Saturday, November 26, 2011

Small Business Saturday

Today was Small Business Saturday. I did my part by eating my way through the New Kitchen Store in Walkerton, Indiana. I love when businesses let you sample their goods. I found some things I liked & some I didn't. Loved their Caramel Apple Dumplings. They were made by wrapping apple slices in crescent rolls & putting them in a 9x13 pan then pouring Cousin Carl's Caramel Apple Dip Mix & a can of Mountain Dew over the top & baking for 35 to 45 minutes. I've made something similar from a recipe from Pillsbury but the sauce isn't nearly as good. Also picked up Hood-Strapping Horseradish & Bacon Dip Mix & some Gingerbread Orange tea. It's herbal so I can drink it any time of day without caffeine bothering me. Also grabbed another bag of Cheddar Potato Spice. Love it. I've put it in potato soup & mashed potatoes. Was bummed that my Pooh Trevis mug hadn't come in yet but hopefully in the next week. I didn't go strictly local though. I hit Kohls Happy Thanksgiving sale. I was able to get my Hallmark ornaments at 15% off. Much better deal than buying them from a Hallmark store. I was bummed with this year's ornaments. Tigger wasn't on any of the Pooh ornaments. There wasn't a baseball player for Jackson but Elle found a Barbie ornament she liked. There wasn't really an ornament that just shouted got to have it. Even the Snowbuddies wasn't as cute as in the past. I did get their last Smurfet. I love the Smurfs. I feel like I got a lot accomplished today.

Cross Stitchers Club

I just found a site that has really easy to download cross stitch patterns for free. It's
http://cross-stitchers-club.com/?code_avantage=rtmunk
Plus, if you click on this link, you'll automatically receive a gift when you subscribe. I use this site all the time; there are hundreds of all different types of patterns, and there are new patterns added everyday. It's really worth a look.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Christmas

I love Christmas & tomorrow starts one of my favorite events, Christmas Tree Lighting. Bremen lights the downtown tomorrow night. There will be music by Horizon Ministries, hot chocolate & cookies, a small parade & Santa. Friday night is Plymouth's tree lighting. Santa & Mrs. Claus will arrive on a firetruck. PHS Choir will sing & after the tree is lit, there will be fireworks off the Plymouth Center. I'm hoping to be able to go to Warsaw for their Christmas light display sometime in December. I haven't done that before. Another thing we will try to fit into our schedule is Jingle Rails at Eiteljorg Western Museum in Indy. Last year we took Elle & included the lights at the Zoo & Gardens in the evening. The one event I would love to attend is the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival in Chicago. It's always the Saturday going into Thanksgiving. Wish I could watch the parade but it has switched from WGN to ABC7 which we can no longer get because of the digital conversion. I watched the live stream but it was digitized. Still got to see Mickey & Minnie, Donald & Daisy & all the Disney gang. They changed how they do the lighting. Used to be a staggered lighting with the lighting coming on as Mickey's float when by. Now Mickey counts down & all the lights come on at the same time. I like the old way better.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Walt Disney Animations Steamboat Willie - YouTube

Walt Disney Animations Steamboat Willie - YouTube


Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse. You started one of the greatest family entertainment companies. Walt Disney World is one of my favorite places. I'd love to work there but not sure I could stand the Florida heat.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Night Lights

Night Lights

Warsaw's Holiday Light Display, December 2, 2011 - January 1, 2012, 5 pm - midnight. I love Christmas lights so I hope we can fit this into our schedule this year.

Monday, November 14, 2011

World Diabetes Day

Today is World Diabetes Day. I've had diabetes since 2003. I've learned a lot since that time. I've learned that contrary to popular belief sugar won't killed you. In fact I have had my A1C go down after eating 2# of Jelly Bellies & my last A1C which hit my target A1C was after eating salt water taffy. Carbs seem to raise my blood sugar more than candy so I have to limit my pasta intake. And I love pasta. Chocolate is my friend, it will actually lower my blood sugar. My new BFF though is Vitamin D. Since I started taking it my A1C has steadily come down.

My family seems more concerned about my diabetes than I am. I know what I have to do & I don't let it control my life. I still do all the activities I enjoy just with a bigger bag to carry all the paraphernalia I need, testing kit, insulin, pen needles & oral meds if I'm going to be out during a meal, a snack in case of low blood sugar. My mom is always freaking out since her dad died from complications & her grandfather lost a limb to the disease. I listen to my body & if I suspect there is a problem I take measures to combat the problem.

I have diabetes but I don't let it control my life.

Friday, November 11, 2011

1st snow

Today was the first snow of the season in Michiana. While I saw flakes floating past the picture window, nothing stuck to the ground here. Sounded like South Bend got a coating. I need to feed the birds & get suet out now that the weather is turning colder. We've had some new migrating birds arrive. Have never seen Black Scoters before but they were on the lake yesterday. Thanks to National Geographic's Bird ID app for helping me identify them. The Buffleheads were here today. They are about a month late. Not sure what that means weather wise. The geese are long gone which doesn't make the hunters very happy I'm sure. Haven't seen much of our ducks lately but the hunters are out so I'm sure they are laying low. Lots of Coots feeding off the seaweed in front of our house. They'll be around until the lake freezes. Saw a Common Loon swimming past today. Wish I had heard its call. I just love it.

The leaves are down from the trees & I'm surprised to see a squirrels nest in one of the trees in the front yard. Usually they are in the trees on the back lot. It'll be fun to watch it this winter to see squirrels going in & out. Love having a picture window facing the water so we can see all these critters & ducks from the comfort of the couch.

Monday, November 7, 2011

My first blog

This is my first blog. Not sure what I'm going to talk about, I'm just going to start writing & see what comes out. I guess I'll start with what happened today. Now that all the paper work is finished, I am a paid caregiver for my grandmother. Can't believe I've been taking care of her for 10 years & am finally getting paid for it. Part of starting this blog is to give me something to do during the down times of taking care of her. When I first started thinking of writing a blog, it was going to be & probably will be about nothing, kind of like Seinfeld's show about nothing. I'll write about books I've read, places I've traveled, things we've done as a family. There will be links to my favorite things, pictures from my travels, comments on shows I've seen, posts about community happenings. Basically anything that strikes my fancy. So if anyone reads this, thank you. I'll talk to you tomorrow after the senior expo at Lifeplex.