Wow, Shannon/garden_witch, you sure put together a special package!! I was so excited when I saw the mailman pull up and carry my package up to the porch! Ok, well first of all, there was a card with beautiful flowers on it, and such a pretty envelope, I loved it! And I really enjoyed reading your letter, and learning more about you! I liked seeing the photo of your backyard, looks like you've sure got your work cut out for you, like I do with my yard! But you've got a great, fresh space to work with looks like, and I'd love to see more photos this summer once you've got some areas of that yard filled with all those plants from your winter sowing! And here's what was in the package: A great coffee mug with a garden-themed picture on it of a watering can and some other things, I will be using it later for my coffee; and even better, it was filled with mini candy bars! Mmmmmm.... :) I tried one of those Midnight Milky Way bars, which are made with dark chocolate around the outside, (I love dark chocolate, the richer the better,) and oh my goodness was it ever good. I'd never tried those before, and now I'm really wishing there were more than two! I NEED more!! Must... go... buy... more.... see, look what you did to me, Shannon! LOL. Okay, moving right along. A pretty pot with hand-painted flowers on it that I love, (I love pots, and am always wanting more of them, so it was perfect!) And in the pot, was a baggie of several different kinds of seeds that I can winter sow, (woohoo, I love seeds! lol) and a beautiful anklet with jade colored stones in it, which is great because green is my favorite color, and I love jade colored things. Then there was a beautiful little garden ornament, which is right up my alley, I absolutely love those types of things! I have to find a special place to hang it now... Also, some pretty faerie gifts tags and book plates, a wonderful smelling homemade candle, (it is lit as we speak,) and last but certainly not least, a great gift! It was a bag labeled "Seed snatching kit." And in it, was a little notebook, a really cool gel pen that writes in several different colors, some seed envies, and a pair of Singer thread snippers, which I never would've thought to use for this purpose, but it is just perfect for snipping off seed pods! They will go to great use, that's for sure. And a couple of the gifts were inside these very pretty handcrafted bags, which I just love. And Shannon, where on earth did you find that alien wrapping paper? LOL! I love it. :) Everything is wonderful, and I am very thankful that you are my new pal! ~Summer

Excuse me?!? I merely thought others would like a heads up about a wonderful recipe exchange. Sorry for the bother!!!

Good morning everyone! Almost done my cookies - one more batch to go. I do clean as I go - otherwise I'd be working on the floor! Going to start putting away my baking stuff in a couple of minutes once the last recipe is 'in the bowl' and clear off my dining table. Need the space to pile bags of stuff to go down to the in-laws for xmas and to clear out the living room floor so I can start vacuuming today. I want to have my housework done today so when we return from xmas I come back to a clean house and can relax. We are joining all of you getting inundated with snow - it's our turn big time today with a forecast of well over a foot - with blowing snow more like 2 feet already in some spots. Deja vu from this time last year, eh? Some young lad put a flyer in our mailbox for snowshoveling - by hand - I already called him since we want our house clear when we return from traveling too. I'm going to call him today in a bit to ask him to come by when the snow stops, once the plough goes by. I will do some shoveling myself. My neighbors offer to blow us out for free but I don't feel at all right about that - they won't take any money so I have declined. It sounds like a young couple on the phone doing the shoveling and they live around the corner from us - I am quite happy to hire someone needing a few dollars. We have no where to put a snow blower otherwise we'd have one right now. My back is still recovering from the manual labour and I know I have to drop some weight because it spasms when I carry a few extra pounds - doesn't take much these days. Okay, I'm stopping my whining now. I saw the weather in the bad areas on the news last night in the US. My heart goes out to everyone concerned. Not funny at all. Hard to enjoy xmas when you have no heat, running low on supplies and all you can see is more snow falling. Once I get on with my housework I'm going to work on a few craft projects so I don't keep looking out the window. Have some computer work to do too for my website/business I'm trying to prepare for the new year so that's fun too. Hugs to everyone, I will probably check in later! Peggy

Good Saturday morning from chilly north Texas! It's windy, sunny, and not supposed to get above 45 again today. Brrr! BJ, I am so sorry for your loss. You dad always sounded like such a good man. He's leaving a legacy of love for all his family. (((((BJ and family)))) (((Suzanne))) Losing fur/feather babies is always hard on the heart. They were blessed animals to have been loved and cared for by you. (((Besh))) Thinking of you and wishing you a much better 2011! Jan, what a lovely gift your mom gave you. Christmas at your house will be even more blessed this year because of it. Prayers for your dh and you. Marci, want to come wrap the gifts I have for my grandson? I walked out of the house in Crosby and left all my gift bags, etc. in the closet, so I'll have to start fresh here. Those are the only gifts I have left to wrap. Raeanne, I enjoyed peeking at your FB pictures of your Chamber Christmas party. You and your hubby are looking good! Dee, I hope your results were good. I've been thinking of you! Tikanis, it's good to see you posting again! I'm one to talk as I've been mostly MIA this last week or so. My apartment is looking pretty good today. Of course, I know that things are stashed everywhere with no logic involved, but it looked decent when my sister came yesterday. She was able to hang 3 pictures for me before she had to go, and the rest is up to me. Once I find the stand for my little Christmas tree, I hope to get in the decorating spirit again. Hard to believe that Christmas is a week from today, and I don't have anything festive out yet. Oh, well. There's always next year, right? Life is good otherwise. Good health, good friends and family, and enough money in the bank to pay the bills - so far! Wishing everyone a productive or restful day - whichever you need most!