Starting tomorrow.....

365 Days of Photos aka A photo-a-day project

Year Sum Up Meme

Yet another meme done on the road. This will be the last post for a while on this blog. I'll be posting pictures in 2007 and not as much chat...some, but not as much. These past 2 months have been fun, but sometimes not so much fun.Once I get the pictures going I will post on where they are....

Happy New Year to all my readers...you know who you are :-)

1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
Took a 16 hour plane ride out of the country

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?Yes I did and yes I will

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?.
Hong Kong, China.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Motivation to exercise more, run a few more 5K's and the time and energy to complete more house projects

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 2006, I flew 16 hours to Hong Kong and was there for 10 day...I'll never forget that

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Deciding to quit a job that I had been at for 16.5 years

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not keeping ALL of the weight off that I lost with WW

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No

11 What was the best thing you bought?
A $300 green leather jacket for $35

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
78's engagement

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Nothing comes to mind......maybe Tom Cruise or Paris Hilton :-)

14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage on home

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Hong Kong to visit 78 and staying at HK Disney, being on the streets of HK by myself.

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Nothing in particular

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder
b. thinner or fatter
c. richer or poorer?

Much happier,same,same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising and reading

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Playing on the computer

20. How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?
With 76 and 78 and their SO's and soon to be new members of our family

21. Did you fall in love in 2006?
Been in love with the same person for 32 years

20. How many one-night stands?.
none.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
West Wing

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No

24. What was the best book you read?
Several books by Jodi Picoult

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Trans Siberian Orchestra

26. What did you want and get?
Happiness and love for 76 and 78. Both now have that.

27. What did you want and not get?
I have everything that I need. Want and need are two different things.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
"CARS"

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Probably went out to dinner....forever 29

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?.
Finishing more "thing's" in the house

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
I bought very few new clothes in 2006.

32. What kept you sane?
Quitting my job and having the chance to travel with my SO

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
See #13

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
All the political mud slinging during the fall elections. Nobody is perfect!

35. Who did you miss?
Robbie, the nurse that quit after I did and moved to LA

36. Who was the best new person you met?
The women in the Navy Wives Club..all neat women.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
When it comes time to end something, just end it and don't look back!

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"I've had the time of my life"

They blew it!

Pretty neat with the game in the Panthers Stadium. We were on a club level and got to check out all of the area that were there...pretty cool.

The game was a typical Navy Football game. They should have gone for the field goal at one point, but tried for the touchdown and didn't make it...so they lost the game by 1 point. Sad.



The downtown Charlotte area is very nice, great restaurants and several sports venues there. We'll probably come back here again, even when we move to TN.

Go Navy!!!

We are here !!!

Should be a fun week-end. Left VA @ 7AM,got here around 1pm, not a bad drive, very light traffic.Had lunch at Sonny's BBQ. Our hotel is about 6 miles from the stadium.

We went into the city and saw the street festival, pep rally is later tonight, probably won't go back in for that. Lots of Navy and Gold in the area.
The stadium is home to the NC Panther's and looks neat, but much smaller than UT's in Knoxville. Great weather today...in the 60's.
Should be nice tomorrow too.

We'll just relax tonight and hit the ground early in the moning. Tailgate starts @ 10am and the game starts @ 1pm.

Who we really are....

The house looks like a house again. Not many Christmas decorations still out. We left the out side stuff up and will take that down next week.

I talked with a friend of mine in Wisconsin today. She was President and I was VP in the band-boosters when our kids were in high school. ( that was a life time ago) We were talking about a Christmas card and newsletter that we had both gotten from the band director and how it didn't seem like her. Then she said that she didn't know who I was either , after she had read my blog where I had listed 10 things about me that people didn't know. That was pretty funny to me, but those were things I guess I really never talked about. So how many other people have things that we may not know anything about ? that might surprise us? I have a few other things, but I probably will never put those out there, some things are better left unsaid,or listed.

Photo archives

I think I take to many pictures. I'm trying to archive all of my pictures from 2006. I've combined a lot of them and will put them on an external hard-drive, so I will have more room on my laptop. It takes forever to down load them....

Next year I'll do better.

