Christmas 2009

Just wanted to post some Christmas photos.... this is my living room. In the winter I watch TV in here because of the fireplace, it's a warm, cozy room. I did my tree in browns and rusts this year but I'm not sure that I like it with the white tree or maybe I'm having a hard time liking such non traditional colors on a Christmas tree.

What does your tree look like? Do you have a particular color that you use to decorate it, or do you use a collection of whatever you have that you have collected throughout the years? I think I need to do more than just one or two trees so that I can use more of the ornaments and stuff I have. hmmmm, if I had another week or two I could probably pull that off....

Shabby Swap

I am a member of a group of women who like the shabby cottage style of decorating and we did a Secret Santa Swap this year and Trish and I exchanged gifts. This is what she sent me. A plate that will be a perfect accent in my sunroom, I love it and a book that I can't wait to read. I paged through it briefly and can't wait to actually read it. She also sent another little wall hanging that will be perfect in my bathroom...

Trish sent my package from Florida on December 1 and I finally received it today. It didn't look like it had been lost in the bottom of a truck somewhere, the box wasn't beat up or anything, I guess it just found its way onto a slow truck to Pennsylvania. Thanks Trish for everything you sent.... you brightened my day!

Christmas Preparations

This was the year that I was going to be prepared IN ADVANCE for Christmas and for awhile I was afraid that once again I’d be wrapping gifts on Christmas eve and not sending out Christmas cards but I have rallied this weekend and in spite of about four weeks of distraction including the death of my father, I think I will be prepared. I have finished my decorating this weekend, I have all my gifts wrapped, not all bought yet, but I know what I need and have it all written down and that is half the battle! I also addressed all my cards this weekend and am working on grocery lists of what I need from now till after my Christmas company goes home sometime after Christmas. So, there is no panic yet here…. How about you do you have lots of preparation yet to do or are you ready to focus on the meaning of Christmas?

New Moon

I am a bit of a closet "Twlight" fan. I read the books in about a month's time and stood in line to watch the movie last night with hundreds of other fans. The movie seemed to follow the book closely and was enjoyable...of course they are never as good as the book, but the movie was pretty good and I even liked the ending....leaving the fans wanting more!

What surprised me was the number of adults in the audience.... a lot more older fans than I ever imagined would be there.

If you read the books and enjoyed them, you won't be disappoointed in the movie although if you are an Edward fan, be prepared... he pales in comparison to the wolves.....just saying

1st Christmas Post of the Season

This is the year that I will send Christmas cards and I will not be wrapping Christmas gifts on Christmas eve!

That’s right, I’m thinking about all that has to be done before the holidays and I’m getting it organized in my head and on paper and have actually begun to check some items off the “to do” list already.

Yesterday I purchased this picture that I have already hung in the kitchen to replace one that I had of autumn pumpkins. I’ve decided that in an effort to make this easier I am putting away all signs of fall so I will be ready to decorate the day after Thanksgiving (after I get home from shopping). I have always kept all my fall decorations out until after Thanksgiving because I have the Thanksgiving meal at my house. However, Thanksgiving seems to be late this year and so I may go with a different plan.

Ok fellow bloggers, when do you all get out your Christmas decorations? Would the Thanksgiving dinner be ruined by a few signs of Christmas? I’m getting anxious to get the Christmas stuff out, are you?

New Contacts

I've worn contact lenses since 1970, I started out with hard lenses and then after many years moved onto gas permeable which I have worn until Friday! This past Friday was my introduction to soft lenses. They are so comfortable and I can see much better at night to drive, no glare, so they sound just about perfect and I'm almost wondering why it has taken me so long to get them. There is one small hitch, one big difference between gas perm and soft lenses and that is that I have to put my fingers in my eyes to take them out and I'm having a really hard time with that.

I have acrylic fingernails and that may be part of the problem, I'm afraid I'll tear them, or I don't know, I'm afraid if I get the tips of my fingers in to pull out the lenses that my nails will scratch my eye... I'm not sure what my problem is. Tonight I decided to take them out about 8 p.m. and somehow I managed to move the contact off my eyeball and I lost it in my eye.... of course my first reaction was to panic.....which was not productive at all. Then I called my daughter who works at Lenscrafters and surely has dealt with other uncoordinated customers....her advice was to keep trying and add a bit of saline solution. So I kept at it, and prayed, and finally got it out. My husband suggested that maybe I should have gotten a new pair of glasses instead of soft lenses!

So wish me luck... I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow!

Blogger Block

I haven’t been blogging lately, but I’ve continued to read all of the blogs I enjoy. I just wasn't feeling the need to blog or didn't have anything to blog about! Last week, or was it the week before? I made soap. I used to make it and sell it but when I got a real job with regular hours and a regular paycheck I stopped making soap. Now I make about 4 pounds about once a year so I have it to give as Christmas gifts. As I was smelling the various fragrance oils that I use for soap making I was thinking I really should do it more often….but my weekends are usually busy and it takes me about 5 hours to make a batch of soap from start to finish so I need a whole day and I don’t usually have a whole day.

Today is the first day of November already and I am hoping that this is the year I am ready for Christmas in time to sit down and enjoy it. I am off to a good start, Molly and I did some Christmas shopping yesterday and I was able to check a couple names off my list. Of course most of what I bought was for her! But she promises to forget about everything she picked out and be surprised come Christmas morning.

Anyone else planning to be organized and ready for Christmas this year and not have to be wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve?

Snowing in October!!!

Last week before the leaves even have had a chance to turn colors and fall off the trees, we had a winter storm....I'm calling it that because we got a couple inches of snow along with some rain and cold weather. Because the leaves were still on the trees there was a lot of damage to trees everywhere with the heavy snowfall we received. Here is what our front yard looked like after the snow... and tomorrow it is supposed to be in the mid-60's.... Welcome to fall in Central Pennsylvania!

Halloween Cat

Yesterday I met Molly at the mall for dinner and since I got there early I had time to look around a bit and I found this cute ole black cat dressed up for Halloween, and since they were only $1 (what a great buy!) each, I bought one for Molly's apartment, my neice's apartment and one for me to bring to work. This morning I put my cat on my desk at work. I love the lavender feather!

This weekend my neice and my sister will be spending the weekend with us, more or less....so I'm looking forward to that and since it is the Oktoberfest here in our town, I haven't cooked a thing and don't plan to!

Finished Projects

Last weekend I posted a couple wall hangings that I finally finshed and listed in my etsy shop. I have quite a few partially finished projects around here! I'm working on getting them listed on my "to do" list. And from there its only a matter of time till I actually get working on them!

Anyone else with projects that aren't completed?