Brightest Full Moon of 2010!

I have to agree, it was very bright and HUGE last night. I snapped this photo around 730 last night. You could have sat outside and read the paper. Here is the article on the Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of 2010! I hope you all got to get outside and view it. I LOVE watching the skies when the various changes happen, one of my favorites is Meteor Showers. Anyhow, here's the article:

The first full moon of 2010 will appear tonight, Jan. 29, 2010, but it will also be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. Some even call it a "supermoon."

Anyone with clear skies will be able to easily identify the moon tonight and get a spectacular view of its features, says Space.com.

The full moon tonight will be 2010's biggest and brightest since the moon is closer in orbit than usual at this time of year.

How much bigger and brighter? Spaceweather.com reports it will be 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than normal.

While full moons can be breathtaking to sky-gazers, they can be irritating to astronomers. The full moon is the No. 1 cause of natural light pollution, and its bright lighting -- especially tonight -- will dim stars and nebulae, making them quite difficult to see.

Cute Shoes!

Ok I went shopping for Baldyman's birthday yesterday. Why is it that every time us ladies go shopping for someone else, we of course find something we just have to have! It happens to me all the time. I decided I was going to buy him his own pair of Croc's because I have these pink ones...and he wears them all the time. Do you think he's trying to tell me something????? Anyhow, I went to the Croc store and found him a man pair of Crocs...NO these are not those! This is where the problem came in, I found these! Arent they the cutest? They are so comfy to. When I paid the bill I was complaining on how expensive it was, but I wont admit the bill was high due to MY shoes not Baldymans. Anyhow, they ARE cute!
NOW,,,check these out. They are homely, abused, over used and just need to go into the trash. They are comfy from being so worn out. Now tell me, I needed new shoes right??????

Friend or Foe?

I havent decided yet if this is my new friend or my new enemy. I can tell you that I LOVE LOVE treadmills. I had one a few years ago and used it until it no longer worked. Then I just didnt go get another one. Of course every January we all begin thinking about getting ourselves healthier. I normally get out and walk but once our hard winters hit I no longer walk because I'm afraid of the ice underneath the snow. Soo, I notice i start getting out of shape. Last week I made the decision to go get another treadmill and begin trekking in the morning before I go to work. I dont know why but I really enjoy the treadmill.

We've had a pretty mild week and we are actually thawing out in Wisconsin. I just miss the sunshine. I dont think we've seen the sun in almost a week now.

Where are all you fellow blogging friends? I miss ya, come back and visit me!

Perfect Peaceful Sunday

Today was a beautiful winter day in Wisconsin. The snow was sticking to the trees which makes for a really beautiful winter scene. The temps were fairly mild also. I hope you can see how pretty it is from this photo--this is of our backyard.
Here is my little feathered friends catching an afternoon drink and even some are bathing. This electric water heater is to keep their water from freezing. Last winter it barely got used. This season its full thruout the day. Its really neat watching the birds come and play. It drives the cat nuts but for us, its enjoyable. I felt really bad for them so i actually went out there and scooped all the water out and then poured nice lukewarm water so if they wanted to clean themselves they could. Baldyman thought I was alittle odd but hey, thats how we women are.

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend, we sure did. Got alot of deep cleaning done, organizing and just enjoying the house. We are still in the process of decluttering and its coming along. Its amazing how much stuff you accumulate and then you find out you really dont need anymore. I found a bag of sewing that was bittersweet. When I took it out I realized it had been for a shirt I was in the process of making one of my twins, now they are moved out. I told Baldyman thats what happens when a woman works full time outside the home, things just get put aside. I'm still on a mission to find the perfect part time job--and then also promote my body products and candles...that remains a strong goal for this year. I so miss sewing and doing some of the things I like to do. I just dont have the time anymore. Anyhow, I'm off to visit some of you!

Winter Wonderland & Ms. Genie!

