{I hate thinking.}

Just thinking tonight.....
So much on my mind after spending the whole afternoon today in the ER with DNK.

Watching her hurt so badly.
She's OK, they believe it was an extreme migraine, compounded with very congested ears and sinuses, although no infection.

She was dizzy, lightheaded, complaining that her vision was messing up and dark, and her hands were tingly like she was touching cacti.

She said that it felt like someone was stabbing her in the head and in both eyes.

She was pitiful. But she's OK now. No more pain, and tucked in bed, sleeping soundly.
The whole ordeal just really got me thinking about a lot of stuff.

(That's not always a good thing. Lol.)
'Cause I have a lot on my mind recently.

Sometimes I think more stuff than my mind can hold.
Much of it is useless crap, but still... lot's of stuff weighing on my mind.
Don't you hate it when you turn your brain on, but can't seem to turn it back off?

Out of all the stuff currently running through this head of mine, the holidays are in the forefront.
I keep thinking that what you make of this Holiday season is up to us.

But it can't be undone.
There is only ONE chance to make THIS YEAR great.
To get it right.
Or one chance to TOTALLY blow it.
"Jack" it up good.
There's just NO "do overs" in real life.
There is only one Thanksgiving Day.
And one December 25th.
One very special day each.

Make wise decisions when planning how to spend your holidays.

Time can't be replayed.
There is no rewind button.
No backspace.
No delete key.
Once the holidays are over, THEY ARE OVER.
No practice drill.
No dress rehearsal.
Only the final curtain call.....
Once the memories are made, they are FOREVER etched in the psyche.
Never to be changed or altered.
History can't be changed.
Only the future.
Now you want to know what I'm thinking?
I think it's bedtime.
Yep, that's what I think.
Have I mentioned that I hate when I can't turn the "thinking" off? =/

{Thanksgiving.}

Normally, a day is approximately 24 hours, give or take a few.

But, did you know, that without the luxury of electricity, a 24 hour day grows to be approximately 68 hours, 43 minutes and 13 second long? Approximately...

Ugh. Yes y'all, we endured 31.5 ACTUAL hours of being powerless, but it didn't seem any longer than a child's wait from Easter until Christmas day.

Were y'all aware that it's hard to DO STUFF without power. The cooking I was fine not having to do, but I couldn't blog. Or Facebook. Or watch FoxNews. Or vacuum. Yes, I was having vacuum withdrawal. Because everyone kept walking leaves in on my new carpet. And by everyone, I mean Jay and I. I only went outside when I took some of the foods from the fridge and the freezer to the camper for safekeeping. (which worked wonderfully btw). All I had to do was open the door, and the leaves would come flying in. Which is what happens when you have wind gust over 50 mph.

The Nor'easter hit this area pretty darn hard, and as of right now, there are many people still without power. Ours finally came on last night at 10pm. Couldn't have been a better time. Jay was working, and DNK and I had just crawled under 72 blankets (slight exaggeration) in her bed, and were all cuddled up getting ready to fall asleep when the light EXPLODED into the house. It was WONDERFUL. I always swear I'll never take electricity for granted.... but I think I already have. ha. It was getting pretty cold, the thermostat was showing it to be 61°. It was bearable, cause DNK and I were all flanneled up, thick socks, fuzzy slippers and heavy furry robes. We looked adorable if I do say so myself! ;-).

Within 20 minutes of the power coming back on, I was shedding the layers like a snake sheds it's skin, and actually starting to sweat. Of course, I was also running around the house putting stuff away and straightening up because I COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE MESS AROUND ME. And it was bothering me. MUCHLY. So, DNK went back to bed, after we pulled about 70 of the blankets off her bed. I spent the evening straighting some stuff up, and watching local news to catch up all I missed, and of course spending some time online. That goes without saying though.

DNK and I never left the house during the storm, or even after it yesterday, as my truck was locked in the garage. (electric garage door opener) and it's too difficult to do it manually. Well, I guess I could've done it if I had really WANTED to, but I was OK staying off the roads. We'll just say I was using my smarticles...

