O Tannenbaum

The stockings are hung by the chimney. Well, actually, that's not quite true. The stockings are waiting to be hung by the chimney, and I'm not sure how much care will be taken. It depends on how cooperative those stockings will be. After spending the first week standing naked in the living room, the tree is finally decorated. (And, all the boxes have been put away!)  The shopping is almost finished. I still have four more shopping days! I am sad to say that not one Christmas card was sent out this year. I just couldn't seem to get into the mood. (Probably because this was not on my Project 52 list!)


Son and Sweetie Pie will be arriving on the 23rd, and our little family of six will all be together for Christmas.


This past weekend Hubby and I attended a wedding at the Franklin Conservatory in Columbus. I never knew there were so many varieties of poinsettias. I don't get out much. Everything was quite beautiful. So, as the year is winding down, here are some pictures from the Conservatory.


But first, here is a picture of our tree. I just discovered this little edit option, which can change your photo to look like a cartoon. Cool, huh? Please overlook all the pine needles on the carpet. 

Cartoon version

The real thing

 Now,back to the Conservatory...

A 25 foot poinsettia tree

There were some cool glass sculptures in the mix.

 And, there was a gingerbread house competition...except the first place award went to a train.

A closer view

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Thank you so much for being my bloggy friends. I'm looking forward to spending the new year with you, and making new friends. I'll be working on my new Project 52 list. So far, I have one thing for next year...send out Christmas cards. Only 51 to go! See how easy it is? 

 

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To Keep You Entertained

I'm still helping hubby on the attic remodeling job. The past two days have been filled with insulation - icky, itching stuff - and drywall. Why is it that the super heavy stuff has to go on the ceiling??? Talk about back breaking work. Good thing I have a strong back. Hubby did promise me an appointment to get a massage when this job is over, and trust me, I will be making that appointment.


So, the other morning, we were making our rounds to Home Depot and Lowe's, the official homes-away-from-home during remodeling projects. We had left very early in the morning, and as I got into truck after we made our purchases, I saw my reflection in the truck window.


I said to hubby, "Can you tell I didn't do my hair this morning? It's a good thing I have short hair. And, while we're discussing my hair, can you tell that I didn't put on any make up?" 


"You look beautiful," he said without looking at me.


"Thank you, Sweetie, but you didn't even look at me."


"I don't have to yada yada yada.... Oh my goodness", he said, while looking down at his pants, "how long has my zipper been down?"  


"I don't know, I haven't looked at you either!"  


"Yeah, just like the time you let me go to church and you didn't notice that I hadn't combed my hair till half way through the service!"


Note to self: We must start looking at each other more often, especially, the older we get! If only to prevent embarrassing situations!!

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Lots of Singing and Rambling

That's a lame title, but titles are not my strong suit. Really, I may be doing more rambling than anything else. It seems, that's what I do best.


What to ramble about first. Decisions, decisions. OK. It's Project 52 Report Day. I'm quite confidant that I will not be crossing anything more off my list for this year. This will make it easier to come up with a list for next year. I'm thinking of a few new things, but you'll just have to wait until January to find out what they are! I hope you will join me (and Jennee and Karen) next year. You know what they say about having a buddy system, don'tcha? Remind me, because I've forgotten.


The second ramble is about my fun weekend. Hubby and I drove for six hours, all the way up to freezing cold Michigan, to go to a Gaither Christmas concert with Hubby's sister and her husband. We have never been, what's the word? - fans - of the Gaither's, but we were told that we would not be disappointed if we went to their concert. Guess what? They were right. We had great seats - only six rows back. We certainly got our money's worth, because the concert lasted 3 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera. 


Let me see if I can find videos of my two favorite songs. Not only favorite songs from the concert, but my all-time favorite Christmas songs.  This will only take a moment. haha - who am I kidding? I hope to finish this before the night is over!


"Mary did you know?" This song give me chills, every time I hear it. Written and sung by Mark Lowry.



And, if you're still in the mood for goose bumps, listen to David Phelps sing "O, Holy Night"! I had never heard him sing before, but, let me just say this, every time he finished a song, you couldn't help but jump to your feet when he finished! A-May-Zing!!



You wanted to stand up and cheer when he finished, didn't you?? You just can't help it!  And, while I'm rambling, just ignore the fact that may signature thingie is in the wrong place. I can't get it to go where I want it to go.


One more little ramble. My blogging/visiting schedule may be a little sporadic, in case you hadn't already noticed. Hubby has me working again, hither and yon, guttering, dry walling, and sanding,(YUCK!!!) among other things. He just does not think that blogging has a higher (dang, I just lost the word....oh, found it) priority than making money for things like food, shelter, and heat.


