Christmas Catch Up

Good Evening all!! Thought I should catch everyone up on how my Christmas was before ringing in the new year in a little over two hours.
In a nutshell, Friday my mother in law ( Sue) came up from San Antonio. That night, she, along with Chris, Nicole, me, my friend Christina and her daughter Hanna, went to Fort Worth to Sundance Square for a Holiday concert . We got home late but had a blast. Saturday we had Chris' cousin and his family over, along with Christina and Hanna again for a pot luck dinner and presents since Brett and Breon go to her parents for the holiday. ( Pictures of that night will follow shortly)
Again, we didn't go to bed till late. Sunday we got up , went to church and then went to my moms. We still had Hanna with us, but Christina didn't go. We had sandwiches from a wonderful deli called Potbellys, then opened presents with my mom. I also went by the cemetary to pay respects to my father since I didn't make it at Thanksgiving.
Monday dawned, and again we went out galavanting. This time to our great aunt and uncles house, then on to visit a friend of Sue's.
My mother also arrived , along with her dog Tipper, to stay with us that evening and ring in Christmas morning with us. We went to church that night for Candlelight Service (which is really beautiful), and again got home a bit after Midnight. Didn't get to bed till around 130 am or so. Up around 800 am for Santa gifts, and to eat my Christmas morning casserole. We also watched Underdog. Never got out of pajamas all day long. With as much running around as we had done there was nothing on this Earth that could have gotten me out of the house except maybe a fire, which thank God never happened.
Enjoy the following pictures of Saturday evening:
This is me on the left , with my mother in law Sue.

This is Brett and Breons daughter Evelyn ( shes 2, isn't she adorable??)
Nicole hamming it up with some of her presents ( she got tons of clothes!!)
Again, Nicole the fashionista modeling new jacket and purse. Nanny Sue is in the background.
And last but not least, Cher had to get in on all the fun... Cooper did too, the one in the previous post with her under the tree was taken this night also

Silly Dog part 2...

Remember the post a few days ago where I described how silly Cooper was when she kept going under the tree? Well she didn't disappoint us on Saturday evening, when we were opening presents with Chris' cousin and his family. Guess Cooper wanted to be the center of attention, instead of the presents:

Merry Christmas to all and a Blessed 2008!!!

Christmas Spirit...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The tree is up, presents under it 9 although I still have to wrap a few !!), and to really put me in the spirit, we went to the a Christmas Concert in Sundance Square lastnight. It was put on by the Metro Praise Orchestra, who I've mentioned previously. My mother in law had gotten here around 2pm yesterday, and she went ,along with Nicole and I, Chris and our friend Christina and her daughter Hannah. We had a wonderful time. If you've never seen Sundance Square, it is a very scaled down version of Times Square in New York. I've never been there, but Sundance had a huge lit tree in the middle, and lights all around.

I have to go into work today for a little while, to make the bulletins for Monday nights Candlelight service..I love the candlelight service... we turn all the lights way down in the Sanctuary at the end of the service, and one by one light a little candle that each person is holding while (the original candle is lit from the Christ candle in the Advent Wreath), and we sing Silent Night. It brings tears to my eyes sometimes just at the beauty of it.
We then come home around 1215am, open presents from each other, then snuggle into bed to await Santa.

Right now I am the only one up , its about 8am. Today Chris' cousin and his wife and little girl are coming over, along with my friend Christina and Hannah. We are having a potluck type of dinner, and gift exchange, since they go somewhere else for Christmas Eve and Day.
Well I'm going to sign off for now. If you want to take a funny Movie Lines quiz, go the Dawn's blog , she came up with some good ones !! Have fun, more later...

Silly Dog

This is my dog Cooper. Cute, isn't she?? Anyway todays post is not a wordless Wednesday. She looks kind of sad, doesn't she? well she always looks like that. She is part Chihuahua and part Pug ( a Chug??) hehe.
Notice how she is curled up all cozy like, on MY BED QUILT!!! well she always trys to find the most comfy spot in the house , whether it be on a pile of dirty laundry, or my daughters big winter school jacket.
As of Sunday I think she has flipped her little lid... She has now taken to walking under our Christmas tree as it slowly spins... mind you she hasn't gotten stuck there yet, but she either 1) walks slowly around with the tree in the correct direction 2) she stops right under it where it won't spin , or 3)she goes in the opposite direction of the tree and gets it turning a different way!
We sat there in the living room Sunday night and watched her and had a really good laugh. We finally came to the conclusion that she is using the lower branches of the tree as a back scratcher.

Since I put her picture up, I will give equal photo op time to our other dog Cher.
She is part Corgi, part rat terrier. Corgis are supposed to be lower to the ground then this, so shes got the terrier legs. Shes a cutie too, her nick name is Cher Bear.

I also have a female Cockatiel. I had two , a mating pair, but one passed away earlier this year. I'll get a picture of her up here soon.
Since I don't have a digital camera atm, I am having to rely on old slow film that you have to get developed at the drugstore. I will do that soon, and post pictures of Thanksgiving that I promised, and then maybe by St. Patrick's Day in March I may have Christmas pictures ready for publication, lol!!

More later, as this is my day off and I have to go help get the kiddo out the door for school.

Sunday Ramblings...

Good Morning to all:)) I am up and about , ready to go to Church. My first outing on my crutches was Friday evening, when Chris took me to get my check and then we went out to dinner at the Waffle House( YUM!!).
Now usually when I see a person who is either in a wheelchair or on crutches I step aside and let them have the right away... Well I am not the norm. In todays busy world its all for me and none for anyone else. People are just too involved with themselves to give a hoot about anyone else. I don't knowhow many times going through the store to my bank I had to stop becaues someone walked in front of me without even and excuse me.

Then yesterday was a bit worse. Nicole had a birthday party to go to so after Chris dropped her off there he and I went shopping at Walmart in hopes to finish our holiday shopping. I used one of those electric carts to go around the store since I was not going to shope for a few hours hobbling on crutches.. Well, people walked infront of the cart, cut me off with a regular cart or just wouldn't move their butt out of the way so I could get through!! And worst of all, I had to go to the toy section... that was the most crowded area , second only to electronics.. There I tried getting down an aisle where a little boy had proceeded to plop down in the middle of the aisle with some big boxed toy and I couldn't get through at all , till finally the mother heard me asking him to move or asking her to get him to move.. It was just really annoying.

