Happy 2018!

My New Year's Eve is being spent with Stubbs and Rachel Ray!

Steve and I are both still battling the crud so we are not together this evening. I picked up a Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meal DVD for a $1 so I've been spending my evening watching it. Painted my nails ala galaxy because it takes more time and I have plenty of that this evening.

Here's to things looking up in 2018, including a new job. This holiday season has beaten my self-esteem down pretty well so the tide needs to turn in my favor!

Film Fest

Being down with a cold has given me plenty of time to catch up on movies, as follows:

Little Women

Having watched the Katherine Hepburn one, the June Allyson/Elizabeth Taylor one, and the Winona Ryder one, my vote for biggest tearjerker goes to the June Allyson version which has little Margaret O'Brien as Beth passing away.  All are good in their own Way but I now need a rest from hearing the line "Rodrigo, Rodrigo, save me" in all three movies.

Drew Barrymore

I watched Never Been Kissed and Ever After. Good solid B movies but I love Drew in just about anything.

Blackface

On the heels of Princess Michael of Kent wearing Blackamoor jewelry to meet Meghan Markle, I ended up watching a few movies that had blackface. The first was the Al Jolson story, where obviously that played a big role based upon Jolson's vaudeville style. I then watched a couple of Garland and Rooney movies, Babes on Arms and Babes on Broadway where both had them singing and dancing in blackface. Seemed to be the acceptable mode of entertainment back in the 30's. Shocking to see now especially when Princess Michael doesn't even have a clue.

Terms of Endearment 

Nothing like subjecting myself to the queen of all sobfests than this Shirley MacClaine/Debra Winger ten hankie drama. Such a great movie but it sure gets you in the end. Just finished watching it and I think I've finally depleted myself of tears.

It's a White and Congested Christmas

Christmas time - the tree, the lights, the snow, the colds!! Yep, my cold has morphed into coughing fits that had me up at 4am this morning. Downed a few Alka Seltzer cold gels which have added some relief, although they keep me very tired.

Everyone else is fighting a cold so they all came over at noon to share gifts.  As we were unwrapping, the snow started falling. WTF?? That final action put the final kibosh on my plans to spend Christmas Eve with Steve and his family as the drive would not be safe.  I've now consigned myself to spending both Christmas Eve and Day on the couch!

One funny event that occurred was Sam gave Jordan a funny cat t-shirt for Christmas. After Jordan unwrapped his gift, he took off his flannel shirt and he was wearing the exact same shirt!

Merry Christmas to everyone and here's to renewed health and blessings in the coming year!

Conch & Cold

First day of winter and I believe I'm battling a cold. Just the beginnings of congestion but I'm over it already.

Tonight I made breakfast for dinner and ate up while watching Victor/Victoria, one of my mom's favorites. Been forever since I've seen this flick yet it's still entertaining. Love me some Julie Andrews!

Lynn stopped today to drop off my Christmas gift, which included an absolutely huge conch shell. Love it and it's perfect for my beach abode.

Good List

Another Party Already Over!

The Shepard Family Christmas was, as always, a success.  A few highlights:

Black Velvet Carmel is yummy.  I'm not a big drinker but this really hit the spot;

Magnetic lashes are a thing and they look fabulous!;

Nail polish wasn't Steve's first choice to win during the gift game. However, he made my great niece Maddy's day by gifting the set to her;

No matter how goofy they look, elf slippers are pretty darn comfy;

Seems like just yesterday kids were still kids and all of a sudden they are 18 and taller than you;

No matter how many people are there, you still miss the ones who couldn't make it.

It was a nice party. Thanks to Arlene for hosting!

Weekend for Parties!

This Friday started out poorly but thankfully ended well.

I woke up this morning with my left eye swollen shut due to allergies. Looked like I had taken a hard hit right to the face. Super puffy and swollen.

Popped an allergy pill, used some allergy eye drops, then laid back with a cold washcloth to reduce the swelling. Finally decided to divert my attention elsewhere so whipped up a batch of peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies to take to the family party tomorrow.  Also cooked the bacon needed for my green bean dish tomorrow.

After the cookies, decided to trim and bathe Stubbs. Grabbed the clippers and went to town. Still need to trim his nails but he is looking much better and smells great too.

Cleaned the kitchen then relaxed for the rest of the day watching black and white movies, including Showboat which always gives me a good, long cry.

Finally took a shower about 4pm to get ready for Sam's work party, which was being held at his bosses house. I'd met most of his coworkers but not his boss, who actually turned out to be a pretty nice guy.

Dinner was awesome - huge slice of perfectly cooked prime rib with all the fixings.  Dinner was followed by some games, all of which I'd never before played. Was a fun time.

Tomorrow it's time for the annual Shepard family Christmas. I've got homemade gifts for everyone along with the game gifts.  My eye is still red and a little puffy but hoping that will be gone by morning!

Dreaming of Bugs 🐜

Dreams for me don't happen very often but when they do, they can be doozies!

Last night I dreamt I had entered my middle school age bedroom.  However, there were four beds in the room and it appeared a group of girls lived there, although no one was around.

I perched on the edge of one bed and began looking around. I noticed on the floor what appeared to be flakes of shed skin, like snake or lizard. There were also tiny bugs scattering throughout the carpeted floor.

Now, I can only attribute this dream to my extensive searching on Pinterest of metal creations to fuel my imagination. A lot of the items have large washers for eyes and frequently appear buglike so perhaps that vision was burned into my subconscious.

