she talking to me??? Is she talking to herself ? heck I didn’t know. But the she says “Yes” with the excitement in her voice and hands me a $20 off coupon towards the zune I was buying. OH MY GOSH!!! I was shocked and so thankful, seriously I couldn’t thank her enough. No one has ever done that to me before and I was in shock for a second.

She told me she knows how much the zune is and just wanted to help because she could!! Let me tell you that jesture set my mood for the day. I was like on a “happy high” it was such a great feeling. She had me walking on air and thinking wow there is good in this world. A perfect stranger and look what she did for me. Tis the season of giving and she certainly did her part. That $20 off coupon felt more like a million to me because of her generosity towards a stranger. So with her coupon and the $100 in gift cards I have been hanging onto since Sept the zune cost me $79.99 so yeah good deal huh? That made for a nice trip to the BX that’s for sure.

I want to thank you all for your suggestions for Bryce , yep and Rachel the stamps and paper awesome!!!  Along with that, see it ripples, I will get an address book and fill it out plus pre address some envelopes for him.  A great gift for sure.  I knew I would get help on here !!!!  Phone cards another great suggestion cause he’s not allowed to bring his cell phone.  Money is good, but he’s only allowed to bring like $100 with him, dang they are strict huh?

So yep for me yesterday was an awesome day from the kindness of a stranger to all my blogging friends and your suggestions.  Wow life is good huh????

Shopping

Okay I have been shopping for Christmas since oh who knows, January actually. For once I was good and didn’t break down and give the kids the items I purchased way back then!!

So I went shopping again yesterday , hit a great sale at Kohl’s plus with mama, yep even got the senior citizen discount, yahoo. That alone was $24.85!!! I kicked butt in Kohl’s and Ashley is the one that scored on this shopping trip!!! Dang gotta love the sales and the clothes and it’s so much fun to look too.

Today I am off shopping one again, only this time to the air base BX. Hubby told me they have expanded that place big time and oh yeah I have to check it out.

Bryce is my problem child this year as fas as gifts go. He will be leaving for basic training Jan 8th and really can’t take anything with him, so what the heck do I put under that tree for him?? Everything I look at I think “nope he doesn’t need a fleece lined jacked in Texas and California.” “Nope he won’t need anything cause in basic the Air Force provided everything.” Dang it’s tough. A phone card, Border’s gift card and heck if I know what else. Do any of you have any suggestions?? He is 18, ( 19 Feb 11th) and really won’t need new clothes so what????!!!!!

Yeah I can normally come up with the “perfect gift” but seriously I am stumped with him. So I am just throwing it out there to all your intelligent bloggers cause I know you can give me some idea. No pressure just “tick tock” it’s not that far til Christmas!!!

After shopping yesterday I dragged out everything to sort by family, child, adult and ones in between and discovered I am pretty much set. A few items here and there and bam I can wrap, box up and ship out to everyone, yahoo. Of course I lost my diningroom table in the process. I think that hummer is under that mess of stuff somewhere and hope to find it soon. It did look pretty before the bags, boxes and paper took over.

I need to find it cause soon I will start my candy making and some baking. Not alot just enough cookies to add a few treats to the packages I will be shipping out. The granddaughters stockings to fill before mailing and a few goodies for the adults. This is just the fun time of year and I love it. But I am determined to be totally finished by Dec 15th so then I can just kick back and enjoy the exciting days before Christmas. No stress, the wrapping all done and just relaxation and enjoyment. My first year that will happen, tee hee IF it does. You know what they say about the best made plans!!!!!

Reading “Happy Working Mom’s” blog wow just amazing.  The true spirit of Christmas is showing through and it just makes me “warm all over” thinking of the generosity of people.  I love it.

K here’s a pic of the tunnel I made  for the village, it actually turned out, I am surprised!!!

Just Stuff!!!

The title always gets me, why do we need one anyway.  They need to revamp this part of the site and just take “TITLE” right out of there.  Yeah that’s how I feel!!! 

So Bryce now has his drivers license. His second attempt at the road test and he scored a 90.  I think the first time his nerves got the best of him, but he has it and YAHOO!!!  No more running to pick him up from work at midnight, no more running him here, there and everywhere, whew is all I can say.

