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.

Pictures from Boyne Country

Bailey gets a little paranoid with all the packing up. We were looking for him. Found him in the open trunk! Picture of Reindeer in the Boyne City parade and picture of the car ferry at Charlevoix on the last day it was running for the year. Lucky us!

If You Get a Craving for Something Sweet

If you get a craving for something sweet, try Hershey's dark chocolate with blueberries, cranberries and almonds. All those fruits and nuts and dark chocolate are good for you. Plus you get to eat 2 big squares. Yumm. Home safe and sound. Rained all the way home. Bad traffic; had to detour and go thru Bay City to get back on I-75. Nice relaxing trip, but glad to be home.

Santa Parade in Boyne

Wow, how cute! There was a fire truck, 2 floats, 2 reindeer, and Santa. It lasted all of about 5 minutes. We almost missed it because we were in the New shoe store downtown. Woooo Whooooo. Then all the stores hosted an open house and had wonderful munchies and beverages. Some of favorites included, white chicken chili, mushroom & wild rice soup, kale chips, and for me even a mini long island iced tea; served by the drugstore no less. :) Don't know what we'll do today. Probably buy some bird seed so my dad has some for next week. The sun is shining and it looks to be a beautiful last day!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Sitting in my favorite hangout up north; Local Flavor. Sippin a cinnamon spice tea with steamed milk. Checking my e-mail, fb and such. Just had lunch at Red mesa. Still gotta go to Glen's and get the food for Thanksgiving dinner. :) Hope they're not out of stuff like, turkey, stuffing, green beans, pie, etc... If so then I guess we'll have to eat out. Already been to Charlexvoix. Went to the new cool Cherry store. Got some cherry soda, salsa and jam. Bought a fuzzy vest cuz it's a bit chilly. Sarah got a new pair of sweats for 7 bucks.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving; and BE thankful in all things. (IN) is the key word here!

Leaving Early

So, in a few minutes I'll be running around like a madwoman getting everything packed up and cleaning stuff. I hate leaving a dirty house. Love to come home to a nice clean home. I'm kind of thinking (hoping) we can get a jump start on this rainy weather that is supposed to arrive. Had to cancel my PT, :(
Boyne Country Here We Come!

I Might Just Ramble On

I'm trying to post more than last year so I may just ramble on and on. :)
Today I'm doing housework and beginning to pack for Boyne Country. Leaving on Wednesday. We decided to make a small dinner for Thanksgiving instead of blowing major bucks on the awesome buffet at the Perry Hotel. Dave Ramsey would be proud. Plus, our tummies will be happier. I hate stuffing my belly and feeling sick. I'm afraid that is what would happen at the Perry. We can probably eat 2 dinners out for the price the T-Day dinner would be at the Perry. Anyway, I love my own cooking, LOL!
I am thankful this year that I can stay home and work and even get paid for it! :))

The Weather Channel, Computer, Me and the Dog

On this fine Saturday. The weather is still holding out-nice. Just gonna hang out and maybe get some chores done and some invoicing. Been watching the weather channel, don't you just love the weather channel? We might go see the movie, "Blindside" later on tonight. It looks like a really good movie. Probably going to make a meatloaf and smashed potatoes for dinner. That's about it. Will start packing on Monday for the long awaited vacation to Boyne Country for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday is Field Day ~This Week

The Entry Way

The Parlour!

Wow, we went to this really "sweet" old house in Pinckney today. I mean it was amazing. Like a real classic. The woodwork, the really old doorknobs and stained glass windows. The rooms, I would love to decorate this house. Sigh. I'm sore. We moved 62 gallons of paint from the basement. Loaded up a trailer full of "exterior debris." But it was a nice warm day for such work. Got lots of metal for scrapping. There was some strange and wonderful items. 2 vintage bikes that my sister would probably sell on e-bay, but we'll just put em in the metal scrap. Got a huge shop vac that actually works! Most of the rest of the stuff was j-u-n-k. We'll probably go back because the peeps busted the locks we put up, peed in the toilets, and tore down the stickers, and even turned the water back on. They left a lovely plate of mac-n-cheese and some dog doo-doo on the floor. So maybe I will get to see my dream house again.

While visiting the quaint town of Pinckney we had a chance to stop at the Zukey Lake Tavern. Kind of a neat place, right on Zukey Lake. I had been there once a long time ago.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

1 Tbl olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
4 fresh sage leaves
6 C low-fat, low-sodium veg or chicken broth
2 cans cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed & drained
4 C shredded kale
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1. Heat oil in soup pot over med heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery & sage. Cook until softened, about 5 min.
2. Add the broth, beans, kale, salt, pepper and cook, stirring occas, unitl kale is tender-about 20 min.

A Nice, Peaceful, Relaxing Day

I got to sleep in a little bit. Then I ran off to Home Depot to see if they carried the "red, green, white" Christmas lights that we needed to finish the job. Already tried Gilroy's and Big Lots. But, Home Depot doesn't carry them either. Went to Lowe's. Apparently no one carries those any more. So I bought a colored strand and a plain white (clear) strand and spent a few hours pulling out then snapping back in the lights in the correct arrangement. Then Susan called from Florida. Seems they finally downloaded SKYPE to their computer and wanted us to do the same. After downloading the program and making some adjustments we were able to connect! It was so fun! Little Mya (age almost 3) was pretty tickled. What a nice way to keep in touch. It is a video phone call and it's FREE!!
After visiting with them for quit a while I decided to get back to finishing the lights. I ran out of red and green. Another trip to Lowe's. More pulling and snapping. Finally got the lights up and working. [Check em out Renee] A quick trip to the grocery store and then some reading.
For dinner I invented a recipe. Pork chops smothered in apples, sweet potatoes, sweet potato squash, leeks all sprinkled with brown sugar, a little juice from an orange and Cinnamon. Served with fresh brussel sprouts w/walnuts coated with a little butter & brown sugar. It was all very yummy! After I see about tomorrow's work schedule I will see if I can finish my book. All the while enjoying my desert; brownies with black beans inside. (smushed up good of course!)

A Wonderful Morning at the Market

I love going to the Farmer's Market. Any will do, but especially the Ann Arbor market. First we enjoyed breakfast at the Broken Egg joint. I've been going there for years. Always get the same thing; Elizabeth's Breakfast Stew. It used to be called, "The Kitchen Sink." Sarah enjoyed her granola & banana pancakes. Then we strolled through the market. It was warm and sunny. I so enjoy the sights, sounds and smells! We bought fresh sage, 100% stone ground freshly made wheat bread, organic tomatoes, Brussel sprouts, apples, broccoli, several spices at the spice store at Kerrytown market. I can't wait to go back in December for a pine wreath and centerpieces. There were many fall centerpieces but they were lots of $$.
Now were getting ready to put up the Christmas lights since it's so warm out.

A Beautiful, Warm, Sunny, November Day

Why do you feel so much better when the sun is shining? I think I need to move somewhere sunny. I wonder how many sunny vs. cloudy days we have in Michigan? I will need to go for a walk when the temp. rises just a little more. I'm going to post the recipe for the pear crisp that Sarah made yesterday. It is lowfat and low GI food. It was so yummy! I will post it soon.

Tuesday is Field Day

Only one job in Brighton. It was very boring. The people left the house neat as a pin.; Bust the door knob, drill out the others, screw in the new ones. Blow out the lines, blah-blah-blah. The highlight of the day was meeting up with an old friend back from the Curriculum Services days. We met for lunch at TGI Fridays in Brighton. It was fun to catch up. We reconnected through good ole FB. Not much else has been going on.
Happy Birthday to my mom. Party in Heaven I guess. Sure do miss her!

A Low GI Eating Day

Yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life. Just being silly. I stuck exactly to the GI diet plan. Buttermilk/oatmeal pancakes for breakfast. (w/fruit) GI basic salad w/basic GI dressing and Tuscan Bean Soup for lunch. Then for dinner, broiled fish, with potatoes, carrots and asparagus. Th pancakes and soup were very yummy. The fish dinner, not my favorite. Tonight is Beef with eggplant chili. Smells good, anyway. I think it will be tasty. So far the Tuscan bean soup was my favorite. Let me know if ya want the recipe.

Sights, Sounds, Smells of a Walk in Early November

Whew, that was a long title. I just got back from a very nice walk.
The sky was blue and the air clean and crisp.
The sun peaking before setting in a little while.
The pungent fragrance of someone burning leaves somewhere close by.
Leaves on the lawn and crunching in the street.
The air with just a little bite on my face and ears and hands.
Pumpkins and fall decorations on lawns and porches.
Yesterday's Jack-o-lanterns glaring at me as I pass.
Fall is probably my favorite time of year even though it means winter is right around the corner.