Happy New Year!

Wishing you a safe festive season! In the New Year 2008, be sure to:
LIE, CHEAT, DRINK, and STEAL more than you did in 2007.

*LIE* back and relax just a little more this new year. Let a little more
life happen to you without so much worry.

*CHEAT* failure. Don't be afraid to try something new because you think you
may fail. It is through failure that we learn the most valuable lessons.

*DRINK* from the fountain of knowledge. Many people around you have already
been down roads you are about to travel. Learn from mistakes they have made.

*STEAL* a little time for yourself with GOD. Everyday take a little more
time to develop a stronger relationship with the KING of Kings, Almighty God.

So, if you *lie, cheat, drink, and steal* just a little more this coming year, you will have a profitable and enjoyable year ahead

Hope you all have a wonderful year in 2008!

A Christmas Spectacular!

Last Saturday night was our church's Women's Ministries annual Christmas party. Our ladies always look forward to this party each year, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, and to celebrate the love and friendship we have with one another because of Christ's love for us. Along with my friend Becky from the Pink Chandelier, and my friend Esther from Esther's House of Cards, we worked all week long to decorate and create a beautiful and elegant setting for this year's party. Here's a few pics of how it all turned out.
Remember a couple of months ago I posted about shopping at the Dollar Tree store and found all these great floral items that I was planning to use for making the decorations for this party. So these....


turned into this...
This was the completed project. I "stole" this idea from The ParTea Planner. When I saw it on her blog I thought is was so beautiful and spectacular that I had to do it for this party. Hubs helped engineer and construct the whole pole system going on here...
These were just some of the rest of the decorations in the room...




Remember in a couple of different previous posts, I talked about collecting these jars. Well, this is how I used them. We had several of our ladies bake their favorite cookie recipes and bring them to the party. We put them in these jars and had little bags available for everyone to take a few cookies home to share with their families...Ummm, good!
Then I made these little paper bag albums with all the recipes from the cookies the ladies made, one for each person...
Theses were just Christmas "words" that I printed in gold lettering then framed and made this display with gold tress from the 99 Cent Store...
After working so long and so hard on all these decorations, I didn't have it in me to do anything at my house this year. That's why I just put up the little tree that I showed you in the last post.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

It's A "Bah, humbug!" Sort of Day

Well, here it is, only 6 days before Christmas and I'm totally not ready for it to happen at all this year. It's not just a "Bah, Humbug!" sort of day, but it's been like that since Thanksgiving, which is when I normally kick into high gear and start the Christmas decorations and baking and shopping. Normally I decorate the entire house, inside and out, bake dozens of cookies, plan an elaborate dinner for Christmas day and wrap all the gifts in color-coordinated papers and ribbons and embellishments. Well, this year, none of that is happening. Today I put up a silver table-top tree with pink and blue decorations on it. My kid came home from school and said it looked like a baby shower tree. In all of my nearly 28 years of marriage, I have always had a tall green tree. In the early years we used to get a real tree, but for about the last 10 or 12 years I finally resorted to going artificial, although still green and full height of at least 7 feet. I shot my wad, so to speak, on our church Women's Ministries annual Christmas party. I planned the decorations for that for about the last 3 months now, and it all came together and turned out beautifully this past Saturday nite. So, for me, that was my big Christmas "hurrah", and at home, all we're getting is this little thing.
To me it looks like a Charlie Brown tree. At least it has some handmade ornaments on it that made probably about 15 years ago, and the silver tree, although brand new, is vintage looking. I remember as a kid my mother would always have a silver tree like this and I always hated it. It would get one color of bulbs on it (royal blue) and have one of those color wheels spinning four different colors on it as it went around. I always wanted to have a green tree, but we always had that silver thing. I suppose that's why when I got married I insisted that we have a green tree. Maybe instead of feeling "Bah, humbug!" this year, I'm feeling a little nostalgic. Nah, it's still "Bah Humbug!"

Hope This Is You All!

It's CHOCOLATE!!!

