Simple

I stumbled into the most wonderful blog today: thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com This is supposed to be a permalink thingy but I am technologically challenged, have no idea how to insert a "permalink" so if it doesn't work right I apologize. It will have to do until I have DH help...he's the computer guru in our house, God love him. Yes, I was surfing at work..bad girl, I know. It sounded like fun so I thought I’d join in. Here is my first post to the daybook (drumroll please!)

FOR TODAY, New Year’s Eve...

Outside my window the sun is shining on the snowy mountains…so pretty.

I am thinking about how much I will enjoy dinner and movies with my husband and son tonight

I am thankful for pretty much everything about my life, especially my family and friends.

From the kitchen plates of burgers for the grill, which will give me the undivided attention of my dogs :0)

I am wearing old jeans (old, not holey), a long-sleeved shirt under a oversized zip-front hoodie and my Doc Marten boots.

I am creating chaos and mayhem in the office…my work here is done (JK)

I am going home for lunch to eat with my son…..yay!!

I am reading “For a Few Demons More” by Kim Harrison

I am hoping that all my friends and family have a great time tonight! Oh and that whatever little bug that is trying to pull a hostile takeover on me isn’t going to make me full-blown sick on New Years Eve.

I am hearing the radio on in my office.

Around the house are remnants of Christmas…sigh.

One of my favorite things is a nice long bubble bath with a good book…….aaaahhh.

A few plans for the rest of the week are to take down the tree, get my new phone set up, maybe go to a movie…

A picture thought I am sharing is that I REALLY need new running shoes!!!!

Have a fun-filled and SAFE New Year's Eve everyone!!!

Christmas

Post Christmas greetings!!! I hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas and got spoiled rotten :0) Just a little update from last week:

Our Christmas was wonderful. Not enough time with family but it never is. Our oldest daughter and her hubby came down Tuesday night, so we had a late dinner and stayed up opening gifts and playing with stuff. They left Wednesday before noon so they could make their flight to Phoenix to spend Christmas with her mom. Meanwhile, our travel plans for Christmas Day got scrubbed due to the weather…supposed to have a BIG storm that day…so we checked the road reports, the radar, called family to check the weather there, only to arrive at the conclusion that it would be better to wait until Saturday to go visit. Waited for snow…played games….waited…watched a movie….waited…got a good laugh from me trying to snowboard on the Wii Fit (I so suck at that - LOL!!) ….nothing….then it rained…. RAINED! Ugh!!! (Come to find out that about ½ hour north of here it was snowing like a sonofagun all day) But then along 7-ish the wind kicked up pretty good and the temp dropped. We woke up to tons of snow on Friday. Shoveling was brutal….ouch. Went up to Saturday to my in-laws…opened gifts (Chris got a .22 from his grandpa…needless to say he’s one happy camper!) and visited. Ahhh….so nice to see everyone. Did I mention we “pug sat” while kids were gone to Phoenix? Yes, we got to take care of “Benny the Pug” while they were gone…cute little guy. Full of all kinds of silly noises. He snores :0) And into everything! It was like having a toddler in the house…can’t take your eyes off him for a second or he’s off snooping someplace. Our cats weren’t too broken up to see him go home last night though…they were not a fan of “Benny the Pug”. Go figure ;0) I hope to get around to dumping my camera tonight so I will have some pics to share.

Have a great day and a safe and happy New Year’s Eve!!!

Angels

I know I said I thought my previous post would most likely be the last one before Christmas, but I heard something today that I just have to share. You know how sometimes you can get caught up in your own problems, be they big or small…think that life is going poorly or is really stinking at the moment - you hate your job, your spouse is getting on your very last nerve, your car broke down, bounced a check, ect. Then some thing happens that will put life in perspective. Make you realize that whatever you think your problems may be are really pretty small potatoes compared to what others are dealing with. This is one of those enlightening moments.

