A Real Crappy Friday

My day started with a call from my daughter who lives in the country about 60 miles away from us. She had injured her knee in a fall from a four-wheeler earlier in the week and had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in Billings today and needed me to drive her there. I called my daughter Kim to go with me in case Cami needed help getting in and out of the vehicle. We had freezing rain last night on top of what snow was left and the roads weren't that great. We made it fine until we turned on the dirt road to get to her house. I was going slow but when I turned this corner I starting sliding and this is where I ended up. Luckily, there was a snow bank there that kept us from going all the way over on the side. We had to crawl out the passenger side window to get out and then sunk up to our knees in the snow bank. The hardest part was calling Ken and telling him what had happened. He luvvvvvs his truck. To his credit, he was very calm and just relieved that we weren't hurt. We ended up taking Cami's truck to Billings and we were about an hour late for her appointment but we made it. She had an MRI which she won't know the results from until Tuesday. The doctor did detect a small fracture on her tibia, which they didn't see when she had it x-rayed right after the accident. While we were in Billings it started snowing again and made for slick roads coming home. It tooks us almost two hours to get to her house, usually a one hour drive. Luckily, the road from her house to Colstrip was pretty clear and we are all home safe and sound. Even the pickup isn't in too bad of shape. The front fender by the door is dented so it will be making a trip to the body shop.

TOP TEN NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

I have never been too successful with New Year's Resolutions. The other day I came across an article in a magazine listing their top ten resolutions for the new year. I decided to make their list my list.

Therefore I hereby resolve to:

SPEND MORE TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS: I plan on doing just that, but it will have to wait till the weather warms up because once I get home from work, I don't leave my house for anybody or anything.

FIT IN FITNESS: This one I absolutely plan on doing , but again, I'll have to wait for spring cuz it's just too damn cold outside for a walk or a jog. Maybe if I take the clothes off the exercise bike, well that's a possibility.

TAME THE BULGE: I started my diet the day after Christmas, of course it's impossible to diet on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, but I'll get right back on it. Maybe next Monday.

QUIT SMOKING: I can cross this one off, don't smoke.

ENJOY LIFE MORE: This one is going to be hard until I can retire and move somewhere warm.

QUIT DRINKING: No Way! I must have an occasional margarita.

GET OUT OF DEBT: Not a problem, remember who I'm married to... Mr. Cash and Carry.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW: I WILL master Photoshop this year!

HELP OTHERS: You have to help yourself before you can help others.

GET ORGANIZED: I had already decided that my side of the closet will be color coordinated, with all my shirts buttoned and facing the same direction, just like my husband's.

These resolutions don't sound too bad, I'll let you know how I'm doing.

DEAR SANTA

My seven year old grandson made a gingerbread house in school. The teacher told the kids they couldn't eat them because they had used raw eggs in the icing. Trey was worried that Santa would see it, think it was his treat and eat it, so he left him this note. (click on the picture if you can't read it)

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through our town
The wind was a howlin', the snow coming down.
The stockings were hung by our chimney with care,
But under our tree, it was totally bare.

I tried to get nestled all snug in my bed
But my throat was sore and I had a stuffed head.
My plan to go shopping had gone all askew,
I couldn't make Billings, what the hell would I do?

The Nyquil kicked in and I fell fast asleep,
When a loud rumbling roar woke me out of the deep.
I looked out the window to see what was the matter
The Dodge Ram was runnin' and making the clatter.

Ken yelled up to me "The truck's ready to go,
the 4-wheel drive pick-up will get through the snow".
So I grabbed the checkbook, the debit card too,
and we headed to Billings to see what damage we'd do.

After a two hour trip, we hit the first store
I was thrilled to get in there, finding bargains galore.
Checking the names off our list one by one
Before we knew it we were finally done.

Now the presents are wrapped and under the tree,
The cookies are baking, I'm really stress free.
The lights are all twinkling, it's a beautiful sight,
So to all of my loved ones, Merry Christmas, good-night.

Damn, it's cold!

This is the weather forecast from Weather Underground for our little town tonight.

Partly cloudy. Very cold. Occasional flurries. Lows around 28 below. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph. Lowest wind chill readings 45 below to 55 below zero overnight.

I just checked the temp and it is 19 degrees below zero. Wind chills of 45 to 55 below zero!

Besides being too cold and stormy to go to Billings and do my Christmas shopping this weekend, I came down with a cold and cough so I spent most of the weekend laying around. I will never, ever, ever, wait this late to do my shopping. It is extremely stressful.

January Blah's a month early

For the most part I don't suffer from depression or even get the blues very often and if I do, it is usually in January. This week I am feeling like I sometimes feel in January. It may be because there are only two weeks until Christmas and I don't have my shopping done, really I have so few presents bought that I can't truthfully say I have even started yet. My plan was to do my shopping this coming weekend but the weather forecast is snow and temperatures below zero. Don't think I want to be making the trip to Billings in that. Which means I will be doing my shopping the following weekend ----5 days before Christmas!



The Amazing Race ended Sunday, Boston Legal aired its last episode Monday, Survivor is winding down, so I don't even have my television shows to escape the doldrums.

If only I had a winter cruise to look forward to. Warm weather, food (that I don't have to cook) available 24 hours a day, someone to make my bed daily and then leaving a towel animal to amuse me, relaxing on a lounge chair in the sun while listening to caribbean music, watching nightly shows, the beautiful blue color of the Caribbean sea, the warm, gentle trade winds blowing in my face while I take a late night walk on the Promenade deck.

ck. Yup! I think that might cure the blah's!

(Now before any of my family gets on here and blasts me...no, I am not going on another cruise, but hey, thinking about it did help for a short time)

My Cruisin' Christmas Tree

I have had "bloggers block" lately, nothing in my life seemed very blog worthy so my daughter suggested I do a post on my ornament collection. I have a lot of different collections, my kids are going to have a lot of things to fight over when I'm gone, or they can have one heck of a yard sale.



When we started cruising I bought a lot of knick knacks that I had no idea what to do with once we got home. Most of our first cruises were taken in December and the Christmas decorations were plentiful on the islands so I began buying tree ornaments. Not only were they useful when I got home, they were easy to pack in my suitcase. Now they are fun reminder of the trips we have taken.

I This dough wreath was one of my first purchases. They were being sold as ornaments made by Aruban school children. I was impressed so I bought several. Every island we stopped at that trip had the same ornament, made by their school children. I'm not nearly as gullible now.

It's hard to see in this picture, but this ball is completely covered with beads. I got it in Mexico.

My Hawaiian girls are from Maui. The one is made on some sort of a pine cone and the other in on a shell.

This old fisherman is painted on a shell. Purchased in Halifax on our last trip.

These shells weren't purchased on a cruise, I found them at a craft fair in Colorado. I have about ten of them all made from various shells.

Ken likes to snorkel and dive for shells. He found this sea urchin in Grenada.

I love palm trees and sand dollars so I had to have this one.

These three wiseman are made of dough and are on a shell. I found them in an art gallery in St. Maarten. I should have been wearing my glasses because I totally put the decimal point in the wrong place. : (

Another art gallery purchase, but definitely not as pricey as the wise men. Bought in the Cayman Islands. The garland shown on the tree is small shells on a chain.

A conch shell Ken found on the ocean floor. This was also found in Grenada.

I have a big tree in my living room that has many of the other ornaments I have collected over the years. You may see that one too, if I have another severe case of bloggers block.