Happy New Year

Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions.
Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. – Mark Twain, author, humorist (1835-1910)

: ) Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year

As the hours wind down until midnight and the start of 2009,
I want to wish everyone a very happy, healthy New Year!

Decorating for New Year's

Decorating for New Year's . . . really ?!?!? I would never have even thought to do such a thing----I still have my Christmas decorations up! But check out this cute New Year's tree at http://joysofhome.blogspot.com/

The. Chargers. WON.

Wow, what a game! Chargers 52, Broncos 21. Yes---the Chargers scored 52 points. Wow.

Next up ---- the PLAYOFFS! Next Saturday against the Colts.

GO SUPER-CHARGERS!!!

Counting down until New Year's Eve 2009 . . .

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope yours is wonderful!

Quote of the day

Saw this quote today --- LOVE IT!

"There is enough on the planet for everyone's needs,
but not enough for everyone's greed."
--- Mahatma Ghandi

All I can say is Yikes again!

Wow, can it be December 14th and I haven't posted in two weeks?!?! Yes, it's true . . . Yikes!

'Tis the season to be BUSY!!

Well, here's a look at our GORGEOUS tree!

Yikes!

Yikes! December already!! How did that happen?!?!

Yikes!! Better get shopping! : )

If you want some great ideas about things to make for the holidays, check out One Pretty Thing; it has lots of wonderful ideas every day.

Thankful

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(My thanks to Stephanie Ackerman at Homegrown Hospitality for this lovely gratitude saying!)

Happy Thanksgiving

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends,
the old and the new."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

that other holiday. . .

You'd never know it from the television commercials, but there is a holiday between Halloween and Christmas. And now that my Halloween decorations are finally put away. . .

I thought I'd show you some of my decorations for that holiday-----THANKSGIVING!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Most of the decorations I have I bought at various craft shows throughout the years:

The scarecrow on my mantle was made by a neighbor who used to do a
craft show every year. . . .I have a LOT of things she made, and I'm sad she doesn't make
her crafts any more.

I couldn't resist this cute Indian Corn decoration. . . I got it at the Carlsbad Faire a number of years ago. It is SO clever!

I love the look of these cloth pumpkins on my dining room table.

This is the one decoration I made, just a few nights ago. . . I already had the frame, and I just
used some of my scrapbooking paper and letters to make this-----I love the way it turned out:

So, what are you thankful for?
Leave a comment
(I changed the settings, so if you haven't been able to leave a comment
before now, you should be able to now!)
I'll be sharing some thankful thoughts next week.

A wonderful day

I went to my friend Holly's house for a 'birthday tea'. . . a tradition she started many years ago to help me celebrate my birthday. She moved to Minnesota for the last few years, so we haven't been able to get together. But she's back, and she invited me over to her house for tea. Her youngest son was sleeping when I got there, but luckily he woke up before I left--- he was born in Minnesota, so I had never met him before today. Her middle son was just a baby with pudgy cheeks when they left, and he is a beautiful kindergarten student now. Her oldest, a daughter, is just as precious as I remember. I remember when she was just a baby, and Holly and I would go out for coffee or lunch, and the waitresses always came over just to see this beautiful child, with her striking blond hair. Here's a glimpse at the cuties:

How lucky I am to have such a great friend as Holly, and how thankful I am to have her back in California so I can watch her kids grow up!

Hope you had an equally wonderful day!

Blessed.

I feel so blessed every year when my birthday rolls around. My friends and family shower me with cards, phone calls, presents, get-togethers and love. Truly it is amazing, and I am deeply, deeply touched! It makes me realize how very lucky I am in this world, to have such wonderful people to share it with! Thank you all for being a part of what makes my life so special.

Veteran's Day 2008

Thank a Veteran today.

(Thanks, Dad!)

Just Vote

You Can Vote for Whoever You Like. . . .

Just be sure to VOTE today!!!

Two of my favorite things TOGETHER!!!!

STARBUCKS encourages you to VOTE

Hope you had a fun Halloween!

Dave and I went over to one of his friend's house, who goes ALL OUT decorating his house for Halloween! Outside, on his front lawn; in the garage; and all over the inside of his house! I don't think the the pictures I took do it justice, but here's a peek at some of his creativity:

The front lawn:

The garage. . . full of animated, moving, moaning figures:

The walkway up to the front door:

And then there was the INSIDE!!!

It was unbelievable! And I am especially in awe of his storage abilities, because he has as much Christmas stuff as Halloween, and he has it stored away in his garage, but you'd never know it.

Hope you had an interesting Halloween, too.

More fall decor

These are in my entry hall:

Love this primitive looking guy! I think I got him at Home Goods.

I got these cute little 'Yikes!' and 'Eek!' signs at Michael's. They are on some drawer knobs in the entry as you walk into the house. I'm not sure I'll keep them there, or put them with some other decorations, but I think they're great!

Got this little trio on sale at Longs, of all places.

My collection of Halloween bears has joined my collection of teddy bears.

Here's the rest of my bear collection, with some ghosts and boo's (that I made years ago) interspersed among them.

A look at my fireplace, with a Halloween swag that I got at a craft fair years ago, and two new pumpkin additions!

The pumpkins are those 'fake' ones from Michael's that have been on sale.
I found the parts for the faces at. . . . .Longs! They were advertised for "kids" to
use instead of having to use a knife to cut a real pumpkin, but I thought they
would be fun for me to use! And I like the way they turned out. . . .and NO mess to clean up!

Fall

Finally got around to starting my fall decorating! Here are some pictures:

Love this new 'pumpkin girl' that I got from a craft fair, together with a metal 'eek' and wonderful fall potpourri.

On my mantel, three old pieces with a new "boo."

Inspired by what I saw on other blogs, I made this 'boo' sign with things I already had at home. I love the way it turned out.....and so simple to make!

One of my cute bears (thanks, AJ!) with a new 'Happy Halloween' pillow from a craft fair. The bear on the right is from WalMart.....he is a 'scaredy bear' and when we press on his foot, he shakes and goes "Ooohhhhhhh......Ooohhhhhhh......Ooohhhhhhh!" So funny!

A pumpkin, a 'candle' and a 'treats' can (made by Michelle).

Will post more pics at a later date, including my outside decorations!

Happy Autumn!!!