I have my total body MRI test this evening.  I go there a bit after 4pm and finish at 7:30pm.  Lots of books and a CD with a preacher reading scriptures will accompany me. 

Rather than looking at this as a long boring evening, I'm rejoicing in the time I will have to be alone and read about God's goodness.

                           
                                                The snowmen, on the table, light up.
                                              I found them while cleaning attic boxes!

No long post today.  I'm trying to stay away from my desk and spend time with the family I love!  I'm savoring these last days before Christmas arrives.  I'm burning scented candles and snacking, like a pig, on our baked goods!

                        
                          The girls have brought out their gifts to each other to decorate the den!

The lady who cleans our house every other week is coming tomorrow.  Jesse is vacuuming right now.  That should make her job easier!  She does all different kinds of things, besides ordinary cleaning.  I may have her put ribbon on the wrapped gifts that are hidden in Jesse's closet.  That way, I won't have to bend over and cause my back muscles to stretch beyond where they want to be kept!!! LOL!

So, instead of me telling *you* stories,

YOU TELL ME:

1.  If there was a heavy snow storm, what would be your ideal way to spend the day?

2.  If you stuff stockings at Christmas, what are some neat ideas you can share for itty, bitty gifts?

        
                                               My dollar store salt and pepper shakers!

Our shopping is finished (for gifts and for meals) and we have the promise of a winter snow storm moving our way on Wednesday.  Generators are out, wood for alternate heating is cut and brought inside or right outside the back door, and we are enjoying our time together as a family.  We feel so blessed in so many ways!!!!

Be Blessed  ~

P.S.  Cherie if you are reading this, I just realized you are coming THURSDAY, not tomorrow, to clean! 

Not horrible, but things didn't go exactly as planned, either!

Best news:  I cleaned up the wrapping station on the dining room table!  AND, I put things into new and organized boxes to make the following years easier to sift through the "mystery" boxes!!!!

Rissy stayed home with me and finished her gift wrapping.

We made my Grandma's cookies (citrus flavored dough, rolled in nuts, & topped with a candied green or red cherry) and they turned out as expected.  No surprises there!

We mixed the bourbon balls and I realized I'd been mixing them wrong for years.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of powdered sugar as one of the ingredients.  The directions say, "Mix everything together and roll in powdered sugar."  I've been mixing powdered sugar INTO the dough for years.  Yesterday we tried without the powdered sugar and only rolled the dough in the sugar.  MUCH MORE MOIST!!!!  This is the recipe I've eaten since childhood and have been making them wrong, as an adult, since I was 19yo!

We made chocolate fudge.  I had a new candy thermometer.  The directions say to boil for 5 minutes or until the thermometer reaches 234° and so, for the fun of it, I set the timer.  After it boiled for more than EIGHT minutes, I became nervous and figured the new candy thermometer was no good.  I pulled the mixture from the heat.

That's when I learned I'm no longer strong enough to mix up fudge.  Mixing the chocolate chips into the hot butter and sugar (until the chips melted) was hard enough.  Then it was time for the marshmallow cream to be added and I didn't think I'd be able to stir until it was blended.  I had visions of marbled white and dark swirls as my candy fudge!!!

I now know, I can't make fudge unless Jesse is home to help stir!  I should make that note on the recipe card.  It was VERY hard on my upper back, and I quickly closed down the kitchen activities after that!

AND, it seems the candy thermometer was accurate, after all.  I pulled the fudge when it was at ALMOST 230° and those last 4 degrees would have made the fudge set up a bit better.  It's not bad fudge, but a tad on the soft side.

I washed dishes after each batch of cookies and Rissy helped by drying.  I couldn't have done it without her.  I especially needed her help with the fudge.  I lack the concentration I once had.  I bet I read that recipe over more than a dozen times.  It just wasn't registering with my brain.  Rissy was also the little helper that cleaned up the floor from it's many spills and crumbs!  I have no idea how many times I dropped stuff on the floor and down the cabinet doors!

