Sunday December 5

[Shirlv]

Morning All, it’s cool on the shore but a sunny day is a good day. Now that the balcony lights came on I’m feeling less stress. Tree trimming and Christmas music today. I give gift cards or money to family for Christmas. I have 6 great grandchildren and think I will get small Christmas stocking at Dollar tree. Will add a gift card to each and have ordered small flashlights from Amazon. I need suggestions for other small generic objects. Need to get a wiggle on, tree waits. Be safe

Barbie, we need to put you in a bubble. Hope you feeling ok.

[Bethers]

Shirl, I saw a child with Wikki sticks and fell in love with them. Another idea is buying a package of different flavored hot chocolate bombs and dividing them up in the stockings.

Nothing happening here today. Ty and I crossed the main road and walked in the residential area of town today. He liked going a different direction. Then he met another dog in the park and they are now friends. He keeps hoping with a dog near us, but that one isn't so friendly and the owner doesn't even try to socialize the dog. She might never want to play with other dogs, but they'll never know.

[MandysMom]

Generic small gifts: Chapstick, Christmas pen or pencil and mini notebook, mini bubbles with wand, soft toothbrush, Christmas socks ( you can find packages of 6-8 pairs pretty inexpensive on amazon), of course something sweet!
Velda

[Colliemom]

Afternoon here at the 45th. We are being hit by a Winter storm and it is really snowing out there. If the wind was blowing any harder, I wouldn’t even be able to see the houses across the road. It started snowing a bit before noon and There’s it’s least 3 inches out there. Our forecast is calling for snow and maybe even a slight glazing of ice later on with the cumulation anywhere from6 to 8 inches by Monday night. When the storm pulls away later on tonight then it is going to shift to lake effect snow behind it. I would rather have this than the icing that they are predicting far away is farther down here in the central part of the state. It’s a good day to be inside looking out, maybe watching a good Christmas movie and drinking hot cocoa. . My neighbor down the road who owns a pizza place in Gaylord is on her way home from up there and she said the visit visibility is almost 0 in some places. It is getting darker for this time is the afternoon too. Even my pups don’t want to stay out there. The winter sports folks are going to be ecstatic.

I am starting to work on the last and final woodcut ornament. I didn’t think I was going to do this one but after I put the other ones out by the entrance yesterday I decided that it could use one more. So I finally decided what to do with it. I have the designs traced out and will start painting them later. The rest of the stuff is in place out front and after I get this one done and get it out there I will take a picture for you. That is if I can find them after the snowstorm I also added a couple of candy canes out there yesterday too that I bought at Hobby Lobby on sale.

Speaking of TV, I watched a beautiful documentary on the Carol “Silent Night” last night on the CW channel. It was a music documentary about the Carol, the history behind it and how it affects all the different cultures of the world. The majority of the people who were talking about it was singers and songwriters and the different singers were from different countries around the world and they sang Silent Night in different languages that I have never heard it sung before. They were accompanied by orchestras or individuals or whatever and sometimes while they were singing the doc e Thry makers had filmed outdoor scenes of mountains, oceans churches and places all over the world and it was just so beautiful. There were also choirs too. The most beautiful programming for two hours that I have seen in a long time and just listening to that music was so peaceful and relaxing. If any of you have a chance to see it, definitely watch it. It was called Silent Night: A song for the Worldd. I did not realize or maybe I had forgotten that Silent Night actually contains 6 verses. We only sing three. The first, second and the fourth. The original translation is also different than the words that we use now too. I wish that we did the other verses because they would be so appropriate for today’s times.

Barbie, are there any employment agencies around where you are? Like here in Michigan we have what’s called Michigan Works. Employers file with them if they are looking for new people and People who are looking for a work can go there and see what’s available and can apply for positions. They have job postings from all over.

Beth, I don’t know why some people don’t socialize their dogs. My neighbors have one the same way. She barks and runs from people all the time and I don’t in someways trust her. But she’s never been around people much that they had her as a puppy. The people who live next-door to them also have one the same way but that is not their fault because they got the dog from somebody else and the dog had never been socialized probably in her past either. She does not like people at all. When I was younger, my neighbors downstate adopted a dog, a sheltie. The dog had been abused in the past and they told me not to try to put it through the fence because she might bite. So being a dog lover that I am, when the dog was outside and I happened to be in the yard I would go over and sit by the fence and just talk to the dog. She was always wary of me but little by little she started coming closer and finally one day she put her nose through the fence and let me pet her. She gained my trust from that point forward and she never barked or snapped at me. I was the only one in the neighborhood who could actually go into neighbors house and they didn’t have to put the dog in another room because she didn’t bother me.

