I'm as ready as I'll ever bee

Here's our Christmas tree. Now I need to put presents under it. I did a little power shopping on Tuesday. 

How about that Tree skirt. I sewed that back 1979 with my first sewing machine a Sears Kenmore. David bought it for my for our first Christmas in 1978.
I think we're due for a new one. Sounds like another project.

Here's just a few items on and off the tree. Our tree has a little of everything. A little bit Texas, a little bit quilty, a little bit turquoise, a little bit of past like a picture ornament of Pam's first Christmas, ornaments from family to definitely Aggie. Pam has been picking out Texas A&M ornaments every year for our tree. Even our front door wreath bottom right corner picture is Aggie Maroon.

 It's beginning to look like Christmas around here. I even have a few packages under the tree.

As we get settled into the new house we find things we need and things we don't. Here is a new display cabinet we found on Craigslist and put in the den. My old den had built in book shelves and the new house doesn't so I needed some place to put books, some pictures and statues.  Looks pretty good. Well I think so anyway.

I still have plenty of pictures waiting to display somewhere. Just not sure where yet.

Take a look at this house. Makes me think of Dr Seuss or a Willy Wonka house. 

David, Pam and I were out driving around one day and stopped dead in the middle of the street when we saw this house. It's a one of a kind in this Lake community in Magnolia. It might be a one of a kind in any neighborhood.

this picture that day and then last week in the local paper I saw an article about the

The house is mere 12,000+ square feet. Not 1200 but 12,000! Small isn't it?  I snapped this owner and house. The owner calls it "Kaleidoscope". They say each room is loaded with color and funky decor to match the architecture. The article mentioned that the owner was getting ready to put up his Christmas decorations.
I hope I can convince David we need drive by again to see what it looks like all decorated. I would love to tour the inside wouldn't you? 

Oh, I've had 3 electrical shock therapy treatments on my right foot not my head like my husband suggested earlier. Supposedly this will help with the healing process and the inflammation. Might be helping a little but the real test will be when I go back to the doctor to see if it's healed. The pain has eased up some so that's good. Now it just throbs after being up on it all day like I have been the last few days. I guess I better think about wrapping some mores presents so I'm not doing it at the last minute. Not that I would ever do anything like that. Never....Honest, oh alright maybe.

Until Next Blog......May the closeness of friends, the comfort of home, and the unity of our nation, renew your spirits this holiday season

You’ve got to be kidding!

A week ago Friday we had our first good frost. It was pretty chilly and frosty white.

Looked kinda pretty.

 David's roses are liking this cooler weather and the little rain we've gotten so far.       

The roses were so fragrant and as I was taking the picture a honey bee buzzed in. Can you see him on the bottom right in petals? Yikes!

The red roses as they age the edges are fringed with purple. Soooo pretty.

Went to the foot specialist at lunch a week ago Friday to check out the knot and pain on my right foot. Now this is the same foot/ankle that I injured back in May and spent all those weeks in a boot then more weeks in a brace and more at physical therapy. They did an ultra sound and x-rays even though she didn’t think it was broke or anything like that. 

Well imagine the look on her face and mine when we looked at the digital x-ray and saw a break. All I could say was You’ve got to be kidding! but Yep that's a break.
Who knows if it’s an old break or a new one since there is No way to tell.  Dr Walsh used digital x-ray so she could magnify the area. Due to the location and angle of the break it wouldn't have shown up on a regular x-ray. Something to be said for digital. Good news is that because I wear these ortho shoes by Dansk the doctor said she won’t put me back in a boot. First she wants to try some electrical therapy. I’ll go  to 6 treatments then go back to see if there’s any change.


David wonders if this electrical shock therapy will help my mental illness. He’s such a smarta$$. Told him it might get worse so he better watch out when he thinks about going to sleep.

Now you'll never guess what happened the next day, Saturday as we prepared for The Bell Christmas Party. Pamela calls all hysterical, crying and telling me something but I'll be damn if I understood. I thought she'd wrecked her car or something. I had to tell her to stop, breathe and talk slower. Still crying she tells me she stubbed her toe on her desk chair and thinks she broke it. Okay now I understand and tell her it's probably just badly sprang and just ice it. But oh no she says it's broke... That's when she tells me the little toe is going the wrong way. You've got to be kidding. She had her roommate drive her to the emergency room and they confirm it's broke. ER taped up her toes and put her in a little bootie.My right foot her right toe.. what are the odds? Like mother like daughter or however that saying goes.

