What a Nice Hobby.......

A couple weeks ago, my sister sent me a box filled with candles that she made. The box smelled soooooo good when I opened it. Not too long ago, my sister "L" started experimenting with soy to make her candles. The picture I took shows some of the different candles L sent me. The tealights are perfect since L uses the clear plastic cups which burn clean but don't get really hot like the metal cups. The jar candles are really handy as well. You just have to remember to keep trimming the wick so it doesn't smoke as the candle burns down. L knows a lot about candles since she was a Party Lite candle consulant years ago. When she stopped working for Party Lite, then she just started making her own as a hobby. What a nice hobby. Even Becca and Chris get candles from their Aunt L!!! Tonight is a good candle night...the winds are gusting to 25 mph and the snow is blowing and drifting so it's nice to have the candles lite and filling the house with pleasant smells. Thanks L....I love my candles!

Yippee...Chris Came Home

I'm so happy! Chris came home late today after finishing all his finals at school. When I got home tonight after my spinning class, Chris was here relaxing with his laptop. Notice the decal on Chris's laptop...only a bicyclist would appreciate that, ha!

Tonight, I decided to make pan fried Walleye, plus that big Northern Chris caught a couple weeks ago....remember the picture? Oh gosh, the fish tasted soooooo good. Chris decided we should pan fry the Northern as well, and I was suprised at how good the fish meat was. I normally would have baked the Northern. Anyway, it wasn't a strong fishy taste or odor at all. I don't have a secret seasoning mix, I just use Shorelunch mix and coat the fish filets with that. There's nothing like Tainter Lake fish for supper!!!

Make Life Simple.......

Wow, snow, snow, snow! Our forecast calls for snow tonight, tomorrow and then again this weekend. I feel bad for my parents because they are getting hit again with lots of snow....and they live in Southern Wisconsin. Here, we live in Northern Wisconsin and we don't have half as much snow as they do.

After getting home from work tonight, I had a craving for something salty and spicy, so I opened the jar of homemade salsa gift from one of my employees. Now this is the best homemade salsa that I've ever tasted. It's sweet and spicy (hot) all in one. The tortilla chips add the salty taste which balances everything....very yummy & satisfying. Next summer I plan on growing lots of tomatoes so I can make the same salsa recipe. I'm happy.... I have salsa in my tummy so I can go to bed now! Make life simple, just eat salsa and enjoy.

Count Your Blessing

I have to say, this was the best part of my day today. Spending time this morning with my staff relaxing with holiday treats and conversations. As you can see on the table, we had a nice variety of breakfast foods that everyone brought to share. We had my Cheese and Bacon Quiche, Cheese & Ham Hasbrown hotdish, Apple (buttery) Bars, Almond Puff Pastry & Pumpkin Bread. Everything tasted so wonderful.



Jenny and Kellie shared a silly camera moment! I think we were all "high" on caffeine this morning, hee, hee!

I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people to work with and I appreciate all the hard work that they put into making our workplace run smoothly.

My day didn't end so well, in fact I was quite frustrated when I finally came home tonight, but the one thing that I am very proud of, is the dedication of my staff and that is why I feel so blessed.

My House Smells Good Tonight

Burrr, what a cold day. Ted said it never got above zero degrees. I ran an errand this afternoon (only two short blocks from the library) and my face started to sting from the cold and wind. When that happens, you know it's at sub-zero. I finished out my day at work, then went over to the fitness center and taught a spinning class tonight. Mark, the Monday spin teacher couldn't make it tonight so he asked me to lead the class. Well, I had a whopping one person tonight for class.....woo hoo! That's ok, I tried out my new spinning drill on the one guy that showed up tonight....he was sweating so I know it was a good workout.

After getting home tonight, I whipped up a Cheese & Bacon Quiche. I'll take that to work tomorrow since my library staff is having a little Christmas get-together before we open in the morning.

Ted is taking off tomorrow to go see his two grandsons in Farmington, MN. Ian & Quentin will be a part of a Christmas concert at their school so Ted will go to watch. Then later that day Ted will drive over to the MSP airport to pick up his granddaughter, Rissa, who is flying home from Anchorage, AK. Rissa spent the fall semester taking classes at the University of Alaska - Anchorage. She will be flying home tomorrow. We just found out that Rissa loves it so much at UAA, that she plans on flying back in January to attend the spring semester, and possibly finish out her college degree there next fall! Wow! Wish we could go visit her next fall...we'll see.

They are calling for 15 to 20 below tonight!!!!!!!!!! Good sleeping weather.

Feeling the Squeeze

Time is dwindling down and I'm starting to feel the squeeze. Even though I've down-sized my Christmas gift giving and card mailing, I still like to have Christmas treats made. Well, I ran out of time today. I went to church like usual and stayed after for a bowl of soup and to mingled with my church friends. Then I rushed off to Wal-Mart to pick up extra gifts and then headed home. I was able to get some gifts wrapped for family members, plus I got all my Christmas cards signed and addressed....wow! But wait, no Christmas cookies baked...geez. I guess that will have to wait until next weekend. Maybe I can talk my daughter Becca in to helping bake cookies when she gets home from school (hint, hint)!!!

Right now we are experiencing fierce conditions outside. Slick roads, cold temps and high winds. We are under a windchill advisory until Monday. Actually, we had rain all day and then the temperature plummeted quickly around 4 - 5 pm this afternoon. The sidewalks & roadways quickly iced up within a matter of one hour or less. I'm just wondering what it will be like to go to work tomorrow morning.