Fickle in Pink has awarded me the Happy 101 award. Well, Fickle in Pink I'm totally tickled pink because the award came from you, who I had no idea was even visiting my lil 'ole blog. So thank you for the nice surprise.
All you have to do is:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know
Tina at Blessings in the South 'cause living on a pecan farm in the south is such a romantic notion
Karen at Over the Backyard Fence 'cause we seem to have so much in common and I can totally see us as neighbors chatting over the backyard fence
Jeintje at Heaven is in Belgium 'cause her blog is like photography eye candy. Breathtakingly beautiful and makes me smile. I'd love to go on a photo walk with her!
And if anyone else wants to grab the happy award and do the happy post go for it 'cause you all make me happy with your visits and great comments. Just let me know so I can come and read your post!
Photo Hunters today are looking for something for the theme "Spotted". Last December, on my birthday, I woke up to one of the most gorgeous shows of hoar frost ever. It was so thick on everything it truly was a winter wonderland. We headed to the lake to take pictures and as we were driving down the road that runs parallel to it the hoar frost just started to fall off all the trees in huge, thick chunks making the perfect picture for "Spotted".
Hi everyone. Welcome to Friday's Fave Five. I'm looking forward to coming around and visiting you all to read your favorites from this week. If you need details or a description you can go here first, otherwise I'm raring to get started!
1. Watching the surprise and joy your child shows when they open their birthday present and knowing you got exactly the right thing. Such was the case with my son's birthday this week. Just watching his face when he opened his birthday card to see some tickets in there go from wondering what they were to excitement when realizing they were tickets to "Mythbusters" coming to the University. Mythbusters is one of his favorite programs and he had no idea two of the guys were coming. He was thrilled. And he was also thrilled to get the complete series to Corner Gas. That is his favorite comedy. If you haven't seen it, it's a hilarious look at life in small town Dog River supposedly situated in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Anyway both gifts were a huge hit! I just can't believe he is 18 years old. I'm still trying to swallow that one.
2. This memestarted by Melissa at Breath of Life. It's called "The Week in Words" and it's all about quotes taken from what you've read during the week. I love quotes and actually keep a book where I write down favorite quotes as I come acrosse them. So you might just say I'm having a good time to read through all the participants entries.
3. This recipe. Okay I missed a food entry last week and you had to know I just couldn't possibly do that twice in a row. I made this last night and oh yum, everybody loved it. It's easy, tasty and has no ingrediants I had to go running to the grocery for. It's a definite keeper for our family. The only thing I did any different was instead of store bought italian seasoned bread crumbs was to make it myself by using plain breadcrumbs (I make my own), with 1 tsp. italian seasoning & 1/8 tsp. garlic powder.
4. Orange juice. Simple, tasty, refreshing orange juice. It's just been tasting so good lately.
5. Watching my niece play basketball. I had the opportunity to go and watch my 10 year old niece play basketball. It was fun watching her. Oh the memories as it took me back to my oldest when she first started at that age. And oh, how I miss going to watch her! So it was a lot of fun to have this moment to cheer my niece on.
So those were my five. What was your favorites? If you do a post, please link that post on Mr. Linky so that we can come and visit!
From Linda's inquisitive nature comes the Random Dozen. Join us at 2nd Cup of Coffee for some random fun.
1. How good are you at delaying gratification? Depends on what it is we're talking about. And how much it costs. I've now been delaying gratification for a Caribbean holiday now for 15 years. LOL. Food stuff. Not so much. I pretty much give in to most of those cravings pretty quick.
2. Maybe a marshmallow wouldn't be too difficult a temptation for you. What food (or anything else) would be most tempting? LOL. Look at the that. The very next question is the food question. I really did not read the questions ahead of time. Chips and dip and pizza are my total downfalls. I have no strength to walk away from these two things. And I know it. I don't even pretend.
3. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being saintly) how patient are you? I must confess this is also my downfall. Depending on the situation, what hormones are raging and who I'm dealing with I'd say a 0 on a bad day and a 6 on a good day. Unfortunately it's so much easier to show patience to non family members. They tend to get the brunt of my non-patience. Sigh.