We cleaned the kitchen one last time and then both of us went back to my bed to lie down and recuperate!

THEN, I tackled the dining room table.  I had started the process the day before, but this time I finished it.  All I need to do is get out the china.  I'd like to set the table with it, NOW, but it would mean extra work for me.  I don't think I should wash an extra load of dishes (I always wash them if they've been sitting out) when it isn't necessary.  Having dust and possible pet hair on the plates would mean an extra wash before serving a meal.

 
(This year I used a piece of cloth in a bow tie shape, with mirrors, pine cones & berries, and pillar candles.). 

Things went okay with all of our medical appointments, today.  Luci will be tried on yet another new medication and the PA, after my GYN check, said everything looked okay.  I'm never exactly sure how to take that comment!!

Tomorrow morning is my couple hour PET scan of my brain and chest.

Monday, is my long MRI at the hospital.  I have to check in at 4:15pm and they said I might be there until 7:30pm!!!!  I sure hope it doesn't take that long!

Next Wednesday the girls and I are going to Stephanie's for an early celebration, unless a winter storm moves in - then, it will be on Tuesday afternoon.  I have left Tuesday open, and free of activities, "just in case," regarding the weather.

A friend from church brought lasagna by before we left for our appointments today.  It was so nice to get home and pop it in the oven!  If any of you know of a family that is frazzled due to busyness, do them a favor and take a meal by for that family.  I can't tell you how much it means to me and how grateful we are to those who have helped us this year!  Don't wait for a family to call you and ask for help - just do it!

I still need to help Luci and Annamarie with their gift wrapping and I have 2 gifts left, for each girl, to wrap.

Meanwhile,

Be Blessed  ~

I feel like I finally caught up on all the sleep I had missed for the past week!  It was hard to fall asleep (again Monday night) but I think I found a clue to help me fall asleep faster.   My heating pad! 

I used it last night again and fell asleep before midnight!  Yay!

                                    
                                                        Gifts for people who don't live here!

When I finally *did* get up yesterday, Annamarie was complaining about bleeding and pain from a tooth she pulled last Saturday.  She is the one who is "slightly retarded" and doesn't understand consequences, sometimes.  It ends up, her tooth wasn't ready to be pulled, but she wanted money.  Rissy had lost a tooth at the end of last week and we bought her tooth from her.  Annamarie wanted money, but didn't have a tooth that was ready, but pulled one out anyway (ouch!). 

Around lunch time, we took her to the dentist's office to be checked and they reprimanded her for pulling her tooth so early.  She has a huge bloody hole where the tooth once was and there is nothing except a salt, baking soda, & water swish you can do to make it heal faster.  They couldn't put stitches in it because too much time had gone by.

We left there and went to a Christian book store.  I went straight to their sale books and found two books at $2.99 each!  The titles:  Joy for a Woman's Soul" and "Light For My Path" - both small enough to fit in my purse and easy to read a page and come back later and read another page.  I was looking for a book by John Piper called "Desiring God" but their only book was hardbound and $18.00.  That was definitely more than I had in mind to spend.  I also looked at the Bibles.  I am looking for one that is purse size (KJV if possible) with a flap that snaps like a wallet.  I found one and they wanted $20, and I figured I'd check eBay first.  Seems the store's price was a much better one.

                                       
                                                  I may let the girls decorate these trees for their rooms.

We went to eat at Golden Corral, after our book snooping expedition.  We had a late lunch/early dinner or whatever.  I announced I was NOT cooking dinner and they should make this meal count!!!  I try not to over eat (these days) and I didn't.  I filled up on lots of salads (green salad loaded with olives, mini corn, beets, and a tuna salad, carrot raisin slaw, and green pea salad) and went back for a small plate of chicken tender strips and sweet potato casserole.  The fried zucchini was unappetizing, as it was heavy and limp due to being filled with grease.  The little piece of calves liver I ate had a strong flavor.  And, the yellow corn was without ANY flavor.  Not eating the foods that didn't taste good, made it possible for me to eat a bit of dessert.  I had molten lava volcano cake (chocolate cake with hot chocolate pudding on top) and a small scoop of orange flavored frozen yogurt.

