Last Day of the Year & Decade

It's hard to believe that we have come 10 years past all that hype from 2000. The meltdown and all that. I always have mixed emotions about New Year's. Actually, I've always hated it. And here's why. When I was a kid we would go to "watch night" service to "watch" for Jesus to come again. I didn't really want to, you know "leave just yet." So I was always fearful on New Year's Eve. Weird. Even tho I now realize it's not a bad thing( Jesus coming again) I always feel jittery on New Year's.
At the beginning of the year my blog was supposed to be the "Eating Well Blog." Whew. Time to get back to that. I kind of went "sideways" over the holidays. I've been thinking about changing the format or starting a new blog but I don't know I'm not sure. Don't really have the time.
Anyway be safe tonight!

Time is Running Out!

Got to get all the invoices and payables done. Hurry, hurry. It's almost the year end. Got to get everything in order for the tax man. And the Tax Man. ha ha Did alot today. Still working. Took a break and went to Sherwin Williams (whooo hoooo) and Italia Gardens. Then went to see Katie and Richie's house. They're painting and cleaning. They're trying to get all moved in by New Year's day. Took an old dryer to add to our own pile of (metal) junk. Lots of work~ 2 crews out tomorrow. Me? I'll be at home working on the puter. STAYING WARM:))

The Day After, The Day After

Time to "undeck" the Halls. Put away the Christmas gifts and take down the tree and all the decorations. Unplug the lights. etc...
Went to Michaels's yesterday for some 1/2 off to 70 percents off sales. Picked up wrapping paper and bows and even a few gifts for next year. Visited family and friends. Now I'm waiting for my dog to come home. He had a sleepover at his sisters.
Got a new game called "Apples to Apples." Can't wait to play it with the Renees. hint hint

Christmas Eve & Bread Pudding

Did the last minute grocery shopping. Everyone was in a merry mood. Even the bag guy. Still gotta make the bread pudding. And of course wrap a few last minute items. Bailey's bag of treats! The girls are at grandma's helping (and out of my hair thank goodness!) Tomorrow's breakfast is stuffed french toast and bacon and sausage. Have to cook for the kids you know. Nothing low fat/sugar there. Except I will use sugarfree jam for my stuffed french toast. I'm home alone jamming out to The Young Messiah, my favorite music to listen to at Christmas time.
Okay, here's the promised bread pudding recipe. (props to Grandma Rush)
grease 9 X 13 pan
butter 8 or 9 slices of day old bread and sprinkle with cinnamon; layer in pan
In sauce pan stirring constant: 3 beaten eggs, 1 qt milk, 2 C sugar, 1 stick margerine, dash of salt
scald then add 2 t. vanilla
pour over bread, let set 5 minutes
bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes
Vanilla sauce
1 C sugar, 2T. flour, 1/4 t. salt, 1 can evap. milk, 3/4 C water
remove and add: 1 T. butter, 2&1/4 t. vanilla
Serve warm over bread pudding
**optional add 1/2 C raisins
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Let It Snow

It is officially winter time. :( But, on the positive side of things, the days are already getting LONGER!! :) Albeit, not by much, but it's a move in the right direction.
All gifts are bought and wrapped. All presents under the tree. The only thing left is the baking. I'm making bread pudding for Christmas Eve and Pineapple Upside down cake for Christmas day. Yikes, tons of sugar!
Oh, yeah and Sarah needs to finish painting the spare bedroom. It's going to have a theme of birds. My new obsession. Actually, I've always had an interest in birds. I have food and suet out in the back and we've been getting all sorts of birds. I especially like to watch the woodpeckers.

I Know You're All in Suspense

Yes I ate the chicken. One piece of breast meat with ALL the trimmings. The roads were terrible on the way to Frankenmuth. Cars in ditches and smashed up against the wall. It was frightening. Much better on the way home after they had salted the roads. Today is the Rush family Christmas. Turkey and all the trimmings. Oh boy. Another decision of whether or not to eat meat.

On The Seventh Day of Christmas

Wishing for a white Christmas. It looks like we just may have one. Now I want to drive around and look at Christmas lights. Just like we did as kids. It seems like there are lots up this year. I am done shopping and only one more gift to wrap. Then I can relax. A few dishes to make, but that's fun. Last night we are on our way to the movies, but then just didn't feel like sitting and watching a movie. So we went to the mall and walked around. Better exercise than a movie. Ate dinner at Don Pablos. (i hate the way your clothes smell when you eat there) Then went to Borders and read some veggie mags and books. Had an eggnog latte. Bad choice. I forgot to say, "decaf please." Yikes. Also, it made my sugar spike this morning. I know better than that. We are going to the annual Frankenmuth dinner tonight. Hmmmmm, will I cave and eat chicken or not....

