Christmas Eve 2016

Yes, I know it's been just over two months.  I'm still here!  There just hasn't been anything spectacular to blog about.

Billyboy is still working on the pachinko machines, our side business is doing very well.  At some point, he will most likely need to get a "regular" job - but that might be problematic in this area and in his area of expertise.  But we are still chugging along, trusting God to get us to where we need to be.

Over the last few months, we've been attending a different church.  We have been unhappy with our church for a very long time, and we have not attended it in over 2 years now.  And in those two years, we have heard from them exactly once - and then only because I made a mistake on a tithe check we mailed them!  We have discussed going back to the Methodist church and attended one for a few weeks before we realized we did not like that particular church that much.  We've visited a few others and one Sunday we decided to visit a Baptist church that we visited years ago.  We were there on a day when another smaller church was visiting with the idea of combining the two churches, and they would be meeting at the sanctuary close to us.  We really enjoyed it and decided to continue to visit.  And then we realized that we were attending a Baptist church but it's actually a lot closer to some of the things that we enjoyed in the Methodist services.  For one thing, they observe Advent.  I don't know of any other Baptist church that does that.  Some of the prayers are occasionally given by women - which never happens in the Baptist church!  We met with the pastor and really liked him.  Tonight, there was a Christmas Eve service - candle light, and with the final observance of Advent - and Communion/Lord's Supper.  We are either joining it tomorrow or next Sunday (New Year's Day.)

Otter is doing very well.  She's gotten a couple of raises at work and her reviews have been very good.  She's basically been told that she's being groomed for management at some point.  She is a very hard worker and has been full-time for a few months.

Maggie is at my feet at the moment - hogging the blanket I have on my legs.  She's been very playful lately, we switched her back to the Pedigree food because the Iams did not seem to be satisfying her, and I think she likes the Pedigree better.

Froggy's middle kid got married in November.  Otter and I were able to go, it was in McKinney Texas which is a really neat little town.  We finally got to meet Froggy's grandbaby, who is absolutely precious, and he was really cute during his parent's wedding.

OK, that's about it.  Sort of caught up but there really has just been "normal life" going on and that is fine with us.  Especially considering that this time last year, we were expecting Bill to be out of a job at any time.  But we didn't anticipate it being like it was, and that is just one more example of God taking care of us.

2015 Review

2015 is just about over.  And I am glad.  It's been a hard year, although I haven't (and won't) posted about most of the issues we have had to deal with.  Very possibly, 2016 (for reasons not being mentioned) could well be a continuation.

There have been some good things, it hasn't been all bad.  I really don't mean to gripe.  But I guess I am!

Anyway:

January

Very cold month with some winter weather.

It was very stressful for Otter because Roomie lost her job right before Christmas 2014 and January was the first of over 3 months that Roomie was without a job - and not looking very much, either.

Michael's had yarn on sale and I added to the stash!  (Always good.)

Froggy started planning her trip to see us.

The Teenager's health suddenly took a turn for the worse, he was weakened by a bug and while he did recover from the illness, he never got his strength back and although we didn't realize it at the time, it was the beginning of the downhill turn for him.

We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary, this year we had pizza!

February

We switched internet and email providers.

The stupid groundhog saw his shadow!

I had what I first thought might be the flu, but then realized it was "just" a cold.

This month saw the first issues with Frasier; he fell in the kitchen and couldn't get up.  We had to help him up but he was sore and stiff for days.  The vet thought he might have age-related issues, probably arthritis in the mix as well.  But he was always a happy dog when J came over!

Otter was really getting concerned about Roomie and the lack of a job.

The Teenager and his lovely bride celebrated their 78th Wedding Anniversary and were one of the featured couples on the Today Show!

Snowy weather.

22 years since we moved from TEXAS.

On February 27, the world lost one of it's shining lights in the form of Leonard Nimoy.  We're still mourning this one.  LLAP!

March

The month started with having to replace tires on the car that Otter was driving, as well as a front-end alignment.  $1200.00 was Chevy's estimate and it was also the last time we actually used that particular dealership - and they are under NO illusions as to why.  It was a M.A.J.O.R. moment for *RHTW.  We had the work done at a local shop for about $500 less than Chevy's estimater.

The vet suggested we start Frasiser on pain pills, which did seem to help but he didn't need them all the time.

I came down with another cold!  I literally sneezed all the way to work one morning and by about 8:15, I was feeling miserable.

We had more winter weather.

Otter was overjoyed when we discovered Green Apple gatorade!

I started crocheting a poncho for Otter, which took me a while to finish.  I had a lot of interruptions!

The dogs had their "beffday" and we spoiled them with plenty of treats - in hindsight, I'm glad we gave them so many extra treats.

We got several boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

The dry air caused me to have a few nosebleeds.

We decided it was time to talk to the minister at the church we'd been attending, we had to reschedule the appointment we had so we didn't actually talk to them this month.

Otter turned 23!

There was a tornado that struck a very nearby, next-door to Tulsa town.  It was bad.

My glasses broke in 2!  Bill had to glue and tape them back together so I could at least go get them replaced the next day.

We had to replace our insurance, thanks to NObamacare.

April

Our new insurance company took 2 premiums and *RHTW had a few "fun" phone calls with them.

One of the bright spots of this year happened.  Otter had her annual lung recheck and we feel like we have received a miracle - it's gone!  It never really goes away, but hers is as close to not being there as it can possibly be.  It is a true Blessing and we are so beyond thankful for this.

Otter gave Roomie a "no job, move out" date.  Amazing how motivated she got when that happened and she suddenly found a job.

Otter officially became the owner of a 2002 Chevy Impala.

The electric company messed up our yard and also cut the phone lines.

The hummingbirds showed up this month.

My precious dog, Frasier, one of the most special pets I've ever had, left us on the 23rd.  He was one of those rare, once in a lifetime dogs.

May

Otter proved that yes, she is very much her Father's Daughter.  She the cut palm of her left hand and had to get stitches!  I think she got 4.  She was a typical Redhead and bled a lot.

Maggie Moo was sick, the vet thought she had another UTI and the medication helped her pretty quickly.

Stupid electric company kept at it!

Bill was rear-ended in his work van - it was not his fault in any way, he wasn't hurt.

Maggie Moo was scratching herself silly - and driving us nuts!  The vet said she has allergies and put her on zyrtec - which didn't work too well but then we tried it later and it worked fine.

Bill's sister got married!  We went to TEXAS over Memorial Day weekend for the wedding and it was really nice.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

I had my one and only migraine of the year.

It was one of the better months of the year.

June

Otter went to Dallas with J, his mom and some of their friends.  They went to a convention and debuted their "Joker and Harley" gender switched costumes.  Which were very well-received.

We decided to get rid of the landline phone, since it was out more than it was working.

We decided to try an automatic feeder for the Magginator, it works very well.

Maggie met two other beagles when we went to get her annual shots.  Then she met a wolf!  Luna the wolf lives in our neighborhood and she is absolutely gorgeous.

The electric company was still being stupid!  I made a pest of myself, or actually I let *RHTW deal with them - and they finally decided to send out a repair crew, which was a company they contracted with and the repair crew foreman was appalled at how bad the damage to our yard was and how tacky the electric company was being about fixing it.

After they fixed it, we realized that our house was not getting the electric current it was supposed to and I had to place an emergency call to them.  I started the call but *RHTW finished it.

