just popping in to query... are we going to have a virtual solstice party here? if we are this is what i will wear (though i'd probably not do minty green because it usualyl turns me minty green too). i think i'd rather do icy blue.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63094151/emerald-green-winter-solstice-dress
It's a lovely dress. I do have to wonder who buys (IRL) a $3500 dress? Wowza.
The snow is falling and friends are calling yoohoo! Well, that is kind of what we have planned for the day, treking out in the blowing snow and finishing our pots with friends. Hope the weather clears shortly.
I am having a bit of a problem, nothing mega or even major, but I would really love to stay home on Christmas this year. Usually we travel to my family, which is an hour away and then spend the day and come home in the evening. Even if we give the girls gifts on Yule, we do do Santa, so there are things to do on Xmas morn before traveling. I usually get stressed getting everything ready to go and end up having an IBS episode. :( I feel guilty not going cause everyone else will be there, though everyone else lives closer than we do. I could go to my family the next day, Sunday and spend all day. Blah....
How is everyone doing?
The snow is falling and friends are calling yoohoo! Well, that is kind of what we have planned for the day, treking out in the blowing snow and finishing our pots with friends.
I am having a bit of a problem, nothing mega or even major, but I would really love to stay home on Christmas this year. Usually we travel to my family, which is an hour away and then spend the day and come home in the evening. Even if we give the girls gifts on Yule, we do do Santa, so there are things to do on Xmas morn before traveling. I usually get stressed getting everything ready to go and end up having an IBS episode. :( I feel guilty not going cause everyone else will be there, though everyone else lives closer than we do. I could go to my family the next day, Sunday and spend all day. Blah....
Finishing our pots with friends? What does this mean? 
I'd stay home, then. Take a poll of your family and see what they'd rather do. If the vote is for going, then maybe you can get all the stuff ready the day before and set it by the door? Like as if they were going to school or something? So you can just run out the door, all ready, instead of scrambling.
I, also, get sometimes tired of always traveling. It's always me. My brother won't go any-damn-where, and my mom is turning 74 and doesn't want to travel as much (though I think she's using her age as an excuse, because she's perfectly capable of climbing ladders and fixing stuff and doing plenty of yard work). One year I just Had It, and we stayed home. But it is kind of lonely, just ds and me. So this year, again we travel...we'll be going to my mom's on 12/23. Her boyfriend will be there, and then the day after Christmas I go to MA again 
Mom and C will be having fun with ds for a couple of days 
I'm so annoyed. DS's school was canceled today because of "treacherous road conditions". Srsly, there is a very slight dusting of snow, and you can see more grass than snow. Urgh.
Morning:)
It's a cold, windy, starting to snow kind of day. I will be staying inside, keeping the fire going, not even sure if I will get out of my jammies:) I gave up coffee a while ago, but boy I could use a cup today.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday:)
Morning:)
It's a cold, windy, starting to snow kind of day. I will be staying inside, keeping the fire going, not even sure if I will get out of my jammies:) I gave up coffee a while ago, but boy I could use a cup today.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday:)
Sounds cozy. I'd share a cup of Joe with ya. 
Yesterday we trekked up the mountain where there was lots of snow and got our tree. 
Each year we buy a permit from the forestry service and make a day of it. The "smaller trees" you can cut look so small compared to the large trees, so it's easier to cut down a 'bigger than you might think' tree. Sooo...here we are with I'd say a (gulp) 15 foot tree! 
We were getting some astonished looks with this thing strapped onto our sedan (I'll try to post pics later). We have pretty tall ceilings, and it goes right to the top. DP insisted on using the whole thing after cutting it and lugging it up a steep slope. Poor guy did it all himself cause I wasn't letting the kids go down where he was, and I wasn't going down to help him and leave the kids. There were cougar tracks where we were. So, we sat and sang carols at the top of our lungs to cheer on Dad, and to let the cougar know he/she wouldn't want to mess with these crazy, loud creatures. 
That was our adventure. Now the kiddos are busy playing animals under the forest canopy in our living room. Anyone see Christmas Vacation? That is us. Hi. We are the Griswalds. 