So although I didn't get any really crazy shots of all the storm damage like I did when Hurricane Isabelle hit, I did get some shots in the house that I really kind of like. So I thought I'd share them. MY VERSION of the Nor'easter storm of 11-2009:

I just want to end this blog post by saying thank you to God for his protection. Thankfully, we suffered NO damage, NO loss of property, and very little loss of sanity! ;)

{Thanks to all the our Military & Veterans}

First and foremost, I want to take a moment to thank all our wonderful Military and their families, past and present. The sacrifice you have all made to allow us our freedoms can never be repaid. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

Now, in case y'all hadn't been alerted to the fact, I have declared today an OFFICIAL jammie day. Yep... feel free to stay inside in those nice warm jammies, and those big fluffy fuzzy slippers. ALL.DAY.LONG. Just make sure they're clean. You know, like put on a new pair of jammies that you didn't sleep in last night. That way it's not like you didn't get dressed or anything, cause I'd hate to have y'all seeming like some kind of lazy jammie wearing slobs. Just sayin.

I'm in mine. And I feel COMFY. Nothing warms the buns and the heart like a pair of hot pink and black bunny jammies with little presents all over it that says "I'm not spoiled, I deserve all my stuff". LOL. It's dark, cold, rainy and windy out today. The remnants of Hurricane Ida are hovering over us, preparing to dump a butt-ton of rain on us for the next few days, and since I have NO where I have to be today (wooo hooooo!) I decided that today was just as good as any, to declare a jammie day.

But lest you think I've been lazy.... I've got laundry in the wash, the beds are made, and the kitchen is clean.

Now, if you'll excuse me, My jammies and I have some scrapping and Ellen watching to do today. Have a comfy day!!

{Michie Tavern and the Ordinary}

I bet y'all are just itching to see some more of my fall camping trip pics aren't ya? haha. Well, I'll post a few more for ya today. I love looking at them myself, considering the trip almost didn't happen this year...

We spent Saturday at the apple orchard first, then we walked around Michie Tavern, since it's RIGHT up the road a few feet. We walked through the shops, around in the leaves, and then had a WONDERFULLY delish 18th century style lunch at the Ordinary, which is a fabulous restaurant where the wait staff all dress in period clothing, the foods cooked are the kind that would've been served in the 18th century and the restaurant itself looks like it's right out of a history book page. DNK was really interested in everything about it, because she's been reading some American Girl books about Felicity, that take place about the same time as the Michie Tavern first opened. Not only that, she has just finished a big study and project a week or so ago where she was studying the Virginia Piedmont, so she kept Jay and I quite informed on our whereabouts, and all the facts about the Piedmont that we might have forgotten. Haha. She found it interesting that from Charlottesville, she could see the "Piedmont" and the Blue Ridge Mountain ranges. I guess that makes the trip somewhat educational huh? She had fun, and if it was educational along the way, then I suppose that's OK, right?? Anyway, here are some pics from the Michie Tavern and Ordinary.

(yes, I'm aware that this is a TERRIBLE picture of me, and that I have some gosh awful fake looking smile going on, but it's the ONLY one of me..... so I'm not too proud to post it! lol!!)

{Glorious FALL beauty!}

Well, we're back home now and all unpacked. AND, I've gotten a chance to get the pictures loaded for your viewing enjoyment! =) I really hated leaving the fall beauty in the mountains, but it's all good... Jay let me listen to Christmas music almost all the way home, but when his eye started twitching that way it does just before he blows his lid, I finally turned it off. LOL! So, right now, we're all relaxing in seperate areas of the house, Jay on the livingroom computer doing the bills, DNK in her room, playing a game on her computer, and me in my scraproom/office listening to Christmas music on the Holiday Channel on TV while updating the blog with pics. The first two pictures make me the happiest, because every year that DNK has been alive, she's been photographed in front of the pumpkin, and behind the apple. The first time she was only 4 WEEKS old. Wow... seems like forever ago. Anyway, the rest of these pics were all taken at the Carter Mountain Apple Orchard. It was much less crowded this year, being as we went so much later, but they still offered EVERYTHING they do during October. I was quite surprised actually. We enjoyed picking the apples too. DNK would've cleaned the trees if we'd had enough bags and ALLOWED her to do it. She was so funny!

