the fireplace and recycling

hubby and i use our woodstove to keep our house warm. this is really great with all the snow and power outages we have had this winter. we get the sunday newspaper and after reading use it as kindling. the best though for starting fires are fire starters. the first winter we bought them. little flat wax cover blocks that burn slow and really help getting a new load started when the coals are low. however those little blocks are expensive. hubby's solution lets make our own. we use egg crates (cardbaord of course ) old candles and sawdust and woodchips from splitting our wood. hubby fills the egg crate with sawdust then we melt down old candles and pour over the top. instant fire startes. best part free. my parents help us out as well they save egg crates and my mom has been finding all kinds of decorative candles and old taper candles she only uses for decorating and has given them to us. so far we have not even had to buy candles to make them.

how many days until winter ends???

there is less than a month until pitchers and catchers report for spring training. once that arrives there will only be a month left of winter. i can't wait. it has snowed at least once a week since christmas. have i told you how much i hate driving in the snow. my car is horrible in the snow. up hill is a battle and down hill is just plane scary. we won't even talk about curves and corners. worst of all my drive way uphill and curvy. hubby has to get my car up and down the hill for me most days. i am so ready for spring fatigue and sleeplessness is better than this.

the dogs and i survived

the little terror was in rare form. happily destroying everything in her path then the next second tired and cranky. when she finally falls asleep putting her in the crib is murder she wakes up and screams more. love her but she is a tough kid. m and b were a breeze compared to s. finally got her down watched the ball drop and went to bed. nice evening with the hubby though kind of makes up for some of christmas. after she left i finally got to sit down for more than 5 minutes at a time. spent sunday recovering. we had to separate her from both dogs with the baby gate. she runs right for them and kisses and grabs. the dogs well they are not happy with that. they are getting better with her but they still growl. when she is bigger they will be much better with her.

now i just need to get through the next 2 or 3 months of horrible winter weather and i will be happy. long comute + snow = miserable driver (me)

hoping for a better new year

christmas. the day i was so excited for totally miserable day. why?? the hubby. he hates all holiday not just christmas ALL holidays. he wants to forget they exist and be a bum at home. so he was grouchy and nasty and i ended up going to my family's house with just the dogs. stayed way longer than i was originally going to and came home and went to bed. finally forgave him and we made up monday afternoon. we didn't see his family and didn't speak for 3 days. yeah so not fun. hopefully a little dose of s for new years will make things better. we are baby sitting the 10 month old terror for new years eve. she is walking and in destruction mode already. i am off friday and will be baby proofing my house. watch out dogs she will be in your face. happy new year everyone

ps totally forgot today is my dad's 75th birthday so happy birthday dad love you

it's almost here

17 kinds of cookies done! shopping done ! wrapping almost done ( ran out of paper) yeah. christmas movies watched done! pecan pie for christmas dinner at hubby's aunt's done! decorating done! cat climbing tree and falling on the floor done! dogs stealing there christmas gifts done! i am ready for christmas now it just needs to get here faster. one more day of work and i have 3 days off and lots of partying to do can't wait.
are you ready??

cookies a bazillion down 4 more kinds to go

cookie baking is moving along. i have 4 kinds to go and i will be done. i still need to bake another pecan pie for christmas but that is easy. i have most of my shopping done and so far paid for. left to buy a couple of gift cards and toys for the nieces and nephew. still no list so i am tearing my hair out since i want to be done early this year and enjoy the holidays and not have to deal with traffic. i hate holiday traffic. hopefully i can get done by mid december and really enjoy christmas.

november = cookies

now through mid decmber i will spend my weekends baking cookies and wrapping gifts. i have a huge chunk of shopping done and really only have to buy gifts for the nieces and nephew. 1 is easy this is her first christmas and she will be more interested in the wrapping paper than the gifts. the other 2 are in the picky stage. not everything will be liked. i have some things for b but m is hard this year. she turns 13 in feb and is in between kid and teen. still likes some toys but also wanting some more grown up stuff. where did the time go??

thanksgiving this year will be at my hubby's uncles house. i can't wait. i love the holidays. hubby not so much. he will go and he will have a good time but he goes grudgingly. we agreed this year to go to his family's instead of mine. that is fine with me. my family and holidays have been rough since my brother's marriage ended. i seem to get the short end of the stick if any at all. i try not to be bitter but sometimes that is really hard. so i am looking forward to his crazy family and enjoying the day. i am off on friday so i can really relax and enjoy the weekend as well