Feel Like Complaining

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!   I had mentioned earlier that my Mom was going to give away some of her stuff for our presents this year. She orchestrated it perfectly and put so much thought into it. To my nephew (her Grandson) she gave an old but real hand grenade that was my Step-Dads. Robert remembers exactly where Marley kept it and always looked at it. His Mother had fits every time he touched it so of course he loved that he could have it now! She also gave him a piece of carved soap (a dog) that she had done years ago. I really didn't remember it but he sure did. To his wife she gave a Samsonite brand large buckling strap. Jessie didn't really get it but she rides bikes as her mode of transportation and Mom said she's 'always strapping something down!' She's got quite the sense of humor :-) To my younger brother she gave back a sundial that he had given her 15 years ago. Of course he didn't remember it at all, which lead to more fun. She also gave ...

Some of the fun things I made this year for Christmas gifts. First I made a bunch of hand warmers. I found the instructions online and got busy. I gave out a lot but still have a lot left. I do tend to get carried away with my crafts some time so if anyone wants a pair just let me know, I'll send you some. Really! I also made some dessert stands/candle holders/or whatever you want to do with them. It's so easy, get a vase and a plate and glue them together. First I made these 4 for both brothers and their wives, my Mom, and I'm keeping one. I also made another one for my neighbor (yes, that neighbor) but didn't get a picture of it. She really liked it though :-) Then I found these two identical plates with a vase that matched my other one. So I cut them apart and matched up the identical plates and vases and filled the vases with old fashioned Christmas light bulbs. I really liked how they turned out. These I'm keeping too, for awhile anyway. This ...

Hubby's car is fixed, for now. It was a seal on the fuel pump. The pump was new but the seal must have been bad. So he is now driving his own car for work. He gets his own company gas card to keep his tank full and may even be paid for mileage, which they never have done before. One of the next things on the list is to take off the horrid tinting on the windows that is bubbling. It's so hard to see out of the windows and I don't feel real safe driving it that way. We went to the annual instrumental Holiday concert at the school last week. My friend MaryLou went with us. She's done with her 4 chemo treatments and won't start radiation until after the first of the year so she felt up to going. It was a great concert and they also sold raffle tickets for different themed baskets. We each spent 10 bucks on tickets and not one was a winner. Then a few days later we went to a play at her Church. It was just daughter and I that attended both events. Hubby has had to leav...

