The day after…

But wait, I haven’t had my Christmas dinner yet.  We are having our gift exchange and our big Christmas meal when we can all be together on Saturday.

 

I have received gifts so far that I have opened already.  I received an iTunes gift card from my Twin.  I am so  innocent that I had  no idea  how to use it.  After a tutoring lesson I discovered the delight of buying from iTunes.  Thanks Twin!!! From another dear blogging friend I received a beautiful photo album which is filled with photos of the lovely sights in the Boston area. Thanks Paul!  I will treasure this and get so much enjoyment from it.  I received many lovely cards from blogging friends.  Thank you all.  From my sis in West Virginia I received gift cards from Red Lobster and Amazon and several lovely wrapped gifts including a container of her lovely handmade chocolates.  Thanks Rae, I love everything.

 

I delivered the goodie trays to my neighbors on Saturday morning.  I have taken care of the mail man and the paper carrier.  I even sent a huge tray of goodies to my rental office even though I am still cooking in a dark kitchen.  I miss being in my little town at this time of the year where I knew everyone and had some very good friends.  I have made a couple of good friends here and I am thankful for them.  Thanks Sally and Debbie!!

 

The weather this morning is bright and sunshiny.  The temp is fixed right now at 20 degrees but it is to reach the 30s today.  A very nice change from below zero temps that we had a couple of days ago.  This has been a bitter winter with way too much snow and cold to suit me.  However each morning when I  get up I thank God for another day!

 

I will start food preparations today for Saturday so I will be kind of busy for the next few days.  I will stop by and visit you all as I can.

 

Stay safe and be happy!!

 

Beth

This is wonderful!!

http://www.paxtonrecord.net/news/arts-and-entertainment/community-events/2013-12-20/grand-light-display-returns-paxton.html

 

http://www.lightinguppaxton.com/

Most of you know that I spent all of my married life and my children were born and raised in the small town of Paxton Illinois.

This display is new since I sold my home and moved from Paxton over 3 years ago.  Please visit the second link and take time to listen to the music.  The lights are synchronized with the music  and it is an awesome sight!!

 

Merry Christmas to my blogging family. I will be offline for a few days!

Beth

 

Beautiful but sad…

As I look out my front window I can see the second house from the corner as you turn left off my street.  The house lost its complete top half in the tornado on November 17th.  There is a lovely perfectly shaped pine tree that sits in the corner of the front yard.  The neighbors across the street have decorated the tree beautifully with lights and ornaments,  As I travel down the street I run across the heavy duty extension cord from across the street which is keeping the tree lit up.   It is so beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes.  I think of myself being upset over the fact that my kitchen window is still boarded up and then I think about the people who were displaced by the tornado that lost their homes and prized possessions.  I remind myself with tears in my eyes that God has been good to me this year.  He has held my hand through so many trials this year and I am so very thankful!  I am thankful for my family and my friends who held my hand tightly too and held me up to keep me from giving up and falling down.

 

I am off this afternoon for an appointment with the ENT surgeon and my oncologist.  Have a blessed weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

 

I love you all!

 

Beth

Thanks Liz…

 

This tag was attached to a set of measuring cups and spoons that Liz gave each of us as a gift.  The dessert table was set beautifully with delicious punch at one end and hot cocoa at the other end.

 

 

Liz has so many beautiful Christmas decorations in her home.  She gave me

permission again to take photos.

 

 

She does believe in Santa, but then so do I!

 

 

Just a small part of her collection.

 

 

 

 

My stash that I brought home!

 

Thank you again Liz for including me in your Christmas Cookie Exchange.  I had a wonderful time.

 

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You all stay safe and be happy!!

 

Beth

It is bitter cold…

on this Tuesday morning on 10 December 2013.  There is snow on the ground, the wind is gusting at 25 miles an hour.  It is 10 degrees and the wind chill is well below zero.  I am not going out today.  I called my daughter and asked if she would bring my short handled snow shovel over sometime today and a couple of things from the store.  I have a dental appointment on Thursday and I am thinking about calling and changing that appointment.  The weather forecast is for more snow tomorrow with the bitter cold temps remaining.

Another Christmas item.  I purchased this at the Hospital Christmas Bazaar last year.

My new tin sign I purchased at Gordmans this year.  The picture is a bit blurry but you get the general idea.