However, I have committed to several photo things..so we'll have to see how over extended I have made myself.

I'm not sure I'll sign up again for a blog a day...this is a lot of work to even think of anything to say.

No more sweets!!!

I think I gained 30 lbs over the holidays....Not really but, we did have a lot of sweets in the house and I have no will power when it comes to that. I'll have to really cut back on the calories the next 2 weeks just to weigh in @ WW in January.

Everyone's gone, so it's just DH and I in the house. He wants to open up any candy that has not been opened. He just got into the peppermint ice cream that wasn't' eaten over the week-end...There is 1/2 gal. and I'm not an ice cream fan, so who will eat all of that....I will have to get rid of it, soon. I told him to save some of the candy for the coming week-end, that will work for a while.

Merry Christmas Time?

The Christmas dinner question was " Does it seem like Christmas?" and the response from all was "NO". "Why" I asked. It has been warm, no snow, can shop online for presents, (meaning no interaction with people in the malls), Christmas items are out right after Halloween...all very good replies.

I tried to get into the spirit. I went to several functions during the day, when things were decorated for Christmas, I went to the White House, I played Christmas music.Went to a garden shop and walked through rows of Christmas flowers and decorations.....just didn't work for me and I'm not sure why.

It was so wonderful to have everyone at our house this Christmas. Presents were opened, breakfast was had. Then we went to a movie. Rainy day, but great to all be together.

Fun having a dog in the house , I think we all enjoyed that.

Everyone leaves tomorrow and then the down slide to the new year.

Hope all the Holidailies had a great Christmas.

Everyone is here!

Everyone was here today!!! 78, her fiancé and his parents made the trip back into DC to see the White House and have an adult beverage at Old Ebbit Grill. A little cooler today, but sunny.

76 her husband and grand-dog came over for dinner and to spend the night. This will be the first time she has not really slept in her room for Christmas...and that's OK.

Santa will come tonight and fill the stockings.....and tomorrow is Christmas....Merry to all!

The gift of a day...

Company in town and pouring down rain...not a good combination. Weather forecast was for rain most of the week-end.

However this morning we got up to sunshine and it was an absolutely beautiful day. Sunny, not to cold. Light jacket weather. We showed Washington DC to people who had never seen it before. How fun is that to show someone something that is so taken for granted?


We were able to drive in and find places to park along the way. We walked up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial and looked out over the Reflection Pool at the Washington Monument.
Then we walked over to the Korean Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial Wall, those two always put a tear or two in my eyes. Next was the Einstein Statue. Then on to the Mall. Taking pictures along the way. We parked and walked to the Christmas tree in front of the Capitol, the we went to Union Station and had lunch.Next was the Roosevelt Memorial around the Tidal Basin, and the sun was going down. Again it was a lovely day and in the 60's. It wasn't until we were home and talking that we realized we had not driven by the White House.

I have to add, incase you have not noticed, that I do not take these things for granted and am truly in awe when I am in DC and see these monuments. A lot of people who live and work in this area do not go into DC very often.

A day in Washington DC, 62 degrees and sunny, on December 23, is really a gift.

Let the fun begin...

It was a rainy day, but that is better than snow and everyone was here by 10:00 AM.

Nice to meet people I don't know. I think 78 had some concerns, but everything is fine. The future in-laws are very nice, down home type people. Very easy to talk to.We went to the Air and Space museum today, DH gave one of his tours...he was a docent there for 2 years, I think he enjoyed talking about the planes again.

76 will drive to Richmond in the AM to visit her mother-in -law for a Christmas brunch, the worry will be there , as it is suppose to rain, hopefully it will be sunny when they return.

A trip to DC may happen tomorrow if the weather gets better......

Doesn't seem like Friday and it really doesn't seem like Christmas time yet, not sure what that will take....maybe Santa.

No time for a Headache!

I woke up this morning with a major migraine. I've had these headaches for 27 years now. They never get any easier to handle...and this is not the time to have one either. I took some medication that just put me in a happy place for a while and it's taken me most of the day to get through it.

