Daily Ooo's: November 30- December 1: Weekend Edition

[faerywings]

Holy moly cannoli. :doh: It was another one of those days yesterday. I am fine, just weary. It is darn *hard* keeping my emotions semi-in check. My day started out as a typical one, plans changing an' all that. My mom ended up not coming yesterday. She left all of her lists and coupons at MILs so we decided to do online shopping today when we had her papers here. I did some online shopping for her off of Cait's list, grabbed a couple of things for myself. Found a few things to pass along to MIL. *Finally* got the dental plan enrollment done. I had to use MS Edge, huhn... In the midst of that Cait comes down crying hysterically. She and Brendan broke up- after 6 years together. Objectively, I can see that it has been a long time coming, up and downs over the last 6 months or so. And I am conflicted b/c I never was able to see them together forever, like I can with Scott and Leah. Scott spent a lot of time with her, being an amazing big brother. She texted my niece- the one with the rats!- and she and her sister came up with the girl rats for a few hours to keep her distracted a bit. Great cousins. Me--I am soooo damn grateful for a really close-knit family. Cait said she doesn't have friends/support system, but when you have family as your best friends, it isn't so bad IMHO. (BTW- several of Cait's friends have been texting and checking in one her too)

My mom is coming up today and then I am going to need to get ready for the snowstorm tomorrow through Tuesday. 6-12" of snow and ice being predicted. Was it really 60* last week? Gary put the Christmas lights up yesterday and it was so cold and windy. I had to tease him that it was too bad he didn't do it that warm day like I had suggested to him LOL
I am tired-- need more :tea: Can I get anyone a cup?
Sending hugs to all!

 

[faerywings]

Kay-- I love the avi-- very true with my dogs, especially if there is peanut butter involved. Hope that your BFF is doing OK!
I think Cait is awake- Back in a it!

 

[faerywings]

Oh dear, it is gonna be A Day Part 2. It wasn't Caitlyn, it was Scott. But that is fine, I love seeing him too. What I don't love is seeing Ray pooping on the rug. I don't know what happened, she was squatting right next to me and the more I tried to take her collar to get her outside, the faster she pooped while walking away from me. Ugh.
So that is all cleaned up for now. I have to steam clean the carpets before the holidays as it is, but I don't have time to do it today.
Sorry that personals will be very short today.

Trudy- that is exactly like my Disney store shopping online last year was like. Were you and heather able to get back online and checked out? Of course the lady loved the sign! Hope it brings you more work, esp if it doesn't involve more turtles :madgrin:

Jean- I can read your avi, no problem. Gorgeous photo! I hope that he thinks I was nice haha but I am sure he sized you up as very nice!
Mine is quite large, isn't it. Should I scale it down?

Rae- I bet you were able to get some awesome photos in even if it was cold and drab outside, you have such a good eye for that. The planks/rocks sound like very creative ways to set the "stage" naturally.

hugs, my friends!

 

[BrightEyes]

Morning, all. What a day we had yesterday. The storm came in with high winds, rain, sleet and small hail. Wind was gusting over 50 mph and heavy rain. Glad I had not planned on going anywhere that day. Spent a lot of the day in the recliner with the foot elevated. It is slowly getting better as I am not limping as much this morning. Decided that I can make the reservations for the Chapter Christmas lunch by phone so hope to get that done today. BFF recovery will take a few months. Glad that we had the yearly planning session done before her fall from the attic stairs.

Chris, so sorry about Cait's break-up with her boyfriend or was it Scott with his girlfriend? And what a mess you had to clean up from the dog. Some days seem to be that way - a never ending challenge. Hope your mom gets her list so you can help her with the on-line shopping.

Glad you liked my Avi... we had doxies when the kids were young and most of them have had doxies after they were grown. This one in the Avi reminds me of DD#3's little one.

Well, we will be off and running tomorrow... December's 12 Days of Christmas challenges and games will be so much fun!! And what wonderful prizes... the designers have been so generous.

Need another cup of coffee before I get dressed. Hope you have a good day.

 

[scrap-genie]

Yesterday was just normal here and today would be more of the same except noon will see Ohio State playing that school up North in football. Nothing else exciting hopefully.