These are photos of our storm in Wisconsin 2 days ago. We maybe got about 4-6 inches while places not to far from us got 12-14 inches. It was snowing pretty good when I took this picture, not sure if you can see the flakes. Try clicking on it and enlarging the picture.
This is our backyard, baldyman had just finished feeding all the birds so that they would have tons of food during the storm.
AND......let me present to you,,,,our Ms. Genie! I took her to the groomers yesterday and isnt she the prettiest thang you ever did see? She was a mess...a real mess. I had them put ribbons in her hair which she HATES...they were out in a couple of hours. Thankfully I got this picture while the ribbons were in place. I think she would bite me if she could for having them place ribbons in her hair. She's a princess but not that big of one. I dont know if I've shared on this blog Ms. Genie's health problems but we rescued her about 6 years ago. She was an abused animal. We got her right after the death of our family dog Buddy..who was very dear to us. Genie won us all over..including Baldyman who said he didnt think he could love another animal like Buddy and Brandy. Approx 3 years ago Genie got very sick and after running her to various vets and ringing up tons of bills we had no answer. She was getting sicker and sicker and finally we ended up at a place that had some sort of an idea of what could be wrong and referred us to the Wisconsin Veterinary Hospital which did find out what was wrong---but a huge cost. Lets just say---she's why we dont have a new car right now as well as other things. Some people think we're nuts--but for us--like so many others Genie is like our child. Anyhow, she was basically suppossed to die about 2 years ago. She beat all odds and beat that disease. She got sick again, this time with her heart and is now fighting that. She needs a pacemaker and we are deciding if we can afford to do that. She's not that old of a dog...only 7 so she has alot of time left. Anyhow, she is a fighter and we love her to death. She gets pretty raggeity and it was past time for her doggie beauty parlor appt. She loves it and comes home VERY stuck up. She just isnt fond of the bows. Sooo, this is her right after she got back.

I hope everyone is enjoying this cold snowy winter and enjoying some good wintery dishes!

New Year, New Start!

I made a resolution for 2010...and that is to de-clutter. I dont normally make any resolutions because quite frankly I think we all know we fail to hold them. BUT....I have wanted to declutter for a long time now. I'm tired of so much crap all over and I'm tired of all the "trinkets". I started when i took down our decorations. I am donating alot of the stuff I no longer use and just dont like anymore. Then, for a long time now I've wanted my dining room to feel more homey and after a meal I wanted it to be a place you dont mind sitting and lingering over conversation or games. When we bought our dining room set last Spring, we didnt have enough seating. This is a counter top dining set so finding seats to fit are challenging. I finally found a bench that is counter top and ordered it. I was hoping it would be here for the holidays but it didnt make it. After cleaning the room out I placed it here--and I think the dining room has a whole new feeling now. I havent taken the plastic off the seat yet--so ignore that!
Now we can comfortable seat 8 for a meal! For the grandkids I have a card table and chairs that I can set up also.
AND....me and Baldyman decided it was time to come into the 2000's for our TV. Our old TV has that huge back that dosnt allow you to place it against the wall and I was tired of being limited for re-arranging furniture. We bought this cabinet and TV after Christmas and are loving it. We dont have the sound figured out yet-but we are getting there. Our kids bought us the surround sound system that is the black bar above the TV and that pretty much summed up our decision to get the new TV. Our house is looking much cozier these days, a good thing since its so cold right now in Wisconsin.

I hope the New Year for all of us brings, peace, love and health. I have many personal plans for this year and I do hope that they come to pass. I'll be sharing those soon!

RUN to see this movie!

For the first time in our life, we went to see a movie on Christmas Day. Baldyman, one of our daughters and my sister went to see Its Complicated last night. We laughed out loud many times thruout the movie. I have to say it was the perfect movie to see on Christmas night after all the hoopla is done and your looking to unwind.

The gyst of the movie most of you can guess or know, they dont hide it. I think they handled the ending fairly well. Alec Baldwin to me--in my humble not worth much opinion, acted his best I've ever seen in this movie..he was truly likeable, funny, whiny, and selfish but in a nice way. He also had you feeling kinda sorry for him--despite his bad decision!

Meryl Streep was great to, better yet awesome. Steve Martin--well if your a fan of his--which we are was good, but I just cant get enough of his comedy....to me he's like a Madea-I never get tired of his antics.

Sooo, if your looking for a laugh, entertainment and even some soul searching thoughts--definitely put this on your Holiday Go see List!

Twas the night before Christmas.......

Here is our little tree with all the unwrapped gifts just waiting for the kids and grandkids to come check them out. I have such a large family now that I have presents all over the house in piles because I cannot fit them under this tree. I love this last day of looking at the tree so neat and tidy with the gifts.
Take a real close look at this gift. Why? Because its MINE! Hubby placed it out yesterday thinking I wouldnt notice...now you tell me what woman does not know when a gift she didnt place there shows up? He multi-wrapped it meaning we must be low on paper--lol. NOW...I'm going to sound greedy but I'll admit that I am feeling greedy this year. I was kinda hoping for a new necklace or bracelet..but I think I know what he got. I can put my guess here because he never reads my blog. Its a kitchen aid mixer...check back later to see if i'm right! I told him I think I know what it is but then I guess all this weird stuff to steer him wrong...lol

Anyhow, I got Baldyman a wedding band. We've been married 32 years OMG its been that LONGGGGGGGGGG!!! This will be his 4th, YES 4th wedding band that I have purchased him. He loses them, he twirls them on his finger while driving, places them on the top of the car roof and forgets....you know dumb stuff. I'm thinking if he loses this one--I am done. Its pretty bad when you keep losing them..maybe he dosnt want to be married lol...

