Monday, Dec. 19

[Colliemom]

Good Morning everybody,

Cloudy morning here at the 45th. Gonna get a little colder as the day progresses, but no big deal. And the snow drought continues as well. We do have snow on the ground, but it's a measly 4 inches roughly and I have a feeling that if the sun comes out this week as it's forecasted to do, it will shrink down more. As is, we are now 42 inches below our normal snowfall for this time of year. There are a lot of folks including myself who don't miss it, but we also know that when we have this type of weather, it means a long cool, wet spring. Yuck.

Dogs have been out and taken care of business, as if you really wanted to heat that Breakfast of cheese oemlet and sausage, along with a bannana is over and washing is just finishing up in washer and heading to dryer. Dishes are calling in the sink though.

I did haul out the snowblower yesterday and did my drive and my neighbors, just to get off what was on there. If we keep driving over it, it packs down and then we have ice, plus it was a nice day, so wanted to get out and be in the fresh air. Took the dogs for a walk afterwards.

Otherwise not much going on around here. May go up to town and pick up a few things from the weekly sales at the grocery stores. Tomorrow I plan to buy a turkey for my Christmas dinner and then I can just let it sit in the fridge all week and thaw out. No need to make room in the freezer that way. Bought a spiral honey baked ham for dinner yesterday and now will have ham to freeze for use over the winter. Might pack away some turkey dinners too if I make enough mashed potatoes and dressing to make a few.

7 more days left till Christmas for those of you who are procrasinating.

Irmi, I have a feeling that your folks are going to miss your yummy home cooked meals while you winter down in FL. I think that was so nice that you got such a huge going away party. Shows all your hard work was appreciated. I'm sure you will miss the gang, but I'll bet they are envious of your new life ahead too.

Kathleen, hope your trip to TN is uneventful, drive safe and enjoy being out on the open road again.

As for everyone else, I wish a great day for you and happy travels if you are on the road.

[dayspring39]

Good Morning Sue and everyone else... you are such an ambitious lady Sue... most of my ambition is spent thinking of what I should do...
It is also cloudy here and will be 50... then a cool down coming tomorrow...
I am just finishing up coffee here...
Take care everyone
Kathleen

[HorizonSeeker]

Morning all - only 6 days till Merry Ho Ho! Hope you're all ready. Today is my day off as the office is closed on Monday. Yesterday was my first full day off in the area. I decided to take Gus and see a little of the area. We drove down the road a few minutes and crossed over into Florida just a little before winding back into Georgia and entering Okefenokee from the opposite (west) side of the swamp. Gus and I walked the interpretive trail/boardwalk a portion of which used to be a 200' boardwalk that took you out into the swamp proper but unfortunately that part burned in the fire last summer. We finished the geocache in the park and visited with the ranger in the office who was really nice and very knowledgeable. Saw 2 folks heading off to kayak the Suwanee Canal but since I had Gus I had to just file that away for another day.

The weather here is cool at night and warm during the day. My livingroom window gets the full force of the afternoon sun so I had to buy a windshield sun screen that I put up above the couch to counter the warmth. Saw 3 deer, several turkeys, and an eagle in flight yesterday. Wow, this place is great! Hope that all of you are somewhere that you love with people you enjoy and celebrate the holidays safely.

Merry Ho Ho Ho!!!

vickie

[AlmostThere]

Morning!

Vicki, you sound very happy where you are. I'm glad. Sue, I agree with Kathleen. You wear me out! I remember all the snow and what a chore it is to keep ahead of it. Just stay safe when out in it and around the blower etc.

I slept in this morning after having my 2 GDs from Saturday AM till late yesterday afternoon (my request). I wanted to do something special with them since they are out on Christmas vacation from school and after they go back they will be busy with that as well as more sports, (volleyball and basketball). We started Saturday with baking sugar cookies and decorating them. It seems I'm the "cookie Grammy" so they have made a tradition with me and I'm sure not going to break it, but they also did cookies the night before at a friend's house so already have a bunch of cookies at their house to eat. Hopefully they can divvy them up with the neighbors?

Yesterday they went with me to Jenny Craig (up .8 lbs ). Oh, well. I'm not going to stress about that piddly amount. Onward and upward!!
After that we HAD to go to Petco and check out any live animals and I got to say "no" to every one they thought I should buy them.
From there we went to the G6 Airpark. A huge building with nothing but trampolines covering the floor and up the walls! g6airpark.com if you want to see what I'm talking about. Such great fun and boy an hour's worth really wore them out! I really should have did it, too, but I had nowhere to leave my purse safely. Certainly didn't want to leave it in the car as there isn't a place to hide it. They didn't offer lockers there, either.
From there we went out to lunch at Olive Gardens. I decided I'd eat what I really wanted so I had their salad and breadsticks (2), zuppa tuscana (wonderful spicy soup that I love!), and hot tea. Afterward the girls wanted dessert so I relented and I did share some extremely yummy, chocolately cake. From there we went to PetSmart where they wer allowed to enter the room with all the kitties for adoption and play with them. They were in heaven!
By that time I was ready to slow down so we came home and vegged for an hour before they got picked up. Tuesday they all leave for AZ to spend Christmas with their other grandma.
I am so blessed!

[Acadianmom]

Sue, you make me tired too. You probably do this but when you are out alone you should carry a cell phone in your pocket.

I wanted to go shopping today but the vet is coming again to doctor the calves. Did I say that I HATE cows. Tomorrow there is a 70% chance of rain and I don't want to be on the road in the rain.

When I have a project I always wait until my DH isn't around to help me. I was trying to fit a wire shelf in a cabinet and he got back. Now he has my son involved in trying to help me. If he hadn't lost the tool I need I would already be finished.

Lenora, your GDs must be in great shape to be able to jump for an hour. Trampolines got popular when I was in high school. A place opened up where we could go jump. I was in good shape and I couldn't make 30 minutes. Kind of like renting paddle boats. A lady at a campground was nice enough to tell us that 30 minutes would be plenty, we didn't need one for an hour. Boy was she right.

Martha

[Nasoosie]

GOOD AFTERNOON ALL!

It's a perfect summer day here in sunny FL, even though it's nearly officially winter! Temperature at home in the Adirondacks last night hit -9F., Mandy said a while ago when I skyped with her and Orion. I know it was hovering right around zero when I logged off last night, and was pretty sure it would keep going down for a while, and I guess it did. Forecast for us to hit the 80s between now and Christmas----POOL TIME!

It was nice to have breakfast with Pete from ORS this morning....was so happy he came that distance to get a morning bite, but I suspect he had already eaten once as he barely ate anything! I will be interested to see how he figures the best way for me to get to the January GTG, as well as him, as he needs to get some work done on his rig before he heads over there. He's flying north soon for Christmas, Kath is heading south, Liz is heading a bit north to Georgia, and many others are going here and there. I will probably stay right here now until New Year's Eve when I hope Melissa and Weldon will be back from her parents' place in Tampa to celebrate that festivity at Sea World.

I managed to see Melissa's sister and her husband and 6-month old Callista over Thursday and Friday, which was fun. Little Callie is so petite and delicate compared to two-month old Orion who already outweighs her by 4 pounds! She appears to be about half his height, also. I could still ride to Tampa for Christmas with Melissa's parents, grandma (98 years old) and cousin from Australia, but I am thinking I would be much more comfy right here with Molly in my own house. I can play Christmas carols, look at my pretty lit tree, and remember Christmases past with as many tears as I choose to shed!

Tonight Mandy and Joe will set up a real tree back at my house, and I asked them to leave Skype on so I could help trim it! All the decorations back there are as ancient as I am, and I know each and every one of them like old friends. I will play Christmas music here to contribute to the atmosphere, as Mandy mailed all the music CDs to me last Christmas.

Hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are!

[sharon]

Cold, cold, cold here in not so sunny SoCal, at least to this lady that at times has been accused of having ice water in her veins instead of blood! At least that's what my dear hubby used to say when I would stick my feet on him!

Took poor Hope in today to get the damage repaired I did to her on this last long trip. And then to add insult to injury the water pump took a dump when I got back from the dunes last month. sigh. This is a biggy, approx. 700 diesel bucks to get everything done. But I need to get her ready for another adventure! She can't really go out in public with her left eyelash hanging down in the front window, jack hanging down partway and mom carrying buckets of water in to use...just a little tacky if you know what I mean! Plus the fur babies are ready to tear something apart with the alarm "bonging" for the the first 15 miles whenever we get on the road. Drives us all nuts.

That's about all going on here, which is why I so very seldom post on Coffee....pretty boring. Still dealing with the car issue, but I think we're getting close. Greenville Chrysler has finally found me a new car here in Ca, so it's pretty much the logistics of getting it to me with the paper work and picking this one up. Poor Libby will think I didn't like her, throwing her back like this, but I love her to pieces. Just hope the new one is exactly like this one. Joey has assured me that it will look like this one and has everything this one does minus the receiver hitch in the back and of course the Blue Ox base plate. I'll have to get that done myself. What a pain in the patootie!

Martha, I found a little coffee maker like yours that I was admiring....the coffee is pretty good after a couple of awful ones...finally got the coffee-water ratio the way I like it. Think it's gonna work fine.

[BarbaraRose]

Still coughing down here in San Diego! But it's getting better slowly but surely. Woke up every two hours last night coughing, and would take a small swig of expectorant and fall back to sleep for another 2 hours.

Last night, my roommates came home with a puppy!!! His name is Mousse (like in chocolate mousse) and he is so adorable! Now I will have a new companion on my hikes (once he gets a little bigger, which shouldn't take too long, considering the size of his head and feet! )

Gotta go buy another stocking for the fireplace and a few doggie toys!

[Acadianmom]

Sharon, glad you found a coffee maker. I don't use mine enough so it's like starting over every trip. When I figure out the formula that works I need to write it down.

Hope you get your car business finished and get what you want. Don't want them holding up any trips. Would so like to go on a trip but guess will have to settle for going to my sister's Christmas or New Years. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to make plans.

Martha