SNOW and Cold

It is so cold, but it is snowing so that might change things. I love to look at the snow. I love to watch it falling from the sky. i like when it glistens in the sun like glitter on a crisp winter day. I like to play in it for about an hour, but when i get cold or have to drive in it or it gets icy and has that blacky/brown hue to it I really dislike it. Nelson on the other hand loves the snow.....everything about it. This is his favorite season.

When I think about the snow like the description of how winter/snow should be in the song Camelot from the the musical......a legal limit to the snow, winter cannot start until December and exits March the 2nd on the dot, snow may never slush upon the hillside,....you know perfect conditions.

I keep telling myself that it is winter and the snow is needed and that just because Christmas is over doesn't mean that winter is over..... unfortunately it goes on and on and on making March an ugly month......winter sometimes is like a wet, dead, pigeon...gray, cold and soggy.....

If life didn't have to go on outside of my home I probably wouldn't mind the snow and cold so much, but alas life happens outside as well.....

MCC

Monday....4 days left

Where did the year go? For the most part it flew by...except for the missionary part and that part seemed to go faster than expected as well.
I have tons to do before Thursday. So I am off and running today!
MCC

364 days...Happy Boxing Day!

Let the count down begin......I have 364 shopping days 'till Christmas....and if i am crazy/savvy I will begin today with all the sales. My problem with buying early is that I forget that I have purchased or what I have purchased or where I put the purchases I have made.....
The Other problem with early purchases for me is what if i don't feel like giving them what I got them?!?!?! Not to worry I can bet that I won't early purchase much , that I will once again be a crazed Christmas shopper in 2010.
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Christmas this year was quiet.....probably for the last time for 20 years. Mom and Dad had the Welch's for Christmas and loved having them there....It wasn't a quiet Christmas for them......maybe the confusion makes for a great Christmas.....every once in a while.

I think everyone loved what they got for Christmas.....we didn't go over board, but it wasn't meager either.....

Gary Loves his new camera.......he would have loved a Kindel also but he can get that for a New Years gift...I was going to do it for Valentines day but he is traveling so much beginning January 17 that it will be a nice thing to have.....I hope he takes his camera with him. He goes to some great places and could get some awesome photos....maybe a new job is in the making. He also got a lot of black clothing....it was a black Christmas for him.

Hayden got a Flip Video camera and is set on video blogging...if that happens I will definitely keep everyone posted as to where. He says the funniest things.....the impromptu vacation video that he made was a real laugh. Hayden also got new stylish clothes....

Meg got a spa treatment that she has been wanting for a few years now....I hope it is everything she wants it to be. She also got shoes, clothes and jewelry.....

As for me I was spoiled good....I got the things I asked for as well as some surprises. A big surprise form Gary was a book binder and lamina tor. It is a Stories by Me machine. It helps you create and make your own bound books..... It will be a fun project. I got a great Waffle maker, a FoodSaver...I had an original FoodSaver before our fire and never replaced it....Jordan and Laurie got one for their wedding and so a FoodSaver hit my want list once again..... I found and gave myself a white dress coat...Laurie has a beautiful white dress coat that I have coveted ...I know bad ...... now I have my own! Gary wouldn't let me not have something new to wear on Christmas day so on the 24 we went shopping and trying on clothes....I hate to try on clothes, but with a new shape it is a necessity... I got a great new top, nice pants that were long enough and 2 sweaters.....lucky me!
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New Zealand sounds wonderful. Elder Call was his happy chipper, no nonsense self. We talked for 3 hours. In the three hours I learned that he has large worn out clothes, he needs a new backpack which he was going to buy in at the Boxing Day Sales that afternoon. He wants Cd's of appropriate uplifting music to play in the car....his Zone can be a two hour drive....he will need the entertainment. He's iPod that he took with him is toast so he needs a new one....luckily we got a Nano for free from Delta Airlines. He loves his new companion...it's only been a week and anyone would be better than his previous comp. He had a green Christmas...he loves the snow and Christmas so not having them together has been a real challenge for him....he told me that I would love Christmas there because it is warm/spring/fall like, my favorite seasons.... the count down says 329 days, but I was told it will probably be 7 to 10 days longer.....they don't care about Thanksgiving so he is scheduled to come home the day after Thanksgiving.....I guess I will just have to postpone it for a day in 2010.

Happy Boxing Day....I think we are going to claim the 26 has the Gary & Marcie Call family Christmas party/get together day....no one else lays claim to it so it could be great.....and on Boxing day you are supposed to give the gifts.....this is a great idea......English crackers, food, activities and more gifts...this could be a very good idea.

MCC

The Stockings Were Hung.....,.

....it's here! Christmas day 2009. We began last week and we did it....we actually made it all happen. We didn't get everything they all wanted, but they will all get plenty.
We began the day with the annual Cole Family Christmas Eve breakfast and Bowling! The breakfast has been in existence for most of my life. In the beginning we went out to breakfast with Mom and Dad before they left for the store, Cole Esquire, a men's clothing store. Then we would be babysat until the cousins arrived and we were taken to Grandpa and Grandma Butters......anyway back to the breakfast. We would go out to breakfast until the kids began to eat all the bacon on the buffet....now we do it at one of our homes. It is a fun way to begin the day.
Bowling is a new tradition. Three years ago we decided to go to the Bountiful Bowl for a way to keep our teens and young adults occupied. Today we once again arrived at Bountiful Bowl the minute they opened so we could continue on with the traditions.

Christmas Eve is full of favorite traditions. There are three traditions that I love the most:1- singing the choir music and Christmas Hymns all together in harmony. 2-Reading/Listening to The Polar express , narrated by William Hurt. 3-reading of the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and family prayer.

