RANDOM DOZEN

Head on over and visit Linda to play along.

1. How do you feel about the marshmallow Easter Peeps?
I like them but don't buy them much anymore. I just bought the chocolate covered ones to try. I also have a strand of Yellow Peep lights.

2. Chickens are notoriously nervous creatures. When you are nervous, what is the best way to calm down?
Bring on the wine!

3. People say, "April showers bring May flowers." Do you enjoy Spring rains?
No but we always need the rain in California.

4. When I was randomly flipping through TV channels this week, I saw a show in which tattoo parlor employees received tattoos of a co-worker's face on their bodies. I can't imagine having a portrait of a colleague tattooed on me. But if someone forced you to receive a portrait tattoo (face only) of anyone, who would it be? Why?
Well right now I would say my dog Skye because she is adorable!

5. Would you rather have a tattoo (any kind) or a nose ring?
Tattoo for sure. I always wanted a ladybug on my thumb and the Christian fish symbol on my ankle.

6. Do you have any special plans for Easter?
Well this year we are going to have our Easter dinner (prime rib) on Saturday. It's just going to work better on Saturday this year.

7. Cadbury Eggs or Reese Eggs?
Reese's baby!

8. What was the last thing/person you took a picture of?
A basket I bought yesterday that I put some eggs in for an Easter decoration.

9. What book are you reading now, or what was the last one?
Well I haven't started but I plan on starting The Lovely Bones any day now!

10. What do you think is the most difficult task when it comes to Spring cleaning?
Cleaning the wooden blinds and washing windows inside/out!

11. How many pairs of flip-flops do you own?
I don't wear flip-flops I wear Birkenstock shoes 24/7 and have about 12 pairs.

12. Which color makes you happiest?
Yellow

P.S. FYI: Amish Grace will be on LMN (Lifetime Movie Network) Thursday at 5pm & 9pm and on April 10th at 5&9.

BUTTON BUTTON WHOSE GOT THE BUTTON

I do thanks to a sweet blog friend named Brandy at You Don't Know ! See it there on the left, feel free to take it. Thank you Brandy, I love it.

POST IT NOTE TUESDAY

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TAKE A SEAT

I like little chairs. These are my newest ones, they came as a set of four. I have placed them on my mantel for now. Are they not the cutest little chairs you have ever seen?

These are the others that I have had for several years now. (except for the little one made of sticks ~ that one belongs to my daughter)

So what collectible do you have that excites you?

This is not the only one that excites me. I like my Roosters, Giraffes, Willow Tree, Jim Shore, S&P Shakers and Tea Pots.

~ TOO MUCH STUFF ~

We have been in our house for a little over 3 years. Doesn't feel like that long, it still feels like we just moved in. We went from a house with 1895 square feet to a house with 3,400 square feet of space. When we moved I got rid of half of my things and let me tell you that I had allot of stuff! I love to collect stuff and working at Hallmark for six years didn't help the situation. Now that I have been living with half the stuff it still feels like too much stuff.

So when you have two guest rooms it's easy to fill them up with stuff. Mainly Christmas stuff, gifts and wrapping papers. I always made sure I had space for company to hang clothes and several drawers for them to use. The bottom drawers I would use for Christmas throws, gifts I would buy throughout the year and other little things.

So getting these rooms ready for my daughter and son-in-law was a challenge. One I really didn't want to face because let's face it, who really likes to clean out closets! But that didn't really matter because it HAD to be done.

After Christmas we bought some containers to make our closet look more organized. My husband worked on his section (picture on the left) and I took a picture of the MESS on my side of the closets. Whatever I had that I didn't know what to do with went there. The red containers are my Christmas ornaments, the boxes have plush and Jim Shore Christmas.

The one guest bedroom with the small walk-in closet needed to be emptied for our daughter & son-in-law along with the closet in the other bedroom which will be their TV room. We also cleaned out a hallway cabinet for linens and the guest bathroom. I would have to say that I think they have more space now then they did in their apt. closets.

So below you will see the finished master closet. We have moved most everything into the closet and even though it's pretty full it looks really organized doesn't it? I still have one shelf with misc. junk on it. (see Skye sniffing the dirty laundry in the basket)

Now I want to keep going and get the rest of my cabinets cleaned out and organized. My bathroom sink area has so much storage yet almost everything in it isn't being used by me anymore. (Yes, I buy way too many things to try on my face, body, hair, etc.) So with some help from my daughter I hope to get the rest of the house totally organized and with that comes freedom!

There is something very freeing about getting rid of the excess clutter and things you don't use. So why is it so hard to tackle these project when you know that the outcome is happiness?

P.S. Today we are going to tackle my bathroom cabinet !!!

