Last day of the year

It's 8:11 a.m. and the last day of the year looms ahead. Nothing all that interesting on my agenda but that's okay.  I can entertain myself quite easily these days.  I won't venture  out for night time partying, of course. Those days have long since passed.  Below are 8 pictures of what I have planned for my New Years weekend.......

Hunter suggested I bake cookies for the new neighbors next door so I stopped to buy chocolate chip cookie mix on the way home from picking them up yesterday. I think the ready- made mix is better than my own homemade recipe. And it's easier. I think he's hoping one of the little boys that moved in is close to his age. All  of the kids on this block are younger.

 I'm determined to stick with this crossword puzzle until it's done. I work on them while eating and those New York crosswords are way too hard sometimes.  Also have a box of quilt squares cut out and ready to start assembling.

 I plan on making this pattern called Star Stairway. Unfortunately, I'm using various colors so the squares won't look at uniform as these two...but that's alright.

 Hunter started one of my jigsaw puzzles yesterday so I'll try to spend a little time on  getting the middle filled in.

 It froze last night but hopefully it will warm up later so I can walk on the back porch without worrying about falling.  I plan to take down the outside lights whatever day Wayne and Hunter come over to fix my back gate.  Today maybe.

 I have my electric drill charging and hope to cover four dinette chairs at some point.  Some of the seats look fine but the white material shows stains and they're in need of replacement. I'm covering them with a lighthouse scene using material you can wipe down. I have a tablecloth to match.

 I'm close to finishing up this afghan and have to decide who to send it to.  It's not real big so will probably work as a baby gift.

My daughter, Sue, was given 60 movie tapes a while back and offered them to me a few days ago. They're taped from TV but most are really great flicks so I'm pleased to have them in my movie library.

The dryer just turned off so I'd best get those clothes folded and put away so I can get started on the cookies.  Hope you all have a nice weekend.  Below is a video I found while searching for Port Townsend and Port Angeles.  It's a time lapse film of driving from downtown PA to downtown PT.  I was able to slide the play button over past the boring spots but it was still interesting to sit here and watch the route I travel when I go to Townsend.

It's Winter......

Normally if I was sitting here watching the rain come down as hard as it is right now, I'd be contented and happy.  I like to watch the rain when I don't have to go out in it.  I like to watch the snow and wind too.....if I don't have to go out in it!  But today I do have to go.  The snow usually dictates (I mean ALWAYS dictates) that I stay inside no matter what but the other weather conditions just make driving a tad more annoying than usual.

I've got about an hour's drive to just over the Hood Canal Bridge.  Need to pick up the twins who have been spending the last few days with their Aunt Mary and Uncle Andy.  Having a terrific time too from the looks of the pictures I got yesterday.

I spent over two hours yesterday morning sorting through and putting away all the Xmas decorations.  I ended up with 3 bins and a box full but did manage to fill another large box for Goodwill.  It's hard to part with Christmas decorations but it was a necessary task.  I'll try to get the lights down this weekend.  The garage cleaning has moved to the bottom of my to-do list for now.  I'll pick some day in January when the mood strikes.

I sat at the sewing machine and sewed little quilt squares together most of the afternoon while listening to an audio book.  Going to take it in the car with me this morning so I'm hoping my CD player behaves better than it did last time.

Not much going on around here the last few days. Just me and Sammy hanging out. Here he is sittiing on his window perch watching eagerly for Jenni or Wayne to arrive and take him home.

I came across a news show on MSNBC last night about all the hacking and stealing done by foreign countries to our computers.  It was damn scary too!  Horror stories of how millions of dollars have already been stolen and how viruses are easily hidden to learn all our military secrets, and the electrical structure of power grids nationwide.  It went on and on givng me a headache so I went to bed.  There's just entirely too much evil out there these days.  And on that note, here's a lighter touch.... a cartoon I received in an email from Les Walden...

Ending week for 2011

Boy, sure is raining hard.  I like it, though.   Just finished posting my Leader blog. 1001 words and it took me a couple of hours.  Anything to get out of housework.  Ha!

