I Feel......

See you guys in a day or two.....

It Was A Full Day!

Ah yes...what started as a quick trip "just to see the Haunted Mansion changes and the new decorations" ended up to be a full day, 2 parks, and a chance to see the Candlelight Processional with the guest celebrity reading of the Nativity story! Pics to post and stories to tell...but, it's 12:30 AM and I'm thinkin' I'll share it all when the sun rises :)

**yawn**

Here We Go Again...

The Daughter, my good friend Jill and I are headed out early tomorrow

for a Day of Disney Christmas!!

Well..maybe not a FULL day, but at least a morning at the Magic Kingdom! This is usually a good time to visit (I say that very cautiously after the surprises we found last time)...the Thanksgiving crowd is gone and the Christmas crowd doesn't arrive for a couple of weeks. It's still kinda hot here..78 degrees..but I can't wait to see everything decked out for the holidays! It's my favorite time to visit.

I've had a couple of inquiries about my friends up there in the banner (don't let them hear us say "sock monkeys"...they think they are just like everyone else). Most have been with me for a very long time and I will properly introduce you to each and every one in the next few days. They were even part of my wedding vows...surprised The Hub with that one!

Anyway...wish you were all here!

Are You Still Full??

Holy Cow...what a wonderful meal! Our Thanksgiving was so great and enjoyed by the whole bunch. It was great to have all of the grandkids and my Mom with us, but good Lord, we ate ourselves into a coma. I am not one of those Black Friday shoppers and it's a good thing...I could never have waddled to the car to get anywhere!

First...I must thank Janet over at House Peepers for giving me this wonderful award!



When we first started "talking", Janet didn't have a blog of her own...she insisted that it wasn't something she wanted to tackle. Well, there must have been quite a few of us who just kept on pushin' and now she is up and running and...since she is a Realtor, just like me...she has shown us pictures of some great homes in her neighborhood. Anyway...thanks Janet, for being so generous! I am so excited about the many new friendships I have made and hereby bestow this on all of you!! It would be too difficult to single out anyone...so {{{hugs}}} to all of you...

I did treat myself to something small while I was taking my Mom home yesterday...and if you are a JT fan (Beachy Louise, do ya hear me talkin' to ya??) you will LOVE it.


New versions of some of these as only James can do it...not too tough to take!

Like just about everyone, we have started a bit of Christmas in our house...well, outside our house. We planted red and white pansies in the front garden and in the back. They still look a bit shell shocked from the big planting yesterday, so I'll get their picture when they have adjusted! I also got some of the Santa's down for inside and spent some time sorting through the vintage ornaments I've collected. Some are from The Hub's family and others I have picked up at yard sales and such.


These are just a few and that pink one in the middle is one of my favorites. I have some old silver bowls that must have been awards or something because they are engraved and dated from the 30's through the 50's, and they will hold all of these. Using vintage Christmas sheet music as the place mats, the bowls filled with the old ornaments, and Godinger silver candle holders with creamy white candles, our coffee table will be the prettiest thing in our living room!
I know it's going to be a busy, busy month ahead and I am really looking forward to getting ready for Christmas with all of you. Let the decorating begin...except for Kari, who is way ahead of us all..she's all finished!! Gotta be at my real world job all day tomorrow...so I hope you all enjoy your Sunday!

***BE SURE YOU PAUSE THE FINE TUNE PLAYER ON THE RIGHT***

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

About That Lamp.....

How long do ya think he'll look for that bird....

It's All About The Lights!

**Sorry about the fuzzy photos..this little camera isn't too good at night**

Hint For Santa: better camera

Birthday Hint: better camera

**SQUINT YOUR EYES FOR MAXIMUM VIEWING PLEASURE***
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And I do mean All. About. The. Lights. The "Osborne Family Spectacle Of Dancing Lights" at Disney MGM Studios Backlot. The "Dancing" part is new...about every 15 minutes, everything moves to music. It's quite a production...millions of lights, they say . Everything has lights attached to it. I would guess they would cover anyone that stood still for too long!

It all gets started at 6PM and with the time change, it's just past dusk. They throw a big fake switch and the lights all go on at once. And then it starts to SNOW!! It almost makes you forget that it's about 77 degrees. Don't know what it is...it looks like soap bubbles...but, it's special and fun and really gets you in the holiday mood the way only Disney can...

Okay...you can un-squint.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars

68 years after "The Wizard of Oz" hit theaters, the Munchkins finally got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday. Seven of the original members, all well into their 80's and 90's, followed the yellow brick road to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to receive the 2,352nd star

on the Walk of Fame.