Also for me “no more teaching a teen how to drive”  I mean I took my sisters 4 kids driving, taught my mom, my two kids and now the twins I am done.  My daughter told me I could teach Mikayla and Miranda when they got old enough.  My answer to her—No way cause they don’t make cars with enough “oh shit” handles to hold onto.  This ol ticker just can’t go through it again!!!!!  She keeps saying I will change my mind when the time comes, but news flash for her NOT!!!!!!!  I will be too flippin old by then and nope won’t do it.  I am totally done, did my deed and that’s it!!!

I do believe we have finally finished decorating in here and outside.  All day yesterday we worked on things, so today it’s put the totes away and tidy up.  Then it’s get busy on the Christmas cards.  I don’t mind doing them, but I also do mama’s for her, of course, so it’s double duty!!!!  I work on them for a few days so I don’t get writers cramp!!! 

Our weather is crap lately, so dang cold.  I don’t like it at all, dang gotta move south I guess.

A good thing happened and made us quite happy.  Last week we got our light bill.  You know how you all love getting that hummer in the mail huh?  Well I about fell over when I opened it.  $470  YIKES  We have lived here for 15 yrs and never ever had a light bill that high.  We got it on a Fri and all week end it was on my mind, I was afraid to turn a light on, dang!!!  Monday morning I called and asked them to check it out cause it just wasn’t right.  The girl pulled our account and even she agreed that was high.

Well guess what??? Yeah their error, they doubled it when they billed so $235 was what we owed, thank goodness.  See they do make mistakes and if you aren’t comfy with your bill call and have it checked out.   We paid that in a hurry before they changed their mind, haha.

Way to go Helio on Dancing With the Stars!!!!!  Yep I had him dubbed as the winner way back!!!!  But dang now the show is over , that’s a bummer.  I have so many Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies taped, I am sure we will be watching those on Mon and Tues nights from now on.  I have so much taped I doubt we will get to watch them all, but hey they are there when nothing else is on the boob tube at night.

But watching a movie on Mon I will have to DVR  Samantha Who, dang I love that show too.  What would we do with out  tv huh???   Playing catch up on all the shows I dvr is fun, but around here 10pm tv off and the  wii on.  Yep hubby and I still bowl every single night.  Even last night after Dancing With the Stars, 11pm on goes the wii.  Not sure if I posted but I bought us a wii and now Bryce has his back in his room.  He was very good about letting us use it but I was at WalMart one morning and saw it sitting there.  It was calling my name and I answered the call.  Bryce will be taking his in March and knowing how hard they are to find, I grabbed it.  It was neat having two over Thanksgiving.  We had one hooked to the big screen and they all played Guitar Hero 3, while in here they all bowled, danced, sang etc so everyone had fun.  I even sang karoke to High School Musical and some other one.  Yeah I totally sucked at it, but hey it’s all in fun.   Imagine my age playing all those games, who would have known!!!!!

Ashley’s first college band concert on Friday night and I am looking forward to that.  I love to hear all the kids play and with it being a Christmas concert, that will get me in full gear to get busy and get everything bought, made, wrapped, boxed up and shipped out before  the 10th of Dec.  That’s the date I set for myself to have all pkgs on the way to everyone’s tree.  Yeah I can do it, I know I can!!!!  Just stay away from my computer during the day and I will get alot accomplished!!!!  But early mornings and evenings I gotta be on here reading the blogs.   That is a must for me, hate to miss one day of reading!!!

So my time is up, I am out of here and ready to start writing out Christmas cards, see soon I can check those off my list, yahoo!!!

Projects

Have you ever had projects lined up and then realize you are in a time crunch, yet take on a few more???  Yeah that’s me but I keep telling myself I will get it all done, now that Thanksgiving is over with.

I have shopping, wrapping, decorating, sewing, blankets to make, knitting to finish and yet yesterday I spent ALL afternoon trying paper mache. ( mmm I think there’s an i in there somewhere, but you know what I mean.)  I made a tunnel for the train that runs through the Christmas village display.  I checked the stores and no tunnels to be found.  Each year Ashley has been using cardboard boxes but I got tired of it sagging and having to fix it up.  Sooooooooooo I thought heck it will take a few minutes and I can make one.

Few minutes yeah right, try few HOURS!!!  Of course I have never done the paper mache thing, I had no chicken wire for the base, so cut up some coat hangers, used playdough to stand that up and proceeded  to make one hellacious mess.  That didn’t work so tried stuffing newspaper to hold it, nope and finally wised up and used foil.  That worked, so I could get the gooey paper on it, then shape it.  And do I do just a straight tunnel?  No of course not, that would be too easy.  I made it cure like the track does, so that was fun.  But now it’s drying, hasn’t collapsed overnight and hopefully later today I can finish it up.  I will put the white snow on it and make it look half way decent.

