Thursday's Things in a Row

I don't know about you, but it's getting harder and harder to come up with interesting photos of things in a row. Lucky for me that I always carry my "point and shoot" camera! Today I went exploring in the Toy Department! Look what I found!

Pink bikes with pink tires, too!

Aren't the bike helmets adorable?

Justin Bieber Bears! Seriously?

Baby Cinderallas! Aren't we starting a little young?

Almost "Stepford Wive-ish, only in babyland!"

I LIKE this good old-fashioned toy - requires no batteries, either!

Vroom! Vroom!

Who doesn't love a yo-yo? Can you "walk the dog"?

I'll share the rest of my toy photos next week. Did you find anything in a row this week?

Signs - Talk Dirty to Me!

This is a T-shirt I received for Christmas from my niece. Does she know me or WHAT?!

For more fun signs, visit Lesley here.

Laughter is the BEST Medicine!

When I was home for the holidays, I visited my 83-year-old aunt a few times who was in the hospital. She had fallen in her apartment and cracked her pelvis and wrist. (She's doing good now and is out of the hospital.)

During one of my visits, children from a nearby school came to the hospital and sang Christmas carols. Although they sang at the other end of the corridor, their voices carried and they sounded like little angels. My sister and I, along with my aunt, and my cousin, were sitting in a small lounge area, when the little children came in bearing home-made get well cards. They started handing them out to ALL of us, when someone said, "WE'RE not sick, SHE is!" and pointed to my aunt. She received about 10 cards, each one cuter than the next.

I had to take pictures of them and share them with you.

They were THAT darn cute!

I was so impressed with their artistic ability. I'm guessing these kids were in third or fourth grade.


I love the "layered" look, the blue snowflakes, the use of pinking shears to cut out the tree!

Truthfully, this is equal to MY artistic ability. Fact. But I still think it is cute.

Look at the detail in the exclamation point. Is that a "bow" on the dot?

Inside the card this child shows off more artistic talent. Look at the detail in the ornament hook!

On the green card - that kid prints fancier than me! I LOVE the moon on the card to the right!

Love the message, "Dear Person"!

This is one of my favorites. Doesn't this look like an old-fashioned Santa Claus? (maybe doing a disco dance?)

Does this just break your heart or what?

This card made me laugh! "I hope you get out soon!" As if the person were in prison! Ha ha!

I saved the BEST for last. This little girl put a lot of detail in the picture. The little girl has a "bubble" by her mouth that reads "good luck". She REALLY pours her heart out in the card!

It's hard to read the card. She wrote, "Dear Friend, I really hope you feel better. I know you're strong and tough and you will recover. Don't lose hope!" Then she wrote with a red crayon on the red paper and it gets REALLY difficult to read. We had a hard time reading it IN PERSON. It said something about "Even though I don't know you, I will still pray for you. God works miracles. Happy Holidays. Sincerely Mailah"  This is pretty deep for an 8-10 year old, don't you think?

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did!

A Technical Christmas Song

I know the majority of you probably have all your Christmas decorations packed neatly away and are looking forward to Spring, but I came across this great holiday video and I couldn't pass up sharing it with you.

This is Christmas music made on iPhones and iPads at North Point Community Church.


Enjoy.

Your in My SPACE!

We all have our own comfort level when it comes to our "space". Some people need a wide distance around them to feel comfortable;

other people? Not so much.

For me it all depends upon if I know the person. I'm very comfortable with people I know. Heck - I'm a "touchy-feely" person - I'm Italian for cripes sake!

But when I'm around strangers, I DO like my own personal space.

Unfortunately, this space is reduced drastically when flying on a commercial airline, unless you have the luxury to fly first class.

Let me tell you, poor little ole me is seated at the back of the plane.

It seems that the seats are getting smaller (or am I just getting bigger)? The seats are closer to the ones in front of them, leaving it barely impossible to move once you are seated.

Now,  I am not a little woman, but I am no where near as big as this person:

I can fit in a seat AND buckle the seat belt!

On both flights to and from Chicago I had an aisle seat. This guarantees me my own arm rest and I don't bother anyone if I have to go to the bathroom.

When I am seated I try not to let ANY  part of my body touch the person next to me if at all possible.

