100 things about me...

I just ran across this on a couple of other blogs, so I decided to do one myself...here it is:

http://mascosonthefarm100things.blogspot.com/

3 posts, one day...

Well 2 1/2...this is a testment to exactly how bored I am. I can't seem to coax Mark off the couch no matter what I do. If any of you locals would like to go get some sushi in Jackson in the near future...that would make my life better. I keep telling Mark the one thing in life I want right now is some sushi. From our favorite place in Jackson. Unfortunately, I can't even talk him into going to Union City (which is 15-20 minutes away) much less Jackson (1 hour away). Of course, I am going on a little trip for work tomorrow, but I'm going with Jimmie who will not go within a 10 foot radius of any seafood, so I know I'm not going to talk her into sushi for dinner tomorrow night. Not that I know of a good sushi restaurant in Tunica...if they even have a sushi place in Tunica (I kinda doubt it).
So I'm sulking a little. I really just want the man to take me out to eat. Is that so bad? In case you are wondering...I even gave up on my little trip to Jackson/Paducah. I'm just not feeling driving all that way to shop by myself. Lots of times I don't mind doing that, lots of times I like doing that, but not today. So, I guess I should just resign myself to a quick trip to Wal-Mart for paper towels and dinner at home...which I'm insisting Mark cook. I guess I've got stuff to do to get ready for my week anyway. I've still got to pack a bag, etc.
The good news is...Mark and I will have some time apart over the next few weeks. Hopefully this will inspire him to want to spend a little time with me (ie-take me out to eat!). I hate being bored. I just can't think of anything that sounds fun to do. I'm sure as hell not feeling creative.

This is a sine wave...

Life is like a sine wave...

Just so you know... I did in fact see this coming. Last weekend was so wonderful...I had a few "I'm so high on life" posts. This weekend...not so much. I'm not unhappy. I'm just BORED!! The joys of living in a small town. Mark and I had a very long week, which is strange because in actuality, it was a short week. Mark's department at work has a bit of a surplus of people, so he's getting to relax a little more. My department is slammed. In a sense, I am my own department. In reality, Nan says I fall under sales. I don't, however, sell anything or get paid commission for selling anything. So...whatever. Anyway, I'm busy. Very, very. Which you would think would make me want to sleep all weekend. I have slept late both days. Until noon yesterday, which I haven't done in a long time. I didn't even sleep until noon on New Years Day. Somehow I did yesterday though, which should be a testament to how worn out I am. BUT...I can't sleep all day. This is something I've learned in my old age. If I sleep all day today, I'll want to sleep all day tomorrow and they next day, and the next day...you get the idea. So, while I do want to relax on the weekends, I don't want to stop moving completely. It's the whole physics thing. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. Maybe it's my depressive tendencies or maybe that's just life, but if I'm at rest for too long...it will take me days if not weeks to get myself really back in motion again. Not something I'm willing to risk. It's too much of a pain the ass. So, I want to go do stuff. Mark has just gone back to bed (and it's 12:30). It makes me want to rip my hair out sometimes. Not that I'm afraid to go do stuff alone. It's just not as much fun. Especially in Martin. I mean, really, I went to Wal-Mart last night. I feel no need to go back (although I'm out of paper towels now and I'm going to need some more since Hambone is not over his poopiness). So, ok I can go do that, but that will take all of 30 minutes total. I'm thinking I may drive to Paducah or Jackson. Victoria's Secret is having their semi-annual sale. I need some new underwear. I also need a new purse. What I hate about all this is that it costs money. We're not poor, but we also don't have it coming out our ears. January and February are a little tight due to higher electric bills, insurance payments and car tags having to be renewed. We've got money to get what I want to get, but I'm afraid if I suggest this, Mark will jump on me about finances. Finances being the one thing he ever jumps on me about. Now, I have been quite financially irresponsible in the past, but there were reasons for that. Not saying that they were good ones, but there were reasons. This is nothing that Mark has ever had to encounter with me. I took care of all the finances when I was with Lee. We did ok. I'm even better at it now. I'd like to point out, although it may be ill-advised, that he is the one that spends money when we don't have it to spend. That won't get me anywhere though. *Sigh* I guess I'll just go hop in the shower and get ready to go. When he asks me where I'm going I'll tell him. If he protests, we'll discuss it and I'll probably get to go anyway. Maybe he'll come along to police my spending. Then I win both ways! Hehe.