Froggy and her daughter came to see us, which was a bright spot.

Bill's birthday!  For 6 months, he was older than me.  He got bacon for his birthday meal, which made him happy.

My vacation started and the first thing was Maggie the Wonder Beagle getting stuck under the shed.  That should have been our first clue that it was not going to be a good week.

The Teenager was pretty sick in June.  The last time I actually saw him was right before I went on vacation at the end of the month, he was weak but he was very mentally clear and it was actually a fun day with him.  But in hindsight, I think he knew something was coming and from what he said and how he said it - I think he was telling me goodbye.  When I was on vacation, he had to be hospitalized for pneumonia and he was recovering from that when he had what was probably a stroke.  That was actually in July.

July

The frame holding the driver's seat in my car (the 2008 impala) broke and we had to buy a replacement seat at a salvage yard, then put the seat from my car on the frame of the salvage seat.

The next day, the brakes on the El Camino basically failed and Bill had to replace them.

Otter and Roomie decided to move to a 2-bedroom unit.  Otter was cautiously optimistic about it, since Roomie was working again and she hoped that it would work out but she was also pretty sure that when that lease was up she would suggest that Roomie find her own place.  They moved on the 31st.

On July 8, the Teenager had the probable stroke.  It was overnight and he was most likely asleep; he never really woke up from that and that is actually a blessing.  On the 12th, he left this life behind.  He was 98 years, 9 months.  This was one of the worst things that happened this year, at least from our perspective.  But we know exactly where he is and that we will see him again.  Until then, we'll all miss him terribly.

August

This month literally started with Otter's car having issues.  The radiator ruptured and we had to replace it.  It was just the beginning of trouble with that car.  It spent more time at my house than it did at hers!

But she did get a pretty good raise at work so she was happy!

Bill saw the dermatologist for his annual visit, the spot we thought might be a skin cancer on his nose turned out not to be but there were a couple of very small ones on his hand that the doctor froze off.

We finally met with the pastor at the church we'd been visiting.  And we knew almost immediately that it is not the place for us.  That was very disappointing.

We put tires on my car, the 2008 impala.

I was sick, it was a bug that was going around but it took me a few weeks to really recover from it.

We closed our booth at the antique store.

The Bluebell plants reopened!

September

Labor Day.

Bill came down with the mega-bug I'd had.

Otter and I got our flu shots and I spent most of Labor Day weekend dealing with my reaction.  Which wasn't as bad as some years have been.  But the reaction hit me within 2 minutes of getting the shot, I got my shot at 5:30 and at 5:32 I was suddenly freezing cold.

Then I came down with a cold.

I crocheted purple baby caps for a local charity.

There was a lunar eclipse, we could see it from the back yard and it was very pretty.

It was pretty obvious that Otter was under some stress, she was having problems with Roomie and was very upset over the situation.  She wasn't sure what she could do, as Roomie was on the lease but she really regretted moving to the 2-bedroom unit, although at the time it was a good decision.  But she knew that she would not renew the lease (or any lease) with Roomie when it was up.

October

We went to the State Fair in Tulsa, we took J along with us and we had a fun time.  We were tired but it was an enjoyable day.  I discovered that I am a sheep magnet - they are evil!  They know I'm beyond extremely allergic to them.

We had a lot of the typical "persecution" because of the TEXAS/ou game the first weekend of the month.  Then TEXAS won!

Roomie lost her job.  Or at least she admitted to Otter that she'd lost it, the actual time that happened might have been in September.  But it was a major retailer and she was fired, she would not say why but this particular store does not fire employees unless they have very good reason.  She claimed to have gotten another job at a fast-food place and probably did, but we're not totally convinced that she kept it longer than a couple of weeks.  When she told Otter that she'd lost the job and got the new one, Otter told her then that Roomie was going to have to find her own place a) when the lease was up or b) immediately if she lost the fast-food job.

Because Otter was expecting to have to move when the lease was up, she did a little looking for other complexes that might be a little cheaper but nobody expected Roomie to do what she did:  move out and attempt to do it without giving Otter any warning at all - but Otter caught her packing.  It was a very ugly, nasty situation and I'm not going to detail it here because it was already detailed.  But it was bad, however it could have been much worse.  There was very heavy *RHTW involvement.

The Teenager would have been 99.  We had cupcakes at work to celebrate and remember him.

The 32nd anniversary of when we met was on the 14th.

Bill decided to get another booth for the pachinko machines.

We put Maggie Moo back on the zyrtec, she was scratching again and had caused a little bald spot above her tail from it.  She had a slight case of Bald Bobo!  But the zyrtec helped her a lot more this time.

It rained.  A lot.

One morning was really strange:  The sunrise was brilliant in the east, it was dark and cloudy in the middle area and then there was a huge rainbow in the west.  All at the same time!

November

Our "lovely" insurance carrier sent us a letter with a $400+ increase in our monthly premium.  We made a lot of changes that took weeks.

Otter went to a Dias De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival with J and his mom in his not quite next door to Tulsa neighboring town.  She left rememberances for the Teenager and my aunt we refer to as AJ (who Otter was named for).

That night on her way home, her car acted like it was overheating and we had to go get her.  About 9:30 at night, in almost the middle of nowhere, dark and very isolated - but J and his mom came to wait with her until we got there.  Bill drove her car home, although he had to stop a couple of times, I brought her home in my car and then she took my car on home with her.

For the next few weeks, we dealt with her car acting up and she had my car quite a bit.

In the midst of all the car issues, Otter moved to a one-bedroom unit in the same complex.

Bill got a bad cold.

Then I got a bad cold.

Thanksgiving was a little different, we wound up at Taco Bell because it was the only place we could find open when the power went out!  That was the first of several times we got a senior discount!

We finally got our Bluebell ice cream!

There was a hard rain storm and then we saw a double rainbow.

The new booth store opened up.

The El Camino developed a problem with what is probably the thermostat but the specific part is pretty much unavailable.  It is a 1976 vehicle, after all!  It's going to spend the next few months in the driveway anyway, like it usually does in the winter.

We started discussing Bill buying a 2nd hand car to drive in the winter, since Otter had the 02 impala he used to drive.

December

We realized that Otter's car was becoming a serious concern and it was not a car we were comfortable with her driving any longer.  We bought a new car for me, a 2015 impala.  Then we traded the 2008 to her and she gave Bill the 2002.  The 2002 is still acting up, it is probably a series of cascading problems that keep causing other things to act up and it may well be that the car is just worn out.  But in the meantime, Bill will drive it and she has a car that she can trust.  New tires and in very good shape, she should be able to drive it for several years.  I am very happy with the new car, but we really did not want a car payment yet.  However, it was a good decision.

Otter and I went to the mall to Christmas shop one evening and had a very interesting encounter - I didn't mentioned details when I blogged about it, but we almost literally ran into her first boyfriend - and his girlfriend - and their two very young children!  He was a real jerk when he and Otter broke up and at one point we had to tell his dad to reign his son in or we would call the police - which explains why the former boyfriend would not even look me in the eye when we saw him.  Otter said that she's extremely glad that she dodged that particular situation, and she hopes that the idiot boy treats his baby mama better than he treated her and also that he's finally learned to be faithful.

We decided to put up a Christmas tree so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought another artificial tree.

We still had to deal with the cold bug we got in late November.  Even up until right before Christmas.

