I am proud to say I made most of the items that went into the girl’s stockings.  For the last couple of years, I have been reading and learning about aromatherapy and working with essential oils.  It is a fascinating subject and I was able to make body and room sprays, bath salts, body scrubs, dream pillows, face scrubs and muscle rubs.  Their stockings are going to be full this year!

Joe and I have been saturating ourselves in Christmas movies.  You see, that is what you do when your kids grow up and leave home.  No little kids at home to fill the house with excitement and energy so you watch all your favorite old Christmas movies.  Joe just loves Christmas (me, I’m an Easter person) and all that goes with it.  I am wrapping my last gift this morning, making the spaghetti sauce for Christmas Eve dinner, and thinking of the busy Christmas Eve and Christmas day we will have! 

I wish you all a joyous Christmas and if you are of other beliefs, I wish you all happiness in your “holiday” too. I think it is politically OK to wish EVERYONE a blessed New Year!

[tags], Christmas stockings, aromatherapy, Christmas movies[/tags]

This past Saturday night we drug our son, Adam, and his friend, Crystal, out to look at lights with us.  I think they had fun but I really don’t care because I did!  We found the gingerbread man neighborhood but not every house decorated any longer but the ones that did, were really nice.  I am so glad that people still take the time and trouble to decorate their homes. While it may be a chore for them, it is pure entertainment for us.  To me it is kind of like the Fourth of July in December, complete with the ohhs and ahhs.

By the time we got back from Texas this year, it was too cold to do much outside decorating so we kept our lights pretty simple. 

My girlfriend from Texas called and asked if I wished I lived down there right about now and I said, “NO WAY”.  I detest hot weather, give me the colder weather and snow (you can have the ice though!).

I attached some winter wonderland pictures of our neighborhood.  Here’s hoping that if you are reading this from one of the winter bound locations, you didn’t get it very bad either.

[tags]winter, snow, weather[/tags]

Well, I have fought with weight all my life and it usually wins. I have been on Richard Simmons, Weight Watchers and South Beach and, yes, lost weight every time but it always finds me again.  I’ve tried hiding from it, changing my name, wearing disguises but there is no fooling it, it always comes home to roost.   After being on all those diets, I know the ins and outs of fat, calories and carbs so Joe and I generally do eat the right foods.  I am fairly active biking, walking, gardening, etc but something just ain’t working because I am 25 pounds overweight.  I think it is a combination of being older and my portion sizes.  I’ve always said I have the metabolism of a dead person because it is so hard for me to lose weight.

Well, I’ve decided I need to shake up my exercise routine so I joined Curves last night.  I really like what they offer: 

• Motivational atmosphere
• One on One instruction on proper technique
• Exercising on my time, not some class schedule
• Knowing I can be done in 1/2 hour (but can stay as long as I want)
• Being able to use a Curves facility no matter where I go
• The interchanging of weights and aerobic exercise makes it less boring

I decided to join now before the January resolution crowd descends. OK, so maybe the membership being 1/2 price had something to do with it too.  Anyway, hopefully in a few months I will be down to my before piggy weight.  If I post occasional updates, maybe that will keep me motivated.  Never say diet, say “way of life”!

[tags]diet, weight, exercise[/tags]

We were on the go in Texas most of the time and spent Saturday at an interesting event, which I will share with you at a later time.  Tonight I just want to get my jammies on and snuggle in a warm blankie with a good book.  It was really cold and rainy where we were in Texas and it is cold here in Iowa (go figure!) so snuggling works

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (we did) and so now it is Let-The-Holiday-Games-Begin!  Don’t let the busy season get to you.  Pare down your expectations for what you have to get done for Christmas.  The holidays will come and go whether or not you get everything done.  Stress less; enjoy more.  I always think, “Will it matter ten years from now?”

While I do like to cook, I don’t like to spend all day in the kitchen cooking for family to gobble (no pun intended) dinner down in ten minutes.  Then it is back into the kitchen to clean up!  I would rather spend the time enjoying a good glass of wine while visiting with family and friends.  I guess that is how I classify holidays, not so much the massive amounts of food but spending time catching up on family affairs.  Years ago my family started having brunch for Christmas and Easter rather than big dinners.  We have egg casseroles, rolls, fruit salad, ham, specialty breads, etc and everyone brings something.  Brunch is much easier to prepare and clean up than a huge meal. 

