Thank Goddess That Crap Is Over Day

I was on Facebook this morning and saw that a friend of mine had posted that it was Thank god that crap is over day. So I changed it a bit to make it ore fitting for me. But isn't it true. We spend weeks worrying about whether or not we bought the right gift for each person on our list. Did I spend enough money? Did I spend more for that person than I did for this person? Is she gonna like it? Will it fit? We torture ourselves. Then we go to the holiday gatherings, often with people we don't like or at least cant tolerate for long periods of time. Then we worry about the food. Does it taste good? Will everyone like it? How will I get it there without it falling apart?

I was so careful when I bagged up my pies. I put the pumpkin pie on the bottom of the bag. Then I put a piece of cardboard on top of it. Then I put a chocolate cream pie on top of that. I was so afraid that the chocolate cream pie would get smashed. Well it made it just fine. But the cardboard slipped and the side of the pumpkin was smashed. Then I forgot to buy whipped cream for the pumpkin pie and of course nothing was open to buy it on Christmas day. And no one wants to eat pie with no whipped cream.

As far as gifts, I bought my MIL a really nice coffee maker. You can make two pots at once. She usually makes a pot of regular coffee and then when its done she makes a pot of decaf for everyone who doesn't drink real coffee. I thought this would be the perfect thing for her. She could make both at once. Well, she plugged the thing in and immediately blew a fuse. She finally got that straightened out and discovered that there were no filters in the box. We don't use filters in our coffee maker so I didn't even think about them. Besides that, who ever heard of a coffee maker that didn't have at least one or two filters in the box. And of course it didn't take the same kind of filters as her old pot did. So she had to make a pot of regular coffee and then when we were finished with it she made a pot of decaf for the others to enjoy.

Everyone seemed to have a good time. After dinner the BIL went in the bedroom to work on his daughter's dot to dot book. My MIL and DH's Uncle played cards in the dining room. DH and his sister watched Christmas Vacation for I don't know how many times. And my FIL did the dishes.

Tonight we are having a party with friends. It is our Thank the Goddess That Crap Is Over Day Party.

Blessings,
Kathi

Joyous Solstice

Joyous Solstice to Everyone! It is officially the first day of winter today. But what most people don't think about is that today is actually the first day of the return of the Light and warmth to the earth. From today on each day will be a bit longer. We will have a minute or two more daylight. And the temps in general will begin to warm. Most people think of this as the dark and dreary time of the year. But as each day brings more light we can begin to see that winter will end and Spring will soon be here.

So I wish you all warmth and light as we move into this new phase of the year. And remember, it is only 89 days until Spring.

Snow

Well, we are supposed to have a party tonight. But the weatherman is predicting anywhere from 5 to 18 inches of snow tonight. It depends on who you listen to. But our guests are all listening to the one who predicts the worst snow. So they have all canceled. Now we have lots of food and no party.

They said this storm was supposed to start by lunchtime. Well, it's now 2:00 in the afternoon and not a drop of snow. Not a flake, not a smidgeon, nothing. Makes they think there isn't going to be a storm at all.

I hate winter. You can't plan on anything. It's cold. It's yucky. It's cloudy. And it might snow. Or it might not. The only thing for sure is that we are not having a party tonight. I want to sit and pout.

Winter! YUCK!

Cookies

We baked cookies today. I love making cookies once I get started. But it takes me a while to get going. A few days ago we made 8 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Today we made 7 dozen peanut butter cookies and 5 dozen oatmeal cookies. We also made 4 loaves of pumpkin bread. I still want to make sugar cookies. I guess we will try that tomorrow. And a loaf of cranberry bread. We are having a party on Saturday so I want to have lots of goodies available. Then I will be done with my holiday baking. Well except for pies to take for Christmas Dinner with my in-laws. I can't really make them ahead of time. When I was younger, I used to make candy as well. I haven't done that in years. The last time I made divinity I burned up my mixer. Maybe someone will bring fudge to the party. It's been a long time since I've tried to make that as well.

So the presents are wrapped and the baking is almost done. Yeah

Shopping

Are you done shopping yet? I have one more package that I'm waiting for. But other than that, everything is wrapped and waiting for a tree to go under. I love giving gifts, but I hate shopping. I already mentioned how I used Amazon.com so much this year. It made my life so much easier.

