While on my blog travels this morning a quote Shelbi has on her blog, Keeper of the Chocolates, caught my eye. I thought I would share it with you all.
Teach us to delight in simple things. -- Rudyard Kipling
I am constantly working to simplify my life & enjoy the simple things. I have made progress, but still need to work on making that a permanent change.
We have been hit by a major snow storm every weekend in the month of December, and this weekend is no exception. Snow is falling pretty heavily right now. We are supposed to get 6-8 inches of the wet, heavy stuff again. The trees are coated in a fresh coat of white, I don't have to leave the house, and I am loving it!
The first storm back in early December the City of Milwaukee did a horrible job of clearing the streets. Now with every major storm we have had since the news stations air a news conference with either the head of the DPW or a spokesman who tells the plan to clear the streets. Something tells me they didn't have these conferences before and they just went without airing.
The city where I live just stinks when it comes to clearing the streets. There have been times there probably wasn't even a plow down our streets. I bet the streets in front of the Mayor's house are clear. Remind me again why we pay sky high property taxes. I thought part of our tax dollars went to garbage pick up & snow plowing.
Here's that dry, droopy tree I was telling you about yesterday. Nothing like ornaments & lights resting on the floor. Not to mention the bare area between the drooping branches and the part that was still OK.
And it's the first tree on our street to sit curbside and wait to be mulched! :(
I realized this morning that I hadn't posted pictures of our Christmas trees this year. Well, here they are...
The one on the left is the artificial we put in the family room. The tree on the right is in the living room and can you believe that is a real tree? (Sorry about the picture quality!) I have never seen a real tree shaped so "perfectly" and so full. It doesn't look so good today and will be coming down tomorrow. The branches just kept dropping further & further. There are ornaments & lights touching the floor. I'll take a picture before I start taking it down tomorrow so you all can get a laugh out of it as I have.
I'm so proud of Olivia! She got her graded purse back today! Her teacher wrote "very impressive work" on her project evaluation sheet. Olivia scored 98 out of 100 possible points. She lost a point each on cut edges lined up & notches, seams and other markings lined up. I suspect that is because of the one tiny spot on the side seam where the red contrasting band & the main panel don't line up perfectly, but heck I have seen worse in ready made items.
Here's a crop of the fabric so you can see the cute little buttons & dots. The lining is the opposite of the button fabric.
Not bad for a first timer, hey?
When Olivia signed up for her classes last winter, she signed up for a clothing class. She has that class this term and just finished her first project. She made Amy Butler's Frenchy bag, and it turned out fabulous. In true Olivia fashion, she chose red, black & white fabrics!
She hasn't gotten it back from grading yet. As soon as she does, I will share a picture.
Was anyone else as sick of seeing shots of Tony Romo's new girl, Jessica Simpson, during the Eagles vs. Cowboys game? It drives me crazy when I am watching a sporting event, and we get bombarded by shots of the celebrities who are in the crowd.
News alert to networks: Fans tune in to see the event not the celebs in the stands!!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both -- I prefer wrapping paper, but when a gift is an odd shape there is nothing better than wrapping it with a bit of tissue paper & putting it into a bag.
2. Real tree or artificial?
Both -- real in the living room & artificial in the family room.
3. When do you put your tree up?
The artificial goes up the Monday after Thanksgiving & the real usually goes up the first weekend in December.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Real one comes down sometime shortly after New Year's Day. The artificial is taken down by January 10.
5. Do you like egg nog?
NO!
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I was a teen, but the best gift would have to be the HUGE box of quilt pieces cut out of vintage fabrics & the quilt book my mom found with a book that had a quilt pattern that could use those pieces.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, it's the Jim Shore set & I love it!
8. Hardest person to buy for?
Definitely my mother-in-law.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
My Mom, Bob & Olivia
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, but I do send a few e-cards.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I'm going to invoke my Fifth Amendment Right on this one! ;)
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
Nester, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Unless sending it to Goodwill counts as recycling, I have never recycled a gift.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies!!
15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear lights on both trees.
16. Favorite Christmas song?
O, Holy Night
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We go to my parents on Christmas Day. Mom's for an early lunch & Dad's for dinner/dessert. When Bob's parents lived in town we spent Christmas Eve with them.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Yes -- Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and the most famous reindeer of all Rudolph. (My least favorite Christmas song, by the way)
19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
We open on Christmas morning, but will be starting a new tradition this year. I discovered it while reading traditions of many bloggers last year. We each will open one gift on Christmas Eve -- it will be new jammies to wear so we can be pretty in our new jammies for Christmas Morning pictures. :)
20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Political Incorrectness Alert: That the word Christmas is being replaced by Holiday for nearly every Christmas tradition there is ie trees, lights, decorations, parties, etc.