All in all we now have most of the Christmas shopping done except for the pet presents, and one for my bestest friend Nikki. I got to talk to her lastnight for a long time and she has now started blogging to .. Hers is a bit more therapeutic, in that she has just been diagnosed with Adult ADD, so she is wanting to educate grownups that this is not just a kids diagnosis; it is real, and it effects not only the person diagnosed with it but everyone around them. If you want , click here.

If you click there it will take you to Nikki's blog and you can give her your support or find out more about adult ADD.

Thanks for letting me ramble and vent, and oh by the way I did get my Christmas cards all done and they will be mailed out tomorrow:))

Later

Marcy

Ouchie, Ouchie, woowoo

Ok, so that is not exactly what I yelled when I tripped over my dog Cooper Monday afternoon, but you get the picture. I yelled at her to move, she moved where I was about to step and down I went, hearing a loud CRACK when I did so. The crack was my ankle and I was laying on the kitchen floor fighting the urge to throw up all over myself and Chris as he was pulling off my shoe and sock while I was screaming in pain... We were both pretty sure my ankle was broken because it was already starting to swell.
So after we called my boss, telling her I was going to the ER instead of back to work, and arranged for Nicole to be taken care of ,our friend Jackie drove us to the ER and dropped us off, knowing we were going to have a looong wait.
And they didn't disappoint us. I checked in around 3pm, and was finally pulled back around midnight.. So here I am 11 hours after my ankle cracked , still no drugs, no sleep since I had woke up at 6 am Monday, and cranky, hungry, and just worried about what I was going to do with a broken ankle..
I still didn't get seen for another two and a half hours, where the doctor finally informed me that since I had not any kind of pain relief in 14 hrs or so he was going to give me two lortab and I could lay down and they would check out my x-rays. They came thru as promised, and I was resting comfortable, when the doctor ( who in my dopey state looked a bit like McDreemy)( anyone watch Gray's Anatomy??) informed us that I had really bad soft tissue damage and several torn ligaments but no fracture.. But I have to be on crutches and in a soft splint for the next 3-4 weeks.

I can't go back to work till Monday, so I'm laying around watching tv crocheting and finishing my Christmas cards ( I am bound and determined to be a productive couch potato, after all). Chris and Nicole are being wonderful helping me when I need it.

So I just thought I'd let you know what was going on, I'll post my overnight French toast recipe later on:))

Have a great Day!!

Lets See Now...

Christmas Tree? check
lights and ornaments? check
nativity scene with NOEL candles surrounding it? check
12 ft blow up Santa Claus in front yard? check?

This is what we did this weekend. We put up Christmas decorations. Had a blast doing it, after rearranging some living room furniture. I went to Church yesterday and it was so beautiful- all decorated with Poinsettias and wreaths, I think I'm getting in the holiday mood:))

Saturday I went to a Christmas Brunch for our CWF ( Church ladies group) , and had good food and good company. then Chris and Nicole went to the Lancaster parade of lights and tree lighting ceremony in our Towne Square. I did not attend this with them, since I was still coughing pretty hard, and it didn't seem like Christmas Saturday night as the high for that day had been 79!! but it has now dropped into the fourties, so its cold again.

I start baking all my holiday goodies this weekend. My neighbors always look forward to this part of December, because they get plates of treats for gifts. This weekend I shared with them some Overnight French Toast I had made and it was well received. I'll post that recipe here in a day or so when I have more time, it is very good to have on those cold -wanna do nothing saturdays- where u still wear your jammies, sip hot cocoa watch 'It's A Wonerful LIfe" and eat the french toast, hehe.

Update on my crocheting, Christmas is still about two weeks away and I have one more hat to do , and I'm done, (YAY). I have to mail these last two I made so they will have them to open Christmas morning.
Well I"m going to go check on Nicole and make sure shes got her rear in gear ( btw she IS NOT a morning child), and neither is my husband they are night owls, and I am a morning bird, so getting either one of them up when i'm all ready to go is always a treat.

Have a great day!!

Good Morning to You:))

Good Morning to all:)) I am feeling much better this morning, after this nasty cold has finally run most of its course. Of course a whole new round of people are probably going to get sick this next week--we are supposed to be in the 80s today and tomorrow, but by Sunday, rain and dropping temperatures to where we might not get out of the 30s and 40s Monday. /sigh.
Oh well, I did start my Christmas Card list, and am intending to work on them tonight and this weekend. tonight however I have to make overnight French Toast for my Church Ladies Christmas brunch tomorrow, which I am looking forward too. I also am on my second to last hat in my crocheting endeavor. Then its on to a new pattern of a baby blanket which I'm probably going to need a bit of help on, since some of the stitches are unfamiliar to me.
Hope everyone has a great weekend, I'm sure I'll write more later. I'm going to try to get a few pictures up here this next week from Thanksgiving and such.
Take Care:)

Hmm, what to do with

a thousand dollars??? I almost had to sort out that dilemma this afternoon. I was listening to a popular radio station this afternoon while eating my lunch at work, when I heard the song of the day. If you are caller 99, you win $1000!!! I was caller 96!!!!and that was the second time I got through. You cannot imagine how hard I tried to get through again to be caller 99, lol, oh well maybe tomorrow or the next day.
But then I had to stop and ask myself what I actually would have done with $1000 if I had won.
Here are a few things that came to mind ( and yes a few may sound a bit selfish) :
1 - set at least $600 aside for bills
2- take the other $400 and go shopping!! hmm, maybe I'd buy a purse ( like I need another one, but yes a girl ALWAYS needs another purse, or a pair of shoes, or a cool looking blouse....
3 - I'd take my daughter shopping at some cool girl store like the GAP, or Just For Girlz ( I think thats the name of the store)
4- give Chris $200 and let him go shopping for something he wants,but knowing how practical he is he wouldn't find anything that he actually needs, but I'm sure he could find something to blow it on in the electronics department...
5- I want to spend at least $50 of it on a nice warm bubbling massaging foot bath. I really want one of those and have entered that as one of the top choices on my list to Santa...
6- split the $600 I had set aside for bills and give half to my mom and the other half to my mother in law Sue.
7-take at least part of it and go adopt a family off the Angel tree at the mall and give them an awesome Christmas...

