Monday, November 7, 2011

Whispers of Winter

Happy TableScaping to all of you....Like so many of you, I am joing Marty @ A Stroll Thru Life, for TTT.



This is a special time of the year, when the colors of Autumn burst forth with glorious singing....The countryside is filled with brilliant colors of orange and yellows....Flower beds are also decked out in their beautiful arrays of splendid colors....

I can just hear the sweet melodies of songs such as "Thank you Lord" or "How great is our God."

The colorful scenery ignites our senses to bring out all the joy and excitement that we have so be waiting for....It really does cause my heart to sing....

                                                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love to decorate with all the colors of Fall...but I also love to incorporate a few of the colors that bring about the "Whispers of Winter."   Here are just a few of the things I am doing....



Silver and white are two colors that you can never go wrong with...I enjoy mixing these colors into my Fall arrangements....


The warmth of light and the soothing colors of the somewhat hidden whites and silver, will add sparkle to any table...I can promise you that your decor will make for some great conversation throughout the Holidays....



another great thing is, that you can use these colors throughout the Winter season....Just remove the colorful stems of sunflowers or berries, and you will be all set for the decor to take all the way through till Spring.



                                                These colors sing to my soul......




It is during the Holiday season, that time passes by so fast for me.
I want to be able to enjoy my beautiful decorations for as long as possible and by adding a few of these dazzling colors, a little at a time, I am able to enjoy the Autumn and Winter seasons for an extended time......

                                          Happy Decorating...

                                                      Shug P.

Sparkle and Shine

It's a beautiful day here in East Texas.....I am totally enjoying the cool morning air!

Just as I was expecting, I am so tired today...my feet and legs are still aching from all the walking I did this past weekend...
I feel like I just did one of those "Biggest Loser" workouts!!

As requested, I am going to show you what I purchased on my shopping extravaganza!  Be ready to see some sparkle and shine! 

I absolutely love all the jewelery and clothing that has all the bling on it.....It's not that I want to be showy, it's just that I REALLY DO  love BLING!! 


I can not tell you how many times I have stopped in the shoe dept. at Dillard's and looked at these shoes....Each time, I would talk myself out of them....NOT THIS TIME!!

Yep, I now own them......



This is a scarf....I can already see all the possibilities in wearing this scarf...One of those things that you can really do a lot with!



OK....I splurged and bought a second pair of shoes....
They are so stinking comfortable....(Do any of you ever use this phrase??)



There is a story behind this pin....hairpiece.

I looked at it quite a few times and then finally
put it back on the shelf....

Later.....my two beautiful daughters, surprised me, when
they took it out of their bag and gave it to me...
They knew I really wanted it, so THEY bought it for me!
The two of them are Precious!



A few more pins......



Jeans....shirt....and this beautiful rose necklace..
I couldn't believe just how perfect it matched the shirt!



Another view....

I also purchased a jacket, but I ended up taking it back!!
It was one of those things that I really liked, but yet I knew I wouldn't really wear it that much....


Well.....that's all folks!!

These were my purchases and I must say, I am very happy with
each and every item.....I decided that since the other ladies were going to celebrate my  2nd Birthday this year, I might as well too!!  Happy Birthday to me!!

(If you didn't read yesterday's post....you will need to go back and read to understand about my 2nd birthday for the year)



                        Sweet Hugs to you all!

                                       Shug P. ~

Sunday, November 6, 2011

One is All I Can Handle....

Oh Wow.....I am back!  Nothing like a good get-away!   This one was a girls get-away and a weekend shopping extravaganza...

What FUN!



There were nine of us girls....and one guy!!  Well, at least through the dinner meal @ "THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY!"

This guy was our waiter and he was in on IT!   What is....IT?
Let me explain.....

From the moment that we sat down to eat, I noticed that he was being very kind to me....even made a little hat and placed it on my head!  I was thinking...."hey dude...your messing up my hair-do."


The meal was wonderful, but then it came time for the best part..
CHEESECAKE...

Everybody ordered and shortly after, the waiter came to the table and delivered everyone's cheesecake .....but he didn't bring mine!

I was very quick to remind him that I did not get my piece of raspberry-lemon cheesecake.  He said: "Oh yes, let me get that for you."

I waited a little longer and here it came.....



Can you see this plate? It say's...Happy Birthday to you!
and to make matters worse, several other waiters gathered around to sing happy birthday to me...

My Birthday is in August, so naturally, I thought that the waiter had things mixed up and had delivered the cake to our table instead of taking it to the table where a person was really having a birthday! 

The entire time that they were singing, I was like......"it's not my birthday!"   Even afterwards, I told him it wasn't my birthday!!!
He just looked at me and said...."Sure...it's not!"

I was confused and then I looked at the rest of these lovely ladies and they each were giggling so big!  Yep...they had told the waiter to pretend it was my birthday and so, he, was in on it!!

Look....I can only handle ONE birthday a year and I certainly do not want my age to go up  twice in any given year!!!



Me and Shanda....







After eating, it was back to the hotel for a few games.....
We learned a whole lot about our personalities!!

Then....night time!!




How funny!!  I chose to get a room for myself, since there could be a strong chance that I might snore....but, Shanda decided to stay with me...

My room had two double beds and in a separate room, the sofa made out into a bed....but you know how uncomfortable those pull out beds can be...

I helped Shanda move one of the mattresses from the other bed, into the living and we placed it on the pull out bed!

This made her bed very comfortable and it also made it "High up" off the floor......it reminded me of the "Princes and the Pea!"

~ ~ ~

We all had a super wonderful time!  We shopped for twelve straight hours on Saturday!!!

