Merry Christmas and I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by this neat lady and here are my answers!

~~ 6 Random Things About Myself ~~

Here are the rules.
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6)
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they been tagged and leave them a comment.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
~~~~~~

Ok i think I did it right--I will confess I'm semi--NOT Right and so I do mess things up alot!
6 random things about me!

1. I'm compulsive..I wash my hands all the time and brush my teeth after everything i eat..

2. My house is pretty spotless, my car should be re--poed for filth!

3. I am very domestic--LOVE Being home--hate going to work!

4. I laugh in my sleep to the point I wake myself up.

5. I have a huge fear of failure--to the point its very h ard for me to make decisions..even minor ones.

6. I want to take over Martha Stewart!

Ok, this is my living room tree! I know its not that great but Hey--I'm not Kristin! She should come on over and fix this tree, its pretty pathetic looking isnt it? Anyone who has ideas to give this tree more life--let me know! I wont be offended in the least!

Isnt this sweet?

I was at Marshalls last week and came across this container. Perfect for tea and very shabby looking. My tea was just sitting on the counter tops looking all lonely and of course all good tea needs a home. You can tell by the lid I have it alittle stuffed but a couple good cups of good tea should fix this problem. I'm on a mission to get alot of nice containers this winter to put things such as this in. Organizing and getting things in order is not one of my talents but I truly have to get things in order. I cannot live like this anymore. Also, my goal this year is to either see if something can be worked out for the house we are renting--OR move on and find one that we can work something out that has more room. Even though its just Baldyman and me most of the time--we actually have our kids and grandkids around quite often and its just to crowded. Organzing and getting things in order are really my way of getting things together just in case we may be moving.

Its Black Friday and we did our part by getting up at 4:30. Our Walmart was unbearable, we actually left. I noticed though about an hour later the parking lot was back to near normal days...so that must mean people came, got what they wanted and got out. I wonder if thats how its going to be for most of the stores today...kinda bleak.

Have a great weekend everyone, its the official kick off of Christmas Shopping! We are on our annual trek to my cousins for a weekend of card playing, movie watching, shopping and over eatin!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My table is set. I'm about to put the turkey in. Soon, the house will be smelling wonderful! These plates are plates I've had for about 25 years. They were nothing special BUT to me they are simply because we were young, newly married, no money and I saved grocery stamps to get them. Took me forever and begging many friends and family members to PLEASE save your stamps so I can get another setting!
Here is my centerpiece for this year. A nice Turkey full of flowers. My pilgrims grace each side of the flowers. If you look close or click on the picture you will notice to the right--a quite mangled kinda ugly turkey. He gets the pleasure of being on the table every year simply because my 3rd son made him for me--when he was just in elementary school. He is now 26. Somewhere along the road of the turkeys life--he has lost an eye. I did think of replacing it--but then decided its best to let him age with time--that's what makes him so memorable.

I hope each of you has a great day today...remember all our blessings and each of us no matter what has something to be thankful for. Lets also remember those who for some reason--will not have a very good day today. I'm thinking of a family here who lost their 21 yr old son to a car accident on Monday or in a town a few hours away from me--a woman lost her 2 sons AND her husband in a plane accident. I cant imagine the grief,,,,and I cant imagine any of these people will be able to sit down today and feel grateful. Life is hard...and sometimes unlivable. Lets send up prayers for all those who are going thru things some of us cant even fathom.

Credit Card Grief!

Ok this is NOT a post about Thanksgiving although bear with me at the end...I do have something I am very THANKFUL for! With all this bail out going on I've been getting more and more upset over it. First, all these years, the average American has been paying outrageous fees, interest, etc...to alot of these companies. Its not my or any other Americans fault that these companies chose to mismanage their funds, hire and pay outrageous CEOS, or invest in the Stock Market. They ended up losing their butt---so be it. When YOU or I make a bad financial decision--who bails us out???? When I lost my home 6 years ago--who bailed me out???? We accepted the loss and moved on. All these years, we have been paying their fees, taxes, interest,,etc...and now we will pay again to fund this bail out. I'm thinking--let them all fall... Let them do as we must do....figure it out. Perhaps its way past time OUR government work for US and give us a lump sum of money so that we can stimulate the economy ourselves with OUR choices or perhaps for many of us---save our homes, pay off some debt. That would be the most natural way to save the economy and also finally help the little guy that truly can no longer afford to bail out these greedy companies.

