HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year. If you are out and about on New Year's Eve, please be careful. We are expecting bad storms, so I have decided to stay in.

Happy New Year!!!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I did. Our family has always had our family Christmas dinner and party on Christmas Eve. I think it always had to do with my father owning a business that was open on Christmas Day. He gave his employees the day off and we worked. He really didn't want to be open on Christmas, but the amount of business was too foolish to waste. Now that we have sold the business, we don't have to work on Christmas Day, but we still like our Christmas Eve celebration. A few years ago for Christmas Eve, my mother served ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, chips, pickles, brownies and cookies. My sister and brother-in-law voted to make that our traditional Christmas Eve menu. It seems like everywhere we go from Thanksgiving to Christmas we eat the same thing. The ham and potato salad is a break from that. And, we use china and crystal. Christmas Day, we always eat the leftovers.

This year, we were snowed in, so my mother and I just sat around, watched TV, read and napped. Sunday, we took down the Christmas tree and decorations. Then we sat around and was lazy.

Monday, I took a vacation day. I was so mad that the roads between here and Huntsville were icy. After we heard that the roads were clear, we hopped in the car and went to Huntsville. We went to Lawren's to get Caspari Christmas cards. While there, we looked around. We had not been in there in years. They had some really beautiful things. Then we ran some more errands and headed home. We wanted to get home before dark, in case the roads got icy again.

Today, my mother had to take my cousin to Huntsville for eye surgery. I am just sitting around and watching TV. After lunch, I need to pack my car and head back home.

Only three days to work this week. It's a shame that we don't get off early on New Year's Eve. We have to work until 5:00. I would like to get home before all of the crazies get out on the road.

As I do every year at this time, I am back on my healthy eating program (aka DIET). BFF MAB always refers to it as a lifestyle adjustment. It doesn't sound as harsh. Today for lunch, I am having a fruit and nut salad from Publix. They are so good. If you live near Publix, you need to grab one. They are in the produce section. It is spring mix topped with Fuji apples, raisins, blueberries, and walnuts. I mix it with a small amount of light blue cheese dressing. YUM! I need to lose a few pounds so that I can get back into my clothes.

I hope everyone has a good Tuesday. If you live in an area that has been hit with this horrible weather, please be safe.

I'M DREAMING OF A......

No Dream! We had a White Christmas...in Alabama! The first since 1969 in our area. It was a first for Birmingham.

I had to share.

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!
SEASONS GREETINGS!
AND THE BEST OF TIDINGS TO YOU ALL.

Tonight BFF MAB and I went to eat at Highland's Bar and Grill. It was sooooo good. I had the baked grits, the New York strip and the chocolate mousse cake. For a before dinner cocktail, I had the Christmas Cava (sp?). It is sparkling wine with pomegranate juice. We always treat ourselves to a good meal at Christmastime. I had some of my steak left over. I put it in the freezer. I'm going to take it to work to eat for lunch on Friday. That and a couple of slices of Italian bread will make a nice light lunch.

Tomorrow, my boss is treating all of us to lunch. He is having it brought in. I think we are having pizza, pasta and salad. I think I am about ready for the eat-a-thon to be over.

I hope everyone has a nice Wednesday.

I thought this was going to be a relaxing weekend, but I was wrong.

Saturday, I helped my mother clean house. After that, it was off to the grocery store to get what we needed for next weekend. On the way back, we stopped at the drugstore and a gift shop. When we got home, I made two pans of shortbread and she made fudge. My mother makes the old timey fudge with cocoa, sugar and milk. It is so good.

Saturday night, my mother went to a party. I was able to relax a little bit while she was gone.

