At the top of my list is always my sweet family. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, we could not all be together, but we just get to spread out the holiday a little more that way!
Happy New Year -- wow -- 2010 -- I do love an even-numbered year!
Happy New Year -- wow -- 2010 -- I do love an even-numbered year!
We had a fun Christmas anyway even though Philip and Catherine were unable to get here due to the weather conditions. We played games, watched movies and Mr. Tennis challenged Maddy to figure out a Rubik's cube! Note to others -- do NOT buy your child a Rubik's cube and tell them you will give them some $$ to get it figured out. Such a tactic results in frustration, some tears and the Mom (moi) hiding the cube and hoping it is never found!
Guess what else -- I cooked . . . a lot! Quite an accomplishment for me. I admit that I am sometimes the queen of fast and/or frozen foods. I made some Chicken and Wild Rice soup (yum), beef brisket (yummy), mashed potato casserole (extremely yummy - from my blog friend Lisa) and some chocolate scotcheroos (delish)!! Still on my list to be made today or tomorrow -- Spinach/Bacon quiche, chicken enchiladas and Hershey kiss cookies!
Bet you guess my New Year's resolution! But until then, bring on the chocolate! :)
My updated wreaths and garland by the front door look even better with a bit of snow on them, so I guess there is a bright side to the snow!
(Snow Bear went along on the ride -- should have known snow was inevitable! Did you notice -- it's even snowing on my blog! )
I suppose the weather was also trying to get us in the holiday mood as it started to snow. In my book, that was BAD. I'm not the most confident highway driver under the best circumstances, but blowing snow . . . yikes!!!
Isn't the first step to solving a problem admitting that it exists? Yes, it's true -- I'm afraid I'm a bit of a packrat and I'm a teensy bit embarrassed!
Once again we have a painting project going on in December! Why do we do this? It puts me way behind on decorating, shopping, partying (who me, party??).
This year's project is not a big one (like last year's) and I really did try to get it accomplished in September, October or November, but the painters had other more lucrative jobs. The project -- repainting the kitchen cabinets. So, why you ask, am I embarrassed?
Well, the painters took the cabinet doors off and opened the drawers to sand and paint. What I didn't quite realize was that all of my cupboards were so incredibly messy! Who knew that all 11 or 12 of the drawers in my kitchen were junk drawers? Yeah, some weren't closing very well, but I just didn't use those, stashing more papers and junk in the ones that would open! Clever, eh!!
Last night when I got home and saw the mini-disaster and all that "stuff" about to fall out of my cabinets, I immediately began to throw out stuff. Yay for me! Guess what the oldest "use by" date was? Give up? 2002!!!! Stuff that has a "use by" date of 2002 is still ok, right?
Oh yes, the majority of "use by" dates were 2008 and 2009, but also saw some 2007 and a few 2005. Canned goods evidently tend to move to the back and be forgotten.
Hey, I found something even older than 2002 -- a little box of "To Go Tea" from China. This amazing tea is often given to adoptive parents in China for the kiddos who are having a bit of issue with pottying due to all the trauma and stress going on. Anyway, the box looks to be dated 2000 which is a bid odd as we didn't even meet Miss Maddy until 2003. Not to worry, even if it was already outdated, it did its job. Such a cute little box, I had to keep it!
I could go on and on, as you can probably tell.
Best wishes to all for a very happy Thanksgiving.
Photo card from Christmas 2005
(Vacay in Mexico earlier that year -- that was fuN!)
This year is a little troubling for me. Philip and Catherine are married and probably doing their own card. Connor graduated from college and is living out of state working (sniff, sniff, sniff), so it's just Mr. Tennis, the Madster and me! What to do?
Christmas card 2004
Last year, only Maddy was on the card. This year, I'm considering a 3-photo card -- one photo of Maddy, one of me and Maddy and one of Maddy and Mr. Tennis. Are you sensing a theme here? Yep, Miss M rules!!! Guess what -- we don't have any photos of the three of us together! Ooops -- that happens sometimes!
Maddy's First Christmas Home, 2003
Really now, you know there are no mountains in Nebraska, right?! Heck, truth be told, there are very few hills around here and even less as you go further west. Warning, do not attempt to drive I-80 across Nebraska without a big ole' pot of coffee. The flatness will make you very, very sleepy!
Here you can see the new rug and recovered chairs a little better.
This is the honking heavy piece of furniture (can't really see it, but take my word for it - it's heavy) that I could not move to paint behind, but I got in close enough, so you can't tell. Even the Rickster hasn't realized (yet anyway), I haven't painted behind it.
Do I need more accessories on it? I'm terrible at accessories, so opted for less instead of more. Love those two buffet lamps and the reflection of the cool new chandelier in the mirror!
Finished chairs!
Anyway, the first chair took days and days! And then I dawdled some just thinking about it all. Finally, last weekend I swore I would finish the rest of the chairs! And I did! Doing the corners was way harder than I thought it might be, but I persevered. And now look -- do you love them? The stripe fabric was a remnant and just happened to match my neutral fabric. My plan was to make two chairs striped -- you know, the Mom & Dad chairs. But somebody (Maddy) got a really sad face and also wanted a striped chair, so we have three striped chairs and three plain. Works for me! The dining room is really coming together. More photos when it is done -- which I hope is soon!