Happy Black Friday to all you crazy people out there! (And you know who you are)

Isnt that a gorgeous wedding cake???? That is from the wedding we went to last Sunday.

I cannot make a pie crust for the life of me - thank goodness for Pillsbury! And I cant make the edges pretty at all either. But I can make the filling from scratch - and then it turns out this pretty and smells even better. It is all I can do to keep hubby's hands off of this until Sunday!

The first friday in more than 2/3 of my marriage that hubby did not have to work....so I didnt work today either and we celebrated! How? By going shopping!

NO....not at any of those shops that encourage the craziness. Went to the Harvest Festival - saw lots of beautiful things - got a few Christmas presents - and forgot to go back and get a couple (darn it all).

And then we went to the grocery store to finish our shopping for Thanksgiving dinner Sunday. Dropped off books at the library and a package at the P.O.

Came home and listened to the rain - sitting in front of our warm pellet stove (something we are definitely thankful for plus the fact it is NOT a No Burn day) and am drinking a lovely glass of wine...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends - those close and those far. And to thank everyone for being there as friends through the good and the bad ... thank you to those who put their lives on the line for us everyday, both here on US soil and on foreign soil.

Happy Thanksgiving week!

"Borrowed" these from a friend's email....loved them!

Went to a beautiful wedding last night. Beautiful venue. It was late afternoon and to be at this venue as day segued into evening and night - it was lovely. http://www.palmeventcenter.com/

Anyway, it was a second wedding for the nicest person I have ever been honored to know. She always has a smile for everyone - no matter how bad the day - and never says anything bad about anyone. When I started working at the hospital I work at - she and I were on nights together. And then we went to days together - I think I followed her. She has 2 beautiful sons - had a beautiful house that she managed to live thru renovations of while she worked nights and the construction people worked days - and then she was divorced. And no matter what she would say about the circumstances - and it was hard to start over again - she was still smiling and nice....

Then about 2 years ago she met her husband to be. And this nice and smiling person - well, how can you go from that to even more so? But she did. And so I hope this mean that she will have the happiness she deserves!

The wedding was classy - not snobby or prestigious - but classy and relaxed and fun. I think that is what is nice about 2d weddings! And it was fun to see work colleagues all dressed up and having fun!

AND - I wore heels for the first time in 6 months! No - not the sexy ones I wish I could have bought - just plain ole pumps with thick heels - but they were heels. But today I am feeling it - not pain exactly, but tiredness.

Spent yesterday AM cleaning out the freezer. Hubby broke off a bunch of the ice that always forms on the top shelf. But you know - it keeps on freezing well no matter what. And we bought this the summer before oldest daughter was born - and she will be 34 come December! (At least if I have jinxed myself, freezers are the least expensive appliance to replace....as long as we discover the issue before all the yummy food hubby has stocked up thaws out!)

And we are sitting around waiting for the repairman to come and see why the dishwasher is not emptying. The dishwasher we got in February. What is it about Thanksgiving??? Hopefully this is minor and can be fixed today. Our largest fiasco at Thanksgiving time is when we had the pipe burst under the house.....or when we were renovating the kitchen....at least then we had appliances, just board covered counter tops!

Our big turkey day will be next Sunday - I work Wed and Thursday - and my daughter works too. Hubby and son will have an un-traditional meal on Thursday. I keep forgetting I do not need to buy all the fixings yet and I start to panic when I think I dont have the things ready yet! LOL.

Depressing

Hopped on BART today and went to SF to run some errands - mainly to find some shoes for a wedding this weekend and our work Christmas Party in early December.

These really are the type of shoe I love - sexy and beautiful -I use to be a huge shoe freak but kinda outgrew it. But I still love beautiful ones even tho I usually go for comfort first.

But remember what happened to me in late May? You know, the broken left ankle and becoming a couch potato for allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll of summer. And hearing that 100% healing properly will not really be completed for a whole year.

I tried on shoes. I drooled over sexy dressy sandals that I knew would be ankle turners....I tried on and lusted after these really cute purple (eggplant purple) ankle boots with heels.

And in every thing I tried on, I had discomfort even when my foot/ankle didnt turn. They turned in most of them. I came home with none. I came home very depressed. Shoot, I almost started bawling right there in DSW. Told hubby that I guess I might as well go out and just buy some black sneakers to wear.......

