HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I know that not very many people read this, but to those who do, I'd like to wish you a very happy new year to you and your family. Whether 2007 was good or bad to you, I hope 2008 is better. I wish everyone health, happiness and prosperity, and that you be surrounded by friends and family.

HAPPY 2008!!!

We had a White Christmas!!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas this year and that Santa was good to you. Mine was very nice. Spent it with my husband's family at his sister's house. There were 21 for dinner.

As the title above states, we had SNOW!! It does snow in the Portland area, but not often does it snow on Christmas. The news reports said that the last time we had flakes on Christmas day was 1990, and it didn't really stick. This year it was maybe only an inch, but that counts as a White Christmas!

You have to try these cookies

I'm totally stealing this from my friend Lisa. But that's ok because she stole it from Pioneer Woman.

These are sugar cookies, but they're not just your ordinary sugar cookies. You take egg yolks and dye them different colors (red & green for Christmas, pastels for Easter, pink & red for Valentine's, etc.) and then paint the cookies before you bake them. After they've cooled, you pipe in some frosting to define the shapes, and you can add sprinkles and other embellishments too. But also, the recipe itself sounds so darn delicious it makes my mouth water just to read it. This would be a great kid activity.

I won't post the entire recipe. Go to this site to get it. She's a bit wordy, but that's a good thing. Lots of pictures showing each step of the process. The actual recipe is at the end of her post.

The first picture below is from Pioneer Woman's site, and the second one is a batch Lisa made with her husband and three kids. (The poor gingerbread man on top reflects her husband's sense of humor. Gotta love him!) Let me know in a comment if you tried these.

Ve are going to PUMP ..... you UP !!

We've decided to join a gym. I hate exercise. Hate thinking about it, let alone actually doing it. But, we decided we have to. I have high blood sugar, and my husband has high cholesterol. Exercise will greatly benefit both of us. I've actually been a member of Curves and I did lose a few pounds, but I just lack motivation. I think my husband is doing this more for me than for him, because he knows that if we go together we'll motivate each other. What a guy.

The gym we're joining is new to town, but I'm not sure if it is a national chain or not. It's called Snap Fitness. What we like about it is that you don't have to sign a contract. It's just month to month. And we can get a family rate of $49.95, which is great. Also, they're open 24 hours. So now we have something to do all those mornings at 3:00 am when we used to sit around saying, "I'm bored. There's nothing to do." (Yeah right. Like that ever happened!)

We'll probably start next week because hubby has a bad cold right now. I'll blog about it once we get going. I'm really dreading it. Anyone have words of encouragement or advice?

How was YOUR Monday?

Ok, here's how my day went. I hear a very loud noise at 9:00 am. I'm thinking earthquake, a four-year old boy at my house is thinking "really big truck". So for the next 10 min I'm watching the local tv channels to see if they say anything about an earthquake. They didn't, so I went with "really big truck". Five minutes later a cop is banging on the side of my house telling me that a car drove through the house directly behind me, (see picture below) broke a gas line, and that we need to evacuate NOW. Well, I've got two little kids here and it's cold outside. They needed to get their shoes and coats on, I needed to forward my home phone to my cell phone, I grabbed a couple snacks and some juice boxes, a book and toy for each of the kids, and we left. Hubby has the van, and I don't have carseats. So we pile in the pickup and drive to where they tell us to park. 15 minutes later they walk up to my truck and I'm thinking, oh good, we can go home. Nope, they're telling me there's some problem getting the gas line shut off, and I should go to the catholic church a block away. Well, there I sat from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm trying to entertain two kids. I spent a lot of time on the phone calling five sets of parents to let them know what's going on, then they'd call me back to get updates and talk about whether they should come pick up their kids. Then I start to worry about the bigger kids coming on the bus after school, so I call two different schools to find out if they can be dropped off at this church if it looks like I won't be home at 3:30 - you know, planning ahead. Luckily I was home by 1:45, so that wasn't an issue. To top it all off, I had an eye doctor appointment at 5:45 which I totally forgot about. (With the day I had, can you blame me?) They called me about 5:55 and I did end up going. Now my eyes are dilated and I can hardly see what I'm typing.

Wow, what a day. Must be Monday.

