Many, many hugs and smoochies to my Secret Pal. As always, she sent a box crammed full of goodies. I was out mowing our yard when I saw the mail lady pulling OUT of the driveway (how did she sneak in???) Wellll, put that puppy in overdrive and let's go see what she brought !!! CHOCOLATE,( yes, I am yelling) CHOCOLATE, and boy did I need a fix of that !!! A huge bar of smooth & creamy lip-smacking good stuff. A pair of hand pruners that are going to live in my truck 'cause one never knows when an 'occasion' will present itself. Too many times I have wished that I'd thought to put mine in while on a road trip. They will join the zip baggies that I do carry. A set of spouts to fit on a gallon jug. I used to have a set of these and wore them right out. Handy little items, as most directions say " mix X amount in a gallon." A pair of apple green and white candles, and of course they are apple scented. Very pretty. A damask patterned pillow cover in a luscious, creamy white. Very rich looking. Thank you. She also sent a set of green checkered kitchen towels. They will certainly freshen up my kitchen. And......... the clincher -drum roll...- a THIRD bird wind chime. This one is a Bluebird. Very nicely done and very much appreciated. Thank you Secret Pal for your generous gifts. Marsha

Thank you everyone again for your thoughtful comments. Many comments gave me some perspectives I had not considered. As far as my SIL's visits, they are not an issue for me. At least not an issue, that I am willing to alienate her over. There would be no way to limit her visits without her being hurt beyond belief. (If she had stayed mad at me for losing my temper, I was willing to let the relationship go, rather than grovel, but since she apologized, all is okay as far as I am concerned). I don't think we are enabling her as she is who she is. If we changed our response to her, it would just hurt her--it wouldn't make her suddenly realize that she is the one with the problem. My motto as far as many things in life is to never fight a losing battle--its just a waste of energy. If I can't change someone or something, then I find a way to change me so that I can be happy with it. I only have control over myself and my reactions. We have a very open door policy as far as guests, and we often have overnight guests. BIL stays with us at least once a month for a few days as he has clients in our area. When he first moved to USA, he stayed with us for several months. As mentioned, SIL is here regularly. My sisters and family often stay in the summer as we have a pool and are close to the beach. And on a weekly basis, I host a playdate with sometimes as many as 15 kids and moms. SIL can be a PITA, but most of the time (minus times where cake is involved LOL) I can tolerate her just fine---although after the cake debacle, my tolerance for her is lower. She does make some very rude comments about our house and the guest room, but my husband just tells her that if she doesn't like it, to go stay with their parents, and that normally shuts her up. I just go about my normal life even when she is here--that is why it never occurred to me to specifically plan my daughter's party when she is not here. She has been here numerous times for my older daughter's party as well, as it falls around MLK Day, so she makes the trip up as her daughter is out of school. Anyway, now that you all know more than you ever wanted about my relationship with my SIL, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

My picture used to be on the wall at Railhead (back dining room). I was in the 1997 (or was it ’96?) Stock Show rodeo performances on horseback. It was some anniversary year and they had a Vegas company put it all on. Trick riders, the works. Anyway, our cast photo was in Railhead for years, but I think it’s gone now. I had on my white Stetson. :)

Oh this is all so nice! I agree the Jordan almonds are sooo pretty; too bad none of us here like them. I love the bunny cookie jars on the buffet. As for whiteboards, I am a whiteboard nut! I have 3. One of mine is double-sided, and the reverse is four quadrant graph paper. Very handy when I was helping my kids with geometry, algebra, and (even today!) statistics. I also use them for to-do lists. I must pass along a favorite source for dry erase markers. Really good quality and i love the colors, too! I also am a Workflowy devotee, thanks to you. Were you impacted by their security kerfuffle the other day? I nearly needed a defibrillator. My *life* is on there; I think my to do list is 18 pages long. Andrew is gorgeous, as is your DD. He also has a very self-possessed expression. I know that sounds crazy, but I recall thinking the same thing about my BFF's newborn 20+ years ago. Her daughter, almost from the beginning, had a certain demeanor. Kind of a regal bearing. And still does. FWIW. I expect big things from grandbaby KSWL!