December 1, 2007I can't believe it's already DECEMBER!!!! Where has the time gone?
Thought you would enjoy a picture of my Aunt, Sue Norris, with the three "girls." We had such a nice visit over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Zoe is the one trying to escape while Tori (right) and Molly (front) pose beautifully. Susie is the one in red, by the way!
I got a turn too. Here I am with Molly (left), Tori (right) and Zoe in front.
December 15, 2007
Can you say "I hate winter" and really mean it? I CAN!!!!!! With FEELING!!!!!!!!
Last weekend, on December 9th, we had a weird ice storm. It had been warm enough prior to the storm front moving in that the roads weren't badly impacted, but they were the only thing that wasn't effected. We lost power in the early hours of Monday, December 10th.
These two pictures were taken before the trees started falling. It was such a nightmare! Every few seconds, you would hear a gigantic "crack" and then a huge crash as massive trees or limbs went tumbling to the ground.
The pictures above were taken after the trees had fallen from the weight of the ice that encrusted them. Transformers exploded and shot fireworks off into the cold sky all through the night. Our power was off for five days!!!!!! Five VERY, INCREDIBLY, UNBELIEVABLY LONG AND HORRIBLE, NIGHTMARISH DAYS!!!!
I am a city dweller...ill equipped for survival without electricity. I do have a gas fireplace. It is a sealed system, which makes it very safe, but you have to turn it on by flipping an electric wall switch. Luckily, I was wakened and quickly turned on the fireplace just before we lost power. Zoe and I lived in front of the fireplace for the next 5 days.
We froze. Slept on the floor. Got sore and moved to the couch. Got cold and move back to the floor. Burned candles to have a little light (it gets dark VERY early this time of year, so the nights are ENDLESS, especially when you are by yourself in the dark). It was such a nightmarish experience, I can scarcely believe how horrible it was! I lost what food I had in the refrigerator and was completely exhausted by Thursday morning. I felt like I just couldn't take it any more!!
Our electricity was finally restored late yesterday afternoon. The power at my work was restored Thursday evening.
Today, we have a winter storm watch in effect for several more hours. I still have electricity, but it has been snowing and I admit that I'm gun-shy! The white spots in the pictures below are huge snowflakes.
The trees are so twisted and mangled, many won't survive. The ones that do will never be the same. FEMA is comparing the damage to that of a massive hurricane. Tulsa county has been declared a national disaster area. Some people still don't have electricity.
Zoe may be the only one enjoying the winter weather. I'm not.
I've always hated winter, but this year, I have come to despise it. If I could financially afford to leave this state for warmer climes, I would go in a heartbeat!
December 22, 2007
Here we snow again...
Yep, another winter storm warning is in effect and it's snowing again. Bah humbug!!!
On a happier note, we had our Christmas party at work on Thursday and I was Santa's helper...LOL! It was a lot of fun. Here I am with Santa, who is one of our employees. The beard is real!!! Doesn't he make an AWESOME Santa?
December 23, 2007Zoe got an early Christmas present from a special friend and she LOVES her new toy. It has quickly become her favorite. Here she is with the new hedgehog toy, complete with squeaker (she thinks soft toys with squeakers are THE BEST...in fact, it doesn't get any better than that, unless you can eat it!).
Here she is, squeaking and bumping her hedgehog on my leg to get me to play with her. Zoe wants to send Karsyn a special "Thank You" message because she is so excited about her new toy and it's very special to her!!!! Thank you, Karsyn!!!!!!
December 25, 2007
Wishing you and those you love a warm, wonderful, joy-filled Christmas and a blessed and prosperous New Year!
December 28, 2007The title of the picture below is "Aftermath." If you have read previous months of Thoughts and Ramblings, you will instantly understand this title.
You see, a great battle was fought here...the "battle of grooming the dog"...and what you see is the aftermath of the horrendous battle. I DO believe there is enough hair left over to make another dog, which tells you just how badly Zoe needed to be cut and just how long I had put it off. Being the courageous (foolish) person that I am, I decided I could put it off no longer. Today had to be the day! She was starting to look like a wooly black sheep with funny ears and a beard! I'm sure it was coming close to damaging her self esteem and someone was probably about to report me to the "bad dog parent bureau" or some other such organization for neglecting her grooming needs.
