Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

Whom Do You Trust?

The one who understands a matter finds success,
and the one who trusts in the Lord will be happy.

~~ Proverbs 16:20 ~~

Where will you place your trust today? Will you trust in the ways of the world, or will you trust in the Word and the will of your Creator?

If you aspire to do great things for God's kingdom, you will trust Him completely.

Trusting God means trusting Him in every aspect of your life. You must trust Him with your relationships. You must trust Him with your finances. You must follow His commandments and pray for His guidance. Then, you can wait patiently for God's revelations and for His blessings.

When you trust your Heavenly Father without reservation, you can rest assured: in His own fashion and in His own time, God will bless you in ways that you never could have imagined. So trust Him, and then prepare yourself for the abundance and joy that will most certainly be yours through Him.

Sometimes the very essence of faith
is trusting God in the midst of things He knows
good and well we cannot comprehend. ~~ Beth Moore

A Woman of Prayer - 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publisher


THANKSGIVING WEEK IN REVIEW

What a nice week it was. Mandy and Aaron arrived Wednesday afternoon and were here until Saturday. Rob and Krissy both had extra days off during the week (too much vacation on the books and they had to use it). We didn't have our Thanksgiving dinner until Friday (Krissy and Andy celebrate with his big family on the day itself) so I had an extra day to get all the cooking done.

We had the same feast we always have - a huge turkey and all our favorite appetizers and side dishes and desserts. Aaron's mom Jan joined us so we were seven adults and two little ones which is just about maximum capacity for our house. LOL

As chief cook and bottle washer, I've made an executive decision and my whole family is OK with it. I bought a 23-pound Honeysuckle White turkey this year and it was delicious. But. We made a small dent in the white meat and everything else went straight into the trash. Not a single person in my family eats the dark meat and certainly none of us eats the skeleton. And Rob and I are going to be eating turkey for the rest of this week, there was so much left over. So next year I'm buying a turkey breast. Period.

The turkey was so stinkin' big, if I'd put it on the table there would have been no room for anything else. So I carved it at the kitchen counter and served a plate of sliced turkey. I ask you. What's the point? So next year - a very nice turkey breast.

Honestly, I'm already relaxing about next year, just knowing there won't be a huge turkey taking up my whole oven when I need to be heating six side dishes.

These are the leftovers Rob and I are working our way through this week. Krissy and Andy don't do leftovers. I know. But they don't, so they didn't take anything home with them. And Mandy and Aaron live on the other side of Colorado, so they couldn't take anything home. Thankfully, Rob and I both love Thanksgiving leftovers.

Cameron and Avery were easy to entertain Friday because Uncle Aaron brought his Wii and lots of age appropriate games. Cameron played all day long. Avery is still too little to actually play, but she thinks sifting through all the amazing gidgets and gadgets that come with a Wii is a lot of fun. It amazes me to watch Cameron play these games - he's four years old and I swear, he's so good with all the controllers, I'd never attempt to play with him, much less beat him at any of the games.

I have no idea if I can swing it, but if I can possibly can, I so, so want to give Cameron a Wii for Christmas. It's so expensive, but his reaction to opening that gift would make it worth a month of baloney sandwiches for dinner.

The adults play quieter games. Like what has always been our family favorite, progressive rummy. As you can see, they take progressive rummy very seriously.

But. For six years, Krissy has been telling me about a game Andy's whole family always plays, for hours and hours, when they get together for holidays. I'd never even heard of it but I do remember that about four years ago, this game was on Krissy's Christmas wish list and we bought it for her. So she brought it with her Friday.

This game is so much fun, and so loud and rowdy, I'm pretty sure it's now officially the game we'll be playing when we're all together during the holidays. If you've never played Pit, you should try it. It's been around since 1904 (who knew that?!!), it couldn't possibly be easier to learn to play and I guarantee you, even the quietest members of your family will shock you at how loud they can yell and how excited the can be if they win. Fun, fun, fun game!

Krissy and I celebrated all our hard work putting Thanksgiving together by giving ourselves Saturday afternoon off. We went to see this movie. You either read the Twilight series or not. You either really got into the whole mythical world of vampires or not.

We did. Mandy did too and we'd hoped she could go with us, but they needed to go home on Saturday morning.

We loved this movie. Loved, loved it. And the popcorn and the previews weren't bad either. LOL (Nothing and I mean NOTHING is going to stop me from seeing Nicholas Sparks' Dear John. I read the book. I have all his books by the way. And I can't wait to see the movie. It's next on my list. :-)

Kris participates in three different ornament exchanges at Christmas (her bunko group, her bowling league and her office). So after the movie we went to Hobby Lobby. Honestly, is Hobby Lobby just not the most fun place this time of year? A month before Christmas and everything is already 50% off. I actually bought a new centerpiece for my dining room table. It involves pine cones and berries and spruce branches and a wonderful big spruce scented candle. And I added to my clip-on bird ornament collection too.

So all in all, simply a great week and a fantastic Saturday afternoon. Just what the shrink ordered. :-)


A NEW WEEK

This week I'll be busy rearranging the house and decorating for Christmas. I'm excited about bringing out my Willow Tree Nativity and displaying it again. I used to keep it on display all the time, but it's just way too tempting to little toddlers and you can only super glue the figures back together so many times before you get smart. :-)

And it will be a huge victory for me if I can announce that Santa stars are available again. I should have been working on them all year long - they take forever to make when you make them in the quantities I make them in. But as you know by now, it wasn't one of my better years. So I'm working away and hope to have them available by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

I normally never buy myself anything this time of year, but I had to have this book. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King, but his last few books weren't all that wonderful in my opinion. This book, however, is amazing. He's back in his original form like he was when he wrote The Stand, a million years ago. This book is big - 1072 pages long. And it's only by using all my willpower that I can put it down to work on Santa stars.


SOME LAST THOUGHTS TO SHARE

Last year our family had a little reality meeting and decided that because all our budgets were tight, instead of shopping for each other, we'd only buy gifts for Cameron and Avery.

It sucked. It really did.

Our thoughts were in the right place, but we went too far. So this year we came up with the idea of drawing names among the adults. The rules were simple. You couldn't draw your own name and you couldn't draw your spouse's name. Everyone had to give Krissy a wish list and she typed it all up on one neat sheet for us.

