Getting Started

All of the pumpkins, Fall leaves and gourds are put away...resting comfortably in their Sterlite tubs already planning their visit for next year!  We headed out and got our Christmas Tree today...it's really pretty and full.  It was the second one we looked at and we knew it would be just right.  No decorations yet....The Hub likes to get the tree in the stand, water it down for a couple of days and let the branches drop before we add any lights.  I got a few things out, but hope that Bailey will stop by after work and help me get the big stuff out of the attic.

I did do one little thing....this is a basket of vintage clothes pins that sits on my dryer.  The lamp has a very low light and looks so nice when I turn it on at night.  The basket had some sweet little pumpkins in it earlier today, but now.....

I know...crazy, right?  But, I have done this kind of thing for as long as I can remember.  Like, Christmas soap & towels in the bathroom and kitchen,  Christmas door mat, Christmas rugs in the kitchen.  I can't explain it.

Anyway...my computer is giving me fits right now.  Will not read the picture card or accept the external card reader.  I was just online  with the Geek Squad a couple of days ago for about an hour....they got it working, but something else is going on.  I had to ask The Hub to download the picture and email it to me.  I'll have to spend some time with The Geeks one evening this week.

Hope you are all getting in the Holiday Swing...and look...Picnik even lets you add snow to your pictures...love it!!

Little Abe

Bailey (aka the Daughter) and I took a chance and headed out for a bit of shopping today and surprisingly, it wasn't too bad.  Of course, we were out kind of early...8:00...and we probably weren't at the Black Friday hotspots.  Our poison?  Hobby Lobby (I swear, I hear angels sing when I walk in that place), Bath & Body Works and Hallmark.  We did venture into Macy's about 11:00, but it still wasn't that bad.

The point of this is...we didn't have a lot of time to fool around, since Bailey has a new baby at home!  Yes...Little Abe joined our family just about 3 weeks ago and he is precious.....

He is about 7 weeks of yumminess covered in the softest fur you could ever imagine!  Bailey now has her own apartment and was missing our own kitties, Jake & Woody.   Our kitties are rescue kitties and she knew she wanted to share her life with a kitty that really needed her. Don't know a whole lot about him, only that he was brought in the day before she saw him, as a stray. I mean, he was only about 4 weeks old!  Her "adoption" of Abe isn't final yet...they won't approve that until he weighs 2 pounds!!  At his re-check next week, she should get the adoption finalized.  Abe is proving to be a great roommate and seems to get cuter by the day.

Just look at how little he is.....

He has a great space to stay whenever she is out and she is very good about not being gone too long.  She even comes home during her lunch break and spends that time just sitting with him.  He has wiggled himself right into the corner of our hearts and he's going to stay right there!

Kind of an early Christmas present....Welcome Home, Abe!

Countdown!

Even though we have been seeing bits and pieces of Christmas since October, there is one absolute moment you know the Holiday Season has arrived.....

In Florida, when you see the Santa and Snowman Eggnog, you can officially begin to get excited!

It's official....I'm excited!!

Ha-Ha-Ha-Happy Thanksgiving

So, I was going to write this wonderful, thought provoking post and share all the reasons we have to be thankful...not just today, but every day.  However, I think most of us know how lucky we are to have freedoms that many do not have and the opportunities and options to better our lives if need be.  But, we  feel the need to rush around trying to put together the perfect Thanksgiving dinner and the beautifully set table, so that we can celebrate that magazine Thanksgiving Day.

Then a silly, "OMG, did I really do this" moment happens and everything falls into perspective.  And here it is:

The community that The Hub and I have moved to is a "golf community" and there is a very nice restaurant in the clubhouse.  They have Sunday Breakfast buffet's, Tuesday night Wings 'n Beer, Sunday NFL Taco Brunch...lots of things designed to keep you spending $$ here.  We support all of this since it is good for the homeowners and good for the community.

Anyway...last night, we decided to take the easy way out and get a quick dinner at the clubhouse.  How busy could it be...it's the night before Thanksgiving!

**I should mention here, that The Hub is on the HOA Board of Directors and on the Golf and Greens Committee.** 

Anyway, we pull ourselves together and head over to a pretty busy room.  Of course, people are greeting Hub and wishing us a Happy Holiday and he is introducing me to a few people for the first time.  We've only been here full time about 4 months.

After many handshakes, quick polite hugs and a really good meal, we wave good bye and head out to the car...living just a mile or so away is a big plus...and under the parking lot lights, I look down and see them.  My shoes.  Cute little suede flats with a tassel across the toe.

One Black. One Brown.

Oh yeah.  I probably should not have said anything, but my first reaction was "Are you kidding me?".  Then came the laughter, The Hub included, and wondering if anyone else noticed...the lights were on in the restaurant, so if anyone checked out my feet, it would have been pretty obvious.  The Hub laughed, The Daughter laughed, I laughed...and there you have it.

This is what I am most thankful for...family and friends that love me, as I am, even when I do things that make me seem just a couple fries short of a Happy Meal.

Be thankful for everything big....but, most of all, be thankful for the little things.  The laughter and love of those closest to you...give them an extra hug today if you see them or chat a minute longer if you call them somehwere far away.  

Happy Thanksgiving!!

At Peace

Halloween is over....again.  Where have I been for...oh, say....off & on the last year?  I could spin tales of an exciting, uber busy, just "too much going on and not enough time to blog" story, but that wouldn't be honest.   Exciting?  Maybe a few times.  Uber busy?  Well, busy enough to just concentrate on day to day is probably true.  Too much going on?  Maybe not "too much", but enough to throw a wrinkle into almost any plan we have had.

Let's see....since I last spent time here, I am now working full-time and The Hub is retired!  Go figure, right?  I keep my Real Estate license current, just in case some fabulous deal pops up, but I don't really use it all that much. 

Within the family we've had a broken arm, a move to a new house (x2), a back surgery, new jobs, a cancer scare, a couple of hospital stays, bought a house, a relationship break-up, a kid with a kidney stone, a cervical fusion, a herniated disc, a cancer diagnosis...but, wait....it's not all so gloomy!  We've got a young man that has found his niche in Health Care and after a couple of months has been offered a full time job, grandkids that are straight A honor roll students, a senior citizen that has written some short stories and won honors...we had lots of good bestowed on us, too.

And, then today, the news that a dear friend has lost her fight with ovarian cancer.  Just told a couple of months back that she was cancer free, this horrible disease snuck right back in and stole her away from everyone within weeks.  It was not pleasant or easy and she is now At Peace.

Maybe she will know that this moved me enough to continue my online journal. It's fun and I have had the chance to talk with some wonderful people out there and changing out the banner and posting something quick on National Holidays is not enough.  I need to do this...for me and for my family.  I feel the need to have a witness to my life.

So, dear Deb, many loved you and many will miss you.  My wish is that you are pain free and healthy in your new life and we will all feel a bit safer knowing that you are watching over us.  I know you are finally At Peace.