I am almost to my 1000th post on this blog.  If you were to add all of the posts from my various blogs here and on wordpress the total would be in the several thousands! 

I hope the weather is nice wherever you are and the sun is shining.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Hooray…

The storm missed us so far.  My heart goes out to the ones it didn’t miss.  My sister in West Virginia got the torrential rains and my brother near St. Louis had some icing.  Right here and now in central Illinois it is 16 degrees with a wind chill of 5 degrees.  It is cloudy and a typical winter day although winter isn’t officially here yet.

I have given up on Christmas shopping.  For some reason the spirit has left me.  The fact that the UPS man delivered the wrong package to me a couple of days ago didn’t help.  I had to hurry and put on my coat and hat and go chasing the UPS truck 3 blocks to catch him and exchange the package that he gave me for the one that belonged to me.  He tried to argue with me and did aggravate me so that I called the main UPS number to complain.  If anyone needs that number I have it.  LOL!!

To cheer me up I took some pics this morning of the decorations I have here in my little ‘house’.

in front of my living room window.

sitting on top of my printer

my sister Rae gave this to me many years ago.  It still lights up Rae.

my ceramic Christmas tree from many years ago.  Still has all of its lights.

The light was shining wrong down on the picture of Jim but I like it anyway.  I have quite a few more Christmas music boxes other than the ones in this picture.

 

My kitchen window is still boarded up inside and out so on a cloudy day like today it is very dark in my kitchen.  I was promised my new window would be replaced within 2 weeks.  The 2 weeks is up on Saturday which is exactly 2 weeks from the time the insurance adjuster was here.  When I look out my living room window and see the devastation around me I tell myself to stand straight and thank God that I was one of the lucky ones.

Have a wonderful weekend all of you.  Do something nice for someone today.  You will feel better and so will they.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Dreary gray November day…

here in the heart of Central Illinois.  The temperature is 39 degrees with a light wind.  All kinds of bad things predicted for the weather tomorrow and Sunday.  Maybe a tornado and most likely thunderstorms.  I hate this iffy weather.  I t messes with my

SAD :

Seasonal affective disorder

Consult a doctor if you have a medical concern.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at a certain time of the year, usually in the winter.

Causes - Symptoms - Tests - Treatment – Prognosis

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195

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

Last Saturday I went to the annual Craft Christmas show at the United Methodist Church.  What a surprise.  There were no egg noodles and only 2 tiny little angel food cakes.  I did find a nice lady to visit with and purchase some Avon things from.

She told me her name and gave me permission to use her photo but my old mind has forgotten it.  Sorry dear lady if you are reading this and sorry it took me so long to get this in my blog.  Wait, I think her first name is Pat.  I hope that is true.  There were lots of nice crafts there.  I don’t have room in my place for more crafts although I do enjoy them.

I have to go now.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

 

Christmas past…

I was so engrossed in a movie on Christmas Eve that I didn’t realize for a while that I was beginning to get cold.  My furnace had gone out so naturally I panicked since it was in the teens outside.  I called the office and of course after hours I got the answering service.  It wasn’t long though before someone was over here.  He said  the pilot light was out.  He lit it and was on his merry way.  I set the furnace on 70 and went to bed a little after 11 PM.  I woke up at 2 AM freezing.  I called again and this time the guy brought me two radiator type space heaters.  They warmed the heat up to about 67 degrees.  I was actually called yesterday morning (Christmas) to see how I was doing.  I said I was still cold so they brought me over another heater with a promise to be here this morning to work on the furnace. 

I was not too awfully thrilled at the thought of having someone here in the house messing with the furnace the day after Christmas.  And wouldn’t you know that I had washed the rugs, run the sweeper and mopped on Christmas Eve.  It is always nice to have clean rugs for a repairman to wipe his feet on.  lol  Now if this is the worst thing that ever happens to me that would be  great.  So I am smiling in anticipation of everything getting back to normal.

Christmas supper was very nice spent at my SIL’s brother’s home.  They have 2 of the cutest grandchildren.  It was fun watching them and of course I ate and ate again.

Tomorrow is the doctor visit.  I hope the weather stays decent so I can drive myself.

Are we all on a diet today?  Or do we wait until New Year’s Day?  New Year’s day for me as I still have leftovers from Saturday.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Merry Christmas

This is a Christmas tree.

This is a Christmas tree.

This is a Christmas tree.