Then Bill came down with another cold which I thought was the flu at first.

We finally got actual winter weather, much later than usual.

There was a lot that happened, it wasn't all bad and most of the really cruddy stuff is not being mentioned.  But this has been a fairly bad year.  We do realize that it could have been worse, and there have been some good things.  But the main thing that defines this year is the loss of a man who was like a father to me and that Otter considered to be another one of her grandfathers.

Here's to 2016 and hopes that it will be a good year for everyone!

Christmas 2015

 

Luke 2:10-11King James Version (KJV)

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

King James Version (KJV)

(Credit to the Author)

Froggy?

You there?  I haven't blogged since the 7th and you have not been bugging me.  What's up?

Otter and Bill have switched cars although the titles have not been changed yet.  We were going to do that one day last week but we realized that the state never actually sent us the title to the 02 when we put it in Otter's name.  They don't show that it was delivered and returned, just that it was changed in the computer and they did send us a receipt.  But we never got the actual title, so we had to request another one be sent.  $13.00 and it should still be a few days, then we'll get the car titles switched around.  The insurance has already been taken care of, the 02 and 08 were basically the same as far as the premium was concerned, and the insurance company has transferred them so we are paying for the appropriate vehicle, but we are also all authorized drivers on each other's cars.

The 08 still has a recall issue with Chevy, which I'm going to take care of during the time I'm off after Christmas.  Chevy will make a minor change on the key itself and it has to be the official Chevy key, so the 02 is still and will continue to be out of lock as far as that particular recall is concerned.  I still think Chevy is trying to welch out of paying out any more money than they have to!

I'm happy with the new car.  When we bought it, the 2nd set of keys did not get transferred to the Tulsa office so we only got one set.  The 2nd set was sent to them and I picked it up last Saturday.  Bill now has a set, but he still hasn't driven it!

But now we all have safe cars with good tires.  Which will be important, if we ever actually get that wet & heavy winter that was forecasted to have hit us already.  Monday, actually had to use the a/c in the car.

I decided that we need a Christmas tree this year.  The plan was to get one of the artificial trees out of the attic, but that would mean moving about a billion pachinko machines out of the way of the attic access in the garage.  Ain't nobody want to do that!  (Yes, I know.  My TEXAN is showing.  Deal with it.)  So, I picked Otter up one day and we went to Hobby Lobby.  I bought a 4 1/2' artificial tree, ornament hooks, a couple of ornaments I liked and a 4-pack of plain stockings.  I forgot lights so I got some at Walmart but then I had to go back and exchange them for a smaller string!  I put the tree together last week and it's now in the living room with a crocheted lap blanket I made for Otter a few years back as a tree skirt.  I had a bunch of ornaments to turn into an ornament wreath, the majority of the ornaments on the tree are from that particular craft stash.

It's on a small plastic table that we usually use as a plant stand.

The lap blanket/tree skirt that is folded around the tree and not allowed to hang down the sides because of this:

She's also the reason that there are no presents under the tree yet!  We don't do a lot of gift giving anyway, so I don't shop until a lot closer to Christmas.  But I did get a little bit of candy to go in the stockings.

I think I've posted this before:

Baby Bevo and the Texas crew!  They are in the small wooden rocking chair that was Otter's when she was a toddler.  The crocheted piece is the only piece of crochet that Otter has ever done, I taught her how and she did enjoy it but it isn't really her thing.  Which is fine, actually.  Anyway, I tied the end off so it won't come undone, put it in Baby Bevo's hand with a plastic crochet hook and the Texas Crew is accompanied by Crickey the crocodile, which is Otter's and mine and is from many years ago.  Crickey stays underneath the rocking chair, although at the moment he is also out of beagle reach and is sitting on top of the futon.

Today I discovered the yellow yarn ball was not where I left it.  It was in the bed Maggie has in the yarn room!  And it did NOT get there by itself.  The beagle is claiming to "no nuzzing" but I kind of have a hard time believing her!  I put it back in place, found the crochet hook (it had landed under the futon) and then I turned the entire chair around so that it's facing away from the beagle's bed and is a little harder for her to reach.

Otter texted me today.  Her next door neighbors are moving out and they offered her a futon.  She immediately said yes, and they even helped her get it into her apartment.  So she now has a couch and also a place for visitor's to sleep.  And probably still a pile of boxes that have been unpacked but not taken to the recycling center yet, which is probably still next to a pile of boxes that have not been unpacked yet!  Mostly her craft stuff is still waiting to be unpacked.  She's pretty much unpacked everything else and she has plenty of room in the 1-bedroom apartment, now that it 's just her.  She has not heard from Roomie, which is about what we expected.  Nobody is disappointed at that.  We were surprised that Roomie went backwards like she did, but in hindsight is is probably not surprising.  We're just glad that it wasn't worse, although I think everybody does feel sorry for the girl because she had a chance at being an adult and having a good, emotionally healthy life but she chose not to take that opportunity.

Bill is taking a few vacation days in addition to his nearly 2 weeks of holiday time and I'm taking the rest of my vacation at Christmas like I usually do.  He's probably going to spend most of his time working on pachinko machines, my main project (other than sleeping late and shopping!) is to work on my crocheted doily curtain.  Along with turning 53 2 days after Christmas.  Maggie's plan for our time off probably includes as many walks as possible, if the weather cooperates.

That is, when she's not napping!

Tuesday?

I think it's Tuesday.

 

At any rate, it is cold and getting colder.  Our high was 32 degrees and we got there about 6:00.  A.M.!!  The next cold front is probably here, it was cold all day but when I was walking out of Wallyworld it felt like the temp was dropping and dropping fast.

 

Bill got up before I did this morning, then when I did manage to get up there was a nice, warm fire going.  And a beagle who moved around on her blankets several time - but never, ever took her rear parts off of the rocks around the fireplace!

 

A while back, I started a yarn wreath.  I put it aside for a while, since I didn't really have a place to put it.  But I knew I'd eventually have a guest/craft/sewing/YARN room since I started it after Otter started making her plans to move out.  Today, I finished it.  I took pictures, but blogger is having issues and not letting me post pictures at the moment.  I hope to eventually get it on the craft blog.  Blogger's issue is probably with the last (unwanted) update, because that is when a bunch of problems started.  Anyway, the yarn wreath is finished and it is now hanging on the door to the guest/craft/sewing/YARN room and I'm pleased with it.

 

Bill needed to visit the tool store today.  Otter was off work, so he didn't get to be waited on by his favorite cashier.  But he did get another tool, actually he got a special type of mask to use when sanding so that he can still breathe while operating the sand blaster.

 

I also went to Hobby Lobby, for fabric for another project.  I am making a shadow box.  I actually have one that Mom made.  It has things that belonged to a special aunt of ours, referred to here as AJ.  It has her watch (her wrist was impossibly tiny), a thimble, ring (no stone, just the ring part itself) and a few crochet hooks that she used when making doilies - as in thread crochet, and a small doily she made.  The glass came off of the frame a while back.  I decided to redo it, but this time I'm going to include a couple of things that were Mom's - a crochet piece that she started but never finished (it's a cover for a clothes hanger), a fabric strip that was her size marker for the clothes hanger covers and the plastic bag that both items were in (because she wrote on the outside of the bag what it was) and also a fabric scissor holder that I helped her make.  I bought a clear plastic box frame and today at Hobby I found some really pretty quilt-ish patterned fabric to line the back of the frame with.  Also will eventually be put on the craft blog, assuming that blogger and my fembot computer start talking nicely to each other!

