Smiles

Chelseys sporting not only a new engagement ring but a new diamond necklace AND new diamond earrings, I guess shes gonna be a spoiled bride.......and dad and Sadie and both sporting smiles, notice Sadies tongue????

Look who came to dinner!!!!

These are the Spiveys from the Ozarks, I have been BFFs with Deborah Lynn for 30 years, my name is Deborah Lynn too, shes married to Joe, so am I, but thats not the biggest coincidence....I met Deb 30 years ago when we were in our early 20s, and we became fast friends, BUT Deb was lookin for a husband, and I wasnt , so as soon as she latched on to a man, she decided I was chopped liver......anyways, we parted ways, she set her sights on landing Joe, and I set my sights on staying single. Years went by, I met my Joe, we got married and we moved to a small town an hour east, a small town, one I had never even heard of. So Joe and I settled into our brand new house in a brand new housing tract and waited for neighbors, the house next door was still empty but I had heard we were getting some neighbors.By this time I was pregnant, but thats another story, and I will never forget this, I was standing out in the front yard of my new house, with my Joe, and up walk the people who bought the house next door.......can you guess who it was????????? Now remember, this town is out in the boonies, somewhere called the Inland Empire, which I had never heard of, but the houses were big, a lots cheaper than LA......so up walk Deb and Joe....omg, I almost gave birth right there on the spot......that was almost 24 years ago.....coincidence? what do you think?? So we were neighbors and best friends for 15 years, until she decided farm living was the place to be....and they moved the Spivey clan to Green Acres.....miss ya Deb my VBF!!!!!
OH by the way, for those of you perceptive enough to see that Iam entertaining in a bath robe, I really didnt, that was my Christmas present from Deb, and she insisted I wear it........and OH, by the way, that pic of me and my hunk, I hate it of me cuz it looks like I have 3 chins, and in reality I only have 2, but I wanted you to see Sadie, because she is smiling for the camera!!!!!

I have a special BFF.....

I have a very special BFF...her name is Traci....shes married to my husbands cousin, so we are family. We also work together...shes the only reason I keep working, she tells me she would have a nervous breakdown if I quit.......and I almost did (quit) this week, and I almost gave her a breakdown....but she told me I could make it up to her if I made her cupcakes, her nickname is cupcake..... she said she wanted cupcakes with her name on them, so here they are, special cupcakes for a special BFF.....I love ya Traci!!!!!

I made these stockings for my girls many years ago, always fun to drag them out. The red one is 23 years old, the other one, oh, about 20 years old.......sometimes it makes me feel so old when I think of the things I used to fill them with...lifesavers, candy, hello kitty.......and the things I fill them with now.....hairspray, eyelash curlers......hairspray.....makeup...did I mention hairspray?
We found out this morning that Sadie likes yogurt, she likes it very much.....

Christmas Cheer

While the hunk and I were out shopping and eating and going to movies last Sunday, we happened onto these awesome cups at Pottery Barn, and the hunk said they would be great gifts for his board member friends....I think so too, but not empty, so I spent the afternoon making chocolate covered pretzels to fill them with, then a bow and a candy cane, and the perfect little giftie, I think they turned out cute dont you????

Im going to make more pretzels now, milk chocolate.........Today I went to the store to get all my baking needs, soon Im going to make Peg's marshmellow brownies, I have been promising the hunk I would make them ever since I got back from the outer banks and raved about them, I have never tasted anything like them, so Peg, I sure hope I can make em half as good as you did!

Tomorrow, rocky road and almond bark.........

Around here we call her Prancer...

Shes always pranced, and trotted, and spun in circles, so to get her to sit still is impossible......so this is the best we could get.....our house is filled with the sounds of jingle bells thanks to Sadies new Christmas collar...Little Cheech has one too, but shes so much more mature and above all the hoopla, so hers doesnt jingle quite as much, and thats just the way she wants it.....

Holy Moly Im on a roll!!!!

Wowser, 2 posts in one day....a record!!!! BUT I had to share my table runner that I just whipped out this morning, only took an hour, too cute huh, excuse me while I pat myself on the back...because I have not made anything since the Spring table runner I made, well, last spring!

Thats another one of my New Years Resolutions, to sew again, but, see last post, simply, I will not buy more crap, I will use what I have! Anyways, these dang charm packs make it so easy to whip stuff up!!! And I forgot in my last post to show you my new dishes!!!!! Can you tell I love red.......funny, it all started with the red knobs on my Viking Range...and now theres red everywhere! Anyways, I found these fiesta ware dishes at Costco of all places, and I had been wanting them for a while....red of course.......then while I was walking in Sharon's footsteps I came upon these red and white dishes at Pottery Barn....I set my table with them and it looks awesome, Christmas'y but good for year round too! And then I followed Sharon's ghost over to Williams Sonoma and bought the napkins and table runner.....and voila, a festive table without dragging out all those dated Christmas dishes with the Christmas trees on them!

