decked the halls

I don't know about you, but for the past two weeks, I have been decking my halls, walls, tables and windows. I got some new stuff this year; got rid of, well not rid of, but just updated my color scheme for Christmas. And I am very happy with it. I think I am finally finished. No. I AM finally most definitely finished.


I think I may even leave my wreath up through the winter after my tree comes down and my snowmen come out. I like it.

Oh, day two of my new drapes and so far, Frank hasn't noticed them. It's not like they are a slight change, I mean look at the size of the window.
This was the former set. yeah, bold, like ribbon candy, in a way. I'm looking to sell them. I have 6 panels in 84 length.

Baubles.



a pretty little Santa sleigh with more baubles and stuff.

I'm having more fun looking at other blogs and pretty decorations. I wish I could take better pics, especially of my tree; it's very hard to get the right setting. I have so many lovely birds that I have been collecting the past couple of years. I found the most beautiful angel at Micheals with all the right colors for only $12. I'll try to get my diningroom tomorrow. Maybe Frank will see the drapes tonight. HA

Need to get my dinner ready. fish. yumm.
Have a wonderful and painfree weekend.

Deborah

And They Call it Puppy Love

He brought her home. A girl. And instantly, we all fell head-over-heels, in love with her. How could we not? She is, afterall, sweet, adorable, mild-tempered. She has the most beautiful blue-green eyes. Her name is Isis.



Isn't she beautiful! I know, I know, he had her ears cut off, but other than that, she is so stinking cute. And she is so sweet. I just hate the puppy-training-stage. The poop, the chewing, the poop. She's not doing so bad really. Let's just say, it's a good thing she's cute.


This big guy, has had his nose a little, uh, cranked. He was just as nuts as the kids the first day. He's over it. Dogs do have issues with jealousy. He has it bad. But he does like her, and yet he lets her know her place.

I have been down for a few days with a nasty monster - probably from over-doing it a bit over the weekend. When I feel better, I will be posting the pics of my decorations. I just HAD to get these up to show you how positively adorable she really is.

Now, back to the resting place.
Deborah

Neglectful

These are a few things I've been working on while I've been off neglecting my blog. It's not that I've been bored; oh no, never that! HA, imagine a day with some time to be bored........... sorry, can't.




That's ok, because at least I haven't been under the covers with a migraine. I have actually had some pretty good days lately. (I know, I know, I shouldn't say anything) HOWEVER; as I look over the last three years, I'm doing great, compared. Oh, They still come, but I'm able to live through them.




And I've been using my creative side to keep busy. With all of the left-over wood pieces we have here, and the one's from the kid's Dads house, I have been able to make some really neat and interesting things for my house, as well as gifts for my family. I love me some junk.


I remember being told when my girls were little, "wait until they're teens," and didn't really know what that meant, in it's fullest. Thankfully for me, my girls are great; they are respectful, don't get into trouble, are good in school - they are great kids. What that statement meant was that I was going to be in for the RUN of my life. The daily, non-stop and forever running to and fro from day til night - RUN. They wear me out. literally. From one place to the next. If it's not that, it's the grocery store, every other day. I just run, and run and run. well, I'm driving but you get it.





On Migraines: If you are like me, and have been taking anti-seizure medication, and have been for some time; it's time to have your Vitamin D levels checked. You may have become somewhat deficient to Vitamin D by now. And with the weather turning, well, dark and gray, the lack of sun isn't going to help. Please get your levels checked, get your supplements. Here and Here are excellent articles to read on the subject. You may be at risk for more than you think; like cardiovascular disease (no shocker there), malignancy, cerebrovascular disease and fibromyalgia. Hey why not, right. A little something more to add to the mix. fun, fun, fun!j (UPDATE: I have fixed the highlighted sites; here's hoping they work for you now)



I had my levels tested just two weeks ago for an unrelated test and found I am indeed deficient. I was told to take upwards of 3000 iu per day of Vitamin D3. now. I will be rechecked in four months. There is always something, isn't there.






But wait -



Oh, look, despite my being neglectful here I was given this Lemonade Award by MJ at Rhymes With Migraine. The Lemonade Award is given to blogs demonstrating an attitude of gratitude. Although I find it awkward being on the receiving end, especially when I'm not appearing as creative in my writing, I am very thankful for it. Thank you, MJ.




Now it's my turn to honor more writers who demonstrate an attitude of gratitude. I think you'll agree!



1. Migraine Chick


2. Somebody Heal Me


3. The Daily Headache


4. Migraine Community


5. I Shutter to Think


6. The Decorated House


7. The Sassy Lime


8. Much to My Sjogren




Oh and by the way, I am so very spoiled. This is my new Mom van. I was pretty uninterested in getting a new van at first. I even test-drove one, and didn't like it, didn't want it. BUT, I actually love it. It does have an awful lot of gadgets to get used to. I still do NOT like where they moved the shifter to.



.



I am, although, enjoying the Satelite radio and the MyGig system. The kids of course, are thrilled with the idea of video. My MIL said they will be coming out with toilets next. I'm afraid she may be right.





Look, two glove boxes. Crazy! I am thrilled we no longer have three red vehicles in the driveway. We were known as "the house with the red cars."

It is truly amazing what they think of to put into a vehicle. The first gadget I disengaged was the rear back-up camera. Why, I ask, would you need such a device on a minivan? A camper, yes. But I didn't need one on my previous vehicle, and I don't see the need now. I will continue to use my eyes, and my mirrors. But thank you, Dodge. Clever.

I needed to make it clear to the kids that it is not a theater on wheels; that we will not be playing movies every. time. we. get. in. PULEEEZ. I guess they are just as excited as me. My favorite is the pedal extender. Oh the little things that excite me. I was totally thrilled with that. AND!!! The seat goes higher than my other van. WAAAAY higher. I love LOVE my new van; more than I thought I would. Yes, I'm spoiled. terribly terribly spoiled.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for; our Philip will be home with a fellow Marine brother. oh, and a stupid puppy for me to raise and train. lovely.

My children are healthy and happy.

My husband has a job that he loves.

Our Lord provides for us.

Wishing and praying you all pain-free days.

gobble gobble
Deborah

I know, the fence needs some painting. Any takers? Because, it's just too big for me. Would you just look at that sky! Can God paint or what!

So these guys were out raking up the leaves into this huge pile and I had to get their pics. We do love the fall here in the Northeast. The colors are absolutlely spectacular. The smells, ugh, simply like nowhere else. To smell a fire crackling at night or the cinnamon and apples baking, mmmmm. Now that is what fall is. Oranges, yellows and reds against the brilliant blue sky.

The leaves are near totally gone on most of the trees; that is something I just hate to see. The emptiness of the trees. Well, you can see the squirrel's nests up there. But it's so bare and cold. The winters here are so long, so cold. So wet and painful.

Lastnight I had dreams of new aura; they looked like the little round peppermint candies you get at nice restaurants. But these were black and white. Naturally they were spinning in their spinning ways, in different direction, opposite each other - faster and faster they would go. In a zig-zagged pattern. As they would speed up, they would start to make a sound of zipping from my left to right ear, and then left again. I hate these little aura peppermint candy zippy things.

For the last, hmmm, oh 3 maybe 4 weeks now, I have had a non-stop brain-beating migraine. I already exhausted my abortive. Twice. I have been to another doctor for hemorraging in a not so pleasant area. And I can't seem to stay awake for more than just a few hours a day. I. feel. like. garbage. tired garbage. again. oh how I cannot stand feeling like this anymore. I am fighting a nap right now. and I really don't know why. silly. ok, take a nap. again with the stupid nap.

My Neverending Story

But first, a little bit of the better part of my life that has been happening. First of all, I have a twenty-year old child. It just feels and sounds weird to say it, but I do.



See, Lexi is now a sweet, and happy twenty! So hard to believe. We celebrated her and Grandma's birthdays together last month; which was only a few weeks ago, but I've been out of sorts. Anyway, I only have the pics from my camera so far.






She doesn't like to be the center of attention, so she was mostly throwing the gifts to the ground; oh, and this was her second party of the day, she still had another party to go to. (and it was 7pm) She was pretty tired.



Of course, I ended up finding this awesome desk at a garage sale, for $30, and got it for $20. A bargain. I actually love it the way it is. And ist's perfect in my living room. I needed my own space here for my laptop and for my, you know, doing things. By the way, I ditched the kitchen chair.


Another project. Before.

and after. I haven't done the other yet, I need to get more fringe for the shade. It was too short; it's beaded. perfect, but short.

Last Sunday we had Thanksgiving for our Philip - as he came home from Afghanistan and will not be home on Thanksgiving. These two little goof balls did, well, the de-gutting of their pumpkins. They are just too cute.

Why we didn't get after pictures? Because I left the picture-taking up to my girls. Nick's pumpkin is outside, and I suppose I could go out and get a pic, butttttt.......

This is the beautiful, frosty view we are fortunate to have out our front window. It is a gorgeous view. It's a West-facing window, over-looking a park. It's perfect in the winter when a storm is coming in as well. And in the evening when the sun is setting on a warm evening and the sky is a beautiful hue of pink, very nice. But this picture I just had to take. It really gives a true glimpse of Fall here in the Northeast. Cool, crisp and vibrant in color. I just hate when the leaves are totally vanished. Wshen there is no color left in the trees. You can really feel the cold then.

Does this look cold? This is migraine cold. It's something I'm tired of feeling. Of seeing. The ever-present me I hate. The part I never seem to get used to. You'd think I would have that part down by now. Denial is so so simple. Especially on good days. They are far and few between; and yet they feel like lifetimes of wonder. And I must accomplish so much on them.

Paint, and create. Clean, cook. Be the housewife, the mother, chef, shopper. woman. Those are the days I can open the windows, at least the curtains. And drive. shower. brush my teeth. get off the couch. prepare a meal.

Movement of any kind, at all, for the past few days has literally brought out the most intense pain to my ears, my eyes, my very inner most parts of my skull that I never knew existed. I am afraid to move at the moment. So I just sit in my stink and wait for the meds, those wonderful, awful meds to work their merry wonder again. And if they don't, well, then what? Well, then I guess, it's back to square one, call the doc and go to - hey, let's not go there.

oh great, the dog needs to go out. up I go. the bark just jolted my freaking head. I hate that dog sometimes.

deborah

a shutter project

This is the new little shutter project I made. This one is for my Mom. I hope your not reading this, Mom. Her birthday is coming up in a few days, so, this is one of those shutters I had that I wanted to paint for her.

My Mom and Dad like to feed birds, this was a no-brainer. I'm not totally thrilled with the way it came out; I mean, the letters are sliding to the right, and the Momma bird is a little umm, beafy, but I do think she will like it.

Now, I am left with just one more shutter for myself. I still have not yet figured how to design it. I'm sure it will come to me. Until then, I have a garage of other things to paint and arrange.

Hoping you have a pain-free weekend

Deborah

Fall, Beautiful Fall

What a beautiful weekend we had for apple picking! We took the kids to one of MANY orchards we are fortunate to have here in NY. The sky was clear and blue. The weather was warm and sunny. The trees were vibrant with the change of color. Simply beautiful. A perfect day for apple picking.

As you can see by the pictures, the kids enjoyed themselves. They wandered thru a corn maze; rode horses, bounced on; well, bouncing things. We ate junk, delicious junk.

Now prior to our trip, Frank and I had ventured with Nicholas' class last week to a different orchard. We had so much fun with the kids there. They have goats and baby cows, chickens a pig. He was pretty stinky. But the baby cows, they were so sweet, they licked my hands!! I think they just may have been my favorite part.

Oh, this scarecrow here; I redid the face. The first time I made it, well, it came out kind of scary. I don't like the scary stuff on Halloween. Call me weird, but I don't. So, after a few days of freaking myself and the kids out with my scarecrow, I brought it back in and tore the eyes off, sewed them back on. Made a new mouth, a nose, and now we have a happy scarecrow.

Maybe I'm just being a Mom, but how cute does this kid look in his new glasses!!!! I know, I know - adorable. We just call him, "Dork."

Bosco is getting his winter 'fluff' in. Oh, yeah, he is growing extra stuffing in his belly area to keep warm, too. He is such a big boy. This is how he prefers to be held by the way. Weirdo.

Thursday, Frank and I were chaperones with the Second grade class at Nicholas' school for the Pumpkin and Apple Farm. It was so much fun! There was a wagon ride, and animals, the obvious...pumpkins, apples, cider.

This is Mr. Abbott himself, helping Nicholas with his pumpkin. He drove our wagon. What a sweet man. He grew up on the farm, never lived anywhere else; and had lots of stories of his own parents on the farm growing up, and his children. We had so much fun with the kids.

Unfortunately, this is how I have been feeling. eeeww, I know. Let's see, could it be the lack of sleep? mmmaybe. OR those hammers there could have something to do with it. I can hear them as they knock - over and over. It doesn't go away anymore. It is just ever-present. gotta love it. Today, I tried, stupidly I might add, to wear contact lenses. Not so smart. As I hate the feeling of having anything IN my eyes. and they just don't work as well as my glasses. I have just awful eyesight. My prescription is pretty strong. blah blah blah

hey, at least we have had some really nice weather. my kids are healthy and happy. My husband was fortunate to find a job. In his retirement of all times. Whatever. For me, this week, I'm going to get busy with some more of my crafty things. It's what I like to do.

Hoping you are pain-free

Deborah

My Pretty New Cabinet

Of Course, this it the before picture. Now remember, this was on the side of the road, in two pieces. Sad, I know. It has been in the garage now for far too long.


This is the very sweet toile fabric I used for the background. I just love LOVE toile. I originally purchased a different fabric that just wasn't what I was really looking for. Soooooo, I had to go back for what I really wanted, this!!



Here is the top shelf, and it's not totally done as far as the decorating goes. But here it is. I love chickens, and my kitchen is all roosters and such. My dining room is a gorgeous deep dark eggplant color, but the camera never gets the color right, it brightens it up too much. The lower color, below the chair rail, is a suede finish and color. I did this when we first moved in and I still love the colors.


Does my country - like cabinet match my more formal - like dining room? Not so much, but I love it. And because we have baseboard heating, this is actually the only corner in the house that will take it. It's the only inside corner. So it's the perfect spot.


I don't think you can even tell, but I put glass knobs on the front door. It had ugly wooden knobs that just had to go. Overall, I am very happy with it. Not to mention, it was somebody else's garbage.

What do you think?

With the weather; the Fall, colorful weather, comes the ugly rain and clouds and drizzle and cold. I prefer the pumpkins and falling colorfu array of leaves. Baking pies and apple cake, decorating my home in the beautiful warm colors. The smell of the warm spices.

Oops, forgot to mention the other little thing that comes with the Fall weather here in the Northeast - well, for me anyway, that would be my beast. Back in full migraine-gear, with all the bells and whistles on and ringing in my ears. I'm just not looking forward to the next season to follow and I'm not even going to mention it because I can't bear to think of it now.

Went into Lowe's today and saw. Christmas. No joke. Full on Christmas decorations, with trees and the ugly, sorry but I just don't get them, blow up decorations. There had to be roughly 6 aisles of decorations. Today is only Oct. 2. Now we are being forced into our Christmas shopping already.
Generally speaking I love Christmas and the pretty decorations, but I am just NOT ready to see it the first week of October. I just don't get it! I'm still decorating for Fall!

On Monday, I had that cryo done. This time it was done on both the left and right sides. When I woke up in recovery, the back of my head was shaved. I think my pain doc has a serious complex about his being bald. Thankfully, I have hair to cover it, but it itches like crazy.

That's all I've got, other than a nasty monster