O Tannenbaum

We bagged and tagged our Christmas tree on Saturday. It's a Nordman Fir, and it smells wonderful! I love how that evergreen smell fills the house. We (ok, my husband) cut it down. Trees are very reasonably priced in Oregon. We payed $25 for a 7-foot tree.

I look forward to digging out my lights and ornaments every year. I have lots of Hallmark ornaments, but I also have some hand-made ones, and others that have special memories attached. It's fun to open the boxes and see each one as if for the first time.

Number 1 or Number 2 ??

Why do they insist on interviewing people on Survivor while they are squatting in the bushes looking like they're answering nature's call?

Go Elf Yourself

There is a hilarious website (well, I found it hilarious anyway) where you can take digital photos of your friends' and family's faces, upload them to the site, and they become dancing elves. I about pee'd myself laughing the first time I saw my husband, brother-in-law, and two nieces dancing to a jazzy version of Jingle Bells!

The pictures don't have to be great ones. They don't have to be large, either. If you don't have a closeup of someone's face, don't worry. After you upload it, you can zoom in to just the right size. It is very user-friendly. You can have anywhere from one to four "dancers". Once you get it just right, you can e-mail it to anyone you want. Make one of an unsuspecting family and send it to them.

The website is at elfyourself.com Have fun, and leave a comment if you tried this. If you want, you can link us to your creation. I made several, one of which can be found here.

Rain, rain, go away.....

It started with a snowstorm, then it warmed up and turned to rain. It is raining something terrible here in Oregon. We have flooding galore. If I wanted to get to the Oregon coast or up to Seattle, I couldn't. Well, without taking a ridiculously looong way around. Lots of highway closures. Interstate 5, the freeway that goes from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, is closed in Southwest Washington until at least next week. What usually takes 3 hours now takes 7 due to the detour.

This picture is of I-5 in the area where it is closed. The little green sign way at the bottom is an exit sign, and the bridge in the middle is a freeway overpass.


And the wind... wow. Hurricane force, they say. 125 mph at the coast. Poor birds were flying, but not going anywhere. Ok, it was kind of funny. But in a sad way.

It's over!

Congratulations to all the successful NaBloPoMo'ers. You did it! I don't know how you made it, but you did. Obviously, I didn't even try. Well, I actually started my blog after we were already into November, but I don't think I'd have done it anyway.

I just can't think of anything to talk about. Anything interesting, I should say. I could type out my grocery list, talk about all the numerous things that need to get done around the house but aren't getting done, or discuss any other mundane, routine things. But that wouldn't be much fun.

I think someone needs to start a website where you can go to get topics. It could be like Mike Meyers doing the Coffee Talk lady. When he got verklempt (sp?), he'd give a topic then say "discuss". The site could be called BlogTopicOfTheDay.com. Maybe there could be separate lists -- one for the brainy people who like to discuss politics and other high-brow topics, and one for us "regular" folk. Yeah, I like that idea. Someone get started on that right away.

Way to go Helio!! (Hey, that rhymes)

For the second year in a row, my girl crush, Julianne Hough, won Dancing With The Stars!! Helio, her partner this year, is kinda cute. I'm kind of surprised, though. I thought for sure Mel B. would get it. Congrats Julianne & Helio!

What the H. E. Double Hockey Sticks?

Marie Osmond's "living doll" dance on DWTS was .... I have no words. Just odd.

Life goes on

I'm a little bit melancholy. Five years ago today we lost my Grandma. She's the one I talked about on the sidebar. The one who had a thing for butterflies. Grandparents are great, aren't they? Love you, Grandma! (They have the internet in heaven, right? Ok then.)

On a lighter note, I'm even closer to being finished with my Christmas shopping. I only have 5 more people to buy for. Even better, I wrapped all the gifts for the other 29 people over the weekend. We won't get our tree till the 8th, but I can't wait to put them all under it! For now, they're sitting in the corner where the tree will go. And hubby got our Christmas lights put up too. Christmas. Bring it on.

It's cold enough here to be Christmas. It got to 27 overnight, and as of noon today, it hasn't even reached 32 yet. Brrrrr........

Links

On my sidebar, I've added links to sites and blogs I frequent. I'll add more as I think of them. Also, if you'd like yours added, let me know in a comment. If I link you, I'd appreciate the same in return. :)

Whaddya want for Christmas?

