65 degrees today

Yard waste pick-up came by this morning, around 9:00.  The guy picked up my small bundle of sticks, by the string handle I had made, and they held together while he threw them into the back of the truck.  Done with all that until next spring.  Now all I have to do is pay the lawn mowing/leaf raking guy.  That may take two payments--half this month and half next.

I hung my evergreen, decorated wreath on the front door.  That may be the extent of my Christmas decorating this year.  I am just not in the mood.  Do you remember last year.  I posted a photo of the 452,000 boxes of decorations sitting all over my living room, as I was putting stuff out.  It takes me a week!  

My sister decorates 4 trees and this year, she bought three more, because they were on sale.  We will have our Christmas at her house this year, so I can get my fill of all the "pretties", without breaking my back.

No one ever comes to visit to see MY "pretties", plus, I spend Christmas Day alone, which is usually the day I put all the decorations away,  so.....

Maybe I will put my Thomas Kincaid lighted tree on my kitchen table and call it good.
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The Christmas cards are done and in their envelopes, oh yes, and stamped.  I will mail them out around the 11th most probably.  Plus, I need to find 4 crisp and clean $10.00 bills to put in Jen's kids cards.  They will not be here for Christmas--for the 3rd year in a row. :-(

Weekend

My Gosh!!!

I practically over dosed on sports over the weekend.  They even had games on Friday!!

College football games--even basketball games.  There was a basketball tournament that my Michigan State Spartans played in Friday, Saturday and Sunday---in Portland, Oregon.

Do you know how late those games came on back here?  10:30 the 1st night, Midnight the 2nd night and (not so bad) 8:30 last night.  I watched all of them and..............WE WON THE TOURNEY!!!

Saturday football--Michigan State beat Rutgers and Ohio State beat Michigan.  YAY!!!!!!  Auburn beat Bama!!!  Now that's done until the play-offs and then the Bowl games.

Then basketball starts in earnest and continues all winter until March Madness.

I have to admit, I got a little sick and tired of sitting there watching.

But I have that nice loooooooooong winter cross stitch project to keep me company.

Oh, BTW--I don't watch professional football or basketball--only College.

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Today, I got my 452 thousand Christmas Cards created and done.  I have Hallmark Card software.  All during the year, I use it for making birthday cards.  I like it because I can personalize the cards with the person's name or put a small written text inside.

At Christmas time, I pick one card that I like and use that to send to friends.  Those that live away, I tuck in a little note.

Then, I find individual cards for family members--kids, grandkids, great grandkid.  I try and pick out cards that have a verse that is what that person is like, then I personalize it with their name.

I started doing this years ago to save money.  Every year, I sent out printed photo cards--they got a little pricey over the years. With these cards, I can insert a photo on the page.  

The printed Christmas cards I used to buy in boxes seemed expensive and we all know how much a birthday card can cost nowadays.

Seriously?  I probably don't save a thing on the Christmas cards, because I have to buy card stock and greeting card envelopes, but....you know how I love to write and create things on my computer, so the joy I get out of doing this, far outweighs the cost of a pack of card stock paper and a box of envelopes.

What was my father's favorite saying?  Oh yes.  "A fool and his money are soon parted."

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50 degrees and sunny today and maybe up to 60 tomorrow.  The last yard waste pick-up tomorrow.  As a person that obeys the rules...  hence, my little bundle of branches are broken up in 4' lengths and tied securely with string.  

Giving Thanks

An unusual Thanksgiving dinner at daughter Karen's house.

Unusual in that there were only 9 of us.  This made for what my sister Susan called the "perfect" Thanksgiving and daughter Pam agreed.  "It wasn't so crowded.  I could actually sit and talk to Karen,  without twenty other people wanting her attention."

Usually there is Karen and her Hubs Mark, Helene & Mike and baby, Susanna, Marcus and fiancee', Stephen and girlfriend, Maddie and boyfriend--and that is just the family--then there are Karen's in-laws, a raucous crowd of 8.

Yesterday: Karen and Mark.  Maddie and Stephen.  Susan, Chuck and her son Adam, Pammie and me.

I wasn't even tired from all the noise.  Usually I'm worn out.

They had just finished the fireplace at the "new" end of their living room.  Unlike most late 50 year old empty-nesters, who are ready to downsize, Karen and Mark are enlarging their house.  They are adding family.  A wedding last year and a new baby.  A wedding in June.  Perhaps an other wedding in 2020, which means more people added and more grand babies coming.  Considering this family is nearly ALL together each and every weekend..............they do everything together--even after their kids get married......they need a bigger living room.
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Women in the kitchen

Men watching football

Susan, her son Adam and Chuck

Stephen, Karen, Mark, Maddie

It was lovely.

Glad that's over with

Not one bag fell apart!.

Since then, I have rolled up the garden hose and put it back in the shed.
Put the rocks back in the garden edging.
Broken up the branches in 4' lengths for yard waste pick-up next Tuesday--I just gotta tie them in a bundle.


After 2:00--I Gassed up the car--Good Grief, $2.69, went to the bank and to Walmart to get some groceries.

I also finished one genealogy pedigree today and have only 1 load left to do in the laundry.



If I have to, I can do anything.  I am strong.  I am invincible.  I AM WOMAN!!!!

Ready for tomorrow

I pulled the plastic tarp off the yard waste bags of leaves this morning.
We had 48 degrees with a nice wind and sun!!
Hopefully they dry out by Tuesday morning when the yard waste pick-up guys come.

It goes on..........

My continuing dilemma with the yard waste bags-------I woke up Friday morning and checked the weather forecast.  Rain beginning at 3:00 and continuing through the night, with hard continual rain and wind gusts on Saturday.

After my Soap, I hied myself into Brighton and bought a 10 x 14' heavy plastic tarp.  I was in such an angry, frustrated state that I took that tarp and spent 20 minutes, quickly wrapping it over and around all the leaf bags.

I tucked some of it under the heavy bags, put rocks on the rest of the edges to hold them down.  Put the heavy branches and my heavy garden hose on top to help hold it down and then---parked my car close to them, to make a wind break.

When I was finished--I noticed that I had gone at this job with such resolve and determination, that although my back hurt, I was exhilarated in such a way that I said, "Don't tell me I can't still do things!!"  I felt like Rocky Balboa!!!

and rain it did and wind gusts we had, but that tarp stayed in place.  

Now, this morning we had a bit of snow, but--the rest of the day and tonight is suppose to be dry and Monday, the forecast is for 44 degrees and full sun.

I will whip that tarp off and let those bags dry out all day Monday and hopefully--early Tuesday when the yard waste guys come to pick-up...those bags will hold together, and they will be carted away and my dilemma will be over!

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Saturday, I watched college football all day long--which gave me lots of time to work on the new cross stitch.  This one is the most difficult I have ever tackled.

On the pattern, there is no picture of what the finished product will look like.  

Other patterns look like this.  The squares have the symbol of the color floss to use, but at least, the shape of what it is going to look like is very apparent.

 Not this one, just row after row of dark to light browns and tans.  I found I could only do a ten stitch across by 10 rows down, or I'd get mixed up on the colors.  In that space of 100 tiny stitches might be over 15 shades of color used.  So for the last couple of weeks, I just kept stitching along--knowing what the final product would look like--eventually--from the cover photo on the pattern package, but not knowing when it was going to take shape.

Friday night, I noticed something was changing on the far right side.

AHA!  Disciples are appearing.  It's like a miracle!!! (Kidding).

and another one.........................

Now I see why color shade placement is so critical.  None of these figures are going to be outlined to give them definition.  It is going to be through color changes alone.  

YOWZA!!

Maybe--someday--if I live along enough, the finished product will appear.

Frustrating Dilemma

I had 8 yard waste bags of leaves that I had to haul out to the street.  I did that Monday and just about killed my back and shoulder for doing anything significant on Tuesday.  Well, guess what?  The Yard Waste company did not pick up the bags yesterday.  

It was suppose to rain all today, so last night, I went out and tried to lay a sheet of plastic on top of the bags to protect them.  I had a few fallen branches from my Maple trees that I laid across the top of the plastic.

When I woke up this morning, the plastic sheet was laying on the driveway, along with a couple of the branches.  Must have been a wind that blew them off.

So, I put the plastic back on, and sort of latticed the branches on top.

I called the office to see when the Yard Waste pick-up was going to be, they replied the next two Tuesday's in a row.  The Newsletter they sent out at the beginning of the month clearly stated, "Yard Waste pick-up will be EVERY Tuesday during the month of November."  

I didn't even argue, even though I was sitting and looking at the statement in the Newsletter.  Nothing I could do about the missed Tuesday and bringing it to their attention wouldn't have solved a thing.

I had just hung up the phone when my lawn mowing guy, or at this time of year, my leaf raking guy drove up. He comes every other Monday, but today is Wednesday.   Since it takes him more time to rake up leaves than it does for him to mow, I could see why he was days behind.

He was here 4 hours.  He did Dar's and Jackie's.  Their lots back up to the woods so he just blows them off the lawn and into the woods.

Then he started on mine and my neighbor's.  I told him about my frustration and said, "Now the bags you fill today will be in the rain until next Tuesday.  I can't seem to get the plastic sheet to stay on top to protect them."

He said, "Don't worry.  I'll figure out something."

So off I went to the Food Bank.  

When I got back, I noticed he was finished up with my lawn and working on my neighbor's AND using some of my bags for the neighbor's leaves.

While I realize that it is difficult to tell whose leaves are laying on whose lawn--it still kind of irritated me.  My neighbor makes a couple hundred thousand a year.  I get about $12K.  

Oh well, a stack of yard waste bags only cost about $1.98 at Walmart, so I can be generous.

He put all the bags he collected over on the end of my driveway.  That's okay, it will be easier for the Yard Waste company to pick them all up in one spot.

I notice he had put the plastic sheet back on as best he could.  But, where it had covered 8 bags, there were now 14 bags there and it wasn't covering the tops of all the bags.

So--as I watched it rain all day and know that we have two more rain days and maybe a rain/snow mix day from now until next Tuesday--I am wondering.

The bottoms of these paper bags are going to be wet.  When the Yard Waste people go to pick them up and throw those heavy, leaf laden, wet bags into the back of the garbage truck, are all the bottoms going to break and I will have leaves scattered all over my driveway?

And, if they do---guess whose responsibility it will be to clean them up?

And I have no Yard Waste bags left to use.