Christmas pictures...

Quote for the Day:

Christmas is not an external event at all, 

but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart.
Freya Stark

If you've been wondering where I've been...well...between having computer issues, getting ready for Christmas, and frantically finishing up the Sunflower quilt to make room for Holiday guests, I've been busy!  :)  I didn't forget my readers, though, and I hope you haven't forgotten me, either!  :)

Erin, Dale and Sera came home from Tennessee to celebrate Christmas with us and we had a great visit!  :)  Since I got such a late start on Christmas decorating because kitchen construction items have been strewn about the house for month, now, I only put up the Christmas tree, and a couple of items on the porch... 

 

On Christmas Eve, Sera went outside and put "reindeer food" on the lawn!  Reindeer food consists of oats and red glitter.  The reindeer see the red glitter from the sky and know to stop at that house, and the oats for them to nibble on when they land!  :)

She was also sure to leave cookies and milk out for Santa!  It all must have worked, because there were plenty of gifts to open the next morning!  :)

This is Daisy...their dog...who kept on eye on all the activities!  :)

 

She was particularly interested in what Andy was opening...

 

All in all, it was a very nice Christmas and visit even if Erin & I did come down with colds on Christmas day.  

Erin, Dale and Sera left today to return their home.  The house is again quiet.   And I'm going to miss them all very much until the next time we get to see them!

Loretta

Book Review Time...

Quote for the Day:

"The worth of a book is to be measured by
what you can carry away from it." 

~James Bryce

I just finished reading "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers, and felt that I MUST tell you about it!

• Synopsis:  Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun (pronounced "Zaytoon") run a house-painting business in New Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the business. In the days following the storm he travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. Then, on September 6th, police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his home. Told with eloquence and compassion, Zeitoun is a riveting account of one family’s unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water.

This book was RIVETING!  All I can say is WOW!  We all heard the "news" coming out of New Orleans during the time that followed hurricane Katrina.  This book debunks some of that news, but then gives a whole new view of the lawlessness that really did occur...part of which was perpetrated by those sent to enforce the law.  It's scarey to think that any of this could happen right here in the USA.  Aren't we supposed to be all about "human rights" in this country? 

NOLA Now: A trip with Zeitoun is a video interview with Mr. Zeitounin 2010 where he takes the interviewer to places that were mentioned in the book.

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough!  Trust me, about half-way through this book, you won't be able to put it down!



Loretta

Sunday Couponing...

Quote for the Day:

Negligient:  adj.

Absentmindedly answering the door 

when wearing only a nightgown.

This morning when I was getting my coupons and lists ready to go shopping, my printer decided that it was no longer going to respond to the commands of the computer.  I tried re-installing the software for the printer, but to no avail.  :(  

Luckily, everything is still under warranty and so a call to Dell technical service and 1.5 hours online with a really nice lady from India...and the printer is back up and working just fine!  

I love how they can do a remote access to your computer and do everything themselves!  How many of you remember the "olden" days...before remote access...when the technician would say, "okay, now left click the start button...now open the program...do you see a the word "file" at the top of the page...left-click on that..."  That was soooooooo frustrating because they never believed you when you said you had done what they had told you to do but you still weren't getting the desired results.  :(  And if you had to call multiple times for the same issue, you had to redo the first 15 steps EACH time.  "Yes, we tried that before...and it didn't work then, either."  GRRRR...it was so frustrating!  But now...BAM...you establish a connection with them and let THEM deal with it!  Soooooooooo much better!!!!

So now the printer is back working just fine...taking orders from the computer and printing out the way it should!  :)  

Last Sunday was the Christmas party for the Recovery Room dept.  I had someone take the group picture for me...the first one was good but very blurry...so I'm stuck showing you the not-so-good-but-not-blurry one...

That would be me, second from the right in the front row...with my eyes closed.  :(  And just to be clear...that little girl on the far left is NOT an employee...she is the daughter of the lady in red to her left.  We may be desperate for help sometimes, but we haven't resorted to child labor, yet!  :)

If you look closely, in front of the second person from the left, front row, is an "orb".  (The white round thing down close to her feet.) 


I've labeled it in this picture...

