The Good Old Days

I got to spend some time cleaning and sorting in my craft room this weekend ~ some day it will be cleaned and sorted enough to earn the name studio ~ for right now craft room is probably a stretch. Storage room would be more accurate. But, I'm working on it...and I'm rambling.

While working I came across this old Good Housekeeping magazine. It's from November of 1948 and the cost of it was ~ 35 cents! Of course the sorting and cleaning stopped because I had to browse through the magazine. Great stuff!! Did you know that "DUZ does EVERYTHING"? and that you should "use SPRY with cake-improver". (future posts may tell you more about DUZ & SPRY and who knows what else)!

This magazine is full of the neatest, sweetest ads, wonderful stories and all kinds of fun images. The little bits I had time to read had me thinking about the good old days, a simpler life, a slower pace, a time when you got free glasses or dish towels in your box of detergent! Those were the days...those were the good old days!!

I finally got back to the task at hand and after a bit I came across an article I wrote for the newsletter at my church. I wrote it in 1995, at a time in my life when circumstances drove me straight to God and right down to my knees. He was who I thought of first and who I needed more than anything else. As I read over the article I again began to think about the good old days, but in a totally different way.

In the book of Revelations (2:4) Christ shows His displeasure for those believers who've lost that fervent desire they once had for all things God. The excitement wasn't there, they became complacent and indifferent. They did things out of duty rather than out of love for the Lord. They had lost their first love. I think that must happen to a lot of us. Probably more than once or twice. Sometimes we may not even realize it. But more times than not I think we know. I think we begin to experience that longing for a time when each day had joy because each day had Jesus.

Well, I certainly can't go back to 1948 ~ especially since I wasn't born until 1955. I can't get back that kind of simple life or slower pace. However, there is nothing stopping me from returning to the good old days with Jesus Christ. There's nothing stopping me from thinking of Him first and needing Him most and loving Him with all that is in me. Except for desire on my part. My desire is to follow Him ~ I don't want Him to have anything against me.

"Nevertheless I have this against you,

that you have left your first love."

Revelations 2:4 NKJV

Who Are These People?

 

Here's a photo from our trip to Walt Disney World last December. My husband Bill and son-in-law Mark are strolling though the streets of Mexico (via Epcot of course). No Mark isn't really that short ~ he's standing on his knees! Quite the pair!

Happiness Comes In Fractions

Have you ever had a perfectly wonderful day? You know the kind where you wake up happy and everything falls into place and nobody rubs you wrong and it's smooth sailing and the sun is shining, and your grass is greener than the neighbor's, etc, etc, etc. I'm sure I've had some, but more often than not something happens that breaks the happy mood....sometimes before it even begins! Usually nothing of any real consequence....just little bummers along the way.

I woke up late for work on Tuesday ~ really late ~ I woke up almost an hour after I should have been there! My laptop was giving me fits Tuesday evening. I am oftentimes computer challenged and it was one of those times. I cut my thumb last night. It was pretty deep and bleeding a lot. Bummer, bummer, bummer. But each little bummer was followed up by burst of nice, a tiny glimmer of hope, a little fraction of happiness. My boss and my co-workers knew why I overslept and they were sympathetic and compassionate with regard to my tardiness. My son (the computer geek I've mentioned) was able to fix my computer glitch and then provided even more help (thanks Kevin). As for the bloody thumb ~ Bill, his Dad & Mandy were all concerned, each showing it in their own way.

You want a perfectly wonderful day? Good luck with that. They don't generally just happen. But we can do our part to make sure each one ends up that way. Don't focus on the whole. Look for those "fractions of happiness" along the way.

The smile of a stranger you pass in the store; the car that gives you "cuts in line"; the sun shining or the rain falling ~ we need both you know. The mail coming on time; finding the gas station with the cheap gas; hearing I love you; having your work caught up at the end of the day and coming home to dinner on the table (that in itself makes me happy ~ thanks Mandy). Not having to wait at the doctor's office; a really good sale on anything; prayers with your children ~ more "fractions of happiness" that all add up to a "perfectly wonderful day"!