NOW..onto my beef with credit cards. I've had a particular card for 10 years. Its in excellent standing. I paid it off in June and for some odd reason decided to check it out online. I found they had slapped an annual fee on the card along with 1 month late fee AND a .50 cent finance charge. I was livid. I called them 3 times trying to get them to remove the annual fee. They would not. They did remove the late fee and said they couldnt remove the .50. I told them I wanted to cancel the card. They said why--you've had the card 10 years in excellent standing. I said exactly....I got this card to build my credit and i have done that. I have cards that I dont pay an annual fee on why would I choose to give Capitol ONE a fee when I dont have to? I dont like throwing money to the wind. The lady said she understood and would do the same but as an employee of Capitol ONE she just had to tell me they couldnt or WOULDNT remove the newly assessed annual fee. So I cancelled the card. I paid the .50 fee. Because I cancelled the card I dont have to pay the annual fee. I cant believe these companies will choose to lose a customer--a good customer over 29.00. I'm sure we will hear next about the Credit Card Companies want their bail out..and once again the American citizen will pay some form of higher tax to accomodate all this greed, stupid business practics and mismanagement of good money they have made for years and years. When times were good--they were rollin in our high interest rates, our fees, etc. They should have done wise things with the money. When i lost my home due to poor choices in our life--we suffered the consequences. NO one bailed us out...we learned from that. To this day we are still working on rebuilding ourselves financially.

NOW to my point of what I'm grateful for? Well, I'm grateful that I have enough cards that I dont fees on--that I have the choice of telling that Company to take a hike. I have that power right now and well it dosnt feel good to give up a card I've had for 10 years...it feels AWESOME knowing i've rebuilt myself to the point I have enough cards in my wallet that I can get what I need and also tell these companies to take a hike.

I had a bad day yesterday and it was all due to money. I rarely balance my bank account--but I have a general knowledge of what I have in it. Yesterday I decided to balance it out so I can get a grip on it. I found out I had 100 dollars less in it. Then i get this crap from Capitol ONE. THEN....I finally had some time to call and sit on hold for nearly 2 hours to deal with an account I had on some furniture we had purchased 2 years ago. I opened an account because at that time they were offering a 2 year free financing package. 2 years...that would have taken me to This October before I had to pay any interest. I began paying on that account right away and figured I would be 1 month off and would only have to pay 1 or 2 months of interest. Well...they have been charging me interest for a year now. I've tried to argue with these morons before but I just dont have the time to sit on hold. So, finally yesterday I had the time. What did I learn? Well I learned the company offering the 2 year interest free financing had the offer from Oct 06 to Oct 08. The store didnt bother telling me I really only had about 15 months of interest free financing because I bought the furniture about 6 months into the program. So they mis-represented that to me. I contacted the store and should hear from them today. I'm about to make my final payment and truly I should owe them around 15.00 but with all this interest its showing I have to pay them about 150.00. I truly hope they do the right thing and refund me the money--OR once again I will cancel my account with this store. I dont need their cards, I can pay cash for whatever I want or go to another store....this time wiser to these so called 2 or 3 year interest free programs.

Why is our country in such financial turmoil? I believe mostly because of greed, poor choices, over paid CEOS., severe mis-management of funds when they WERE there and poor customer service. I do NOT want to pay for these bail outs--these companies need to suffer their choices they made just as you and I do. I want this said to the footsteps of the White House...I am beyond P......ed. I do the right thing and get treated poorly and yet I may have to pay higher taxes to these morons.

Sorry, this came out during Thanksgiving--but this all happenned to me yesterday so its fresh in my mind. NOW that I got it off my chest--I will go make my apple pie!

1st Snowfall of the Season!

We got our 1st snowfall yesterday morning. Isnt it beautiful? I woke up to this (below) and then it was so pretty I had to turn on the little tree to enhance it! The first snowfall is always exciting. Your not tired of it yet, you havent been driving in it for months.
My favorite snow is when it sticks to the trees like this. I was so hoping it would be around for Thanksgiving...but its going to hit near 40 today and tomorrow be near 50. That will just about take care of this snowfall. While winter isnt my favorite Season, there really is nothing more beautiful than a real fluffy snowstorn or taking a walk on a late winter night after a good storm. There is nothing more peaceful or beautiful. And of course,,,no bugs!

Turkey Brining

First, no this isnt my turkey, but I sure hope it looks this good--actually it will!

Last year for the first time I tried Turkey Brining and used the recipe from Martha Stewart. It made the moistest, flavorful turkey we ever had. It was tough finding a place to submerge the turkey because I cook a huge bird,,,but this year we have it figured out.

Brining is submerging the bird in a seasoned broth for 24 hours. You still have time to run out and get all the ingrediants if your interesting in trying something new!

First, bring 1 qt water, 1-1/2 cups coarse salt, 6 bay leaves, 2 TB whole coriander seeds, 1 TB dried juniper berries, 2 TB whole peppercorns black, 1 TB fennel seeds, 1 tsp black or brown mustard seeds to a slow simmer until salt has dissolved.

