Holiday Card

Our Christmas cards are ordered...finally.  Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute.  I've received some of your guys (gorgeous families and pets!) and I've been nervous about not getting my act together. 
I had a little trouble on getting someone lined up to take our photos.
But Jes came through for us on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. 
It was a cold and windy day but we still smiling as we posed without coats on.
Towards the end of the hour session, our cheeks were so red that it's almost funny.
When we got back into the car, our thighs were on fire from the nerves unthawing.

I received the CD of the photos on Saturday, ran into the house and immediately popped it into the computer.  The cards were ordered with the hour and should be shipped today.  Hopefully I'll have them by the end of the week.

Stay tuned for your card in the mail.  I don't know why we didn't do this years ago.

Quiet House

No more wagging of the tale and barking when I get home or when I slip and say the word "outside".

No more puppy eyes looking at me or barking when I'm eating or when I'm sitting on the couch and he comes next to me wanting to be petted.

No one's following me from room to room trying to herd me to wherever he wants me to go. 

No more running to the stairs and barking when I'm actually just walking towards the bathroom to check my hair one more time.

No more getting trampled over and barking when going down the staircase.

As you may have guessed, Wilbur is gone.  He was picked up Saturday morning.  It's bitter sweet.
I miss him and glad he's gone at the same time. 

We miss him when it's super quiet in the house.  But it sure was nice to sleep in this morning and not getting up at 4:30 am to let him out to do his business.  And it's really nice not have to do that when it's 20 degrees outside.

Even though I love Wilbur, Goober and Boone to pieces (also Spotty, Sparky, Culpepper and Reno...all RIP), I've realized that I am definitely a pet lover and NOT a pet owner.  

He Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good....

Someone's been naughty!

He was only alone all by himself for 20 minutes this morning.  I left for work at 5:50 am and Jean got home at 6:10 am.  And this is only half of what she found...there was more in the living room. 

He took boogey kleenex's out of the garbage and shredded them!

He got the finger shook at him!
What is his mother gonna say?? 

  I guess no more independence when staying home alone. 

Wilbur's Here!

Melissa dropped him off on Thursday and he will be staying with Jean and I until Saturday. 
We've been walking him and petting him.  Had a little trouble getting him to do his business, but we'll skip over that part...

Sometimes he looks lonely or bored because it's just him and us.  He's used to having another puppy to play with.  Except Melissa's brother is puppy-sitting Goober.  He's a little too rambunctious for me.  At least at Joey's, he'll have other dogs and cats to play with to keep him busy.  All that commotion is a little much for Goober.

So this morning I picked him up a toy while I was at Target to help keep himself entertained when I'm at work and also so we can play fetch and maybe a little bit of light tug-of-war.

He came for the groomers and they always dress him in a cute bandana.  This one is a Holiday Mickey Mouse and Friends.

Chill-axing on the couch.

He found the squeaker!

Action shot:  whipping it around to get the squeaker out!

Christmas Tree Pictures

9' tree...I forgot to put angel on top, but I like it without.  Do you like my opened present under the tree?  It's an under cabinet CD/MP3 player.  If only I felt more confident in using a screw-gun.

A close-up of my ornaments.  Bright colors of all shapes and sizes.  I prefer ribbon over garland.

More ornaments.  I think I need to find a more holiday appropriate table runner.

I bought this little tree at a garage sale for $1.  So I guess I have 2 trees up in my house.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I think I'll take the time to share my Thanksgiving happenings.

My sister and I both had to work on Friday so we stayed in town.  My parents didn't come down so it was just the two of us, which was perfectly fine.  I was looking forward to the day being quiet.  My parents spent the day with my Aunt Ester and Uncle Herbie (my dad's brother) and their kids, grand-kids, and great-grand-kids. 

