Okay...that's "Behind" Me.

Friday was a fun day for me. After successfully getting through a Colonscopy, and I can literally say I am so glad that is "behind" me. Dore', my dearest sweet what-would-I-do-without-her friend, brought over these adorable daffodils.
So, to answer a few questions you might have, yes Cecelia, the 4 liter or 8 pound container of liquid you drink is flavored, it taste like Alka-Seltzer, that's if you consider that to have a flavor. It's really wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. I managed to get all but one cup down.
I did have two very small polyps, which he removed. We didn't receive a preliminary report, so that means they are benign. It really comes in handy working for the GI that did the procedure, wouldn't you say???
So, I am good for at least another 10 years.

Dore' also brought this yummy apple too. She discovered we have a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory here in town. Only problem is I had to stay on a soft diet all day. Apples are soft aren't they?
Oh yea, I will be munching down and getting my fruit in today.

So, here's to all that still need to drink a gallon of Golytely and schedule their Colonoscopy....Bottoms Up!

Where's the Beef? Or Veggie Meat

Do any of you recognize this jug? Well, if you don't, let me tell you...it is a gallon of "Golytely", they use this now in place of the 1 1/2oz. of Fleet, to clean the colon out. Unfortuneatly, I procrastinated on scheduling my colonoscopy and last month they took the little 1 1/2 oz bottle off the market. Guess it was causing renal failure.
So, today I am on a liquid diet AND I get to go home and drink this tonight.
Yummmm

It Is Finished!

The quilt top is finally finished. I started this quilt back in 2003. Took a break from it due to some health issues. Picked up again last year, and wah-lah. This is called Grandma's Apron Strings. As you can see it has hundreds of squares and blocks. Now all I have to do is get it quilted. We have a long arm in class but I have spent so much time on this, and since I have never used a long arm machine, I am considering taking this to a professional.
There are some ladies out there that can look at a quilt and know just the right design to use. Believe me, it takes talent and a lot of experience to do something like that. It is pricey but worth it.

The border is called "piano keys". I also mitered the corners.

And now, I am off to a quilt show with Dore'. Hope I don't spend too much money. No wonder I have to keep working.

Merry Christmas to Me.

My children are catching on to my love for teapots. Ryan and Shelly gave this to me for Christmas. It goes with the Pfaltzgraff Winterberry dish set I found at a thrift store for $8.99, place setting for four. They bought 4 more dishes and this gorgeous teapot. Can't wait til this Christmas to use them.

Corey gave me a nice warm pair of leather gloves and a Visa gift certificate for Christmas. Well, I had to go down to the local gift and stationery store to pick up some W2 forms and as I walked through the store, heading for the back, I spotted their dishes, and this adorable tea set. Thank you Corey, that gift certificate was perfect.

Delivering through the woods?

How is this for artwork? I had to take a picture of this to share. (OUCH). This guy, won't mention any names, delivers our pathology records. He is so proud of this too. I tell him he is crazy, he just laughs. Sorry, but I am not into pain. Doesn't the bible say something about tattooing the body? YES!

Oh yea, it's not finished.

The Farm Chicks Cookbook

Just came across this cookbook online. It looks adorable. I don't even think it's in the stores yet, you can pre-order though. I thought some of you would be interested in taking a peek so I am adding their blog site:The Farm Chicks

I already took a peek at the site...enjoy!

Happy Birthday Kathleen

We have a very busy month this month. To start off, Kathleen celebrated her birthday. We were up there last weekend. Yes, I- have- a- few- pictures- of- her- party- but- I- am- currently- at- work- and- haven't- blogged- for- a- few- days. These are the only pictures I have on my computer at work. So, I thought I would share them.
She is such a special woman, to us anyway. I am sure lot's of people who know her will agree. She has a great husband, whom we adore, and of course their beautiful daughter.
We are very close, in fact, we call each other everyday. If I don't call her on my way to work, I know I will get a phone call shortly after I arrive.
Not only is she our only daughter, she is my best friend, my confidante. She is such a blessing to our family. She is also known as the other mother, well being the oldest and having three younger brothers, you can see why.

One of these days I am going to get a scanner that works...so I can scan pics of the kids when they were little...but until then...


Happy Birthday Kathleen....we love you....mom and dad.

This N That Christmas

This year Christmas was a little different here. We usually all gather here at my home. Now that we have Grand kids, well, it's time to make some adjustments.
We spent a weekend up in Tahoe to celebrate with Ryan and Shelly, they were going to Texas this year to be with her family. We rented a very cozy little cabin and we were blessed with snow so we had a partial white Christmas.

I managed to get a little creative too, I made some Peppermint Bark. So simple and very delicious. Makes a nice gift to give during this time of year.

After you freeze it, for about 15 minutes, you just break it into pieces.

After picking Corey up at the airport, we headed over to San Francisco and attended a Celtic Christmas Concert. The Golden Bough performed. They were great. We enjoyed their musical talent, the harp in particular.

I even managed to get a tree up, even though Corey was the only one to enjoy the aroma and beauty. Tom and I enjoy a tree too. I didn't get any ornaments on it, maybe next year, but it was nice to cuddle up on the couch and have the coziness of the lights.

We took the tree down today and rearranged the living room. Christmas 2008 is over, but not the memories.
Guess it's back to work tomorrow.

Snow What

My kid's were kind enough to send me some pics of their surroundings today.
Sean's house as it looks today. I can't believe that everyone is getting snow but me, we're just getting rain. I guess that is the price you pay when you are a valley girl...for-sure.

Someone was generous and gave Keiran ski's. I can't believe that he already knows how to use them. Isn't that great!



Sledding down the little hill at their house.

Sean just added this pic to his face book and I stole it. They got enough snow to build this snowman.

A picture of Kathleen's back yard. Geez, everyone is getting snow but me, all I got was a(rock)rain. And to think I drove up to Tahoe just for some snow. I think it followed Lawren home.

Lawren really likes horses. Last year, for Christmas, we bought her this cute little rocking horse. This year, Uncle Ryan and Auntie Shelly bought her a dolly on a rocking horse. She just loves them.

Alive and Kicking

Just wanted to let you all know that I am still alive. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go to Tahoe, since I was down last week with a bad cold, flu or bronchitis, not sure which, all I know is that I was sick. Thankfully I was doing okay by Friday so as soon as Ryan and Shelly arrived, which was about 3:30 in the morning, we packed up and headed out, fog and all.
I haven't been able to blog for a while since my computer died last week. I plan on calling HP tonight, after work. My warranty is still good. Not sure what is going on but one day last week I tried to get online and my power came on but nothing would show. Well, Ryan and Shelly were here this weekend, btw, we had a wonderful time in Tahoe. We celebrated Christmas up there with them since they will be in Texas for Christmas this year. Ryan has an HP also, the same thing happened to his, he called and they were able to fix it. So, I hope to get some pics of our weekend loaded as soon as I can. The trip was wonderful. We had plenty of snow and were able to stay cozy inside a nice cabin with the fire going. We did go out and do some sledding, well Tom and I didn't, we just watched the kids. Lawren loved it. I have a video of her sliding down the side with her daddy and she is doing the cutest belly laugh. She just loved the snow. We loved it up there so much that Ryan, Shelly, Tom and I are ready to move. I think we are gonna have to wait a while for that, at least until they finish school. So, I have a few more years of working here.
No, I wouldn't mind living in the snow. After all, I was ready to move to Upstate New York (picturesque)after visiting Cecelia last year.

Friends

Who can describe the true meaning of friends? I can...and I will give you the definition...Ann, Anna, Dore',Margie, Susan and Teena. Now I did not put these in any preferential order, just alphabetical, for each of these ladies hold a very special place in my heart. I could add to this list for I have a few more, (they know who they are) but because of distance they could not be here.
Sometimes I find myself having a pity-party because none of my kids live here in the same town, which I have always wanted but life does not turn out the way we always want, right? But, I just have to remind myself of the wonderful friendship that I have been given with these women. I can honestly say I am blessed.Tonight, Dore' hosted a tea party in honor of my birthday. Everything was delectable.Each of us had assigned seating.The sandwiches were adorable. All of the bread and cheese were cut out with different cookie cutters. There were butterfly, pumpkin, acorn and tea pot sandwiches filled with a variety of food. Egg salad, chicken salad, turkey and cranberry, cream cheese and cucumber and cheese with a slice of apple. Don't forget the dessert. Chocolate and pumpkin bites, little tarts filled with chocolate, pumpkin and vanilla. I couldn't just have one, they were small so I had one of each. Hey, it's my party!Anna and MargieDore' and her mom

Ann and Teena

Elizabeth (Ann's twin sister) and Susan...just kidding, Ann's legal name is Elizabeth Ann, some call her Liz or Lizzy, we all know her has Ann. We didn't want Susan to be alone in the picture.

I even got presents. Some delicious smelling candles, one is watermelon, another is vanilla cinnamon brulee. Ann gave me a coupon, good for one night at 7-11 sipping on a soda and watching people, or we can just talk about whatever we want....we have done that before....it's lots of fun.
Dore' made me this bird feeder. Isn't it a clever idea, it's made out of a variety of dishes glued together. It will go in our flower garden in the spring. She put a votive tea light in the top part for now but when I put it outside I will put bird seed there, notice the yellow bowl, that can hold water for a bird bath. Isn't this a clever idea!

Well, it's time for me to go to sleep. My tummy is still full. I am going to have to do my hip-hop abs video twice tomorrow.

Thankful and Blessed!

Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.
I love the holiday's. Especially this time of year, the family get together's, the fall leaves, the goodies and the time off.
I was trying to decide if I should go for a walk or blog...oh I guess I will blog first.
This year, well, my table is set.

Ryan is my "Jacob" he is helping me in the kitchen while "Esau" is watching football.

Tom's duty is always carving the turkey. I cook both, real and veggie turkey. This year, Shelly and I preferred the veggie one.

We are ready to eat. This years menu consisted of the usual, turkey, mashed potatoes, cream peas (the family favorite), stuffing, fresh baked yams, cranberry sauce, etc.

This is my favorite, a Cranberry jello ring.

Here is my attempt at a Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake. Not sure yet how it taste, we are still full from dinner.

And yet another favorite, a pumpkin roll. Yes, this is delicious...filled with cream cheese.

Okay, I had better hit the streets, I still have to weigh on Monday.

Sweet Gifts

Found this cute little set of bowls at Wal Mart today. It has a sugar cookie mix and comes with its own cookie cutter. What a great idea to give someone.See, its a set of three little bowls.Here is another idea. Rocky Road candy mix with a little spatula.
Sugar Cookie mix with a cutter.
Here is something Teena got for my birthday. I have had my eye on a set of red bowls at Costco, only problem is they are around $60.00 for three. Too much for me to spend. So, Teena found some similar and got them for me.
I bought this little Votive lamp a while back at TJ Max. I got it because of the Red Cardinal on the side. Everytime I see it, it reminds me of my trip last year to New York. You could look out Cecelia's dining room window and see a couple Cardinal's perched on a branch that was covered with snow...just breath taking.


  ************SSI**************
Thought I would share a story with you before I explain this picture. A while back, oh 3 or more years ago, Nancy, Dr. Tran's wife, who has a heavy Asian accent, came into the office one day and asked me to guess where she had been. She was wearing some sweatpants. I replied, I have no idea....where have you been, she replied, SSI...I said what in the world were you doing at the Social Security Office, she looked at me and said...NO...SSI...I said, yea I know, why were you there? After all, she was only 30 some years old, what would she be doing at the SSI office.Finally, after the conversation not getting anywhere, she said NO...and started pretending she was on a tredmill....LOL...oh, I said you were doing exercise. YES, she replied....geez, why didn't she just say exercise.Here is a pic of my walk this morning, yes I am doing my SSI. I thought this area was pretty, it's about as Fall looking as we are going to get here.