I managed to cross off a few more items on my to-do list.  Undecorating the house took the longest time and I still don't actually have things put away.  I hauled everything into the back bedroom and will sit in there tomorrow and sort through it all while sitting down.  I need to decide what is going back in bins for next year and what is going to Serenity House or the dump. 

I ended up with six bags of lights that wouldn't light and try as I did to haul them outside to the garbage can, the closest I could come to throwing them away was to put them in a garbage can in the garage that holds the hoses.  Come spring, maybe I'll be more willing to toss them. I know darn well most of those bulbs are perfectly good ones. Just couldn't make myself throw them away just yet.

I'll clean the garage once the rains have passed and I feel comfortable working out there with the door open. I'm thinking I might cover the dining room chairs tomorrow....or I might wait and see if Hunter wants to help me with the job next week.  My middle finger of my right hand had a nail break real close to the skin so it's very tender and sore and I think I need every finger tip working to get this job done.

I got a couple more Christmas cards today.  Probably around 4 dozen this year.  Love the photo cards, of course, but didn't get but one Christmas letter.  Course I didn't write one either. I suppose the Internet (and the cost of stamps) is making people rethink sending them.  I always pick my favorite card of the year once I'm putting them away at the end of December. This year's winner was from Joy Bland.  A very simple card (home made) that shows white tree limbs with embossed snow on them.  Joy's a master card maker anyhow. I've seen some of her baby announcements and they're out of this world.

Got my Visa bill yesterday. I always pay it off each month and this one is going to hurt a little bit. I suppose a lot of people are dealing with end of the year Christmas bills.  Funny thing is, I tried to be really conservative with my gift giving this year (just ask those poor folks who got presents from me) but my bill was still close to $200.

Every year I tell myself that NEXT YEAR I'm definitely going to cut back more.  I'd like for my kids to cut back too. They're very generous AND I NEED TO NIP THAT BAD HABIT IN THE BUD!   hee hee

Well, I've been sitting in this chair way too long so I'd best get moving.  Probably wouldn't hurt to run a quick vacuum although I know Sammy isn't all that fond of the noise.  I taped a Cary Grant movie this afternoon and taped the Kennedy Center honors last night so I may hunker down and watch a couple videos.

While trying to figure out what picture to use on my Leader blog, I thought about the one below. I ended up using a newer one, however.  This is my ex with our two oldest kids. Probably in 1969.  Seems like a million years ago that kids could ride in the front seat like that.

And here's Adele...She's fabulous!

Rainy December Day

Made a couple of quick runs to the other side of town this morning.  Decided it was time I broke down and bought some replacement heads for my electric toothbrushes.  I've probably been using the same heads for two years or more--just because I think the replacements are too damn expensive!  Sometimes my thriftiness is a joke.  Every Christmas I hear the story Jen loves to tell about how easy it was to peek at their Christmas gifts under the tree because I was so bent on saving scotch tape.  I used so little (and seldom bothered with ribbon which I thought was even more of a waste of money) so opening the end of a gift to see what was inside was a cinch.  She especially loves to tell the one about how she barely touched one of her gifts and the whole thing opened up like a spring flower.  All because I was trying to save a little tape. 

I wish I had looked more closely at some of the toys I got for Christmas this year.  I could have picked up the right size batteries while I was at Walmart.  My label maker needs half a dozen AAA's but I thought it was AA's which I have enough of.

It's really a cute label maker but looks like I'm going to have to read up on it first.  It even has print cartridges.  I also got this neat hanging garden ornament.  It looks like the ball is going up and down as the wind blows it but it's actually not.  Oh, my!  That was a bad sentence.

I got two night lights this year and I intend to use them both year round.  Seems like I get up a lot more in the middle of the night and I need these lights to lead me back to bed safely. Ha Ha

Looking over my list of chores today, I had about 13 items. I managed to get about 4 things crossed off.  The gray damp day is urging me to kick back and take it easy today so that's what I intend to do. I did pull the large Xmas bins into the back bedroom from the garage and tomorrow I'll put on an audio book and start sorting and wrapping the decorations. 

