Christmas in Texas

WEATHER ALERT!! WEATHER ALERT!!!

Record set at DFW Airport for snowfall!!! THREE inches have fallen!!!! OH. .MY. .GOSH. .Let's shut the town down. Make sure all food and water is in the house because you will be shut in for days, un , no. Just until tomorrow. . But let's panic, ok?

Alright let's move south to the coast:

HOUSTON in TEENS! Now this is a little more unexpected since it is a bit further south. . I'm sure their grocery stores are cleaned out too.

Time to go to West Texas:

Lubbock is nasty and cold.  It was 7 degrees at 9 am this morning.  With Amarillo bein' just a TAD cooler. Like coldest temp was 11 and Lubbock is 12. Now these folks, they are used to this so they open the storm doors and make half snow men with the doors and then proceed to put on a hoodie and go make Snow Angels and Snow Men and Women and Children before they come in a stand by the fire.

Little farther south:

Odessa/Midland and surrounding areas. They seem to be better off than Houston. Imagine that. They too are used to this so no, they haven't emptied the grocery stores either.

Now FAAAR west Texas:

El Paso is having a heat wave. They are more concerned about WIND storms than SNOW storms. Do you see the roots on that tree? HOLY COW!


And in my own little stretch of ground, this is what is in my backyard:
We did see snow. It lasted for a whole whoppin' 54.63256 seconds. Nah, actually it lasted for a little longer than that, like 23.69234 minutes but gee whiz you shudda heard the telephone lines firin' up: OH MY GOSH!!!  Do you see the SNOW?? (It looks like dandruff, folks. Come oooon!) Nuther call: Is it snowin' there? It is here! AND IT"S STICKIN' TO THE GROUND! (Great. . lemme know when we can make snow ice cream. .) IT'S SNOWIN!!!! (Ok, lemme go get the camera to see the HUGE snowflakes. Oops. missed it. Never saw one. All I saw was white teeninsee dots what waved in the freakin' cold wind. BUT hey, I must not know what snow looks like right? Since where I live now it doesn't SNOW. Where I grew up it snowed, usually 2 feet at one time. Which if you are from the NORTH that ain't nuttin' hunny. For which I am glad I didn't live in the North. Thank you very much Mom and Pop. I totally appreciate the not living in blizzard conditions.)

Anyways, so far no call backs that snow ice cream is ready. . Imagine. . I was ALMOST excited. .Almost but not quite. .

Kackle today! And make snow ice cream!! Call me when it's ready!! I'll be right there!! I'll pick up some waffle cones on the way too!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

From me to you!

I hope all had a great day!

May you kackle boo koos today!

God Bless Each and Every One of You today and Always!

I'm soo excited!!

I'M SOOO EXCITED!! I HAVE A THERMOSTAT HEATER!!!

First a little history here: I bought a little 2 bedroom home with no central heat or air last year. (I got a great deal as the family just wanted to get rid of the house. I have been doing a little remodelin' for the past year and a half. Well, not the half but the first year. I got tired of hurtin' myself. Droppin a cordless drill with a phillips bit on your little toe takes a while to heal. and Yes, the bit is what went into my toe. Then the week before I smashed my thumb so bad that I still have a tender place on my thumb. So the bathroom still needs the top of the door facin' and baseboards. Like an hour of work and I can't seem to get it finished. They are all painted too.)

But anyways. This 1300 sf home has been heated for the past winter and this winter with a little bitty Dearborn Heater, like this one:

This little baby was in my kitchen. The larger one that was in the living room leaked. So it was unusable. We used little electric heaters all last winter for the living room and the bedrooms.

But last month I ran across this baby and it was a great price and I bought it. Yesterday it finally got hooked up!

AND MAN OH MAN! I have a warm house!!

Yes that is Crystal in her little dog bed. There are two more in front of the fire but she doesn't like to give up her bed even for a dreaded picture. Especially by the fire! Harlie likes to run her out every once in a while. This is what THAT looks like:

Same bed. She has a bigger bed but she likes this one.

Now we have HEAT!! AND I don't have to light the fire every day!! It's sooo great!! Now everyone is waaaaarrrmm no matter where we are!!

Merry Christmas!

Kackle today! It does a body good!!

