Freezing Drizzle

I didn't go to work today because of the freezing drizzle and we are getting more of it tonight. They say that they are going to get snow on top of it. When I talked with my boss this morning, I told him that I would play tomorrow by ear as the saying goes. They keep saying this storm is going to affect twenty-eight states and to stay home if possible.
I have spent the majority of the day working on my baby block quilt. It is coming along nicely with all of the pretty pastel colors.
A lot of the businesses closed today. Even the college was closed because of the weather which was an exception to the rule.
We celebrated dad's birthday Sunday with breakfast with the family. It was an enjoyable time and then went grocery shopping because of the weather that we were suppose to get. I am glad that we did. The ice isn't thick, but enough to make it very hazardous to do anything outside.
I thought I would show you a picture of my grandson. He told his parents that he is old enough for a 4 wheeler. I really don't think so. He always has to try them all when they are at a show.


I hope you all are staying safe and warm. I imagine I will be home again tomorrow because I am not taking a chance of being in an accident. I just don't like ice because you can be sitting in park and your car will slide. You just don't have the control. Have a great week.

Saturday Afternoon At Home

I don't know how I was lucky enough to have some time at home this afternoon, but I am taking advantage of it.
Have you ever been bother by telephone surveyors or they call themselves consumer research?? I have had one company call three times yesterday and so far three times today. To the point, I wish my telephone was out of order like my picture.
I learned something new about my car today. I have a symbol of a car going down an incline that came on. According to my book it is to help me when you drive in the mountains or steep hills. Well, I found out there is a button on my gear shift that you can turn it on and off after I took it to the dealership to see about it. The service writer read in the book the same as I had, but he knew about the button on the gear shift that I didn't. I guess I must have actually hit when I shifted gears.
It wasn't a wasted trip because I wanted to go to Joanne's before I came home. They have a much wider selection then we do at our store plus a lot more friendly helpful people.
Some places forget about their customer service and it will come back to haunt them.
I am not looking forward to this next week and I hope that the weatherman is wrong. He is now talking sleet and freezing rain on Monday. I hope not. I don't handle that kind of weather.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Take care and stay warm.

Invisible Mothers and grandmothers

This was an e-mail that was sent to me by my daughter-in-law. I wanted to share it with you. When you are busy wrapping presents or setting the table or cooking, shopping and decorating, etc and you start to feel exhausted and a little bit like a martyr, stop and read this passage.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I am thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?
Obviously not, no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in a corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more, Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands, I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order,'Right around 5:30 please.
Some days I'm a Crystal ball, " Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? Whats for dinner?
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature-but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She 's going, she's going, she's gone.
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said" I brought you this". It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness o f what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read-no devour-the book . And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals-we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it and and the workman replied, "Because God Sees.
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, " I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does,
No act of kindness you've done , no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is to small for me to notice or smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can''t see right now what it will become.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want to my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, You're gonna love it there. "
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.
Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know. I just did .
I think if you are a mother or grandmother we all have felt like we are invisble at one time or another. I know I have.
One more day until the weekend. Hooray. it will be a busy weekend. Sorry this post is longer then my normal ones. Have a great day.

8" More

We had another 8 inches of snow over the weekend. I was going out Sunday morning or so I thought. When I shoveled so I could see the driver's side of my car, I decided I wasn't going anywhere.
We had more drifting this time. The phone rang and it was my daughter. She wanted to know if my driveway had been bladed. I told her no. She, my youngest grandson, and son-inlaw came and dugged me out. It was fun watching my grandson play in the snow even though he did have his shovel. He was to busy making snow angels, rolling in the snow, and throwing snow balls at his Uncle. He had a blast.
I keep hoping we have had the end of it, but who knows. We got up in the 30"s today and it melted some.
I am so happy that my baby quilt made it to Australia in time for the baby shower. I had no idea how long it would take it to arrive. It was truly a wonderful experience knowing that it is for a new arrival. They take longer to make, but it is worth it in the long run.
I hope for all of you football fans that your team came in a winner. I haven't been in to it alot this year. I have to watch it some because of working with all guys. They talk basketball, football, and baseball. If our grandchildren play, then we go and support them. So far they only show horses in the summer when it definitely is warmer. My grandsons were happy they could go sledding. Remember when we were kids, we would take our sleds to school. We would go out at noon and always stayed out for more then a hour. I remember some of the coasting parties we had growing up with our cousins. My mom always had hot chocolate and cookies ready when we came in. We used my mom's wash tub until dad caught us.That was a lot of fun. We even used the scoop shovel hanging on to the handle. Things that we wouldn't want our kids doing today. We always had a good time, but then we visited more with family then we do today. Today it seem as though everybody is in a hurry. We didn't have to check to see if it fit everyone's calendar like you do today. I know we still have a family reunion the first Sunday in August. If you can make it, that is fine. If not, then that is your lost. It is time to catch up with what is happening around us with our family. Have a great day.