                         
                                          Rissy is looking at the See's candy catalog!
                        

After eating, we went to Wal-Mart.  We didn't need many groceries - mainly milk, juice, eggs, salad mix, and tomatoes.  But, the girls had to shop for each other for gifts and Jesse decided (on the spur of the moment) to buy the pets something!  I needed a few things to stuff Stephanie's stocking.  Even though she is over 30yo, that is something I promised I would do for the rest of our lives - give her a stocking!  

Some neat things I found were some pretty click style pens, a few Tide stain sticks, purse size Febreeze, and a little coin purse, when she makes a quick trip and doesn't want to take her purse, and a large bottle of Nivea lotion..

Glimmering lights everywhere. 

Arches over the street with what looked like reindeer jumping over the road and our car!  We went to a second park and there was more of the same.  So much to see, this year!  That park had two displays where you tuned your radio into a specific station and the lights were in sync with the music.  Not the Christmas songs I would prefer my girls learning, but still it was quite a light show.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me.

We finally made it home and the girls ate popcorn for dinner. 

I tried to get my junk piles a little more cleaned up and organized and that will be on my list to do today.

  
Junk pile #1.                                                                    Junk pile #2.
 

Today's To Do List:
*  Make Grandma's cookies (dough is already in the frig)
*  Made fudge
*  Make bourbon balls
*  MAYBE make pastel mints
*  Clean up white kitchen chairs
*  Clean up dining room table by putting ribbon and gift bags in storage boxes
*  Move all gift wrap and decoration boxes to the garage

Lots to do and we'll see how long my energy holds out!  Tomorrow is my GYN appointment, the girls therapy appointment, and Luci's medical appointment (her new drugs are NOT working).  But, fortunately, they are all in the same building!

  
        
                                                           Annamarie and Little Bit.

I'm secretly liking Jesse being home.  It makes our family more complete!

Things took a twist and the day, although delightful, was  nothing like Jesse or I had planned!

Unable to sleep AGAIN last night until well after midnight, I woke up this morning oddly refreshed!

                                  
                                             I saw this on my ceiling during our Thanksgiving dinner.
                                                             Any ideas of what it could be?

Everyone scrambled around getting themselves breakfast, then a call came from Jesse.  He was on his way home.  He had lost his job.  It wasn't a big job, but one that brought in a little bit each week through these lean winter months.  I want to interject here, despite our lean months, we have continued to give to our church faithfully and contribute to "people's needs" as God leads our hearts.  I was just praying about our finances Saturday or Sunday, and, I admit, I had a moment of doubt, when Jesse said he was on his way home.

He arrived, a little down in the dumps (as you can imagine) and I did my best to cheer him up and tell him God would make sure we were alright.  I just *knew* we'd be okay.  Nothing looks okay on paper when you factor in he was given his final check (small, but a check) and there have only been a few jobs, here and there, where he has been asked to clean leaves from flowerbeds, etc.during these colder months. 

                                  
                                                        The shadows from our chandelier!

Today's "To Do List" included making fudge and cookies.  I took the time to mix up my grandma's recipe for "Butternut" Christmas cookies.  Either my grandma had stronger arm muscles than me; or, her oranges and lemons were easier to grate!  I worked and worked, until my nose ran, trying to get that silly orange to give me 4 tablespoons of orange peel!  The dough needs to be refrigerated, so I cleaned up the KitchenAid mixer, the grater, and other gadgets, and sat down with Jesse to talk.

I have NO IDEA what made me say, "Do you want to go to the mall?"  I hate the mall, always have, always will, and the only reason I mentioned it was I had a $15 Off coupon for Yankee Candle Co.  I know I said I was done buying candles for the year, but I bought holiday scent candles from Bath & Body Works and was sorely disappointed.  They hardly have any fragrance.  To my surprise (after the surprise I gave myself by asking about the mall), Jesse said yes to the mall and everyone grabbed a bit of lunch and changed clothes.  We were out the door in less than an hour.