Anyhow, I hope each and every one of you has a Merry Christmas and that your family is safe, happy and warm this Christmas night. For me, I want to spend this last hours focusing on my faith and all my blessings God has been so gracious to give me,,, in such economic hardships we are doing ok. I cant imagine any better gift than being ok. Merry Christmas!

My little store!

This is my little "store" in my office. I'm trying to have a place where alot of my products are on display so when guests come by, it might entice them to buy! I have all my Scents of Candles out plus a sampling of my body care products.

I really need to make it a priority to find a bigger place this year. While I've enjoyed living in this house, I'm outgrowing it. They say as your kids grow and leave, you can shed things and scale down. I feel like I'm expanding! I dont want to scale down. I want to have a room for all my products, candles as well as a storage room for all my ingrediants. I need to get things in place so I can see at a glance what I'm low on, and what I have for stock.

Not to mention, I need an office, a guest room for kids and grandkids!

I hope to post a few pictures of all my holiday decorations soon. I've seen so many of yours and they all look so warm and inviting. I'm all done shopping, wrapping and baking cookies! Its time to enjoy Christmas movies, good food and company!

Soy Candles!

I'm successfully up to 14 Scents for my Soy Candles. These are 100% Soy, burn 40-50 hours and highly scented. I've tested them all and I have to tell you, I've enjoyed having my home have so many different scents since October. Baldyman says he misses coming home to different scents all the time. I've stopped testing for bit to get thru the holidays but hopefully maybe even this weekend I will start testing my Valentines Day fragrances and then head into Spring and Summer Scents.

If anyone is interested here's the scoop!
8Oz Mason Jars $8.00 plus shipping
6 Oz Victorian Jars $6.50 plus shipping

Victorian Jars come in only 2 Scents right now
Lilac & Transendence

Mason Jars:
Vanilla Voodoo
Frankincense & Myrhh
Eucalyptus and Ivy
Pumpkin Coffee
Hazellnut Coffee
Sultry Angel
Cranberry Glaze
Cucumber Melon
Winter Woodlands Whisper
Starry Nights
Cinnabons
Fall Leaves

If anyone is interested please let me know!

Ms. Ellie and her Christmas Friends!

Here is Ms. Ellie with her Christmas Yard Decorations that we bought for her. I wanted her to have a few things to put in the yard to brighten up her holiday. The Snowman to the right of her is roasting a marshmallow and it moves up and down over the little fire. The penquins are just a blow up decoration and then we got her a set of the Christmas light bulbs that you use to line up the walk way. She really liked the snowman.

I have to get around and check out everyone's home and decorations. We only have alittle over a week and Christmas is here. For some reason this Christmas seemed to creep up on me. I dont feel overwhelmed with anything but I do feel like it just came to fast.

I'm just about done with my shopping and baking. I hope your holiday season is going well and your finding time to enjoy it all.

Our First Snowfall!

Can we say SNOW DAY REAL LOUD? I am so happy! Today was our first major snowfall AND of course that means NO WORK! YIPEEEEE....I had Christmas Cookies in the oven by 7 AM and baked this morning. Then I made a huge pot of Chili, Taco Meat, cleaned the house and now I'm bored! I wanted to go Christmas Shopping but the power is out in many places. Not sure how much we got--but I'm guessing close to 10 inches.

My little snowman didnt fare to well with this wet heavy snow, but Baldyman went out cleaned him off and now he's standing proud. Bad thing about these types of snowfalls is by tonight we will be greeted with temps of 25-30 BELOW zero. That is hard to take.

Have any of you been greeted with Old Man Winter yet?

The best Ornament!

I saw this in the Hallmark store and couldnt stop laughing. They had a baby bib also and that to was adorable. I try to buy a new ornament or two each year, well this one is home sitting on my tree.

My first craft show was a disaster financially BUT is was a success in learning for us. We learned all kinds of things we will do next time to promote my stuff, market it better which hopefully will help things out. The crowd was not that great which didnt help. The other thing I didnt like about this one is that we had to get up at 430 AM to be there and get everything settled. I was so tired that I didnt have the best personality. Anyhow, its over, I'm relaxed and ready to begin my Christmas baking!

