NO We did not have a hurricane

No we did not have a hurricane come through, we had our big oak tree trimmed, it had been a while since it had a good trimming, now it looks bare as you can see how much is on the ground.




Bandit making himself at home in the cats bunk bed. Yes, Gill has named the raccoons who frequent, Bandit and Stubby who has lost some of his tail. Bandit was curled up in the bunk bed and when I opened the door, he looked up at me and then left.

Michael under the tree

STARBUCKS BOOKS, YES THEY HAVE ITEMS OTHER THAN COFFEE

A friend at work told me about a neat little book at Starbucks, so I set out to get it for my hubby for Christmas. It is called The Traveler" by Daren Simkin. It is about a little boy who packed up all his time in a suitcase and took off on a journey to find a better way to spend it. The bottom line is he came full circle back to friends and that was the most precious time of all to him because he was truly happy.

Well, while in Starbucks, I came across another book that I thought hubby would like and you know what, he was so touched by it that he told me it was the best gift he has gotten in a long time. I was like WOW, I had no idea he would react like that. It is a small book as well simply titled "5", Where will you be five years from now? It is a book to stir your creative juices and to inspire you to really get in touch with your dreams. (OK I took that from the first page) It is filled with inspirational quotes and places to jot notes.

WALT DISNEY: "My mission in life is to make people happy"

Five years, 260 weeks, 1825 days, 2,333,000 minutes, what will you do with it? What could you do with it?

Donny & Marie on Larry King 12/26/08

OK the reason this is so neat is that this interview actually took place several months ago. It was about their new show at the Flamingo in Las Vegas which opened September 9th, it was originally signed for 6 months but within the first month, extended to 2 years!!! OK so you ask so.... well for my 50th birthday Gill surprised me and took me to Vegas to see Donny and Marie, we saw them on September 10th which was my birthday. We had VIP tickets, we sat right down front, first table just off the thrust (center stage that juts out into audience) and I was sitting right at the stage, in fact in the opening segment, Donny knelt down right in front of me and sang and then tweaked my nose!!!! And then we met them afterwards and got our pictures taken with them. This was so awesome and something I will never ever forget. They really care about their fans. Well anyway getting to the point, on Larry King last night, they showed clips from the show and we could definitely see ourselves. Of course we knew right where we were sitting.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Gill and I and our 7 kitties would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.







We drove around and looked at Christmas lights last night and saw a lot of beautiful displays. We especially liked this one and thought I would share it.




I just had to post this, Gill and I kept our tree very simple this year. I made this ornament when I was a little girl, probably in Girl Scouts and I like it and enjoy hanging it on tree every year. We had a tradition when Brad(My Brother) and I were little we had a little stocking ornament on the tree and every Christmas, Santa would leave money in it. Well I have bought my 2 nieces, Abby and Maddie a little stocking for their tree to carry on that tradition.







My Christmas present from Gill, a 15 inch wood digital picture frame, I have been wanting this for a whole year. It is set up and on our mantle. The picture showing is from when we went to ICE last year at Gaylord Palms. I have pictures of family, our cats and from our trips loaded on a memory card and enjoy the slide show.



My Christmas flowers from Gill








Dreamsicle had fun playing with his new Christmas toys.







Clarabelle and Belle were our only cats who investigated the tree this year however I was not quick enough to get a picture of Belle under the tree.

HOLIDAY MOVIES

Gill and I have been enjoying the holiday movies on Lifetime and Hallmark channels.

Some of our favorites include:
The Christmas Card - a nice story about a soldier who gets a Christmas card and comes to the town where it came from
Borrowed Hearts - a nice story about a man who has someone pose as his wife and child at the Holiday time to impress a client and of course they fall in love, starring Roma Downey
Finding John Christmas - with Valerie B, 2003, very touching story
Secret Santa - a reporter sets off to find the philantropist who is the secret santa, starring Jennie Garth
Moonlight and Mistletoe - starring Tom Arnold, new this year
Undercover Christmas - starring Jamie Gertz, new this year

And I would have to say, our favorite for this year, brand new
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - starring Henry Winkler and Brooke Burns, I have not seen Henry Winkler in anything for a while and he is a great actor, this was very entertaining

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!! We are getting ready to bake more cookies and then go drive around and look at Christmas lights.

