I need 6 pennies & 7 more nickels!

I am 6 pennies and 7 nickels short of two more rolled coins. We had an overflowing coin dish collecting pocket change, and change found at the bottom of my purse. Then there is also the change given at a drive thru and we just throw it in the ashtray of the car. I am sure you all have a similar dish or jar of spare change, so go gather up all your change from under your sofa cushions and in the dish and out side in the ashtray of your car, and start rolling. I am sure you will be amazed as I was when I decided to take ten minutes out of my day to sort through it and roll the coins up! (The bank will give you the paper rolls for free; get some the next time you are at the bank)



I ended up with $53.50 just sitting there in the “spare change” pile! If I had 6 pennies and 7 nickels more, then I could complete two more rolls. I will then have $56. We could use a little more moola, who doesn’t?

With the 56 dollars, we can go out to dinner twice, or go to the movies 3 or 4 times, go skiing and rent our skies with the $56, or even order 15 Carmel Lattes from Starbucks! Of course the $56 should go towards paying bills…but what fun is that?

From A - Z My Favorite Things!

A-Z favorite things:

1.) A: Andrew (there is a no brainer!)
2.) B: Butterfly
3.) C: Camera (digital)
4.) D: Dragonfly
5.) E: Eclipse (it's a rare moment)
6.) F: Family
7.) G: Giggles
8.) H: Hot Dogs at a ball game
9.) I: Iridescent things
10.) J: Jamocka flavored ice cream
11.) K: Kayaking
12.) L: Licorice (the red kind in the giant tub, or at the movies)
13.) M: Mazda
14.) N: Nachos
15.) O: Old fashion car shows
16.) P: Purple People Bridge (it is a good ½ mile walk and fun to say)
17.) Q: Queen Marry-has been closed for a while, but was fun to go to.
18.) R: Roses, but not red roses
19.) S: Snow
20.) T: Turkey
21.) U: uniqueness
22.) V: Violin music by candle light
23.) W: Wishing on a penny or a shooting star
24.) X: X-Mas! (Creative huh? Thought I couldn’t think of an “x”)
25.) Y: Yellow Sunflowers
26.) Z: Zany times with friends

Need a Holiday Cookie Recipe?

I got this recipe from a fellow Blogger, and want to pass it along to you. Merry Christmas!

Recipe for Jack Daniels Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup lemon juice

4 large eggs

1 cup nuts

2 cups of dried fruit

1 bottle Jack Daniels Whiskey

Sample the whiskey (very important) to check quality. Take a large bowl; check the whiskey again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer...Beat one cup of butter in alarge fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar...Beat again. At this pointit's best to make sure the whiskey is still OK; try another cup ...justin case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowland chuck in the cup of dried fruit, Pick the frigging fruit offfloor... Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with adrewscriver. Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity.Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who giveshz a sheet. Check the Jack Daniels. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Addone table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through thewindow, finish the Jack Daniels and make sure to put the stove in thedishwasher.

CHERRY MISTMAS !!

Seasons change

I took some photos of the seasonal progression. Here is the same pond in three different times...



First is the summer with frogs all around.

Then the frozen pond after it snowed four inches.








Now the pond is thawing out in the last photo. The snow is now melting away and there is a perfect circle where the pond has the fountain part, the snow on one side is completely gone as the sun shines down on it to reveal the grass.

Hide and Seek...

I am sitting on my sofa and looking out my window across the pond and there is a guy (20 something) hiding around the corner, which from my view point is in plane sight, and peeking around to see when the other person comes out of the apt. I notice him holding something...what is that? Then conclude that the door he keeps looking at doesn't have a door mat, and what is in his hands is a door mat. What is he doing? He is snickering to himself hidden behind the corner of where the front door is, waiting there about a minute till the door opens, is the other person going to come out and notice the mat is gone? Is the guy, hiding, going to jump out and surprise the other person with a welcome mat? NO>>>It is a Woman, walking out of the apt. turns to lock the door and starts to leave. The guy hops out from around the corner and catches up with the girl, drops the mat by the door and walks off with her to go some where. The girl is not fazed by any of this, and he didn't startle her? Peculiar in deed and to much time on my end to be amused by any of this and even more silly to blog my watching of this cute little form of cat and mouse. It was so entertaining to watch this guy hide around the corner and peek around waiting for the girl to come out of the apt.