Here is Jay, waiting ever so patiently, while DNK and I suck up the beautiful fall scenery. Although it was apparent we had missed "peak season" there was still plenty of fall splendour to be seen. I made sure to get up close and personal with my camera on those trees that still had beautiful bright colors!

I don't know really why it is that I love going to the apple orchard so much. Possibly, it's because I like routine and tradition, and we've gone every fall for at LEAST the last 11 years, although I believe we'd gone a number of years prior to DNK's birth. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a child of habit. I'm most comfortable doing things repetitively, however, I'm not against trying new things too. As long as the old comfortable things are still there to fall back on! =)
DNK insisted on bringing her American Girls camping with us, but we only allowed ONE into the apple orchard with us. So Molly was the lucky gal. Guess who the lucky gal was that got to HOLD Molly while DNK picked apples. Yep... that would be ME. haha! DNK even found one little tiny apple and a tiny pumpkin for Molly. (we didn't end up buying any pumpkins this year, as we already did the pumpkins at Halloween).

Here are some examples of some of the color that was still out there! The wild bright colors were much more sparce than they usually are when we go in October, but there were still some fabulous colors, and when I came across some, I made sure to try to capture them with my Nikon. I think I managed to do that with these pics.

And finally, finishing up today's blog with some pictures from down in the actual orchards. The first picture here is of DNK heading down to the orchard gate, the rest I just snapped during our apple picking fun.

Tomorrow I'll blog with some of the pictures I took at Michies Tavern and the Ordinary. Hope everyone has a great week. I'm going to try!! =)

{It's the MOUNTAINS baby!!!}

I just wanted to post a little sneak peek to some of the pictures I have taken this weekend. It has been a fantabulous, but short little weekend away from it all, and I've loved it. It's been like a bit of a renewal, just to get away from real life. The family issues, worrying about my hearing, things like that. Just time with DNK and Jay. We picked apples, ate at the Michie Tavern Ordinary, walked around the campground and played on the playground. The weather is PERFECT, and although the majority of the leaves have changed and fallen to the ground, there is still plenty of color to be found.... and when I found it, I captured it's beauty to print out later. Something about this time of year just brings happiness into my soul. I can't really explain it, but I sure can feel it.

This time tomorrow I'll be back home, and most likely, preparing my Thanksgiving menu and shopping list. I'm very excited to get this Holiday show on the road! I'm also gonna start my Christmas shopping this week too, which always gets me excited.

So, without further ado, here are a few of my favorite shots, and of course THE SHOT. The 10th consecutive year at the Apple orchard, starring my sweet DNK in front of the big Jack o' lantern and in the big apple cutout as the head of a caterpillar!!!!

Hope y'all are having as wonderful a weekend as we have!!

Well shucks y'all. I've been trying for a good 20 minutes to get the pictures to load for ya, but for some unknown reason, blogspot has decided to be difficult tonight. Looks like y'all might have to wait until I get home to see the pretties... sorry. =(

{Fall weekend camping getaway!!!}

I figured I'd sit down and do a little blogging while I wait for Jay to get the camper hooked up to the truck, cause YEP, we're going on our fall camping trip this weekend. A little later, and a few less people than usual, but we're going just the same. The apple orchard we visit every year is still open, and the BIG jack O' lantern is still up on display, (I called the campground to to confirm). I am so glad that I won't miss DNK's yearly picture in front of it. This will be the 10th consecutive year I've taken her picture in front of the pumpkin. I wonder when she'll start fighting me about getting that yearly fall shot? When will she just finally tell me no??? When she's 13? 21? 46? hahaha.

Anyway, currently, Jay's out hooking up the camper, and I'm sitting here waiting for my little cutie to get home from school. The plan is to hopefully hit the road as soon as she gets home, grabs her precious lamby's and some books to read. She's already packed her DVD's for the trip, so she's pretty much ready to go too!

I am soooo looking forward to the crisp cool mountain weather. (it's supposed to be in the low to mid 60's and mostly SUNNY all weekend!)

The gorgeous fall color of the leaves. ( I hear there is still color left!)