Today, we went to church. I couldn't decide what I wanted to wear, so I was able to incorporate several items into my outfit. I wore a black Austin Reed skirt and a white turtle neck. I wanted to wear something red, so I wore a red Pendleton cardigan. I have a long black Geiger jacket, so I wore it as a coat. I wanted to wear something tartan, so I wore a muffler in the Keith tartan, our family tartan. I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to wear my gold tone Scottie dog pin or my gold tone foxhunters' horn pin, so I wore the Scottie dog pin on my cardigan and the horn pin on my jacket. This is a picture of my Geiger jacket, except mine is black. I like that I can wear it as either a jacket or a light coat.



















After church, we went to eat at a local barbecue place. I wasn't in the mood for barbecue, so I ate a cheeseburger and onion rings. YUM! After we got home, we changed clothes and went to put Christmas flowers on my father's grave. We left there and went to the car wash so that I could get the top layer of dirt off of my car. Then it was home to wash Bo. He hates taking a bath. When he saw that I had on the t-shirt that I wear when I bath him, he went and hid under the bed. We finally were able to coax him out.

I have a few last minutes errands to run before the holidays. I hope that I don't stress myself out trying to get everything done. Tuesday night, I am going to eat dinner with BFF MAB. We always treat ourselves to a nice dinner for the holidays.

I hope everyone has a nice Monday.

This week has been fairly uneventful. It has been very cold here and all I have done is gone to work and then home. Tomorrow is going to be a lot warmer.

Tonight, I went to Barnes & Noble to get a CD for my brother-in-law. Now, my Christmas shopping is complete. It feels so good. I mailed my Christmas cards today. Now all I have to do is sit back and enjoy the holidays.

I hope everyone has a good Thursday.

I'll tell you right away that this is not a post about Auburn Football. I probably won't post again about my Auburn Tigers until January 10, when they play for the national championship.

I have tried to relax some this weekend. Yesterday, I got up early and went to Edgar's Bakery and got four slices of sausage mushroom quiche and some fruit. Strange, the slice of quiche that I ate for breakfast yesterday had squash and ham. I rechecked the label and it clearly said sausage mushroom. Oh well, it was really good anyway. I didn't feel well, but I tried to get my housecleaning taken care of. I laid down for a few minutes, but realized that if I didn't want to fight huge crowds, I needed to get to Belk's. I was out of foundation makeup. When I got to the Summit, I was shocked to get a really good parking place. I went to the Clinique counter and they were out of what I wanted. I didn't want to go to another Belk store, but I had no choice. On the way out of Belk's, I got a couple of things that I was low on from Kiehl's. I then went to the post office and stood in line for 35 minutes to get a book of Christmas forever stamps. They were out. I ended up with the snowman stamps. That was my only choice. I went back home and watched Christmas Vacation. I always enjoy that movie.

Last night, I went to a party over at BFF MAB's house. On the way over there, I stopped at Belk's at Riverchase Galleria to get my Clinique. The traffic was a nightmare. It would not have been so bad, if the police were not there directing traffic. It was a good crowd of people at the part, and I think everyone had a great time. I got to see and visit with people that I had not seen in a couple of years. I also met some new people. While I was there, it poured down rain outside. It had slacked some by the time I left.

This morning, I did laundry and relaxed. This afternoon, BFF MAB and I went to the Alabama Theatre to see Holiday Inn. That is one of my favorite movies. I think it may be showing on AMC this month. I may record it to have. We were going to go eat afterwards, but neither one of us was hungry. I came home and finished laundry and fixed a cup of peppermint hot cocoa. YUM! I had some Stonewall Kitchen peppermint hot cocoa mix in the freezer.

For the remainder of the evening, I'm going to catch up on reading magazines and maybe watch some TV.

I hope everyone has a good Monday. It's snowing here right now, but I very seriously doubt that tomorrow is going to be a snow day.


PS: I figured out the problem with my computer. My computer had updated to Internet Explorer 9. I uninstalled it and am back to normal.

CONGRATULATIONS CAM!!!

WAR EAGLE!!!!! (or WDE!!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONNIE!

If you are of my generation, you will need to know that today is Donnie Osmond's birthday. I can't believe that he is that old......and still looks great!

Have a good day!

Assistance Please

For some reason, I am not able to publish my post by hitting PUBLISH POST at the bottom of where I do a new post. I have to hit enter. Also, it does not separate my paragraphs. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how do I correct it?

Thanks for your assistance.

This morning I read Maxminimus' post. It made my day. You need to pop over there and read it. Queenie was having a bad day. I copied and pasted it and emailed it to her. It lifted her spirits.

I had my annual review today. It was fantastic. I always thought that my supervisor could take me or leave me. She was very complementary. She kept going on and on about what a great job that I am doing. She implied that my position was beneath my capabilities. She is going to allow me to take on more responsibilities so that I don't get rusty and bored. Maybe one day, I will make it back to being an Executive Assistant.

I was saddened to hear about the death of Elizabeth Edwards. She fought a long hard battle.

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday.

WDE!!!!

WAR EAGLE!!! My Auburn Tigers have won the SEC Championship. They beat South Carolina 56-17. They will advance to the BSC Championship game. Of course, Cam Newton was voted the MVP. The icing on the cake will be next weekend when they announce that Cam Newton is this year's Heisman Trophy winner. It was such an exciting and emotional game. It is always exciting to see Bo Jackson on the sidelines. Former Coach Pat Dye was also there.

Yesterday, my mother and I went to Huntsville shopping. I got all of my shopping done, except for one gift. I'll stop and get it on Monday. It is something that I want to get for my mother.

This morning I woke up with a really bad cold. I went to Wal-Mart and got some Nyquil and Dayquil. I have been taking Dayquil all day. I feel so much better now.

This afternoon, I made a Queen's Cake like the one that they sell at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery in Williamsburg. That is probably one of my favorite non-chocolate cakes. While it was cooling, I went the the Christmas parade in a small town that is about 5 miles from here. My sister teaches at the little school there. Some of her students were in the parade. It was a big parade for such a small town.

Now, I am attempting to watch Sherlock Holmes on HBO.

I hope everyone enjoys the remainder of the weekend.

I'm glad that it is finally Thursday. I left work at noon today and don't have to go back until Monday.

Tomorrow, it's back to Huntsville to do some Christmas shopping. I have my ducks in a row this time. I hope to get a majority of my shopping taken care of.

Have any of you ever bought anything from Sierra Trading Post? A few weeks ago, I purchased an Austin Reed skirt for less than half price. Tonight, I purchased a Barbour quilted jacket for less than $50. BFF MAB is going to reimburse me for it and let it be my Christmas present. What a great present! I can't wait until it gets here. I think it will go great with my Barbour muffler that I've had for years.

I have used Crane stationary for years. Yesterday, I read on The Preppy Princess that Crane & Co. is prostituting itself out and will begin selling stationary at Wal-Mart. I realize that it is not the same line that I have always purchased at the Crane store, but I feel like the brand has been cheapened. Now I need to find another stationer. Has anyone ever purchased Smythson of Bond Street? I figure if it's good enough for Grace Kelly, it is good enough for me. I noticed that the prices were not much different than Crane. Now to find a place to purchase it. I may call their store in New York and inquire. This is worse than the manufacturing of Waterford being moved to Poland.

I hope everyone has a good Friday.

I was busy most of the Thanksgiving weekend.

After the game, I gave Bo a bath. That is a challenge. Even though he only weighs 8 pounds, he is strong. He wiggles and tries to get away.

Saturday, my mother and I went to Huntsville to do some Christmas shopping. Apparently, we didn't have our ducks in a row. We could not decide on anything. We bought stuff that we needed instead of presents.

Sunday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my mother's nieces and nephews. We had a great time. I am so glad that the eat-a-thon is over.

Yesterday, about noon, my throat started hurting. It was really sore when I left work. I could barely swallow. I came home and nursed it with warm salt water and hot tea. It is better this morning, but still sore. I hope I'm not getting sick. I don't have time for this.

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday.