Dec 8, 2008

Marvelous Monday Update 12/8/08

Weather
Mother Nature has blessed us (ahem!) with an accumulated total of 7" of snow three different times in the past week. It takes me two hours to clean my driveway each time it snows. Even though I have a snowblower, there is still a lot of work that Shove has to do to clean up places the blower can't get to.

Here's what my house looked like at 8:15am, after I cleaned the driveway on Sunday:



Tis The Season
I've been debating whether to put my big tree up this year. I will be the only one who will see it... even though I love seeing all the ornaments, it's not quite as enjoyable if I don't have anyone to share it with like my nieces/nephew, or someone special. What to do? What to do? I have two smaller trees and put one of them up this weekend. I'll get the other one up when I get time.

I put all the ornaments I stitched this year, and the ones I've received in exchanges on it. I still have to get a topper for it, as the one that came with the little silver balls isn't size proportionate for the tree.

See all the gifties? Those are the 12Days gifts from my sister and my niece. Next to those are the ones for the 12Days exchange for the SC group. Can't wait to open them!

Side Note: Those pre-lit trees are a great idea... UNTIL the lights no longer work. What a PITA! I spent 40 minutes removing the dead lights and re-stringing the tree. I'll just leave those on when I put the tree away for the year.


3 Days, 3 Cities, 3 Women
Last week I mentioned that I volunteered to be a speaker at a seminar on behalf of my firm. Trepidation, Anxiety, & Fear consumed me each day. The first day, we spoke before 30 attendees. The second day, there were 50 attendees. The third day was about 12 and most of those were company employees. Everyone I talked to said we did an excellent job! I looked at the comment/rating sheets after each seminar and we received 4's and 5's (5 being the highest rating). I put in over 51 hours last week, and was sooo tired at the end of each day. It will be a LONG time before I volunteer to do something like this again, but I will say it was one of the most intrinsically rewarding things I've done... because I'm in NO WAY a public speaker, and it was definitely outside my comfort zone. I was told by one of the other speakers that she told her DH it was really wonderful for her to see how I blossomed through this entire process. (She's such a great lady!)


School
Now that my public speaking debut is over, I can concentrate on finals which is on Wed. Not only is it a cumulative final, it also includes the last 5 chapters we went over last week. Yikes! All I want is a "B" on the final. That'll ensure I get a solid "B" as a final grade.


Dating
The last guy I mentioned just dropped off the map. Not quite sure what happened, as he was calling and emailing me after the date. Then *poof* gone. Ah, well. Next!

So on Saturday, I had another first date. He lives about 40 minutes away and drove to my city. We had lunch at a fun Mexican restaurant. The food is great there! He seems very nice, is stable, and quite the talker! He also has texted, emailed, and called after the date. He's also indicated he'd like to go out again. He even invited me over for dinner on Sunday. Since I had studying to do, I had to decline.


Stitchy Stuff
I started my December ornament for the SAL's I'm involved in. Two hours yielded me a border. I used 18ct aida and the ornie is turning out to be quite tiny! It's OK, though since I'll be putting it on my small trees. No pics yet... sorry.


Hearty Yum-Yum
Seeing as the weather has been really cold lately (Think single digits and teens), I thought I'd make some Creamy Potato Soup. Mmmmmm... good!

I made so much that I was able to freeze four double servings.

24 comments:

Sadie said...

Your tree looks beautiful, Meari. Lucky you with all those presents to open!Well done with your seminars and I'll keep my fingers crossed for your final on wed, I'm sure you will do fine and get the B that you want. Your date sounded fun, maybe he just talked a lot because he was nervous. Fingers crossed on that one too.

Danielle said...

Good luck with your date. I have a question about dating that maybe you can give me some insight on. I am newly single, six months, and met someone on Match.com that we've e-mailed back and forth a few times and we've talked on the phone three times now, each time for an hour or more, and yet he has not asked me on a date. Is he shy, not wanting to go on a date, waiting for me to ask HIM on a date? Any insight?

Anonymous said...

Hey Meari great snow you got there. Send some my way. I love snow and want much more. Your house looks charming with all the snow.

Good luck with Finals and can't wait to see your presents opened. How fun is that! Many Blessings Carla

Carolyn NC said...