On The Ninth Day of Christmas

Miscellaneous stuff.
Today will be the 7th day with no meat. Tonight is bean soup- yum. That's kind of boring but I am getting more creative with the meals. last nite was pesto pasta with mushrooms and tomatoes. It was very good.
Today is library day for me and Sydney. (and we go to McDonald's--shhhhhhh) I'll be having a salad, no chicken of course and the apple & nut snack.
Congrats to Robbie & Caytee and their new guy Riley! He is cute with lots of hair. Gotta run!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas

So much to do so little time. Finally got to the post office to mail the out of town packages. I had tried to go Monday; whoa-- no parking spots. So I made it there by 8:30 a.m. yesterday. No line! In the afternoon Syd, Evan and I made gingerbread peeps. That was fun. We broke a few legs trying to peel them up from the wax paper, but Evan did some surgery to fix them up. They still tasted fine! Last night a trip to the gym then a meal at Taboon. (mid-eastern) We counted at least 15 items + meals that don't include meat. We are trying to go meatless. That is not to say we are vegetarian, but heading in that direction. Haven't had meat in 5 days. This week's menu has 5 meals planned with no meat. Anyway, the dish we tried at Taboon was wonderful. A stirfry veggie dish over rice. Pita and hummus to start. Can't wait to return and try something else. Then off to do some last minute Christmas shopping. It was freezing and the roads were terrible. The wind was just whipping through my clothes. I hope that is the end of the shopping. I think we're done.
Anyway on this 10th day of Christmas I think I'll just stay inside. Wrap gifts, clean my messy kitchen, etc.. I am only goin out to pick up Syd from school. What will we do today? Probably play: house and playdough and maybe watch that kid (can't spell his name) on tv.

12th and 13th of the Month of December

Been a little hectic in the past couple of days. Friday we went to Sarah's uncle's funeral in Shelby Twp. That was quite a drive. Got home late in the afternoon. Then we had the 2nd annual KNS work Christmas dinner. We went to Mongolian BBQ. Then everyone came back and we played Monopoly and Balderdash. My 2 favorite games. Lots of fun. Got to bed late. Slept in. Then drove to Rochester to dine at a Vegetarian Restaurant. Very good. Had a potato garlic dip on toasted wheat pita, and we split an organic vegan veggie burger. Also very good. Then a trip to Whole Foods Market. It has moved to a larger facility. It was pretty awesome. Got some almond milk (that's what we drink now) some organic fruits & veggies, some soy cheese, and a whole bunch of other stuff. A really tasty cranberry & nut bread. Oh yes, and a bottle of organic wine that I can't wait to try.
Then rush home, change clothes to go to the concert at Cornerstone Church where my brother attends. He and my nephew were playing the drums. It was pretty awesome. Then we went out to eat at Olga's. Snackers & cheese and a salad. Niki & John (her new beau) came with us. I think they enjoyed the concert and the meal. He seems like a really nice guy. (so far).
Tomorrow starts the 12th day of Christmas.... and so on.

The Tenth Day of the Twelfth Month

Brrrrr! High of 23 degrees. Snow and ice! AND we're supposed to do an eviction today at 2 pm in Whitmore Lake no less! Sheriff said if there was inclement weather it would be rescheduled. I'm praying he feels this is inclement weather because I'm supposed to go! I cannot even imagine.
Movie Review: Julie & Julia. It was pretty good. Nothing real exciting. I read the book so I knew the plot. It might've been better had I not read the book. There were some cute moments. I'm glad I didn't spend $$ to see it in the theatre. This only cost me $1. I give it a B-

Wrapping Christmas Gifts

Wrapped gifts with a 5 yr old today. She was an excellent taper-er. She even helped to cut the paper. We watched Little Mermaid; one of our favorite movies to watch together. We cover our ears and eyes during the scary parts! (when Ursula the sea witch is on) When I was attaching the tags she informed me that mom doesn't use tags, she just writes right on the paper. Smart mom she has. She went to see Santa yesterday and told him she wants a princess castle. Hint, Hint! Almost done shopping. Lookin for 2 elusive gifts. Can't mention them here though.

The Nutcracker Ballet

We went to see my niece Sara in the Nutcracker. Way down in Pinckney. It was very good. She was beautiful; one of the snowflakes and again as one of the flowers. Great job Sara. Enjoyed the sugared pecans during the performance. Got the tree up last night, whew what a hub-bub! Lots of laughter telling old memories and even some arguing about the lights and ornaments. Then we had fondue. Katie's choice. We had to show Richie what fondue is all about. The girls said we hadn't had fondue since we moved to S.C. It was very tasty and loads of fun. Now I just have to clean up the mess in the kitchen! Lots to do. Gym, babysitting invoicing and need to get started on the Christmas cards before it's too late.

Day 5, December

Christmas is in 20 days! Bought the annual trip to FLA. tickets today!! FEB. 10 to 16. Going to stay with friends, plan to spend NO $$. Bye Bye snow and cold. Hopefully it won't be freezing down there. Busy, busy weekend. Card party tonite. Tomorrow niece Sara's in the Nutcracker ballet down in Pinckney. Sweet! Looking forward to that. Would like to get to the gym today or tomorrow. Lot's of work though. Everyone is out (cept me) working today and there is a full day for tomorrow and every day next week. It's either feast or famine. I'll take the feast, though-no complaints there. It just gets a little crazy. Psycho trash out today. Cash for Keys on Tuesday. Psycho eviction on Thursday. The people live(d) on a private road so the sheriff says we gotta load up the junk and drive it 1/2 mile to the end of the private road and UNLOAD it. Yeah, ok. Need some workers....

The Work Week Has Come and Gone

Already? How time flies. Did I get any work done this week? A little. So many other things to do this week. Unpacking. A trip to SVSU. Babysitting. Banking. FPU. A 1/2 day in the field. (no pics) Putting up the Christmas decorations. Cyber Monday shopping. Laundry. Ho Hum. Time to start the Christmas cards. Time to put up the tree. Finish up the shopping. Make the Figgy Pudding!

December

is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.
In Latin, decem means "ten". December was also the tenth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period was divided between January and February.
December's flower is the narcissus or holly. December's birthstones are turquoise, lapis lazuli, zircon, topaz (blue), or tanzanite.[citation needed]
December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.