Chicago Chicago

We made it back from the Windy City. And, it was windy and cold cold cold too! WOW! It did not take long to realize that it is much colder up there than down state where I live. I thought I would share a few pictures from our weekend. I will post some more later.

This is the tree outside Water Tower Place. Also right outside the Cheesecake Factory where we ate dinner. And a piece of cheesecake, of course. ;) This picture can not really show you how huge this tree really was. It was filled with colored lights and a ton of them too. I mean a ton. It actually caught my breath when I first saw it.

This is on our way to the Oriental Theatre to see ...................................................

And oh my was it good! The singing was amazing! The orchestra was also amazing. So was the set and the costumes and the theatre itself was so ornate and beautiful. Basically the whole thing was amazing! :)

One bonus from our weekend was while we were traveling through a small town on the train on the way home, we ran into The Santa Train. We slowed down as we passed by it and I could see Santa and a beautiful tree all lit up and other lights as well inside the train. There were several people inside probably meeting Santa. For a minute, I wished I was there, a small girl again....sitting on Santa's lap telling him what I would like to have for Christmas. And then drinking a warm cup of creamy chocholate-ty hot cocoa with extra marshmallow on top! And maybe even a candy cane sticking out the top for more loveliness. YUM!

Anyway, I am back home and my weekend with my co-workers was fantastic! I know that I am extremely blessed to have a boss that would do something so special for his staff. I am very thankful to be able to work for him!

Words To Live By

Another lovely artist that I adore is Becky Kelly. She draws the sweetest pictures. Every year on my Christmas list is one of her little calendars for the upcoming year. I sit mine on my kitchen counter so I can look at it each day. It seems that my kitchen is the room that I spend the majority of my time in. I actually look forward to tearing off the old day each morning to see what today's date looks like. Silly, I know, but fun for me.

I thought this one was to good not to share it with anyone who stumbles upon my blog. I think there is a lot of truth in this little day, don't cha think? ;)

Happy Birthday to you!

Yesterday was my husbands 42nd birthday. He loves coconut cream pie. LOVES IT! So, my mama indulges her son in law with one every year. A tradition in our family is that the birthday person gets to pick the menu for their birthday dinner. He usually picks fried chicken, mashed potatoes and white gravy, corn and his pie. Yum Yum! This year, we decided to do something a little simpler since my mama is not feeling well. We ordered pizza, had a big nice salad and his pie. We stuck two candles in the middle and sang the birthday song to him. My sister and nephew were not able to celebrate with us this year. My sweet nephew has a nasty flu bug that has stayed around to long, if you ask me! It is time to kick that bugs bootie! :) We all missed them very much at our little celebration. We are praying that he gets better very soon.

So, happy birthday hubby! Hope your 42nd year on earth is a good one for you.

Christmas Spirit

This week the dental office where I work is going to get into the Christmas spirit. We are bringing goodies the whole week to munch on through out the day. Two of my buddies at work seem to think that my Aunt Doris' recipe for Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels will put them into the holiday happies. Who wouldn't get jolly eating something wrapped in bacon! HA! I have them all ready to be baked in the morning before work. I am really hoping that they will stay nicely in my crock pot on warm for the day. There is a tad of work involved with these jewels and I would hate for them to flop in the morning. The person I am paired up with is bringing homemade iced sugar cookies. YUM! I got the savory and she got the sweet I was told. :)



My boss and his wife are taking us girls from the office to Chicago this weekend to have our Christmas party. We are leaving REALLY early on the Am track train on Friday for Chicago. It will take us about three hours to get there. We are going to be given our Christmas gifts which is money and we are to shop for things on Michigan Avenue for ourselves. Those are the orders from our bosses wife. Sounds good to me! :) After our day of shopping, we are going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. After dinner, are you ready for this, they are taking us to see the Broadway play Wicked! Oh yes they are! Do I not have the most wonderful boss ever?!?!?!?! After the show, we will go back to our hotel and die, I mean sleep. Then the next morning we are having brunch at a cafe (but I can not remember the name of it!) and then shop a tad more (just in case we are kicking ourselves for not getting something the day before and have to live with that awful regret for the rest of our lives) and taking the 6:00 train back home to reality. Sigh.....can you imagine the fun we will have together? Even though we work in an office with six women, we all get along very well. My poor boss though....he will have to put up with all of us girls, including his wife, for something like 36 hours. Maybe I will pack an extra candy cane for him. :)