I was tickled pink to see how much fun everyone had drawing the names out of Andy's ballcap. The other rule is none of us can reveal whose name we got. So we'll each be shopping for Cameron and Avery of course, and one adult in the family. That way, everyone will have something under the tree.

I did not put Under the Dome on my wish list. I knew I wasn't going to wait another month to get that book! LOL

You know, no matter how organized you are, no matter how much you do ahead, the holidays are simply exhausting, aren't they? For me, I think it's all the cooking. I loved every single thing about Thanksgiving this year, but the truth is, I didn't start to feel recovered until I woke up this morning.

Rob and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary Sunday. I'm using the word "celebrated" very loosely here. We took one look at all those leftovers, the ones we've been eating all weekend long, and we went to Burger King. I'm not kidding. It was wonderful.

When you've been married for 31 years, you don't squish yourself into panty hose and your husband doesn't put on a tie and you don't go out for an elegant and expensive dinner.

You go to Burger King. Especially if you got married as close to Thanksgiving as we did. LOL

Obviously, Thanksgiving wiped Chelsea out too. She was doing quite well with all the confusion until we all started playing Pit. The shouting and non-stop laughing and shouts of victory just got on her last little Shih Tzu nerve.

Last night I saw her snuggled up next to Rob, and I couldn't believe the way she was sleeping with her new Christmas baby cuddled in her little arms.

I give you, the world's sweetest little dog.

And I wish you a happy new week. xo

It's official...it's the holiday season in Chelseaville!

Like most of you, I probably cook more between the beginning of Thanksgiving week and the end of New Year's Day than I do the entire rest of the year.

Just think - if all those leftovers were safe to eat for ten months, why we'd not have to cook from January second until the third week of November. LOL

For me, it all begins with Chex Party Mix.

I started yesterday afternoon and finished about 2 o'clock this afternoon - eight batches. I'm pretty sure I have enough to get us through the holidays, but I'm not dead sure. I'm not kidding. This stuff goes in the blink of an eye around my house, during the holidays.

It takes an hour to make one batch. Eight batches equals eight hours of cooking time. I've made it in the microwave and it was perfect, but you need a large microwave and I don't have one any more. Because we don't use our microwave for much more than heating a quick lunch of leftovers, or in Rob's case, a cup of stale coffee (ugh), and because I'm only willing to sacrifice a limited amount of counter space for a microwave (we don't have an over the range microwave), ours is perfect for us but it's too small to put a 9 x 11-inch glass baking dish in.

So I did it the old fashioned way. I used my oven.

If I didn't put up a Christmas tree, if I didn't put my Willow Tree Nativity on display in the living room, or if Rob and I didn't cover our house and yard in outdoor illumination, my kids would be upset.

If I didn't make Chex Party Mix, they'd call the little men who arrive with straight jackets to pick you up and cart you away.

I've been making the original Chex Party Mix since it first came out - good grief, maybe 25 years ago? Maybe longer than that? It makes me smile when I buy Chex cereal now and see the "original" recipe on their package because it's not even close. I'm thinking when they say "original" they mean as compared to all the knock off recipes for party mix. The recipe on their box this holiday season is so different from the one I use, I'm beyond thankful that I wrote that recipe on a card and put it in my little oak recipe box, when I first started making it.

Meantime, I started a tradition with my little family, years ago, that I love.

I make tons of this stuff because I also buy cute Christmas containers and give them to my kids when we're all together for Thanksgiving, full of the mix, and with the understanding that they can bring the container back any time they want for a refill.

Is that not sweet?

(I love it when they show up and say, "Please. May I have some more?" - it makes me feel necessary. LOL)

Not to worry - here's the very first recipe that was ever published for Chex Party Mix:

1 stick of margarine (they say Parkay - I say generic)
1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 2/3 cups corn Chex
2 2/3 cups rice Chex
2 2/3 cups wheat Chex
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup thin pretzel sticks

(trust me when I tell you, generic cereals work)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

I place the margarine, seasoned salt and Worcestershire in a two-cup glass measuring cup and microwave it in 30-second spurts until it's melted and very hot, so that the salt melts.

I put all the cereal and peanuts and pretzel sticks into a large bowl, pour the melted margarine mixture evenly over it all and stir it very, very gently with a big wooden spoon. Don't get carried away with the stirring or you'll break the cereal pieces up and it'll be a crumbly mess.

I put the mixture into my big open roasting pan. It's the same pan I roast our turkey in. :-)

Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. In other words, once you put it in the oven, you can't go away because you need to open the oven and stir it, every 15 minutes. Again, stir it very gently so you don't break the cereal pieces into crumbly pieces.

Spread on absorbent paper and allow to cool.

I always have rolls of brown mailing paper on hand. I simply use masking tape to tape a doubled over piece of brown paper to my kitchen counter.

When I first started making this, I used brown paper bags from the grocery store. Remember those? White plastic bags don't work. LOL

Let it cool, and store it in an air tight container at room temperature.


We'll be having our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. My daughter Krissy married a man (Andy) who has a big family, much bigger than us Reids, and of course the whole family goes to Andy's parents' house for Thanksgiving.

I learned a long time ago (six years ago, actually - Krissy and Andy just celebrated their six year anniversary) that the date on the calendar doesn't matter one whit. What matters is being together.

My other daughter, Mandy, and her husband Aaron are making the drive through the Rockies (always dicey this time of year) to be here and I'm beyond thankful that they're still newlywed enough that they will come "home" for the holidays, although they've now established their own sweet home on the other side of the mountains.

It's so funny how things come together. My husband Rob and my daughter Krissy both had too many vacation days left on the books and were asked to take two days between now and the end of the year, so they both took Wednesday off. And Mandy and Aaron are arriving early Wednesday afternoon.

So guess what. I'm in heaven.

My whole little family is going to be gathered in my home for Thanksgiving.

And guess what? I just happen to have plenty of Chex Party Mix to get us through all the Monopoly and Pincochle games we can possibly play.

Sigh. I am content.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

The Pits...:-)

Awwww. Come on. You know you love the title of this post because I'm updating you on the progress my little avocado tree is making. You know. The one I grew from a pit. LOL

So here she is, six months or so after I stuck an avocado pit with toothpicks and put it into a glass of water.

I've nicked the top out of this little thing about three times now, determined that she's going to grow at least one more branch, but boy, this is one stubborn avocado tree! Still, I think you can see that I am in fact growing a little tree.

I love avocado trees grown from an avocado I bought to make guacamole and instead of tossing the pit, I thought, "Hmmmm. Maybe I'll grow a little tree."

"Little" being the operative word here - this tree isn't going to ever, ever produce avocados.

But it's fun.

One thing that's really neat is that when it needs water, your little tree just completely droops. But I swear, fifteen minutes after you water it, it perks right back up.

If you want to try this, these two posts will show you how to grow a funny looking but cute little avocado tree:

Getting started.

The first pruning to force multiple branches (which obviously doesn't always work LOL).

Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL


Kindness in Action

Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's
royal command found in the the Scriptures:
"Love your neighbor as yourself."

~~ James 2:8 ~~

As believers in Christ, we are commanded to treat others as we wish to be treated. This commandment is, indeed, the Golden Rule for Christians of every generation.

Kindness is a choice. Sometimes, when we feel happy or prosperous, we find it easy to be kind. Other times, when we are discouraged or tired, we can scarcely summon the energy to utter a single kind word. But, God's commandment is clear: we must observe the Golden Rule "in everything." God intends that we make the conscious choice to treat others with kindness and respect, no matter our circumstances, no matter our emotions. Kindness, therefore, is a choice that we, as Christians must make many times each day.

When we weave the thread of kindness into the very fabric of our lives, we give a priceless gift to others, and we give glory to the One who gave His life for us. As believers, we must do no less.

A Woman of Prayer, 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publishers


THE WEEK IN REVIEW

I'm a little late, but I'm here. That's a good thing, right? :-)

I can't tell you how much the comments on my last post have meant to me. And the personal emails behind the scenes? There is simply no way I could answer each of you individually, but know this. Your email, your advice, your assurance that you were praying for me..it turned the tables for me.

I truly feel better. Maybe it's because I'm so transparent that I share something like depression right here on the interweb with gosh only knows who. I have no idea how many people (or who they are) read my blog and that may be a good thing because if I did know, I might stiffen up and be afraid to be real.

My sister suggested that I seemed to be out of sync and asked if I was OK. She wondered if maybe I was depressed. She figured it out before I did.

I talked to both my parents this week.

My father is 84 years old. He just canned 60 quarts of tomatoes and he was making chicken gumbo when I called him. Good grief. He's amazing. He's so healthy it makes me think that if genes play a part, I may live to a hundred years old.

My father never smoked cigarettes. Ever.

My mom used to smoke. After 20 years she quit. When I talked to her a couple of days ago, she told me that when she quit, she went through a depression that lasted for almost a year.

Hello?

There is nothing physically wrong with me. I mean, my wrist hurts a lot but that's because I'm 59 and it's probably arthritis. Physically speaking, I'd be a lot happier if I could still get into my size 12 jeans, but I can live with size 14. :-)

Mom sent me an early Christmas package this year. I was so surprised to get a big box covered in Christmas stickers (I love it that my mom doesn't think I'm too old to love Christmas stickers). The box was full of books that she'd chosen for me and Rob and for Cameron and Avery. It was like she read my mind because I'd just told Rob, this is the year I have to start reading The Night Before Christmas to our grandbabies and there it was - a beautiful pop-up version that Cameron is already asking me to read to him before school each morning.

And also in that package was a big bottle of vitamins, heavy on the B complex vitamins. When I called her to thank her, she told me, you need to take those B complex vitamins. They help a lot when you quit smoking.

So mystery solved. I think I know why I've just not been myself for the last ten months. And I think the knowing, combined with all your encouragement, turned things around for me.

Why, I do believe I may actually start taking photos of Cameron and Avery and Chelsea again. And I've already bought everything Cameron and Avery and I will need to make Christmas cookies this year. I have all the different colored sprinkles and some Christmas cookie cutters sitting on the kitchen counter and Cameron's eyes just light up every time he sees them.

I see the light at the end of this tunnel and I thank each and every one of you. You are amazing.


THE NEW WEEK

My poor daughter Krissy has been sick. She was so miserable all weekend long, I convinced her to call in sick at work today and just give herself the day off. Rob and I took care of getting Cameron to school and Avery to daycare and by the end of the day, Krissy was down here to borrow a loaf pan and she looked about a hundred percent better. I ask you, how often do you get a day completely off when you have a four year old and a 21 month old? That in itself is as good as any medicine I can think of.

Cameron's pediatrician called Kris at work last Friday to let her know they had the H1N1 vaccine in and Cameron should come in right away to get his. Kris said fine, we'll bring him in sometime next week and the doctor said, "No, I was thinking NOW."

Apparently Cameron is extremely high risk because he's only four years old and has full blown type 1 diabetes. It's always scary when a small child gets sick with something like flu, but in Cameron's case, anything that affects his food and liquid intake is especially scary.

So he got his vaccine Friday afternoon and I'm happy to report he had no adverse reaction at all. Andy tells me the shot itself (it's a pretty hefty shot) didn't even phase him.

ALL THAT TO SAY...

I'm better and I'm going to be fine. I cannot tell you how much your encouraging comments and emails helped me.

Thank you.

And happy new week!

Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

Smile

Jacob said, "For what a relief it is to see your friendly smile.
It is like seeing the smile of God!"

~~ Genesis 33:10 ~~

A smile is nourishment for the heart, and laughter is medicine for the soul. But sometimes, amid the stresses of the day, we forget to take our medicine. Instead of viewing our world with a mixture of optimism and humor, we allow worries and distractions to rob us of the joy that God intends for our lives.

Today, as you go about your daily activities, approach life with a smile on your lips and hope in your heart. Look for reasons to laugh and to smile. The world needs every smile it can get, including yours.

The more you look for humor,
the more you will find it. ~~ Barbara Johnson

A Prayer: Dear Lord, You have given me so many reasons to celebrate life. Today, let me be a joyful Christian -- quick to smile and quick to laugh. And, let Your love shine in me and through me, this day and forever. Amen.

A Woman of Prayer, 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publishers


SOME NONSENSE

You simply cannot imagine how routine my week has been. For me, routine means that no one was excruciatingly sick (Rob and I both have colds - that's not excruciating) and I'm especially thankful that my grandbabies aren't sick, although I'd love someone to remind me why they ALWAYS have runny noses this time of year, even when they're not sick. Good grief. I wish I owned stock in Kleenex. (I'm lying - I should own stock in the roll of cheap TP I keep on my kitchen counter.)