If you've ever watched "Long Island Medium", you'll know that an "orb" is supposed to be the spirit presence of a deceased person.  I've seen her show pictures on her show and this is exactly what they look like.  She says it is NOT just something on the lens.   It is not present in the other picture that was blurry...I went back and checked.  I had heard this about orbs in pictures before watching that show, too.   Hmmm...just makes you wonder.  Who's to say for sure?  I know that I certainly don't have all the answers, so who am I to say "yay" or "nay" on this subject?


Well...onto my couponing deals today...

At Walgreens....

I got $51.90 worth of product, paid $2.58 out-of-pocket, got $14.50 back in Register Rewards, making this trip an $11.92 moneymaker for me.  :)

At Rite Aid...

I got $27.97 worth of product, paid $7.34 out-of-pocket, got $3.00 back in +Up Rewards, making this trip a net cost of $4.34.  :)  

I think my Christmas stocking candy is purchased for the year!  LOL

Loretta

Picture Day...

Quote for the Day:

"Scientists now believe that the primary biological function of breasts

is to make males stupid."
~Dave Barry

Today was Picture Day!!!

I got all dressed up and took "the girls" to get their annual picture taken.  I thought the red bows I attached made them look particularly festive!  :)

I told the mammography techician to make sure that the pictures turned out nice because this was going to be our Christmas card picture this year!   She thought the idea of this being our Christmas card picture was funny and commented that some people might get more than they bargained for when they opened up the envelope!  LOL

For those young'uns of you who haven't had a mammogram, yet, here is a list of exercises that you can work on to prepare you for when you have to have the actual test:

How to Prepare for a Mammogram  

Many women are afraid of their first mammogram, but there is no need to worry. By taking a few minutes each day for a week preceding the exam and doing the following exercises, you will be totally
prepared for the test.

And best of all, you can do these simple exercises right in your home.

EXERCISE ONE:

Open your refrigerator door and insert one breast in door. Shut as hard as possible and lean on the door for good measure. Hold that position for five seconds. Repeat again in case the first time wasn't effective enough.

EXERCISE TWO:

Visit your garage at 3 AM when the temperature of the cement floor is just perfect. Take off all your clothes and lie comfortably on the floor with one breast wedged under the rear tire of the car. Ask a friend to slowly back the car up until your breast is sufficiently flattened and chilled. Turn over and repeat with the other breast.

EXERCISE THREE:

Freeze two metal bookends over night. Strip to the waist. Invite a stranger into the room.  Press the bookends against one of your breasts. Smash the bookends together as hard as you can. Set up an appointment with the stranger to meet next year and do it again.

YOU ARE NOW TOTALLY PREPARED!!!

 

Though I'm not sure one is ever "totally prepared" for this type of torture, I am thankful that we have the technology to diagnose breast cancer early!  So please, Ladies, get your mammograms!  :)

And I'll leave you with this final thought...

Loretta

Do You See What I See....

Quote for the Day:

"Do you see what I see, way up in the sky, little lamb?"

~Do You Hear What I Hear, lyrics

This is what I saw this past weekend...

...that's right...that white along the left side of the picture is the batting at the top of the Sunflower Quilt, which means that I am coming to the end of this quilt and only have about 14" left to quilt on it!    :)  I'm moving right along on it and should have it done and out of the frame before company comes for Christmas!  

That's a good thing!  Because then the roller part of the frame gets turned straight up and down and the whole frame slides up against the wall and out of the way...making room for the bed we put up for guests!   I can do this with a quilt on the frame, but it is easier to do, and you don't "tweak" the quilt top, if there is no quilt on the frame at the time.

Last July, when I went to the estate auction of the quilter and got a great haul, I ended up finding 5-6 pair of scissors among the items I bought.  Two of the pairs were Ginghers, which is an expensive brand and highly treasured by quilters and sewers.   This is one of those pair of Ginghers scissors...

Aren't they adorable?  They are a 4" pair of embroidery scissors.  They are razor sharp and have a nice weight to them, so you can tell right away that they are made with quality materials.  :)  I love the "fabric" design on the handles.

In fact, I like that fabric design so well, that lo and behold...I have some that is almost identical to it in this quilt! 
  

When I lay my scissors on that particular fabric, they become "camouflaged".  The design is almost identical but the scissors are slightly more peachy whereas the fabric is pink.  Still...I thought the coincidence was humorous!  :)

Okay, so it's the simple things that make me smile!  :)  As long as we keep smiling, I guess that's the important part!  :)


Loretta