Happy New Year Graphics provided by MUDTRAP.COM

Happy New Year to all the special people in my life.

May God bless you and keep you safe.

Merry Christmas

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Wow!! Can you believe Christmas has come and gone already??

Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Just a few minutes ago I was able to speak to Ashlynn and Jeremy....the sounds of their excitement and laughter was such a blessing to my heart this morning. This year I sent packages to my grandchildren....one for each day leading up to Christmas. Well, actually...there were only twelve packages each..."The Twelve Days of Christmas" tradition I had when my children were small...I played with my grandchildren this year. The little bags were filled with little toys and holiday treats.....from their little voices coming over the phone I could tell they have been enjoying opening a gift each day!!

The above picture is a collage Summer recently put together. Ashlynn looks EXACTLY like her Mommy did when she was young. Little Jeremy is a Todd clone!! What cute children don't you think??? I have pictures of Tony's children as well, but I made a promise I would wait until after Christmas to post them.....

Two more days to Christmas.....

Ok. I have about had it with leaking toilets.....drafty windows and a heater that never seems to stop running ($$$$$$)!! I was sitting in the kitchen at the table in front of my oven which throws off tons of warm air......BUT......I could feel an Arctic blast coming from the service porch!! I took a heavy quilt and attached it to the doorway trying to cut down on the draft. While standing on the trash can (too lazy to go outside and get the ladder, besides that it is 20 degrees outside!)....I finally secure the quilt and the draft goes away. Hopefully for good. I would never make it living in Alaska!!

If the draft alone wasn't enough to send me over the edge....I walked into the guest bathroom to find water all over the floor! Everything is wet. I turn off the bathroom water and rush in to the guest bedroom closet.......backs up to the bathroom......and start flinging boxes out of the closet hoping no water has reached my treasures!! No water! Guess that's where living in a pier and beam house has it's advantages. The water must have gone under the house! Ok.....now how much water was leaking??? Dunno and can't find out. I guess when one of the piers start to move.......I will find out soon enough!!

The central heat fan has never turned off. Probably because it's still cold in the house (leaky doors and windows!!) and the thermostat just doesn't "feel warm enough"!! Ok, I want it to turn off because I just know next month's bill is going to be a killer!! It's pretty bad when all I can think of is the stupid heater not shutting off..........there are so many other things to be thinking about right now!!

Living in an old house (1919) has some disadvantages......but all in all.....I love it. Gotta take the bad with the good. Thank goodness Texas winters do not last like winters in the mid-west or in the eastern seaboard!! At least I have a heater that works.....many Americans do not even have that comfort right now because of all the storms blowing around. Brrrrr

My beautiful gardens are all dead! The temperatures has been in the 20s and the 30s for days now and practically everything I planted has frozen!! I should have been more thankful of my gardens in California during the wintertime.........this is really ugly. At least my gardens look like everyone else's gardens in the neighborhood...it makes it easier to swallow!! Thank goodness Home Depot is close by and have beautiful flowers for sale in the spring. Where is the sunshine when you need it?? I guess the operable word is WANT!!!

Today I have lots to do around the house.....for one I have to mop a bathroom floor and reorganize a guest bedroom closet!! At least I know what needs to be done....now I just HAVE to do it!! There goes my quiet afternoon........oh well, there is always tomorrow!!

Can you believe Christmas is just in a couple of days?? Time is racing past too quickly!! With all the turmoil in our lives we must step back and reflect on the reason for the season.........Christ's birth. I hope each of your have a wonderful Christmas.....surrounded with the love of family and friends.

Christmas time is a special time. It is even more special when you reconnect from someone in your past......that is exactly what happened to me when I opened my blog and noticed a 'comment' under the 'Spirit of Christmas' posting. A very special young lady I knew from California had left me a greeting! I quickly went to her blog and left her a little note to email me.

She did and catching up with her has been fun.

Joy came into my life when she was in Kindergarten........she just graduated this year from Master's College in the Santa Clarita Valley this past May! What a delightful time we have had this afternoon emailing back and forth.

I am looking forward to more 'visits' with her and getting to know her all over again. It's been several years since we have had any contact. She gave me a wonderful present today....hers could not be unwrapped as she was the gift!!

The Spirit of Christmas

I have a list of people I know
All written in a book
And every year at Christmas time
I go and take a look
And that is when I realize
That those names are a part
Not of the book they’re written in
But of my very heart.

For each name stands for someone
Who has crossed my path some time
And in that meeting they’ve become
A treasured friend of mine
And once you’ve met some people
The years can not erase
The memory of a pleasant word
Or a friendly face.

So when I send a Christmas card
That is addressed to you
It’s because you’re on that list
Of folk I’m indebted to
And you are one of many folk who
In times past I’ve met
And happen to be one of those
I don’t want to forget.

And whether I have known you for
Many years or few
In some way you have a part in
Shaping things I do
This, the spirit of Christmas, that
Forever and ever endures
May it leave its richest blessing
In the hearts of you and yours.

