ELF

Did you ever see the movie "Elf"?

Well, we just watched it and

what a delightful movie!

Please watch it if you haven't already....

warm fuzzies you will feel ! :o)

Christmas Cookies

Well, things are looking up! I actually did 2 more things I have wanted to do for years...go to a Christmas Eve service and make sugar cookies! First, Mike and I, his sister Terri, and my in-laws Ruth and Ted went to Christmas Eve service at 9:30 pm on, of course, Christmas Eve. We sang Christmas songs, heard the Christmas story and at the end, lit candles to Silent Night. It was magical and happy. Secondly, I made sugar cookies and decorated 5 of them ! :o)

The Christmas tree with the little star garland, pink snowman, orange and brown reindeer, yellow star with multi-color sprinkles and the blue bell with silver jimmies and a white snowflake knocker.

I baked 2 batches.....the first one on Sunday the 19th was gluten-free. They tasted ok, but not exactly how I remembered them so out they went. On Monday the 20th I baked another batch with regular flour, but since I used a mixture of xylitol and unprocessed sugar they were a little on the brown side and a bit soft. I kept them in the frig for 5 or 6 days and brought them with me to my in-laws. On Christmas afternoon, my mother-in-law Ruth and sister-in-law Terri and myself decorated most of them. Now I can say I made sugar cookies after 15 years !
Thank you Ruth and Terri for encouraging me to get them decorated and helping me!

Hope everyone had a lovely and joyful Christmas weekend!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas !

From Unity's Daily Word - December 25th 2010

Christ in me is the hope of glory.

On this Christmas morning, what can I offer the reborn Spirit of Christ within me? I can offer eyes that look for the goodness of God in all people. I can offer hands ready to serve in small and large ways. I can offer feet that will walk in the path of peace and light.

On this Christmas morning, I offer the Christ Spirit within me a mind willing to believe in eternal possibilities. I offer a voice that sings of faith, joy, love and oneness. I offer my cooperation in establishing the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

Celebrating today the birth of Jesus, I find in my heart a new willingness to believe that I can do my part in making Christmas not just one day in the year, but a way of living life.

Know the love of Christ...so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. --- Ephesians 3:19

Another HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hey, look what I found?

My lost post I did on

Thanksgiving Day from Disneyland! Yippee!

In the front car is my niece, Reyna and nephew, Nino....behind them (2nd car) is my niece, Jasmine and my brother, Anthony. If you look at his left hand you can see he is filming her with his camera. Wish I could post it

somehow....it is a riot! Actually I will see if I can get it on youtube.

And I can't believe this picture turned out as well as it did....the coaster was going pretty fast!

GREETINGS FROM DISNEYLAND!
Yes, we are at Disneyland for Thanksgiving!
As I mentioned in my last post, Mike and I came down with my Dad, Stepmom, brother, sister and my 3 nieces and one nephew.(all under the age of 10) Of course the kids are having a ball and we are too. My brother Anthony was able to film our little niece Jasmine (4 years old) while they were riding the little roller coaster in Toontown. I wish there was a way to post it...Her expressions are so cute as she is going over all the hills! Mike and I only made it on a few rides on Wednesday. Pirates, Haunted House, Tom Sawyer's Island, Jungle Cruise, Autopia, Snow White, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland. Well, I guess that is more than a few. It was quite crowded and the lines were quite long. The weather was cool yesterday and the nights have been very cold for Southern California. It is suppose to warm up slowly over the next couple of days, but I don't think it will get over 70. Tonight we are having Thanksgiving dinner at the Disneyland Hotel, but not until 8:40 pm.
I am not able to post any pictures now so just loving greetings and many blessings to everyone reading this post.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

If you were a four year old girl

wouldn't you be thrilled with

this castle and play figures?

When we were at Disneyland

my niece, Jasmine, wanted this castle

and tried to carry it around the store.

Mike and I went back later

and had to buy it for her.

I hope she still wants it ! :o)

It comes with all these character figures

and furniture too, including

a throne... I can't wait to play with it!

Here is the real Sleeping Beauty's Castle

all dressed up for Christmas.

It is such a magical sight in person.