I think that tomorrow when I'm going to work and the big, yellow, school bus ends up in front of me, instead of feeling a little impatient at all the stopping and going, I'll spend that time praying for the driver, the students and the teachers they'll have throughout the day. Talking to the Lord equals a big "fraction of happiness"!

This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

The beautiful graphic I used can be found at Snapshots of Joy.

Look ~ I Have Three Columns Now!

I keep discovering new things to do with my blog ~ so I keep making changes. That will probably continue for a while. I'm not convinced about the black background, so I may play with that a little bit more. Just tonight, I found out from my son (it's so nice to have your own personal computer geek) how easy it is to add a third column and change the background color. He told me I could even take a picture of my sofa fabric and use it as my background....how cool is that! I love the fabric on my living furniture so who knows what may appear here next.

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Oh My Goodness!

Time flies...it's been a whole week since I posted any pictures of my two favorite people. It gets better and better all the time. Being a gramma that is! I find myself spending way to much time looking at pictures of Elijah and Charlotte. There's over 2000 on my computer right now and Elijah is only 7 1/2 months old and Charlotte is four months younger than that!! I do not want to do the math calculations on this one!

I love these two pictures of my grandbabies. Check out that red hair ~ I love it so much! I never really saw a resemblance to me in Elijah before.....but we definitely have rolls in common! Although his are much cuter than mine! And my sweet Charlotte ~ have you ever seen such beautiful blue eyes and I love her little rosebud mouth. Don't you love how she coordinates with her chair! Just can't get enough of these two!

I love my bath!

I love my Bumbo...for about ten minutes!

And the Giveaway Winners Are:

Congratulations to:

Shelley at http://shelleysvintagevariety.blogspot.com/

and Joyce at http://scrapforjoy.blogspot.com/

Send me your addresses and I'll get your ACEOs in the mail.

Shelley...I picked you first...so I'll also be mailing you a copy of the Summer 2008 Artful Blogging magazine from Somerset Studios. You'll love it!

Thank you to everyone for commenting, and a really big thank you to Heather for mentioning my giveaway on her blog! That was so nice of her!

I really like giving things away and I've recently felt convicted to de-clutter my life. I think that de-cluttering and giveaways compliment each other nicely ~ so I'll have to do another giveaway soon.

Random Monday Memories

I was sitting here eating my lunch (leftover meat loaf & a salad, no dessert) and all of a sudden I started thinking about pineapple upside down cake (henceforth known as p.u.d. cake). Not just any p.u.d. cake mind you. I've been thinking about the ones my mom used to make...in the big, old, black, iron skillet. I remember her making them when I was a little girl.

For awhile that p.u.d. cake was one of her standards to make. I remember watching her put it into the oven looking like no more than your basic yellow cake batter, except that it was in the skillet instead of the rectangular, metal cake pan. Then I remember when she took it out of the oven and ~ drum-roll please ~ turned it over onto the big, green plate (whatever happened to that plate). Nothing basic about it anymore! It was covered in pineapple slices and maraschino cherries and it looked GOOD!

Anyone that knows me knows that the kitchen is not my friend, so no one will be surprised to hear that I've never been real successful at making a p.u.d. cake. I tried, but never quite pulled it off. It just never looked like my mom's p.u.d. cake. The pineapples & cherries wouldn't stay in place ~ they seemed to rise (or sink depending on which side was up) and they were crooked. But look at this great pan ~ a p.u.d. cake pan with little homes for the pineapples and cherries ~ isn't that special!

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Maybe ~ if I find and buy the pan ~ I'll try this for Thanksgiving this year. My children are all grown-up now, so I won't be creating any childhood memories for them. But I bet Elijah & Charlotte will love to watch me bake and we could create new memories in the process!

Be Joyful ~ Be Glad ~ Be Thankful

Psalm 100

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."

ACEO Giveaway! The Prize!

Well, here they are. The ACEOs for my giveaway are complete. These pictures really don't do them justice so feel free to click on each photo and see them larger than life.

This pair will go to the person whose name is drawn first ~ there will also be an extra goodie for them!

The red ACEO is titled "The King" and the brown one is called "Matthew 18:20".