Good Times, Good Friends

This was the day after Thanks Giving (2005) catching up on old times at my moms house. I loved spending the afternoon reminissing of our childhood. The photo is of Beth, Me, & Genoa. The three of us were all in Blue Birds together back in 1st grade through 3rd grade; in this photo we are all now 27, & married.

Another best friend of mine is Emily, who was there with us, whom I have also known for 23 years. It is so special to have good friends like them years later, a golden moment I will continue to hold on to, making new memories like this day at my moms.

Beth had moved away in grade school, and we lost touch. A couple of years ago Genoa and I were at Ross shopping and ran into Beth, out of the blue. It was great seeing her for that brief moment in Ross. Then earlier this year I looked her up again and we all meet up at my moms while we were all in town visiting family for Thanks Giving. So Emily, Genoa, Rodrigo, Andrew, Beth, Mom, Dad, and I were sitting around the table having some Thanks Giving leftovers for lunch. My mom made some turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce, and dished up the rest of the Waldorf salad. We sipped Chardonnay, as we gossiped and giggled. We brought up names of old school kids we had not heard of in a while, and lost touch on. You know the typical, "What ever happened to so-n-so?" One of us would answer and the other add to it with what they knew about so-n-so. Some S0-n-sos were married and had 3 kids, while other so-n-sos were still living at their parents house, surfing.

I had fun with us all there at my parent’s home in good old MB. I hope to look back on this day all together again, 20 years from now also. Of course my Parents will be in their late 70's but we can still meet up there, at their house the day after Thanks Giving.

I survived my first 4 inches of snow!

My work was let out at 3:30 today instead of 5pm to get home while the snow was just starting, rather than 2 hours later. So I drove with caution, and got home in an hour and have front wheel drive. Andrew, on the other hand, takes the bus to work from downtown and stood up in the bus like a sardine the whole way for THREE hours! Then to drive home from the Park N Ride, he said it was so hard to do, having a sports car, it is not really snow steady, with rear wheel drive. He drove in 2nd gear the whole way and was fish tailing at 15 mph. He was so happy to finally get home. He got on the bus at 6pm and got home about 9:40! Wild! A 3 hr ride on the bus; at least it is free to ride through his work, and the bus driver does all of the driving.


I have been at home, like a nerd that I am, running around with my ruler in hand sticking it in the snow, and each time getting 4 inches. I had a fun time here, taking photos, while Andrew was a sardine on the bus.

The pond here is frozen over accept where the fountain part is. I took a photo of the pond, the 4 inch snow, and my car blanketed by snow, for you to see. I say "you" in a general term mostly addressing this to Californians back home, who have not been in snow much. And to YOU, local Ohio natives, can enjoy my "rookie snow humor" also as I blog about it and post photos.

It is official snow season!

December 6th it is officially snow season; according my calculations...Let's see, I have used the ice scraper for three mornings so far, had ice cycles on my car, have seen the snow fall but only to melt away as it landed on surfaces... Then today I was driving in a light snow where it actually lingers behind a bit, leaving about a centimeter of snow dusted lightly on the ground and the pond by the apartment entrance is snowed over. The pond looks frozen, but it was sort of hard to see it tonight coming home in the darkness. I will check it out again tomorrow to take a photo to post later.

I am excited being that this is my first winter. To the Ohio locals living through many years of winter and snow seasons, it is a drag it seems. No body seems as excited as I am. People tell me to just wait about a month later in January and I will be complaining about “when will the snow go away?”, or BRRR! It is SOOO COLD! Some say I will be running back to California.

I say welcome to winter; it can't be as bad as the humid summers? I like hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, wearing sweaters, making snow angels, and sitting by a fire next to my hubby. Winter is a beautiful time of year I have only experienced here and there over the 27 years I have been around. It is not a common season for me, so I don't mind (yet) scraping my windshields in the morning, if I equal it out with the beauty snow brings. Happy Winter everyone. Last year, on Christmas day I was on the beach looking at tide pools and picking up shells. I even found an Abalone shell. This year, I will be out side making a snow man, the moment there is enough snow on the ground to play in.