Another year almost over...

Can you believe that this year is almost over..gone..another one bites the dust! In less than 2 months we will be celebrating Christmas! Where did this year go? Where did all of the years go since the big Y2K hoopla?

My mom is not hosting this years Thanksgiving for the first time in about 40+ years! She decided after all the years she's done it, it was time to turn over the reigns to someone younger. It's a lot of work to clean and get everything ready for 20 some guests each year. She always did the turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy and at least a couple other things..Pumpkin pie for sure. My husband, Russ, LOVES her pumpkin pie.

So this year she will get to take it easy and only take side dishes to the dinner. Mom's great niece, Amy, in Steamboat Rock, will be hosting it this year. She may find out what a task this is and try to pass it on to someone else for next year. She is married and has 3 small children..so she's a brave soul for taking this on. But her Mom lives close by and I'm sure she will be of great help to Amy.

It will just seem strange to not have it at Mom and Dad's house, but I can certainly understand the pressures of making sure that everything gets done on time and that no one goes home with food poisoning! Mom always had the most moist turkey. I liked sneaking tidbits as her and dad pulled all the meat off the bones. You know, you always have to taste test before serving guests.

Just talking about Thanksgiving day and all the goodies that we enjoy makes my mouth water. We have so much to be thankful for in this country. I know I am a very blessed person to have such a great family and the best friends one could ask for.

Well, enough rambling for today. It had just occurred to me that Thanksgiving is 4 weeks from today.

Project time

I'm working on a 2009 calendar for my folks. This picture is of my great nephew that lives in Omaha. He is such a cutie and has the biggest dimples. He is 7 now. I haven't seen him for over 2 years, so was glad to get some recent pics of him to add to the calendar.

I'm assuming this must be before school one day. His dog Lena is out there with him.

I've got a few more Christmas projects to work on. I really like making hand made gifts for Christmas, but some times I bite off more than I can chew.

Time with Trevor

I can't believe that I went down there and came home and DID NOT TAKE ANY PICTURES! Christy is about 6 months pregnant and I meant to take some PG pictures of her. I also wanted to get some updated pix of Trevor. But I came home without taking my camera out of my bag. Shame on me!!

I had a great time visiting though. Friday night we were visiting and TV was on. All of a sudden Trevor perks up and jumps up and down and says "John McCain, John McCain". I laugh my butt off. Then Christy says "Ask him who is going to be president". So I do that and he says "Barack Obama, Barack Obama". Too funny. Christy says that they don't ever talk politics at home so she's not sure where he got that..but he definitely knows them when they show up on commercials.

Saturday Trevor went to his Grandparents with his dad, Travis. Christy, her friend Patty and I headed to Kansas City so the girls could get their hair cuts. After that we ate lunch at Granite City and did some shopping. We left Christy's at 8:30am and didn't get back to Christy's until about 6pm. I loaded up and headed home to spend a little time with Russ before he headed back out on Sunday.

Such a pretty weekend though. I could use several more days of sunshine like we've had recently. I'm not ready for the snow to fly.

Fun weekend ahead

I'm heading to Smithville MO when I get off work at 3 on Friday. I am going down to see my God Daughter and her family. Christy has one son, Trevor, who will be 4 in December and I love spending time around him. He's at just a fun age. He loves his Pappa Russ but I don't know if Russ will make it home in time to go down there. Christy is also pregnant with baby number two who we are told is going to be a girl. I have done tons of 'thrift' shopping and clearance shopping and have that baby girl enough clothes to get her by her first year for sure. I also picked up some bargains for Trevor.

So I'm anxious to get to Christy's with all my goodies. I also picked her up some maternity pants and a top while in Quincy doing some shopping. Saturday we are going into KC so Christy and her friend can get their haircuts. Trevor will be along with us as well, so he and I can hang out while they are getting haircuts. Then we usually go shopping and out to eat and make a day of it.

I need to work on my Christmas list and see what I have left to buy. I have a good start though. I am hoping that it's a nice sunny day for our outing. If Russ should make it home, he can sleep in and watch TV at Christy's while we're shopping. Christy's husband Travis runs a golf course and they are having a tournament this weekend, so he won't be around much.

That's about it for now. Hope everyone is having a great fall...where ever you are.

Well,

I've been tagged

This is something new to me. But I guess I'm going to give it a try. Mary tagged me.

1.) I used to work in a meat packing plant many moons ago. My favorite job was picking the pituary gland out of the brain. They used it for medicinal purposes, so I always felt good when I found them intact and could 'pick' them out with the tweezers without causing any damage.

2.) My first job was as a car hop at Dog N Suds drive in restaurant in Perry at the ripe old age of 16. I was paid 50 cents an hour and when I got my first check of $6+ I thought I was in heaven.

3.) I had my appendix out when I was 4 but had my 5th birthday in the hospital. I remember the nurses coming in to sing happy birthday to me.