Hmm I'm still not feeling great so thats as far as I can imagine so far if I had won that $1000.
Well I'm going to go watch TV and read yesterdays paper, take care and let me know what you'd do if you won alot of money....

BRRRR....

Good Morning, and my goodness is it chilly!! Nicole is feeling all better but I'm the one that has now lost her voice, is coughing and all stuffy. Nothing like sharing a sickness as it blows through the whole family lol.
All in all it was a really good weekend, I went to a Christmas party Saturday night, and Nicole and Chris went to the DeSoto parade of lights and tree lighting. We all had a good time.
I have some Christmas shopping done , not alot though. I have to do some shopping on Amazon today or tomorrow, and then get stocking stuffers. The last of it will be bought after my next paycheck.
I also have to start organizing my Christmas Card list, and who I'm going to send them too. I hope to have them out by next Monday I hope.
We havne't put our tree up yet either. We have some Christmas decorations up but not the big tree, that will probably go up sometime this week.
Well I hope everyone has a good day and a warm one.
Gotta get ready to go to work
Marcy

Ho Hum

Good Morning all! Not much happening in the Able household this week. After the nutsiness of last week its a welcome slow down. However, Nicole is home sick again, I took her to the doctor wednesday and she has a sinus infection, she went back to school yesterday, and came home with such a bad sinus headache we thought we'd just keep her home again today to do nothing but sleep, and or rest. I have to go to work, so we'll see how that goes, since she'll be home with Chris.

I've been thinking , I have to start getting Christmas cards ready to mailbut I only mail them to a select few, since its expensive and time consuming. Also, since I'm trying so hard to be good during the holidays for Weight Wachers, do I bake all those yummy treats that I do every year to share with friends and neighbors? If I do bake them, I should do it while chewing a big wad of gum so that I can't put anything in my mouth( such as that yummy dough), or bake low fat treats and still try not to eat raw cookie dough, lol. I have already begun Christmas shopping, mostly have stuff for Nicole, Chris and I agreed to get each other one small thing this year , and I hope we can stick to that. I'm notorious for seeing something in the store and saying 'gee Chris would love that', and wham I've bought it, and the one gift thing is out the window, because of course I picked up his one gift a week ago.
I'm still working on my crocheted hats, its alot of fun. I still have three more to make, and it takes me about three days to make one, so I'd better get on the move.
Well I gotta finish getting ready for work, take care all

Marcy

Stuff You May ( or may Not) Know About Me...

Good Morning! After Lena tagged us to make a list on our blog of things you may not know about me, I've been thinking of my list, and not sure how interesting it will be but here goes:

1- My middle name is Lee ( after my uncle David Lee)
2- I was born in Chicago, didn't move to Texas until I was 8
3- I used to take Baton lessons
4- I also took Organ lessons ( not Piano like a normal child, instead I was 13 and pounding out the Beer Barrel Polka, instead of Chopsticks!!)
5- I love Country Music, but still listen to 80's metal(i.e Def Leopard, Kiss, ZZ Topp)
6- I met Chris ( my husband) while dating his friend - who thankfully I learned was not the man for me, but we hadn't dated but for about a month
7-I have Muscular Dystrophy, a form that is a Peripheral Neuropathy, very debilitating, not deadly ( which is why my typing stinks sometimes, my brain knows what I want to type, but fingers won't cooperate!)
My mother has it too and has to use a cane to walk.
8- I wear leg braces due to the M.D. ( type we have is called Charcot-Marie-Tooth)( you can check this out on my link to the Muscular Dystrophy website)
9- Before Nicole was born I was a Belly Dancer, I performed for about a year and a half, and always wanted to dance at the local renaissance faire and I did when I was about 4 mos pregnant with Nicole ( which made for a nicely rounded chest and hint of belly pooch)
10- I love to read, anything and everything. Am currently reading a book by my favorite author - Nora Roberts under her pen name J.D.Robb.


There, how did I do? lol .
I have to take Nicole to the doctor this morning. I had to pick her up from school yesterday because the nurse called and said she had a fever and felt yucky ( Nicole's word not the nurses, hehe). After mommy assessment I think the cold she had last week had turned into a sinus infection which she always gets around this time of year, so no biggy, but I still don't like to see her sick.

And last but not least, the finale of Dancing with the Stars was on lastnight. the couple I had chosen from the finalists won and I am happy about that, although I think Sabrina Bryan ( the Cheetah Girl) should have been in the finalists.

Well gotta go get some breakfast
Have a great day!
Marcy

I was surprised...

I was a bit surprised this morning when I checked my e-mail. I am notified by e-mail whenever there is a comment posted to my blog. I had a comment from someone I've never met and he left a very nice comment regarding the post about my father. I checked out his blog and wow, its pretty cool. I'll put the link here and on my links of interest. It is Organizeddoodles.blogspot.com. Please check it out.

My daughter went back to school yesterday and came home with a squeaky voice, and woke up this morning with no voice whatsoever. She has no fever so its off to school she goes , and hopefully losing her voice is the only thing that comes up:)) I gotta work today but am off tomorrow and Thrusday but got roped into working the bookfair at Nicole's school, which is ok since I LOVE books.

Well, gotta finish rounding her up for school and getting my self looking halfway presentable.
Have a good day:))

In Loving Memory

This is a great picture of my dad, along with me, Chris and a newly 2 yr old Nicole ( isn't she cute?). This was her first trip to the zoo, and I thought it would be a good picture to add to today's post.
Today will mark 3 years since my father has been gone. It doesn't hurt quite so much but as I write this my heart feels heavy. He was a good and decent man, he had his faults like every human being, but I'll never forget that he was my father. I loved him very much. People say we looked alot alike, and in ways I guess I'm alot like him. He was born in Chicago, Il, and grew up in a mostly immigrant neighborhood, since both his parents came from Europe. He married my mom in 1964, and went into the army not too long after that where he fought in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star.
Long after I was born, he moved us to Texas in 1979 where thre rest of our family still resides. He worked in payroll for the Coca-Cola Company for many years, until he became a jail guard for Tarrant County.
He liked to hunt deer, and fish. He also liked to play pinocle ( which I NEVER got the hang of!!) and liked to crack jokes.