 

While I was making the yarn wreath, I discovered something else:  I have no glue sticks for my glue gun!  I have a sneaking feeling that they might have run off to a certain apartment I know of.  :)  I had to go get lettuce anyway, so I went to wally and got glue sticks.  I paid for the lettuce, but it didn't get home with me.  Everything else did that I paid for, so I get to go back to Wally in the morning and get my missing lettuce!

 

Bill cleaned the hallway carpet yesterday.  When we (ok, he mostly!) cleaned the living room carpet recently, he stopped at the hall.  And it was obvious a) exactly where he stopped and b) just how dirty the carpet really was!  Now the hallway carpet is clean and the last of the dog-ish smell seems to be gone.  I hope that we can keep it that way.

 

Otter came over yesterday.  We took her the car Monday afternoon, we met her at an arcade she was at with J and a couple of their friends.  She went home and went to bed about 7:00 p.m, then got up at 1:00 a.m. to get to work at 2:00 a.m.  She worked until about 9:30 a.m., then she came over here and we had Christmas with her.  I wanted to go to Michaels and she wanted to go with me.  We hit a couple of other places and then stopped at Dairy Queen to get lunch to bring home.  I think it was around 2:30 or 3:00 when she left go to home.  She was pretty tired by that point, which was understandable considering how long she'd been up!  Anyway, she gave Bill a collection of sci-fi movies and some of them are pretty "bad" - exactly what he likes!  She got me something fun for Christmas:

Seems she's heard me (and many, many, many others - we are legion) talk about how all those cell phones (and a lot of other things we enjoy/use today) wouldn't even exist if a brilliant man had never imagined Star Trek.  So she got me my very own communicator!  Bill's had as much fun with it as I have, it makes assorted (correct) noises and has various ST voices with various ST phrases.

 

**But she got me something even more special for my birthday:

Meet Gerrold!  Actually, "his" name is Gerrold Irving Kahless.  I named "him" but "his" nickname is Fred.  (Because the Irving Feinberg was incorrectly referred to as Fred in something I read about Star Trek many years ago.)

For all 2 of you who don't know what Gerrold/Fred is:  Tribbles!  "His" name should be self-explanatory after you read the article, also you can probably figure out why "he" is in quotations and also why "his" last name is Klingon!

**I raised that girl right.  Birthdays are separate from the holiday they might happen to fall on/by.

The Borg Queen is pleased!

Christmas 2014

(I've been trying to post a Christmas related graphic, but blogger isn't cooperating.  Bill had to do some work on my computer to fix other things that the last update messed up, and he thinks that wonderful(not) microsoft may have installed Windows 8 on my laptop.  Which they weren't supposed to do!)

 

It's been a good day, but a different one for us.  As Bill said, this is the first Christmas since we met that we haven't either had to run somewhere or had people over here - we've never actually had a "just us" Christmas before!  It just happened that way this year.

 

Christmas morning was nice, we had coffee and quiet time on the couch.  Bill had been up for a couple of hours by the time I got up at about 6:00 a.m.  The dogsters had already been let our for a while and fed, but they got a 2nd breakfast after Bill cooked the bacon - a little dry kibble with a little bacon grease on it.  Which they loved, not that there was ever any doubt about that!

 

We had a couple of gifts to open, but we saved the ones from Otter until we can have Christmas with her which will be sometime in the next several days.  Possibly not until the 1st, it depends on her work schedule after she gets back from her trip.  She's texted me a few times today, they are having a good time and she's really enjoying it.  She said that they might go see the movie Big Eyes this afternoon.  That one sounds good, it's one that is on my list to see but it might be when it comes out on video.

 

We are having steaks for dinner tonight, but it's 35+ mph winds so we're going to broil them in the oven instead of Bill grilling them.  It's sunny mostly, and warm.  The weather forecaster yesterday was talking about it being an above-average, unusually warm Christmas this year.  To which Bill replied "not for us!"  It's actually a little cooler than "normal" for us, even after 20 years here (nearly 21 years in fact), we still think of Christmas as being warm.

 

I finished one of my crochet projects, the scarf I was making for Sweetie.  I still need to fringe it, but the scarf itself is done.

 

At the moment, there is a fuzzy blanket at my feet.  Underneath that fuzzy blanket is a pile of fur in the shape/size/colors of a beagle.  Said pile of fur is snoring!  Loudly.  Both dogs had a bacon grease-induced coma for a while this morning, they've gotten to play outside in the back yard a couple of times but they always, always come back in and go back to sleep.

 

An afternoon nap sounds good, actually.  But it's a little late to take one, unless I want to be up all night.  Which I don't.

 

I am probably going shopping tomorrow, but I'm not going to join the mayhem of shopping After Christmas.  I want to look for a card table for the front room, to use when sewing.  I might make it to Lowe's for a miniblind for that room, and there are a couple of other things I just need to get.  But if I happen to be in wallyworld or anywhere that sells Christmas ornaments, I'll probably at least look in that department.  I'm collecting ornaments for the wreath I'm going to make.  It takes a lot of ornaments and I have several, but it take a bunch of them.

 

Well, the fur pile underneath the blanket just shifted position, I think she is awake now.  But not for long!! :)

Christmas Eve 2014

(Please see my other post today, it's below this one)

 

I know it's Wednesday, but it really feels like a Friday.

 

My day started early.  I didn't sleep too good last night, who knows why!  I woke up for the final time about 4:15 and basically stayed awake until about 5:00, when I just got up and started the coffee - after letting the dogs out and feeding them breakfast!  I had seen a listing on craigslist for a pachinko machine last night and the seller answered my email, so he and Bill made arrangements to meet.  Which meant that I had to go get $$ for Billyboy.  At 6:00 a.m., I went to the nearest ATM machine and got him the money he needed.  I left for work about 7:30.

 

(Bill actually had another person lined up to buy a machine from, so he met them both today and bought both machines.)

 

I got to work in plenty of time, there was zero traffic today.  There hasn't been much at all this week and there was even less today.  I had very little to do, Younger Boss got there not too long after I did and we pretty much just sat and talked for about an hour.  I was just about finished with my 10 minutes worth of work by that point, at about 9:45 he decided that since he didn't have anything to do and I didn't have anything else, we should just turn off the lights, shut the doors and call it good for the day.  The Teenager decided it wasn't worth coming in today.  I left shortly before 10:00.  Bill was just getting home from his pachinko shopping errand, we pulled into the driveway at the same time.

 

We both wanted to go to Hobby Lobby, so we headed up there.  Yes, I actually got Billyboy to go shopping on Christmas eve, and he went willingly!  I got modge-podge "glue" and some clear acrylic sealer for a project I'm working on and he got model paint to use on some of the pachinko parts.  We went to Cici's pizza buffet for lunch and there were only a couple of other people there.  We went to Big Lots next, I found a few Christmas ornaments for my wreath project and a couple of other things I wanted.  There were a few people there, more than were at Hobby Lobby and Cici's, but not very many.  The next stop before heading home was the liquor store - that's were the crowd was!  It's Wednesday, so that means wine is 10% off.  That usually is a big draw for their customers, but this was the Christmas Eve stocking up for the festivities crowd.  I did buy a bottle of wine, as well as vodka and both will last us for quite a while.  But most of the people in there seemed to be buying several bottles of lots of different things.