This college stuff is all too consuming. I have been eating, sleeping, and pooping it for weeks. We're coming along though, she's applied to 4 colleges in all, and 3 of them are very close. Then there's the submitting of  transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, and letters of recomendations. We met with our financial guy in person, he's pretty nice I guess, but still a little out of touch with us peons. Now we're gathering more info so they can prepare our financial aid application for us. A fun way to spend the weekend. Hubby bought a new car, a  '99 Pontiac Gran Prix, about a month ago. I think it's been in the shop for 3 out of the 4 weeks. It had a lot of work done on it before he bought it but he's had to have a leak fixed which was causing the inside windows to steam up bad, more than just your usual condensation. He's also having a hard time figuring out what's causing the check engine light to come on after filling the gas tank. It has something...

~~~Today is a repeat from last year. Mostly because I'm lazy, but I also like it. Happy Holidays to everyone, see you soon!! Every year when we dig the tree out of the basement, we face the daunting task of putting the tree together and putting the lights on. This part doesn’t thrill me too much but open the boxes of ornaments and I’m all there. Memories you haven’t thought about all year come rushing back. Every ornament has a story. A box of cheapo ornaments my husband and I bought when we were just starting out. They were mostly Victorian style and the entire set was $2.99 at Payless Drug Store. We still use them though because they are a part of our history. Then when our daughter came along we got many ‘Baby’s 1st Christmas’, ‘Baby’s 2nd Christmas’ and so on. Those will go with her when she leaves us. The most precious ones to me are the carousels that my grandma made. She used to tat, something you don’t hear of much anymore. She tatted two small pieces and...

No----not my husband! proud grandpa My husband and I finally got to meet his first born son's first born son over Christmas. That was the only gift I wanted this year. Before the baby came along, visits were very brief and more time was usually spent with my husband's ex and my stepson's wife's family. But while were on the phone discussing logistics and meals before they even got to town, I gently brought up that fact and that we often felt like we got the short end of the stick.   hanging on my every word  They only had 9 days to spend time with so many people but they really made an effort to fit everyone in. We saw them for a few hours on Christmas morning for brunch at my other stepson's place. Little Tyler is pretty content to be passed around to total strangers. He's quick to smile and has the most beautiful blue eyes. But being a typical 5 month old, he got tired, hungry, and cranky quickly.  Then they stopped by...

My husband and I haven't bought Christmas gifts for each other since our daughter was born. For the past 15 years we just concentrated on her and other family members. Besides, if there is anything we want, we just go buy it. Last year we did get a few things for each other but it was well discussed before hand so we were both on the same page. I pretty much had to tell my daughter what I wanted and then her and her Dad went shopping. How can I put this without sounding ungrateful; his gift giving skills suck. He claims he doesn't know what I like. We've been married for 27 years, if he doesn't know me by now he never will. And buying clothes for me always turned out badly and involved me in taking them back to the store to get what I want. So imagine my surprise when I get home this afternoon and although it took me awhile to notice, I saw 3 new packages under the tree that were not there this morning. They all said: To Kden from Santa. WTH??? I called him and as...

One size fits 'most'

I was listening to the news this morning and they were talking about a couple of women who are camping out at a Best Buy in St. Petersburg, Florida a full nine days ahead of Black Friday? They trade shifts with other family members to keep their 'first in line' status. They're really not even sure what they're going to buy, except maybe some new speakers for their wide screen TV they bought last year. They're laying around in shorts, well because it's Florida. I guarantee that if they lived here they wouldn't even try it. We're expecting 12 below as a low tomorrow night. I just don't get it. I've never understood the insanity of Black Friday shopping. Why would one purposely subject themselves to crushing crowds and being stampeded by crazy people looking for that great bargain which probably isn't that much of a bargain anyway? The closest I ever came to one was last year when I bought my computer. It was a pre-Black Friday sale and not v...

For the first time ever I'm not bummed that we're not going to have a white Christmas. My daughter is not happy about it but she's not the one that was out shoveling last winter until her heart exploded. I could not possibly have taken a third bad winter so this feels like a gift to me from the weather Gods. We've had a lot of rain but only a few inches of snow which has since melted. I'm thrilled to see greenish grass and dry stick bushes. The lights even look OK on bare trees. All the blow up Santas seem to be happy not to be squashed by the snow and buried until April. My birds are happy that they don't have to scrounge for my measly offerings. I'm sure by spring the know-it-alls will be talking about a water shortage and warning us of  possible rationing of our yard watering. But for now I don't care, I'm enjoying the nice sunshine. I know, the snow is prettier and probably next year I'll be ready for a white Christmas but for this y...

Every year when we dig the tree out of the basement, we face the daunting task of putting the tree together and putting the lights on. This part doesn’t thrill me too much but open the boxes of ornaments and I’m all there. Memories you haven’t thought about all year come rushing back. Every ornament has a story. A box of cheapo ornaments my husband and I bought when we were just starting out. They were mostly Victorian style and the entire set was $2.99 at Payless Drug Store. We still use them though because they are a part of our history. Then when our daughter came along we got many ‘Baby’s 1st Christmas’, ‘Baby’s 2nd Christmas’ and so on. Those will go with her when she leaves us. The most precious ones to me are the carousels that my grandma made. She used to tat, something you don’t hear of much anymore. She tatted two small pieces and then attached them together with pipe cleaners and filled them with small animals, angels, or trees and adorned the tops so they look just...

Yesterday was a strange day. Traditionally we put up our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We get up, make some homemade hot chocolate and start the whole process which takes about 2 1/2 hours. But we had to postpone it to be able to go to our friends husband's memorial service. My husband and I haven't been to a funeral since my step-dad died 12 years ago. In your mind you don't really want to go but you feel you must. It doesn't matter how close you were to that person, it's just not something that you really want to do. We didn't know Mike very well and had only seen him a few times. But Sally is our friend and we wanted to show our support and love for her. And I was wrong about Mike's age, he was exactly the same age as my husband. They have been through a lot in the past several years. Mike had liver and heart problems as well as Parkinson's. He spent the last few years basically in bed and she cared for him. Her health was not the...