New Years

Have you thought about your New Years Resolutions yet?

I'm thinking mine should be:
1. To get better organized
2. To do more stamping
3. To complete some scrapbooks that need to be finished.
4. To make more images for stamps.

I made myself a page at MySpace. You should check it out. The address is http://www.myspace.com/mypapermoon. It was a lot of fun to do, and I can keep in touch with my friends and family.

Do you have any plans for New Years? Any parties to go to? Having friends and family in?

We're going to Savannah to visit my step-son who is going back to Iraq in January. He's stationed at Ft. Stewart, in Hinesville, GA, which is very close to Savannah. It's going to be another l-o-n-g year...

Toodles...will talk with you later.

Whew!

I feel just like this polar bear...whew!

I had a wonderful Christmas, how about you? I got something I've been wanting for a long time...a Scor-It Board! Can't wait to make some cards with it. And, my sweetie got me a circle of love necklace. Awwww.... I would have been completely happy with no gifts at all....I got to spend money on my 2 sweeties, Rachel and Emilie, and they had a wonderful Christmas. I think they got everything they wanted except the Butterscotch Pony. So, they had a good Christmas, which means I had a good Christmas.

Scott fixed dinner for us all...we had prime rib, rolls, greek salad, and presley made deviled eggs and his mom brought green bean casserole.

I got signed up on My Space, so I can keep in touch with my family, who is spread out all over the country. If you want to take a look, the url is www.myspace.com/mypapermoon.

We'll be spending New Years in Savannah. Woohoo!

Talk to you again, soon...

Twas the day before the day before Christmas Eve

Ah, Friday...

I dressed for work this morning in Scott's elf outfit, complete with curled toe shoes, and elf hat. I must say I looked smashing. LOL

It wasn't busy, so after I did payroll and went to the bank, I came home at 11:30. I like days like that! :-)

It's softly raining. I like that. It would be better if we would get some cold weather for Christmas, but I don't think it's gonna happen. It's 80 degrees right now, and the temperature would have to drop drastically. But rain is good. The grass is freshly mowed and the smell of grass and rain is nice.

I got a card from Paula Deen! For those of you who don't know, Paula Deen owns some restaurants in Savannah, GA, and has some cooking shows on TV. A very southern lady. I mailed her a copy of the cookbook I had printed of my mother's recipes, and she sent me a thank you card. How sweet is that?

I got my Chinese Chews made last night, and let me tell you, they are good! I took some to work today, and they didn't last long.

I helped Scott put together some fruit salad for a family get-together tomorrow at my neice, Kathy's house. My sisters are coming from out of state/town, and they and my brother and various family members will be there. It will be the first time all 4 of us have been together since my Mom passed away in 2001. We'll have a great time, I'm sure.

So, it may be a few days before you hear from me again. Have a Merry Christmas!

Thursday - again!

The time is flying! I still have cookies to make, lights to see, and gifts to wrap! I need more time! I need an elf helper.


Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I love the hustle and bustle, the shopping, the parties, the love of family and friends. The baking, the expressions on the faces of my granddaughters as they open their gifts on Christmas morning, and the general feeling of love all around. It's too bad that Christmas is the only time some people show that love and compassion for others. The world would be a better place if we could all keep that Christmas spirit all year round.

One of my favorite Christmas Cookie recipes:

Chinese Chews

3/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. chopped dates
Confectioners sugar

Mix together all ingredients EXCEPT confectioners sugar. Bake in bread pan at 360 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into small squares while hot and roll in your hands. Watch out! It's hot! Dip in confectioner's sugar and let cool.

These are yummy!

Weekend

Happy Monday!

Whew! Another whirlwind weekend!

And you know what? I love my husband! He's given me the best Christmas present ever by giving me money to make sure Rachel and Emilie had good Christmases. That's worth more than all the presents in the world!

Now on to my weekend.