There's no place like home!

Original posted by TMZ

What Men Hear....

The daughter asked me to share this with you....!

Thanksgiving Preparations

Inspiration For The Busy Week Ahead!

Put this on your fridge and take a peek whenever you start feeling too overwhelmed...

Being happy is just as important as having a good dinner!

Don't Miss This One

Had the chance to see this at a Sneak Preview tonight! It was Sold Out in both theaters and the audience applauded when it finished. Outstanding and oh, so beautiful!!


Just couldn't wait to tell ya! Enjoy the rest of your weekend....

So....Who Are You??

Are you a Martha or a Maxine?

*Martha's Way* Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.


*Maxine's Way * Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway!

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*Martha's Way* To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.



*Maxine's Way* Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix, keep it in the pantry for up to a year.

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*Martha's Way* When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.



*Maxine's Way* Go to the bakery! They'll even decorate it for you.

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*Martha's Way* If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix-me-up."



*Maxine's Way* If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad. Please recite with me the real woman's motto: "I made it and you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!"

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*Martha's Way* Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.




*Maxine's Way* Celery? Never heard of it!

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*Martha's Way* Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.




*Maxine's Way* The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust so I don't.

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*Martha's Way* Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.



*Maxine's Way* Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink!

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*Martha's Way* If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.



*Maxine's Way* Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you.

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*Martha's Way* Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.



*Maxine's Way* Leftover wine??????????? HELLO !!!!!!!

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A friend gave me this sign for my kitchen....need I say more?

Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo!

What a wonderful time we had!! I guess you never realize how much fun it is to just have...well, fun...for no particular reason at all! I hadn't seen my dear friend in several months and she is dealing with some struggles on her own homefront, so it was a great break for her. And I never get tired of spending time with the daughter, and she was with us every step of the way. Now, first...there are lots of pictures and these aren't even all of them! I had to pick and choose and I still ended up with this many! I tried to put them into a slideshow thing, but then I couldn't add my two cents and let you know what you were seeing...so, I just lined 'em up. Please don't leave until you've seen them all...it's not quite as good as being there, but I sure wish you could have been!

I have to tell you that we have spent many many hours at these parks and we know them inside and out. This was all planned pretty quickly and I really didn't check on anything before we headed out. This is notoriously part of the s-l-o-w season, just before the holidays. The consequences?? It was some kind of Family Fun Weekend, so there were more strollers than we could count. It was the last weekend for the annual Food and Wine Festival at Epcot, so there was more food and wine than we could taste. It was the ABC Super Soap Weekend, so there were more Soap Stars and Soap Fans than we could deal with.


I couldn't get all of the pictures that I wanted to get...okay, enough whining...

Cinderella's Castle...just below the tallest peak is an apartment that was built just for Walt Disney. It's now available to winners of the Million Wishes contest and there's talk that it may be made available to people that are having Disney Weddings.

Check out those ears, will ya! Me & the daughter...



My friend Cathie.....

Notice that she had to have the Princess ears!

(Geeze...my grey hair really shows up in the daylight....and her hair is really that dark!)


Here's Chip taking part in the Family Fun Day...

A little piece of left over Mickey confetti...

Just outside of Cinderella's Castle, we saw the wicked stepmother and one of the step sisters!

Cinderella's Fountain. This is the number one spot for Disney marriage proposals.. ;)

This mosaic tile is inside of the castle. It tells the whole story of Cinderella and the gold tiles are actually 14K gold...

And, here's Cinderella (well, her back anyway), Prince Charming and her Fairy Godmother. The parade route was so packed and we were facing right into the afternoon sun...

This is part of Germany, in Epcot, getting decked out for the holidays.

This marble column is in Italy.....

and so were these hand painted masks....

Here's part of Hollywood & Vine over at MGM Studios...

They had trees on the lamposts....

Stilt walker over at Downtown Disney....

The Evil Queen who punished Snow White...

These are all M&M's from The Candy Cauldron....and, yes, they do make white chocolate covered pretzels!!

Lots of Tinks!

Don't eat this apple......

eat one of these.....!

We watched them make these...

And...here's Cinderella's Castle at night...magical!

Lots of people, lots of long lines, oh my aching back....and I wouldn't trade a minute of it!

Gotta give props to The Hub for the pass that allows me to do all of this. ::mmwwaahh::

How about a blogland get together...in Florida...at Disney....hmmmmm??