Saturday Afternoon...,

I am feeling good about getting to sleep late, and still having time to get the Christmas tree up and decorated, and a few things put around the house. My, oh my, though - I didn't put half the ornaments on the tree, and didn't put much else out at all. I'm too afraid that Vinny will break things.  The house still looks festive!!

We had a nice time last night, at Tony's Studio B, listening to my co-worker's band and having a nice glass of pinot noir.  We stayed for one full set of music, then came home. It was good to see my boss and her mom there, as well as a couple of the Museum's Board members. We were in good company!

We will go to Mass this evening, and look forward to the first Sunday of Advent, preparing for the coming of our Lord.  Planning to spend a quiet evening and a quiet Sunday, with only laundry to do. It has been a nice four days off!!

 The band, last night, with my co-worker on the bongo.

 Advent wreath (still needs some decorations around the base).

 Cool Christmas Cats throw on the sofa.

 

Our wooden Nativity, in the foyer. I need to put a green cloth under it.

 Stockings hanging on the wall (and more on the other side).
We need to get one for Vinny!!

The tree, with no tinsel and only the
unbreakable ornaments on it.

Wishing you a good rest of the weekend!!  Thanks for stopping by my page!  Peace, love & hugs.

Day after Thanksgiving...

We will be eating turkey for a couple of days, but that's a good thing. I even sent leftovers home with guests, and we still have plenty left. Awesome! The left-overs are the best part of Thanksgiving dinner!

We were expecting Helen, Cheryl & Steve, but two hours before everyone was to arrive, Steve got in touch to see if he could bring a friend. Of course we said yes.  I quickly rearranged the table and put another place-setting out, pulled up another chair, and knew there would be plenty to eat, so no worries.  Marty (a female Marty) was very nice and appreciated being included.  Steve is a quadriplegic, having broken his neck in a car accident, right after he graduated from high school.  He is now in his mid-forties, and has two master's degrees and is almost done with his PhD. He is teaching college classes on-line and at one of the local colleges, as well as helping with marching band at one of the local high schools. He is amazing, to say the least, and we are happy our friend is back in Lakeland, after being away for 5-6 years.  Marty is the sister of his morning care-giver. Not sure if she is 'just a friend' or if it is more, but she was nice and we were happy he asked her to come for dinner.

I first met Steve back in the late 1990s, when I was working at Santa Fe Catholic High School, as the business manager. Steve was hired to be the music teacher, and he also taught the computer classes.  We've been friends for a long time.  He has been married (divorced after a few years), and also lived in Hawaii for awhile.

Anyway, dinner was good, the conversation lively and we all had very full tummies. I chucked the low carb diet for the day (but I HAVE lost just under 8 pounds, by the way).  Helen brought a pumpkin pie and a cherry pie, and Cheryl made an eclair cake that was to die for!  I roasted the turkey and we had all the usual sides to go with it.

I neglected to take any pictures, but Cheryl took this one:

Today, my intention was to get the Christmas decorations down from the attic, but Joe has not been motivated.  There is time. I'm not going to put much out this year, because of Vinny. I have Santa, Angel, and Snowman collections, and a collectible Nativity set, all of which will be in danger of Vinny.  The tree will be a big enough challenge. He is the typical curious cat, and investigates anything new.  He is also clumsy...not the typical agile and graceful feline. LOL  It's okay. No parties planned for this year, and no one coming to visit during the holidays.  It will make taking everything down easier, so there is that, too.

Tonight, we are going out, to join friends from work and listen to another co-worker's band. The music starts at 8:00 p.m. and it is in a wine bar/tapas type club. Should be fun!

I keep thinking it is Sunday, after being off yesterday, too. Sure is nice having a four-day weekend!!  I hope your Thanksgiving (friends in the USA) was all you wanted it to be and that those traveling, do so safely!

Thanks for stopping by!! Peace, love & hugs.

Thankful for YOU!

Wishing all my friends and family, connected here, a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving!!

It's Wednesday Hodgepodge Time....

Thank you, Joyce, for another list of great questions!! If you want to join in the fun, visit Joyce at

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com

1. Are you settling for something?  I think we all settle for some things, or perhaps it’s just that we finally accept things for what they are.  Nothing comes to mind at the moment. I love my job; I love my husband and our little home. We are back in the church we love, with our good friends and feel settled there….but that’s not exactly what you meant by your question.

2.  It wasn't that long ago almost every store in the US locked doors and turned out lights on Thanksgiving Day. This year many will be open all day Thursday, giving shoppers a jump start on 'Black Friday'. In your opinion is this a good thing or a not so good thing? Will you be shopping on Thanksgiving Day?  I am of an age, and from a small town that was completely closed every Sunday, holiday, and Wednesday nights (church night). I think we’ve lost something. Thanksgiving should be a food, family and football day (or movies, or games). Stay home and enjoy those you love!! Spend some quality time together, and let those who have to work in those stores you want to shop in, also stay home with their families.  We never get to see our youngest son because he always has to work at Safeway. Our Publix closes. Bless them!