This is a Christmas tree.

This is a Christmas tree.

These are NOT Holiday Trees
They are NOT Winter Festival trees
They are NOT Hanukkah bushes

They are NOT Allah plants

They are Christmas trees.

Say it... Christmas, Christmas, CHRISTmas
Yes CHRISTmas -not Holiday

We are not celebrating the birth of a Holiday!!!

We are Celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ!!!
So I would like to say to each and everyone of you
Have a Very Merry CHRISTMAS
and may GOD BLESS each and every one of you!!!

Love,

Beth

The day after…

and the mad rush is on from now until after Christmas.  I am not doing much Christmas shopping this year.  I am giving one nice gift to each person and that is it.  Plus I have two birthdays to buy for, Dec 23rd and Dec 24th.  I love Christmas time but this year I just don’t have the energy to go all out.

Thanksgiving day was lovely.  I was invited to go with my daughter and son in law to my SIL’s brother’s wife’s brother for Thanksgiving at 12 noon.  Sounds complicated but it really wasn’t.  The host and hostess are lovely people.  There was a huge crowd of people there; I counted 47 right before time to eat and several came in afterwards.  Their home is beautiful with a full finished basement that my old house would almost have fit into.  Awesome and the couple built it themselves.  The food was really something.  Ham. turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, at least a dozen casseroles, salads and relish trays and a whole counter full of   hors d'oeuvres . The desserts were homemade blackberry pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie,  brownies, etc.  I stuffed myself.  The hostess even sent me home a small container of turkey and so I had the traditional turkey sandwich for my supper.

I will confess that today I am worn out.  I have laundry to do but my neighbors two doors down beat me to the laundry room.  So I guess I will have to wait on that.

I made an appointment for Monday morning  to get the other repair work done on my car.  I decided I don’t need a new car right now with winter coming on.  We have a snow rain mixture predicted for Monday night.

I hope you all have a good weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Retro Post, Nashville

Retro Post

5/31/2006

Looking at Music City USA for the first time...

I love Nashville. I love the whole country music scene. I will never forget the first time I saw Nashville.

One of the first things I did after I retired from the AF Base was to go on a bus tour with my daughter to Nashville. It was 1990 and I was so excited. I love classic country music. I must say today's country music is hardly worth listening too but in 1990 there were many great country singers.

Our first night in Nashville we were taken on a tour of Opryland Hotel. What a sight. It was Christmastime and the decorations and lights were so fabulous. I was awestruck. Sounds silly I know, but I had worked most of life since I was 16 years old. I had always wanted to visit Nashville and this was my first time to do so.

On the tour of the hotel we stopped to watch for a minute a wedding party's reception. A young man with a beautiful voice was singing "Nobody Answers When I Call Your Name." Vince Gill - he was one of my favorites. I just stood there and listened until he finished the song. The tour group went on without me and my daughter had to come back for me.

Many exciting things happened on that first trip to Nashville. I have visited Nashville quite a few times since then. My daughter and I went to Fan Fair one year and  Jim and I went to Nashville for our 40th anniversary and stayed at Opryland Hotel. It was Christmas time again and we could look out the window of our room at the beautiful lights.

 
Opryland Hotel has a different name now and the Opryland Theme Park is now a gigantic shopping mall.
Progress I guess.

 

*** "First we want. Then we get. Then we wonder why we wanted it. Then we get again."

Beth

Day Twenty Eight…

and I have just about made it.  Only 3 more days to go and I will have posted every day for a whole month.  Whew!!

It is cold and clear this morning checking in at 25 degrees.  I am so loving the mild temps  and best of all no snow.   As you can see from the picture below that I took this morning, the grass in my front yard is still green.

I did get the vacuum out yesterday even though I had no one come in to help me.  The only volunteer I had was from England and the reason he volunteered was because he thought he fancied eating at Grumpy Pete’s.  lol 

I am not sure what I am going to do this morning.  I would like to go out and look around in the stores some more.  I was out yesterday and the traffic was bumper to bumper and the people were wall to wall.  Even that way at the grocery store.  I will be glad when the kids go back to school and the people go back to work so that I can walk around in the stores without bumping in to anyone.

I have my Christmas decorations all put away for another year and my living room is back to normal.  It looks bare in here now.