 

It's been a fun day, somewhat different than usual for Christmas Eve.  For one thing, Otter is out of town.  She went to the Oklahoma City area with J and his mom for Christmas, they were going to go today but J's mom said it would be easier if she could come get Otter after work yesterday and take her back to their house then they could leave earlier this morning.  Otter worked about an hour later than she was originally scheduled for yesterday, then she kind of flew back to our house to bring the car home - as well as the little amount of dirty laundry she had accumulated since Saturday (I told her I'd wash it for her if she'd bring it). She also wanted to pick up a tote bag from me to take her clothes, etc. for the trip and also I had gotten her some more allergy medicine since she was about out.  I took her home and visited with Roomie for a few minutes, then J's mom got there just as I was leaving.  I really like J's mom, she's a very nice person and I was comfortable with Otter being driven to another part of the state with her and J.  Not that it matters, Otter is an adult but still...  Froggy, I bet you know exactly what I mean!

 

We had sunshine yesterday and blue sky, for a couple of hours.  It was very nice, for the short time it lasted.  Last night, it was supposed to be winter again but it never really got here.  This morning, when I was running around for Billyboy at 6:00 a.m., it was pretty chilly and slightly misty.  I saw one or two tiny snowflakes, but that's all we got.  I still needed my leather jacket when I was out and about, but it's more cool than cold.

 

After much discussion, Bill and I are still having our traditional Christmas Eve picnic, but on a smaller scale.  We have fritos and bean dip, but not potato chips and onion dip; we have some different cheeses that I'll slice up and some ritz crackers as well as some type of wheat cracker that I forgot the name of.  But no captain's wafer crackers this time, and just a couple of different cheeses.  We have a Hickory Farms sausage that will go with the cheese and crackers, and I got a can of black olives.  And a jar of Claussen pickles!  But we don't have that much of any of the ingredients although we'll probably have leftovers.  And I'll have my soy eggnog, with a little bit of rum added to it.  We're having bean-bacon-cheese tacos for breakfast in the morning, the bacon is not negotiable - we only have it a few times each year, and Christmas is written in stone that we will have bacon if it's at all possible!  We did have it an extra time this year, it was part of Otter's comfort foods she requested before she moved out.  But normally, it's three times each year:  Otter's birthday, Bill's birthday and Christmas.  Since Otter's moved out, she will probably have to manage it on her own for her birthday breakfast!  Also, we'll probably have it a couple of times in the next few days because there's just the two of us to eat it. :)

 

Otter will probably get back on Saturday, which is my birthday but she might not be home until late in the day so I'm not anticipating seeing her then.  We'll see her on Sunday, I'm not sure if I'm going to go get her and bring her back here to get her laundry and the car or if we'll take the car and laundry to her at her apartment.  Either way, she will have the car by Sunday evening because her work shift on Monday starts at 2:00.  AM, as in just past midnight!  Ain't nobody willing to get up and get her to work at 2:00 a.m.!

 

Either Sunday or Monday, we're going to the booth and get all the pachinko machines we have for sell there.  We have decided to close the booth up, we actually decided early in the month and gave the shop owner notice.  It was a success for the most part, but we are going to call a halt for a while.  Bill may get another booth at another antique mall in the (possibly near) future, he hasn't decided for sure about that yet.  He sold 2 or 3 machines through the booth and I sold most of the small stuff I had.  But I don't have any more small stuff and neither of us are really willing to get back into that side of things - it would be a matter of buying things just to resell and we've "been there, done that" before.  We did it with eBay for a few years and it worked great, but it also can take up a lot of time and room.  The last few machines that Bill sold were actually sold through our website, 2 of them were at the booth so we picked them up and shipped them off to their new owners.  So, it's time to close out the booth.  For now, anyway!

 

Now, I think I'm going to get busy with my yarn.  I'm about half-way through with Sweetie's scarf and then I'm going to make a cap for Roomie.  Roomie wants a red one, so both Sweetie's scarf and Roomie's cap can be considered de-stash projects.  I don't use much red, but I have a couple of skeins of it on hand.  I might buy more of the yarn I'm making Sweetie's scarf out of, it's my favorite Red Heart color:  Monet.  I like to always have it on hand, I find a lot of uses for it.

100 Years 12/24/14

‘I shall never forget it’: 100 years since WWI Christmas truce

Published December 24, 2014

FoxNews.com

                              

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  In this image provided by the Imperial War Museum, World War I German and British soldiers stand together on the battlefield near Ploegsteert, Belgium in Dec. 1914. Soldiers who had been killing each other for months climbed out of their soggy trenches to seek a shred of humanity amid the horrors of World War I. (AP Photo/IWM)
• 
  

  In this photo taken from an image in the collection at In Flanders Fields Museum provided by the family of German soldier Kurt Zehmisch, a German World War I soldier of the 103rd Saxon Regiment wears the hat of a British soldier as he sits in a trench with other German soldiers in Warneton, Belgium. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
• 
  

  Hands reached out across a divide the narrow divide, presents were exchanged, and in Flanders Fields a century ago, a spontaneous Christmas truce briefly lifted the human spirit. (AP)

With British and German forces separated only by a no-man's land littered with fallen comrades, sounds of a German Christmas carol suddenly drifted across the frigid air.

"It was a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere: and at about 7 or 8 in the evening there was a lot of commotion in the German trenches and there were these lights -- I don't know what they were. And then they sang, "Silent Night" – "Stille Nacht." I shall never forget it, it was one of the highlights of my life. I thought, what a beautiful tune," Pvt. Albert Moren, a British soldier, wrote in a journal.

Then, during that first Christmas Day during World War I, in 1914, something magical happened, at least in some areas. 

Soldiers, the number is hard to quantify but believed to be around 100,000, who had been killing each other by the tens of thousands for months, climbed out of their soggy trenches to seek a shred of humanity amid the horrors of war.

Hands reached out across a narrow divide, presents were exchanged, and in Flanders Fields a century ago, a spontaneous Christmas truce briefly lifted the human spirit.
"Not a shot was fired," Lt. Kurt Zehmisch of the 134th Saxony regiment wrote in his
diary that Christmas.

On the other side of the front line, Pvt. Henry Williamson of the London Rifle Brigade was amazed by the goodwill among his enemies.

Few could believe their eyes, on this patch of Belgium and northern France where crimson poppies had long ago shriveled in the cold. Peace allowed for dead bodies to be recovered from the fields and given a proper burial.

Fighting continued in many other places on the front line and some generals ordered the troops to get back into position and feared there was a softening. But it was a momentary peace in a war that would last for nearly four more years.

Frank and Maurice Wray of the London Rifle Brigade settled in to keep watch when they suddenly heard a German band in the trenches play songs "common to both nations," they later wrote in an article. "Quite understandably a wave of nostalgia passed over us."

At dawn, a German called out, "We good. We no shoot," and the Wrays noted: "And so was born an unofficial armistice." Men walked out, extremely apprehensive at first, many fearing some deadly trick. Then human warmth cracked the freezing cold.

Another said that at about 30 scattered points across many miles of Belgium, similar scenes occurred. Others happened across the Western Front, which ran from the North Sea to the Swiss border.