Chris, I'm sad for Cait's pain, but I always wonder about relationships that start so young. Hope she responds to all the loving from family, friends and furbabies. Give her hugs from us here at the O too! ::grouphug Bet your mom will want to give her confort too. Good luck with her lists and shopping. And I wasn't complaining about the size of the larger avi, just jealous. I work with such a small screen that lots of things are not quite readable on LOs.

Kay, glad the foot is responding to your TLC of it. Wow, nasty weather. Hope it is better today. Sad for your BFF. Fall from attic steps would be awful. (Chris, do you hear that? Be careful yourself going to your attic!) Love the little guy in your avi, very cute.

Happy weekend everyone!

 

[taxed4ever]

Happy Saturday everyone!! Wow it is really chilly here this morning -5 for us which is 23 degrees F. Brrrrr!! It is frosty too, so looks kind of pretty. I bet Rae's fingers are cold and stiff this morning while she takes her bird photos!! Anyway I am just popping in for a second as we are off to Costco this morning. Got lots of shopping online done yesterday, but now we need to stock up the freezer. No luck with the things Heather was trying to get at Toy R Us but hopefully she can find what she is looking for somewhere else. Looks like everyone is having fun with the Avatar Challenge and things are starting to look very Christmasy here at the O!! Chris please give Cait a big old hug from me!! :hug: I know the pain she is feeling!! Have a great Saturday everyone! Sorry no time for personals today!! :wave:

 

[nancyr]

Hi - late Sat afternoon. I have been so absent. I just was not happy but today I am happy. My DH and I went to my favorite birding spot. I have been keeping up with their weekly birding lists. Saw that they have snow geese and bald eagles. Some of my favorite birds. I was expecting a lot of traffic but not so much as tomorrow our weather is to be the pits as the storm that is now in the middle of the country is heading east. Well we saw amazing birds. The first stop we talked to some fellow birders and they pointed out the bald eagle in the tree. Yippee! It was miles away but for sure you could with binoculars. Then we headed down the dike that is an 8 mile trip through the WLR. We saw mallards, great egrets, lots of great blue herons, shovelers, pintails, black ducks, hooded merganser pair, mute swans and Canada geese. We came to a sandbar area and there were two American avocets OMgosh they are gorgeous, with greater yellow legged sandpipers and white-rumped sandpipers. The on the other side of the dike - the open ocean side were brant and I knew it was a grebe of some sort and when I got home discovered it was a horned grebe. And then saw a duck with a white spot on the cheek and I knew I should know this bird and again when I got home found out it was the female buffle head. Now that it is past breeding season the birds look so different it is hard for me to figure out. Got home and uploaded the photos and then used The Merlin bird app to identify my mystery birds. Along the way I saw this huge bird land and took out my binoculars are OMgosh a juvenile bald eagle. And then there they were the snow geese. I kept hoping they would fly and just as we were ready to go on off the went. They are so gorgeous. Well my DH and I got some awesome photos. Now I am happy. This week I have made improvements, I was able to drive the car to get my hair done and to walk further than I have. My knee can now bend to 110 degrees but need it to be comfortable at 120. One of my best accomplishments was asking my son to help with making this salad for our Thanksgiving dinner. It requires a lot of chopping but mostly it is a lot of standing and holding a hand mixer the entire time probably a good 45 min. He was so happy and it was awesome. He was happy that he got to say that he contributed. My son and his wife hosted the dinner and it was just 5 of us as her parents are cruising. Lots of leftovers and great by me as I love turkey sandwiches. Tomorrow I start my Dec project. And all the fun here at the O.

Hope everyone in the US had a great Thanksgiving.

Chris so sorry to read about Cait and Brendan breaking up. They had been together for so long and this must be hard especially during the holiday season. Give her a hug! Glad she has cousins and her rats to help. Sounds like your mom is improving as she doing her shopping. And whew I guess we are getting our first real storm. I am only supposed to get 3-5 inches. I hope you do not get a foot! Sorry that the puppy pooped on carpet. That is never fun.