The second pair of ACEOs will go to the next person whose name is drawn. The pink card is called "Giggle" and the blue ACEO is titled "Baby Love". All four are collage art and are made with an assortment of pretty papers, images, rub-ons, glitter & ink. The brown ACEO includes parts of a couple images kindly shared by Dawn at The Feathered Nest.

I really love making these little treasures and I can't wait to give these two pairs away. The winning names will be drawn after 6pm EST on Tuesday, August 26th. I'll post them Tuesday evening. Odds are good right now ~ so if you haven't left a comment yet ~ please feel free to leave one on the original posting...if you mention the ACEOs on your blog you'll get an extra entry. There's still time ~ but remember 6pm EST on August 26th is the cut-off.

New Look

I'm trying a new look.

The sidebar on my original template was a little too narrow for some of the gadgets and lists I'd like to use so I found a template with a wider sidebar.

I'm also working on a new banner. I'd actually like to try and design my own but that's a little beyond me right now. I found a nice picture at Banner of Blessings that I'll use for now. I'm just not sure what color to use for the title. Any suggestions?

What do you think of the new look/colors? The colors match my living room & dining room...I figured I like looking at those rooms so I'll like looking at my blog too.

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ACEO Give-away update

I have finished three of the ACEOs.

I'll make the fourth tomorrow and get them posted in the evening so you can see the give-away prize.

ELIJAH & CHARLOTTE

TOO CUTE!

SPUDS

My father-in-law LOVES potatoes. Pretty much all kinds. But mashed potatoes are his favorite. He would probably be happy having them four or five times a week....and since he's 90 years old, I figure he can eat anything he wants, whenever he wants it. But there isn't always time to make him fresh, mashed potatoes. I mentioned this to my mom when I was visiting her last month and she mentioned a brand of instant potatoes that she really liked. I tried some and they weren't bad...but I was skeptical about my father-in-law liking them.

Well, I finally picked some up last night and we had them for dinner, along with meat loaf and gravy and a veggie. I asked him if he liked the potatoes and he said he never had red skins mashed up. "Very tasty - I like the little pieces of skin in it" was his comment.

Yea! Mashed potatoes without peeling, cubing & mashing. Now this doesn't mean he won't usually get the real thing....but in a pinch....Idahoan here I come!

Thanks for the tip Mom!

spud picture

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UPDATE

I'm working on the ACEOs for my give-away.

I'll be drawing two names ~ each will receive two trading cards. The first name drawn will also get an extra goodie. I'll be posting pictures of the ACEOs later this week.

Please comment here or here if you'd like to enter the give-away.

The First Blog I Ever Read.

A remarkable blog,

a remarkable story,

a remarkable woman,

and most of all,

a remarkable God!

I heard about this blog on a website and began reading it back in March. If you'd like to read it, please visit

Bring the Rain.

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You'll meet Angie ~ she started writing this blog back in January 2008. It's about the life of her daughter Audrey Caroline and it's about her God. It's also about the death (too soon) of a child.

I've read it from the beginning (if you have time, you should too) and I have been moved to tears many times. Certainly by the words she shares, but even more by the fingerprints of God that appear so often in the words. The loss of a child ~ beyond comprehension ~ until it happens to you. The magnificence of God's grace ~ beyond comprehension ~ until it happens to you.

It happened to Angie and to so many others.

Safe in the Shepherd's Arms

drawing by Jean Keaton

I Love Strawberries

"Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did."
William Butler (1535-1618)

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Strawberry Watercolor

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Strawberries in my Dining Room

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A great strawberry shortcake recipe from my favorite old cookbook

Have a wonderful Saturday!

GGMa ~ better known to me as "Mom"

Once upon a time there was a girl named Dorothy. She was also known as Dot, Dort, Aunt Dot, Dotty.....then there was Mom (or "Ma" said with exasperation) and (oh, happy day) then there was Grandma. Not once, not twice...but fourteen times! There's Eric, Ronnie, Kevin, Joe, Jason, Katie (yea ~ a girl!), Tim, Valerie, Amanda (all three born in the same year!), Matt, Dan, Mike, Nick and Greg. She was one happy grandma!