I bought some cookies...yes bought , not home made, but these were gourmet cookies ...and took them to the doctors office, where I worked for the man for 16 1/2 years...not necessary for some people, but was for me..to show that I am still a nice person and an employee he should have tried to keep. Wished them happy holidays and the best in '07.

Company comes tomorrow, 78 and her fiancé come in to Dulles at 6am, the future in-laws come into National at 9 am. Looking forward to everyone being here and people being in the house to talk to. Everything is ready,quiches made, fruit cut up, rooms are cleaned.

I hope I'm done with grocery shopping, but I know that won't be the case and I'll be back at Wegman's before Christmas, I'd love to take a bet on that one.

Oh, the Dancing Santa box, it's been around for about 32 years now. When you wind it up Santa dances, it is wound with care though, and it still works...our must have at Christmas time!

Fruit in the mail....

I received a gift in the mail today. The box was laying on the driveway near the garage door. Heavy and awkward to carry , I brought it into the house. I opened the outer box and noticed a sweet fruity smell. The corner of the box was a little wet..not a good sign. When I opened the box, it looked like it had exploded inside. Apples and pears. Most of the pears were all mushy. The pulp was all over the apples. I was able to salvage about 6 of the apples. How sad, and what a waste both of food and money. It weighed about 12 lbs, so I know it wasn't cheap to send UPS. My sister also got the same gift, she had 3 times the amount that I did. This did not come from a name brand company that ships fruit, that is wrapped in tissue and nestled in shredded paper. This looked like a box that was purchased at a school function or a grocery store and just put in a box and mailed...no thought was put into the fact that it would be tossed around. This was our Christmas gift from my baby sister.

Christmas Sadness

I mailed out our Christmas cards this morning. This afternoon we got a card from a friend of ours that used to fly jets in the Navy with DH. His wife had a brain tumor last year and died in February this year. We didn't know until tonight. In their card I told them we missed seeing them at Homecoming in October and to have a Happy 2007. He's been dealing with this all year, and knew that some people did not know about her death. We sent off an email and gave him our condolences, nothing else to be done.Just puts things in perspective. We have another couple that both lost parents this year, he lost his mother and she lost both parents. Our thougths and prayers go out this Christmas season to both of them.

On a happier note. I went into DC today and did a tour of the White House.
Saw all the holiday decorations and the Christmas tree that is in the White House. The Red room, Green room, and Blue room. It was all beautiful.I walked out the front door and looked out on Pennsylvania Ave. Loads of history, and just to cool .To bad you can't take pictures on the tour.... I would have taken lots.

Christmas meme

I'll be busy today, so here is something I did in the car on the ride back from TN:

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate....not a fan of the nog

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa puts unwrapped toys under the tree. This was an issue when we first started doing Santa. He doesn't have time to wrap presents. Just throws them in the bag and he's off on his sleigh.DH put a wrapped present under the tree when the girls were little and the From: was from Santa....76 picked up on that right away.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? House white/Tree colored

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

6. What is your favorite holiday dish. Nothing specific. Home made "Nut and Bolts" make me think of the holidays. I like a Breakfast Casserole for Christmas morning.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Can remember daddy coming home Christmas morning from working the previous 24 hours as a firefighter and smelling like wet smokey wood. I"ll never forget that smell.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Was about 10 years old. I'm 9 and 11 years older than my youngest brother and sister, so there was a baby in the house for a long time, and no reason not to believe. My mom was glad when I stopped , because then I was able to be more help for her during the holidays.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I didn't grow up that way, but DH did. So we'd let 76 and 78 open a gift...it was always pajamas to wear that night.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Ornaments colleted over the years. Plastic candy canes that have been put on the tree for 32 years.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it when I don't have to go anywhere and don't have to worry about other family members being out in it.

12. Can you ice skate? Yep.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I like a picture of me when I was little that 78 did and a painting with a poem that 76 did for me. I do love the camera I got for Christmas last year .

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being with family

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? No real favorite.....home made cookies work for me

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? We put the stocking outside the bedroom door for Santa to fill. I grew up without a chimney and this is what I did as a child. It also gave the parents a little longer to sleep, because you could wake up and see what was in your stocking first.

