Wreaths and Handkerchiefs

 I decided to remake this wreath I made for our front door. 

I like it well enough, but I thought it could use more color. 

I tried to get the poinsettias off in one piece, but the bottoms were paper and they were just stuck too good! 

I had to untie the bottom of the wreath so I could turn the wreath around and have the knot in the back.  

I thought these blue silk flowers would look nice. 

I'm not 100% happy with it but I think it's better with a little bit of color. 

My friend Marie's sister made her this angel tree ornament using one of their mother's handkerchiefs. It's so cute! I thought maybe I would attempt making something like that before next Christmas. I have a lot of handkerchiefs in my cedar chest that belonged to my mother and grandmothers. 

That's it for me right now. 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends!

Cold and Handy

It's been pretty cold the last few days and it's also been windy, which really makes it pretty uncomfortable to be outside. Those of us who live in colder climates know that the wind can make all the difference. 

It used to be buy this time in the Winter my body had adjusted to the colder weather and being outside wasn't so hard. These last 5 years or so it's taken me longer and longer to get used to it!

Although I have lived in and loved this state all of my life, and will always consider myself a Michigan-girl, I am no longer adverse to moving to a warmer climate. I always tell Shauna that I'm ready when they are! They would have to move, too, because I don't want to be away from my grandsons! 

Anyway, at least we don't have a ton of snow right now!

I bought this Ninja blender about 6 months ago. It's pretty powerful so it has suction cups on the bottom to keep it steady while it's blending. The problem is I have to put my finger underneath and break the suction and pick it up every time I move it, which is pretty much every day to make my morning smoothie! 

I saw this little appliance caddy on the internet so I thought I would order it from Amazon and give it a try. It is mostly advertised for coffee makers that have to be moved to fill, but I figured it would work just as well for my blender. 

It actually works pretty well! The suction cups don't stick to it, and I was a little worried that it would shake itself right off of the caddy but it stays put.  Plus, it's nice not to have to keep prying suction cups off of the counter! 

Rich and I both had birthdays and now I am the proud owner of a Medicare card! 

I'm back to my regular work schedule this week. It will be nice to be in my regular routine again. I do really like my job and Kate gave me a small bonus for helping her out these past two weeks. I definitely feel appreciated! 

I'm starting to think about my Photo A Day February project that I do every year. Maybe I can come up with some kind of a theme this year.  

Thats about it for me for now! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

Plans and a Birthday Boy

Chris has not made it to Michigan yet. He planned on coming in for Maxwells birthday party, but his girlfriend got COVID so he's going to be laying low for a while. She's pretty upset because all this time she has been safe working from home. Her office decided she needed to be in the office 3 days a week and here she gets infected! Luckily, she just has mild symptoms. 

Who knows when Chris will finally get into town! 

Saturday was Maxwell's birthday and party. 

He got a lot of Lego building sets and Rich and I got him an age-appropriate electrical connection kit (using batteries) and he loved it. He's got a very technical mind for a 5-year-old and figured things out pretty fast.

 Levi was having fun playing with Maxwell's creations, too! 

Then it was time for singing and birthday cake! 

I may have mentioned before how great a birthday song singer Levi is, but he really is! He was singing his heart out to his brother! 

It was a lot of fun!

In other news, I made this Winter wreath for my front door using an old scarf and some white Poinsettia decals that I had. I think it turned out pretty cute and goes well on my blue door! 

My work schedule changed again and now I am working 11-3 Tuesday through Thursday and 3-6 Friday next week. Kate has young kids and their school schedule is forever changing, lately due to COVID. I'm glad I can be so accommodating for her! 

Speaking of work, Kate sent me an article from the National Institute of Health that they are finding out that "Cannabidiol (CBD) Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Replication and Promotes the Host Innate Immune Response" In other words, CBD can stop the virus from replicating and boost the body's ability to fight it! That is exciting news. If that information would ever hit the MSM she would not be able to keep the shelves stocked! We shall see!

That's it for me now. Hope you all are doing ok!  

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

The Best Laid Plans

As I mentioned in my previous post our Christmas Eve party with my brothers was cancelled due to my SIL not feeling well with a cold. 

So that night we went to Downtown Plymouth to walk around the park instead.  

Every year they have a beautiful, life-sized nativity scene set up. 

And all the walkways are lined with decorated Christmas trees that are sponsored by the different businesses. 

Most of the business were closed including the restaurants. We managed to find a bar and grill that was open. The food was mediocre at best, but the service was good, and we left the server a big tip for having to work that night! 

The night wasn't a total bust though! Yum! 

I also said on my last post that Chris was on a plane on his way here but that was an unintentional lie! He was supposed to be on the plane but apparently Delt@ had trouble issuing him a boarding pass, so he had to reschedule his flight for the next day and called and let us know on his way back home. Ugh! 

The following day there were the same issues. He couldn't get a boarding pass online so he drove to the airport, where they still couldn't issue him a pass! So he was not able to fly that day either!

Needless to say, he will be flying free for the next year! 

Apparently, they finally got it straightened out. He should be coming into town sometime this week in time for Maxwell's 5th birthday party on Saturday.  

So we still went ahead with our little family Christmas on Monday with Shauna, Brad and the boys. Once again, I didn't take any pictures! 

On Wednesday, Rich's sister Judy, who lives in South Carolina and was spending Christmas with her daughter came to stay one night with us before having to fly out on Thursday.  Her daughter and husband and two boys stayed for pizza, and Shauna and the boys came too. To make room in the driveway for everyone's cars, Rich parked my car in the street. 

And of course, keeping with the mess this holiday has been so far, the neighbor across the street hit it while backing out of his driveway! 

It's not a very big ding, but Rich had to pull it out a little so we could open the door. Guess I'll be calling our insurance company! I'm thankful for an honest neighbor, though. He came to the door to tell us, gave us all the information we needed for our insurance company. He could have just driven away and never told us and we would never have known who hit our car.  There was not damage to his bumper at all. So kudos to him. 

New Year's Eve we stayed home and as usual we were asleep by midnight. I only woke briefly when gunshots or fireworks were going off outside and a few people sent messages. Please don't envy my wild and crazy life!!

Kate hired a new person at work, and she will be training her for the next two weeks. I will be working Tue-Fri 3-6 both weeks so she can train during the day shift. 

That is all for now. Saturday Maxwell turns 5 years old! How time flies! 

I wish you all a happy, healthy and blessed 2022! Thank you for reading!

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

Day After

 We had a pretty low-key Christmas this year. We were supposed to go to my oldest brother's house for Christmas Eve but his wife woke up sick in the morning (not COVID, just a cold. People do still just get colds sometimes!)  so they cancelled the party.  Hopefully we can get together soon because I hardly ever see my brothers anymore! 

Yesterday we went to Shauna and Brad's because they were hosting Brad's family Christmas. We had fun. I like Brad's family a lot. The boys were so excited to show us what Santa brought them for Christmas! I was, as usual, in the moment and didn't take any pictures! 

Here's a picture of their visit to Santa this year. 

I went to the thrift store a few days ago. 

Remember those Santa Bears that were so popular in the 80's? Like Beany Babies and Cabbage Patch Dolls everyone had to have one!

Not me, though. See what happens to most of that kind of stuff anyway. 

What I can't seem to resist are Dollar Tree signs! 

These are the latest two I just got a few days ago! I think I'm done now. Well, maybe not! Depends on what they get in for the next holiday!

Chris is on a plane right now as I write this and Rich will be picking him up at the airport in less than 2 hours. 

Tomorrow is our little family Christmas. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pictures! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

Christmas Plans and Flowers

Well, were in the final stretch to Christmas. So far, the plan includes Christmas Eve at my oldest brother's house, Christmas Day at Shauna and Brads and then our little family Christmas is going to be here on the 27th. 

Chris is coming into town on the 26th. His girlfriend will not be joining us so he's going to fly in and stay for 6 days. 

On the 29th my sister-in-law Judy is spending one night with us. She will be at her daughters for the previous week but her daughter lives pretty far from the airport so she's bringing her to our house the day before she leaves. We're going to take her to the casino for dinner, then she's going to spend the night, Rich will take her to the airport in the morning for her flight back to South Carolina. 

I got myself into a little conundrum as I offered to work on the 27th before I knew that day would be our family Christmas. It's just the way it worked out with everyone's schedule. I don't start until 12 so I can get some stuff done before I leave. Chris loves to cook so he said he'll be in charge of the food and Rich can clean the rest of the house. Then when I get off at 4 and everyone else gets there we'll have our Christmas! 

I received a very generous Christmas bonus from my employer which totally took me by surprise! I wasn't expecting anything at all, especially since I only worked there since September. One of the girls is leaving and another is cutting her hours way down. Kate is advertising for help but you know how that is going right now! She appreciates my willingness to be flexible! 

In other news, look at this!

The blooms are not fully opened yet but it's so pretty! 

The boys spent the night last Thursday and we made gingerbread houses! You can see they don't look anything like the pictures. They are Maxwell and Levi originals! The one on the right is Maxwell's and you can see it resembles a house, but Levi was only interested in putting frosting and candy on the individual pieces! I did manage to convince him to stick a few together though! 

That's it for the moment.  I'm going to Shauna's in a little while to bake some cookies. If I don't get a chance to visit you all before have a very Merry Christmas! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends!

Cat Sitting and Stuff

 As I mentioned in my previous post, I am watching my friend's daughter's cat for the week while they are all gone on a cruise. 

As I said, her house is fabulous! It's on a huge lot with a pond and woods in the back. 

Here's Minnie the cat. Shes about 2 years old and very cute and playful! She's a people cat so she pretty much meets me at the door whenever I come in. 

The house is all decorated for Christmas. This is the great room off of the kitchen.

This is the kitchen. I love the cabinets. 

This is the sunroom off of the kitchen and great room. They just celebrated their daughter's 6th birthday!

 

This is the front foyer looking at the staircase. 

This is the dining room looking toward the front door. 

I didn't take any pictures upstairs but there are 4 bedroom and 3 baths. The master had double doors, a fireplace and a huge closet with an island in the middle. 

Poor Minnie has been pretty lonely. They also have a small dog, but Marie's sister took him for the week. 

They are coming home on Sunday and Minnie decided to make them a sign! 

In other news, the boys have been taking swimming lessons. They were excited to tell me they went underwater for the first time! 

Lastly, here is my waxed Amarillys today. You can practically watch them grow! I can't wait for those beautiful blooms! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends!