Happy New Year....

Happy New Year...

What a year!

Rang in 2010 all by myself...ringing in 2011 all be myself...

Billy is out with friends and Mr. P is sound asleep, oh, it's not so bad! I've never liked New Year's Eve NEVER!!!

2010 was filled with ups & downs...

Ms. B had to have surgery and thankfully she came out A.O.K....


it was touch and go for a while, the vet was even beginning to wonder if she would be able to hunt again...


but, she made it through to hunt another day!!!

We had to say goodbye to our old furry friend Max...

Bye old boy, we still miss you...

We had a Marine stuck in Okinawa :/

BUT....he finally made it home!!!!




We took a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGGGG drive to North Carolina, WHY would you drive all the way to North Carolina....because we were the Parents of the most BEAUTIFUL Bride EVER, and her wedding was there ~ LOL!!!! Ocean Isle Beach, what a venue, what a great time with friends and family, what a day, what a BEAUTIFUL bride, oh and what an amazing son-in-law!!!!!




We are truly blessed, Nikky & Mike are so happy and that makes us happy ~ we love them so much!

Hoping that 2011 is filled with new and exciting things for all of us!

Enjoy your night & Be Safe!

Happy New Year!

Busy Bee.....

I worked my little fingers to the bone today!!!! I too the tree down, shoved it out the front door and dragged it round back...back in took all of the boxes of decorations downstairs, put my dolls away. Swept, vacuumed, steamed the floors, dusted, cleaned the stairs...cleaned the bathroom, did all of the laundry ~ YAWNNNNNNNN!

I'm exhausted :@

Enjoying the last few days with Billy, tomorrow we will go to my mom's house to celebrate Christmas with her & Tommy. Maybe tomorrow night we'll get Portuguese food for dinner ~ YUMMY (I really don't feel like cooking)...

Well Ladies, I'm going to scoot. I still need to run to the drug store before I settle in for the night!

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

Movies With My Marine....

Billy & I have always enjoyed going to the movies together ever since he was a little boy, today we saw "Little Fockers", it was just as funny as the first!! We laughed from the beginning to the end, it was a great afternoon.

Tomorrow we have some pre-deployment things to take care of :/....

I think I've eaten my weight in Christmas cookies this week, I really have to stop myself before I'm rolling back to work next Monday ~ LOL!!

It's so cold here tonight, YIKES. The older I get the less I like the winter, put me on a plane to Florida and don't send for me until May ~ HEHE!

I'm going to make a cup of tea and settle in with a book.

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

Random Ramblings...

Sorry, I keep apologizing for not blogging & promise to get back to it FULL TIME but I've been so busy!

Billy is enjoying his time at home, I am on vacation enjoying my time here with him!!

Christmas has come & gone, a lot of work for one day ~ whew!! We do Christmas Eve & Christmas day, I pull double duty every year, actually I do all of the Holidays and I like to do them big ~ kid of like Clark Griswold ~ LOL!!

We had a blizzard yesterday, YIKES over a foot of snow, wind & then some ice and more snow, the Billy's were BUSY this morning!!

A few pictures form Christmas Eve & the STORM!!


Ms. B ~ Santa Paws stopped by and left her a big bag of toys for being such a sweetie girl!!


Billy, waiting for the festivities to begin!! It was so great having him home!


Mike, hehe....I put the apron on him, didn't he look like he was having a blast! Actually we were laughing & Nikky said "you know where that's going???" BLOGGER ~ LOL!


Nikky, she was assisting me with the last minute dishes for Christmas Eve ~ Thank you Beautiful Girl!!

We weren't very good with the picture taking this year :/ oh well, my memories will live forever in my heart!!


Billy, shoveling the driveway this morning!!

The "Snow Show" ~ staring Ms. B....Enjoy!!!





Dedadedade ~ That's all folks!!

Mr. P drove me to the book store earlier and I am ready to go get warm & snuggle up with a good book!! Tracy, if you're reading I'll post the titles in a day or so, they all look so good!!

