13 things i hate to do but must do!!!

1/ pay bills (yucko!!!!).
2/ laundry
3/ dishes
4/ dusting
5/ go in for my yearly "exam"!
6/ take pictures with me in them (the things i do so my great great great grandkids will know me!!)
7/ clean the toilet!
8/ be aware of my eating habits
9/ keep up with our finances (yucko!!)
10/ age!!!!!
11/ delete my Voyager shows on DVR (I am sooooo loving those right now!!!)
12/ talk on the phone (what can I say I work in a business where I am constantly on the phone so when I have free time I do not want to spend it on the phone!!)
13/ keep my nails short (it is a sacrifice I make for scrapbooking...it is so much easier to work with short nails!!).

I was able to download some pictures from Turkey Day. So I am now ready to post some of them here....

My Mom and Gigi getting ready to eat some Turkey!!!

THOR!!!!! (the name we picked this year for Mr. Turkey)

My Family

The girls and "Mr. Pinecone"

The Burgess Family

Truth, Red Lights, Caution Signs and Flossing!!!

Why is it when people ask you a question they get UPSET when you do not give them the answer they want? Why ask the question?? What is the point? I mean...you are to ask questions to find out answers and yes, some of them will not be what you want but do you have to act crazy when we answer the question? Come on now...do you want the truth or do you want me to lie? Sure I can lie and make YOU feel good or I can tell the truth and then we move on.... Well, I believe in truth and boy can they get you in some trouble. And the weird thing is I know when the question is being asked..."BE AWARE!!! THE DAMNED IF YOU DO, DAMNED IF YOU DON'T question is coming up!!!". I see these red fire lights going off and the yellow cation sign come up. I KNOW what answer they want and i KNOW what answer will get us to my meeting faster but NO!!!! I have to tell the truth!!! and BAM!!!! BOOM!!! I get the "look" and then the disbelief and then.... well depending on the person determines what comes next. *sighy*...why didn't i just answer the question with THEIR answer? WHY???????

Well...let me give you an example. I was at the dentist this morning and SHE (I do not remember her name and the way she flossed my teeth makes her a SHE!!) asked me ..."Do you brush your teeth twice a day??" ...ok there go the red lights and yellow sign!!!!..."No" i answer (I wanted to explain i brush once and use my Sonic, isn't that like brushing twice? but she threw the next DREADED question in...) "DO YOU FLOSS DAILY???" I HATE that question, hate it, hate it, HATE IT!!!! "no..." I answer. Well...there comes the "shame on you, what are you thinking, so you not know your mouth is the filthiest part of your body and how could any human NOT want to clean it twice a day and get the nasty filthy "things" from in between your molars" speech and then.... when proceeds to "show" me how to floss by taking the floss and ramming it between my teeth and jamming it into my gums (OUCH!!!) over and over again! And when she is done...."Oh, your gums are bleeding a little"...well crud! I wanted to tell her to let me floss her gums they way she did mine and lets see if she bleeds! Instead I just nodded and thought.....WHY oh WHY did i not pay attention to the red lights and yellow sign? WHY? I knew what she wanted me to say and my gums knew what she wanted to say...but NO! I had to tell the truth! *sighy* Now my gums are swollen and I have one more reason to stop and heed the red lights and yellow signs next time a question is asked....(teeeheheheh...NOT!!!!). I believe if you ask a question please be ready for the answer, if not...DON"T ASK IT!!!!!

We saw this movie and loved it!! I could not resist creating "me"....teeeehehehehehe!