4.) I didn't marry until later in life. We got married on Valentine's Day of 2001 in Las Vegas and our wedding was on the internet so friends and family could watch (provided they had a computer). A couple that we are great friends with, Deb & Mark, came out and stood up with us. We had a great time.

5.) I like to watch NASCAR on the weekends. It's better to TiVo it though so you can fast forward through the commercials and back it up to watch the 'big one' over and over and over again. We went to a race in Charlotte NC several years ago and are going to the Las Vegas race on Mar 1, 2009. The couple that was with us when we got married, is going out with us. Russ and I are really looking forward to this get away with friends. We always have a great time with Mark and Deb.

6.) Purple is my favorite color. I'm sure it comes from having a Grandma with the first name, Violet. Grandma Vi owned a restaurant in Jamaica IA and I loved going there as a kid and 'helping' in the restaurant. My cousin, Calli, and I went and spent a few days in the summer and we drove Grandma crazy I think. We were always rearranging her furniture..but after we went to visit friends, the furnture was back the way it was in the beginning! But I don't remember having hurt feelings over that. My Grandma died when I was only 27. But I have so many great memories of times spent with her.

The "Rules":* link to the person who tagged you* list 6 random things about yourself* tag 6 new people* let each tagged person know they've been tagged by posting a comment on their blog* link to the 6 people you've tagged* and let the person who tagged you know that you posted

I'm only going to be able to tag a few that Mary didn't already tag:

Gina

Kristina

Janet

Joellyn

Jenni--oops I forgot she doesn't have a blog yet.....HINT HINT HINT

October is a crazy month for me

It makes me tired to just look at my October calendar. I have so many things scheduled. I have something going on every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for the whole month. I also have lots of weekend activities planned as well. Had to pick up Russ' cousin from the airport last Saturday and will take her back on Sunday, October 26.

So before I know it November will be here and Thanksgiving will be right around the corner and then comes Christmas...and so on and so on.

One weekend in October I am (and Russ too if he's home) planning on going down to Smithville MO to see my god daughter and her family. He son, Trevor, is my honorary grandson, since I won't have kids. He calls Russ--Pappa Russ, but for some reason the Nana Judy didn't stick and I'm just Judy. But that's OK. He's such a sweet boy. Christy is pregnant with number 2 and they are saying that this one is a girl. I have bought about 60 items of clothing for new baby. Christy isn't picky..so she lets me go to consignment shops and garage sales and pick up baby clothes for her. I've also picked up several things for Trevor. I've had great fun finding treasures for the kids. So I'll be making a delivery of those things when I/we go down. I can hardly wait for her to see all the things that I have.

Plus I have not seen her since she told me she was pregnant and she's due early January, so I'm looking forward to seeing her as well. She is like the daughter that I never had and in her adult years we've become really close.

I'll be anxious for baby to get here and see pictures of her. Hopefully, the winter weather won't keep me from getting down there after she's born.

Well, everyone have a great fall...sad to say but winter is just around the corner.

Getting up to date

I enjoyed my time in Quincy. The weather was absolutely perfect. Nice sunny days. I went shopping most days. I got some Christmas shopping done and found some great bargains.

I went to the local scrapbook store but they didn't have anything that tripped my trigger, so didn't spend a dime there. I know that is a shock to most that know me.

I loaded up the car on Wednesday morning and met Russ for lunch. Then back to Sharkey to unlaod all his stuff for his truck. They were getting their trucks assigned that afternoon. I then headed back home. It was a beautiful day for a drive. Not a lot of colors just yet but it was an enjoyable drive. I have my audio books to keep me entertained. I am addicted to them and can't go very far without have a book to listen to.

Russ then got home on Friday around midnight. He must have been one pooped puppy cuz he slept until 10:30..then fell asleep on the couch around 2 and I had to wake him up at 4:30 so we could go to Des Moines Airport to pick up his cousin who flew in from Phoenix.

We didn't get back home until 10 and he slept again until about 9 the next morning! I think he was refreshed when he left. He gets very frustrated at trying the learn the mobile mac (computer thingy) in the truck. He just is not very technically skilled. I helped him and wrote down some cheat sheet notes for him and I know he will do fine after he's done it all a couple of weeks or so.

Russ left out at noon on Sunday. Mom called to say that Dan, my brother, was headed up from Louisiana and would be at their house around 6 and asked if I wanted to come for the afternoon and be there when he got there. So I headed to Perry around 3ish. I had Russ' car, so Dan was surprised when he got there and I popped out of the house.

He checked out the new garage and we worked on the folks' motion lights. They have been messed up since they were installed. I tried to work with them when I was there last, but finally gave up and said Dan could work on them when he got here.

He also has the job of replacine the motion light above the back door that I broke when trying to adjust it. Handyman Judy....I'm not! I try but don't always succeed.

That pretty much sums it up for me. Today is a gloomy rainy day but I really think that we needed the rain so I won't complain as long as it goes away in the next day or two. I have to have SUNSHINE!