20 Things

Thank God for 20 things before you ask Him for anything. - Joyce Meyer's link that was shared on facebook today.

1. Matt

2. Rick

3. Ben

4. My parents

5. My In-laws

6. The extended Family that I had to learn from and with.

7. Kitty-Gato

8. Sophie Bubbles

9. Bologna and Cheese sammies

10. My December birthday

11. Birthday Snow

12. Cast-Iron skillets

13. The Friends that I have and will have. (Renae, Doreen, the Lauras, Jessica, Tracy, Elissa, Kayla)

14. Truth or Tradition

15. A car

16. A job

17. Chocolate

18. Naomi Webster

19. Grammas that taught me to pray.

20. Grampa Wille that taught me strength.

21. Lola Dad that taught me love.

22. Cold temperatures

23. Artsy-fartsy stuff

24. Warm fresh baked bread.

25. Gluten-free bread

uh-oh... how many... oh geez, I kept going - she only asked for 20 things!  

It was hard spending my Christmas gift money on myself. I could have paid a bill with it, but I do that every year. This year I decided to spend it on myself. It was really challenging! I am super picky and don't like too many of the options out there. However I did finally manage to find a few things......

I must be content with what I have!

Funny Puke In The Night...

Benny posts on facebook: Went to bed sick. Had a high fever and my stomach felt terrible. And of course the major head ache had to join in fun. But I'm better now

My Reply: yeah...he's all better now.....

he's up all at the wee hours and then in the morning he's all perky and I'm half dead. Matt was up all night, can't breathe. I get him all settled and breathing - then he's snoring, but at least he's sleeping.

Then back to Ben - puke warning.

Wake up Rick - screaming... "RICK!!!! You gotta puke bucket??!!!!" He's all dead to the world, but at the mere mention of puke, Rick is WIDE AWAKE!!! "Huh?!!!! NO!!, No bucket Mom!!! Sorry" and he collapses back onto the bed, again, dead to the world shortly thereafter.

I'm FLYIN' no... ZOOMING down the stairs looking for an empty ice cream bucket. They are all full of fricken christmas candy. I finally find one with pecans in it!!! YAY!!! DUMP go the pecans onto the counter! I scared the hell outta the cat, tripped over the damn living room table, scared the rats, go flyin' upstairs to give Ben the bucket.

Get back to Benny and he's laying down again like he's SLEEPING!!! I ain't having any of that!! WAKE UP!! Are you gonna puke??!!! No, not right now.... FINE!! here's your bucket honey. Put his hair in a pony so he doesn't puke in his hair and tell him: Call me if you need me.

Slept with one eye open, both ears full of SNORING and one foot on the floor.

He wakes up all kinda happy and perky and Matt and Rick are laughing at me....... I kinda wanted to smack the patients this morning!!!

Secret Santas Revealed

Secret Santa you're the one, 

who made my hunts so much fun.

Playin' the game, I'm so glad,
For Secret Santa, you I had.

So much fun with your game,
Secret Santa, I KNOW YOUR NAME!!

The Secret Santas revealed themselves this week.  All in good fun.

My last scavenger hunt took me all over the library! I was everywhere - both floors! It was crazy, but, it was great fun.  Once again, I found my last gift too early in the hunt, which made it all the crazier.  There were so many little things to look for that I can't photograph them all for my blog. However, this is what my Secret Santa did - she took up close (and personal hahaha) photos of objects in the library. I then had to try to figure out what each object was.  Then, I had to find them! 

It's one thing to KNOW what each object was - it was quite another to remember where I last saw them!

As with the previous hunts, there was one object that stumped me - it was a tiny corner of a sign that explained that our Christmas books have a check-out limit of two-weeks.  I finally figured it out - it was the last object I had to find and I wasn't going to give up.

I guessed my Secret Santa correctly - right away in the game. However, this year we were all so sneaky! We all tried to trip up one another and make everyone else believe that we WERE their Secret Santa - even though we WEREN'T.  Like I said, great fun!

Also funny for this year, there seemed to be a common theme of scavenger hunts and poop! Go figure. I got snowman poop and crazy items, like prunes, to help a person poop.  Another one got a t-shirt that said, "I pooped today."  There was also a pooping reindeer, bathroom sprays, toilet paper and rhymes with poop in them! I wasn't the only one who wrote poetry; And, I wasn't the only one that sent messages, via taped to the break room door, to my Secret Santa asking for help or taunting messages.  Great minds do think alike!

Some of my gifts and trinkets were GLUTEN-FREE yummies on the last day - to be shared with everyone; pictures of snowflakes, a snowman and snowball throwing girl inside my locker, jingle bells (which I wear while at work in the 'quiet' library) and artsy-fartsy pens and papers!  Loved it all!

My Toes Are Stepping In....

SNOW!!! Did you think I was going to say, "Poop!!!" ?? Ha Ha - you are very funny! Either that or you have stepped into some poo yourself and know that squishy feeling between your toes!