Well, I better get busy making those gingerbread men (and women) for our Thanksgiving Day dessert.  Cookies travel much better than pies especially since gingerbread people have two legs.  ("Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread man"!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist

I won’t post until we get back in a week so I want to wish you all a fantastic holiday.  If you aren’t spending it with friends or family, you might want to consider volunteering at a local food kitchen.  What better way to bring cheer to your holiday, than to help others.

[tags]Thanksgiving, turkey, cookies[/tags]

                                    

While in Washington, we were able to spend quite a bit of time sight seeing.  I wrote about what we did in the Seattle area (and thanks to everyone who gave me even MORE Seattle area ideas!).  I wanted to write about and post pictures of MT. Rainier.

I think the MT. Rainier area has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, not only the majestic mountain itself, but the valleys, meadows, and waterfalls too. Hiking to the Grove of the Patriarchs was an adventure and when we actually got to the the Grove itself….Oh, the ancient trees were inspiring!  My sister and brother-in-law are avid hikers so I brought them home a map of the multitude of trails that run through the area.  I hope someday they will make the trip to MT. Rainier for some serious hiking, either in the summer or winter (they snowshoe and cross country ski too.).  Their favorite location is Colorado but I’ll get them to Washington yet!

People ask me how our Alaskan trip was and I, of course, wax poetic on the wonders of Alaska.  However, if a person can’t afford to go there, a wise choice would be MT. Rainier as you can see gorgeous scenery and take a Wildlife Trek too. 

            A waterfall

                                                        Behind MT. Rainier

On the trail to the Grove                        

                                                                                                 The Grove

[tags]MT. Rainier, Washington, wildlife[/tags]

Lest we forget what our veterans have done for all of us, please go tell a veteran how much you appreciate their service and thank them.

[tags] veterans, Veterans Day, service[/tags]

Above the noise of the leaf blowers and lawn mowers mulching up the fallen leaves, I wondered how many people remembered the quiet rasp, rasp, rasp of the rake as it scratched across the grass gathering the leaves higher and higher into a huge pile.  How many people threw down their rakes and jumped with abandon into the leaf pile, rolling around, listening to them crunch, smelling the wonderful woodsy scent.  How many people could remember the smell of burning leaves in the air and just how many sat around the fire roasting hot dogs with marshmallows on sticks waiting to be flamed to a crispy burnt treat!

I know most towns have banned burning leaves due to pollution but I can’t tell you how very, very much I miss that smell.  While we can’t burn leaves any longer, I enjoyed spending Friday morning with my husband, dad and brother cleaning up my dad’s yard.  Yes, we had power mowers and leaf blowers going but occasionally we would stop to rake so peace and quiet descended on the morning.  Besides it was a beautiful day to spend with family!

So I wish you all a jump-in-a-pile-of-leaves-with-abandon kind of week.

[tags]Autumn,leaves, goodies[/tags]

Last Friday we saw a noteworthy "makes ya feel good" movie.  In the past I have based whether or not I go see a movie on what the critics have to say about it.  That is, if a critic likes a movie, I have found that I don’t like it and if a critic says it is a lousy movie, I love it.  So it was with some trepidation that we went to see Final Season because our critics here really liked it.  At first, I went to see it only because it was filmed in Iowa and about a small town in Iowa but I am here to tell you that it was just a dog-gone good movie.  While it takes place in Norway, Iowa, it could be about any small town across the United States that is being pushed into a government pigeon hole.  I really liked how small towns were portrayed.  Yeah, there is good and bad to living in a small town but give me a small town over a big city any day.

I don’t want to give away any of the premise of the movie but I want to say that twice I had to stop myself from cheering out loud.  I really did forget that I was only watching a movie.  So if you go to see it, or get it on Pay-Per-View, or wait until it is out on DVD and you like it, remember I recommended it.  If you don’t like it, remember I am not a critic (and feel free to develop a case of amnesia about who recommended it)!!

[tags]movies, comedies, small towns[/tags]