Till next time!  
(Insert signature here) 

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Project 52 - Part 2

Last week I gave you some perfectly logical excuses explanations on why I have not crossed out the top 11 items on my list. Today, I'll continue with the last 12. Of course, the only reason that I know I have not reached these goals is because I made a list in the first place. Note to self - rethink this goal making list thing for next year! I'm only kidding Karen and Jennee! I have actually started to mull a few things over and over in this little brain of mine.


Okay! Now, on the the excuses explanations!


19. Invite friends over for dinner once a month. This one is a little embarrassing...it turns out I don't have any friends to invite. I know I could invite you, and you would come, I just didn't think you would want to travel that far for one measly meal. Let's make plans for next year! I do have a somewhat good reason for this one. Hubby did a lot of traveling back and forth, so by the time he got home for the weekends, things were just too hectic and he was too tired, and, it just didn't work out. I did invite one couple, but what worked for us didn't work for them, and vice versa, and we never did get together. But I at least made an effort.


20. Take a cooking class. Once again, I made an effort, if you consider cutting the advertisement out of the paper and looking at it for, say, six months, an effort. There were several classes that looked enticing, but it all came down to scheduling and that peskiest of pests - money. 


22. Exercise 3 times a week. What possessed me to make that a goal? Oh yeah, I made this list out in January, and I wanted to lose 30 pounds. Turns out, I lost the weight without exercise. How sweet is that??  I've been exercising for 40 years. I'm kinda tired of it. 


23. Find 365 "Do Not Fear" verses in the Bible. This is a work in progress, and I hope to have it finished by the year's end. I heard someone say that there were that many verses, and I instantly visualized a little calendar with a verse for every day. I'm clever like that. So, I decided I would see how many I could find. I did the Evelyn Woods speed reading technique of running my finger down each page of the Bible. If I saw the words "do not fear" or something close, I wrote it down. I did not find 365 verses, but I am working on copying the verses down that I did find. And, I will share those in a week or two.


24. Get through an entire P90X workout. Again, I don't know what possessed me to even want to get through an entire workout. (Other than those 30 pounds.) I have a faint memory of doing a few of those workouts, and it seems I came close to getting through at least half of a workout. If you are curious about my effort, reading this may put your mind at ease, or give you a good laugh. (You'll notice I made it all the way to January 17!)


29. Make get-well cards and send them out. I made one get-well for my little Sweetie Pie when she was sick, does that count?


35. Drink more water. We all know what the result of this one is. Run, run as fast as you can, unless running also causes a problem, then just walk as quickly as you can with your legs squeezing together. This is not easy, but it can be done. 


36. Organize atonement notes. I think I'll just save this one for next year.


49. Save money for new clothes in a smaller size. Actually, I have saved a little money for this one. I'm just waiting until I reach my goal before I spend it.


51. Make a decision and buy something I like. This one may never be crossed off. Mainly because I can never make a decision. It is because I am so multi-faceted and like so many different things that I can never decide which particular thing I might like best. Or, that I might like something so much that I would actually buy it. But this is what usually happens - I see something that I really really like, but, it happens to be too expensive. So, I settle for something I kinda like but can afford. Do I want something to be bright or subdued, traditional or eclectic, new and shiny or shabby chic? (Actually, I would go shabby chic, but Hubby thinks all that stuff is junk. He likes new and shiny.) 


52. Print off old blogs. This is another one that is a work in progress. I have quite a ways to go to completion. For some reason, my printer won't print off the pictures in  my blogs. 


So, there's the run-down of how my goal list is failing  coming along. I did get a lot of cleaning and organizing done this past year, and Hubby is very thankful for that! 


I'm already starting my new list. I can think of about 20 things already! Even if you're not a goal oriented type of person,(I'm not!) consider joining me and Jennee and Karen in 2012. It's been fun. And, it has helped me see that, even though I didn't accomplish everything on my list, I have, in fact, accomplished several things which would have been forgotten, if they had not been on my list. 

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Friday Report

This will have to be a super-quickie. First off, if you wouldn't mind, one more time to vote for Jennee here.
She's made it to the finalists.


I will be singing in my concert tonight. Thank you all for the prayers.


I'm off to help hubby on a job today. We are remodeling an attic. Doesn't that sound like fun! We're putting in the floor today, and part of the knee-wall. He's ready to go, so I must go to.


Happy weekend!

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