Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Is it ever cold today! It is one of those days where I just want to snuggle up on the sofa with a nice steaming mug of tea(maybe even my stash of Ty-phoo)....thanks again sis! Maybe I'll get some knitting out or watch some of our dvr'd shows with hubby and Oliver.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh there I am daydreaming again at work. Well at least I am doing it on my lunch break.

I've joined hubby's online bible study. At first I felt totally outta my league, but hubby(dear hubby) kept insisting that I had plenty to offer. Well I find the experience to be very rewarding. It's great to see every one's interpretations on the readings.

I don't know if it's just that it's Advent soon or what, but I've added another blog to my addiction. Here I will take some time each week or every few days(depending on my mood) to allow myself to explore my faith and to put into words what I am feeling about it. It may consist of prayers, reflections or maybe just something I've found interesting and thought I'd pass it on. I hope you will drop by my LogCabin and stay for awhile.

I made my poppy cock last night - wow was it ever easy - and sooooooo good! It's also a good thing that I am passing it on as gifts because it is extremely high in fat *sigh*. I will probably make hubby and kids a batch and maybe some for his folks. His dad has a big sweet tooth.

I didn't end up doing any knitting at lunch - just sat here and started my new blog - ahhhh I'll get to it tomorrow.

Peace and God Bless

One Word MeMe

The Only Rule? One Word

1. Yourself - Comfortable
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse - Close
3. Your hair - Dry
4. Your Mother - Creative
5. Your Father - Fun
6. Your Favorite Item - computer
7. Your dream last night - None
8. Your favorite drink - Pepsi
9. Your Dream Car - Vue
10. The room you are in - office
11. Your ex - cheater
12. You Fear - dark
13. What might you want to be in 10 years - happy
14. Who you hung out with last night - family
15. What you are not - optimistic
16. Muffins - bran
17. One of your wish list items - vacation
18. Time- lacking
19. The last thing you did - lunch
20. What you are wearing - casual
21. Your favorite weather - Fall
22. Your favorite book - Notebook
23. The last thing you ate - Chocolate
24. Your life - hectic

TaDa!!!

Here is the sweater - I did it!!!!! Actually this was such an easy thing to do....but shhhhhhh, let that be our little secret! Hubby wants one but he's so thoughtful, he said I should make myself one first...*G*!

Oliver our cute lil' beagle boy

~Oliver's so cute look, he also uses this one when he is sorry. He is sorry quite often, poor guy! It's not easy been a pup pup!~

~Oliver doing his favorite thing, chewing by Mom's feet~

Oliver in his winter jacket that Grandma brought over, doesn't he look thrilled?

Knitting Lottery

I think I just won the knitting lottery, really! I guess if you're a knitter it doesn't take much to make you feel happy. A lovely lady just dropped off some yarn, pattern books and needles off for a group to use. She asked me if I knit, and when I said I did, she told me to take whatever I wanted first....woooooo hoooooo! Now I had visions of scarves, socks and sweaters spinning around in my head - gave myself a shake and said sure!

Well I got some wool, enough for a couple of projects and needles galore, including a lot of circular needles(which I currently don't have).

This is turning into a great day!

I received my Christmas parcel from my sis - she's such a sweetie. She sent me some Ty Phoo tea and some low fat snack bars which she claims are awesome. I can barely wait for tea time. As you can tell from my blog name - I love tea! :) So getting a new tea is a special treat indeed. And what a perfect day for it too. We are currently experiencing our first snow storm of the season, so a nice cuppa sounds lovely right now.

We went home at lunch to let Oliver out and feed him - he's getting so big! I'll have to take some pictures of him soon - he's already getting his big boy beagle face. Next Monday he goes to the vet and he'll lose his pride - but hopefully become a better pet. He's been getting better every day and we'd like to keep him a good pet.

He's been hilarious with the snow. He doesn't like it on his paws, but he sticks his whole head in the snow bank....he's soooooo cute. I think he's beginning to get used to the snow now as he's finally just doing his business when we take him out, rather than chasing the snow and pushing it around with his snoopy nose.

I'll post some Oliver pics soon and the sweater project now that it is completed.

Christmas is here, or is it?

This year we are posed with an unique situation. The Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve fall on the same day. As this happens only once every 7 years or so we may get confused and become more focused on Christmas and leave Advent in the dust. As Christians we know the speical meaning of Advent and hopefully this post will help to clarify why it is important to keep the Advent and Christmas seasons separate. Make sure to attend both special celebrations this year.

It's that time of year agin - well almsot! It will be Advent one week from today. But looking around you may think Christmas is just a day away. I thought I'd take some time to post about this joyful season of Advent, but let's not get it confused with another separate but beautiful season of Christmas.

This is a bit hard to do as the stores get busier and busier with shopper after shopper stocking up on wrapping paper, bows and egg nog(gotta have the nog)! In the last few years I've noticed the signs that Christmas are on the way sneaking in a little earlier each year. This year I heard people commenting with much dismay that they saw Christmas trees for sale in August at Costco....let me tell you this got people talking. Then as I was purchasing new Halloween items I no sooner had to look across the aisle and there, just a little peek of red, green and gold! Tinsel and lights just waiting on the sidelines, just waiting for Halloween to just get out of it's way. It's kind of like when you put all that stuff in your closet and it is stuffed to the brim and as soon as it's opened.......BAM, your stuff is everywhere and you are wondering how it is that you got all that stuff in there in the first place. This is what happens with the Christmas items. Once they get the word, BAM - - - - Christmas literally explodes. By the time Christmas day is over, the majority of people are all Christmased out. By the time the last of the turkey is gobbled up and the last of the wrapping paper has been disposed of - for moste people this is the end. Christmas is officially over. By boxing day, the precious Christmas tree will have been given its eviction notice and be sitting on the curb.

With all of this activity it's easy to lose sight of what is important. As Christians we are urged to keep the spiritual focus amidst the consumer driving materialistic society. In this midst of this Advent season let us as Christian people strive to keep this a season of waiting, rejoicing and hope. Let's make sure to keep the needy in our prayers and be sure to be generous to those with less. And as we decorate with boughs and tinsel let us also make sure to keep a space for the coming Lord in our hearts.

It doesn't take much to ensure that you keep a prayerful place in your heart at this time of year. There are lovely Advent weekly prayer books to guide you and your family through Advent, day by day with readings and reflections to help us focus on what is important. I know we as a family use the Word Among Us, Advent booklet. It's a great way to pray during this season. If you are baking for your family, why not bake a few dozen cookies and take to a senior centre or to a soup kitchen. Consider going through some of your own belongings, are there things that you can let go of to enrich another's life? If you simply don't have the ability to donate monetary items, please take time during each day to pray for those who are in need of food, clothing shelter and much more.

May God Bless you and Yours this Advent season with a joyfilled season filled! Happy Advent!

Dot On

Last night I gave a talk at our RCIA group on the Liturgical Year. I always am amazed at how many new things you learn as you prepare for a talk like this. I had been in a discussion via email with one of the other leaders on what was included in the Triduum. From everything I had read incluced Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil - but apparently it goes right to Easter Sunday night and ends with vespers....who says you can't teach and ol' dog new tricks?...:)

I had the group do a multiple choice quiz prior to leading the discussion. It was really surprising to some of them when they heard the correct answers. I don't think anyone realized that lent ended on Holy Thursday for e.g.

We had a great discussion with a lot of good questions and sharing. All in all a big success. I'm very grateful for that. I don't do these things easily so when I get an evening where I feel it 'worked' I am just tickled with myself...lol! Thanks be to God! My prayers as we drove one kid here and one kid there on the way to the meeting were definitely answered.

I think due to the fact that we are in our last week of Ordinary Time and moving into Advent that we all kind of really got into the Advent part of the discussion. Even when I was preparing it, I spent a lot of time thinking about what Advent means so I thought I'd do a bit of blogging about this special time a bit more on the weekend.

I'm trying to blog at work, but it's just one of those crazy Fridays!!! TGIF!!!!!!!

Blog Envy

Well I am ashamed to admit it *blush*, but I have blog envy! There I've said it, I have put it out there for the whole blogging world to see, or not as the case may be.

My hubby's site is gaining popularity at such a quick rate that my lil' ol head is spinning. Sheesh! I knew had a way with words and I did know this from the beginning, but dang I have to come up with something and quick. There must be something I can say or do to surpass his readership....hehehehe! I told him that if his blog gets any more popular I am going to become a computer geek and destroy his blog with my cyber talents.

Well I'll just carry on blogging in my style and not concern myself if anyone cares to read my ramblings.

So I get a call today at work from a New Line Cinema Rep - what do you know, they want to give us 10 passes to see The Nativity Movie next week. What a sweet gift. I had really wanted to see this movie. I thought as a Catholic, I should make it a priority to see the real Christmas story and I want to encourage movie makers to continue to make these types of movies.

So on the way home our son stopped to pick himself and his sis a burger for supper. Yeah he's sure enjoying having sheckels in his pocket since he got his first job. ~at least he's generous~. Anyway, we're sitting their waiting and I mention these free passes and my hubby - ~the kind generous soul ~ that he is says, "Hey, maybe we can sell them on Ebay"....and he roars hilariously like that was the funniest thing ever. I thought it would be funnier if we tried to sell his a** on ebay....then he thought about that for about a 1/2 second and wondered if he could pedal his behind on ebay...lol. What a goof.

But seriously have you seen the things you can buy on ebay. I had read an article in our local paper recently about a finding in a small town that went for $85.00 on ebay. The interesting article in question. A shoe that had been found after flood cleanup that they were sure had the face of Jesus on it in dirt. So maybe my hubby's behind could make a fair price....thoughts to ponder!

Carla Simon: Hi Carla and more

I've been inundated recently with these types of emails. I am getting approximately 30/day. They've somehow even managed to get some of my info to make them look more believable....they'll have hi ####lee or something with my first or second name or my work's name somewhere in the subject line.

Honestly if I wanted these great stock tips wouldn't I just go about finding them on my own. What on earth do they think they'll accomplish by bombarding us with them over and over again. Like one day I'll open one up by accident(probably their thought) and I'll exclaim....OH MY GOODNESS, and I've been deleting these emails? After I smack myself senseless and reply immediately giving them all of my savings, college funds and fun money.

YEAH RIGHT!!!!

Come one folks, give it up! Your mass marketing techniques are not working, in fact they are turning people off of your whole business.

Would you honestly buy a product if you saw nothing but that products commercials non stop for 2 months. Picture a really cheesy commercial for ummmm let's say Cheez Whiz(I like the whole cheese thing, just go along with it). So we play this commercial of a guy digging in the neighbors garbages looking for jars that have just a wee bit left over and he finally succeeds and has enough jars to make himself a midnight snack of a cheez whiz sandwich. Ok, now think about seeing nothing but that commercial day and night for a whole month straight.

Did you seriously think about it?

Ok, I mean cheez whiz is a nice spread on occasion. I like it on crackers or toast or if I am being adventerous, celery.

But, if they played this commercial non stop. I would be sick of it, it would be like I ate nothing but cheez whiz sandwiches for a month straight.

Whoever can develop software to prevent these types of spam email will make millions!! I think I should get right on that. I can see the money now, and oh how much cheez whiz I could buy with that!