Is headed our way. 8 to 10 inches of that nasty white stuff is possible and blowing and drifting to boot. Welcome to winter folks. It's snowing now so I hope those that traveled over the weekend head home early, it's suppose to get worse as the day goes on.

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Our Thanksgiving was wonderful. Everything turned out perfect and I stuffed myself as usual. We had way too much food. I don't know why I do that, there's no way possible to eat all that. Next time I'm not making so much or have the girls make as much. It's just crazy. I sent some pie home with the kids as I sure don't need it all here with just the two of us. Bill can't eat it anyway and I don't need it. After dinner and the girls got the dishes done they helped the kids play clue for awhile. Then we kicked the kids off the table so we could Texas hold'em. I won $175,000 . We decided the chips were worth $5000, $10,000 and 25,000. And I wasn't even the biggest winner lol. We started out play wrong though. We were playing with 5 cards instead of 2 like you're suppose too lol. But boy we were getting awesome hands that way lol. We finally caught on to what we were doing wrong when I was dealt 5 spades and didn't want to use any of the cards on the table lol. We laughed, it was so funny. Bill should have caught on right away as he plays it on the pc all the time and watches it on television. Then we played a new game called Apples to Apples and that was fun too. I guess it was around midnight when the kids went home.

Jon came when he got back home from deer hunting. He didn't get a deer but he got two of these

I guess there is quite a population of coyote around and hunters are thinking that's why they aren't seeing many deer this year. Poor puppy lol. I guess the pelts are worth around $50.00 from what I hear.

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I finally started my shopping yesterday. I was going to go Friday but changed my mind, just didn't feel like fighting those crowds. The sales were still going on Saturday too so I did pretty good as everything I bought was half price. Good deal eh! I'm far from done but at least I put a dent in it. I planned on going out today too but with the storm on the way I don't know. Maybe if I go early I can beat it but the way it's coming down it would be my luck that we'd get dumped on while I'm in the store and not aware of how bad it got. I still might, it just depends.

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I haven't been around to visit the last couple days so I am on my way now.

See ya soon!

What I'm thankful for:

My wonderful family first and foremost, My husband, my kids, my grandchildren and my sister's and that I had the most wonderful parents who ever walked the earth. For all of you and the many friends I have in my life. For our health and home and all that goes with it. I'm thankful that I live in this country and the freedom we enjoy. I'm thankful for our military who is keeping us safe, may God be with them and keep them safe. I have been blessed with a wonderful life and I couldn't be more grateful!

I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving - may your tables be blessed with the laughter and love of family and friends, and may your turkey be moist!

Love and Hugs

Sherry

See what we get to listen too ! But I love it! It is the guitar hero game thingy that William has. You can hook up a guitar or in this case a drum set. As you can tell we banished them to my scrap room lol. I think they sound pretty darn good!

Brody loves to lay on the floor but now he's starting to scootch off the blanket. He started out on the blanket but in the video you can see he's almost off of it. Bill and I sound so goofy talking to him. Isn't it funny how we talk to babies?

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Don't go out to start your car to let it warm up around here. There has been 6 cars stolen in the last two weeks that way. People go out to start them then go back inside to wait for it to warm up and when they come out the car is gone. I would love to see them try that with my car. I have a remote start so I can push a couple buttons from inside the house and the car starts. When your ready to leave you have to put the key in and turn it, if you don't and hit the break before you turn the key the car shuts off. I would love to see the look on the thieves face if they jumped in my car and realized there wasn't a key in it. That would be hilarious.

Did you see where General Motors is dropping Tiger Woods from their commercials? They were paying him 7 million dollars a year to endorse the Buick. I think that's ridiculous! I like Tiger but just because he's on the commercial isn't going to make me run out and buy a car. In a way it's kind of insulting to us that they think some big name star is going to convince us that their product is better then the rest. We know they get paid for doing it, and paid well. It's nuts if you ask me. And then they gripe about having to pay their employees so much an hour. I don't know about you but I don't buy anything just because some big star endorses's it. Think of all the money they would save by not doing that. All they need to do is have a good product and we can figure things out for ourselves.

