Happy New Year!

Happy Last Day!

Wordless Wednesday.

{click it}

This is not good or nice either.

Poor Rudy is sick,too.

this is not good or nice.

even though I was.

He is born.

Silent Night. Holy Night.

Thursday Thirteen:

13 ingredients used to make the goodies pictured below.

1. almond extract
   
2. AP flour
3. baking powder
4. brown sugar
5. chocolate chips
6. coloured sprinkles
7. cream cheese
8. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla
9. peanut butter
10. powdered sugar
11. pumpkin
12. shortening
13. white sugar

Wordless Wednesday.

Word{s}

1. Manger ~
2. Yule ~
3. Noel ~
4. Star ~
5. King ~
6. Mary ~
7. Baby ~
8. Unto ~
9. Virgin ~
10. Joy ~

Happy Winter Solstice.

Santa's Crib.

Christmas Fun.

{click it to big it}

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
On a scale of 1 - 10 {ten being the highest} what is your level of Christmas Spirit?

Soup ~
What do you think of the Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen? {over on the sidebar}

Salad ~
Which of the following best describes your holiday cards: store bought, handmade, online, TBD or MIA?

Entrée ~
Have you ever secretly unwrapped a gift before Christmas?

Dessert ~
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Digestif ~
Have you done all the Christmas shopping you need to do?

Thursday {A Rant} Thirteen:

13 comments from Going Rogue Readers
that have me wondering
if they are reading the same book I am.

1. Reading your book. Damn fine read. You go girl. Love your ethics. {Ethics? Sarah Palin wouldn't know ethics if they bit her in her skinny non-runner ass.}
2. Read your book and enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot about Alaska. {Really? You learned a lot about Alaska by reading Sarah's school-girl rant? Interesting. If you really want to learn about Alaska you should go see how breathtaking it is up close and personal. Don't expect to meet Sarah though, she doesn't like Alaska.}
3. Have to say I am reading Sarah's book and I am seeing why I personally believe in this young lady! I believe she is for the people--Thank you so much--praying for your family! {*Snark alert* Young lady? There is nothing young about her and she is looking older every day. Go check out the newest paparazzi photos which btw she most likely staged.}
4. I just finished reading your book and I'm passing it on to others. How interesting! You are a great mom, wife, friend, politician, and more. {Great politician? Where have you been? She has quit every office she has held. How is that great?}
5. I am in the process of reading your book and MOST IMPRESSED! {Impressed, are we? You must mean that you are impressed that Lynn Vincent who actually wrote the book was able to work with Sarah long enough to get something down on paper so that she could get paid and get the hell out of there, right?}
6. I'm about 1/2 way through your book and like I thought, I'm truly moved by your passion and steadfast devotion to family, community and our great country. {Well look at you. 1/2 way through the book that a 1/2 way governor wrote. How excellent for you. Steadfast devotion to family? The family she uses and parades about while claiming that the media is being unfair about the coverage of said family that she parades about??}
7. Great Book, Sarah. Loved reading about the family and journey. Looking forward to supporting you in upcoming elections. We need a down-to-earth person who knows what the people want and be willing to stay honest and true and honor our nation. {Sarah knows and cares only about what Sarah wants. If you think otherwise you are drinking the koolaid, my friend.}
8. Just finished reading the part of your book about being on the campaign trail during 2008 election period. It sounds to me like 'headquarters' was working more for the advancement of Obama than for McCain/Palin. {Yeah. THAT'S what the McCain camp wanted to do, elect President Obama rather than McCain. What are you smoking???}
9. I'm reading your book and it ROCKS. ;) {You reading the same book I am??}
10. Sarah, started reading your book this weekend and have to make myself put it down so I can get some sleep. {Wow, seriously? I fall asleep reading it and have found that I need a bottle of wine by my side in order to make the process more palatable.}
11. Just finished reading your book. I was just amazed at the difference in the true story and the other stories. The truth is always what we need to hear. I know you will do what you feel in your heart is right for America, so go ahead and run for President, no matter what your party is. I know you will go by "what is right for America". {You mean like how she did what was right for Alaska??? P.S. I capitalized the word *America* for you. Way to show respect. }
12. Read your book, loved it. I think you are a breath of fresh air and love to hear what you have to say about anything. I feel like you are one person that tell the truth. {Truth? Are you kidding me here? What about the out and out lies that the fact checkers have found???}
13. I see everyone here who read the book say so many wonderful comments on Sarah's writing and style and the way she has lived her life such an enviable exemple. {well duh, it is HER facebook. Of course the majority of the comments will be about how fabulously wonderful she is. *rolling eyes*}

Rant over.
Comments welcome but not necessary.