On a happier note ...The Bell Party was lots of fun. Amber had all her decorations out and the tree up. When you walk up to the front door it says "Festive and Fun"

There was lots of yummy foods to eat and snack on with plenty of adult beverages. It was almost 1am when the hubby and I decided to head back to our side of town. Whoa that's a record for these old folk. We never even realized what time it was, too busy talking and laughing I guess.  Something new we learned at the party...That adult men can not play trampoline dodge ball like 14-17 year olds can. LOL! I had never heard of trampoline dodge ball till Saturday. I wish I had the video to share but I don't. Grown men dressed in tall tube socks, shorts, t-shirts with the words "No Talent" on the front and the best part was the Afro wigs they all had on. Most of the guys are engineers at David's company. I can not put into words the hilarity of watching these guys bounce around(boing boing boing) on a trampoline trying to throw a ball or dodge the ball coming at them.

You had to be there.

Oh well. So on one good foot each, my daughter and I shall try to finish my Christmas shopping before Wednesday and sqeeze in the grocery shopping for Christmas dinner.

 

 

Well Until next blog........“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present”~B. Olatunji~
 

Calgon Take Me Away

It was so extremely busy last week and the Hubby had to fend for himself 3 days last week. It seems like every time I turned around I was adding something to my calendar. Of course it was my own fault for choosing to participate.

Last Monday night My Pokeno Group got together for dinner at Toro on 290 and Hwy 6.  Not to be confused..this picture is of the girls in my back yard where I used to live.

In December we don't get together to play pokeno, instead we go out to eat to celebrate the holidays. All 9 of us showed up for a good time and food. We all ordered Hibachi shrimp, chicken, etc.  If you've never been to Toro you ought to try it out. You sit around the grill and watch the chef cook your meal and entertain you. At one point the chef put a spoonful of rice on his spatula and said open up. He was serious so I opened my mouth and he artistically popped the rice off the spatula towards me but he missed and so did I. Big round of applause for Judy though, she was the only one of the 9 of us to catch and eat her spoonful of rice. Others got close. Darn it I didn’t bring my camera to catch in the act of playing with our food. I might mention that this was not necessarily the most healthy or dietetic meal you’ll eat. Everything was cooked with lots of garlic butter. I do mean LOTS of garlic butter and something he called Yum Yum sauce. Actually it was all Yum Yum. Kudos to Jaxie and Monika who chose Toro and made the reservations.

Tuesday was a full day of activities. At work my boss had volunteered me by default to help on the retirement committee.  I’ve been giving her a bad time about that but it wasn't so bad. I am the only secretary left in our department that wasn’t retiring. The other 2 are part of the 7 retirees. I’m sorta jealous of Shirley and Sharyn as they start the new phase of their lives but not sure I can afford not getting a pay check.  I have to afford my addictions….books, fabric, and photo stuff. Thanks goodness for the gal who has done these retirement receptions many times before. She had it all under control and she delegated the jobs so no one was overloaded.

We set up a table for each retiree with a cream colored table cloth with a gold drape, beautiful flowers, guest book, name plate, and a basket to collect well wisher cards in Board Room. The reception began at 3:30 was to be over by 5:30. At 5:30pm there was still a large crowd so I asked for permission to disappear since I had another place to be by 6:30.  I jumped in my car and drove as quickly as I could to get home to let the pooch out to run around (he’s cooped up in the house all day), feed him and then hop back in the car and pick up my friend 2 doors down so we could head to our Quilt Guild Holiday Bash.




The Quilt Guild Bash tables were decked out and the Christmas tree had prizes for the door prize drawings piled high. 

 Potluck Elves were setting the tables with food for everyone to enjoy. It all looked so good and there was plenty for all to graze on.                                                                           The Holiday Bash Elves need to be applauded for their hard work. 

There were No guest speakers just an evening of show and tell, a few announcements, a potluck dinner with friends and quilters.

We had a special guest join us. One of our quilters brought a young man named Dillon Lark who was home from Ft Benning Boot Camp. We made sure Dillon know that we appreciated his service our country with a big round of applause. 

There were several random door prize drawings and even I got lucky and won a prize. And finally a game of Left and Right. This game of right and left had everyone laughing.
 
 The gal reading the Left and Right story had them passing back and forth so fast that everyone was getting confused and didn't know if they were suppose to pass their 3 fat quarters left or right.
 
 I so enjoy snapping pictures and capturing memories whether any good or not.                                   

I have ladies who are camera shy

and

I have others who pose and smile so sweetly.

Either way I get my picture. Kinda like the Royal Canadian Mounties who always get their man. Well I try to get my picture. LOL

Finally on Wednesday I attended the WTS Book Club Meeting. Our club founder, Jan hosted her book discussion Pontoon by Garrison Keillor in her home.

