Well, THAT's done!

Had the day off and Fred and I spent it finishing up our Christmas gift shopping. We still have each other to do, but we need Connor with us separately for that, but everyone else is DONE....including Connor.

Now, I have to tackle the wrapping....my favorite part! :)

I love bows, but unfortunately so do our cats and they never stay on the packages, so I try and get a bit creative with my wrapping.

I've almost finalized the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus and am getting started with my food lists.

Christmas Eve
Italian Sausage stuffed Mushrooms
Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Dip with crispy rounds
Crescent Wrapped Little Smokies
Cold Shrimp with spicy sauce
Soup or Chili? (Still thinking about this)
Beer & Cocktails

Christmas Day
Bruschetta
Tossed Salad with various greens and chopped vegies
Lasagna with Italian Sausage and Portabello Mushrooms
Homemade Garlic Bread (will probably pick up a couple of loaves of South Union Bread)
My sister is handling dessert


We had a traditional Christmas dinner last year and I like to mix things up. Hubby isn't always happy about it, but he won't starve. Besides, I can make the lasagna the Sunday before and freeze it, so the only thing I'll have to do Christmas Day is make the bruschetta, salad, salad dressing and bread. Easy Peasey!

Once we got home from our shopping, the weather was nice, so I headed out for a brisk walk up to the new recreation area and back home. It's about a 40 minute round trip walk. I got a couple of my fitness DVD's out and I'm going to try those this week since it's already dark when I get home from work, so walking after dark is out. It's too damn dark!

On the iPod playlist today:
Salt in My Tears - Martin Briley
Work for the Working Man - Bon Jovi (NEW!)
Looking for a Stranger - Pat Benatar
The Flame - Cheap Trick
Heavy Metal - Sammy Hagar
Restless Heart Syndrome - Green Day
Thank You - Led Zepplin covered by Tesla
Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
Lost in the Sun - Hinder
Space Truckin - Deep Purple covered by Tesla

Hope everyone has a good week! I got a busy busy day ahead of me tomorrow...hopefully the rest of the week will even out.

The Official Start of the Holidays!

Had a really nice Thanksgiving with my sister, Chloe, Gunner, my brother and his best friend Craig. Spent the day hanging out and cooking. We ate around 3:30pm and then the L-trytophan kicked in and we napped for awhile.

I spent some time in my scraproom working on some Christmas projects. I'm not sure who's going to get these, but they were fun to make. I had seen a finished project at the cash register at Memory Bound and I knew I had the coasters, so I found a bunch of random paper I liked and started creating away!



I also like to re-purpose the Large Yankee Candle jars when I'm done burning the candle. I did a couple last year that turned out cute, so I did some more this year. I still have two more to finish, but I really liked the way these turned out.



I also decorated a couple of gift certificate holders with Basic Grey and raffia.



We got all 90% of our outdoor illumination done and I'm almost finished decorating the house. I still have the staircase and the foyer left to do.

Tomorrow Fred and I are going to finish up our gift shopping. Mostly just doing around and getting gift certificates, but there are a few things I need to find. We'll probably stop and have a nice lunch somewhere and plan on getting home around the time Connor will be home from school.

I'm right on the money with my Christmas organization and what I have left to do. Having a notebook to write it all down in helps tremendously!

I have a busy week this week, especially on Tuesday, but I'm hoping to get to attend a crop my friend Cheri is hosting Friday night in Ames. I really need to get this damn Disney World album DONE!

and before I close for the night, I have to give a big HUGE shout out to my friend Janalee for THIS:


It is the MOST heavenly smelling hand creme I've EVAH used. Janalee gifted me a tube of this and every time I use it, I want to eat my hands. They smell exactly like Lemon Meringue Pie. Seriously. I mean it.

Life is just busy right now.....

and I haven't got much to say. Maybe after Thanksgiving, I'll get motivated enough to post Disney layouts and Christmas projects I've been working on.

I will add that I'm pretty damn proud of myself for finishing the flannel Minnesota Vikings blanket I made for my brother. The fabric was in our mother's sewing room and our Aunt Susie had taken it home, but she gave it to me this summer thinking that I could "maybe make something for Larry" out of it since that's probably why Mom had the fabric in the first place.

I'll leave you with some kitty love.

A Very Good Sunday..... :)

Spent our Sunday doing some of our favorite things. Slept in until almost 9:00, went on a 45 minute walk/jog and then right after lunch we went and saw 2012. What a WILD RIDE! We love disaster flicks and this one did not disappoint! Even though it's 2 hours, 38 minutes long, it didn't seem like it. The first time I looked at the time, an hour and 45 minutes had already gone by. Fun way to spend the afternoon with my guys.

On today's iPod playlist:
Hero - Chad Kroeger
Stop and Stare - OneRepublic
When Your Minds Made Up - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
The Static Age - Green Day
I Can't Hold Back - Survivor
No Matter What - Badfinger
Bring Me Some Water - Melissa Etheridge
Precious Declaration - Collective Soul
Tell The Truth - Jude Cole
Hold My Hand - Hootie & The Blowfish
Horseshoes & Handgrenades - Green Day

I also did a bit of Thanksgiving decorating....