Saturday morning I went looking for red and green T-shirts, since Scott decided he wanted to be an elf for the party we were going to Saturday night. None to be found, however, I did find an "Elf Gone Wild" t-shirt in red and a t-shirt in green that he could use to make his costume. He bought an elf hat, and since he already had red and green tights and elf shoes, he was almost all set. I had to make him a "naughty and nice" book to write names and we bought him a candy cane pen to use. I'll post pictures when I get them. His costume turned out rather well.

I also did a mountain of laundry on Saturday, so I was ready for some fun.

We got to the party around 7 p.m., and everyone had a good laugh. At around 8 p.m. Santa showed up! It was a hoot because Santa was his good friend, Dave, and we didn't know Dave was showing up as Santa, and Dave didn't know Scott was showing up as an elf. They even "sang" karaoke "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" together - if you can call it singing. It sounded more like something in a lot of pain. :-) But we had a really good time.

Sunday morning we got up early, did some shopping at the grocery store, and I wrapped all the presents I had bought.

Scott and I weren't buying for each other this year, but I'll tell you what I got him, if you promise not to tell. Promise? All righty then, I'll tell you. I put together an "I'm nuts about you" box. I bought a huge can of whole cashews, a huge can of mixed nuts, a summer sausage, 4 packs of microwave popcorn, and 4 DVD's. Now he'll have a weekend survival kit.

And I know he bought me something, too, because Christy let slip that they had to wrap "them". That means more than one, right? Hmmmm...wonder what it is....they are conspiring, because last night when we were at their house, they were whispering together. She never could keep secrets....I'll make her spill....

We took naps and watched TV and read and went for chinese food, and had a lazy day on Sunday. Which I needed, very badly.

TGIF

Happy Friday!

Glad the weekend is coming up. I can use the time off to refresh myself. It's been a whirlwind few weeks, with weekends being busy, too. And I'm tired.

Got my orders mailed out this morning. Glad I had the postage already on them. The lines at the post office are l-o-n-g.

I think we are going to spend New Years in Savannah. Scotty will be going back to Iraq in January, so it will be our last time to see him for a year. I worry about him going back. He's going to the not nice area this time. His dad will be a basket case for the next year. But we made it through this once and we can do it again.

Do you have any plans for the weekend? I need to get to the cemetary sometime this weekend and put poinsettias on the graves of my parents. I HAVE to do laundry this weekend. We also are going to a Christmas party Saturday night at Sandy's Grille. We always have a lot of fun there.

Missed my buddy, Rachel, this morning. She always fixes my coffee right, and she didn't come by this morning.

Ya'll have a great weekend! Don't party too much, and get that shopping done!

Happy Thursday...

Good afternoon. It's a dreary day here in Sebastian. The sun would like to come out, but it's been drizzling rain all morning. It would have been a good day to sleep in....alas, work calls.

I'm having a 12 Days of Christmas promotion, and will draw a name per day from the orders I receive until Christmas. The lucky winner will get a mini grab bag. Seems like a good deal to me. Come on over to http://www.mypapermoon.com and get in on the excitement.

Rachel brought me some cookies this morning that she helped her Mom make last night. Snickerdoodles and Cat Crap Cookies. Mmmmmm.

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? Are you listening to Christmas carols? Do you have any parties you're going to attend?

Gingerbread Houses and Weekends

One of the things Rachel wanted to do this year was to make a Gingerbread House. Well, we did it! The pictures aren't real clear, but the house is still standing, and it'd decorated, and nothing has caved in or fallen off!



It's been a busy, busy week since I last posted. Saturday I went Christmas shopping - and finished up.

Saturday night we went to Scott's Christmas party at Shutters at the Disney Beach Resort. It was very nice. It's fun to see people you only get to see once a year.

The Space Shuttle launch Saturday night was also spectacular. I love night launches. This one lit up the whole sky when they hit the gas, and you could see it very well. Beautiful.