Jan has offered her home to all of us to host our own book discussion in her home should we decide to not meet in a restaurant.

Jan is the Hostess with the Mostess.

That night she fed us some appetitizers, spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. One of the girls, Suzanne arrived late and as she opened the foil and found garlic bread she said "It was like opening a present of yumminess."

I had to agree.

Pontoon was an easy read which I believe was a first for Jan. She has always chosen books like Love in the Time of Chollera or The Bridge.  Jan decided with the holidays she would keep our reading light and simple.  I won't review the book here but will say it was liked by everyone present. Normally around 9:00pm we begin to wind down but it was nearly 10pm before we all headed to our respective homes.
The one thing I noticed about this book is that in the last 10 pages the author decided to tie up all loose ends. He must of grew tired of the story.   


Everyone was in rare form and we all went home with sore sides and jaws. We hadn't laughed this much and so hard in a long time. It must be the season to be jolly.



In January 2012 we will celebrate our 15 year anniversary for the WTS Book Club. WTS a freight forwarding company hence how we got our name. When the club began all but 1 member worked for WTS but today our namesake no longer exists. It now has a new name and several of us have moved on.


A tradition we have is to take a group Picture. And as I said we were all being silly and having fun.  I had to snap fast.


As of today there are only 12 of the original members left of the current membership of 22.

Our club founder is front and center.


Good Books, Good Eats and Good Friends!

And there is alway fun and interesting discussions.

When I finally got home that evening the hubby asked if I’d be home the rest of the week.
And the answer was yes.
He’s such a good sport to put up with my activities this week. 

Wow A bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub sounds good after just talking about all these activies. Whew!
Well this is my story and I'm sticking to it.
Until Next Blog …..“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world”  ~ Albert Einstein ~

.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•. ✿ Be Happy ✿ .•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•.
……………… ....♥ •.Carla.•´♥…………............…

 

Thanksgiving

Things I am Thankful for:
Each morning I wake

My husband and daughter

My family near and far

My friends near and far, new and old

My job and co-workers

My new home

Just to name a few.

This time of year always seems to be so hectic and crazy. The cooking, the decorating, and then there's the shopping. The cooking part isn't too bad but I really don't  like the shopping part and I'm not that good at the decorating part. I do love the time it gives us to be with family and friends but even that can be overwhelming. 

 The holidays also bring on feelings of loss. Family members and Friends who have departed. David's mom who passed in 2007 so loved the holiday's. Her favorite part was the dessert but she loved the family time. To the right is a picture of Robert (1993) and Thelma(2007). Miss them both. And then there's the family that lives farther away that you can't be with.

We spent Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law Glenda's home along with  her sons Phillip and Kevin. 

Also present was Gary (Glenda and David's brother)  along with his wife Lynn and their 3 kids Nathan, Shelby, Kendal plus my Mom and Joe pictured to the right.


As everyone was arriving I had to run out to the store just down the street that luckily was open . David loaded the broccoli n cheese casserole and cake but I forgot the cranberry sauce, pickles, and olives. While we could get by without the pickles and olives there was no way we could get by without cranberry sauce.

While waiting to eat I snapped a few pictures.
Imagine that. For the record I did offer to help in the kitchen but my daughter was helping and David was carving the turkey so it was my job to snap pictures. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;o)

My niece Shelby  is cuddled up next to her mom Lynn.  

This is Shelby's big brother Nathan and their little sister Kendal.

When Glenda in the picture to the left yelled for the kids to come on and fill their plates she only had to say it once. That's my daughter in the background

My brother-in-law Gary was right behind the kids. Now when I say kids I'm talking ages 13 through 24. Whose kids are these anyway? Are we that old that we have almost grown kids.

There was so much food and it all was so yummy.  Glenda out did herself on the turkey so juicy and golden brown and her dressing with all the right seasonings that made us want seconds.... She also provided the ham pictured to the right, sweet potates, pumpkin crunch and my daughters favorite green bean casserole. Lynn and I brought other sides to add to the fiest.

The adults had hardly finished eating all the good stuff before my niece Kendal and the nephews were asking for dessert. We had 2 pumpkin pies, 2 pecan pies and my sister-in-law Lynn made her chocolate eclair desert. Oh yummy and creamy. I don't think there was much left of Lynn's eclair dessert. It's the kids fav. All were low calorie of course. Besides who cares calories don't count at Thanksgiving or at Christmas.

My daughter is becoming quite the cook in the past couple of years. She's always trying out new recipes. Every time she creates something tasty she'll send David and I a picture via text of the finished creation.  Usually it's when we're eating a gourmet dinner of hot dogs. Her timing is perfect. lol. 