3. Speaking of shopping... I saw a recent article on the twelve best shopping cities in the world. In order they are-

New York, Tokyo, London, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Dubai, Madrid, Milan, and Seoul.

Ever shopped in any of the cities listed? In which city would you most like to pull out the plastic or cold hard cash?  I have been to New York City once, when I was just out of high school. I did not “shop” except for souvenirs. I’ve not been to any of the other cities. I would love to get back to Italy, and Milan would be on my list to see next time. I’m not a big shopper. If I need something, I go get it, but just to wander the stores and spend time at the mall…not me.  I do enjoy the outlets when we are on vacation and see one at an exit…we usually stop.  Joe is a better shopper than I am.

4.  When did you last dine by candlelight?  Romantic candlelight….it’s been a long, long time. Candles on the tables at Bone Fish Grill….a few times a year, and some of the other restaurants we visit have candles on the tables, but the lights are also on and there is nothing romantic about it.  When the hurricanes went through Florida, back in 2004, we were without power for three days and did a lot of things by candlelight and flashlight! LOL

5. What do you have too much of?  Clothes that don’t fit anymore. Sigh.

6. The Hunger Games...are you a fan?  Did you read the book(s)?  Will you/have you seen the movie?  Will you/have you seen Catching Fire?  No spoilers please!  I read all the books and LOVED them. Saw the first movie and will most definitely see Catching Fire, but not during the first week or so. I’ll wait for the crowds to thin a bit.

7. Share your plans for Thanksgiving Day. The who, the where, the what...especially the what!  As in what's for dinner?  If you're one of my International visitors, whose homeland doesn't celebrate American Thanksgiving (the whole world doesn't ya know!), then still tell us your plans for Thursday.  We have always invited folks for Thanksgiving, who don’t have family around and have no plans. This year we will have our dear friend Helen, her niece Cheryl, and our friend, Steve, who has just recently returned to Lakeland after being gone a few years. There will be five of us around the table. We haven’t had family around for Thanksgiving, for years. Our son Jeff always has to work and our son Joe is in Kuwait this year.  I plan to serve turkey, stuffing/dressing (not in the turkey), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls, maybe butternut squash if I have time, beets, pickles, coleslaw, and Helen always brings the pecan and pumpkin pies (we have ice cream to go with the pies).

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I’ve mentioned it before, but I really miss the big family holiday gatherings of my childhood. It just isn’t the same anymore. Who is to blame? Probably all of us, for not making family time a priority. Cherish it, those of you who still have the big family get-togethers. Cherish it.

It will be a busy day for me, going forward, as mentioned in yesterday's post. Thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing my U.S. friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving, in case you aren't around Blogger tomorrow!  Peace, love & hugs!

Tuesday Tidbits....

We have a cold front coming through and it has already started blowing. It is raining (all day), the winds have picked up, we have tornado watches in our county and the two to the west of us. The temps will only get into the 60s tomorrow and Thursday (cold for us!!).  If it is that bad here, I know it is worse north of us! Be safe!!

People die, but why does it seem to happen to those we care most about, during the holidays?  A friend of mine lost her sister yesterday, and another friend lost her dad last night. So sad anytime, but especially during the holidays. Praying for Shirley, Bonnie, and their families.

Tomorrow, I will leave work around 2:00.  Joe and I will help deliver 1,350 Thanksgiving meals to elderly folks in our area.  VISTE (Volunteers In Service To The Elderly) does this every year. They send out a call for volunteers to gather at 3:30, at our Civic Center, and you are given a meal and an address/map, and sent on your way.  They usually have enough people to have to deliver only one meal each. It's an amazing organization and I look forward to delivering at least one meal tomorrow afternoon!!

The Knights of Columbus, at our church, do Thanksgiving meals for our 150+ member shut-ins, and those of us in the parish are asked to donate rolls and/or pie.  After we deliver the meal(s) for VISTE, we will stop at Publix for the rolls and a pie, to drop off at the church.  Another good organization doing good work!!

I have all I need for our Thanksgiving meal, so I just need to get a list written up, get organized, and then wake up early enough Thursday morning, to get the bird roasting!!

So much to be thankful for. Praise God.  Several of you are signing off Blogger until next week, so if you are one of those and are reading this, I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by!!  Peace, love & hugs!!