I finally figured out how to load staples in my staple gun so maybe I'll take a crack at covering my dining room chairs tomorrow.  Dinner tonight is left over green bean casserole and this homemade egg noodle soup I fixed a few days ago.

Susan stopped in to use my computer and printer for a job she's applying for. Brought me an old PT pennant that I had given her several years ago. It's an oldie too. I remember hanging it on my bedroom wall as a teenager.  At least I think it's that old.  For sure it was a part of the wall decor when Sharon Sofie and I shared an apartment in Portland. (And that was a million years ago) I wonder if it's worth anything.

I picked up this nice desk calendar at Walgreens today. Only $2. I thought perhaps it might help me keep the computer area a little tidier.  I'm forever writing reminder notes on this and that and by the end of the day, this whole desk looks like a pig sty.  Only thing I don't like is that my monitor now sits a little too far from my face.  I may put a side desk off to my left for the pad.
See that little gadget sitting on it?  That's a return address stamper Mary and Andy bought for me. Jen got one too.  It really makes a nice stamp. I'm going to mail off pictures tomorrow just so I can stamp it on envelopes.

I had to laugh a couple days ago.  Jenni told me that Wayne finally discovered the computer. The twins and Jen have been the only ones to use the computer these past years but someone (probably Maddie) showed Wayne what he was missing on YouTube.  Wayne is big on music--especially the 70's and 80's.  Anything you could possibly want to watch is available. Jenni said he stayed up until 3 a.m. on Christmas eve--unable to leave the monitor and all the entertainment at his fingertips.
Here's a cartoon I got from Les Walden this afternoon. I love animal cartoons.

And here's a favorite video of mine.  Even with the controversy he caused, this guy was a heck of a performer.


And in the spirit of the holiday, we can't forget Chuck Berry......

The Day After

Here I sit at my favorite spot......in front of my computer monitor.  Left the house around 11 on Xmas morning and we drove to Renton.  I rode with Catie in her car as did Jenni and Maddie. Wayne, Hunter, and Sammy the dog rode in a second car.  We arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon and spent the next couple of hours settling in.

Was fun to graze on all the food displayed on the island in the kitchen. A very nice variety of candies, mints, cookies, chips, and veggies.  Catie presented homemade chocolate covered cherries and blueberries. I tried everything but tried to use moderatioon. Had a terrible Xmas eve with indigestion and gas.  Not sure if it was the pizza and junk food or the two bottles of hard lemonade I felt I needed to drink.  That will teach me!  I've got to remember that my body cannot be put through the usual routine I've expected it to tolerate when I'm in party mode.

I posted a few pictures in an album on Facebook as I thought it would be easier but I think I'll post some here as well. I know a lot of people don't even bother with FB these days.  I do like it for the photographs you can view, however.

We had prime rib, twice-baked potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and apple pie.  While we were waiting for the meat, we opened gifts.

 Mary & Andy with the homemade pillows her Aunt Janie made.

                                 Joe relaxing with Sammy

 The twins received kits to make Smores. 

Andy & Hunter work on a 3-D puzzle of a world globe.

Later on that evening, we took a drive over to Bellevue to see a display of lights in a garden.

 a beautiful dragon using thousands of lights

 Andy & Mary with Catie, Hunter, and Maddie

 Me standing by palm trees

 The twins got  cameras for Xmas so they were both clicking like crazy

 I thought this spider web was kinda neat

A walkway of yellow lights really brightened things up.  There was a policeman directing traffic and the parking lots were full.

Here I am with my two youngest--Jenni & Joe

And here I am again with my three grandkids--Catie, Maddie, Hunter

Two of the last pictures I took was Sammy in the car coming home and Jen & Wayne as we traveled down the Interstate.  I do hate freeways!

We arrived home around 3:15 and discovered that new neighbors had moved in while I was gone.  They must have little kids because a large swing set is set up in the backyard already. Boy, that was quick. The house has been empty for months.

