Friday, November 26, 2004

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The Christmas Tree dilemma has been solved. My mother-in-law figured out she wanted a new tree, so I got her barely-used-almost-new one! She just didn't like it because it was large and heavy... and she's not. So, it was pretty hard for her to get it put up. I'm planning on putting it downstairs in the family room and will just leave it downstairs in storage after Christmas, so won't worry about having to take it up and down stairs. Am hoping DH brings it over soon so I can get it up - I gave him the deadline of next weekend, so suppose that's when it'll show up.

I did get my little trees lit again by the front door (now that Thanksgiving has come and gone DH will let me...). I put up a wreath and bought some candles for the windows, but haven't gotten them up yet. Will need a ladder to get them up in the dormer windows! Hoping to put some lights on the porch railing, too. I was dumb when we built the house and didn't have the eve-plugs put in for lights. One of those things you figure out later you should have done. So, probably won't hang lights all over.

We got our first snow!!!! Only about 1", but it was enough to make it white!

Then, the coolest thing - there was a full moon and DH was up looking out the window about midnight and woke me to show me the big deer buck standing in the back yard in the moonlight. It was sooooo cool.

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Thankful

I am thankful. I have a lovely home to live in, a good job, good working conditions, a good family, and great husband, a houseful of silly critters, and a bunch of good friends. I hope you all are as blessed.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The Maid

Just call me the maid.

I have just worked my ever-lovin'-butt off! I have cleaned this place from top to bottom, cooked not one, but TWO turkeys, baked two pumpkin pies, grocery shopped for a feast, and managed to somehow keep my sanity.

I'm going to go collapse now.

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

I found out today that the Brenda Lee song I've titled this entry with is something like the second most popular Christmas song. That's hard to believe, what with all the songs to choose from! I was really proud of myself that I even knew who sang this... my daughter called from the mall to ask me who sang it and it popped in my head.

It's rather a weird trivia thing my family has going. Usually whenever I can remember part of a movie stars' name, or the name of a song, or the person who sang a song, my DH and I can come up with the name. Now my kids have picked up on this odd talent. My younger daughter can usually come up with singers from the 60's and 70's and more recent - and she wasn't even born until the 80's! She wins lots of trivial pursuit games having anything to do with old movies and old songs. I'm an old movie buff... love the old classics. Made the kids watch them many times when they were growing up - especially the Christmas ones at Christmas time.

So... when she called me today to ask about the song, I was impressive even to myself that I knew Brenda Lee sang this song. Not one of my favorites, but nonetheless it is in the spirit of the season.

Might be going Christmas tree shopping again this afternoon... just gotta get this done. It's driving me nutso. Okay, I'm already nutso... just more so. I heard that.

Friday, November 19, 2004

List be Done

If it was only so easy to make my 'to do' list disappear! Say the magic words and... voila! The chores are done.

It's been raining here for two days. Two days of sort-of rain... drizzle...cold...windy...ick. I woke up this morning and made an executive decision. No one would be working in the fields today, so I was taking the day off work and getting some things done at home. Yeah, right. The thought was made with every good intention, but we all know the familiar phrase about a certain road to hell...

I did manage to accomplish a couple of things today. One, I got my fax machine cleaned so I now make crystal clear copies and faxes. That was fun considering I'd never done it before and after moving to a new house I had no clue where the manual would be. Thank goodness for the internet! I was able to download the manual, fix the problem, and go on to the next thing. That involved setting up a wireless network in my home. I've had the hardware, but no time to set it up since moving and now am able to get things off my desktop at the click of a button. Or print. Or get online. It's very nice. It will be even better when the nice man at the internet provider gets in touch. That's another story.

I even cleaned my oven. Oooooo... Yeah, okay, it's a self-cleaning oven, but still...

Those of you who have been following my Christmas saga will be happy to note I got the cutest fake trees in urns (lighted, of course) to put on each side of my front door. Very classy. DH comes home... 'Isn't it a bit early for Christmas trees?' No, I did not act on my violent momentary thought. I unplugged said trees and will plug them in again next weekend... when it can be officially the Christmas season.