I volunteered to work at the Y since I had no place to be and that freed up someone else to be with their family.  We were only open 'til noon so it's not like a missed a Thanksgiving dinner or anything.  I went home and rested up before it was time to make our Thanksgiving PIZZA!  No turkey for us, thank you.  We made homemade pizza from a can!  My DDS has teased me for a week that pizza from a can is NOT homemade.  To me, if it's not frozen AND if I have to add water and fluff the mixture to make dough....it's homemade.  It was delicious!  Glad we decided to skip the turkey.  We sat on the couch, ate our pizza and watch the first DVD of "The Lord of the Rings".

Friday was like any other day except we were able to leave early because our last hour was open.  That's always nice.  I headed to the gym and I was home by 3:30.....SO EARLY!  Usually I don't get home until after 6.  What to do with the rest of my day?? 

Because I had to work, I missed out on all the crazy sales and people watching.  So my sister and I went to Menards, Kohl's and Michael's.

Once we got home, I was in the mood to put up the Christmas Tree.  I got new ornaments last year on clearance and have been waiting to use them this year.  But I've been dreading lugging up the 9-footer from the basement.  I always scratch up the walls and basement door and leave pine needles on the floor.  I didn't realize how many ornaments I bought once I started to decorate.  It looks gorgeous.  I intend to post some pictures soon enough.

This morning (Saturday) I worked at the Y again and did a quick workout before I came home.   Later this afternoon, an old high school friend (Jes) is going to take pictures of my sister and I for our Christmas cards.  The weather's crappy...windy and wet....oh well.  Hopefully all will turn out well.

Tomorrow I have the day off.  Yes!  Kristina (from the Y) wanted to see "White Christmas" at the Lyric Theater in Anoka and I am going to accompany her.  I've never been there or seen "White Christmas" so it's new experiences all around.  We have box seats so that should be nice too.  Afterwards, we're going to eat out in DTA (Downtown Anoka).  With my food journal, it's going to be a test to see if I can order something healthy.

Well, that's all I have to say with what's new with me but I think that's more than plenty.  I can't wait for Christmas to be here because I actually have more than one day off IN A ROW.

Christmas Agenda

ATTENTION XTINA:  Don't read this post if you want you're Xmas present to remain a secret.  As you said: "The world doesn't always have good surprises."

I'm proud to be called a widow.  A deer hunter widow.  Though it's from my sister and not a husband.  But that's okay because that doesn't change the fact that I get the house all to myself for two weeks.  SWEET!  Party's at my place! 

And with the deer hunting opener comes the craft sale-ing. There were tons of events going on...Majestic Oaks Boutiques  (this one is still going on until Nov 13th), Blaine High School, Andover Community Center, Forest Lake, and my family favorite and tradition....Elk River. 

I met up with my cousin Saturday morning and we hit the high school.  It was kind of a dud.  I guess it just seemed bigger because we were smaller.  We had more fun running up and down the halls because the moms were too boring and crafting was boring.  But lucky for us, our moms rubbed off on us and we're keeping the tradition alive.  (Mom's Up North and my aunt's in Arizona snow-birding already!)   It's more about spending time with the women that you love than actually buying something.   At least, that's how it is for me.

The one and only thing that caught both of our eyes was an ornament.  Elegant yet simple.  They looked like they would be cheap and super easy to make.   Perfect for general gifts for coworkers and neighbors, even my hairdresser possibly.  I'd rather give her a $5 gift than a holiday bonus.

I've already found inexpensive clear bulbs at Menards of all places (and way cheaper than JoAnn's).  The spendy part comes for buying two-sided scrap-booking paper at Archiver's.  They are all so pretty and I can't decide on just one design so I bought all of 'em.

I've already made 6 bulbs.  My fingers (and back) hurt so bad for the tedious task of rolling the paper but it's totally worth it.  They look so gorgeous. 

The camera does not do justice.  They look much better in person.

 Tomorrow I am going to keep on working.  I've got 18 more bulbs to make.  Christmas will be here soon enough and it's a little time consuming.  

And I still have Christmas cookies to make for the exchange at work for next Monday.  And I need to get pictures taken with my sister for this year's Christmas card.  We've never done one and I think it'd be fun.  She just needs to get her butt out of a tree and back to the cities.