SNOW COMING????

They have said that we are in a winter storm watch until noon tomorrow. It was suppose to be here around 4 P.M., but we haven't got anything yet. It is to be rain and sleet to start turning to the snow. We will just wait and see about that.

My new banner is what I won from my friend LuLu. I had been thinking about doing some decorating for Valentine's day. I have been working on some tea towels for the occasion. Right now I am taking a break from embroidering to visit some of my friends her in blog land.

It has been cold today. I did what running around I needed to do this morning. I have been trying to get rid of a sinus infection and I found out that I have been expose to strep throat. Why don't people stay home when they know they have something like that???

We are making up for being lucky in December of not really having the bad weather. We are getting it all this month. I just don't want it next month because we have several doctor appointments in the City. Our goal is to have another year of staying out of the hospital, We will just take it one day at time.

I fixed supper tonight. Our son is cooking tomorrow night. He has one week of school completed. He catches the bus to go and I pick him up after I get off work. He is learning a lot about our city buses that is for sure.

Well I hope you all have a good week. Stay warm and safe.

Another Cold Week

We had a heat wave yesterday and got up to 40 degrees. Melted some of the snow, but mainly melted the ice where I hadn't put the ice melt. We were lucky this morning because it was cold, but we didn't get the freezing rain that was to the South of Us. We are suppose to be in a winter storm watch until 6 A.M. Thursday. We are suppose to have some more snow. Does anyone out there know what is meant by "Moderate Snow Fall"???. Does that mean a lot or hardy any???.
Today was the first day of college classes for my son. I went out and picked him up after I got off work. I hadn't been on the college campus for quite a while that is for sure. He rode the city bus this morning.
I got a scare today when I was listening to the news on the radio. They were talking about a bus sliding into a ditch. It was my grandson's bus, but they hadn't been picked up yet and their mom ended up taking them to school because the oldest catches another bus at the grade school to take him to the Middle School. They transferred the kids to another bus and no one was hurt that is the main thing.
We still haven't got our furnace fixed at work. It is now either to hot or to cold, there is no happy medium. Part of the problem I say is that they need a new furnace filter, which I think would really help. But a woman isn't suppose to say that.
Today was like Christmas with all of the packages that arrived in the mail. I had won two give aways. A tea towel from Tattered Goods, Hot Chocolate mix, a pretty little tea pot, a Christmas Book with all kinds of Craft ideas, recipes, and things to make for Presents, A couple of Candy canes from Donna at Brynwood Needleworks. The Hot Chocolate is yummy to drink while you are reading blogs. If you saw her mug mats that she has been making, well I received the purple one that was in the picture. She knows that is my favorite color. She does such a beautiful job no matter what she is making. I need to take my pictures so I can show them to you all. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Be safe and warm where ever you are at.

Weekend Almost Over

The picture on the left was e-mailed to me. It isn't the rhyme on the picture that caught my attention, but the picture itself. The way that the trees reflected on the water. I just thought it was pretty.
The weekend is almost over and they are predicting more snow on Monday. I just hope they are wrong, but I don't want freezing rain
either. We will just have to wait and see which weatherman is right.
Today has been a peaceful day. I spent the afternoon embroidering and watching ice skating. One of the skaters "Ryan Bradley" I have known him since he was a baby and his sister started ice skating. When he got old enough then he put on his ice skates. The whole family skated. I enjoyed the show and I will probably be watching the United States Championship here in a couple of weeks. I have the last dresses that I beaded for my daughter hanging in the closet. I don't know if they will ever be parted with or not.
Our son fixed supper tonight and that was nice to have someone else to do the cooking. It is his one pot meal which consisted of cooked cabbage, potatoes, onion, and polish sausage. You could have bread and butter to go with it. He does his own seasoning and did a good job. He takes care of mom when he knows I am not feeling that good. Right now I am fighting a sinus infection. With being on blood pressure medicine, I have to be careful what I take. I did take a couple of bendryl when I went to bed the other night. I won't do that again, because it made me to sleepy and when I got up during the night I wasn't that steady on my feet. It was a learning experience. I will just wait until tomorrow and see what the doctor recommends that I do. He does a good job in taking care of us.
Would you believe that we are warmer right now then we have been all day. It is really crazy weather.
This is a picture of another of my tea towels. I just got to get better at taking pictures if anybody has any suggestions what to do, I would appreciate it. Have a great week.

