December 2011 nearing the end

Wow, I just can't believe another year is ending.  I turned 60 this year, which I am good with, went to a friend's who turned 60 also and jumped out of a plane, tandem style. That, I think was the highlight of my year. Looking back I am so glad I did it.  Still feel the thrill of being 13,000 feet in the air, what a rush that was. 

I had a wonderful stay with my friend in Arizona, a vacation that was greatly needed.  We always have fun together.  Some of my friends from Illinois thought I was nuts to go to Arizona in August but it worked out great. The weather was nice, not to hot, I was able to enjoy the pool more that the other times when I went in May. 

My hubby's health is a little better, I am so thankful for that. We still are faced with some problems, but look forward to the small improvements that continue to happen. 

My daughter and I have such a good time when we have a day together. This year she faced a lot of turmoil in her life, I am so proud of her for the way she handled it all.  I think we are both glad to see a new year begin.  We have lots to be thankful for.

I think I should share this, when we go on an outing we usually end up at a Target store and it turns into a hat trying on marathon.  The last time was so much fun because we went to opposite ends of the hat display and would find each other with silly hats and and surprise each other.  I really have been wanting to send Target a thank you for the fun we have there.  It is something special my daughter and I do together and enjoy. (maybe a little to much)  We always take our camera and capture the moments, laughing and making fun of each other.  I just had to include another picture of us having fun.  The cost is free and so are the laughs.

We are still trying to sell our home.  We have 4 acres and it is way to much work for me.  The market is bad and we have been trying to sell for about 3 years now.  I am unemployed and unable to find a job, so that means I have no insurance, the prospects in our area are nowhere to be found.  I had a summer weekend job, that is over for now.  I hoped someone would see what a great job I do and ask me to work for them.... dreamer right.....  but that's who I am, I believe in the impossible.  Hope I never change, I love a good laugh, try to remain optimistic and go day by day..

It just wouldn't be right ending the year without a picture of my dog, Baxter.  What a wonderful dog!

I am so ready for the new year to start..... bring it on. ..

New Toro snow shovel

I am no rocket scientist but I did have a little trouble with my new electric snow shovel today.  We had about 2 inches or more of snow and right away I wanted to use my new toy.  Plugged it in and was ready to go.  It was not as easy as I had seen in the videos.  I had to bend over in an awkward position, I thought I am short so why would I have to bend over so far to make this dang thing work?!  If I didn't bend way over and have it tilted just right the snow would blow back on me and the blower part would make a little rattle noise.  I was about to the point of returning and letting my husband have the last word.  He didn't want me to buy it, said we didn't need it and wouldn't do the job.  I stood outside looking the blower up and down, trying to figure out what could be changed.  I tried again and again with the same result, not so good.  It was not throwing snow 20 feet like it should and I hated the bending over to push it.  What the Heck was wrong!!! 

I wanted to start on our deck since it was the smoothest surface to experiment on.  Well, after fighting with it for a while and standing there trying to figure out what was wrong with the handle I gave up and went inside.  I told my husband that I was having a problem and was going to go on line on the internet to see if I could figure out what was wrong.  I went to the Toro electric snow shovel sight and watch their video with no luck, looked the same to me and the gal was bent over a little while she was using the blower.  Crap, I thought I had bought some stupid back breaker.  I went to YouTube and typed in Toro snow shovel and watched some videos regular people had posted and right away I saw my problem.....I really hate sharing this but we are all family here, right?  The handle was on backwards so the blower part us upside down.  I did not put it on, it came out of the box like it was and no where did it mention you had to turn the handle around.  Thank goodness for You Tube.  Thank goodness for the internet, I might have boxed it up and shipped it back.  I can just see them reading my note that it didn't work right, with the handle on backwards... Some man would be standing there shaking his head saying it had to be a woman... grrr....

At least that is over now and I got it all figured out.


  I made some really good potato soup today and added a lot more than I normally do and it turned out great.. here is what I did for the soup
about   4-5 potatoes
            cover them with water so they are not crowed
            some onion
            mushrooms
           peppers
           little left over ham
           spinach, shredded  ( I do not like spinach, so sometimes I try to sneak it in to some of my dishes) 
           I used about a half a cup, you can add as much as you like
           couple of teaspoons curry
           couple teaspoons basil
           salt,pepper to taste
           1 can cream of chicken soup
           you can add water to make it as thick or thin as you like.  This is a add whatever you have type of
          soup.  you can add corn or anything, I think it would still taste great..... let me know if you try it.

Enjoy the pictures and have a great day!