Best Christmas Gift EVER!

My dad was a Marine and he volunteered for the Vietnam War. He was sprayed with Agent Orange and got Leukimia. He came home with it and met me for the first time when I was 6 months old. My Mom was so brave and took such good care of me and then later took such loving good care of Dad. I had 8 years with him before he died. I was lucky....would give anything to have had him longer but the time I had was precious and memorable and a miracle. I was very lucky to have him as my Daddy!

In addition to being a Marine, he was also an accountant and a jeweler / gemologist. He knew how to make jewelry and cut diamonds and any other jewel. I will never forget one night when I was little, Mom and Dad had me come in their room and sit on the bed. Dad had his hand behind his back and he brought it out with the most GINORMOUS bandage on his thumb. He had cut the end of this thumb off while cutting a diamond. They were able to fix it but that has always stuck with me.

In addition to being able to make jewelry, he also had a beautiful eye for other pieces. He bought my Mom a 2 carat tourmaline. So for Christmas, Mom pulled that ring out along with another sapphire ring she had and combined them for my Christmas present. She wanted me to have a piece of both of them. She found a jeweler that made an original piece and can I say how much I cried and how bad my hands were shaking when I opened this gift up.....it means soooo much to have them both on my hand representing the family we had and the relationship I have with my Mom today! I love them both so much and I know that Daddy is smiling with what Mom was able to create.....Love you Mom and Dad!

The center tourmaline and setting is the original that Dad gave Mom and the sapphires were added from her ring. They did an amazing job....WOW!

The Sound of Music

Just had to say how much I love this movie! It is on right now and Maria has just arrived and met the children and they put the frog in her pocket.....why can't they make movies like this anymore?

Gotye

I can't remember where I first saw this video....but it is gaining steam. They are now playing this song on my fave XM stations and then Dooce just posted it too. I love this song. As Dooce said, give it to 1:35 for it to kick in. I like his look and I like his voice very much and want to hear more from him. His name is pronounced "Gore-tee-yeah". The girl in the video is named Kimbra. Love her voice too. I don't have info on her yet and her music but I will be checking it out. New music makes me happy!

Breville Mini-Pie Maker

I can so totally visualize my cousins making mini-pies with their kids and coming up with cool recipes and just having a blast with this! I got my Mom the Breville Mini-Pie Maker for Christmas. Picked it up from Williams-Sonoma with the mini-pie cookbook and pie lifter. She got it early so mini-pies could be made as presents for the neighbors!

We tried it tonight. We made Banana Caramel pies. They turned out great! Pie dough for the bottom and pastry dough on the top. AWESOME and so much fun. We have some tweaking to do but I will be posting pictures next time. I tried to take pics and didn't realize the battery in my camera was dead. UGH!

Here is what it looks like:


It is really neat....you can make savory or sweet with so many toppings and crust cutouts.....they are the perfect size! Super fun for entertaining or just for dinner!

R.I.P. Extreme Makeover-Home Edition

I just read yesterday where they have cancelled the show. That is sad....it's a great family oriented show that should stay on the air. I love it and I have to schedule when I am going to watch it. This show makes me weep....it is the "I am not going to cry, I am not going to cry" show and then I fail miserably. If I have to go to work the next day, then nope...can't watch it. I hate that I am not a graceful cryer....I do not look like this when I cry...not the lonely tear drop with no makeup smudge....nope....not me:

This is pretty much more like it:

I love the joy and happiness and relief these families get. I am going to miss the rallying cry of "MOVE THAT BUS!".

Christmas Potty!!!!

I seriously can't believe I am posting this but I am so happy for Christmas Potty!! Years ago we had to replace the original toilets in the house. They were old and leaky and I replaced more flapper tank balls than I care to remember. Went shopping and found the "pressure assist" toilets. Basically I have called them the "air tank" toilets because instead of water in the back, there are two big air tanks. They have been wonderful for several years now BUT mine died. No pressure in the tanks and of course, the company that made them went out of business years ago so finding replacement tanks....not happening! We had the name of some wonderful plumbers who have done a lot of work in our neighborhood and they replaced the bad. I have had no working bathroom for a week and now all is happy happy joy joy! No traveling downstairs...I am all set! Gotta thank Mom for the Christmas present and the decorations! This is just silly!


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Explain Porcupine Sounds to a Toddler - Good Luck!

Okay.....so I never had a reason to put this thought in my brain...what sound does a porcupine make? Explain that to a toddler....you teach them dog sounds, cat sounds, duck sounds, cow sounds.....now throw porcupine at them and see what happens!

For Mom!

Because she knows why.....love u Mom...so proud of you! Thank You! Love you very much! :o)

Calgary Teddy Bear Toss

This is so cool! This is the annual Teddy Bear Toss at a Calgary Hitmen game.....they scored over 25,000 stuffed animals for children at local hospitals....it was 2,000 more than last year!! How awesome!! I would go to a hockey game to throw a teddy bear for that!