Silly Kitty

As I have mentioned in the past...this is my first kitty. He cracks me up sometimes. For instance, this picture here. He is obsessed with shadows at the moment. He sits and stares at the walls watching them. When he can not take it anymore, he gets down and pats at the shadows that are moving. Any ideas why he does this? He will sit and stare for quite sometime at them. It looks really funny when he does it in the corner. Looks like he is in time out or something. HA! Silly kitty makes me so happy with his quirky ways. I guess the answer to my question is there is no answer except that he is a cat and he can do whatever he wishes. ;)

(Like sit on my kitchen table when he should not be!)

Christmas Parade

Friday night our little town had a Christmas parade. Santa Clause came to town Friday! Downtown, next to our library, is a little house. Santa's house! He sits in there in the evenings and little ones can stop by for a visit and a little candy cane. Seems like a long time ago that we took the girls there to visit with Santa. :(

My daughter got to march for the very first time in uniform Friday night. She looked like a little toy soldier I told her. So dapper in her attire! She was sooo proud, as were we. These are the high school colors. My sister said that the uniforms are "much cooler" than they were back in her days of wearing them. HA! It was about 20 degrees Friday night. BURR!! There was a few floats and our beauty queen and the fire trucks and the band. The band director said that the band ALWAYS goes in front of the horses. HA! Since horses sometimes leave "gifts" in the street....not a good thing to march through. Yuckie! ;(

Here she is (in the middle) with a couple of her friends. Aren't friends such a good thing? The band teacher had a little snack bar set up for them after the parade. They brought things to eat and they all had a good time!

And, here is my little toy soldier! Isn't she beautiful?!??!! I love that she is using her gift God gave her of music. She loves it and I love her!

Peek a Boo

This is my "studio." I reeeeeeeeeeeeeelly want a room/studio of my very own, but we have a small home (that I am very thankful for) and there is no room to do that now. So, here is where I have my "stuff." It is an antique armoire that I bought a couple years ago. The talented friend that I have put shelves in it for me so I could load her up. :) It is sitting in my living room now. At first my intentions when I bought it was to keep my linens in it and my bigger pieces of china like serving platters and such. Well, I decided that my growing love of sewing and crafts was much more important than silly serving platters. So, here is what it looks like with the doors open.

Can you see the goodies inside? There is little buckets with scissors and paint brushes so I know where to find things. There is also one with all the different size crochet hooks in them. I have the little baskets with my linen napkins and other assorted linens in them. If you look on the next to the bottom shelf, you will see my fabric stash and my table cloths. Not much of a stash. I simply must do something about that! Hee hee!

Here is a closer look at the "stash." Do you see a color scheme going on here? Say pink? All I can say is "ahhhhh." :)

Here is my little basket of ribbon. So neat and tidy. Makes me want to make something! What shall I make? Isn't it so nice when your things are organized and just waiting on you to come play with them? :)

Here is my corner of books. There are some great ones in here that I have not had a chance to use yet. A couple are because I don't know how to sew well enough yet. The Amy Butler book has a pattern in it to make jammie pants. I bought it with the intention of making some for my friends but sad to say, I don't know how to do jammie pants. Maybe someday.

Well, that is my craft studio. Not much as of yet...but you should see the area I have designed in my head for someday!! Lets see now...only five more years and my oldest will be in college.....that gives me time to start saving before I can take over her room. HA! I know, I know....it will be here before I know it. Then I will be crying and worrying because she is not living here any more......Sniff Sniff. Well, a girl can dream, can't she? :)