I compiled my "to-do list" for the next three days and it's mighty busy.  Intend to undecorate, sort through the decorations and discard some, clean the garage, run errands, and play around with some of my new Christmas toys.  Got a gadget that will convert my music cassettes to my computer so I can make CDs out of them.  Sure hope it's easy to understand because I REALLY want to get going on that project.  I have hundreds of cassettes.

This weekend I'll start hanging new calendars throughout the house.  I love calendars. I have six already.  Need to write another Leader blog too.  Feels so good to be home.

It's Christmas Eve!

8 pm and I'm in my jammies all ready for Santa to show up on my roof.  Spent 2-1/2 hours over and Jenni & Wayne's house.  His sister and her husband came with their two kids and Wayne's dad, Ed was there with Kathy.  We had pizza, salad, munchies and I drank a couple of hard lemonades. 

Everybody opened presents and I took pictures.  I did get a cute little teacup from Kathy that I really like. 

Maddie wanted this chemistry set in a catalog and showed me the slime she made earlier today.

Hunter put together a 3-D puzzle I had given him of the white house. (or some kind of building)

Hunter got his bike and Maddie got the lava lamp she wanted.  I didn't take too many pictures tonight but here's a couple...

 Ed holding Hank, Hunter standing in front of Wayne, and Denzil, Wayne's brother-in-law

Two grannies drinking their beer.

Well, nuts!  I'm tired already. Wonder if it was the beer.  Guess I'll do a little packing for our trip tomorrow and hit the sack early.

Christmas Eve Day

"THE" weekend is finally here.  I've got a quiet day planned. Need to bake a couple pies to take to Renton tomorrow and that's about the extent of it.  Intend to play at the sewing machine, listen to audio books, and watch TV or videos. I'm heading over to Jenni & Wayne's house around 5 pm for pizza and salad.  We'll open a few gifts and then I'll come back home to pack up what I need for the morning trip the next day.

My dreams have been "over the top" this week. More stranger than usual but I suppose the holiday season does stir up memories in the hidden brain cells.  I must admit....I'm more than ready to have this holiday season fade out.  The prep for Christmas seems to wear me out a whole lot faster than it used to.  It does have its fun parts, but I think the scale is tipping towards "too much work" a lot of the time too!

I took just a few pictures yesterday.  Here's one of Hunter who discovered an ice circle in the bird bath when he was pullng my garbage bins back up to the side of the house.  The second one is Sammy investigating the "broken ice circle" once Hunter dropped it.  (he took a few licks)

Sue, Paul, and Catie arrived around 6 and we had a buffet of Subway sandwiches, chips, dip, and goodies.  Wayne wasn't able to get off work from FedX  but then we kind of expected that. He always works late into the night during the Xmas season.

Here's a shot of Catie trying on underpants.  Ha Ha   And another group shot thanks to the tripod my son-in-law, Andy, gave me a couple years ago.

I want to wish a Merry Christmas to ALL my family and especially Lee & Elaine Arey who are spending their holiday in a Seattle hospital.  We're all anxious to see Lee up and around soon.

And a special hello and Happy New Year to my Class of '61 friends, my email pals, my cousins, my girl friends, and all those folks that have been a part of my life at some time or another but I never get to see anymore.  Ending a year and starting a fresh one always brings memories to the surface.  Some happy. Some sad.

My next post will probably be Monday night or Tuesday morning.   Until then......have a good Christmas!

Presents, Visits, Pictures

Yesterday I made up a batch of homemade egg noodles. Mainly because I had leftover egg yolks after making divinity and I hate throwing out perfectly good yolks.  Making noodles is such an easy thing anyhow---and they're delicious in turkey vegetable soup.  After I got the dough rolled out, Jenni called and said she was running late and would I mind picking up the twins at the dentist office so she could scoot on to work.  Maddie was done with her cleaning so we sat in the car to wait a few minutes for Hunter.  He wasn't all that pleased when he came out.