.....I was wide awake when I began writing this but now I am falling asleep.... Hopefully my dreams will be sweet!
MCC

Weigh In

No gain no loss...i am glad it's not the average 10 pound Holiday weight gain.
I have toooooo much to do and not enough get up and go to do it all......
Best part of the week will happen at Noon Christmas day...Elder Call will call!
MCC

7 days....

In one week it will be Christmas day. The shopping will be done, the gifts wrapped and opened. It will then be time for the regrets and returns..... there are always a few gifts I regret not giving... It is usually due to the lack of funding and availability.
Everyone in family is required to make a Christmas list. We have a list that is three columns: first column is NEEDS, second, WANTS, third DREAMS Most of the list are sufficient so I can shop and get a few things that everyone wants. The best list is always made by Gary, it is gracious, detailed and long.....I always want to give Gary everything in his list because he not only deserves it but because his list always makes me feel a bit guilty.............I feel guilty about his list because he always has a lot of needs, thus telling me that i have neglected him over the year, And I probably have neglected him, looking out for the kids and then myself first....he is affectionately called the benefactor by the children.... He works hard so I don't have to be away from the home.
This year Gary's list is no exception, it is a great list. The problem this year is what to get from it...the basics are a given, but he wants two big ticket items and he deserves them both...the only reason he will be receiving one over the other is because of availability.....on can't even ship to me for 6 weeks....the other I can pick up at several stores. But I really would like to get him the other gift more......maybe for Valentines Day. the other challenge with his gift is the price....very pricy, but then he makes the money and should get to spend it how he wants....oh the gift giving dilemmas....
Well off to shop for everyone else. I purchased a great gift yesterday for Laurie that makes me really excited....I always like having a few gifts that make me excited to give.
...shop 'till i drop!
MCC

Monday Madness!

Monday, 11 days 'till Christmas........where did the first half of the month go, let alone the year?
The count down is on and no Christmas presents to be found.....it would help if there was a supply of money, but when you have to be frugal and creative the time crunch really is a burden.
I have crossed off all of the big, have to get done by a certain date projects that were making me crazy...now it's just life and the musical. Both can and do make me crazy, but both are of my choosing.......
This morning we decorated for the Choir concert. I am so glad that Gary was available to help out. he helped us make it look much better simply because he knew how to hook up stuff to the lights......it looked great.....also because the other mother helper works at Modern Display and had access to good stuff for free!
I have just finished with the theatre weekly have tos, and now get to started on the need tos for the theatre and the house.....
I love my rat race!?!?!?!
MCC

Changes

Yes, I changed how the blog is looking......it was time....and free.  Free being the best word out there these days.
Enjoy!

It's So Cold!

We are having a cold wave...and Arctic blast...an ice out. I keep saying 8 is an age not a temperature. At least there is white stuff on the ground which makes the cold more tolerable to me.
So we will bundle up and stay in side.

Wednesday Weigh In

Just the same this week in the weight department. So much for the big weight loss goal. I guess I will just stick to the small ones......easier to deal with and do. After all I keep telling myself that this is a long term project. That I need to take things one day at a time because I am creating habits for a life time.

SNOW!!!

I love the snow when it is powdery and sparkling. We have had about 10 inches fall and it is still falling. The only bad part of the snow is the cold, driving in it and shoveling it up.
It looks like fine sugar, sanding or glittering in this case all that it touches with a magic.

Wrappin' it Up

Good Week!
We had a fun baby shower for Laurie last night at our house. Good Food, Good Friends, Good Fun and Great Gifts for the new little one and his mommy.
We are on the final count down until the little Call Prince arrives....
I am hardly excited for his birth, Gary keeps telling me to let his parents have the joy of purchasing for him....but hey, I am the Grandma to be.
We are all giving the parents name choices and predicting his arrival day and time.....I am being positive and hoping that he comes early not late. I remember being pregnant up to my eyeballs, feeling like a giant freak, with nothing cute to wear, being tired and clumsy...not fun.
As I was decorating the house for Christmas, I kept telling myself ...I will have to decorate differently next year since we will have an 11 moth old under foot, on the book shelves and probably hiding baby Jesus....just like his daddy used to. It will be so much fun to have a baby at Christmas next year.

Yeah it is finally here, the weekend...but with it comes the end of the first week of December, time doesn't stand still...I just look at the count down clock in the family room and can see my life slipping away...... 21 Days 'till Christmas and I not only haven't shopped, I don't know what I will be shopping for, when I will have time to shop or for that matter what I will use to pay for it all.....I bet I can figure it all though.
However through it all I need to remember that It is the Christmas Season, a time when we should all be happy regardless of our financial situation, time limitations and our gift list, after all it is the season when we should reflect upon the life of the Savior and recommit ourselves to serving and loving our brothers and sisters....

Wednesday Weigh In

SO I have been a slacker on my Wednesday Weigh In.... I wanted to skip today all together, but it is time to face the music once again.

My goal of 15 pounds by the first of the year well now it's 18 pounds....boy the holiday food has crept up one me and stayed....no more sweets, over eating etc.....

Can you say up 3 lbs.......yikes!

Time to get my act together and not let everything around me run me...that is the problem; I am allowing other things to influence and control my eating and exercise habits......no more.....at least not today.

I have put off exercise for a week now....I know I can't do that so why didn't I do it?

Another bad habit I find myself getting into is not eating when I should and I am hungry and then eating crap later.....note to self you know that is not how you maintain a healthy life style. Please eat when you need to the right kind of foods in appropriate quantities.

Learning self control has never been easy. that natural man knows no limits.

I will survive....no more than survive I will live a healthy, active life.

Goals for this week: More Exercise, More Water, less food and a good attitude.

MCC