Thanksgiving 2012

Nyquil shots for everyone!!!

This Thanksgiving, we were VERY thankful for many things:

Tissue

Vicks

Mentholatum

Various antibiotics

Throat/cough drops

NYQUIL (balloons and confetti going up for that one!)

It was wonderful that Chris was able to come up with Sarah and Lia this year. He’s usually working. And while it was great having most of my family around me, we were all sick. Except for Marv. He kept as far away as possible from us and didn’t kiss anybody! Lia (who started it all) was pretty much over it by Thanksgiving, and since we didn’t dare bring Marv’s mom over to a germ-infested house, Marv was able to take Lia to see mom a couple of times.

Of the sickies, I was probably the most able-bodied, so I was able to play with Lia and keep her occupied. And the weather was perfect for going outside to play on the swing. We all even got in a bit of shopping in Chico and met up for lunch at McDonald’s.

While I would have preferred everyone to have been in perfect health, it was STILL a good family holiday. I love my family. I would have been great to have ALL of us together. Maybe in the future….

November 2012 Book Report

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

Number 2 in the Lizzy and Diesel series. In this one, they are in search of the Lust Stone. I cannot stress enough how much you should read Ms. Evanovich’s books. And I mean right now! You will be doing yourself a favor.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander

This is from the young adult section. Great read. A young boy and his cat go on a journey through time to 9 different time periods. One time period for each life of a cat. A bit of a history lesson thrown in for good measure.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The Blue Room by Georges Simenon

This is the first non-Inspector Maigret book of Simenon’s I’ve read, and it’s a good one. I love the Maigret books and this was very different. Not a mystery, exactly, but a study in human relationships and passion gone wrong. 

Forget Twinkies, Give Me Sno Balls!!

Don’t get me wrong, Twinkies are OK, and I’ve eaten my fair share of them. And the cupcakes are fine, too. Ding Dongs are better though. But Sno Balls rule! 

If Twinkies actually do go bye-bye forever, I will not mourn overmuch. And there are plenty of Walmart substitutes for Ding Dongs and some of the other Hostess/Dolly Madison goodies. Sno Balls are another story. I can’t recall seeing a knock-off or generic Sno Ball. And that’s concerns me deeply. I will have to start looking….

I have to admit that I would LOVE to try some of the goodies that the Tastykake folks produce, but that is apparently an East Coast kind of thing. Reading about their stuff in the Janet Evanovich novels make me drool…

Anyway. For now I will have to console myself with any kind of chocolate I can get my hands on and survive…AS IF THAT WERE A PROBLEM!! Buwahahahahahahahah!

Hey, it’s Friday and I didn’t have another subject in mind right now. Give me a break. Give me a break. Break me off a piece of that KitKat bar…..

I think I need to go lie down for awhile…..

Great Hobby

I’ve had a new hobby for the last 4 months or so. It’s exchanging postcards with people all over the world. A friend told me about it and I checked it out. It sounded like fun, so I jumped in with both feet. Go to www.postcrossing.com and follow the directions. It’s easy and free, except for the cost of postcards and stamps. You start out by getting random addresses for others who have registered. You send them a postcard. When your postcard arrives, they register it. Your name is then thrown in the pot, and some random person sends YOU a postcard. When you get it, you register it, and the circle continues. Each time you register a card, you can get another address. So far, I’ve sent 30 registered postcards, have 8 that are traveling and have received 30.

One of the options you can sign up for is “direct swap” which means exchanging cards off the register. I’ve only had one person so far that I’ve done this with. Here’s my tally so far.(BTW, I have no idea why the numbers are all over the place. I line them up all neat and tidy, but when I go to post them, the copy shows them all over. Meh.)

Cards Sent:

Belarus            3

Russia              15

Germany         5

Finland            1

China               2

USA                5

Netherlands     5

Poland             1

Taiwan                        1

Cards Received:

Austria                        1

Germany         5

Belarus            2

Canada                        2

China               1

Netherlands     3

Russia              3

Norway           1

Finland            4

Italy                 1

Ukraine           1

USA                3

Australia          1

Taiwan                        1

Japan               1

It’s a joy every time I reach into my mailbox and pull out a card. The biggest problem I’ve had is obtaining any kind of local postcard. There just aren’t that many around here. The local Walmart is just now starting to carry a few, but there are only about 4 different ones. I’ve gotten some nice ones from the visitors center at the dam, but again, the selection is limited. And there are none that are just fun or funny cards. Sometimes I make my own postcard to send. But it’s still SO MUCH FUN to do this!! I get cards from kids who are doing this as a class project. I’ve sent cards to kids in other countries that are probably doing the same. If you’re my friend on Facebook, you’ve probably already seen my album of cards I’ve received. I really encourage everyone to look into this as a fun hobby.

Slow Down!

It may not look like it, by I have WAY too much on my plate! And I don’t mean just food (although that CAN be a problem…) but everything else I have piled on in life. And a goodly portion of that is something I have served up MYSELF. It seems like people feel that if they don’t have every minute accounted for in doing SOMETHING, they’re slacking off.

I have been given a great gift of not having to work outside the home, but it seems that I get to the end of my day and wonder “What the heck happened?!? What do I have to show for this day?”

I’ll admit SOME of it is due to having a computer, but not all of it. I used to write a lot more, and having a computer made it very easy. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a short story or a poem. Of course, I do keep to my schedule of a weekly blog, but I don’t count that as much.

I used to read a LOT. It was one of the biggest joys in my life. It’s still a joy, but one I don’t indulge in as much as I’d like. And I DO blame the computer for that one. When I’m at Sarah’s, I hardly touch the computer and I read each evening before going to bed.

Crafting has always been a big joy as well. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, when my muse Myrtle hits me, I’m a whirlwind for a certain period of time. Then I stop completely. My craft room is still in total chaos.

In my case, I need to clear some of the “junk food” off my plate and replace it with healthy stuff. Reading, of course. Playing the piano. Writing to friends. I had a very active and wonderful correspondence with 3 penpals that has pretty much fallen by the wayside.

Most important of all, I feel, is to JUST STOP AND THINK. Do nothing. Sit and ponder, pray, meditate, whatever. BE QUIET for a minute.

And I fully understand the irony of this whole post, as I'm about to spend another week in Fresno with Lia again. She doesn't understand the concept of "quiet time". And of course we're heading into "the holidays" as well. 

I don’t quite know how I’m going to deal with all this, but I’m hoping that by addressing this in a somewhat public manner, I will be encouraged to take charge and make changes. We’ll see. Wish me luck!!