I walked into an office at work this afternoon to find 2 coworkers in conversation. Needing to ask a question of one of them, I waited patiently for them to finish. They were talking about liver transplants. The lady – our company nurse - was speaking about a transplant that had taken place the end of October, that the insurance company refused to pay for the operation ect. Then it occurred to me that the person she was talking about who underwent the transplant was her son. He’s 30. Her 30 year old son just had a liver transplant. After I picked my jaw up off the ground, I asked her if she was indeed talking about her kid; she said yes and started the story over…telling us about how they had found out he was in dire need of a transplant, how they would drive to SLC after being put on the transplant list in hope of a liver becoming available, how they were about to leave one evening when the doctors came in to ask them to “hang out for a little while longer” then telling them a donor had been found. They operated the very next morning; the operation took well over 12 hours. And how while she was in the waiting room during this time that she received a phone call from a relative to tell her that her father had just passed away. Operation was a success; kid is doing wonderfully well. The insurance company refused to pay for the operation, sighting several reasons (one of which – and by far the most ridiculous, asinine thing I have ever heard - was that the mother and father were divorced), refuse to pay for the antirejection meds this kid will have to take every day for the rest of his life, but is paying for his physical therapy (huh??) In the last couple weeks, the woman has received word from the doctors that performed the operation that they were DONATING their services…no payment needed. This operation costs well over $450K, and the whole transplant team – all 14 (I think that was how many people she said?) are donating their time. In addition to that, the donor’s family paid whatever fee it is to get put on the transplant list (I had no idea you had to pay to get on this…I need to ask some questions about that) on top of donating their loved one’s liver.

Everything in my life that I was mad about or worried about has been reduced to the trivial things they are. They’re not life and death and in the grand scheme of things, they don’t matter. Hearing about acts of kindness and compassion like those extended to my coworker and her son really restores my faith in humanity. And reminds me that there are angels among us and there is a higher power that we all answer to who works miracles everyday in ways we never know.

Linus' Speech

Happy Friday to you!

After enduring a couple days where it has been colder than a snowman’s toe (it was -2 yesterday morning when I left for work, not including the wind chill), it is almost a heatwave this morning – a balmy 31 degrees out! Whoo hoo!!! The warmer temps are thanks to a big snowstorm that is moving in…round 2 of the snow is supposed to start here in a couple hours. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for us from 6 a.m. today thru 6 p.m. TOMORROW night. Hope Christopher feels like doing some shoveling :0) And I am not above bribery…I think a nice big Starbucks cappacino with a blueberry muffin would go a long way toward getting the driveway cleared out, don’t you??

I will be finishing up my wrapping tonight…figured I’d throw in my “Charlie Brown Christmas” dvd to watch while I’m cutting, taping and ribboning. This movie has the best speech in it…in fact it is my FAVORITE part of the entire movie. Linus gives this speech, taken from the scriptures, at the Christmas play rehersal, which has gotten a bit out of hand for it’s director Charlie Brown. Now, while I do not actively attend church of any kind, I certainly believe in the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; I try to be a spiritual person and follow the “Big 10”, doing my best to be a moral and decent human being. Yeah, I fall short sometimes, not as good a person as I should be some days, but overall I think I’m doing okay. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do; it puts Christmas into the correct perspective…one that sadly so many lose sight of.

Linus’ Christmas Speech
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone ‘round about them, and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

This will probably be my last post before Christmas, so I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a new year full of love, happiness and peace.

The Driving Gap

Like most people, I try to keep the “3 second gap” between my car and the car in front of me (my Driver’s Ed teacher would be proud). Especially when the roads are slick or the weather is bad. Other people, however, seem to take this as a sign for them to come on over into the aforementioned space. It obviously does not bother these folks that they are now so close to the vehicle in front of them that if the guy in front sneezes, it’s taking all 3 of us out. Call me crazy but I kind of like my car “as is”…I want to keep it out of the body shop. Not that my body shop doesn’t do awesome work; it’s just that the secretary knows me as soon as I walk in. In my defense, neither of the 2 prior wrecks were my fault. No, really…I was hit by an old guy who blew a stop sign (he wasn’t going very fast, thank goodness!) and the other dude evidentally took offense at being beeped at when he nearly sat thru a green light and backed up onto the hood of my car. But I digress. Last night as I came into town for a few groceries I was “gapping” as the roads were looking a little on the slick side, and it was lightly snowing. Of course, traffic was heavy as it was a) rush hour, and 2) Christmas. I had other drivers move over in front of me several times. I consider this a violation of my territorial bubble for which you should be flogged, and just a completely asinine thing to do besides. You wanna wreck yourself, be my guest…knock yourself out (no pun intended); just do it when there aren’t throngs of people on the road that can end up on the back of a tow truck with you.

