Monday "Message In A Bottle"...To Snow Storms...

      I woke up this morning cuddled up next to my 'baby'...the six-foot 'baby'! A very nice development, although not planned.  His job called last night and said he didn't have to go to work today because the shop where he works and loads his truck for his route doesn't have any power...The storm is wreaking havoc in a lot of cities around here. A lot of them are completely without power...and will be for a few days at least. 
      So we're laying here looking at the movie "Message In A Bottle" with Kevin Costner and Paul Newman and Robin Wright.

            It just happened to be on when I turned on the T.V. this morning to get the latest weather report. :-) A nice movie to watch when you have a day off with your honey and it's looking like this outside!...

  (Holyoke, Massachusetts)

 (Quabbin)

 (Osborne Road, Ware)

 (Springfield)

 (Route 202 in Holyoke)

        All of these photos came from the WWLP 22News website. They say that hundreds of crews are out working on getting people's power back on and clearly roads and power lines...A good reason to stay inside and watch a romantic movie, don't you think?! ^_^

       If I were to put a message in a bottle to send to 'Snow' it would say: "I don't like you!! Well...not this early in the season anyway.  Next time you decide to fall this heavy and wet and wide-spread...give a girl a warning, will ya!!" LOL

     As soon as the movie ends, and we have some breakfast, and do a little studying together, I'm sending him out into the cold to get me a cup of coffee! ^_^....

         (FingerFoodDelight)

       I haven't had my first cup this week yet......Yes, I know it's only Monday. What are you trying to imply?! ^_^

      That's all I got today people! :-) Have a good day!...And if it can't be good...let it be careful! {My grandmother's sayings are flying out of my mouth faster than the speed of light!! Ha! Ha!}...Today's poem is not because of the truth of it, but because it's nice to smile in the face of a usual Monday by having an unusually nice Monday! ^_^ 

        By the way, don't forget the Giveaway! The drawing is tomorrow!!! :-)

Monday, Monday, Monday

Here comes another Monday!
Your frantic work week has begun!
Say goodbye to 'Take It Easy',
and all those things you haven't done.

Four more week days are ahead,
seeming like they'll never end.
But just think, before you know it,
"weekend" will be round again.

Lift your attention, all you mothers;
Week day workers, "Out The Door!"
Time to file, and diaper babies,
walk and scrape things off the floor.

Here comes another Monday!
Whether you want it to, or not!
Say goodbye to 'Take It Easy'.
You've got things to do...a lot!

Monday, Monday, Monday!
Why do you have to come so fast?!
And you stay so long! Why can't
the weekend 'Take It Easy' last?! 

How Quickly Things Change!!...A Different Change This Time!

       Just a few days ago...like Wednesday...our backyard had beautiful Fall colors still. The header photo is one of the pictures hubby took of it that day...because it was so pretty! We were loving the feel of the air, the beauty of the sky, and the squirrels scurrying around...In retrospect I guess we should've paid more attention to the fact that those squirrels were toting luggage and giggling at us!! O_O

      But no!...And I wasn't watching the weather channel! I had no reason to. Life was all about Fall and being 'easy-breezy'!...Instead...I was eating the last of my second candy apple that I got in my Giveaway box the other day...

       ...white chocolate, dark chocolate and caramel.....

          ...To the very last bite it was DE-LICIOUS!!! :-) 

       ...And I was doing a little crocheting on a new 'Ugly Wuglyee' scarf....

         ...trying to use up the last bits of very nice leftover yarns I have just laying around the house.

        ...And I took a peek at Jansjems' new treasury that she added my Chocolate Brown and Pumpkin Orange Brazilian Citrine Crochet Dangle Necklace to.

         
       But watch the weather?!....It wasn't even on my radar!...I was too busy laying out a plan to re-do a baby blanket I had done before. Either this one...

        ...or this one...

       Not for any particular reason, other than I've been seeing all of the cute baby clothes Jo-anne of Blooming Lovely has been crocheting and knitting lately and thought that I'd make something for a somebody's little one too! :-]
     Oh! But I should have been watching the weather!!!!! Oh Yes, I should have been!!!!! O_O But the first storm of the season....in OCTOBER!!!!...caught us off guard...I saw a notice on Facebook day before yesterday saying that we were due to get about 4 to 6 inches...and I thought maybe it was some kind of joke!
      Then I did some investigating and found out that No! It wasn't a joke! And rather than 4 to 6 inches, in our area we were due to get 8 to 12!!! O_O When the first flakes started to fall hubby and I were still kinda in disbelief! This was the video hubby took of the backyard yesterday when it first started to fall...with him still thinking it probably wasn't gonna be as bad as they were saying...       

