Resolutions and Other Myths (Fantsies?)

I couldn't sleep last night, so I went blog hopping.
(Or is that why I wasn't sleeping?)
Oh well, no matter.

A couple of my favorite blogs are ones with nothing but beautiful photos to look at with the occasional uplifting quote tossed in.

Here are a few of the treasures I unearthed...

Quote:

People who have only good experiences aren’t very interesting. They may be content, and happy after a fashion, but they aren’t very deep. It may seem a misfortune now, and it makes things difficult, but well—it’s easy to feel all the happy, simple stuff. Not that happiness is necessarily simple. But I don’t think you’re going to have a life like that, and I think you’ll be the better for it. The difficult thing is to not be overwhelmed by the bad patches. You must not let them defeat you. You must see them as a gift—a cruel gift, but a gift nonetheless.
—

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron

This proves that I am on my way to becoming a fascinating person - who knew? ha ha

Someone is very creative - these moon shots really capture the imagination;





I would SO make this my craft room;


You would never know this by looking at my house, (I am not in control here!)
but, I adore wide open spaces and the fresh clean minimalistic look...



I love this - I would make it my front gate.
It tells people You're in my world now honey, deal with it.


My someday (in my dreams) beach house will look just like this:













Do people really live like this? ...Where do I sign up?

Sometimes life just flips you on your noggin'


These are just too dang cute;



I also ran across this:

I decided that this is as close to a resolution as I'm going to make this year.
It's bound to be a year of upheaval and uncertainty, so if I can manage this, I'll be doing good.

I could add much much more, but I don't want to be accused of overkill.
Maybe another time...

I'll just leave you with this one final thought:


Words to live by. :-)

**Note: All of these images were found on either Tiny White Daisies or Another Passenger. I'm so very sorry, but after going back & forth until 4 am, I lost track of which was which.
Go visit sometime - they're lovely places!
Always inspiring.
.

New Year...

Taking a vacation over the holidays has really messed with my mind.

We got home on New Year's Eve, and were so tired we just crashed.
We missed it entirely - which is weird.

There are still snacks left over from the holidays, so I keep thinking we'll use those up for New Years Eve ...But wait, that's already over!

There wasn't any kind of party, so in my mind it never happened...

Moving onward -

I can't seem to get excited about making any resolutions either.
I've been thinking of a few small goals, but I've been sick ever since we got home, so I haven't had much energy to do (or even care) about anything else.

I have read 3 books this week though, so I guess that's something...

Poor hubby - he's been sick too, but he's had to work.

I ordered vacation photo prints the other day, and finally felt good enough to try to scrapbook a few of them tonight.

I am SO out of practice!

It took me hours and hours to do just 2 double layouts (and they're nothing fancy whatsoever!)
The challenge I gave myself was to use only what I already have.

I always get excited and go shopping when I get new photos, and buy all kinds of embellies, paper and such, and end up not using any of them.
Being jobless now, I can't really do that anymore!

I sorted through my stash and found all the Christmas themed papers - good grief, I think I could do every Christmas we've had since we were married before I run out!
The only thing I may run short on is card stock.

My daughter in law made me an adorable little album for Christmas, so I'll pick a few choice shots to fill it up too. It will be a fun reminder of our trip that I can leave out all year.

I flipped through my old vacation album trying to spark some ideas, and good grief - I have so many layouts that I never finished!
I never got the journaling done for the trip I took with my sisters to Arizona
(2 years ago?) Thank goodness I blogged that trip - I barely remember any of it!

...Anyway, we had kind of a nice evening - my oldest daughter and I.
Just the two of us home tonight, so she sat with me while I scrapped and we went through season one of Gilmore Girls together. She even ran out for tacos for us.

Chick night.

Just blabbering to myself - it's late now, and I tried to sleep, but sleep won't come.

I guess I'll go and finish book #4...
.

Holidays 2011

I've been away for a while, so much catching up to do...
Where to begin?

