Enough!!!!

 It's only December 7, but we have enough snow!

    Stop it, Mother Nature.

    I did not see snow totals for our area, but we must have had 5 inches overnight.  and there is more on the way  midweek.

    I heard on one newscast that O'Hare had more snow in December than all of last winter.  And it is early, too early if you ask me.

    We have someone who does the driveway.  But he does not clear in front of the garage doors.  Usually that is not a problem, but this morning there were 2 foot mounds in front of the garages.  It took me about an hour to clear the doors, create a path for Beth to use, feed the birds, and uncover vents for either the furnace or hot water, not sure which, but they were covered.

    He used to come closer to the doors, but on his first go round this winter he hit the trim, leaving a big gouge.

    Emily brought over part of our anniversary gift from the girls.  It is a beautiful porch planting.  Really spruces the porch up.

    Jackie and I made 2 batches of cookies today and will do one more tomorrow.  Generally we make 5 different kinds of cookies for Christmas, so getting them done is big for us.  Of course, I have dishes to clean up.  I try to stick as much into the dishwasher as possible, but some just get hand washed.

    We thought the Bears put up a good fight, just came up short against the Pack.  In 2 weeks it will be time for revenge!  Go Bears!

    And that's life for me.

Peace and Love

Let me in!!! Let me in!!! I don't like snow!!!!!

much ado

 This could have been a better day

    I could have made it to Cypress House for a coffee before it closed at 3.

But I didn't.

    I could have found a new desk chair.

But I didn't.

    I could have found Christmas themed paper for my printer.

But I didn't

    I could have found the box with decorations we know are missing.

But I didn't.

    I looked.  I sat in 10 different chairs and did not like any of them.  I was like Goldilocks...too hard, too soft, too slippery, too stiff, too you name it.  I did not like any of them.  Nothing felt "just right."  And the helpful Pretty Young Thing at the big box office store said they don't carry Christmas paper anymore. 

    WTH?????

    And going through all the boxes again yielded no missing decorations.  I will look again tomorrow, but that is the last time!

    I did get to visit a relative in the hospital.  She fell on the ice yesterday and had a severe crack on the noggin.  She is resting in the hospital for a few days while she recovers.

    Still moving Christmas stuff around.

    We need less stuff or a bigger house.  

    We have/had tickets for White Christmas at the Paramount in Aurora tomorrow.  Jackie and I were both a little leery considering the forecast.....3 to 6 inches.  So Emily is rebooking.  We were looking forward to it too.

    It's not all navigating the roads, but also navigating the sidewalks with a wheelchair and snow.  It's not fun.

    Gives me some time to look in the boxes.  Again.

    Hopefully I will find the missing piece!

Peace and Love

whew!!!

I am a happy, but tired, person tonight

    Most of the Christmas decorations are upstairs.  There are still some standing items that have to be lugged up, but tomorrow will work for that.

    The problem is we are missing some decorations!

    We have some German candleholders that have not appeared, along with some pillows.  I have gone through all the boxes and have not found them.  I now wonder if I put them in the garage sale stack by mistake, so tomorrow I will do another search.

    Why am I happy?

    Well, I got a great coffee at Cypress House to start.

    Then tonight  I walked with the Rochelle Area Community Foundation folks in the Christmas Parade in town.

    Several of us passed out candy and sunglasses to folks along the way.

    I parked 3 blocks from the start of the parade.  I walked to the float, then walked to almost the end, stopping at the museum.

    At the museum I hung out with Director Jan at the fire pit in front of the museum.  And I had to walk 2 blocks back to my van.  I spent almost 3 hours on my feet, that is why I am so tired.

    Why happy?

    Jackie had a good day and was able to stay by herself for 2 and a half hours while I did my things.  

    Sometimes she is a little hesitant to let me go for long periods, but today all went well and she felt ok.  She also knows I am about to 15 minutes away and will leave as soon as she calls.

    I love being able to help out the groups I am involved with, and sometimes it is hard to get the time to do it.  Everyone is understanding, but I like being involved.

    Also, I engaged in real conversations with 3 total strangers!  I was engaged, listening, asking questions, giving information..... just like a real adult!  Usually I don't do well in those situations.

    And as a major plus I called 6 people by their right names!!!  I missed one, but the lighting was bad and I really could not see his face.  

    I picked up supper and ran into the Jolly Old Elf himself.  Seems he does not always travel by reindeer, although he did ask if they had carrots.

Hmm.....

Peace add Love

My thought exactly!

You could join me for a drink if you buy $20 in museum raffle tickets!  Gives you 24 chances to split the pot, a museum membership for a year, and a coffee or tea on me!!!

oh my

 Christmas is 3 weeks from today

    Can you believe that?  2025 is almost over! 

    Where did the time go?

    We almost finished putting up the tree today.  Still have the skirt and manger to put out.  Christmas cards are almost ready to mail.  Spent some time looking for return address labels our insurance provider sent us.  After I gave up and sat down to do this, I found them on my desk.

    You notice the use of almost.

    Christmas is only 3 weeks away!

    I am starting to panic.

    I do a Christmas letter every year.  One side is fun-fantasy, the other side is boring humdrum stuff.

    I wish I had saved the funny side ones from the start.  Julia was still home when I did the first one, and she left in 2002.

    Sometimes people just put the dreaded Christmas letter aside.  I decided that was not going to work.

