Ten on Tuesday

 

10 things you want for Christmas but wouldn’t buy for yourself

I don't generally complete memes, but this one was fun.  I actually had a tough time coming up with a list...I guess that must mean I am pretty content with what I have, right?  Here's my list:

1.  iPod touch
2.  macro lens
3.  Nissan Murano
4.  tickets to a John Mayer concert
5.  wide-angle zoom lens
6.  diamond hoop earrings
7.  a new Dooney & Bourke
8.  HD video camera
9.  a trip to Hawaii
10.  HP Touch Smart computer

Ah, it's fun to dream :)  What's on your Christmas list this year?

Jumping the gun

I learned a lesson today about jumping to conclusions.  Actually, a situation happened a few days ago that should have taught me this lesson, but I guess it took a second scenario to get it through my head lol.  I often jump the gun in a situation and automatically think the worst instead of waiting to see the outcome before drawing a conclusion.  Not one of my best character traits ;)

I went to the grocery store this afternoon to do some shopping.  I always use the self checkout register at the market and did the same today.  While I was paying for my groceries, an elderly lady came up behind me and was standing pretty close to me.  I do like my own personal space and prefer that perfect strangers stay out of it, but that wasn't the problem.  I was using my debit card to pay and had to enter my pin number, so I try to be as discreet as possible while punching it in.  Having worked for a bank and seeing the horrible things that can happen, I am a bit overly cautious about it.

Well, to be honest, my immediate thought was 'Why won't this lady back up and let me finish?'  I assumed she was just in a hurry and wanted me to move quicker.  I do not want to label everyone here in the New England region, but many folks here tend to be very cold toward each other and seem to be VERY impatient, especially while waiting in line.  So, I assumed that was the situation with her.  I worked in retail during high school and for a few years after, so I enjoy helping people and often I am the only one smiling in a store of miserable faces.  I always say I belong down south with other friendly people lol.  Now here is where I learned my lesson.

As I was waiting for my receipt to print, the lady asked me if I knew how to use the self checkout.  I told her that I did and she asked me if I could help her ring up her purchase.  And there it was.  I, yet again, jumped to conclusions about her and all she was really doing was standing close watching me so she could learn how to do it herself.  I smiled and told her I would help her, and I showed her how step by step and stood there until she was finished.  She thanked me for my help and I left.  I knew as soon as I walked out of the store that God was trying to show me something.  This is the second time in a week something has happened where I jumped the gun too quickly and was left feeling like a jerk.  I do know that it will not take a third time for me to learn to be slower to react to situations and not jump to conclusions.  I'm learning :)

Decorating: DONE!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I braved the busy stores on Thursday to do some Christmas shopping and was able to finish shopping for my Dad's gifts. We went to Kohl's and boy did they have some great sales! I saved $153.00 on my the items I purchased, which I must admit, did include a couple things for moi ;) I bought a runner for our side table in the living room and this cute potholder:

I could not resist him, he was calling my name. Really, he was. I heard him ;) I also bought a placemat to use at our table so I will not spill anything on the nice tablecloth we have on it. I have been told (many times) that I often make a mess in the kitchen, both cooking and eating lol. I tend to disagree, but I figure using a placemat can't hurt :) I think I reverted back to my childhood when picking out this one, but like the potholder, I couldn't resist the glitter and cuteness!

I also made my way over to Yankee Candle which is in the same shopping center. My Mom got me into their candles a few years ago and now I am just as crazy about them as she is! I bought some tarts in various Christmas scents and a new tart warmer:

As if it wasn't already cute enough, the J O Y and lollipop light up! That sold me and off it went, home with me.

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Yesterday we decorated the Christmas Tree (which seemed to take much longer than other years) and finished putting out the rest of the decorations. We started around 1 pm and did not finish until 5 pm, but it was so worth it when we lit up the tree for the first time!

Timber wanted to help out

Finished product

Some of the other decorations around our house:

Votive candle holders I made last year

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We also had some snow last night, so of course I had to run outside and take photos lol. I wasn't using my tripod, so they are a bit blurry.