Well, you do keep busy! Congrats on the public speaking job going so well. Sorry about the snow, though I do wish we could have some this year. Tree & gifts look great & will be so much fun! Good luck with the dating (at least it's not one of the horror stories you print!). Now I think I'd like some soup, too - yummy!

Carolyn NC said...

Sorry - one of the most important things - good luck with the finals!

craftypatty2 said...

Cute little tree, your soup looks very tastey!!
HUGS

Nancy M said...

You've got me beat on the snow total so far. I think we got about 1-2" of lake effect. Although Kalamazoo had the same amount as you and I went there yesterday. Good for you going *outside your box* once again this year. 1st time was letting a stranger sleep in your house! haha. Your tree looks great. I don't like putting our trees up much anymore either since it's just us. That will change....I'm going to be a Grandma! Any chance of sharing your soup recipe? I need a good potato one.....Hopefully guy #2 won't go *poof* on you! Bad time to start dating though with all that goes on this time of year and 40 miles you just can't pop over.

Petra said...

I am not putting up Christmas this year...same reasoning as you, no one will see it...not even the cars that drive by, LOL I live on a very quiet street...as in 1 car maybe every 2-3 hours...HA!
We're not home for Christmas so this works out better for all...I'm calmer and therefore James/Philip are happier...
see how it works? When mom is happy the house is happy!

That soup looks wonderful!

Where's mine?

Courtney Short said...

Im with you on the public speaking - I am terrified of that sort of thing.. so you deserve a pat on the back for your bravery :-)

Ah men - so wishy washy..lol.. just look at it as God sparing you from wasting time on another dud..keep your head up :-) I like your style - just like when I was in the game - "you aren't interested? That's cool- there is another waiting to take your place.."

Oh and the soup looks yummy! What's your recipe?

Lana said...

Stay safe out there with all that snow! Good luck with the dating thing...I agree-NEXT! Never make someone a priority when they've only made you an option! That soup looks...souper good! (Corny I know, but just HAD to do it!) =P

~A Joyful Stitcher~
ps, love the music on your page!

EvalinaMaria said...

Lovely pictures, your soup made me hugry. And nice snow you had this morning! At 8:15 AM is very dark in the Yukon. This time of the year the sunrise here is after 9 am and sunset just before 4 pm...

Anonymous said...

Your snow looks so pretty and I'm so happy it's not here. LOL The potato soup looks really good and I just may have to make some now. Love your tree and all the presents. It will be fun to see all that you open. Glad to hear your public speaking went well. Good luck on the finals.
Barb in TX

Maggie said...

I don't know how your keeping from opening all those presents,lol you must have a very strong will!
The snow looks so pretty, we don't have snow like that in the UK anymore, i think the last really big snowfall was more than 6 years ago, and it didn't last very long, the thing is, when we have even a little bit of snow here we are not geared up for it so everything comes to a stand still lol.
Well done on your public speaking, brave girl i don't think i could ever manage to do tha.
Maggie x

Rachel S-H said...

The tree looks wonderful!

Do you have the recipe for the soup?

Kristin said...

The snow is beautiful and so is your tree.

Unknown said...

You have had lots of snow. We finally got a bit today.

Sounds like you had a nice first date.

Good luck on your final.
Heidi-ILCS

Debbie Jo said...

Love the picture of the snow! Glad your public speaking went so well for you. Good luck on the final,,,I have faith you will do really well on it. Maybe this date will call again really soon. Very nice tree you have up and the potato soup looks scrumpious!

Sharon said...

Hi Meari! Congratulations on your public speaking debut. Sounds like it went great! Your house looks like a winter wonderland. So pretty.

School seems like it's going pretty good-too bad the dating is not. I am also glad to hear that your Dad is doing well.

Donna said...

I want some snow. Just a little. Congrats on your accomplishments. Do you have a recipe for that soup?

Christine H said...

Beautiful tree, and boy do you keep busy. I am tired just reading about it. Soup looks yummy.

Debra said...

the tree looks great and so does the soup. Good to hear the seminar went good.
Debra in Indiana

Rene la Frog said...

Love your little tree. It looks so pretty with all the stitched ornaments.

Mylene said...

Good luck with your finals tomorrow!
Your x'mas tree looks great!

glenda said...

Sounds like you are keeping busy, as usual ;)

so he went "poof" huh? He prolly turned back into a frog - you know how these things go.

very pretty tree, i know what you mean about decorating when no one is going to see it :)