Christmas Tree!

Here's my Christmas Tree for this year. I decided to move my recliner out of the living room and have the tree here. This way you can view it from the dining room table as well as the living room. I like it! I never like the way I decorate the tree, but to me this is pretty good. I just feel that I dont do well at this kind of thing.

I have my first craft show this weekend and I'm nervous. I have made so many candles and body care products and I just dont know what to expect! The candles that I have sold so far everyone is loving....but still being that its my first I just dont know how the shopping mood will be. I hope it goes well!

After this show is done, I'm going back to relaxing some at night--and I hope to catch my favorite holiday shows as well as enjoy some Christmas Baking. I've got a good portion of my holiday gifts purchased already.

How about all of you, how are your holiday plans coming to pass?

Sometimes this is all you need

Its been a crazy 2 weeks for me and my family. I cant even begin to tell you how hard it is to keep going at a full time job outside of the home, attempt to build and market my body business and candles as well as try to be a good Mom and Grandmom. Some of you may already know exactly what I'm talking about. When anything happens out of the ordinary, it just throws you completely off kilter and its almost humanly impossible to keep the pace. Trying to please everyone, do a good job at work, is just exhausting. AND..I'm trying to learn how to make new scented candles all the time--and for me its not easy. I also threw in my first Craft Show to attend to market my products and so I'm trying to build a stock....Anyhow, I came h ome yesterday after a nearly 12 hour day at work just wiped out and thinking of cancelling my craft show project because I dont know if I'll be able to get my stock up. On my table were these beautiful flowers. My first thought was---Baldyman remembered to get some nice flowers for the Thanksgiving meal. Then I saw the card..it says ---Thank you..well I knew then it wasnt from Baldyman. What would he thank me for? Well theres alot I guess but I just sensed it wasnt from him. We've got alot of personal tough times going on with our 3rd son and trying to help him. He is the one who put the flowers there with a very nice card saying Thank you for all we are helping him with. I just thought after reading the card....Ya know, sometimes this is all you need in life--someone grateful for trying your best. I dont need big fancy houses, new cars, diamonds, wonderful trips all the time--I just need to know sometimes I'm a good Mom, grandmom and that I do my best. I may not be the best--but I do my best. So, I'm feeling very thankful that my kids know I try hard. Add to that, another nice letter came my way from someone that really made me smile inside so this week on top of being very physically and emotionally trying was also very heart touching.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving meal with their loved ones and your homes are full of laughter and love. This is my most favorite meal of the year. I absolutely love it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can Life get any sweeter?

I couldnt resist these pictures of Peschi my sons cat--(who somehow lives in our home). She was sleeping at the bottom of our bed and I just couldnt kick out of the covers when I was making it and this is how she slept.
Is she not the cutest cat you ever saw? (sorry Marvin)
And of course they have to put the paw up to make themselves even cuter.
And the Ultimate in cuteness...Genie and Peschi napping together. Now mind you, Genie is NOT a friendly sort. She acts like she will eat most humans and animals..but she has a HUGE soft spot for Peschi. I find them snuggled alot together and whenever Peschi comes in from outside Genie and her will rub noses as if they are greeting each other..heck they probably are.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend..we've had beautiful weather here all week. I dont want it to end. I'm having huge success in my candle making and actually finally have a decent stock with a decent amount of scent choices. I committed to doing a Christmas Show, my first one so I have to work hard to build my inventory for alot of the things I make. I hope it goes well. I'm very nervous. I'm also getting new customers AND orders for gift baskets for Christmas gifts so my little business is definitely moving along.

Mobile Home Tour!

I finally got around to taking a few pictures of the inside of our little mobilehomey. Here is my tiny kitchen area. Baldyman and I drove it to the beach the other night, turned on the generator and cooked up a pizza. Strange i know but we always wanted to live by water. It was very nice just sitting and watching the lake. We went at night so the glow of the homes around the lake was very relaxing.
I just cant get a feel for this camera, so this picture is dark but this is the living and cabin area. I'm thinking about getting a new camera and then taking lessons because this one just dosnt cut it for me. No matter what setting I use I couldnt get a good picture.
My teeny tiny bathroom, it has another cabinet on the left side. This home is 11 years old and in mint condition. Not even a scratch on the woodwork. I'm sure we will fix that in no time. Baldyman says he is gonna take good care of it though--its his baby. We are fighting over who likes it more.
And of course our little bedroom. Its a queen size bed which is really nice. Cabinets on each side and then even a shelf under the window for pictures and candles and whatever other pretties I want. The bathroom has a shower with a tub also!