The park has a ceremony each night

to light it and then it snows in various

places on Main Street and

at It's A Small World.....heavenly.

HAVE A SPARKLING DAY !

Christmas Cookies (sprinkles that is!)

Well, since I got to dress up this past Halloween and go to a party(which is something I have wanted to do since our party in 2002) I decided that this is the year I will make decorated sugar cookies again! I used to make these every year. The kind that you frost and then painstakingly put each little decoration on by hand. For instance, Christmas Trees. They used to make little flat dots (kinda like the little stars below) that I would take one by one and place them ever so carefully on each cookie like garland. So when I saw these colorful little stars at the grocery store I couldn't resist buying both bottles to try my hand again. The other bottles I have been collecting this season are left to right......Red & White Sparkling Sugar, Sugar Pearls, Multi-color Stars, Gold Sugar, Silver Pearlized Jimmies and Jumbo Snowflakes in Blue & White ! All are made in the USA.....no made in China food products here.(you have to check the labels) I hope to make them this weekend as we (Northern California) are due for more rain starting Friday (it was clear today and supposedly tomorrow too) with rain continuing into the end of next week. Don't know if it will rain on Christmas or not, but either way it will be grand!

Oh my goodness !

Oh by gosh, by golly, it's time for

mistletoe and holly.........I can't

believe it's been almost

3 weeks since my last post!

I thought I did one post in

December, but not.....

Anyway, Disneyland was

cold, some rain, some crowds,

but still fun.

I'll leave you with

a picture of Minnie Mouse's

cottage decorated for

Christmas....isn't her

tree just fun eye-candy?

HOPE EVERYONE IS GETTING

THEIR LISTS CHECKED OFF

AND HAVING FUN TOO!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Well, I just did a nice post and lost it,

so HAPPY THANKSGIVING from Disneyland!

p.s. I borrowed this photo from Patty until I am able to post my own pics. (although mine won't be as good as this one!) I don't know Patty, so I hope she doesn't mind! :o) Thanks Patty! http://patriciaafuller.com/disneyland-11-1-2007/11-28-2007/

My 50th birthday photo

We often take for granted

the very things

that most deserve

our gratitude.

--- Cynthia Ozick

Hello......my 50th Birthday, Nov. 10th....yikes !

Well, I thought I would get the rest of the Halloween party pics from 2002 posted, but they will have to wait until next year. :o)

I did want to include some photos of the Halloween party we went to this year. The one that I invited myself to. ..more on that later. :o)

I have been busy getting ready for our trip to Disneyland this coming week.

My Dad, Step mom, brother, sister and their kids, and Mike and I are going down to celebrate my 50th and my Step mom's 60th birthdays....Thanksgiving too.

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HAVE A PEACEFUL DAY,

FULL OF FUN!

More Halloween 2002

Before it gets too close to

Thanksgiving and Christmas

I wanted to continue with

my Halloween 2002 photos!

We left off with The Phantom of the Opera

Long view into the Mummy's Tomb

There he is ..... The Mummy!
He has a message for you to decipher ...

Can you figure out what it says?

I'll post the answer in my next post. :o)

I had a smaller mummy and a partial wall

of hieroglyphics, but no photos. :o(

I built the mummy's tomb out of

foam board (like the tombstones outside)

and we draped the entire room with muslin.

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More tomorrow.....

p.s. I had my 50th birthday on Wed.

November 10th...more on that later too!

Dresser - Before and After

I thought I would share a project

I did last summer. I used to sell

the appliques shown,

but am out of them at this time.

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HAVE A CREATIVE DAY !

Chilean miner finishes NYC marathon

Did you see, did you see ?!

Chilean miner finishes NYC marathon

FOX Sports
Updated Nov 7, 2010 6:11 PM ET
A Chilean miner ran, walked and hobbled his way to the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, showing the passionate grit that helped him survive more than two months trapped underground.
Edison Pena crossed the Central Park finish line at 3:24 p.m., with a time of 5 hours, 40 minutes, 51 seconds. He was draped in a Chilean flag as Elvis music played over the speakers.
The 34-year-old survivor had beat his own goal - to complete the course through the city's five boroughs in six hours.