17. What tops your tree? an Angel

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving to others who expect nothing

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Noel

20. Candy canes? I can take them or leave them...one during the season is enough

21. Favorite Christmas movie? The Christmas Story

22. What do you leave for Santa? Nothing currently..used to be Milk and Cookies. Never really did that reindeer thing

A. Fixing Bikes. There were years when things did have to be put together .

B. Popcorn: Not for Christmas, not on the tree

C. Caroling Door to Door: I did this when we lived in CT, and when we first moved to VA

D. Wearing Santa Hats in Public: I might , but probably not

E. Wreaths: I like them on the front door, but with our current door we can't put one up :-(

F: Outdoor Displays: Lights on the bushes by the door, sometimes other lights in the yard in the shape of a tree, not every year


Christmas meme borrowed from :msflutterbye's

On the road again.......

The dad is feeling some better. Still taking liquids only. Will probably be in the hospital longer than he thought, but hopefully will be home for Christmas. It has been a nice visit, but I am ready to go home.Lots of thoughts in my head...that's where they will stay.

We drove around some at night time. Very pretty here. Lots of light trees on the top of buildings all over town,
and you can see them from lots of places...for such a large city, it seems very small townish...I'm ready for that, and can see myself here in a few years.

Back on the road today. 7 hours ahead and the holidays in Northern VA.

Family

Family is something most people really take for granted, until something happens......

Seeing my dad in the hospital was not an easy thing. My mom was in the hospital about a year and a half ago and that was not easy, but the dad is a different thing. I guess we never think anything is going to happen to them, and when it does , it's a tough pill to swallow. I guess being "the nurse" doesn't make it any easier either. It has been 3 days since the surgery and he is on a liquid diet, wants to eat, but also has the nausea from the pain medication....he is trying though...it will take time. He doesn't want to wait, but understands that he must.

Dinner last night with my sister and her husband and my niece and nephew. Today, DH and brother-in-law will put in new garage door opener that daddy has layed out in his garage.He didn't want them to do it, but it will happend anyway.

I'd like to take some pictures. Last time I was here I got some of my better pictures. I'll also be running around with my sister and niece.....hmmmmm....enought said :-)

ahhhhhh

Arrived at Knoxville....eerrr....Krystal at 1pm......one cheese and one regular !!!

Down to Tennessee

We're on the road today, going to Knoxville. My dad had surgery on Wednesday. He's doing well. Still in the hospital and should be going home on Monday. Felt the need to travel down to see him before Christmas. I'll also see my mom and two of my four siblings.....Luckily the weather is nice, no rain and no threat of snow....we drive all the way through VA and into TN on the edge of the mountains, snow would not be a good thing. We may do a quick trip to Pigeon Forge...then again we may rethink that, due to the crowds. One thing I do know...a Krystal hamburger will be had :-)

Let's hope the hotel has internet access.

Holidailies recipe swap

I haven't used any of the prompts before now, but this one seemed like a fun one to do. VAMOM's 76 actually gave me this recipe just a few days ago, she had seen it on TV and we changed the ingredients a little

Sugar Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

(8-ounce) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough ..let come to room temp to soften
1/2 cup chopped Pecans, (or what ever nuts you want to use)
1/2 cup dried cranberries,( or what ever dried fruit you want to use)
1 (11-ounce) bag white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 .
Open sugar cookie log and press into a rectangle on cutting board. Add fruit and nuts, press into dough and then re-shape into a log. I put it back in the refrig to harden up a little. Slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Transfer cookies to a baking sheet.

Bake 7 to 11 minutes, until golden around the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool .

While cookies are baking, melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler or bowl over simmering water.

When cookies are cool, dip bottom half of cookies into melted white chocolate and place on waxed to cool. You could also use milk chocolate or semi -sweet

Enjoy

Searching for the "J" ornament

Last year I bought some initial ornaments for us..... B,C,E,C, and R.They were silver with little sparkly stones in them, like diamonds, but not. I got them at a nursery and went back there several weeks ago to see if by chance they had a "J" . Need this to go with the R. They knew what I was talking about, they might have some in the back, haven't gotten everything out,lots of inventory,blah,blah, blah. Last Sunday I went back,gave my name ,phone # and the letter "J" as a reminder. I got a call this morning, they had found a "J", it was silver.,.yayayayay! Drive down to the nursery , gave them my name and they bring out a "J" that someone in kindergarten could have made. It was about 5" tall, cut out of cardboard and sprinkled with silver glitter :-0

I thanked them and said this didn't even come close, another lady said she did know what I was talking about and she took the paper with my name and phone #, said they still had more things in storage. So until I get that ornament, I'll hold off on putting the others on the tree......however I did buy this today.
...so now the "J" has an ornament on the tree.