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless!!

Merry Christmas....

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you, I pray that you all have a safe & peaceful Christmas...

Please remember to say a prayer for those away from home far away this evening defending our country & please remember our fallen...

Look What I Came Home To...

I couldn't get my pictures to post in the order that I wanted, but you get the picture right????

SNOW, yup...about an inch and a half slippery but so pretty....GRRRRR I do not like wet snowy footprints on my floors!!!

And when I came in there was a very special package on the dining room table, homemade candy from Ganky ~ YAY!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I ripped open the bag of buckeyes and sampled one ~ can you say "TDF" yummy!

Thank you so much, it made my night!!

A young Marine from our area was killed last spring in Afghanistan, his mom has a memorial Christmas Tree in her yard, I stopped by this evening on my way home and hung some ornaments on it. The snow was falling & it was so quiet on that little street. After I hung my ornaments I just stood there crying, when I looked up his mom was watching me out the window. She smiled and waved, I waved back and told her thank you.

I have so many things to be thankful for this Christmas season...and I am counting every blessing!!

Billy is on the road & should be home tomorrow morning...hot out of the oven banana bread will be waiting for him!!

Gotta run, love & hugs to each of you!!

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

Cookie Baking Day....

Cookie Baking Day was a success, well kind of! We had to quit because we ate too much cookie dough :/ but we did get a lot done!! Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Mint, Oreo Truffles. We'll finish up Wednesday night!

We laughed all morning long, we talked about last year too. I spent most of the afternoon in tears last year because I was baking cookies to ship over to Billy. I was missing him so much. We laughed because the songs that made us cry last year are still making us cry this year, Billy loves "So This Is Christmas" every time Nikky heard that last year she would sob her little heart out & I would break down when I would hear "I'll Be Home For Christmas" ~ they still make us cry but for different reason, we are happy & thankful to have him here with us this year.

I've posted a few pictures form our day, Mr. P was the official Mom & Nikky Cookie Baking Day photographer, thank you Mr. P!!

Well ladies, I'm off.

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless!

Feeling A Bit Better.....

Thank you all for your well wishes & prayers! I am feeling better today, I was a bundle of nerves knowing all that I had to do. I was up at 4:00am and started dragging out all of the lights & boxes. I put four of my dining room chairs around the tree and just kept stepping from chair to chair to string the lights & so on and so on. Next the bows on the top of the tree & then the decorations. Mr. P got up at 7:30, he smelled the coffee an came peeking down to see what I was doing and he was amazed..."what are you doing crazy girl, I would have helped you!!!"

After that I showered and we went off to the market, $200.00 later we were on our way back home again...

Cleaned YUCK!!!

Took a few pictures (as you can see)

Ms. B did not like sitting still for her Christmas picture!

My Italian Lemon Egg Biscuits ~ they came out good. If I make them next year I'll get the little candies to go on top! But otherwise they're good really lemony.

Nikky is all set to come tomorrow to bake, more pics to follow!

I'm going to scoot!

Have a great night.

Until tomorrow Be Safe & God Bless!

Sick As A Dog.........

Ughhhhhh! I woke up in the middle of the night SICK AS A DOG! Oh brother, I haven't felt like this for a long time :/ ~ I can't be sick I have too many things to do!!

Fever, chills, tummy trouble :/ , Mr. P ran out and picked up some chicken soup ~ EEEWWWWW Not now but thank you so much. I'm laying low & keeping warm! Need to kick this thing by the morning!

See everyone tomorrow!

SNOW WHAT???????????

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! The weather man is calling for snow for Sunday, that's our Mom & Daughter cookie baking day!!!! We're hoping that it holds off until after we bake, spoke to Nikky earlier ~ "I'll be there early if they say snow later in the day"

Mike will be staying behind to do his Christmas wrapping, but I will be making a warm "stick to your ribs" dish and I'll be sending some home for him!!

