It is nothing spectacular. I am told it is a water saver, not that this was my primary concern. What I do like is that it works and it being new is an added plus. Hard water deposits had made my other toilet look like the dickens. No matter how much scrubbing it never looked clean. Now all I need is a remodeled bathroom and I would be one happy camper! Of course, this is on the list with the remodeled kitchen, pantry and the add on to the garage Steve would like. Can you say "lottery"??
You can never fully appreciate having a second bathroom till you need it. Well we don't have one and our toilet is broken. The tank has a crack in it and my hubby thinking he could patch it worked on it all day yesterday. Well it didn't work. Now we have someone coming out with a toilet and they will be installing it. Owning your own home is such a joy...
I think my mother-in-law needs a bigger house!! We spent the evening last night at her house doing the "Fordyce" extended family Christmas and we were packed in there like sardines. Of course, I should also add that there was a card table and another four foot table added in her living room so people could have a place to sit and eat their dinner. Once the meal was over and tables removed it was a lot roomier. I totally enjoy watching Raymond and Annette's children open their gifts, with such wonder in their eyes and joy on their faces. This year the books "The Daring Book for Girls" and "The Dangerous Book for Boys" was a big hit. Both Chris and I bought a set of the books. I chose to give my set of books to Ella and Robert while Chris gave them to share among the older children. So it works out that each of them will now have their own copy. Chris went one step further and put together a kit for each of the kids with basics stuff to use while trying some of the things that the book recommends. Katy's husband Adam gave her a Nikon D40 and Nate gave Sarah the latest ipod, both girls are on cloud nine. And I think you can tell by the smile on my mother-in-law Norma's face that her biggest gift was having her family together for the holiday.
I have a very wonderful hubby!! This was my Christmas gift from him. I had just a few things on my Christmas wish list and I believe this is the only one he didn't need help from either of our girls to get for me. I am just starting to play with it getting used to what I can and can't do with the lens. Here one of the first pictures I took with it. My, oh so photogenic little girl who actually loves to pose for pictures. Santa also brought me a stamp set from Technique Tuesday, a self inking stamp from Creative Cafe, a couple of CD's (Carrie Underwood's latest and Rodreigo Y Gabriella) and the latest Harry Potter DVD. I hope you all had as merry a Christmas as I did.
Saphira and her playmate Boston. Sarah has the knack for getting the best pictures of her "babies". I don't know if she crawled into the stocking by herself or if she was helped but she sure looks cute. We are expecting Sarah, Nate, Lisa and Buck tomorrow morning around ten but who knows when they will get here. Though I know for a fact they haven't outgrown their desire to get into their stockings the presents aren't as big a deal anymore. Well, at least it appears that way to me. Ham, potatoes and veggies are on the menu for dinner and games for after, it should be fun...
Steve and I were invited to a cocktail party at my dear friend Janet's yesterday. There were plenty of friends; Anne, Angie, her husband Bill and their daughter Megan. Our hosts Rob, Janet and their dear children; Maddie, Jackson and Sophia. Janet's neighbors whom I have already forgotten their names and their children Jack and his sister who was just the cutest little girl named Olivia. Several of Janet and Rob's friends that they have known for years through the "catering world". All very nice people with tons of entertaining conversations. Lots of great food; Anne's meatballs were a big hit with Nate and for that matter everyone else. And Janet makes a killer apple martini, which is my new favorite drink!!
Then all the hustle and bustle to be ready for Christmas will be over. I still have cookies to make that I give to my neighbors, one of our Christmas traditions. The girls would always walk them over to the DeLapps and the Schneiders. Now Steve and I do the cookie giving. Sarah had been my cookie maker for years and when she moved out I thought for sure that it ended all our cookie fun. But thankfully she still enjoys making the cookies here. Actually she said I have more cookie sheets, cooling racks, more room (dining room table) than she has and I do the dishes. I don't care the reason I just enjoy the time with her. I thought I had all of my shopping done but alas I finally got a list from my brother-in-law Craig for his wife Lisa. I had already picked a couple of small things to give her but I would like to give her something off her list. So I will be shopping tomorrow, geez. I finally got a couple of pictures of my tree that I am happy with, here they are. One was taken with my flash the other in manual mode so you could see the lights.
