Wishing for Snow

I guess if you want to have a white Christmas you have to go to Boston. I am envious of all the snow Michael and Maggie have and they're getting more as I write this. I hope this doesn't delay their flight "home" on Christmas day, though.
I'm scratching things off my "to-do list" slowly. I've declared that I am no longer baking for the sake of tradition. I dislike it more and more each year. None of us need any of that refined sugar anyways! I'd much rather cook a big meal than bake. I made Scottish Shortbread, German Sand Tarts, Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies, and Pumpkin Bread. Still need to make a Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Cake for Christmas.
I loved receiving a few of Melanie's (Maggie's mother) famous frosted sugar cookies. They're so soft and the icing is to die for.
Tonight we pick up Mom and Chris. They'll be with us for 8 days. Chris wanted snow but instead he's getting wind chills around -5 degrees.
Looking forward to having my whole family here for Christmas. That's what really makes this year special for me.
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels 8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke 2:1-14

Waiting to Exhale

Before we left for Thanksgiving in PA we had the joy of taking care of our Little Snowflake, Reagan. She was so much fun and didn't even know her parents were away for 4 days. Rachel was the only one who cried!

I knew it would be impossible to decorate the whole house for Christmas during her visit but we got started on a few rooms. Reagan loved the snowmen and now has many to say "hi" to. For over 2 months she was greeting every pumpkin I had in the house. We have a snowman that sings when you clap or make a loud noise so of course Reagan walks around trying to clap loud enough with her little hands. She then lets us know that she wants us to make the snowman sing and we comply.

She helped Pops build fires and cut plastic to cover outdoor furniture. Here are some pics. We then headed to PA for a quick visit with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Al and Aunt Janet. We had a very nice meal in the dining hall at Stoneridge Villiage with Tom's parents on Thanksgiving day. The food was actually pretty good!

Then home to do more decorating. After putting the final touches (snow) on the living room tree, we discovered the tree stand had a leak. Jason helped pull the tree out of the stand while Tom guided it into a new one. I stripped the bottom third of ornaments for this task and all we lost was some snow! I was prepared to strip down the tree and start from scratch if necessary.

Tonight we're going to get a tree and some decorations for a family in house church who just had surgery and won't be able to get to their attic this year to decorate for Christmas. Our house church hopes to surprise them with some decorations as well.

Can't wait to be able to just sit and look at the tree lights and watch Christmas movies!

Love this song

Just stumbled upon this song and I love it. Click on the link and sing along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SJigHz4mQk

Teenage girl much too young

Unprepared for what's to come

A baby changes everything

Not a ring on her hand

All her dreams and all her plans

A baby changes everything

A baby changes everything

The man she loves she's never touched

How will she keep his trust

A baby changes everything

A baby changes everything

And she cries

Ooh she cries

Oh ohhh...

She has to leave, go far away

Heaven knows she can't stay

A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon

There's no place there's no room

A baby changes everything

A baby changes everything

And she cries

And she cries

Oh she cries

Shepherds all gather 'round

Up above the star shines down

A baby changes everything

Choir of angels sing

Glory to the newborn king

A baby changes everything

A baby changes everything

Everything, everything, everything

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

My whole life has turned around

I was lost, but now I'm found

A baby changes everything, yeah

A baby changes everything

Anticipation

With the cold weather finally here, representing a big element of Autumn, it's time to cozy up to fires, drink gingerbread cinnamon coffee, listen to Christmas music and make plans for Thanksgiving Day. As I look forward to traveling to PA for Thanksgiving, I'm also making mental notes as to how I want to decorate for Christmas and when to start the process.
I had planned on decorating just before we leave for PA but instead I will be babysitting my adorable granddaughter for 4 days while Rachel and Jason attend a wedding in Denver. I am so privileged to be able to have Reagan for so long and she is young enough to not have separation anxiety. I'm sure in a year or so, she would probably join the majority of kids who get homesick just before bedtime and want to come home.
Decorating can wait till we get back but I'm not ruling out the possibility of putting up a tree or two before we go away.
Can't wait to buy Hallmark Christmas ornaments, look at pretty lights on houses, drink hot cider with Buttershots in it and watch Christmas movies.
Someone once said...."it's the most wonderful time of the year".

What a Mess...again

Yesterday I skimmed straw and leaves out of the pool and emptied the skimmer basket a few times, gingerly plunging my hand into the frigid pool water. I figured that it's a normal procedure considering it's Fall and the winter pool cover isn't on yet. (it's on order and we're awaiting it's installation). Then last night the winds kicked up to 50mph gusts blowing the straw,that is on top of the baby grass that's coming up, into the pool. It floated on top of the water forming a blanket-like cover in large areas. After 2 attempts to get the straw and leaves out of the pool, avoiding getting hit in the head by flying objects, and plunging my hand back into the skimmer basket, I gave up, turned off the pool pump and realized it was a loosing battle.
Another windy day is ahead of me and I'm watering the straw at 7:30 a.m. in hopes that if it stays wet, it will stay where it belongs. It's 36 degrees outside now and I thankful the water is at least able to flow through the hose.
Think of me as I'm moving hoses around today!

