Baby, It's Cold Outside

Burrr, it is really cold! Well for us it is really cold, even though it is about 30 degrees warmer here than it is in other parts of the country. Actually when I took this picture it had already warmed up from 6 degrees. With it being this cold the best thing to do is snuggle in and start being creative.

My girl friends and I got together and started making Valentines cards. It was a great day.

Going Cold Turkey

Every year this time the Girl Scouts begin their annual cookie sale. Being a former Girl Scout myself I like to support the cause; but this year I have decided (sigh), no THIN MINTS for me.

This is how it used to go: "Hello, I'm selling Girl Scout cookies. Would you like to support our group?" Then I start to remember how much I love those little crunchy dark chocolate minty wafers. . .mmm. . . always wanting to support our young girls, I buy at least three boxes.

Then they are delivered and the money is hardly out of my hand before the box is torn open. I think I'll just eat a few...oh no just a few more...then the entire plastic sleeve of cookies is gone! Put them up, put them up!! They start calling me from my desk drawer...just one more won't hurt. Oh my gosh, the entire box is gone and the two remaining will be gone soon too.

Well I just can't let that happen this year, so I am giving up my beloved THIN MINTS farewell, my little mint chocolate friends; it was nice while it lasted.

Thin Mint Trivia: Thin mints are the most popular Girl Scout cookie. They make up 25% of total cookie sales, and have always come in a dark green box.

A Cube With A View

Several years ago my office was moved to a new building, which was great except that I moved from an office to a cubicle. In fact we all moved from offices to cubicles, so I was not the only one who had some major adjusting to do. No more door to close. No more quiet, undistrubed time to concentrate on work. Now it is sort of like the Dilbert cartoon. Nothing like spending the day listening to your co-workers yell into the speakerphone while you are trying to concentrate on the project at hand. No more getting up and going to someones office or calling them on the phone, everyone just yells their questions across the entire office. Oh well, such is the life when working in a cube farm. But that is fine, I am just so thankful in this current economy that I have a job. It is just that working from a cube changes the dynamics of office work.

But I do have one major bonus; my cube has a view! A couple of days ago I followed this storm as it came and went. Beautiful.

Out With the Old - In With the New

Well its the start of a new year, and there is so much to do around here!
- Take down the Christmas decorations . . . CHECK
- Vacuum and dust the entire house . . . CHECK
- Wash clothes . . . CHECK
- Clean out the refrigerator and throw away all the left over holiday junk food. . . CHECK
- Go to the grocery store for some healthy food . . . CHECK
- Whip up some white chicken chili in the crock pot . . . CHECK

Whew, with that taken care of I look out the kitchen window and see my poor bird feeder has just about had it! The squirrels had chewed off almost all of the plastic perches, and my husband had replaced those with wooden dowels. It had definitely seen its better days.

So off to Lowe's to look for a new one. After pondering for what seemed like such a long time, and after several attempts from Lowe's staff to assist me, I had just about made up my mind. The store security probably radioed them to see why that woman was fondling all of the bird feeders for an hour! This was a big decision! Or at least I make things like this out to be...will the rain get into the feeder; how easy is it to fill up; will the squirrels be able to chew it up; how much feed will it hold, and on and on.

I finally decided on this big beautiful red metal one. But of course the display was all they had in stock, so one of the helpful associates pulled a ladder over and got it down for me.

When I opened the top and looked inside there were two suet cages that hooked to the sides. I bought Apple Treat Sweet and Orange Delight suet, as well as a bag of fresh 20 lb bag of seed. Best of all when I got to the check out it was on sale!

Okay my little bird friends, come and get it!