Still looking for a decent looking big tree for the family room that is a.) lighted and b.) doesn't cost me my first born child. I can find a., but b. is becoming a problem. I was going to go for two trees, but that is beginning to look decidedly NOT an option. I am still considering going with a large one upstairs and the groupings of three of the 'woodsy' type ones for down... or I'll do the big one down and just cover my 10' ficus tree with lights upstairs. Still considering.

One more project I'm trying to finish before next week involves painting and large canvases. I have a wall downstairs that I'm wanting to hang some large abstract art on, and being as I've got a semi-artistic streak, I was going to just do them myself. That's okay, as long as I get them done in time for them to get dry and hung... maybe better be starting those soon, huh?

Last, but not least, on my 'dressing up the house' list is a photograph art wall. I've got spotlights installed with the intent of hanging some of my favorite photos of the kids, pets, etc., all done in black and white on this wall. I was going through some old photos today trying to find some of my favorites, and I'm ended up with waaaay too many. Damn, my kids were cute... I know, that sounds awfully conceited, but they were! Now, my daughter says to me... 'you mean we're not cute anymore, huh?'. NO, that's not what I mean, smart-ass. But, you were cute... <sigh> Guess I'll just have to make some hard decisions.

No wonder I've not had much time to write lately...!

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

O Christmas Tree

Yeah, I'm back at it... again. Probably will be until after Christmas. Right now it comes in bursts. I'm trying to figure out what to get people for gifts that will be useful, fairly practical, yet fun or at least something they'll like. I'm trying NOT to be so practical that they know exactly what they're getting.

For years my DH had not one iota of excitement for Christmas. Why should he? Every single year his mom would get him a pair (maybe two) of jeans, a t-shirt, and maybe a flannel shirt. This is his "uniform"... we tease him. It's what he wears each and every day. BUT this does not mean, even if he needs them, that it is an appropriate gift. For one thing, she wouldn't even buy him the jeans he liked - only bought him something 'inexpensive'. Then he had to return them every year if he wanted to get something he liked. I would hate Christmas too, if that was the way it worked year after year.

I broke that mold (thank goodness!). Now I think he still dreads the spending of money, but he enjoys Christmas more than before. He at least has a bit of a chance of a surprise.

I try to get the kids (all grown) something fun, if not a little practical, and I still do stockings for all of them where I put all kinds of little silly things. They always know they have a huge orange and a huge apple coming in the stockings... probably some chapstick... and at least three of them like candy (one son doesn't, so he gets other strange things). Then I find odds and ends that seem to agree with their personality. This is fun for me to look for little inexpensive things that can be surprises.

Sometimes I actually make them something. One year I made them all huge afghans. They'd all liked the one I'd made for DH, so they all got to pick out their own yarn and I made them all and had them ready to open for Christmas. That was a nice one.

Part of the fun for me is just figuring out what to get them... then trying to find it. Sometimes that is the hard part! I'm not one that has the time or patience to wander stores aimlessly until I find something that strikes my fancy. I want to know what I want, then hopefully, be lucky enough to find it in the first or second place I look. I do have a hard time i-net shopping, though, unless I've seen the item "in person" first. Then I can purchase over the i-net fairly confidently. I'm a hands-on shopper, though, and want to make sure before I buy that it is the right size/color/shape/ whatever. I'm not crazy about the crowds in the stores, either. It goes along with my anti-social nature.

Well, that's all ... I'm just musing out loud (or not, as the case may be).

Friday, November 12, 2004

Pretty Well Says It All





You Are From Neptune



You are dreamy and mystical, with a natural psychic ability.
You love music, poetry, dance, and (most of all) the open sea.
Your soul is filled with possibilities, and your heart overflows with compassion.
You can be in a room full of friendly people and feel all alone.
If you don't get carried away with one idea, your spiritual nature will see you through anything.