Wordless Wednesday.

{click it}

Word{s}

1. Advent ~
2. Spirit ~
3. North ~
4. O' ~
5. Holly ~
6. Nut ~
7. Jack ~
8. Three ~
9. Rudolph ~
10. Happy ~

Musical Monday.

There is only one Christmas/Holiday song left on the sidebar. Is there any other song you would like to hear? Leave your requests in the comments section.

Happy Monday!

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.

The Weather Outside is Frightful.

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
What is your most favorite thing about the holidays?

Soup ~
What is the colour of Christmas?

Salad ~
What gift would you want most this Christmas?

Entrée ~
Are you enjoying the new song over on the sidebar every day or is enough, enough?

Dessert ~
Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Digestif ~
What is your favorite holiday drink?

Thursday Thirteen Presents:

The 12 Days of Christmas

1. Partridge in a Pear Tree, $159
2. Two Turtle Doves, $55.98
3. Three French Hens, $45
4. Four Calling Birds), $599.96
5. Five Gold Rings, $499.95
6. Six Geese a-Laying, $150
7. Seven Swans a-Swimming, $5,250
8. Eight Maids a-Milking, $58
9. Nine Ladies Dancing (per performance), $5,473.07
10. 10 Lords a-Leaping (per performance), $4,413.61
11. 11 Pipers Piping (per performance), $2,284.80
12. 12 Drummers Drumming (per performance), $2,475.20
13. True cost of the 12 Days of Christmas in 2008 = $21,465.56 or $87,402.81 for the True Love repeating all of the song's verses.

Wordless Wednesday.

Word{s}

1. sleigh ~
2. present ~
3. sugarplums ~
4. eggnog ~
5. snowman ~
6. noel ~
7. star ~
8. yule ~
9. king ~
10. season ~

Mistletoe Reason to Drink.

Mistletoe Kiss
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 oz Smirnoff cranberry flavored vodka
- 1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz coconut cream
Garnish: maraschino cherries

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with maraschino cherries.

Christmas Cheers!

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
Real or Fake? Your Christmas Tree, of course.

Soup ~
Do you need white noise or any noise in order to sleep or do you prefer the room to be as quiet as possible?

Salad ~
Write a sentence using the letters of your favorite beverage.

Entrée ~
Name something in which you don't believe.

Dessert ~
Which shoe do you put on first?

Digestif ~
If you could have a free subscription to any magazine, which one would you like to have?

Thursday Thirteen.

13 Christmas Songs for the Manor.

1. Anne Murray - Christmas In Killarney
2. BareNaked Ladies - Elf’s Lament
3. Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
4. Clint Black - Looking for Christmas
5. Colbie Caillat - Mistletoe
6. Elmo and Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
7. Faith McGraw - Where are you Christmas
8. Mannheim Steamroller – Veni Veni {O Come O Come Emmanuel}
9. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
10. Straight No Chaser - Sweet Little Jesus Boy
11. Transiberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve in Sarajevo
12. Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful
13. Wham! - Last Christmas (I Gave You My Heart)

Wordless Wednesday.

Word{s}

1. Santa ~
2. elves ~
3. mistletoe ~
4. white ~
5. reindeer ~
6. stockings ~
7. candy ~
8. tinsel ~
9. jingle ~
10. Scrooge ~

Request Line is Open.

Who's There?

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
Are you directionally challenged?

Soup ~
What is the worst type of weather, in your opinion?

Salad ~
Bake 'em, mash 'em, boil 'em in a stew? How do you like your potatoes?

Entrée ~
Dear Diary: Yesterday was ____________.

Dessert ~
What’s the first thing you do when you log on to your computer every day?

Digestif ~
What did you drink last night?

To Ask the Lord's Blessing.

{click it}

Have a blessed day.
with love,
~ blondie

Wordless Wednesday.

Word{s} Thanksgiving Edition

1. turkey ~
2. Plymouth ~
3. wine ~
4. leaves ~
5. thanks ~
6. dark ~
7. pumpkin ~
8. wish ~
9. horn ~
10. gather ~

Happy Birthday!

