Yesterday morning when I left for work the weather was cold, overcast and dry. By the time I got halfway to work it had started to rain a little, which was freezing on the roads as soon as it hit. I made it fine and it warmed up during the day and just rained. This picture was taken a few weeks ago during a quick snow clipper.

Today.....it is going to be 70 degrees and partly sunny. 70 degrees in December!

We are going to work on our after Christmas crash diets today. We are going to my mothers to celebrate with my brother and his family who came in from Indiana. We are having ham, mac and cheese, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, shrimp, sausage balls and about half a ton of various candies and cookies. I guess you are wondering about the diet part. My brother and his wife have a stomach virus.....a virus that seems to spread like a wild fire. So....I'm thinking there is no reason to try to eat a little less or lay off of the candy. I like to think of it as kind of stocking up on nourishment so I won't get too puny after a few days of the virus. HAHA....I could puke for a month and not get puny.

Anywho.....I received a new lens for my camera so I hope to be snapping pictures for the next few days while it is sunny outside.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and now lets start planning for New Years eve.

Once again I am going to do a "my favorite ornaments" post. I have so many that I love, but I'm just going to show you a few.

I don't know what it is I like about this one, its just the little faces peaking out that make me giggle.

These little guys spend weeks every Christmas trying to get their boat through my Christmas tree.

This is one of my very favorites. My mom bought this for superhubby and me right after we got married, 23 years ago.

My mom also bought this one for us, but didn't notice when the lady spelled our last name wrong, but I don't mind.

My Christmas village at night. I hate that you can't see my green and red chasing lights around the fence on the left. They show up in the full size picture but when I cut it down they aren't easy to see. I love those tiny little lights (-;

In case I don't get time to stalk visit everyone, I hope you have a safe and Merry Christmas.

My completely true Christmas story

A few weeks ago I took some portraits of my cousin, his wife and his wife's family for my cousins in-laws for Christmas. (following me so far?) I ordered their pictures from my favorite online lab and was excited when I received them 48 hours later. I had been worried about a Christmas deadline but this place is on the ball. Today I looked them over again before they came to pick them up and realized I had forgotten to order one set of pictures. The ones I forgot, of course, were the ones of my cousin Joseph ( we call him Joe), his wife Mary and their new baby. Keep those names in mind, they will come in handy to keep up with the rest of my story. I immediately ran to the computer to place the order for the extra pictures, hoping to get them before next Wednesday. I noticed there was a phone number at the bottom of the page to call in case it was an emergency and I wrote the number down and got ready to call.....and then I started imagining our conversation.
Me: Hello nice operator. I recently placed an order and forgot a couple of pictures. I wanted to make sure I would get them before Christmas.
Operator: Which picture did you need.
Me: I took some pictures of Joseph, Mary and the new baby. Those are the ones I need.
Operator: um....did you say Joseph, Mary and the new baby?
Me: Yes
Operator: Ok then, are you sure it was Joseph, Mary and the baby?
Me: Of course I'm sure, I was there.
Operator: Were there any wise men there at the time?
Me: Yes (Mary's uncle is a Lawyer and he watched)
Operator : How about animals?
Me: Wow, how did you know. The cattle and sheep were so noisy, it woke the baby. (her uncle lives in a big farm and the animals were so loud that night we were joking about them)
Operator: Let me guess, there was a bright light in the sky?
Me: Well there was this big bright star.....(which was a Christmas decoration on one of the neighbors houses)
Operator: Alrighty then, are you home alone or is there an orderly or family member with you?
Me: I'm home alone right now.
Operator: How about if you give me your address and I will call someone to come and visit you, maybe take you for a ride in an ambulance with a pretty flashing light. They have nice tight white coats you can wear to stay warm.
Me: Sounds like fun but I really just need the pictures...hello....hello?

So I decided to just order the pictures and hope for the best. I'm not sure if they would ship quicker to a local mental hospital or not, may be worth a try.

Roscoe

Since my sons dog died he has left his other german shepherd here with me. The vet warned him that whatever virus killed Gideon would probably be in that yard for 5 to 7 years and could kill Roscoe too. I love Roscoe but he has not figured out that at 9 months old his body isn't a puppy anymore. His mind is still a puppy but not his body. He wants to be a lap dog like my little koko, but it doesn't work as well. This is what happens when I sit down.

I usually do not let anyone take pictures of me, but this one had to be done. I had just gotten out of the shower and got under the cover to warm up before my favorite show in the world came on. (GHOST HUNTERS ROCKS!) My hair was still wet and I had the phone in my hand trying to talk to my SIL. My sons lease isn't up until June.... it's gonna be a long, long winter.

smoke gets in your eyes.

We went from snow, sleet and cold wind to 55 and sunny. SH decided it was time for the annual burning of the leaves. We have discovered over the years that since we live in the woods there is no reason to bother raking leaves until they are all down. The wind still blows them out of the deeper woods back into our yard, but for a couple of days our yard looks nice.
Do you see the house in the background? I actually have a next door neighbor! They recently finished their house and it looks nice if some idiot would quit covering it in ashes.

The sun was nice for a day but today we are back to rain which is supposed to turn to ice and snow tonight.

I hope everyone has a great week. I can't believe we are only 10 days away from Christmas. Where did the time go?

It is beginning to look a whole lot like Christmas. I like snow, but DD is at a ball game tonight and SH is at work. I hope this quits soon.




The tv show I was talking about in my last post was Ghost Hunters. I am completely and totally addicted to the show. The season finale was last Wednesday and I am sad. A few years ago I would have laughed at that show but since spending so much time at the museum I find it very interesting.
I'm working on a post about Rev. John Rankin, a famous abolitionist that died in Ironton in the very house that we now use for the museum. He was an interesting man who helped free over 2000 slaves. It was a dangerous thing for people to do back then and he and his family did a lot of it.
Now I have to go figure out how to get DD home, there are two cars turned sideways in front of my house unable to go on up the hill.....could be an interesting evening.

Where oh where am I tonight?

I love these two. They are so cute together. Right now they are going back and forth between their house and mine to spend time with their dog. I like having them around and will like it more this week since I only work two days.

It has been a busy few weeks. I had a nice birthday with my family, volunteered a lot at the museum and let my house go completely. Now I am going to pay for it in a big way. It will take me days to clean up all the dog hair, cake icing (DD is taking cake decorating classes) and dirty dishes. If I can stay awake today I think I may actually get a little chunk of it finished. I may be back later.....or I may not. Tonight is my FAVORITE night on tv and there are 3 episodes of my favorite show on tonight. I won't even tell you what it is (if any of you are left out there) because you would laugh. Goodbye until next time.