Mrs Justa–what a weekend….

Ok.. so the solo for Sunday… well in addition to tossing the 2 songs , battling which one to do… Saturday I was tossing my cookies (so to speak) at about 4:30 in the afternoon. So the songs took the back seat to some funky viral GI thing I had going on.

Yep.. around 5:30 I called the Pastor—I felt really bad..both physically and commitment wise, but there was not a darn thing I could do about it.

We had gotten up Sat morning rather early… it really was cute..in a way… Brandon came next to my side of the bed… about 2 inches from my sleeping face..and said “Gamma the sun is up..so it is time to get up.” Than hew said  “ Will you sing a song for breakfast?” I was touched…. I was trying to figure a way to settle his ready to go 3 yr old body down..and than he said.. Preston is up too. I asked if Preston woke him up, he said.. No..”I said good morning and Preston got up.”..”Can we have french toast sticks and sausage now?” So we all tried a bed cuddling session and we were up starting our day with the roosters. Lesson learned… 1) Do not tell them what breakfast is after he and his brother wake up.. 2) It is okay to tell him it is too early to get up and have him go back to bed….

By 6:00 AM they had helped me get laundry started…

they love sitting in front of the washer and watching the clothes slosh back and forth.

Some kids like Sat morning cartoons… these guys liked Sat morning laundry.

Asking about what was happening and telling me when the soap was bubbling.

 

During the day I was feeling kinda tired..but thought it was just that. We were to have Jeff and Amanda come over , all have  lunch, than the kids were going to go home for nap time. Well I was feeling so tired and kind of blah..that when they kids left with their parents, I got in my PJS and took a nap for myself. The nap went on for 24 hrs !! With the exception of getting up to throw up, or go to the bathroom.

Needless to say…. it is a heck of a weight loss plan—but I HATE..and I mean HATE throwing up. Than add to it.. once you are an older person and have a lower partial… as you are waddling to the bathroom to bless the toilet…. you have to yank the partial out of your mouth… uggg… the trials of aging.

I am feeling better than I was at 4:30 last night…looking forward to continuing to feel better. Love to all…Mrs Justa alias Cindy

Technorati Tags: grandparenting,life,Satruday morning,laundry,precious,memories. sick

 

Mrs Justa and traditions…..

Traditions … traditions that have lasted through the years and lived on after the people who started them have passed on to their reward.

Traditions, somewhat altered, edited in a way, but the base still exists.

Christmas Eve… well since I was born, Christmas Eve was at my moms house. Basically until I had moved out- it was logical it was there- heck that was where I lived.

But after I grew up and many years later was married, and after that divorced and again married- well that tradition has remained. The meal has changed, to a new tradition, and my mom has been gone for quite a few years now, but her house is now my brothers home, and my brother and his wife always host Christmas Eve. Now the meal is beef strogenoff with egg noodles- and let me tell you it is GOOD!!! All my local siblings and their families, and my brother and his wife’s children, Jeff and Amanda and their children, we will all be there.

The gift exchange- well that has changed too. It was getting pretty expensive to buy for everyone- and if money was tight, you knew the gifts being bought were not what you wanted to buy, and it was a chance the receiver would not really get much use out of it. So now. well it is fun…. we each buy a 20.00 gift, and than we draw numbers. Whoever is numero uno- picks first, than every single person who follows can steal numero unos gift – or anyone who has chosen a gift …..if they like it better.

In years past, the hot items contained alcohol in them and the 21 and older folks had their eyes on anything with drinking attached to it. Other things go from hand to hand too- like fountains, and gift cards… The younger kids- they are name drawn- so they will receive age appropriate gifts.

The night is fun, it is refreshing to not have the hassle of trying to figure out what to buy for 20 people.

Another tradition is my sugar cookies. I make them EVERY Christmas. And people seem to look forward to them. They are fun to do, and pretty yummy. It is one of those things that I make and can not really instruct anyone else how to do them, cuz I do not measure for the frosting- it is more a little of this and that and somehow it comes out the same.

This year will be a little weird, my niece is in Turkey, in the Navy- and she really loves Christmas. Maybe she will be there on Skype. HA—there are a few Christmases that she popped her face in front of me when I tried to take a photo. She has a terrific smile, and ya just had to laugh. So all in all… tonight will be fun.