I called State Farms claim office again and finally got a resolution to my car situation. They have made the decision to total it. It stymies me what will cause these things to happen. Anyway, now I have to sign some papers and then they will give me a check for the value of my car. Steve calls it free money but somehow it doesn't seem so free to me as I have been driving the Excursion and filling that puppy is not cheap! I now have the responsibility to call around to some junk yards looking for a left rear lens assembly. Geez...
Steve took the girls to get our Christmas trees last Saturday. This tradition started some years ago. Steve would hook up the little trailer to our big vehicle, make sure Sarah had her rubber boots on and grab the saw to go in search of the perfect tree. I don't remember Lisa ever going along with them so it has been a "Sarah and Dad" special trip for many years. This year Lisa wanted to go along too, so they all met here. After Steve hooked the trailer up to the Excursion they jumped in and were off to get some trees. We would trade years getting the tree of "my" choice, the Noble Fir and everyone else's choice, the Grand Fir. My family said the Noble looked like a Charlie Brown tree, which is really why I liked it. I loved the fact that the ornaments actually hung on the branches versus laying on the outside of the tree. Well, tree growers have met the demands of the consumer and have genetically produced a tree with the qualities of both trees. Lots of branches but still the ability to hang the ornaments. The color is very appealing and if you keep them watered they will last for a very long time. The pictures were taken by Sarah since I do not go on these little tree hunts. They got a tree for Grandma Norma, one for us and a little two footer for Sarah. Lisa and Buck had gotten their tree already from one of his customers at Napa and Sarah needed the small tree to put on a table so the ferrets wouldn't destroy the tree. This is the second year that I have decorated my tree without Sarah's help and it isn't as much fun either. But as tradition holds I put in the movie "White Christmas" and decorated the tree. I need to get some pictures taken before I forget...
I can't seem to shake this cold I have and I think it might be because I am not getting enough rest. Well, since last Friday I have been doing my Christmas shopping and as of today I have one gift left! I still have to mail off my package to California to my folks but all I have to do is tape up the box and take it in to the post office. I am feeling pretty good about getting this much accomplished since I really only started shopping last week. I don't normally wait this long but this year has been a bit crazy and my head wasn't always attached to my body so to speak.
Steve returned from California last night. He was only there one day for orientation and to get his laptop, badge and other various paraphernalia the company wanted to give him. His second day at work was today and he got to fly. Though he said it took him a half hour to get his motorcycle started because the battery needed to be charged. I miss not having him around during the day but I don't miss the talk radio...
I have been driving the Excursion because my car still has not been fixed. I initially was driving the car and rolling down the window and signaling with my arm to make my left turn but after a couple of near misses I decided not to drive it anymore. I believe my arm is too short for anyone to see it signal, surprise!! I am hating State Farm Insurance more and more by the day. I have been messing with these people for three weeks and still they have not gotten back to me. I took it in for the estimate, then took it back in again for ''more" photos and still I wait. Why, you might ask? Well they told me that they may "total" my car since they can't get a new bumper for it. It has taken them this long to decide that!! And to top it off I can spend a half hour on hold and never talk to someone. The last time I called them, last Thursday, I called at 7AM to actually talk to a person and all it got me was more waiting. Grrr....
Last night I had dinner with my sisters-in-law at the Amadeus Cafe'. Oh my goodness, such good food and great company. We try to get together at least twice a year on a girl's night out. Once is to celebrate each others birthdays and catch up on family stuff then our annual Christmas shopping trip. This year things just didn't work out because of various family stuff. So we finally got together and did our birthday celebrations and did a general catch up. We laughed so hard there were tears and some aching sides. It was so good to do that after all the family drama this year. I am really fortunate to have such great ladies in my life and be related to them as well. I would have to say that my brothers-in-law chose well...
I can tell by the amount of students in my card class that it is the holidays. I only had three students this time. But it was fun anyway. Two of the students were real new to scrapbooking so it was fun showing them all the tools that they would need to get once they got the basics. Jessica has a new "reminder" card system in place for the students who sign up for classes. It gives them the date and time of the class as well as the additional tools that they will need for the class. And darn I just can't seem to shake this cold...