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. For some people this might seem early, but I feel like I'm a little late this year. I try -- emphasis on TRY -- to get it done before Thanksgiving to avoid the crowds.

The crowds! Maybe I've become an old fuddy-duddy, but my gawd, people. First there are the large groups who decide to have a caucus right in the middle of the walkway, and seem to have no earthly idea that there are actually other people in the mall trying to get by. Then there are the couples with children running freely, going where they please without a care. Now don't get me wrong, I do like kids. And that's why I don't want to trip over yours as he's zig-zagging back and forth down the aisles. That brings me to the screaming, sometimes screeching, kids. Ok, I know.... kids sometimes have meltdowns. I get that. I realize it can't be helped. But that doesn't make it less annoying. And last, but certainly not least, there are the old farts senior citizens. God bless 'em, but they have no clue sometimes. I'd hate to bump one while trying to get by and and cause a broken hip.

Oh, there are other categories. The teenagers, the people with strollers... Not to mention the help in some of those stores. Don't even get me started.

I have 29 names on my Christmas list. If that's not enough, I have 5 birthday gifts to buy between Nov 26th and Dec 28th, bringing my count up to 34. I end up spending over $1,000 each year. That's why I like to start early!

Come for dinner!

I haven't posted for awhile. Ran out of ideas, I guess. How do you bloggers come up with your ideas? Tell me, please.

Actually, here's one reason I haven't posted. Last time I tried, I typed this big, long, several paragraph thing (can't even remember the topic), and somehow I lost it. Didn't save it or some stupid thing, who knows. But it pissed me off enough to stay away for a few days. (Is that bad? LOL. Do I need counseling?)

I made soup today. I get in moods where I love soup. Must be the change of weather and all the RAIN. Anyway, last night we had one of those roasted chickens you buy at the store. I'm sure you all have them in your grocery stores. They roast them and they're still hot when you buy them. They cost about 6 or 7 bucks. I made mashed taters, stuffing, veggies & rolls to go with it. Delish. So today, with the carcass (that sounds disgusting, doesn't it? Like I found a dead chicken along the side of the road.), I made soup. Can I just say... YUMMY! I had some fettuccine noodles, so I threw those in too. Wow. Wish you all could've been here. But then, there wouldn't have been enough, and some of you would've gone without, and I'd feel bad, and then I'd really need counseling, so nevermind.

If you had to....

I found this at quibblo.com

If you had to, would you rather:

1. Be blind or deaf?

2. Lose an arm or a leg?

3. Become uglier or stupider?

4. Be more rich or more attractive?

5. Be blonde or brunette?

6. Have a 3rd eye on your forehead or a horn on top of your head?

7. Have it be Winter forever or Summer forever?

8. Eat only sweet things the rest of your life or salty things the rest of your life?

9. Live as an ocean animal or land animal the rest of your life?

10. Have the super power of being able to fly or move objects?

And why?

Snip, snip. Glug, glug

I have an appointment to have my hair cut tonight. I hate getting my hair cut. First, it's so hard to describe to them how I want it, so I usually end up saying, "just trim it up." Then they do, and I don't like it. First of all, they don't style it the way I do. Didn't they look at my hair when I walked in the door? I like it a little fluffy with the ends flipped up a little, they do it flat and straight. Yes, I know I could say something, but I usually get it cut in the evening, and I'm just gonna wash and re-do it in the morning, so why bother. And then when I get it all done in the morning, I see sections that are uneven, not enough layering, bangs could've been shorter, etc. Frustrating.

Filling up my car with gas is another task I could do without. Here in Oregon, we're not allowed to fill it up ourselves. You'd think that would make it better, but it just makes it boring. I have to sit in the car and wait till the kid decides to come over. Invariably, he ends up helping someone before me who drove in after me. Then I'm at his mercy again when the pump clicks off. I realize it's only 5 or 10 minutes out of my life, but for some reason it seems like an hour. My solution? Leave it near empty and hope my husband fills it up.

If only he could get my hair cut for me.....

Wildlife Sanctuary

We thought we lived alone, my husband and I. One look outside would quickly tell you how wrong I was. Apparently all it takes is to put out a handful of birdseed or a peanut, and you've got a virtual zoo in your front yard.