Billy will be heading home on Monday afternoon, driving, so hopefully he stays ahead of the snow. He should be in by Tuesday early afternoon!!! But if you could keep him in your prayers, while he makes that long drive...

We'll be getting our tree Friday afternoon & I'll have that thing decorated Saturday morning ~ YAY!!

I might try baking Italian Egg Biscuits, never made them before but I LOVE THEM with a hot cup of tea!!

That's about it for me, caught up on what you all are doing & I'm heading downstairs to snuggle up by the fireplace!!

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

Duh..............

I got "nuttin' honey" ~ my mind is blank, I am so stinking cold my teeth are chattering...I want a cup of tea but I'm too darn lazy to get up and make one!!!

So many things to do & not a lot of time left to do it...we haven't gotten our tree yet ~ long story, suffice it to say that we didn't get to go out & tag one as a family Thanksgiving weekend!

Mr. P has been busy working weekends so we will have to get out early Saturday morning find one chop it down drag it home put it up & wait for it to warm up so that the branches can fall!!! Then I have to get it decorated!

Best part of the weekend is Sunday, my Nikky is coming to bake with me & I cannot wait to see her, I hope that Mike comes along...I'll make a nice hot stew and some bread to keep them warm and energized!

Billy should be here on Tuesday, I've managed to turn his room into a giant walk-in closet again so I need to get my butt in gear.

I'm too tired for all of this ~ LOL!

Well, looks like I babbled on like an idiot...going to run!

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

Rest Easy Soldier....

"And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldiers tomb, and beauty weeps the brave." - Joseph Drake

After I posted my blog on Saturday night, I clicked over to facebook and found out that a friend of Billy's one of the "Boys" that used to come over here for the Sunday Football Games was killed in Afghanistan. It was a long hard night, I tried to get to Billy before he read it online but I was too late. He had received about a dozen text messages, he called he was crying, my heart was breaking for him, for his friend, only 21 years old, for his mother & his father. For so many dreams that will never be realized.

Billy's facebook post shortly after hearing about his friend...

Billy Platt
Be with your loved ones, kiss them, hug them, hold them for all those who can't.

I spoke to Billy several more times Saturday night and again on Sunday, he went into work to keep busy and to ready things that he will need to take with him when he deploys, I hate that word!

The family flew out Sunday to meet his remains and we are just waiting on word for the funeral arrangements. Billy is hoping to be able to pay his respects to his friend, I told him that if the arrangements were before he came back that we could go out to the cemetery together.

He went with his Lieutenant this afternoon & spoke to A MARSOC Marine "recruiter", the Gunny that he spoke to ran all of his info and said that he qualified and that he could begin classes to go MARSOC ASAP ~ Billy was so excited as this is something that he wants to do but he will be deploying soon so if all works out then he will probably start training/classes in January of 2012...I think that that child of mine is trying to kill me slowly but surely :/

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless....

Hmmmmmm......

This is not a picture of my toilet paper holder thing, but this is how Mr. P left my toilet paper holder thing this morning....NOT NICE!

Then when I jumped into the shower, guess what he used the last of the soap and then must have washed up with my ......philosophy "Amazing Grace", but instead of using the pump he unscrewed the top and it fell over into the tub ~ GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Ran around hit JC Penny and got a bit of Christmas shopping in and then I went to the market. A new market opened up in our area about 3 months ago, I was reluctant to try it as it is about 20 minutes away and I just hate to try & find things in a new store BUT LADIES!!!!! Hold onto your hats, I went the week before Thanksgiving and I have to say that I must have saved at least $150.00 ~



I am hooked, the prices are out of this world. They have crazy in-store specials, nice wide aisles, big carts!!!! The nicest bakery EVER, I could go on & on...

Picked up all of the things I will need for our cookie baking day & items for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day dinners!!!

Oh & Mr. P managed to "run" out just as I was rounding the corner, he is on the "not nice" list tonight!

Going to run & make a hot cup of tea.