REDISCOVERED

OK there are 2 words why I watched this show tonight - Donny Osmond. I am a BIG fan of Donny's and he and sister Marie hosted this show. Well the 5 folks showcased on this show were pretty good, there was only one that I did not care for. Heidi opened and was a good singer with a great attitude, she is also a cancer survivor. Next up was John and he was good as well, had a nice voice. Next was Natalie and she was a good singer as well. Next was JD and he was the only one that I really did not care for and then came DION!!! Well they showed audition tapes for all of them from when they were 12, well in Dion's he sang "Soldier of Love" - a hit of Donny's. Then Dion sang tonight the Stevie Wonder song "Signed, Sealed and Delivered", Donny was just beaming when he introduced Dion. For those who do not know, Stevie Wonder is Donny's idol. Well Dion won, he got $50,000 and then he will open for one night at the Flamingo for the Donny and Marie show. He was so full of charisma and praised his Mother. The live audience voted for who they wanted to win. Donny and Marie are supposed to be on Larry King on Friday so what a great Christmas gift - Donny 2 nights this week. The Larry King show was taped quite a while ago so we (his fans) have been waiting quite a while for it to air.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY and Christmas Lights

Yesterday we finally got some lights hung on the front of the house. We usually do more but time got away from us this year however we did bake Christmas cookies today. Today was my niece Abby's 4th birthday, we called this morning to wish her a happy day. Gill and I have been watching holiday movies on Lifetime and Hallmark, I will post some of my favorites soon. There have been several new ones this year and then some favorites from years past.

What do you think?

OK I know there are not many reading this right now. I have been playing around all morning. I have added pictures of all our cats. And then I added the pretty picture of the sun high above Table Rock Lake in Branson, did not know it was going to take the big space that it did however I really like the sun right there at the top. So we will see, I may just change the pictures up once in a while.

Our Christmas tree this year and much to our delight, we found out that it came from Spruce Pine North Carolina, an area that Gill and I fell in love with when we were there in May. See my picture of a Christmas Tree farm a few posts ago.

town of Winter Garden Christmas tree

Nice little cafe

OK after my Hubby read my last post, he commented to me that I did not say anything about the little restaurant that we ate at in Winter Garden. It is called the Moon Cricket Grill and what was interesting about this restaurant was the bit of history in making it. It was originally a grocery store and I am sorry I can not remember the circa however, it has the original pine floors and tin ceiling. The wood around the restaurant was milled and finished here in Florida. There are stain glass pieces in the front that are from a church. The table tops are the bowling alley lanes from the navel base here in Orlando that closed. The light fixtures are from Rosie O'Grady's at Church Street Station which in no longer there as well. When my parents came to visit, we always went to Rosie O'Grady's, my Father loved it there with the Dixieland Jazz Band, Red Hot Mama who always acknowledged him and the can can dancers. It was sad when they closed. OH and there is a giant propeller suspended from the ceiling that was from a blimp. The food and service was good and I am sure we will go back.

OK I was able to download a couple of pictures but seem to have stalled at that, my computer takes a long time and never the picture never completely downloads.

Christmas is in the air

Yesterday my Hubby Gill and I went to a nice park close by our home to see the peacocks there. We then went to Winter Garden, a small little town just West of Orlando. They have some cafes along the main street and we have been trying them out for a change of pace. The main street is about 3 blocks long and it is beautifully decorated with lights and a BIG Christmas tree. After dinner, some singers from a local church were getting ready to sing so we hung around to listen to a few Christmas songs. Then on the way home, we drove aroound and looked at Christmas lights. We got our tree the day after Thanksgiving and decorated it right away but have not got our outside lights up this year as yet. When we were in North Carolina in May, we saw some Christmas tree farms and when we did buy our tree, we learned it came from where we visited so that was nice. I want to adsome pictures to this post but do not know yet how to do that so will add when I figure that out.

This is a Christmas Tree farm in North Carolina

WELCOME

Hello and thanks for stopping by. I have been following a few BLOGS and decided I wanted to try my own. I wanted to get this up and running before I sent out Holiday greetings so I could let everyone know where to find this.