see how high the snow is getting by the deck



huge icicle on the back of my neighbors house


looked much prettier from my kitchen window

this is actually kind of pretty

good thing the birds went south..lol

view of my front yard..well it will be a yard
this all melts

Well, before I get started, let me just say that whenever I post the pictures after I write whatever I decide to write about, the pictures always head for the top of the post. This time, I put the pictures in first, trying to see if they will move to the bottom of the post where I want them. All of this extra effort could be avoided if I could only remember how Susan told me to move stuff around. Every time I try it, I end up deleting stuff...

As I was looking out my kitchen window yesterday, I was briefly charmed by how pretty everything looked with the fresh snow. Notice the word briefly..i got over it. Anyway, you know how fresh snow looks...when the sun is shining on it and nobody has walked on it yet? It absolutely glittered! It looked like someone had thrown thousands of tiny tiny diamonds all over it. The sparkle was phenomenal. I was so enchanted by it, that I threw on my coat and gloves and went outside to take some pictures. Of course, the view from the deck was not at the same angle as the view from my kitchen window, and the snow was way too deep to walk out into it to get the picture to look like what i saw. But I took some pics anyway and thought you might like to see what Monday morning looked like here. Then I was playing in Paintshop and made something out of one of the pics that I thought I might share with you as well..Arent you the lucky ones..lol...I took the photo of the tree in my front yard..cropped it to a smaller size and used a program called virtual painter on it..then I used the results to make another project which I will post also..hopefully at the TOP of the post..lol.
Meanwhile, I have weather news...we are going to hit 30 on Thursday! Now I know that this doesnt sound exceptionally warm and a few years ago , I would have said that was freezing..but you gotta see...it's 3 right now..thats right..3 lousy degrees..and I just had to take the dog outside for the millionth time since I got home. Ok, I exaggerate..I took her out twice,Alec has been taking her out tonite but he was in the shower just now. So of course, it takes her forever to find the perfect spot to do her business...and it really shouldnt cause the only space she has is the spot we shoveled for her..the rest of the yard , the snow is over her head!!
Little Mali is home from the hospital..poor little buggy...it's awfully hard when your children are sick and you have to trust other people to make them well..Hope she is doing better today and that Boo isnt totally worn out.
Well thats it for now. I need to work on some more of those Christmas pages so I can take those scrapkits off my desktop and move them to the storage drive!!
G'nite.

The cure

I have finally found the cure for hot flashes. Are you ready? It's winter in Kingsley,MI..yup..its the truth. How do i know? Well after scientific testing of course. The temps this morning when I went to work were -2 and we ended up with a daytime high of about 11 I think it was. Right this minute, the computer says it's 5. My sorry excuse for a dog..she's in my bad books at the moment..she found and ate half a bag of chocolate covered peanuts..if she lives I might have to do something drastic..i was saving those for tomorrow..anyway...she decided she needed to go outside...again...for the 14 millionth time this evening...I wasnt very happy about this..you couldnt tell, right?...so im fussing as im putting on my coat and boots and im starting to really get warm..sweat is forming on my forehead and my back..well folks..it only took about 3 seconds outside and I wasnt hot anymore..That's right, No sweat, no red face. I'm not sure I'm up to running out there about 3 am when I have the next one though. Now if I could find a way to put that cold air in a pill..Fai?Can you help me out here? We could be rich!!!

The new year

not sure if you can tell what she did..but under her eyes you can kinda tell where she cut her face.

my baby before she decided to tear her face up
Well, once again I'm behind in posting on my blog. I guess real life just keeps getting in the way..lol. Not a lot going on at our house just now...well except for the dog tearing up her face trying to get out of her kennel. Yup. We came home from work/school this past Tuesday and the beast had broken 4 small metal bars..with her teeth apparently,as her gums were bloody though luckily there were no teeth missing. She then tried to push her face thru the opening she had made. You would think that when it hurt her she would have stopped but not my dog. Nope, she just kept trying even though all she managed to do was cut up her face.
I guess everyone knows that I had to have a colonoscopy this year. Actually, I was supposed to have it last year when I turned 50 but I managed to put it off for a year. I was really dreading it too. I was the last holdout in the family and finally gave in and got it done. I gotta tell you, it wasnt as bad as I had thought it would be. The prep was terrible.. and not only because my insurance didnt pay for the pills. Pricey things they were too! Along about the 3rd dose of 5 I was starting to feel real nauseous and it didnt get any better after that. The actual procedure was a piece of cake after the pills..lol. They had to call IV Therapy to get my IV started. Something about my veins having brick walls..lol...I asked them what they expected after making me get totally dehydrated for the procedure. I told the RN in the procedure room I didnt want to wake up early and she made sure I did'nt..lol..As a matter of fact, I could have slept the whole day! If Cecil hadnt gone with me, I still wouldnt know what the doc said..lol. All I remember is him saying everything was clean...I thought he meant that I had done my prep the way I was supposed to, so I thanked him and went back to sleep..hehehehehehe....Turns out he meant that everything was as it should be which considering our family medical history is nothing short of a miracle. I'm just glad its over for another 5 years. The bad part is that Dr. has patients on the unit where I work so I have to keep hiding when he comes up there..lol..One of the RN's that I work with suggested I ask him which smile he likes better..lol...but I dont think I have the nerve.
Later...oh..by the way..3 new scrap pages over at the other blog..check 'em out!