Tomorrow – well we are still trying to adjust to Christmases as the years go by. Our kids have their own kids, and really Christmas morning should be without pressures of packing the family and going to parents homes- so we may go over to Amanda’s and Jeff’s in the AM and watch the grandkids as they experience Christmas morning. Than we are going to have a small turkey breast dinner here, just the 2 of us. Maybe go to Lights on the Lake- that is a neat light show in Liverpool, and just enjoy the blessings life has given to us, and be thankful for all we have. I think maybe I will put in “It’s a Wonderful Life” too… I just love that movie……………. ( Mark… not so much )

So “Merry Christmas to all…. and to all a good night … “…..((real original )))   Love to all Cindy… alias Mrs. Justa

Technorati Tags: traditions,Christmas,life,fun,strogenoff

 

Mrs Justa and Christmas is coming….

Wow,it is Sunday at 5PM and I am working towards finishing my weekend. Laundry is laundering, bills paid, Quicken updated, gifts bought and need wrapping, cookie batter to get going, and dinner to get put on.

I have come to a few conclusions this weekend… one is – even though no one has money—they are out spending it. The traffic was insane yesterday…parking was hard to find…and all around there were people with carts full of wonder and magic.. ( and hours of wrapping ahead of them )

I think we have done good , we tried to keep within a reasonable budget to get gifts to people that we wanted to give and not because we were trying to keep up with others.

Christmas is such a crazy time because it seems that people go nuts spending money … and why… really. Maybe instead of money if we spent more time with one another… is that more not what life is about.

Christmas to me is a magical time, a time when we decorate our homes, our porches, our trees, out yards in a spirit of celebration. For many people I know, it is because we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. And in some way, the joy of the celebration has meant we give each other gifts.

It is all I have ever known at the holidays. That no matter how much or how little money there was, we did special things for other people. There was one year I worked at the Christmas Bureau- that was a special year for me, helping those who have nothing- so that they had something.

A couple of different years I sang at retirement homes—oh the residents loved that. And many years I have gone around singing Christmas Carols , as the snowflakes landed on our eyelashes, our toes got cold and our hearts filled with warmth…many  people opened their doors, smiled  and listened, as we went from house to house .. we there was hot chocolate waiting for us when we returned to thaw out.

The snow has stopped, and I am thinking it might be fun this week to drive around and see the decorations. I do believe in Jesus, and I do believe in giving gifts to others because of the miracle of his birth. I am going to make this short- as I have a bunch of stuff to do… as probably many people are feeling the last few day crunch too.

So for now, for what ever reason you are doing whatever you do around Christmas time… I hope you are safe… I hope you feel the magic, the joy, and I hope that life is okay… Love to all. Mrs Justa…

Technorati Tags: gifts. Christmas,Life,wonder,magic

 

Mrs Justa and comfort

What brings you comfort at the end of the day?

What brings you comfort when just want to stop

and take a breather in life?

Where can you go to find consolation?

And how come a 6 month old can find that comfort that many of us are looking for?

To have a daddies lap to find security on, to feel the strength and protection of a parent, to have a crook of daddies arm to mold into and be rocked .

As we age- we do not have these safety nets any more. We seem to have to be strong and find the comfort in ourselves.

It is funny how each of us deal with the tribulations of life. It would be kinda weird if thumb sucking was what people did from birth till death,

Can you imagine driving in a traffic jam and looking in the next vehicle to see the driver sucking his / her thumb?

Or when you get called in the office to discuss something at work- to pop the ol thumb in your mouth.

I bet things would be calmer if we all did.

Instead , adults get vocal, some yell, some get all teary eyed, some get nasty.

I think we need to relook at how we handle stress, handle challenges, handle disappointments—- we need to look at the adversities of life as a way to make us stronger. Maybe we need to look at them as chance to make a difference.

We need to take our proverbial thumb and find the same comfort that Preston found in his tonight.