Ok, I've had my coffee so I'm ready to start my day.

Take care and I hope your day goes well.

This is what it's doing this morning. It had to happen sooner or later I suppose but it could have held off until March as far as I'm concerned. I hope we don't have a winter like we had last year, that was a tough one. We are only suppose to get an inch or two this morning but could get some more this afternoon. The temp is 32 so that's not too bad. I guess it's time to change the theme of my space here now that it doesn't look like fall outside anymore. Maybe I'll do that later today.

I will be going to the grocery store today to get everything I need for Thursday. I have been trying to come up with something different this year. Of course we will have turkey but as far as side dishes go I'm tired of the same old thing every year. We always have mashed potato's and gravy,stuffing of course, sweet potato's, scalloped corn, a veggie and salad and buns and of course pie and desserts, but I want something different...any suggestions? I thought of baked beans but there's nothing different about them.  I guess I'm stuck in a rut. I would love to hear what your menu's are like. Everyone has their own traditions and I love learning about them. We have everyone say what they are thankful for and I love hearing what the kids come up with. I'm sure there will be games and fun after dinner and I always look forward to that.

I was mad that Desperate Housewives wasn't on last night. The music awards was on instead. I don't know about you but I don't watch the award shows, not even the Oscar's. They just don't interest me at all. I enjoy what they do and they do deserve accolades I suppose but I don't care to see it. I don't watch the Miss America pageant's either. Thank God there's the food network, the Discovery and Travel channels I can watch. Then of course there are the sport channels for Bill and I don't mind watching some of those either. It depends on what they are hunting for. Speaking of hunting. He went deer hunting over the weekend but came home empty handed. No venison for us this year. That doesn't hurt my feelings either lol. He will probably go again next weekend though.

I worry about them when they go out hunting. It was just reported on our news that one hunter was killed over the weekend and 2 others were injured. The one who was killed was only 47...so sad. Someone didn't wait to see what was moving through the woods and make sure what he was shooting at. I'm sure it's hard on whoever did it too as he didn't mean to do i,t but wasn't careful like he should have been. If I did something like that I would never go hunting again for the rest of my life. 

Ok, I am off to the store. I want to get there early and back before the crowds get there. Wishing you all a great day and I will be around later to visit.

I just love these pictures! He is such a happy baby and cute to boot!

We have so much fun with him. Now that the other grandchildren are grown and not babies anymore it will be fun watching all those firsts again. His first tooth, the first time he sits up by himself and all those things. He'll be 4 months on the 27th so it won't be long. It makes us laugh when he's laying there talking and cooing and that smile just turns you to mush. I don't know what it is but when he does that it brings tears to my eyes. Our youngest son and his girlfriend came to visit yesterday and they hadn't seen him for awhile so Brody was a bit leery of them at first but when Uncle Dana laid down on the floor next to him it wasn't long before they became buddies. I did take a video of him talking but it was too dark and you couldn't see him very well so I will do it again tomorrow.

I went over to my sister's yesterday to see Ryker, her new grandson. Of course I took my camera with me. He was sleeping so I didn't get to hold him darn it.

You can't see him very well but take my word for it, he's another adorable little bundle of boy joy. It's fun watching Jodi become a grandma. It's new to her but I kind of think she's liking it. She says she loves seeing the man Trent has become and is so proud of what a great dad he's turning out to be. I found that with my kids too. It does your heart good to know that they are wonderful parents and I love watching them with their kids. I just kind of sit back and smile.

When Jodi babysits Ryker she has them bring Ace down too. He's her granddog lol. 

Ace is a big dog but gentle as a lamb and afraid of everybody until he gets to know you. He's use to me now and lets me pet him and he loves it when I chase him around the table lol. He will even come up to me now but it took awhile. Terry and her daughter Darla came over there too and he even went up to them finally so he's getting better. But he has to check you out first before he lets you touch him. If we were to get another dog someday I think I'd want one just like him lol. He looks mean but he's a big baby!