Thursday, November 11, 2004

Turkey Time

To most of you this means it's nearing Thanksgiving. To me, this means a little different thing. Our company distributes free turkey's to all of their customers who spent x-amount of dollars with the company this year. So, actually, it's not 'free' free, but it's a nice gesture. The only trouble is, it comes at our busiest time of year! This means, not only are the guys I work with stressing big-time about getting fertilizer on the fields, but now they are stressing about having to deliver thousands of turkeys (company-wide).

Personally, I don't mind it...but then, I only deliver a few to the landlords and people that my husband farms with. It is a nice opportunity to touch base with these people and thank them for their support and business through the year - without asking them for money or having to pay them money - or having some stressful topic to have to discuss. Most people are surprised to be getting 'something for nothing', too. That doesn't happen often nowadays, either.

So, next week we start the mad rush to deliver the birds... Hey, I get one, too! That just means it can't be long until Thanksgiving day...

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Gung Ho

Not only is the wedding 'on', but today we (bride-to-be and myself) went to look at a bridesmaid dress that had been ordered in to check for style. Just got back, and it's a beauty. Will work perfectly, and the price isn't too bad. Things are progressing. Whew! She tells me things are better than ever since the blowup. Seems they were having a bit of a misunderstanding on some things but the air has been cleared and it's all been resolved and there is peace in 'engagement land'.

The day is sunny, windy and cool. A crisp fall day. I've heard it could change later today - becoming cloudy and raining tonight. Earlier they were talking about snow coming after midnight, but now I think they've taken that out of the forecast. Darn. I really am looking forward to the first snowfall.

Yesterday I had to be on the road for a couple hours running an errand, and it gave me time to reflect on how much has happened this year. For one thing, it was a year ago this week that we broke ground on our new house. It hardly seems possible. I remember looking out at the creek and trying to picture how the house would sit on the site and what it would all look like. Now, it's here! I told DH that early this morning I was awake, lying in bed, when I briefly saw car lights on the wall. That was a surprise! Since we moved in the leaves on the trees have been too thick to allow any light from the road to penetrate. It's still quite a ways from the house to the road, so it's not going to be a bother, it was just surprising that it was noticable at all!

The other thing I'm noticing is although I've always been rather a 'homebody', I'm waaaay worse now. We went out to dinner last night and it turned out I really didn't want to go. I wanted to be home. I'm all for someone else cooking - I can do takeout - but I really want to be curled up in front of the fireplace watching tv in my snuggly jammies. Felt really good to get home.

Well, I feel I've accomplished something today so will just be comforted in knowing all is right with the world. Again. For now.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Fa La La La La

Yeah, I'm back singing Christmas songs. Things must be right in the world again. Well, close, anyway. I'm never quite myself when my kids are messed up. It's a 'mom thing'. I try really, really hard not to interfere, and yet make myself accessible to them if they want to talk. So far it's worked out pretty well... (Keeping my fingers crossed).

I've been looking for a new Christmas tree. New house, new tree. Old house wasn't very big and had lower-than-normal ceilings. New house has high vaulted ceilings. Could use a big tree. However, my bank account can't do a one of those big big big trees. They're beautiful, but gee whiz! It's just a fake tree, people! Worse, I have room for 2 trees... or maybe three... I found out recently that we're going to have my office christmas party at our house, too. This means, it not only has to be as perfect as I can make it for my family, but also for my co-workers and their spouses (the women who will notice every little thing). The guys will only notice a.) the pool table b.) the big-screen TV that we don't have and c.) the food and beverages - heavily on the alcohol. This will end up being a kind of house-warming/christmas party, so it's got to be really perfect. I'm getting lots of ideas, but it's almost mind-boggling the choices I have.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have such mixed tastes. I like everything. I've gone more contemporary with the new house, but still like more traditional stuff, too. Makes it much harder to define style when you have many different ones. Will keep musing on this...

In the meantime, I hear I've been asked to accompany DH, daughter and youngest son to a movie and dinner tonight. I realize it is a chain (God forbid), but I still like Red Lobster and here in the middle of the country it's about the only place for decent seafood. I'm really looking forward to it. Haven't been out for ages (at least a couple of months - since before harvest started). Whooo hooo!