I'm glad he is no longer suffering, and is content to hunt and fish all he wants,along with watching all the TV he wants , up in Heaven. Thats what I like to think of Heaven as, a place where you can do what you enjoyed on earth with no thought to pain or grief.

I'm starting to not be able to see the screen , so I will end this post and remember my father fondly on this day. And keep my mother and my Aunt Betty ( my fathers older sister) in my prayers as we go through today.

Busy Weekend

Hiyas everyone , just a short post to say I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We sure did. Chris, Nicole and I , along with my mother in law went to my mothers on Thursday where we had a wonderful Ham dinner complete with tons of trimmings. Friday we traveled down to Cedar Creek Lake to spend time with Chris Uncle Charlie and then all day today we have been running aroudn visiting, and then we have company coming over for dinner tonight ( but NO Turkey - we are making Mexican food YUMMO)
So I will post the pictures I have taken this past weekend here soon, and you can see our beautiful family:))

Love ya:))

Here is the picture of my best friend Nikki that I mentioned in earlier post today. Her kids are Nathan and Sonya pictured with her:))

The coming Holiday

I am looking forward to this Thanksgiving. I have alot to be thankful for. Yes, my husband is currently looking for work, but I have him with me, as loyal and loving as ever. I'm thankful for my Nicole, the only child I will ever have, and she is very precious and close to my heart. I also have my mother and my mother -in-law. Having both of them with me I feel twice blessed as I love both of them dearly. And for the most part we have our health, we have a roof over our heads, and most important of all that is that we have each other.

I'm also thankful for my best friend Nikki. I will be unable to spend this holiday with her as some stuff came up and she and her family are unable to make the drive here, but I spent a good hour or more on the phone with her the other night and thouroughly enjoyed our talk. She has been my best friend since the 7th grade. She has a very sweet husband and two adorable kids ( I will try and post a picture of them later today or tomorrow), but she lives about 8 hours away so we are so thankful for the telephone.

Well, probably tomorrow I will do a post tribute to my dad, who will be gone 3 yrs this November 26. I miss him every day , but am thankful that he is no longer suffering .

I hope everyone that reads this has a great Thanksgiving and that you stop and realize the true meaning of the holiday. Its not all about the turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings ( although thats a good benefit), but about everything you have to be thankful for, even if you don't realize it at the moment.

Schools Out, Schools Out

Teachers let the kiddos out:)) Thats right, I have Nicole home for a whole week for the Thanksgiving Holiday,and I can sleep in till 7 am, and not have to get up at 545 !! Woohoo! I have to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so that I can be off Friday. My mother in law Sue is coming up from San Antonio Wednesday evening and staying till Monday which will be a treat.

I also have to brag a bit at the moment. We got Nicole's report card this past Thursday and again she made the A honor roll. We also got her TAKS benchmark scores, which was a practice run. Some of the material that was on the tests had not been taught yet, it was just to see where they were at for the most part, and they were trying to get the kids to get at least a 50 percent passing score. In reading Nicole got a 90, and on math she got a 65, which was pretty good for her first test like that. We are very proud of her.

Today is our all Church Thanksgiving feast and Blessing Box bake sale so I had to bake and cook all day yesterday. I made a loaf of pumpkin/walnut bread, a batch of gingersnaps and a turkey, so the house smelled really good yesterday:))

Well I'm going to finish eating breakfast and getting ready. I'll try to take some family pics over the holidays and post them.

Sad Little Girl

I have a sad tween on my hands today. For those of you that don't know the pop singing teen sensation Hannah Montana is going to be in Fort Worth tonight in concert. We tried from the moment the tickets wen ton sale to get two, so I could take her. Unfortunately they sold out within 30 minutes and the prices were insane. Then they started popping up on e-bay and other auction sights for up to $1500 a piece!!! No way in h e double hockeysticks was she going to get tickets for that concert.

So shes kind of mopey today, but she will get over it. I think I've only been to a total of 4-5 concerts in my whole life and that wasn't until I was an adult. But I can remember the heartache when my friends and I couldn't get tickets to see Duran Duran lol, so I do remember a bit of that angst feeling.

Anyway, on an update , Dancing with the Stars is getting down to the nitty gritty, only 4 couples now remain, and the only one of our family favorites thats still in the running is Jennie Garth. I can't believe Marie Osmond is still in it at this point, and I 'm glad Cameron is no longer in the game, I havne't voted for him for two weeks and he finally got booted off lastnight. Chris stopped watching when Sabring Bryan ( the Cheetah Girl) got booted off about 2 wks ago. So mainly its just me now.

I am at the end of my ramblings for now, but I do want to put up a website here that is related to my cousin, John McDade. He and a street artist have come up with an awesome line of shoes that debuts tomorrow in almost 100 different stores. Heres the link, they are called Yums.
They come in some really cool colors such as Blueberry, Candy Apple, Sugar and Lemonade. They are sneakers in case you are wondering. Well, more later, this is my day off that i'm going to spend doing laundry and some crocheting and spending time with my Chris. TTYL

Personality Test

WOW!, I just received an e-mail from my mother in law , about this personality test. I took it and the results are truly interesting. You think these e-mail tests don't usually reveal ones true self, but this was close enough to be eerie. So please grab a pencil/pen and a sheet of paper and take this quiz, it only has 4 questions so it won't take much of your time.

Click here to take the quiz.

Gotta go do my 10 minute power walk work out so talk to you later:))

Ohhhhhhh......

We're off to see the wizard , the wonderful wizard of Oz, we hear is a wiz of a wiz if ever a wiz there was. If ever awhever a wiz there was the Wizard of Oz is one because, because because becauuuuuussssseeee, because of the wonderful things he does. Oh we're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oooooozzzzzz..

K, now that I have that out of my system... In case you haven't figured it out yet, I have the above song running through my head, due to the fact that we watched the acompanying movie over the weekend. Twice. Yes, there are several moives that when they air we usually have to watch them , and make it a family movie night, complete with a big bowl of popcorn. The Sound of Music is another one we watch all the time, as is The Ten Commandments that airs around Easter time. Also I usualy have to watch It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Oh, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:)) Most of those movies are from my childhood and I still like to watch them with Nicole, because they are good clean fun, which you cannot find a lot of on the air waves these days.