Two Days Till Friday

It is time to think about Valentine's Day which will be a big holiday. I have to do a birthday before then. My other half is a Ground Hog birthday. I just need to decide if we are doing it before his birthday or after. I want to get the family together for breakfast.
Today was another bitter cold day. It was colder then yesterday. We never did get above 67 degrees inside. I don't like working when it is that cool. I wore my gloves that the tips of the fingers are missing so that I could type and do what was necessary. I had so many layers of clothes on.
My grandson's go back to school tomorrow. Their mom is going to take them to school because they won't come to the house like usual to pick them up because of the roads.
They will stay after school until she can pick them up. Her dad has been babysitting and the boys have been driving grandpa up the wall a little. This next Monday when they are out of school. Their dad will babysit because he has the day off.


I thought I would show you a picture of one of my new tea towels that I finished. I thought he turned out cute. My teddy bear on the Baby Blocks quilt is taking shape. He is in several different shades of golds, browns, yellows on his nose. Have you ever took a picture, put it on the computer, only now you can't find it.? I know I took a picture of a couple of the blocks. but I can't find them. I will in time.
The insurance adjuster is suppose to come look at my car tomorrow. I already have an estimate and I know where it is going to be repaired. The rental car has to have a big enough trunk that I can get a wheel chair in it.
My oldest is registering for college tomorrow. He is finishing up his degree. He only needs ten hours. There is a couple of jobs that he is looking at for which he is qualified except for having the piece of paper. He will have it by May.

This is a picture of my car covered with snow. It cleaned off pretty good because it was light and fluffy. We got more later in the day.
I don't like the snow to over the top of my boots. At least when they re plowed the streets they didn't fill my driveway back full. They had to re plow because of the drifting. I have to change the date on my camera. I nvever gave it a thought until I saw this picture. I just would like a camera that takes a good picture without all of the other things you have to change.
Well it is getting late and tomorrow is another working day so I had better close. Take care.

HAVING A BAD WEEK

I thought I needed some flowers after the last two days. I did work today because I needed to get a year end to the accountant so she could do the income taxes.
I didn't tell you yesterday that they slid into the side of my car yesterday while they were pushing snow at work. I got a bid today and I was amazed at the price to get it fixed. Of course, I haven't had to do anything like that for a long time. At least it isn't my insurance that has to pay for it. The one that was driving the forklift is sick over it. He always teases me about hitting my car, but yesterday he wasn't kidding.
I took my time going to work this morning waiting until it got a little lighter outside. I normally leave the house when it is still dark, but when I leave the house now I want to be sure of what I am driving on.
I didn't get done what I wanted to do today so I guess I will have to try again tomorrow. We are already in the single digit with the windchill we have a minus single digit right now. I am not going to be to anxious to leave the house. I guess that is a sign that I am getting older.
I wasn't in the mood to embroidery tonight. I decided to read blogs instead. I pray for all the people who have the bad weather and floods. The flood down under is devastating to say the least.
I am just thankful that I have someone to clean my driveway and it didn't get plowed back full because he came after the city came by. We are drifting today so we will have to wait and see what happens next.
I hope you have a wonderful day. Stay safe and warm .

HOME EARLY

This picture can be used today. We have over 8" of snow on the ground and it is still snowing. They are now predicting up to a foot, but we don't know. I did make it to work today without problems, but they sent me home at 1 P.M. and I had to call them to let them know that I made it home o.k. Whether I work tomorrow or not depends on how much more snow we get and whether I can get out or not.
There has been so many accidents today. They said there is a stretch of our Major Highway 29 that looks like a parking lot because of all of the slide offs. People just need to slow down because the they can't keep up with trying to plow the snow with the way that it is coming down.
I hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend. We had a little snow yesterday and both days were cold. Our Chiefs lost their playoff game yesterday to the Baltimore Ravens. I sure wouldn't have gone and sit in the cold.
I am watching it snow while I drink a cup of hot tomato soup with cloves in it. The kids will probably be out of school again tomorrow. Especially if the wind picks up.
My Baby Blocks quilt is progressing. I am debating on if I want to show you a couple of the blocks that I have done. I think it will be cute when it is finish.
You all have a wonderful day. I am just glad to be home safe and sound. Take care

