Well, the year is almost over. I look outside, expecting to see snow or at least signs that it's Winter and all I see is fog. The weather guessers are promising high 50s today with sunshine in the afternoon. Hopefully, later I'll take a walk.
I don't make New Year's resolutions because I always break them. About 7 years ago I started writing a "Mission Statement" for the coming year. This has worked well for me and I've done one for 2007. On the list is "try to go to Russia". I'll know by January 28th. I'd like to go.
Today I have a few chores to do but nothing pressing. I'll run out to Costco to get my arthritis supplements and pick up a prescription at Safeway. That's the only thing I really must do. Other than that I'll take it easy.
Before the year end, I'll post one more time. Then it starts anew......
God bless you all.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve
Well, I did it. House is clean, balance of groceries in the 'frig and now I can rest a bit.
I was in the storage room looking for some wrappings when I came across a box with the balance of my ornaments for the tree. I knew there were more than what I found on my first hunt. So I added those and the cotton garlands and now it looks like my tree. During my first visit to Russia, Lida, my 18 year old 'daughter', gave me a puffed, velour heart. It had a gold ribbon on it and I also found that in my upstairs closet. I put it right out front, near the top of the tree. I sure wish she could be here with me. Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated January 7th so she has a few weeks to go. She did tell me however that they put up a tree too. The 'they' being her room mate and herself. At least she has someone to celebrate with.
I am going to try to go to church this evening. There are 3 services and I hope to make the 8:00PM. I'm going to rest a bit now and get cleaned up and dressed.
I wish you all blessings of the season.
God bless you all.
I was in the storage room looking for some wrappings when I came across a box with the balance of my ornaments for the tree. I knew there were more than what I found on my first hunt. So I added those and the cotton garlands and now it looks like my tree. During my first visit to Russia, Lida, my 18 year old 'daughter', gave me a puffed, velour heart. It had a gold ribbon on it and I also found that in my upstairs closet. I put it right out front, near the top of the tree. I sure wish she could be here with me. Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated January 7th so she has a few weeks to go. She did tell me however that they put up a tree too. The 'they' being her room mate and herself. At least she has someone to celebrate with.
I am going to try to go to church this evening. There are 3 services and I hope to make the 8:00PM. I'm going to rest a bit now and get cleaned up and dressed.
I wish you all blessings of the season.
God bless you all.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Day Before Christmas Eve
By choice, I'm spending the Holidays here at home. I didn't want to spend several days with relatives who would be fussing at each other. I did that several years ago and it was no fun. But here I am, wrapping presents and getting the house ready for Christmas dinner with friends. I am feeling down today. I don't know if it's just my usual winter blues or if I think I should be with my feuding realtives. I do miss them -- but not the aggravation. I guess I just can't be pleased. :o)
Today I'll do the major straightening and tomorrow I'll finish the deep cleaning. I'll make one last run to the grocery and start to assemble the dishes that can be may a day ahead.
Hopefully I'll get out of this funk. I don't even like being around me. ARGHHHH
God bless you all.
Today I'll do the major straightening and tomorrow I'll finish the deep cleaning. I'll make one last run to the grocery and start to assemble the dishes that can be may a day ahead.
Hopefully I'll get out of this funk. I don't even like being around me. ARGHHHH
God bless you all.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Before and After
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Shopping is done!!
I went out early yesterday morning stopping first at Kmart. I found what I was looking for (plus a new handbag for me,for only $11.00) very quickly. I was amazed at the lack of customers in the store at 10:00AM and the abundance of sales going on. I've always liked Kmart and have been able to find last minute gifts. Sandy wanted a square griddle that would hold four slices of bread for french toast. I found one online at QVC.com which was on sale for about $21.00 so I ordered it for her. When it came I had mixed emotions. It is a stainless steel, teflon coated 'grill pan'. It could hold the required four slices of bread, but it is a bit heavy and clunky. It also has a two inch lip which makes it a pan, not a griddle. At Kmart, I found a griddle for the same price so I got it for her. And yes, I'll keep the grill pan for myself. :o)
I then stopped at a newspaper and magazine store that I visit annually at Christmas. My eldest nephew, Robert, loves wrestling mags and is into coin collecting. Mostly he likes to look at the collection he already has, so I try to get him mags about coins and collection, not so much about pricing old coins or buying and selling. My brother-in-law Bob, likes stories, etc. about the Civil War so I try to find one or two for him. This year he is also into Sudoku, so he will be getting a puzzle book. I always make this shop my last stop. It's kind of a victory.
I dug the tree out of the storage closet and put it up. It's been 4 years or so since I've put up a tree. The last time I took it down, I didn't take care to put the branches away in the order in which the tree should be assembled, so I couldn't remember where the color coding applied. Grrrrrrr. I put it together and of course there were longer branches sticking out of the middle of the tree and little stubbly ones on the bottom. I took the thing apart and put it the way it is supposed to be. Then came the saga of the lights. Two strings are dead and two are working. Except one thing. I have no idea where my head was when I bought one of them. They are on white wires!!!! Undoubtedly made for an all white tree. I put them on the tree, but it's awful. The white wires stick out like white wires on a green Christmas tree. LOL I'll have to take them off and replace them with the ones I'll be picking up at Ace Hardware today. Some of my ornaments are in not too good shape. So I've got holes............ LOL This poor tree reminds me of the one that Charlie Brown and Snoopy put together. LOL I'll rearrange the branches and add new lights today. It will be just fine. It will be my tree. :o)
Today I think I'll start wrapping presents. There aren't that many. I have a few that I'll send along with Chris and his wife when they leave to join the family in Atlanta on Friday.
My Christmas dinner celebration is on Monday so I'll have all of next weekend to get the house the way I want it. Dinner itself will be easy because I'm fixing ham. I'll have scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, glazed carrots and some other things but nothing time consuming or difficult to make. I intend to enjoy my guests and the time we have together.
That's what it's all about. Being with those you love.
Celebrate Jesus!!
God bless you all.
I then stopped at a newspaper and magazine store that I visit annually at Christmas. My eldest nephew, Robert, loves wrestling mags and is into coin collecting. Mostly he likes to look at the collection he already has, so I try to get him mags about coins and collection, not so much about pricing old coins or buying and selling. My brother-in-law Bob, likes stories, etc. about the Civil War so I try to find one or two for him. This year he is also into Sudoku, so he will be getting a puzzle book. I always make this shop my last stop. It's kind of a victory.
I dug the tree out of the storage closet and put it up. It's been 4 years or so since I've put up a tree. The last time I took it down, I didn't take care to put the branches away in the order in which the tree should be assembled, so I couldn't remember where the color coding applied. Grrrrrrr. I put it together and of course there were longer branches sticking out of the middle of the tree and little stubbly ones on the bottom. I took the thing apart and put it the way it is supposed to be. Then came the saga of the lights. Two strings are dead and two are working. Except one thing. I have no idea where my head was when I bought one of them. They are on white wires!!!! Undoubtedly made for an all white tree. I put them on the tree, but it's awful. The white wires stick out like white wires on a green Christmas tree. LOL I'll have to take them off and replace them with the ones I'll be picking up at Ace Hardware today. Some of my ornaments are in not too good shape. So I've got holes............ LOL This poor tree reminds me of the one that Charlie Brown and Snoopy put together. LOL I'll rearrange the branches and add new lights today. It will be just fine. It will be my tree. :o)
Today I think I'll start wrapping presents. There aren't that many. I have a few that I'll send along with Chris and his wife when they leave to join the family in Atlanta on Friday.
My Christmas dinner celebration is on Monday so I'll have all of next weekend to get the house the way I want it. Dinner itself will be easy because I'm fixing ham. I'll have scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, glazed carrots and some other things but nothing time consuming or difficult to make. I intend to enjoy my guests and the time we have together.
That's what it's all about. Being with those you love.
Celebrate Jesus!!
God bless you all.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Another lovely day
Mother Nature is playing games with us. Ten days ago, we had freezing temps and I dug out my winter coats. This week it has been warm and sunny, generating a great deal of fog in the morning. Going to work at 6:30AM in the fog gives one a very eerie feeling. But I guess better this, than 5 feet of snow.
Tomorrow I think I'll finish up shopping and start to put up the tree. I haven't had it out of the box for several years, so I'm sure it's mashed. I'll fluff up its fake branches and needles and it'll look good as new. I forgot about all of the wonderful special ornaments I've collected over the years. I was looking at them today remembering some and wondering who gave me others. Maybe it's dementia. LOL.
I'm looking forward to this holiday. I'll miss not seeing my family, but I won't miss all the stress that goes along with 6 adults and a dog in a townhouse for 4 days. No thanks. I'll enjoy my family of friends here at my house.
God bless you all.
Tomorrow I think I'll finish up shopping and start to put up the tree. I haven't had it out of the box for several years, so I'm sure it's mashed. I'll fluff up its fake branches and needles and it'll look good as new. I forgot about all of the wonderful special ornaments I've collected over the years. I was looking at them today remembering some and wondering who gave me others. Maybe it's dementia. LOL.
I'm looking forward to this holiday. I'll miss not seeing my family, but I won't miss all the stress that goes along with 6 adults and a dog in a townhouse for 4 days. No thanks. I'll enjoy my family of friends here at my house.
God bless you all.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Online shopping
Whatever did I do before the internet? I have managed to get the majority of my gifts online, most without paying for shipping. There was only one snafu in that Target had an item online that would not be available until January 3. I ordered it and when I didn't receive it within a week, I checked back only to see that the shipping date was January 13th. I don't thinnnnnk so......I cancelled it and chose something else.
I have found some very clever things that I know I could not have found if I had to do mall-crawling to get gifts.
I've been very lucky this year. Santa will be very good to me. (One of his elves slipped and told me of a gift that I'll be getting and it thrilled me)
Only two more things to get and I'm done.
God bless you all.
I have found some very clever things that I know I could not have found if I had to do mall-crawling to get gifts.
I've been very lucky this year. Santa will be very good to me. (One of his elves slipped and told me of a gift that I'll be getting and it thrilled me)
Only two more things to get and I'm done.
God bless you all.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Another week in paradise
I don't know where the week went. It seemed to disappear before my eyes. We have been so busy I barely have time to visit the 'Ladies'.
It's a combination of reasons. We have more investigators in the field, hence the increased case load. And we are losing cleared employees. This past week we lost our Training Department head. His reason for leaving? He wanted to spend more time with his baby daughter. Working 14 hour days was taking away his family time. I don't blame him one bit. We have new intermediate management coming into place and I wonder how that will work. We get one man acquainted with the scheme of things and his replacement appears and now we have to break him in. You know, I have been tempted to start looking for another job but it really is funny when I think about it. I don't like what I see? Wait a week or two - it will change.
My boss has been given a lot more reports to produce and of course, that stuff rolls downhill. On Thursday I was assigned a 3 day task to be completed in 12 hours. Made me mad, but I did it. As a thank you for my coming back into the office one afternoon (Because the VP had forgotten a meeting at 9:00AM the next day and needed a briefing made and printed)I was allowed to end my day yesterday at noon. My workmate, Jennie, and I went to the Conference Center where a training class is in session to bid our farewells to the Training Coordinator. It was his last day and we had lunch with him and spent an hour so Jennie could wrap up all the loose ends because they haven't found his replacement.
I've been doing a lot of shopping online this year. I've been out only once and that was to Target. I didn't plan the day very well because I got there around 2:00 in the afternoon. As I mentioned previously, it wasn't a pleasant experience. I have some things I have to get that require me going to the mall. I'll do that next week and I'll be there when the doors open. In and out and get it over with.
I've been feeling good with minimum back pain. If I can relax at work and not let the stress get to me, my back is better. I try, on a daily basis. LOL
God bless you all.
It's a combination of reasons. We have more investigators in the field, hence the increased case load. And we are losing cleared employees. This past week we lost our Training Department head. His reason for leaving? He wanted to spend more time with his baby daughter. Working 14 hour days was taking away his family time. I don't blame him one bit. We have new intermediate management coming into place and I wonder how that will work. We get one man acquainted with the scheme of things and his replacement appears and now we have to break him in. You know, I have been tempted to start looking for another job but it really is funny when I think about it. I don't like what I see? Wait a week or two - it will change.
My boss has been given a lot more reports to produce and of course, that stuff rolls downhill. On Thursday I was assigned a 3 day task to be completed in 12 hours. Made me mad, but I did it. As a thank you for my coming back into the office one afternoon (Because the VP had forgotten a meeting at 9:00AM the next day and needed a briefing made and printed)I was allowed to end my day yesterday at noon. My workmate, Jennie, and I went to the Conference Center where a training class is in session to bid our farewells to the Training Coordinator. It was his last day and we had lunch with him and spent an hour so Jennie could wrap up all the loose ends because they haven't found his replacement.
I've been doing a lot of shopping online this year. I've been out only once and that was to Target. I didn't plan the day very well because I got there around 2:00 in the afternoon. As I mentioned previously, it wasn't a pleasant experience. I have some things I have to get that require me going to the mall. I'll do that next week and I'll be there when the doors open. In and out and get it over with.
I've been feeling good with minimum back pain. If I can relax at work and not let the stress get to me, my back is better. I try, on a daily basis. LOL
God bless you all.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Yesterday we had summer
Indian summer was with us yesterday. We had 78 degrees on December lst. It was a lovely day but not long lived. By 6:00PM a strong wind had whipped up and brought in cooler temperatures. Today it's in the 50s but with the strong breezes blowing it is quite nippy out there. We are promised colder weather in the next few days. Oh well, I guess we have to have cooler weather to generate snow for Santa's sleigh.
This has been a very busy week for me. Monday and Tuesday I was physically exhausted when I got home from the office. Not that I did that much running around, but my projects were intense and kept me hopping. The next three days were no better. And it looks like there is no relief in sight. As our case load increases, more responsibilities are generated and of course, we still have the same amount of staff, which is dwindling. They are falling like toy soldiers. If I didn't know better I'd tell myself to spiff up my resume and put out some feelers. And you know, it might not be a bad idea either.
Today is my wanna-do-day. I get to do what I wanna do. Tomorrow is my gotta-so-day where I have chores that I gotta do. I'm going to fix a cup of tea and grab the book I picked up, at Sandy's suggestion, at the airport. (Mosie, "Mary, Mary" by James Patterson.) So far, so good.
Will post more later.
GBU all.
This has been a very busy week for me. Monday and Tuesday I was physically exhausted when I got home from the office. Not that I did that much running around, but my projects were intense and kept me hopping. The next three days were no better. And it looks like there is no relief in sight. As our case load increases, more responsibilities are generated and of course, we still have the same amount of staff, which is dwindling. They are falling like toy soldiers. If I didn't know better I'd tell myself to spiff up my resume and put out some feelers. And you know, it might not be a bad idea either.
Today is my wanna-do-day. I get to do what I wanna do. Tomorrow is my gotta-so-day where I have chores that I gotta do. I'm going to fix a cup of tea and grab the book I picked up, at Sandy's suggestion, at the airport. (Mosie, "Mary, Mary" by James Patterson.) So far, so good.
Will post more later.
GBU all.
First trip Christmas Shopping
And I hope it's my last. Geesch......I only ran up the street to the Target store and was overwhelmed at the amount of people in that store and how absolutely rude some shoppers can be. Women with kids in baskets, plowing through the aisles, not to mention the kids are screaming at the tops of their voices. Non-English speaking people trying to navigate around and not able to understand one single word of what's being said to them, or doing a good job of making believe................
I've done 80% of my shopping online and have to go to the big mall to get one more thing. I dread it.
Happy Holidays one and all.
I've done 80% of my shopping online and have to go to the big mall to get one more thing. I dread it.
Happy Holidays one and all.
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