Scattered Thoughts

12-12-06 We're almost half way through the days till Christmas. I feel very scattered.I need to put it all together, but the pieces aren't fitting.

I have lists all over the house about what needs to be done. I don't feel particually stressed, just not as in control as I should be, or that I want to be. The Christmas tree is up, not decorated, but drinking water like crazy..which is a good thing.

Had a fun time yesterday making cookies and going into DC to see the trees. Spoke with Vamom's 78 in CA, she bought her wedding dress yesterday....I haven't even seen what it looks like...how do I feel about that? Just kind of slipped right in there....My dad's having major surgery tomorrow, he's 76, he'll be fine, he has to be. I'll be making the 7+ hour drive down on Friday for the week-end, to see him and my mom. This fits into the puzzle somehow. I just wasn't planning on a trip to Tennessee . The sands are slipping through the hour glass ..... Hair appt,office party,mammogram ( always high on the list of fun things to do),and I'm on a list to get to do a tour of the White House next week. I'm not really complaining about any of this and I know everything will be fine.

I think I just need to take it one day at a time and go from there. This is the way I am.

Cookies, Dogs and DC

Vamom's 76 came over today and we made Christmas cookies. I thought it went fast, we were very organized. We both had the dough made ahead, so it was like an assembly line. She made cookies for people at work. I made cookies for us :-)

The grand-dog came with her...he was so good and what a hoot. He chased away the squirrels on the deck. I think they were very surprised when Miller came out the back door after them. When we went back to their house he was exhausted, just plopped on the couch and closed his eyes. I don't think he sat still for 5 minutes the entire time he was here.

Then 76 and I went into DC to see the trees, this took the place of a trip to NYC. It was a beautiful evening. Not really cold, not crowded while we were there, although it was getting more crowded by the time we left. It has been a few years since I 've been down there to see the tree. This is the one on the Ellipse with all the state trees around it. Very pretty. We also had a yummy dinner in DC too......
Nice to spend the day with my favorite daughter in VA :-)

Pictures and the "EYE"

I pretty much take pictures now all the time. Not saying I'm a great picture taker, but some of the ones I have taken aren't to bad.

The pictures we took last night at the party and before we left home turned up out of focus and not really good. This was taken with DH's new camera. Not really his fault, more reading is being done as I type. But I know the feeling of taking pictures and then downloading them, only to have them look like crap..you can't retake some pictures.

Then there is the " Eye of the Photographer" thing. Everyone that takes pictures for fun and hobby knows what they are looking at. It might not be what others see or will see, but you know what and why you are taking the picture.. Currently I am taking pictures of "color" . Red ,green ( not related to Christmas),blue and white,etc. Yesterday, while looking at Christmas trees ,I was snapping away, and saw this picture and took it. DH saw someone look at me like I was crazy to take this photo

What I saw was "white", not really an easy color to find out there....except for the obvious...snow....I'm looking for pictures that are not the obvious. Here are a few examples of other colors, like red and green, not related to Christmas:

Tree Hunting

So we set out at cold AM this morning to go get the Christmas tree...brrrr..it really was nippy. Took the saw,axe and gloves. Out to a cut your own tree farm. Then we passed a lot with pre-cut trees and found one we liked. Yay, no freezing our noopers off and looking for the perfect tree to chop down. Got it home, DH got it into the stand and into the house...letting rest and get used to being indoors before we put lights on it tomorrow and will decorate it during the week.


This afternoon we'll go help a friend ,(whose husband injured both heels, had surgery and cannot get around,) get her tree and help her get it into her house. They can take it from there.

