Christmas Was Over

So many stories I’ve promised - guess I’ll get my behind in gear and catch up a bit.  Let’s start with Thanksmas... Some friends had Thanksgiving dinner during the middle of November since they would be out of town for the holiday.  I promised pictures of their house - all decked out for Christmas - all the garland and all of the trees...  click here to enjoy the pictures.

Then on Thanksgiving itself - I  was at my dad’s in Big Bear.  My brother and his family came up for dinner and as my 5 year old nephew, Luke, explored the house - he found the place he wanted to sleep for the night.  On the bottom floor of my dad’s house, he has a cedar closet under the stairs - so Luke decided he wanted to be just like Harry Potter (he actually was wearing his Harry Potter costume on Thanksgiving) and sleep in the closet under the stairs.  He was devastated when they didn’t spend the night - yeah - like we would really let him sleep in a cedar closet!

Let me add a mom story for the road...

So back in the beginning of December, the place my lives in had a Holiday dinner for the residents and their families.  So my brother and I went - it was really nice - my mom was so happy to have us both there - introducing us to everyone.  Well at the end of dinner, we went back to her room and she looked at her Christmas Tree (which I had set up earlier in the week) and said that she could put it away since Christmas was over.  We tried to convince her that Christmas wasn’t for another couple of weeks - but the following week when I went by - sure enough - the tree was put back in the closet!  God Bless Her!

Finally - Happy New Year!  Blessings and love to you all!

Magazine Madness

So a friend of mine brought in some magazines to work today for our enjoyment - during our breaks, of course!  I was perusing through the Woman’s World - and I found this little blurb about carrying a big bag - and as I read the article, I realized that the nugget we heard in Weight Watchers a month or so ago has now been confirmed.  I don’t remember if I blogged about it - I remember thinking that I should - but that stuff doesn’t always make it into the written word.  So at WW one of the women said that if you carry a bigger purse - it makes your butt look smaller.  And here in the Woman’s World magazine - it said the same thing... one way to trim down instantly - carry a big bag!  Does two sources make it a truth?!

In that same magazine, they were listing off movies that you should watch to make you feel happier and less stressed.  So to live longer, they suggested ‘Legally Blonde’ and in the article they commented ‘Laughter also triggers endorphins’ - well, from the movie we also know that... 'Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands.'  I know I’ve used that quote before - but it’s one of my favorites from the movie!

And finally, I was looking at People magazine - which I should know better than to do - especially since I didn’t recognize any of the teeny boppers that they showcased in the different articles.  Maybe a friend’s daughter is right - I am old!  Hmmm... Nah!

Random Thoughts From Work...

So I’ve been in class the last couple of weeks, so it was nice this morning to be able to come in and just leisurely tear down and clean up the classroom.  I went into the classroom and sat down at the instructor computer that faces the students - looked at the posters in the back of the room and saw this picture - notice what type of Expectations we are listing - they are actually Class Expectations - but I had put a geography poster that one of the students made partially over the list - and this morning - this just really made me laugh - it was like that for almost the entire class - oops! :)

So as I’m cleaning up the classroom, I realize that one of the computers was locked out so I need to call the help desk to get the password reset.  We have an automated system to unlock passwords and thought I would try it - it turned out to be automated system hell!  I spoke the user name - and it didn’t recognize it - so I tried it again and it still didn’t understand - I tried a third time and it interrupted me mid speaking and started giving me the information that it had - which was wrong - in frustration I pressed 0 hoping I could speak to an operator.  It told me that it would be a less than 3 minute wait - after 5 minutes I decided that I was probably being punished and would have to wait longer since I zeroed out.  At least I got to enjoy my favorite part of calling the help desk - ‘Please Hold.’

As I was sitting waiting for the help desk to answer - I was looking out the windows of the classroom that open up to a covered walk on the side of the building.  It seemed odd to me that there was a woman walking with her umbrella up along the covered walkway - it made me laugh - which is always a good thing.

And last but not least - a friend of mine was talking about going on some dates from an online dating service and first started talking about how this guy reminded her of some kind of stalker and then she started referring to him as a serial killer - yeah - sounds like fun!

Six Second Sadie

So I feed Sadie in two installments in the morning and in the evening - check out this blog entry for a reminder of why!  This morning I picked up her bowl and set it on the counter for the second installment of breakfast.  Usually once she hears me drop food in the bowl - she is in the kitchen within seconds - this morning was a little different.  She was nowhere to be found - so before I put the bowl back down - I went on a bit of a search.  She was sitting in the window - between the pane and the blinds - very intently staring out the window at something that must have been going on outside.  She must have really been interested in it because I was able to put the bowl back down on the floor - and she never rushed over.  So she must have sensed at some point that I was getting ready to leave - so she wandered over to where the bowl is and sat there - as if to remind me that I needed to feed her.  So I just stood and watched her for a few moments - knowing that the bowl was full.  It took her a few seconds - but she started sniffing a bit near the bowl and then peeked over the edge - and I swear - when she noticed the food - she had this Oouu Shrimp look on her face!  I know it sounds crazy - but it was like Six Second Sadie (instead of Ten Second Tom - get it?! hee hee hee)!  Anyway - it made me laugh - God Bless Her!

Greetings from the Gallery!

I know it's been awhile since I've posted - life has been a bit crazy lately. But just wanted to take a moment - while the Gallery is empty for the first time today - to say Happy Thanksgiving! I thank God for the blessings of this year and especially the blessings of my friends - God Bless Us Everyone (oh, wait - that's Christmas)! Enjoy the long holiday weekend and I'll try to get something posted later in the weekend - have a cute story about my nephew Luke. Blessings to you all!

Enjoy The Ride

Early Saturday morning greetings!  Couldn't sleep - so rather than lay in bed all frustrated like - thought I would get up and ramble on the computer for a bit - there are several stories to tell - which will all probably just spill out - so enjoy the ride...

When I woke up at 3am this morning - I immediately started to pet the cat - thought it might relax me into being able to sleep again - and the rule in the house is - if I'm not sleeping - neither is Sadie - she gets the pleasure of sleeping all day long while I have to be at work - so the least she can do is stay awake in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.  Of course, by 3:30am she'd had enough and jumped off the bed - unacceptable.  I thought maybe she was just using the facilities or getting some water - but I heard her jump onto her cat tree - probably thinking she would get more sleep away from me - definitely correct in her thinking!  But I wouldn't have that - again - if I can't sleep - neither can she - so I called her name - made my clicking and kissy noise and within a minute she was back up on the bed - of course, her tail told me she wasn't really happy about it - but she was a good sport all the same - sat nicely while I bugged her before I decided that trying to sleep was a futile endeavor and just decided to get up.

One of my problems is that I've been sick all week - caught a nasty cold early on - and driving to and teaching in Long Beach all week probably didn't help.  I've been taking my Zicam all week - which I think has helped - but this cold seems determined to make its way down to my chest.  Was all congested and started coughing while in bed and decided that getting up and sitting might help - that along with cough syrup, if I could find any.  Well, I did find some - although it expired in March of this year - oh well - I took it anyway - what's the worst that can happen - it will have lost it potency and won't work.  Although I'm not sure if it is sitting up or the cough syrup - but I do feel better since I got up.

Now the battle is not to eat anything - I woke up hungry but have to weigh in at Weight Watchers in a couple of hours.  I really wanted hot chocolate when I woke up - but will save that for later - have had a craving to try Starbucks Hazel Nut Hot Chocolate on recommendation from a good friend! - am making myself a cup of tea right now instead.

I just noticed that the cat is watching me from just inside my bedroom - like she is beckoning me back into the room to sleep!  Maybe I'll lay on the couch for a bit and continue my marathon of 'The Office' - have only watched it on occasion - but have started renting it from the first season - hilarious - and the commentary by the cast on the DVD's is wonderful!  Ok - enough for now - wanted you all to know that I am still alive and relatively speaking - well.

Looking For God

So I got home from church today and as I walked up to my place - I looked for the cat in the window - one of her favorite spots is to position herself between the blinds and the window to get full access to the scenery and in the morning - the sun.  Well, she wasn't there - I walk in and look in the usual places and I still don't see her - then I realize that there is a pile of laundry sitting on my bed - yep - there she was.  And it got me thinking about something that has been on my mind this week - and really helped me through - something Pastor Darren said in his devotional on Tuesday night - about looking for God in the everyday things.

So I want to share with you some places that I've found God this weekend...  It goes without saying that He is in the wonderful friends that I have been blessed with - I love you all!  But He was also in my students this week - such a wonderful group - I look forward to seeing them again on Tuesday!  At breakfast yesterday morning - He was in the 9 or 10 year old kid that was so polite and held the door for me.  I went to the grocery store yesterday and saw this little girl all dressed up and her dad was dancing with her in the aisles.  Today He was definitely in the prayer that Aaron gave - but He was also in Julie and Allison (a mom and 1st grade old daughter) as they held hands and danced to the praise music!  And He was definitely in the little boy during the children's moment that when asked by Pastor Darren what his favorite gift was - said his brother Jake.

And last night - I went and made dinner for my niece and nephews and we sat down to eat at the dining room table - I commented that the breakfast nook table seemed more formal like it should be in the dining room probably because of the candlesticks.  My 5 year old nephew - without saying a word - got up - walked over and brought the candlesticks to our table - God Bless him and his family!