It first started with Ferg. (See how I did that? Switching the letters around? Clever, huh?) We have a small pond and he just showed up one day. He had a girlfriend, but after they hibernated the first winter, only he reappeared. We're not quite sure what happened there. Anyway, he's been here 3 summers now.

Next were the birds. Oh my... do we have birds! Hubby put out a little bird seed one time, and several came by to eat it. (Hey, free meal. I wouldn't pass it up either!) Some of them were large Blue Jays and he heard they like peanuts, so he put some of those out. Well, that attracted a squirrel.

Then we got bird feeders and a couple birdhouses. The lady at the store said it would take awhile to get the human scent out. Nope. A couple weeks later we had a little bird family living in it. Wildlife likes us, what can I say. Every day we have, no exaggeration, 30-40 little birds at a time eating from the feeders, a dozen or so Jays trying to get to the feeders (if the little ones let them), and recently, four Woodpeckers have shown up. (Remember Woody Woodpecker? Yep, the males look just like him!) Ferg has burrowed away already, but the birds and squirrel still show up for their three squares a day. Then there are the multitudes of cats that come by...

Throw in an elephant and a couple of lions, and we could start charging admission!

Storm Large in Cabaret

Did you watch RockStar SuperNova? If you did, you'll remember Storm Large. I think she came in 3rd place. Anyway, she's from Portland, Oregon (where I'm from), and she was cast in the lead of the Broadway musical, Cabaret, playing here at the Gerding Theater.

I went to see it on Saturday with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. Can I just say ... OUTSTANDING! She was incredible in the role. There was one solo where she pretty much knocked our socks off. The whole musical was good. All I knew about it was that they spend much of it in lingerie, and that they sing that Cabaret song. You know... "Life is a cabaret, old chum. Come to the cabaret." So I didn't know what to expect, but I loved it. Our same trio had gone to see Molly Ringwald in Sweet Charity a few months ago, and -- eh, not so much. But Cabaret ROCKED!

Oh, and we were in the 3rd row!! Woo Hoo!!

Second Blog Post - Ever

No, I won't be enumerating all my blog posts! LOL.

Ok, I tweeked it a little bit, and what you see is what you get. It looks like a ginormous butterfly landed on your monitor. I've come to realize that the people who have the cool, pretty graphics have purchased software. Me? I'm a cheapskate. This is it.

I still don't know if anyone reads these. I mean, I can send emails to people I know and tell them to come here, but does anyone just find someone's blog randomly?

I read three other people's blogs. Heart And Thistle , Ficken Chingers and Idol Blog Live .

The first one is mostly about food. (One of my favorite topics!) It is written by a very dear friend of mine, Lisa, with whom I spent Kindergarten through 9th grade in Southern California. She's an awesome cook and generously shares her wonderful recipes.

The second one is also written by a friend, but one I've never met in person. She's a blog friend I "met" through the third blog I mentioned above. (I'll get to that one in a minute.) Her name is Angie, and she writes about whatever is on her mind that day. She's funny and has a unique way of looking at things. She's very much an open book when it comes to her family and her daily life. A fun read.

The third one is, well, a blog about American Idol. It's written by a guy we call Slim who lives in New York. His blog is THE place to go for anything American Idol. He posts pretty much every day, but the best time to visit is during the East Coast broadcast of the show. We all discuss our opinions of not only the singing, but what the contestants are wearing, how they did their hair, and whether they have "star" potential. Ok, so the girls on the blog discuss that stuff. The guys could care less. Correction... if a contestant is "hot", expect Slim to post her picture a thousand different times. Overall, it's just a fun community to be involved in.

Hey, this is kinda fun! Well, until next time...

First Blog Post - EVER

Ok, I've never done this before. I really have no idea what I'm doing as far as the template and setting this whole thing up. I guess I'll figure it out as I go along.

I'm not sure yet if this will be a regular thing for me. Everybody seems to have a blog these days and I just kinda felt left out. I thought I'd give it a go and see how it feels. If I like it, I'll be back! I have no clue what I'll post about, but I'll try.

Do people really read these things? How do they find them? Leave me a comment so that at least I know someone has read this! And please feel free to give me suggestions.