Laura - Enjoy your tree. In the past, I've used shorter trees set atop tables, and they looked quite nice. Good for you for not overindulging at the party.

Happy - Santa passed his temperament evaluation at two different places, so now I have a couple different places I can take him. I won't be moving too much stuff over to D's right now. Just clothes, some books, my desk, a small bookcase, my bike and my two computers (one desktop/tower and one laptop). 'There was a glitch with my background check. Apparently when they ask for your middle name a middle initial is not good enough. So I resubmitted my paperwork via email last night and have to send the hard copies via FedEx this afternoon. I'm glad you liked my I'm not a doctor comment....I said that the other day to a friend, and he laughed too.

Afternoon all.
Finished work for the year and am sorting out the washing and getting things ready to go to Adelaide. I go on Monday early morning so would like to get everything done asap. Not that there is a lot to do. I'm not taking much with me.

Yeah Happy- it is the office building where they have discovered the cracks in the stairwells and the problems associated with it. So when we come back next year, it will be a new office block somewhere further uptown.

Laura, thanks for the e-card. Haven't read it yet, will get around to those things tomorrow morning.

Michelle - interesting living arrangements you will have soon. Are you friends with all of them?

Ceejay - enjoy the 3 days off. I'm sure they will go very fast. Are you working over Christmas?

Annie - some sad family news on your front. Take a moment to go hug the hubby. I am so sorry for that poor young girl.

Hiya Susie. Hope you are not working too hard.

Catchup with all of you later. I'm off to take a nana nap. For some reason I am stonkered.

This day has gone by quickly. But I did get a lot done.

Michelle
Wow, the government sure is a stickler in the paper work. Don't over do on the move.

Happy
20 inches of snow is a lot of whiten stuff but you will have a white Christmas.
Thanks for the information of the inner ear. Didn't realize that neck rolls helped that.

Shad
Yes, I'll be holding down the fort at work both Christmas Eve and day. It falls on my days to work. It's just overtime. I'll got to Paragould that week end.

Laura
Good for you in not over indulging on the food at work. I hope I can do the same on Monday.

Susie
What are you doing?

Annie
Prayers are going up on behalf of your niece and brother.

Not sure if this is legal but this is the yoga video that I like. Vinyasa flow yoga for beginners on you tube.

I am tired....tired of sad news, tired of fighting bullsh*t, just plain tired. Told my brother I am so ready to go to heaven I will take his place immediately. Everything is just irritating me to no end. I pray and pray for everyone and everything. Exhausted. Ready to go. I know, be thankful for all that is good, kids, grandbabes etc etc. whatever, over it. Done

Annie - I'm praying for you and your family. I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I wish I could do something. I understand what you're going through...just tired of all the sad, bad news. Sending you lots of love and hugs.

Shad - I hope you have a wonderful time in Adelaide. So nice that you'll get to spend the holidays with Miss S. I hope her mum is in a good mood while you're there. Yes, it will be an interesting living situation for me. I just met D's brother, and he seems nice. The disabled man...well, he sleeps most of the time, and when he's not sleeping he keeps to himself. I'm sure I'll be quite busy at first helping Santa and D's cat adjust to each other.

Ceejay - Thanks for sharing the title of the yoga video. Enjoy your time off.

Big to Happy, Laura and Susie.

Love and hugs,

Morning all. Yes, still morning here!!! Gloomy drizzily/rainy day here, but the temps are mild, so that's a positive. And it's Friday!! TGIF!!

A Mel pic:


Annie - I'm so sorry you have such sad sad things going on with your loved ones. All you can do is keep praying, and like you said, keep in mind all the good things in your life and savor them to the fullest.

Ceejay - Well, hopefully it'll be nice and quiet and uneventful for you at work next week. Nice that it's your regular work schedule but you get OT for it!! Thanks for the name of the yoga workout. I'll have to check it out.

