HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

The month of February is sure going by fast.  The groundhog predicts spring will be here very soon. I saw the winter geese flying the other morning and saw a pair of doves a couple of weeks ago. The ground outside is green and what snow we had is gone for now. I have the door open and the temps will be in the 40's today. I would say that is about all I need to convince me. We may have one more storm coming in the future but it won't be a bad one. This week I made a batch of cookies to give away. I enjoyed making them but flashed back to the good times I had baking them for Mom and how she loved them. Has it truly been 5 years since she passed. SO much has happened since then.

I have to focus on the good things because all those days that she was sick are just too painful. I moved away from that town as soon as I could.  A fresh start sure did help. A change of scenery always improves your life. Sure is strange how the smell and the taste or sound of something can bring your memories flooding back. I miss mom every day but know she is with me all the time. Hope your Valentine's Day is a great one.. 

 

~~~HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016~~

I have written on this blog site since 2009. A lot of New Year's have passed since then. Some good and some very bad. Last winter was horrible it was so cold and snowy it seemed like it would take forever to get to spring. New Year's day signifies to me the day my dad passed away back in 1994. It also reminds me to be grateful for every year I am here on this old planet. 

 Putting the Christmas things away helps me know it is time to clean up the closets.This past week I have been re-organizing my tiny closet and getting rid of things that I no longer have any use for. I have such limited space now..why keep things you don't use? Makes sense to me..I'll do it again in Spring. Speaking of which..it's only 78 days until official Spring. I think it will come early this year, we can only hope.
Whatever your plans are for 2016, I do hope you have a happy, healthy,successful year. Thanks for visiting and reading my blog.

~~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

It's coming soon. SOON.. Hope you all have your plans set and shopping done. I have been baking with my 4 year old "helper". He had a really fun time and yes the more icing the better. He was really good about NOT eating the cookies after he iced them. I told him that the ELF on the shelf would report back to Santa that he was doing a great job. This is his first Christmas with the ELF and it seems he likes looking for him and being GOOD. Bless the person who thought this idea up it really helps. I had to reflect back when his mother was his age and decorated cookies at this same table. It was a tradition to visit Grandma's house and decorate cookies with her cousin every Christmas.       

Seeing a third generation following along made my heart happy. I know his Grandma in heaven was watching and smiling. In the years to come he will find that making them and giving them away will bring him a great feeling of joy. 

I hope this Christmas, that whatever gives you the greatest JOY and blessings find you and your family. 

 

 

WHAT'S GOING ON????

Looking at the courtyard.

 OH MY..what is going on..???

Heard in the hallway when a woman left a large dog inside an upstairs apt.
IT started BARKING at everything that moved. NO DOGS allowed in this building so it was bound to bring people out of their apartments and into the hall. Is it any surprise that the lady left it in the place ABOVE ME??? NO not to me.. it sounded like an elephant running around up there. THIS was NO little dog. I have put up with people keeping me up all night and loud children running up and down but nothing like this. So I called the manager and reported it. The lady came back almost 2 hours later and I was so relieved when she left with TWO LARGE LAB dogs, I think everyone else was too. 

In APT 101 an elderly woman named Margaret lives and she has been in it for at least 25 years! I was startled to hear this. I also was surprised to hear that the management has NEVER replaced the carpet or painted since she moved there. She does not smoke but keeps her apartment hot summer and winter. I learned from her to put some sort of rugs over the top of the areas that are the busiest pathways. I asked her if they wanted to clean the carpet for her and she said.."Oh honey, I cannot move all this furniture around..so NO they have ever cleaned it." I made a mental note to not let my place get so cluttered that the carpet could not be cleaned somehow. Margaret and Barbara were good friends. Barbara lived in my apt for over 20 years too. Barbara was in her late 80's when she got too ill to stay here. Her daughter moved her to a facility out of town and Margaret could not visit her. They said their goodbyes when she left this place and Margaret never saw Barbara again. Two months later Barbara died from pneumonia at the facility. I had been on a waiting list for years and finally I got the call I had been waiting for.  The day I got keys to my apartment was a hot hot July day and the smell of new paint and new carpet was overwhelming. I talked to the maintenance man Aaron and he told me that almost everything in my place had been replaced. The only thing that wasn't was the tub and the refrigerator. He told me that Barbara was an immaculate housekeeper in her day but the place really needed so much replaced. The carpets had not been cleaned in years, again, because she had so much furniture they could not clean it. 

So I had to wait to move into my place because the smells were so strong it made my Asthma go crazy. I moved some things into the apartment but  I  really moved into my apartment a whole month later.
More later.....

GRATEFUL THANKSGIVING

SITTING in my nice apartment I am so grateful this year that the ground is green and we have no ice or snow to deal with. We had 9 inches earlier in the week and it was 14 degrees one morning. This morning it is 55 and it is all melted. We had our preview of winter. I decided to put up my tree this week and enjoy looking at it. Gets me in the holiday spirit.                                        

Yesterday I prepared several dishes to carry to my Niece's home for dinner today. I am so grateful they moved to my town and we can visit and see each other more. I am so used to preparing dishes to pass for so many years that THIS year I can actually share them instead of eating them alone. She has a 4 year old and that is always fun being around kids for the holidays. Traditions come and go and since Mom passed in 2011 life has been all over the place for me. I am grateful this year we are all together and celebrating the holidays together again. I hope whatever you do and wherever you are this holiday you stay safe and enjoy the blessings of the holiday with family and friends.