Roasting marshmallows over a campfire. ( Just a small fire, seeing as my brothers, the FIRE KEEPERS won't be there with us this year to keep it RAGING! lol)

Playing games with DNK and Jay. (Blokus, Uno, Dominos, etc)

And did I mention the apple orchard??? This year, since it was just us 3, we decided we're actually going to PICK our apples. DNK is excited about that, as she's never done that before. We're also hoping that they will still be making cider donuts, as they are always such a yummy treat in the fall... hot out of the fryer. Mmmmmm. I can actually smell them now!

We're staying in the KOA closer to the apple orchard this year, which is also a bit closer to home. But that's OK, because we're only doing a 2 night camping trip, so a shorter drive is OK with me.

I had the camper pretty much packed up yesterday, and included in the regular "camping supplies", I had to add the following:

A baked home made pumpkin pie, which is already in the camper fridge.

Some hot mulled cider mix.

Half a loaf of my pumpkin gingerbread.

And Jay came home with some eggnog last night to take with us, so it looks like we are SET! Yes, I'll try to throw some healthy stuff in there too, but I just had the fall holiday bug hit me yesterday really hard. Now, if I could only get myself to STOP LISTENING TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC ALREADY! I have a feeling Jay is gonna nip that in the bud tonight. He can't understand how I start listening to it IMMEDIATELY following Halloween. Hey, I say that Christmas isn't long enough, so there is NOTHING wrong with listening to it for 2 months out of the year. Ya got 10 other months to listen to the other stuff!! =)

On another note.... I talked to my doctor today, and he has referred me to an audiologist about my hearing loss. I'm still only getting that constant ringing and buzzing sound in my right ear, although I [think] I might be hearing better, or maybe I'm just getting used to being deaf. Who knows. Anyway, December 3rd I go for a hearing test, and I'm not sure what will happen after that. I'm still hoping and praying that my hearing will have returned before then. My doctor did confirm that the rupture has closed, and there is a bit of scar tissue, but isn't sure why I still can't hear. I'm just hoping I didn't do any damage to the interior of my ear, not just the eardrum. I really rammed that Q-tip into my ear!! I swear it felt like it was going to come out the other side of my head! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I damaged it. I never would've thought I could've maintained my sanity with this buzzing sound in my head for a whole month, but it's amazing what we can put up with when we have no choice.

Well, that's it y'all. I might blog from the campground if I have a little down time in the evening, but I'm not making any promises! ;-)

Have a great weekend!!

Halloween was "spooktactular"!!

So... I know, I've been TOTALLY MIA again haven't I?

I've been pretty busy, but that really isn't an excuse. Truth is, I just forget. I've just forgotten to blog! I spend too much time on Facebook. I love connecting there. I'm a social person, so Facebook works for me. Not too much social interaction on a blog. Or, at least not IMMEDIATE social interaction like on Facebook or if I "Tweet".

Let's see...what have I been up to since last I blogged??

Halloween. And scrapping. And cleaning. Mostly the same old, same old, but same old, same old is comfortable and happy. For the most part anyway.

Halloween was a lot of fun. DNK was a beautiful butterfly, she always picks out such pretty girly things to dress up as! We went to my baby bro and SIL's house and trick or treated around the neighborhood with them, and one of my peeps and her little girl. About halfway through the night, my OTHER brother and his family joined us and we spent the last 45 minutes or so letting all the cousins run through the "hood" begging for candy! Holy COW! Those kids made out like bandits. I've never seen so many people out and about trick or treating. It was so much fun! I hope my Bro's and SIL's want to go together again next year. It really was a treat. Especially since this year we didn't have our annual Fall Camping trip to Verona VA. =(

So Halloween was fun, but now it's time to switch gears and start planning for Thanksgiving....

Whew... wonder where to start? Well, I think I'll start by posting some pics of our Halloween..

Jay and DNK carving our Jack O' Lantern this year. I told them to smile for me. You think they get tired of my camera in their faces all the time??

We named him Herman. He just looks like a Herman. I just quickly hand drew him this year, no patterns. I just wanted a cute whimsical looking Herman O' Lantern.