Do you have plans for New Year’s Eve?  I don’t.  If you do remember to not drink and drive.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Twenty Six…

and it is a crisp clear  morning at 25 degrees.  I am up early this morning as I intend to go check out the day after sales here in town.  Probably the best bet will be Wal*Mart.

I am still stuffed from eating over Christmas so all left over candy and cookies have been put in the freezer, hidden behind everything in hopes that I won’t think about them anymore for a few weeks,  I have one more appointment this week on Friday and some lab work to be done, then that is it for this year, the good Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise.

I have some major cleaning to do this week.  Anybody wants to come and help me, feel free to do so.  I will take you to 8th Street Station aka Grumpy Pete’s for lunch.

I still have more pictures to go through to put on my computer.  I think this one of my daughter and her cousin Timmie is so cute.  Marcia was 17 days older than her cousin.  Sadly he died of complications of diabetes when he was 41 years old.  He was a terrific  guy  and I still miss him. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Twenty Five…

and it is Christmas!  Happy Birthday Jesus!

Yesterday was a wonderful day for me!  My kids together with me at one time.  It doesn’t happen very often.  Actually this was the first time we had all opened presents together since before Jim died.  The food was good and the kids all took home most of the leftovers.  I didn’t keep any ham as it is a big NO NO for me.  So what was left of a 14 lb spiral sliced ham was divided among them.  I kept turkey and a little bit of other stuff.  Today I am eating  a big turkey sandwich for my Christmas lunch.

I actually received a big Christmas edition of the Peoria Journal Star this morning.  I didn’t know they published on Christmas.  They didn’t last year.  They must not want to miss out on the Sunday ads.

It is an absolutely beautiful day checking in with bright sunshine and 34 degrees.  Much different than last year when we had 8 inches of snow for Christmas.  I hope the weather stays like this all year long.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Day.  Do stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Twenty Four…

and it is Christmas Eve.  I am in the midst of last minute things.  Yesterday I spent all day in the kitchen.  The turkey and ham are cooked, also a pie and lemon cream cheese bars.  I still have the last minute things to go in the oven but other than that, I am pretty well organized.  I have the presents all ready which I have been buying since last summer. 

The bag that says let it snow is filled with gifts for my son and the other bag is filled with gifts for my daughter and SIL.  Those huge bags are available at Deals for $1 and they hold a ton of stuff.

I hope during the hustle and bustle of the shopping and goodie making that we are not forgetting that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus.

I hope you all have a Blessed Christmas weekend.  Merry Christmas to you all!

Love,

Beth

Day Twenty Three…

FINAL STANDINGS

The top 10 most Santa Friendly cities in the U.S. and Canada.

1. Guelph, Ontario
2. Williamsport, PA
3. Sherbrooke, Quebec
4. London, Ontario
5. St. John’s. Newfoundland
6. PEORIA, ILLINOIS
7. Hamilton, Ontario
8. Winnipeg, Manitoba
9. Trois-Rivie`res, Quebec
10. Kitchener`, Ontario

This is such important information I thought you all would like to know this.  LOL  At least the Peoria Journal Star which I read each morning thought it was important enough to include in the paper.

It is cold and clear at 23 degrees this morning.  As soon as I get off of the computer I am making my final store run until after Christmas.  Then back home to do lots of cooking.  Then tomorrow is present time and plenty of good food.

I hope you all are ready for Christmas.  Today is my SIL’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Mike.

Don’t forget to stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day Twenty One…

and it is still drizzling, not quite a rain but close.  It is 37 degrees.  I set my alarm for 6 AM and I have changed the bedding, had breakfast, and on my first load of laundry.  I have lots to do before Saturday.

Tomorrow afternoon is another doctor appointment.  Then Friday I will cook the ham and the turkey.  Somewhere in between there is cleaning the dreaded bathroom and getting out the vacuum and dusting the furniture.  Since I made such a mess cookie making a few days ago I don’t need to worry too much about the kitchen cleaning as that is already done.

Menu for Christmas Eve:

• Ham
• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Green bean casserole (I love this stuff)
• Corn casserole (I love this stuff)
• Cranberry sauce
• Pecan pie

Enough for us all to have leftovers.  An open invitation for any of you that have no place to eat Christmas dinner.   That includes you RB.

I just went to check my laundry and the drizzle has turned into pouring down rain.

