Christmas Countdown - 2011

ballcoach · Jun 20, 2011

Stay safe, Made!

Good morning everyone!

judesmama · Jun 20, 2011

Good morning! We had such a busy weekend - I feel like I didn't even sit down! But now we're back to normal life and having a lazy Monday morning!

One of my dear boys have stolen the downstairs TV remote.... Heaven forbid I have to GET UP to change the channel, lol! My mission today is to find the darn thing... where the heck could it be!?

Hope all the dads out there had a great day yesterday!!!!

Crown 84 · Jun 20, 2011

Good Fresh New Week Morning, Friends and Christmas Neighbors.

Wow!
Can there really be only 10 days left to the end of June?
Can tomorrow really be the first day of Summer already?
(Well actually, our weather has been saying "yes" to that one for some time, now!)

The count:
Days to the Season: 146
Days to Christmas Day: 188
UNDER one week away now from the half-way Milestone to Christmas Day 2011.
Good Heavens!

Calm, dry and quiet here this morning.
Don't even hear a bird singing at the moment.
We stand at 73 currently and are again bound for a journey well into the 90's today. No doubt with plenty of humidity.
We had no rain yesterday but the threat remain.

Have a Marvelous Monday, Folks.
I hope your week kicks off great today and that you return it for a touchdown!

(Oh. There goes a bird now. That's better!)

Christmas-A-Holic · Jun 20, 2011

Laney, I have been on that train trip along the coast. We went from Emeryville, Ca. to Anaheim, Ca. to visit Disneyland. That was after we took the California Zephyr from Chicago - Emeryville. That is the one that goes through the Colorado mountains.

I have been on the train coast to coast from Florida to California a couple of times. Also from Dallas to Chicago a couple of times, to San Anonio numerous times. Wayne's first train trip last year was to Chicago.

I highly recommend getting one of the rooms if you travel overnight. All meals are included from the dining car, you have a bed to sleep on and access to a shower. You also have a sleeping car attendant that will come make up your beds at night and turn your bottom bunk into seats during the day.

Most of the rooms do not have a shower in it but you can walk down the hall to use one. 5 of the rooms have a shower right in your room. I have stayed in all 3 types of rooms, roomette, family room and deluxe bedroom. They also have a handicap room as well.

I have been on a cruise before but you can see so much more by train travel. I don't mind going on a cruise, we are going on one this fall.

As you can tell, I just LOVE train travel as well!

Bradmac · Jun 20, 2011

Christmas-A-Holic said:
I forgot to mention but we took the Amtrak train to San Antonio and back. I have traveled all across America by train but it was the first time for my grandsons. It was an adventure for them.

We got a roomette on our way there and coach coming back. We were not on the train overnight but we thought the kids would think it's fun and they loved it! It takes 10 hours to get there. It's only 5 hours to drive there but the train makes lots of stops. The roomettes have seats with a top bunk bed. At night the seats make into another bed. When you get a roomette all your meals are free. We ate in the dining car for lunch and then for dinner we requested to eat in our room. Our sleeping car attendant delivered it to us. We tipped him well for his trouble. We would order ourselves and bring it to our room but it's not allowed. Only your sleeping car attendant must bring it to you.

My favorite train trip was the one through the Colorado mountains. I want to do that again sometime! It starts in Chicago and ends in Emeryville, California. It takes 3 days and 2 nights. When we did that trip we had a bedroom the whole time. It was great!

I've never traveled by train, but it sounds like fun! I bet me kids would love that roomette.

Welcome back, CAH!

xmas365 said:
I just mowed the lawn on Father's day. Isn't there a law against that? cheesy

If there ain't, there oughta be!

Christmas-A-Holic · Jun 20, 2011

Hey everyone! I thought about you all while I was away and looking forward to getting caught up on the forums and listening to Merry Christmas Radio!

I have some catching up to do around the house and the grandkids just got here so I hope to spend some more time on here later this afternoon.

It is so hot here that I "Need a Little Christmas" right this very minute! cheesy

judesmama · Jun 20, 2011

Glad to have you back!!! I have MCR and Podcast#8 on my to do list today!

Or my "to listen to" list !!

judesmama · Jun 20, 2011

REMOTE FOUND!!! Thank you, little person, for sneaking it under the couch!!!

(Where my hubby claims he looked - hmmm!! lol!)

Bradmac · Jun 20, 2011

Good Monday morning, my Christmas friends!

I was a little AWOL this weekend. I worked ALL DAY Saturday on the pool deck, with help from Nancy & Jacob. My brother, who inherited all the construction talent from our dad, couldn't make it so I went ahead and gave it a shot. It looks pretty good! Of course, we still have several days of work left, but the big section is finished.

The nice thing about working near a pool is, if it gets too hot, just jump in for a few minutes!

Yesterday was Father's Day, and my kids got me a great looking shirt, a movie I've been wanting (Battle for LA - it rocks!), and a guitar slide. Nice! We had lunch at mom's, as usual, the we all came back to our house and had Nancy's family and my mom over for grilled hotdogs and boiled peanuts on the deck. Bernie even jumped in the pool with the kids!

I didn't get a chance to visit the cemetary yesterday, but I really feel closer to my dad when I hang out in his shop, anyway. I like to spend some time in his shop on Sunday afternoons, just talking to him. I miss him an awful lot, and Father's Day reminds me more that he's gone. But, he'd be the first to tell me to quit whining and go enjoy my children. So, that's what I do!

Back to business as usual taday. I got in the shower and was soaked before I realized someone had used all the soap. I had to get out, freezing!, to get more soap. Then I locked myself out of the house before I went to work. Like I said, business as usual.

I hope you all have a great day! cheesy

Seawaters · Jun 20, 2011

This sounds like it could be a movie!!!

Bradmac said:
...Back to business as usual taday. I got in the shower and was soaked before I realized someone had used all the soap. I had to get out, freezing!, to get more soap. Then I locked myself out of the house before I went to work. Like I said, business as usual.

I hope you all have a great day! cheesy

Seawaters · Jun 20, 2011

Did you get locked out of the house after you were dressed?

Seawaters said:
This sounds like it could be a movie!!!

Seawaters · Jun 20, 2011

Good morning, Christmas friends. It's supposed to be in the 100s today. Ugh! It's also the first day of summer school. We only have one week and class is in session from 8-11 a.m. I'm teaching third grade (what a surprise!) concentrating on math, multiplication in particular. We're going to play math games all week. We're starting out with Yahtzee. This helps them multiply and add and use some strategies. I love the game myself. We are also going to play Multiplication War and several other games. Most of the games use cards or dice, so these are games the kiddos can play at home to practice. I think we will have a big game day on Friday where the kids choose the game they want to play and give prizes to the winners: cards and dice!! Listening to MMC Radio. I think I need a jumpstart to this week. Have a great day, everyone!

Seawaters · Jun 20, 2011

Dean Martin is on MMC Radio right now singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside." My kind of music, for sure!! Love it!

Seawaters · Jun 20, 2011

WOW! Now Frank Sinatra is singing "Let is Snow." Somehow, I think those songs are just for me!

MerryCarey · Jun 20, 2011

I'll be offline for a week starting tomorrow---going on vacation! Tell you about it when we get back. Spending today on laundry and packing and such, then up at 3 a.m. to go to the airport for an early flight. I may poke my head back in again a couple times today.

Christmas-A-Holic said:
Hey everyone! I thought about you all while I was away and looking forward to getting caught up on the forums and listening to Merry Christmas Radio!

I have some catching up to do around the house and the grandkids just got here so I hope to spend some more time on here later this afternoon.

It is so hot here that I "Need a Little Christmas" right this very minute! cheesy

LOVE that image!

Seawaters said:
This sounds like it could be a movie!!!

Sounds like an old Edgar Kennedy two-reel comedy!

Seawaters · Jun 20, 2011

I LOVE to travel by train. I've done several times from California to North Carolina. I, too, would recommend getting a room. The first time, we went coach with a one year old. Bad idea. They kept the lights on late, and my son was used to going to bed by 8 p.m. Other people did not control their kids, so it was loud to boot. After that, we always got a room. The food was absolutely delicious; they had the best white bean soup I have ever had. When we took the train from Yuma to NC, we went the southern route and stopped in New Orleans. The train stopped there overnight. We stayed in our rooms and could also get off to look around. It was like being in a moving hotel! I would love to do it again. In fact a lot of agains!!!

Christmas-A-Holic said:
Laney, I have been on that train trip along the coast. We went from Emeryville, Ca. to Anaheim, Ca. to visit Disneyland. That was after we took the California Zephyr from Chicago - Emeryville. That is the one that goes through the Colorado mountains.

Christmas-A-Holic said:
I have been on the train coast to coast from Florida to California a couple of times. Also from Dallas to Chicago a couple of times, to San Anonio numerous times. Wayne's first train trip last year was to Chicago.

I highly recommend getting one of the rooms if you travel overnight. All meals are included from the dining car, you have a bed to sleep on and access to a shower. You also have a sleeping car attendant that will come make up your beds at night and turn your bottom bunk into seats during the day.

Most of the rooms do not have a shower in it but you can walk down the hall to use one. 5 of the rooms have a shower right in your room. I have stayed in all 3 types of rooms, roomette, family room and deluxe bedroom. They also have a handicap room as well.

I have been on a cruise before but you can see so much more by train travel. I don't mind going on a cruise, we are going on one this fall.

As you can tell, I just LOVE train travel as well!

Bradmac · Jun 20, 2011

Seawaters said:
Did you get locked out of the house after you were dressed?

:lol:

Bradmac · Jun 20, 2011

Seawaters said:
Good morning, Christmas friends. It's supposed to be in the 100s today. Ugh! It's also the first day of summer school. We only have one week and class is in session from 8-11 a.m. I'm teaching third grade (what a surprise!) concentrating on math, multiplication in particular. We're going to play math games all week. We're starting out with Yahtzee. This helps them multiply and add and use some strategies. I love the game myself.

I used to love Yahtzee when I was a kid!

MerryCarey said:
I'll be offline for a week starting tomorrow---going on vacation! Tell you about it when we get back. Spending today on laundry and packing and such, then up at 3 a.m. to go to the airport for an early flight. I may poke my head back in again a couple times today.

Have a great vacation, MC! Where are you going?