After that I did a little knitting but that was it. It’s okay I know I have time.  So I listed my projects and then told my niece I would be glad to sew up three pair of pj’s for her boys and have that ready to put in her Christmas pkg when I mail it.  It can all be done, no stress and it will be done right the first time.  Yeah I sew, but the lil ol seam ripper is my best buddy, but this time I don’t have time to play that game!!!!

I figure the pj’s will take an afternoon and they will be done, the two blankets another afternoon,  the wrapping a morning project and shopping , well whenever hahaha.   What is it they say ??? Tis the season to be “busy”, wait not right, it’s tis the season to be jolly!!!  Yeah I am cause this is my favorite time of year and it’s great.

Baking will be tossed in between.  What do you all bake?  I do cookies, gingerbread men, colored popcorn, chocolate covered cherries, fudge, peanut brittle and sometimes I make my own mints.  If I am extra generous I also make and decorate a Santa and a Rudolph cake for hubbies work party.

Our cookie day is easy, I bake the cookies and the rest decorate them.  Mama is so cute, she has more sprinkles on the counter than the cookie but that’s okay, she tries. She also samples alot too and that’s the fun part of it all.  We crank up the Christmas music and make an afternoon of cookie making, I love it and look forward to it each year.

I love the holidays and I love the challenge of getting all my projects done and yep even taking on a few more, it’s soooooooooooooo much fun!!!  Fa la la la, la la la!!!!!

The House is Quiet and I Don’t Like It!!

I took my daughter and family to the airport this morning and now here I sit.  Hubby and Bryce at work, mama and Ashley sleeping and this place is just too darn quiet for me.  I so love having everyone here ( of course always wishing our son was here also, but he has called everyday).  Love knowing that Miranda would be out wanting her chocolate milk and cartoons and Mikayla would be waiting for Ashley to do her hair, or she would be sitting here visiting with me.  Our special time in the mornings, me and the two girls.  Then one by one others would get up and soon the house was  alive with tons of family and fun.  Our antics, the laughs, the mess, the decorating, the eating eating eating and shopping shopping shopping, awwwwwwwwwwwww I want it all back!!!!!

Needless to say we all had a great time over the holiday weekend. Thanksgiving day was just awesome and yep we got 18 people around the table.  We cheated put two tables together but it worked.  Everyone kept eating and busy.  Both Wii systems were going plus music and lots of visiting.  What a day I so didn’t want it to end.
Plenty of things to keep up going and sleep was just not an option!!!!  Thanksgiving night I slept one hour, then at 3am off we went to join in the black Friday mess.  It’s crazy but tons of fun. My daughter and I kept running back to the stores through out the day, so no naps.

After supper all the Christmas decorations came out and trust me we have tons.  Hubby backs his truck up to the shed we store them in and loads up, several times.  The house a total mess, like  a cyclone hit it but it’s great.  Watching the girls go through everything and the excitement is very contagious.

To bed at 1am  and back up by 5am.  Hanging out having coffee then we headed to a few more stores.  Back home to continue the decorating and lots of “tweaking” to do after hubby got happy and made the room look busy instead of nice.  He tries but hahaha I keep telling him “less is more”  We so don’t have to use every single thing we have!!!

Once the other living room was completed it was time to watch the movie Santa Clause 3 which by the way I thought was great!!!  Time to pack up and then of course our bowling.  Yeah we still managed to bowl every night.

I stayed up til 1:30 and to up at 3am to get them to the airport.  Once home I was going to sleep, not happening, no buses running so I had to take Bryce to work.  Got back home hit the  couch, the phone wakes me after or twenty minutes or so, my son.  We gabbed for well over an hour so I figure what the heck, I will sleep tonight.  Soon it will be time to  get mama up and then our day will sadly be back to normal.  No little ones around, no daughter and son in law here UGH!!!!!  I so miss them when they leave, it’s hard.

But I still consider myself the luckiest person on earth.  My lil house of mis-fits is perfect the way it is. We have all we could ever want and the twins are still here so the quiet certainly won’t last long, I know that!!!  Thank God for them and mama, other wise hubby and I would just sit and do nothing all the time, that’s not the life for me.  I will take this crazy ol place any time, take the good, the bad and the ugly and as long as I have it hey life is great!!!!!