But take a look at the results! Isn't she gorgeous!! You can tell her self esteem has returned to normal high levels by her regal pose as she catches some sunshine...LOL! O.K., so the ears AREN'T perfect. YOU give it a try sometime with no one to help you and then we'll talk. Until that time, I'm going to enjoy my soft, snuggly, adequately groomed Schnauzer who no longer looks like a wooly sheep. She's my sweetie!!!
December 30, 2007I have a confession to make...before the end of the year...coming clean, so to speak. You see, I have a secret. A big, bad, terrible secret. Are you ready? Here goes...gulp!
I'm a clothes horse. Sigh.
Kind of goes with loving jewelry, lampworked beads, makeup...
Before I could even walk, I'm told that every time I got a new outfit, I would crawl around with it clasp tightly in my hand and I wouldn't let it go. When I was a kid and got some item of clothing that was super special, I would sleep with it, holding it tightly, because I was so darned excited about it and it meant so much to me. My best friend has a daughter who, at age 5, once walked into the mall, took a deep, satisfying breath and said, "Do you smell it? Clothes!!!" I am like that! I can remember when I was a kid (a very long time ago), looking at all the frilly, lacy dresses in Sears and crying silently because I couldn't have one (they were too expensive) and I just KNEW by the time I got old enough to afford them myself, there wouldn't be any pretty clothes left in the world, so I would TOTALLY MISS OUT! Clothes, jewelry, shoes, makeup, clothes...did I mention clothes...they bring me a lot of pleasure. I delight in them. I'm SICK!!! I'm sure of it!!!! But what's a person to do? It has to be something genetic to have started so young, don't you think?
I've always shopped resale shops and watched for good sales to keep expenses low. I've tried to do a lot with a very little amount of money. Every now and then I would splurge on a piece, but most of the items I've collected were used or deeply discounted. Didn't matter. I loved them and they were new to me!
Because I'm such a clothes horse, I have kept old clothes that I loved, even though I have...shall we say, outgrown them? When I ran 13 to 15 miles a day and wore a size 0 to 2, I had a very nice wardrobe of clothes that I enjoyed. Certain items were so wonderful to me, I couldn't get rid of them, even when I broke my hip, could no longer run and couldn't get my big toe in a size 2. I was a size 6 for quite awhile. Had lovely clothes, which, once again, I couldn't part with though I left size 6 far behind. Same goes for size 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, etc., etc.
Lets just say, after a period of about 25 years, I have collected a lot of clothes in about every size under the sun. I got rid of some of them along the way...kept only the ones that were really special in the smaller sizes. But I couldn't quite get myself to part with them totally. It was an emotional thing. To me, it would have meant that I was giving up on losing weight and ever being a "normal" size again. If I gave them all away, I would be giving up all hope of ever being small. I would be conceding that I would always be fat. And I just couldn't do it.
By some miracle - one that I classify as being right under the birth of Christ because it's so implausible and incredible - I have lost weight! I can actually wear some of those clothes...the size 8's and 10's...that I saved ALL THIS TIME!!!! I've been slowly going through my closet, weeding out the larger items I have, most of which I hate anyway, and replacing them with those things I have kept for 20 years. They have been moved from house to house to house, kept in plastic bags, and every time I moved them, I felt embarrassed and stupid. But NOW! Now, I'm actually getting to wear them again and it's such a fun and wonderful miracle!!! It's like rediscovering old friends I thought I would never see again (see, I TOLD YOU I was sick!).
Anyway, I want to start off the new year by expressing how grateful I am to the Lord for helping me lose weight so I can feel halfway O.K. about the way I look. I've hated myself for such a long time because I hated being overweight. I was huge and I felt so worthless because of it. Nothing I did seemed to work...cutting way back on food, moderate exercise...nothing. So to me, this is a miracle, truly, this losing weight that has happened in 2007, and I am beyond thankful. I'm humbled and so grateful, I don't even have words to express how thankful I feel.
I'm also thankful I kept those clothes all these years, even though carting them around, storing them, moving them, was such a pain and embarrassment! I've been shopping on eBay to supplement what I kept, but I have some pretty nice pieces to build on. That's a good thing!
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! I hope you experience many miracles and have much to be grateful for this coming year.