Hershey's Better Basket: Blog Hop

Thank you Amy at Keeping Up with the Schultz Family for sending me a virtual Easter Basket filled with goodies. (no calories)

Join Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop and help to raise $5,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Hershey has partnered with the Children’s Miracle Network for over 20 years. CMN is a non-profit alliance of children’s hospitals dedicated to providing state-of-the-art care, life-saving research and preventative education across North America.

This Easter season, Hershey is celebrating it’s new Easter products sold exclusively at Walmart and their legacy of making a difference and Hershey’s will donate up to a total of $5,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network together with bloggers.

How can we do this together? It’s simple:

Participate to Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop of giving away virtual Easter Baskets by creating a blog post with specific rules described here.

Hershey Company will donate $10 per each blog post to CMN, up to total of $5,000.

One blog post per URL counts towards the donation, but you can give as many virtual Easter baskets as you want.

The Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop will officially begin at 12 AM EST on March 18th and end at 12 PM EST on April 4th, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted for.

The blog post link has to be submitted to us for the donation to be counted.

In addition copy and paste the following text in your blog post:

HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES

Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.

Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.

Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.

Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.

Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.

Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).

Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.

So I am passing these Easter Baskets on to my newest followers in Google Friend Connect:

• Jessica at Mia Ma Miah's Diaries!
• Frugal Tumbleweed Acres
• Dysfunctional Mom at Putting the Fun in DysFUNctional
• Gina at Dang Gina
• Tara at New Day New Season
• Lanie Ree at Life in the Pitts
• Chickens in the Basement
• Pami (who I don't have a link to)
• Kelly at Sufficient Grace Ministries
• Barb (who I don't have a link to)
• YaYa's Changing World
• Angelia at Living Loving Laughing

These are all new friends of mine so let's all go over and get to know them.

RANDOM DOZEN

Random Dozen is over at I Didn't Know That if you want to join in this week.

The Theme Is Spring

1. What is your favorite sign of Spring?
The wild California poppies along the freeways.

2. Did you remember to spring forward on March 14? If not, how did it impact your day?
Yes I remembered.

3. If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what vegetable would you plant in a garden this year?
Tomatoes

4. If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what fruit would you plant?
Pomegranate

5. What is your least favorite insect?
Spiders

6. March 22 was World Water Day. To celebrate, here are some water questions. Do you drink bottled water? If so, what brand?
Yes, we drink Arrowhead.

7. Have you ever been somewhere that it was not safe to drink the local water? If so, how did you handle that?
Not that I can remember.

8. How many glasses of water do you drink per day?
At least 5 or more. I don't drink soda.

9. March 24 is the birthday of Harry Houdini. Have you ever watched a professional magic show? Share.
Yes I have but I don't remember much about it, its been years.

10. Have you ever been a participant in a professional magic show (up on stage!)?
No but I have seen some really great card tricks.

11. March 24 is also the birthday of Steve McQueen and Clyde Barrow. Do you like Westerns or gangster movies? If so, what is your favorite?
Not really but I do watch westerns with my husband. I liked Clint Eastwood's movie
Unforgiven. It had some wonderful life lessons for the young in it.

12. (Really random) What U.S. state that you've never visited would you like to visit someday?
Washington DC is high on my list and also New York. I want to see all the monuments and I want to see the Statue of Liberty.

POST IT NOTE TUESDAY

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GUESS WHO I'M SEEING TODAY?

Should have done this a week ago!

MOVING DAY

All done.....

let the fun begin!

Oh and if you wouldn't mind you can start praying now.....

P.S. For those of you who had snow on the first day of Spring ~ we passed it on the road ~ it's just around the corner and will be there soon!

IS YOUR HUSBAND HOME ?

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF DEBBY

If you know me, you know I am pretty much one of the most honest people you will meet and I will tell you almost anything you want to know whether you want to know it or not. So it's just after three in Southern California, I am at the kitchen table while Skye is playing in the yard chasing all her imaginary friends. (Bugs we don't see) I am having a glass of wine (because I can) and listening to A Decade of Steely Dan. Still fighting the ugly in my lungs but having better days for sure so let's just say I'm doing the happy dance even though physically I can't!

Thought I would share some pictures. Don't seem to take too many these days. Love my Polish Pottery. These are the clean bowls after our Oscar party and you needed to see them because your life will be so much better having seen them!

Daughter and I (yes the one and only who I've been blogging about) getting our toes done yesterday and then getting lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I don't know why I don't just order the dessert first because I didn't have room later! Then we did a little shopping at Sephora :) and got some Jamba Juice.

A quick picture of the green hills below our house before the sun burns them away within a few weeks.

Skye's light bulb moment. (Christmas bulb that is!)