I found exactly what I wanted at the Yankee Candle store - Pine and Christmas Tree scents.  But, Jesse surprised me and said I should buy more and we walked out of there with 8 candles for the price of four.  The sales clerk saw my old Yankee Candle magazine, with the dog eared pages and my expired coupon (buy 2 get 2 free), stuck in my purse.  She said she would honor the expired coupon.  It was a better deal than the $15 Off coupon, and we set out smelling all kinds of jars.  My head began to spin, I became nauseated, and I broke out in one of my famous hot flashes.  While Jesse paid for the candles and the girl wrapped the jars, I had to step outside to breathe some fresh air AND try to cool off.

Another strange thing about our day, I ventured out for the first time with no wig, wearing only my own hair and no headcovering.  A friend told me last week that I looked like Jamie Lee Curtis (the Activa yogurt commercial gal) with my short hair.  It was a huge step for me.  Loosing my hair this year was one of the worst things I experienced!  But, after putting on my wig this morning, I never made it out of the house before a hot flash and nausea crept up on me.  I think if I had worn the wig to the mall, I would have died from being overheated!   As it was, we had to go to the food court and sit for a bit while I drank a Pepsi and "regrouped" my energy!

My second reason for going to the mall was to see all the decorations - especially at Macy's.  Guess what?  There was almost nothing to see (and this was the most fancy mall in our city).  I was surprised and wondered if everyone has moved to being "politically correct" and Jesse guessed it was the tough economy.  Macy's was a complete disappointment.  We had to *look* for decorations!  The inside of the mall was just as bad.  I apologized to the girls, because I really thought we'd see some spectacular decorations hung everywhere.

We walked back to the car through the CRISP(!!!!), cold air and started our trek home.  We stopped at Jesse's mother's to drop off something he had picked up for her at the store and then stopped to mail some bills.  Bills we suddenly had no income to pay. 

                                  
                                         These are for after I burn the pine scented candles.
                                        A friend recently sent me a Lemon Lavender candle
                                                          and I fell in love with it.

We got home and there was a surprise check in the mail for me.  Almost $1500.00!!!!!  I was stunned!  It took a while for me to realize that God was continuing to be faithful to us.  I'm sure it made Jesse feel much better, since I had told him it wasn't the worst thing in the world if we had to borrow a thousand (or so) dollars from the bank to get us through the next few months.  Praise God!  He is always right on time and has always taken such good care of us.

Although the cookies will have to wait until tomorrow to be baked and I haven't thought any more about making fudge, it was a blessed day.  Everything was so totally unexpected - both good AND bad appearing.  A day to spend together as a family and a day where God, once more, proved His ability to *more than provide* for all of our needs!

         
                                                          Lovely pine and cedar scents!
                                                The Mulberry scent has been discontinued
                                                          so I HAD to buy their last one!

We may drive around some "close by" areas tonight, to look at the light displays.  I have vegetable beef soup simmering on the stove and I'm burning the last of my disappointing candles.  The sooner they are used up, the sooner I can burn my new ones!

Be Blessed  ~

                            
                                                I had a heavy set of dishes to wrap.

I lugged the box up and then over on its side to measure the wrapping paper I would need.  I had no business lifting anything that heavy, but I did it anyway.  Ended up the paper was 3" too short!!!!  Can't believe I carefully measured, and then cut it too short!  It made me want to quit, but I pushed onward. 

I took one break and then REALLY had to force myself to continue.  My heart really wanted to mix up some dough (my grandma's famous cookies with candied cherries) and put it in the refrigerator to bake today.  I had to remind myself the "mission" yesterday was to get the table full of paper and ribbons put away ASAP - cookie dough wasn't the answer!

I'll mix the dough today and the girls and I can bake the cookies tomorrow.  School is officially on break until January.