Anyway, Nicole only has this week of school left, then gets out this Friday for the entire Thanksgiving week. We are going to spend the coming Holiday at my moms. My mother in law is coming up from San Antonio and she will go with us. Shes staying longer then normal this time, which is a good thing since I get along very well with her. I know thats rare to have a mother in law that you actually get along with and doesn't criticize how you are treating her son, lol. My mother had to put up with that with my Grandmother and they had a shaky relationship at best.

I also want to put a small Congratulations on here to Lena, who was runner up in the online essay contest she won. If you haven't checked out her blog , its really cute, check it out here.

Well, I have to go finish getting ready for my day, will post more later. Let me know in a comment what movies you like to watch over and over, if any.

Quiet Evening

Ahhh, right now I am enjoying the peace and quiet of a small family all doing what they want. My husband is playing on the computer and Nicole is refolding clothes in her dresser drawer that she messed up and I am blogging, lol. Well yesterday and today were nice. I did next to nothing , as compared to last week when I couldn't sit down for 5 minutes without thinking of what I had to do next. My house is still relatively clean from this past weekend when we cleaned like mad for Nicole's party, so all I had to do today was laundry.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a week and a half away. The year seems to have flown by. This is a very busy time of year for everybody, but I try to stop at least once or twice a week and give thanks for everything that I have in my life. This is a very hard time of year for me, since my father passed away the day after Thanksgiving in 2004. Doesn't matter that the date was actually the 26th, I will always mourn the day after Thanksgiving. I will say more about that as the day draws near, as it will be cathartic, as it is still very painful for me.

Anyway, I am especially busy before Christmas, because since I now know how to crochet really cute winter hats? I have about 4-5 more to make before Christmas to give away as gifts. I made one for my daughters teacher since it didn't cost me anymore than the yarn,, and the time I cannot put a cost on since it is very relaxing. Nicole asked her what her favorite color was and it is Pink, so I made her a hat in a very light rose color. I need to buy more yarn in a few more colors, but I am enjoying it,, I am just going to need a bigger bag in which to keep it all. I will try to take some pictures of the hats and post them. I also have another dog sweater to make for my aunt Donna's dog Rosie. In between all that I am still reading, and have latched onto a wonderful series by Jennifer Chiaverinni (sp?), anyway they are centered around quilting, but have a story deep down that touches the heart. There is no bad language or anything so any age can read them; I'm very glad to have had them suggested to me.

Well I'm going to go hang up some of that laundry I washed earlier:))
Take care all who read this and I will write more later

Marcy

Forgotten Pictures

Today while searching my pictures for some of Nicole through the years I came across these of Sarah and Lena from when we all met when Nicole and Sarah were in Pre-K together. Lena and I were room moms and were supposed to teach the kids their graduation dance and then they made us get up and actually dance with the kids in front of all the parents, it was pretty funny.

Also, this next picture shows my darling this past Wednesday , Halloween night, dressed as a princess and my Church ladies group in all our costumed glory , before we started handing out candy to the Trunk or Treaters.

Enjoy and have a good day!!

Nicole's 9th birthday today

Wow, today my baby urns 9!! I can't believe it. Seems like it was just yesterday that we were brinign her home from the hospital. She is so smart, funny and bright. She is a friend to everyone she meets, and currently wants to be veterinarian or a doctor, which is fine by us, then she can support us when we are old and feeble:)) (just kidding).

Yesterday was her birthday party and we had a blast. She got everything she wanted including new pajamas, a new doll, and a Hanna Montana microphone. She and her friends watched videos, ate pizza and my homemade chocolate cake which everyone seemed to enjoy.

As for the above pictures, the first where she is sitting down was from pre-k, then the next was her first day of kindergarten, then the next two were first grade, in the one her and her freind were dressed as clowns at school. I will get some more pictures of her up here today or tomorrow, but I also have some that I forgot about. I have pictures of my friend Lena and her daughter Sarah. Thats when we all originally met, when Nicole and Sarah were in pre-k together. Betcha Lena has forgotten some of them, but I will show them for fun, but none of the embarrassing ones where we were dancing with the kids (especially not when we were leading the Chicken dance, lol).

more later

A (Pet) Blessing Day

Whew! Yesterday was absolutely nuts , but I also had a lot of fun. First I woke up bright and early after sleeping in an hour later than usual and started baking chocolate chip cookies from scratch ( i haven't done that in a looong time), got those all done by 9 am, then after eating a small breakfast ( I guess the cookie dough didn't really count), I started cleaning the house like a mad woman in order to get it ready for Nicole's birthday party, which is today, starting at 11am, for pizza, movies and popcorn, cake and presents. My mom is coming over today and about 5 of Nicole's friends.

Chris was such a sweetie yesterday, in order for me to do all that he got dressed and went to the store for me yesterday which I was soo thankful for and got all the stuff for the party, except we both forgot birthday candles so mymom is brining those. After all that he even took Nicole to her keyboard lessons, which gave me some free time in which I did my 10 minute power walk off my Weight watchers video, took a shower , then proceeded to bake Nicole's birthday cake from scratch too, which was a lot of fun. I didn't make the icing though since she wanted funfetti vanilla icing , but I did make the chocolate cake and it turned out pretty good looking, now we just have to see how it tastes.

After all that was said and done, we loaded up hte bird and both dogs as well as the three of us and went up to our Church for our first annual Blessing of the Pets. We had a wonderful turnout , had tons of dogs, about 3 cats and mine was the only bird, but she made enough noise to make sure she wasn't forgotten. We had a table full of treats for the humans ( thats what the chocolate chip cookies i made were for), as well as treats for the animals. Our Pastor is very involved with Pet Rescue, particularly Pomeranians, so she got her vets office to donate a bunch of little gift bags for the animals , so it went very well. We even had pooper scoopers up there just in case, and wouldn't you know it my dog Cooper was the only one we needed to clean up after, lol.. We held the service in the courtyard of our church and Cooper defiled the sidewalk leading up to the courtyard. She was just a little too excited, but we were ready for it none the less:))

Well, I have to sign off now, and since tomorrow is Nicole's actual birthday ( at 10:14am) I will put up different pictures of her on the blog , and alos the pictures from Wednesday night Halloween. I just got them back from my friend Jackie.. They are from the Trunk or Treat we did at our Church.