Seems the cleaner had poked his gum a little too hard. That was all it took for him to be disgusted with the whole affair--and her!  He mentioned how she made small talk and asked him if his folks had filled his stocking yet.  He mumbled no and then thought to himself....Why is she asking a kid a question like that?  What if I still believed in Santa?  What if she asks a younger kid that question? She could ruin everything.  Hee Hee...Hunter makes me smile.

While serving them lunch a little later, I stuck in a DVD of "Lost TV Shows" sure that they would enjoy the Lassie episode  with Jeff & Porky building a treehouse.

"I watched this  in 1954 when I was your age; I know you're gonna love it."
After a bit, Hunter says:  "So you were born in 1943 and now you're 68?"
"Yep!"
"That's a long time ago."
Hunter is big on numbers and match.  Always has been.

He did watch the show with interest but Maddie didn't find it that entertaining. She played games on her Ipod instead.  Later, I stuck in a movie I borrowed from my brother...."All Creatures Great and Small".  Hunter came into the room and noticed the vet had his arm halfway up the horse's butt.

He watched wide-eyed and said:
"What's this rated anyhow? Looks like porn."

I tried to explain it was just plain old farm life but he wasn't impressed. 
"I hope I never have to see a thing like that again!"    hee hee

Mary Norton stopped in and we exchanged Xmas gifts.  She had just returned from Mexico so was busy using the days before Xmas to get her shopping done. That's cutting it a little close but she'll manage.  She told me that at one of the stops they made, everyone sat in a circle and
shared stories about their country depending on what the question was.Stuff like health care in  and how you celebrate Xmas.  I didn't realize that they don't celebrate Xmas the same way we do.  No gift giving and decorations,etc.  If they have a nativity scene, little gifts are brought to baby Jesus, not to each other.  I thought it was interesting that the country to the north of us celebrates the way we do but the country to the south doesn't.

I've changed the way I gamble these days.  Don't go to the casino much at all as I found the payouts were pretty much non-exisistent or too small to be of any significance.  Now I'm playing the state lotto games.  I fill out cards to pick my numbers for the Power ball, the mega, the lotto, the daily game, Hit Five, and Match 4.  I play a dollar (except the Match 4 with is a $2 game).  I buy 4 days worth of Hit Five and once that ticket is done, I'll take all the tickets in to see if I've won.  Last week I won enough to buy my next weeks' tickets and this morning I hit $40.  That was on the Daily Game. I always play 943 but I buy a straight box ticket instead of just a straight so if the numbers come up in any order at all, I win.  Had they come up as 943, I would have won $250.  I think they came up as 934 last night. Anyhow, this straight box ticket gives you more of a chance to win.  I've done good with 943. I used to play it straight only and that pays $500.  I've won that top prize twice--maybe even three times. 

One of my new favorite things to buy at Costco is frozen berries. They have a Kirkland brand 4-lb. sack of blueberries,blackberries, and raspberries that are WONDERFUL!  I take out a small handful in the morning (from the freezer) and let them thaw in a bowl.  Very tasty and healthy treat. Surprised it took me so long to discover this.

Today I'm going to mix up a green bean casserole to serve with the Subway sandwich tray I'm picking up at 3.  Two of my kids and all of my grandkids will be here for a quick supper and gift opening.  And pictures, of course.  Gotta take my pictures.  I've been getting some really nice photos in Xmas cards this year.  I love getting cards. I think I'l make a bigger effort next year to get mine out. Here's the photos I've received so far...

 My house lit up early this morning before it got light

 My little Xmas tree in the window here in the computer room

 Jen,Carley,Carter,Eric Ericksen from Bremerton

 Dawson & Olivia (great grandchildren of my cousin Denny)

 Don & Sue Pedersen & Cujo from MN

 Emily,Jared, and Conner, cousins in Gig Harbor

Jocelyn getting her degree in Seattle

 
Laurel & Michael Baldwin in Vancouver, WA

 Roy & Linda Brooks from Enumclaw while in Alaska

Sterling & Karston, cousins in Albany, OR (grand children of my cousin Denny)

Well, I've got some paperwork to take care of this morning so think I'll get to that and then start in on the quilt pieces.