Photo Bomb

Christmas Decorations- Old School or Theme

So I have had a couple of days off and I am so thankful for it....gotten most chores done except the whole Christmas decorating thing. Can't wait to get our stuff up! I walked the kids this evening and a ton of our neighbors have all their decorations done. Not to knock anyone, but every single house I saw decorated had nothing but white boring lights. Sorry...I grew up with the big multi-colored bulbs that if one went out, you just unscrew it and replace. You would have boxes of these replacements.



Now you have trees with white lights, themes and ribbons.....bring me back some old school lights and ooooooohhh....silver garland:



Our house is going to be aglow with multi-colored lights and original decorations with NO themes or just bland white lights! Again...to each their their own and not to diss....but give me colored lights and silver garland!! Merry Christmas!

Planet Fitness

Member of Planet Fitness and LOVE it! Wonderful gym and so cheap...$10 a month...hello!!! Hate the elliptical just because I hate cardio but try and do it anyway. I LOVE working with the weights and machines more...the treadmill is also boring to me BUT if I could work it like this....for the love...I would totally show out! My hiney would be on the floor in a New York minute if I tried this....you go GIRL!!! She is AWESOME!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE her! And I love the guys filming her....they don't seem to be making fun..they are amazed too! There is no way they could do it!

Japanese Maple

My neighbor has the most beautiful Japanese Maple outside their kitchen window. Our kitchen windows face each other and we get all the joy out of their maple. They planted it under their window and for the first time, they are finally able to see it because it has grown tall enough for them to see from their window.

They don't know I have a blog so I feel safe posting a couple of pictures here so I can get some feedback. I wanted to take some shots of their maple and frame them as a Christmas gift so they can put them in their window or whatever since they can barely see their tree. I really waited too long to take them because all the leaves were getting to the point of falling off. Here is one I took and I don't like it...you can see all the holes....all the white stuff are the leaves ready to go:



So then I tried to get a little "artsy" (HA! Like I know what I am talking about!) and do some shots from under the tree....blech..hate it:



So I tried to use my fave setting on my camera....it is the one with the flower so you know you are taking pictures of flowers and leaves close up....ain't they smart to put that on there for us photography dummies? The answer is, "YES!!!".....wouldn't have a clue otherwise.....seriously...thank you for the flower picture setting!

Here is my new "artsy" shot:



And this one (which I know looks like the other but it is a little different):



I just wanted to get the richness of the red in the leaves. I also took this one that shows a little green still left in the leaves:



I think I still like the first one the best....they will see it but not realize it is THEIR tree until I tell them and maybe that is good? Any thoughts from my camera people out there? And BTW....I hope one of these works because all the leaves are gone except for one little red leaf at the top. Their tree right now looks like a bunch of sticks.....I only have what I have and as Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work!"

Who's a Pretty Bird?

Made a big turkey for Thanksgiving. Usually we just rub some butter on it and let it go. This year we found a recipe using mayo. You mix a cup or so of Hellman's (the ONLY good mayo) with oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary and rub it all over the outside and inside of the turkey. We filled the cavity with lemons, onions and celery and then let her cook for about 4 hours and then rest for a little over 30 before the carving commenced. This was one of the juiciest turkeys....it made a hot mess carving. There was juice EVERYWHERE! I would like to thank my Aunt Cynthia for the apron she made me because it saved my clothes! The apron is getting a good wash now but I didn't stain stick-it....I kind of like little cooking spots on it....makes me look like a pro....HA!!!!

Oh....and in the pan on the left...that is butter and bacon grease getting ready for the fresh green beans, bella mushrooms and bacon to be all sauteed together....sooooo good!

Coincidence? Maybe....but I think NOT....

This is a happy! Got this off the ABC News website: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/not-photoshopped-beam-of-light-shines-on-fallen-soldiers-miracle-dog/

Not Photoshopped: Beam of Light Shines on Fallen Soldier’s Miracle Dog

It was an overcast day in Newport, N.H., when a simple “20/20″ shoot turned into something that made me wonder about life after death.

I was filming soldier Justin Rollin’s parents Skip and Rhonda playing with their dog Hero, whose rescue from the Iraq War zone where Justin died was nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes when Rhonda hugged Hero she would softly pet her face and coo, “Justin, are you in there?” It was Rhonda’s gentle way of remembering their son and his last living connection to Hero. At one point, Hero wandered off and took a stroll in the backyard. All of a sudden, the clouds broke and a light began to solidify in a beam directly down on Hero — a kind of vertical halo.



As this dramatic ray of light was shining on Hero she turned to look at me, and it was all I could do to hold the camera steady and not drop it in astonishment. It was an unforgettable moment, and made me wonder if in fact Justin was in there. Then the light vanished.

I couldn’t wait to check my camera’s playback to see if it caught the stunning beam. When I saw that it did, I was so happy that I burst out dancing. It was a great moment to share with Justin’s parents. We all laughed together, and wondered if perhaps this had been a sign from Justin.