Hoping everyone has a smooth transition into the new week with a lovely new moon.
haha i need to watch that movie again....
it is snowing here! big heavy flakes! now it feels like winter.
something is going on and i cant access my subscription list. had to find you gals the old fashioned way. lol.
i have almost all the shopping done. just need some things for DH. i made him a cd of some cool music he likes. and i got him a keychain that beeps when you whistle. but he needs something good. something that shows him i care and do listen. thhe problem is, he never really talks about anything. sigh. i know he wants people to care about his opinions etc but he doesnt ever really say anything.
redveg: what i do is 1 cup oats (steel cut or old fashioned not quick) and 4 cups liquid (like i said i do apple juice/cider) you can add butter, nuts, dried fruit if you want also at this point then cover and set on low for about 8 hours. so like get it ready right before bed. of course it does depend on how hot your slow cooker cooks.
aeress: i hate being the ones who always have to travel. would it be so bad to just go sunday and spend the day? my biggest issue was/is always the kids wanna stay and play with their stuff and you have to travel and leave all the goodies behind and then they may not be able to play with what they get if it has alot of small pieces at grandma's house. it always crapped my hiney that my parents were totally OK with me packing up my kids and doing the driving (back when we lived in tucson so it was 2 hours one way) but they never did that when i was growing up. grandparents always came to us. you know come to think of it my parents irritate me alot. LOL sorry about that. hahaha well, anyway, you gotta do what works best for your family. maybe like maia said have everything ready the night before and maybe spend an easier going morning and get their a bit later like late morning early afternoon. good luck and try not to stress yourself out too much IBS is such an energy sucker and you must take care of you!
h
LOL at the bigger than expected tree! It's so true though... outside and in context trees look a heck of a lot smaller than they do indoors next to the couch. We use DH as a guide... trees that are significantly taller than he is stay where they are. I bet it's going to look amazing though!
We're going to decorate our tree as part of our St Lucia celebration (a day early, since Sunday is just easier to deal with). I'm so excited! The girls were pointing out trees yesterday and it was hard telling them to wait.
We nearly had a car accident today though... there isn't that much snow (maybe 6-8 inches), the road is gravelled, there wasn't much wind or anything... but the minivan is a 2 wheel drive vehicle and apparently there really is no way for it to cope with our rural road. It was a nightmare getting the final distance to the house... I almost pulled into our lower neighbor's drive because we slid back past it so many times. And our road has a pretty deep "U" shaped valley so we were slipping back towards to valley (which is over a river with no guard rails) and I knew that while I might be able to get us safely back down to the bridge there would be no way to get back up the other side. So the van would be stuck, in the middle of a very narrow rural road, a 5 minute walk to our house. WITH the kiddos. So slipping was not an option. Argh! I've never been so freaked out... it took minutes to stop shaking and I don't know what we'll do... this weather is NOTHING compared to later in the season and I HAVE to get the kids out and about.
And... we found out we can't get the care credit for dd1's teeth. The bill is going to be around 2000 dollars, the critical "must do now" stuff is roughly 1000 or that. We've gone from doing ok to having serious discussions about bankruptcy in a matter of a week. And during the holiday season, of course. I'm going numb. I sort of bounce between being angry, then bawling my eyes out, then just numb again. I WILL still see the dr this week, but after that? No clue.
Steampunk- on a lighter note! LOL Lurve me my steampunk! Some of the steampunk hacks are just beyond spiffy. The keyboards and guitars of course, but there is actually an entire HOUSE in massachusetts that is being reno'd in a steampunk fashion and all I can say is... droooooool. :) Mmmmmmm. Steamy!
Maia- we made "pinch pots" from clay a few weeks ago and today we glazed them.
Thanks for the advice gals! I think I will approach my Mom this week about it...I know she won't be happy but sometimes I have to take care of my family.
Sounds cozy. I'd share a cup of Joe with ya.
Yesterday we trekked up the mountain where there was lots of snow and got our tree. Each year we buy a permit from the forestry service and make a day of it. The "smaller trees" you can cut look so small compared to the large trees, so it's easier to cut down a 'bigger than you might think' tree. Sooo...here we are with I'd say a (gulp) 15 foot tree! We were getting some astonished looks with this thing strapped onto our sedan (I'll try to post pics later). We have pretty tall ceilings, and it goes right to the top. DP insisted on using the whole thing after cutting it and lugging it up a steep slope. Poor guy did it all himself cause I wasn't letting the kids go down where he was, and I wasn't going down to help him and leave the kids. There were cougar tracks where we were. So, we sat and sang carols at the top of our lungs to cheer on Dad, and to let the cougar know he/she wouldn't want to mess with these crazy, loud creatures. That was our adventure. Now the kiddos are busy playing animals under the forest canopy in our living room. Anyone see Christmas Vacation? That is us. Hi. We are the Griswalds.
Oh dear.. I love it!!!! I hope the kids enjoy their temporary forest :) That's awesome.
redveg: what i do is 1 cup oats (steel cut or old fashioned not quick) and 4 cups liquid (like i said i do apple juice/cider) you can add butter, nuts, dried fruit if you want also at this point then cover and set on low for about 8 hours. so like get it ready right before bed. of course it does depend on how hot your slow cooker cooks.
aeress: i hate being the ones who always have to travel.
h
Those oats sound YUM! I used to hate the idea of traveling.. but almost every year we go to another family members house after lunch for a big get together. Usually whomever has the pool hosts LOL! What I've found is that yeah, it's a bit stressful getting organized to go, but the kids don't notice.. they have a ball playing with their cousins and having a swim etc. We ARE lucky in that everyone is within about 45minutes of us though, so no big road trips.