Is it coming across that I'm trying to be nondescript, not bothering anyone?

It bugs the crap out of me when people recline their seats.

There is just no room for this anymore on the current jetliners.

I'm sorry. I don't think it should be allowed.

In fact, I think they should REMOVE the reclining option from the seats altogether.

Unless it's an international flight.

But then they should give more leg room so that if the person in front of you decides to recline their seat, it won't inconvenience the person behind them.

During my return trip to Phoenix, the guy in front of me reclined his seat for practically the whole trip.

So while he was spread out and comfortable, I had very little room to move.

Then the young woman in the middle seat next to me had to use the bathroom.

What I SHOULD have done was ask the man to move his seat back up.

But I didn't.

Instead, I had to become a CONTORTIONIST

to get my body OUT of my seat, my legs OVER the arm rest, and my stomach AROUND the guy's stupid headrest as it jutted into my space.

HE was sleeping comfortably.

I SHOULD have done this:



and say, "Move the HELL up!"

But I didn't.

Years ago when we flew back from Ireland, the man in front of me reclined his seat so far back that his head was in my lap.

I.KID.YOU.NOT.

And to make matters worse?

He had really bad breath.

I wanted to say, "Don't you think you should introduce yourself before you put your head in my lap?"

But I didn't.

I took a short train ride to my daughter's house. The train was packed for the holidays. There was luggage EVERYWHERE. I was lucky to get a seat, which happened to be in the first row right behind the pile of luggage and next to a seat hogger woman. She was an average-sized woman, but she like to take up more than her seat. I'm assuming there was an arm rest to separate the two seats and that she put it up so that she could have more room. Then, probably to her dismay, I sat down next to her.

I didn't think about the armrest right off the bat; that is, until she kept bumping into me and saying, "Excuse me".

I tried to read my book, and every so often would glance over at her. I noticed that her legs were spread wide (she had pants on) and her feet were resting on her luggage. She literally was sprawled in her seat.

A few times she rested her elbow on my muffin top!

Seriously!

Now THAT is in my SPACE!!

I kept inching over more and more till I was leaning in the aisle.

I wanted to say, "Move over lady!"

BUT I DIDN'T

Luckily I was getting off at the first stop so it was just a little over an hour ride. She was probably relieved, too. I'm sure she spread out on that seat like a spilled drink!

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS: Please be respectful of another person's "space". There are meek people out there who won't say anything even if they WANT to!

THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.....UH, IF THAT'S OKAY WITH YOU!!

Thursday's Things in a Row

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTENT MAY MAKE YOU DROOL AND YOUR STOMACH GROWL.

(I KNOW IT HAPPENED TO ME, AND I WAS THE ONE POSTING IT!!)

This week's theme is all about CHOCOLATE. YUMMO!

Around Christmastime my sister and I visited a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Northern IL. I had never heard of this store before, but I found out later that they have stores in 37 states, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory features over 300 varieties of hand made chocolates and confections.

We walked into the store, and a heavenly smell filled my nostrils.

CHOCOLATE

In every way, shape and form.

I thought I died and went to heaven.

Because don't we ALL think that heaven is made out of chocolate?

NO?

Oh.

Okay. I'll get on with the photos.

First, let me introduce you to Carol.

Isn't she sweet? I introduced myself to Carol and asked if I could take photos in the store for my blog. She said that she didn't mind and that she, too, had a blog. She is a "foodie" - just loves to cook. Click here to read her blog.


Oookay. Things in a row! Right!


Wooden baskets filled with goodies for Christmas!

 
A menorah.

Toffee apples: Granny Smith apple coated in sweet, thick, chewy caramel, rolled in almonds and toffee pieces and drizzled with milk chocolate. (mouth watering yet?)

These are Oreo apples. I'm thinking that first they are smothered in caramel, then white chocolate (?), then rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs.

Strawberry and orange cremes.

English toffee on the left, dark chocolate English toffee on the right. These pieces are about 2" L x 1 1/2" W. The toffee is not real hard so when you take a bite, it just melts in your mouth. TO.DIE.FOR.

 

All sorts of goodies in the jars in a row!

Look how cute the suckers were displayed!

