Tag Archives: personal

Will They Make It?

 

These were some of the skies about and above the Santa Monica Mountains today in Camarillo, California.

 

This is what the neighborhoods look like in the Seattle area right now.

Our 4 kids have airline tickets to fly from the Seatac Airport to the Long Beach Airport Tuesday evening. We are hoping and praying that their flight will not be cancelled and that they will make it here. This is the first time in 16 years we are all gathering with the Bagdanov extended family for Christmas Eve. The last time ellen b’s immediate family attended the celebration was in 1992! We felt it was high time for us all to attend this annual event. My parents, our kid’s grandparents, are 85 now and we wanted our kids to experience this event with them again now that they are all adults. If our kids make it down and if Lana G. and her husband make it down there will be 35 of us celebrating in Huntington Beach at my sister Vera and her husband Nick’s house.

So all of this to just get personal and let you know that I will keep busy tomorrow so I don’t fall into worry mode over whether Seatac gets it’s act and de-icer together to get those planes in the air again!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007 to 2015 hostage and has replaced them all with ugly black and grey boxes asking for a ransom to have them re-published. Such a frustrating bother as I go through each post to delete the ugly boxes.

Snow at My House in Washington!!

 

My daughter sent me these photos that she took at our house in Washington State today! She measured the snow at 3 inches and said it is coming down steadily…

 

This is the view from our front door looking at our neighbors homes.

 

 

Views looking out to our deck and garage.

 

My kids are staying put at home today. I hope they have a good stash of food to eat :0)

We even got snow in our Southern California Mountains and in some lower elevations.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007 to 2015 hostage and has replaced them all with ugly black and grey boxes asking for a ransom to have them re-published. Such a frustrating bother as I go through each post to delete the ugly boxes.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

My time in Washington is winding down. Yesterday was a full day. I got my roots taken care of by my favorite hairdresser in the Seattle area. I wrote the Christmas letter, addressed the Christmas cards, and now all I have to do is stuff the letter in each one and we’re good to go. I took out the decorations that are going to go up this year and they are all in place. A scaled down Christmas for us. On Saturday morning I fly to meet Dear in San Francisco. We are going to celebrate our anniversery dinner at Scoma’s on Fisherman’s Wharf. We’ll take the trolley from the hotel. Most of my time in San Francisco I’ll be exploring on my own as Dear is busy with a conference there. I’ll let you know what I see next week. Enjoy your day everyone…

Trim the Tree Thursday

Brett is hosting a fun meme on Thursdays called Trim the Tree. You can see details here. The first Trim the Tree was last Thursday.

I’m starting simple and showing you a collage of some of my Christmas decor that also tells some of my story.

 

I was married to Dear in December of 1974 and the Christmas 1974 Ornament was a Wedding Shower gift from friends of ours Bob and Lela. Then there’s Jesus in the manger, Dear and I are both committed followers of Jesus Christ and our Christmas celebrations are centered around his coming “at just the right time”.  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  The Wise men, could have been more than three :0) I love the story of the Wisemen who sought out the star to see prophecy fulfilled. I’m still on the look out for a Nativity Set. We have a little wooden set that I bought when the kids were little so they could play with it. The last little box to explain are ornaments that picture our 3 children, Josh in the mit, Dan in the soccer ball, and Katie in the Angel. We have been blessed to have these three unique individuals in our lives and since 2001 we have been blessed again with our DIL Laura who married Josh.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of our Christmas Trimmings in the weeks to come. You can see some lovely trees and trimmings by heading over to Brett’s at The Southern Hostess.

***and NO, my Christmas decorations are not up yet, these photos are from my archives 2007!  :0)

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Fridays Fave 5

It’s time for Fridays Fave 5 where we think about the last week and what some of our favorite things were. You can join in anytime by visiting Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

 

1. Last Saturday we hosted an Open House at our condo for family and friends. A time to eat, drink and be merry. It was a fun encouraging time being with these wonderful people…

2. On Sunday we had the most wonderful church service. It was encouraging and Jesus was lifted high and given the praise and honor He alone deserves.

3. Willow had a day off because of Veteran’s Day/(Remembrance Day in Canada) so we had a morning walk and chose a new route. It was fun to see new things. There were poinsettias growing on the side of the road and we saw lions and tigers and bears oh my! Oops! I mean horses and pigs and sheep oh my! We also saw deer again on another walk this week…

4. I always enjoy going to our regular spots to eat here in town. It was fun going to El Tecolote with Dear and just sitting and relaxing and debriefing with him.

