Yes, It Is Snowing Again!

Yes, it is snowing again. And I have to shovel that !@@#$$ deck again. And more is on the way for tomorrow. Lovely.

We did go to the movies the other night and saw I Am Legend.

It was good, although bad for me to watch anything that has a sad part to do with animals in it, in a public place. I was blinking furiously and had to resort to sniffling after one part. I so enjoy watching Will Smith do shirtless chin-ups in any movie. I gave this movie 4 thumbs up. Spent some time over the weekend putting away the Christmas stuff, I cleaned out my gift closet and totally organized it, and also my desk. We went to Sam's Club and got more on-sale Christmas stuff, bows and gift bags and gift tags. Saturday night we went out to eat with Lou and Carol. I griped about having to park in the over-flow parking lot and (gasp) walk all the way to the restaurant doors, but after sitting in the 150 degree restaurant for 2 hours I was more than happy to burst back out the door, sans coat and cool off on my traipse back to the car. Got home in time to watch the Patriots kick ass again for a perfect 16-0 season. And then slept like crap all night. I got up about 4:30 sunday morning to use the bathroom and looked out the window. there was a huge light in the sky over to the south side of the lake, it was much bigger than any star that was out, and it was pulsing light. Very odd, and of course when I went back to bed I was sure I heard alien claws scratching along the bedroom door. Yesterday after we took the tree and outside lights down we watched Spiderman 3. I give it 4 thumbs up, I always put off watching movies like that, but then end up enjoying them. We went in the hot tub and then watched more TV, and played my Millionaire DVD game. I won a whole $1,000 and Gary won $25,000. figures.

Today Gary went back to work, just in time to clear the lots. yucky for him. I am home alone all day today and probably not going anywhere. The bathrooms need cleaning, and I do need to exercise. badly. Surprisingly there is not a lot of laundry, Gary is so proud of fixing the machine by himself that he has kept up with the laundry all week himself while smugly standing watch over each load that finished like it is supposed to.

So, Gary is on vacation this week. On Wednesday we drove Brooke to Epsom to meet her Danielle, Ricky and Christina. She is spending the rest of vacation at their house in Newfields. Gary and I went to Lowes and Kohl's looking for after Christmas deals. We found quite a few. We ate lunch at Chili's then went to Wal-Mart and Home Depot. When we got home I threw a wash on, and it started acting up again. I hate Whirlpool. Gary spent the next 4 hours taking it apart, again. This time he found where some coins had slipped through and were probably blocking the drainage. I have done 2 washed since and it has been okay so maybe he finally fixed it. Yesterday we took a ride to York. It was cloudy and spitting sleet and snow but I didn't mind. The ocean was really wild, and there were surfers in it! Brrr. The water was coming up over the road, along with rocks and seaweed. We ate lunch at the pizza place, then went to Stonewall Kitchen. I love that store. I got some more Holiday Jam, a really cute kitchen timer in the shape of a covered frying pan and some peppermint bark that they sell, just what I needed, more candy. On the way home the weather was worse, but we did okay, until we turned onto our street and we slammed right into the snowbank. We ended up having ramen noodles for dinner and watching Pirates of the Carribean the Curse of the Black Pearl. Horrible movie, I was bored to tears and ended up reading my O magazine that Gary put in my stocking. Today, he is out snowblowing the driveway, then I am not sure what we are doing, maybe nothing. Tonight we are probably going to the movies though.

Christmas Day 2007

Christmas Day was hectic. I had to set the alarm so i could get up early enough to get presents opened and then get ready for the Henry side of the family to come for dinner. I got nice gifts this year and plenty of new reading material. Brooke got me a new pocketbook that I love and Nicole got me a really soft throw in Fall colors that is my new favorite TV blanket. Gary got me some books and bath and body works stuff and more. Funny how quickly you can forget what you received only a short time ago. I was more than ready for everyone to go home by the end of the day, I was beat. Then Nicole and Eric came over to open gifts so I had to stay awake!

Christmas Eve 2007

Christmas Eve at my parents house. We had chinese food, then opened gifts. My sister Shelley was there with her son Nick, Brandon was working still at UPS. Also her oldest son Josh with his wife Tiffany. Nicole and Brooke were there and my parents. My mother bought a ton of presents and there was paper every where when we were done.