I have nothing earth shattering to share with you, although I'd like you to hang in and read to the end of this post.

I made a really nice spaghetti dinner for my husband this week and it occurred to me, when I was cooking, that I've never shown you my favorite pot.

Check this out. My pasta pot! Honestly, I've had it forever and it just never occurred to me that it's kind of a unique pot.


Obviously, it's for long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine, pastas that I cook quite often.

I know what you're thinking. She's really digging. But seriously, this is just the best pot ever.

I'll give you three guesses what I'm working on right now. :-)

I should have started this months ago, but I couldn't because about six months ago, my left wrist went completely nuts and it still hurts so much, all the time, that things like crocheting or hand sewing are really difficult. Santa stars don't require a lot of hand sewing, but when you're making 108 of them (36 sets), just the position you have to have your hand in, the repetitive motion, for each step, becomes difficult.

But...I'm by gosh making Santa stars. And that's a small miracle, because...


SOMETHING YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D HEAR ME SAY....

I know that the people who've faithfully followed me for almost four years have been wondering, what on earth is wrong with Barb. I haven't been posting. I haven't been doing craft or cooking tutorials. I haven't been visiting my blogging friends and commenting on their posts.

So here's what's going on. It took me a long, long time, ten months, to figure this out but it finally hit me.

All I want to do is sleep.

I couldn't really care less about food. Therefore, I've been doing the kind of cooking that gets you by but isn't inspirational. I haven't tried a new recipe in forever. Cooking tutorials are pretty hard to come up with when the best you can come up with is grilled cheese and frozen fries.

I've lost interest in blogging because I just don't seem to be able to come up with anything I think anyone would want to read.

I've lost touch with people who I really care about, especially my blogging friends, and I've been so snarlish, I've hurt some feelings too.

All I want to do is sleep.

Last Wednesday, I went to bed at 5:30 in the afternoon. And I slept for fourteen hours. And I woke up feeling tired.

So there you have it.

If this isn't classic depression, I don't know what is.

I have no idea why this has happened. But I do know this. Depression is not to be messed with. It's real and I'm telling you, it not only hurts, it's scary. It affects every last single aspect of who you are and it turns you into someone you don't know.

So I'm working my way through this. I feel like I'm climbing a moutain that just never ends, but I'm working on it.

I truly have no desire to do anything, but I so, so want to make Santa stars. So I make myself get up and work on them, every single day.

I'm forcing myself to go through the motions because I want the holidays to be special for my little family. I want to make it as special as I've always made it, and I think if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, sooner or later I will conquer this.

I'll tell you something. Depression isn't for sissies. So if you know someone who is depressed, please, please extend them some extra kindness, because it's awful.

I hope you never find out how awful it is.

Please don't give up on me. I WILL be back. I'm trying, really really hard.

xoxoxo

I have to share this....

You know how almost all little trick or treaters say, "Thank you!"? I was sitting on my patio a few minutes ago, enjoying the extremely brisk air, and feeling more than a little envious of the smell of wood smoke (fireplaces) in my neighborhood, when it hit me. Last night, we answered our doorbell almost non-stop for three hours. And I'm guessing that at least half of the kids who came to our door broke out in huges smiles and said, "Thank you, Mr. Rob!" Because they know my husband. Because he works at their school.

It warmed my heart.

Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

A Grand Plan

I will instruct you and teach you
in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.

~~ Psalm 32:8 ~~

God has plans for your life that are far grander than you can imagine. But He won't force you to follow His will; to the contrary, He has given you free will, the ability to make choices and decisions on your own. The most important decision of your life is, of course, your commitment to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And once your eternal destiny is secured, you will undoubtedly ask yourself, "What now, Lord?" If you earnestly seek God's will for your life, you will find it...in time.

Sometimes God's plans are crystal clear, but other times, He may lead you through the wilderness before He delivers you to the Promised Land. So be patient, keep praying, and keep seeking His will for your life. When you do, you'll be amazed at the marvelous things that an all-powerful, all-knowing God can do.

"God has no problems, only plans.
There is never panic in heaven." ~~ Corrie Ten Boom

A Woman of Prayer - 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith, LLC, Publisher


THE WEEK IN REVIEW

With Andy's return from a week long deer hunting trip (he got a six point buck, by the way), Krissy's life returned to normal this past week. That means mine did too. :-)

Cameron and Avery both had colds but weren't too sick to stay with their normal routine, so right up until Friday evening, my week was quiet and normal. As always, I use the term "normal" loosely. And, for the record, I woke up with a sore throat and sneezing fits today, so, as hard as I tried (constant hand washing, Clorox wipes, avoiding wet kisses), I don't think I escaped it this time. Ahhh. A nice cold to start the winter off right.

Krissy and Andy were invited to a costume party Friday evening. Of course I said I'd babysit, but it seemed ridiculous to either keep the kids up half the night, or wake them in the middle of the night, so we all agreed a sleepover at Nana's house was the best way to go.

I swear, I laughed my head off at Andy's costume. She's Little Red Riding Hood and he's the Big Bad Wolf. She didn't realize her costume was so short - I'm pretty darn sure she stood up very straight, with absolutely no bending over, for the duration of the whole party. LOL

I'm trying to show you the nose on that costume. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd see my macho son-in-law in a granny gown with a wolf nose and hairy paws. It really was hysterical.

Going to a party without having to get home early to pick up the kids, and then sleeping in the next morning...that's a rare treat for Krissy and Andy and I was happy to help make it happen. For the first time in a long, long time, Krissy got to sleep straight through. Every night of her life she's up throughout the night to check Cameron's blood glucose level.

My poor little gourds are just about toast now. Avery has played with them until they have no hair, their stems are missing in action and they're a little pathetic. Oh well. They're gourds. They weren't going to live forever anyway, right? :-)

As often as I see and care for my grandchildren, it's a rare treat to have them around in footie pj's, ready for bedtime stories. I read to them for over an hour. It's amazing how much they love such a simple thing as having Nana read stories to them.

I made an executive decision to let them stay up really late because I knew we were all going to be crammed into my bedroom, and it worked. At 11 o'clock, I said, "bedtime," and within five minutes they were both sound asleep.