                         
                                One of my favorites - a red cookie canister with gold lame tie.

Jesse is in the attic now getting the gift bags.  In fact, I asked him to bring down EVERYTHING Christmassy and we will throw or give away the things we will never use again.  Our attic is shamefully full of decorations from way back to when I was 20yo!!!!  I tend to have the attitude, "You never know when you might need . . . "   I think the truth is: I'm a pack rat!!!

                              
                                               Stephanie's gift is a favorite of mine this year.
                                       Blue with white snowflake paper and a glittery silver ribbon.

We're having lamb chops tonight.  I began to thaw them last night, but the middles were still frozen at 5:30pm.  Jesse offered to bring home pizzas and I quickly agreed.  I was really tired from standing over the "Holiday Village" all day!

I'm still not sleeping well - that's WITH the new sleeping pill.  I had weird dreams last night and kept waking up.  Maybe I was too warm.  I seem to have crazy dreams when I have too many blankets on me!  This makes day 4 or 5 in a row where I haven't had enough sleep at night.  Even the cat that sleeps next to me (Chirper) sighs at my tossing and turning all night!

                                 
                                           These are yesterday's accomplishments!

I wrapped gifts for Jesse, Jesse's mom, and JanaLyn.   Jesse's are hidden and the others are in our foyer.  I still have the huge box of dishes to wrap and will tackle it soon, as well as slip the odd shaped gifts into gift bags.  Other than helping the girls wrap gifts to each other, I'm just about there!!!

Be Blessed  ~

And, this year is a little different. 

I'm not able to stand for long periods of time and any type of chaos makes me nervous and edgy.   

So, rather than give up and stuff things in gift bags, or hire someone to do all of my wrapping for me, I've readjusted my normal routine.  I have tackled the job from a different angle and made it doable with my limitations.  As you can tell, I'm not a person who is easily defeated!  LOL  

Yesterday afternoon, Jesse took the girls to their various doctor appointments.  On the way home, he stopped to get gas for the Suburban, and then, at the last minute, took them Christmas shopping.  THEN, he dropped off their prescriptions for their various ailments, before heading home.  Thanks to him, I had a HUGE chunk of time all to myself and I made good use of it.

I chose to wrap EVERYTHING we're giving to the girls that doesn't need a gift bag. 

If it could be wrapped, I wrapped it!

I stuck a gift tag on each gift, to be identified later.  When I recover from last night (LOL!!!!)        I'll come back and put bows or ribbons on the boxes and pretty them up! 

I literally, RAN between the dining room table (that held 3 separate piles of gifts for each daughter) and the kitchen bar - the best surface for me to work at this year because it's taller than the dining room table.

I found boxes for everything and wrapped the item in tissue paper, then slipped it into a box.  I kept each child's gifts together and wrapped one child's stack at a time.  When I started out, it seemed like a good idea . . .

. . . it soon became overwhelming     . . . but, I persevered!    

                         
My bar is NEVER free of junk for very long.  It was clean last night when I finished wrapping, but then I brought these items in, from the freezing cold garage, to be wrapped today.  I have enough trouble dropping things, I sure didn't need frozen boxes to numb my already clumsy hands!  A sweet friend brought dinner last night - a life saver!

So what did I do with everything I wrapped?

                                  
                                              What appears to be a normal closet - Jesse's closet.

But look closer . . .

And the clothes hamper looks innocent enough, doesn't it?!!! LOL!!!!  

But, "Aha!" you say!  What's that on the floor behind Jesse's pants?

I know this spot may not remain hidden for long, but everything is in ordinary boxes and nothing holds any extraordinary clues!  They'll NEVER guess the contents! 

The garland lights on the mantel are lit and the fireplace is going with a cozy fire.  The girls are doing their Saturday chores, and I have Christmas music playing on the TV channel.  I wish they'd stop playing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and "I'll Have a Blue Christmas" (by Elvis) and just play the Christmas Carols I love, like: "O Holy Night", "Joy To the World" and other beautiful songs about Christ.

