Photo

How do you like my Christmas themed header photo.  All credit goes to my daughter. They are her ornaments and she decided to have an artistic moment.  I did ask permission to use her photo.  Maybe today I will get in the mood? Maybe?

Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent.  Need to find my Advent things and buy new candles.  The rush is on!

Have a wonderful day!

Life -- Funny Thing It Is

Ok, I am not going to beat around the bush.  The holidays make me sad.  I have never done well with Thanskgiving probably because bad things seem to happen to our family in November.  I always really liked Christmas but the past few years  haven't been stellar.  I miss my kids being little, I miss my parents, I just miss a lot of things.

So, the day after Thanksgiving is usually the day I put up the Christmas tree and I didn't do it.  I am going to force myself to do it tomorrow.  It doesn't even seem like it should be Christmas.  Shopping is going to be a non-issue this year -- everybody is getting money.  Christmas shopping has sort of become an agonizing event for me -- never knowing what to buy, picky people, expensive taste-- yep, they are getting money.  but I will wrap it up really cute.

I am reading a book called "Christmas Bells" by Jennifer Chiaverinni and it is good but still not putting me in the spirit.  I have been looking at people's lovely trees on Facebook but it isn't helping.  I am hoping this passes soon because if December goes as fast as the rest of the year it will be gone before I even get around to getting the ornaments down.

I have watched a couple of sappy, Hallmark Christmas movies and that hasn't helped.  maybe I should try "The Bells of St. Mary's" or "Love Actually". Or music, maybe?  I will have to try that.

I guess you could say I have a case of the Bah-Humbugs.  What to do, what to do.  I can't let this get the best of me -- if I do I will really regret it.  I have a list a mile long of things to get done and I can't seem to get started.  I have lost my mojo, I guess -- never really knew what "mojo" was but I think mine is gone.

Well, I think I will take my Christmas book to bed and see if I can get a little more inspired.

Hmmmm.......this isn't good!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's 95th birthday. Tonight the family gathered to celebrate at a local barbecue place.  Here are a few photos from the festivities.

Granny and her daughter and three sons

my daughter in green and my two nieces

my son and daughter

my granddaughter and my great-nephew

Granny and my daughter, son-in-law and, of course, the Bean

It was a good time for all.  There were others there, of course, and lots of kids.  The weather has cooled off considerably so it was all very fallish and festive!

Happy Birthday, Granny!

Happy Birthday! Very late post

 I was looking through my "drafts" and discovered that this has never been posted.  I have no clue why unless I got interrupted.  So, I am posting it now.  Granny has gone on to glory just a couple of months after this but at this moment in time she was having fun.

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's 95th birthday. Tonight the family gathered to celebrate at a local barbecue place.  Here are a few photos from the festivities.

Granny and her daughter and three sons

my daughter in green and my two nieces

my son and daughter

my granddaughter and my great-nephew

Granny and my daughter, son-in-law and, of course, the Bean

It was a good time for all.  There were others there, of course, and lots of kids.  The weather has cooled off considerably so it was all very fallish and festive!

Happy Birthday, Granny!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's 95th birthday. Tonight the family gathered to celebrate at a local barbecue place.  Here are a few photos from the festivities.

Granny and her daughter and three sons

my daughter in green and my two nieces

my son and daughter

It was a good time for all.  There were others there, of course, and lots of kids.  The weather has cooled off considerably so it was all very fallish and festive!

Happy Birthday, Granny!

A Man Called Ove

Life has taken a hectic turn these days so a lot of things have been put on the back burner.  My reading is one of those things.  I signed up for 25 books for my Goodreads Challenge and chances are I am not going to make it.  I am going to try, however.

I just finished "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman. 

 
I picked it up after reading another of Backman's works - "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry", which I thoroughly enjoyed, even through the sad parts.

"Ove" wasn't as sad -- it was funny.  It was a good study of the human condition, what makes us tick, what makes us vulnerable and what makes us keep on keeping on even when we don't know why.

I would recommend this book to anybody.  It ends well, predictably, neatly tied up like you would expect and that is ok - it was so Ove.

Cranky

HA! This made me smile today!  My daughter posted it on her FB page early this morning -- something to do with jeans not fitting.  Perhaps if she hadn't partied so hardy at a wedding reception on Saturday night this morning would have been different.  I feel that excess wine make you retain stuff -- water, wedding cake, reception fare -- whatever.  It made me laugh.

I also reminded me to not let the day make ME cranky -- I need to practice "going with the flow". 

We are getting a new roof and it was scheduled to be installed in December. Well, they called last week and said they would be installing today and tomorrow.  I am so excited.  However, it is raining.  They haven't showed up with the materials yet and I am getting bummed.  Hopefully the rain will go away, the materials will, well, materialize and I won't have to get cranky.

My favorite way of cleaning house is to walk through the house with a trash bag and just tossing everything that has stacked up, fallen down, doesn't have a home or has lost it's usefulness.  You would be surprised how quickly things get better.  I especially like doing this with my vanity which seems to get messy very quickly.  And the coffee table  in the den.  Makes all the difference in the world.  Anyway, that was the first thing on my to-do list today, after we watched the roofers deliver the roofing material. 

So, no roofer yet so no trash bag cleaning.  I seem to be just sitting here waiting.  Don't you just hate it when that happen?

Tomorrow is election day.  I can't wait for it to be over. 

I have been doing more reading on hygge-- the Danish lifestyle idea.  It sounds so lovely and calm and quiet. And cozy! Sounds wonderful.  I am looking forward to fires in the fireplace and warm, thick socks but we seem to be stuck in late summer here.  There was a fall feel in the air yesterday and I actually got chilled so maybe fall is finally on it's way.

I tried some refrigerated organic cinnamon rolls this morning.  Immaculate Baking Company cinnamon rolls.  They were ok.  Not as good as mine but then not as time consuming as mine.  They are in a tube just like Pillsbury and such and I had to laugh, I couldn't get the stupid tube open.  I banged it on the counter, I poked it with a spoon -- it just wouldn't pop.  Well,  seems I hadn't taken off all the wrapper! Duh!  Such a dumb bunny.  Anyway, I will buy them again.

I miss buying processed convenience foods.  I mean, I grew up in the 50's where convenience foods were new and very popular -- I don't remember my mother ever making a cake from scratch -- they all came from a box and honestly, I still prefer them.  I have been trying to cook more from scratch and not use convenience foods but the organic food industry is getting better and I am finding that I am, again, turning to convenience foods albeit the organic choice and they aren't bad.  Horizons or Amy's mac and cheese come to mind.

The thing I can't get around though, is canned green beans.  Green Giant kitchen sliced green beans, specifically.  Frozen green beans are just soggy and fresh go bad before I get them cooked it seems. Sprouts does have green beans in non-BPA cans but they just aren't the same.  Guess I am going to just have to suck it up  for the Green Giant variety. 

My reading has sort of gone south lately.  I am still reading "A Man Called Ove" and I am enjoying it -- it isn't draggy or anything but I keep getting interrupted.  I don't think I am going to meet my Goodreads 2016 goal.  In fact, I don't think next year I am going to participate in the challenge but just keep a list of the books I read on here for my own information.  I find that when I try to keep up with these challenges I am just reading as fast as I can to complete the challenge and not necessarily enjoying the book.  I want to enjoy the books more than complete the challenge.  So, I think that is going to be my goal for next year.  sort of goes along the whole "hygge" thing, doesn't it?

Well, the roofer isn't here. The rain has stopped, I have no more excuses so I must get up and grab that trash bag.  Have a wonderful day!