It was a special evening and I enjoyed every moment of it. And they both slept in so I even came out of it feeling relatively rested. LOL


Last night, Cameron, who is finally old enough (four) that he got really excited about Halloween, was a glow-in-the-dark skeleton.

When Krissy told me about the costume she'd chosen for Avery, I was less than impressed. But look at her. She's a garden gnome! Have you ever seen anything cuter?

It's been so cold here, for the last couple of weeks, I was afraid the kids would be miserable when they went trick or treating. But like some kind of miracle, it warmed up yesterday and they had the perfect evening for it.

I've learned to accept the fact that Cameron has juvenile diabetes. I've gotten pretty good at handling it. But occasionally, something tugs at my heart. A big one is when one of his preschool classmate's mom sends in a sugary treat for snacks. The teacher takes Cameron's away and gives him something sugar free to replace it and I hate, hate, hate that. I know his teacher goes out of her way to prevent him from feeling "different," but still, I just hate it.

So it tugged at my heart that he was so fascinated with the big basket of candy I had ready for the trick or treaters. He played with it all evening long Friday night. He knew without even asking that he couldn't have any of it. But he loved sorting through it. We don't keep candy and a lot of sweets around our house, but we don't hide them from him either. Cameron knows. He just knows and oddly enough, he isn't all that particularly fond of candy.

These are the candies he pulled out for everyone in his family. One is Daddy's, one's Mama's, one is for Papa and so on. He said to me, "I can't have this, huh, Nana. This will make me high."

That statement might be alarming, coming from a different child, but Cameron knows that "high" is bad - high blood sugar means a shot. He was diagnosed two years ago, at 22 months old, and I'm betting he knows more about diabetes now than most adults who've never dealt with it do.

I always sprinkle lots of spider rings into my Halloween candy. He loved that. No sugar or carbs in spider rings!

So all in all, it was a nice week around here. Saturday afternoon Rob took me to Appleby's for lunch. Then we went on a little shopping spree - we always make special Halloween gift bags for Cameron and Avery.


A REAL SURPRISE

When Krissy and the kids and I went to visit Mandy and Aaron two weeks ago, Mandy gave me a book she'd finished, along with several of my Jodi Picoult books she'd borrowed. I put this in my bookshelf and forgot about it, thinking I'd get around to it. Yesterday I found myself picking it up.

I realize I'm about a year behind everyone else. I remember seeing reviews of The Shack all over Bloggityville, about a year ago. (I think you'll enjoy the web site, so I'm linking to it.)

I started this book yesterday morning and finished it this morning. I could barely stand to put it down to answer the door and give out candy last night.

I don't know what to say except that this is such an amazing book, I honestly wanted to crawl into the pages and be there. If you haven't read it, do. The images are so powerful, and the text is so moving, I will never forget it.

I realize that's a pretty pathetic review. But I'm not trying to do a review - I'm just saying I was profoundly moved by The Shack.


A NEW WEEK

As silly as it sounds, it always feels like a little treat to gain an extra hour when the time changes. Going around the whole house changing all the clocks? Not so much. :-)

I find myself moving ahead and thinking about Butterball turkeys. As always, Thanksgiving will be at my house and really, four weeks isn't too soon to start making plans, right? I don't know what on earth I think I'm planning. It's not like the menu has changed in the last 30 years. LOL

And I'll admit, I find myself thinking about Christmas too. I'm not sure if I'm ten months behind or two months early, but it sure feels like I need to be thinking about it!

I hope you have a nice new week ahead of you.

And to all my farming buddies, isn't that new "save to storage" feature in Farm Town just the slickest thing ever?

:-)

Bring it on!

Hello, Old Man Winter!

OK. You're a little early for western Colorado. You know, desert country. As in WARM almost all the time.

But we can handle you.

It would have been nice if you'd waited until the leaves had fallen off the trees before you dumped this wet, heavy snow on them, but that's OK. We can deal.


Chelsea thinks her "lady's room" sucks. But she can deal too.

And so winter has arrived. I'll admit, every single year, I pray that our weather will hold at least until the day after Halloween because I can't tell you how many years I worked and sewed and sewed and worked to make the most amazing Halloween costumes EVER for Krissy and Mandy, only to cover them up with big heavy coats and snow boots.

I guess God doles out answers to prayers based on merit because really, how important is that stupid prayer? LOL

The truth is, I love this weather, although I do worry about the trees and bushes when a heavy wet snow like this happens too early in the season. What I love is that I don't have to go out into this. For years, I did. I got up and trudged through all kinds of terrible weather, to take my kids to daycare and then go to work...and then pick them up from daycare and come home and do my other full time job - you know. The other eight hours you put in. Being a Mom. Oh! And a wife. :-)

I'm thinking, conservatively, that I did this for 15 years.

So I can't tell you how much I love it that I can wake up to challenging weather and know that all I have to do is just go get another cup of coffee and sit somewhere warm, where I can enjoy the looks of it all. I've always thought snow and cold and see-your-breath-in-the-air weather is beautiful.

It took me a few minutes this morning, to figure out what on earth happened to my pretty snow.

And then I realized...I was looking at my husband Rob's footsteps in the snow. As cold and wet and miserable as it was this morning, he went out there and filled the sweet bird feeder he built for me this summer because he was concerned that our little birds weren't quite ready for this weather. That struck me as very sweet.

And Chelsea is in this picture. Can you see her?


Three guesses where Chelsea went yesterday. And yeah, she was ticked off at me. That little dog has got pouting down to a fine art. Even I will admit, the Halloween decoration on her collar is a little annoying. But boy, she sure smells good. You'd never know she was a dog. Not that I've ever thought of Chelsea as a "dog." :-)

Happy winter! Let's just embrace it, shall we? :-)

Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

What Kind of Example?

You are the light that gives light to the world.
In the same way, you should be a light
for other people.
Live so that they will see the good things you do
and will praise your Father in heaven.

~~ Matthew 5:14,16 ~~

Whether we like it or not, all of us are examples. The question is not whether we will be examples to our families and friends; the question is simply what kind of examples will we be.

What kind of example are you? Are you the kind of woman whose life serves as a powerful example of righteousness? Are you a woman whose behavior serves as a positive role model for young people? Are you the kind of woman whose actions, day in and day out, are based upon integrity, fidelity, and a love for the Lord? If so, you are not only blessed by God, you are also a powerful force for good in a world that desperately needs positive influences such as yours.

D. L. Moody advised, "A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian, and most of all, his family ought to know." And that's sound advice because our families and friends are watching....and so, for that matter, is God.

A Woman of Prayer, 365 Daily Devotionals, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publishers


THE WEEK IN REVIEW

It's been a while (all summer) since I've done Sunday Meanderings. I'm not sure I can even say why, except to say that I just lost it for a while. I've seen a lot of that going around in Bloggityville. Even I, who never runs out of words, ran out.

For some reason, it feels like this past summer just whizzed by me. Maybe it's because Cameron and Avery grew so much. It seems like they were baby/toddler one minute and suddenly they're "kids." Avery is suddenly running around all over and talking so that I can actually understand what she's saying. And Cameron is in preschool. He's doing really well and of course his teachers love him. They're both great kids.

Suddenly it's cold and wintry looking around here. Can you believe Saturday is Halloween? I've made a major decison regarding this autumn - I'm not going to go into my usual fall cleaning frenzy. I've decided this house is just fine and doesn't need a fall cleaning. I'm going to steam clean the carpet tomorrow and dust the blinds on all the windows and call it good. :-)

So Cameron has learned how to harvest my crops. LOL I'm not kidding, he knows how to harvest my Farm Town crops and my FarmVille crops. I have the animal sounds turned up so he can hear all the animals and he really gets a kick out of clicking on the crops and harvesting them.

On Fridays, Cameron and Avery are both here with me all day. By Friday, after a full week of preschool on Cameron's part and daycare on Avery's part, they're both just worn out. But still, when Avery goes down for her nap, Cameron (naps are in his past) loves to sit on my lap and help me take care of my farms.

This past Friday he seemed a little less than enthusiastic. He has a cold so he was tired, and I noticed that he kind of slid off my lap and laid down on the floor next to my chair. He started singing all the new songs he's learned in preschool - Five Little Monkeys - I'm a Little Teapot - The ABC song. He was just laying on his back, in a world of his own, singing away. I swear, it was so adorable because it was like I wasn't even here, he was so engrossed in his songs.

I'm sitting here harvesting crops and suddenly I start hearing a sound that's like waves coming in to the shore, at the beach. I thought, "What the heck?"

And then I realized Cameron had stopped singing and started snoring. And this is what I saw.

Sound asleep.


With his monkey as his pillow.
Papa gave Cameron that little $5 monkey for his first Christmas.
It goes everywhere except to school with him. :-)

He slept there, right on my office floor, without even twitching, for THREE hours! I tried my best to feel guilty about that. And then I said, whatever, and threw a blanket over him and let him be. :-)

CHELSEA


Here's Chelsea with her Barbie doll a few weeks ago.


She's pretty rough on her dolls LOL.

I don't know how summer turned into autumn so quickly, but tonight when I went out to sit on my back patio, I was driven back inside by the cold, cold wind. Good grief, I think winter is about to arrive.

Happy new week everyone. And don't forget to turn your clocks back next weekend.

xoxoxo

Autumn...I love it

Here's the only thing I bought at the pumpkin patch Mandy and Aaron took us to last Saturday. Every time Avery sees these little gourds, she giggles out loud, so I've decided to stop kicking myself in the behind for what I paid for these.
:-)


I also bought a new rake recently. It's red. And it's all mine. Clearly, I need a rake. Look at the leaf fall from my crab apple tree! LOL


OK. See that? That's my next door neighbor's tree. I'll give you three guesses where all those leaves are going to fall. And THAT'S why I bought a new rake. A red one. (I really, really like my new rake.) Look at the three bushes growing right up against that white fence. See the one on the right? The one above Chelsea? It was out of control and I asked Rob to trim it for me. He took me quite seriously. Sigh. You have to click on the photo to appreciate what I'm saying here. I have no idea if that bush is going to recover from this "trimming."


Here are my tomato plants. Maybe it's because this was the first year I finally managed to successfully grow tomatoes, but I just can't bring myself to pull these up and toss them.


I can't use that excuse for these petunias. I've always been able to grow pretty petunias. This gets chalked up to sheer laziness.


Of all the bushes in our yard, this one is my favorite. It's so pretty when all the leaves turn bright red. Then they all fall off and it's ugly. But right now, it's gorgeous.


Looking out my patio doors yesterday at 4 p.m.


Looking out my patio doors today at 4 p.m.

It's true. In Colorado, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

Autumn. I love every last single thing about it. :-)

Short...but very sweet

Teenie tiny little amendment: the post is not short. The TRIP was short. :-)

Last Thursday morning Krissy and I loaded up the kids and lots of "stuff" and drove 300 miles to the eastern side of Colorado, for a three day visit with my other daughter Mandy and her husband Aaron. This is a trip Krissy and I make during deer hunting season, when her husband Andy is gone for a week. Our intention is to do it every year but last year we didn't go. I can't even remember why - maybe because Avery was still such a little baby?

Cameron and Avery are confined to car seats of course, so we make sure we stop a lot so that they can get out and run around. Our very first stop was McDonald's (in Glenwood Springs) where we discovered Avery loves cheeseburgers. Like most moms who order happy meals, Krissy automatically orders chicken nuggets. Avery saw our cheeseburgers and rather than share, we finally just got her her own.

This little story is really just my excuse to show you how stinkin' cute she is. She's 19 months old now and she's one happy little girl, especially when you get her her very own cheeseburger. :-)


I miss driving through the Rockies. When Rob and I still lived on the eastern slope, and both girls were attending Mesa State College here in Grand Junction (the western slope), we made this drive at least six times a year. For six years. So this annual trip and the drive through the mountains is one I really look forward to.

In this photo we're driving through Glenwood Canyon, which is only an hour from where we live in Grand Junction. Clearly, this is one of the most beautiful places on earth.


It's hard to imagine from this photo, but the Rocky Mountains are so high that the snow you see is there year round. It never goes away.


This, on the other hand, is new snow. The mountains get a lot of snow - the altitude is so high, newcomers get altitude sickness very easily if they stay here very long.

Believe it or not, Krissy and I had the a/c running in the car. It was not cold. At all. Weird, huh?


