Closing in on Christmas

Date: 12-21-12

Well, it's been another long day, but I am officially ready for Christmas. Used to be I was ready for Christmas the day after Halloween...guess my age is catching up with me. lol.

The menu is planned, guest list done, grocery shopping done, gift shopping and wrapping done!
The only thing I did not do this year is spend a few days dragging all the totes upstairs to decorate the house from top to bottom.  Not real sure why....well, our weather has been really strange here...so while enjoying 65 to 70 degree weather, I just couldn't get in the holiday spirit. I spent a whole week, watching one Christmas show a nite, trying to get me in the mood....yeah....that didn't work either.

I did the usual running store to store trying to find certain items for the grandkids...but was in jeans and a t-shirt, so no holiday-mood-setting there. Usually we're bundled up in heavy coats, scarves, hats, gloves or mittens, so there again, it was really weird shopping this year.  NOT that I'm complaining about the warm weather..don't get me wrong, I LOVE IT, I guess it just wasn't what I needed to get me in the holiday spirit. Oh well..."enuf" said!

So here I sit. I got a whole day (tomorrow) to relax before I start in on the cooking and baking getting ready for the big day! Actually, my family has a different tradition in that now we have our big meal on Christmas Eve day.  That way, come Christmas morning, the grand-kids wake up, open their presents and they don't have to spend the day going house to house....they can just stay home, chill and play with their presents and the parents, get to kick back and get their well deserved rest and relaxation time.  Life is good.

We never do anything on New Years Eve....just stay home and celebrate here. Don't really care to get out there with all the drunk drivers.....just figure I'm safer at home!

On that note, I'm done for now. It's been a very long day and my brains feel like scrambled eggs...oh yeah, I still have to fix dinner. Dang, it should have been a crock pot day. Rats! Which reminds me...on my next post, I will write about a killer crock pot recipe I have. Maybe a few...who knows!
Take care to all and remember to enjoy life's potpourri!

THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW

Time has gone by so fast, days..weeks...months. There was a time when I actually had 'free' time to sit and do whatever it is, I felt like doing. It hasn't been that way for a very long time now. Soooo, I decided enough is enough. If I don't have the time, then I'll MAKE the time. There's always tomorrow to do what I didn't get done today, right?

This past week, I have dedicated myself to getting my house in order. Being so busy with the yard and my flowers and our vegetable garden, the house has suffered and so I told myself I would get it back in shape this week. I'm about 3 hours behind schedule, but am sure I can get caught up tomorrow (can you see me crossing my fingers?).

Spending one whole day doing laundry and hanging it out on the clothesline didn't help, but for that sweet smell of sunshine on our clothes and sheets, it's more than worth it.

Most days I feel tired and everything I do is a struggle. No, I am not suffering from depression, I have hypothyroidism.....sigh....but that's okay. I just push myself to do what I have to do. I'm a very, very stubborn person and so when I set my mind on doing something, it doesn't matter how tired I am or how long it takes me to accomplish what I've set out to do..I WILL get it done!

On that note, it's time for me to take the dogs out for their nightly "ritual" and then I'm going to make a mad dash for the bed. Talk to you all tomorrow. Until then....enjoy life's potpourri!!!

It's time again for me to get a few things off my chest. So far, it's been a good summer, but along with the sun, the cook-outs, swimming, family get-togethers, mowing, gardening, etc. etc. etc. I became aware, once again, of what seems to be an ever-growing problem with women, that really disturbs me.

Single women, divorced women, whatever the case may be....it seems many of them have something in common; they're so afraid to be what they called "alone", that they have lowered themselves to take on a boyfriend that doesn't truly care about them.

These men treat their women with no respect, they degrade these women verbally, they take advantage of their kind hearts, they use them for sex, abuse them physically (saying they did something to do deserve it) and then they're on their way to greener pastures. Only when things get in a slump for them, do they return like a whipped puppy dog with their tale between their legs to once again "beg forgiveness" saying things like "I love you baby, I'll never do it again, I promise", only to take advantage of these women all over AGAIN!

When I talked to these women and asked them why they don't kick these men to the curb the answers I got were all very similar: "I don't know if I can do any better" OR"well, it's better than being alone"OR"I haven't had any other offers"..................etc. etc. etc.

