Let It Snow

Of course it just wouldn't be winter without the "every other day" snowfall. Last night before retiring for the night, I turned on the deck lights and it was snowing like crazy. Pepper didn't care what it was doing out there, as long as I opened the door to let her out to take care of business. After that business was taken care of, we girls headed for the land of nod. It felt so good to lay down and just close my eyes and drift off.

Today is one of those days where it's still cold out but not down in the deep freeze. So I put a few layers of clothes on and waddled out to my truck and headed off to the dentist. Yep, I had to get another adjustment done to my new partials. I must say, trying to get used to all this new dental work is quite the workout on my jaws. LOL.

After the dental visit, I decided to go into town and check out the local Pamida store and oh baby, I found some nice things on sale for Christmas ornaments and decorations. Woohoo, I was even lucky to find they had the same kind of ornaments I bought last year so I could replace some that broke in the box. Then I went next door to the grocery store to get a few groceries for supper and found another deal there. I did quite well in my shopping today. Saved some serious bucks and that's a good thing!

About the time I was pulling out to come home, it started snowing, again. Ugh, we just had like 3 inches last night and now on the radio it was maybe another 3-6 for us. Sigh, and who is the idiot that ever came up with "let it snow"? It seems like that's all it does here anymore, snows on almost a daily basis. Well I could always cheer up and look at the fact that summer is only about 6 1/2 months away!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Tuesday and looking forward to a wonderful new year.

Debbie

Sunday Musings

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. The past 48 hours has been quite the roller coaster in terms of weather in WI. We had two days of 40 and 50 degree weather, melting snow, and fog so thick that it looked like a white out in our yard. Our yard is snow white but with the fog being so thick, I could barely make out where our two black labs, Storm and Pepper were out back. The weather also made the roads slick and we didn't go anywhere with everything being so icy. It was better to stay home and be safe and sound. Trust me, I was bemoaning the fact that I was missing the after holiday sales. LOL. Ah well, next year maybe I'll make the day after Christmas sales.

I know that the dogs are more than happy that the snow was melting. The girls aren't short labs by any means, but the snow is already up to their chest and for them to do their nature thing is rather tough. So "daddy's girls" are quite happy that daddy took the snowblower out in the backyard and made paths for them to be able to do their thing.

We went to my mom and step-dad's for Christmas day and a good time was had by all. It was just the four of us adults and it was nice to just visit without worrying about the drive back home and the weather. Actually the weather cooperated so it may have been 2 degrees but the sun was shining and the snow was glistening and it was just beautiful. We were rather sad that our son wasn't able to join us but we will be driving down to see him and deliver his gifts hopefully before the new year. The weather has been a deciding factor the past few days.

Hubby was so good this past year that Mrs. Santa decided that he deserved to have a Playstation 3 for his Christmas gift. That plus the Guitar Hero World Tour and two games to round out his gifts. Unfortunately the sales person misinformed me about being able to play the two games offline, so we took those back for exchange today. I have created a monster, according to my husband. The first day he spent almost 10 hours playing the guitar game. I heard songs over and over and over until I could have screamed but he picked up quickly on the playing so it's been fun to hear the songs in the game. It's keeping him busy inside so I'm not going to complain. I just wish he would have it connected to the big tv in the lower level instead of being hooked up to the plasma in the living room. Hopefully I'll be able to get him to move it.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get my craft area cleaned up and be able to start crafting again. I have so many things all over the place, I really have a mess to deal with.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!

Debbie

Happy Holidays

Well we have been getting plenty of snow the past few days and of course I think we've had enough for the season. LOL

Just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays and hope everyone that travels has a safe trip. Give yourself plenty of time if you have to travel over the ice and snow.

God Bless to all!

Debbie

Tuesday Tidbits

Happy Tuesday!

I've been busy trying to get a Christmas design to come together. I'm at that point, where it's frustrating, so it's time to just step back and take a breather. It's is so close to coming together but there is something that just isn't working right, and I'll be darned if I will let it get the better of me. I'll get there, just takes time!

So, I think I'll just go get out the Christmas decorations and decorate the inside of the house. I've been wanting to do it all month and then I just put it off and it still hasn't gotten done. I thought for sure I'd be able to talk hubby into decorating this past weekend and he just gave me a funny look. This from the guy who loves can't wait to get Christmas up in the house right after Thanksgiving. Hmmm. Well I do know the weather has been playing havoc with his back, and when that happens, forget the rest of the day. So while he out with his buddies for a few hours today, I think Santa's little helper will get busy around here and surprise him. Maybe that will put a smile on his usually cheerful puss!

I had someone ask me to put up a photo of a Christmas decoration that I cut out with a scissors. So I'll post that later.

Debbie

Missing Family

For the past week, hubby and I have been remembering his parents and my grandparents and other members of our families that are no longer with us. I would have loved to been able to know my mother-in-law as an adult. My only memories of her are when I was a teen, and she was a very warm and loving woman. She would have been an awesome grandmother to our son. My father-in-law was always so good to me. I have to say, my husband was very lucky as having wonderful parents that really cared and made sure they did so many things as a family.

For me, I miss my grandparents, both sets. I am so blessed to still have my parents living and very healthy. My dad's grandparents lived until I was in my early 20's, and that was pretty awesome if you think about it. My grandparents had long lives also. I am quite blessed to have had them right up until a couple of years ago when my last grandmother passed. Talk about longevity! I had my grandparents alive in my late 40's, so I can only hope I could be blessed with such a long life. I also miss my Uncle Jerry, whom I called "Jer-bear". He's also the reason I have for my email name bearilu. It breaks down to "bear I love you". He was a terrific uncle and he had the good sense to marry a super gal and make her my Aunt Joyce.

For all the relatives that have gone on to a better place, I can only hope that during this season of goodwill and blessings, that we all take time to remember our loved ones. God needed angels, and I hope that when our group of angels sing the heavenly carols, that we will hear them with our hearts and minds.

We miss you and send our love to all of our angels, not only for the holiday season, but all year long.

Debbie & Mike

Ramblings

Looking out the windows and seeing different tones of greys and blues, it's quite a blah looking day. As I look out into the woods, I see pines, dotted with green needles that have been dusted with snow. The oak leaves have turned from green to medium brown. Some of leaves look like burnt rust mixed among the brown leaves. Yet, with those pretty colors to look at, it still looks very gray and overcast. Yes, winter is here and it's supposedly only the beginning. So far, we have had rain, sleet and snow and this is just the beginning of December? If we have anything like we did last year with close to 100" snow, it will be another bad winter. I still vote for Mother Nature to only be allowed to use the week of Christmas for snow and cold. Anything before or after the holiday, must go back up in temps at least in the 60's or better for the rest of our winter. Brrrr.

I have been putting off working on a wedding album for over two weeks already. I should have had it done, but I just can't find the inspiration to finish it. I put the album together for someone who wanted to give it to her friend as a wedding gift. That was all fine and dandy but now it has been decided that she has no clue how to put the photos in and or think of what she wants to do to finish the album to give to the bride and groom. So it's landed back in my lap, wedding photos and all. Guess I should force myself to get it done.

Some days it's just doesn't seem worth getting up for. Hope you are having a much better day than I did!

Debbie

Cards

Here's a card that I sent to my mom for her birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!


Actually my dearest friend, Mary Powell, designed the card. Mary has her own website and sells her designs at http://shop.mamawslegacy.com/zencart/. She has so many unique ideas and I'm just in love with everything she puts into her store. Mary is one of the proud few that puts her heart and soul into her designs.





Now, on to holiday cards. These are two cards I made, one is the Mickey car but made for Santa Claus that I scraplifted from someplace. Sorry I don't know where I saw the card similar to this.








The other, with the penguins, the main idea for the layout of the card is off cover of the CardMaker magazine. The penguins I printed off and colored with markers and gel pens. I think it really turned out cute!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It may not be officially be considered Winter yet, but trust me, when we have night temps registering at below zero and barely in the teens during the day, my vote is that fall has long ended and winter should have been declared as officially being here. Not to mention the snow blanketing everything from the ground on up. The pine trees are so pretty with their dark green needles and snow tips, the grass is already sleeping beneath the blanket of the cold white stuff and the rest of the woods all under a white blanket. Speaking of things being blanketed, let us now forget all the layers of clothing I'm now wearing just to stay warm, inside and out.

I still say I was born somewhere on an island where is it nice and warm all year round. I love the sun, surf and sand. I say I was stolen by a band of gypsies but my mother swears she gave birth to me. Hmm, it makes me wonder why I hate the snow and cold so much and love the sun, water and sand so much more. LOL.

If you are still busy Christmas shopping, good luck out there. Soon the big guy will busy flying all over the world delivering gifts to all the naughty and nice persons out there. Another person has made it to my naughty list, so now that list has a total of 3 people. I don't know of a list lower than the naughty list, but if there was a "lower than a slug" listing, they would be on that one.

Well I'm off to play with some new craft things that came in the mail. Woohoo. Also I recently put a small television in my craft area so I can watch all the vhs movies on hand. Tonight is "White Christmas"," Grumpy Old Men", "Grumpier Old Men" and to be topped off with an oldie, but goodie, "The Bells of St. Mary's". These are my top four movies for the Christmas season and anything after that, I consider a bonus.