The holidays were such a blur this year - many hours at work,
and much going on.

Grandma's Christmas party went off without a hitch again this year,
even without grandpa. He was missed though.


Had a very good turn out - most of the family was there except for a few out-of-state renegades...

Our little Christmas Eve gathering was less than perfect - a couple of the girls had the stomach flu, so they took turns leaving the room to... expel their demons (or, dinners.)



And we didn't do the annual Christmas morning breakfast, because we had to hurry and get ready for church.
(Our program was really nice though - even though Wayland got called out of the meeting to go with his brother to the hospital.)

Christmas morning



We spent Christmas day packing.

Early the next morning (we're talking 5-ish) we hit the road for California.
It was a long ride, especially with everyone in my son's family still sick. We arrived at our hotel around 4:00. We were all so beat, most of us went to bed as soon as we checked in!

But first thing the next morning, we were all raring to go!

Leaving the hotel Tuesday morning to catch the shuttle to the park.



Disneyland!



We rode every ride we could, from morning 'til night...

Jenny waiting to set sail on the pirate ship;


It's a Small World was by far the most festive:
(Hubby and I went twice)


Inside


We saw lots of celebrities:

Pooh Bear

Eyore

Tigger

Tinkerbell

Blue Fairy

Mickey


Photo opps a plenty;

Fairy door

Jeff meets White Rabbit;



The parade was exciting the first time we saw it, but after a few times, we started running whenever we started to see people line up - once you get in that mess of people, you can't get out!



You always expect to see strange animals in a place like this,
Santa's Reindeer



...but this poor house cat was definitely lost! (Spied him hanging out with the fairies.)


Random decorative shots:
Frontierland was very Christmasy;


New Orleans Square:



Chip & Dale's Treehouse:


Love Goofy's garden:


Always wondered where Santa goes when Christmas is over:



Millie got the chance to do battle with Darth Vader (which broke Arilie's heart when she wasn't chosen.)


The firework show was canceled for the duration of our stay, due to some insurance debaucle, but the lights at night were pretty;


I always wondered what Christmas time would be like in a place where there was no snow, but I think I could live with it...

We spent a little time at California Adventure too.
(But not much, totally different vibe there.)



Hubby and I left a little early on Thursday to drive down to San Diego to visit with his sister. The rest of the family joined us on Friday.
That afternoon, we convinced Kelsey (niece) to drive us to the beach.

At the beach at Del Mar:


We had so much fun, I'm so glad we took this opportunity to go. I don't think I would ever go at Christmas time again though - SO many people!

Melissa sent us a text telling us that she had seen on the news that Disneyland set a record this year for the most people in one spot at the same time. They were turning people away at the gate.
I totally believe it, it was crazy! We saw both of the football teams who would be playing in the Rose Bowl, (along with the rest of the world.)
I think it would be safe to say that every country, state, race and walk of life was represented there.

Well, that's our vacation in a nutshell. We arrived safe at home on New Year's Eve.

Not all is well though; note the sure sign that the end is truly coming in 2012...

Hubby drinking COKE! (California is NOT a Pepsi friendly state!)
.

Count Down

It is the last week before Christmas, and the rush is on.

I took some time to myself last week, to fortify myself against the onslaught.

Thursday, I drove down to visit my sister.
We had a fun day - we did lunch at a cozy little diner, then took a tour of the town.
I always love visiting that area - it feels to me like going back in time to when life was simpler.
I know that's probably a silly thought - I'm sure life is just as hectic for the people who live there, but it's nice to imagine that anyhow...

We went to a new little ice cream shop and I tried a flavor that intrigued me - chocolate pomegranate.

Oh my gosh - it was so delicious!

I had it running all over me before I was finished, but I enjoyed every bite.
My tummy was a little confused by it though, it took a while to process.
( Ha ha.)

I met some of her friends, and we played dolls a little - I have a favorite saying that I rand across years ago - it goes something like this:

"Having a sister is like a little bit of childhood that is never lost."