4. Have you ever waited for something in life only to be disappointed upon realization of the goal/object/etc.? I think most of us experience this. One that really stands out for me was a short time before I got married I really, really wanted to work at the one and only bridal store in town. I had such wonderful preconceived notions of how much fun it would be helping brides choose their gowns and helping them try on gown after gown. I was bound and determined to work there. I applied several times and prayed constantly about it almost literally demanding from God that I get that job fooling myself that I was praying in faith when I was just being a demanding child. The longer it was taking the more determined I became. I finally did get that job. It turned out to be the worst job I have ever had. I didn't get put in the bridal department. I got put in the men's department renting suits and measuring guys for alterations on the suits. Which was nerve wracking on several levels, one being anything to do with sewing, including measuring, gave me hives. The boss was horrible and when I did get to go over to the bridal side I finally ended up being canned because I couldn't understand why I was in trouble for not showing a bride the $1000 dresses (back then lots of money for a dress) when she came in with a budget of $350.00. All in all not a fun experience. But I still am drawn to and love the show Say Yes to the Dress and every once in awhile still feel like going to apply at another bridal shop. Just stamp "sucker" on my forehead and call it done.
5. Are you a person who takes shortcuts? Once in awhile but I'm pretty much a rule follower so shortcuts make me crazy for the most part. I might grumble through the whole process if it takes forever and a day but I'll follow the rules.
6. Which line is hardest to wait in? If it's for something fun I don't mind so much but for stuff like paying for groceries? Don't like that at all. But the hardest line of all is the waiting my turn at the emergency room. Experienced that twice in a few months at the end of last year and don't want to do that again. Nothing worse than being really sick or in pain and waiting in a waiting room with others in the same pain or feeling just as sick or more so for 2-3 hours before you even get back to a bed and another hour or two before a doctor even comes near you.
7. Did you wait to discover the gender of your unborn child until its birth? Yup, we wanted to be surprised each time. 8. Are you more patient with children or the elderly? These questions are really convicting Linda. I don't know how to answer this one. I deal with children more and rarely with the elderly. I'm more an impatient person not with age but with attitudes.
9. Did you ever sneak a peek at a present? I think I did once when I was a kid but rule follower me was so under the weight of guilt from it that I never did it again. My sister on the other hand, was notorious for hunting down her presesnts. My mom caught on and started wrapping them before hiding them but she would literally, with great skill and precision, unwrap them enough to see what it was and then rewrap them perfectly. What a stinker. We still give her a rough time about it.
10. What is the longest you've ever waited for anything? See question #1. I'm still waiting.
11. Who has more patience, you or your significant other? I think we're about the same. It depends on our own individual areas. We're long suffering in some and impatient with others.
12. Which of the following songs about waiting is your pick for the best? (OK, you may substitute another, if you like.)
A) Anticipation by Carly Simon B) The Waiting by Tom Petty C) Right Here Waiting for You by Richard Marx D) Wait for Me by Rebecca St. James
I'm taking a pass at this one. I'm horrible with recognizing songs that go with their titles and remembering the lyrics. And I don't have time to youtube them all. The only one I can think of is the Anticipation one and I associate that with the Heinz ketchup commercial so "Pass".
Oh and I just saw "Right Here Waiting for You" on someone elses post. I loooove that song! See how I can't put together titles and lyrics and songs? I so pick that one!
Well Linda, this random dozen was almost painful to do and tested my patience (LOL), because it is an area that I really have to be conscious about and be working on constantly in my life. No one likes to admit they are impatient. But I got through it. Now can please have an unconvicting one for next week, pretty please?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
There are certain times in life that are meant for celebration. And your son turning 18 is one of them.
Happy Birthday, Son.
Although I will never understand your penchant for sneaking up behind your mother and scaring the living daylights out of her and what exactly amuses you about this,
You've turned into a fine young man with a heart after God and we are so proud of you!
Melissa at Breath of Life has started a new meme this Monday. It's very simple. Here's her own words:
Although I'm not a wordsmith, I love words. Love them. (Just ask anyone who knows me. I've always got plenty to share.) One of the things I enjoy most is seeing how other people put them together. Think about it. A few carefully crafted words can make you laugh, cry, or dream. They can completely change your perspective and your life.
Anyone else?
Lately I've found an abundance of good words from many different sources. Words that have inspired and encouraged me. Words that have spoken to the depths of heart, and words that have made me laugh out loud. Words I want to share.
And I want you to share the words you've found. So I'm creating the "Week in Words" carnival. Playing along is simple, just write a post of the quote(s) that spoke to you during the week (attributed, of course) and link back here. They can be from any written source, i.e. magazine, newspaper, blog, book. The only requirement is that they be words you read.
"In most cases and on most days, the results of following God's guidance will not be dramatic. While we tend to focus on Daniel's dramatic rescue one night in the lion's den, what's even far more unexplainable is how Daniel chose earlier to continue "kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously" (Dan 6:10), despite the king's edict that made such prayer a capital offense." -Don Cousins
This weekend was exactly what I had hoped it would be. On Friday I had a clean slate for the weekend, nothing specific to accomplish, nowhere that I had to be, no appointments. And miracle of miracles it actually stayed that way. And I took full advantage. I was lazier than lazy, really accomplishing no more than a quick vacuum and a load or two of laundry.
It snowed, again, on Saturday and I literally holed up in the house in the house with a book and the coffee pot. I finished one book and started on another. I only went out for a quick trip to the bank and then I shovelled the drive and called that my workout that day.
Sunday it was just me and my son 17) for church as hubby and my youngest (15) were both not feeling well. And that was pretty much the only time I left the house that day. I even had a nap on Sunday which for me is simply unheard of. Afterwards I remembered why I don't nap. I'm not the type that can catch a quick 20 minutes. Three hours later I woke sluggish and heavy headed and then I didn't sleep well at night.
One nice thing on Sunday that I discovered was not really cooking lunch. Unless you call throwing on a pot of rice and a pot of vegetables cooking. I'm usually always running around like a chicken with my head cut off after church on Sunday trying to put together a nice Sunday meal. And while I love to cook, it is quite rushed on Sunday because everybody is starving by the time we get home from chuch. But in my head, when I was growing up, Sundays were for nice family dinners. I transferred that over to my grown up life even though sometimes it is a really difficult task to accomplish. Sundays is where my crockpot gets lots of use, but then again, I'm trying to get everything together to throw in the crock while trying to get ready for church. But this weekend I did something different. I tried a new recipe on Saturday only to have Son working and Hubby not wanting to eat. So rather than just me and Youngest eating a nice dinner I put it away for Sunday and threw a frozen pizza in for us. Voila. A nice Sunday dinner without the stress.
And boy was it good. I tried something new and it's definitely a keeper in the Living to Tell household. It was easy, fairly quick and darn tasty. So I'm gonna be nice and share. The original recipe I got from here but I'll write it out with my tweaks.
HONEY BAKED CHICKEN
-3 lbs chicken pieces (I used legs with back attached) -1/2 cup butter, melted (real butter makes it better but you can use marg) -1/2 cup honey -1/4 cup prepared mustard -1 tsp salt -1 tsp curry powder -1 - 2 tsp. cornstarch
Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C).
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Trim any excess fat pieces. Place skin side up into a 13x9 baking pan.
Combine melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and curry. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered basting with pan juices every 15 minutes for 60 - 70 minutes until juices run clear.
When done remove chicken to plate and cover to keep warm. Skim pan juices to remove as much fat as possible and transfer to small pot. Whisk cornstarch in and heat to boiling. Simmer one minute and serve some on the chicken and some for gravy.
Notes: -this was just as good the next day when I served it reheated from the oven and it only took 15 - 20 min. to reheat at 350*F. Just enough time to make the rice and veggies. I basted a couple more times with the juices before I added the cornstarch to them just to keep everything moist. -the excess fat was very easy to remove off the top the next day as it becomes solid.
"Whoo Hoo, it's Friday! Whoo Hoo, it's Friday" (Done in a sing song voice). Can you tell I'm so glad it's Friday? Welcome one and all to Friday's Fave Five. Kick back, grab a nice coffee or whatever you like, relax and let's take a look back at our five favorite things from the week. If you are new, you can get details here and then don't hesitate to just join right in. It's always nice to meet someone new. And it's also nice to have all you regulars come by. I look forward to "meeting" with each of you each week.
So my favorites for this week were:
1. An easier day after a tough week. Quite by chance yesterday, I had an easier day after a very busy, hard week. It's always hard to start a new preschooler or baby in the dayhome and I had two new ones this week. Thursday both families had the day off so it gave me a nice little breather. I still had the other children, but it was easier without helping new little ones transition. We could have an easy going relaxed day.
2. Quirky humored babies. I've got the most charming, sweet and funny 20 month old little girl in my dayhome. She's adorable, affectionate, and has the most quirky sense of humor for her age. She keeps me smiling and laughing. I adore her.
3. The thought of the weekend empty of plans. For the first time since before Christmas, I actually have a weekend that is completely empty of plans other than church on Sunday morning. A clean slate. I can write on it spontaneously as I go along. Even though I've got plenty to keep me busy around the house, I can pick and choose as the weekend presents itself. Everything is optional. I like that. 4. "I Love Lucy". One of my youngest's (15 years old) Christmas presents was the whole I Love Lucy series. We've been enjoying watching it over the past weeks. They never get old for us. We all enjoy them including my soon to be 18 year old son.
5. Finding the perfect present. I love it when I can score the perfect gift for someone and was able to do that for my son's 18th birthday next week. The two items have been unavailable since I've been looking for them, way back to last November. And I was able to hunt down both of them. Whoo hoo. But shhh, I can't tell you what they are because with my luck he would read it even though he has never darkened the door the of my blog that I know of before. This would be the post he reads.