Laters!

Quick note

Good Morning all:) I'm so sorry I didn't do my little rant I had mentioned in last post and now I forget what it was going to be about anyway, lol. I do get annoyed with stories I hear on the news but I don't want to make my blog political, but every now and then I may have my say.
As everyone that reads my blog knows , I am a big fan of Dancing With the Stars, and Tuesday night the worst happened--one of our favorites got booted off ( the Cheetah Girl, Sabrina Bryan), everyone thought she was a shoe in to win the finals, but alas, with her busy schedule the judges didn't think she did good enough. But Jane Seymour and Jenny Garth are still in the running. It was funny the other day, Chris was channel surfing and actually came across reruns of Beverly Hills 90210, and we got to see a younger version of Jenny Garth and Ian Zeiring (from last season), and they look the same amazingly enough, except you can tell they've grown up.

I read Lena's contest entry for the essay, and I love it, very moving and you can actually picture it like an old family movie. If you have no clue what I'm talking about , please see her blog at themorganfollies.blogspot.com, I think it was called The Perfect Day.

Well I have to go finish getting everything ready to get the kiddo off to school and me off to work, so take care everyone:))

Marcy

Good Evening All

Well, we just got thru watching Dancing with the stars again, and our favs are still in the running, so we will see..
Our Church bazaar went great saturday. There was great food and alot of visiting from friends, it was a long day but all worth it.
We have finally planned a small bday party for Nicole, and it will be this coming Sunday, the day before her birthday. We are cleaning the house like made until saturday evening, preparing for 6 tweens to overrun my den for movies and pizza :)) But Chris and my mom will be here to help , as well as another mother of one of Nicoles friends.

Lastnight my friend Christi and I took the girls to a fall carnival they have every year at the Baptist Church. It was fun, till someone thought Nicole was a boy TWICE, granted her paige boy is growing out a bit, but nothing so drastic as to make her look like a boy. Once the lady apologized profusely and told me Nicole as so sweet,, I was like heh no dice lady, u already messed up , but we just finished the carnival game and walked away.
Oh well, I am about to go finish the book I am currently reading ( James Patterson's The Quickie), it is very good with alot of twists and turns. After that I have Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which I've heard about but never read, so I am looking forward to that.

More later, I do have a small rant to put up tomorrow so keep an eye out:))

Marcy

Bzzzzzz....

Good Morning. A quick note to say I'm still around , but bzzzy:)) Anyway, today I'm helping to get our Church ready for the bazaar this saturday, and I have to go to the library to return and recheck out some books and then go pick the kiddo up at school. This week she is having her TAKS benchmark tests, and yesterday when I wen to pick her up I was there until 4:45pm, cause thats when she finished it. Today is her math test and I'm hoping it won't take her as long.
Then we get to go pick out a pumpkin this weekend and decorate it , so that should be fun. Nicole is going to be a medieval princess and I haven't quite decided what I'm going to be, but I'm thinking along the line so of a gypsy. At our church this Halloween we are having a Trunk or Treat. All the ladies of the church ( and some men) get in costume , and load our trunks with bowls and boxes of candy, then the neighborhood kids come and trunk or treat:)) it's fun and a safe way to trick or treat. Not alot of people in my neighborhood actually go door to door anymore, which is a sign of the times I guess. I loved trick or treating when I was younger.
Then we are having a Blessing of the Pets on November 3. Our Minister is involved with animal rescue groups ( mainly dogs - Pomeranians), so we are inviting all neighborhood pets to come and be blessed in our small ceremony. We are also having treats for the pets, and humans alike, so we just ahve to be sure to keep them seperate.

Well I gotta get going more later

Dance, Dance, Dance

Well, our family is still watching Dancing With The Stars and its getting down to the nitty gritty. We are all very happy that our favorites are still in the running. But it is about time to get the ones out of there that are making an effort , but not really making the grade, such as Mark Cuban. Now mind you, I am not against him in any way , except that there are much better dancers on there, and he needs to go. But I do have to applaud him his effort due to him having had a hip replacement only 6 weeks before the show started for the season.

Anyway, everything else is going well, we have our Halloween decoarations up at the house and are planning on buying a pumpking this weekend, but instead of carving it we found these lights at Walmart, they look like he lights you put in a lite-brite toy, but you hammer them into the pumpkin and then put a little light in the pumpking and it lights up in color. It really is kind of neat looking. I'll try to get a picture and put it up after we do it.

more later:))

Dance, Dance, Dance

Its Been a Busy Busy Week

Howdy to all:)) Gosh I would love to blog a few days a week, but this week was not conducive to that. I worked my normal hours then did tons or running around on my two days off. I'm helping the other ladies of our church get ready for our Fall bazaar that is this coming Saturday , the 27th.
I took a ton of crafting supplies from the church storeroom last Saturday and have been making Christmas wreathes to sell at our bazaar, plus selling raffle tickets to whoever I can, lol.
Also tomorrow is Minister Appreciation at our church, so I've had to write a small something to say about my minister and boss , the Rev. Melissa Bitting. Nicole and I also baked brownies today for the reception tomorrow after service. Next week shouldn't be as crazy, but then again, if it has to do with the upcoming fall season and holidays i"m all for it.
What I'm not up for is the coming weather. Mind you I don't like it when its 100 degrees in the shade, and I like cooler temps, but when its 90 one day and then drops 30 degrees for the high the next day, and is 60 degrees, thats a bit drastic, add to that rain, and northerly winds and its yucky, hehe.
Reminds me of when Nicole was born, which btw , her birthday is November 5. Inside the hospital room I was happy, tired and wxcited all at once, while outside the wind howled, rain poured and everyone walked in to visit the new bundle of joy dressed in heavy jackets and such, but I would have none of that , I was hot ( blame the hormones), I didn't understand just how cold it was out until the day we had to take her home from the hospital and it hadn't changed much . I was scared that she would get sick just going form the car into our house but she didn't (Thank GOD).
Since I honored my parent anniversary with their picture and such I will do the same on Nicoles birthday.