Friday afternoon Mandy hosted a Pampered Chef party. My daughter Krissy is a PC consultant and this is Mandy helping her big sister the consultant make Jalapeno Popper Pizzas for the guests. The party was a big success and Mandy is tickled pink that she's finally going to get the food chopper and the pineapple slicer she's always wanted, with the credits she earned for hosting this party. The only thing better than Pampered Chef is free Pampered Chef. :-)

I have to tell you, it makes me smile to watch Krissy conduct a PC cooking show. I raised her. Never in my wildest dreams did I think she's become such a domestic goddess, but she is. I expect her to be very successful at this Pampered Chef business.


Friday evening Aaron and Mandy took us to Bruces, the humongous laid back bar/restaurant that put their little town of Severance on the map.


This place is famous for one thing and only one thing - Rocky Mountain oysters. I can't tell you what those are because this is a family friendly blog, but if you don't know, Google it. People come from far, far away to eat the "bull fries" at Bruces. It's very popular with the Harley Davidson crowd too. Here's what I think about that.

Eeeeewwwwwwwww!

I had the shrimp basket. LOL Although their specialty didn't do much for me, this was a great place and we had a lot of fun. And....the food that I consider edible was great!


I believe that every child should have an aunt like Mandy. She teaches fifth grade. Recently she conducted a science experiment in her class and she brought home some of the leftover supplies so that Cameron and Avery could make snow. Snow. In the living room! We didn't bother telling them about cross-linked polyacrylamide polymer gel and chemical reactions. All they cared about is that she dumped some white powder into a blue plastic bucket and when Cameron added water to it, it turned into snow. They were fascinated.


How cool is it that Aunt Mandy didn't care one whit about the mess. A quick run through with the shop vac and the mess was gone. They had a blast with this stuff. For the record, that cross-linked polyacrylamide polymer gel is what makes disposable diapers so absorbent. :-)


Saturday afternoon we took the kids to a pumpkin patch. This was a totally new experience and Avery didn't know which way to run first. The field of pumpkins was huge!


Cameron and Uncle Aaron checked out a lot of pumpkins.

Have I ever mentioned that Cameron is absolutely crazy about his Uncle Aaron? This is one small example of why Cameron thinks Aaron hung the moon...he gives him a lot of one-on-one attention. Aaron is just great with kids, which comes in handy since he's a middle school counselor. :-)

Cameron discovered this pumpkin and he had to have it. According to him, it was "perfect." :-) It wasn't remotely possible that he could lift this thing, so he drug it, all by himself...all the way down that long, long row....


...until he got it to our pumpkin wagon. He worked up a real sweat doing this but I was very impressed at his perseverance and determination. That pumpkin is on his front porch now. :-)



It took a family conference to decide which of these pumpkins to keep. Krissy suddenly remembered that our car was already packed to the gills. But she did manage to bring three big pumpkins home. And one little pumpkin. For guess who. :-)


Avery was so excited about all this, she didn't know which way to run next, but let me tell you. That child is fearless. She thought all the dirt and mud and huge weeds and stickers were just great. I had to drag her away when it was time to go. LOL


Cameron's happy with their choices and you know what? He's never going to forget this excursion that his favorite uncle put together for him.

What? That "green" pumpkin in the wagon? That's Mandy's watermelon. The moment I saw that they sold watermelons, I knew we'd be taking one home. For Mandy. LOL

Saturday evening Rob's family came up to Mandy and Aaron's place for a cookout. We hadn't seen each other since Kris and I did this trip two years ago, so we were thrilled that all of them were willing to make the drive, at night, after an all day Halloween party hosted by my nephew and his wife (an annual event in Frederick), to see us.


This is Rob's sister Carol. She's simply one of the sweetest people I've ever known and I miss not living right around the corner from her, like I did for 25 years.


Krissy is crazy about all her cousins, but she's always been especially close to Justin. All these cousins grew up together and went to school together and it makes Krissy a little sad that they don't live close to each other any more. Justin is a great, great guy. He's married with two little ones of his own now.


It took the next generation of cousins all of two minutes to get comfortable with each other. The kids played in the living room.....


....and the grownups sat at the kitchen table and talked.

And here's what moves me about this. This is exactly the way it all was when Krissy and Mandy were little. The cousins played all over the house or yard and the adults always ended up at the kitchen table, and we talked and talked for hours. And the little ones dropped in their tracks and fell asleep on the living room floor. And the adults kept on talking into the wee hours.

It's a real show stopper to me that my kids are the grownups now. And I'm the Nana - the older generation. My word, life moves forward so fast, it feels like only yesterday I was the 28-year old mother of a newborn.

It goes by in the blink of an eye. Really.


I took almost a hundred photos on this trip, so I could share it with Rob when I got home. So of course, I ran around Mandy and Aaron's new home with the camera. They have a nice deck off their back patio doors. And just by chance, my two new grandpuppies, Buddy and Beauty, black lab/terrier mix, are in this photo. I spent a lot of time on this deck just relaxing.


They have a really nice back yard and it's huge.


Mandy and Aaron are still practically newlyweds and this is their first home. It's yellow with a red front door and I love it. They've made it very welcoming and warm and I'm so pleased for them, that they wasted no time at all getting into a home of their own. They've been there two months now but it looks and feels like they've lived there for years.


The hardest part is always the part where you have to say goodbye. This photo proves that I was really there. I'm never in the photos because I take all the photos. LOL


Krissy and the kids and I were all pretty exhausted from this crazy-busy trip, but we enjoyed it so much. Mandy and Aaron will be here for Thanksgiving so when I miss them, I remind myself they'll be right here in my house, at MY kitchen table, in five weeks.

As much as I loved going to visit them, I'll confess coming back home felt pretty good too. I missed my husband.

I think he might have even missed me too. Maybe. Sort of.

OK. I know he missed me. Because he told me so. And Chelsea missed me too.

:-)

Going across the Rockies....

My daughter Krissy and I are loading up the kids, the car seats, the portable DVD player, the porta crib, all her Pampered Chef party hosting stuff, enough suitcases for a family of ten and our cameras and we're heading east, through the Rockies, to go visit my other daughter Mandy and her husband Aaron, for four days.

Mandy and Aaron bought their first home this summer and I'm tickled pink to finally be able to go see them and the new house and my two new grandpuppies, Buddy and Beauty, two little black labs.