5. I’ve enjoyed thinking and planning Thanksgiving weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve been at my home in Washington and I’m looking forward to spending some time there with my kids. This just might be in my fave fives next week too! :0)

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Mother Theresa ~ Peace

 

“But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love – that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. ”
~ Mother Theresa

Today as a woman I cannot stay silent on this issue. I agree wholeheartedly with Mother Theresa! My choice is to speak up now and stop sticking my head in the sand on this issue. And yes, this one issue is what will determine who I vote for on Tuesday…

October??

Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with this forecast!?

Sorry I don’t usually rant on my blog but my resolve has been weakened by my cold which is ending with sinus pressure headaches and this forecast isn’t helping.

 

clear

97° | 54°
 

clear

92° | 52°
 

clear

92° | 50°
 

clear

92° | 50°
 

clear

90° | 49°
 

Don’t worry though, I will find something soon to smile about and I will get help from one mightier than me to choose joy and contentment in this heat..

Vintage Thingies Thursday

For my Vintage Entry this week I decided to show you Vintage ellen b! These Songleading photos are from my highschool days in 1966 and 1967. I graduated from Montebello High School in Montebello, California in 1968.

 

Top Left photo I’m the second one in. Top Right, I’m on the right standing. Bottom Left 2nd one in. Middle right I’m on the right kneeling and bottom right I’m on the far left.

 

This is a current thrift store find of this lovely looking lady embroidered on this little tablecloth topper.

For more Vintage Thingies visit Confessions of an Apron Queen.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage demanding a ransom that I can’t afford. So frustrating as I try to clean up my posts and delete their ugly squares of black and grey off my blog posts!

Ode to the Sniffles

 

So Dear and I have been sick in the head and throat since early Friday. I had to leave Bible Study early and he came home from work early on Friday morning.  Weird that this attacked us at the same time. We’ve been convalescing in the Condo since Friday. When we get sick in the head we always turn to the Chinese Take-Out for Hot and Sour Soup. It really clears the sinuses! On Saturday evening we got tired of raiding the refrigerator and were craving some salty, comfort, bad for you food. We called one of our favorite restaurants and ordered Onion Rings and The Cuban Sandwich with curly fries. (Thank goodness it’s not stomach flu) Here’s a poem about the flu written in 1919. Update: Dee commented wondering if this was written during the Great Flu Pandemic and it probably was as the Pandemic was between 1918 and 1919. Somewhere between 20-40 million people died.

The Flu ~ by J.P. Mcelvoy, 1919

When your back is broke and your eyes are blurred.
And your shin-bones knock and your tongue is furred,
And your tonsils squeak and your hair gets dry,
And youâre doggone sure that youâre going to die,
But youâre skeered you wonât and afraid you will,
Just drag to bed and have your chill;
And pray the Lord to see you through
For youâve got the Flu, boy,

Youâve got the Flu.

When your toes curl up and your belt goes flat,
And youâre twice as mean as a Thomas cat,
And life is a long and dismal curse,
And your food all tastes like a hard-boiled hearse,
When your lattice aches and your headâs abuzz
And nothing is as it ever was,
Here are my sad regrets to you,
Youâve got the Flu, boy,

Youâve got the Flu.

What is it like, this Spanish Flu?
Ask me, brother, for Iâve been through,
It is by Misery out of Despair,
It pulls your teeth and curls your hair,
It thins your blood and brays your bones
And fills your craw with moans and groans,
And sometimes, maybe, you get well —
Some call it Flu — I call it hell!

Hope your weekend is going better. Looking forward to a new healthier week! :0)

Friday’s Fave Five ~

 

1. The very best part of this last week was spending lots of time with my kids in Washington. Josh, our DIL Laura, Dan and Katie. We ate together and went to church together and worked together. Fun times.

2. While in Washington I got to go to my favorite shopping place with my sister Lana G. and I found 8 of those great tea cups and saucers you see in the top left of the collage. They are Churchill and made in England.

3. Again in Washington I got to see some beautiful fall color in Woodinville and on my 6 mile walk on the Burke Gilman Trail with my walking buddies, Jan and Jody.

4. Working in my yard in Washington. Mowing the grass and trimming some overgrown shrubs. Strange but true I enjoy mowing. It’s probably because of the before and after transformation that is so wonderful to see. That bush that has turned that shade of rusty red is my Blueberry Bush.

5. Getting back to my more quiet life in California and starting up the daily walking schedule with my bloggy friend Willow. We’ve been seeing the same 3 Mule deer on almost all of our walks. If you squint you can see one of the deer with those huge ears in the collage.

To see more Fave Five click over to Susanne’s at Living to Tell the Story.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site. All my photos that I stored and uploaded from that site are now big ugly black and grey boxes with a message to pay big bucks to get them restored to my blog. It will take me a long time to restore thousands of posts.