Happy New Year

I found this happy sign on Pinterest and I think it says Happy New Year quite nicely...it's strange how turning over the calendar from one month/one year to the next can bring on such promise.  Each day should be happy,

 sparkly, 

do-over, 

shiny,

 a blank canvas, 

full of promise, 

hopeful

 and brand spankin' new each and every day. 

 That is what I wish for you this New Year's Eve 

with a bunch of blessings thrown in too....!!! 

A collection of some of the cups and mugs from December....this brought me a lot of joy.

And my December weeks in review....more joy!!

Tomorrow begins a new year....hard to believe but we have been given another chance to right some wrongs, try harder, say yes for the right reasons, extend a hand, smile more and frown less, and be thankful instead of resentful.  Happy New Year, friends.

Until next time.....

  

Not Quite Comfortable Yet.

As the year is coming to a close, I think we all tend to look back at the rights we did, along with the wrongs. This morning as I read the bi-monthly newsletter from Kat Sloma from The Kat's Eye View she was also looking back at how long it has taken her to really feel that the USA is again home for her after spending time in Italy.  Never quite realizing that it would take her 18 months to feel at "home" again.  I immediately compared my life to hers, not in feeling that the USA is my home which it is and always has been, but in feeling comfortable and "normal" in my home.   It has been 16 months since my sweetie moved into the memory care facility and I am not sure yet that I have settled  into this new lifestyle.  Oh most days come and go, sometimes I am with friends, other times not.  I do relish my time alone, never realizing that alone time can be a good thing.  I enjoy the coming and going without the worry of someone at home to care for, I enjoy eating whenever and whatever I please, again not worrying about preparing lunch or dinner.  I enjoy the staying up late or going to bed early without the worry of making sure everyone is settled for the night.  I don't worry about purchasing something frivolous and then having to explain my actions.  If laundry piles up, it's mine.

But having said all that, I miss the hell out of being with my husband, growing old together, traveling like we had planned together, visiting our kids, working in the garden together, going to the movies together, him taking out the garbage and getting the cars serviced and not me, partnering with him as he practiced his faith being a Deacon at church.  And eventho on New Year's Eve he would invariably fall asleep before midnight, I so wish he was here so I could watch him sleeping and give him a New Year's kiss.  So no, I guess I haven't quite settled into feeling comfortable with my new life, not completely anyway.  

My word for 2013 is YES and I have a whole list of what I want to say YES to beginning with 'to worry less and say yes to more prayer'.  My grandson & granddaughter-in-law gave me a book for Christmas by Anne Lemott (a wonderful author) entitled THANKS, HELP, WOW.  The only three prayers we need.  I plan to use this book to assist me on my "more prayer" journey.

How about you?  Do you chose a word for the year?

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."  ~Leo Buscaglia

Until next time....

Its Winter Time....

As much as I love the Spring with it's glorious growth and color there is something a little mystical about winter, especially when snow is involved.  If there is no snow, winter can be pretty darn boring with colors of grey and brown with an occasional blue sky.  But I am quite giddy when I find red berries on a bush with a little snow and red barns after a snowfall. 

 Red barns are good anytime of the year, but with snow, again mystical.

Some tiny pine cones on a tree are delightful when the snow begins to fall....

To see a tree without it's leaves shows us beauty with it's structure....

Hydrangeas covered with snow in the winter are as beautiful as they are when blooming pink or blue or white in the summer.

And a blue spruce with it's needles a soft ice blue with snow laying ever so gently on it's boughs is a pleasant sight....

And pine needles so long and green....

yes, a winter scene is definitely mystical.

How about you...do you find winter a little mystical?   I am sharing with Madge at


There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.  ~Ruth Stout

Until next time....

Oh What Fun

I am back from a wonderful, magical, filled with beautiful memories, Christmas vacation, totally unlike the movie from the same name.

After waiting around for the UPS driver to arrive to deliver a couple more Christmas gifts, my granddaughter, Brie, and I headed out to drive to Lake Geneva, WI for a Christmas vacation in a rented cabin filled with family, food, gifts, 3 dogs and snow on the ground. We arrived with the last of the 3 dogs, more food and a trunk full of gifts.

Christmas morning was gift giving time.....

There was some serious game playing.....

Delicious food was prepared.....

We gathered around the table to give thanks......

We played in a winter wonderland.....

I loved having all my grandkids together for Christmas....