STRESSSSSSSSSSSSS, cannon balls and cold sores...

ok...i admit it. i am the type of person who hides my stress. Life can throw me cannon ball after cannon ball and i will look at them and try to dodge them. i don't ask for help and in most cases i don't ask why the %^$* they are being thrown. my hope is it i stand my ground they will eventually stop and i can get on with life. now...if the cannon balls balls keep coming and i am busy in life or i feel they came a little to close i may freak out and loose it! wow!! loosing it will usually result in some casualties (i tend to get very loud and strike out at everyone...even if they are not throwing cannon balls). over the years i have learned to control the "loosing" it part and to my families delight i have been more successful than not. being in control during these times also helps me to look at the situation and find ways to avoid them or "illiminate" them when the "seige" is over. destroying cannon balls at a later date (or is i am lucky in advance) is a wonderful feeling!

so...that is what happens in a perfect world...the last few weeks have not been perfect. i have been under attack and because i was sooooo busy (life, death, marraige, family, work...) i have "ignored" the cannon balls. i do that sometimes. i like to think if i ignore them they will go away (again...it has to do with not having time to stop and dodge!!!). well...there are times this works and there are times it does not! in those cases where it does not work my body joins in the attack! it has this incredible way of knowing there are cannon balls coming at me left and right and i need to become aware or i might get blown up! hence...the dreaded COLD SORE under my nose (if i get them on my lip that is something i can handle in a day, but my nose...not good)!!! Well...CS came to visit on the morning after Thanksgiving (i guess i could thank him for waiting until the holiday was over....) and it was huge! It was so bad i had to pull out my medicine and start with the vitamin E! Well...it is starting to go away and that is good (it should be gone by the time i return to work). However...it is time to look at the cannon balls and figure out what needs to be done (the timing could not have been more horrible...lots to do this holiday season!).

hmmm.....i guess if i take it one day at a time and handle the cannon balls one at a time i may be able to enjoy the holidays and win a battle...or i could just throw up my white flag and call a truce till January 3rd????? hmmmmmm....

wow!! it has been some time since I have been here! Lot's going on and not much time to sit and visit! It is amazing how much one has to do around the holiday's and how much time we DON'T allow ourselves. "Calgon" has been screaming to take me away but I just have not had the time! I am going to try to focus on getting more down time in the upcoming weeks (wish me luck!). I think it will be great for me and my family.


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! My parents and in-laws were here and it was a great time to visit (we looked at lot's and lot's of pictures and scrapbooking pages). The food was incredible (if I do say so myself!) and this year the girls helped!!! Gigi made the deviled eggs and salad and Boo made the green bean casserole and sweet yams!! All were yummy for the tummy!!! GOOD TIMES!!!

Black Friday was my down day. I normally am out there at 4:00a.m. (JC Penney's and Kohl's were screaming my name!!) but this year I was exhausted (again...a reminder of why I need more down time...). So...I rested all day and ate Turkey leftovers (love those!!). I also caught up on some DVR recordings (wow, am i way behind in my soaps!)and read a book i recently purchased. Boo went to a concert (Fall Out Boys) and she also had a meet and greet (she has been so excited because she is going to meet them in person!!!). It is to early to wake her so I am unsure of how it went. Gigi spent the entire day in front of the computer visiting!!! Reggie spent his day working (his choice!!! tehehehehe) which was ok since it was a "do your own thing" day.

I have a few more days off so I think I will do some shopping today (my lo scrapbook store is having a big sale!). I also plan to get Thanksgiving things down and "hopefully" Christmas stuff up!!!! We will see....

Today is going to be one of those days i do not enjoy (you guessed it...errands and bathroom!!). Yucko!!! I need to go to the mall (yucko!!!) and a few other places. I also need to get into my bathrooms (yes i made it plural...i have 2 and they both need to be worked on...). So it looks like I will be getting out my handy steamer (i need to tackle the "crud" in my shower tiles...yucko!!!), washing toilets (yucko!!!) and scrubbing and washing rugs and my decorative towels (i have never figured out how my "do not touch" towels get dirty!). *sighy*
I also have some "weekly" things on my list...