Hmm...don't know where all that came from! I really just wish he wanted to go do things too. Sometimes he does, but I think the cool, rainy weather isn't helping. I keep thinking that soon it will be Spring. Mark is all about Spring! We'll have to visit all the nurseries and start planting stuff. Get the garden started, etc, etc. He loves that stuff. I enjoy that we get to do it together. Although, some of it he could just have. I don't want it! I look forward to that time of year. In the winter we're kind of stuck in this house together all the time. In the spring he'll go off and work on the tractor and I'll work around the house and in the yard and then in the evenings we grab a beer and sit out in the pergola. That's the part of farm living that I love! Sitting outside in the evenings listening to the frogs sing and talking to Mark. Most of y'all know, Mark's not a big talker, but on some nights, when we're sitting out in the pergola he gets on a roll. That's when I learn things about him and hear his memories about the farm. That's pretty precious stuff to me. We also talk about the farm now, the things we've done to the house and the land, the things we want to do. It seems like it's always when we're sitting out there that we hammer out a plan. Although, since we've finished the library, we've spent a couple evenings sitting in there with a beer making plans. We've got 3 1/2 rooms left. The 1/2 room being the foyer, which only will really need new wallpaper. The laundry room is next. It's going to be good. If you've ever seen it though, you know it can only get better because it's puh-retty sad! Then the living room, which also only really needs wallpaper. Although with any luck there will be a new couch and chair too. Then the bedroom. That room is huge. It really only needs new wallpaper and some drapes (Laura, you ready for that one?). We're not far off from being finished, but I think once we finish I'll want to redo something else...probably the kitchen. I can see this being an endless cycle.

Wow, this has been a rather aimless post! Let's see what I have in the pictures archives to spice it up! Here you go: First is Tracy and Talley, next is the "other" Stephanie and last is Lauren. All taken at last week's party. Oh, and...life is like a sine wave. The upside to that being this...while I may be on the down side of the cycle now, things are bound to be on the upswing...it's just a matter of time. Again, it's all about physics. Happy Sunday to you all and Happy Birthday to my sweet nephew Caleb who is 2 today!

I'm sure this picture is not doctored in any way...Really, he always looks like this...

For those of you who don't know...this is my dad. He posted this picture on his blog much to my amusement. People hate sitting behind him in the theater because the halo really blocks their view. It's hard being so angelic I'm sure. The best part of this picture is how bored he looks...Alas, this would all have been way more believable if their was a hint of glare from the halo on his bald head.

Onto other stuff. I have't blogged in a few days because there's nothing to blog about. Next week is going to kick my butt. Last week pretty much did too. I got in a little overtime, that was good I guess. Well, I wasn't pleased about it the day I was at the office until 7:30, but I'll get some extra time off out of the deal. Monday I've got 3 customers to see all before early afternoon when Jimmie and I leave for a 1 day seminar in Tunica. Woohoo! I love a field trip! Good times.

Mark has spent the day in true Steve fashion (that's my dad) working on his couch potato skills. He's quite adept already, so I can only imagine how good he'll become with years more practice! I, of course, wanted to do something today, but nooooo, he wanted to be lazy. Of course, we have a rather sick cat and we were pretty much out of food, so someone had to go to the store. That would be me. So, off I went to Wal-Mart at 6pm on a Saturday night. It wasn't as bad as usual. I got some Immodium for the kitty and some food for us and for a package I'm still trying to fill up to send to Wayne (I think I'm done now). I had to go to 2 stores. This is one thing I don't enjoy about Martin. I miss Kroger. Alot. I enjoy the variety that our new Super Wal-Mart offers, but the meat is terrible. There's been a time or 2 we actually had to just give it to the dog it was so bad. It's not us, people, we can both cook very well. A bad cut of meat is a bad cut of meat, not much you can do to fix it. So I got the basics at Wal-Mart (because they have variety) and then I went to EW James for some meat. Well steak really.

Mark's on a steak kick since he started using the very nice, very large George Foreman grill he got from my parents for Christmas. We've only used it 3 times so far. Once for tuna steaks and twice for beef steaks. I think he really enjoys this because he gets to use 2 things he got for Christmas: the aforementioned grill and the digital meat thermometer I got him (with a remote that beeps when your meat has reached the correct internal temperature!). All 3 times the food has turned out SO good! Side note here...Can I just say how happy I am that I can now get some excellent flash-frozen tuna steaks here. When I first moved to West TN, I looked everywhere for tuna steaks. All I could find was catfish (ick...is this really seafood?) and the occasional salmon in the seafood sections. Now EW James is carrying some excellent tuna steaks. The first time they were Indonesian (they write it on the packaging) and the last couple of times they have been from the Phillipines. I don't know why you needed to know that, but now you know. Good stuff.

Anyway, earlier in the week Mark went to Damron's (that's where the fabulous barbecue came from on Memorial Day) to get a couple of steaks and he also picked up some fresh shrimp. The steaks were super-thick and turned out really well. Tonight, he made his own version of shrimp scampi. While it wasn't as good as the really fresh shrimp you can get on the coast, it was pretty good for Martin. He was doing that when I got back from the store.

Lastly...my poor, poor Hambone kitty has had a very rough week. He spent almost 2 days at the vet. We had him neutered and declawed. The latter being something I really didn't want to do, but it was looking like he was going to be rather destructive if we didn't. So, we did and he seems to fine. Unfortunately, since the surgeries his stomach has been a mess. We took him to the vet a couple weeks ago before we brought him home for the first time and he had roundworms, so they treated him for that. This time I asked them to check again and they found tapeworms and lungworms. So they started him on medication for that. They sent him home on Thursday with 3 days worth, so we've been giving him that. I don't think that's helping his poor kitty stomach. So, I got him a little medicine to hopefully help clear that up. I swear, if we ever get this cat healthy, he's going to be a great kitty. He's so loving and lovable. I just hate it that he feels so bad. Maybe he'll feel better in a couple days when all he's finished all his medication. Let's just hope there isn't anything else wrong!

Ok...it turns out there were things to blog about, just nothing terribly interesting! I really just wanted to get a post in before this coming week because I'm not sure if I'll be home much to blog at all. This one might just have to hold all of my devoted blog-fans until next weekend. I'll try to get another one in though. Have a great weekend!

Monday (aka Tuesday)

I don't know what happened, but all of the sudden I'm swamped. I barely had time to think today at work. I know how some of you feel about me blogging about work, so I'll spare you the details. It's not a bad thing, I'm just really busy and suddenly in very high demand. I'm booked for the next week. I haven't had a week like that in quite awhile. In more fun (sort of) work news...Jimmie and I are going to a one day conference in Tunica next week. I'm not really the gambling type (althought I like me some slot machines), but I think I just enjoy the prospect of a "field trip". It will be fun to travel with Jimmie, so I'm looking forward to it.
I'm not feeling so fabulous today. I think I'm trying hard to get a little cold (again). I think I'll start popping antibiotics again tonight. Maybe that will help ward off any unwelcome bugs.
Ok...wow...I'm boring this afternoon. I can't think of anything at all clever to say.
I would like to wish my niece Madeline a very Happy Birthday! I wish I was going to be able to come to her party, but I don't think we'll be able to get there. I hope she and Caleb (who will be 2 in a few days) have a great time!! Happy Birthday to them both!

Don't you just LOVE New Years?

I love New Years. It's just a nice time to kind of look back at the previous year and think about the one ahead. This time around that's a pretty happy thing. 2006 was a pretty good year. For the sake of reflection...here are my thoughts on 2006. Looking back now, I think my main priority for the year was to find a balance in my life. The first half of the year was a little rough. I wasn't happy at work, Mark and I were still adjusting to married life together and I was still trying to come to grips with NEVER leaving Martin. I'm not entirely sure how I got from there to here, but I did. Martin has really grown on me. I've found some really good friends. I think I found my niche, so staying in Martin doesn't sound like a bad thing to me anymore. I've always like our farm, it's hard not to really. It's just so peaceful and pretty. The house took some getting used to. Primarily the lack of central heat and air. That made for a REALLY cold start to 2006! I think it bothered me when I moved in that there was nothing of me in this house. Everything is old and everything belonged to Mark's family. The house needed work inside & out. We started the year by putting up new drapes in the living room (courtesy of Laura's excellent sewing skills), replacing the roof, then we redid the porch (sunroom) and the guest room. Soon after that we had central heat & air installed (woohoo!!), then just a couple months ago we redid the library, and just a couple days ago we hung new drapes (again...Laura) in the dining room. Working on this house myself changed everything for me. I picked the colors and hung the pictures on the walls (MY pictures mixed in with Mark's). So now there is something of me here and even more than that, these are things that Mark and I did together. So it's really ours. I love that. Several people mentioned last night how nice the house looks since we got married, and that was really great to hear. If you know me, you know that those rooms really have my stamp on them and that makes me immensely happy. I'm so proud of all the work that we've done.
Ok...enough house talk, on to work. At the beginning of the year I really hated my job. I'm pretty sure everyone knew it too. I've since told Nan this. I won't say that the job I had (kind of a receptionist, administrative thing) didn't require a brain, because it did. There was a ton of stuff to keep track of. It just wasn't really my cup of tea. I wanted to do something that required me to be more creative and use the different parts of my brain all together. I don't think I had ever before really thought of myself as a creative person, but I'm pretty comfortable now in saying that I am. Not in the artsy sort of way really, but creative nonetheless. I didn't realize how much I needed to be able to use that. I had never really been recognized for my creativity, but lately I have been and it's nice. Anyway...back to the reflection. I had been promoted in late 2005 to my current position, but it was kind of a part time thing. I was a receptionist unless they needed me to do software training or something. In the summer, we had some...hmm...personnel changes and suddenly my responsibilities grew. I had to be responsible for the network and the computers at the office, the website and any network and software training for customers. My workload quadrupled. In August, they hired my replacement for the front desk and I've been Software Solutions Specialist fulltime since. I love it. I love the freedom I have to leave the office to see customers. I love the time it gives me in the car, alone. I love that it was my suggestion to replace me at the front desk and I was listened to and trusted. Most of all I love that I'm making it work. I've always got things to do if I want things to do. I finally feel like I'm actually contributing. Not to say my old job was not a contribution, but I feel like I'm part of something now. What I do brings money in for the company and has helped it to grow. My opinion counts for something. I'm trusted to be knowledgeable and, as crazy as it seems to me (for whatever reason), I am. I would never have said this is my dream job. It's not my dream job, but I finally enjoy what I do.
So that, in a nutshell, was 2006. I have a good feeling about 2007. I'm sure there will be bad with the good, but I'm just in a different place in my life now. I know I can handle it, whatever it is. Oh my God, I think I'm a grownup. LOL

OK...the party. The turnout was not as good as we thought it would be, but we had a fabulous time. There were probably 10 of us in all. I made sangria (alot of it) and guacamole. Mark made cheese dip, deviled eggs (hey, when you raise chickens, you've got to get rid of those suckers somehow!) and a cheese plate. I made a 6 hour long playlist on Itunes which turned out to be alot of fun for everybody. We pretty much hung out in the library all night, which is crazy since we never used to use this room AT ALL! Tracy read tarot cards for us (that was quite interesting and surprisingly accurate) and we just all sat around and talked and had good time...until about 5am. Let me just say, I'm getting WAY too old for this! Quite frankly, I wasn't sure I'd make it until midnight, much less 5am! I was having a great time though. I'm quite worn out today, but it was worth it. It was a great way to end a pretty good year and to start a new one.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years and I hope you all have a happy, healthy 2007!

Real quick

I finally got my new drapes ironed and hung last night. We were waiting to find time to get some new curtain rods. I was originally going to make cornices to go with them, but I don't think I'm going to. I've got a project I can use the extra material for I think. We bought new decorative rods and matching metal tiebacks. Here's a picture. I think they turned out great. We love them! Thanks Laura! Here's a picture of one window:

Hambone

Here's the new kitty...The other cats have accepted him pretty well...in one of these pictures he's lying right next to Furball. They're almost touching (gasp!). I think he's going to be a good addition. He's about a year old, so we're taking him to be fixed on Wednesday. He is pretty underweight, but I'm sure we'll fix that! His fur looked pretty stringy and rough the first couple of days, but he's looking better everyday. And he seems very happy to have a good home. He's very affectionate. I'm glad to have him...The first picture is from the first day we had him, the second is from just a few minutes ago. Here he is:

Happy New Year!

Well...in a couple of days anyway. I know it'll be a busy few days for us, so I thought I'd get a post in now. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas. We were a bit worn out, but really enjoyed getting to see everyone. I just hated that we had to leave so soon. I really miss getting to hang out with my whole family at the same time.
We have a new addition to our little family...a feline one. So, now we're back up to 4...bordering again on "crazy cat people" status LOL. I'll post a picture as soon as I download one from the camera. Kind of a long story about how we ended up with this one, but he's really a sweetheart. He loves me...even more than Mark. Which is significant only because the others all prefer Mark to me. He's a bit malnourished looking, but I'm sure we'll fatten him up in no time if our other cats are any indication. Oh, and we've named him Hambone (yes, Laura, I got that from you...hope you don't mind).
We're having a New Year's party at our house. We did last year too, but we didn't have much of a turnout. This year is looking like we'll have a rather large turnout. Which is fine with us! We'll just have to line people up on the floor in sleeping bags because I don't think anyone will be leaving. We've got a lot to do before Sunday afternoon, but we're looking forward to it. We love having parties.
And here I'm going to get little thoughtful...Laura, you may want to avert your eyes LOL!
I was thinking last week while I was driving all over creation for work...I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. I would never have thought I'd have ended up where I am...geographically, professionally or emotionally, but I'm very, very happy. I love Martin, I love our house, I enjoy my job, and my marriage is great.
I think I had a very false idea of what marriage would be and I've really let go of that idea. It's nothing like I thought it would be, it's much more mundane I guess, but that's not a bad thing. It's just much less dramatic and much more secure and comfortable. And while I see Mark ALL the time since we work together, we've adjusted to that and I understand now when he needs some space. So I give him a little space and I find that I need a little space too. So it works out. And while sometimes we get on eachother's nerves, I don't get so wound up about it anymore. It's just nice. I'm very comfortable and very happy.
But it's not just my marriage, it's me. I just feel comfortable with me. I just am who I am I guess. I've changed alot and I realize that, I'd say it's all been for the better. But I don't feel alot of need to change now. I'm sure I still will, that's kind of inevitable, but I'm comfortable being me now. I have a confidence in myself that I never had before and it comes in handy at work and in my social life. I think I have more friends now than I've ever had, and I really enjoy the circle of friends that Mark and I have. I think that's a lot of the reason why I like Martin so much. It's just all so nice.
I'd say there are still things missing in my life, but I struggle alot less with that. I just feel much more peace than I ever have before. Every now and then I'll catch myself thinking about all this and it almost catches me off guard...this is what happy feels like. I know it all sounds very cheesy, but I've struggled alot with depression and I honestly thought I might never really be happy, that I'd never know what it meant to be happy. So, it makes me stop and think and it makes me extremely thankful. I had moments of happiness or contentment before, but now I have moments of not being happy or content. Because by far these days I am content way more often than I'm not. Life is good and that's such a great way to start the New Year. I wish you all the same! Happy New Year!

Home again.

Because I'm sick again. I went to work because I felt better this morning, but now I feel like I'm about to suffocate. So, I'm trying to concentrate on something besides the fact that I can't breathe. So, you get a blog entry out of the deal.

Last night I finished another scrap page. This one's for May. This is the only page I've done that Mark said something about (positive or negative). He likes this one I'm pretty sure. He came up behind me last night while I was working on it and told me I was doing a good job (awwww). It's a good thing he said that because I was getting a little discouraged. You just never know how Anne will take something. I'm sure she'll appreciate the effort I've put into this at the very least. Anyway...May is the mothers page. I spent a good hour searching for a picture of Anne and her mother. Mark got home when I was about 3/4 through. I finally had to ask him if they didn't get along or something because I found ONE picture of the 2 of them together and that's it!! There were a few that they were both in, but there were always other people. I didn't have this problem finding ones with she and her father. Not that there were a ton, but there were at least a few to choose from. So, when you see this layout keep in mind the pickins were slim.

I got the pictures scanned in for the June page. That would be the fathers page. I had a different problem with this one. I found several pictures of Anne and her father, but all but one of them were from when she was a teenager or older. This being a problem because I wanted the ages of the children in the pictures to be in the same ballpark at least. And Mark's dad died when he was 10, so all the pictures of the 2 of them are when Mark was pretty young. Even at that there aren't that many. I'm sure there are more, but I think Anne has them. So, I'm using a Halloween picture which seems a little odd for June, but it's kind of a sweet picture and it's the one Mark wanted me to use...I think it's one of his favorites. So I'll post that too. I'm rambling, so I'll get on to the pictures now!

I got 3 months worth of calendar pictures finished today! Woohoo! I didn't get any done yesterday, so I had to make up for it. They probably aren't my favorite scrap pages ever, but I guess they can't all be masterpieces, right? LOL

I'm really not feeling very well, but doing my best not to let a little chest cold get me down. I've got too much to do for that. I had all the usual weekend stuff to do, plus some extra things. Yesterday I got my hair cut then I had to make a trip to Wal-Mart. I dread Wal-Mart on a normal day, but there were 5 times the number of people there yesterday. It was really kind of ridiculous. I got through it though. Then came home and took a good nap. I wasn't feeling well at all. Then we went to a party at Tracy & Stephanie's house. We didn't stay all that long, mostly because I wasn't feeling 100%, but we had a really good time. We're usually the ones having the party it seems like, so it was nice to go to a party! We met lots of people and got to hang out with our friends. Tracy, if you're reading this, we had a GREAT time! Thanks for inviting us!

Today I decided I had to get some work done. So I started the laundry, which unfortunately is still going. Mark and I went out to lunch then I did some scrap pages and wrapped the rest of the presents. With the exception of one gift I'm still waiting to get (UPS) Christmas is ready to go! Oh, but I do have to re-stitch Mark's stocking before I can actually put anything in it.

I guess that's enough rambling...I'll leave you with the 3 scrap pages I finished today. If you have any input on these (and Laura, I'm sure you will ;)) let me know!

March:

July:

August:

Quick note...

Ok people...I'm blogging my butt off here and I've got NO comments. Ok...I got one comment a few days ago. If this is how it's going to be, I'm going back to once a week. Got it? LOL

Edit: I didn't mean to be pissy about it, I was just wondering where everyone was. I'm not sure what the problem was with posting comments to my blog. I did add a security feature, but that's been several weeks ago...it's just the squiggly word thing. I'm going to assume it's working now, but if it's not, someone please let me know. Thanks!

April layout

I swear, I should've just sent the pictures to Laura and let her do my layouts...We've been working on them using Hello to communicate. Here's April:






















That's all for tonight...Happy Friday!

Fun little project

This is my accomplishment for the evening...I saw this picture of Anne (Mark's mother) as a little girl and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. This is going on my Easter (April) calendar page. I haven't done the page yet...but I'll post the before & afters of the picture. The color may still need to be toned down a bit...y'all tell me what you think. I really enjoyed doing this...I may have to do another one! LOL Doesn't this picture remind you ever so slightly of Jennifer?

Here's the before:



















And the after:



















Let me know what you think! Have a Happy Thursday!

Laura's Tag

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrapped (unwrapped?? How boring!)
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I like both, but my tree has white lights b/c Mark likes them better.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, we have some that grows in a tree in our front yard, Mark shot some down last weekend. We also have a MistleToad that Mark hangs in one of the doorways...but that's totally different.
5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend after Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Sweet potato casserole
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child- Getting up early, early and everyone opening gifts all at once.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 4th or 5th grade I think.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Just the ones from Mark (we open gifts the night before any occasion, I don't know why. It started with our wedding gifts to eachother and we've just continued it for some reason...like we just can't wait any longer to give eachother our gifts:))
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, old ornaments from Mark's family, some really old colored beads (also from Mark's family), beaded snowflake ornaments I've made, ornaments we made in school, ornaments Mommy gave me through the years, and a couple ornaments Mark and I have gotten on our vacations together.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love to look it, hate to drive in it. Not because I can't drive in it, I'm not bad at it...other drivers just scare me.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but I don't particularly like to.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I've had many favorites...too many to list.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family. The holidays have always been about family to me. Mark hasn't ever been a big fan of the holidays for understandable reasons I won't go into here. So, last year and this year, it's been very important to me to share my idea of Christmas and family with him and to build our own traditions together (thus the opening presents under the tree on Christmas Eve).
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pecan pie
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Probably breakfast at my grandmother's house. I've never missed it and I'd never want to miss it.
17. What tops your tree? An angel holding 2 candles (lit up) that my mom gave me.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Definitely giving, I just love the look on a person's face when they open a present from me that they love.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? They're ok...I don't go out and buy them by the boxful. Give me chocolate instead please.

Progress

I finished wrapping all the gifts I had tonight! Woohoo!!! AND...I got 2 calendar pages done. Well, I did one, Laura did the other. So, I'll post them below. One is December (this should look familiar from Laura's blog...it's almost identical except the picture, the words and I think she moved one element. The other is February...I used Mark's grandparents' wedding picture as well as his parents' and ours...tell me what you think...

Have a great Wednesday!!

December

February

Quick post

I'll make this quick because I really need to get to bed. It's nearly 11...so if I wait to much longer I'll be worthless tomorrow at work.

Unfortunately, I haven't made good on getting my calendar picture scrap pages started. I did get all the pictures scanned in last night, which took a good amount of time. Tonight I didn't feel like doing much. Mark only worked about 1/2 a day since he wasn't feeling well. I think he's like I am on sick days. He didn't feel good, but I think he got a little bored. So, he had a roast in the oven when I got home. That was nice! I spent most of my evening on the couch, but I did get some more gifts wrapped. I've got to get a couple more boxes and then I can finish up. I'm *almost* done. I did decide I didn't like what I'd gotten Mammaw D., so I found another one online and ordered it tonight, now I just have to remember to take the first one with me to work so I can send it back. I also finished shopping for Mark today (online), so as soon as those things get here I think I'm officially done...Haven't I already said that like 4 times?? I really mean it this time, unless I find something else Mark has to have. ;)

I don't have much else to post, but I did scan a couple cute pictures of Mark in last night, so I'll share those...these were both taken on our farm. One at the pond (which looked better then than it does now...and I think then it actually had fish in it), the other right by the driveway at the corner of the house...enjoy Mark in all his cuteness...

Anne, Mark and Mark's Grandfather Templeton

Mark fishing at the pond.

Weekend report

The weekends just don't ever last long enough, do they? I didn't do much of anything Saturday...laid on the couch and read most of the day. I had a really bad day actually. I won't go into it...poor Mark did his best to cheer me up. We did get out of the house for a little while. We went to Union City to get one last gift (for the guy Mark drew at work), then we went and bought me a new pair of running shoes (finally), we made a stop in Fulton for some beer (good beer, otherwise we could've bought it in Martin) and then we stopped by Anne's (Mark's mother) house to fix her phone for her. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I think Mark got it fixed. We stayed and chatted with her for a little while...she was in rare form. It was very entertaining! I love it when she's like that...she's got such a dry sense of humor (drier than Mark's) and she cracks me up sometimes.
Today Mark hasn't felt well at all, so he's spent most of his time in the recliner or in bed. I didn't feel all the great, but decided I had LOTS to do, so I got to work. I did ALL the laundry (last of it's in the dryer now) and all the dishes. Took out the trash, etc, etc. Then I got to work on the calendar I'm making for Anne for Christmas. I got the calendar pages done, now I just have to do the corresponding picture pages. I started looking through the photos I had already scanned in and decided that they would look boring just stuck on a page, so I'm going to do digital scrap pages for each one. I already had a couple done that I could use, so I altered them to fit the page correctly. So I think that leaves me 8 or 9 left to do. I downloaded some digiscrap freebies from Shabby Princess and scanned another picture in, but I haven't actually started creating the rest of the pages yet. I'm going to have to start one tonight so I can keep up my momentum or otherwise I'll procrastinate until the week before Christmas, which isn't that far off. I'll try to post them as I get them done. The ones I've already done, you've already seen on my blog, so that won't be new and interesting to anyone. I think if I can get one a night done, I should be fine. Then I'll just have to get them printed and take them to be bound down the street from work. Better get started now...I've still got gifts I want to get wrapped tonight! Have a great week everyone!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I was very productive yesterday. Today, not so much. Yesterday Mark and I drove to Paducah and finished up our Christmas shopping (except for our gifts for eachother). We got to Paducah right when the mall opened,which made the experience ALOT better. There were plenty of people, but not the usual mobs you see this time of year. We had one store to go to there, so we did that and looked around at a couple other places. Then we went to World Market. I don't know if any of you have one of these, but we LOVE that place. Especially the food section. After that we went to PetSmart because we're dorks and we buy Christmas gifts for the cats and the dog. Yes, they have their own stockings...They should be very pleased with their gifts this year. Last we went to Books-a-Million and stocked up on books because we were both out of reading material. In between all that I managed to get lunch at Olive Garden, which was enjoyable. When we got home I went to Wal-Mart and then wrapped a few Christmas presents. Then we changed the sheets on the bed, did some laundry, ate some dinner.
Today, I've done nothing really. I spent alot of the day on the couch watching the America's Next Top Model Season 7 marathon. Mark read...he wasn't so into the show :)
I did a little more laundry, but not much. I think I needed a day to just vegetate.
This week is Mark's birthday (Wednesday). He doesn't want a cake, he says. He just wants brownies, so I'll make those Wednesday evening...they're best warm. I think I'm also supposed to take him out to dinner, which I CERTAINLY don't mind. And that's about it...I have NOTHING to blog about, so that's all you get. Have a great week everyone!