Gotta run!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

That's what I've been doing all morning today. I hope I'm not coming down with a cold! Sometimes I sneeze so many times in a row that it leaves me weak. I hardly ever get sick, The last time I remember not feeling well was when I found out my thyroid was out of whack and that's been about 4 years ago. It might be now that we have the heat on and need more humidity in the house that's making me sneeze. I hope so cause I don't need to get sick and pass it on to the kids. We have the humidifier full and set to go but it hasn't turned on much yet. Air conditioning makes me sneeze too.

William is staying here for a few days, his dad is going to N.Y. again and will be back next week. Josh and Devan was excited when they got here last night and saw that he was here. Of course he brings his X-Box and other games with him so they really liked that. He's so good with the younger kids and they love it when he's around. I'll have them tomorrow too because Deanna has to work and Jon is going up north deer hunting. I thought it would be hard to get them settled down to sleep last night but they didn't fuss about it. William of course stayed up longer but the kids didn't seem to mind that. I was glad of that, I hate getting cross with them. One good thing, now that I have the room done and a TV in there he can hook his X-Box up in there and not here in the living room or in our room. That way everyone has something they can do and not interfere with someone else.

I went to the goodwill yesterday to drop off some stuff yesterday and while I was there I decided to look around. I found a Braun Hand Blender for only $2.00, still in the box with all the attachments so I decided to buy it. When I went to check out I asked the girl what happens if I get it home and it doesn't work and she told me I had 3 days to bring it back. I was surprised actually that you could return things to them. Not to worry though, I plugged it in the minute I got home and it worked perfectly. I also found a couple of books that looked good. One of them was written by Joseph Pistone who wrote the book Donnie Brasco and who the movie of the same name was about. He's the FBI agent who worked undercover for 6 years and infiltrated the mob and basically brought them down.  This ones called The Good Guys. He's written other ones about the mob as well. I read the Wise Guy and that book even had a cd in it where you could here him and a wise guy talking on the phone arguing over something that happened. I find that stuff very interesting for some reason lol. I like to find out how cops go about there investigations and how they end up getting the criminal. The whole thing from start to finish is quite interesting to me, I think I should have been a cop.

Speaking of books, Devan has really gotten into reading and I think that's wonderful. I love seeing her bring her library book with her and plopping down on the couch and getting engrossed in the story.  I use to buy my daughter books for Christmas when she was that age and she loved them. The Babysitter's club was some of her favorites. Eric loves to read too but then he always has. He's started reading when he was 3 and hasn't stopped since. The other kids are another story though, they don't care for reading at all. I'm a reader and so are all of my kids but Bill isn't. Not a book reader anyway, he reads his sports magazines and stuff like that but I have never seen him sit down and read a book from cover to cover. My daughter-in-law wasn't one to read either until I gave her one of my Ann Rule books and now she has a book going all the time. I hope the other kids get into the habit someday.

Well, I've bored you long enough so I will bid you ado for today. I hope you all have a great day and a happy weekend. Go out and do something fun and tell us all about it.

Hugs

Thank you all for all the good wishes and prayers for my cousin and her family. Mickie has been released from the hospital but I haven't been able to get in touch with her, so I'm assuming she's ok. I know they placed her mom in a nursing home yesterday so I imagine that was a pretty hard day for her. If all goes well she will only be in there until she gets back her strength and can help herself more. I know her and Jimmy can't be lifting and carrying her from room to room like they were so that is the best thing right now. They will do therapy with her and try to build her back up. Aunt Dot will turn 85 in January but she is sharp as a tack. When I went to see her in the hospital she told me that she is going into the nursing home and said she doesn't want to go there. I told her that it's just until she gets her strength back but she said "what if I don't? I will have to stay there." That broke my heart. You know sometimes I think it's worse when you get old and you still have a sharp mind but your body just can't do what it use too. You sit there and think about what you want to do and knowing you can't. If your mind goes you just don't remember what you did. I don't know, neither are good choices. Anyway, if all goes well she will only be there a month or so.

