I think I made the Right Decision

So....yesterday was Black Friday.   Did you know about that?  I did....because the @#$% TV stations played commercial after commercial.  Almost....but not quite as irritating as the political ads.

As we all know, it's against my religion to go shopping.  And most assuredly, I would never set foot in a retail establishment on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Never mind the fact that it ticks me off that the shopping is now encroaching upon my favorite holiday.

So, to further emphasize my aversion to shopping, I convinced Hubby to take me in the exact opposite direction.  (Although, let's face it, it didn't take much convincing).

We went to the beach.  Specifically, the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, ME.  A bastion of tranquility and peace.   There were plenty of people there.  Anti-shoppites like me.  But they were a different breed of people.  They were the ones who were happy to stroll along, sit on benches to watch the surf, and meander along the beach.   A bit different from the shoving, screaming crazies of the shopping world.

I'm pretty sure I made the Right Decision on how to spend my day.

NOTE:  I was going to put a picture here.  However, Blogger is telling me that my free photo storage on Picasa is full.  I didn't even know I had a Picasa!  If I want to upgrade for more storage I have to pay for it.  If I delete pictures that are already on there to make room, they take those photos off the blog post I had put them on.  So.....who knows how to change my storage location?

100 Things to be Thankful For....in somewhat random order

1.  My Hubby
2.  My children
3.  My children's spouses
4.  My grandchildren
5   My Dad
6.  Memories of my Mom
7.  A brother who is like a best friend
8.  Siblings
9.  Their families
10. Friendly in-laws
11.  Good friends I've know since Girl Scout days.
12.  Good friends at work.
13.  Good friends I get to hang with on Friday nights.
14.  Long distance friends I can keep in touch with through Facebook
15.  Cousins
16.  Family reunions
17.  A sweet Auntie
18.  My home
19.  My backyard
20.  BBQs
21.  Living in New England
22.  Spring
23.  Summer
24.  Fall
25.  Plenty of heat in winter
26.  My job
27.  Hubby's job
28.  Having enough money to support ourselves
29.  Having extra money for fun
30.  Going on adventures
31.  Having a hubby who likes to go on adventures with me
32.  Having a hubby who supports me no matter what
33.  Having a hubby who likes to snuggle with me
34.  Snuggling on a cold winter morning
35.  Snuggling just about any time
36.  Walking on the  beach
37.  Walking in the woods
38.  Seeing sunsets
39.  Hearing birds singing in our shrubs
40.  Gardening
41.  Seeing the fruits of my labor with beautiful flowers
42.  Collecting the fruits of our labor in our veggie garden
43.  Singing
44.  Having friends who tolerate my singing
45.  Having a hubby who encourages me to sing
46.  Enjoying my craft room
47.  Learning how to "stamp" cards
48.  Having a Mom and Grandma who taught me to sew
49.  Having the time, opportunity and money to take up sewing again
50.  Making things for other people
51.  Making my granddaughter's Halloween costume
52.  Having a talented Hubby
53.  Listening to Hubby play piano
54.  Getting a free piano
55.  Freecycle
56.  Craig's List
57.  Low-fat Frozen Yogurt
58.  Hubby's fried chicken
59.  Comfy jammies
60.  Favorite TV shows
61.  on-line shopping
62.  Friends' cds to listen to in the car
63.  GPS
64.  automatic car starter
65.  cars that run and we don't have to make payments on
66.  extra money to help out our kids
67.  All my family have jobs
68.  All my kids have spouses/significant others that make them happy
69.  My Dad has found someone he loves to be with
70.  Our grandkids like to spend time with us
71.  We get to take our niece out for her birthday
72.  Netflix
73.  Online banking
74.  our new, free kitchen table...big enough to seat our whole family
75.  A huge yard to hold family gatherings
76.  Friends who come over for a campfire jam even though it's pouring out
77.  Friends who are dedicated to the open mic scene
78.  Keeping in touch with old friends
79.  New recipes
80.  Medical technology that allows people's dreams to come true
81.  Traveling in New England
82.  Bed and breakfasts
83.  The beauty of the outdoors
84.  Niagara Falls
85.  Living in an area with mountains, ocean and forests
86.  Seafood
87.  Working at a job where I can help people.
88.  Having a boss who's a friend
89.  Making "friends" with blog friends
90.  Writing a blog
91.  A hubby who likes to make me french toast on weekend mornings
92.  Pure Maple Syrup
93.  Lots of people to be with at the holidays
94.  Patriots football
95.  Making my own pizza on the grill
96.  Having a hubby who will eat whatever I cook
97.  Knowing all the backroads
98.  Dancing with my hubby
99.  Sunny fall days
100.  Love

Soup for Supper Sundays

Every year I say the same thing.  During the winter, I will make a nice, savory soup for supper on Sundays, and then have leftover soup for lunch the rest of the week.