This is a better one taken this evening:

Well, I am off to do a little more Christmas shopping online. I will try to post some more photos of our snow soon (I have about 150 photos to go through!). Have a good night!

Oh, Christmas Tree

In mid-October I went with my Dad to a local tree farm to tag a Christmas tree. When you first arrive, they give you a tag with a number on it. You browse their selection of trees and when you find one you like that hasn't been sold, you put your tag on it and leave a deposit with the owner. Then, when you are ready to pick up your tree, you bring the ticket stub back to the farm and they cut the tree down and you have yourself a Christmas tree :)

Last year was the first time we had ever tagged a tree, so when we showed up in mid-November to tag our tree, there wasn't much of a selection. We found a nice enough tree but it was only about 5 feet tall. This year we purposely went to the farm on their opening weekend on Columbus Day (Oct. 10th) to make sure we would find a nice tree. We spent well over an hour searching for the best tree and when we found a really nice one, we tagged it and left the deposit.

This was the tree farm:

Our tag on the tree we chose

After an hour of searching, this is the tree we picked

So, today was the day we decided to go and pick up our tree. Ironically, before we left the house my Dad joked that he hoped our tree would still be there. When we showed up at the farm, we gave the woman our tag stub and she had her husband go out into the field to cut down the tree. About ten minutes later he came back and said he couldn't find our tree. We went out into the field to help them locate our tree and my Dad and I found the section where we knew the tree was, but we could not find our tag number. At that point, I started to think that someone had removed our tag and took our tree by putting their own tag on it.

I went to the next row of trees from where ours was and, lo and behold, I found our tag. Someone removed our tag from our tree and just stuck it in the branches of another persons tagged tree! The worst part is that there are a couple of signs on the way down to the field that says 'DO NOT REMOVE TAGS FROM THE TREES'. We were so upset, my Dad especially. There we stood looking at the tree that we believed was ours, with someone else's tag on it. And there was nothing we could do to prove it was ours. The owner offered to give us our deposit back of course, but we were still so disappointed that we spent all of that time searching for this tree and some could come along and just take it.

So, off we went to find another Christmas tree. We drove to a nearby Christmas tree stand that had nice, freshly cut trees and found ourselves a beautiful tree (and it was a little cheaper too). All in all, I think the tree we ended up with is nicer than the original tree we tagged. The first tree was about 6 feet tall, including the long stem at the top, but the new tree we brought home is at least 7 feet tall and is much fuller. I guess something positive did come from the whole experience :)   I will be decorating the tree tomorrow, so I will make sure I come back here to post some photos!

This is the tree we bought from the tree stand. It is much bigger in person than it appears in the photo...I am 5'7 and the tree is about a foot and a half taller than me!

I will be back tomorrow to post photos of the tree decorated. Have a great weekend!

Can you keep a secret?

I had a request from my last post to share my recipe for the chocolate cream pie you see above.  I am more than happy to post it of course, but I have to admit I did laugh to myself at the thought of sharing 'my' recipe.  My not-so-secret recipe comes from the back of a pudding box!  I make it look all fancy, but the truth is that all the pie consists of is a ready-made pie crust, pudding, and cool whip.  The 'recipe' is below ;)

Two boxes of My-T-Fine chocolate pudding mix
Whole Milk
One pre-made deep-dish frozen pie crust
Cool Whip
Hershey bar

Prepare the pudding first using the directions on the back of the pudding box.  I use My-T-Fine pudding because that is one of the richest and best tasting mixes in the market.  Jello brand pudding just doesn't give the pie the same consistency.  If you cannot find the My-T-Fine brand where you are, just be sure to use a cook and serve pudding instead of instant.

While the pudding is cooking, bake the pie crust and let it cool.  Once the pudding is done, fill the pie crust almost to the top.  Refrigerate the pie for several hours and spread the cool whip on the top before serving.  You can add some chocolate curls to the top by using a vegetable peeler to grate the Hershey's bar.  That's all there is to it!  I wish I could say the pie is the result of a treasured family recipe passed down from my ancestors on the mayflower, but 'tis not :)  If you do decide to try it though, you won't be sorry!