So true, so true.

When I got home from work Saturday, (after the fiasco of not getting it off for my daughter's friend for her special day) I found out that she had gotten the dates mixed up, and she wasn't planning to go until Monday!

...So I DID make the right choice not to take the day off, because if I had, I would have been sitting home frustrated and angry.

Sunday things fell into place too - even though my daughter in law didn't make it to church, the other guy did. He sang beautifully, and it was a really nice meeting.
He brought his wife with him this time - I haven't seen her in years.
It was like old home week. :-)

Sunday night was our big family party at Grandma's. I usually dread that, because I'm such an introvert and there are so MANY of us - but I really enjoyed it. (I'll post pics when I have more time.)
The hardest part was figuring out who all the kids were! They have all grown since I saw them last, but some not just a few inches, but several feet!

(Wow, when did that happen?)

Earlier, when I drove down to the valley, I had grabbed a couple of CD's to listen to on the road, and one of them just happened to be the sound track from "Home Alone."

This song is one of my favorites on that album:



It made me think of Christmases past, and of family and old friends.
I've seen a lot of them at work lately, and it's been really good to catch up with them a bit, and reminisce about the "good old days." Almost makes the hustle and bustle of the season seem worth while...

Speaking of the past, Sunday morning, my daughter gave me the longest hug and said that she had dreamt of my mother the night before.
I asked her about the dream, and she told me that mom had been trying and trying to get a message to me and couldn't get me on the phone, so she had left a heart wrenching (daughter's words) message on the answering machine.

...The funny thing is that right after my mother passed, I took the tape from the answering machine and put it in my drawer because I knew her voice was on it, and I couldn't bear it if it were accidentally (or otherwise) erased.

Years have passed, and I still have never been able to bring myself to listen to it.

Maybe it's time... (?)

On a not-so-good note, I learned today that I'm getting canned after Christmas.
Pretty bummed about that because, believe it or not, I do like my job.

That's a subject for another day - don't want to bring this post down.

Like Scarlett, I'll think about it tomorrow...
.

Another Week

...Has gone by, and I'm one step closer to being finished with the shopping.

Much relieved.

Yesterday was the day I have been stressing about all month - Jen's best friend had invited us months ago, to go shopping for wedding dresses with her.
i put it on the calendar at my old job, but when i changed jobs, it took so long to figure out how to put in for it (it's all done on computer) that i missed the deadline and got scheduled anyway.

i stressed over that for weeks, I talked to people - who always put me on hold...
Finally, i just decided that i would call in sick when the day came.
But Friday night, i just didn't feel right about it.
You're only allowed 3 call in's in a 6 month period - if you have more than that, it's possible termination.
I've already called in once, when my nephew broke his neck - so a second one so soon would look bad on my record.

As it turned out, it was kind of a good thing i didn't go. Everyone was SO overwhelmed at work. We had a big exec. coming, and he didn't want to see any empty spaces between merchandise.
We all worked so hard all day bringing stuff out of the back room to try to keep the shelves stocked - but it was a fruitless effort. Stuff was flying out of there faster than we could fill it.

When i left the place, it looked like New Orleans after Katrina. if i had bailed on a day like this, it would have looked very bad for me indeed.

...When i got home, i learned that the girls hadn't even gone dress shopping.
By the time they got to Logan and got all her stuff loaded in the truck (She's moving home between semesters,) it was too late.

I think i made the right choice. I hated disappointing the Rachel (who practically grew up in our house,)
...but the way things turned out, i would have been a nervous wreck the whole time, and that wouldn't have been good for anyone.
instead, i got my shopping done, showed my support at work, AND had some quiet time to finish some projects...

Today will be interesting - my music program for church got all messed up.
My daughter in law (who was my main musical number) bailed on me at the last minute - and that guy who I didn't think was coming this year, may or may not show up.
No one knows for sure.
As far as I can tell, it is just a rumor come down from a person who knows a person who knows his wife on Facebook.