Christmas at Nana's

Well...it's over. Bummer...Christmas this year came way too quick and left the same way. I had a fabulous time though! My daughter Susan and her family came for the holiday and stayed a week with me and I loved it! Those little girls of hers are adorable..and thier mom isnt half bad either..lol..thought she does resist sitting on my lap! They had a rough time getting here ..took them 16 hours to make a 9 hour drive. They ran into a bunch of bad weather. Apparently they dont care much for snow either. WE had about 2 foot out in the yard and Susan flat out refused to let the girls go out and play in it..lol...I told her it would be ok. If Noe fell thru a snowdrift we could dig her back out but she wasnt having any of it..lol.. So, instead we baked and decorated gingergread men and put glitter names on stockings. Noe decided that her new name was Pumpkin and Mali learned to say Nana and how to do a "victory dance" ..lol...I'm going to post some videos and pics here..for the better looking ones(I made some scrapbook pages) head on over to the Christmas in Kingsley blog. It isnt really finished yet but some cool pics are there. I'm going to get the neat videos on here before Susan does..lol..

Christmas shopping

So, i started Christmas shopping today. I guess you can tell how much I dont enjoy it by the fact that I put it off until the week before Christmas. I did pretty well too considering I have come down with an ugly cold..figures doesnt it? Anyway, I had some questions for Susan about stuff I saw for the girls but she didnt answer her phone so hopefully she will read this blog tonite and respond while I still know where the receipts are. I got both of the girls pjs..kind of a Christmas tradition for our family. I think it all started with the fact that the folks wanted us wearing nice pjs for the Christmas morning pics , so we all always got pjs that were opened on Christmas Eve. I got the blanket kind, heavy fleece with feet in them. I also got Noe a microphone, clipo's, and a pink My Little Pony. Alec got her a pretend mp3 player with headphones. I got Mali some stackable stars that play music and a purple My Little Pony and I still owe her one. Alec got her these drum things..cant remember what they are called but they light up and make noise..lol..now, if Mali doesnt like My Little Ponys then I owe her 2 presents. I also got the girls frosty gum bubble bath..well its from bath and body and its shampoo, bodywash and bubble bath all in one. Need a few more suggestions for Mali....I got what I was told to get for Fai but for Susan I have a couple questions..like...what season of Bones is she looking for? All of these could have been answered if she would answer her phone..hmmmmm..maybe she knew it was me.
When we got home,..the dog had managed to get out of her kennel..we still dont know how because its still latched shut...makes you wonder doesnt it. At least she didnt really destroy anything and Alecs room is already so messy that you cant really tell she did anything.
Hopefully,Susan will respond quickly so I know if I did ok or not..and if she is bringing the glitter or was I supposed to buy it cause I cant remember. Guess I'll go blow my nose again, wash my hands and start making some of that tons of junk food that Susan thinks is gonna be here..lol

Getting to know the Christmas me

I read this originally on Susan's blog..so I thought I could answer the same questions and it would count as updating my blog..Yes?

Christmas Questions

1.wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer wrapping paper except when I start wrapping and then I wish I had bought gift bags.

2.real tree or artificial? This is the first year that I have had an artificial tree and I have to say I'm liking it. No sweeping up pine needles until Easter(at which time I start sweeping up that nasty artificial grass) and the animals dont feel compelled to eat and/or climb the artificial tree.

3.When do you put up the tree? As soon after Thanksgiving as I can without getting nasty looks from Alec

4.When do you take the tree down? The day after New Years. Of course that's usually because all the needles have fallen off and the thing is a fire hazard.. I might leave it up all year round since it isnt going to catch fire.

5.Do you like eggnog? Absolutely!

6.Favorite gift received as a child? You actually expect me to remember when I was a child..I cant remember yesterday.

7.Hardest person to buy for? EVERYBODY!!! I have no idea what anybody wants...

8.Easiest person to buy for? I think I just answered that one.