Shad - Enjoy your weekend! Wishing you safe & smooth travels to Adelaide and a pleasant time with the family. I forget - the other DS is also traveling down there too, right?

Michelle - I hope the background check re-do goes through without any hitches this time. So do you have to take any stuff to your storage unit if it's not going to D's? More work - aargh, please don't overdo it with your back!

Hellos to Susie and Happy!
==

We did not get the tree up last night. We decided to go to the Dominick's grocery near our house. That chain isn't doing well at all, so the locations that haven't been sold already are closing next week. They've been having 50% off clearance sales to clear their shelves.

Since the sales have been going on for a couple weeks now, we really didn't expect there to be much left there, but I guess they still were still getting shipments, and then there's still a lot of things you don't think of that were still available. We ended up being in there for over 90 min, prob. longer, and ended up with over $170 of items for $88! And most items are the usual types of things we use, including frozen/canned/boxed/CHEESE lol - and good timing - some sterno fuel we will need tomorrow night for our block's holiday potluck party. [At nearly the last minute (~3 wks ago), our next door neighbor decided to host it. So bf and I will bring Italian beef and sausages and bread for sandwiches as our contribution.]

By the way, Happy, they had a lot of the seasoned broths you'd mentioned, so we decided to try 1 box of the mexican one and 1 box of the thai ginger. The recipes on the back of the box looked pretty good! Looking forward to making some soup! This was a nice opportunity to try it and see if we like it.

Anyway, by the time we got home and put it all away (thank goodness for the 2nd fridge/freezer in the basement), it was late and I didn't eat until later and was late to bed. I'm sure it'll hit me later on today.

Tonight we will hopefully get the tree set up as well as stockings and a few other things. Tomorrow evening is the potluck. Sunday, who knows. Well, I DO know - I need to get some shopping finished!!

I will work on Monday. Tuesday I'm taking vacation and bf's mom is coming over for Christmas Eve dinner. Wednesday we go to my SIL's sisters place for Christmas dinner with my family. I need to make an appetizer for Wednesday - any suggestions? Something more than cheese & crackers, but nothing too elaborate or filling. Thanks!!

This morning has flown by. A ghost of projects past has reared its ugly head and the boss and I have been trying to refresh our memories on something we did well over two years ago!! Oy!

Off to lunch!

Hi ladies,

Last night we got some soft falling snow and it was really twinkling in the night. Very pretty. Today it's big and sunny out there. Still cold and I'm not sure we will see 20 degrees ever again. But it's fine if you can stay inside and the house is always warmer with the sun shining. I'm going to tackle the cards today and do some pick up stuff. I also want to look through my cooking magazines and identify a few dishes and maybe some treats for the holidays. Since it will be just DH and I, I would like to make it a bit special. I was thinking today - I just don't have that "Christmas spirit" any more. Did I ever really have it, is it something manufactured from watching sappy Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel or have times changed and the memory dims and it's not quite the same as we remember? I just don't know.

One thing I do know and I will shoot some of this unsolicited advice your way too Annie is that we should not take things for granted. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day blah stuff and Lord knows it sure is easy to get bummed out when we think of the loss or the suffering of those we hold dear to us. Particularly at this time of the year. But there is a purpose to everything. Perhaps we stay healthy and strong because we have big shoulders to comfort those in need. Perhaps we are the problem solvers so the burden falls on us to figure out how to make things right. Sometimes I get frustrated with DH because he can be such a... a... guy! WHY can't you think???? But then, he does something so sweet I feel so badly for getting annoyed. And I think - especially when he's not in the house - what would I do without him? And one day one of us is going to be without the other. That's how life works. So is it worth it to waste time fretting on something, or should we instead turn our focus to dealing with what's here right in front of our faces. As my Grandma famously said - I love flowers. Give me flowers today when I can stick my face in them, take a big smell and admire their beauty. Don't send me nice ones when I'm dead (at my funeral) because I'll never get any pleasure out of them and we both lose - I don't get to enjoy them and you wasted your money. Gramma was a wise one So while I totally understand your sadness Annie, dry your tears. Take a deep breath. Go see or call your brother and your cousin. Do something that will make them smile and forget about their troubles for the moment. Cherish them while you both walk this earth and be here and live your life for those like Mel who no longer can. Ok?