I haven't been doing much so I don't have much to talk about. I know I need to get to the grocery store soon. Not just for Thanksgiving dinner as I am getting pretty low and my cupboards are pretty bare again. I got the cutest thank you card from Eric a few days ago. Remember when I took him birthday shopping? In the card he says "Grandma, thank you for taking me shopping and buying me a light saber and action figure." Well they must have looked at it before they sent it because on the bottom he wrote,"Oh, and grandpa too" I guess he thought that because it was just the two of us that went shopping that I was the one to thank lol. Kids are so darn cute. I'm really looking forward to having them all here next week. It's just the cooking I'm not too excited about lol. I really need to get going on my Christmas shopping too. Josh and Devan was looking through the flyers we got and circled some things they want. Of course they circled just about everything in there but at least it gives me an idea of what to look for. Now all I need is to find out what the rest of them are hoping for. I usually don't go shopping on black Friday as I hate crowds but I'm considering it this year. Hoping to find as many bargains as I can.

Well I have some catching up to do as I didn't get around yesterday to many of you. So right after I get some breakfast and some laundry going I'll be around to see what you all have been up too. Until then take care and have a great day!

Yesterday was my sister Rhonda's birthday so I want to say Happy Birthday to her. Love ya girl! She turned 54 but don't tell her I told ya. I went up to the bar to watch the Packer game with them and give her her birthday card. I thought she was working but she got someone else to work in her place. I stuck some lottery tickets in the card but sadly they were loser's. Should have just given her the money lol. 

I also want to ask you to keep my cousin in your prayers. Remember when I talked about going to a benefit for her husband who has leukemia? Well, her husband took her to the emergency room night before last. I guess she had been having a squeezing type pain in her left arm and had been having it on and off for a couple of weeks. She's high risk for a heart attack because she has high BP and cholesterol among other things so they kept her to run some tests. They don't think that she's had a heart attack yet but thinks she is a good candidate for one. They will be running a battery of tests today to find out what's going on. They do think something is wrong though.

On top of her being sick and her husband having leukemia they took her mom (my mom's sister) to the hospital a few days before she went in. Her mom lives with them and basically has given up. She quit eating. Jimmy told me she would eat just enough to take away the hunger and no more. I guess she got very weak and would fall and even needed help in the bathroom. They literally had to carry her out to the car to take her to the hospital. She says she wants to go and be with her husband uncle Kenny. I would imagine they have her on IV's to build her back up but she can't be on those forever. On the 21's of this month Jimmy is suppose to go back down to Zion for another chemo treatment, he has 2 more to go, then from there they were planning on going to Mo. to visit their daughter. She's an FBI agent so of course that's another worry for them. It's no wonder Mickie is in the hospital with all the stress she's had to deal with over the last several years. She's the type who worries about everything and everyone and is the one who always steps up to take care of everything. Her mom's doctor said he will probably put her mom in a care facility for a month or so until she gets her strength back. Besides, they don't think she should be left alone and with them having to go away it just wouldn't work. When Jimmy goes down for his treatments they always have to stay for 2 or 3 days so it just wouldn't work leaving her mom there alone. I will be going to the hospital to visit them later today and see what's going on.

Mickie and I have always been close. More like sister's then cousins. When we were kids we were always together. If I wasn't at her house she was at ours. I think she was at ours more then I was at her's though. She has 3 brothers and no sisters so she preferred our house over hers. I went on vacations with them and she went with us. She's 3 years younger then I am and believe me when I was a teen I didn't want her hanging around me lol. If I told her no she would go crying to her mom that I was being mean to her and aunt Dot would call me asking why Mickie couldn't go with me and get all mad about it lol. So I usually ended up taking her along whether I liked it or not. Once in awhile me and my mom stood our ground but not very often. So anyway, I'm pretty worried about her and will go and see what's going on with her. The old saying, When it rains it pours sure applies to them wouldn't you say?

I have a couple of cute stories about her and I that I will tell you about sometime lol. If it wasn't for me this girl would have been dead long ago lol. I saved her life more then once growing up...literally!

Ok, I'm off to get showered and dressed so I can run up there to see her.

Hope you all have a great day and week ahead.