So now it’s back to the routine and full steam ahead to Christmas, yep my favorite time of year, love the craziness of it all but especially all the good that comes out in people.  Friendly smiles, the hello’s and the up beat of it all, so why can’t this last all year I wonder???  It does for me thanks to all my blogging friends, see we can just “pay it forward” right??  Like a chain reaction because I know smiles are contagious just like the laughter is.  Yeah I know I am a dreamer, huh?  But hey if you believe it will happen!!!  That’s my motto and for the most part it works.  When it doesn’t I know it wasn’t meant to be!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Also let you know how much I appreciate you and I do give thanks for this blogging world.

Enjoy your families, the good food, and most of all don’t forget all the service men and women that will be spending the holidays in a war fighting for us.  We all have so much to be thankful for and tomorrow is the time to reflect on that.

Me I have my family, and yes my daughter, son in law and two beautiful granddaughters arrived safe and sound.

I have my friends , so much to be thankful for that I feel there’s nothing else in this world I could possible need or want.  I see the homeless, the disabled, the sick, the soldiers and my heart breaks.  Oh to help one family would mean so much.

Also a new addition to this blog; we did it again!!!  Yeah Ashley’s friend got kicked out of her house, apparently had a fight  with her mom and yep you guessed it, she landed here.  We just add more “water to the soup” toss in yet another pillow and hey she is warm and safe.  I told her I don’t want to come between her and her mom, but also will not let her sleep on the street and risk the chances out there.  So yep, add one more, for now, to this house of misfits.

Have a wonderful day, enjoy all you have and give all your loved ones extra hugs and kisses.  Eat til you can’t eat anymore then just kick back and “think” of all you have!!!

Over the river and through the woods

That song reminds me of the good ol days when we would drive from Moira, NY to Saranac Lake, NY to go to my mom’s for Thanksgiving dinner with the family.  I was thinking of that this morning while planning my dinner for Thursday and making sure I have everything.

I used to love to say to my kids “we are going to Grandma’s” and then they would get so darn excited and just count the days.  Amazing I remember it like it was yesterday and can almost hear their shouts of joy, and see the excitement on their faces.  It made the holiday so special and oh to walk into mama’s house, I loved it!!!

So fast forward many many many years and every morning I get a phone call from my lil granddaughter Miranda.  She tells me how many days are left before she comes to Grandma’s house.  The excitement in her voice is priceless and it just makes my heart swell with the love and anticipation of seeing them.

I have come to the conclusion that I truly enjoy being the Grandma and knowing the girls are so excited each time they come to visit, but Thanksgiving is the best for them.  They know right after we get all the Christmas decorations out and they love it.  Now who has more decorations than Grandma’s right?  Watching them and yes even my daughter is just perfect and puts the ol holiday spirit in me.  The twins always join in too and we all have a great time.  Can anyone get any luckier than me???  The way I feel I don’t think so.  Having my 4 grandchildren here all at once, wow it’s just perfect, and the best is knowing they actually WANT to be here.  The girls look forward to it and Bryce and Ashley seem very happy and content living with us, so yep I am one lucky ol Granny that’s for sure.

Just had to share my feeling this morning.  I am getting excited to have everyone here and to get this dinner going!!!!  Nothing like wishing the time away is there?  But then when they are here I want time to stop and want them to stay forever.  See I am one odd person, but you all can’t say I didn’t warn you, now can you???

Seven random things about me

I was tagged by L.ucky Gem

1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Oh geeze 7 random or weird things huh? Okay here I go.

1. I only eat one thing at a time on my plate always in this order; vegetables, then I go to the potatoes, and the meat is always last. I can’t stand to have the food to touch either.

2. I cannot stand water in my sink!!! That just drives me nuts. When you have finished getting or running water, dry the sink, no water drops please.

3. I will re-fold every towel if someone else folds them, and when they are placed in the linen closet, they have to be colorized and sized.

4 Before I get in bed I take a long time getting the wrinkles out of the sheets, and have to place each pillow just right. If hubby made the bed and the blanket or sheet isn’t “just right” I will re-do it before I get in bed.

5. I despise critters of any kind, they just scare the daylights out of me.

6. I smoke ( yeah I know I am bad) but I cannot stand to have more that 2 cig butts in the ashtray, also I only have one ashtray in the house and only smoke at the counter or in the living room.