More later, gotta run her to her first keyboard lesson:))

Halloween Fun

Good Morning:)) I found some fun quizzes by going to Lena's blog this morning so I'm putting up the link to it so that you might find out all sors of fun stuff about yourself.
I love this time of year. I think of warm pajamas, and hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, also hazelnut/cinnamon coffee. Reading a good book ( ALWAYS!!), and trick or treating with Nicole. Then comes Christmas, which I feel is a very special time of year.
Anyway, enough rambling for the time being, here is the post:
www.blogthings.com.

HAVE FUN!!!!

This is my mom and dad, Tony and Diane Endlicher. They were married October 3, 1964. They celebrated 40 yrs together before my father passed away shortly after there anniversary. This past october 3, would have been 43 years. Aren't they cute? my father probably looks a little upset on his wedding day, it didn't get off to a real good start. He had a throat infection, and the best man dropped the transmission out of their car on the way to the church that day. Pluse my mothers maid of honor ( her twin sister Donna) wasn't feeling well and couldnt' be her maid of Honor, so my mom had to find a last minute replacement to fit into Donna's dress! Talk about things not going right, lol. All in all it went well though.
My mother is now retired from her payroll job and lives in Arlington, Tx. She is very active, and this past August went to Colorado with her sister Donna and her husband for a month. She works out almost daily and is the sweetest person you'd ever want to meet. She is alwasy ready and willing to help out her friends and family if she is able.
My father worked as a Jail Guard in downtown Fort Worth , Tx until his medical retirement in 2002. He loved to hunt, and fish.
I am very thankful to have grown up with both of my parents in this day and age of divorce. I'm glad they got together , for if they hadn't I woldn't be here, and neither would my cutie of a daughter Nicole.. so Thanks Mom and Dad for everything.

Hmmm..

Sorry to not have kept up this past week, it has been very hectic.
We are currently trying to work out driving schedules between my work, Chris' new job and nicoles school so I'm learning how to juggle:)) ( we only have one vehicle atm). Sorry to not have gotten my mom and dads wedding picture up yet. With Chris' new schedule he hasn't had time to scan it, but he promised me he would gt it done today. This is my day off and so far I've gone over to a friends house to help her pack to move, and painted 5 boxes for our church. Our pastor is also chaplain at Baylor Hospital and we make bereavement boxes for the Labor and Delivery Wing in the unfortunate instances that a baby does not make it. They are medium heart shaped boxes painted in pastel baby colors and trimmed in lace and have little baby like trinkets glued to them..
The grieving parents seem to take some comfort in these that someone cares enough to have put the time and thought into personally making them.
I'm also selling raffle tickets for our upcoing CWF bazaar on october 27. We have 3 quilts up for raffle and one hand made clock. There will also be a stew luncheon with pie and a drink, (usually the pies are homemade and yummy), and we also have a trunk or treat for the kids on Halloween night.

Alos, amidst all that I am trying to figure out what to do for Nicole. Her birthday is November 5, and she hasnt' really giving me any idea of what she wants done. So I may just take her and a few friends to a movie and pizza. That , along with having family over should be ok..
Well lunch is ready and when Chris gets my parnest picture up I will work on that post ..
Till Then.

End of a (busy) week

Well, it sure has been a hectic week. I am so looking forward to tomorrow where I don't have to go anywhere and I can accomplish some things around the house. Chris is liking his new job at the car dealership, but because he had to work today we were unable to go to the State Fair. We will try to go next Sunday though. Its only in town another 2 weeks. We try to go every year ,but try to wait till it is a bit cooler out, since it is still in the 90s here!!

Nicole got her first report card of this school year and made straight 'A's so we are very proud of her. As a mini celebration we took her out to eat for breakfast this morning.

This past Wednesday, October 3, would have been my parents 43rd wedding anniversary. My mom is still alive ( see pictures below), however my father passed away shortly after their 40th anniversary back in 2004. I'm going to try to get Chris to scan the picture of them I have on their wedding day as a little tribute in a later post. I'm happy they had those 40 years together and I hope Chris and I have that many or more together. My parents were born, raised and wed in Chicago, Il. We didn't move to Texas until 1979, after both my aunts and uncles had already moved down here. It was kind of funny, my dad was living in the land of the Dallas Cowboys but still cheered for the Chicago Bears. When they faced each other in a superbowl, boy did we have a party, lol. But I will post more on my parents at a later time along with their picture.

Hopefully this weekend will prove to be a bit more relaxing then the week, and Monday will start a (hopefully) much slower week.

More later:))

A Couple of Busy Days

Well I didn't get to write Sunday afternoon, but everything has been going good. Our bean luncheon at Church went very well, although my pot of beans turned out looking more like split pea soup.. not sure how or why , but it was still edible:)) All the proceeds went to the North Texas Food Bank.
We also found out today that Chris got a new job , selling cars at Doug Stanley Ford, so if you need a new used car call me and I'll tell which one he's at!!
Everyone else is doing great, and tonight we are going to watch the elimination round for the second week fo Dancing with the Stars, so far our favorites are still in the game.

Talk to you later
Have a great day

The Pictures Below

The Pictures shown below were taken July 22, of this year. They are of Nicoles Baptism. The one showing the family is as follows, Chris standing behind me, me sitting ( in lavender shirt), then Nicole, then my mother , and my cousin Dale standing behind her. It was all in all a very special day, we went out to eat afterwards, and Nicole got three new Bibles, each very special to her.

Anyway, today I'm soo happy,. Remember how I was learning to crochet? and made 7 baby hats from the same pattern but they all looked different? Well today i finally finished an adult hat, from the adult hat pattern and guess waht? it looks like a hat and is wearable:)) so its mine, considering I mae it in my favoirte color or dark blue.

My mother in law and anyone else I can think of will get a hat from me for Christmas, they are fun to make.
Well I'm going to go watch a movie with the family..
More tomorrow after church, and I'll tell you how our Bean Luncheon went.

Pictures from Nicoles Baptism 7/22/07

Lecture Luncheon

It is not often that I get to hobnob with the some of the very nice people that live in and around my town of Lancaster, however today I had that chance. A fellow Church member by the name of Mattie Crockett invited me, and several other women to go with her today to a Lecture Luncheon and fashion show. It was held at the Golf Club of Dallas and was very nice. I got to see a few other ladies that I've met going on outings with her and some other members. We dined on a nice Chicken lunch and had Chocolate Mousse Pie for dessert (YUM!!). After the meal we were treated to the fashion show portion of the program. The clothes were from Coldwater Creek and Terry Costa.
There were several door prizes given away. I did not win any but a tablemate and freind of mine did win a $25 gift certificate to Coldwater Creek, so she said she was going shopping tomorrow. Even though I did not win I had a wonderful time.
I've got to start soaking a pot of beans tonight and cook them tomorrow with some ham for a bean luncheon we are having at our church this sunday, and my mother is coming over for the day so I had a good start to what I hope will be a great weekend.