*have my hunny bunny finish his "honey do list"
* vacuum, vacuum and more vacuuming
* get more addresses for holiday cards
* make or buy turkey day cards
* figure out menu for turkey day
* finish my photo cards that i started last week
* get all my holiday decorating completed
* update blog on the books i have read so far for the fall reading challenge

***whew*** that will keep me busy for a while.

today i took Bridgette with me and we went to visit my Grandma G. It has been ages since we have seen her! It was a good visit and I enjoyed her. I did get sad, thinking of how we are not close (seeing the relationship with my parents and my daughters makes me realize it is possible for grandparents to be close to their grandchildren). I would like to spend more time with her, and I hope I can... It was funny because she made me and Boo coffee!!! Ohhh...i hate coffee and it hates my (my tummy gets all bubbly and there is something called the squirts that can happen...i know yucko!!). ANYWAY (teeeehehehehe), we did not want to hurt her feelings so we drank it! Ohhhhh, the misery we were in for the rest of the day! It was horrible! Boo and I suffered together and we did lots and lots of moaning and groaning! As I look back it was funny...drinking coffee so we would not hurt Grandma's feelings and suffering later...who ever said hurts was so right!!!! teeeehehehehe. It was really good to see her! I also dropped off pictures of Boo (graduation) and Gigi (quince)...i know years later! That is soooo me! I am currently 3 years behind (well...more like 20 but who is counting!!). We also went to my Aunt's house to drop off a mini book I made (i took pictures and will post them later). I really liked the way it came out and I hope she like it!!! Again, Gigi is now 17 and th pictures were taken when she was 15 (wow!!!). Maybe one day i will catch up! In the meantime I will keep trying!!!

5 things I am grateful for...

1...creativity (it makes life more fun!)
2...cell phones (i know it sounds wierd but they sure do make communication easier!)
3...my grandmothers (87 and 86 years old!!)
4...family history
5...taking time to visit family today and drop off some pictures!

this week has been hard and to be honest i do not feel like writing or showing pictures. Instead I will list 5 things I am thankful for today...

1/ my mother and father
2/ my husband and girls
3/ the incredible season we have been having (Autumn is my favorite season)
4/ humanity and our ability to overcome (Thank you Lord for gifting us with that!)
5/ love...

Today i want to accomplish a few things....

* mail the negatives of a family reunion to my Aunt
* mail some stuff I have been wanting to but have not...
* put the Halloween stuff away and get out the Thanksgiving stuff out...
* spot clean my family room
* pay FB (again...why they do not have online billing is a "what's really going on?" for me...), which means going to the mall (yucko)
* get by Penny's (sale + 15% off add up to savings....teeehehehehe)
* it's pay bill day (yucko!!!)
* do a few loads of laundry
* finish up my daughter's Godmothers book (wow!!! that will be awesome when i do this!!)

for the week....
* get the house decorated
* decide if I am having out "Are you ready for some Football" party
* clean out the car!!
* work on a few mini albums and some 12x12 pages (have not done this for a few weeks!!)
* buy some cards...mail them out

so...here is to a productive day and week....

It has been a very emotional 2 weeks. I have taken the time to spend with my family and enjoy out time together. It has also been a time to spend with family and friends and celebrate and yes, mourn, the loss of an incredible woman. She was sooo loved and it was evident in the past few weeks. It is never easy to say good-bye to someone you love and the sadness that engulfs you is so horrific. My heart has been sad...but not for my Aunt. I truly believe she is in heaven and she is with the LORD so how can I be sad for her? To be in the presence of the LORD and to be at peace and healthy and whole...who could ask for more? So, no...I am not sad for her. My sadness is for those who are left behind. Her daughter and son, her grandchildren, sister's, brother, mother, family and friends...those are the people my heart aches for. I ache for my cousin who is now without a Mother. *sighy* As I remember my Aunt I remember the love she had for her family, the way she was always willing to help you if needed...I remember when I was younger I knew if I ever needed a place to stay she would open her home to me. I remember growing up and seeing the love she had for her daughter and sister's, brother's and Mother. She was about family and it showed. My Aunt was always surrounded by those who loved her and that was great! As her family laid her to rest on Thursday I remember thinking that the way to honor her memory it to cherish family and friends and to
celebrate with them. Celebrate holidays and life! I sooo want to do that and in doing that honor her and the incredible woman that she was!!!