Another thing that I have recently discovered that is making my life easier is Peapod. Peapod is a wonderful thing that is offered by Stop & Shop Stores. You can sit down with your computer and go through the lanes of their online supermarket. As you find the items on your shopping list, you just click on them to add them to your cart. I like to start right after delivery day to work on my next shopping list. Then as I think of things we need, I go add them to my cart. When I'm finished with the week's shopping I just click on the calendar to choose a delivery day and time. One more click and I'm all done. I just have to wait until the guy brings my groceries. No more walking up and down the aisles of the grocery store. No more rude people to deal with. No carrying the groceries up the hill from our parking lot to our apartment. Just wait until the guy brings everything to the door. Even after you have placed your order you can go back and add to it. It is another wonderful way to save time and energy for more important things in life. (Like writing a blog about it.) I love Peapod. I love waiting for the Peapod man to come to my door. It's like a mini Christmas as I unpack all the goodies that he brings. Yeah for delivery!!!

What a week it's been. Bob has been home most of the week with some kind of creapy crud. He finally went to the doctor on Friday and she said he had a sinus infection. She gave him a bunch of antibiotics for it. I was afraid it might be the H1N1 but she said no. Now Dakota and have have the runny nose crud. I hope we don't get as sick as he was. Did I ever tell you that I hate winter? We got a bit of snow last night. And they say it's going to snow again tomorrow night. Yuck, yuck, and double yuck. Well what can you do. It's only 105 days until Spring. Come on Springtime.

Arlo Guthrie

This afternoon we went to an Arlo Guthrie concert. My husband bought the tickets for me for my birthday a few months ago. I've been looking forward to going ever since. So today the day finally came. The concert was wonderful. Sarah Lee and Johnny opened the concert. Then the other Guthrie kids came out on stage. Finally Arlo himself. Soon after the grandchildren started coming out. At one point all four Guthrie kids and seven Guthrie grandbabies were on stage. They did a lot of Woodie's music. Arlo recited "Mooses Come Walking" which is one of my favorite kid's books. The only songs that you expect to hear at an Arlo concert that they did were, "Comin' Into Los Angeles," "Riding on the City of New Orleans," and "This Land Is Your Land." Just about everything else was from Woody's history.

I loved the concert. I loved seeing all the kids on stage. Even the 2 year olds were singing. Wonderful birthday gift.

Winter Holiday of your Choice

Well, it seems it is that time of year again. People are busy shopping. Getting up at 4:00am to be the first in line for the sales. Knocking people out of the way to grab the last hot item on the shelf. Running over people in parking lots to get that last parking space. It gets so crazy. Now I like to give gifts to my family at the holidays just like everyone else. But I don't like all the craziness surrounding gift giving. I sat at my computer whenever I had free time and perused the Amazon.com website. Every time I saw something that I liked I would add it to my shopping list. When I finally had my list complete, I moved it all over to my shopping cart and pressed enter. Now I just have to wait for USPS and UPS to bring my orders. Then I can wrap my gifts and I'm all done. No stores, no shopping malls, no parking places, no overpriced gifts. I can relax and enjoy the holiday season.

I hope you all have a safe shopping season and can find the time to relax with family and friends instead of being so worried about the rush of the season.

Happy Winter Holiday of Your Choice,
Kathi

Etsy NJ is Having a Sale

My street team on Etsy is having a big sale from Wednesday next week through the following Monday to kick off the holiday shopping season. The different stores are offering different deals. Some are offering a % off of your purchase. Some are offering free shipping. Some are offering a free gift with purchase. And some are offering buy one get one half off. For a complete list of stores participating, go to:

http://etsynj.com/?p=959

I hope you find some great deals for your holiday shopping needs.

Kathi

Space Shuttle Launch

This is a picture of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad that we took on Wednesday, November 11. Atlantis left earth at 2:28 pm on Monday, November 16. It was carrying over 30,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. Among the cargo, were butterflies that will be monitored to see how the develop in space. Also there are hundreds of worms which are being studied to learn more on the effects of weightlessness on the loss of muscle tone in the astronauts. The shuttle is expected to dock with the International Space Station on Wednesday.


We did not take this picture. It is the Atlantis, seconds after liftoff at Kennedy Space Center.
This was our first view of the Atlantis. We were about 15 miles away from the launch site. It looked like a big firey mass in the sky. The flames were about four times as high as they were wide. And the smoke trail was about twenty times the length of the shuttle. This picture was taken about 5 seconds after liftoff.
The Atlantis contines to climb.
This was approximately 10 seconds into the launch.
The Atlantis goes in and out of clouds.
Here it is starting to arch towards the ocean.

The climb is leveling off a bit.

The solid rocket boosters have now been released and the shuttle is now soaring towards space.This was our last view of the shuttle as it disappears from site. What an awesome experience. As soon as the shuttle disappeared we jumped in our car to get to the airport on time for our late afternoon flight home. As we were driving, there were so many cars parked along side the highway watching the space shuttle. Restaurant parking lots were full, but no one was inside. Everyone was standing out front looking up toward the sky. For a few brief moments Titusville stood still as everyone was focused on just one thing. People were slowly returning to their cars as we drove past. What an awesome day it was.

International Space Station Center

We spent most of today at the International Space Station Center. This is where they do all the work preparing the parts they are sending up to the Space Station. This is a picture of the "clean room". Everyone who works in this room must wear sterile suits much like they wear in a hospital operating room. Today, there was no activity in the clean room. All the parts are already loaded on the Space Shuttle in preparation for tomorrow's launch. The crew had the day off.


There are various pictures of the Space Station around the building.



This is the laboratory room on the Space Station.
Among the displays in the lab are these plants. They are researching how weightlessness effects growing plants. The butterflies will probably have a section in this room as well.
This torture device is actually the bathroom. You will notice the footpedals that help to hold you on the toilet and the hose for men and women to use to urinate without it flying all over the room.
This is a shower.
Everything on the Space Station is very compact. This is an apartment for one. You will notice the sleeping bag hanging on the wall. The astronauts zip themselves into this so they don't float away during the night. The other side of the room has the tiny compartment for the astronauts to store their personal items. This is all the space they have for everything they need for the four to six months they will be living here.




















As we were leaving tonight we saw this astronaut outside the Space Center Store. We got there just in time to get this picture. He left a few minutes later.

Many things were closed down today or off limits. They are preparing for tomorrow's launch. We are really hoping to be able to catch a glimpse of the shuttle as it goes up. If there are no delays, we should be able to see it and still make it to the airport in time. But even a short delay will cause us to miss our flight. Let's hope there are no delays.

Today we went to the Brevard County Zoo. We saw all kinds of dangerous creatures. Like these two dinosaurs from days long past.
To alligators

Even an armadillo
A huge Rhino
I don't even remember what this guy was called. He looked like a cow from the back and an anteater from the front.
Another critter that I can't remember his name.

The giraffe was so friendly. He was eating right out of Dakota's hand.
And so, so many beautiful birds. There were several bald eagles in this enclosure.
This guy just stood there with his wings spread so we could see how beautiful he was.
The owl sat so still, at first I thought he was stuffed. But he was very much alive.

This one bite Dakota's finger.



The zoo was small, but it had four distinct areas to visit. Rainforest, Australia, Wild Florida, and Africa. I really liked the beautiful colored birds and the giraffe's. We had a great time exploring everything.

Tonight Dakota and Daddy are going to a Pink Floyd lazer light show at the planetarium. Ans mom is enjoying a night off. Tomorrow we will be going back to Kennedy Space Center for one last visit.

Another Day In Florida

We were back at Kennedy Space Center again on Wednesday. This time we went on a tour that took us out to where the space shuttle Atlantis is sitting on the launch pad waiting to lift off on Monday afternoon. This is a picture of the VAB, the Vehicle Assembly Building. This is where they ready the space shuttle for it's launch and lift it to an upright position.


This interesting looking thing is called the Crawler. This is the device that takes the space shuttle out to the launch pad. It is very gas efficient getting a whopping 42 feet per gallon of gas. It has a 5000 gallon tank. Anyone want to take this to the gas station for a fill-up.And this is the space shuttle Atlantis. It is already on the pad and ready for Monday's launch.We also went to the Saturn V Building. They have a real Saturn V shuttle hanging from the ceiling. One of the other things they have is this tiny piece of Moon Rock. Here we are all three touching the moon rock. I guess you could say we left earth for a minute and touched a piece of outer space.

Florida Vacation

So we are finally on a much needed vacation. We spent the day yesterday at Kennedy Space Center. We will probably spend most of the week there.

Dakota and Daddy with the original seven Mercury astronauts.
This is part of the rocket garden. There are models of each of the many kinds of rockets that were sent up in the past.

A mercury capsule.

Today we went on a two hour cruise to see dolphins, manatees, and various seabirds.Dakota at the head of the boat.These pictures are hard to see, but it is a mama dolphin and her baby. The little baby was only about 1 foot long. So tiny and so cute.This island is full of pelicans that migrate down from the Carolinas for the winter. No one knows why they all come here every year, but the trees were full of them. The white stuff on the trees is, you guessed it, pelican poop.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say as the week goes on. But tonight I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we will go out and see the next space shuttle on the launch pad ready to go up next Monday. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.