Crazy Weather!

Yesterday it was very windy but the temp was 60 degrees. Today it's 12 degrees and windy. We had blowing snow until a couple of hours ago. Now the sun is out but the cold and wind continue. Hunter and I stayed home today. Grandpa doesn't need us at work when the weather is bad. I enjoy it while I can because spring is a super busy time for us.
I used my time at home to worked on my swaps. This is a picture of my cards that didn't make it to Maricar. I sorted them today and mailed them to all the ladies in the swap. You never know if a package will get delivered or if it will rebound back to you. Darn USPS crossed out the correct zip and wrote in another one. It was wrong so the package ended up back at my post office. Then they wanted to charge over $8 for return postage. Anyone who knows my husband can probably guess what happened next. Needless to say, he got the package and no money was exchanged. I sent him back today with my Bible Verse pages. He was upset because he had to tell the post lady 3 times that he wanted written confirmation. We'll see if this package makes it to Maricar. I was surprised when I recieved an e-mail from her today saying that the package she mailed me last week was returned to her. I wonder what's up with the USPS??? It won't keep me from joining swaps though! I also worked on some others that I am in so it was a very productive day.

My first Challenge

OK Kelly here is my very first Blog challenge.
What I'm looking forward to in February
I'm looking forward to the days becoming just a little bit longer. The sun seems to be a tad bit warmer but maybe that's because I know spring is closer. I look forward to our annual Valentine's Day dinner. Larry always takes me out for special ocassions. I am also looking forward to giving the boys a Valentine treat. They all love chocolate and so do I. There are a couple of home improvement jobs that I would like to do in February and I will be happy to have those done. I might be crazy but I also look forward to a nice snow in February so I have an excuse to stay snuggled in here at home.

Good advice

Ms. Rita just sent this via e-mail and I thought it was very good advice. I wanted to post it so I would read it often.

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.
FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.
SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly.. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN! .. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN.. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

Poor Hubby

Yesterday was one of those days for him. It started early in the morning. He and Trevor hunt together. While out in the back 40, his diesel truck jelled up and quit running. They finally made it back home. A few minutes later our dump truck driver called to tell him that the dump truck has jelled also. The driver had forgotten the additive the last time he filled it up. Not a good thing with this extreme cold weather. Then I called him a few minutes after that to tell him that our heating unit at home had quit. He called the repairman. Thankfully we got it fixed pretty quickly. At 3pm our daughter was on her way to work and stopped by the elevator...you guessed it, her car quit. He got it started and she drove back home and got my car so she could get to work. If this wasn't enough....the water district called to say we had used an enormous amount of water at our rental house. Yep, you guessed it! They had a water leak. Turns out that our renters are having a rough time and couldn't afford propane and were using space heaters to keep warm. Hence the broken water lines. There is an unfinished basement under the house. Larry and a friend used buckets to remove most of the water. And of course that is where the furnace is located. We are still waiting on a repairman to check it out and see if it is fixable. The renters don't think it's their obligation. (This is the first time for a water break in this home.) Hello! If you had heat in the house there wouldn't have been a problem. I do believe they will be paying for the large water bill. He is still working on it today. Good thing he already does this as a part-time income. We have all the equipment so at least we didn't have to pay to have it fixed. I think he deserves a relaxing weekend don't you???
Oh one last thought...I think we need new renters. The young lady watched Larry drive by last summer and then a minute later proceeded to break out a window because she had locked herself out. She came by later that day to see when we could fix the window and was upset because she had to break it out to get in the house. It sounded like she blamed us. Wish I had a picture of the look on my husband's face! He said "I drove by the house right before you broke it why didn't you flag me down"??? She didn't say anything to that. (We keep an extra key just for emergency use.) So then he said "you broke it so you need to fix it"! Who knows what they will do next. I think he will be looking for new renters very soon.

Interesting thoughts

I recieved these little sayings via email and I thought they were interesting, funny, and so true.
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
* Never buy a car you can't push.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

Christmas 2007

Bible Verse ATC's

Here are my Bible Verse ATC's for a swap that I am in. I used two different verses. 1John 4:8 - God is Love and Proverbs 22:6 - Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.