At that point a really large, slovenly and disheveled woman appeared. She scowled at me and asked me what my problem was. She then said they enjoy all the bugs and promptly swung what appeared to be a deep fried rat on the coffee table. I got the vibe she meant this as an appetizer!

At that point the dream was over as I must have sunk deeper into my slumber - thankfully!  Pretty gross dream!

Lesson of the story: no more browsing Pinterest right before bed!!

A Fine Mess!

And I finished up a couple more!

However, it's now time to wrap up the mess I've created on my kitchen counter! Yikes!!

Early Morning Frustration

Hello midnight my old friend
You've kept me up late yet again

That cup of coffee tonight didn't help me out
Brain buzzing and no sleep is what it's all about

Do I watch another movie or shut it down
In hopes the silence sends me to sleepy town

Pop a Benydryl to jump start a snooze
Or a couple of Midol - I've got nothing to lose

Done the deep breathing, the stretches and more
At this rate I won't hit REM sleep til 4

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep I think
Oh please into slumber I desire to sink

Time to get off the phone, put my mind to the task
This broad needs some sleep and that's all I do ask

So I say goodnight now as I look at the time
Almost 1 and I'm tired of all these silly rhymes

Eyes finally droopy as sleep is coming to me
Uh oh hold on....now I  gotta go pee 😠

Metal Mania

Tackled a couple more metal art projects today. Raided the garage to find bits and pieces to use.  Unfortunately, suffered a glue gun burn on my finger.  Serious hurting!!

Art projects are a bit electic but I'm digging the way they turned out.

Party, Pinterest, and Plumping

Happy birthday to my daughter-in-law Candy, for whom we celebrated last night with dinner at my house. Jordan, Candy, Sam and his friend Devin all shared a home cooked meal of chicken, mac and cheese, and corn along with birthday cake.

Jordan had on an unusual sweater, which reminded Sam of Rob Reiner in Southpark. He Googled it and of course Jordan got into character. Seriously spot on!

Started a slight diversion from rock painting. Lots of creative metal art objects found on Pinterest so figured I'd give it a shot.

Last night before nodding off to sleep, I was watching a Facebook video of a makeup artist. She was going through a glam holiday face when she said she had to plump her lips. I expected her to pull out a lip gloss; however, she whipped out this black, plastic contraption and stuck it on her face.  Whoa!! Shades of scary going on!

She sucked on that vacuum plumper for quite awhile before removing it to show off puffed up, Kardashian size lips. Perhaps a little too far in my mind.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Tonight was one of those very cold evenings where a big cup of cocoa - with whipped topping - was in order.  Along with my regular beggar Stubbs who was eagerly waiting for a sip. Sorry, no chocolate for a pup so he had to suffice with a taste of whipped cream from my finger!

Prospects and Painting

Had an interview yesterday - went great. Had a phone interview this morning that went really well and sounds like a great company. Next week have an interview on Wednesday. The prospects are rolling in!

After the phone call today I spent the rest of the day in sweats painting. Completed a ton of rocks! Sam stopped by and drew a sketch on a rock that I finished by painting. Not sure if it was his vision but it turned out okay.

Menopause, Migraines, and Movies

This last weekend a period headache has been the bane of my existence!!  Menopause please take me away!!!  Sunday I felt well enough to venture out of the house to stock up on Midol and Excedrine Migraine.

Sunday stopped off to say hi to Arlene and we had a good visit.  Ended up going out to dinner where she mentioned she had some black and white movies that sis Luna had given her several years back and did I want them? Hot dog yes!!!  Lots of great classics along with a copy of 84 Charing Cross Road with Anne Bancroft, one of my favorite movies. Thank you both Arlene and Luna!!!

Later on felt well enough to dig around in storage boxes in the garage to find my degrees.  Interview this week requires a copy of them so had to find where I had kept them for safekeeping.  They ended up in a box of photo albums which of course spurred me on to flashbacks of nostalgia. Lots of the boys baby pics which were so cute along with some funny Santa ones.

Little Things Can Go A Long Way

There are times unexpected occurences happen that can give you a boost when you most need it.

Being a woman who has worked for going on almost 40 years, its been a challenge to maintain my sense of self-worth and confidence during my unemployment.  It's made me understand that a career is not my whole life and does not fully make me up. However, it can be rough to apply for jobs and only receive rejection, which can chisel away at a person's sense of self-worth.  This week acing the job test and being scheduled for an interview has given me a little boost. Yeah, I still got it!

In addition, over the past couple of weeks I've received several compliments from strangers on my hair - the color and the style. Today a lady said she loved my "look" - my outfit, my makeup, and my hair. Such a nice compliment and it put a little kick in my step! 

Here's to keeping my head on straight and maintaining a positive outlook on life!  And especially being grateful for those unexpected events in life.

Quilt and Quiz

Been working on some Christmas crafts using my sewing machine. Ended up with some leftover fabric so decided to make a quilt. Once done, I decided to gift it to the baby son of one of Sam's friends, Cody.

Cody stopped by tonight to pick it up. He seemed pretty happy with it so I hope his son Aiden enjoys it.

Finished off a couple rocks tonight.  Already dropped off the larger stack I had to be hidden so my new ones will have to be patient.

Went in this afternoon for the job math test.  There were about 10 people taking the test. Piece of cake!! Only took 25 minutes which allowed me to go over it twice. 

Once done, they scored the tests then took participants out one at a time to let them know how they did.  Pretty soon there were just three of us left and we all received packets and told we would be interviewed next week. You must have crossed your fingers for me as I'm on to the next step!