... heard a rumor we could have rain tomorrow night changing to snow after midnight... yippee!

Monday, November 08, 2004

It's ON

I can't keep up. Yesterday daughter and SIL2B registered for wedding gifts. I asked, innocently... 'for what date?'... and was told the original date. All-righty-then. I'm really very happy for them both, but what was all the past couple of weeks about? Maybe I'm not to ever find out. Oh, well. That's okay. Better to get this all hashed out beforehand. I'm happy. They appeared to be very happy over the weekend. Lots of laughing and hugging and cuddling. This is a good sign. I'll just go with that for the rest of the day...

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Young Love

As far as I can tell the wedding is still on. To my surprise, daughter invited SIL2B to town for the weekend to talk it over - and to get the engagement pictures taken. This is a good sign, I'd say. He tells me that she's got a month to figure out if she wants to go ahead on the pre-picked date or if she wants to postpone.

He thinks a lot of the trouble is the long-distance relationship. The more he lives away from her, the more he's beginning to hate the city and his job. Thinking of moving back in this area. I know that would probably help in some respects, but hope it's not just a temporary fix. He's really trying.

I don't know what to say - or if I should say anything. How do you apologize for your daughter being exactly like you? That's a hard one. I am very independent in some respects. DH calls it "only child syndrome". This is not necessarily the case with my daughter - she's not an only child! She still seems to like her 'space' and finds herself liking to do things alone some, too, just as I do.

I certainly hope it works out. He is a really good guy and she does seem to love him and he her. I am keeping in mind that they are young and this could be just some 'pre-wedding jitters'. She says she only wants to do this once, and I admire that. I've been married before and so has her older sister. We both have had good/bad parts to the divorces and dealing with the exes... but no knock-down-drag-outs. We've been civil. I just know she's wanting to try and make it work and part of that is being sure she's found the right guy. Sometimes I also think she's too much of a perfectionist - another trait I have. I've not found I'm that way with people, but with about everything else in my life. I've mellowed some over the years, but still find myself reflected in her personality to a great extent. DH calls her my 'clone'... we're so much alike.

Will keep my fingers crossed that the next month goes well...

The Last Hurrah

I hate to say it, but I think this is the last of the summer. It got up in the 70's today! That's incredible! Tomorrow they're saying only in the lower 50's - with a chance of snow mid-week. I tried to get some stuff done today but by the time I worked this morning then ran errands, I was so tired. I just came home and crashed.

DH got done harvesting today! Yippee! Still have field work to do, but at least the harvest is done. That's a relief. Youngest son that's been helping this fall is now saying he's thinking he'd like to do this all the time. Oh, my! As much as we wanted that, we never thought it would happen. He's not seemed interested in the farm since he was about 10. This is good and bad. Good because DH could definately use the help. Bad because we've got to figure out how to make it work money-wise. It will take some number-crunching. We'll have to have some discussions about this to see if it will work for all of us.

I think I'm finally going to get my dog moved to the new house tomorrow! He's been at the old house since we moved... trying to get the kennel done at the new house. I think we'll finally get the last of it done tomorrow and he'll get to come home. I miss him, dumb dog. I'm getting a new puppy either the end of this month or mid-December. Am so excited about that! I had a Shih Tzu for 17 years that had to be put to sleep two years ago due to some major health issues. She was my sweetie and went everywhere with me. She was such a good girl... I've finally gotten to the place where I'm ready to open my heart to another one. Right now we've put a deposit down on one that was born early in October. She'll be a tiny one - smaller than the one I had - but it should be great. I've been getting pictures of her ever week and she's growing and getting cuter every day (if that's possible). Will really add to the family.

We have a rather large 'family' of critters. Over the years we've had all kinds of dogs, cats, fish, rabbit, hamster, rats, pig, and chickens... with four kids it can get to be quite a houseful. Now we're 'down' to four house cats, the beagle who is coming home tomorrow, the 'snoodle' who lives with my son and the coon-hound-shepherd mix that belongs to my youngest daughter and who is also living at the old house with my son. We are very good friends with our veterinarian! At any rate, they all have their own personalities and quirks and don't let anyone tell you they don't have feelings or that they don't know anything. They are smart and they do respond to love and attention. With the exception of the new Shih Tzu puppy, they are all 'pound' or 'found' critters we have adopted from a shelter or from someone who could no longer keep them. We've had animals that have been abused and abandoned that we give love and affection and they've turned from animals from hell into the nicest, sweetest animals. It's amazing what a little love can accomplish. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Looking forward to tomorrow... If it has to be cold, at least I hope the sun shines. That always makes it seem a bit warmer...

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Love Trauma

This weekend as I watched my younger daughter and her fiance' getting dressed up to go out to the bars in costume for Halloween, I mused to my husband... gee, I wish I were younger again. It looked like so much fun. Was one of those things I never did in my youth and I find it appealing in my 'advanced' age.

I take it back.

I don't know what happened, but from Saturday night to Sunday night all hell broke loose. I've been told it has been coming for a few weeks, but the evidence wasn't obvious. It seems the wedding is in peril. I've not pried, but when SIL2B (maybe) left on Sunday night things were pretty quiet and tense. She told her dad this 'could be catastrophic'... and that was all.

Monday night she got home from work and immediately left to go out with a girlfriend to dinner, even though she 'didn't feel like eating anything'. She'd come home with a dozen red and white roses - from you-know-who. She said it 'didn't help'. This is serious. Then, he showed up on the doorstep about 8 o'clock. He lives in another state. It's almost a four hour drive. He left right after work and drove like a bat. He's obviously stressed. She's not here. She's not wearing her engagement ring. The roses are sitting on the kitchen counter - rejected.

DH comes home and proceeds to get philosophical about 'these redheads'... recounting all the hellish times he's had with me. I don't think he's helping, but I could be wrong.

Daughter comes home and we don't see or hear anything out of them the rest of the night. The next day she's off work and he's called in sick. I leave for work hoping they will work things out today. I come home to find him gone and her in bed. This can't be good.

She tells me she's told him she will give him an answer in two weeks. Whether the wedding is on, off, or postphoned. I know she loves him. She's having doubts. She's being stubborn and independent. He's trying. I'm not sure she is. I'm so frustrated I could scream. Not my life. Not my business. Better to know now than getting divorced, I understand that - probably better than most. I do hope it works out. I really do.

I tell DH... I'm sure glad we're not that age again... we're through all that. He agrees. We hug.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Dear Ex-Son-In-Law

There is a reason you are an 'ex'. I take that back. There are several reasons. One of them is because you are a dumbass. Yes, I really mean that. I normally don't like to be critical of the father of my grandchild, but this time you have really done it. The word fits.

Why, oh why, did you forget about Beggar's Night? Didn't you notice little children dressed in wild costumes going door-to-door through your neighborhood? Didn't you turn on the television anytime this weekend and notice that Halloween was here? Didn't my grandchild show up on your doorstep on Friday night all excited about the Halloween party he had at school that day? Didn't he show you his costume? Didn't he express excitement about seeing all the other kids and collecting gobs of candy? Did you really "forget" - or were you just being lazy? Either way, you are not excused. To a six-year-old, this is a big deal. Dumbass.

Monday, November 01, 2004

Too Good To Be True

Yeah, I knew it. Yesterday was just toooo good. Today is payback. It's been raining all day and gloomy and cold. They're even talking about snow west of us in Nebraska! Too early for that! Well, not really, but I'm just not ready for snow just yet.

It was so dark when I got up this morning, and now it will be dark when I get off work. I hate that. Feel like I'm a mushroom.

E-mail not working again this morning. WTF? Are they ever going to get this figured out? ...oh, and STILL no word from satellite guy. I'm starting to get pissed. Seriously.

I'm just going to huddle down here in front of my computer and get busy. Maybe in a week or so I'll be able to take a day off and sit in front of the fireplace and watch the snow...?