For Thanksgiving she made a delicious Pumpkin Praline Pecan Cheesecake to share with everyone. OMG! This cake was creamy and rich. She did a great job. After toasting the pecans we decided to spread them across the top of the entire cake. I guess we should have took a picture after we sliced into it to compare to the picture with the recipe but who had time. 

    With our tummies full the guys headed to the den to watch some      football, stretch out in chairs or on the couch and discuss the troubles of the world. 

Gary here has everything figured out. Well at least that's what we let him think.

Slowly we all ended up in the den.

Time for a family massage.

Pamela cuddles up with her cousin Kevin. They're so goofy.

I just realized I never got a picture of Phillip or my hubby. How did they avoid the camera hmmm. I'll get them double at Christmas.

After a long day we made our way home. I suggested we watch a movie but what was I thinking? It was Thanksgiving and the Aggies were playing the Longhorns. I watched the game for a while then I went to my sewing room to continue the process of trying to organize while I watched the game in my room.

When I sat down at my desk my dog, Dexter pushed past my legs and under my desk. He loves laying at my feet where I had tossed a pillow not sure where I was going to put it. Well as you can see he claimed the pillow so it stayed under my desk for him.

By 8pm I went to put on my jammies to get comfy. I got the jammies on and I laid down across my bed for a minute well okay not a minute. When I didn't come back out to the den to watch the rest of the game with the fam they came to check on me. I was sound asleep not to wake up until 9 the next morning.

Well it's been a busy week. Poor David has had to fend for himself for the last 2 days and now again tonight I'm out. Heading to a bookclub meeting. We'll be discussing Pontoon by Garrison Keillor.

Until next blog.... Here's hoping you had a wonderful time with family and friends and if you were brave enough to go out Black Friday I hope you found the best bargains ever.

 

Grim Reminder

The following post is a grim reminder of how fast our lives can change in a flash. A car back fires or someone throws a cigarette out the car window without thought to the consequences or someones BBQ pit sparks a flame. Wild fires were a constant threat in Texas due the lack of rain for most part of the year. Wilds fires happen in California not in Texas. Okay so maybe there's a few here and there but nothing like this year. The  Bastrop State Park suffered a major lost, fires were popping up all over, and in the Magnolia/Waller/Plantersville area within 15-20 miles of our current home.

Last week as we got closer to the Texas Renaissance we were reminded of the devastating fires. We could smell the smoke, see the smoke and had falling ash. All of which is a very eerie feeling. Smoke that was so dense a couple of mornings it was like a fog but you knew it was smoke from the smell. It's been a couple of months since the fires and some life is starting to renew, meaning greenery but the trees have been snuffed out permanently. As we drove the last few miles to the festival we started seeing charred trees and fence lines and realized just how lucky blessed some homes were. We had heard on the news reports back then that festival grounds were being threatened by the fires burning close by but seeing how close was eye opening. There would be a burned area and then an untouched area with a home sitting in the middle. David never stopped (and I never asked to stop) so I could take pictures properly so I snapped as we drove.  So pardon the quality of the pictures that follow.

Clean up along 1774 has started. Clearing all the charred trees and debris.

Here we saw a  burnt building and wondered was this someones home or was it just a building on the property with no inhabitants. Then you have wonder if there was a family or families it affected, where are they now and will they rebuild. Seeing all this made it real. Yes we saw smoke, the falling ash, and smelled the smoke in the air as it surrounded our home back in September but seeing it like this now really made me sad.

Just look at all these trees. Gone. The drought was taking it's own toll on the trees and plants but this was massive.

The next 2 shots were taken along Riley Road. We constantly heard reports about evacuations on Riley Road and how the fire was contained and then next report would say a hot spot rekindled the flames.

The woods in the area are so dense the flames would just jump from tree to tree and all the dried leaves on the ground as result of the drought were just kindling to the flames.

The next 3 shots were on 1488 between (Waller)290 and (Magnolia)1774 . The fence melted but just beyond some the fences were homes untouched. We can give thanks to the brave volunteers and firefighters who fought to protect them along with the MAN upstairs.

Thankfully now Texas is starting to see some rain here and there and just a little bit each time.

But every little bit helps. Fire bans are being lifted and the fear of a wild fire has eased..

One of my friends family lived in the Bastrop area and was evacuated from their homes and then 2 more times from each area they had moved to. They were relieved 5+ days later when they were allowed to return. Their home was still standing and safe.

May all the folks affected by these fires find peace and the strength to rebuild.

Until Next Blog..... “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” ~Confucius~

.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•. ✿ Be Happy ✿ .•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•.
……………… ....♥ •.Carla.•´♥…………............…