Popping in on Monday morning with a new Meme:  Monday Quiz About Me

You can find the questions at:  http://www.actingbalanced.com/

1. Yesterday (Sunday) was National Adoption Day in the US - does your family (or friend family) have an adoption story?

My family does have an adoption story! Our son, Joe, married Kathy, and she had a beautiful daughter (our Lauren) who was four years old at the time. After Joe & Kathy got married, Joey adopted Lauren. We don't even think of her as adopted. She is our granddaughter (age 23 now).  Since Joey & Jeff are my step-sons, one of my favorite things to say is that 'love lines are often times stronger than blood lines'.  I couldn't love the boys more if I had given birth to them myself, and I surely do love our Lauren.

 

2. Do you plan out your Thanksgiving preparations?  When do you start?

Bought the turkey last week. It is in the refrigerator thawing now. Finished getting everything else this past weekend, so now all I have to do it cook on Thursday. I can't get the table ready ahead because we have five cats who don't understand about a table set and ready for company. LOL

 

3. Shopping on holidays - pro or con?  What do you think of stores and malls opening at 6 PM or 10 PM on Thanksgiving for "Black Friday" What about Midnight or 3 AM?  Are you planning to shop at any time this coming weekend?

I think stores should be closed on the major holidays, but that won't happen. I, personally, will NEVER go shopping on Thanksgiving OR on Black Friday. No way will I put myself out there in that mess. There is no bargain worth fighting through the crowds of crazed people for (or standing in a long line for hours ahead).

 

4. Do you have a fireplace?  Do you use it?  If you don't, do you want one?

Had one in Virginia and rarely used it. Don't need one in Florida, so don't have one now and don't want one. We purchased a fire pit a few years ago, and never used it. Sold it in a garage sale. 

So, there you have the 'new-to-me' Monday meme.  Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you a good Monday!!  Peace, love & hugs.

Good Sunday.....

It has actually been a very productive weekend. Started out not so good on Friday, but thankfully my stomach issues were of the 24-hour type, and I have been getting stuff done since then! I did mending, I cleaned the house, I finished home bookkeeping and bank reconciliations, I am almost done with laundry, we went shopping for the rest of the things needed for Thanksgiving dinner, went to Mass, sold pecans after Mass, and went to my boss's house for her little girly thing. I still have the ironing to do, but that will happen this evening, after dinner....pot of chili on the stove. Whew!!

Claire's girls' thing was for her friend to introduce us to some new products she is selling. Forgive me for not even remembering the name of the line. It is something I've never heard of before, and will most likely never be concerned about again. It is one of those totally vegan, totally organic, no preservatives or animal testing things....all good, but they charge WAY too much.  The basic skin care set of NINE products cost $288.00. Little scented candles were $49.00.  A set of foot scrub and socks was $50.00.  Not something I could afford on a regular basis, but it was fun getting together and hearing about how the other half must live. LOL

I did buy a little tub of body butter that will be delivered to my house (yes, I had to pay shipping). It was 'only' $35.00.  I have sold MaryKay, Avon, and Weekender Clothing - I understand how it works and I know how bad it feels to not make a sale, so I wanted to buy something.  It was a fun hour, anyway. Not sorry I went.

It is nice to have so many things I've been avoiding, finally done. This coming weekend, after Thanksgiving, we will get the Christmas stuff down from the attic and start decking the halls. Hard to believe the end of the year is coming.  I am happy for Advent to begin, though, as we remember all that leads up to the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wishing you a good week ahead, and I thank you for stopping by!  Peace, love & hugs.

Saturday....

Good morning, and it IS a good morning, compared to yesterday morning!!

After my computer rested a bit, I turned it back on and PRAISE GOD it came up and seems to be fine. Talk about panic!! Dropping my computer was almost as bad as realizing Vinny was missing yesterday.

My stomach issues are not completely resolved, but I am doing much better now. I think it has more to do with my diet changing that it does being "sick".  I feel okay, just having some intestinal issues and that's enough about that.

Vinny must have heard me calling "breakfast, Vinny" over and over yesterday morning, thinking that would bring him home.  All the cats know "breakfast" and "supper".  I had gone back inside, Joe was still out walking the neighborhood, when our neighbor, Ginny, called to say she saw Vinny under a bush by the garage. I went out the front door, and he had run into the garage, under Joe's workbench. I closed the garage door, and we finally coaxed him inside.  He was a little scared and anxious, but within a couple of hours, you would never have known he had been gone. I could find no cuts, scrapes, or fleas!  Joe needs to really watch that door when he goes out to the garage. You have to actually shut it - it doesn't close on its own, and it's easy to just pull it behind you, but not latch it. We're sure Vinny got out that way.  Since he hides in the house when he sleeps, I really just didn't miss him until he didn't show up for breakfast.  I need to start doing a cat-count before I go to bed, I guess.

I forgot to take a photo earlier this week, of the pile of tree limbs in our front yard.  We had our tree-trimmer come and cut back our five trees (some had branches hanging on the roof again) and also to trim up the back fence row.  He does a nice job, and doesn't charge too much - but he doesn't take the branches away. We called the City to come get them, and the truck came yesterday. Joe told them that we had a truck full - so they came prepared.  By the time I heard them out there and grabbed the camera, they were almost done, but I snapped this from the front window....