Wishing my family and friends a wonderful weekend.

Debbie

Making A List

It's that time of the year to start making my list and checking it twice. I already know who has been naughty or nice. The first item on my list is to go find a nice, tall and fluffy tree to decorate for Christmas. Thankfully we have a lot of room for what I call a "butterball" tree. We usually get a tree about 9 foot tall and almost as round, and for things to hang on the tree, my husband has bulbs and ornaments that his mother and grandmother made over 50 years ago. Some of them don't look like much, but when one thinks of the time of the depression era, it just makes the ornaments that much more special. So even though the aren't "fancy" by today's standards, that's just fine, because the sentimental value is what counts.

We have two black female labradors named Storm and Pepper. Storm is the oldest at 8 years old and Pepper is about 1 1/2 yrs old now. Storm's grandma had a litter of puppies and that is how we got Pepper. Which means that Pepper is Storm's aunt. Rather confusing to sit and think about it. There are times I have to laugh at myself because at a glance, you can't tell who is who. I always have to look at the muzzle and if it's gray, then I know it's Storm. Either that or I have to look at the color of their collar. The girls look so alike. I wish my husband wouldn't have named the pup, Pepper. She sure lives up to her name. She is just full of zip, it tires me out just to watch her run around. Another thing is that she drools like a Saint Bernard, for food. I've never seen a dog drool like Pepper. She eats food like it's her first and last meal of her lifetime. Hubby says she's "hard-wired" for food. I said well what do you expect, you named my dog after a food seasoning? Truthfully, she is a handful. I can't remember ever having such a high spirited dog like her and yet I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. I have to admit that the girls are both awesome and smart as all get out. I've had Samoyeds, toy American Eskimos and now Labradors. I have a hard time not having a dog around.

It's time to get busy making Christmas cards. I don't have many to make, maybe about 10 total. Once upon a time it used to be 50+ cards to send out every year, but as friends and family move on and don't keep in contact the list just seems to dwindle. That plus those that pass away to a better place. I'm very lucky to still have my parents and friends that are quite near and dear to us.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I'm working on a few things to start loading up photos of my cardmaking or scrapbooking.

~Debbie

The Day After

Well yesterday was the first time I can remember shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I never even heard it called "Black Friday" until this year. Whatever they want to call it, all I can say is was an eye opener. When I first walked into a retail supercenter, a sheriff's squad pulled up as I was walking in at 5 am. I went in and was done shopping in about 5 minutes. Then I just walked around the store and finally headed for the checkout. While waiting in line, I was rather surprised to turn around and see two women slugging it out over an item. I've heard stories about things like this, but never first hand witnessed it. Unfortunately an innocent bystander somehow became trampled and knocked out cold and the store had to call for an ambulance. Good thing the sheriff was still in the store. I couldn't believe how these two adult women had lost their minds over a plasma tv. All I could think was well, whatever monies they were planning on spending in the store, will now have to go towards their bail or ticket. So much for "Peace and Goodwill towards men". And just think, the season is just starting!

Speaking of which, we were informed by our son that he and his girlfriend plan on being here for Christmas which means now I have to go shopping. I hate shopping for gifts. I just can't stand it. It drives me crazy because no matter what I could possibly buy as a gift for someone, it usually goes back to the store. Of course, giving a gift card is what I've been doing the past few years, but those too seem so impersonal. The best thing I like about the gift card is the person I just gifted it to, can not only get what they would like but I figure they can have the headache of fighting the crowd. Shame on me, I know! I can't help it. I just hate the retail and commercialism side of the holiday.

Well I guess I better quit whining and start making a list of what I need to buy for presents. My work is never done around here. Hope you got some wonderful deals yesterday and have fun shopping!

~Debbie

Welcome to My Blog

As the old saying goes, "there is a first for everything". This is my first attempt to join the blog world, so bear with me as I try to get things sorted out. I've been thinking about creating a blog for quite some time now and kept putting it off. Well I'm jumping in and hoping to land on my feet! If I land on my head, there will surely be some major problems.

Somebody asked me recently why I wanted to do a blog and at first I wanted to just say well everybody is doing it. But the more I think about it, these are just a few reasons:

• It's a good way to communicate
  

• Hopefully I can inspire others and they have inspired me

• Sharing with others

• Being able to take a few leaps of faith in myself

• Hopefully I can take the challenges that come my way

So that being said, I hope you'll come back and visit my blog and see what I've been up to. Goodness knows I can get into shenanigans at times, all in good fun. I just love a good laugh because after all, laughter is good for the soul.

Thanks for stopping in and have a terrific day!

Debbie