It was time

Alana has been growing out her hair to donate to Locks of Love for a while now. It has become more difficult to manage as it has gotten longer because it is so coarse and thick. The decision was made to have it cut off during her vacation so that she could start the New Year with her new look. Wow! Quite the change. Her short hair is so nice and shiny now. No more tangles and knots. Okay, so it's a little shorter than she originally wanted to have it cut, but that's just going to grow out. She was more concerned that he "puffed up" her hair when he styled it. Guess I should have waited on the pictures until it had flattened out.

The best

My surprise gift for Christmas this year was from Alana. Her dad took her shopping at the scrapbook store for supplies and then offered up a lot of his pictures that he had in his office. She also collected a few other pictures from a close family friend. Alana spent days making me a special album that had quite the diverse mixture of pictures. This gift really touched my heart. My favorite gift hands down.

So Here We Are

We never know whether or not my folks are going to be able to make it to visit with us until the last minute. Everything depends upon how Mom is feeling at that time. Today we lucked out. Not only is she having a great day, but they are going to stay and visit for at least a couple of days.
Alana picks out matching jammies for the three of us every year. We aren't always able to get the group shot, but here we are.
Happy Holidays to everyone!

By Request

I had mentioned that I have an ornament collection that my mom passed on to me. They were given to her by my uncle over 30 years ago. They are each made out of an egg that a woman crafted into an ornament. Cassandra asked me to post some pictures. Not the best of pictures, but this might give you an idea as to the work involved. I have about a dozen of these eggs, but this photographed a little bit better. it's a shame that you can't really see the detail work of how she cut out pictures from old Christmas cards or the painting involved to make some of the scenes.

One More...ABC Tag Lift

Lifted this one from Donna.

A= Attached or Single: Sort of semi-detached
B= Best Friend: Betty and Jan
C= Cake or Pie: Pie
D= Day of Choice: Saturday
E= Essential Item: Hearing aides
F= Flavor of Ice cream: Chocolate chip
G= Gummy Bears or Worms: Neither
H= Hometown: Auburn, MA
I= Indulgence: chocolate
J= January or July: July.
K= Kids: Alana
L= Last movie I saw at a theater: Bolt
M= Musician: George Winston
N= Number of Siblings: 3
O= Oranges or Apples: both
P= Phobias or Fears: snakes
Q= Quote: Every time I close the door on reality, it comes in through the windows.
R= Reason to Smile: My kid makes me smile...usually
S= Season: Summer
T= Tag: anybody who wants to play
U= Unknown fact: I train in Tae Kwon Do, but sparring makes me want to heave.
V= Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Oppressor (that sounds bad, but I'm not vegetarian)
W= Worst habit: wasting time
X= Xray or Ultrasound: I've had both. Neither is a biggie.
Y= Your favorite food: carbs in any form
Z= Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Another blog lift

Tis the Season to be NICE! Here is another get to know you post that was lfted from Patti



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real

3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as I can get my butt in gear

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's

5. Do you like eggnog? A little bit

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Tressie's (kind of like Barbie, but with hair that grows) beauty shop, or my first camera

7. Hardest person to buy for? parents

8. Easiest person to buy for? Alana
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received ? A fireproof box

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Mr Magoo's A Christmas Carol

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I can get my butt in gear

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so, but...maybe

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Orange from my stocking

16. Lights on the tree? Yes

17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol Of The Bells

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home in the morning and visiting in the evening

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? I think so

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One one Christmas Eve the rest in the morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Too busy

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have handmade ornaments that are made out of eggs that have been passed on to me from my mom

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Prime rib, potatoes, corn....

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Under Armour

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? noone

27. Who is least likely to respond to this? everyone

Santa

We made our traditional trip to Yankee Candle to visit with Santa this week. He was not in his full Santa suit because he was working in his shop when we got there. He was telling Alana about his dog that he has at the North Pole. It seems that "Sleigh bell" is his golden retriever who helps the elves gather toys and gifts for the big night. I would have recommended a Samoyed, but then again, I am biased.

It begins

We got hit with our first nuisance storm yesterday. Freezing rain, sleet, and ice. Quite the mess and yet rather beautiful with the ice covering the trees. I didn't get out and get any decent pictures because it had turned to freezing rain by the time I could go out. We were lucky. Only lost our power during the night. I hate getting ready in the morning without power. Need that nice, hot shower. Other surrounding towns are still out of power and have trees down all over the place. Towns are making requests that people just stay off their roads and give the emergency crews a chance to get things cleared up and back to order.

First Concert

Alana reminded me that I had not blogged about her band concert from Tuesday night. Considering that these kids picked up these instruments for the first time two months ago, I was pretty impressed with how well they did. I was surprised when she did not chose chorus this year. She had always enjoyed it in the past. After the concert she said that maybe she'll get back into it. In the meantime, she is rather enthusiastic about her flute.

My first blog lift

OK, so I lifted this from Patti who lifted it from Lin ! Here's what you're supposed to do...delete my answers, type in your answers TYPE ONLY 1 WORD...IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!
1. Where is your cell phone? charger
2. Your significant other? not
3. Your hair? blonde
4. Your mother? varies
5. Your father? strong
6. Your favorite thing? pictures
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? dietcoke
9. Your dream goal? retirement
10. The room you're in? myroom
11. Your fear? snakes
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive
13. Where were you last night? TKD
14. What you're not? glamorous
15. Whats for breakfast? bagel
16. One of your wish list items? sleep
17. Where did you grow up? Auburn
18. The last thing you did? nap
19.What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? two
21. Your pet? five
22. Your computer? Dell
23. Your life? variable
24. Your mood? tired
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Your car? van
27. Something you're not wearing? hat
28. Favorite Store? scrapbook
29. Your summer? short
30. Your favorite color? varies
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? unknown
33. Who will/would re-post this? noone
34. FOUR THINGS I COULD VISIT OR DO OVER AND OVER:
1. Hawaii
2. nap
3. scrapbook
4. read
35. FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME:
1. Betty
2. Jan
3. brother
4. Jean
36. FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Chocolate
2. Pasta
3. Beef
4. Chinese
37. FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW ?
1. Hawaii
2. Disney
3. bed
4. crop
38. FOUR PEOPLE I THINK WILL RESPOND:
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

My new favorite thing

I am totally in love with Under Amour. I want every article of clothing that they make. This year the cold has been bothering me more than it usually does (and it isn't even cold yet). I'm even cold when I get to our Tae Kwon Do training center and on some nights still cold during most of the class. I guess I am just getting old and frail. :) This year I discovered Under Armour and there is no going back. I have different shirts to wear under my training uniform and others for "every day". Hey, I might not look that dressy, but I am toasty.