Happy Hour Chatter

The Christmas Blizzard has moved on, thankfully!  But in its wake is a whole lot of snow.  Hubster finally made it home around noon today but couldn't get in our yard with the truck. There's a 5ft snow drift the entire width and length of our driveway.  Thankfully our young neighbor - Tony - came with the industrial snowblower on the tractor.  Yeah!!  I spent yesterday rearranging my office/spare bedroom, cleaning out papers, organizing files, and getting ready for year-end stuff.   I tried to get things ready today to actually do year-end, but just couldn't find it in my mind to focus.  So, I did some more cleaning and organizing. ~L~  I have the cleanest, most organized office that I've ever had! (hope it lasts).   I think my New Year's resolution is going to be "Be Organized!"   My good friend Becky said, "yeah, let me know how that works out for you!"  Snot! ~LOL~  Seriously, I had a stack of mail ...

Alone - except for my cat, Boris.  Hubster spent the day at main ranch and tended to the cattle. In a Blizzard. Talked to every one of my siblings and wished them and their families a Merry Christmas. Watched "Rachel Got Married" - a good movie about a dysfunctional family.  Love Ann Hathaway's work in this one. Had toast for Christmas dinner.  Splurged and put PB & J on top!   Did yoga.  Yeah!!!  Searched for friends - and found a few - on FB.  (Double cool). Chased Boris around the house. Talked with various people on the phone, like good friend Becky and mother-in-law Ella. Took a hot, leisurely bath and shaved my legs (ok, too much information I know, but it's what I did!). Searched for fun and unusual sights on the internet.  Didn't find anything that tripped my trigger. Read other people's blogs.  There is some hilarious stuff out there. (Blase, keep writing hon!) Did my nails. Thought about doing some bookwork.......

It's the afternoon of Christmas Eve.  It's a time for families to come together to celebrate the holidays, for friends to wish each other well and give thanks for the special bonds that bring them together.  A time for reflection on all the good things in our lives and to remember those no longer with us who have left their imprint on us.  My mind turns to my family on this day and the special memories the holiday holds for me.  I'll be going to my sister's (Peggy) tonight - weather permitting - to celebrate with her and her daughters (and son-in-law).  Very few Christmas Eves have gone by that I haven't spent  them with Peggy.  It all started back in the 70's - my parents and I would spend the evening with Earl and Peggy - eating, drinking, driving around and looking at Christmas lights or going to Christmas Eve services.  My parents and Earl are no longer with us, but the night holds us close to them and their memories. I want to extend...

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas, but seriously…I don’t want THAT much white!  Yes folks, we are going to be in the grips of a winter storm/blizzard through the Christmas holidays.  This is going to bite big time!   Though I don’t have to travel far – just to town on Christmas Eve and less than a mile on Christmas Day – I do have two nieces scheduled to come in from Minneapolis. My husband already informed me that if it gets as bad as what they are predicting, he may not be home for Christmas, opting to stay at the ranch to make sure the cattle fair through the storm relatively unscathed and still inside the corrals.   The cattle are our livelihood so he makes sure they are cared for.  He’s a lot like my father in that respect. Dad always said, “you can judge a man by the way he treats his animals.” I’m already thinking ahead  - do I have enough milk, toilet paper, and bread on hand JUST in case I get stranded at home.  ...

If you haven't gotten it, wrapped it, baked it, written it out, mailed it.....  GET TO IT!  ~L~ I had every intention of writing out Christmas cards last night, but it was hubster's birthday so we ended up going out for supper to The Grille...and I just didn't feel like doing them when we came home.  We watched a rather stupid movie called The Seeker...but it was entertainment AND I got to eat lots of buttered popcorn.  So....Christmas cards have just turned in to New Years cards! ~L~ Had a good day though yesterday and today. It's so pretty outside with the frost covering the trees. Here are a couple of pics that I snapped on my way in to the gym yesterday morning.   They are pretty enough to put on a postcard! I spent the afternoon with Peggy and Blaine.  They were doing their annual "Peggy does the baking and Blaine does the wrapping" date and they "decided" to let me in on the fun!  And fun we had!  I tell you what, I laughed a...

This email arrived in my email this morning and I couldn’t help but chuckle.  These days, I’ll all about healthy eating, watching the calories and exercising like a mad woman.  BUT, there was a day when I followed each of these 10 steps and had a good time doing it.      So, with nostalgia, I’m forwarding them on to everyone in hopes that maybe you’ll indulge in one (or 10) of them and have an absolutely fantabulous Christmas season!      CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY EATING TIPS 1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls. 2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-al...

I was setting up the training room this morning for another round of staff training classes .   In doing so, I asked the instructor whether he showed a movie with his course.    His reply was priceless:  "I AM the movie! The good, the bad and the ugly all rolled in to one!"   I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing!      What a wonderful way to start my day!  

Almost every radio station I listen to these days is in full Christmas music mode.  I am loving it!    Every song I hear is bringing back some absolutely wonderful memories of my childhood.     When I was a little mite, my grade school would have Christmas pageants. Those pageants consisted of beautiful homemade costumes, poor acting and  lots of Christmas carols sung off-key by hyperactive children in 1st - 6th grades.    It was a big event for us.  We started practicing in November and December, every afternoon during the week.  We learned our lines, or tried, sang about jingle bells and the twelve days of Christmas, and had a lot of fun skipping out on classes in the afternoon and misbehaving while we were not on stage.   We had a lot of work to do in order to be ready for the grand event the week before Christmas and somehow managed to pull it off, much to the delight of our parents....

As I sit and reflect on my life, I realize how incredibly lucky I am.    There are days that life seems to be a complete struggle.  You know the ones; those days where you get screamed at by ungrateful shrew on the other end of the phone, a co-worker that has a chip on their shoulder and is unrelenting in their vision of the world, or the unpleasant store clerk who would rather shoot you than help you.    Then there are days when you realize that everything that may cause a hiccup in the day - is just that, a hiccup.  In the grand scheme of life, those small things are insignificant.     I hear of others in our community (and the nation) going through hardship and I look at my life and count my blessings.    Those blessings help me to get through the difficult phone call, deal with difficult or unyielding staff, smile at an unpleasant clerk at a store, or hold my tongue when a family member hurts ...

On November 18, 2002 I took the first step to help save someone's life - I signed up to become a member of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.    It was quick, painless, and it made me feel good about myself; I was doing something worthwhile that just may save someone's life. For many patients with life threatenting diseases such as leukemia, a bone marrow transplant is their best or only hope for a cure.  Many do not have a donor match in their family and need to rely on people - such as me - to help save their lives. I often hear that being a donor of marrow - if called upon when matched - is painful.  I've heard the stories, the ones where they need to drill in to the hip bones to extract the marrow.   But you know what?  A little pain on my part isn't anything compared to to the pain of someone going through cancer.  I can - and will -put up with the discomfort in order for someone to have a 2nd chance at...

  I just have to laugh.    I was at the gym last night sweating my bootie off.   After sucking air on my last pass on the treadmill, I decided it was time I'd had enough.     While I was putting on my sweatshirt and bundling up to keep that "post workout heat" going in the frigid temperatures, a gentleman that I've seen (but have no clue what his name is) through the gym circuit for a couple of years was getting ready to head out the doors as well.    He was lamenting the fact that he'd just left warmer temperatures to "come back to this!"   A group of us were gathered around the door and were laughing that this was just the start of it and he should "suck it up and deal with it."      He just laughed, reached in to his bag and drew out a fresh mandarin orange and tossed it to me.     He proceeded to say, "try that on for size....I ...