The hallway table


Underneath the hallway table




A couple pictures of one of the new bookcases in the den


Well, I'm off to here.....



tomorrow morning at 7:45am. I'll be there until Thursday, fly home Thursday early evening and then I have Friday off. I'm looking forward to getting organized and getting the food shopping done for Thanksgiving. I bought the turkey today since Hy-Vee had their coupon, buy a ham for $19 and get a 12 pound turkey for FREE! I had the butcher cut the ham in half, one half for a ham roast and the other half he sliced into ham steaks and put them 4 to package and I got 4 packages of them for the freezer. Not bad for $20 bucks.

Hope everyone has a good week! and I'm hoping for nice weather in D.C.

A Busy Week!

I've been so busy this week at work, I'm not sure which end is up. Lots of important projects that need to get done. One of them before Thanksgiving, one on December 1st and another after that. I swear, when it rains it pours there.....

Not sure I shared, but this Friday when I get paid, I'll have my promotion pay on this check and it sure will come in handy. Also, after all the drama of last week, I only had to change my work hours to 7:00 to 4:30pm from 6:30 to 4:00 which is not a problem at all, in fact the last two days, I've enjoyed sleeping that extra half hour, so that stress is over.

I have tomorrow off as it's a federal holiday (so remember, no mail!) and I think I may stay up late to watch The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. I love me some Gerard Butler!

Went for a walk tonight when I got home from work and I actualy jogged quite a bit of it! I couldn't believe how far I went. Since it's getting dark by 5:45pm, I didn't want to be out too terrible long (although I only walk our bike trail which is pretty safe, but dark), so I thought I would ramp up the heart rate by jogging part of the way. My own version of interval training.

On the iPod playlist:
Give to Live - Sammy Hagar
I Am the Highway - Audioslave
Bright Lights - matchbox twenty
Nobody Told Me - Puddle of Mudd HIGHLY RECOMMENDED EXERCISE SONG
She - Green Day
If I Never See Your Face Again - Maroon5
The Crow & The Butterfly - Shinedown
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant

Have a great Veteran's Day!

A Gorgeous Fall Weekend

Yesterday was one of those days in Iowa where you think they is no place better to live. It was 70 degrees, sunny and just a beautiful day!

For the first time in quite a while, I had the energy and motivation to get a lot accomplished. While watching the Hawkeyes lose....boo....bummer, but not unexpected, I got all the Halloween decorations put away, cleaned and dusted the main floor of the house, did a bunch of yard clean up and even cleaned up the garage.

Connor did a fabulous job of cleaning up his room, his closet and his bathroom with MINIMAL complain and redirection.

I don't think that I've shared what the den looks like now, after we purchased new furniture for it.









The black furniture is new and although it's a PITA to keep clean of dust, we really like the way it looks. We also had the carpet shampooed while everything was out of the room and I did a bunch of touch up on the walls.

and as a side note.....I CANNOT believe that I actually harvested my last bunch of butter crunch lettuce on NOVEMBER 7th!



We stopped at Center Grove Orchard last weekend so we could pick up some Chieftain apples, they were having a buy one bag, get one free special. We also ended up buying a bag of Honey Crisps, some cider donuts and a caramel apple. Nice orchard!



Hope your weekend was good!

If you have them, what are the three "nevers" of your life?

1. I will NEVER sky dive.
2. I will NEVER eat organ meats.
3. I will NEVER be a conservative Republican

Even Keel ?? Maybe....

Now that life has gotten back to a somewhat "even keel", I've been able to muster the motivation to exercise again. Unforunately, due to budgetory constraints, I decided to suspend my gym membership and work out at home and either ride my bike, or walk for cardio. The only time I won't be able to do that is when it's either raining or snowing. The cold doesn't deter me (well, unless it's bitter cold) so I should be able to work in at least 4 times a week.

On the iPod playlist tonight:

Time of the Season - Shaw/Blades
Going Under - Evanescence
Getting Late - Rob Thomas
I Can't Drive - Sammy Hagar
Leave the Pieces - The Wreckers
All American Girl - Train
Bang Your Head (Mental Health) - Quiet Riot
Tell the Truth - Jude Cole
F.O.D. - Green Day
Roller - April Wine
My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne
Heavy Metal - Sammy Hagar

I did get some bad news over the weekend. One of the guys that I graduated high school with passed away in his sleep from a heart attack. Only 52 years old and a really nice guy. My graduating class was only 63 and Mike was the 5th guy in our class to have passed on. We haven't lost any women yet. We also received word that Connor's old Principal at The Downtown School passed away suddenly friday night from a pulmonary embolism (the same thing my sister in law died from). Our family will always remember Jan Dree's commitment and passion for making the school one of the best in the country. I will always remember her in our IEP meetings as a vocal advocate for Connor to insure that everything was being done to help him be successful in his learning. Her compassion knew no bounds. She will be missed.

I've had a busy week at work this week and I'm gearing up for another business trip to Washington D.C the week of November 16th. Fred has picked up a construction side job and will be doing that this Saturday. Besides watching and probably doing a lot of swearing at the Iowa Hawkeyes football game against Northwestern, I'm hoping to get all the Halloween decor put away and finalize our Thanksgiving food plans (what to make, shopping lists, etc.)

Lookie what I found a couple months ago that I fell in love with....



I don't know where they are going to go yet, but I'm thinking about it.....