We havent done awhole lot yet to make it ours. We plan on putting in a nice TV Stereo System before we leave on our Spring trip and then also getting the Name "MobileHomey" on the back of it. The plan is to use it for Thanksgiving for our annual trek to my cousins and then store it for winter. Around Sometime between March and May we will be taking an Ocean trip and staying on the Ocean for a week. I think all our kids and grandkids plan on coming with. That is another dream vacation for us, camping on the ocean.

I hope you enjoyed the tiny tour of my tiny home,,,it really is our baby!

Nothing like a bowl of homemade Soup!

With all the Flu going around, I came home from work last night and just didnt feel to good. I went to bed thinking how nice it would have been if someone had made a big pot of Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Sometimes you just wish you were young again and had a Mom that did this for you. So, I went to bed early, so did Baldyman and I woke up at 530 and made him a list and off he went to the store. I had my pot of Homemade Chicken Soup done by 8:30 AM! And let me tell you, it is SOOO good. I added some white wine, extra garlic and some of Paula Deen's House Seasoning, Thyme and Oregano and the flavor is just heavenly. My grandaughters are officially going thru the Swine Flu. Both of the girls are getting better so that is good. I cannot tell you how many times I've been exposed to the Flu and other illnesses in the last 2 weeks. So far all I've gotten is some mild aches and pains and just overall fatigue. Today I'm feeling pretty close to normal and gonna go enjoy a movie and some shopping for my business. Have a great weekend everyone!

Get Yours Fast!

Here ya go folks, now dont fight over them....I have 3--thats right 3 candles to sell! LOL....I just couldnt help but laugh. After nearly 2 months of testing, working, learning and playing I have 3 candles that I feel good enough to sell. Here they are. These are Vanilla Voodoo..I normally dont like Vanilla but I LOVE this Scent of it.

I've already sold 2 of them so I only have 1 in stock--isnt that hilarious? I'm just so dern proud that I actually got to this place. When I closed the lids I was very excited. I believe I'm at 4 Scents now that I can make and have ready to go. Once I get a REAL Stock I will post so just in case anyone is interested they can let me know. I'm only making 8 oz Mason Jars and 6 Oz Victorian Jars at this point. Believe me, as slow as I'm learning this , I'm not going to try another jar for awhile. I have some really nice Pumpkin Jars, Acorn Jars and Apple Jars but they wont see the light of day for quite some time.

I forgot to take pictures of our little Halloween Party this weekend--bad Grandma that I am. We had a blast until the way home. We were going down the interstate having a good ole time and POP--a pretty loud exploding noise and then some noise underneath the motorhome that scared the Devil I'm sure and I tell ya, my grandaughter jumped in my lap so fast I didnt even know she was there--my dog took off so fast he ran underneath my husbands feet (while driving) and we were all yelling! Well, turns out the tire blew up. That caused a whole lot of other things to happen to our little Motorhomie. I'm NOT happy because it turns out that the tire pressure was uneven causing to much pressure on the one that blew. We are hoping they will at least give us abreak in some of the repairs. We need a new tire, hub cap, and the tire when it blew damaged the pipes that lead to the Propane Tank so we need that fixed. The exhaust pipe also got damaged. We were stalled for about 3 hours by the time Triple A got us up and going. All the rest of the way home the girls were scared..well so was I. I told them to write a story about their Scary RV Ride..lol. One of my grandaughters said she will never go in this RV again....I told her You'll be missing out because we are going places!

Anyhow, life is just a bowl of mishaps isnt it?

Annual Halloween Party!

Its that time of year once again. Our annual Halloween Party for the Grandkids. Here is my table so far. My Menu--Brain Sandwiches, Haunted Casserole, Blood and Guts Dip, Skeleton Bones, Boo Fruit Salad, Chocolate Pumpkin Cake! I'll get a picture of the Food before we all dive in and make it messy.

Tonight by 5 they should arrive, then we plan on having dinner, going looking at some Scary House Decorations and then back here for Scary Movies, Haunted Hot Tubbin and then off to bed to dream of Ghosts. In the morning we are packing up, and taking our RV to the State Park for the day and night and having a Candle Lit Nature Walk thru the park. Should be a lot of fun. If the weather cooperates we are hoping for a campfire and then we can tell Scary Ghost Stories. The state Park is awesome, full of woods, very scenic. Its booked solid so alot of folks should be out having fun. Thats my plans for the weekend, what are yours?