Kay my sister got the same storm you did. She said it was crazy wind and rain and in some area of the city there was hail. Lots of trucks stranded on the interstate. But she said it was fast moving. Glad you had no damage. Hope the foot continues to get better. And how nice you can use the phone to make the reservation!

Jean hope you don't get too much snow! Have fun watching THE Ohio State!

Trudy saw you new painting and it looks so cool! Hope Heather gets her shopping figured out. I am so glad that I don't have to do that any more. Hope you got your errands finished.

Rae I cant think you enough for posting all those bird photos. It go me motivated to get my DH and I to find the birds. I am really loving all your photos!

Love all the Avitars!
Have a great day all!

 

[felis]

Hi dears!
I was totally forget about the Christmas party! I'll be around and will come back later with regular post!

 

[faerywings]

G'morning and happy if terrifying December 1st! I am in a funky mood this morning. I even did a morning affirmation meditation before I got out of bed hoping that would adjust my attitude a bit. I know a huge part of my mood is the upcoming storm. Looks like we are smack dab in the 7-10" area. The holidays are also messing with me-- I am already stressed with the amount of things that need to get done. Gary wants to get a tree today and I don't think I am mentally prepared for that!

I was able help my mom get a bunch of things online. I got one more thing for Caitlyn. She is the easiest to shop for, everyone else is rough. My mom seems to be doing good, a bit more energy than she had a month ago. But dammit, why does she have to stress herself out so much?? (pot, meet kettle. Hi kettle I am pot!) Scott called me out on that last night at dinner.
My mom put on her goofiest act to make Caitlyn laugh. She also only gave Brendan the "Mallook" (Italian horns, don't ask me how to spell it) once. In front of her at least. heh.
We played a good game of Pictionary last night, Gary and I won! It was good to laugh together a bit. I wish I could remember which of my drawings they all laughed at the most. However there is no way I can beat the werewolf. That was too much! hahahah!!!!

Today- *sighs* I don't even know! Maybe get a tree? I also want to get some soup in the crock pot for dinner. Steam clean the rug where Ray pooped. Laundry. *throws hands in the air* :hurt:

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day! Maybe I can get into a better mood soon.

xoxo

 

[taxed4ever]

Morning ladies another chilly morning here! Yesterday was a whirlwind of shopping, first we went to Lowes and I picked up some 4x4 ceramic tiles, I am going to make some coasters with my painting techniques for Christmas gifts. While we were there we looked at some Christmas trees. I have been wanting to replace our old tree for a few years now, it is just way too big and cumbersome to put up. I really wanted to get a slim tree that will fit in the corner of the living room. Anyway after looking there we decided to go for lunch at Milestones, yummy :hungry: Then off to Michaels to look at what they had in the way of trees. Of course I picked up a few new paints while we were there, but really did not see a tree that we both liked. Then to Costco where they had some nice trees, but the prices were not good. We got our groceries etc. and then headed back to Lowes and finally decided to buy a tree there. Bonus, we got it at half price Hooray!! By the time we got home it was supper time, but neither of us were hungry, so we watched a movie and had a glass of wine and both fell asleep on the couch LOL. Who knew shopping could be so exhausting!! :noidea: So today I need to get my cleaning done, perhaps put up the tree, but most of all I really need to scrap a page for the 12 days and get another page finished for my calendar!! Only 5 more to go LOL.

Chris - Sure hope that you are feeling in a much better mood after some morning coffee! Glad that you Mother was there to cheer Caitlyn up a bit and it sounds like you all had a fun evening playing Pictionary!! I would love to see some of your drawings Chris!! Remember to breathe and do one thing at a time, it will all come together! Christmas should be more about spending time with those you love and not be so stressful!! Ya right I am one to talk LOL!! Seriously though we all need to try to be a bit more calm about the Holiday Season, what will be, will be as my Mother always said.

Felis - How nice to see you here again!! I totally love your Devilish little black cat Avatar! Hope you are feeling less blue these days and that you have fun here at the O with the 12 Days Party!!