I loved that their spouses & boyfriends were able to join us too....

This was a magical Christmas, filled with game playing, plenty of eating, watching Christmas movies...."The Christmas Story", "It's a Wonderful Life", "Home Alone", and "Elf", plenty of time by the fire, just a grand family Christmas.  The only thing missing was my sweetie.  I hope you all had a magical Christmas.

Now if you are still with me....please visit my collaborative blog "Focusing on Life" where I am musing on saying "yes" in 2013.  AND while you are there find out how you could win a $100 gift certificate to Adorama.  Our gift to you, our readers.

Until next time.....

This Is It Kids.....

 Well, this is it kids....if you haven't been good up to this point, it might be a little late cause Santa's packing up that sleigh and heading our way.   When I was a kid there was a radio station that would keep track of Santa's progress across our great planet...letting us know when he might be expected in our neck of the woods.  Sure would make my Mom's job easier getting me to go to bed on Christmas eve when the announcer would say he was approaching and all of us little ones needed to head off to bed and fall fast asleep so his magical sleigh with his tiny reindeer could land.  I would indeed go to bed, but fall asleep, never.  I waited to hear those tiny reindeer paws on our roof, and I always did.

Yesterday, my granddaughter came to stay for a couple of days before Christmas and we headed out to do some last minute Christmas shopping...but before the shopping, a stop at Steak & Shake for a little lunch and some yummy peppermint/chocolate chip shakes.  That fortified us for the shopping.

Then after the shopping and a quick nap (shopping always wears me out, especially 2 days before Christmas)....Brie made cookies....chocolate with peppermint frosting.  Tasting was an absolute must...so between the peppermint shakes & the chocolate peppermint cookies we were both on sugar highs.

We are leaving in a couple of hours to go to a "cabin in the woods" that my daughter rented for the holidays....actually it is a house in Lake Geneva, WI surrounded by trees and snow (yippee), with a plenty of bedrooms and baths for our family to enjoy for tonight thru Thursday morning for some good ole family fun.  Games, food, presents, fun, laughter, a lot of picture taking and 3 dogs.

The car must be loaded with all of these....

I will be taking a break from blogging for the next few days, but before I go I want to wish all a very Merry, Merry Christmas.  You all are a true blessing in my life.

"I've learned that Santa Claus has good years and bad years."  ~  Age 10

"I've learned that you should never jump off the high diving board  when you are wearing a bikini."  ~  Age 11

"I've learned that ranch dressing tastes good on everything."  ~  Age 19

"I've learned that putting things in a safe place doesn't mean you can find them again when you look."      ~  Age 58

Until next time....

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - The December 23,2012 Edition

Wow, down to the last 2 Sundays of 2012.  Time really does march by so swiftly, I know I say this almost every week, but instead of slowing down, time continues it's rapid pace.  I do believe there is a gene that as you age, time moves quicker....you've heard that, right?  Anywhooo, with all that said today is Scavenger Hunt Sunday with the lovely Ashley and this week's challenges are:

• Joy
• Tangled
• Silver
• Guilty Pleasure
• Angel

Last night I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and guess what, still not finished.  Wrapping those gifts I am always filled with joy in the giving and hoping there will be joy in the receiving.  I love to add ornaments to gifts to be seen later hanging on their Christmas tree.

Hmm...these two look like sequined boobs from this angle.....

Toby decided this original ball of twine was a ball to play with....now look at this tangled mess.

Don't have much silver in my home...mostly gold.  But I do have these cute little ornaments that have added make-believe snow (since we can't seem to get the real stuff this year)

Oh my, guilty pleasure.  Definitely toffee, homemade, Trader Joe's, or Land's End any and all are delicious and I cannot resist them.  You noticed I mentioned homemade...ate and gone, Trader Joe's ....ate and gone, Land's End, working on that one too.  Can you see all the empty wrappers.

And last, but certainly not least is angel.  I don't know about you but there are many many angels in my life from the caretakers at my sweetie's memory care facility, to my friends that have stuck with me thru the really ugly times in my life, to my dear family and to you my sweet blogging friends, somedays you truly are the angels in my life....angels are all around us.....oh I just saw one, must be my guardian angel.  I keep her active all the time.

That's it for the next to the last Sunday of the year and the last of the Scavenger Hunt Sundays for 2012. It has been great fun and I look forward to more hunts in 2013.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!  Come visit Ashley's blog and see many other delights.

Until next time.....