Apart from talk in a shared language or merely with hands and kindred eyes, the men exchanged gifts, using everything from bully beef and barrels of beer to small mementos. Some played soccer.

The New York Times identified the last survivor of the truce as Sgt. Alfred Anderson, from Scotland. He died in 2005 at 109. That same year, The Times ran a column noting some soldiers' journal entries

"We stood inside the circle like street corner orators. … What a sight -- little groups of Germans and British extending almost the length of our front! Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman's cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs," Cpl. John Ferguson, a Scottish troop, wrote.

German soldier Werner Keil scribbled his name on a piece of paper and gave a uniform button to 19-year-old British Cpl. Eric Rowden of the Queen's Westminster Rifles on Christmas Day 1914. "We laughed and joked together, having forgotten war altogether," Rowden wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

Still Here!

It's just been one of those weeks and I feel like I've been running behind all week.  Meeting myself coming and going!

 

Anyway, I thought I'd better check in before Froggy gets too antsy.  :)

 

I keep thinking about how this time last year, it was so cold.  We'd had a couple of snows already (at least one anyway) and it was a whirlwind leading up to Christmas.  This year is much calmer, it's just that I've been on warp speed all week.  Getting ready for vacation and reminding the Boys that I'll be gone in a week, and that they will survive me being gone, is a big part of it.

 

I got a "nice" letter from my bank this week.  Apparently, another store has been hacked and my debit card might have been in the compromised bunch.  We haven't seen any untoward activity, but I have to go through the rigamorole of getting another debit card issued.  I can keep using my current card until the new one comes, if there are any unauthorized charges the back would reimburse me - but it could take 48 hours so I cancelled my card the minute I got the letter, if there are any attempts they would not be honored by the bank since I did that.  I think I'm going to go back to writing checks, this is the 4th time in 12 months!

 

I had the 9th migraine of the year this week, which wasn't fun.  It wasn't bad, but it still was a migraine and I don't like them!

 

Otter's been over a couple of times, she brought laundry Monday evening and then yesterday (Wednesday) she came over and made a double batch of brownies to take to work.  She reports that they more or less vanished immediately upon being put out for her fellow employees.  She's coming over Saturday to make several batches of chocolate chip cookies to take to J's family.  She'll be spending Christmas with J and his mom, and his extended family so we won't see her from the 24th until somewhere around the 28th or 29th or maybe not until the 1st.  More or less, she's not sure exactly what the return date is but we'll probably have our Christmas with her on New Years.

 

This Christmas is going to be very quiet, just me and Billyboy.  And the dogsters, of course!  Since we aren't doing the big "Bill Breakfast" this year, Bill has requested bean, bacon and cheese tacos on Christmas morning.  I think we're going to have steaks for the main meal of the day.  I've already given him his gift, he needed a new wallet and I got him a nice leather one.  I have finally come up with something I want, I want another robe and that's what he's going to give me.  I have to get this one myself, but I don't particularly mind.

 

One week and counting until vacation!  Bill starts his vacation Monday, tomorrow is his last day of work for the month/year.  He is taking a couple of vacation days, since he works for a school district he's actually off for several days in a row.  He's going to get the carpet cleaner out one day and clean the hallway and I think the first bathroom as well.  Beyond that, he's planning on spending most of his time off working on pachinko machines.  I don't have anything planned, other than the fact that I'll probably crochet.  And of course shop!

C is for Cookie!

And that's good enough for me. :)

 

How many people actually sang that song in their head?  I did.  And in the voice of a certain furry, blue monster!

 

Anyway.

It's National Cookie Day!  Which has got to be one of the best "invented holidays" ever.  EVER.

 

I changed out my table décor this morning, I finally got the Fall tablecloth put away and took the Thanksgiving placemats, etc. off the table.  I put my Christmas décor on the table and it will stay there until probably about 2:00 or so Dec. 25th.  Because after that, it becomes clutter!

 

While I was digging out the Christmas table stuff, I found a few more doilies that I'd bought recently.

 

This is a general idea of what I'm going for, although my idea doesn't really look like an actual curtain but is more of a side-drape/window scarf style:

It will be quite a while yet, this project is going to take a huge amount of doilies.  I'm always on the hunt.  Size, color, shape, age - none of that really matters although I don't really want anymore huge ones and I prefer not to have a lot of damage.  A slight amount of damage on very old ones is ok, but I want this to look nice.

 

The CDC announced today that they have probably missed their prediction as to what flu strain(s) would be dominant this season.  By as much as 50%!  That is not good, and they are predicting that it will be a bad season.  It was probably because the virus mutated, which is what viruses do.  I thought that bug I had a couple of weeks ago might be the flu, but it was probably "just" the flu-like bug that was going around.  I hope that is all I have to deal with.  The last time they missed with the vaccine I got the flu and it was not pretty!  Same thing for the time before that when they missed.  I'm normally an optimist, but this time I'm almost pessimistic because of past history.  IF at any time I think I might be coming down with it, I'm running myself to the doctor immediately and getting it confirmed so I can get Tamiflu if I do have it.  I might not get it, but like I said before - past history.

 

We're concerned about Frasier.  He acted like his teeth were chattering last night, but he was begging for a treat and he does that sometimes.  But this morning, he was actually shaking like he was shivering.  He wasn't cold and he didn't feel like he was feverish.  It was not a seizure.  He was awake and seemed glad to see me.  He was able to get up and he eventually ate his breakfast, but he was shaky for a very long time.  Bill was off today, he took a personal day and was busy replacing the rest of the light bulbs so he kept an eye on the dog all day.  Frasier eventually stopped the shivering, he was happy to see me when I got home, but he was very careful and tentative.  That's the only way I can describe it.  He did greet me when I got in, and then he sneezed at me.  After I petted him for a while, I decided his ears were dirty enough to need cleaning.  I took him outside and did that, which he did NOT like but he at least let me - the first one was easy, the 2nd ear took a bit of patience because he kept trying to turn his head away from me.  After I let him go, he went to the opposite side of the yard from me.  And pretended not to hear me when I called him!  He loped by me a few times on his way around the yard, and he would sort of look at me and then look away - bratty baby!  He finally decided to come to me and then he was much happier after he got a treat!  He seems better this evening but he's still not 100%.  Bill thinks it's probably just old age catching up with him and that is probably what it is.  I've talked to the vet about him before, and at this point I don't think it's necessarily time to take him in but we'll watch him and see how he does.  And we'll keep spoiling him as much as possible.  And Maggie Moo, she won't be left out of the spoiling!

 

It has been rainy all day.  Not a hard rain, just enough to be messy.  And it's been foggy all day, again not bad but still there.  But it's gotten really foggy this evening, by about 4:00 it was really starting to drop and now at nearly 6:00 p.m. the visibility is down to very bad.  Of course, Otter works tonight.  She goes in at 6:00 p.m. and works until "2:00 a.m." or whenever they get finished with the repricing or restocking, whatever it is that they are doing tonight.  Being her mother, I can't help but worry.  The fog is supposed to lift a little bit in the next few hours but it will probably be rainy.  Tomorrow could be very hard rains, at least in the morning.  She goes to the dentist tomorrow afternoon to get the permanent crown put in place, hopefully it will not be hard rain then.

 

Frasier just came back in from their yard.  He grunted, shook his ears and is now parked on the floor.  I think he's about to join Maggie Moo in a nap.  Hopefully, he won't snore as loud as she does!