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

Getting My List of Ingredients Together....

Next Sunday Nikky & I are going to get together and do some baking!!! Christmas cookies ~ YUMMO!

I can't wait. I'll have to get my list together tomorrow morning and get what we'll need when I go to the market.

My office Christmas Party is tomorrow night, staff only ~ it should be fun. Mr. P is happy that he doesn't have to go out on a Friday night, that's his long day!

It should be fun, Barb & Karen will be going so we'll be laughing all night long!

I have to get some shopping done too ~ YIKES!!

Well, I have a shopping list to make & I have to put some thought into my Christmas Gift list...

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

My Favorite Christmas Story.....

This is my favorite Christmas Story, I read it every year and watch it a few times too...I have probably seen every version ever made!

My dad loved this story too, it makes me think of him & our Christmases when we were little. My middle sister Lauire and I used to have such fun, finding the gifts & then sneaking out to the living room early on Christmas morning to peak at everything!

Funny how the Holidays can bring the memories flooding back....

I'm going to go and have a good cry for myself.

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless! Or, should I say "God Bless Us Everyone!"

YIKES......

Ladies, we are getting some COLD Arctic air coming down from Canada & let me tell you it's COLD & WINDY! It was 26 degrees here this morning * with the wind chill, which we had most of the day it was 10 degrees :/ OH NO I WANT TO BE WEARING MY FLIP FLOPS!!!

I made a nice big mug of hot tea when I got in tonight, I am not ready for this cold weather!

We haven't gotten our tree yet, we were supposed to tag it over Thanksgiving weekend but we ran out of time so maybe we will take a ride out to the tree farm this weekend...got a few Christmas gifts out of the way, but a bunch more to go!

I can't believe how fast this year went, it flew by.

Well gals, I'm going to scoot.

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless!

Lazy Day.....

Hello Ladies, sorry I haven't been blogging regularly. I've been so busy & when I get in for the night I am just too tired!

We had dinner out at a friends last night, I made Shrimp Mozambique & a pumpkin roll. Now the shrimp dish was a cinch, but the pumpkin roll...Never made one of those before, it was a little intimidating! I got the recipe from Libby's.com. I am really getting my monies worth out of my mixer, I LOVE IT!!

Anyway back to that pumpkin roll, I was just a little bit too short to get it up and off of the cake pan so my pal Mr. P had to give me a hand there but the rest was ll me baby!! And if I can brag for just a second, it looked so pretty and tasted even better!!! I might make one for Christmas Eve ~ YUMMO!


Not mine, there wasn't a crumb left..but it looked just like this ~ AND BUDDY IT WAS GOOD!!!!


We didn't do much of anything today. Finished up the laundry, got ready for the work week & then we sat down and watched "A Christmas Story" ~ I just love that silly movie!



That about sums up my day, hope yours was good.

Until tomorrow, Be Safe & God Bless...

And The Answer IS.......

1. What kind of Christmas is Bing Crosby dreaming of?

~ White

2. What reindeer's name begins with a V?

~ Vixen

3. All I want for Christmas is my...?

~ Two Front Teeth

4. What should you do under a mistletoe?

~ Kiss

5. Where was Mommy kissing Santa Claus?

~ Under the Mistletoe

6. What does Alvin want for Christmas?

~ Hula Hoop

7. What was the name of George Bailey's guardian angel in "It's A Wonderful Life"

~ Clarance

8. What is the Scrooge's first name?

~ Ebeneezer

9. What did Ralphie want for Christmas in "A Christmas Story"?

~ A BB Gun

10. Which Christmas Carol contains the verse "O tidings of comfort and joy"?

~ "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"


I'll do a few more Trivia games before Christmas, feel free to copy the questions...print out copies, make scrolls, tie them up with pretty ribbons and play with your co-workers or at your next family gathering..make it fun and perhaps make an inexpensive gift basket filled with some chocolates, a scented candle, a nice pair of cozy socks....!