       Then I took this video from the window a little later...when it was clear that this was going to actually be some substantial snowfall!!...

           And as the day wore on it became very apparent that any delusions we might have had about it all being a silly mistake were just that....delusions!

      It kept snowing and snowing and kept piling up! The weather channel, for the first time this season, became my 'go to' place for entertainment. Entertainment that wasn't very 'entertaining' AT....ALL!!! Grrrr!
       It got too dark to actually see it out the window, but we knew it was falling heavy. Not only was the weather man saying so, but we could hear...every once in a while...a pile of snow falling off of tree branches or the roof, and the lights kept flickering! O_O
     We finally went to bed around 11-ish. We figured maybe it had tapered off by then because we weren't hearing much. But we were W-R-O-N-G!!! We were awakened by a loud thud, and the sound of complete silence all of a sudden!...and that's saying something...with my two fans, a humidifier, my C-Pap machine, and an air purifier always going in my bedroom!! O_0 .....What?! You don't have those things in your bedroom?!!
       All I can say is that I was thankful for the thud because it woke us up and made me realize that no air was coming through my hose on the C-Pap machine! That could've really gone bad!!! LOL And what was the thud?!..All of the heavy snow...

     ...had snapped my tree in half right outside my window! :-(

         This was the branch that used to hold my hummingbird feeder! ;_; With the leaves still on the trees, and the snow being the really wet and heavy kind, it was just too much weight for my poor little tree. :-( ...*sigh* It's so sad.
       The only thing good about it is that I'm gonna get a lot more light in that room now!....What am I saying?! I don't WANT a lot more light in that room!!! That's my daytime napping area! :-( ...Speaking of naps...I think I need one right about now.
     Hubby is out there shoveling snow and helping people out, and I''m looking for another old movie and some coffee. Oh Yea!!! I'm getting me some coffee today!!...You wanna pick a fight about it?! I wouldn't suggest that today be the time you should do that!! LOL ...UGH!

A Little Doze'll Do You!

I enjoy my sleeping, and a doze,
a nap, and such.
In fact I might enjoy a snooze
entirely waay too much!

At any time of day,
you'll find me like a weeping willow.
Head hung low and dragging,
looking for the nearest pillow.

No, there's nothing wrong.
I'm not depressed. I've still got bounce!
And I can stay awake and be
quite witty when it counts!

But I have been awake for things
where I could have been asleep.
And now my time's so valuable
I don't treat it like it's cheap.

My sleeping, dozing, napping,
is to my life a special key.
It unlocks and refreshes
and dispels anxiety!

Most people try to fill up
every hour in the day.
But me, I'd rather be asleep
and waste it all away.

There's plenty hours left
for all the flit and play and chore.
An hour for a nap right now?!
Why not?! There's 24!!

Friday 'Virtual' Date Night...Re-visited!

(Toronto Skyline Wall Decal by WallStarGraphics)

       

       Once again the hubby and my's timing for our 'Virtual Date Night' destination was perfect!!...Aargh! It's a good thing we picked a place to go that knows how to have a good time in the snow. Just in time to learn a few things before we get 'walloped' today!!!...Holyoke Massachusetts is getting SNOW!!! And I mean a boat-load of it too!!!

      Before I went to bed the weather man said 4 to 6 inches...which was bad enough!...but this morning the amount has been upgraded to 8 to 12 inches, the snowiest October snow on record! O_0 Great!!...Maybe I better start crocheting some blankets!...Anyway, about our trip...

        Yesterday I shared with you bomobob's photo of the Red Autumn Canadian Maple Leaves...

        It was a kind of sneaky clue that we were going to...Canada! :-) 

       (Introduction to Canada)

            With me talking about the Massachusetts and New England area's beautiful leaves so much lately, I knew you probably wouldn't figure out that we were leaving home. ^_^ But we did!...and this isn't a 'first' for us this time.

      Hubby and I have been to Canada a few times...I went for the first time before him and I were an 'item' though, when I was 18...on a bus trip with a group. We went to Quebec for a few days. It was wonderful (except for a whole passport incident!! That's a story for another time though!) :-)

       What I remember about Canada is that the streets were so clean, the Autumn weather was breezy, warm, and perfect...and the tour of the city, including tons of bridges, water, and food...(we went to a theme restaurant with thick wooden tables, mugs of grog, and  a full costume show)...was just terrific! :-)

(Canadian Tourist video)

          Hubby and I were married a long time before my next visit to the city. We did the whole tourist thing that time too! :-)) We even visited Niagara Falls...on both sides of the border! :-)

 (Horseshoe Falls, with Buffalo New York in the background)

       

        It was much prettier scenery from the Canadian side...and much cheaper too...just saying! 