I haven't done so well over the years.  I make a pot or two of soup, then the idea falls by the wayside.

So I'm trying again this year.  I started with my favorite - Bertucci's Sausage Soup.   That made a delicious supper, and I was happy to eat it for the whole week at lunch.

The following week, I cooked a chicken on Saturday night, and industriously made a chicken pot pie with the leftovers, then boiled the chicken carcass for some soup.   And I made a big pot of soup.

I ate the leftovers last week, and I still had a half-pot of soup in the fridge.  This Sunday turned out to be a rare night when we  had an activity, so I didn't make a new pot of soup.  The idea being, I still had plenty of soup from last week for my lunches.

But two weeks of the same soup is beyond my limit.  I decided after eating it again at lunch yesterday that I don't want to eat the same soup again for the rest of this week.  (which, granted, is only two more days since I have Thursday and Friday off).   So that soup is now in the freezer, and hopefully I'll make another pot next Sunday.

I have lots of recipes....my Dad loves soup and passes his favorite recipes on to me.  So it might be minestrone, it might be cream of broccoli, it might be stuff pepper soup.   We'll see on Sunday what strikes my fancy.

My semi-annual complaint about shopping

Have I complained lately about shopping?  Yes?   Oh well, I believe it's time for me to complain again anyway!

Hubby and  I went out to do some shopping yesterday.  I mistakenly believed the things I needed were things I wouldn't be able to get online.

First stop was unplanned.  As we were heading out, I realized we'd be going past Target, where I got our humidifier, and I needed a new filter for it.  Sadly, if I'd planned on going there, we could have gone the back way.  But because I was negligent in my planning, we had to go through traffic and lights.  My bad.

Then we headed to AC Moore, where I wanted to get materials to make my Christmas cards.  (Now that I've finally come up with a prototype I liked.)   I marched straight to the scrapbooking section and proceeded to wander around trying to find the paper and accessories I needed.   NO Christmas paper?  What?  And of course, the accessories I needed were out of stock.  I hunted Hubby down and suggested we leave this place and try Michael's instead.

On the way to Michael's, we stopped and got Hubby some strings for his guitar - (Sure! He gets what he wants!)

But first we went to JoAnn Fabrics, where I tried to get a specialty fabric to make someone something for Christmas.  After hunting down a very scarce worker,  (this has been a problem with this place, and I've even written to the company about it with no response)  I found out the specialty fabric is not one they have the licensing for.  Damn.  I did buy some fabric to make Emily something special for Christmas, so it wasn't a total loss.   Hubby, of course, found plenty of stuff to buy.

Then we went to Michael's.  It was even worse at this store than it was at AC Moore.  The place was dirty, unorganized, they did not have the specials that were in the flyer, and no one seemed to know where anything was.  After 20 minutes, I hit the retail wall and went to find Hubby.  I told him I'd wait for him outside by the car while he made his purchases.  (Yes, he found stuff to buy there too!)

After all that, we went grocery shopping. Three hours out of the house and not much to show for it.

We came home, I got online, and found scrapbooking supplies in one store, and the specialty fabric in another.  So easy, so fast, and I don't have to have a meltdown to do it!

Sometimes you're just lucky

Anyone who is alive has heard about Sandy, the "Superstorm" that devastated most of the East Coast this past week.

We've been lucky here in New England.  We don't get massive weather systems....or at least not lately.  I do remember vividly the "Blizzard of '78"  (they used to be much less create with storm names back then).    I was in high school, and I totally remember getting a free week out of school.  I also remember piles and piles and piles of snow everywhere.  I remember cars being stranded on highways, and people having to take refuge wherever they could.

Thanks to technology that allows us to know days in advance of pending bad weather, the storms that have hit this area have been anticipated and prepared for.   Yes, they still cause damage.  But more in the form of downed trees and loss of electricity.   We don't usually see millions of homes damaged and massive loss of life.

Not so this time.  This time, the storm was so big and so massive, no amount of preparation could make us ready to face Sandy's wrath.   And it hit areas that are just not used to preparing for such destruction.  New York City.  Long Island.  New Jersey shore.   To name a few.

And the lucky part for me?   I live just outside the area that was hardest hit.  Yes, most people in the area lost power.  Yes, school was out for three days. We heard the wind howling, saw trees fall, watched un-anchored things go flying around.   But we were lucky enough, and far enough from the coast, to escape major damage. 

And for that we are thankful.  And BTW - I'm also thankful for the electric lineman who have spent hours upon hours trying to get power back to people's homes.   My brother Steve is one of those.  After 7 days of work, he wracked up 127 hours of OT.  That's 18 hours working, 6 hours sleeping, in every 24 hour period.  God Bless him and all his colleagues.