Michelle - wish you well with the move. Sounds like it will be an interesting mix. Sorry for the snafu on the background check. Geez - but then again you have a simple name so I can see where there might be more than one person sharing your name. That's where those of us with complicated names have an edge I hope it gets straightened out quickly. Nice to hear that Santa has been pre-approved at a few places - always good to have some choices.

Ceejay - the last link didn't come through but I'm sure I can find it on YouTube. Thank you for your suggestions, I'll be sure to look them up. That's a bummer that you have to work the eve and holiday. Are you working longer shifts? Do you have a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree to keep you company at work?

Laura - congrats on the strength to ignore the appetizers at the holiday party. I am a big fan of little bites of things. Oh geez - I can't even imagine trying to get the big Christmas tree through that small opening in the ceiling to the attic storage. I'm sure you can make the little table top tree look nice and cozy.

Shad - hope you have a good time with the family. Relax and have a good time and be well rested to join the chaos when you get back to work.

Hi Susie

Guess I'd better get on with the day. Enjoy yours.

Hey Laura,

Typing over each other as usual. Score on getting some things from Dominick's My sister is sad to see her store close too.

Re: appetizers. Deviled eggs. Or smear some softened cream cheese all over a plate. Spread the contents of a bottle of shrimp cocktail sauce on top (we like Hoffmans brand). And over that sprinkle a bag of the (defrosted of course) tiny salad shrimp or chopped up larger shrimp. Serve with Ritz crackers. Just drag the cracker across the plate to scoop up the goodness. That's easy and a favorite in our family. Or a package of Knorr Vegetable soup mixed into 1 cup mayo and 1 cup sour cream. Let flavors sit and meld for at least one hour prior to serving. Serve as a dip with either chopped vegetables or add 1 can of diced water chestnuts to the dip and serve in a hollowed out bread bowl of a dense bread such as rye, pumpernickel or sour dough.

Glad you had an opportunity to pick up some of the seasoned broths. They make a quick and easy soup. I'm sure you will like it.

Hope you get your shopping all done. My new yoga mat just came today. I have it between the back door and the screen to "air" out as it looks like a nice dense one but it smells terribly of plastic right now.

Guess we will all be yoga'ing into the new year. See what you started Ceejay?

Happy - Good advice there for all of us. I'm guessing if you just type Ceejay's description/title in a search engine it will return what you're looking for.

Happy - Good ideas - espec. the deviled eggs and the shrimp. Might just do deviled eggs and plain old boiled shrimp & cocktail sauce.

Hi ladies,

Not sure who asked, but I won't be moving much stuff out of my storage and into D's...at least not for a few weeks/months. There's really no room there as he's storing a lot of stuff that was his mom and dad's. His mom passed away two years ago, and his dad is now engaged and living with his fiance and doesn't have room for all the stuff from his former house. And I won't be moving much into my storage either as there's just not room.

Happy - Thanks for the great easy appetizer ideas! Simple and yummy...that's my idea of cooking.

Laura - What a great score at the closeout sale. It's sad when smaller businesses have to close their doors because they can't compete with the big box retailers.

