Fun Stuff

A bloggers group I am a member of, Momdot, decided to do a Christmas swap this year. My partner for the swap was Jessica, from Mommy2Cents. The “rules” for the swap were to include:

• An ornament for the Christmas Tree
• Something that signifies the state you are from
• Candy
• and a white elephant gift.

I think Jessica did a very good job, because even though I told her I do not have a Christmas tree, she sent this so cute Christmas Tree ornament, which I hung above the window in our living/dining area of the RV:

Because Jessica’s home is in Florida, she sent me a jar of Orange Marmalade, which Fabgrandpa and I both love. It is what’s for breakfast next week with our bagels and toast!

Jessica also paid attention when I answered my likes and dislikes about foods. I told her I love sweets, but I am diabetic and can’t eat wheat, so she sent me this tiny Mrs. Fields Peppermint Bark. It was just enough and was so delicious! Oh! and because she knows I like to sew and make fabric crafts, she sent those SWEET pink sewing accessories: a pin cushion, a measuring tape, and those gorgeous pins! Only someone who lives to sew could appreciate getting pins as a gift!

That leaves me to assume that this last item is the white elephant gift: A Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer Plate. Electric hotplate but mug size:

Fabgrandpa’s first words on seeing this: “You are going to re-gift that aren’t you?” We’ll see.

Thanks, Jessica! I love it all, especially that little tree. Easy to put up, easy to take down. And please forgive me for calling you Jennifer on the Christmas card I sent you.

Just in case you were wondering what I like, in case you were thinking of getting me a present, here is a new pin I just bought for myself. It is a perfect example of what I like: Rhinestones, glittery, shiney, and just a little bit different.

I call it Bourbon, Tequila, and Rum….

…to sit on Santa! I think the last time I had my picture taken sitting on Santa, I was about 38. I don’t celebrate Christmas much, but I do like to tell Santa what I want just in case:

Someone shared this little video with me on Facebook. I love it, because you really are never too old!

How old were you the last time you sat on Santa’s lap?

Today was the day for me to go back to Lenscrafters to pick up my lenses. The guy at the store had fixed me up with a temporary pair of lenses so I would be able to see while they created my super duper, anti-glare, trifocal, Progressive lenses. When we arrived at Lenscrafters today at Arbor Place Mall, I had to leave my glasses with them for one hour while they cut the lenses to fit into the frames. This meant I had NO GLASSES during that time.

Fabgrandpa decided this would be an excellent time to take me shopping for a new pair of shoes. Now, for those of you who don’t know me, let me just say that when I have no glasses sitting on my face, I can NOT SEE. I can’t even see the end of my own nose, much less pairs of shoes in a shoe store. So, I had him picking out shoes and bringing them to me to try on. This was quite comical. If you know my husband, you know he does not like to shop. But he knows how much I needed a new pair of shoes that will support my arches and cushion my heel, and help me walk without pain.  And he was determined that we were going to spend as little time at that mall as possible. We had to find a pair of shoes in the hour that Lenscrafters had my glasses.

We got to the shoe store, which is amazing because it involved me getting on an escalator going down. That was pretty scary: I could see just enough to know that I wasn’t going to run into anything. In the store, I needed some new socks to be able to try on some shoes. The only socks I have are the thick dark brown wool socks issued by the park service as part of the uniform. I couldn’t see any socks so I had to ask a salesperson where they were. I can tell you this, I will never go shopping without glasses again.

Fabgrandpa picked out a pair of sneakers that were (I think) brownish gray with pink and orange trim. Um, no. I wanted white leather New Balance or Reeboks.  He had me try on some Timberline boots, and some other ones I don’t know what they were. here is how I was seeing things:

 

And here is what I see WITH my glasses:

Whew! I am so glad we made it out of there with a decent pair of shoes!

I am making a sweet potato casserole and a gluten free pecan pie. Today, I baked the sweet potatos, and shelled the nuts for the pie:

I’ll be back later with some pics and recipes!

Fabgrandpa and I decided to go on a road trip to Brunswick, Georgia to meet up with a friend of our. Usually, when we go on a trip, he drives, and I take pictures. Yesterday, I told him I would drive so he could enjoy the scenery IF he would take over my role with the camera. Sigh…..

 

 

On Saturday I went to a BellSouth reunion. I worked at this particular office, the Thornton Road Collection Center, about 20 years ago. I haven’t seen any of the people who worked there since I left the building to go to a different job at company headquarters. I was so nervous about going! I must have changed my clothes five times before deciding exactly what to wear.

I only spent about two years at Thornton Road, and it was during a particularly bad period in my personal life. I was sad and depressed for most of that period. Fortunately, I had the best supervisor on the planet when I worked there. She was, and still is, one of the most caring people I have ever met. She truly cared about “her girls”, those of us in her work group. I went to the reunion because I knew she was going to be there, and I would have a chance to tell her face to face just how much I appreciated her.  She is the most Christian person I have ever met because she not only talks the talk, she walks the walk, and treats everyone she meets with love and respect.

The job I did there was not fun. As a matter of fact, it was a drudge. I was a collections representative–I talked to people all day every day who had had their telephone service disconnected for non-payment. They were not happy people, and difficult to work with. I am so glad I got out of there when I did.

I enjoyed seeing a lot of the people at the reunion. After dinner, each of us stood up and told our “story” of what we have been doing since we left BellSouth. That was very interesting to find out what everyone has been up to. And of course, I loved telling MY story! I would love to go to another reunion of one of the places where I worked.

Trisha over at Momdot threw down the gauntlet, and I can not walk away from a challenge. She may be bigger on twitter, but I am closing in! hahaha. (I love the hair and glasses on my twitterized self) If you want to Twitterize yourself, and faceoff against me or anyone else, get yours at

TWITTERIZE