Nancy - That is sad that you have not been a very happy lady these past few days!! I know that your Devils have not been playing well, but perhaps there are other things that are making you unhappy? How nice that you have seen so many birds!! Aren't the eagles just so beautiful! You would love it here as they quite often fly right past my kitchen window, sometimes so close that you could almost reach out and touch them. Why do I never have a camera at the ready when they do?? Lucky you with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving, they are the best! Hope you are having fun with all the activity here at the O!!

Well DH is wanting an Omelette this morning, so I best get started on that, then hopefully I will get a lot done today! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! :wave:

 

[BrightEyes]

Morning, all. Welcome to December!!! I slept in until almost 9AM! But no wonder since I was up until after midnight - waiting to get the Day 1 Christmas Tree Challenge LO into the gallery. Now I can relax and enjoy seeing the wonderful Christmas trees in the LOs... already have several in the thread. Like several others, mine is a photo from last year as I haven't put one up yet this year. It is freezing - 32 degrees - and will be lucky if it gets up to 40 today. Cold and clear with clear skies.

Trudy, I hear you about replacing your large tree. We gave our 7' blue spruce one to DD#1 in 2010 and replaced it with the smaller white one. The blue spruce had separate branches that had to be individually hooked into the pole... would take us all day just to get it assembled. Glad you found a tree you liked and that it was on sale. Bet those coasters will be adorable!! You are so talented.

Have to tell a funny about our white tree. We moved from one house to another in Jan 2011 so when Dec rolled around hubby looked in the attic for the 'new' Christmas tree we had purchased in Dec 2010 and couldn't find it. Then he said that he might have given it away as he got rid of a lot of things before the move. << sigh >> So we bought another tree just like it. Then in Dec 2012 he found 2 White Christmas trees in the attic!! He had missed seeing it. We ended up giving one of them to DD#3 as we didn't need 2 trees! I love the white tree as it is pre-lit and I can assemble it by myself in about 15 minutes.

Chris, would love to see some of your drawings from the game... bet they are hilarious! Glad you were able to help your mom with her shopping and that she is doing better. Yes, it is so easy to get over-whelmed and stressed during this time of year. Hope you can relax some and enjoy the time with family and friends as that is the important things. <<< hugs >>>

Felis, love your avatar!!! Glad to see you popping back in. Hope things are better for you.

Nancy, so sorry your Devils have had a bad run lately. Hope your mood improves soon. Is the weather affecting your knees??? I know how it can cause aches and pains.

My Son-in-law called yesterday afternoon to see if he could come over and get my computer so he could transfer everything into hubby's computer. Had to tell him that I couldn't let him take it until next weekend due to all the stuff going on with the Christmas challenges, etc. He thinks it will take less than a day to get it transferred. Hope he is right. I need to charge up DH's laptop and transfer my bookmarks to it so I can at least get on-line. Not going to put my PS Elements on it... so no scrapping while SiL is working on mine. Also need to look into getting a new monitor as both the ones I have are several years old. Will make sure to run the back-up to my ExHD right before he takes it.

Off to get my shower now that the temp is in the house has warmed up. Hope everyone has a wonderful December. CYL

 

[scrap-genie]

We've even had a little sunshine today and maybe not as cold, so that is nice. It will be a normal football Sunday following happily on the win by Ohio State yesterday. Meanwhile I'm working on genealogy things, some for Christmastime.

Felis, love the avatar and how accurate it is! Looking forward to the party, hope you are too.

Chris, hope the mood improved with the day and you got a tree. Small steps, keep moving? Maybe you need a little rat play time too.

Trudy, the tiles will be wonderful. You're on such a nice roll with the painting. And yay for the tree and at 1/2 price. Shopping can really take a toll (just ask Chris!)

Kay, the tree challenge is lovely. I've got one to post now too. Hope that was a good sleep even with the late start. Love the two tree story. Life is like that (at least these days.)

 

[nancyr]

good afternoon - well we are in the middle of an ice storm. They suck. It was to snow and then turn to rain but alas it has just stayed right around freezing and so an ice storm. Tomorrow is not going to get any better as it will be snow. I am smiling as you all know me so well in that when the Devils are not playing well I feel bad but this time that is not the major reason. It seems that after the surgery scar tissue was catching on the back of my knee and I did not feel like I was making any progress. Well my therapist has been trying a new technique and at least today the catch is gone and my walking is better. That was really driving me crazy. My poor DH has strained his back. He does not know exactly how but perhaps the driving, raking or just walking Luther. I feel so bad for him. Pain is never good. My son went to the store and bought the ingredients to make the salad again. Too funny. But good for me as I love it.