Then we have a really nice Christmas party to go to tonight at Mount Vernon. It is my brothers office party and he has invited us to it for the past 3 years. It is a lovely party and actually the nicest one we have gone to for the past 3 years.

Blogging early today.Pictures tomorrow from the party

Now I know why....

Just kinda been in a mood the past week or so. Wasn't sure why. Plenty of time to shop, cook, clean and decorate the house.Looking forward to all the company in the house. But something just hasn't been right . Well today while wrapping gifts to take home and playing Christmas music I now know why.

I don't get to go to New York City this year.

I really enjoyed going and seeing the tree and all the hustle bustle in NYC. I've always gone with VAMOM's 78, but this year we won't be going :-(


I understand why, I'm a big girl you know. I've thought about going up by myself, but I'm not really sure I'm that adventurous, plus that's not really all that much fun.I walk around the house and talk to myself. I think people would look at me funny if I walked around New York City and talked to myself. DH would go, but that would be like going by myself and dragging him around....not fun. I like to go and stand in Times Square at night and just look...he walks through and looks. So I'd rather not go at all than do that.

Last year was fun, we rode the train up, had a list of places to see and eat at that we had found online. We spent the night at a funky little hotel.Had tea, cupcakes and shopped. Fun,fun, fun. So glad we took the time and stayed the extra day.Such fun memories.

Oh well, at least my birthday wishes for the past several years have come true, both 76 and 78 , now have someone to love and who loves them.

...and now that I know why...I'll get over it.

Nuts and Bolts and Woody and God

I guess most people call it "Party Mix" , but I grew up calling it Nuts and Bolts. It has the Chex cereal in it, although I have made it with Crispix before. The difference is I also put Cheerios in it, and the thinnest pretzels I can find. I make a lot and give it out to friend and family...makes me think of when I was little, it is so much better than the stuff you can buy all year.

While I was decorating the house today, I saw lots of birds out the kitchen window. The cardinal must have sat on the bird feeder for a good 15 minutes,time enough for me to get the zoom lens on.
The female was in the tree beneath the deck..

Then while I was snapping away, I saw "Woody" This bird is huge. Luckily I did have the zoom lens on and was able to get a decent picture.

I played Christmas music and danced around the house to the Charlie Brown Christmas song......it was snowing in Tennessee today....

Oh yeah, and God answered my question today too......

A Ladies Luncheon......flash back to the 70's

I went to a Christmas luncheon and ornament exchange today with the Naval Officers Spouse Club. What a nice group of women. I'm one of the younger ones there. One of the girls was a former Navy Nurse, so we had lots in common. The majority were in their early 60's. It was probably one of the nicest groups I have ever been with. No uppity people, just funny and real. I really haven't had the time , up till now, to do things with a Navy group.

It took 3 of us to open a bottle of wine, it was a weird cork screw, I opened it after futzing with it for about 15 minutes, but there were 3 of us working on it, a nurse, an educator and a double engineering major.....what a hoot!

The lunch was a hot chicken casserole with chow mien noodles on top,( a recipe I know I got in the 70's) a cranberry relish mold, that everyone was crazy about and pumpkin bread. It was delish!!! Coffee and cookies were the dessert. The setting was also beautiful. But just so different from some of the things I've been to where all the silver and crystal is out.

The ornament exchange was the cut throat kind where you get to steal one that you see if you like it, I had one I liked and someone took it, but that was ok...I don't need another ornament. The one I took to exchange was popular and got taken a few times.....

They have several things planned for this month and one is a White House tour. I'm going to try and make that if I can.

One thing that makes this group so different than any other that I belong to or associate with is that at some point in our lives we lived the same way. Our spouses were in the Navy and were gone for periods of time, and we were not able to get in touch with them easily. No computers, emails, cell phones. Just snail mail, or the occasional phone call, patched from the ship.

All in all a nice day and makes me want to decorate the house...tomorrow.

30 years ago on Santa's Lap

A baby's first Christmas..there is only one.

What a fun time we had.

I was 25 years old, had been married for 2 years and I had a little girl to keep me company while her daddy was flying jets off an aircraft carrier. He was home the day she was born, just flew off the carrier that day. He left again when she was 3 weeks old, came back home when she was 3 months old. He was home for her first Christmas. Then left again when she was 4 1/2 months old and came back home again when she was almost a year old.It was just the two of us and looking back, I have to say how did I do all that?

