I forgot I was supposed to put the finished Frosty on here. Isn't he cute??
Friday, November 28, 2008
Black Friday
Since many of you know how much I love to shop, you probably realize the day after Thanksgiving is right up there on my list of favorite days. After combing through pages and pages of sales (thanks for saving them for me, Mom) there were only two things that I wanted, an XBox game and a quilt.
I should have gone sooner, but 5:30 am seemed pretty early to me. I arrived at the local WalMart and I was shocked by the number of cars in the parking lot. I've done Black Friday before, and it was always crowded, but this morning was beyond anything I had ever seen. I found a place to park, and luckily, someone was leaving a buggy just as I got out of my car, so I took it in the store with me. I didn't get 10 feet inside the store when I abandoned my buggy. There was such a wall of people I couldn't get the buggy through them. I was only looking for an XBox game that was advertised at half price, so I pushed my way to electronics and got in line. After an hour in line, I got to the register and learned that they were sold out of Madden '09. I bought a car racing game just so I didn't leave empty handed and headed to Goody's.
Goody's had advertised an assortment of quilts for $17.88. The one I wanted was the one they had pictured in their ad (a winter scene with snowmen). Again, I was amazed by the number of people who were attempting to walk around in Goody's. I saw the quilts on a roll around shelf in the middle of the aisle and worked my way around to them. Alas, no snowmen. I looked through what they had just to make sure there wasn't something else I wanted. Then I overheard someone say that there was another shelf of quilts near the dressing rooms. After pushing and shoving my way in that direction, I was rewarded with this.
I should have gone sooner, but 5:30 am seemed pretty early to me. I arrived at the local WalMart and I was shocked by the number of cars in the parking lot. I've done Black Friday before, and it was always crowded, but this morning was beyond anything I had ever seen. I found a place to park, and luckily, someone was leaving a buggy just as I got out of my car, so I took it in the store with me. I didn't get 10 feet inside the store when I abandoned my buggy. There was such a wall of people I couldn't get the buggy through them. I was only looking for an XBox game that was advertised at half price, so I pushed my way to electronics and got in line. After an hour in line, I got to the register and learned that they were sold out of Madden '09. I bought a car racing game just so I didn't leave empty handed and headed to Goody's.
Goody's had advertised an assortment of quilts for $17.88. The one I wanted was the one they had pictured in their ad (a winter scene with snowmen). Again, I was amazed by the number of people who were attempting to walk around in Goody's. I saw the quilts on a roll around shelf in the middle of the aisle and worked my way around to them. Alas, no snowmen. I looked through what they had just to make sure there wasn't something else I wanted. Then I overheard someone say that there was another shelf of quilts near the dressing rooms. After pushing and shoving my way in that direction, I was rewarded with this.
It was not the same one they had in their ad, but it is winter and it does have snowmen. Even better, they had a King size quilt with Regular size shams. I have a queen size bed, but the full/queen quilts never quite fit. But when I get the King quilt, they usually have King shams. I don't like those King size shams.
So, I'm pretty happy with my early morning of shopping. I came home, took a short nap, had some breakfast, and I'm off again. Maybe I'll go to Magic Mart this afternoon. I'm not sure I can stand to go back to WalMart today.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Christmas Yard Art Anyone?
A couple of years ago we made these singing mice for Jen and Jake, when Bailey was a baby.
We never did make one for Maverick, and as most of you know, they will need a fifth one next Christmas. So we decided while we were home for Thanksgiving we would buy some plywood and get Maverick's mouse done.
Here's how my dining room table looked last night. Do those look like mice to you?? No!! These deer are a completely different project that we started after we got home.
Then Kirby wanted to make another new pattern and cut it out. So here's Frosty ready to be painted. And you can probably see Santa standing beside him.
Late last night while I was finishing up some of the red on Santa's suit I reminded him that we still didn't have a mouse for Maverick. Check back tomorrow and I'll post pictures of the finished Frosty and (I HOPE) a singing Maverick mouse!!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Doing my Patriotic Duty
In the last couple of weeks, I have been overwhelmed by doing my duty to my country. Of course, veteran's day was this month. I have not served in the military, but many members of my family have and still do. I made my annual donation to the Viet Nam Vets organization that I support. They send me address labels that, thanks to online banking, I never use, and I send them a small token of my appreciation for their service.
Of course, we also had an election in November. No matter which candidate you were supporting, or which one you voted for, we can all be proud of the fact that elections in America go pretty smoothly. Can you imagine living in a country where the government is taken over periodically by a military coup? And then everybody who supported the other guy is rounded up and re-educated?? We are far from perfect, but I thank God that I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
As if that wasn't enough patriotism, I got a jury notice in the mail. I had to appear on Nov. 10 for jury instructions and to get my juror number. I'm number 78 of about 120 people who (in the words of the last paragraph) were rounded up for re-education on their duty to serve the community. All I've had to do so far is call every friday evening to see if my number has been chosen to actually serve at a trial. Thankfully, my number has not come up!! Nor has anyone else's for that matter. There have been no jury trials in Logan County this month, and I don't have to call again until Dec. 5.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I got a notice in the mail from the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). Since I have a Class A CDL license with a HazMat endorsement, I am now required to have a background check done before I can renew said license. This involves filling out an application online, paying $89, and going to their office in Charleston to be fingerprinted!! The fingerprint part was kind of interesting. The whole thing is done by computer, not the old ink and paper. You put each finger on this glass plate and it scans the print onto the computer screen. You still have to roll the finger just like the ink and paper days, but at least it's not messy. I say that like I've been fingerprinted so many times!! The only time I remember being fingerprinted was when Todd did a science fair project on fingerprints. Anyway, you will be happy to know that the TSA has determined that I currently pose no security threat under Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Of course, we also had an election in November. No matter which candidate you were supporting, or which one you voted for, we can all be proud of the fact that elections in America go pretty smoothly. Can you imagine living in a country where the government is taken over periodically by a military coup? And then everybody who supported the other guy is rounded up and re-educated?? We are far from perfect, but I thank God that I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
As if that wasn't enough patriotism, I got a jury notice in the mail. I had to appear on Nov. 10 for jury instructions and to get my juror number. I'm number 78 of about 120 people who (in the words of the last paragraph) were rounded up for re-education on their duty to serve the community. All I've had to do so far is call every friday evening to see if my number has been chosen to actually serve at a trial. Thankfully, my number has not come up!! Nor has anyone else's for that matter. There have been no jury trials in Logan County this month, and I don't have to call again until Dec. 5.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I got a notice in the mail from the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). Since I have a Class A CDL license with a HazMat endorsement, I am now required to have a background check done before I can renew said license. This involves filling out an application online, paying $89, and going to their office in Charleston to be fingerprinted!! The fingerprint part was kind of interesting. The whole thing is done by computer, not the old ink and paper. You put each finger on this glass plate and it scans the print onto the computer screen. You still have to roll the finger just like the ink and paper days, but at least it's not messy. I say that like I've been fingerprinted so many times!! The only time I remember being fingerprinted was when Todd did a science fair project on fingerprints. Anyway, you will be happy to know that the TSA has determined that I currently pose no security threat under Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Monday, November 10, 2008
45 days til Christmas!!!
I love Christmas. I guess most people do, but I love knowing that it wouldn't matter if we spent $5,000 or $5 on gifts, my family would be happy. I've heard so many people talk about how hectic it is and how hard it is to shop for some people, but I just love every minute of it. My kids have gotten everything from bottles of shampoo (in bad years) to TVs (in good years), and they still love me just the same. I'm sure I've given gifts that were not appreciated, and I've received gifts that I didn't care for, but I still love the idea of giving gifts. I love the music and the smells and the colors and the decorated trees. People complain that stores put their Christmas stuff out too early, but I would look at it all year long!! They say Christmas has become too commercial, but I love the fact that, even though some don't mean to, people everywhere are celebrating the birth of my Saviour.
With that in mind, today I decided that I need to get serious about getting ready for Christmas. Usually I do a lot of my shopping during our Oct. trip to the beach. I did some this year, but not nearly as much as I usually do. Part of the problem was that we took my Mother's car on our trip this year. Her Buick is very nice and comfortable, but she just doesn't have the space that I have in my Dodge Caravan. Everything I looked at I found myself wondering where we would put it on the way home. But, to be honest, I just wasn't in the Christmas shopping mood for some reason.
This afternoon, I printed out my shopping list spreadsheet. What?? Doesn't everyone have a spreadsheet to keep track of who is buying what for whom?? See, I told you I was serious about getting ready for Christmas. I may be letting a big secret out of the bag here, but I'm pretty sure everyone in my family knows that I buy all the gifts. So Grandma, whatever you got from the grandkids, they probably wouldn't recognize it if you showed it to them. And Kids, surely you knew that I was buying and wrapping what you gave each other. Rusty gives nice gifts to everyone in the family every year, and everything Rusty gets from all the other members of the family is usually bought and wrapped at the same time.
So, as you can see, if you want to make sure that everyone gets a gift from everyone else, a spreadsheet is the way to go. On the side I list everyone who needs to get a gift and at the top I list everyone who needs to give a gift. Then I fill in the columns as I shop.
Tonight I got into my closet to start wrapping some of the gifts that I have bought, and found some things that I had forgotten about. That was a pleasant surprise. I checked off a couple of people on the spreadsheet, and the cat and I fought over some wrapping paper. I won, but the gift has teeth marks on it.
I know you're probably thinking - "It isn't even Thanksgiving, yet!" But when you have 22 people down and 5 across on the spreadsheet, there's no time like the present!! Was that a pun??
With that in mind, today I decided that I need to get serious about getting ready for Christmas. Usually I do a lot of my shopping during our Oct. trip to the beach. I did some this year, but not nearly as much as I usually do. Part of the problem was that we took my Mother's car on our trip this year. Her Buick is very nice and comfortable, but she just doesn't have the space that I have in my Dodge Caravan. Everything I looked at I found myself wondering where we would put it on the way home. But, to be honest, I just wasn't in the Christmas shopping mood for some reason.
This afternoon, I printed out my shopping list spreadsheet. What?? Doesn't everyone have a spreadsheet to keep track of who is buying what for whom?? See, I told you I was serious about getting ready for Christmas. I may be letting a big secret out of the bag here, but I'm pretty sure everyone in my family knows that I buy all the gifts. So Grandma, whatever you got from the grandkids, they probably wouldn't recognize it if you showed it to them. And Kids, surely you knew that I was buying and wrapping what you gave each other. Rusty gives nice gifts to everyone in the family every year, and everything Rusty gets from all the other members of the family is usually bought and wrapped at the same time.
So, as you can see, if you want to make sure that everyone gets a gift from everyone else, a spreadsheet is the way to go. On the side I list everyone who needs to get a gift and at the top I list everyone who needs to give a gift. Then I fill in the columns as I shop.
Tonight I got into my closet to start wrapping some of the gifts that I have bought, and found some things that I had forgotten about. That was a pleasant surprise. I checked off a couple of people on the spreadsheet, and the cat and I fought over some wrapping paper. I won, but the gift has teeth marks on it.
I know you're probably thinking - "It isn't even Thanksgiving, yet!" But when you have 22 people down and 5 across on the spreadsheet, there's no time like the present!! Was that a pun??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