I've been using the same purse since 2005 so today I thought it was time for a new one. I also needed a new pair of jeans too so I decided to go shopping. As all of us women know you can't pick up just any purse. It has to be the "right" purse. For me it can't be a big purse, I don't like big purses! But it can't be real small either. I don't carry much in my purse. Mostly just my money, my drivers license, a comb, some lipstick, perfume and pictures of my grandchildren. It has to zip closed and not snap. I don't like purses that snap because they don't close all the way and it would be easy for someone to slip their hand in and snatch something. I think of these things lol so it has to zip shut. It has to have at least two compartments and an inside zippered compartment as well. I don't care if they have pouches on the front for cell phones and such, those aren't important to me. Well, do you think I could find one I liked...NO! They were all either too big, too ugly or too small. I only went to one store though so there is still hope that I might fine one that jumps out at me. I wasn't as lucky as the little lady above lol.

Since I couldn't find a purse I liked I left that department and headed for the jeans dept. I got frustrated there too. All the cute fashion jeans don't come in petite sizes and the ones that do looked just like the ones I had on. Like I told Rambling, why would I want to buy a pair of jeans exactly like the ones I was wearing. I have found that a lot in stores. It seems the manufacturers thinks only tall people like to wear fashionable clothes lol. Either that or the store doesn't order them in petite sizes.  All I can ever find on the same old plain boring jeans. I did find one pair that was stylish looking but do you think they had them in my size...nope. They had petite sizes but of course my size was all sold out.

Since that store was a bust I decided I would walk down to the day old bread store to get some buns. But, on the way out I happened to walk past a rack of blouses and one caught my eye. It was a two piece black set with diamond like beads on them that glittered and shined. I stopped to look at it. It's not my style though you see, it reminded me of my mom. Those were the kind of blouses that she liked. I knew if she were still with us she would have loved it. She loved bright colors and sparkly things like that. Isn't it funny what causes you pause sometimes. I do think of her every time I see something like that and know she would buy it if she saw it. Ok, enough of that. Have to stop before I start bawling lol.

So anyway, All I came home with from my shopping trip today was a package of buns and some grape jelly. I could have run to other stores but by then I was out of the mood so I came home.

How was your day so far?

OMG, Would you believe I slept until 9:30 this morning! I couldn't believe it when I woke up and looked at the time. I must say I do feel rested and I haven't felt this rested for a long long time. I stay up for awhile after Deanna picks the kids up and wait for her to call me to make sure she gets home alright. Sometimes I'll stay up for a little while after so there are times I don't get to sleep until after 2, last night was one of those nights. At least I feel great though so that's a good thing.

I did go do a little shopping yesterday, mostly just looked. I picked up a couple things I need for here but no Christmas presents yet. I don't know what they want yet and I sure don't want to get them something they won't use. After I got home I decided to take my blankets and comforters to the laundromat and get them washed. I like the big machines they have there and I can put more in them. So that's done and out of the way for awhile. So that's how I decided to spend my Wednesday lol.

There's something going on with my PC. Bill went to play poker this morning and my virus checker popped up and said it had a virus and wouldn't let it open. I don't know if he did something while I was asleep because he told me when I got up that something else popped up and he clicked ok on it. Then it said the computer will shut down and re-start in 10 minutes. It could have been an automatic upgrade too but I don't know what or where he was on here before he decided to play poker. I'm running my virus scan but so far it hasn't found anything. He will go nuts if he can't play poker. I emailed the site and am waiting for their reply.

Well, today is my favorite day of the week lol. The day us girls get together and solve the worlds problems. You can sit back and relax knowing we are on the job lol. I haven't heard from the SS lady so I better give her another call . Can't miss out on my SS ya know. I'll be around to visit ya'll to make sure you're staying out of trouble

Three months from today I will turn 62, so today I'm going to go sign up for Social Security. I've been trying to call the office for the last 2 or 3 days now to see what I need to bring in with me but like every government office the line is always busy. I know I'll get there and they'll tell my I need to come back with something I didn't know I had to take. Well, I finally got through and wouldn't you know that the lady who you need to see isn't in the office today. Doesn't that just figure lol. So I guess it will have to be tomorrow. The website had the wrong phone number listed, it helps to double check now and again doesn't it. Do  you think they did that on purpose lol. Here I got all gussied up for nothing . I'm probably one of the first group of baby boomers who are reaching the age for Social Security so I imagine the offices will start being pretty busy. Looking at the SS website it says you can apply online but I don't think I want to do that. What if I answered something wrong and was denied lol. So I will wait until the nice lady gets back to work.

