Book Review

2. forty. five. Was the last time I looked at the clock last night. My eyes are sandpaper and my head is lead. This happens every time I find a really good book - or good author - I just can't put it down and I avoid looking at the clock, knowing I'll be dragging when (if?) I get up to fix Andy his lunch at 5:45 in the morning. Last night was one of those nights.

The author keeping my attention, recommended by my friend Loretta out in California, is Linda Nichols. Clifton Forge Library and CP Jones in Covington each have a selection of her novels. Put that name on your list and check her out next time you go - DO it. At the Scent of Water was probably my favorite - but Finding Eden, set in Abingdon, Virginia and Thurmond, WV, was a close second (It even mentions Clifton Forge!). Nichols is a Christian, but her books are far from being sappy or preachy, and she does not shy away from controversial or distrubing topics, but then she is not voyeuristic, either. There are a few authors who try so hard to get the Message across that the story gets lost; in Nichols' work, it is a perfect blend. I was running out of Amish Fiction: Wanda Brunstetter, Beverly Lewis, and B.J. Hoff.

Actually I turned the light off at 1:20AM, but I think my brain was stuck in about third gear and I had trouble shifting down. By this time it was too late to take a Benadryl, which I sorely needed because of what I think is a sinus infection. I lay (lie?) in bed for about 15 minutes, staring at the too-light walls from moolight reflected off light cloud cover. The cat came in and jumped in the window, his body tense and his tail flicking. He did that thing that cats do - focus intently on something unseen, then shift his head and shoulders to get a better, different view. Now, in Chesapeake, that freaked me out because there was always the possibility that indeed there WAS an axe murderer lurking in the dahlias, but here its usually a possum, a deer or Andy's friend, "Mr. Skunk." By the time I retreived my glasses, I couldn't see any of the critters that the cat was stalking, even though I went to the kitchen window and checked under the bird feeder in the unlikely event there was a bear at the sunflower seeds. No such luck. So I trotted back to bed to not sleep some more - moved the cat and snuggled in to watch the shadows on the wall.

And here it is Friday with no definite plans for the weekend, except for Andy to work on the Subaru-oooo, which appears to have a blown headgasket. After my doctor's appointment this afternoon (where I hope I will be prescribed something to fight the goo), its off to WalMart to fill prescriptions - and oh, we're going to look at a desk over in Idlewide I saw on Craigslist.

Hannah just shouted to Abigail, "Get out of here, you're too stinky!" So I better go get fresh pants on that baby....

Christmas preparations

Spoiler alert! Grandparents' Christmas Presents pictured below!!


I try to be a good mom. I try and try and try. I know that kids like to help. Since I know they like to do things that are messy and I don't mind the mess - I (usually) clean up after them OK. I'm having them make "chip clips" as presents for the grandparents. Who can't use a chip clip, I say! Its truly a clothespin painted with glitter or arrayed with faux diamonds, and they are truly handy. My goal of this activity is to teach them about GIVING vs. RECEIVING during Christmas. Too much of the gimmes. (Tangent: We got a huge, 1" thick Fingerhut catalog a month ago that Hannah won't give up....she sleeps with it and the toy pages are well-worn. I didn't even think we were on the Fingerhut mailing list!)

Back to my story. The trouble comes in for me - who, of course, as you have guessed from a lack of Christmas cards in your mailbox, is nowhere NEAR ready for the holiday - when the little darlings EAT the glitter and EAT the glue


and paint their baby sister with glue when I have gone to put away laundry (gone for all of 3 minutes)(I can hear you saying, "NOOOOOO! Not THAT sweet girl!") , it is just too much for me.
No pictures of the latter; camera ran out of batteries. Probably a good thing. Mama was NOT happy.

That big one is getting close to getting switches and coal in her stocking. But then, my learning curve is pretty steep. Due to past history, I should know better not to turn my back on her with paint, as Daddy-o did here during our May 2007 bathroom remodel: Whoops, well, add glue to that list.

Gotta run. Have to give the littlest girl a bath to rid her of her glue 'do.

Santy Claus

We joined some pals the other night for a visit with Santy Claus at the Western Sizzlin the other night. Hannah was eager to tell the jolly fellow (whom we had also spied in the BK last Sunday after church) just what she wanted for Christmas. Quite a change from last year when she would have nothing to do with the man....

The picture I didn't get was of her dark eyes after she left his lap with a gift (a "princess" puzzle).
"I'm so MAD at that Santa Claus."
"Why? Han, you got a nice new puzzle!"
"I TOLD him I wanted TRAIN CARS and he just gave me this puzzle. I am MAD because I wanted TRAIN action, not a puzzle."
"Well, Hannahkins, we have to be grateful for the gifts we DO receive, and anyways Santy has to make his list and you might get train cars under the Christmas tree. What about that?"
"I'm STILL mad. I wanted train cars TONIGHT."
"Han, you are going to end up with switches in your stocking."
"Oh, no I won't!"

And then we have the Sugar Baby. Who wouldn't let Santa get too close. So she reeeeee-ached over and took the teddy bear with her fingertips. Satisfied with her 'score,' she smiled back to mama....


But she's all about giving hugs, so I got a picture anyways. I'm not about to make 'em scream if they don't want to sit on the lap of a costumed old man....but if I can coax them and coerce them, then its good for the photo album.


Let me know if you see Thomas the Train on sale. Or if you have a willow tree in your backyard.

Clifton Forge Christmas Parade

If you like fire trucks, cute kids, local celebrities and cloggers, then you've logged on to the right blog!


A shot of where we were standing to see the parade...Andy's office is in that building to the left of Town Hall.


"Is there going to be candy at this parade, Mama?"







The first group of cloggers - Hannah's favorite

Talking shop....HEY Andy! Lookit the parade!!!




THOU SHALT NOT COVET the tractors in the parade....


















ERV's were there from Covington, Alleghany County (Dunlap!), Sharon, Glen Wilton, Lexington City, Selma, Iron Gate...who am I leaving out??





It was SOOOOOO cold! About this time my camera started to freeze and it hesitated between shots, so some of the last pictures started to look a little psychedelic - I was getting about every third shot at this point....


























Of course, out here, Santa trades his reindeer for a tractor!

Regardless of numb noses and toeses, we had a great time. I have over 100 pictures, so if you're a 'local' and want copies, let me know and I'll burn a CD for you. For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me size the pictures the way I wanted so some may not show up as clearly as I'd like...
We were looking forward to going to the Covington parade last night, but it took us until about 6:45PM Saturday to thaw out from Clifton's shindig! Thank you to everyone who braved the cold to show us a great time!

CVS score

I am only an elementary-level shopper at best when it comes to scoring great deals at CVS, as there are several blog sites I follow where they are expert and advanced in their cvsskills. But yesterday, I think I did not bad:
Transaction #1: Instant Energy 6 hour 2-pack drink: 5.24 (with tax)
RECEIVED: $4.99 in Extra Bucks
Transaction #2: 2 bags M&Ms, 2 26oz. jars Ragu, 2 10oz. bottles Dawn Dish soap, 3 tins Altoids, 4 packs of Dentyne.... used .20 Dawn coupon, 3 "peelies" for $1 off on Altoids, 4.99 in Extra Bucks from transaction #1, and a $5 off a $15 purchase coupon that printed on my transaction #1 receipt - - for a total of $.94



In summary, I paid $6.18 for all of this! (Its minus a bag of MMs because we girls shared them 3-way to celebrate on the way home....) Normally I don't buy gum or altoids, but they make good stocKing stuffers and as an "attachment" to wrap with gift cards and restaurant gift certificates! Woo-Hoo!

There is just no time! I think that somewhere deep inside once I thought that if I were a stay-at-home-mom I would have all this free time on my hands to pursue my crafts, to laze and to take wonderful hikes in the woods, etc. But NO! Spend my time cleaning up after the two beasties, keeping pace (and usually losing) with laundry and keeping everyone fed, clothed and happy. At best I think I do a marginal job on everything.
The flu bug lingered even though we used Tamiflu. We didn't use the full dose, I guess that's why - and my appetite still isn't right - no problem there, and no complaints. But here it is just a couple days before Thanksgiving!
We're travelling to Tidewater for the holidays; lunch with Andy's family and supper with mine. We plan to leave to come back on Saturday morning, and avoid (hopefully) the Sunday rush. We'll see how that goes. I have a tension headache thinking about the trip down there on Wednesday, the busiest travel day of the year. So it goes.
Today we made turkey handprints. As usual, as soon as my back was turned, Hannah smeared herself with paint up to her armpits. Sorry - no picture. I didn't even have to guess what she was doing when I heard her say, "oooooooh, PUR-ple!" The Sugar Baby looked like a scapled Indian with warpaint and a smear of peach paint up the back of her head. There was a faint misting of blue around her lips from where she was pensively mouthing a paintbrush. But we 'captured' several flocks of turkey for the grandparents and for the scrapbook. Very festive.

OH! Almost forgot. THank you Loretta, I went ahead and made a "healthy" oatmeal cookie for our take along snack. I forgot to mention that I have an abundance of cold cereal (I get it free or 75% off with coupons and sales), so I wanted to use that in the recipe. After tweaking one I found online, here it is (it has loads of ingredients, but the flavor is worth it):

"Healthier" Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup ww flour
1/2 cup ap flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves (optional)
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup nuts (peanuts), chopped fine
2 cups cereal (combination of cheerios, raisin bran or rice krispies or etc.)
3 tbs flax seeds (if you have 'em)
1/4 wheat bran
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup fried fruit (blueberries, coconut, raisins, apples or cranberries) or chocolate chips or butterscotch chips, etc., according to your prefernce for "healthy" cookies

Preheat oven to 350. Put flour, spices, salt, baking soda in bowl, mix and set aside. Cream butter and sugars. Add milk, vanilla and eggs, beating well after each addition. Add cereal, fiber, seeds, nuts and fruit. Mix well. (I use my stand mixer). Scoop dough into walnut-sized balls, flatten slightly and bake for 15-18 minutes until brown. Leave in towards the shorter time limit for chewier cookies, longer for crisper cookies.

floooo

Boy, when it hits, you know it. I thought it was food poisoning at first, though, because of a Reader's Digest article I'd been reading about salmonella and we'd had chicken for supper, but alas, day 3 (or is it 4?) and there is no doubt.
Thankfully the girls had their flu shots last week, so Hannah avoided the bug completely and Abba only got a mild - very mild - case, but they both have colds. Andy is not so lucky. He had it worse than anyone. But let me interrupt this post to promote a product that has saved our sanity: TAMIFLU. Oh, please, for your sake, if you are exposed to the flu or think you have it, get your doctor to call it in right away. It is the highest tier on our co-pays, but It Works. That is the only reason, I am certain, that I am able to ambulate without - well, without unpleasant side effects. I'm still sore, and loaded to the gills with tylenol and advil, but it was a gritty 24-36 hours while we were both down; while I was sick on the couch and Andy was at work. Whew!

In the meantime, we had 4" of snow! It was so pretty! I felt bad for Hannah because she wanted to go play so much. It did feel good on my fever, but I couldn't stay out long. She made several forays in her boots and fleece so she did get to make some snow angels and footprints...but since this was such an early snowfall, I bet we get more that we can all properly enjoy.

That's all for now; more later!