Hey I got through a fave five without a food item. Fancy that!
So what has been your favorite things from your week? If you do a post, please link up so that we may come by!
P.S. If you need to email me for any reason, my email is, shall we say, missing at the moment. We installed Windows 7 on my laptop last night, and can you believe it does not have an email window in it? So now we have to figure out how to get my email back. Arggh. Hopefully hubby can get if fixed tonight. Well, email is up and running. But boy it's different. I think I just deleted my junk email folder by accident. Yikes.
Join us over at Linda's 2nd Cup of Coffee for this week's Random Dozen.
1. So I was thinking about how Jon Bon Jovi never seems to age much. His hair is smaller nowadays, but he still manages to look like a boy somehow. And then that made me think of the story of Dorian Gray. Question: If you physically lock in one age for yourself, which would you choose and why? This is a hard question. I don't know if I'd even want to do this. I would love to get out of my forties. Everyone says it's a time of really knowing who you are and having "arrived". But I've found it one of the hardest decades of my life. I certainly would not want to be caught up in a never ending high school experience. And I don't think I'd forever want to be a kid. That leaves the 20's and 30's. And I'm rambling and that indicates I either have not had my brain turn on yet this morning or that I really have no idea. So I'm walking away from this question and let you all form an intelligent answer to this one.
2. What is the best dish that you cook or bake (your piece de resistance?) Oh Linda you are taxing me with questions where I have to narrow it down to one. I'm not good at choosing one answer. But if pressed I guess I would say Chicken Paprika with Nokedli (tiny dumplings).
3. When you feel blue, what is one strategy you use to help yourself back to normal? Put on a good worship CD. Spend time with one of a couple of really good friends. I know that's two but like I said I have a hard time narrowing things down to one.
4. When was the last time you danced in public? A long time ago.
5. Do you consider yourself a realist or dreamer? Realist.
6. As a parent, what is one thing that you have done well? I get complimented all the time, since my kids were very little, that they are very polite so I think I did that well. Manners have always been important to me and I think I was able to pass that on to my kids in the way they treat those out of their peer group. I remember one time when my son was about 4 or 5 and he wasn't watching where he was going and sorta walked into a senior lady at the grocery story. He immediately looked her right in the eyes and said sorry. She told me how wonderful that was and that in her experience children didn't use manners much anymore. I was so proud of my little boy!
7. Which is your favorite character on the Andy Griffith show? I haven't watched that show in a long time but Barney Fife always cracked me up.
8. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Probably a 2 or 3.
9. Have you never been mellow? Have you never tried … to find a comfort from in side you? (Sorry, Jorge was singing that song just now, and it just seemed to be perfect timing as I was creating this week’s questions.) REAL question: What is your #1 driving pet peeve? LOL. Do I really have to choose just one? Seriously Linda, you are testing me in this 12. LOL. In reference to #6, I would say the basic decline of manners in kids. Ok, I can't do just one. I would also say all the movies they show to my kids in school under the guise of "education" and learning something from a hollywood version of a historical event. There. I feel better now. Ok. I just noticed after reading about a dozen other random dozen's that this question actually reads "driving pet peeves". LOL. Well, now. that makes my answer sound totally stupid, doesn't it? Sheesh. Driving pet peeve: People who cut you off in your lane and then drive really slow. There now, that sounds better doesn't it? LOL.
10. Which color best represents your mood today? Care to elaborate? A mush of grey to blue. No elaboration.
11. If your spouse were an animal, which would he/she be? Again, another one where I have to narrow an answer down to one. LINDA! What are you doing to me, girl? I'm going to have to take a nerve pill after all this. LOL. I'm going to pick a hard working beaver that works hard around his house & keeps repairs in check on his house. Even though my hubby hates being in the role of "Mr. Fix-it", he does grab the bull by the horns and keeps up on the house repairs and doesn't let things go. He saves us a ton of money in having to hire jobs out and I know I don't tell him very often but I really, really appreciate this about him. Thank you, Sweetie!
12. What activity takes up the bulk of your time on an average day? Work. The dayhome is open from 7:30 am - 5:15 pm. It makes for a really, really long day. With no lunch breaks where I can actually, you know, escape for an hour. And I've been doing it 20 years. And in my current frame of mind, I totally could also put this under pet peeves. And I guess I can use that as an elaboration to the color/mood question. And I think now I have to go do #3.
I have come to a conclusion. Weekends are way too short. Way, way too short. There just always seems to be so much to do and not enough time to do it all in. I just can't seem to find that relaxation mode (read: sit around with a coffee in hand reading books and watching movies) that everyone says weekends are for. At least not this year yet. Hopefully it will kick in soon.