I colored my hair yesterday . Hey, just because I'm old enough to collect SS doesn't mean I have to look like it does it?. It's a little too dark but it will fade in a week or so. I'm about due for a cut too but I will wait on that for awhile. I really don't like a fresh cut. I like it when it has grown out a bit and not so short. I figure if I wait until it's longer that when they cut it it will be the length I want.

Well I'm trying really hard to think of something to talk about but it just isn't happening. And besides, since I'm all gussied up I feel like going out lol. Maybe I'll go do a little Christmas shopping. Or maybe, I'll go get what I need for Thanksgiving dinner. Don't know if that's a good idea yet though, should wait for the sales on turkeys I suppose. Decisions decisions! I'll let ya know tomorrow what I decided to do today lol.

Have a great Wednesday ya hear!

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.

We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

By Joanna Fuchs

A Veteran’s Day Prayer

Dear Lord,
Today we honor our veterans,
worthy men and women
who gave their best
when they were called upon
to serve and protect their country.
We pray that you will bless them, Lord,
for their unselfish service
in the continual struggle
to preserve our freedoms, our safety,
and our country’s heritage, for all of us.
Bless them abundantly
for the hardships they faced,
for the sacrifices they made
for their many different contributions
to America’s victories
over tyranny and oppression.
We respect them, we thank them,
we honor them, we are proud of them,
and we pray that you will watch over
these special people
and bless them with peace and happiness.
In Jesus’ name we pray; Amen.

By Joanna Fuchs

This is how I feel this morning.
I could not sleep at all last night for some reason. It was after midnight when I finally did fall asleep and then it wasn't a good sleep. I kept dreaming, but I couldn't tell you what I dreamt  about either. I then woke up at ten after three and I've been awake ever since. I laid there willing myself to go back to sleep but you know what it's like when you can't turn your mind off. I laid there and planned my Thanksgiving menu, I even did some Christmas shopping in my mind lol. I was trying to be still and quiet hoping to fall back to sleep but it just wasn't working so I gave up the fight and went out to the living room and turned TV on. I'm thinking (and hoping) a nap will be in order later.

I took Eric birthday shopping Saturday and that was fun. I forgot my camera though so no pictures of our shopping trip together. I picked him up around 10:30 and off to Toys 'R' Us we went. He knew just what he wanted and it was the first thing inside the door when we walked in lol. We could have been gone and back in a half hour if we'd wanted. I told him to look around though and make sure that is what he wanted. Actually I was just killing time because I knew that is what he would end up with anyway. He bought another Star Wars light saber. This makes 6 light saber's he has now but this one is a bit different. It's one you can build your self and you can create a 1000 different combinations with it. He kept saying "thank you Grandma, this is so much fun!" From there we went to Culver's and had a ice cream sunday. Once we got home and I was ready to leave he gave me a great big hug and and told me again how much fun he had. All the kids are so good when I take them shopping. If I say something is too expensive they don't whine or start crying they just go off looking for something else. That makes the shopping trip much more enjoyable.

The Packers lost yesterday to the Viking's of all people. I hate when the Vikings or Bears beat us.It was a close game 27/28 but the offense couldn't get it together. Aaron got sacked 4 times so where was his protection? They allowed 2 safety's and just couldn't move the ball.  The defense turned into the offense lol, they were the only ones who scored. Well, them and the kicker did. If it wasn't for them it would have been a lot worse. We had a chance to pull it out in the last 2 minutes of the game with a 52 yard field goal but it just wasn't mean to be.  On the other side of the country though, Brett Farve and the Jet's creamed the Rams 47/3. I still say the Packer management made a huge mistake!

Well, I guess I'll go get dressed and get busy. Or better yet maybe I'll try for that nap , 7:08 in the morning isn't too early for a nap is it lol.