Five of these children are mine (Ronnie is with Jesus~maybe I'll write about him someday) and because I've been married twice, and had children in both marriages, there are a lot of grandparents involved with these kids and each of them needed a name. Actually, there's only one grandpa, and they call him Grandpa! Clever of us, right?

But there were a lot of grandmas....I don't know about you but we had to go with more than just grandma in order to know who we were talking about. Now we didn't get into the Nana, Memaw, Grammy names...I don't know why, we just decided we wanted to stick with Grandma something.

So my ex-husband's mother and grandmother became Grandma "insert last name here" and Grandma "insert last name here". Good thing they had different last names. Kevin and Joe were four and two when Bill and I got married and right away they realized there was something different about this new grandma...there was a grandpa too! So, being the brilliant little guys that they were, they decided Bill's mom would be called Grandma with Grandpa! Genius!

Now back to my mom. She was just plain Grandma from the start. Until, my children realized that she was the only grandma with just one name. We couldn't have that. But what to do? Don't ask me how it happened - I don't remember - I may never even have known - but my children decided that since my mom had a dog, and the dog's name was Buffy, she would, henceforth, be known as Grandma with Buffy. Since Grandma with Grandpa lived in another state (with Grandpa of course) and we didn't see the two grandmas with the last names very often I regularly heard about Grandma with Buffy. "Can we go to Grandma with Buffy's house?" "Is Grandma with Buffy coming to our house?" "Will Grandma with Buffy be bringing Buffy with her?" (Are you dizzy yet - I know I am).

It was silly, it was sweet...and it worked. Until...........Buffy died.

My children, in their infinite wisdom, were ready for this. My mom became Grandma without Buffy! I kid you not. That's what they called her. Until as teenagers they realized it was a lot less talking to do if they simply switched her back to just plain Grandma.

Great story right...nice ending too! But of course it's not the end. I still have to explain the title of this post! When we visit my mom (she lives in Michigan, we don't) we like to play games. Especially Scrabble and Yahtzee. You need to keep score for both those games and when I kept score I would write the names like this:

ME~KATIE~BILL~JOE~MANDY~KEVIN~Gma

Gma ~ mostly because there wasn't room for Grandma.....but it stuck. My mom became Gma forevermore. The kids actually call her THE Gma because there is no one else like her! So it stands to reason that when my children had children they decided that my mom would be the GGma (great grandma). I know, this is too cute for words, isn't it? But I have a few more.....

So just for The GGma here are some new pictures of your GG Kids.

To you...with lots of love!

ELIJAH

AND

CHARLOTTE

Working 9 to 5....at home please!

It is so slow at work today. Days like this one really make me long to be home where about a bazillion things are awaiting my attention. But here I sit, the phone isn't ringing, my paperwork is caught up, my calls are made...nothing to do! Even the assorted squirrels that live on my desk aren't amusing me.

But I know that at home there's tons to do. The wood floors really need to be cleaned, the weeds need to be pulled, and cleaning and organizing my craft room would bring me much happiness. I'd also enjoy some time to wash my car; dust the stuff on the top of my kitchen cupboards; paint a few rooms in my home because they need it, not because I'm tired of the color; investigate the hall closets...you never know what you might find in them...and then get rid of most of what I find. Cleaning the coils on the refrigerator; shampooing the carpets; washing the curtains, cleaning the storage room and dusting the fan blades....yep, that all needs to be done.

Who has time for all this stuff? I would love to get these things done on a regular basis. But really - when??? There are too many "daily" things to keep up with!