Straight No Chaser and a couple of awards

These guys are hilarious! I heard them on the radio first,  Oldies 95 , then I had to look them up to actually watch the video. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.



(ok here goes. not sure i have this correct but here we go! Up UP and AWAY! i have tried to listen to each of you on how to do this! and finally had to ask Rabbit. .Thanks for all your help in gettin me goin!)

I also need to pass along a Kacklin Award. Pat over at A View From the Edge has kept me in stitches for the past couple of posts. The dogs feet smelling like fritos and then the Christmas letter. OH. . MY. . GOSH. . I even went around smellin ALL the dogs feet seein if ANY smelled like fritos. nope, just dirty smelly dogs..Then the Christmas letter. I laughed til I cried. Please if you need a laugh. Go visit Pat.

"Nother Kacklin award goes to  ..by jeff tompkins . H e makes me kackle out loud too. Nother Christmas letter over there, tooo funny!! Dry wit and a great guy to read! Always something goin on with his posts!!

Scope over at Scope-Tech is another of my favs. He also has a dry sense of humor and a wonderful play on words! So a Kacklin award goes to him too!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good .. . Well there is always tomorrow..

So for your kackles today visit these blogs. It'll do your mind good!!

The Joys of Motherhood

I could go back in my memory of 33.5 years of Motherhood and tell you stories such as the time when Rabbit flushed the little blue plastic turtle down the toilet and we had to have the toilet removed from the floor to find the dang thing. Or that historical markers are now HYSterical markers or that cementaries are Bury Gardens since you bury people there and they have flowers. Or how I totally SCREAMED in delight when Rabbit took his first steps and scared him from walkin' for almost a month. Or how when we first moved to the rather large city (100K) from a rather small town (5k), I lost JD in the mall. He was about 18 months and I found him behind the counter with the pretty girls (not same store either),  he had been flirtin' with. (No, I was not the only one there with him. JackAss #3 was suppose to be keepin' up with him, while I was keepin' up with the girls. Rabbit was 13 so I could SEE  him) But no, I'll not bore with those stories. I think I'll share other joys.

dogs, food and kids

I'm beginnin to think all my blogs revolve around dogs, food and kids. Hmmm, wonder why that is. .

Today, I'm goin thru blogs tryin to get out of this funk I'm in. Bax is pawin at my leg (pronounced laag, as in Texan tawlk), wantin me to hold him. So up he comes. I hold him like a baby, on his back. He goes to sleep. Head fallin over my arm. Almost snorin.

Then I decide that I really need to do somethin with those 5 small apples on my table before more rot away. I have been chunkin them in the back yard for the critters out there. One big critter thinks it's a game, she brings them back to me. The one time when fetch is not what I'm playin.

Soo I've got the apples cut up and cookin. Find the recipe for Apple Butter. Hmmm, no apple cider. Oh well I have water. See that I need nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. (Yes, I got the right bottle this time. The other bottle went in the spaghetti sauce the other  night. Well, most of it.)

Some of my favorite recipes

Since I mentioned this in my last post, here is the recipe (along with a couple of others):

Reese Balls

1 pound butter
2 cups peanut butter
2.5-3 pounds of powdered sugar
3 teaspoons of vanilla

Cream butter and peanut butter, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Make balls.

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 stick paraffin

Melt chips and paraffin. Use toothpicks to dunk balls into chocolate mixture, while still hot. Sit on wax paper to dry.

Makes a lot. =0)

Classic Cooked Eggnog

6 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 to 1/2 cup of brandy or rum (I use Kahlua)

Nutmeg for garnish

In a large saucepan, beat together eggs, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Stir in two cups of the milk. (NOT ALL) Cook over low heat constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon with a thin film. (The temperature must reach 140 on an instant-read thermometer.)

Remove from heat. Stir in remaining two cups of milk and the vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, usually several hours, or overnight. Just before serving, add liquor. Pour in bowl or pitcher and dust with nutmeg.

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY and it will be wonderful.

Christmas and me

My favorites at Christmas:

Loading my boys up, not the grands, but MY boys and going to see Christmas lights. We all have something to say about them. We giggle and laugh and ride all over town and I get so excited, which makes them laugh.

Listening to Christmas music at home and in the car. I get to fast forward over the songs I am not KrAzY about. My favorite song: Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt.

