Sometimes, I am sooo easy..

..to make happy.

Finding a little left-over coffee in my cup that I thought was empty..

 Getting the perfect bubble-gum bubble..

Getting all 5 fingers in the correct slots in my gloves on.the.first.try.  happy happy happy!

Deciding to actually throw away the sock that you just discovered has a wee hole in the heel.. life's too short for holey socks.

Not getting stopped by the for-ever-red-light..you know, as in it's GREEN..not that I don't stop...when it's red...or "getting stopped" by the police..

Someone doing the obligatory "thank you" wave when I let them in front of me..

Yes, happyhappyhappy..

But, I guess I can get equally in serious grumpage-mode pretty easily too.


Getting three fingers in one slot and trying to adjust and not being able to figure out who's not in the right place...

Finding an empty, cold, messy  coffee cup when my brain says it needs more..

Deciding not to toss the socks..no wait..I've gone beyond that.  I WILL TOSS HOLEY SOCKS!

So, what I'm apparently saying is that I am totally hot & cold..black & white..happy & grumpy..at any given moment.

For practically NO reason at all..

huh..maybe I'm not all lightness & fluff all the time.

Maybe...deep down inside, I am a curmudgeon...a Scrooge...a GRINCH!

Nah.  Just having deep thoughts on a chocolate-deprived day.

What  makes YOU happy? Mad? Crabby? Is it BIG things..... or wee things?

Well, anyway..maybe I should just get some of those fingerless gloves and call it good...

-me 

It's my Mr. B's brother's (Mr. B v.2.0) birthday!

These two "boys" have been at it for years...

 Randy and his big brother..Robert..

 I can only imagine what my Mother-in-law had on her hands all those years ago..

...in Iowa..

...in the snow..

..buddies..

..then...

...now..

..brats..

Oh. My. Gosh.

.. brother....cuties..good men....

Happy Birthday Robert!

Love,

-me

How can week-ends make you sooo tired??

Hmmm..maybe that's why we go back to work...to rest up after the non-stop week-ends.

Saturday stared with lunch with " Breezy"..another blogger {she's on my sidebar} and it seems we have a mutual admiration society going on here.

She is a reading resource teacher for the 5th grade.  I know, huh.?  One of the most important and under appreciated jobs in the world..or at least in the US..sadly..

Her son is a firefighter and her hubby, a postal worker..all three in "service" mode..what a legacy that is, right?

We had a leisurely lunch and gabbed like 2 long lost friends..maybe we are..2 long lost friends from another time & place..?

It was sooo much fun!  We will definitely do this again..soon hopefully.  As they say.."the ice has been broken.." {if there was any ice..blogging make you feel you know them already..another perk!}


Then it was home to Jeff & Rachael giving me a belated birthday gift of a trip to Build-a-Bear....where I got o pick out my own "furry friend"..a dog..What? you were expecting a frog maybe??

So here I am, building "Brecken" {yes, you have to name therm- then & there..for their birth certificate, of course!}

I chose the name because, depending on how I want to dress {her/him} I can choose darling outfits (!} either for a dude or a girly-girl..

Ta-da1 Christmas Brecken with his text-camera-cell-phone personalized with "his" photo and elf-shoes..

{his shirt lights  up!}

Yeah..It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here..but not in a good way...yet.

I have this thing lately, that the kitchen table is not really meant to be a dropping place for..anything...that happens to come into the kitchen at any given moment.

So I've been compulsive...obsessed..bent..determined to keep it clear..and it was wonderful..until yesterday...

Eiyee yiy yiy..it looks like Christmas sneezed all over the kitchen..but it will look wonderful soon..

..then for a couple of weeks..we'll be in a Christmas wonderland of sorts { we don't do a fancy-schmancy lovely Christmas, but an eclectic mix of silly, child-like, fun, home made, with a dash of red-neck {the lighted reindeer with big teeth that sings "Grandma got run over by a reindeer.." while bobbing it's bells-on-his-antlers-head}

But it's wonderful..and magical..and happy..and..

Oh who am I kidding,..it's a LOT of work for a SHORT time.  But soooo worth it.

So, what do you do that completely wears you out on the week-ends??

-me

'Tis the season to be...

..tired.. 

Don't know why really...

Really..well..maybe I know  a little.