So a cute little story to share with you. The little box you see here and in the next picture is from my days in High School. It's just a mini me of a Lane Hope Chest. Everyone had to buy a hope chest so they could save all the linens, dishes, etc. that they would get as gifts (because your are a girl and someday you will get married) and save them for your wedding day. Well I never bought the big one but had used this little one to keep mementos (not the mints) in from my hubby.
So above mentioned daughter and I are having a ball cleaning out my closet. NOT! (you remember the recent posts) So she is holding up this box and says to me "WHO IS THIS?" I look at her in what must have been a crazy ass face so she said it again "WHO IS THIS?" I was LOST just like the TV show! (well I'm not living on a island but you get the picture)
Well see the reason she asked that is because my last two dogs who were the loves of my life before my precious Skye, who I didn't want to replace with the same breed after they passed, have been cremated to go into Crystal Craig Lake at Mammoth Lakes, CA when the first one to kick the bucket ends up there! So when she saw the box she was confused because she didn't remember anyone else being cremated! I haven't laughed that hard in years. OMG it was so funny. Below you will see Maggie and Angels boxes.
And this next one is a baby hawk on one of the fence posts at the back of the yard. Isn't he cute!
Hope you enjoyed this post. A little bit more happy then some of my last ones. Gee maybe I need to start drinking at 7:00AM! Just kidding folks, really, trust me on that one.

Debby

P.S. Skye and I are both getting our hair done on Friday. Gee I could save allot of money if Pet Smart could do my hair!

RANDOM DOZEN & HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Fidelma McKenna here ~ head on over to visit with Lid and join in the fun!

1. On a scale of 1-10, how superstitious are you, honestly?
I use to be but not much anymore ~ maybe a 1!

2. Julius Caesar is quoted as saying, "I came, I saw, I conquered." Which circumstance or experience of yours does this saying best describe?
I certainly do that when I buy a new car! Well I did have to do my aunt and uncles will after they passed away. I had no desire to do it but I had no choice so I guess I came, I saw, I conquered. Hope I never have to close an estate ever again!

3. If I peeked in on your day like a mischievous little leprechaun, at what time would I most likely find you blogging?
From 7 AM until I am done. At least six to eight hours.

4. Re springing forward for Daylight Saving Time, is there anything you've ever been really early or really late for?
I can't think of anything. I'm pretty good at being on time.

5. What are you most looking forward to concerning Spring?
I like the longer evenings of daylight and all the beautiful color of the flowers.

6. Shamrocks are the national flower of Ireland and are picked on St. Patrick's Day and worn on the lapel or shoulder. Do you wear green on St. Patty's Day?
Not usually. I guess I have worn a pin, I think it belonged to my mother, I should look for it!

7. One of Caesar's assassins, Casca, said, "But, for my own part, it was Greek to me," which of course means he didn't understand something. Probably his own lines in the play. Anyway, what is something that is "Greek to you," something incomprehensible or indecipherable?
Well that is a long list for me but I will simply say that HTML codes are crazy to understand!

8. Is March behaving more like a lion or a lamb where you live?
It started out like a lion but has been pretty good lately.

9. "An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn is all that we ask in return for dazzling gifts. We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later." -Winston Churchill. If you had one extra hour per day every day, what would you do with it?
Well if the hour was given to me and I had to do something that I normally don't do on a regular basis, I would read.

10. Legend says that every Leprechaun has a pot of gold hidden deep in the Irish countryside. Aside from real gold or money, what material item would be in your dream pot of gold?
A Mercedes Benz

11. "The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you." Robert Louis Stevenson. Look around you right now and tell us about something essential or beautiful very near you that you take for granted every day.
I don't really take it for granted because I appreciate my home with a view but for almost a year now I sit in my office and blog most of the day. I should be outside each day loving what God has laid before me. (when I smoked I was outside allot enjoying the view and the cigarette)

12. Just for a bit o' fun, click here and then report your Irish name. Mine is "Zoe O'Sullivan." I love it!
My name is Fidelma McKenna (it's kind of funny, my best friend is a McKenna, I have to tell her about my name)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

How adorable are these girls?

When I was in high school I remember ditching on St. Patrick's Day one year. My HS was near Riverside, IL and not to far from the train station. We took the train to downtown Chicago and saw the parade and the section where they turn the water green. That was awesome to see!

Don't mean to bring you all down down but I feel like sharing a moment from my past with you. Twenty-nine years ago today I remember standing outside the funeral home watching the people outside a pub laughing and having a good time celebrating St. Patrick's Day. It was the night of my Mothers wake. My son was just 3 and my daughter was 10 months old, I wish they could have known her. Nine months later my husband left me.