We nearly had a car accident today though... there isn't that much snow (maybe 6-8 inches), the road is gravelled, there wasn't much wind or anything... but the minivan is a 2 wheel drive vehicle and apparently there really is no way for it to cope with our rural road. It was a nightmare getting the final distance to the house... I almost pulled into our lower neighbor's drive because we slid back past it so many times. And our road has a pretty deep "U" shaped valley so we were slipping back towards to valley (which is over a river with no guard rails) and I knew that while I might be able to get us safely back down to the bridge there would be no way to get back up the other side. So the van would be stuck, in the middle of a very narrow rural road, a 5 minute walk to our house. WITH the kiddos. So slipping was not an option. Argh! I've never been so freaked out... it took minutes to stop shaking and I don't know what we'll do... this weather is NOTHING compared to later in the season and I HAVE to get the kids out and about.
And... we found out we can't get the care credit for dd1's teeth. The bill is going to be around 2000 dollars, the critical "must do now" stuff is roughly 1000 or that. We've gone from doing ok to having serious discussions about bankruptcy in a matter of a week. And during the holiday season, of course. I'm going numb. I sort of bounce between being angry, then bawling my eyes out, then just numb again. I WILL still see the dr this week, but after that? No clue.
Steampunk- on a lighter note! LOL Lurve me my steampunk! Some of the steampunk hacks are just beyond spiffy. The keyboards and guitars of course, but there is actually an entire HOUSE in massachusetts that is being reno'd in a steampunk fashion and all I can say is... droooooool. :) Mmmmmmm. Steamy!
Oh my... so are you going to be parking the mini van for the winter??? I'm guessing you have tire chains or snow tires or something already? That'd scare the beejeezuz out of me! And WHY can't you get the care credit.. that's just awful! I really hope that the universe drops a way to make it all happen in your lap hun!
Nothing exciting here today... doing some house cleaning, building an ark.. doing laundry. It's been raining for well over a week now, nd will not stop. If you step in our backyard water literally *shoots* up from the ground where you step! It's THAT sogged!!!! I am losing it with the boys being stuck in the house... they go play on the veranda which is good, but otherwise we are all stir crazy. They painted some beautiful masterpeices out there yesterday 
Anyone see Christmas Vacation? That is us. Hi. We are the Griswalds.
but there is actually an entire HOUSE in massachusetts that is being reno'd in a steampunk fashion and all I can say is... droooooool. :) Mmmmmmm. Steamy!
Post linky! Or pix. Or something *drool* Hey Clay, hugs, mama. HUGE hugs. Why in the world can't you get Care Credit?? Even I can get that. That's just not OK at all.
Maia- we made "pinch pots" from clay a few weeks ago and today we glazed them.
OK, that makes a lot more sense. I must have missed a post somewhere!
M got back to a doctor and got back on scripts for Lithium and some other drug that he really needs to be on So hopefully his moods will stabilize better. He even said (but honestly I'm not holding my breath) that one of them is supposed to make him not want to isolate so much and he's glad because he really wants to get to meetings 
Honestly I did not say anything! I have been hushing about with the meetings!
So he's supposed to go pick up the scripts tomorrow 
I see the smileys got rearranged again. I can't wait till they have actual categories like they did before.
testing... mdc is saying i don't have permission to reply to this thread and the hcg one :S
testing... mdc is saying i don't have permission to reply to this thread and the hcg one :S
That made my day!
Thank you for the 
and 
.
Nothing exciting here today... doing some house cleaning, building an ark.. doing laundry. It's been raining for well over a week now, nd will not stop.
This made me laugh. Are you planning for The Flood? 
testing... mdc is saying i don't have permission to reply to this thread and the hcg one :S
Poo! Hope it's worked out.
LOL at the bigger than expected tree! It's so true though... outside and in context trees look a heck of a lot smaller than they do indoors next to the couch. We use DH as a guide... trees that are significantly taller than he is stay where they are. I bet it's going to look amazing though!
We're going to decorate our tree as part of our St Lucia celebration (a day early, since Sunday is just easier to deal with). I'm so excited! The girls were pointing out trees yesterday and it was hard telling them to wait.
We nearly had a car accident today though... there isn't that much snow (maybe 6-8 inches), the road is gravelled, there wasn't much wind or anything... but the minivan is a 2 wheel drive vehicle and apparently there really is no way for it to cope with our rural road. It was a nightmare getting the final distance to the house... I almost pulled into our lower neighbor's drive because we slid back past it so many times. And our road has a pretty deep "U" shaped valley so we were slipping back towards to valley (which is over a river with no guard rails) and I knew that while I might be able to get us safely back down to the bridge there would be no way to get back up the other side. So the van would be stuck, in the middle of a very narrow rural road, a 5 minute walk to our house. WITH the kiddos. So slipping was not an option. Argh! I've never been so freaked out... it took minutes to stop shaking and I don't know what we'll do... this weather is NOTHING compared to later in the season and I HAVE to get the kids out and about.