Talk to you later, and have a great day:))

Good Morning to you

Hiyas all! Just a quick note to say i'm still here. The last few days have been extremely crazy, running here and there. This is my second day off this week and I finally got to sleep in a bit, but the craziness will start all over again the second we get in the car.
Well, Dancing With the Stars had its first three night run, and Chris, Nicole and I were glued to the set to see everyone dance, and then someone get booted off lastnight. We , of course used our option to vote online for our favorites, and the one that we thought had the lowest score is the one that got booted off, lol. so we should be on the judging panel:)) Course we haven't had the years of dancing that the current judges have but all in all I think we did great, lmao.
Hopefully when we get home today I"ll be able to work on my crochet more. I'm attempting an adult hat not that I got all the baby hats made for our church project. I'm also going to try a small bag for Nicole and a baby blanket for Chris' cousin and his wife, who are expecting their second baby in March. I'm going to work today on getting pictures of Nicoles baptism up that took place on July 22, so I can share those, they are great pictures.

More later!

Ready to Dance with the stars

Alright! The fifth season of Dancing With The Stars starts tonight, WOOHOO!
Actually I didn't get hooked on this reality show till last season, but now I'm totally hooked. I've alwasy loved dancing, watching dancing movies, and so forth, so what better reality show? I definately don't like watching people sweat it out on some deserted island, not eat for days, and so forth, so Survivor is not for me, I don't like being grossed out so Fear Factor is out too.
Chris and Nicole are hooked too, we sit aroudn and watch it as a family.
Tonight we are making it a family night with Turkey Taco Salads for dinner, while watching 'Dancing'. We also like to watch Iron Chef, that is on the food network on Sundays and Thursdays. Some of the most amazing foods come out of that kitchen.. If you like cooking, chekc it out on The Food Network at 8pm CST.
The other show I love to watch is on Sunday mornings at 7am, CST, I watch it while getting ready for church. It is called Who Gets the Dog, and airs on Animal Planet. I'm a major animal lover, ( currently own two mutts, and a bird). I'm going to post a link to a website that all you have to do is visit it daily and click on the little food dish and it helps feed animals that have been neglected and are waiting to be adopted. It doesn't cost you anything to do , all u do is click and you are done.
Thanks for your support, I'll try uploading some pictures here soon, so you can see my small but adorable family.

Weekend

Well, the weekend is almost over and all in all it was pretty good. Yesterday I went to my CWF meeting at church, where I turned in my 7 crocheted baby hats that I attempted. I say attempted because I used the same pattern, but all 7 hats look differant. Chris said they had 'character'. they are still wearable though for those tiny little heads.
Afterwards I played on line for a bit, then spent a quiet evening with family.
Today Chris is working a Christian concert for Metro Praise Orchestra. They are a bunch of local guys that like big band music, so they created the MPO, and play around the DFW metroplex. They also have several CDs out. I will try to get there website soon so you can take a look.

Nicole went to the mall today with a friend and came home with another Bratz doll, like she needed one, but oh well, she already has some and a ton of Barbies. Some of her barbies were mine when I was little, so its kind of funny for her to be playing Barbie with one of her friends and have them pick up a gold lame jumpsuit and ask what it is, lol. Its from the 70s sweetie.
Anyway hope everyones weekend went as good as mine. Since Nicole and I are the only ones home tonight, I let her pick what we are having for dinner- turns out, we are having tator tots and grilled cheese, the dinner of champions, lol.( I don't think this dinner will be considered weight watcher friendly).

A Day off... Again

Well its my second day off and it looks to be starting out ok. Of course I still had to get up at 6 am to get kiddo up for school, and I actually made her and Chris a real breakfast instead of cereal. So I feel like I've already accomplished something important. I do have to bathe our two dogs today which means I'll get flea-dipped in the process , but oh well, lol.

Think I will also do some online gaming, in Everquest II, and spend some quality time with hubby. Hopefully I'll get those links up shortly.

Day Off

So far my day has been anyting but. I spent most of my morning running errands, then came home to eat lunch, check on Chris, who is home with a migraine, and now I'm about to go wait in line to pick my daughter up from school. Funny that she gets out of school at 330 , but if I want to get her at a decent time I have to be in line at 300, guess its a good thing that I like to read, or crochet. I'm currently making crocheted baby hats for my service project for my ladies group at church. We are donating them to the Ronald McDonald House. Some ladies are also making baby blankets. Well, I will try to get some links up soon, more later.
A good day to all

Correction

Good Morning all! I have a correction to my friend Lena's blog page that I mentioned yesterday. Her correct address is TheMorganFollies.blogspot.com.
I'm sitting here eating breakfast getting ready to go to work. My daughter is sitting watching some kid show eating dry cereal (ewwww). She has to go to the doctor today, for a recheck on a rash she has, that is supposedly a reaction to a virla illness she had recently. But don't worry she is ok:))

The main reason I wanted to start this blog, after some thought , is that I want to get the message out there about Muscular Dystrophy. It is not just one disease, there are over 40 different types. I should know, my mother and I suffer from a type called Charcot-Marie-Tooth, so named for the three men who discovered it. In a later post I will put the link to the Muscular Dystrophy association on here, so you can check it out.

Well, its time to go put my face on and get going for the day.

New to this

Hello everyone! I've never blogged before so bare with me . I read my friends blog all the time and really enjoy it, and she finally asked me where mine is , so I thought I'd give it a try. ( You can check hers out at Morganfollies.com).
Just a quick rundown. I've been married for 11 years to Chris, the most wonderful man I could ever have hoped to find, and we have an 8 year old daughter named Nicole. Chris is cook at a local restaurant, and I work at my church as secretary. Nicole just recnetly started 3rd grade and attends Lifeschool, a wonderful charter school.
Well, I've got to get back to the daily grind, but will definately add more later.