Ok, Im gonna go eat a BLT, and get ready for work, cuz Gwen Stefani doesnt make ENOUGH money, she needs me to put on my LAMB coat and go out in the windy cold crappy weather and sell her perfume!

A Simple Christmas.......

I have decided to have a simple Christmas......I have decided that I will only decorate with the things that I love, that make me happy.....I will not feel like I have to put out every single Christmas Piece that has found its way into my home for the past 30 years.....its simply too much work, a time suck, it takes way too much precious time to put it all up and take it all down. Besides, half the crap is just that, crap, dated and old and tired. I used to take everything down and replace it with Christmas, I emptied my entire china hutch and put in Christmas dishes, that took a day in itself......I emptied my curio and replaced the everyday with Christmas, another day.....and so on........NO MORE, its over, If I cant do it in a day, better yet, half a day, its not happening......and ya know what, simple looks better! Simple will be my new word for 2008.....make it simple, less is more. After the holidays, what I didnt put out is going out, to the Good Will.......I will have more room in my garage, and more room in my life!

And so today, instead of emptying my china hutch, Im going to go make a table runner!!!!!

Oh, by the way, run to your nearest movie theatre and see August Rush, it will make you happy....

Before.......and after........

Have you ever had a project you needed to get done that you literally put it off for ages, in this case, years........and when you finally got around to it, it took about an hour of your time, and you just shake your head and wonder why did I put it off for SO long? In this case, I found a table cloth 2 years ago when May Co. closed, I got it for about 4.00, marked down from 40.00, couldnt pass it up, and I thought it would be a good fabric to cover my sad dining room chairs......and I just put it off and put it off, well, I finally decided to get to it today, and guess what, about one hour, yes I said ONE hour and its done!!!!!! And viva la difference!!!! My sad old spotted up chairs are now a lovely shade of, well, kind of a cross between persimmon and tomato, all I know is I learned a lesson today......my dear hubby will love this, because he says it all the time, never p ut off til tomorrow, or next year, what you can do today!!!!!

Shame on me...

It has taken me forever to get this picture up on my blog....slap me.....anyways, heres the fab chocolate swap I got from Darlene..she and I both have exactly the same taste, so funny, we got each other the same things, lots of milk chocolate from Sees, and my fav all time Hershey kisses.......she filled the can to the brim...thanks so much my friend!!!!!

Girlfriends......

Well, I promised to share our craft project with you , but we gabbed so much no one finished it, lol......banners, we made Christmas banners, or shall I say we started them....

These 3 have been my friends for many many years, love them, enjoy thier company, and someday we will get a craft finished......if we didnt talk so dang much!

The weather here in SoCal is really chilly and rainy, I LOVE it....love walking in it and looking at all the Christmas lights.....

I took a class here today, darling Christmas scrapbook, I will share pics tomorrow, or Monday, probably Monday................Have a good rest of the weekend my friends!

Craft night.....

OK, the girlfriends meet tonight, and I have a special craft laid out for us...can you guess what we are going to make???? I will take pics of the finished products, that is if we finish, lol, the girlfriends are known to gab, a lot.......

As for me, I'am working half as many hours as I did last year, and still I seem to always be rushing......so my New Years resolution, that Im making early, is Im going to go on a flylady binge and purge, starting the day after New Years, I vow to purge all the crap that is weighing me down, I will spare nothing, if I havent used it in the last year, if I dont adore it, it goes, no mercy.....

So, you heard it here........no mercy....no exceptions, BIG yard sales.....every thing goes......

They came bearing gifts......

Two of my favorite things....food, and flowers......

The chicken salad is a work of art......good thing I got a picture of it before Joe dug in.....its going to work with both of us, yummy lunch!

And the flowers have given the most beautiful aroma to my house...delightful....as are the people that came bearing the gifts.....

My daughters future in-laws........delightful indeed!

The journey begins......

We met the parents tonight..a good time.....not a dry eye in the house when Alex's mom presented Chelsey with a beautiful diamond necklace.....we are all so excited about the upcoming wedding....plans to make, choices, memories........Iam so happy that my daughter is so loved by her future in-laws........
And that she loves them too......




And so it begins.........

Family.....

A pleasant Thanksgiving, the weather cooperated, we sat outside and ate and played poker and drank and laughed........lots of family...some missing....I missed you so much Trace.......

Black friday...bargains to be had....thanks to my future son in law camping out at Best Buy I have a shiny new lap top......and Joe has a big new tv.....

So the holiday season begins...a sure sign of it is the wind...blowing at 50 mph...never fails....just when you want to put up the lights...the winds......

Tomorrow.....an appointment to see a wedding location.....

Tonight..........the never ending wind......

Happy Thanksgiving

So much to be thankful for.......we are all healthy, happy, and want for nothing....except maybe a new laptop.........just kidding...........seriously.....I love my family so much, I miss you Tracey so much......but Im so happy you are happy and in your new home........Chelsey, so happy you are engaged and beginning the wonderful journey of planning a wedding, lots to look foward to....as for me, Im thankful Im still in love after all these years................thankful I feel good, ok, except for those pesky aches and pains in the morning when I get out of bed.....thankful for friends that are dear to me, near and far......

