Ok, I've had a laugh about the eye allergy thing. That is just too funny. Because honestly I have two that do have that issue. Well.... 3. DH, DD and MIL. However, I can one-up you all on that. How do I deal with a person who believes and I mean seriously believes that my house plants take oxygen out of the air? Honest to gods, My MIL believes this with all her silly little heart that the house plants take oxygen out of the air! LOL And she's starting to convince my DH of the same silly notion! *groans* It's absolutely silly, to be honest. And I just do not know how to cope with it. Nor have I figured out how to teach them both that they are wrong! LOL =) I've gone the passive aggressive route so far. Each time either of them mentions that my plants take oxygen out of the air, I go buy another one. ROTF ~Tina

Laurel, Eeww was right! But now it is done! Hooray!!! It was soooo baaad! I want to thank you for these awesome gifts: -a very nice mix of finch seed -a nut and fruit seed bell-Laurel, I love to hang these on the porch as I can get a close up view from my sitting chair in the living room. -seeds-salvia(St. John's fire), purple coneflower, chianti sunflower, gaillardia, brilliant red poppy, Will Rogers zinnia, and gloriosa daisy. The birds will have a heyday with many of those flowers. Thank you! -double chocolate Ghirardelli coffee-oh YUM! -cute decoration shaped like a birdhouse with sunflowers painted on it that says, "Harvest Home Inn" -a beautiful hummingbird windchime -4 separate hanging birdhouse decorations-each is done in a different color with a different flower and a different saying-the sayings are Love, Hope, Faith, and Peace--These are very, very cute!!! The paintings of the flowers on them is so tiny and detailed. Hope has blue morning glories, love has yellow sunflowers, faith has a pink/white lily, and I am unsure what flower peace has, but it is a pretty blue. These are just soooo neat!!! -English Teatime tea in a cute Happy Holidays box that has a couple of cheery, fat birds on the front. -a tube of Baume Du Jardinier the Gardener's Hand Healer-it smells wonderful and makes my hands feel smooth and silky. It has shea butter in it. -a holiday tin with a winter scene of a farmstead all decked out in snow and greenery and a beautiful cardinal or two. The tin itself is full of Hershey's mint truffles. These are deLISH!!!!! You can't just stop at 1 or 2. Laurel, thank you so very, very much for the wonderful box of goodies for our feathered friends AND for me. Wasn't this a fun swap? There is just something about feeding and watching birds that is so satisfying. I'm guessing that you think so, too. Everything wass wonderful and very appreciated!!! Mary Ellen

Good Morning Everyone! Vic, your new babies are so cute. I wish I could take one, but.... with me on the road, hubby has his hands full with the kitties. (I don't know why I say kitties, they are no longer babies). I'm sure Zack is just loving them to pieces. Susie, I'm glad you got your ornament. Tracy, did you ever get your calendar, I have another one here if you didn't. Fran, I'm glad you got the egg separator. I was beginning to worry. Margaret, wow! you got a nice package, but that does not surpise me. Sassy, Anita, did you get your boxes? I will be glad to send each of you something if they have been lost in the mail. I know if a package is going to get lost it will at Chrismas time. Mariann, I'm glad you were satisfied with the ornaments. Wendy, where are you? Theresa, I imagine you are in Michigan by now. Did you pack long underwear? Janell, I hope you had a nice holiday too. I hope I did not miss anyone; I hate standing in the corner. A seed round robin sounds good, but I will have to decline, was too busy on the road to collect any. I did however get the seeds wintersown that Vic sent me, and I thank you again. I'm glad Christmas is over, and I hope everyone has a safe New Years. Time for some sleep, LIFE IS GOOD, Annie

NHSuzanne - Those pictures are postcard perfect. What a beautiful sky. I may make those mugs for my college age nieces. Thanks for posting. Raeanne and Patti - The 3 of us should just exchange among ourselves. Patti, I don't have an ornament from you, so maybe you could send to me. I'll send to Raeanne an Raeanne can send to you. How does that sound? My job is sucking the life right out of me, but I have managed to get in the Christmas spirit this week. I am working on Holiday recipe boxes for all the cooks in my family. I found a great site called Shabby Princess with a free download for Christmas recipe cards. I spent most of yesterday (after attending a beautiful Christmas wedding) typing the recipes. Now I need to upload the recipes to Costco, print out the Recipe boxes and put them all together. I posted a link below for anyone who is interested. My house is decorated and most of my shopping is done. I just have some on-line shopping to do for my DS and figure out what DH wants. I bought myself my Christmas present yesterday......a Kitchen Aid mixer. I was using my parent's old mixer, which was a wedding present, 61 years ago. Let's just say it was time to upgrade. LOL I also bought a new lens for my Nikon SLR. DH will be retiring next summer and who knows what the money situation will be, so I treated myself while I still could. I will try to post more often. I have been going into work early, working thru lunch, staying late and bringing work home. Like I said, it is sucking the life out of me. I already wrote my letter of resignation and will turn it in in February. I am ready to quit today, but I know that isn't the right thing for the kids, so I will tough it out until May. Then I can decide what I want to do for the next 2 years until I can retire for good. Who knows, maybe I will find a job that I love and I won't want to retire at all! LOL Later, Marci Here is a link that might be useful: Holiday Recipe Cards