21. Favorite ornament on the tree?
I would say right now it is the one I bought at the Holiday Folk Fair the day I ran in the 5K last month.
22. Favorite thing to eat for Christmas dinner?
Cookies -- oh wait, that says dinner...LOL! It depends if the menu has ham or turkey. If the menu calls for ham, then it is the cheesy potatoes. If the menu calls for turkey, it's the stuffing! YUM-O!
23. Do you decorate the outside of your house?
We usually do, but the cold and snow hit us much earlier and harder this year than usual so we never got them up.
24. Does Santa wrap his gifts or leave them upwrapped?
Santa wraps, but in different paper than I do! :)
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
To spend quality time with my family & friends. My dad's heart attack this year hit me really hard. Harder than I thought, I guess. I have had a hard time being excited about the preparations for Christmas Day. The gifts, the decorations, etc all go away, but relationships with those we love are what's really important. (I don't mean for that to sound preachy, sappy, cliche. That is honestly how I have felt about Christmas this year.)
Now tell me about your Christmas! If you are so inclined, copy & paste this and replace my answers with yours! If you do play along, let me know so I can stop by and read about your Christmas traditions, likes, dislikes, hopes, etc.
Have you heard Joss Stone's cover the the Nat King Cole classic L-O-V-E in the Channel commercials? It is AMAZING!
If you haven't heard it and would like to, you can listen to it on her myspace page. It can also be purchased from iTunes!!
I see a music theme developing this week!
from people.com: "I'm dating myself ... No, I'm serious. She's this beautiful woman ... her name is Alicia, I'm getting to know her better and taking her out. I'm taking her where she wants to go and she's learning new things. She's having a good time."
Now, Alicia has the right idea...LOL!! Can you "date" yourself when you're married? *snicker*
Our family is extremely thankful for your prayers. The SSA approved my dad's disibility! It's still going to be tight for a little while, but at least they will have some income.
Physically, my dad is doing well and continues to improve. Today was his last cardiac rehab session. He received a diploma that he now wants to frame and hang on the wall in his rec room. What a goof ball! :)
I sure didn't see this coming in the pre-season. I picked the Green Bay Packers to be 5-11 this season! I know that wasn't very optimistic, but we're the youngest team in the NFL even with a 38-year-old quarterback! ;) Good thing I am not the gambling type who would have put money on that pick...LOL!
Olivia called from her best friend's house this morning to say, "Thank you for letting me go to the concert. It was AMAZING!"
I could hear her BFF giggling in the background. They both had a good time and they were still giddy from the whole experience. My girlie & her friend were a bunch of giggle gooses! :)
The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. -- Elisabeth Foley
they get chunky blonde hi-lites...
The weekend after Thanksgiving we upgraded from a 27 inch TV we bought in 1999 to a 42 inch LCD TV! Since the box on that TV was only standard definition not the wonderful HD, that meant a satellite upgrade was required too! Today was the day!The wonderful tech had to go through all that fresh snow we got last night & this morning. He did it without complaints or grumbles about the weather.
It's nice to have HD & DVR on one receiver in one room. The box in the living room will need to be upgraded at some point to get all the available HD channels, but we don't watch that one much so that can wait until the price of the HD & DVR combo boxes come down in price a bit more.
Back to the wonderful tech, would you believe he took off his snowy boots and slipped on a pair of Crocs to walk on our carpeting? How do I get Bob & Olivia to keep their wet and/or shoes off the carpeting...lol!
We finished with round one overnight Saturday! Some areas of Milwaukee are still a mess, but Ole Mother Nature doesn't care. The snow has begun to fall again -- should be 2-4 inches by the time it is done tomorrow morning. Us lucky folks near Lake Michigan could get another 1-2 inches of lake effect accumulations!
Shelbi over at Keeper of the Chocolates have awarded me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award! She says I always have sweet things to say, but we all know she is the sweet one! :)
Yep, we can use that word to describe the weather outside! Around noon today the snow began to fall! By about 4:30 about four inches had fallen, and sleet began to fall. The freezing rain began a little bit ago.
By about midnight the temps will rise enough that we will just have rain, and maybe even a thunderstorm.
Pretty strange weather day, wouldn't you say? That storm system is pretty huge so I am sure many of you are getting hit with it as well. Hope you are all safe and snuggled up at home!