Kris wants to be on the road by ten tomorrow morning, so I'm sure we'll get out of here no later than noon. LOL

My son-in-law Andy goes deer hunting with his dad and his brother for a week every October, so it's the perfect time for Kris and I to make this trip. We've done it once before, two years ago, and the only kid we took with us was Cameron because there was no Avery. We'll be seeing Rob's side of the family on this trip and I can't wait for them to see how Cameron's grown and to meet little Miss Avery who's just as cute as she can be.

(I really should start posting photos of my two sweet grandbabies again. Heck! I should start posting again, period! Right?)

Anyway, this is a jam packed trip. Mandy's hosting a Pampered Chef party Friday evening and I think at last count she'd invited something like 60 people. Mandy has a lot of friends at work - she's a 5th grade teacher. We haven't seen my husband's side of the family in two years, so we're looking forward to that too.

Before I leave, I had to show Andrea what I ended up doing with the adorable sock monkey Halloween ornaments she sent me.

How cute is that?

This is my front door of course, and Andrea, I'd like you to know I stood in the rain a few minutes ago to take this photograph. LOL It's raining cats and dogs here in western Colorado and Krissy and I are praying that doesn't translate to snow in the Rockies. Traveling through the mountains this time of year is always dicey. And we'll be in their new Charger - Andy's taking Krissy's 4-wheel drive Jeep on the deer hunting trip because he has to pull his dad's popup camper.


Here's the little crab apple tree in my back yard.


I love the colors of autumn, don't you?


I haven't done a post about my visit with my mom and my sister yet, but I will. We had such a nice visit.

I hope you're enjoying autumn too. I can't remember the last time summer disappeared so quickly. One day is was sweltering outside and the next, I turned the heat on in this house. Every year I hope for a beautiful Indian summer, but I don't think that's going to happen this year. I think winter is determined to show up with bells on!

I'll be back early next week. :-)

A bit of a warning....

Early last week I logged into my daughter Krissy's Facebook account to do a little tending on her Farm Town farm. She's a busy, busy girl and needs my help from time to time. :-)

While I was working away on her blueberries, the chat box popped up and I saw a message that went like this: "Kristina! I urgently need help!"

OK. The way that was worded struck me as a little odd but it also upset me because the message was from a boy she went to high school with. I'll call him Bill because I'm almost positive there wasn't a single boy named Bill in her class.

Anyway. I immediately responded, "Bill. This isn't really Krissy. It's her mom - I'm working on her farm. What's the matter?"

He immediately came back with. "Mom. OK. I'm stranded in London. I came here on vacation and last night I was mugged in a park across the street from my hotel. They took my credit cards and all my money and I'm totally stranded."

Obviously, this IM was a little upsetting. But honestly, my first thought was, who on earth would ever have thought "Bill" would go to London on vacation. And why on earth is he on Facebook sending out a message that he "urgently needs help."

I assumed that he saw that Krissy was on line and that's why he IM'd her. But it struck me as odd that he'd call her Kristina. I don't know why I even bothered giving her that name - no one at all, not a single person, has ever called her anything but Krissy.

So. I told him that I thought he should go to the American Embassy. He told me he had and that they couldn't get him out of the country until mid-October. Then he told me his hand had been injured in the mugging. Then he told me he needed $900 to pay his hotel bill and fly home.

I told him I thought he should call his parents. Duh.

Then I told him I'd say a prayer for him, that I was sorry this happened to him and that I had to go.

So ever since this exchange, early last week, it's bothered me and I wondered if Bill ever found help and got back home. But you know, it bothered me on several levels.

He and Krissy knew each other of course. Everyone knows everyone in a town as small as Frederick was at the time. But they didn't hang with the same crowd and were never what I'd call good friends at all. And no one - absolutely no one - calls her Kristina.

Of course I told Krissy about this and she thought it was a little odd too but like me, she hoped he got home safely.

Funny thing. He never updated his status on Facebook.

And here's an even funnier thing. Here's an FBI warning.

My way of keeping up with the news these days is to log into my AOL account first thing in the morning and read the news there. This is the first thing I saw this morning.

Good grief. There are just some really nasty people in this world, don't you think?

But...I fell for this hook, line and sinker. And I worried about Bill for days and days. I certainly wasn't going to send him $900, but I did say a prayer for him and I did worry about him.

I'll bet you anything, "Bill" doesn't have a clue that he IM'd all his friends on Facebook and told them his sad story and asked them for money.

Way back in May of 2006, when I started this blog, it only took me a few weeks to realize that Web MD should have a whole section devoted to what I call "blogger butt."

Sorry for the unladylike language, but that part of my anatomy was what I feared would be permanently numb.

Never mind blogger butt.

Web MD needs to devote a LOT of space to Farm Town Fanny.

Sigh.

All is well...in Chelseaville

I'm amazed that I've been so absent. But I'm feeling very honest tonight and the truth is, I think I needed a break.

I'm not sure exactly what happened but it all seems to have begun when Avery became mobile. :-) Life just changed and suddenly this Nana, who ALWAYS has everything in complete control...lost it. Two little grandchildren, who wrote the book on sibling rivalry, has just about done me in.

So I'm back. But I'm still 59 so I'm not back with more energy. LOL

Life has had a lot of ups and down this summer. It feels like it was a rough summer. But when I take it apart, one little piece at a time, I know that I'm actually a woman who is very blessed.

I'm so thankful that my life is chaotic because of two tiny little children who have never known a day without me in their lives...being with me is like air...it's just there. And they love me.

I picked three tomatoes today. From my two little tomato plants, and it's amazing because autumn has arrived in western Colorado and I, who knows nothing about growing tomatoes, had no idea I'd still be picking them this late in the season.

I love it when life surprises me. :-)

I have so much to tell you - but I have to do it in my own time.

I think that like a lot of us who have been blogging for three to four years now, and taking it very seriously, I just had to give myself an approved absence slip. I needed a break.

In the meantime, I have to tell you something. Before I started this blog, going to pick up my mail was just...."yawn"....boring.

Now? I truly never know what I'll find in my mailbox.

Andrea at Decipher the Fog completely surprised me last week. Look at the adorable Halloween ornaments she sent me. I swear, I don't know when I've ever seen anything cuter.

I wonder how on earth it is that people associate me with sock monkeys. LOL

I will be back very soon with a total catch-up post. I warn you, I think I may break my own record for photos in one post.

But I will be back and I'll tell you all about this summer....at least the parts of it that I can share.

We all need to remember...there are some things that are not ours to share.

xoxoxo