Some Birthday pics

Happy Birthday dear Reagan...... "Here Pops--I'll share"

Little Reagan turned one on Friday. Can't believe it's been a whole year since she came into our lives. I'm so blessed to be able to see her twice a week. She loves her Grammy and I love her.

She is so smart!!

Good News, Bad News

Good news--The pool filled up to the required depth in exactly 72 hours.
We rented a meter that measured how much water we used and don't have to pay sewage on it.
The Bobcat was back and moved all the ground to where it needed to be so we can landscape and plant grass. The cement around the pool looks great and we were ready to get the pool running and get it cleaned with a lesson from the pool people on Wednesday.
Bad news--after hooking up the pool pump and running it for half an hour, we discovered the pool was loosing water even when adding more with a hose. We lost over 7 inches of water in that time. They found the problem. A pvc water piece must have broken and the water was leaking out from that piece. They are now breaking up a whole section on concrete to get to the broken piece and replace it. That means more cement to be poured and some of the previous steps to open up the pool being repeated.
Good news--we won't have to pay for extra water and will be reimbursed for anything that is the fault of the pool people.
Good news--Our fence is almost finished. We have grass seed down and hay on top of it.
Tom is going out of town today for a few days and is taking part of today off to get more grass seed down so we can cover it with more hay so Glori won't be walking in mud till the grass comes up.
More later.

A Bit of Paradise

Front top half of hotel


lobby fountain that spilled over the top
evening view of a pool

Pretty Strawberries and Bubbly The pool with a glass bottom center. We sat around this pool the most
Pool and hot tub that is underneath the above pool
A little R&R
Wave Runner Tom went on

view from the lobby

bottom pool with top pool spilling over into it
view from our room
morning sunrise from our balcony our last day there

A week ago today we flew into Ft. Lauderdale, FL for a little getaway. Tom was able to keep our destination a secret until we got to the airport and the ticket lady blurted out where we were flying to. We stayed at the Westin Diplomat Spa and Resort Center. What an amazing place. Shortly after check-in Tom had champagne and strawberries delivered. The view from our room was beautiful. It was just like being on a cruise but because we were "docked" the whole time, we had better scenery. We enjoyed palm trees, pools, elegant lounges, great food and plenty of time to read and relax. When it wasn't raining, we were at the pool and when it was raining we enjoyed the beautiful lobby relaxing on a couch next to a baby grand piano listening to live music. Our last day there Tom took a wave runner out for a spin and loved it.


I am so grateful for the time to spend without interruptions with my husband of 28 1/2 years. We're still enjoying each other's company and still in love!

When we arrived home we had a houseful of people we were hosting leading up to Hannah's wedding. We enjoyed getting to know some of her closest friends. Yesterday she and Justin were married in Yellow Springs and it was a beautiful day.

What a mess!

At 7:50 AM today the pool people came with earthshaking (literally) equipment. They dumped gravel in the street, making it difficult for neighbors to exit our street. The Bobcat then takes the gravel from the street and brings it to the pool to back fill. They fill in the 4ft.deep, 3ft. wide areas around the pool. This is where the concrete will go when they come back next week.
Because we've had no rain, the powdery dirt flies through the air in clouds of dust traveling to cover all vehicles on half the street. Our new truck, van, and cars are now all brown. I feel very bad for ruining our neighbor's early Saturday morning and now their afternoons as they have to clean off their cars, patio furniture, driveways and anything else the dusty dirt has settled on. I wish I could make it up to them. Even the workers said they haven't seen anything like it. I guess it's due to our poor soil and no rain.

"before"&"in progress"-more pic added

A Little Boy's Dream...Back hoes, Bobcats, and large mounds of dirt to climb on!

"Mamma Meatballs!"

As many of you know, the wind storm on Sunday changed our comfort zone when we lost power for 50 hours. I had plenty of candles to light, thanks to Rachel and Jason's wedding in 2006, and my love for Yankee Candles. The problem for me was no coffee, no cable, no computer and no toast! Rachel invited Becca and I over for morning coffee and phone charging time since they had electricity.

Even though we packed ice chests and beverage coolers with food from our 2 refrigerators and big freezer, we still had to throw out plenty of food. We cooked the meat that had thawed on our grill to server at a later date but I had to do something with 3 1/2 pounds of ground veal. I was having a difficult time finding it in at the store to make my meatballs with and once Kroger had it in stock, I bought 4 packs of it. Today I had to buy beef and pork to mix with it to make meatballs. That's 9 pounds of meat and 18 eggs. It took me 2 1/2 hours to make 154 meatballs today. (I ate 5 of them)

Here are the treasured meatballs in the making. I was able to use fresh basil from my garden. Next time you come for dinner, guess what I'll be serving!