7. I am very picky and will level and re level anything that hubby has done and if it’s off even by a fraction, it has to be re-done. I like perfection and strive for it, but mmm know I can never achieve it, but it’s a good goal.

Now I am supposed to tag and I know most of you have all ready been tagged, but oopsie sorry my blogging world is small!!!

Kelly from Just an Ordinary Day

Kellie from My little corner of life

Rachael from Crazy is as Crazy Does

Bethany from Ice Cream Mama

Jana from Lucky Gem

Debbie from Happy working mom

So if you all read this you will know you have been tagged.   See another random fact about me, haha I don’t follow directions too well, I am not notifying you individual on your blog,  bad aren’t I? 

The Holidays

Well reading the blogs I do, alot have discussed Christmas and that got me thinking about the upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is my favorite time of year and I so get into both.  I just thrive on having a houseful for our Thanksgiving meal cause it gives me the chance to go all out.  I bake from scratch like 2 pumpkin pies, a mince meat pie, apple pie, lemon merignue pie, and this year adding pecan pie for my son in law, per his request.  I also make cherry cheesecakes, egg nog punch, have the pepperoni, cheese and cracker tray, peanuts and mints around, then the dinner.  It is so much fun I absolutely love when we all sit down, the little ones say grace then it’s just enjoy.  The peace and harmony that wash away any bad we faced during the year is sometimes over whelming to me too.  Do you ever get so happy that you just want to cry tears of joy?  That’s me when all is done and the table is full of smiling faces, such peace is wonderful.

Then Christmas oh yeah we go all out around here. Decorate inside and out and try to turn the house into Candy Cane Lane hahaha.  Lights all over, snow sprayed on the windows and doors, everything Christmas.  The peace and the true spirit just flow from everyone.  Christmas Eve when it’s just hubby and I  we sit and just listen to Christmas music, have the fire going and watch the tree lights twinkle and discuss how fortunate we really are, no matter what obstacles we faced during the year.   I love the giving rather than receiving.  Also love going out and seeing everyone in the friendly holiday mood, dang why can’t that last all year????

A footnote completely off the holidays, I received my Garth Brooks cd I ordered through the Susan G Korman foundation and it’s awesome.  It’s only $15 and you get 2 cd’s and one dvd and it’s all Garth’s older songs you know the good ol days with Garth Brooks.  He give a percentage of all the sales to the breast cancer society and if you are interested go to the Susan G Korman website to order, I know you won’t be sorry.  A great deal for a wonderful cause.

Just Writing

So it’s frosty as heck here this morning and haha four cars sitting in the yard and not one ice scraper between us!!!  I know a credit card works great for me, but will break down and get some cheapy scrapers for morning like this.  In our county it’s against the law to let your car run if you aren’t in it, yep even in your own driveway.  Way too many car thief’s out there so actually it’s for our own good.  Funny though as I am typing the law etc, Ashley just ran out to start her car.  MMMM uh oh don’t tell the cops, k?

This morning will be having Bryce drive down to Puyallup to locate the DMV office and to get the feel of driving in that area.  When he made his road test appt in our DMV office the first available was Dec 3rd.  Nope can’t wait that long, us driving him to the mall each day to work and heading back to pick him up is nuts.  So managed to get an appt for tomorrow at the Puyallup office.  I have never been there so it’s a hunting trip this morning!!!!

Yesterday my drs appt was okay.  I dreaded it so much but it’s over now and I am good for another year.  Had another blood test just to double check on my thyroid which I was glad of.  The doctor said sometimes the blood work comes back “funky” her words not mine, so she always asks for a second test.  I know once you start thyroid meds you have to be on them for life, so I am glad she is cautious.

Did a little more Christmas shopping at the PX and then home.  Hubby got back to work as he made a huge mess before we headed out.  He got the big yank to switch out freezers and that just causes tons of work.  Clean first , empty freezers, switch them out, move them here there and everywhere to find the right spot, then clean some more.  So the computer room and the garage both in a disarray!!! Ugh.  But his idea was a good one.  Put the upright freezer in the house, and the chest freezer in the garage.  I hated standing on my head checking in the chest freezer for things.  Now it will be so much easier and I can actually see what we have and don’t have.   Also we get to clean some more yipee!!!  NOT!!! 

So that’s about it for now, maybe today will be more exciting who knows.  I don’t want excitement trust me there.  I like our days as routine and normal as they can be.  What with a 90 yr old and two 18 yr olds, normal is great!!!