My Mellie Moment for the day - she was always putting out some kind of fire

WE HAD EXCITEMENT OF OUR OWN TO KEEP US BUSY
THE WOMAN NEXTYDOOR TO JEN & RICHIE FORGOT SHE HAD MEAT IN THE OVEN AND DAMNED NEAR SET HER APT ON FIRE. SO SHE OPENED THE DOOR, OPENED THE OVEN AND LET ALL THE SMOKE OUT INTO THE HALLWAY AND SET OFF THE BIG FIRE ALARMS WHEN THE FIREMEN FOUND HER SHE WAS SITTING BY HER OPENED WINDOW CRYING. SO THEY CAME DOWN TO ME AND ASKED FOR A TRANSLATOR...HELLO!!!!!!!!!! I DON'T SPEAK THE LING BUT FOUND SOMEONE WHO COUDL AND IM CAN'T GO THERE ANYWAY.....TOO MUCH SMOKJE....WHAT WERE THESE GUYS THINKING OF?!?!

JEN & RICHIE ARE HOME AND AIRING OUT THEIR APARTMENT. POOR KIDS HAD TO COME HERE FOR AQ BIT. WE ATE AND THEY HAD ENCHILADAS WITH RICE & BEANS. IT WAS TOO HOT FOR ME SO I HAD TOASTED ARTISAN BREAD WITH CREAM CHEESE & GRAPE JAM FROM TRADER JOES.....YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TOMORROW WILL BE BUSY. MY BOSS IS BACK WITH HER "BOOT" STILL ON AND THERE IS A LOT OF CRAP TO FILL HER IN ABOUT.

SO TONITE I THOUGHT I WOULD CHEER YOU GALS ON FOR MONDAY!!



WORLDLY SONFIs UNITE!!
THIS IS A BRAND NEW WEEK!
STAY STRONG AND FORGE AHEAD!
WE ARE WOMEN....HEAR US ROAR!!!!!!

don't it make you wonder what's going on in the building now a days? Perhaps I should subscribe to the Weehawken news just out of curiosity.

Glad you liked the appetizer ideas. Now I'm hungry.

That's a good thing you don't have that much to move Michelle. Sometimes just packing up the clothes is enough to carry! And.. I suppose the longer you live without the other stuff, the easier it is one day to just get rid of it. I am doing some serious clutter evaluation in my own life at the minute.

I bought 2 new kitty beds and I'm glad they are both using them instead of the usual why did I waste my money? Only thing is that Meadow is happy to take "the other one" and then that little peendah Nina has to go chase her out of it and then go sit in it and look all innocent "just because". She is really something. I'm cheering Meadow to give her a good cuff and she's lucky Meadow is so easy going because she's almost twice her size and all muscle. Like Danny Devito trying to push around Arnold Schwartzenegger.

Got our new cable boxes today and it took DH all morning to get them set up. Now we can record up to 5 simultaneous shows at once. Far more than we need. But we are enjoying the streaming music through Pandora. Let me go see if they have some Christmas stuff...

I have to fess up. You remember how I couldn't decide between the two job offers? Well, here's what I'm doing...it's awful of me, and I feel a bit guilty...but at the same time, if the employers want to "try before they buy", why can't I? So I started the SJ job on Wednesday, and I worked Wednesday through today, then the company is closing down for two weeks for Christmas/New Years. They will be closed until Jan. 6th.

Then the SF job said I could start on Monday, even before my background check was fully complete. This will give me a chance to check out the commute. Even though it will be a bit lighter than normal for the next two weeks, the amount of time on the commute shouldn't be too much different (just the trains won't be as crowded). If I hate the commute and it's not worth the extra money or potential stability, then I'll go back to the SJ job on 1/6. If I don't mind the commute (if I use it to read or write on my book), then I'll e-mail my manager at the SJ job that I got a better, more permanent offer (even though it's technically not permanent).

I know, I'm an awful person for doing this. I don't blame you if you think less of me. I just hope it doesn't affect our friendships. I just need to know that whatever job I take, the job and the commute are both things I can handle well. I try and do things my dad would be proud of...if he were still alive...and it bothers me that I don't think he'd be too proud of this. :-( I just didn't know what else to do...I felt like I needed to try out both (just like the companies want to try me out) to be sure. :-(