Take care and have a great Monday and a wonderful week.

Good Morning and happy Friday!

I met up with my sisters and friends at thirsty Thursday last night and once again we had a good time. This time we started talking about vacations we had taken over the years. Jodi and I talked about the year her and I went to California to visit our brother and a friend of mine whose husband was in the Navy and was stationed in San Diego. While we were there we decided we wanted to go to Tijuana and do some shopping. Her husband told us what they Navy tells them to do and not to do while there. One was to not take a cab. I guess back then they would drive you all over the place just to run up the tab. So, anyway we walked. We went sight seeing and did some shopping and of course bought some souvenirs. What was funny though so many places we stopped at the men there would try to separate my friend and I from Jodi. She would be looking at something in the shop and the shop owner would come up and tell us to go somewhere else and that he would help her. Well of course right away I got that hinky feeling and told him no that we were just fine waiting for her and that I won't go anywhere without her. She was oblivious to it at first and we thought it was strange the first time it happened until it happened again in other shops we stopped at. After that we made sure she didn't get too far ahead of us. This was back in 1982 and she was only 20 something and probably looked young and nieve.

The funniest part of it all though was when we were leaving Mexico and heading back across the border. Back then there were two gates to go through. One was for U.S. citizens and the other for Mexican citizens who was crossing into the states for various reasons. Well, Jodi was walking ahead of us a little ways and she went through the wrong gate. That gate only turned one way and it was bars that turned between each other. I tried to holler at her when I saw where she was going but it was too late, she was already through it. I would imagine that gate you would have to show a green card or something to prove you could cross the border. Now she is scared and tells us to come with her. No, we told her, someone has to be on the right side to convince them that she's a U.S. citizen. Well, the gate just happened to have a bar missing just big enough that you could climb through. You guessed it, Jodi started climbing that gate lol. There were two men standing there and started shouting " No, No Senorita you can't do that. She did it anyway and when she got through we took off running through the U.S. customs gate before anything else could happen lol. Once you get to the customs agent you have to show them what you bought while in Mexico. We started pulling out the vanilla, string puppets and T-shirts and everything else  when finally the agent just told us to go lol. We were so relieved once we were on our side of the border and Jodi said she felt like kissing the ground lol.

Oh, another funny thing too. We called home and was telling everyone what happened and so they called other family here and told them all about it too. When they told one our cousins who is very close to us she panicked lol. I'm thinking they told her she was in a Mexican jail lol. Before they got a chance to tell her we were fine right away she started saying that they had to start raising money to get Jodi back home.  Poor girl was scared out of her mind.

Jodi can laugh about it now but at the time she was mad that we wouldn't come with her and scared at the same time.

I guess you just can't leave us girls alone huh lol.

Wishing you all a great day and a happy weekend!

Of sunshine and warmth . Today it's raining and chilly with it getting up to just 64 and then it's all down hill from here on. I knew I should have gone out yesterday to get some things I need but I put it off. Guess that's what I get huh. Maybe it will clear up later.

Our grandson  turns 10 on the 8th. I went on Tuesday and got his savings bond, so that's out of the way. I think Sunday I will go pick him up to go birthday shopping. The kids sure enjoy that! I think they like it better then getting a gift to open. It sure is fun watching them try to decide what they want. Of course Toys r Us is always the store of choice. We have been getting the Christmas flyers in the mail and Josh and Devan sure have been going through those. They circle what they want then go back and change their minds, cross things out and start all over again. I do keep them as it gives me an idea of what to get. I can't believe Christmas is so close already.

Finally we can get down to some serious competition on DWTS since Susan Lucci was voted off last night. With her and Cloris both gone it is actually a real contest now finally. She was just so stiff when she danced and looked lost out there. I still like Brook and Derek the best and feel they will probably win the whole shebang. If they don't there's something wrong.  I think Tom is the best host on TV don't you? He is so quick witted and funny and I love him. He as me laughing during the whole show. They did good picking him.