Something exciting that did happen on the weekend though, is that the Olympic torch came through the city on it's way to Vancouver. It arrived on an antique railway hand car over our famous railway bridge. This was history making as the flame had never been transported except by someone holding it. Then they had huge goings on in the park at the lake. Now that is a once in a lifetime thing. I had big plans to take all sorts of pictures and do a whole post on it. And where are my pictures of this once in a life time event? Absolutely nowhere. Yup, I totally forgot and missed it. We were on our way to visit my Dad and were coming up on the main road a couple of blocks from my house when we could see a bazillion flashing lights. The closer we got the more people we could see. We thought there had been a huge accident. But no, as we got to the corner there 1/2 a block up was the runner with the Olympic flame. Durn! I didn't even see it go by. Just saw the back end of it. It was way too late to get to lake. We would have had to walk as the parking would have been all taken. So there ran 1/2 a block ahead my once in a lifetime chance to take up close pics of that. Sigh. Seems the story of my life lately. Looking at the backside of events going by. So I guess I'll just have to be content to see the flame on the news and on tv in Vancouver at the opening ceremonies. Or like a good little blogger, googling a picture of it.
picture courtesy of the Herald
Have any of you had a chance to see the Olympic flame go through your city? Would you go to see it run by or could you not care less, like certain members of my family who shall remain nameless?
Wow, this week has just flown by. I'm shocked that it is already Thursday. Our ladies study group has moved to Thursday's every other week and I just about missed posting the FFF because of the weird change. I had already been working on it, but didn't have any autopost yet as I wasn't finished yet. Whew, good thing my memory kicked in on time. LOL. Welcome, if you are a newcomer. Please feel free to just jump right in. Don't be shy! Details are here. Welcome to my faithful regulars. I so enjoy reading all your posts each week and really miss you when you happen to be gone.
So on we go to find our five favorite things from our week.
1. A good quote and this one fit the bill: "A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer
2. This awesome giveawayover at Pioneer Woman. Nobody can lose with this one. Hurry you have until noon today to enter.
3. Homemade meatballs in Thai Sweet & Spicy Sauce. Gosh, is there ever a week I don't mention some kind of food? But eating good food really is one of life's pleasure's, isn't it? I got the idea one day to pour this sauce over some homemade meatballs just for a treat while watching movies. Yum, yum, yum. A new favorite for the Living to Tell household. The one pictured is the brand available at Costco around here, but the M&M brand is really good too.
4. "the Blindside". My friend treated me to this movie this week and it was awesome. Both of us really, really enjoyed it. So both the Blindside and my friend treating me are a combined fave. Add to that without even really being aware of "half price night", we went on the night when with each adult ticket you got a free pop and popcorn. A favorite outing all around.
5. Scripture that speaks. Every week this is really a fave, but I just love when certain scriptures just jump out and "speak" to my heart as I read God's word. Sometimes it's encouragement and sometimes comfort, sometimes it brings faith and sometimes it even convicts. But when it's touched my heart in whatever way, it makes it come alive. Love that.
What have been your favorite things that made you week? If you do a post, sign onto to Mr. Linky please, so that we can come and visit you!
Praying for all the people in Haiti! If you'd like to donate to immediate and ongoing relief work there with an established and reputable organization you can donate to Samaritan's Purse.
Linda, more affectionately known as Lidna, has thought of another dozen to ask. If you'd like to join in please visit 2nd Cup of Coffee . It's a lot of fun and it makes you think.
1. When was the last time you craved a food--what was it, and did you cave? The two big foods I usually crave are a certain kind of pizza or chips and dip. Chips and dip was the last craving and yes, I totally caved. Because I had it in the house from Christmas. If I wouldn't have had it sitting there it would have been a different ending to that story.
2. M & M's or Skittles? M&M's for sure.
3. Have you ever read the Bible completely through? No, but I am attempting it this year. I'm doing the chronological read through. And so far, I'm only 4 days behind. LOL. Yay for me. The challenge was subtly thrown down to me by "Miss Bible School Student, otherwise known as my oldest, who was shocked to know I hadn't actually read it through once and said to me "Really, I've read it through 3 times already." Well, hmphh. Can't let that pass by.
4. How long does it take you to really wake up in the morning? Depends on if I got enough sleep the night before but usually a good hour and 2 cups of coffee later to defuzz my brain. I'm forced to function but that doesn't mean I'm fully awake. LOL.
5. Have you ever been on a cruise? If not, would you like to? Have never been but boy I'd love to go. We've always wanted to do an Alaskan Cruise and my dream would be to do the Mediterranean Cruise with lots of stops and tours into Europe.