A nice evening was spent with the grandbabies and Jeff and Amanda… yes a nice evening…. ended in a nice thumb sucking for Preston, and a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie

made for Brandon- just the perfect size for his little hands,

and fresh coffee and hot chocolate for the parents and grandparents…

We live a pretty quiet life out here in the boonies-

and for a little while this room was filled with the wonder of life,

the innocence of a baby,

the magic of a 2 year old, the love shared by all.

A nice change, a nice reflection of how our lives were filled with toddlers and challenges 25 years ago.

And as the kids pack up their kids and head south to home… I have to say, I once again feel blessed.

I thank God for all I have learned , loved, lost, and all the challenges in life.

Have a good night, Love Mrs. Justa alias Cindy

Technorati Tags: Life,comfort,challenges,solitude,wonder,thumb

 

Mrs Justa and gifts made for others

The Christmas surprise is over with , so I finally can write about this adventure Courtney and I did. Courtney has a very special person in her life, and she looks at her as a mom. So for Christmas she wanted to do something memorable. So we looked thru pictures she had and I had and we made a comforter with photos and a few sayings.
It was fun to do it, and I can not believe Courtney was able to keep it quiet, but she did.

We worked together and I think it came out pretty nice.

She predicted her “mom” would cry.. and after Christmas I spoke with Courtney and Marty and Yes she did cry. 

This to me is a true gift, a gift from the heart.

One year Courtney did  woven looped pot holders. She would weave like crazy when no one was around. It was another special gift. She did color schemes that she knew stood for something the person liked. Such as blue and orange for her dad who is an SU fan, and blue and white for Mark cuz he likes the Yankees.

Jeff used to make things for Christmas too, stained glass , candles, cinnamon air fresheners. I have pot holders that Adrianne made for me years back.  See those are also the things remembered. I have made gifts from photos, written people special poems and framed them, made totes and tee shirts with dot paint designs on them. Heck one really poor Christmas when I was a child my 6 brothers and sisters

all made each other gifts from aluminum foil. Another really low money year I baked people their favorite cookie.

Next time when it is time to give a gift… try making something from the heart. It feels so good to do that.

Have a good one.. Until later… Mrs Justa.. Cindy

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Mrs Justa and memories of my mom

All these memories are in my mind, and something will trigger them. Here is one memory. Coming in from playing in the snow and having the smell of fresh baked toll house cookies filling the air , she would give us one with a mug of home made cocoa.

My mom made toll house cookies constantly. She would quadruple the recipe so there were not too many chips in her cookies.Plus she would add things to them. Weird stuff, like maybe raisins , cheerios, rice krispies. What ever she felt she needed to.

She was a baker, and loved to make things for people. At Christmas time she would bake a lot of German Fruit Cakes, and then she would wrap them in saran wrap, put a ribbon around them and a gift card and send us out to deliver them in the suburban housing area we lived in.

Me, I never was too fond of the fruit cake, and I do not know if the receivers were either, I would smile as we knocked on their door and hand them the fruitcake , our nose and fingers tingling from the bite of winter on us, then we would return to a freshly made cookie or two.

Mom was a very giving woman. She did not ever complain. She was a doer. No matter what misfortunes came in her pathway, she overcame them . I wish I was more like her. My comfort is that even though she has been gone for years now, she is still here. I feel her around me at times, I feel her comfort.

My toll house cookies, well it is just me and Mark here, so we make them seldom, but when we do, there are more chocolate chips in a cookie, as I have no need to quadruple a recipe. 🙂 warm thoughts to all, Love, CIndy

43 Things Tags: chocolate chip cookies,baking,memories,warmth

 

Mrs Justa and some cute Halloween black cat cookies

Are these not the cutest little devils you have ever seen. I went on line looking for a pet theme cookie for Halloween and came across this recipe. I made them last night, left 4 out for “Mr Justa” and froze the rest for work . On Friday we are having a Halloween party while we work.

These are so darn cute, I just had to share them . The recipe was pretty simple.

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 cup oil     mix all together well

add 1 devil food cake mix

mix well, and make 1 inch balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Flatten with bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.

Use m&ms for the eyes, cinnamon rounds for the nose and mark in the whiskers with the tines of a fork.

Bake at 375 for 10-13 minutes,

Happy Halloween!!! Cindy

43 Things Tags: Halloween,recipe,cookies,cat cookies,cute,darling