It's been pretty boring around here lately. But then I get bored easily anyway. Maybe I should go buy some more paint and start on the rest of the rooms here. I just might do that as they all need them, especially the kitchen. Yup, I am putting that on the to do list, right at the top (maybe ). It's thirsty Thursday too so that might help cure the boredom lol. I'll let ya know tomorrow.

Hope it's a sunny day where you are! TTFN

The election is over and Barack Obama is our President elect. Now, I know some of us are happy about that and some of us aren't but now that it's over, and he won we have to give him a chance...like it or not.

It's the only choice we have.

I thought this poem is pretty poignant for today as it kind of makes us look at ourselves.

The Window Through Which We Look

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.
The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young
woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said.
"She doesn't know how to wash correctly.

Perhaps  she needs better laundry soap"
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the
young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a
nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.

I wonder who taught her this?"
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and
cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others
depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Oh what a beautiful day! 72 day and for the next few days as well. It just doesn't get any better then this.

Bill got home Saturday without a turkey and without winning a big jackpot at the casino's he stopped at. In fact he said they never even saw a turkey. So, I guess there won't be a turkey on our Thanksgiving table, and since he didn't win a jackpot we don't have the money to buy one . He had a good time though and that's what counts right!

I must be in the mood to rearrange things. I decided to tear into our bedroom Saturday and do a good cleaning. I thought the dust bunnies needed a change of scenery so I moved things around in there.  I tore the bed apart and vacuumed the mattress, washed the sheets and pillowcases and hung them outside and boy they smelled so good. It was a nice crisp windy day, just perfect for hanging them out. Then I scrubbed the floor, made the bed again. Then I decided to shampoo the area rug in there and the ones I have in the kitchen and by the backdoor. So I drug them out on the deck and got started. Just as I was almost done the brushes in it fell out. Something that holds them in there broke right off and now they won't stay. It's my sister Jodi's fault too that it broke. Thursday night she was saying how old the carpet cleaner is and that maybe we should go in together and buy a new one. This one was mom and dad's and is pretty old. So when the brushes broke I called her and told her she had to open her mouth didn't she lol. If she hadn't said that it never would have broke now would it lol. I really don't want to buy one now with Christmas coming though. Well, at least I got to finish what I wanted to get done. I shampooed the carpeting a month or so ago, so they won't need it for awhile.

Sunday was a lazy day. Watched the Packers lose in overtime to Tennessee and just piddled around. I did work on a couple of scrapbook pages but they just didn't come together, so I'm not done with them yet. I tried so many different ways and just didn't like the way they were looking. First I worked on a photo of my granddaughter in her ballet tutu and wasn't having any luck with that so I thought I put that away and work on my grandson's photo of him in his karate outfit, and that gave me trouble too. Eventually I put them both away and gave up. I must say though I sure like having the TV in there to watch while I scrap. I stayed at it much longer then I normally would.

Well since it's a gorgeous day out there I'm heading out for a walk in a bit. It's 62 already and it's only 9:20. First I will come by to visit all you beautiful people. Oh, here's a bit of info for you....

Here is how to tell what country made the stuff you are buying. The first 3 digit of any barcode indicates where that product originated they are as follows.

11 to 13 USA & Canada

30 to 37 France

40 to 44 Germany

49 Japan

50 UK

57 Denmark

64 Finland

76 Switzerland & lienchtestein

471 Taiwan

480 Philippines

628 Saudi Arabia

629 United Arab Emirates

690 to 695 China

740 to 745 Central America

I know there are numbers missing. I don't know which country those numbers represent but I noticed Mexico, Iran, Iraq, and a few other countries are not listed so I am figure they are probably for those countries. All you really need to know is the first one 11 through 13. Look for them and keep the $ here.

Have a beautiful day!!!

We sure didn't have as many trick or treater's last night. I didn't count them but I would be willing to bet that if we had 25 we were lucky. Those that came sure were cute though. Now what am I going to do with all that candy. Our fire department drove around the neighborhood in their big red fire truck and stopped when they saw the kids and handed out glow sticks and paper tattoo's. The kids thought that was so neat. As soon as it was dark it got just one more so I went up to get pictures of my sister and Au to see them in their costumes. I even got video.