Today is E's birthday.
Please join me in wishing him a very happy day!
love and hugs,
~ blondie

11.19.

Wordy Wednesday {with bonus photo}

As I awoke yesterday I immediately began to think about the book release that was occurring as I laid there in bed. {Not what a guy wants to hear from his woman,eh honey. sorry. ily! ;-)}I have been obsessing over the book and the *author* {if you could call her that considering she used a ghost writer not only for her book but for most everything else she has put out in public, save her twitter account} for a very long time. I have just kept it to myself. Perhaps I didn't want y'all to think I was as batshit crazy as the *author*. I am not, btw. This woman is a fraud and is dangerous. But I digress.

Her book. I didn't want to buy it. I have been saying for months now that I refuse to put money into her pocket. I lied. I had hoped that the blogs I read and the news reports I would watch would keep me from buying the book. The more I read and heard and saw, the more I knew I had to read this for myself.

I held out until about 4:30 yesterday afternoon and then convinced my kid to go with me to the store. I came out of the store with these two items. I surmised that I would need one to get through the other. I was not mistaken.

While paying for the above I also got my first birthday present. The checker, an older woman, told me she would need to see my I.D. I obliged without a second thought. I don't mind getting carded. I don't know how it works in your land but in mine you usually get carded if you don't look to be over 40 years of age. Considering the number of candles that will be on my cake this year, I will take a carding any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Again, I digress.

She took my ID into her hand and looked at it. Then she looked up at me. Then she looked at it again while using her finger to underscore the date. And then she looked at me again while handing my ID back to me stating *I just don't believe it*.

I smiled and asked her how old she thought I was. She smiled back and said that she thought I was no older than my late 20's. I grinned at her, thanked her and told her that I would be 48 on Thursday. She looked back at me incredulously and wished me a happy birthday.

So there you have it. I don't look older than late 20's. My daughter says that the lady saw how old I was and wanted to make me feel good. I told my daughter that I just don't care. I am still smiling today. Hopefully I will retain that warm and fuzzy feeling of looking like I am in my late 20's well into the weekend.

The book. Well. After two glasses of wine and two cups of coffee I only got through 81 pages out of 413. I finally put the book down and turned out the lights about midnight-thirty after having the book hit me in the face as it fell due to the fact that I had fallen asleep reading it. TWICE.

I am going to give it another go today. We shall see how far I get. Last night as I was reading it I kept thinking that there was absolutely no way this book could be anything but fiction.

At least I still have more than half the bottle of wine left.

Yeah. I bought the book. Don't you judge me.

Word{s}

1. Park ~
2. Donald ~
3. Soaring ~
4. Ferris ~
5. Wait ~
6. Pop ~
7. Margarita ~
8. Tower ~
9. Wishing ~
10. Castle ~

Too Tired To Tell the Tales.

I have tales but I am just too tired to recount. I will regale you with my wit and story telling abilities. Just not today.

So how was your weekend?

Pre-Meal Mixer {the meal is one post down}

Today is The Creature's Birthday.

Please join me in wishing
him a very Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Creature!

love and hugs,
~ blondie

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
What is your most used spice?

Soup ~
What are you thankful for today?

Salad ~
What's the longest you've ever waited in line?

Entrée ~
Cheese and wine or coffee and dessert?

Dessert ~
Cool Whip, Reddi Whip or homemade whip? {Cream that is.}

Digestif ~
I get by with _______.

Thank You.

Daddy, Rudy, Ry,

Thank you.
Love you.

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
What are you thankful for today?

Soup ~
How often do you need to use a calculator?

Salad ~
Where do you hide your secret stuff?

Entrée ~
I am currently craving Danish food. {Thanks, T ;-)} What food are you craving?

Dessert ~
A week later do you still have leftover Halloween Candy?

Digestif ~
What is your specialty?

Thursday Thirteen

Grocery shopping by the numbers.

1. 13 cans of cat food. {plus two more but who's counting. This isn't Thursday 15. heh!}
2. 12 cans vanilla coke.
3. 11 plastic grocery bags filled.
4. 10 bottles Lemon Vitamin water.
5. 9 ounce box fruit snacks.
6. 8 ounces whipped cream cheese. {the marrieds are stopping by this weekend and have promised to bring me fresh homemade bagels. The last time they brought me some they ended up being furry. And greenish. I don't care for that so much.
7. 7 ounce box Sweet and Salty Peanut Granola Bars.
8. 6 cans V-8 V-Fusion Pomegranate Blueberry Juice.
9. 5 minutes away - grocery is located.
10. 4 almost ripened bananas.
11. 3 cans chicken noodle soup. Not that low sodium crap either. That is not good.
12. 2 Pumpkin flavoured items from Starbucks as a reward for getting the shopping finished up. Pumpkin Spice Latte and a Pumpkin Scone. mmmm
13. 1 Self Rising Crust DiGiorno. It's not Delivery. It's DiGiorno. and also yummy. And hella cheaper than delivery.

Wordless Wednesday.

Word{s}

1. November ~
2. Write ~
3. Novel ~
4. Word ~
5. Count ~
6. Loss ~
7. Night ~
8. Fall ~
9. Dark ~
10. Tired ~

I'm Unofficially In.

How about you?

word count:1668

Did you?

Melt Fall Back, that is.

Happy November!

Happy Halloween.

Meal at the Manor: The Sick Edition.

Appetizer ~
When was the last time you were sick enough to stay home?

Soup ~
What do you eat, if anything, when you are sick?

Salad ~
Do you use those tissues that have the lotion added?

Entrée ~
Do you drink soda while sick? If so do you drink clear sodas only? Bubbles or no bubbles?

Dessert ~
Have you gotten a flu shot? regular, swine or both? Will you get either/both?

Digestif ~
I feel like ______!

Thursday Thirteen.

13 Symptoms.
{alphabetically ordered.}

1. body aches
2. chills
3. cramping
4. exhaustion
5. fever
6. headache
7. listless
8. loss of appetite
9. nausea
10. sleepy
11. sneezing
12. snotty
13. sweaty

Words.

1. awake ~
2. late ~
3. games ~
4. clean ~
5. headache ~
6. sweep ~
7. dark ~
8. surf ~
9. read ~
10. asleep ~

Monday Mop-Up.

• Rudy's Vikings lost their first game of the season yesterday. Sad day for the Vikings. I blame Burt Faver. I am sure Rudy does also. At least his Chargers won their game. His Badgers had a BYE so they did not play this weekend.
  
• I am finally without head and neck pain. I could not figure out if my neck pain was giving me a headache or my headache was giving me neck pain. Either way it sucked. For 2 days, it sucked. I am sick of chronic pain.
• It is 59 days until Christmas. 31 days until Thanksgiving. 5 days until Halloween. Just thought you should know.
  
• Barring some miraculous playing by the Eagles defense I am going to win my match-up against the #1 player in our Fantasy Football league tonight. His claim to fame will be that he has lost only twice. Beaten once by a kid and once by a girl. Bwahahahaha!
• Do you ever go back to the previous postings? I make it a habit to comment once it appears that everyone has left their mark. Check back. I may have said something back to you.
• Big Bang Theory is a repeat tonight. As is every other CBS prime-time show. What is up with THAT, CBS??
• I have been secretly added into Rudy's family Christmas present name drawing. There is one sister who will not find this amusing. The drawing was rigged and I have that sister's name. I will send her a very sweet gift and she will have no reason to bitch that I should not have been in the drawing because I am not a part of the family. tee hee!
• Cowboys won this weekend. It was a fun game to watch. Sun Devils did not. Not even close. :-(
• Rudy's son is home this week from Korea where he is stationed.I think they had some good father/son bonding time this weekend.
• I am sure you noticed the empty plate for the Meal on Friday. Rudy turned it into a smorgasbord. If you ever see the empty plate again that is your cue to put something on the table.
• I downloaded and installed a newer version of Trillian this weekend along with Patty. The jury is still out on this Trillian Astra. We are not sure we really like it that much. It is growing on me a bit though.
• It is Monday. The root of all evil. Tell me something good.

Halftime

is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time teams swap ends of the field of play, in order to reduce any advantage that may be gained from wind or a slope to the pitch, for example. While it exists mainly to allow competitors to rest briefly and recover from the play of the first half, half-time also serves a number of other purposes.

QOTD:
What do you do during halftime?

Happy Caturday!

Meal at the Manor.

Thursday Thirteen.

13 programs seen on my TV in the past week.

1. Americas Next Top Model
2. Big Bang Theory
3. Chris Matthews
4. College Football
5. Cougar Town
6. Countdown with Keith Olbermann
7. F·R·I·E·N·D·S
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. House Hunters International
10. Monday Night Football
11. Survivor
12. The Proposal
13. The Rachel Maddow Show

Wordless Wednesday.

Maybe.

Monday Mop-up.

• Rudy's Vikings won and are now 6-0. They are one of four teams in the NFL that are currently undefeated. This could change tonight if Denver loses to the Chargers. Oh. Sorry, honey. When Denver loses to the Chargers. The Chargers are Rudy's other team.
• The city I live in had a community clean up and recycling event on Saturday. The city sets out giant bins and people with junk can bring it and deposit in said bins. The event lasts until the bins are full. The kid and I got up at o' dark-thirty and loaded up the old 32 inch TV and 4 old closet doors and headed out. We were surprised to see that the line of cars went around, down and around. Even though the line was long we deposited our junk in a decent amount of time. While waiting I noticed that they also had a document shredding station. WooT! I haven't shredded in a very long time. The kid brought me back home and I collected up the shredding piles and headed back. Now I no longer have junk in my backyard and garage and my shredding is gone! Score!
• I won my fantasy football match-up and my dismal record is 2-4. At least I got a win.
• I just spoke with a police sargent who knocked on my door. Someone using the neighbors name and my address attempted some fraud at a local bank. That is interesting. Or odd. Or both. Said sargent asked if I was married. I said no. He asked if I had a boyfriend and I responded that I do have a fiance. {that's you, Rudy. ;-)} He then asked for Rudy's name. I told him and he responded quickly "nope, that's not the guy". umm. gee. Ya think? Kinda funny since he obviously has the guy in custody back at the big house. {Good to know you are not trying to commit fraud, darlin. Just Kidding, honey! *smooch*}
• I am drinking the last of the coffee in the coffee pot left over from yesterday morning. It is still pretty good. I think it would be a crime to waste it. {ha. Crime. Good thing I didn't waste it, eh? Since the copper was at my door this morning. tee hee!}
• The marrieds were here yesterday. Well, they showed up late Saturday afternoon and spent the night. I had invited them for bbq on Saturday and then never heard from them until way late Friday night. I just figured they were not coming. Silly me. We had a nice evening Saturday. Ran a couple errands and then dinner at our Favorite Mexican Restaurant.
• Mr. Married installed my new lappy keyboard. Can you tell? I am typing hella fast now that I don't have to go back and hit the *N*, *T* or space bar numerous times. YaY! {TY darlin for sending me the new keys.lappy is fixed and nowhere near the cost of a new one.}
• A few weekends ago the girl and I sewed a very cute strapless dress. She had/has two weddings to attend in October and this dress fit the bill. Except for the strapless part. She discovered at the first wedding two weekends ago that the top was too loose. We added a strap to it this weekend and now it is perfect. She can dance at the wedding this next weekend and not worry about it falling down. LOL!
• I woke up @ 0300 this morning and discovered that the kid was still up. WTF? Then he went to bed and I couldn't go back to sleep. I am not fond of insomnia. And there is nothing on TV @ 0300. Just so you know.
• Big Bang Theory is on tonight @ 2130. I love that show!
• I need more coffee.

Hi. My Name is Blondie

and I am a football addict.

My Cowboy's are on a BYE this week. {BYE means they have the day off}

Rudy's Vikings play the Baltimore Ravens today. Vikings are 5-0. {5-0 means they are currently undefeated} We want a win today against the Ravens.

2 Years.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

i love you.

Year 1 {<--click}

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
I added an after dinner drink to the meal. Thumbs up or Thumbs down?

Soup ~
What did you last download (music, movie, audiobook,...)?

Salad ~
What are you fed up with?

Entrée ~
What do you think the secret to life is?

Dessert ~
If you had to be trapped in a current TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

Digestif ~
What one thing are you craving today?

Thursday Thirteen.

13 Magazines/Catalogs
in our Magazine Cube.

1. Fantasy Football Index
2. USA Today Sports Weekly
3. Food Network Magazine
4. Taste of Home:Healthy Cooking
5. Cooks Illustrated
6. Vanity Fair
7. JEMS {Journal of Emergency Medicine}
8. Guns and Ammo Combat Tactics
9. Celtic Croft - Fall-Winter Catalog
10. King Arthur Flour - Late Fall 2009
11. B&H Photo/Video/Pro Audio - Summer 2009
12. Pottery Barn - Fall 2009
13. Lego - Summer 2009

Wordless Wednesday.