Sunday Christy called and wanted me to go Christmas shopping with her, so I went, and finished up my shopping - AGAIN! I think this time I am really done unless I think of something else I need to get. It's been fun this year to shop.

Last night Rachel and I made the gingerbread house, and I think I might wrap presents tonight.

Tuesday

Hello and Happy Tuesday. The weather yesterday turned cooler, which I like, but I wasn't dressed for it. I had to go home at noon and put warmer clothes on. LOL

Found out Monday that my son-in-law lost his job. Three weeks before Christmas, and no job. Not good timing. I intend to see that the girls have a good Christmas, though. This is the first year I have had any money (thanks to Scott), and I'm spending it all on Rachel and Emilie.

I opened up the house yesterday so we could have all that fresh air. I'm hot at night, so I don't sleep with a lot of covers. And since I have a mouse in my house and we are making the cats sleep inside, I don't get up to let them in and out all night long, so I slept soundly. Maybe too soundly, because today my back has a kink in it.

Stamping Project: For Christmas I'm altering yearly planners. It's been fun. I bought the planners with the slip off clear vinyl covers. I got them pretty cheap at the dollar store. Took the vinyl cover off, measured and cut cardstock to fit the outside cover and attached it with adhesive. I used Yes glue on some, and regular adhesive on the others. I think I like the regular adhesive best. Yes took a long time to dry, and the paper had a tendency to slide.

After the cardstock was attached to the cover, I gathered up stamps and embellishments and went to work. I'll post a picture maybe tomorrow, if I get a chance to scan some of them. Each one is different, and I tried to make it to match the personality of the person who will receive it.

Gotta go for now...talk again soon.

Fun Weekend

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Sometimes life gets in the way!

Anyway, Saturday afternoon I had to run some errands, and on the way I passed a sign that said "Parade Float Staging Area". Parade? What parade? I didn't know there was a parade. Hmmm.

Anyway, I did my errands and got home around 5:30 p.m. Hubby, Scott, was going to grill steaks, with a greek salad, but my mind was racing.

I called Christy to see what Emilie and Rachel were doing, but she wasn't home. Neither was Rachel, it turns out. She was at her other grandmother's. At this point I still don't even know what time the parade starts.

After a couple of phone calls I find out it starts at 6 p.m. Yikes! I'd better get a move on. Scott says to take Em to the parade, he'll wait on fixing dinner.

So, I call Presley and ask what Em's doing. She's taking a nap. Well, how long has she been asleep? About an hour. Well, wake her up and get her dressed, we're going to a parade. Okay, but she was nasty when I put her to bed. Get her up anyway.

So, I get to their house, and Em is ready and sitting on her bed. Not in a good mood. I talk her into going anyway. We get in the car and she is instantly a good child. I don't know if she's had supper or not, but we'll find something to snack on while we watch the parade.

So, we did. We got there about 6 p.m., but the parade started north of us, so we got there in plenty of time. It was just a short parade, but Emilie was delightful. She waved to the people in the parade and wished them a Merry Christmas.

Then we came home and ate by candlelight (and firelight) in the backyard. We toasted marshmallows (she didn't like them), then we came inside and made a few snowflakes at a really cool website, then she went to bed and watched TV (after snacking with Scott) until she fell asleep.

Then, this morning, at first light, up pops Emilie. She has this thing about getting up as soon as the sun comes up. We went to the kitchen, where she stamped awhile and we sang songs, until Scott got up. She got tickled because he was in his underwear. She has the cutest giggle and a smile that will stop your heart.

We went to breakfast, where she ate a lot of French toast. She LOVES French toast. I could have made it for her, but it's more fun to go out and have French toast and "cow's milk". I don't know where she got the "cow's milk" from, but it's cute.

After a short trip to the grocery store, where she was a gem, we took her home.

I stamped awhile this afternoon and Scott created a new dish that was yummy. And now it's off to bed so I can start a new week (and hopefully keep up with this better) tomorrow.