FEED BACK

Have you ever read some one's blog and can't find where you can leave them a comment? Have you ever had a blog post you want to read to only be told, that it isn't there except it shows on your side bar that they just posted to their blog?? It always make you wonder what is going on in our world.
Hope you all are getting ready for the weekend. I just want to sleep late for a change being I don't have to go to work. I don't know what the day will bring because they are saying we are to get some snow, but we haven't as of yet. It just has turned really cold with the strong winds coming out of the North. We have escaped the bad weather before, but we may not be so lucky.
I was glad to see the day to come to an end. It was busy, but I couldn't get answers to my questions, so I made the decision. It may not be liked, but maybe the next time I will get answers.
We haven't been doing much driving lately. I have been trying to spend more time at home if that is possible to do some more work on my latest project. I want to get it done. It is called Baby Blocks. It has several different blocks with different things in them. For example, one has a lamb, another a baby rattle. I think it will be cute when I get it done.
Have a great weekend.

THE NEW YEAR

My grandson's wants some snow so they can go coasting. They have all gone back to school after Christmas Vacation and I think the parents were ready. I don't know about the kid's.
We have had some cold weather, but have escaped so far what has gone around us. I shipped one of my baby quilts off to Australia this week for a little one due in March. It always makes me feel honored when they choose one of my quilts that I have embroidered.
I have started a new one which is starting to come alive as I like to say. I have two blocks done, but quite a ways to go. When I get it done, I am not going to put a binding around it. I think I will let who ever buys it pick the color. It won't take me that long to put it on. I have also been given advance notice for some tea towels with fall designs so I have been seeing what I can find. So many patterns are for machine embroidery instead of hand embroidery.
The way the month is going I think it will be gone before we know it. I just wish that it would slow down a little. I think part of it is there is always so much to do this time of the year to get all payroll tax reports, w-2's and things done before the end of the month. I finished setting up my account to pay the payroll taxes on line. The bank will no longer accept them and the government will charge you a 10% penalty if you do deposit them through the bank. Do any of you feel like the government is trying to control to much of our life? They were talking about the health care bill today. It is such a mess that is all I know and I don't like it.
We did get a late Christmas present. My husband's insurance company is going to continue to help with his medicine that helps with the blood clotting. It is not covered by medicare who calls it a vitamin. The only problem it is not a vitamin and it only does one thing.
I don't think I want to go into that at the moment. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a great day.

New Year's Day

Where has the year gone is a favorite question today? I think back to the weather that we had a year ago. The snow and cold, but today we had sunshine and the cold.
I have spent a restful day starting a new baby quilt for a new arrival in May. It will be enjoyable watching it come to life and it makes me extremely happy that it will be enjoyed by a new life.
We had a quiet evening last night. Believe it or not we were both still awake at midnight without the fireworks. You could hear them in the distance, but not close to the house.
My oldest son and oldest grandson went deer hunting today. It was the first time for our oldest grandson to get to shoot a deer rifle and needless to say he was excited. They must not have gotten anything or I would have got a phone call.
Do you watch the Rose Bowl Parade? I always like to watch it and this morning was no exception. We watched it on the Hallmark Channel since there were no commercials. It seemed to go by quickly, and they had so many pretty floats and the bands. One of our local school's band got to go to Florida to march in the Citrus Parade. It takes a lot of fun raising and work to accomplish it, but it does give you a warm feeling.

The year 2010 was a pretty good year for the fact that we didn't have any hospital visits for the year. It is the first year for quite a while that we accomplished that. I told him our goal this year is to stay as healthy as possible so we can take a trip in October for our anniversary and he gets to see Ann Margaret with Andy Williams. She is quite a lady and we enjoyed her the last time we went.
I can't believe it the Branson Belle Showboat is actually going to have a new show this year. They hadn't changed it for so very long.
I am showing you a couple of my snow pictures from last year and so far knock on wood we haven't had anything like that this year. We did have the thunder, rain, sleet, and a little snow when the tornado's went through Arkansas, St. Louis, and other locations here in our state.
You really don't expect that kind of weather in January, but you just never know. The streets weren't in to bad of shape. I made it to every place I needed to go without any problems.
I hope you all have had an enjoyable day and Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.
Happy New Year to All of my blogging friends.