Amazing!

I received the Honest Scrap Award from the fabulous Julie-Ann Bowden. You must visit her blog and see her art. Amazing and beautiful and awe-inspiring! Just to give you some idea of how I feel about her art!! Any who; she bestowed this upon me and I feel so honored,
Now I have to list ten things that I have not written about before. So here it goes:

1. Before I leave this world, I want to design and decorate a store-front window in NY or Chicago for the Christmas season!

2. I had gastric-by-pass surgery in Feb. of this year and so far have lost 105 lbs.

3. I collect Gene dolls and my granddaughters can't wait to get their hands on them.

4. I am a clutter bug. Every place I go, I leave a pile of stuff. Usually art projects but still...I am just saying....!

5. I haven't worn high heels in over 12 years! And this New Years' eve I will be putting a pair on! Yikes!! Can we say...fall on my face!!

6. I love football and baseball and watch the games all the time. I love the Browns, the Bears, the Cowboys, the Vikings, and the Colts! The Indians and the Red Soxs also have my interest!

7. Magazines and books! I have a huge collection of them and am always fighting to find time to read. I just finished the Twilight series and loved them.

8. I thought I was 5' 5" but was recently measured and I am really 5'3"!!! What's up with that?

9. Can you say, "well endowed"? That's me and I am constantly tripping over my feet because I can't see where my feet are going! Really!!

10. I was diagnosed bi-polar about 6 years ago. Sure helped me make sense of the ups and downs in my life. Medication and counseling has made a huge difference in my life. For the good I might add!

Well there is more about me that you probably wanted to know! LOL! No I need to give this award to 10 bloggers that I admire and follow. I would just like to give it to all of you. I feel like saying, "Everyone, grab this award and run with it!" But I will do my best here and chose 10.

1. Debrina Pratt of Spark your imagination. Amazing works of art!

2. insomniac Ellen of this bittersweet symphony. Wonderful story teller!

3. Eleni of La Femme Readers A true bookaholic!!!

4, Cindy of 12 Tribes A wonderful and refreshing blogger!

5. Kat of 3 Bedroom Bungalow. Pure delight to read!

6. Lyn of Actual Scale. Taking charge of her weight and sharing her journey!!

7. Pam of Art at the Speed of Life. Wonderful artist and working on her first book!!!!!

8. Beth at Be Yourself...Everyone else is Taken. Amazing photographer and writer!

9. Denise of Bella Dreams. Lover of vintage style and flea markets. Great blog!

10. Alix at Casa Hice. Alix is a wonderful teller of tales. Refreshing blogger.

Woohoo! I did it! But like I said earlier, so many bloggers out there who all deserve awards!!

Thanksgiving is officially over! But the leftovers continue. Ah! The curse of them! But now the Christmas season begins and I hit the ground running this year. I did all my shopping on line. Would you believe...I am done! You heard it right...DONE!! I brow beat my grand kids in visiting their favorite on line stores and making a wish list. Then I just shopped from their lists. It was so easy! I had already purchased a special gift for my son and my daughter-in-law. So all gifts are obtained. The only other person I worry about {buy for} is my mom. And I have her taken care of as well.
Then I went and bought some really cool gift bags from Oriental Trading Place; so I am ready to go when the gifts begin to arrive. My biggest task now will be making the gift tags! But that is always fun and I just use my computer.
So, the tree is up in the living room and all gifts are purchased. The Christmas cards are ordered and I even made up matching stamps at Zazzle.com. All I have left to do is make my Christmas vignette in the dining room and put up my pink tree in my bedroom. I know...I said PINK!! With light green ornaments. The tree in my living room is black and I have black, white and silver ornaments for this one. Very cool!
Well, I am off to start my day. Hope you have a magical one!
Hugging you
SueAnn

Gorgeous!!!

