December 9, 2009

• Before and After

  Yesterday afternoon, I finished decorating our doorway garlands.

  I used less things and didn't do as good of a job, as I usually do.  Everything looks less balanced to me this year, but I had to stop.  My arms just wouldn't allow me to hold them above my head, without hurting my neck and upper back muscles.  So, I had to be speedy and choose what I wanted to use very carefully and not look at things too critically. 

  This year, I left out the pine cones, some birdhouses and bird nests, and I didn't add the green fir sprigs sprinkled with snow.  It was just too much work and would mean that much more work later, when I took everything down.

  I woke up this morning with an ache in my neck and a slight headache - telling me, I did too much.  I waited for a more reasonable hour to hop in a hot tub to soak my muscles - like 7am.  I didn't want to wake up Jesse at 6am with the water running! 

  But, now the work is over and I won't have to touch anything again until some time in January.  The pine garlands don't look like "Christmas only" and I can leave them up through the month of January.  It brings some life to our otherwise barren plot of Oklahoma land!

  ******************************************

  I'll show "before" pictures, then pictures with "lights and garland only" (how the house looked at Thanksgiving), and then the "after" pictures - the final look for the rest of December and January.

                   
     Plain kitchen hall.                                                       Garland and lights at Thanksgiving.

  Normally, I wouldn't let the lights dangle down the wall - but, like I said, I had to be less critical this year.

  
  Close up of Thanksgiving lights.                                         Fully dressed garland!

                                               
                                                   Close up of kitchen hallway door.

  ******************************

  I didn't finish wrapping the 4 gifts that need to be sent to Nikki.  I'll do that when I'm finished here.  Then, I'll have to hunt for a large box in the garage to put them in to be mailed.

  I'm not putting ribbon or bows on them, they'll just get crushed.

  
  Doorway to bedroom hallway - everyday plain!                                Thanksgiving lights in bedroom hallway.

  
  Close up of Thanksgiving lights in hallway.                           Fully dressed hallway with cardinals & doves.

     
                                         
                                                        Close up of center of hallway door.

  ******************************

  Last night I showed Rissy how to access the Internet using the address bar.  I explained the meaning of "www" and how a dot (or period) is entered in the address.

  Guess where she went first?

  Shopping! 

  She had a ball navigating through Wal-Mart, Amazon, Williams Sonoma, and lotions at Victoria's Secret!  Jesse will kill me when he finds out!  Hey!  She has to start somewhere, right?!  I didn't show her how to work the credit card charge part of it!!!!  I'll probably NEVER tell her about that!  Not until she has a credit card of her own! LOL

  Dining room doorway to den.   Uninteresting & plain!             Lights in dining room on Thanksgiving.

   
  Dressed for the winter - dining room doorway.                      Center of dining room doorway.

  I used red berries in all of the greenery and it doesn't show unless it's day time.  Pretty much the lights and white stuff show at night - thus the reason for balancing what I stick in the garlands.

  ****************************************************

  I mixed dough for two different kinds of cookies.  Shortbread (a double batch) and refrigerator cookies.  I have my mother's original 1950ish Betty Crocker cook book and the refrigerator cookie recipe is the same one she made when I was little.  I made "Orange Almond" instead of plain dough.  It sounded good.

  Anyway, I showed Rissy how to roll the dough into a tube covered in waxed paper.  I told her I might never make refrigerator cookies again before I die, so she needed to pay close attention.  Maybe somewhere in the recesses of her mind she will, someday, recall, "Oh!  I remember my mom did that once!"

  Can you believe I ran out of flour?  As well stocked as we keep our pantry, I actually ran out of flour while mixing up the recipe!  I found 1/3 of a bag of flour in the freezer and used it, but it has brought my baking to a screeching halt until Jesse can get to the grocery store again!  I'm also running low on sugar.  We have a huge bag in the garage but the summer's humidity got to it and it is like one huge block of sugar - hard and immoveable!

  
  Plain ol' everyday den mantel.                                            Garland & lights at Thanksgiving.

                                        
                                           Yesterday's decorated mantel.

    
  Center of mantel.                                                             Center and left side.

                                            
                                             Fat white, glittery, pheasant on each corner of mantel.

  I have an appointment next week (Friday?) to have a PET scan done.  Some sort of full body scan, where you fast first, then drink something and wait an hour before the scan.  She said it was a glucose drink - not barium.  Should be interesting.  Then, at some later date, I have another scan done at the hospital - whole body, I believe.  She wants to check out why I'm stiff here and there and be sure it's old age and not more bone cancer.  I go back to the oncologist the second week in January.

  Today's To Do List:
  *  Wrap remaining gifts to be mailed
  *  RELAX!!!!!!!
  *  Invent something for dinner!

  Be Blessed  ~

  • 1:04 pm
  • 9 Comments