However, it was not poo that I stepped in, it was snow. Birthday snow to be exact! The best kind of snow there is!  It was soft, quiet, cold and wonderful!  It was also VERY QUICKLY over and done with, as I really wanted to get back on to the door mat as soon as possible!

It was in the middle of the night when I shot these photos.  I flipped on the twinkle lights - which really are NOT Christmas lights for us, since we keep them up all year long.  Anyway, I flipped on the twinkle lights and set my flash so I could get the falling flakes.  I could HEAR them falling, but my tired-sleepy-in-the-middle-of-the-night eyes couldn't really FOCUS yet. However, I knew the flash would pick up the falling flakes.  Also, as cold as my feet were, I wasn't going to run about the backyard - barefooted - to get a better feel of the snow falling.  My Mum would yell at me!

All my playful whining about not having any birthday snow was all for naught -- THERE IS ALWAYS SNOW ON MY BIRTHDAY!

One of my Favorite songs.

Birthday Snow

Snowing... not YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a tiny, tad bit upset!!!!!!

Only 4 days to go!

It must now snow!!

Snow before my birthday, it must, must, MUST!!

Or my entire birthday will be a bust, bust, BUST!!

I cannot have a brown and dreary day of birth!

Pretty white snow fills me with mirth!

Even in Berkeley, God made it snow;

My Momma took pictures of my face all aglow.

This December Baby, happy is not!

For without snow on the ground, her temper is hot!

Flakes, be they small,

Flakes, be they big,

Flakes keep this girl doing a happy jig!!

Bring on the flakes!

Let me get my scoop.

My happiness while shoveling will throw you for a loop!

Candles out, I will blow;

But, only if he makes it snow.

Eat birthday cake, I will not,

Unless it snows quite a lot!

Well ... cake I will eat, even for a little,

snowflakes of white, on the ground all a glitter.

Come on snow! You know you love it here!

On the ground around my house, you have nothing to fear!

Fall down fast!

Let the winds blow!!

This December Baby is not happy without snow.

Secret Santa Strikes Again....

Tonight my Secret Santa riddled me again.  This time the clues were a little harder! I actually had to ask the Boss Man if he had any ideas!

The first riddle was on my locker: "To begin this week's journey  you must travel North and there you will Sea, that I intend to send you round and round to discover what your Secret Santa gift will be.

So, in our library there is a mural on the NORTH wall of an underwater sea scene.  I'm looking over there - nothing.  I look under the globes in that area - nothing. I look and look. My co-workers look and they are also stumped.  I give up. My shift was about to start. I figure I'd try again during my break.  However, during my break I couldn't make any headway, so I wrote a poem to my Secret Santa asking for help:  Dear Secret Santa, Much to my chagrin, another clue you must give me, so I can re-begin. North I look, but all I Sea, are underwater creatures and toys for puppetry. Round and round I looked, and dizzy I became; Another clue you must give, so I can play the game! Oh Dear Secret Santa, what is your name?

Finally, I mention it to my boss and he asked me the obvious questions, "Do we have books on the North Sea?" (not here) "Did you look under those two globes?" (nothing under them)  Then, he mentioned that we also have one more globe in the library! I didn't know we had ANOTHER globe, so off I go, in search of my next clue.  Sure enough - taped on the North Sea was my next clue.

"My hope is not for you to feel you have been schooled, but rather to have some fun, if only just a little. Please do tell me Am I Tyra, driving you crazy with my riddle?" (italics and underscore mine to show you.)  It takes a bit. I'm a homeSCHOOL mom, so I look in the homeschool section - nothing. The clue was on the globe by the SCHOOL yearbooks, so I look up my yearbook - nothing.  We have lots of little decorative things out right now, as well as a display of tiny or LITTLE buildings for those tiny village displays. So, I look for a LITTLE school in those areas - nothing.  Yup, I was going round and round!!  It turns out that a co-worker realized that the type was different for 'Am I Ty' in my riddle is the name of the LITTLE SCHOOL, named AMITY (in our district)! We happen to have a huge quilt display from AMITY SCHOOL hanging upstairs, so off I go in search of my clue.  Yup! There it was, safely pinned to back, non-damaging to the quilt I might add!!!

"Somehow I feel as though you are dragon your feet, your gift awaits you. You want it, do you not? Shall I light a fire under you to make you move?  Must I tell if you are cold or if you are hot? Come on now my friend, I beg of you to give this all that you have got!"  Again, to the Children's section I go!  There is a dragon paper machie there.  Yup, under the dragon's butt was my next clue!

"Well now, you silly goose, surely you didn't think that that was the last clue? To put it simply as I can, that would not, could not be true. Please tell me you are not thinking of sitting down? It is clear as black and white that this game is not through. Only a few riddles for you to solve and a gift will be given unto you."  Off to the Children's section!! There's a stuffed goose there!!

"It would be a cardinal sin for you to quit now. I know that you have red that this is something I will not allow."  I have NEVER seen a cardinal in the trees in the Children's section! NEVER!! I even just put up and re-adjusted some decorations in those tree branches!! I think the cardinals were JUST RECENTLY added...  Anyway, one of my co-workers said, HEY!!! There's a cardinal on that branch! - we look - nothing.  Hmmm... so we look in the other trees, sure enough!! There's another cardinal on the shelf, by the tree, in the Children's section!

"My creativity is running low and it is time to rein you in my deer. I will hang around a little longer and share a tiny bit more Christmas cheer, and before I put a cap on all of our fun, one last clue will, for you, appear."  You guessed it, I'm in the Children's section and there is a capped reindeer hanging around!

"Don't delphin to this one too deeply. Sometimes it is okay for the pun to be so easy to sea. The porpoise for these riddles is to reveal to you gift number three."  Once again, the north wall of the Children's section is a painted mural of an underwater sea scene, complete with dolphins.  We looked everywhere at the first clue, but we look again. I'm a bit short, so a taller co-worker helps me out -  nothing. A patron made a HUGE stuffed dolphin and then gave it to us. We can't keep him out all the time though because he is so big that the kids like to sit on him and jump on him, etc.  So, we keep him by us in the back. He's a great conversationalist! I asked him what he thought of all of this Secret Santa stuff - much to my delight, he raised his head to talk with me and revealed my gift!! Such a sneaky helper that guy!

Secret Santa gift  hidden under dolphin.

 

The tag on the bag says, "Passing Through Once Again to Odor You to Have a Very Merry Christmas."

So, I wrote a new note to my Secret Santa: 

Dear Secret Santa, 

Much to my chagrin,

Help was really needed,

Before I could begin.

Your first clue so hard, the wrong North I did look.

All I could sea,

Were underwater creatures and toys for puppetry.

Help from several friends, did I need.

Then I took off with amazing speed.

Paranoid I now be,

Wondering if poop and stink is how you remember me!

So much fun to play your game,

Oh, Secret Santa, what is your name?

Okay, here's where the gamer gets tricky!! At 6:15-6:30 I happened to take my break.  I go into my locker, get my chips and eat.  Nothing spectacular in my locker, just my junk and the Christmas presents that I'm hiding there so my kids can't find them.  When I leave for the night, I go into my locker to put my name tag there and lo' and behold is a gift bag from my Secret Santa!!

Gifts that were mysteriously placed in my locker WHILE I was at work!!

I don't know if you can see it all, but there is a scarf - I wear scarves all the time!  Chocolate, gel pens for the artsy in my fartsy and a unique bird cage on a necklace.  I love unique jewelry. Tonight I happened to be wearing another necklace with a Silver bird cage. This bronzy one will work out WONDERFULLY with my collection of unique necklaces!  Love it!  I added a handwritten note to my last Secret Santa poem saying that I LOVE the necklace!

I have had one person in mind the whole time, but during this game, no one is to be trusted!!!

Another Pet Rat Dies

11-16-11

Rick & Baby Mojo

Awww... Sleepy baby.

Good Boy, eat your veggie.

Check-in out his new tube house!

Baby Moj' and Momma!!

We think Little Moj' died from a twisted intestine.  He was quite the acrobatic rattie.  He would greet you by doing back flips!  Such a sweetheart, all full of energy. He was happy just sitting on your shoulder, peeking out from under your hair.

He'd gt real still while watching the cat, but when the other ratties were out and visiting, he wanted to get out and play, play, play! Such a sweetheart. 

We were only able to enjoy him for 16 days! That hardly seems fair.  Watching him die was painful. It would be painful watching any pet die. It would be painful watching anything die.  He died while being held.

Secret Santa

At the Library where I work, we play a game during the month of December called Secret Santa.  Tiny gifts, nothing expensive. Just something fun.  Always a secret until the end, unless you catch someone in the act!! hahaha! Then the fun begins!  Sometimes we need a little help from the others so we can try to confuse all the players.

I can't say who I have and I won't print here who I think has me -- they all can read my blog!!

At first I received a BIG green Incredible Hulk PEEP in a can. It's so funny!  His face is all smushed up!  Attached to the bottom of the can was a bag of 'coal'. Chocolate to be exact and it tasted good too! I also received some gel pens that are supposed to smell like cookies! I haven't tried them yet tho'.

Tonight was too much fun.  Here is a photo journal of tonight's events.

It all started out with a clue.

The clues led to book titles.  This one said  Happy Birthday inside it as part of the story. So, I thought I was all done. My birthday IS coming up, you know!!

Then, I realized that there were more book titles and more clues!

I thought it was going to end on this cute little note. Nope.

This is the gift that, I think, I found too early! hahaha on my Secret Santa!!



It all ended with some unique SNOWMAN POOP!

Very funny co-workers that I have!

Happens to be my favorite brand of beans!!

hahahaha!

December!

It's December! It's December! It's December! It's December!

I love December!!!

Cold

Ice

Snow

Me

Music

Quiet

Cuddling

Books

Cocoa

Blankets

Scarves

Sweaters

Wool Socks

Cookies

Warm Mugs

Crisp Air

Hoar Frost

Hiking

Bells

Twinkle Lights

Love

Love Love Love

16th