A long time friend of my WV sis and her husband passed away yesterday.  He was a very nice guy.  Jim and I met him on several occasions when we were visiting Rae and Hugh.  We even played a few games of poker with him.  If I remember correctly he was very lucky at cards. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/x313670888/Long-time-reporter-Hardin-dies   So long Jack, you will be missed.  Heaven has just added another angel.

I have to close this off and get busy.  I hope you all have a pleasant day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Day eighteen…

and the cookies are finished.  I was given the wrong instructions as to how many to make.  It is 8 packages of 6 to total 4 dozen.  I had forgotten how much work these cookies are,  I made the dough on Friday evening and the cookies yesterday,  Then with rolling into balls, baking 15 minutes, poking holes in the center of them, cooling completely, making the fudge filling, filling the cookies, sprinkling the chopped nuts on top and cooling and packaging.  I was all morning doing this.   Then have you heard the saying, “a messy cook is a good cook?”  I must be a very good cook because when I was done with the cookies I had chopped nuts everywhere and fudge filling  dotted here and there.  The outcome of that was an hour to thoroughly clean the kitchen and hand mop the floor.  The cookies are delicious though.  The next time I will choose a much easier recipe.

As you can see I made extra cookies so that I could have some for cookie trays for my neighbors.

My niece, great niece and great great niece are coming over this afternoon.  My great great niece will be 3 in March so she is really active.  LOL  I am not used to that but I always enjoy seeing her.  She is such a beautiful child.

It is sunny and 25 degrees this morning.  Just a great day to be alive and as Red Skelton used to say, “Aren’t you glad we both are?”

You all stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

I had made a promise…

to myself to post every day for the month of December.  I have just about let Sunday go by without posting.  I know you have all been waiting patiently.  LOL  Especially RB.  C’mon RB why don’t you admit that you enjoy reading my gossip.

I have been busy today doing all sorts of things.  Trying to get ready for my son’s coming home for our Christmas with him.  I really do miss him.  since I moved I don’t get to see him as often as I would like.  Right now the date stands at Christmas Eve.

My freezer in the trunk of my car is getting full of goodies.  Today I made 2 big batches of Chex Mix.  I can’t forget my SIL as he likes it too.

I also made a store run as my niece is coming for lunch tomorrow.  That will just be sandwiches and soup.  I did buy some chicken thighs which I removed the skin from, coated with beaten egg and dipped in Italian bread crumbs.  I have them in the oven now.  That will be my supper.  Not sure what else I will have with it.  Better than a TV dinner anyway.

It is a bright sunshiny day and the temp is holding at 45 degrees right now.  I should bundle up and go for a walk but I am too tired right now.  I did walk all around in the store this morning.  I have been going to Kroger for over a year and a half now and I still can’t find half the stuff I want.  So by the time I have found everything I am looking for I have enjoyed a nice little walk.

I did it, this is 11 days in a row I have posted.  Only 20 more days in the month.  Just think, only two weeks till Christmas

You all come along with me as my Twin has a lovely clean floor and she will be serving refreshments about 6PM CST that would be 7PM EST.  Now don’t go to any trouble Carole, we will help you celebrate the Admiral’s birthday.  I am bringing a huge decorated birthday cake.

Beth

Icy on the driveway…

and a little bit of snow on the ground.  I slid all of the way down the driveway taking the garbage can to the curb this morning.  It is 27 degrees and not going to get much warmer today so I will have to be careful this morning while I am out running errands.  So, I guess winter has officially started in Central Illinois even though the calendar says it is a bit too early.  I repeat, I do not like winter!!  My Wisconsin relatives will be leaving the day after Christmas to spend the whole winter in Arizona.  They have invited me to come for a visit.  I would love that.  I have never visited Arizona.  If I ever get rid of all of these doctor visits I just might consider that.

I did get the bathroom cleaned yesterday, even going so far as to clean everything in there.  Whew that ought to last for a few days. 

I put more decorations out in the living room, even putting up one that Jim made many years ago.  I didn’t get a very good picture of it but it gives you the general idea.

 

  He made many decorations but this is the only one that was small enough for me to save when I moved.  My friends Rex and Sandi called me the other night to tell me that all of the inflatables that Jim used to put in our front yard are now in their front yard.  Mike (Jim’s nephew) has some more of Jim’s decorations.

I need to go out to start the car and clean the snow off.  I hope you all have a peaceful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth