It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

So here's the question: What time do you get up in the morning? Are you a morning person or are you a night owl?

Well friends, that fateful day has arrived for me. Today is my first day back at work after being off for 10 weeks. My last day at work was the day before Thanksgiving!

Sooo, today I was up by 3:45am and out the door by 4:40am. I start work at 5:00am. Even though I've had this schedule for 7 years, it's hard for me. I've always been a night owl.

Normally, on non-work days, I wake up early automatically but can fall back asleep. I'm not gonna lie, I've never been a morning person but have been one out of necessity. Some days I'm up and at it fairly early, other days not, it just depends on what's going on. If I've just finished working 3 12-hour shifts in a row, I'm lucky if I'm dressed by noon that following day!

One thing is certain, it's quite different when your kids leave the nest. With no kids to wake up in the morning, no more carpools to drive, and no more breakfasts or lunches to make in the morning, your schedule is your own!

Thrifty Thursday

A few weeks ago I stopped by the Goodwill while I was out running errands. I realize I'm stopping by the Goodwill at least once a week now to look for Thrifty Thursday finds so that I can link up with Leigh over at Bloggeritaville. So far, Goodwill hasn't let me down!

So when I was there, right away I spotted something that I've always thought about getting but never have. Brand new, still in the box and all wrapped up, was a digital picture frame.


Do any of you have one of these? I don't plan on keeping it out all the time but I thought it would be fun to use at the holidays or for special occassions. I've seen them sold for well over $100 so when I saw it was $19.00, I didn't hesitate. I think it was a great thrifty find!


This post is linked to:
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville

Photo Resolution 2010 and Wordless Wednesday

7/52:

Notice anything?

Finally, I'm wearing 2 shoes pretty comfortably. I thought the day would never come!

Good Food, Good Weather, Good Friends...

Do you ever have a weekend that you hate to see come to an end? This past weekend was like that for me. I don't know why this camping club weekend was any different from the others but it was so enjoyable. The food, the weather, the people, I loved every minute of it!

We arrived at the RV park before dark Thursday night and I immediately got busy cleaning. We recently had some minor work done on the RV so it was really dusty from sitting at the shop. I'm so glad I took the time to clean because all weekend our RV seemed to be the hub of activity. Every time I turned around someone was knocking on the screen door saying "Linda...." I think at one point there was 9 or 10 of us in the RV talking and just hanging out before dinner on Saturday.

Friday night 17 of us went out for a delicious Italian dinner. They put us in our own private room and boy was that smart on their part. We can be one loud group when we get together. I tried to get a picture of each of the couples but it looks like I missed 2. In one of the pictures you'll see an older lady with gray hair and glasses. She is our friend Janet's mother. Janet's father passed away only 3 weeks ago and Janet knew it would be hard for her mother on Valentine's Day so she brought her with them to the campout. Janet's parents had been married for 61 years when her father passed away.







The RV park is known for the mineral hot springs that are on site. They have 4 mineral pools, each varying in temperature, plus a large heated swimming pool. Saturday afternoon I soaked in the 100+ degree pool and it felt so good on my ankle. I'm having a problem with my ankle being stiff and it's still some what swollen, so the mineral pool seemed to be good therapy.

As usual, Saturday night was our potluck. I made cupcakes (surprise surprise!) and at my husband's request, homemade macaroni and cheese. I was all set to try a new baked chicken recipe but he mentioned mac and cheese. There wasn't one noodle left in the dish so it was well received. I usually make homemade mac and cheese once or twice a year at the campouts because we have kids that camp with us and they always love it.



Here are a few random pictures from the potluck...





As you can see, the weather was gorgeous. We were in the desert and it reached the high 70's during the day. It was cold at night but certainly wasn't unbearable. The whole weekend was just delightful in every way!

I'm already counting down the days until next month's camping club weekend! Good food, good weather, good friends!

Ok...I Think I'm Done Now!

It's 2:00am Thursday morning and I'm still up! I've been busy as a bee since Wednesday afternoon getting things ready to put in the RV, shopping, baking, delivering early Valentine's Day treats (since we won't be home this weekend), doing laundry, addressing Valentine cards, making out a last minute grocery list, etc., etc., etc. The only thing left to do is gather up my clothes and I'll be ready to roll. Howard will be so proud of me (when he gets up in 3 hours!) and sees that I'm organized and ready to go. Usually I'm running around, scrambling at the last minute to get things done, but then again, I've always been working so you have to factor exhaustion into the equation. I have to admit, being off work these last few months has allowed me to be more organized than ever, and life has been pretty much stress free (as stress free as it can be when you have a broken ankle). It's been a welcomed relief.

When we go on these RV trips, I like to have things pretty much done prior to leaving if possible. I want to be able to relax, enjoy the company, and not be pressured to get things done. Lord knows, cooking meals is pressure enough. I knew I wanted to bring goodies to friends with it being Valentine's Day weekend so I did all of my baking and gift assembling before hand. Here are a few of the treats I'll be giving to friends.

Cupcakes, all packaged up pretty and ready to go...



I also made 7 big heart chocolate chip cookies. Actually I made more than 7 but threw out the first batch because I think the flour was old. I put each cookie in a big baggie, put a cute personalized sticker and ribbon on it, and now they're ready to go.


I'm also bringing "sundaes", remember these...


I wish you all lived close enough so that I could bring you one of these Valentine's Day treats, because I HEART you! All of you!

Photo Resolution 2010 and Wordless Wednesday

6/52:

Wordless Wednesday

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This weekend is camping club weekend! Of course, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day so I've got alot of work to do today. I'm hoping to make BIG heart shaped chocolate chip cookies, decorate them, wrap them, then give them out this weekend. Plus, I need to figure out what food I'll be bringing to the campout.

If you've been reading my blog for very long, you know that our camping friends eat very well at the campouts! No hot dogs and beans for this group! Nope, no way! Believe me, I've tried! It's always a challenge for me, the cooking impaired girl, to come up with winners because remember, I camp with gourmet cooks...and that's the truth! Luckily, there are lots and lots of cooking blogs to get great ideas from. Guess I'd better get browsing!

A Valentine Gift Idea

I saw an idea somewhere out there in blogland weeks ago and knew it was something I wanted to do for Valentine's Day this year myself. They turned out absolutely adorable and were fun to make. Take a look at the finished product...


Have you ever seen anything so cute! I made 4 and when you break it down, each cost about $5 to make.

Here's what you'll need to make your own "sundae"

~ one sundae glass
~ m&ms
~ styrofoam
~ candy (I used peppermint nougats)
~ straw
~ hot glue gun
~ ribbon

I didn't have any sundae glasses on hand so I headed to the Goodwill and was lucky enough to find 4 @ $1.00 each. I soaked them in bleach before I used them since they were second hand. After cleaning them up, I tied a ribbon on the bottom and they were ready for the m&m's...


I took a medium sized styrofoam ball and cut one end of the styrofoam to make it flat, then just started randomly hot gluing the candy onto the styrofoam, making it full and symmetrical. Since the styrofoam was a little smaller than the rim of the glass, I put a toothpick in the styrofoam to help secure it down into the m&m's.



To finish off the look, I took one straw, cut it in half and hot glued the pieces on.


We will be getting together with friends this weekend for Valentine's Day and I've got one for each couple. What a great centerpiece wouldn't you say! When I originally saw this idea, I wanted to make them for my college daughter and her roommates but decided against it. I don't know how they would hold up being packed and shipped to Arizona!

(I wish I could remember where I originally saw his idea so I could give credit where credit is due but I blog hop so much I couldn't tell you. Thank you fellow blogger for the great idea!)

This post is linked to:
Just Something I Whipped Up Monday @ The Girl Creative
DIY Day @ A Soft Place To Land