There is potpourri simmering on the stove,
 
a blend called "Scent of Christmas" by Aromatique, a blend of cinnamon, clove, bay leaves, and orange.  I only use this at Christmas time, so I associate this smell with the season.

When I quit typing, I'm going to wrap those gifts on the bar, and then start on JanaLyn's.  Or, I might make use of the time Jesse is gone this morning and wrap his first.

                                
                                              If the girls have discovered this "hidden" in the den,
                                                      they haven't uttered a word to me!

I'd like to get the mess on the dining room table put away ASAP.  As I said, messes or confusion makes me nervous inside.  I didn't used to be like that and I blame the chemo drugs on my inability to "go with the flow" of chaos!   Unfortunately, I have to wait for Jesse to make another trip to the attic to bring down the Christmas gift bags.  Also, my floral things for table centerpieces are still up there. 

Once things are put away, I will happily declare (as I do EVERY year),

"The Holiday Village is now officially closed!"

Such a dramatic person, I am!  

Be Blessed  ~

P.S.  I'm really enjoying the book I have posted.

I finished wrapping the packages that need to be mailed to Denver and was able to fit them in two large shipping boxes.  Jesse and I can mail them tomorrow while we're out.

I didn't make the cookies from the dough I refrigerated a few days ago, but will try to make them today.

However, I DID make the pralines I had thought about making the other day.  It was a "first" for me.  I followed directions (found the recipe on cooks.com) but, I think the temperature on the candy thermomotor was written wrong.  The candy didn't "set" well, and I had to put it back in the pan to boil a while longer.  I just eye-balled it until it "looked" like it was thicker - the same look my fudge takes on, before it's ready to be taken off of the heat.

I poured it on waxed paper to cool and found I should have put cooking oil spray on the paper first.  Live and learn!!!  As I picked up the cooled pralines, they broke apart on the edges because they stuck to the wax paper.  They turned out tasting really good - AND fattening - but are a crumbled mess, instead of beautiful and round!

2)  Remove from heat and add butter and pecans, stirring by hand for about 3 minutes.  If candy becomes hard, add cream.  (Mine didn't, in fact, I let it cool longer to firm up before pouring it onto the paper)

3)  Drop from large spoon onto waxed paper and cool.
(I would suggest spraying cooking oil spray on the paper first)

Extremely rich (because of the butter), but D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!!!

It's taken me hours to type this today - I'm back again, after taking TWO, LONG breaks!  LOL

The first package of our Wal-Mart online order arrived an hour ago at our door!  I just love ordering and having front porch delivery service!!!!

I've been here with Luci and Annamarie, and the girl hired to help clean my house every two weeks.

The fire is roaring and the temperature outside (at 1pm) is only 30° - but no wind, today.

Luci got sick last night (started throwing up) and Annamarie's "cold" is sounding more congested, so they didn't go to the therapy appointment with Rissy and are in their beds today.  All three will be seeing a doctor for various ailments, tomorrow.  I'm so glad I was able to get them in to see someone this week.  It feels like everyone in the city is sick with one thing or another.  We've done really well to stay healthy this year!

                         
                                                                 Minnie Pearl Nest

Doesn't the little leaf (on the top left of the nest) look like a price tag dangling?  It reminds me of Minnie Pearl and the price tag dangling from her hats!!!! LOL!!!! 

I'm just amazed at how God instills the birds with the knowledge to weave the twigs, leaves, and that long piece of plastic into a beautiful nest!  I'm thinking of putting it back in a tree, so they can reuse "the parts" next year.  Who knows?  Maybe a bird will move in "as is" and be happy as a lark!  (pun intended!!!)  LOL!

I guess those cookies won't get baked if I sit in this chair typing!

Today's To Do List:
*  Wash my hair and bathe (have to wait for Jesse to come home)
*  Bake cookie dough
*  Come up with something unique made from ground beef (tonight's dinner)

Be Blessed  ~