6. Who is your favorite actress? Sandra Bullock. And I just saw "Blindside" last night and it was soooo good. She played it wonderfully. I hope she wins an award or two for it.
7. ______ is something that I will just never understand. Mega piercings and mega tatoos. I just don't get the draw.
8. How much of a technology junkie are you? Not much. Most of the electronics in the house I wouldn't know what to do with if something went wrong with them. I'm not up on the last thing and wouldn't even know how to operate an MP3 or iPod without the kids showing me.
9. Do you enjoy selecting greeting cards for people, or is it more of a cultural "have to" for you? Looooove greeting cards and always have. I love picking them with the perfect message and picture for the person they are for. What I hate is the ridiculous price that they now are.
10. When was the last time you got a new style/haircut? Sigh. I have hair issues. I've always been a long hair wanna be but can never stand it when it gets to a certain length. I feel better in short hair. But I've still yet to find a style that I really, really love. So I'm pretty much stuck in the same general style. Last haircut I had was a week or so before Christmas. I have to get it cut every 5 - 6 weeks or it starts to "flop" and won't do what I want it to.
11. What do you enjoy shopping for most? That's a toss up between purses, shoes and books. I'll take any of those.
12. What's the last thing you think of before you leave the house? "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date."
How was everyone's weekend? It was a pretty darn good one here in Living to Tell the Story land. Friday saw the chinook arrive and blow with a vengence during the night hours. If you don't know what a chinook is, it's a warm wind that comes off the mountains that Southern Alberta is famous for. It can at times literally raise the temperature from -20*C (-4*F) to 5 or 10*C (41*-50*F) within hours. The sky is totally covered over with a grey cloud cover during the chinook except the very edge of the horizon to the west where there is a blue strip of clear sky. That is called a chinook arch. It's very windy but we welcome it after sitting in frigid temps since before Christmas.
Of course, along with the nice sudden warming comes major melting. And that is something we Southern Albertans grumble about even while praising the chinook. It makes for extremely slushy, wet, dirty sidewalks, roads and parking lots. One never knows when that innocent looking pile of snow on the pavement will actually be a melted puddle underneath the snow cover and all of a sudden you are up to your ankles in cold water. The roads become swimming pools as the fast melt cannot get to the drain holes because of snow that hasn't melted yet
and piles of snow along the sides of the roads are very dirty as cars spray up the wet, mucky dirty gravel that they lay when the roads are slick. It goes from a white, pristine landscape like this To a yucky dirty look like this
Main roads like ours that have been plowed before will clear really fast but side streets become treacherous when all the slush then freezes overnight when temps go down below zero. They are a rutted, solid ice mess.
But the wind, the wet and slush does not stop us hearty Southern Albertan from much. Especially not going shopping with a friend when there is a gift certificate to spend! Remember I mentioned the gift certificate and hoping to score a good deal here in #5? Well, after literally combing the store I scored an awesome deal with this cute wool coat. (If you zoom on the pic you'll see the cute weave in the coat). And notice the price? Well guess what I got it for? Go 'head, guess. A cool $79.99. How awesome is that? By the time I pooled the gift card and birthday monies, the only cash I put out was $12.99 for a cute scarf to go with it. Whoo hoo, I actually have a nice coat now, rather than just a bunch of casual type sport coats. I modeled it for my youngest whose comment was: "Wow, Mom, you look in stlye now". Which I think was a compliment. LOL. And what's a shopping trip without reviving ourselves with a nice cup of coffee at Starbucks?
We wrapped up the weekend with a great church service on Sunday, learning all about letting the Word of God be sown on good soil in our hearts and then a nice Chinese food dinner with some friends who treated us. Wow, reading back on the last week I have gone out more with friends than I have for months. And you know what? I liked it. Really, really liked it. I definitely have to make more of an effort in that department.
This week's photo hunter theme is bulky. I immediately thought of some pics I took this past summer when house movers were moving a house down our street. Now that is one bulky load I would not want to be the driver of.
For more takes on the "bulky" theme or to join in, head on over to Photo Hunters.
Hello everyone! How was the first week of the year? Did it start off with a bang or did you ease into it slowly? Can you remember five of your favorite things from the first week of the new decade? If you are just starting off with us, welcome. This a great exercise to start off the new year and then continue with, even on the harder weeks. To me it shows us that there really are good things, things we are blessed with, even in the midst of hardship, no matter how small they may be. And it shows us the big blessings of God in our lives too. Join in, if you need details or would just like to reread the guidelines, they are here.
So on we go.