 (Canadian Penny Ski Charm by anandi)

                  Our last visit there was to Toronto, to stay with friends. It was a wonderful trip too!...So, as you can see...we love Canada! :-) ...Oh Yeah, and the breakfast for dinner reference yesterday was about Canadian bacon and maple-syruped pancakes...YUM!!!

 (Map Pillow by FelixStreetStudio)

          

        So, visiting again...on a 'Virtual' Date Night was just a joy...with so much to see! :-)

(Canada Place in Vancouver, with the North Shore Mountains and Burrard Inlet in the background)

          Here's a few things about Canada that you may not have known...The name Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word 'kanata', meaning "village" or "settlement".
        Spanning over 9.9 million square kilometres, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area...

(Valley of the Ten Peaks and Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada)

           It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level.
         And it's a country that...like me!...loves itself some sports!!... ^_^

 (Hockey Silhouette Accent Pillow by eclecticpillows)

Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. (Hockey being a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is also the sport most played by Canadians.)

        Other popular spectator sports include curling and football. But ones that also get a substantial showing are golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, cricket, volleyball, and basketball! They haven't been bad at ice dancing either...just saying! ;-))

(Virtue and Moir, ice dance)     

           It's a beautiful country day or night...      

(View of Chateau Frontenac and the surrounding area from Levis)

        

         And we thoroughly enjoyed our visit! :-) ...Now last, but never least...because we're talking about MUSIC people! ^_^ ...Canada has made some wonderful contributions here too! One being this fella...Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor...

(Paul Anka)

  

        And another being this lady...Canadian singer...

 (Celine Dion)

       And it would only be appropriate to end today's walk down 'Virtual' Date Night road by sharing a song from each of them! :-)   

("Times of your Life")

         And finally...for today...

("My heart will go on")

        Ooooo Whee! That girl knows she has some 'pipes'!! LOL ...That was a fitting closer for today too because our love for Canada will go on...and our love for our 'Virtual' Date Nights together will go on and on also! :-)

      Enjoy the rest of your day together too, everybody! I hope you're not snowed in like us, but if you are...enjoy the time. You can never get too much of that...whether on purpose,  by accident, or by snow-storm! ^_^ [I wrote the poem below last year, after we had waaaay too much snow, and were about to get some more. Somehow,...although it's the first snowfall for us this season...it already seems appropriate! ^_^}

Snow TRAPPED!

TRAPPED! Another snow storm!
Will this "STUFF" never end?!
We've been walloped, punched, and socked,
and now?! Another one on the chin!

'Adding insult to the injury',
there will be an inch of ice!
I guess winter thought we needed
just a little 'SCARY' spice!

Do I sound bitter? Sick of it?
About to lose my snowed-in mind?!
Well, that would be correct!
That is, the brain cells I can find!

TRAPPED! Sick of snow,
and it's icicles everywhere!
Good thing I have crochet!
It will replace my pulled out hair!

Friday 'Virtual' Date Night:...Music and Breakfast For Dinner!

(Red Autumn Leaves Fine Art Photo from bomobob)

       It's that time again! Time to take off with my baby for the weekend! :-) I'll tell you where we're going in tomorrow's post, but the header photo is a big clue!...If you know where this is I mean. :-))

     Another clue to our destination tonight is that we're not gonna eat dinner there. We're having breakfast!! :-) I know...it makes no sense how we can go on a Friday Date 'NIGHT' and have a 'MORNING' meal...but it'll make perfect sense when I explain it to you tomorrow...I promise. ^_^   

     Anyway!!!...To get me in the mood for going out with my baby, I had to turn to my favorite 'pick-me-up'....MUSIC! :-) With the busy schedule of things we've had to do, and the family goings on around here lately,....and of course my being so exhausted the last few days!,...I almost told hubby to cancel our outing tonight. 

      But then I started to feel a little better last night, even though IT SNOWED!!! O_0 ...and this morning it's not so bad either...so I decided that with a little 'shot to the attitude' I could get up for it!! :-] And is there any better way to give your attitude a little 'shot' than good old harmonious, feet tapping, bouncy MUSIC?!!...I think not! ^_^ So, all three of those categories...harmony...feet-tapping...and bouncy...are represented below. :-)

       Take a minute and give your attitude a little shot too! ^_^

(The Dixie Chicks...Landslide)

        Okay...harmony down! How about 'feet-tapping'? Let's try this.....

(Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby...Thing Called Love)
        If your feet aren't tapping..."WHAT ARE YOU?! A block of stone?"!! LOL...Okay...toe-tapping down!...How about bouncy?! :-) ...

(Aretha Franklin...Freeway of Love)

       Now, if you skipped the music you'll have no understanding of me saying: I AM READY FOR DATE NIGHT NOW BABY!!! :-))

       I'm going off to continue getting my 'dance' on!! ^_^ I love music!!...*doing a John Travolta move*...Have a good weekend everybody!! What are you doing tonight?! And is music included?! :-)

A Music Note

A little 'boogie-woogie' bouncing,
and a tapping toe or two,
and my mood is quickly lifting,
and I want to dance with you.

A little harmony and humming,
and some soul and country too,
and I'm feeling pretty chipper.
So "Let's dance!" My poem is through! 

The Boxed Gift That Kept On Giving!

       Okay! The time has arrived...the last of the gifts from my fabulous Giveaway win from Nicole's Homemade Treats blog...The 'Pick Me' card in the header photo is a bookmark!...

      It has little lilac hearts at the bottom. :-) They look like a little garden of flowering hearts growing...Soooo cute! You know I'm gonna use this myself! I've got all kinds of reading material around here, all in different stages of being read. One more bookmark is one more helpful hint to where I am! LOL
     Then there were cards!...

        This one, with the sniffing doggie's nose, Wet Nose Photo Print, is adorable! :-) It came with an envelope too...

       It's all ready to go!....Now, go where?! :-)) No worries. I'll find just the perfect person to send it to! It might even be you!! ^_^

        I know where this one came from too...PNSNNEDLS on Etsy. There's another doggie print there like mine too!
      I also got this BEAUTIFUL card!...

       How would I ever send this to anyone?!...I don't think I will! :-)

        You can't tell from the photo, but it's more like a piece of art than a card. It's heavy. Each of the little scenic panels is adhered to the cardstock. I'm thinking of maybe framing it and letting it sit across from me and remind me to "Breathe"! With my memory who knows...I might forget! ^_^

      It's much more substantial than any card I've gotten in a while. That's for sure! I love it!! :-)
     And last in the box, but certainly not least, were these fabulous note cards!...

       You can tell already why I saved them for last, right?! ^_^ FLOWERS!!!! In fact, sunflowers!...They're from bagsnstuff...

       I'm definitely gonna use these myself too!...They'll probably be coming to your house!...if you buy something from my Wuglyees shop that is! :-))

      So, there you go!  That's all of the things that were in my box that I won. Pretty fantastic, right?!...If you missed anything you can see the rest of the items I won HERE...and HERE...and HERE...and HERE! It was a very good gift!! :-)
      Okay....that's two posts in one day. And except for telling you that it's raining like crazy and snow is on the way....UGH!...and that if you want to see my other post...a menopause girlfriend update (and it's kinda straight-forward...just saying!)...you can go HERE...I'll be quiet now! ^_^ Oh Yeah! Except for the poem of course!...Have a good good day everybody!! :-)

I Like To Talk

I like to talk;
I like to gab;
I like a girlfriend
free confab!

I like to chat;
I like to speak;
I find that words
are what I seek.

I like the chatter
of a crowd;
Not in a whisper,
but out loud.

But, please no talking
while you chew.
{Speaking does 
have manners too!}

I like the noise
that utterance does.
The constant
conversation buzz.

Maybe I need a
word-free diet;
No! I could not
withstand the quiet!

So, I will talk;
Oh yes! I'll dabble
in a constant
lingo babble.

WARNING: I'm About To SHARE...Too Much Information?!

(Note Card by redbootz)

        This is about to be a 'girlfriend confab' up in here! LOL I'm warning you fellas...this may not be the hammer-swinging, repairman consult, dude chat you're used to getting involved in...And for you ladies who don't like to talk about your...Ummmm...'lady's days'...this might be too much information for you too!

      This is gonna be an 'outright' sharing,  an 'I Need Some Information'-type conversation. And I'll tell you why! If you've been reading my blog the last couple of days or so, you've read about me not feeling well, right?! No fever, no cough, no diarrhea or anything like that. Just not feeling well...and exhausted!!

      Well, I slept all day...and I mean all day...yesterday! I was dragging 'like nobody's business'!...(another grandmother reference. O_0...*shaking my head*) When my hubby called from work yesterday to check on me...and woke me up AGAIN...he sounded really worried. He said: "Maybe we should call the doctor." O_O

       Then I said: "And tell him what?! I don't have a fever. I don't have a cough...etc." Then he said: "Well, you were spotting a little yesterday. Maybe your 'friend' is coming on again soon."...O_0...And there it was. WOW!! How bad am I that my husband has to remind me about my own menstrual cycle?!!!!

