Birthday Time For Steve Again

As you know, December 24 rolls around every year and once again my dear husband turned another year older. I like to tease him for six months that I married an older man (the other six months we're the same age).

We met most of our family at Shang Yen between 5 and 5:30 (as they close at 7 pm due to it being Christmas Eve). Steve II wasn't able to come to the event and only Josh and Taylor came from their family. But, it was still a wonderful time of fun and food as usual.

Although we stress to our kids that we don't expect or need gifts, they really came up with a wonderful present this year. For Steve and I (Xmas) they went together and gave us $60 worth of gift certificates/cash to go to the Outback! How cool is that? That is absolutely my favorite restaurant.

Heather's family got their Dad/Grandpa a nice shirt and new zip up sweatshirt (which he was in great need of). Steve II's family got him a neat shirt and cap from Bass Pro! He's really into fishing. Josh's family got Steve a beautiful sweater which he wore already (tells you how much he likes it). Abby's family got Steve a gift certificate to go to Ohana's Steakhouse (with a note that it's for a double date to go with them!!!) Thank you to all of our wonderful kids and their families. It is greatly appreciated!!!! (and yum yum, can hardly wait)

Steve and I consider the heater that looks like a fireplace as our Christmas gift to each other. It is really cool to watch and does put out the heat. Now we have it in our bedroom and the first heater in the little bedroom.

If I were to daydream, (or win the powerball) I'd be checking into getting a led hdtv as a surprise for him. With both of us off work, we won't be getting anything else new until one of is working again.

We didn't linger at the restaurant as the roads were getting bad. We decided to cancel our Christmas get together since the roads were even worse. We'll be getting together again some time when it's a little nicer out. Hope you had a good Christmas! Halfmoon

Winter is Here

Now that it is winter and your house is starting to get colder, it's time to start using your fireplace. The only thing about that is how dirty a fireplace is. Do you ever wonder how hazardous a fireplace is? Soot collects in the chimney (which can cause a chimney fire) and ashes and sparks can come out onto your floor or carpeting, not to mention having to clean the ashes out when they build up.

Now is the time to consider having an electric fireplace. I want you to go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ACdUwvVzrQ to see how easy it is to transform your fireplace from the traditional one to having an electric fireplace instead. It is safer and cleaner and you have the warmth you've been waiting for. Stop chopping and splitting wood or buying it instead, which incurs more cost to you. Instead install an electric fireplace insert. Watch the YouTube video above and consider warming your home the cleaner and easier way. They even have mantel units that are just beautiful. Visit it today!

I bought a sewing cabinet table so I could start using the newer sewing machine I bought quite a while back. In order to get it in place, we needed to move a dresser out of the bedroom upstairs, bring it downstairs to our bedroom, and then move the machines upstairs.

I say 'we' collectively, but really Steve did all the work of getting the dresser downstairs. In order to have a place for it in the bedroom, we needed to get the base to the waterbed out of the bedroom. It had tons of stuff on top of it and Steve's clothes in the drawers.

I did help move the dresser from the living room to the bedroom and the waterbed from where it sat to the foot of our bed. Both were very heavy and killed both Steve's back and mine. I layed down on ice for about an hour (Steve took a nap, too).

Then as I am eating a sandwich with chips, Steve started talking about how his eating habits are bad and he's gaining weight. I had just lost half a pound, but still have 6 1/2 to go to get back to the newest low I was at before Thanksgiving. What a fight! It is so hard to lose weight. I wish I was able to use fat burners.

Before I depress you further, have a good day! Halfmoon