Oh my favorite Christmas movie: The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, David Niven, Loretta Young. In black and white.

Next Favorite movies: White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, Its a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart, The Bells of St Mary's with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman, Boys Town with Mickey Rooney.

My favorite drink: Hot Spiced Apple Cider. The kind that comes in a packet is all I know how to make but I love that stuff. Next favorite is homemade Egg Nogg

Favorite Christmas TV Special: Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer with Burl Ives.

Favorite Christmas candy: Homemade Reese Balls

The Fallen Four

I get an email every week from MSN Week of Pictures. The last one got me today. It is the caskets for the four  police officers from Lakewood, Washington draped with the American flag.

Thousands turn out for Police Officer Memorial.

Please remember these officers families this holiday season.

And speaking of remembering families: Our soldiers fighting all over the world to keep us safe. My other son, Shaun, is in Iraq this holiday season. I miss him dearly. Shaun, if you are readin this, remember Momma K loves you muches!

May we remember those who keep us safe day in and day out, whether it be here on the home front or far away. May God bless each and every one of them.

Happy Holidays to all.

i'm in a funk

yep, a funk. a deep gray funk.

i hate the no sun. makes for gray days. i HATE gray days.

i can do cold, if there is sun. no sun. no can do.

i just wanna curl up in the recliner with a book. cup a hot tea. AND NO FREAKIN DOGS.

don't get me wrong, i love the little piles of poop but some days i want them to go visit their dad. for the weekend. or winter vacation.

a clean living room. yard. bedroom. no magizines torn up, no lookin for my slippers. or the dog beds. or the toilet paper. (all of which usually end up in the back yard. well except the dog beds. they are too big for the pet door. so wonderful to come home on a rainy day. just wantin to get outta my boots and into my slippers. only to find them in the middle of the back yard soppin wet. loverly. just loverly. makes me feel warm and fuzzy. usually seein red. sizzlin hot.)

wow. what a concept.

school's OVER! well for December anyway

SCHOOOOOOL'S OUT FOR CHRIST-MAS!! SCHOOOOOL'S OUT FOR CHRIST-MAS!! (I can't wait til I can sing Schooooool's out For-EVER! but that will be a few years. . )

WooHoo!! All A's!!! Even on the exams!!!

And this is where the thought ends.

so i guess i am so excited i'm brain dead. . . really..

I had this blog all set out in my head on the way to work this mornin'. It was even funny. Really. Not joshin' ya.

Sat down to write it and all I could come up with was those first two sentences. . . the rest of this is 10, no, 12 hours later. .

Even after a bottle of wine. nope. nuthin'. nada.

Two down and one to go

Well 2 tests and classes are over and one test left. History.

Have to figure out which essay to write about:

Reasons for Civil War: Lincoln/Davis and why did they change what they were fighting for

or

Discuss Greatness of Lincoln and Lee

My brain hurts today. I've been doing this since 8 am this morning. I'm cross eyed.

Would someone kackle FOR me today? I'm too pooped. .

The Ugly Truth

Oh my gosh, I laughed out loud over this movie!!The dogs thought I had lost my mind! Gerard Butler, hubba hubba hubba!! hand me a napkin! no! just hand me the whole roll of paper towels!! I am droolin! He is a hunka hunka hunka burnin' love!! Good thing he is unreal. Well, he's real but not in my world!

Now those Camaro's? Those are real!! But I do believe I am gonna have to go buy The Ugly Truth! Atleast that way I can have GB in my home! At the moment, it is the best I can do! The Cam will not be in my drive way for a few years!

I just may have to watch it again!

I can't! Can't! Can't!

I have TWO finals to study for!!! WAAAAAAAAA!!!

BUT GERARD BUTLER! (slurp) (sigh)

He'll have to wait. I have him for 45 more hours. .

Kackle today? Watch this movie and you will!

(BTW-it has adult language.)

Check out Menopausal New Mom's blog today!

Menopausal New Mom has a giving away going on! Super wonderful vintage earrings!! Go take a peek! They are the best!

She collects vintage jewelry! My daughter has my grandmother's jewelry like this. Here is a page of her's that she set up for her daughter, with the history, pretty cool. Deb's Gallery of Sherman & Other Costume Jewelry