Place turkey in whatever your going to use to submerge it. Add salt mixture and 1 bottle dry Riesling wine, 2 medium onions, 6 garlic cloves and a bunch of fresh thyme. If turkey isnt submerged in broth, place something heavy on it to hold it down. If your using a bag of some sort...tie it. Flip turkey once in 24 hours. thats it! Stuff as usual and cook as usual and you will have a great moist flavorful turkey!

Nancy's Snowman Tassel!

is spending her Christmas Holiday hanging on the tree by our Moose. Isnt she sweet? If you click on the picture you can get an up close of her to see just how precious she is. Thank you again Nancy for offering this giveaway and I'm grateful I'm the one who won!

Vintage Giveaway!

YEP I found another giveaway and another great blog! You can visit her blog and giveaway here. I would like to give you some advice though, dont bother to enter because I'm already the winner! Pillowcases and runners have always been a deep love of mine. I was on the hunt for them all the time. Once I began working full time I havent been out there in probably a year or more. Sad, because I truly love these items. I forgot how much until I saw this blog. Whats nice is maybe now I can just shop here and then have them mailed to me! She has many beautiful items at reasonable prices so if you like embroidered pillowcases or runners,,,,please check her blog out.

I have won 1 giveaway since I've been blogging and that is my beautiful snowman tasses from Nancy. I have the picture and will post it today! Please come back and check her out...she's adorable.

Titanic Exhibit

Baldyman and I went to see the Titanic Exhibit at Milwaukee Museum today. This is how the grandstaircase appeared on the ship. Isnt it neat how they can take our picture and make it look as if we were there? We couldnt get a very good picture of the one they gave us--but here it is.

Here are the boarding passes they gave you when you pay for the exhibit. These were made to look like the original boarding passes the passengers were given. What is so neat about these is that on each pass is the name of an original passenger and at the end of the tour you can check the passenger list and see if yours survived. Mine did not--and baldymans did. They also give you some information about the passenger. Its very sad actually and I tell you it really makes one think about that fateful voyage.
This is a cookbook I bought that has recipes for what the passengers were given on the ship. They have menus for each class...1st, 2nd and 3rd. 3rd was actually not that bad as people were lead to believe. Some say 2nd class was better than first. I decided to buy the book because many of the recipes are actually easy to make and sound quite good. I"m thinking of actually h ave a theme dinner this winter--called The Titanic.

This exhibit was awesome. Very, very sad. Some of the artifacts you get to see are clothing, luggage, money, dinnerware, toothbrush, make up, a wine bottle with wine still in it. The makeup container still holds powder. I'm glad I was able to go and see this. I'm thinking its probably a once in a lifetime chance. I've always been fascinated by the Titanic and its history. I know many of us are. I cant believe how touching this is--nearly 100 years later. I hope if this exhibit gets in your area--you can go. You wont be dispointed.

Gracie Giveaway!

Is she not the cutest thing to grace your home? Yes I've been out blog searching again....hey its one of my favorite past times! I want to build my blog as well as continue to meet new bloggers. This is another giveaway I've come acrss and she's so sweet! Check out her candy cane....to cute for words. If you would like to visit yet another wonderful new blog and also be entered in another giveway...please go here. I really appreciate everyone that offers giveways--but also I'm grateful because its really generating a Holiday spirit. Thank you again to anyone hosting a giveaway--I really appreicate it.

Check out this giveaway!

Here is another neat blog I found AND she is having a great giveaway! Its scrumptious bread..and lord knows at this time of year..good bread and coffee or tea just rock! She has a log cabin that you will adore and for me..I'm so envious! Its so beautiful its heart stopping. Please visit her here and visit her blog as well as enter the giveaway! AND please if your visiting me---do you know which fellow blogger had that recipe for the very easy shrimp pasta dinner???

HELP!

If anyone happens to mosey on by I need help! A couple of days ago I saw a recipe on a blog for a very easy shrimp pasta dinner. I thought I had copied the recipe and printed it--but I dont have it. If anyone remembers seeing a recipe for Shrimp with Pasta that was VERY EASY....can you let me know where it is!

Giveaway!

Please go visit here to check out this giveaway! Its adorable and of course visiting new blogs will always bring the chance of making new blog friends! I try to make it a point of visiting new blogs several times a week! She has an adorable blog. At one point in my light I wanted to collect snowmen...but i never got past the 1 i bought nearly 20 years ago--lol! Its a lighted acrylic snowman that I found at Boston Store and she's adorable. I havent posted a picture of her yet in my Christmas Decorations--I have a few more to take and I'll make sure she's in it!

Baby, its cold outside!