Bags of ice covered his swollen knees as a grim-faced Pena walked the second half of the marathon, but he summoned enough energy to run the last stretch along Central Park West.
"In this marathon I struggled," he said. "I struggled with myself, I struggled with my own pain, but I made it to the finish line. I want to motivate other people to also find the courage and strength to transcend their own pain."
Pena's personal victory came just weeks after he was still training in near-darkness, jogging each day 2,300 feet underground in stifling heat and humidity. He and 32 other men survived 69 days in the caved-in mine.
He said running was his salvation - his way of proving how much he wanted to live.
On this sunny day in Manhattan, the strong will that kept him focused came shining through.
It didn't seem to matter to the world whether No. 7127 actually finished the race running into Central Park - or ended his first marathon barely making it.
To the wildly cheering crowds, he was already a winner among the 45,000 runners, including some of the world's best marathoners.
At a post-marathon news conference, Pena was asked to compare his hours in the New York race with the days in the mines?
"In the mine, I ran alone," he said.
He called the marathon "an incredible dream" - because of "how warm and welcoming and supportive the Americans are here," with signs along the route reading "Go, Edison!" and "Go for it!"
Pena said he also was "motivated" by Chileans shouting and waving his country's flag.
His persistence in the face of terrifying odds had made him a global folk hero on his first-ever trip outside Chile, and the Elvis fan entertained America for days with banter and singing Presley songs.
On Sunday, he turned serious - a man on a mission.
Pena started off running in Staten Island at 9:40 a.m.
The trouble started about an hour into the marathon, when a grimace crossed his face as he slowed a bit, apparently already in pain. But cheered on by spectators and surrounded by supporters keeping pace, he kept running, his knee bound in black.
Shortly after noon, "The Runner" - as his fellow miners had nicknamed him - left Brooklyn and made his way into Queens, reaching the 14-mile mark of the race.
Suddenly, he left the course, going into a medical tent for help.
He emerged around 1 p.m., bags of ice tied to both his knees.
He said later he had a bad left knee even before the mine cave-in, which exacerbated it. But he ran anyway.
"I wanted to show that I could do it," Pena said
It was that kind of determination that made him push away the fear that the 33 men might never make it out. He kept his faith and did "what could be done," he had said.
The miner cut his steel-tipped electrician's boots down to ankle height so he could train each morning and afternoon along the rocky, muddy 1,000-yard corridor where the men were trapped.
He built up strength by dragging a large wooden pallet that was attached to a cord tied to his waist.
NYC Marathon officials heard about Pena's subterranean training and planned to invite him as an honored guest. But he wanted to actually run the race.
In the mine, "if I had to run barefoot, I would have done it," Pena told Associated Press Television News after his rescue.
Pena hasn't competed in years as an amateur runner. And since the rescue, he covered only 6 1/2 miles as part of a triathlon team event in Chile on Oct. 24.
On Sunday, he again was doing what he could, moving step by step, painfully, toward the Central Park finish line.
At the news conference in Manhattan's Mandarin Oriental hotel, an elated but weary Pena at first declined to sing some Elvis music, but eventually gave in and delivered "Don't Be Cruel."
"Do you want me to dance as well?" he jokingly asked.
He now has his eyes on the next prize - another marathon to "improve my time. ... I know that's a possibility."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What an inspirational guy !

Christmas is a-coming -- Inspired Ideas!

Fallen leaves lying on the

grass in the November sun

bring more happiness than

the daffodils.

--- Cyril Connolly

Ready to be inspired?

Amy's next issue of Inspired Ideas

is available for viewing at

www.inspireco.blogspot.com

Over 150 pages of cheery photos

and easy projects to get you

started on your Holiday fun!
ENJOY!

Chilean miner Edison Pena

I just finished watching

Late Night with David Letterman

with guest Chilean miner, Edison Pena.

Did you see him?

He was number 12 during the rescue.

It was so touching to hear him

talk about his ordeal (through an interpreter)

and towards the end of the interview

he sang part of the song Suspicious Eyes

by Elvis Presley! He has a great voice

and was quite the performer!

He is a big fan and

will be visiting Graceland too.