There are some "fun" things I wish I could be doing too. I would love to wake up each morning and have some really good quiet time with the Lord - instead of the usual 10 minutes or so; and a cup of coffee or tea while reading some great blogs that I've found would be wonderful. An occasional lunch with my friends; shopping in the middle of the day on a weekday (I do not love the Saturday crowds); creating things in my craft room; reading without having to use toothpicks to keep my eyes open; watching daytime shows on HGTV; sitting in my yard planning my garden; working in my yard to create that garden....I'm smiling just thinking about all these things! Even - family hold onto your hats - trying out some yummy, new recipes once in awhile would be fun too!
I don't know where I was going with these meandering words...guess I just wanted to fill time and imagine for awhile. I'm done now. Lunch break is over. Back to the real world of working 9-5 and fitting some of the other stuff in when I can and dreaming about doing the rest someday. And remembering when those "somedays" happen, to be very grateful for the opportunity I have to clean the bathroom, wash the car, shampoo the carpet, etc, etc, etc.
You probably won't see pictures of my beautiful clean house on here too often - although I may try and catch some rooms on their good days; you'll seldom see examples of new creations that I've made - but I am trying to work on some things; and it's pretty certain I won't be discussing any good books I've read - not right now. Someday...but not right now. You will see oodles of photos of my grandbabies because I love taking their pictures; you'll read silly stuff about my family; maybe I'll post pictures of stuff I like to collect and if you stop by you may hear about what the Lord is doing in our lives.
I just need to remember He's got me right where He knows I need to be. From now on the first thing I'll think about is Him and the beautiful world He's given me. A world full of people I love...including the ones I work with. I'm going to get my focus off the details of life and instead focus on the great abundance right here in front of me. It's a good plan.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A big thank you to Heather J. for mentioning my ACEO give-away on her blog. I really appreciate it a bunch! If you love to read books, or if you just love seeing a really nice blog, then you ought to visit it from here...you'll enjoy the trip! It's all about books and it even has me thinking maybe I need to really try to get in some book readin' soon! (or at least after I get all that other stuff done!!)

Give-away Update

I just thought of another thing that's really nice about ACEOs.....

They are very inexpensive to mail.

So the winner of my give-away can live in the USA or overseas!!

I'll draw the winner on August 26th after 6:00pm EST,

so make sure you post your comments before then.

Here's one more picture of an ACEO I've made.

It's not part of the give-away though...because it's already been given away!

I'll post pictures of the "mini masterpieces" you'll win next week.

Just to clarify: An ACEO is a trading card (as in baseball) not a greeting card.

ACEO-Art Cards, Editions and Originals are tiny trading card sized pieces of collectible art, always measuring 2 ½” x 3 ½”. These highly collectible cards are as varied in theme, composition and materials as are larger works of art. They are so much fun to look at, long for and buy! I don't have a large collection...but the ones I have I love!

Don't forget to post a comment (here or on the previous post) for a chance to win!

Thanks for visiting!

ACEO Giveaway!

I'd Love to Have My First Giveaway!

My blog doesn't quite do these little art cards (ACEO) justice. They are collages and all have very rich inked edges and a slightly shiny matte finish. Some have jewels, some are stamped and some have stickers or glitter. They're all cute!
I love making them because they're pretty quick to make, easy to display and fun to give away. Actually they are so much fun to give away that I would like to do exactly that!!

The ACEOs pictured already have homes...I'll be making

several brand new ACEOs to give away on August 26th.

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. It is an art format started by an artist on Ebay a couple years ago. An ACEO can be created in any medium: paint, colored pencils, ink, fabric, photographs, clay, wood and my personal favorite - collage. Collage is my favorite kind to make and my favorite to collect so, of course collage is the style I'll be making for the give-away.

ACEOs make great little gifts to tuck into birthday and they're perfect little masterpieces to frame and display around your home.

Please make a comment here for one chance to win and get an extra chance to win if you post about my giveaway on your blog.

25 years ago...

...you were born!

Mandy, I hope you have a special day!

Love, Mom

Whoa...if my baby is turning 25 I must be turning old!!

No Words

My friends' granddaughter passed away last night.

She was several weeks younger than my youngest grandbaby.

Words can't express my heart ~ but I care and I'm praying...

~Baby Gemma is with Jesus~

Please remember her family in your prayers.

My Joe...and his Jo and Elijah too

Joe called me this morning. His voice was breaking and he was pretty upset. He had just found out that he was losing his job. His company is downsizing and they're closing the location he's at. It wasn't a total surprise. There's been rumors circulating. But I know he and his wife, Jo, were hoping for the best.

