"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend."
-Plautus

Wednesday 30 November 2011

shuffle

1) mcdonald's fruit & yogurt parfaits are scrumptious at 7:30 AM when i'm out of my yoplait.

2) meeting w/ the boss went quite well today, even if part of it determined that soon i would have even MORE work on plate.  

3) my mantra is "better busy than bored" so i don't really mind the more work thing.

4) the cafe had a really good cole slaw & pretty tasty salmon for lunch today.

5) tomorrow i'm meeting meg for lunch at hungry hobo.  mmmm!

6) after work, i stopped at walgreen's to get some christmas tins & found exactly the animals i was looking for for william, kathryn & ariyana.  woot!  also, spoke w/ the nice, elderly bell ringer in front of the store.  he was wearing a john deere hat & i complimented him on it.  his wife got it for him from cracker barrel.  wasn't that sweet?

7) i bet cracker barrel & the machine shed gift shops have some awesome christmas stuff going on.  i must check it out!!  

8) this post and format was inspired by my bloggy friend, pam.  : )  

9) i had planned to go over to trish's tonight for dinner & survivor, but remembered this morning that i may have made plans w/ mom & the boys.  sure enough, i'd planned to go over THERE for dinner & survivor & games.  heh.  

10) so i went over there for subway & Sorry & baseball & tickles & no snuggles because leyton refused to snuggle w/ me & anthony ran away!  LOL  he did deign to allow me a hug or two, tho.  : ) leyton was one tiiiiired puppy, tho, and he was crying at the drop of a hat!  

11) oh yeah, we also played apples to apples jr.  
it was fun!

12) i didn't get home til 9:30 & i forgot to drop off season 1 of supernatural.  
dang it!  
i was JUST there last night & they reminded me it was due today!  
i had it in the car & everything!

13) that's pretty much all i've got, plus this is getting long & i want to read a bit before bed.  
and i have to edit & post a menu post... : )  i am LOVING these posts from uncle gene & aunt nancy, and hope you are, too!  

ttfn!!


Tuesday 29 November 2011

today was a good day.

work was still crazy, but not as many timecard issues as yesterday.  
other issues, sure.  but the timecard front was a little quieter.  LOL 

i was REALLY craving pineapple fried rice, so trish kindly joined me for dinner at our favorite thai place.  woot!!  : )  we had a nice chat & dinner & i'm so thankful!!  tomorrow i'm going over to her house for dinner & Survivor.  *party hats*  

uncle gene sent his big ol' files of key west posts & pictures to my email, so i don't have to struggle w/ the disc.  yay!  : )  now i have begun the putting together of the posts.  the first one is up, so take a look!  i'll be setting up posts every day (i think i'll schedule them for the morning) - and somewhere in there i'm going to have a contest of sorts... : )  

now, it's 11 & i was supposed to be off here at 9:30 to read some Mockingjay before bed.  i stopped at family video & picked up season 2 of Supernatural, so i have that to watch as well.  : ) 

i hope your day was blessed and that tomorrow is TERRIFIC!  

ttfn!
(and just for kicks, here is a teaser key west sunset...cuz it's pretty!)




Monday 28 November 2011

oh, monday...

wow today was a litttttle bit rough.  just slightly.  okay, slightly more that slightly...  *laugh*  well, see, i had this plan!  i'd cleaned up some of my email last night, and i had an idea that the timecard stuff was going to be hefty, but oh my heck!  i spent nearly ALL DAY on timecard stuff.  i think i was able to get in a half an hour of photos (entered a whole page, so that was nice!) and 20 minutes of vacations - which wasn't even enough time to get all the forms prepped, but that's okay.  at the end of the day, at least two timecard issues that were vexing me all day were resolved, AND toward the end of the day i received some surprising news involving just desserts.  now, i really don't wish anyone ill.  but sometimes when someone is doing something wrong, and they then get caught/punished for doing that something... it feels kinda good.  ya know?  not in a malicious way, just in a ... good... way... meh.  hopefully you know what i mean!  


anyway!  i hope that the someone(s) who was(were) caught/punished for doing something wrong learn from this experience & go on to have more blessings.


now, enough of that.  *laugh*  


after work, i was supposed to have dinner w/ becks, but she had to reschedule to saturday.  i was hankerin for thai, so i asked if trish was free, but she was not.  boo!  so i stopped in to target to get some sushi (i know, weird, but it's usually good) - but they were out!  double boo!!  so, eventually i decided to stop at hungry hobo & get a ham & cheese.  it was nummy, but it wasn't pineapple fried rice!  LOL  


i watched some supernatural & read a bit, then saw that april was online, so hopped on to chat w/ her for a bit.  and play w/ fb & pinterest & random smartphone funny sites.  heh.  now i'm off to read some more, watch another ep or two of supernatural & then hit the hay!  early meeting in the AM & hopefully i will remember to head to the right building instead of mine!  *laugh*  it would be a lot easier to go to these meetings if they provided us w/ coffee & donuts... 


; )   i hope your monday back to work wasn't too bad, and that your tuesday (and mine) will be BLESSED and full of GOOD NEWS!  speaking of good news - Jesus loves you!  : )  


ttfn!


Sunday 27 November 2011

early zzzz's

am going to try to get to bed by 10:30.  : )  


today was good - started Mockingjay, read my People.  mom & leyton picked me up for lunch & we picked anthony up & went to steak & shake.  it was a happenin' place, so we had to wait for a table for a bit.  as we were in line, my friend stacey was just leaving w/ her fam, so i got to chat w/ her for a bit, which was cool!  : ) and it was a pretty good lunch!  then we dropped leyton off & mom, anthony & i went to target to get some games & such.  rah!  then home for more reading, Supernatural, chatting w/ april, getting WAY TOO SUCKED IN to a page all about autocorrect mistakes on iphones... heh.  


tomorrow, back to work, wheee!  i checked my email to clean up some stuff & found many timecard questions that i'll get to play w/ tomorrow.  so, i know i'll be busy!!  heh.


now i'm off to read for an hour before beddy bye!  : )  i hope your weekend went well!!  : ) 


ttfn!


Saturday 26 November 2011

lazy saturday? well, sort of...

today, here was the plan - 
go to the bank for cash since my checks weren't here yet
go to WM for mailers/boxes for christmas gifts
to to the PO to mail my ornament swap giftie out to naomi
come home & read People & watch Supernatural

here's what happened - 
went to the bank
went to WM
met trish & her family for brunch at harlan's
went w/ trish to deliver a lunchtime pizza to al at work
went back to trish's & hung out for a couple hours
went w/ trish to hobby lobby
went to mom's for dinner & hang out time w/ her & leyton
came home to lots of mail 
chatted w/ april
wrote a menu post (oh my!)
watched supernatural
hopefully started mockingjay before bed  ; )  

apparently trish & i were supposed to have our christmas movie marathon spectacular today, but i had put it on the calendar for NEXT weekend.  whoops!  *laugh*  so when she texted me this morning,  i happily changed plans to hang out w/ her!  we went to a local restaurant where she & her family go all the time.  they are regulars.  Cheers, "hi norm!" kinda regulars.  the waitress didn't even have to ask but brought all their regular drinks when they arrived!  but then, when she was taking orders, she completely skipped me!!  lol  i was like, oh, i guess i don't get to order??  am i invisible?  i guess that's the problem when you visit Cheers w/ the regulars... *laugh*  

hanging out was fun, tho!  especially when we got to her house.  idk if i've mentioned this before, but trish is the christmas QUEEN.  she loves the holiday like i love turtles.  like i love mark harmon.  like i love YANNI.  ; )  all rolled into one big love of christmas.  so, when i walked in, the tree was up, snowmen were everywhere, and then she turned on all the lights.  OH, gorgeousness!!  we went out on the sun porch to chat & it's all nicely decorated w/ stockings & lights & an electric fire; scooby lights & apple potpourri & figures on the windowsills.  i love that room!!!  

after a couple hours, we decided to check out hobby lobby for a tree skirt & fabric to make a cover for a side table.  didn't find anything that worked, but i did find some nice tissue paper for $1!  : )  it was HOT in there, tho.  only on one side of the store, which was really strange... 

it was super nice hanging out, as always!  and around 5 i headed to mom's for leftover turkey & olives & a roll.  mmm!  leyton & mom were playing monopoly & then he & i played pictureka (sort of).  i played bejeweled on mom's DS - oh my heck, addicting game much?  LOL leyton & i snuggled a bit & watched some disney channel (newly extended cable for them!  woot!  i can go over & watch soap net! or the food network!  or... the possibilities are endless!  sorta... lol).

april helped me pick a hotel & i got us pre-registered for our trip to DC! 
words cannot express my excitement!!!!!!!!!  : ) 
(so i'll try w/ exclamation points... *laugh*)

i think that's all about my day today.  
quite nice.
now i'm off to watch a couple more supernaturals & read some mockingjay.

what'd you get up to today?

ttfn!!


Friday 25 November 2011

10,000

today's post is brought to you by the number 10,000, which is the number of pageviews for this blog.  nice!  i'm sure it's on the small scale, or the non-existent scale for heavily-trafficked bloggers, but it's a happy number for me, so there!  *laugh*


today's adventure w/ leyton involved lots of christmas-y things.  and a cow dressed as a princes... 






 this whole aisle was his favorite, i think.  he kept finding things (mostly these beads in different colours) that he really enjoyed!


 "this is not chocolate, we can't eat it."  
thank you for the heads up, babe!  
; )  
 "that is one big candy cane, huh?"  
 "And look at THAT!"  
 giant lollipop (or sucker, whatever you want to call it!)

these trees are springy... 
boingy boingy boingy


he really gets into shopping for christmas decorations & ornaments, and picked out one for his dad, mom & gramma.  i'm still working on getting him to pick one out for anthony!!  i found quite a few tins, have i expressed how much i love tins/boxes for presents rather than wrapping?  cuz, lemme just say (again) - LOVE THEM!  : ) 


we stopped at chick fil a for lunch & then i came home for a bit.  picked erin up at 4 & we went to arthur's for dinner & catch up.  she shared all about her arizona sister's trip & it sounded like they had a lot of fun bonding time!  yay!!!  : )  we also had to chat about GH, of course!  soapnet is playing a lucky-a-thon - and from what she told me, i'm sad to be missing it!!  jonathan jackson is THE lucky, and even when i don't like the storylines they're giving him, i still love him!  


when i got home, i was in the mood for some movies, but didn't know exactly what i was in the mood for.  i thought it would be christmas movies, but nope.  so i headed over to family video to see what would strike my fancy.  i apparently hadn't rented movies there for quite some time, as they still had me under my old address - and i've been here nearly five years!  d'oh!  anyway, i picked out season 1 of Supernatural and two movies.  the movies are due back tomorrow, so i watched them when i got home - Super 8 & Captain America.  they were both JUST what i needed!!  highly enjoyed them!!


was able to chat w/ april a bit tonight, as well, and let her know about mom's & my DC plans.  *party face*  and also got to see the new coat she bought - it's super cute!!  sometimes i wish i could pull off super cute clothes, but i'm just not there.  *laugh*  i like my big sweatshirt coats, and sometimes daddy's bomber jacket, but i have to really be in a mood to wear that!  and i like my skirts & men's shirts... idk what you'd call my style... LOL  


and now that captain america is over, i'm ready for sleepy land, i think!  lots to do tomorrow!  


ttfn!!


3AM

have you seen GH during thanksgiving?  idk if they still do it, but for YEARS there was a running storyline at thanksgiving, concerning the quartermain festivities.  every year the family would get together & cook would be working on the traditional family dinner.  and then, every year, something would happen to mess up that dinner - fire in the kitchen, neighborhood dog stealing the turkey off the table, fight breaking out & overturning dinner, cook on strike, etc. - and they would end up ordering pizza.


our thanksgiving dinners have been kinda like that for the past few years... *laugh*


but they always end up good - last year we went to golden corral, and after much craziness had a delicious buffet meal.  this year we ordered from hy vee - with the impression that everything was cooked ahead of time & just needed to be re-heated.  this was correct, but the turkey wasn't just cooked that day & ready for reheating - it was pre-cooked but FROZEN.  the suggestion on the package said to let it thaw for 2 days!!  what the what!?








so we bandied about the going out option, and cooking the turkey later.  or getting something else for the main part of the meal ... but in the end, we called the butterball hotline & the turkey turned out okay.  we ate at 5:30 instead of 2, but it was all good!  turkey was juicy & flavorful!  







leyton danced w/ herkie & did some pretend water gunning.








i started re-reading the end of Breaking Dawn (beginning w/ the end of the movie & reading on) cuz a friend & i had a couple questions about scenes in the movie that we didn't remember being in the book (they were in there, tho!).  and also mom wanted to read from where the next movie will start, so i found that & then fell into the story again.  it IS my favorite twilight book.  : )  


after dinner & cleanup, mom, leyton & i went to the festival of trees.  *bounce*  on our way in, there was as train that went by so we sat outside for a bit & watched it.  not the whole thing - it was long!  we saw some really neat trees!  this year i was partial to the red & white stuff for some reason.  


 hot air balloons - clever!



 chick fil a cow christmas 




there was lots of neat stuff, but leyton's favorite was the train tree.  he even got to drive a couple of them!!  : )  






after driving the train for awhile, we looked at some trees from the local baseball team, news team, and some baskets & plant stuff.  all quite impressive!!  high enjoyment, for sure!  













all in all, a pretty blessed thanksgiving!  we went back to mom's for pie & then i came home about 10...and had a Desperate Housewives marathon.  now i'm all caught up.


and it's 3 AM.  i could go out for some black friday deals, huh?  LOL  but instead my plan is to get to bed, get up around 10 or so & go do some ornament shopping.  i also have to hit the WM & the PO & maybe hang out w/ leyton for a bit, but idk what he & mom have planned tomorrow.


what was your thanksgiving like this year?  


ttfn!


p.s.
still having trouble w/ my phone - it cuts out for a week, comes back for a day or two, cuts out for a week... it's getting VERY frustrating!  it was finally working again when i got home tonight, so i called the 800# listed on the website & placed a repair ticket.  then, when i wanted to speak w/ a person in the phone area, on the phone that is LISTED on the PHONE page...it was to discover the number goes to internet help, so they had to transfer me to phone help.  yeesh!  but they were all very nice, and a repair dude/tte should be here tomorrow before 7PM.  anyway, hopefully they'll be able to figure it out, and also be able to credit my bill for nearly a month of no service!  (which i'll talk to the billing dept, i guess, once they've figured out what's goin on.  


anyway - now it's 3:30AM - must sleep!
ta!


Wednesday 23 November 2011

jumpin for joy

today i am thankful.


i am thankful to work for a company that is doing well and that shares that good business w/ its employees.  


i am thankful that God answers prayer!


i am thankful for my family, to aunt jan for a surprising birthday/christmas gift received today.  to uncle gene & aunt nancy for always picking out the PERFECT gifts.  to mom for taking me out for mexican just because i asked.  to phil for bringing leyton's DREAM bracelet to him just because he called & asked for it.  to leyton...for being himself!  : )  



 leyton requested to take a pic & she obliged.  : ) 

 daddy got this cabbage patch kid from someone many years ago.  i kept him in his package ... until tonight.  
leyton asked if we could open dave ballard.  
and so we did. 

 he is quite cute... : ) 






 hi-five jump!

look at the air time!  : ) 


i am thankful for my friends, who show me love in big and small ways.  


i am thankful for sleep, which i am going to go to soon!  *laugh*  


what're you thankful for, this thanksgiving season?


ttfn!