Dropped some money at Williams-Sonoma; and found that the knives hubby loves have a sale going on so will probably have to sneak there alone sometime. Got some nifty tea at the tea shop. Restrained myself at Borders because I still have several gift cards for Barnes and Nobles!

And of course we had Blondie's for lunch....

Macy's has their windows papered over as they are getting them ready for Christmas. And the old City of Paris store does not have their huge beautiful tree up. They were just putting up the Union Square tree. So nice to see places that have not rushed into Christmas already!!!!!!!!!

And the day was BEE-YOU-TI-FUL! Sunny and cool and not crowded!

I've missed so much!

This handsome guy turned SEVEN on Wednesday and I did not even post a Happy BIrthday here! I feel badly about that.
This is grandson (grandchild) #1. It has been a wonderfully short 7 years since he was born - I still remember going over to his house a few days after he and his mama went home. His papa fixed spaghetti for his mama and daddy while we got to hold him!


And of course, that also means I did not post a thank you for all the men and women in the Armed Forces because his birthday and Veteran's Day are one and the same. But I thank each and every one of you each and every day. May you all stay safe.

It has been very busy at work. Lots of babies being born - and lots getting admitted into the NICU. I guess it is a blessing that we stay busy as that means job security. Especially since the rest of the hospital is pretty slow. Which means they are cracking down on the budget and over time and all. Of course, it is pretty coincidental that all this happens around the time we are supposed to find out how much of a COLA we are to recieve...

I am also blessed. I have a wonderful husband who spoils me rotten. Especially now that he is retired and has more time to do so! He made the best baked snapper fillets this week - with a lovely sauce of garlic, artichoke hearts, green pepper and I dont know what all. But it was the best I ever had. And tonight I just finished eating the galumpki's he made this week - while he is eating a stuffed bell pepper! And our freezer is full of home made soup and home made spaghetti sauce!!!

I FINALLY found what I have been looking for!

I discovered our last trip to Hawaii, that I really need some kind of shirt to wear when we go snorkeling in Hawaii. Have been half heartedly searching and today I finally found it! Great site for adults and kids - shirts and hats! Check out www.uvskins.com and see what I mean!!

Odds and Ends

1. Today is such a lovely day - what makes California special - 80 degrees and it is November - clear and sunny...

2. Do we REALLY need Daylight Savings time anymore? Especially in the medical field it is more of a pain than a plus. You lose an hour of pay at one end of the spectrum.....and work an extra hour at the other end. And there are times that one extra hour is really a killer...Also, how do you chart? When it looks like you ignored your patient for an hour....or how do you give a scheduled dose of medication when the time changes????

3. Spent a lot of money to pit myself thru extra stress. Weeks ago I (and a bunch of other people at my work) took a 4 hour test for specialty certifications. I planned to study all those months I was off work....of course I didnt...but still spent a lot of time studying. Went into the test - and all the questions on the first page - I didnt know a single answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So waitedx 4+ weeks, knowing I had jsut wasted the money - and in the mail comes the information that I passed! UNfreakingbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does it result in a raise? No. Just some personal satisfaction especially since most of the stuff on the test is Level III nursery stuff (which we are not). Wanted to show you the RNC pin I am thinking or ordering - but couldnt find a picture online.

4. Went to the Mall today. Which I never enjoy doing. But needed to go there to look for something for hubby. And I found another reason NOT to go.....I swear every store area we passed was blasting perfume out....different perfume every few stores. Thank goodness I had already taken some allergy med otherwise I truly would have been suffering.

5. Had a very stressful morning at work yesterday. 24- 2/7 baby delivered. The baby did remarkedly well and it all went pretty smoothly. Luckily we had just enough notice to get everybody we needed there, and discuss the plan of care. But what ethical/moral issues brought up by a baby born that early.

6. Finally went to The Cheesecake Factory today for lunch, and I am miserable. All from eating too much - and I brought 1/2 of it home! Very good (very over priced). This was with a gift certificate my students had given to me... thank you!

7. Apparently the Phillies really dont want to win the World Series this year.

8. And how does the Eagles win a game by such a spread Sunday - yet lose to one of the worst teams out there - the Raiders??????