He runs the New York City

Marathon on Sunday (he was the miner

that ran everyday in the mines

to keep his sanity) and then

will come back in January

to see Graceland and Las Vegas.

What a humble man. I am so

glad I got to see him!

He put me in an instant good mood!

Let's live each day

with kindness and joy.

Halloween Party 2010

October gave a party;

The leaves by hundreds came -

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band.

--- George Cooper, "October's Party"

Here we are as Ghost Pirates, October 30th 2010.

I'll write more of our Halloween

weekend later....we had so much fun !

Tonight's sunset!

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HAVE A PARTY KIND OF A DAY!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010

HOPE YOUR HALLOWEEN

IS FULL OF TREATS AND

ONLY A BIT OF TRICKS!

Halloween Haunt 2002

In honor of Halloween 2010, I decided to post some photos from our Halloween Party/Haunt 2002! I can't believe 8 years have passed, since sometimes it feels like yesterday!

My dear friend Marie and I had planned to do something in 2001 after Martha Stewart came out with her first Halloween magazine, but after 9/11 we just lost our oomph to do anything.

So we gathered many ideas over the next 8 months and got to work summer of 2002.

We had so much fun, but time makes things fuzzy and stressful times not as bad ! :o) We were crazy by the night of the party!

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We carved many signs and headstones for our cemetery (photos later) out of foam insulation.

Marie's husband Steve, replaced our front door lights with these skulls that had red lights inside.

Our shrunken apple head tree
with ghostly books of every kind.

One of the sideboards covered with

an assortment of interesting and scary knick-knacks.

More hand painted books with an

electric-charged crystal ball sitting on top. (The kind that when you put your hands on it, the electric current follows your fingers.)

Another sideboard with crooked mirror.

The Phantom of the Opera was the first vignette of our Haunt.

We better not disturb him.

Oh, no, too late, he has seem us, so he is playing the same song over and over and over! Next stop the Mummy's tomb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll post more photos over the next week. The photos were taken with a 3 1/2 inch disk camera...remember those? Some of the disks are unable to be opened, so hopefully I can get all the pictures online. Hope you all our planning frightful and delightful Halloween celebrations......enjoy!

More vintage jewelry on Etsy

The winds will blow their

own freshness into you, and

the storms their energy,

while cares will drop away

from you like the leaves

of Autumn.

--- John Muir

I am finally listing more vintage jewelry on Etsy each day.

Please have a look...there may be a piece you can't resist!

NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY

TODAY IS NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY!

For more information on how you can be proactive in helping our "2nd best friend" go to

www.alleycat.org

Be kind to all our little furry friends,

domestic and wild.

Praise God!

Live in the sunshine,
swim the sea,
drink the wild air...
--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mission accomplished!

Haven't the the past 24 hours been so emotional watching the Chile miner's rescue? I watched practically the whole thing. ( I did sleep, unlike the rescuers!)

It is a testimonial to what can be done when people come together for a common goal/cause. Anything is possible! Each rescue was so individual you just had to see them all ! And when the last rescuer was pulled to the surface it really doesn't get any better than that ! I just thank the Chile government for sharing every detail with the rest of the world. God Bless Us All here on this wonderful planet Earth !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have an inspiring day!

October 16th National Feral Cat Day

Light is the task

where many share

the toil.

--- Homer

National Feral Cat Day
October 16 is National Feral Cat Day—a day for us to think about the outdoor cats in our neighborhood. We often see these cats ducking behind the supermarket or sunning in our backyards, and many of us dig into our wallets to feed them. Who are these cats, and how did they get here?
Feral cats exist in every community. These cats are the same species as domestic cats, but are not socialized to humans and can’t be adopted into homes. Instead, they live healthy and content lives in family groups called colonies.
The best and most humane way to help a feral cat is through a program called Trap-Neuter-Return, which ends the breeding cycle and helps cats and people coexist peacefully. Alley Cat Allies’ website www.alleycat.org is a great source of information on Trap-Neuter-Return and the importance of spay and neuter for all cats.

Did you notice the above cat's clipped ear?

Feral cats are ‘eartipped’—a portion of the left ear is clipped while they are under anesthesia—and then released to their original colony site. These cats have been either spayed or neutered and usually vaccinated too.

