Happy Birthday To Me!

I got an extra special present for my birthday this morning. Bravo climbed up into bed with us. . . and PEED on the bed right under my butt.

Poor Kelsey tried to light my traditional birthday cupcake, but as she was carrying it on the way upstairs the flame blew out!

Kelsey & Greg gave me Red Lobster gift certificates, gift certificates to the Movie Theatre, a Merle Norman gift certificate prettily wrapped up in a box with a red bow, some beautiful hoop diamond earrings, and cool V-Moda headphones for my iPod. Plus birthday cards. Quite a nice haul for my birthday.

My friend across the pond, Bernadette (and husband Pete) sent me a virtual card. Which was just beautiful. She is so kind. Thanks Bernadette!

Instead of getting the additional 75gb hard drive that my computer guy has been selling me, Kelsey forced me to research external hard drives – so we got the Seagate ST310005FDA2E1-RK FreeAgent Desk 1 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive. Can you even imagine? 1TB? Gosh. I could store the whole world on it! This is my birthday present to myself.

Also got several coupons from digital scrapbooking sites. Thank you very much everybody.

The wind is blowing ferociously outside. It is moving the house from side to side.

Our Abercrombie & Fitch order finally arrived after 2 1/2 weeks! The Burgundy scarf that was supposed to be a Christmas present perfectly matches the A&F sweater! Plus, there was a blue sweather that KRL-N just loves.

License'D

After getting pretty this morning - makeup; doing my hair, etc. Went with family & got the driver's license from Priest River. No line. Extra helpful State employee. My picture sucked, tho. Don't all license pics suck? Ugh. But I won't have to renew it for another EIGHT years. Yippee.

Kelsey took the test & passed! Yippee. She will go back later to get her license closer to her birthday.

Greg got the info submitted for the boat, only thing is that he didn't have the info for the trailer. Will have to go back with that.

Had 3 more renters for storage in the building. Hey! Nothing like waiting until the last possible moment. . .

While Greg drove his VZ truck in to town; (he is officially laid-off now until Spring) Kelsey went to visit Amanda. Kelsey picked up her dad, they went for groceries while I stayed home with Bravo & Isabelle.

What a hectic day.

12 Inches

We got another 12 inches of snow here today. Probably more. I put up the yard stick on the back deck so that we can accurately measure in the future.

Kelsey was out shoveling 4 times; and as the snow load fell off the house yet again, she did not do the side or the front deck of the house. Maybe later.

Greg worked with the guys today and came home tonight to plow. It seems we just dig ourselves out of one snow, and there is another right behind it.

I took the dogs for a walk down to see Earl, Chachi & Greg at the storage building. Isabelle chased Bravo & rolled him into snowbanks. They were both out of breath by the time we got back to the house.

Spending hours on the phone sorting out our life insurance maladies, obtaining access to a derelict online bank account, filing and paying misc bills ate into most of my day.

Also ordered a new Columbia jacket & snow pants so that we can all go to Schweitzer for snow tubing soon. I'm excited to see what they have to offer.

After lunch, both Kelsey & I took the dogs down for another walk to get a UPS box that had been delivered. The dogs again played hysterically in the snow. Pooping & Peeing along the way...

Tonight we relaxed in front of the TV to watch anxiously how much more snow has been predicted to fall.

And The Snow Came Tumbling Down

The snow pile slid off the roof of the house last night. (thanks, trusty roof!) It sounded & felt like an earthquake. My poor tree at the side of the house lost several branches. I mourned its loss as it was very beautiful & full. I shudder to think what it might have done to a human or dog had they been standing under the fall!

Today was decidedly warmer - 34.5 degree F; and with a mist-like rain falling. Kelsey & Greg shoveled the decks & walkway so that if we get further snow, there will be someplace for it to go~

Greg also plowed the driveway of the icy slush. The snow pile had also fallen off the shop; but not the huge storage building or our garage:(

There will be lots to plow when it finally does loosen from the garage. In the meantime, it looks freakishly scary. Don't walk under it.

While Kelsey spent most of today working on putting together the snow & deer puzzle, I spent the day in bed lying with my face on my heating pad. My three teeth on my left side decided to all start aching at once. Another visit to the dentist. I need to get them taken care of permanently. Just keep putting it off, tho.

Greg called his dad the day after Christmas to talk a lot to his brother - while his dad had pneumonia. Hope the old guy is OK.