So, guess I will see what’s one Tbe TV. This iPad accidentally got back on the floor the other day and the screen is cracked. I have a layer of saran wrap over top of it to keep any more glass from coming loose and also protect my fingers until I can get it repaired next week. Kind of hard reading stuff on the screen with all the cracks all over the place, but it is usable.

[JudyJB]

Sue, please take pictures of the new snow for us. We all like to look at it, even if we don't want to be in it!

Just did some grocery shopping. Did not really need a lot since I had stocked up last month, but I was hungry for grapefruit juice and egg rolls. Got some milk and bread, also, plus a few other things.

Hung my wreath on my back ladder and will go out just about dark to turn on the lights on it. It is just a wreath of pink plastic balls, but they are very shiny and it stores well. I put multi-color tiny lights on it a couple of years ago, and all they needed this year were some new batteries. I want to turn them on just at dusk because they will turn off and on every 12 hours automatically afterwards.

How about some gloves or mittens for the stockings? I saw some cheap, but plain ones, at Walmart. Kids always need gloves or mittens because they lose them so often. Small box of crayons and a mini-coloring book?

By the way, I broke down this past week and donated a year's scholarship for a girl to attend secondary school in Malawi through UNICEF and TV news reporter Lawrence O'Donnell's fund for Kids in Need of Desks. It pays tuition, uniforms, and supplies for one girl who otherwise could not go past elementary school. It was fairly expensive, but I figured I am behind on doing such things. When I was working at a company back in the 90s, i used to buy gifts for one foster child in Michigan. That was nice because they would pass around information on various children and we could choose one that appealed to us. We were given the first name, age, sizes, and wish list of one child for whom we were entirely responsible for gifts. (One year our lobby was full of bikes, among a ton of other things.) Some employees went in together for a child, and two people I knew volunteered to buy gifts for a 16-year-old young mother and her baby, both of whom were in foster care.

Anyway, it made me feel good to donate the scholarship. And UNICEF is such a good organization.

[BarbaraRose]

Got up this morning feeling much better than I had expected. Still a red spot on my forehead but not sore and not much of a headache, and no other aches and pains. Yay!

Linda came over around 8:30 and I gave her a little tour of my place. We headed out to Joshua Tree NP with my Jeep. Once we got there, she drove so I could look at the scenery and take photos. She has been there quite a few times before, so she knew where she was going.
I was really surprised by how big and beautiful the park was!! It is practically in my back yard and I have never been there before! I took about 150 photos all day and it was amazing! We had a picnic lunch at a camping area surrounded by huge round boulders. It was windy with a little nip in the air but not too bad. We stopped several times and walked around a little to explore the cool shaped rocks!

We finally drove out of the park in Joshua Tree (the town) and stopped for ice cream. Instead of taking the main highways and freeway back to my place, we went back into the park from 29 Palms (the next town over), and drove back down to the south entrance where we started. It was becoming dusk by then but saw a very pretty sunset! I have a lot of great photos so I think I will put them on my Blog Spot.

It was a great day and we had a lot of fun! I want to go back and do more exploring there. The daily fee is $30, but there is an annual fee of only $55, so I want to get that one and then I can go anytime I want over the next year.

Shirl, my mom would put mini candy bars, Life Savers, travel sized products, jewelry, etc in my stocking, and always a Pez dispenser and extra Pez candy.

Sue, I watched a little bit of that Silent Night show but apparently, I should have watch more of it.
I have decided to accept the offer to go back to Great Clips. Linda and I figured out more good reasons for me to go with that decision. I will give a 2 week notice tomorrow.

Judy, that sounds like a wonderful gift for some young lady for further education so she can have a better future. Good for you!

The bins I put out with the Christmas decorations pretty much were cleaned out. The people that I talked to were looking for things to decorate their golf carts. I will work on decorating my tree this week. I don't have a lot of ornaments right now but am thinking of making some more. I have small round gourds that have ornament hooks on them. I want to try dunking them in a bucket of water with nail polish floating on top. I have watched You Tube videos of it and they turn out really cool! Just pick two or three colors and swirl them around the water surface and then dunk in and pull out. Done! I still have to make my golf counters this week since the craft fair is next Saturday!

I got my noise cancelling headphones today and they work really nice! Full stereo sound and can't hear a thing around me. I cranked up the volume of the TV and didn't hear it at all just feet away. Should get me thru the next couple weeks!

Have a good night!

[Acadianmom]

I made it back from my campout this afternoon. There were about 50 women and we had a great time. We couldn't have ask for better weather. It was in the 80's during the day and not too cold at night. Thursday night we went to a good restaurant in Breaux Bridge. It was wine night, 2 glasses for the price of one. That is where I learned that I like Moscato wine. Friday night we had the Christmas Party and some games. I posted a picture of my outfit on Facebook. Saturday night was the gift exchange and more games. There was a table set up if you wanted to do crafts and a table with a puzzle on it. I worked on the puzzle. There is a meat market near the campground that sells BBQ dinners on Sunday. I picked up dinners and dropped off some to my son and his girlfriend. I was almost in the Christmas Parade coming through Lafayette. I passed where they were lining up but they hadn't stopped traffic yet. There were people sitting all along the street waiting for the parade.

My sister was sick so didn't come. It's good to see her but also nice to camp by myself sometimes.

I lucked out with Sugar when I adopted her. She seldom barks and likes other dogs. She likes to lay outside of the camper on a leash. Everyone that passes and knows her stops to talk to her and she loves that. This campground has the only dog park I have ever brought her to but there never has been another dog. She checks it out for a while and then comes and sits and stares at me. Ok, it's time to go.

I think the only thing that broke on this trip was the bathroom light burned out. I had a small emergency light in the camper I could use. I need to take the bulb out so I can replace it next time I go to Lafayette.

Barbie, glad you and Linda had a good trip.

Martha

[snowball]

sounds like a plan Barbie... I am surprised that you've not been to the Park... been a couple of times... did you stop at the place where you can see even to Mexico on a clear day?
That was a good idea Judy... we got a goat or something one year from my sister in law.... she paid for the animal so someone could have it ...when I hear of these idea's the sound neat but then I totally forget them later...
we do need snow and may get it but am not looking forward to it...
I should have looked somewhere to get a cardinal ornament as I am pretty sure mom's tree won't have any... can't imagine not having any... Sandi I saw several in a catalog today a catalog that I could so easily spend a lot of money in... and some were not even cardinals
just a quite day some days are that very quite...
you all have a great day
sheila

[Bethers]

Sue, your story about the neighbors dog that you befriended reminds me of my previous dog, Peaches. She was very badly abused and set to be euthanized when I saved her. She was totally afraid of all people. I used similar techniques as you and got her to accept me quickly. But it took longer for me to get her socialized to other people. But I did and she ended up loving people.

I wish I could understand why mosquitoes have decided they like me after pretty much ignoring me most of my life. Judy, I'm so thankful that I don't have your reaction to their bites because they sure are enjoying feasting on me now. Deet and I never got along, so I'm going to try an alternative repellent and hope it helps. The other funny thing is that I'm getting mosquito bites but rarely seeing or feeling them. These guys are sneaky lol Unfortunately I definitely see the bites and they sure itch.

Martha, Moscato is a wine I like, also.

[Redetotry]

Sue, your story about the neighbors dog that you befriended reminds me of my previous dog, Peaches. She was very badly abused and set to be euthanized when I saved her. She was totally afraid of all people. I used similar techniques as you and got her to accept me quickly. But it took longer for me to get her socialized to other people. But I did and she ended up loving people.

I wish I could understand why mosquitoes have decided they like me after pretty much ignoring me most of my life. Judy, I'm so thankful that I don't have your reaction to their bites because they sure are enjoying feasting on me now. Deet and I never got along, so I'm going to try an alternative repellent and hope it helps. The other funny thing is that I'm getting mosquito bites but rarely seeing or feeling them. These guys are sneaky lol Unfortunately I definitely see the bites and they sure itch.

Martha, Moscato is a wine I like, also.

Beth do you take vitamin C ? I think it helps keep mosquitoes away. I used to take 500mg of C plus a Centrum vitamin everyday and that combination seemed to keep me from getting bronchitis. My brother is in the woods all the time and he never gets bit by anything. I think the chemical make up of our bodies has something to do with whether bugs like us or not

[BarbaraRose]

Sheila, we did go up to that peak but it was horribly windy up there and we could hardly stand there without being blown off our feet! . We didn't stay up there very long.
It was hazy from the dust blowing all over, so we could barely see the Salton Sea.