I don't know what the official name of this is, but it looks like a white chocolate pie with nuts and chocolate drizzled across the top of it. Sure, I'll have a slice of that!

I neglected to take a photo of the shop from outside, but inside it was very cute. Bright, clean, and cozy. Here tables were set up near the window so you could watch the passersby. The shop is located on the main street with many other stores. I love the pictures of their products hanging on the walls. You may wonder why they have tables and chairs......they also serve ice cream here.

The shelves were filled with gift ideas.

Here is a sign advertising their prices. As you can see, they are quite pricey. But, I can personally testify that IT IS WELL WORTH IT!!

If you are interested, you can order from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory online.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Did you take lots of pictures while I was gone? Can't wait to see what you have for me this week!

Signs - Must be 18 or Older!

I saw this sign while I was home visiting for the holidays. It was on the window of a drive-thru cigarette shop available at a gas station. I was trying to be inconspicuous when taking the shot (from the passenger seat) because I didn't want the people inside the store to think I was "casing" the joint! They had recently been robbed and the owner badly beaten. So this photo isn't the greatest, but it gets the point across. Besides, I was making my sister very nervous because she is a frequent shopper at this place!

For more signs, visit Lesley here.

Christmas Morning

As you know, I spent the holidays back home in the Chicagoland area. A few days prior to Christmas I took the train down to my daughter Jessica's house.

I had FOUR full days of this beautiful little smile:

Now I ask you, could YOU resist that smile?

I did the majority of my holiday shopping on line and had all the packages sent to Jessica's house. What little shopping I did in PERSON, I packed in this Home Depot box that you see in the background.

I had picked up a lot of miscellaneous things for Lily from the local Goodwill store like small dishes for her play kitchen, foam puzzles, and this pack 'n play for her dollies.

It only cost me a mere $3.99! I saw it for $12.99 in the stores! I brought it home, washed the fabric in the washing machine, sterilized all the other parts with a clorox wipe, stitched up a small tear in the fabric, and we were good to go! You can see that Lily liked it! She readily filled it with her baby dolls "Baby" and "Honey", and of course, her beloved bear "George".

Every day I'd take something out of "Grandma's magical box" and give it to Lily. She would get so excited over this. Nothing was over $4, and the majority was from Goodwill.

I love this photo of Lily while she's studying a photo in a book, trying to find objects on the page. She's really engaged in the activity!

On Christmas morning Lily came downstairs and asked, "Where's Santa?"

Her mother explained that Santa was already gone, but that he had left presents for her.

Lily said, "Oh my God, I am SO excited!"

She picked up one box and shook it. (It was a puzzle.) She heard the pieces moving around and asked, "Is Santa in HERE?"

I don't think she quite understands the "Santa" concept yet!

I won't bore you with all the pictures from Christmas - just the ones I think are the funniest and/or cutest of Lily.

Here she is so excited because she received a Nerf football! (She loves to watch the Green Bay Packers with her Daddy, much to my chagrin! Go Bears!)

In the next three sequences of photos, look how excited she is to get a TOOTHBRUSH in her stocking!

Do you know those "net" wash things, or "foo-foo" things, that you use in the shower with body wash? (I don't know the official name of it do you?) Anyfoo, Lily got one in her stocking. Jessica told her that she got her own "loofah". Lily said, "OH MY GOD, I'm SO EXCITED! I have my OWN loofah!" And then she hugged it. Fact. Here's the proof.

Is this kid a comedian or what?

Of course, she's not the only one that's funny in that house. Look at their dog, Venus. I think she's trying to hide from all the commotion going on!

Unless she's trying to get warm. Then she snuggles up against anyone or anything on the couch, her brother, Atlas, included.

The cats and dogs ALL got stockings with treats inside. Here the dogs are getting their treats:

Two of the three cats are getting their treats.....Cora was hiding at the moment. AND where there's food....there's ATLAS (the male dog!)

We found Cora (the smallest cat) hiding under the tree. Jessica gave her a couple of treats but she wasn't interested. Of course Atlas, a.k.a. "Hoover", is hanging around just in case he gets lucky! Also, another cat is peeking out from under the tree. That's Kahn!

And finally, here's part of my family.

l-r: Jason (son), Dave (SIL), Jessica (daughter)

I hope you all had wonderful holidays!