The garage door behind Kelsey's SUV decided to quit working. Hubby has spent several hours trying to repair it, but looks like I might have to call the Garage Door Doctors tomorrow.

After Christmas Specials

The days surrounding Christmas were pretty low key.

Until…hubby hands me his first Christmas list ever. Two days before Christmas. Yep. Dec 23 and I get a Christmas list.

Impossible.

He’s an impossible man to live with.

Now. I am the kind of person that has most of her shopping done at least a month before Christmas. So I don’t have to face the crowds. I hate crowds. And I make complete use of the internet for my shopping pleasure. The UPS, FedEx, and USPS delivery men and I are on a first name basis!

So off the kid and I went to shop on Dec 23.

He wanted a Drill Doctor. And from the Internet, I could ascertain that the local Lowe’s and Home Depot were out of them. So, I got them directly from the Drill Doctor Store. Hubby got an envelope wrapped in pretty paper and within that envelope was a confirmation that he will receive his Drill Doctor (via a $40 web discount) & additional sharpeners at a discount upon checkout…What a deal.

There were also 2 other requests on the list – a temperature gauge & a Red Ryder BB Gun.

Of course, he didn’t get the BB gun- -

But Kelsey and I found the thermometers at Shopko – along with a DUB Chrysler 300 remote car. (which is driving the dogs CRAZY!)

I got quite a nice stash for Christmas

-Panasonic Lumix DMC – TZ5
-Apple IPOD Classic 120GB
-Andrea Bocelli Incanto CD
-Jessica McClintock Eau de Parfum
-Wire Whisks

The current project is to upload all my CDs into my ITunes, which will probably take until the end of 2009; then Sync it all to my IPOD. Then upload all my contacts including birthdays, anniversaries, spouse names, nicknames, etc. So that when my computer crashes (again) as it inevitably will, I will retain all that information on my trusty IPOD - which I will have lost by then!

Done?

Christmas Day was spent snacking on Crab Rangoons, Shrimp, Fudge, Peanut Brittle, Peppermint Bark, Chocolate Covered Cherries, Meat & Cheese platter, Crab Cakes, Bacon/Stuffing Rollups, Mini Quiche, Vegetable Platter, Fiesta Dip, Ranch Dip, Chicken, BBQ Pork, Sugared Popcorn.

At the last minute, we got 2 puzzles to entertain ourselves. Kelsey went to town on putting one together. She finished it today.

After another foot of snow received today and we are sick & tired of this wet stuff. It is now slightly raining with a bit of freeze. There is almost 3 foot of snow on the roof with 4 inches frozen beneath that on the house, the garage, the shop & the building. Hope it all comes off soon as it looks treacherous. Deadly. Brr.

Christmas 2008

Counting down...3 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes to Christmas!


Hope all is going well with you.

After Greg plowed the driveway for the umpteenth time, and Kelsey had taken a shower to wash her hair & then dried her hair, I got dressed and we ran over to Airway Heights again on Saturday to check out more houses. The other places are not working out so well, one subdivision wants way too much for a small piece of land; the other subdivision is not working on delivering what Kelsey wants.

Finally found a subdivision that has nice homes; Kelsey has to talk with the project manager on Monday to find out if he is willing to work with her on changes.

Somehow everybody seems to think that 24-36 inches is a lot of snow; the roads are a mess (they just need to train the snowplow drivers better; and purchase better equipment) nobody was working-they all seemed to think that 2 days after a major snowstorm they get a "get out of work free card". C'mon. It was JUST a little snow! Most roads are open; business should be back to normal by now. Duh.

We stopped at Wally-World over there to pick up a few things. No new decorations; but we did purchase some more green lights which Greg had somehow plowed during snow removal.

Then I picked up a latte at Starbucks. Thank god for caffeine. CRACK!

Dropped Kelsey off at her car around 4:30, then we went to Spoky-Jo to eat Mondo Burritos at Taco Del Mar. Yum.

On the way home, we managed to get in some time for light-viewing. Pretty.

I got a birthday card from my father & some money. Yip.

Also got a Christmas card from Greg's dad. Yip 2X.

Today, I made fudge. Kelsey went over to visit her in-laws this afternoon. Greg got latte for me this morning and marshmallow creme for me this afternoon (i usually have that stuff stored away - a little mouse must have eaten it all this past summer)

Watched Get Smart on pay-per-view tonight.

Lights. And. Snow.

I have decided that when it comes to decorating for Christmas, one can never have TOO many lights. The colors & sparkling just fascinate me. We drove out into the worst blizzard yet this year to celebrate our Christmas spirit. Kelsey had an overwhelming desire to see Christmas lights, so we drove into town after we had already received about 18 inches of snow at home.

Kelsey drove at a sedate speed - 35 to 40; and what with the traction control, the 4WD, and her great new tires we were completely in control. I felt totally happy & comfortable sitting in the back seat with my long fur, Paris scarf & butt firmly planted on the heated seat!

We finally got into a neighborhood where we discovered that a homeowner had synced his music & lights together. Sitting in fascination for over 15 minutes, we listened to Trans Siberian Orchestra's Christmas in Sarajevo while lights jumped & sparkled & highlighted the delightful music on FM 90.5 wherein the homeowner had broadcast the music. It was delightful. And it completely brainwashed my hubby into making our woods into a musical winter wonderland next year.

My goal next year is 100 trees...or more. I now have 38 trees with 100 lights each.More deer. Moose. (if I can find them). Snowmen. I'm enthused. I want my Matty-J to see grandma's yard as enchanted!

Upon awakening this morning, we discovered that most of the schools in the local area were closed. There was an additional 18 inches of snow everywhere. So Kelsey started shoveling; Greg called in for his jobs; I made breakfast of pancakes, bacon & omelette for them. After shoveling for over an hour, Kelsey finally finished to come eat a wonderfully warm breakfast with hot chocolate.

The other day, Kelsey and I got some mega deals on the going out of business outlet sale at Pfaltrgraff. Our poor local outlet mall only has about 2 stores left. So sad. Sure wish they had a Hollister or an Abercrombie & Finch outlet store for Kelsey there...Anyway, I got this wonderful deal for a lot of stuff that might have cost me $350 in the past, but only $50 this time. Too bad they didn't have more of the Yorktowne items that I collect.

I suppose I better start wrapping presents today, so that Kelsey can come into the library again. I have been body-blocking her so that she can't see what is in there.

Here I am sharing some of our Blizzard Dec 2008 pics with you.

Another thing to note. I just adore the song - Shattered by O.A.R. but it is driving Kelsey nuts. She absolutely detests hearing it. Sorry, honey.

After viewing all the beautifully lit homes last night, we decided that Applebee's would be great to stop at for a bit of warmth. I got Kahlua & Cream, Kelsey & Greg tried a new drink hot chocolate with Bailey's & Kahlua & Disaronno which tasted exactly like a chocolate covered cherry!

Isn't Isabelle just the cutest here? She didn't want her picture taken, so I had to hold her still while I snapped a pic of the snowflakes on her nose.

It's Beginning To Look Like...

Christmas. The stockings are hung. Lights are lit. Decorations are up. The tree is up & crooked. Matt's box has been sent. The annual Christmas cards are in the mail. Making fudge & wrapping presents are the only things I have left to do.

Hubby and I went Christmas shopping on Monday night, which had to be the COLDEST NIGHT of the year thus far. Thank goodness it wasn't snowing. It was just bitterly freezing. We went to Costco, Big Lots (for outdoor decorations), Target, Shopko, Macy's, Kohl's & Albertsons. We got some really great gifts. Along with the items that I have already ordered over the internet, I am done with shopping.

Tonight, our new jet boat will be delivered. The price was overwhelmingly low; so we could not NOT buy it! I'll have pictures soon. Happy holidays to us. It's just unfortunate that we won't be able to use it until Spring.

It started snowing this morning and we have a Winter Storm Warning posted via the local weather service. Maybe another 12-14 inches today?

This is the basket full of cinnamon scented pinecones that I made. Too bad I don't have smell-a-vision. It is heavenly. There are blue lights all over & I even inserted cinnamon sticks in between all the pinecones. It is so enjoyable to fall asleep at night with all the delicious smells & lights twinkling.

Kelsey is going to visit friends in CDA today.

Maybe tomorrow night we can drive into town to see the holiday lights.

I hear snowplows going by outside.

Our fucking reindeer fell over in the wind, and I have to make light repairs to them before they can be put up again. Poor little things.