Another fabulous sunrise in New Mexico!!
Enjoy and have a magical day!
Hugs
SueAnn

It's official!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and copious quantities of food have been consumed! For those who don't know; this holiday is totally about food! How it looks; how it tastes; how it smells; how long it took to prepare; how many mouths it fed; how big the turkey was/is; etc, etc, etc.
So I thought I would give you the down and dirty version.
Turkey still in roasting pan....
Table set up in construction zone!!.....On the left, is my granddaughter Georgia who is 14! Center is my son, Lee Sr.; and right is my granddaughter, Lisa who is home from college!!
The turkey weighed in at 26.9 ozs. The meal fed 10 people, with enough left over for 10 more!! We had sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Stuffing and mashed potatoes. A pickle plate and whole cranberry sauce! Turkey (of course) and pasta salad with balsamic dressing. A red wine that was $14.00 for 64 ozs. {giggling here} And fresh hot rolls!
And the table was set by my 11 year old grandson who is 11. Here he is in his tree house/fort!
Here I am with my granddaughter Lisa (on the right), sharing college stories and waiting for dinner.As for china and glassware; we used paper plates with a Christmas motif and paper cups! We did use regular silverware though. So dishes where not circumvented entirely. Sigh!
So that was my Thanksgiving day menu with guests included. I would like to add that my daughter-in-law, and three of my granddaughters were sick and did their best to be part of the festivities. Ginger {DIL} braved the kitchen and put together a wonderful feast. She was assisted by everyone and we were thrilled with the outcome. The day before, there was talk of McDonald's!
I was just thrilled to be able to spend two days with my wonderful family. Then, to add spice to the day, I told all the grand kids I wanted their Christmas wish lists and mad writing and dream-shopping commenced!
Black Friday came and went and I attended no malls or shopping centers. No! I shopped on line and had a ball. Got some good deals too! Now most of my Christmas shopping is done. I only have one more granddaughter to buy for!! WooHoo! Don't you just love a good deal? I sure do!
Hope your feasts were fabulous?
Have a magical and dreamy weekend!
Hugging you all,
SueAnn

I can feel it!!

It is beginning to look {I hate to say this out loud} like Christmas! I have been decorating already and having a blast! I know. I am pathetic!! LOL! But I love this holiday! Just like Halloween...it is a time to make believe..to create spaces that emote magic and dreams!!!!!Ahh! The wonder in a child's eyes! Makes all the work worth while. This is Joy and she is one of my reborn baby dolls. Isn't she the cutiest!! She loves taking the decorations off the tree. Little bugger!This is one of my paintings...."Catch a Falling Star"! And of course if you catch the star; you should put it into your pocket.

As you can see I used handmade paper; buttons; stars cut out of vintage book and a vintage map. Just to name of few of the components of this painting! I love the feel of this piece. Hope you enjoy it.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I will be spending the holiday with my son and his wife and my five grandchildren. I am so looking forward to it. They live in Gallup, NM which is about a three hour drive....west of us! Got a book on tape..so we are ready to go.
I purchased a 26 lb. turkey, two large pumpkin pies; whipped cream, of course, and sushi!! We all love sushi so I thought that would be a great appetizer!
Here is a pic of my son, Lee Sr. His wife, Ginger {in the middle} and my oldest granddaughter, Lisa. She is attending New Mexico State University in Las Cruses, NM.

Hope you all have a wonderful time with family and friends. May it be magical and the best day ever!!
Hugging you all
SueAnn

Next one!

Couldn't leave out my next granddaughter. She loves to pose for the camera. This is Emma...she is 16!!! The other post has Cassie on it and she is 17. This is Cassie's senior year and she is having a blast. In fact, she is having so much fun...she is grounded! Oops!! LOL!!
Another pic of Cassie!
I have two more granddaughters: Lisa who is 20 and Georgia who is 14! I will have to find some pics of them too. Then there is the baby...Lee, Jr. He is 10!!! And his sisters' adore him. And yes, he is spoiled. But in a good way! Of course, he is a genius!!!!!Hope you all have a wonderful and magical day!
Hugging you
SueAnn