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without my pumpkin bread......some for us, some for family, a loaf for my future son-in-laws family............
Hope all of you have the BEST day where ever you are.......

Shopping in Ensenada......

We had a great time........except for the dreaded fire drill, HATE those things........

Shopping in Ensenade stinks, pardon the pun.......you can buy S***t there, real cheap.......

sorry, I could not resist the photo op............seriously, not much else to take pics of down there, only got off the ship to buy drugs......dont worry, legal ones.

Joe did buy a sling shot (for his dad) and it was confiscated, we did get it back as we were leaving, a pleasant surprise, we thought for sure that 2 bucks we spent on it was history.

He did not buy the back scratchers, he wanted to bargain and the shop keeper wasnt going for it.........can I say CHEAP........I will get them on the trip in January, thank you very much!

OK, thats about all the S**T I have for now........and NO, I did not buy any!!!!!!!

Bon Voyage.............

Leaving today for a 3 day cruise....ALONE...just the two of us, which never happens, we usually have an entourage......

Visions of midnight buffets dancing in my head......

Was hoping to have a picture (proof) of Chelseys engagement.......the next 6 months will be spent planning a wedding.....

The weather is perfect, hope it stays that way, hope I see some kind of sea life, dolphin, whale, flying fish......Joe wants to visit poppas and beer...........last time I was there I almost didnt make it back to the ship........its another tequila sunrise...........you all have a great weekend, you know Im going to !!!!

Thankful......

My word for the week........

Heres a sneal peek at "part" of the chocolate swap, we were supposed to decorate a container and fill it with gourmet chocolate, heres just a peek at one of the containers I made, I had to make more than one, cuz theres a lot of chocolate going on here.........

I even managed to "start" a couple of my word of the week cards......I will finish them thursday night with the gals ....theme is in keeping with thankful. These little cards are so fast and easy, and at the end of the year we will have 52 cards, one for each day of the week, thanks Em for the ideas.....my ladies group is enjoying the challange!

Is Sadie not starting to look a bit like a hedgehog???? Shes tired, we tried a little walk on the leash today, wore herself out doing back flips trying to get rid of it......


It is an amazing day here in So Cal........80s, bluest sky ever....heavenly........another thing to be thankful for......

Shes here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She arrived safe and sound.......isn't she lovely......all cracked and old....sorta like me, lol.........now I just need to find that special place for her.....

Found this fun stitchery book, lots of color, love the idea of stitching on wool....

Poke does NOT like Miss Piggy, he kept his distance.

Do you have to ask.......

WHY I love this guy so.......the man, not the puppy, lol, although I love her too....but look at those big ole man hands washing that little 3 pound puppy, doesnt it just warm your heart? Tell ya what, it warms mine!!!

BUT listen, I got this puppy so it would love ME, HE already has a little cheech who adores him more than life, I wanted one for ME...and look, just look at the look on her little flirty face.....now hes got TWO, and Im STILL chopped liver!!!!!!!

Keep your brain young!

OK, thanks to my sister Linda, I now have another addiction, and it also has to do with this dang computer.......not only am I addicted to reading blogs, now I have to do this everyday.....but Im justifying it by knowing that it helps the brain so I wont get alzhiemers, or senile, and my kids wont have to change my diapers.........I dare you to try one.........go ahead, I dare you!!!!

A sad day...............

My little Peeps has died........old age I guess, but my heart is broken....how can a little wild bird capture your heart....I dont know but he did....I will miss him.........

Happy Halloween!

Just want to wish you all a Happy Halloween........especially my oldest, because as I seem to do every year, I go down memory lane and remember all the costumes over the years.......and it makes me miss you Trace, not having you here.............I think the last costume I remember you in was a harem girl? You may have a better memory tho........
The little ghosts and goblins will be arriving soon, and as usual Joe has bought wayyyyyyy too much candy...and its a pain to answer the door every time because I have a baby (doggy) gate up for the puppy, I just know Im gonna trip over it tonight!
So, I will continue my stroll down memory lane, maybe I will have some candy just because.........I will wish my kids were little again so I could take them trick or treating, and snatch all thier Hershey kisses..............

May your Halloween be scary!!!!!!!!

More fall from New England.....

Thelma and Louise stopped by a farm stand on the way back to CT.....I have never seen such glorious pumpkins, and for practically nothing too, here in Cali I would pay dearly for a beautiful pumpkin like these....I think Martha must get her pumpkins here.......
There are a few fires still burning, but the skies are finally blue today and I can see the mountains...........and I think its safe to walk again without risking an asthma attack........
Miss Piggy had to get into the act........
Beautiful fall day.....for Cali anyways.....makes me want to make pumpkin bread....chili....eat candy apples.......but I will settle for a long walk.



Miss you New England, you are lovely in the fall.