Seems Lulu is a  watch dog. 

A real watch dog...

A watch me dog..

And when my breathing is labored {much less labored since I've lost some weight}she wakes me up. 

So I get up, let her out and she obliges me with a token pee.. ...piddle...potty.

Then, I try to go back to sleep..ah, who am I kidding..as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm back to sleep..

I have actually fallen asleep while standing in the yard and waiting...and waiting..and ..

So, I go back to sleep and a few hours later, we go through that again. 

The reason we know it's all about the breathing is that Mr. B witnessed it one day as I fell asleep on the sofa..and started doin' the old head-bobbing thing..and was making noises.

She became very attentive, then was nervous, then concerned..then she crawled into my lap and gently woke me up.

How can I gt mad at that?

Yep, I can't..

But I do get tired...a lot.

Because before you know it, it's 4:45am and I am getting up for the day.

So, I am in that "having a new baby and getting 2 hours of sleep at a time" mode.

And I love my baby, Lulu.

But, what I would give for a full night's sleep..safely and so Lulu could sleep, too.

How much sleep do you get?  Is it enough?

OK, so go rest now and have a great tomorrow.

-me...and Lulu

PS...I really do love you Lulu..and Braxton. Sweet dreams...

Fun with hats..or is it hatzzz..whatever..

..it's fun.

I use Picasa as my photo editor..and they have this fun add-on {free} called Picnik.

They have some fun things to do when you have a little time to play..and "little time" is what I usually have.

A little warning...this can be soo fun..that time just kinda gets away from you. TeeHee..

They do have a "pay for premium" service, but you can still use a LOT of the free stuff..

Yeah..you can get silly..

And you can get really really silly...

..anyway, give it a try..also they have on-line albums. And if your family had on-line albums with them, you can "share" and when they upload, they can view !

Have a good Tuesday and remember..it's about having fUn!!

Whew.....

Yeppers...it's almost Monday.

And we have had the mostest-funnest-fastest-snowy-est Thanksmas ever..

What..I say that every year?? Well..here's proof...

Uh-huh..these puppers don't get dressed up for just anyone..

Zumba..early Thanksgiving morning...

of course..there was no shortage of great food..

visiting..photos.smiling..resting...texting  ??..

presents..happiness..fun....

Trax ride..Temple Square lights..brrr....cold!

Crafting..silliness..excitement..

Miscselanious..miscellanious..  ...other shots

Photo shoot...

..and now..quiet..cleaned up..folded..left-overs..and complete..and utter..

tHanKfUlneSs...

Thanks-mas is on the way!!**EDITS AT THE END..

For anyone not knowing about Thank-mas...it's a thing with our family that started when the Colorado contingency came to Thanksgiving one year with the grands and we sent the back with all their wrapped  Christmas gifts...and we didn't get to see them open them..nor they see us open ours..

The next year, my sister Gerri & her daughter Lisa representing Arizona came as well..and left with wrapped packages.

We thought.."maybe we should have Christmas while they're all out here..but that seems a little extreme..so "Thanks-mas" was born..

Thanks-mas 09

They arrive at various times on Wednesday..we have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday..

Friday anyone who wants to {required of the girls} gets up at 4am and does the Black Friday thing..{usually just to see of we can hit all the freebies}

The guys join us about 9am for a breakfast out..then it's sight-seeing, or more shopping, football games and left-overs.

Thanks-mas 08

Friday night is then like Christmas Eve..last minute wrapping, excitement, card games, watching Christmas movies, hot chocolate drinking..

Thanks-mas 05

Saturday morning is "Thanks-mas" morning..everyone meets in the living room in their jammies to open presents, see all the happiness and make big 'ol wrapping paper messes..

Thanks-mas 04

Sunday they all head back to their respective states..and have their own traditional Christmas with no worries  (and no shipping of presents!)

It's a "win-win" for all, but especially the younger ones..2 Christmases in one year!

This year, a blizzard is forcasted for late Tuesday and the early hours on Wednesday..which could cause hazardous conditions as the storm moves towards our drivers..

We are watching the weather forecasts and we know they will make the right choices as to the travel to our home..

We hope for the best..and would be so sad not to have them..but nothing is worth their safety..even Thanks-mas..

So wish them well and our prayers to all who are traveling this week..

-me