My feet HURT, But there was no way I was going to ever let the rest of them know!!

Wow....I can certainly tell you that, right now.....I am exhausted!!

Have a great Sunday evening....

Shug


Friday, November 4, 2011

The Turkey is the Boss!!


This was on my Face Book page last night, and I must say.....I love it!!!

You Rock....Mr. Turkey!

 I have already mentioned the rush of the Holidays this week, but
OMGoodness.....I was shocked to hear Christmas music yesterday while I was shopping at
Macy's.....

"It's beginning to Look a lot like Christmas."   This was the first song that I heard playing...

While trying on clothes in the dressing room, I caught myself saying, "Are you kidding me, Christmas Music?"   I heard a slight chuckle in the room next to me!!



I thought it would be fun to do a little survey on the topic of Christmas Decorations/What is too soon?

Here are some of the opinions of other people......

1.  It's all about Money....by: jl
2.  It bugs me...it ruins the Holiday seasons....by: kr
3.  I have this all figured out...We can trick the retailers into believing that Christmas is on March 25th and then they can start putting the decorations out around Dec. 1st. (when they should be put up).....by: cs
4.  Lets just concentrate on the birth of Jesus and not buy gifts....This way the retailers won't have to bother putting on a show....by: tl
5. This really upsets me....the reason is because in October when I want to purchase Fall items, the isles have already been filled with Red and Green stuff....
and don't try buying Fall clothes.. who wants to buy Santa clause and reindeer clothes for FALL?....by: kk
6.  I think it is great...I get to shop early....by:  Gh
7.  Got to shop and buy before it's all gone....this is why it doesn't bother me....by: Dm
8.  Insane...that's all I've got to say about it......by: Ej 
9.  I think it is crazy and we as consumers should speak up about it.....by: Sk
10.  I don't think they need to put out all the stuff yet.....hey, Thanksgiving hasn't even been here yet....It's like they are skipping over Thanksgiving and this day is important......by: Tucker
11.  I think it is so weird....It's not even Thanksgiving......It's not right......by:  son-in-law
12. Anytime after Halloween...I'm game for it then!.....by: Trista
13.  My husband says it is ?#*@!?*#@!#&*?@#&*  whatever that means!...by: Shug
(let me explain....those are not bad words, just his explanation of how crazy he thinks it is)


Well........Different Strokes for different folks...I suppose!!!


Have a happy Friday!!
Shug ~





Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Old Barn...

We have a nice cool morning here in East Texas, and I am so loving it!   It's time to shift my focus to the other side of the closet...Winter clothes!!



I love this old barn.......I have no idea how old it is....I do know that it has been on the farm, for as long as I can remember.....

I do believe it has seen some better days!

I know that a good many of you will be able to relate to this post....

Aging Parents....

Do you remember going through those teenage years....wanting to be so independent, wanting to do the things that we wanted to do, without the advise of our parents?  Well....there is a flip side to this scenerio.....our aging parents want the same things...

It can be quite challenging at times, when taking care of our aging parents!!  As they continue to get older, there comes a time when they need our help.....They still want to drive...they still want their independence...they do not want us to tell them what to do!!

Aging has it's way of robbing our parents from the ability to totally care for themselves.....Things like dementia or alzheimers can be very debilitating....and then there are the normal health issues that come along, that can be very challenging....

I am beginning to see some of these changes taking place in my  dad and I will admit.....this is not an easy task!


I find that sometimes I can feel a slight rise in my blood pressure   when I have to repeat myself SEVERAL times in any given day....or when I have to answer the same question over and over and over again!!

And then.....I think about all the sacrifices that were made for me, by my parents, as I was growing up.....I am almost positive that they too, must have felt these same exact feelings when, as a child,  I would ask the same question over and over again.


Even through the stressful times, it is very important for me to keep in mind that it is an Honor and Priveledge for me to be able to care for my dad!!

Thank you Lord!

Warm Blessings,

shug....





 






Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Quite Times....


Yippy Ky Yay.........


I just love my "Quite Time!"

I'm almost positive that I was born several generations too late....(ha)

Can't you just imagine how quite it must have been out on the prairie,

during the days of chuckwagons and cattle drives?  I'm speaking of the night time hours...

For those of you who know me well, please do not laugh!

Just let me relish and take great pleasure in my thoughts of those seemingly good days.

How sweet it must have been to lay in the back of a wagon and glance up at the night

time sky....watching the stars as they would shoot across into the darkness, leaving the imagination

to imagine.

(There is no way I could dream of being on the ground at night....I'm too scared of snakes!)




You know, the folks of those days were truly Blessed in a special kind of way...

SIMPLE......those were the days of simplicity...

Oh yes, QUITE TIME.....something that we rarely are able

to experience these days.....


Our world is full of craziness!!  I said, our world is full of craziness.....

This world and our surroundings are anything but QUITE!!


I have even noticed that in my (FEW) moments of quiteness, I find myself

thinking about the grocery list and what I might have forgotten to jot down...

I find myself thinking about things that I must do or challenges that

might be waiting for me in the near future......


I fail to savor the moments of quiteness when it does come my way.....

I think it's time to get back to my love of quite times...

Enjoy the peaceful moments of the day ,with NO sounds of a TV, radio or

cell phone!!  I need to allow my brain to "air out"...let it experience

stillness and  Shhhhhhhh times!

~ ~ ~ ~

give me a wagon.....give me a prairie.....give me the stars.....

Let me delight myself in the days of old!

Let me see the stars and let me step into my dreams....and into the quite times that I long for!


Enjoy some quite time today....

hugs......Shug ~






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