30 years ago was a life time for me, but I do remember the first Christmas, the first ornaments and the first time she saw Santa.

Holiday Music and Winning!!!

The prompt today was about Holiday Music. I like it in the stores when I'm shopping. I like most all of the religious songs you sing in church. I was in the choir when I was Jr High and High school, so I know the words to all of those. In the days of the dinosaur you could sing those songs in schools too. But we won't go there. I'm not fond of the chipmunk songs, or the running over grandma song either. I like most of the "soft " Christmas songs, that's funny considering what I'm about to say....

In the car , my most favorite is Trans-Siberian Orchestra , cranked up high. We saw them in concert last year and loved it.It was really an awesome concert. We were going to go again this year but will be out of town.

On another note VAMOM's 76 was a winner in NaBloPoMo. How exciting for her.

Zoomy Week-end and Babble

First week-end in December and zoom...it's gone. Got the candles in the windows, some lights on the deck. Put some greens around the front door , so the outside the house looks festive.

Went out to dinner last night with a motorcycle friend of DH and met his wife. Most of his friends that he rides with,have wives that don't socialize with their husbands friends, plus I am the only one of them that ride on the back of the bike with the husband. This couple was really nice and we had a great time out. I wish we had more friends to go out with...sadly we don't.

Plan to just stay put today, gather what has been bought and box it up to mail out. With a possible trip to TN, I'll be taking those packages down instead of mailing. Somehow I just can't get the energy up to wrap the presents. Maybe it's to early,or not cold enough. Maybe just a little snow would help...not to much...I don't know.

DH want so go to the movies..We have 2 sitting on the table that we have not watched. I really don't want to go anywhere today. I think I'll win this one :-)

I think I've gotten this trip to TN in the back of my mind and can't get it out. Daddy will becoming home from the hospital probably 5 days before Christmas, I spoke with my sister today, she brought up the issue of her family being gone right after Christmas and how the baby brother is going to have to step up to the plate here....he can, the question is will he. My mom doesn't drive and daddy will not be able to for a while.I'll also be out of town the Friday after Christmas until New Years Eve. I'm already thinking of going back down there in January too.

Ok enough said, think I'll light a Christmas smell candle and think happy thoughts.

I did it , I did it....I did it

I must have worked for 3 hours last night trying to get the NaBloPoMo elf, and the Holidailies buttons uploaded to my blog. I just couldn't do it. Then for some reason,something clicked. I uploaded them to PictureTrail and they have a URL thingy and I cut and pasted and it worked yayayayayay. You all just don't know how happy I am to have done this.....I have a simple brain in this head and none of this makes sense to me......I'm a nurse not a computer person, I have really come a long way with it. There used to be many fights over folders and files....I'm enjoying this, but I wanted to add some bells and whistles like everyone else :-)

Found out today that my dad has to have surgery. Found a polyp on his colon, it is benign, which is a good thing, but he has surgery on Dec 13th. I may try and go down that week-end . Luckily I have a brother and sister that live in Knoxville and they will be able to help. I told daddy that I'd try and come down before Christmas.....My mom doesn't drive and daddy will be out of commision for a while....I don't mind driving down to TN, I just will have to keep and eye on the weather...there are mountains on the way down....not a fun thing in bad weather.

Holidailies is here!!!

Today is the first day of Holidailies.
I use my blog just to write about what is going on today....sometimes tomorrow too. I just finished one month of writing online, so we'll see if I can keep it going. Everything that needs to be said about me is on the side bar, so I'll not bore you with that.This is still a learning thing for me. I just figured out how to put a calendar on. I'd love to put a little sign of Holidailies on here, but don't know how..I'm working on it though.

Three weeks from today, I'll have a house full of people. I'm excited about that and hope that the weather will work for everyone that is flying, including my daughter and her fiance and his family. That is the only bad thing about traveling during the winter, is the weather.

I love this wreath,
however I have a feeling that vamom's 76 and 78 and will not share that feeling.