~ Author Unknown ~


God bless each and everyone of you......you are in my thoughts
and prayers. May Christmas 2008 be a wonderful holiday
for you and your family and may you be richly blessed in
2009........
Love and prayers, Caryl

Christmas Light Show (turn off my music and hit the arrow button)

Christmas at Grammie's.....

Snowflakes in every corner of the kitchen....

Every piece of furniture has a head dress.....

The center of the fireplace....

This planter is filled with special things I used when

my children were smaller....

Every door in the house has a rose garland during the

year and at Christmas they all "get glittered up"....

My most favorite place in the entire house....

Every window has the Christmas touch added to the

rose swags which adorn the windows throughout the year....

10 things I love about December

Listing just ten things I love about December really makes me have to think of what I could leave off this list....I love so much about December, but here goes.......

decorations & lights

playing Christmas Carols

baking and cooking

buying presents

seeing the UPS driver at my door

sending out cards to family and friends

wrapping gifts

eating until my stomach hurts

spending time with family and friends

celebrating Jesus' birth

What do you love about December????

From Texas to California....from Texas to North Carolina....from Texas to Virginia.....Happy Thanksgiving and I will be thinking of each and everyone of you and wishing we could be together.

Wow!!

This weekend came and went so quickly that I am still spinning around. One moment it was Friday afternoon and the next....it was Monday! I think the days are just clicking off way too quickly. In one month's time it will be Christmas! Can you believe that?

I spent a few hours shopping on Saturday afternoon.....the stores were so crowded. Too crowded or me! I love being around people, but being elbowed and practically pushed is not my idea of a pleasant day of shopping. I gathered a few things and promised myself I would go out again this week during the evening time when less people are out and about. I truly want to finish my Christmas shopping and get all of that behind me so I can do some baking. Yum!!

I will be spending Christmas here in Texas and hopefully will make the trip back to see family and friends some time in January. I will miss the holidays once again, but it seems it will have to be that way due to so many outside things. I still haven't decided if I will decorate the house for Christmas......no one but myself will really enjoy the decorations......it just seems like too much work just for me!! I have thirty or forty boxes of Christmas......so, it isn't like I don't enjoy this time of the year....I really do! I do know I will decorate my front porch.....that is a must!!

I have decorated the porch for the fall and have placed a few fall decorations inside the house. This week I am going to bake a few pies to bring to my friends house for Thanksgiving Day. Mostly my oven has been on solely for the purpose of heating the house....novel idea to think I am actually going to use it for baking!!

The weather has changed out here in Texas. Crisp....colder days and evenings. I still sit outside on the porch, but I usually am wrapped in a blanket to keep that wind off of me! There is something so special about having a front porch.......even when it is colder. Last Thanksgiving Day it snowed here! The weather forcast for this year is possible rain.......I would rather it snowed!!

Over the weekend Beth sent me pictures of Matthew and Becky. My goodness they have gotten so big!! I will have to post them this week so all of you can see the latest pictures of those two. She also sent me some Christmas cards she made.....wait until you see them up close and personal.......very well made! Click over to PaperHellos to see her creations.

I have resigned to the fact that I live in this house with something other than china and roses! Friday I trapped another furry creature and this morning when I woke up.......the trap was sprung and the bait taken, but no mouse!! Actually, as much as I wanted the trap to work....I shuttered to think I was going to have to dispose of yet another yucky creature. Today I am just going to buy Dicon and be done with it!! Tarrant County is having problems with rodents this year because we have not had the rain we normally do........it is time to pull out the big guns!!

It is Friday already! Where did the week go?? I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is almost here........time is flying past me! How about you? Happy Friday to all of you and have a wonderful weekend.

Important message about getting old....

Wow! I had something to tell you.

But now I forget what I was going to say.

I do know it was important!!

Hope it will come back to me later on in the day.

Your first hunch is usually correct....

I woke up this morning to find the mouse trap I had left baited had sprung! That only means one thing doesn't it??? I have a roommate still!!

One night as I was watching TV I saw the little mouse run across the den floor. I thought he looked longer and leaner than the one I had seen the night before. I was right! Saturday I thought I had 'caught' my one and only roommate, but just to be on the safe side I would leave the second baited trap out. This morning I awoke to find the cheese had been swiped out of the trap.......I figured I had not set the trap the right way and the second (let's hope its only 2) mouse dined on the buffet once again.

Mice don't make me squeamish....I just don't want a roommate of any kind....especially a four legged one! I am hoping the second little furry critter takes the bait from my reset mouse trap and I once again hear the sound of SNAP!

Many years ago while we lived in San Diego county.....and again in the Santa Clarita valley.....our home was invaded by rats!! In San Diego we lived out in the country and the other house butted up against the hills. These little field mice I have running around don't bother me as much as it did way back then. The neighborhood hardware store man told me this area is seeing an abundance of rats and mice this year. I am just praying my roommates are the little kind and not the big kind of 4 legged furry things.

While writing this....a loud, resounding SNAP went off in the front room. Yep, caught another one!! I reset the trap just to be sure......and washed my hands with soap and bleach!!

Hope I am finally done with roommates!!

SNAP!!

Music to my ears!!

Got him!! I am living alone once again. Yay!! No more furry 'it' living with me in my cute little 1919 bungalow!!

Once I learned how I was supposed to set the trap and not just set out a buffet on which my friend could dine......it was all over for 'my roommate'....!! Until just a few minutes ago all I was doing was feeding the critter. How was I supposed to know I had placed the mouse trap bar in the wrong position?? Figured something was up when he was able to get to the food and the trap didn't go off!

Well, add this to the list of things I have never done before!!

Most recent photos of my grandchildren............

I am sharing my house with something I don't like....

Oh, my goodness!! For a week or so I have had a

house guest (and I use that term lightly) that has really been driving me CRAZY!!

This morning I went into the kitchen and found 'it'

on top of the sideboard and it CREEPED me out.

I am not scared of it.....but I want it gone and I want it gone

NOW!!

I went to the neighhborhood store and brought home two

traps and set out to get RID of the uninvited house guest

once and for all!

I got creative with what

little I had in my cupboard...I took two pieces

of rice chex out to try to entice the little four legged,

long tail, furry 'it' to dine on

his LAST meal!!

After hot gluing (another bit of creativity) the first piece of cereal

to the trap.....I set the trap and took it

to the living room

leaving the second piece on the table.

I went back into the kitchen to glue

and set the second trap...

GONE!!

That little furry it must have been

waiting for me to

leave the room so he

could help himself!

Well, both traps are set and hopefully

he/she will'take the bait'.

I am waiting to hear one of the traps go......

SNAP!!

Happy Anniversay Mother & Daddy....

Happy 65th Wedding Anniversay...

may you have many more celebrations together!!

Love you both so much...

Fun...fast...weekend with a great California friend...

I picked up Sandi from Dallas Fort Worth Airport on Thursday afternoon and away we went. Four days packed full of adventure and fun. We visited Mattel Toys Friday morning and spent two hours going through the Fort Worth based distribution center.....I have never seen so many boxes of toys in my life. Their plant is the size of five or six football fields!! That is a lot of toys in one place!!! Sandi has worked for Mattel for close to twenty years and she wanted to visit her friends and see the plant. I think I enjoyed it just as much as she did!

From there we headed to the Stockyards for an afternoon of sight seeing. Sandi bought herself a pair of Justin boots......a must have in any Southern California woman's wardrobe (hehehe). We went in and out of gift shops up and down the streets looking for gifts she wanted to bring back to her friends and family. She was able to see a cattle drive up close a personal....real cowboys and horses. Things you don't see every day at the beach where she lives!! We were classic tourist snapping pictures wherever we went. We came back to my little house and got ready to go out for a night on the town. That night Sandi wore her new black cowboy boots and was able to dance the night away in the arms of several Fort Worth cowboys! Needless to say...she had fun and I am sure she will be talking about this visit for months to come!! I know I will!!

The next day we went back to the Stockyards to go through some more shops and once again returned to the Stockyards at night for some more dancing!! Her boots got a work out to say the least! The weekend was also stuffed with more sightseeing around the town and the neighborhood that I have come to love and enjoy so much. Did I mention we ate? Oh, did we eat!! I think I won't have to eat anything for a whole week......that's how much food we ate during the days she was visiting.

The weather was beautiful the entire time she was here.......but last night a big storm blew through North Texas.....I am so glad the weather held out until she was on the airplane going home to California!! Sandi and I laughed and had such a great weekend together.......I am so glad she came to visit........there is an open invitation for ALL of you to come visit me any time you would like to see Texas.

Only in Texas!!

(Click on the first picture to enlarge it so you can really see....Yikes!!)

This gives 'out house' a whole new meaning!! It truly is a real bathroom....found in Houston Texas. Can you imagine yourself inside that mirrored glass cubicle looking out??

Getting ready.......

Today I have been busy getting ready for my girlfriend Sandi.....she is coming to Texas on Thursday from California for a short visit. I have washed windows.....floors...china....and more china. For those who know me.....ya know how much stuff I have sitting around my house so, it is an all day job!! I have my country music blaring and things are almost done! Yay for me!!

I am excited about seeing her...it has been several years since we have seen each other and there's lots to catch up on!! I emailed a picture of her at a party from a million years ago. She got a kick out of it......hopefully when she gets out here and sees the rest of the pictures, she can remember what year the photos were taken. I certainly couldn't tell her and I took the pictures.......lesson here......date all pictures!!

We have a list going of places to see......Stockyards (any doubt on that??).....downtown Fort Worth.....boot places (she wants a pair of Texas Cowboy Boots)........well, the list goes on and on......we will have so much fun!! Sandi works for Mattel so, we will also be stopping by the main office here in Fort Worth so she can visit with her friends from toy land!!

I will take lots of pictures and post them soon............!!

Happy Halloween

Be sure to vote.........!!

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