In the news this morning I heard that Drew Peterson is engaged to be married to wife #5. You all remember Drew Peterson…..he’s the cop in Illinois whose fourth wife disappeared and his third wife was found dead in the bathtub (originally an accidental drowning but was changed to a murder after the body was re-examined when wife 5 turned up missing). I find this little snippet of news very disturbing and sick. What kind of silly twit would think about even dating – let alone marrying - this slime?! How could you look at this guy and not just want to spit in his face?! In all probability he murdered 2 of his 4 wives!!! Future Mrs Peterson #5 is reportedly 23 (same age as wife #4) and lives just a short distance away from the Peterson home. This whole situation just makes me sick. I hear that Lacey Peterson’s husband and the Menendez brothers also have women wanting to marry them….disgusting….what is wrong with people these days? Yeesh.

Okay…I’m done with the negativity, on with the cheery. Loving the snow on the ground. I feels so much more like Christmas time with all of it. I honestly don’t know if I could spend Christmas as an adult in a warm climate (sorry, Hawaii but I would have to leave you for snowy weather for a month or so). It would just be wrong on so many levels!! Christmas is getting so close and I’m feeling a little giddy. Can’t wait to spend some festive holiday time with the fam. Looking forward to spending Christmas eve watching movies and playing games with my DH and darling son, to spending Christmas day with my awesome FIL, then spending Christmas night with my MIL. Too cool :0) Got cookies to bake over the weekend…I’m sure Chris will volunteer to be my official “taster” to ensure me that they pass muster before giving out…such a good son ;0)

Enjoy your day!!!

Let the Shoveling Begin!

On Saturday, Mother Nature really let ‘er rip, I’ll tell you….we had a foot of snow (dogs were up to their bellys in snow while romping in the back yard, so that’s around a foot, easy…give or take) dumped on us between, oh I’d say 5:30 am and 11 am. Took about 45 minutes to shovel (that's not me in the pic...just one I found on the 'net) the drive…after the plow come by to fill in the end of it. Thanks to a sweet neighbor and his snowblower, I didn’t have to move all the snow the plow left… yay!!! My shoulders are hating life…they’re reallllllly tender….under my arms, between the shoulder blades. Ouch. I forgot how much work it is to throw that stuff. Even if it’s the light fluffy stuff. I also forgot how much fun my dogs have in the snow. They get just soooo excited to go out to play in the snow – it’s the cutest thing. Trixie has to stuff her face into any hole in the snow she sees (could be a mouse in there! Oh boy!!) so she ends up with snow all over her face and caked on the end of her nose. Moe just runs around like an idot…if the snow is very deep, he’ll hop like a dang kangaroo across the yard. Oh and catching snowballs is his favorite :0) He just can’t figure out where they go when they hit the ground though. It’s quite the mystery. Silly pooch. Doggies will be happy…more snow is on the way tonight. And tomorrow. And the next day. ((sigh)) C’est la vie, cheries.

Have a great day and remember to be kind….you never know who will really need it today.

Snow's a comin'

Oh boy! What a crazy week it has been. Outside of work I have been a busy little elf, trying to get all my Christmas tasks wrapped up…tree put up (slow getting that done this year, felt like such a Grinch!), cards, wrapping, dropping off Angel Tree gifts, picking up small gifts for 2 of my son’s friends who’s birthdays it is over the weekend (he’s got parties tonight and tomorrow to go to) and I do believe – with a little good luck and flash of inspiration – I will be DONE with my shopping tonight. Let’s have a round of applause for that, folks! (Thank you, thank you…oh no, you’re too kind…really) And it seems that I will be finishing up just in time for a big ol’ snow storm to roar into the valley late tonight. It’s supposed to stick around until Sunday…hope we don’t get buried…ick. I was kina hoping to drive down to SLC and see the lights in Temple Square this weekend but the impeding storm has put the kibash on that idea…nuts. Maybe next weekend. We haven’t been to see them since the kids were little teeny.

Hope you all had a wonderful week and I wish you a fantastic weekend!

A Letter in the Sun

This has long been my favorite story at Christmas time. (Well, aside from THE story, which is why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.) It also happens to be the most reprinted newspaper editorial in history. The story of a little 8 year-old girl named Virginia O'Hanlon who wrote to the New York Sun in the fall of 1897, searching for the answer to the age-old question every kid asks sooner or later: is there a Santa Claus? This speaks to me more now than ever as my family is blessed enough to have the opportunity to provide gifts for a child from the Angel Tree. Santa exists forever in our hearts and in the kindness, the generousity of ourselves toward others, be they family or stranger. The letter she wrote and it's response, published in the Sun September 21, 1897....

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

C and H 4

It's Friday!!! Woo hoo! :0)

Christmas shopped last night. Picked up things for my DH and some more stuff for our Angel Tree kid. AND....I bought....."Alvin and the Chipmunk Christmas" dvd! I haven't seen this since I was probably about 10. Yeah, I got funny looks in Borders when I was squealing with joy after spying this on the shelf. I get excited about things I loved from my childhood, okay? Sue me. Give me a Care Bear or a Cherry and Vanilla Ironport and I'll hop around like a 4 year old. Just because I am getting older doesn't mean I have to act my age...at least not all the time ;0)

Last Calvin for the week! Have a great weekend!

C and H 3

Ah, NOW it feels like Christmas. It snowed about 1/2" last night so everything was beautifully white this morning. Of course, it's all melted now, but at least we got a taste of the white stuff - woo hoo! Did a smidge of Christmas shopping last night, picked out a child from the Angel Tree to shop for...love doing that :0) We may not be rolling in dough, but we are fortunate enough to be able to give some happiness at Christmastime to a child in need.

On with the Calvin and Hobbes....still on the snow theme.....

Have a great day, y'all!!

C and H 2

No snow. The weatherman was wrong.....again. Go figure. Kind of hoping for some snow soon so it will start feeling more like Christmas. Not that I want to shovel, mind you. This Calvin and Hobbes strip is totally something I would do/have done to my BF Aundria...BEFORE she had the opportunity to do it to me...and she would in a New York minute too! ;0) Enjoy.

C and H

One of the best ever comic strips, bar none, was Calvin and Hobbes. It ranks up there with Bloom County, Peanuts and Zits for me...loved that comic. I thought it would be good to revisit some of their strips. So, since it is supposed to snow tonight, I figured I'd start with a snow related one. Enjoy!

Dog Tired

Wow…December 1st….doesn’t seem like it should be December already. Where did November go? Yeesh!

I am sooo dang tired! It would take 2 of me to be any more tired (lol). Yeah, the dog napping on the couch here is very appropriate today...wish it was me!! This morning was registration for the winter quarter. And I am officially “registered” for class. It took getting up at 4a.m. (ugh!) so I could be at the school by 5a.m. (oh yes, I said 5 in the a.m.) to stand in line to get in to the class I wanted, but by jingle I did it. Sounds completely nuts, doesn’t it. That’s what I thought as well when a friend told me (after I missed out on registration for last quarter) that I’d need to be at the school by 5 to wait in line. Nonsense…ridiculous…that’s just silly. Hah! When I arrived at the school at the crack of 5, I was flabberghasted to find that I was the 4th person in line!!! (good crikey!!) So I stood in line with my big cuppa coffee I grabbed on the way in to town, iPod on, in the cold, trying to keep warm, until the janitor (bless his heart) took pity on the 8 or 9 of us in line at 5:50 and let us into the school to wait….ahhh, warmth! :0) By the time they opened the door to the registrants office at 7:30 I was more than ready to get done and go to work. Standing/sitting in one spot not doing anything for that long on significantly less sleep than one is accustomed without dozing off is TOUGH!

I don’t know if I mentioned that Chantelle and James brought their “kid”, Benny the Pug (pictured above with Chris), with them over Thanksgiving. He had been having some health issues for a few days which made them not want to leave him home by himself overnight, so they loaded him up in his crate and brought him. He’s such a cute little guy…especially in one of his “hoodies” :0) Cracks me up. He stayed in the laundry room (where he managed to hop on top of the washing machine until James took the crate out of there) so that he wouldn’t get tangled up with one of our cats. He was a good boy, got to go for walks, and had lots of belly scratches. He snores! How cute is that?! I’m sure my house has not seen the last of Benny the Pug.

Have a great Monday!!!