It's Not Soup Yet!

I had plans to make soup today.  But it got put off until tomorrow.  After church, Otter had plans to go meet J for the day and she asked me to take her this time.  By the time I got home, it was kind of late in the day to start a several hour pot of soup (unless we wanted to eat dinner at 9:00 or so tonight) so I decided it to start it in the morning instead.  We'll have it tomorrow night and then maybe for lunch on Tuesday, before I put it in the freezer.

 

I'm tired today.  I've been fighting a case of good, old fashioned RedHead Anemia.  It also means that I'm kind of cold kind of often, but it's not like when I get cold when I'm getting sick.  Just not quite warm is all.  I went to bed at 8:15 last night, I had a good night's sleep which helped.  I need to protein/iron load the next couple of days.  I'm wondering if there is a hormonal connection, I am 52 after all and things are a-changin'!

 

Movie Review:  The Lone Ranger.  Well, let's just say that I now understand completely why I've read/heard that this movie could well be the career-killer for Johnny Depp and leave it at that.  One more thing:  I'm kind of glad that Clayton Moore did not have to suffer the indignity of knowing about this one!  I think it's easily the worst (ok, next-to-the-worst) movie that I've ever seen.  Ever.

 

(The worse one will probably always be the one we refer to as The One We Don't Talk About.  It's Trek and it has a number.  An odd number.  It's between 4 and 6.)

 

Our house is officially de-Christmased.  I took the Nativity set down yesterday and packed it away, along with the wreath and stockings.  I rearranged my Fenton a bit, since I acquired 3 new pieces Friday.  Friday was Motorcycle Day, we went antiquing and I found one of the pieces I was looking for.  It's a taller vase, white milk glass, hobnail (pointed bumps) with the double ruffle top.  It's very pretty.  It was $15.00, which is an extremely good price for the particular piece and probably means that the booth owner didn't know what they had.  I got another white moonstone (rounded bumps) bon-bon dish, $5.00 which is also almost free.  Especially because it still had the original Fenton sticker.  I had one already, but they are never exactly the same and finding the sticker is very rare now.  I got another piece at a different antique-ish store, it's a lot rarer piece.  It's a small vase, white glass but it has a pink clear top edge to it which is known as Crest.  Specifically, pinkcrest.  I have a few silvercrest (clear top edge) and one goldcrest (yellow).  I'm looking for a few specific pieces, including a piece of cased glass.  Cased glass is essentially a solid outer color, frequently white, which another color of glass applied inside of the outer color.  Fenton was the master at cased glass and I have seen a few pieces, but I haven't found the "right one" yet.  I'll eventually find the one that speaks to me.  The hunt is as much fun as finding it sometimes.  I do have one cased piece which might be Fenton silvercrest but I'm not positive.  But it's one I really like, so even if it's not Fenton it's staying part of my collection.

 

I haven't actually started anything with the mink yarn.  The yarn is in "hanks" which are not exactly skeins but are actually long loops of yarn that are twisted.  They have to be untwisted and (gently) rolled into balls.  The best thing is to put the untwisted hank on the back of a chair, which I did yesterday.  But I should have used two chairs and hung it between them.  Because when I was almost through rolling it into a ball, it fell off the back of the chair!  Immediately, it became a huge, knotted mess.  I eventually got it untangled, this afternoon.  I might get started on rolling one of the other two hanks tomorrow.

 

But I'll use two chairs this time!

Later in the Day, Christmas 2013 **EDITED**

It's been a good day.  It started early, I woke up at 4:45 and I've been up since then.  No particular reason, I just woke up early.  I didn't sleep that well last night, either.  But, again, no particular reason.  Since I woke up so early, I let the dogs out which they liked - although they would probably rather have been fed instead of let out.  Not that early!

 

We had coffee and spent some quiet time on the couch, just talking.  Which we have not had time to do for a long time. 

 

Otter got up about 7:00 and we got into the stockings.  Bill found his coal shaped candy, but he thinks that it was intended for Otter's stocking and not his.  We disagree! :)  Otter's new calendar was in the present stack, we didn't put up a tree this year so I can't say it was under the tree.  But she did tell me yesterday that I should just put it with the rest of the gifts.  She also got the certificate I made which would allow her to get a trip to the calendar store and a new calendar, which amused her.

 

Grandpa and Sweetie got her at 9:00, we had our annual "Bill Breakfast".  Bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs, waffles (we have lots of leftovers).  Lots of coffee & oj.  Then we opened presents.  I got Bill a new pair of house shoes, which he did need** - and he's been forbidden from wearing this pair out to get firewood because the old ones will never be clean again - it wasn't just dirt that he stepped in (many times) with them on.  He's also giving me another pair of house shoes but I told him I wanted another kit like the ones I usually wear but until last night I wasn't sure which of the two styles I wanted so they will be late.

 

One of the things I've noticed is that I know Otter is no longer a child because she actually asked for socks for Christmas.  So, we got her several pair and so did G & S.  Otter got me a new crock pot.  I can make soup again!  Well, I'll be able to after I take it back to Wallyworld and exchange it for one that doesn't have a manufacturer flaw in the glaze on the crock!  I'll do that tomorrow, it's not a big deal but Otter was a little upset.  Which I understand, this is the first Christmas she's really been able to buy things for people but it's not her fault at all.  I dragged the old one out while ago, and the crack in the crock is pretty visible so it was useless after all.

 

Otter has to work tomorrow, I'm going to take her and pick her up.  I'm going to see how busy Walmart is on the way to take her, if they don't look to crowded (yeah, right!), I will exchange the crock pot and possibly buy groceries while I'm there.  If they do look too busy, I'll probably still get groceries when I drop her off but at the grocery store and not Wally.  After I pick her up, she gets off at 1:00, we're going to the yarn store.  She and Bill are each getting me a skein of mink yarn for my birthday.  This is one time I don't mind getting my own gift!

**EDIT:  Turns out that Bill's size 11 shoes did not fit him after all.  The boy has big feet!  The shoes will be returned and he'll use the cash for what he really wants:  a sandblasting cabinet at the tool store Otter works at.  He got two gift certificates there as well as a generic-use anywhere gift card and he should have just enough.  He does need a new pair of house shoes, but he is very hard to buy shoes for and he's not in a mood to go haunt shoe stores.  So, he'll clean off his old ones and hope that they will stay together for a while yet.

Merry Christmas!!

From our home to yours,

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2013

It's been a quiet evening.  It was a sort-of busy day.  Otter went to work with me for her Required Visit.  The Teenager really enjoyed seeing her.

 

We hit the dollar store, as is our unintended tradition on Christmas Eve, at lunch.  We didn't find anything, but it was still a fun trip.

 

After work, we managed to make it to the mall.  It was crowded, but I've seen it busier on regular days.  But we had a fun trip.  Otter finally decided on a calendar, being her parent's daughter she chose a Twilight Zone one.  She usually gets one from us for Christmas, but she had trouble making up her mind.  So, I made her a homemade gift certificate which would have been one of her gifts tomorrow - it would have earned her a trip to get a calendar upon presentation of the certificate to one of her parental units.  I told her about it, she thought it was a fun idea.  While at the mall, we went in a couple of stores but didn't buy anything else except for lemonade at the pretzel place.