And this is what I"m going to do tonight, sit by the fire. baldyman is putting our little tree on the deck with our little lighted presents and then we are done with outside decorations. Tomorrow is my last day of training and I'm excited about having alittle more play time. One of the trainers if my former supervisor and boy do I miss him. He was one of those bosses that truly is gifted. The man will do well at everything he does in life...he's that awesome.

I'm so not ready for this cold. I pulled out the "scary" hats tonight and gonna toss em in the wash. Whats a scary hat? Awww you have to know! Its those hats that you pull over your face and only your eyes and nose and mouth show. My kids when they were little always called em the scary hats. Bad thing is,,when its really cold,,when you pull the scary hat off--all your boogies and snot and anything else that dripped remains on the hat. Makes for one heck of a smelly hat! To much information I know.

I hope no matter where you are--your all staying warm and looking forward to next weeks Turkey Day. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, as it always makes me think of my blessings and to be grateful for what God has given to me.

My Christmas Decorations

Ummmm,,,check this out!

This is a picture of the homemade Spaghetti Sauce that I made this week compliments of Carol from Meadowsweet Days. Dosnt this look delish?

I made a few mistakes that I know how to correct to perfect it next time. What me and Baldyman liked about it the most is that we both like pork in our sauce and we liked knowing this just HAS to be pretty healthy for you. Its really only crushed tomatos and various meats for flavor. I know I need to find a garlic mincer to smash the garlic cloves...I've never cooked with whole garlic cloves before. I just purchase the minced garlic in a jar. I also couldnt find Sweet Italian Sausage with Fennel in it--so I will go to a butcher next time. The local grocers around here carry only the basic of basics, I'm tellin ya this is a BORING town. I wont post this recipe because its not mine....BUT head to her blog and not only is it a great blog, you can get the recipe from her!

Rainbow

This was taken last week after a late fall rain. It actually was WAY brighter and bigger than even this. Baldyman says it was the biggest and brightest rainbow he ever seen. I think the camera captured it pretty well. I cant remember who posted on their blog about beauty and seeing beautiful things, but isnt it true? You can walk outside each and every day and find something that is simply beautiful. God's creation has awe moments all the time. The last flowers of the season, the first snowfall, the moon rising, the sun setting...birds flying over the lake. In these tough times when money is tight for so many of us, lets not forget to walk outside and take advantage of all the "free" stuff. Each season brings its miracles. We may get our first snowfall this weekend--where it actually accumulates on the grass...I cant wait--snow falling can be so beautiful. The weekend is here, I hope everyone can take a few minutes and find something to sit and stare it that causes you to stop and think how beautiful life can be.

Book Award

I'm not much of a Book Reader, mostly magazines, so I had to walk a bit to find the nearest book to me. Its a Christmas Book that comes out only at this time of year. Its titled Images of Christmas. On Page 56 line 5--it says.....King John was not a good man. He wrote this message out, And gat to his room again. Descending by the spout, and all that night he lay there.

NOW,,,dosnt that just make you want to finish the dern story? Whose idea was this???? Your gonna end up with a bunch of frustrated readers!!! I want to know if King John ever got out of bed!!!!

Thanks Squawmama for thinking of me.

OKKKKK....now i gotta think of a couple folks to pass this on to!

Merry Christmas Ducks!

Are these not the cutest things you ever saw? I found these at Lowes, where you build something together,,,,,well we did the ducks together and they now have a new home. I dont usually go for this kind of thing but these are so dern cute, I couldnt pass em by. Baldyman attached them to the little table I have on the front porch. Hopefully when the winter winds come,, they will remain just like this. The Mommy protecting her little babies. Their Santa caps are what really got me!

I'll be posting more pictures of my Christmas decorations each day. Believe me, they arent that great BUT I do think I've done better than previous years. Looking at all these blogs and getting tips from all the wonderful decorators out there have helped. What I could really use though is some of you showing up at my house with some new decorations and talents! I doubt that will happen, but hey you can dream cant ya?

Guess whose Back?

ME! I feel like I was gone forever. The conference was overall pretty good. You just get so tired of sitting, sitting, sitting,, and eating! My whole system is out of whack. First thing i did when I walked in the door---well you dont want to know but I'm sure you can guess. Bad news is, I have to go to another conference on Monday for 3 days. I might blow up!

Good news is I won my first drawing and I'm really excited about it. Nancy makes tassels and I believe its a Snowman tassel so its perfect!

I took this picture right before I went to my conference to show off my anti-aging face...but I have bad news about that to! I called to re-order the product but they have no special pricing or packages and it would be 200 for 3 tiny products!!!!! Well, I guess I'm back to finding something else more reasonable and in the meantime--I might get very old!

I'll be back to check everyone's blog and hopefully you are all doing well.