My latest land-line bill came from Verizon. It is due on December 25. Couldn't their computer system figure out that this is an annual holiday? Idiots.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

I stayed home with the dogs yesterday while Kelsey & Greg went to investigate property over in Airway Heights, WA. The property that she wanted has risen to $63,000 and the real estate agent was very pretentious. Not a place that she wanted to live.

So they went to another subdivision real estate agent and talked to him. She should hear back from them by Monday. Hopefully, things will move along better.

They also stopped at the base to get groceries & a pizza on the way home. This pizza was gi-normous. About 3 feet across. We only had 1 piece each.

While they were out, I decorated more around our property. Brr - it is getting cold! I have a total of 33 trees wrapped with 100 lights each, plus our blue icicle lights that are hanging from the garage & decks - along with the penguins & snowmen & snowflakes- there are a heck of a lot of lights out there. Hopefully, we want to wrap all the trees along the lane & back into the woods some bit. The only problem is that the color comes off the bulbs, some light strings burn out for no reason...I much preferred the large C6 bulbs so that you could screw them in when they burnt out! Some used to come in the shape of pinecones.

Of course, I have to irritate the neighbors by installing my fucking reindeer on the deck. They are so cute. While at the post office recently, we were asked if we were going to put them up again. We are notorious!

After the fiasco of the tree tipping over twice on Kelsey while she was decorating it, nothing much has been going on. Kelsey is not very enthused about Christmas this year, which is entirely understandable. She is away from a loved one. Hope Matt is doing well overseas. We are proud that he is representing our country.

Bravo is doing well after being neutered on Tuesday. He was mopey & tired when we brought him home that night. Isabelle also visited with the vet that night - she had a benign cyst on her left cheek that had to be lanced. Poor dog. She is now on MORE antibiotics. That dog seems to live on meds.

weekend news update

sorry to be so remiss in my blogging. just so much going on this holiday season and time has to edge out something. that something would be my blogging.

i know that i will regret this as i don't have an accurate view of what has been happening this past month. just vague memories. getting vaguer (more vague?) all the time with age...

my take on the thanksgiving trip that shall never be mentioned again:
drive. drive some more. drive yet more.
walk, pee, poop dogs.
stay in motels.
eagles, deer, antelope, moose, elk, birds
snow.
stupid drivers.
get to iowa.
visit with my dad.
drive, drive some more. drive yet more.
what the fuck?
dog vomit.
walk, pee, poop dogs.
get pulled over for speeding.
stay in motels.
eat mexican.
diarrhea.
no fun texas.
the world's biggest cross.
boring.
walk, pee, poop dogs.
stay in motels.
drive some more.
get to Arizona.
starbucks
a&f
pig buzzard
grandpa talk, talk, talk.
sleep.more sleep.
freezer food.
drive, drive more.
colorado snow.
budweiser fresh beer.
walk, pee, poop dogs.
stay in hotel.
drive more, drive more.
fog.
get home.


my experience of the annual Christmas tree adventure:
drive to washington on the backroads.
no snow.
depressing.
get lost.
nobody else there.
“i’m gonna need the hayride”
mud.
wild turkeys in field.
carrying the tree.
no coffee, no cider. no hot chocolate.
150 degree gift shop.
sweating.
no fresh wreaths.
drive.
world’s largest snowman.
disgusting food & bad service at IHOP.
shopping at world market.
starbucks.
abercrombie & fitch.
wal-mart.
drive home.

*snowman by Julie It Is; PDW; Eggnog & Gingerbread

Baaaaack!

I'm back.

Prior to leaving on our trip, Kelsey & I crocheted. I did a rag rug & Kelsey did a blanket. She worked on it during our road adventure, too. For just having learned, she really went to town on it.

A thorough summary of our trip can be found on K's blog - Better Red Than Dead.

I will summarize in short.

Tomorrow.

Tonight I'm too tired to do anything more than just post this.

Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale - of which I drank SEVERAL glasses at the most wonderful place in the world! - The Budweiser Tour in Fort Collins, Colorado.

"A winter ale aged on bourbon oak casks and whole Madagascar vanilla beans."

Yum. Burp!

We also saw the Clydesdales. They turned their backs on us & showed us their asses. Bad horses. Bad.

Got our Christmas tree at Camden's. Will talk about that tomorrow, also.

Tomorrow.

What a wonderful word.