We ate a late lunch before heading out to trick or treat, and I made Mummies (hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls), Spider cupcakes, Green Slime (applesauce with LOTS of green food coloring) and bones and blood (french fries and ketchup). Dave and Val came over with the kids for lunch, so I wanted to make some kid friendly fun food.

The spider was just two upside down Hershey kisses, with icing legs and eyes. DNK put all the kisses in, and I did the icing. We made quite a good spider making team! In case you're wondering, the icing was cream cheese, and the cake was a butter pecan.

Oh yeah, they were good!!

The mummies were fun to make. You can't really see from the picture, but they had little eyes made of mustard. Who doesn't like pigs in a blanket, right??

This is MY beautiful butterfly DNK. I bought the wings at Joann's this year, even used my 50% off coupon. Woot Woot! I did her makeup too, and I thought she looked so cute. Then again, I always think she looks cute! ;-)

DNK's wings. She just wore a black turtleneck shirt, black sweat pants, and I made the antennae from a black headband, some pom poms, glitter, a glue gun, a Halloween hair scrunchie from the Target dollar spot, and some black pipe cleaners. They worked perfectly all night long!

DNK and TINK all ready to head out for an evening of trick or treat fun!

OMGosh, they were just soooo cute. I loved watching DNK and Krista flit around the yard pretending they could fly!

DNK and one of her BFF's in front of my brothers house before we hit the streets.

The final shot of the night. All the cousins (except the baby, who slept the ENTIRE time in his stroller) after they trick or treated. They were all tired, as we had been having fun for over 2 hours by this point. Now it was time to go home, shower all the makeup off, and wind down from the sugar rush enough to be able to go to sleep. I think we all had a terrific time!!!!!

{I missed KID TALK!}

Did anyone remember that today my sweet baby girl DNK made her television debut on WAVY TV 10's show called "Kid Talk"? She was on at 10:30, and WE FORGOT TO WATCH IT! Jay was making us a pancake breakfast and we JUST REMEMBERED! Thank God for the invention of DVR, at least we can go back and watch it now.
So, that's what I'm getting ready to go do.
Does anyone know how to transfer a DVR'd program to a DVD or VHS? I want to be able to make a copy to keep, but I'm not sure how.
Oh well, that's it for today. I'm just soooo bummed that I forgot to watch it "live" this morning, and to remind everyone that it was coming on....
It's tough being blond, but someone has to do it!
Ok, off to go watch my precious little girl on TV!! =)

{what's up?}

I'm so happy to say that last night might just have been the last night that I have attic inhabitant! I have a very nice exterminator upstairs in the attic right now, fixing the hole where my furry house mate is coming in to nest. The exterminator tends to think that right now it is probably only one squirrel up there, and if they aren't able to get back in tonight, than the trap should remain empty. That would work perfectly for me!! I'd rather NOT have to see the little guy I've run out of the house. Now, if I could just get my hearing back. Seriously. Going on 2 weeks with little to NO hearing in my right ear, except this joyous RINGING. Ugh. I'm hoping that the healing has begun though, because the bleeding has stopped, and it doesn't appear to be draining much anymore. Not only that, but it's been itching like crazy the last couple days, and I know how most injuries itch sometimes when healing. I certainly hope that's the case.

Jay is back home, and life is pretty much back to normal, well, except the whole deafness, and the fact that it's been almost 11 weeks since I've heard from my parents. OTHERWISE, it's been back to normal.

Jay and I need to get our water storage tank under the camper fixed soon, because I made some reservations to go camping soon. DNK and I LOVE camping in the fall, and I'm not going to change DNK's life, just because my whole family dynamic has changed. And, I really want to go camping in the mountains before it starts to snow there! =)

So, that's all that's been going on around here. Trapping squirrels, being deaf, and Oh, being crafty in my scraproom. That's always fun! Made a Halloween Tree decoration last week and finally got it all together and displayed the other day.... whatcha think?? I just love little bats, in real life and cartoon ones!! Now I'm thinking of making one with another tree branch, just not spray painted, and covering it with random fall decorations... Hmmm. I see a lot more glitter and glue mess in my future!