The limbs were piled up about five feet high and (if you look at the debris on the ground) the pile was longer than the truck.  I am glad we finally got that taken care of. Having them hanging over the roof and scraping the shingles when the wind blows is not a good thing!

Today, I am supposed to go to a "girls thing" at my boss's house. I think one of her friends is selling some kind of new product line and Claire has invited us to come over for some girl time to hear about it. I don't know what the product is, so will have to tell you about that tomorrow.  I told her I would have to leave early because of church.  I have to sell pecans after Mass this evening, for my women's group fund raiser.  I think they are $8.00 a pound.

I did do a little cleaning yesterday, while I was home, and am trying to catch up on mending today. Tomorrow, I have to iron. I let the ironing pile up until I can't stand it being there anymore, and I am at that point.  LOL

Wishing you a good Saturday and Sunday!!  Thanks for stopping by, and for all your sweet comments yesterday!!  Peace, love & hugs.

I dropped my computer!!!!!  It has gone dark. Doing this on my Nexus7 and hate the digital keyboard.

Home today with a stomach thing. Doing much better now.

Sorry to miss your blogs today. Hoping for the best with my computer.

Peace love & hugs.

Throwback Thursday....

I've had lots of meetings today, and am headed for another shortly. I've been scanning some photos for Joe, from pictures his mom wanted him to have. He pulled them out the other day and started handing them to me, to put online for him.  Since my time is somewhat limited today, and since I got around 30 of them scanned over the past few evenings, I'll share a few of them here, for Throwback Thursday.  Bear with me, and thanks for looking!!

 Joe, his brother Nick, and his dad (who was a butcher).

 Joe's college (Villanova) graduation and his brother, Nick.

 Joe's brothers Lou & Nick, and Joe at age 11

Joe's dad (far right), in the meat market, with some other relatives.

 Joe's dad.

Joe, standing on his head! LOL

 Joe's mom and dad, in front of their house, in Berwyn, PA.

Me, Joe's Aunt Delphie, and Joe (1984!!!).

Joe, in front of his first office as an independent CPA, in Alexandria, VA, 1985.

Joe's mom and dad. I loved them dearly!!  Joe's dad came to the USA LEGALLY with a sponsor and a job. He only went through the 4th grade in Italy, and couldn't read or write English. He had his own business and made sure his three boys went to college. The American dream realized.

Thanks for stopping by!!  I wish you a good Thursday evening and Friday!  Peace, love & hugs.

Hodgepodge Wednesday....

I posted two blogs last night, and now have the Wednesday Hodgepodge ready to go!  If you would like to join in on the weekly fun, visit Joyce's page here: http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/

 

1. What lesson has failure taught you?  To communicate better.

2. What decision are you glad you made?  I’ve made lots of decisions I am happy about! To marry Joe, to accept the job offer to work at the Museum, to join Blogger when Multiply closed….

3. I've been a little bit surprised to see fully lit and decorated Christmas trees popping up for the past several weeks in friend's Instagram feeds. So tell the truth-is your tree up and decorated, and if so when did that happen? If not, when will you be decking the halls?  Our tree goes up the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving. Since we don’t have family for Christmas anymore, each year I find myself putting out less and less of our decorations. It’s too much work to take it all down!!  Our neighbors across the street have their tree up and lighted in their front window.

4. Solitaire-Poker-Rummy-Hearts-Go Fish-Old Maid...which game of cards would you most like to join? I am not a game player, so I could really care less about any game.  I do play solitaire on the computer now and then, and I used to be a good Euchre player, but no one down here in Florida has ever heard of Euchre. I don’t play to win; I play to have fun, so no one wants me for a partner because I don’t really care. It’s being with family/friends and the conversation that I enjoy, and if we have to play a game then I’m in, but not necessarily to win. LOL

5. This question comes to you courtesy of a Facebook friend, who once upon a time had a blog...When you're feeling stressed do you snack a lot or are you more the 'can't eat' type?  I’ve talked about worry and stress in blogs before. I work to not be stressed or worry. I just like to eat, period. I’ve never noticed that my snacking increases or decreases because of my mood.

6.  Have you ever reviewed a product or service on line? Was your review favorable or less than favorable? I shop on line all the time and frequently get one of those surveys or requests to rate the product I purchased – I don’t do it, mainly because they want my name and email to go with the review. I know my information is out there, but I don’t have to add to it in a review.

7. What was the best conversation you had yesterday?  The BEST was Joe and I telling each other about our day, at dinner. The most interesting was at lunch yesterday, after the garden tour I went on. See my blog for more info about the tour. It was fun to talk with new acquaintances.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. This year has gone much too fast.