I did it. I finally talked myself into getting a chocolate fountain. I could never justify the extravagance to myself until a few weeks ago when I went to the baby shower. They had a chocolate fountain there with all kinds of fruity goodness and other dipping pleasures and it was SOOOOOOOO good! That clinched it for me. That made me know that it absolutely was an extravagance that I owed to myself. So tonight, I took my 40% coupon to Michael's and bought that bad boy! Holds 4 lbs. of chocolate!

Sorry the picture is blurry, but I was so excited I was shaking when I took the picture! This is CHOCOLATE, baby, we're talkin' CHOCOLATE! All warm and gooey and dripping with sweet, wonderful, chocolatey goodness! We'll be using it at our Women's Fellowship Christmas party in two weeks. Can I wait that long? I'll try really hard, but I may have to try it out before, you know, just to make sure everything is in proper working order. If you've never tried one of these before, just let me tell you, it is wonderful. Even if you're not a choco-holic, this will corrupt you into becoming one! TTFN :-)

Persistence Pays Off

You know, sometimes I get really ticked off at people who just seem to be stupid. Case in point, on Monday of this week, I went to Michael's because it was the last day to use a 50% off coupon and I wanted to buy this jar.

I went to the Michael's that is nearest my house. The only jar of this style and size they had left in the entire store had been filled with mini pinecones and other junk that I didn't want, and set at the end of the aisle for display purposes. The regular price for it is $29.99, so you can see why I wanted to use a 50% coupon. Well, I started to find some place to dump out the pinecone junk before going to the checkout. But then I thought the store might not appreciate me just dumping it somewhere, plus I'm prone to clumsiness, and figured I'd end up spilling it all over the floor. So I went up to the register, jar full of pinecones in tow. I stood in line for about 10 minutes, because this particular Michael's is so poorly managed that you always have to stand in long lines because no one works. I finally got up to the register, and I asked the girl working there if she could dump the stuff out, because I didn't want it. So she asked another worker, who said to call the store manager. So she calls the store manager and asks her if she can dump it out. The store manager apparantly told her No, if it was a display, then it's not for sale. So the girls repeats to me what the manager said. I said, But it's the last one you have. You can't sell it to me? So she calls the manager again, and again, the manager says it's not for sale. This fried me. How stupid is that? If it's the last one in the store, what good does it do to have it displayed? Displayed for what? So people like me can see what they can't purchase? A very dear friend of mine, who's now passed away, once told me that ignorance would be the very hardest thing to deal with in dealing with people. Boy, was she ever right about that! So, I took my coupon and left the store in a huff! I went to another Michael's, about 10 miles from my house, and they didn't have that jar, but did have another which I was willing to fork out the $15 bucks for, so I got it.
So today, I got another flyer in the mail from Michael's with another 50% coupon, but it was only good today from noon until 10:00 p.m. Off I go to another Michael's, a little closer to home, but still a putt, and they had NO JARS in any style or size or price range. I decided to go back to my original Michael's, and if they still had the jar I wanted, I would dump the stuff out of it myself, and go to the register and pay for it like a normal person. Not that I'm normal, mind you, but I would act like a normie for the sakc of GETTING MY JAR!!!! Guess what? When I walked to the aisle where the jars are kept, that jar was there, pinecone junk gone, but still showing the dusty residue where they had been, so I grabbed that baby and went like a mad woman to the register and bought it, using my coupon, before anybody had time to think about whether or not it was supposed to be for sale or "just on display". Mission accomplished. People who work in retail just need to learn not to mess with me. When I'm on a mission, I WILL succeed. Maybe later, rather than sooner, but I WILL succeed! TTNT, :=)

New Turkey Recipe

Your dinner will be the talk of the TOWN!!
You should try this! Sure to bring smiles from your guests!
Here is a new way to prepare your Thanksgiving Turkey.
1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.
2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully. (see picture)
3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.
4. Watch your guests' faces...



May your stuffing be tasty, May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious, And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!