    I wrote a very (to me) letter full of exaggerations and out right lies.

    I remember one person put the letter aside and a family member picked it up and started reading it, bursting out in laughter and telling parents to read the letter.

    My brother once called and asked why he didn't get a letter.

    I have included fake news, top ten lists, a letter that included the titles of 15 or so Beatles songs,  jokes, and I may have even done a crossword puzzle.

    Human Beth also has put out funny letters, much more planned and organized instead of the slap-dash ones I do.

    Ah....I wished I had saved the letters.  I might have been able to put them into a special holiday book.  Alas, I did not.  And the computers have come and gone, taking the letters with them.

    Such is life.

Peace and Love

curses

 I broke something today

    Jackie has a stand she puts her I Pad on in the morning when she has breakfast.

    I knocked it to the ground today and it broke in 2 places.

    I did this about a year ago and ordered 2 of the wrong size.  Then I ordered one of the right size. It cost about $20.

    I ordered the exact stand today and it was $34!

    Why????

    My guess is tariffs.  

     I was going to order 2, but I balked at the price.  

    That's a lot of money for a flimsy bamboo stand!

    But we have tried others and they don't meet Jackie's needs.  So there you have it.

    Finally filled my bird feeders today.  They have been empty for a couple of days.

    I have to go through the house because of the mountain of snow at the end of the driveway. 

    I went to Julia's today to drop off her new snowblower.  She has really cool looking decorations.  Jackie asked if I had taken pictures, and I had to admit I  did not.  I have to ask Julia to send her mom some shots of the house.

    I finihed fluffing the tree.  I put lights on today.  Jackie unravelled them and I hung them.  They all work, which is a miracle.

    Tomorrow we will put ornaments on and it will be almost done.  

    Not looking forward to the cold.  Neither is Beth.  She does no like her coat, but I think it is cute.

    That's all I know.  Pretty mundane day!

Peace and Love

tree mendus

I assembled  our Christmas tree today 

    Damn near killed me.

    We bought a new tree at the end of the  season last year.  When it came, Julia and I cleared a spot off the top storage rack and together we lifted the two bags up onto the rack.  The two of us.

    Well, I figured getting it down would be fairly easy and the first bag did came down rather easily.  I half dragged half carried it up the stairs.  (Yes, a thoughtful person would have opened the bag and taken the two sections up one at a time.  Not my style.)

    The second bag was a different story.

    I swear it weighed at least 40 pounds!

    That's what it felt like when it hit me in the head.

    I saw stars.  And lights. And angels. 

    I realized I had knocked over a small box of decorations.  And a 2 foot tree.  And a couple of boxes.

    I thought I might have a concussion, but unfortunately I remembered who was president.

    At that point I decided to open the bag and take the 3 parts upstairs one at a time.

    It was far easier.

    Artificial trees have to be fluffed.

    I fluffed my butt off on the lower branches, taking 3 breaks because my back hurt.

    But the remaining sections I could do upright, making it a lot easier on my back.

    The tree is up. And fluffed.  But it leans.

    Go figure.

    Tomorrow we will decorate the tree, just in time for Christmas.

    I have a friend whose husband wrapped their tree in plastic wrap and stored it.  When they unwrap[ed it, it looked perfect.

    Jackie said not to even think about it.

Peace and Love

and then we....

 Went to see Book of Mormon tonight

    It was at the Coronado Theater in Rockford.  This was a traveling troupe, and. they were pretty darn good.

    Now Jackie and I saw this musical years ago and I frankly did not remember it at all.  Jackie remembered it, but did not like it the first time she saw it.  She did not like it again tonight.

    Actually there were 9 of us in our group!  Three of us sat in handicap accessible seats and The other  6. were closer to the front.

    I liked the show tonight.  Lots of energy, great talent, especially Charity Arianna who I think had a great voice and an amazing stage personality.

    I could actually hear most of the show.  Ensemble singing, with lots of voices, was a little muddled, but the spoken parts were pretty clear.  Thanks, new hearing aids.

    Jackie's Dickens Christmas Village got set up today.  Sheri did the grunt work.  I wandered around the house aimlessly.

    Not true.  Last year the girls got us a box o 100 replacement lights for the village.

    We used a few last year, and this year we needed a couple of more.

    Opened the box and tried one.....didn't work.

    Tried another....didn't work.

    Ok, maybe it is the wire that is not good.  Tried another wire.  Nope.  Tried a third wire.  Nope.

    Changed  electric strips.  Nope.

    Used a bulb we know worked and.....it worked.  Not the strip.  Not the cord.

    Must be the bulb.

    I went through this box of 95 bulbs and not one o them worked.  None!

    How can that be?

    I wanted to know what bulb to use, so I called Dept. 56.  A man answered and I asked him what kind of bulb I needed.

    He said it depended on the village piece.  He told me to read him the product number.  I did.  He told me what bulb. to use.  I asked if these were pretty standard and he said no.  If I needed needed another bulb, I had to give him the product number.

    I told him I had 15 houses, and I don't know which ones needed bulbs.

    So I gave him another number and he said it took the same bulb as the first one.

    I figure they all take the same, so I ordered 9 additional bulbs.  At $3 each.

    When those bulbs go out, I think Mr. Dickens will find I can be quite Scrooge like and enjoy the darkness.

Peace and Love