 

We did have one more stop:  the grocery store.  We went at lunch and got oj and flour tortillas, but forgot one thing we really needed.  Grandpa and Sweetie have the sweetest little dog, Sophie is her name.  Sophie came to them recently, after a friend of theirs who was her original owner passed away.  Sophie is a little fluffbutt, but she is adorable.  We didn't want to forget her, so Frasier and Maggie are giving her a small container of treats.  Can't forget the pupsters!  Ours will get their treat bones tomorrow, probably in the afternoon.

 

We had our traditional living room picnic (on the table because of the puppies) for dinner tonight.  I have a set of Fenton/Anchor Hocking plates that Bill got me a few years ago and we used them tonight.

 

Bill wants to know if I'm talking about him.  I think he thinks I should.  He's not very helpful as far as specific subjects go.  So, Billyboy, consider yourself talked about!

 

OK, back to my eggnog now.  Yes, I did remember to put the rum in it this year!

 

Hope everybody has as enjoyable an evening as we have had.

One Down, One To Go

Days until vacation!

 

Today wasn't bad, I was pretty much where I wanted to be by today:  caught up with very little to do.  Well, I didn't exactly like the not having much to do part.  Last week, I think it was Thursday, was what I call the Crazy Day Before The Office Manager Goes On Vacation.  It happens every time and it lived up to the title.  I have about 5 minutes worth of work to do tomorrow.  Otter is going with me, the Teenager was very insistent about that.  Not that she minds, by the way. :)  The plan is to go to the Dollar Store at lunch time and then probably to the mall after work.

 

I know, crazy.  But she has been wanting to go back there again before Christmas and we haven't been able to.  The weather had a lot to do with it, then there was her work schedule.  IF the parking lot isn't overcrowded to the point of no spots left, we'll at least try.  3:30 might not be too bad, maybe.  Big maybe!  There is always a chance that Younger Boss will tell me/us to leave early but maybe not.  We'll see.  The Dollar Store on Christmas Eve has become a tradition, more or less.  It's a fun one.  We'll have our Christmas Eve Picnic, although it's at the table as long as we have puppies.  Froggy, I found the soy egg nog at Wallyworld last week so I bought a small carton while they still had it in stock.

 

Bill was playing with the crazybeagle while ago.  The usual result:  he was bleeding quickly.  Beagle plays hard, and so does he!  I think she got him with a claw this time, they were playing tug.  Because Maggie Moo is (technically) Otter's dog, Otter got to be Nurse this time.  He is not sporting a stylish bright pink bandaid on one arm!  After Maggie got tired of playing, she camped out in front of the fireplace for a bit.  Now she's back at my feet, tending to her pedicure.  Frasier has been checking with me every so often but now he's back to sleep on their blankets.  I think I'm going to wash their blankets in the morning.  They get washed about once a week, not that Fraiser appreciates it!  Maggie does, she especially likes it when the blankets come out of the dryer - she kind of insists on getting to park herself on them while they are still warm.

 

I went to Wallyworld after work today.  I didn't particularly want to, but Bill thought of something he wanted me to get:  cokes.  We hardly ever actually drink coke anymore, but sometimes we do.  I also got sprite while I was there.  They were busy but not nearly as bad as they were yesterday.

 

Of course, the fact that it was in the low 20's might have had something to do with it.  It was in the 20's all day long, we had a chance of flurries but they didn't materialize.  Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not.  Except for the low temp, I am complaining about that.  It's well below the range that aggravates my asthma.  It actually hurts to breathe when it's this low.  Tomorrow will be warmer.  Not a lot, but the melting will start.

 

That means that Mud Season is here.  Yuck!

No! I'm Not Ready!

But it does look like Winter is on it's way again.  59 today.  60 or 65 Wednesday and Thursday.  29 on Friday!  Saturday and Sunday are low 30's.  The cold would be one thing, not fun but we can deal with it.  What's not fun is the "precipitation" chances we have.  When it is that cold, it ain't rain!  Otter works Friday from 10:00 to 3:00, that probably won't be an issue although I'll drive her if necessary.  Saturday morning, she goes in at 8:00 and gets off at 1:00.  I'm thinking it's a very good chance that one of us will be taking her Saturday as well.  That is, if we aren't iced in and unable to get out!

 

I went to the grocery store tonight, I was going to wait until Sunday or Monday to get my last minute Christmas Eve Picnic/Christmas Morning Bill Breakfast fixins.  But after looking at the forecast and realizing that means crazed shoppers preparing for Armageddon, and the fact that Christmas and the last few days leading up to it are crazy shopping days themselves (even in the grocery store) I decided that I'd better go today.  While I could still find a parking place, a basket, and hopefully the stuff that was on my small list.  I hadn't really planned on going to the Dollar Store, but the bread delivery truck was just getting there as I drove by.  I went inside, got a basket and then found a few things I wanted since I was already there.  I haunted the bread aisle, politely.  As soon as the delivery guy started filling the shelf, I asked him if I could grab the particular wheat bread I wanted from his trays since he wasn't stacking it yet and he said I could so I grabbed 4 loaves.  Then, it was right next door to Wallyworld.  The parking lot was getting filled up but I managed to snag a good spot and it was right next to a basket trap.  I was able to get in and out of the store without too much difficulty, but I could tell that people were beginning to stock up on Storm Supplies:  B-M-T time!  It's not really supposed to be days and days, like it was two weeks ago.  But it's best to be over prepared, given the track record of the local forecasters.  And, as I said, I wanted to get the food we like for Christmas Eve and for the annual Bill Breakfast on Christmas morning.

 

Froggy, I found Blue Bell's peppermint ice cream at Wally!  Bill doesn't care for it, but he does like a custard style ice cream that is made locally so I'm going to get him some on the way home tomorrow.

 

All I need to do now is to fill the car.  When Otter and I went to Wallyworld last night, she took us in the car she and Bill drive and we filled it then.  I'll get mine tanked up tomorrow, it will still be a couple of days in case we do get anything but we won't use all that much between now and then.

 

Bill's been cutting some of the longer pieces of firewood into smaller pieces, looks like we'll be using it this weekend.

 

No luck on Bill's hunting adventure, the traps have remained empty.  They have, however, been emptied of bait so we know that there are micies.  Probably at least two, the two traps in the bathroom are on the opposite side of the house from the trap in the dining room.  All three were emptied of bait, they are all refilled again and Bill adjusted them so that they are a little more sensitive.  I really don't like to kill things, but wild mice are not exactly sanitary.

 

One more thing I need to do ahead of any possible weather.  Reload the bird feeders!

Ready, All Done, Un-Treed

Ready for Christmas.

 

All done with the decorations.

 

Un-treed this year!

 

I went to Wallyworld at lunch today.  It was crazy, I stood in line for what felt like forever.  Then, Otter and I went to another Wallyworld this evening and stood in line for 20 minutes or so, but we are done done done with Christmas shopping.  I may want to get a little more misc. stuff for the stockings, it's not all candy - just mostly candy!  But if I don't, it's not a big deal.

 

The 4' Christmas tree stayed in it's box and has been taken back out to the garage.  The wreath is on the door and the Nativity is on top of the entertainment center.  The stockings are by the fireplace.

 

And Maggie Moo didn't get into trouble, although she was very interested in the box I was getting the Nativity set out of.

 

Otter's done with her shopping as well.

 

So, I guess all we have to do now is wait until the 25th.