Chris I hope you made it to get a tree with no problems driving. Glad that Cait seems to be better and your mom is funny as she tries to help. Pictionary is a fun game. I am like you I cant draw.

Trudy wow you were busy! Glad you got it all done. You deserved the early sleep. Trudy I keep meaning to ask what do think about all the information coming out from players on abuse by coaches. I have always wondered about the power structure between coaches and players. My sons were never in a team sports so I never had to deal with this.

Jean congrats to The Ohio State. Glad you are getting sun today!

Kay I loved the tree story. My DH loves to clean but then never remembers where he puts stuff. I am not sure what we are doing for a tree. I just want a small tree to put on a table.

Have a great day all!

 

[felis]

Hello lOelies!
I realize that I'm very inconsistent and my actions completely contradict to my previous post. But I want to give chance to Christmas and practice in some of the challenges, hope this will lift my spirit and maybe I'll can finished most or even all of them!
Excuse me, but I'm not familiar with all the posts from November, so if I'm skip something serious please let me know! :hug:

So in one Tuesday at November I turned 33. I didn't want anybody to know (but was sweet that many of you left me notes on this day by intuition), didn't invite friends and even tried to hide it from my aunt, but she was remember and came. It was hard and sad month, and I don't have power to pretend. I'm so tired, want to let me sleep 3 months or more! On a day after my birthday I waked up bored and tired by everything I am. I'm always feel life as constant pain, but chronic pain which can be ignored most of the days. November hadn't from these days.
Probably in future I'll couldn't recognize these words I'll share you now, but I'm so tired to be strong and independent woman! I wish I could be classic Jean Austen's wife: to put my life in loving hands and let someone else to take all the decisions and handle the responsibility! I'm so tired to play on defender, and I want to be weak and whimsical! It's not necessary to repeat things for which I'm murmuring here thousands of times!But I'm so tired to be a person who cares! Want to was able to be cold-hearted, not caring, egoist!
My heart is like Pumice: it start as uncontrollable fiery elements, which became cold stone with so many holes that even can't sink.


:bolt:
I think now it's better to concentrate only to very short concrete moments from present! So better go to personal notes!

Nancy, OMG the birding spot trip is so exciting and sounds so beautiful to see it! I'm so happy for you! Sorry for the bad weather! Hope your husband's back get better soon! Your progress with the walking is so fast, even if you feels it's not what you expect, it's really impressive for the side watcher.

Jean, love to see your posts, and the story with the bird visitors on a Thanksgiving day was so cute and heartwarming! Yes I'm excited a lOt about the party here! And I have lots of missed comments to do (as for your poinsettia page), which I hope to be able to make soon too!

Kay, the tree challenge is awesome, girl! We decorate it after ST. Nicholas day, so I don't have tree yet, but I'm give mission to my sister to find and send me photo of beautiful street/store tree. My mouse start gives me troubles, so I totally can put myself into your shoes, about need of replacement of all these computer elements. Oh, the White Christmas trees story is so cute and your page is very pretty!!!

Trudy, it's pleasure every time when I see new turtle at your Instagram! Love the details you add then to be different, it's so delicate and creative! Hooray for the progress with your calendar pages! And the new tree deal is awesome!

Chris, sorry but I was laugh a lot to your possibility for dental plan for which you needs a crystal ball to know in advance when you'll need app so to not wait ridiculous long time! Good that you found something to work for you! Hope you found the perfect tree!
I'm so deeply sorry about the Cait's broke up, please give to her big strong hug! It's difficult to keep man when you refuse to give him kid. But she will meet someone better, I'm sure!!! The hardest part is that she lose not only him but his family too and it's looks like she liked them a lot. She is so beautiful, will replace him for no time!

Rae, I was so happy to find that you post more often now! Hugs and kisses to your family!