And... we found out we can't get the care credit for dd1's teeth. The bill is going to be around 2000 dollars, the critical "must do now" stuff is roughly 1000 or that. We've gone from doing ok to having serious discussions about bankruptcy in a matter of a week. And during the holiday season, of course. I'm going numb. I sort of bounce between being angry, then bawling my eyes out, then just numb again. I WILL still see the dr this week, but after that? No clue.
I really will post pics of the tree in our house soon I promise. It's kind of ridiculous. OK, not 'kind of' but oh well. I need to download the pics from the camera.
Clay- sorry about the financial woes. I too wonder why you can't get care credit. :( They've got to help families make it work. Geez! I don't get it with dentists. It is SO expensive now. Even for basic stuff, and they act like it's so normal. I just don't see how the average American family can drop a few grand each year at the dentist! We have dental coverage, but still end up paying 1-2 grand a year. We have an overdue bill for DP right now actually. Money is such a big stresser for me. I'm sorry you're in it too.
Okey Dokey. I gotta get a movin'. Hang in there everyone. 
bluets, yule fete: YES! i want THIS dress, please. re: october-- i'll look into the prices, and talk to dh.... fall is, unfortunately, the hardest time for us to travel.
orange slices-- i used the recipe on MS. but basically, slice them thin, pop them on parchment paper, oven on 200.... i think she said 2 1/2 hours, but i turned them every 30 min, watching them to see.... mine were not even, and some burned while some were still soft. it turned out wonderfully, though. i'll come back and post a pic. :-)
ktg, depending on where you are, i so could have rec'ed some places for coffee! hope you're having a blast. say hi to the beach for me. :-)
FR, yay for big trees. i miss cutting our own. i've been thinking this year i'll buy a tree i want for the garden, and decorate it with orange slices (can you do something with cranberries, too? i've always wanted to....)... maybe a pomegranate tree. :-) or an orange tree, lol!
maia, hugs for you and m! sounds hopeful. xoxox
hugs, clay. since you skipped over my FE suggestions i'm guessing they just dont resonate with you, but until you flat out tell me to shut it, you hate flowers, i'm going to keep suggesting them..... ;-) (with love, of course!) along the lines of RR, the FES "flourish" blends are easy, inexpensive, and would at the very least help you take the edge off some of the crazyness.... this one might help "boost" your healing journey. and this one, help to deal with driving stress. they also make a RR-like one, that's supposedly more potent than the regular RR. there's also one for depression.
speaking of flowers, i had a beautiful experience with one this weekend, posted about it in the homepathy/FE thread... basically, i drew the druid plant card for the flower i was working with. <<luve!>>
i planted my "winter color" annuals this weekend.... stock, delphs, pansies... all in creamy white/primrose yellows. yum.
dh's family does "stockings" on st nick's night (the 5th), so the house already has that holiday crazyness feeling...... it took me a while to pick up the wrapping paper, because the dog loves it so much. heehee. but it's nice to have that energy here already. ahhhhh.
i'm working on an embrodered pillow for me. i ought to be working on gifties for the kiddos, but i'm stalling. oh!
i need recs for card-type games (not regular playing cards, but like a box you would buy) for kiddos young and kiddos older (there's an almost-teen in the family, and we've been warned Nothing is Cool Enough for him..... mom wants to give "games" to everyone this year, and i'm supposed to do her research. i'm stumped. thoughts?
i really want to bake. want the smell of something yummy in the house........ hmmmm. maybe pumpkin molasses tea bread.
hope everyone's having a bright and blissful week!
xoxoxoxoxo
i need recs for card-type games (not regular playing cards, but like a box you would buy) for kiddos young and kiddos older (there's an almost-teen in the family, and we've been warned Nothing is Cool Enough for him..... mom wants to give "games" to everyone this year, and i'm supposed to do her research. i'm stumped. thoughts?
i really want to bake. want the smell of something yummy in the house........ hmmmm. maybe pumpkin molasses tea bread.
Uno! That's the favorite in our house right now - I never thought I'd get sick of it until now. Another FAST-PACED card game is something called "Dutch Blitz". And the kids will be better and faster than the adults once they get the hang of it. Rosie Hippo has great cooperative-style board games too.
Pumpkin... CHEESECAKE. HerbMentor News 60: Pumpkin Cheesecake
Lookie... Lunch time! And my afternoon meeting was canceled. Sweet.
yum. i want to make pumpkin flan this year. yum.
i forgot we can post pics.... let's see..... orange wreath:
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