1. Christmas packed away. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all the paraphenelia that goes with it. But when January hits, I am ready to have my home back to normal, such as it is. I'm very happy to report that all the packing away went smoothly and I was able to get it all done within a couple of afternoons. And I even managed to get tough with myself and put a couple of things into the give away box. Yipee.
2. Reader's Wrap. I love this thing. It's basically a loooong rectangle made of the softest fuzzy material and it goes over your shoulders like a big 'ole shawl. My sister gave it to me for Christmas and I have used it constantly while watching tv or sitting reading. Perfect for the cold nights and days we've been having. It has especially felt lovely the last couple of day's as I haven't felt too good and just couldn't shake feeling cold. Mine's like the picture except it's beige with a leopard print edging. So cozy. And no, the cute girl in the pic is not me.
3. Costco chicken pie. Oh my word, I love this stuff. It's full of big chunks of chicken and veggies. No trying to guess what that puny lump may be in the gravy. With Costco's everything is identifiable. LOL. And it tastes good. No preservative taste. Great for an easy meal along with a salad.
4. Spending my Chapters gift card. Chapters is ourhuge bookstore chain that has a Starbuck's corner. One of my dayhome kidlets blessed me with a gift certificate and I thoroughly enjoyed my few hours of having a coffee with a dear friend and then wandering the store with her chatting about all the books we were finding. It was hard to pick but I finally settled on the one I went for: The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr. (I linked at amazon because I have no idea why it's not in Chapters online store). I'll be starting that as soon as I get through my library stack. I also had enough to get a sweet pack of blank note cards. I love me some nice stationary.
5. Fridays. Ah yes, I am so glad it is Friday. A week off is really great but oh that week going back to work is tough. And twice as hard when I'm not feeling the greatest. So I'm glad it's the end of the work week. That means a pretty easy going day in dayhome with a movie afternoon complete with lots of popcorn. Then it's relax time. Tomorrow I'm off with another friend to spend another gift certificate from my son, this time to Winner's which is like a T.J. Maxx. I think. I've never been to T.J. Maxx but the commercials make it look the same. LOL. Anyway, hopefully I'll score a really great deal there.
So what were your favorites for the week? If you've done a FFF post, please link onto Mr. Linky so that we can come and visit you.
It's Thursday already? Where on earth has this week gone? I've posted all of once. I've been so busy. But I couldn't tell you doing what. I know I've had two interviews this week for kids in the dayhome, which always adds extra cleaning, organizing, stress and getting the contracts together to my day. And yesterday some kind of a cold is trying lay ahold. And it sure has made me tired. So very, very tired. I got up not too long ago and I feel like crawling back to bed already. Blech.
Christmas is put away for another year and my laundry room did get a good cleaning. I'm still going to go through the storage in there and do some major purging. What is it about January that lends itself so well to purging junk out of our lives both in the practical sense and in the soul/spirit area too. Maybe it has to do with the winter socking us in and there is nothing really to do but stare at all the junk and turn inward looking at ourselves and where we are in life. Clutter in house and in heart/soul always makes me really antsy.
So the next few days I think I will spend time catching up on my bible reading plan, yes, I am behind already, and just going through more stuff scaling it down. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to catch a nap this afternoon. Now that would be a miracle. Hope to see you all tomorrow for Friday's Fave Five.
If I had any delusions about it slowing down around here when it hit January 2010, I was sadly mistaken. January has hit the floor running with no sign of slowing down one little bit. I don't really know what I'm so busy with, but it just seems my to-do list is never-ending and ever-growing. I finally tackled the laundry room yesterday, after it nagging me to please do something about the multitude of dust bunnies overtaking it's corners. And I won't even go into how somehow over the Christmas week, the laundry seemed to multiply and breed until before I knew it I had a good six loads to do. What is it with laundry? Does it not know the meaning of the word vacation?
As I was in the laundry room cleaning and in the storage room putting away all the Christmas paraphenilia, the old January urge to do a good purging of "stuff" started to happen. I don't know about you guys, but I so easily seem to get over-run with "stuff". I seriously do not know why on earth I hang on to "stuff" for so long. What is it in me that has that fear that I just might need it. Like seriously, why does one need four of the same coffee carafe? I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions, they never work for me, but it is definitely a goal in the first 3 or 4 months of this year to go room by room and just get rid of "stuff".