9.Do you have a nativity scene? No I dont.

10.Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail...it's too hard to hang the email ones on the wall.

11. Worst gift you ever received? Sorry that involves remembering again.

12.Favorite Christmas Movie? Well here we have a dilemma. On the one hand, I have loved Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer since I was a little girl. but my favorite grown-up Christmas movie is that one with Jimmy Stewart that I unfortunately cant remember the name of right now..you asked me too fast...

13.When do you start shopping for Christmas? Soon now..very soon...

14.Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No..not yet

15.Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Gee..might be easier to choose what I dont eat...at Christmas or any other time..unless you are talking about green vegetables and those dont go with any holiday.

16. Lights on the tree? Duhhhh....of course..how else can you sit in the dark and stare at it..

17.Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night..and Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...but I like Nat King Coles version the best.

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home of course..how else could Susan travel ?

19.Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course..

20.Angel on the tree top or star? Another dilemma..I like a star..but this year..the fake tree top wont support either one so I have one of those big red tree top bows on it.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? One on Christmas Eve..the rest on Christmas morning..where do you think Susan learned it.

22.Most annoying thing about this time of year? COMMERCIALS

23.Favorite ornament theme or color? I use the multi colored lights and glass santa and snowmen ornaments and bead garland and red bows tied on the ends of the branches.just a polyglot really.

24.What do you want for Christmas this year? I really dont have anything that I'm wishing for.

Susan, by the way I just noticed that you skipped the number 24 and went right to 25. Did this mean there were really 25 and you missed one or that you cant count?I'm sure thats gonna get a comment,...lol

Out of Turkey

With the holidays fast approaching, I start thinking of food. Dont laugh Susan, while its true that I spend a bit of time each day thinking about food..I'm talking about special food. Holiday stuff. Turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie...and even planning on Christmas cookies and such. I always cook on Thanksgiving, turkey with all the trimmings ...but this year I have to work on the holiday. No big deal cause I'm outta there at 3 and since Alec will sleep til noon, there's plenty of time for the holiday feast. But in the interest of saving time and quite frankly, I dont really like spending a couple hours on my feet in the ktichen after working all day so when I saw that Meijer was having a really good deal on a Thanksgiving meal I thought it sounded pretty good. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry relish and 12 rolls for 29.95...good deal huh. And already cooked so all I had to do was heat it up. So, I called them today..the ad said order 48 hours in advance and since I wanted to pick it up Wednesday after work I figured today was the perfect day. I told the lady I wanted to order one of those Thanksgiving meals and she said " We are out of the turkey dinners". "Huh?" says I. She repeats that they are out of the turkey dinners. Wait minute..."Arent you a grocery store?"
"Yes", she says.."but we are out of the advertised special"
Now folks...tell me if I'm wrong here but if they still have turkeys, which they did cause I was there today..and if they still have potatoes..which they did..how can they be out of turkey dinners? Can't they just take a little jog over to the meat and produce sections and get me a dinner to cook up? I'm not an unreasonable person...usually...but this lady is real lucky she was on the phone and not face to face with me...I did consider making that little job myself and taking her the items she said she was out of..but i had other shopping to do and didnt really want to be escorted out by security. Thats no way to start the holidays.
For anyone who doesnt watch the weather..we have about a foot of snow out there..gonna be a long winter I'm thinking.
I also had to go to the mall today...and that isnt my favorite place to go, but Alec was down to 1 pair of jeans.. He managed to somehow put holes in the knees of 2 pairs in the same week as well as inform me that 2 other pairs couldnt be worn because they were too tight...which basically means they dont slide down his butt. But there really isnt any sense arguing with a teenager about thier clothes or thier hair. If he says they dont fit right, they will sit in that drawer until the world ends and he still wont wear them.. So, off to the mall I went, in the snow, to buy jeans. I got that done and then had to go to the Sprint store. Now theres a place I really hate. But the dog*sigh* ate the charger for the cell phones..actually she has eaten 2 of them now. But thats a story for another day. So, off i go...turns out they were out of the particular charger I needed and it wont be in for a week so we have to charge the phones in the car. That isnt cool but thats also another story. In this story...I also had to find out why alec cant get into his voice mail..it rings our home number when he tries..and why even though I pay $5 a month for it, he cant send pics from his phone. The clerk asks if I have the phone with me..I cant help but look at her like shes an idiot...which she is..she smiles all the time... and I tell her, "He's 13". Now that , to me, more than answers that question...but now she's looking at me like I'm the stupid one..So then I have to tell her how the phone never leaves his possession...I think he even sleeps with it...Which is probably a good thing..that way the dog can't eat it....