Merry Christmas Eve!

I have a moment while I'm waiting for milk to scald. I am making Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls this morning. I do hope my neighbors are home today to share them with; I would hate to be forced to eat all of these myself! I've never made these before; I'll let you know how they turn out.

If you haven't used your Hallmark coupons that I mentioned here yet, today is the last day. I went to the local Hallmark store last night and scored two big rolls of wrapping paper for $1.33 total, or .66 each - and that is including tax. You lucky folks in tax-free states will do even better. Since I only needed one coupon and printed two, I gave the other one to Tom who is going today to see what he can find. Yes, I have indoctrinated my children into the world of couponing! There are worse things to pass on to your children.

I probably would have stayed and found something else to use my second coupon on, but on the way into the store I slipped on ice right outside the store and landed on my you-know-what. Jerry helped me up and by the time we had walked around the store a few minutes, my wrist was aching pretty badly and I couldn't move my hand, so I didn't spend too much time shopping. But there were bargains to be had, and that comes before pain any day! This morning my left wrist, elbow, and er, posterior, are a little sore, but nothing's broken, anyway!

As I'm typing this, I am keeping an eye on my neighbor's cat, who is currently in the top of one of our trees. I know that logically cats don't actually get stuck in the tops of trees, otherwise there would be dead cats lying around the bottoms of trees, but still I can't help but wonder if this guy needs help. I walked outside to talk to him and see if I could coax him down, but he just stared at me. Here's what I saw -






Well, my cinnamon rolls need me now, and I have lots of other things to do, so have a wonderful Merry Christmas Eve, y'all!

Yummmmmm!!!!!

I made peanut butter bars last night. Oh my. It's just like a GIANT Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. There goes that hour on the treadmill. Oh, well. The recipe is on my Recipes page - you really should try it.

Now I'm off to make myself and my house beautiful. A long shot, I know! Jerry is on his way home from Delaware and I haven't seen my husband in about two weeks. Yes, we talk a gajillion times a day, but that's not the point. I miss my husband! After 27 years of marriage, I still get butterflies thinking about seeing him again. Awwww...................

Final Tally

This was the measurement in the side yard.



The cat loved being out in it this morning, but he looks
pretty disgruntled here!



The back deck and porch.



The back deck steps.



Front of the house. My Christmas flag got wrapped around the
flag pole, but there is a drift on the sidewalk underneath that is
up to my thighs, so it will have to wait!



I don't think Tom will be going anywhere soon.



Lamppost with a top hat.



Bird feeder and bird bath.



My beloved chaise lounge.



The snow has stopped. Darn. I was enjoying it, too! The final tally on snowfall amount is 16", 15", 13", 12.5", and 10", depending on where in my yard I measured! Last night as it was tapering off at around 11 PM I measured on my chaise lounge on the back deck because it didn't get a whole lot of wind and I thought the measurement might be fairly accurate there. That measured 16". Then this morning when I measured it, it was 15", so some might have blown off. But I think that's probably the most accurate measurement, as the rest of the yard has drifts, with hills and valleys of snow, making the measurement off. In any case, it's a lot of snow, and we are definitely playing in it today. And I was excited about snow on my blog post of 12/05! Little did I know......

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful - Not Really.

This is what I woke up to this morning. In this picture
I love the contrast between the lights and the grayness of the day.



The back deck. That large round thing is my wonderful, comfortable, adjustable, nap-worthy chaise lounge that my wonderful, comfortable, adjustable, nap-worthy husband bought me last year.



Christmas lights shining through the snow. Festive, no?



This is my birdbath. No birds were harmed in the making of this blog entry.


I am loving this snow. I measured it when I got up this morning and it was 9.5 inches on my front step. There's so much snow to play with, and even more is supposed to fall during the day today. Yay! I think I'll go out later and make a snowman. And a snowlady. And snowchildren. And their in-laws. You get the picture - there's a lot of snow!

For The Creatively Challenged

I admit it - I am creatively challenged, but reading The Nester's blog has inspired me to get out of my comfort zone (you know, must be storebought/perfect/color-matched etc., etc.) and try some things. I made a ragamuffin last night and hung it in the bedroom. It was not my intention to amuse my boys into fits of laughter, but that was an unfortunate side effect. It may not stay in the bedroom (it may not stay in the house at all!), but I must admit - I like it. It has grown on me and I like it. So there, boys. And to show that I have no dignity whatsoever, I have posted a picture of it. The cat must like it too, apparently.

P.S. - Check the Mr. and Mrs. pillowcases! I LOVE them! I found them at a yard sale a couple of years ago. They are very old with very old embroidery, so they are the kind of pillows that are nonfunctional - the kind that annoy you every night because you have to remove them from the bed and then put them back on the bed in the morning. Oh, well - it's worth it just to see them there!

It's Snowing!

Yay!!! It's snowing!!!! I love snow!!! Can you tell?! Could I possibly use any more exclamation points?! Here's my truck with proof on the hood!!! And please, no comments about why the truck is there and not in the garage - Jerry even specifically cleaned his "manly" stuff out enough to make room for it this week but I didn't park it in there yet. Oops.

I Dare You To Sit Still!

While the rest of the world is probably listening to Christmas music right now, I'm listening to ska music while I do stuff I need to do today. The boys got me started listening to ska and I have to admit that I like it a lot. I'm very glad that the boys and I share tastes in music. When Andy and I go to Delaware we usually blast Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish in the Tahoe while we travel. It makes for a much more enjoyable trip! Here's a video of Streetlight - I dare you to keep still listening - something has to be tapping; a hand or a foot or something! The talent these guys have is amazing; the horns are great and their energy makes me tired just watching them!