Annual Christmas Eve Portrait

Johnson Christmas Party 2007

The Christmas Party went off without a hitch yesterday. I think everyone had a good time, I know I did. We played Bingo and had a Yankee Swap. Now I am getting ready for round 2 tomorrow with Gary's family. I will tell you this, I am not cooking another thing for the rest of the week!

Merry Christmas to all!!

Nineteen Minutes

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. This is a powerful story. If you thought you could not feel empathy for a school shooter, then this story might change your mind. Very riveting and the ending has a twist. Definitely a 5-star read, but have the tissues handy!

Sunrise over Sanbornton

So, we are shoveled and snowblowed out once again. I think our total was around 9 inches. Gary says it was a foot, and it sure felt like it as I was shoveling it over the deck railing. The pictures above are a little blurry, but the trees are pretty when they are lit and the snow is on them. I have a lot of running around to do today. More food to buy for Christmas Dinner, and baking, and the party on Sunday.

Another snow storm is walloping us. This one snuck up on me, I thought we were only going to get a few inches. I guess my idea of a few inches is like, 3. Looks like this storm's idea of a "few" is 8 or 9! So, no school today. Brooke is sleeping still and enjoying every second of it. We are going to do some Christmas baking today while we are stuck inside. Last night we went to the Fox Run Mall in Newington. Gary and Brooke shopped for my Christmas presents. Then we went to Bugaboo Creek for dinner. I had salmon, trying to be health conscious, but I think the french fries blew that.

Do I Smell Reindeer?

What a cute face! I love Boston Terrier puppies.

It is darn cold here this morning, about 10 degrees right now. But at least the sun is out, even this cold it must help the snow to melt away a little bit. Today my mother is stopping over between her doctor appointments. She has my Nana's china set that I they gave me and I have been waiting forever for. I had to get something to display it in and I finally got a buffet with glass doors a couple of weeks ago. After she leaves I am going to the laudromat for another quick load, yesterday I went too. When I drove by my friend's house her husband and stepson were still there and I felt strange about going in and doing my laundry while they were home. No biggie, I sit for a half hour in the laundromat and relax, hopefully Gary will fix my machine tonight, the other part should be here today. I need to go to Wal-Mart too for some things, and then grocery shopping. Ta-Ta!

So we got about 8 inches of snow yesterday, along with sleet and freezing rain. We spent the day inside, watching TV, watching the Patriots kick butt again. We didn't see Eric, he was one of the many bundled up blobs sitting and watching the game. I roasted a chicken and potatoes for dinner, it smelled so good while it was cooking. Today there is a 2-hour delay for school, Brooke and I did not even know until after we took out showers! She happily went back to sleep, unfortunately, I did not. My wash machine is still in many pieces, so I am using my friend Pam's washer for a load today. I went to the laudromat Saturday to do a quick load and it wasn't bad, but she offered hers so I will use it. I have many e-bay packages to ship out today, so I better get going.

Charlie

Isn't this just the cutest picture? This is a coyote that a woman in Wyoming rescued after his parents were killed when he was 10 days old. They live in a one room log cabin with a tomcat who is learning to tolerate him. His name is Charlie.

When it Rains it Pours

It snowed again last night. Surprise surprise. we got about 4.5 inches. That would be about 4.5 inches too many in my book. I had to go get Brooke from school yesterday, well actually she was parked at the Veteran's Home waiting, with a her window half-way down and stuck, no coat and no gloves. where was her coat? some little ass**** stole it from her locker. Nice school. Anway, I had to drive her car home with the open window, and 16 degrees out.
My wash machine is on the fritz, again. I am not sure why an expensive Calypso Whirlpool washer needs repairs for the second time in the 5 years I have owned it, but this time Gary is fixing it himself. the parts will cost us what a repairman would charge to just come look at it. sigh.
My father has a totally blocked carotid artery. Praying that they can operate and open it up.
And last but not least, a nor'easter is heading our way for Sunday, the day of my annual Johnson Christmas party. I had to cancel it, and re-schedule for next Sunday. Big bummer.
So, that's all the excitement, and that is plenty, thankyouverymuch!

All is Calm

Here is a picture of the lake I took yesterday morning, I totally missed the shot with the ducks!

So, our school district and one other next to us were the only 2 in the whole area we live in to not have a 2 hour delay this morning, much to Brooke's dismay. I drove her to school because I was worried about her driving, but it wasn't bad, I think she could have handled it.

Yesterday I went to Salem shopping with my mother, aunt and sister. We went to the Christmas Tree Shop first, I got some good buys, and an ice bucket that I have been looking for. Then we went to Bob's. Okay store, I got something for Brooke there, unfortunately we chose the checkout line with the new cashier and women applying for a credit card. I swear we stood in line for 40 minutes. ugh. After that we went to lunch at the 99. I had a roast beef cheddar dip sandwich, it was very good.

Today though I am just hanging out at home and doing laundry and cleaning. I have the big Christmas party on Sunday and the weather is not looking very cooperative.

Tired Boy

Do We Live in Alaska?

It is snowing again. Not enough to cancel school, but enough to have to clear the deck and walkway. Again. Brooke was really hoping for a 2 hour delay. :)
I did not go anywhere this weekend, and I guess that is good for my gas bill. Saturday I attempted to make a batch of my Nana's honey cookies. I have tried to make these cookies numerous times, and they NEVER come out right. This time was no exception. They tasted horrible, I think my shortening was bad.
We watched a couple of movies this weekend. Mr. Bean's Holiday, which was pretty funny. And, I Know Who Killed Me. That was pretty bad, very hard to follow and just plain bad. Of course we watched the Patriots trounce Philadelphia yesterday, Nicole got Eric a ticket to go to the game next Sunday, it is his Christmas present. I finished another book. It was called, If She Only Knew by Lisa Jackson. Very good mystery, I had the crux of it right, but could not figure out all of it.

The sun is out today, and even though it is only 12 degrees right now, I am hoping that the sun will melt some of the snow today. At least off the driveway!
Gary had yesterday off, we took my Pilot to Concord to get new tires put on, not my idea of fun but what can you do? Afterwards we went to the 99 for lunch. Ran into a guy that works with Gary and his wife, we had been to the Balsams with them last year, so we ended up having lunch together. How come the first question people always ask me is...Are you working? it seems to be very high on people's lists of important things to know, I can't tell you how many people ask me this, to the point where Gary and I joke about it.
After lunch we went to Best Buy, and then to Staples. We were looking for a shelf to put Brooke's printer on, on her desk. For some reason, no one carries these things. We found a monitor stand and went with that.
We watched Santa Clause 3 last night and it was okay, the first one was by far the best.

!#&$% Shoveling

It is only December 4th and I am sick of shoveling already. It looks like we got around 10 inches of snow, maybe a little less.
This morning I had to take Brooke to go get her blood drawn. She went for a check-up Friday and they couldn't seem to find a vein. I don't know what the problem was, the guy this morning had it done in 2 minutes. So she was late for school, but she only missed study hall I think. I went and did the grocery shopping after, love pushing the cart through the snow that doesn't get plowed up, fun fun.
I am going to reate different books that I read, and maybe someone will want to read one based on what I say. The list will be over to the left and I will give it 1 to 5 stars. 1 being really bad and 5 of course being really good. The first book I gave 3 stars, I want to see this movie, the story was good, but I wished it had been longer, and it comes with other short stories. I am not a big short story fan, so most of them I read really fast, the last story was called Hell House, it was a bit longer and more like a short book. Very bizarre story about a haunted house that is so evil, everyone who goes there ends up dead or crazy. Nothing like a little light reading around the holiday's eh?

Snow Day

We have no school today, and the snow is still falling. Yuck. I am guessing that we got about 6 inches. So Brooke is home from school today, then she goes tomorrow and then they have Wednesday off for some teacher thing. Nice for her.
Yesterday was a really relaxing day. We cooked a turkey, and had sandwiches with it, the best part. We don't eat at home for Thanksgiving so we wanted our own leftovers. Saturday we went to Maine, it was so cold, we went to the Christmas Tea at Jefferd's Tavern, it was delicious as usual. Then we got a prime parking spot right on the parade route and watched the Festival of Lights parade. Stopped at the Gilberts on the way home, they were having a Christmas party and asked us to stop in.