     It hadn't even dawned on me that that could be what my problem was!! Imagine how stupid I would have felt if I had to have the doctor tell me that...after blood-work and a $80.00 bill for the doctor's visit!!!..*shaking my head...again!*

     So, to test the idea that maybe this could be what it was, I started going down the list of usual symptoms...Yes, I'm cramping like crazy. But no!...there's NO flow! O_O None....Nada...zilch!! It's been a lot of months since I had a 'visit' of my 'friend' (I'm trying not to be too straight-forward here!). But, even then...though it was only a small amount...I did have flow!
      If any of you have medical credentials, please tell me if this is something common to menopausal women...to have all of the symptoms and pains, but no evidence of it's 'arrival'! I'm puzzled about this, and feel kinda silly talking about it. But when I don't know something...I ask! So consider yourselves my 'Petrie dishes' of information. LOL
   Okay...back to my list: I no longer have hot flashes. Weird, but I haven't had one in a loooooong time!

 (Earrings by aPassionForFashion)

       Now...it's cold flashes!! I mean I'm cold all the time! Especially my feet! And strangely enough...and you're really gonna think something is wrong with me now!...after I eat I start FREEZING!!!...What's up with that?! Sometimes, usually after dinner in the evening, I actually have to stop eating, drop my fork, and get under some cover and warm up before I can finish eating!! O_0 If you know why...please 'tell-a-girl'!!

     My normal 'nesting' habits...cleaning and putting things in their proper place...right before my 'friend' came, have totally disappeared! Not only do I not care if everything is in order...I also don't want to know about anybody else organizing things!..."Please...do it 'OVER THERE SOMEWHERE'...*pointing*... and don't bother me!!" ^_^ WOW! I'm so thankful that the cleaning lady does...and enjoys doing...organizing for a living!! Otherwise my house would have turned into a 'Pig Sty' by now!! LOL

       (Magnet by PaisleyParrotDesign)

      My memory....my what?!...has completely deserted the house! I seem to have long term memory...remembering my grandmother's sayings like crazy!...but the sentence I just finished, or the paragraph I just read, seem to be 'lost in space' somewhere!! LOL I'm having to write down everything...right away! And it doesn't appear to matter how important it is either!! *shaking my head*

     (Card by redbootz)

         I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to tie string around my fingers to remember things. Hubby might come home and find me cold for a completely different reason!! LOL
     To make a long story short...Okay, short-ER....Well, too late for that too! LOL Eh! Whatever...I'm 'changing' in all kinds of ways that are a complete mystery to me! And for a girl who doesn't like change, I'm finding the whole thing very challenging. Thankfully it's not so bad that I don't have ANY control!! I have girlfriends that have had that happen. NO FUN!!
     At this point...unless you...those of you who have been down this road before me...tell me that I really should be worrying!...it's all just annoyances. Really challenging annoyances, but not life-threatening. 
      I'm still in good humor most of the time...when I'm awake that is! ^_^ And I still enjoy writing, crocheting, and talking my head off! ^_^ I just wish I had a book that has the blueprint for this stage of my life...

(Vintage Book by Violetteslippers)

       My logical brain tells me though, that in this stage of my life I'm probably on my own. I know we all have changes...don't we ladies?!...but I'm not sure all of our changes are the same. For information and entertainment purposes I recorded mine above so that if anybody else is having these symptoms...or changes...you don't have to think you're some kind of freak and that you're all alone. Welcome to my world!...Freak-Poet-Crocheter-talker here! ^_^ Probably not in that order though. *Teehee*

(Welcome to my world...Elvis Presley)

        I'll do another post later today with the last of my Giveaway gifts. I didn't want to high-jack people and make them read my menopausal issues while in the same post talking about my 'gifts'!! LOL...Even though being brave enough to say some of this stuff in public has got to be a gift!! ^_^ Have a good day everybody!

Why Do I Have To Share?

I know you're probably wondering:
"Why does she feel the need to share?"
I'll tell you. It's no secret!
It's because...Oh Well...YOU'RE THERE!

Why should I suffer this alone
when I can whine right in your ear?
And, after all, you came to visit,
and you still are sitting there!

Why should I keep it to myself...
this so-called 'Too Much Information'?
If you leave it up to me
they'll  be a 'Listen To Me' nation!

I like to share my good and bad.
I've done it for so many years.
But you don't really have to listen.
You could amputate your ears!

BY THE WAY...DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!! Rules are HERE!