I used "All Dressed Up" paper that my daughter gave me for Christmas. I sure hope these don't get lost in Mail land! These ATC's are starting to get addictive. I was very timid about doing the first swap but they get easier each time. I do need to try something different though. Not sure what yet but I seem to do the same type every time. Wonder what the next swap theme will be??? Of course I will sign up. But, Shawn already knows that!

I Love you Mam Maw

Sometimes when Hunter says "I love you Mam Maw" I just know that he's up to something. So when I heard those words this morning I wasn't surprised to turn and see him with his hands on his face. When he finally let me see what his face looked like I had to take a picture. It could have been soooooo much worse! But of course he didn't do it himself. He said the "goggy" did it. When I pointed out that the dog didn't know how to use markers he decided to change his story. He proudly stated that it was his new tatoo. I left it there all day so that his mom can see what her tatooing ways have done. She was quite amused!

So much for being organized....

My latest swap package is lost in transit. Hopefully it will be returned to me so I can get the cards to my swap buddies. I have decided to take pictures of my packages before they are mailed. That way I can see if it was my mistake. Then I won't sit here and wonder what I did wrong. I have sent to the wrong address before and once even sent to the wrong hostess. What a dork! This makes me obsess over putting on the right address....and still I must have done it again. Who knows? I guess I will find out in a few days. That is, if it gets returned to me. Hope I don't get banned from the swap community!! Another thought....I should add them to my address book and just print labels.

Organized!

I love to do recipe swaps with my scrappy friends. I found this box at Michaels last summer and it was even on sale. We do 6x6 pages and my recipes fit perfectly inside. We did a divider swap also and that made organizing very simple. I just love looking at each of the pages. I have beautifully scrapped pages and yummy recipes from scrapping friends. Makes me want to go try a new dish.

Things that make me smile.....

I am still learning how to do this whole Blog thing. I can add pictures but I want to do a slide show eventually. I will play around till I get it right. But for now I will share things that make me smile.
Jared: Grandma I need hot water.
Grandma: What for?
Jared: I have the hiccups and (his fav cartoon character) says to drink hot water and hold your breath for 10 minutes. That will get rid of them.

We always open gifts after Christmas dinner. After we were finished some of us headed to the kitchen for dessert. We talked about taking down the tree and decorations. Darrin asked me why I still had my tree up. I told him that although I do like to take it down pretty quickly, I usually wait until everyone leaves!

Cole: Grandma I'm getting married.
Grandma: (Shocked) Oh Really? To who?
Cole: Brittany
Grandma: But you are only 4.
Cole: When I grow up I'm getting married. I'm too little right now!

Hunter has a new favorite saying that always makes me smile. He says "Hot Giggity Gog!" He also love to talk about shooting deer. Especially since his dad and grandpa are deer hunters. The first time he saw my Christmas decorations this year I heard him make a shooting sound. I looked over and caught him pointing and pretending to shoot my reindeer! I said what did you do? He said "I shoot mamaws deer."
They certainly keep me entertained.

Final thoughts for this day.

I just realized how tired I am. I should be sleeping but remembered my resolve to add at least one post a week. I am catching up on swaps with my favorite gals. I am swap challenged though. I signed up in two spots in a card swap. One was male birthday and the other was Easter. Somehow I got it in my head that I needed to do Valentines. So I made three sets. I used my Cupie stamps that I bought last summer. They remind me of my mom because she loved to collect cupie dolls. I have a recipe swap ready to mail tomorrow. Crystal, Hunter and I are going shopping tomorrow. We plan to get hair cuts. Hunter's dad buzzed his head so he doesn't need one but he will talk me out of lots of quarters to ride the rides at the mall. Then he will want to hit the candy store. Guess I better get to sleep and rest up for a big day at the mall. But, I have this new toy....DVR is new to our household and it is keeping me up watching all the shows I record. So I am going to watch McSteamy and McDreamy before I call it a night. I seem to be rambling anyway......

Brrrr

What a cold day we're having!! I decided to stay home from work and do some baking. I made Larry's favorite peach pie with fresh peaches. I have fresh pumpkin in the freezer thanks to a local farmer so I decided to make pumpkin bars too. I have deer steak cooking on the stove and a pan of cornbread just out of the over. My house smells good and is toasty warm. Betty Crocker has nothing on me today!
Hunter just went home after spending 3 days here. He loves the new TV. So I plan to catch up on my swaps tonight. I will take some pictures to post later. I love these kind of days.