Speaking of not making New Year's resolutions, one of my "not resolutions" is to read through the bible in the year. I've chosen this chronological plan. I'm embarrassed to say in all the years I've been a Christian, I have never totally read through the bible. Well, I'm going to try to change that this year. Especially when my oldest, who is in bible school, laid down the gauntlet to me, by saying in an unbelieving voice that she has read through the bible 3 times. Sigh. And she hasn't even hit her 20th year yet. Trust a bible college student to come home for the holidays and lay down a challenge to ya in some way, shape or form. LOL. I thought the chronological read would be interesting as it takes you through the bible in the order that events would have occured. I've decided to do it in a relaxed manner so that I don't defeat myself before I even get started. I already missed yesterday's reading but it was insane around here with first day back to dayhome from the holidays and first night back to ladies group and an interview in the middle of it all, all on about 4 hours of sleep, but today is an easier day so I plan to catch up. And hopefully on January 1 next year I'll be typing that I accomplished that goal. I mean I can't let a young whipper snapper beat me, can I? LOL.
And again speaking of the oldest, she gave hubby and I a Star Trek edition of Monopoly for Christmas and we put it to use on New Year's Eve. What fun it was playing the game, not so much for the game itself, but for the crazy fun. With lots of competiveness in the group, much good natured arguing over the rules, certain people trying to go on the "pay later" system and lots of laughing trying to pronounce the various names of Federation properties we were now the proud owners of, the guy who won the game was the one who did not own one single property on the board. Now how the heck did that happen? But I decided that night, that one of things I really want to do this year, is to start playing more board games with family and friends. Instead of just sitting around when visiting, I'm going to pull out some of the fun games we've got sitting around gathering dust. Count that as another non-resolution.
As I'm typing all this I'm staring at the the bright purple exercise ball across the room and the box that contains the Wii Active, both of which were on my Christmas list. I suppose sometime today I should fire it up and get going on that too. After a depressing doctor appointment on Christmas Eve, I no longer can ignore that area of my life. It's hard for me to admit that I have so totally let the fitness area of my life disappear, but the last few years I have totally swept it under the carpet and have become quite adept at making excuses. But now I've hit the wall where excuses won't cut it and I thought this would be a fun way to get back to it. What I love is that I can get another band that holds the nunchuck on your leg and have a partner to exercise with. Hubby better look out 'cause he'll be the first one I'll be asking. So I figure 3 days a week is a good start to this non-resolution?
So I think I've done quite well in not making any resoltions this year. How about you? Are you a resolution person? What are your resolutions, or non-resoltions as it were, for the year? Oh, and a few days late but a Happy New Year to you all! Maybe I need to make a non-resolution for doing something about being late!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope everybody had a wonderful holiday and a great New Year's celebrations. Welcome to the first FFF of the new year, the first FFF of a new decade. I, myself, cannot believe it's 2010. So let's get right into kicking off the new year. If you are new and need to guidelines or details you can make a stop here and then join right in.
It was so hard to narrow down this whole week down to just five favorites but I think I did it.
1. Christmas itself. I love Christmas and all it represents. The celebration of the birth of Jesus, God made flesh, the greatest gift of all, come to earth for you and for me. It just boggles my mind, that the God and Creator of all loved us so much that He left everything to come down to us.
2. Family all together and here for the holidays. So nice to have us all together for the holidays, just being together. We didn't go a whole lot of places or do a whole lot of things, but we spent a lot of priceless time together.
3. A gift of hoar frost on my birthday. So gorgeous. God truly showed his artistry that morning! My son and I went to the lake for a bit and it was just beautiful. Now the pictures are sort of in reverse order. Blogger for some reason is not letting me "slide" the pictures down very easily lately. But it doesn't make a difference to the beauty, just the order of the story.
No it is not snowing in this picture. It is actually the hoar frost falling off the trees as a lick of a breeze knocked it off.
It was so crisp outside. Everything just stood out against each other.
This is not snow on the branches but the frost. Look how thick that is.
Such a peacefull scene. The white in the foreground is actually the lake covered in ice and snow.
The contrasts in greys, whites and browns was stunning.
An absolutely amazing day. I could have stayed here taking pictures all day if my fingers hadn't have been freezing off. This is just a sampling of the tons of pictures I took.
4. The whole week off to spend time with my kids. That is really rare for me with my job. A whole week off at Christmas. And the way the holiday days fell made for an extra long holiday! The time was precious with my girl home from school and my other two kids.
5. Anne of Green Gables marathon with my girls. This is a favorite thing to do with my girls each year. We watch it through once a year or so. It's a mom and girls time. No guys allowed.
6. One extra one this week was hubby taking us out on my birthday to a brand new restaurant in town. Another special family time. I can't believe, me the rule follower, just broke my rules. :v)
I know it's hard to narrow down a week like this last with Christmas, but what were your favorite fives? If you do a post, please sign on to Mr. Linky so we can come and visit. I look forward to that tomorrow with a nice cup of coffee.
To a yucky dirty look like this
This is not snow on the branches but the frost. Look how thick that is.