Seroiusly women, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU THINKING????????????????? How can you POSSIBLY think having these men as "boyfriends" is better than being alone????? First of all...you are NOT alone. I'm sure you all have family OR children of your own OR friends OR maybe co-workers. Unless you are a total hermit, you are NOT alone and obviously you're not a hermit, if you have a 'boyfriend'.

So, what the heck are you thinking? How can you possibly think you don't deserve to be happy?

EVERYONE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY!

Each of us, is in control of our own happiness....so if you're not happy, then do something to change it. Reach inside youself and find that strength to crawl out of the hole you're in and grab for whatever or whoever it is that will MAKE you happy, and DON'T settle for anything less.

One woman, who is very pretty complains that she has a hard time dating cause no one will ask her out. Could it be men intimidated by her beauty? Maybe, I don't know, I'm not a man. Surely she has friends, family, co-workers, someone, who could set her up on a blind date with a man they know who is not the scum-of-the-earth.

Other women, think they are less than beautiful and have to settle for what they can get.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any man who truly loves and respects women, will see the beauty INSIDE you and that will transfer to the "outer you." I don't care if you're overweight, have a bad complexion, it DOESN'T MATTER ladies! There is someone out there for each and every one of you. Someone who will be kind to you...be gentle with you...someone who will love and cherish you the way you deserve.

As I once told a very good friend of mine after her divorce from an abusive husband....when you're ready to start the dating game again and when you go on that first date; if it's not truly fabulous, do NOT go on a second date. As I've said over and over and over again....you can't find Mr. Right if you keep spending time with Mr. Wrong.

Corny as it may sound, truer words were never spoken.

Birthday Candle Clean-Up

Okay, so this happened completely by accident, but worked all the same.

We had a birthday recently and when it came time to deal with the candles that came off the cake, I was exhausted and let them sit overnight. Yeah, yeah I know....but as I said I really was exhausted and had barely enough energy to get myself to bed.

So, come this morning, I grabbed the candles and dropped them into the sink full of soapy water to soak a bit. When I got back to them....ready to scrub them clean, I lifted them out of the water, and they were like brand new. All the frosting had come off and the candles literally sparkled. I rinsed them off in cool water and laid them on a towel to dry. About an hour later, I put them back in the box so we're "good to go" for the next birthday.

Until next time......

Household Tip.....Lime on Mirror Shower Door

Okay, so maybe I'm behind on a few things,. but I got a doozy for you today.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been doing some spring cleaning around the house.

I noticed the mirror panel on the shower door was looking a little limey :-) and performed an

experiment.

The results are in.....I took some CLR cleaner and sprayed it on the mirrored door panel.

I let it sit maybe 10 seconds and then wiped it down real good. I then took some Windex and using an old piece of newspaper cleaned it to make sure all the CLR was off.

The result: Looks like I got a brand new shower door for the tub area.

Yeah.....another success!!!

-Debbie-

Old Toothbrushes and Mr. Clean

You will find when you read this, the topics may change drastically from one day to another. Today I have to tell you about my new best friend.....actaully 2 of my new best friends. One is an old toothbrush I keep with my cleaning supplies. For some reason I am filled with all kinds of energy this week, so I have been a house-cleaning fool. We'll call it Spring Cleaning. Anyway, when it comes to washing off knick-knacks, or scrolled DVD racks, intricate picture frames, whatever...my old toothbrush really came thru for me. Using this to get in all the cracks and crevices has worked amazingly. I even took it to my bathroom scale...which I might add was looking pretty dingy. By the time I got done, it looked brand new.

My second best friend this week is the one and only Mr. Clean Magic Sponge. If you haven't tried using these babies yet, go to the store now and grab one. They truly are magic. As advertized on TV, they take crayon marks off the wall so fast, you won't believe your eyes. I have used these little babies on everything from cleaning my appliances to our lawn furniture, golf cart, walls, floors, the interiour dash of our vehicles.....and much more. The possibilities are endless. As you clean, they slowly dissentigrate, so you just throw it away, grab a new one and carry on. I keep a box of them with my cleaning supplies at all times.

If anyone out there has any housecleaning tips they'd care to share...I'm sure we'd all love to hear about them.
On that note...it's time for me to get back to my housecleaning.
Until next time.....