If there's one thing i've learned on this job, it's to roll with the punches.
I'll have a practice Hymn on standby...

One more week to the big day - doing my best to hang in there.

*Sorry about the grammar issues - some of the keys on this computer stick - hubby won't admit it, but I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that he spilled Pepsi on it at some point.
He spills Pepsi on EVERYTHING (even me!) sooner or later...
.

Santa Lives!

...And I know because I got my wish yesterday.

Hubby took the car to be worked on, so I had the day all to myself.
I got all my sewing done just as he returned - just in time to go meet my daughter at the mall.

I wish I had her shopping skills! I told her what my budget was and told her to pick out 3 items that would fall into that amount, and she ended up with 5 and spent less than I had allotted her - so I took her to dinner.

We were in separate cars, so I drove home alone. It was so peaceful - just me and the lights, my MoTabs in the CD player.
Felt a little Christmas spirit creeping into my soul...

Just a few more odds & ends, and my shopping will be done - then I can concentrate on the next phase - menus, and then packing for vacation.

This is one of my favorite songs from that "MoTab" (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) album:



Got another work day ahead of me - got to run.
.

Dear Santa...

My wishes are few this year, but come from my heart -

Please give every family in the state lots of Disney Cars vehicles, Transformers, Zhu zhu pets and Hot Wheels,
I am so weary of picking them up.

There are so few Giant baby dolls and Bouncing Babies left, please find them all good homes - they give me the creeps.

...And be sure to leave a lump of coal for whoever invented Talking Elmo - that was a bad BAD thing! ...And while you're at it, banish all things Nerf from the earth - they are a bane to society!

Be advised that there is a great need out there for an orphanage for Crib Life dolls - no one wants them, and there are so many!
I'll donate the first 20 bucks.

As for myself, my wants are few - shoes that pillow my feet as I go, squish me like Flat Stanley so I can make my way through the mobs of people easier, and please schedule my husband to work all day on at least one of my days off, so I can put my feet up and relax!

Also, could you please send a tracking number for that warm fuzzy Christmas Spirit I ordered?
It hasn't arrived yet, and I fear it is lost in the mail...

Most of all, dear Santa, please bring peace to my family and dear ones, and bless them all with Christmas joy.

Most sincerely,
Granny T
.

Sunday

Having a quiet moment this morning - the calm before the Sunday storm...

It's still crazy in retail land, and it's keeping me busy and kind of stressed.
If you've ever dealt with the public during the holidays - well, lets just say it doesn't do much to encourage holiday cheer.

...And the mess at home doesn't help either.

I appreciate all that hubby has been doing around here, and heaven knows it has needed doing for sometime - but there are times I just want to come home and relax - and it's a little hard to do that...

My Church job is stressing me out too. There is this guy who has been performing "O Holy Night" for us every December for 20 some odd years - and I haven't been able to get him this year.

I don't know what they will do to me if I fail in this task - run me out of town on a rail? Have me drawn & quartered in the square?
I did not want to be the one to break this tradition - but I'm afraid it might be out of my hands.

I should never have put it off for so long, but I've been busy...

I have a Santa I've been trying to paint, and I can't get to him either.
He's been my only bargaining chip with hubby "If you make me do this, I won't have time to paint your Santa..."
He's a freak for my painted Santas, so it's the only thing that registers with him.
I'm about to ask the jolly old elf if he could arrange to schedule him to work on my days off so I can have some time to myself.
(Ha ha)
It's frustrating to me to start a project like that and not be able to finish it.

Before I started working, I tried to join my local chapter of Decorative Painters. I called, I emailed, I tried my best to contact them, but never got a response.
(In my paranoid mind, that is equal to a snub.)
So, I joined the National Chapter instead.

No meetings, classes or benefits, just a bi-monthly magazine, but I'm joining the painting community again. (Even if in name only.)
Hopefully, some time in the future I'll actually have time to do something with it...

Time to get ready for choir - it's been real.
.