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HAVE A HELPFUL DAY!

Inspired Ideas and time sure does fly!

If wrinkles must be
written upon our brows,
let them not be written
upon the heart.
The spirit should

not grow old.
--- James A. Garfield

Oh my goodness! Look how time flies when you are having fun !

(Yes, I mean that sincerely! :o) The summer went by way too quick, but we did have fun and still plan to enjoy each day as it comes. Hope you will join me in doing the same?

As you know, I love these old postcards....this one is from 1910, 100 years ago. It is so amazing to me how so much can be crammed into 100 years!

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The below picture is from Ceago Winery located between Nice and Lucerne in Lake County, California. This is looking from the lake towards the main winery buildings. Lovely, isn't it? We finally made it over there July 6th just in time to see 1/2 of the lavender field in bloom. So many people told me I must go and see the lavender! As you can see they had trimmed one side and the other was to be started the next day. It was quite a sight and the smell was heavenly! And tons of lovely little honey bees buzzing about. (I took some pics of them and will post soon) They usually have the trimming done by the end of June so I felt so blessed and lucky to have seen and smelled the lavender this year ! I will post more pictures this week. I plan to get back to posting regularly. Really I do !

HAVE A LAVENDER BLUE DILLY DILLY DAY !

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Oops, I almost forgot to mention (and the reason I started this post!) that I placed an ad in a new free online magazine called Inspired Ideas by Amy Powers. I have checked Amy's blog www.inspireco.blogspot.com from time to time and saw she was resurrecting her newsletter Inspired Ideas, but this time she was selling ads. I was lucky to get in on the first issue of, I am sure, many more to come. She is so sweet and so talented and although I haven't met her in person (she lives on the East Coast) I am sure she is as nice as can be in person as she is over the internet ! You can check it out here: http://issuu.com/inspired-ideas/docs/autumn

Lots of fun ideas and projects that require very little experience, money or time. We should all take the time to use our creativity

even a little bit. :o)

Thanks so much Amy!

Kenny Loggins fun !

Sleep, riches, health, and

so every blessing are not

truly and fully enjoyed

till after they have

been interrupted.

--- Jean Paul Richter

Yikes, here we are (after too many lemon drops for me!)...on the way home from Kenny Loggins Thursday July 29th 2010 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. We rented a limo with 13 of us....although there was a total of 19 in our group. Had a lovely dinner before the concert at the Mountain Winery. Mike surprised me with backstage passes and an awesome large diamond ring for our 22nd anniversary and 50th birthday in November. FUN ! Hopefully I will post more pics of the rest of the group this week, but we know how that goes ! :o)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAVE A WEEK FULL OF FUN AND CALM !

TODAY AND TONIGHT

He had lived long enough

to know that it is unwise

to wish everything explained.

--- Joseph Cook

Today Mike and I saw Toy Story 3. It made us cry. Life goes by so fast. Please see it if you have seen Toy Story 1 and 2.

Tonight we ate and drank outside until 10:00 pm. We lit the candles and enjoyed the night sounds. Then walked down the driveway ( we have a fairly long driveway) to look at the stars.

I love the evenings.

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Have a pondering day!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY !

These two things, contradictory

as they may seem, must go together,

mainly dependence and mainly

independence, mainly reliance and

mainly self-reliance.

--- William Wordsworth

July 1909

Oh, I have so much to share and I will try to include all good things that have happened in the month of June, including finding the kittens and taking them to a Humane Society 2 hours away! :o)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAPPY ~ SO WONDERFUL TO HAVE

SO MUCH FREEDOM ~

INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Summer is on it's way!

Happiness is about the only thing

we can give without having,

and that by giving we receive.

--- Voltaire

HAVE A SUNNY DAY!

Fort Bragg Trip

The first step towards

happiness is determining

to be happy.

--- George Hodges

Our wonderful U.S. Coast Guard coming into Noyo Harbor,

Fort Bragg, California Monday, May 24, 2010.

Our dream house, just off the Pacific Coast,

Fort Bragg, California.

Enchanting foxgloves in Mendocino, California.
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HAVE A FABULOUS WEEK!