There's a lot going on in their lives right now (including a new baby - they're Elijah's parents) and he was discouraged by this new mountain to climb. That was then.

But Joe...being Joe...has already reached the top of mountain and he's ready to trudge along for a while, knowing full well the easy, downhill descent will be coming soon.

He called me during the afternoon to tell me he was okay and that a supervisor had just asked him why he seemed to be handling the news of unemployment so much better than most of his co-workers. He was able to share that he knew God was in control. Then he called on his way home from work to tell me how encouraged he'd been when he turned the radio on in his car and heard the song by Casting Crowns ~ Praise You in this Storm playing just for him. Yet one more call this evening because Elijah was laughing and Joe wanted me to hear him.

I am so encouraged because he finds joy in the moment and I'm so blessed to know that he realizes that his help comes from the Lord. There's a great new job out there for him...I'd appreciate you joining me in praying for Joe and his family as we wait to see what the Lord has in store for them!

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Praise You in This Storm

I was sure by now

God You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining.

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain

“I’m with you”

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away.
I’ll praise You in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

Every tear I’ve cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm.

I remember when

I stumbled in the wind

You heard my cry

You raised me up again

My strength is almost gone

How can I carry on

If I can’t find You.

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain“I’m with you”

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away.

I'll praise you in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

Every tear I've cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm.

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The maker of Heaven and Earth

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If you'd like to hear this song, it's the first one on my play list in the sidebar of this blog. Just click on the arrow in the upper left corner to play.

My Tweedles

We went to Walt Disney World last December and we had a great time. I (AKA "photo takin' fool") took over 800 digital pictures. Here's two of my favorites. I really love how the definition I found applies to Disney's Tweedledum and Tweedledee AND to my Tweedledum and Tweedledee too!

Twee·dle·dum and Twee·dle·dee

–noun
two persons or things nominally different but practically the same;

a nearly identical pair.

Katie & Mandy - a nearly identical pair.

How many times have the two of you heard that!

Are you two twins?

Sure...and we're only 21 months apart!

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Speaking of Dum & Dee...

Here's another ACEO from my collection.

I bought this one on eBay.

'Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle!
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel!
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their

quarrel.'

Food, Two Babies and a Bird.

Here we are at the family get-together at Cracker Barrel last Sunday. It looks like Elijah is having a tough time deciding what he'd like to order and the ten adults who were there with him had an equally difficult time. But we finally decided and a veritable feast appeared on our table in no time. I think there must have been a little bit of everything set before us. Biscuits and corn muffins, salads, french fries, chicken, meat loaf, eggs, pancakes, green beans, mac & cheese, etc, etc,etc!

Did you know that since 1969, Cracker Barrel has "been offering hearty meals made with quality ingredients prepared fresh throughout the day". They "believe it's what makes favorites like Chicken n' Dumplins, Meatloaf and Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits so special". I'll buy that - actually I did. I had the "Sampler" and it came with all three of those aforementioned favorites!! I had a little time to read over the menu and pick up on some of their catchy phrases...can you tell!

You know the only problem with eating there is I never have room for dessert and I feel like I'm really missing out if I can't have some of that yummy cobbler they're so famous for!!

Elijah and Charlotte will have to wait a bit before they can enjoy some good country cookin', but for now the bottles and the mushed up green beans seemed to be keeping them happy. Elijah fell asleep in my arms when he and I rocked away in one of the Cracker Barrel Rockers. "Comfortable, inviting and designed to help you relax and feel completely at home"...that's what their literature says and it's true. Think I'll put in an order for one for Christmas. *HINT!

It's always fun to get together at Cracker Barrel - Elijah & Charlotte certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves! Aunt Mandy was holding them while I snapped a "few pictures" - well, maybe a little more than a few. But only 52!

I managed to sneak in a little shopping while we were waiting to be seated...but it had to be quick because the 35 minute wait was only 15 minutes long and when the meal is over - it's time to go! But I managed to find a couple cute little Christmas presents for friends (can't say what, 'cause they might be reading this) and I got this great little pillow with a fat bird on it for myself! I love fat birds!

The pillow was the cherry on top of a great "Sunday"!