Good Morning Castle
Read Deb's post on FB yesterday. How terribly sad. I am sure all the other castle dogs were there to greet her also.

I can't remember all I have read except that there is a lot of baking and cooking going on as well as cleaning.

We got back from the cruise Sunday afternoon. I cannot say it was the best cruise ever though. We weren't especially fond of the ship. Our first cabin was above a night club so we had to get it moved. They put us over the theater - still noisy but not as bad as the first. DH came down with a a cold and spent one entire day in bed. Fortunately it was a "sea day" so he didn't miss much. All that being said we still had a pretty good time - I am a water person and could just look at it forever.
We have another one scheduled for March when DH's older brother and his wife will join us. They live in CT. This is the ship we will sail in the Mediterranean next year, so we will be checking everything out (cabin etc!!!) in case we think we will have issues we will have time to change things.
We hadn't really watched a lot of tv on the ship but caught some of the Today Show as we were waiting to disembark on Sunday. It came as a huge shock to SIL and I that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. Not quite sure how that happened. Guess we will be going shopping for dinner today....

SIL and I worked on our cards the 3 days we were at sea. Several people stopped by to see what we were up to. Here is the pic of me and Rosie!
Joanne

Hello everyone. Been working my butt off today, I think I'm ready for my guests tomorrow and ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Got more bread on the rise (I hope), if not guess I'll have to go to plan B.

Deb, hope you are doing OK. More hugs and prayers for you.

Renate, are you going out on black Friday? I really don't want to but my friend will be here tomorrow and she will probably drag me out, kicking and screaming. LOL.

Joanne, welcome back. Love the Rosie picture. Sorry DH was sick.

Pat, I see you need a breather too. You did good on your CFS boxes. Bitter/sweet about your neighbor moving, hope you get some good neighbors. I need to check the sign up thread, it's been really slow but there might be an update needed. I noticed that the members on the MB has really really gone down, not much exposure for our CFS anymore. Sigh.

Catch y'all later. Might have time to check in tomorrow.

Good evening, been a very rough 3 days.....we are still in a state of chaos. But we did manage to eat a bit today...I have shed a few tears today....worse for Howard as we bought Savanna a car today and they wanted to know where the 'baby' was....had to explain to them this afternoon when we picked it up. I hope she will be happy, it is a Honda Accord, she wanted 4 doors, nice looking car but not new...this is her 18th b'day and graduation combination gift....have red ribbon to tie on it in the morning....she came and helped me in the yard for a few hours today so she had NO clue what we have done...hope she will be happy....guess we will see tomorrow.

We hired a sitter for MIL this morning, she is now sleeping in my extra bedroom....pray for me....this is difficult to have someone in my house....the sitter will do anything we need done so we felt it was better for the day hours and come out here at night around 6ish....she went to bed before 7....just hard for me to adjust to.....plus bedside potty in the room and it is sort of 'messy', hope I can survive....otherwise it will be me going out there to sleep.....but we are doing what needs to be done and not spend more money then needed at this point....

Will be working on a dinner in the morning, have my ham ready to pop in the oven, potato salad fixings almost completed....add a bowl of cole slaw and dessert and we will be in good shape. The sitter won't be here til 1 tomorrow, so we might ride down to my niece's for a few mins....

I appreciate everyone's kind words for us, it has been hard.....what is also good for us is the sitter will take MIL to any dr appt, riding, whatever we need done while she is here.....hubby will surely be needing a few breaks....and having a 'fresh' face and ears to listen has been good for her today....

Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow and tell your family you love them.....

Sending Thanksgiving wishes for a blessed day for all my my cricut friends and families. You have all been special to me during my medical "dramas". For that I give thanks.

A special hug to Deb and Howard.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all the Queens and their families. We celebrated last night so we could accommodate everyone's schedules.

Deb, still sending hugs and prayers for you and Howard.

Hugz,
Gramma

Happy Thanksgiving to my castle mates. Hope you all have a wonderful day.
Thinking about you and Howard, Deb. Hugs and prayers....

good Friday morning.. Deb, thanks for the explanation. It now makes more sense. I totally understand having someone in the house. Even when we have the grands here for an overnight or couple days, it is disrupting, albeit a fun disruption.
I think the donation of treats to the shelter is perfect. When our pets were gone, I gave the food to our Vet.
It has been quite a month for you. I hope things ease up. Holidays are hectic enough on their own.

We had a nice time at DD's. She made corned beef and we all agreed it was a nice change. Only 2 of the 5 grands were with us, but we have gotten used to it. After dinner we headed to Michael's to take advantage of some of their good deals and the 30% off cpn. After months of purging/trashing/etc, I couldn't really justify buying anything, but I did get some candy melts to make peppermint bark. Stephanie was funny with her "Pinterest list". She is NOT my crafty one.

Today, I am doing laundry and working on the living room. We brought home leftovers, so I don't have to worry about cooking.
Will try to finish up my holiday cards and get the plan together for next weekend and gingerbread decorating.

Greetings from a winter white WNY Castlemates. Weather was beautiful up to yesterday afternoon.. and then "it" came... LOL

Kids are still here from MD. Home tomorrow, work on Monday... bummer!

Had time to make a couple of cards... nothing spectacular, but I did like the one attached. Was practicing with my copics and I just got the Tim Holtz "bricked" embossing folder. I think it turned out OK.

Hope the rest of you were able to finish off the leftovers, we haven't ...yet.

Stay warm!
Hugz,
Gramma

Well this MB is doing some weird things this morning, will try to post before it goes crazy on me again....last post didn't even give me time to copy....so I am in MS word to see if I can post it this time without problems. Went to a brunch this morning, everyone already knew about the pooch, so hubby was able make it for an hour….
I have my tree done, mantle almost finished, stockings hung, items out for the buffet but need to get some tins/containers in and washed for my baking. I am just about ready to get some cookies and goodies made….
Right now we are planning to take a few days and go somewhere….not sure if it will be north, south, east or west…..have some ideas but may be the night before we leave. May take the VW or might get my Trailblazer out…..kids are coming next Sunday for lunch and we hope to head out as soon as they leave. Thinking pizza and a couple desserts with disposable plates for quick clean up.
Joanne love the pic, sorry hubby got sick and you had room issues….sounds like the next trip will be wonderful.
Pat glad you are able to get the purging done….sadly my Wii is in the extra bedroom with MIL….
Gramma love the ‘rocker’…..too cute….
Phyllis did you go shopping willingly or kicking and screaming?
Renate hope you have a great weekend….are you still scanning/shredding?
I saw Jess was out shopping this weekend…
Karen how are you feeling these days?
Hello to anyone else that might drop in, I am going to see if I can get online and order some supplies and files…..and I have an order of those nugget tins coming…guess I better put the candy on my grocery list too……and got 3 gifts this morning so I need to get the vinyl cut for them…..have a great day….later….

good Sunday morning.. I have been trying to stop by the castle. Just too busy. Yesterday I worked on the living room and the cabinets that flank the fireplace. They hold my Dept 56 Dickens Village and they were embarrassing. They are up year around although I only turn the lights on during the holidays. Anyway, I decided to empty the cabinets, clean it all up, replace all the bulbs and enjoy them this year. Took me a good chunk of the day to do the first cabinet. I will work on the 2nd one this morning.
Hope to make a dump run this afternoon as well as a donation drop off.

Deb, I hope you and Howard have a nice getaway, no matter which direction you head. I am looking forward to our trip to NC in the next week or so.
Renate, sounds like you got lots of new files to play with. I finished my Christmas cards, but still working on the SU ornaments. Very time consuming, especially when there are so many other things needing to be done.
Phyllis, Joanne, Jess, Gramma,and everyone else, hope your weekend was great.

Deb, I am also using word to put my posts together. I agree on the fate of this MB. Why oh why can't they get things right. Other MB's don't seem to have all these issues.
I hope you have a wonderful picture taking trip. I have never seen an eagle up close, except at the Zoo. Enjoy the wildlife

I have hard cooked some eggs and getting ready to dig into the 2nd cabinet of bldgs. The day is slow getting moving.

Well the trip was a shorter one than I had hoped for….we rode up to Guntersville State Park, man what that tornado did to such a beautiful place. I was driving and at one lake area I am pretty positive I saw a juvenile eagle sitting on a downed log over the lake. Of course no place to turn around, gone when we came back by. It was too big to be a hawk. The trees are gone, such an open area now….sad to see…hubby was ready to come back, so we did….

I am doing all I know to do to help hubby with this loss, it hurts me just as bad….not even going to mention going anywhere anymore…..he can burst the biggest happiest bubble I have….

I am having a hard time with the ‘S’ online file site too…..at least my ‘canned reply’ was answered by a human Sat morning…..they should have known it was going to be a wild week there……

Curious to see how the 'legal dept' answers, if and when they finally do, about the G/carts. You know if they decide to stop producing the G, what happens to folks like me with ALL my linked carts? Don't think they can fix that big screw up......

Well I plan to fix a nice cup of coffee, get my cutter going and make some b’day cards I need to Dec….

Good evening.. taking a break from the ornaments. Made decent progress on the 2nd cabinet, but I need to replace a light cord, so will be off to M’s in the morning or J’s. Not sure who might have them in stock. Very deep sigh, as I had hoped to finish the cabinet today. Will admit it will be nice to have the village lit up after a year of darkness.
Jim took care of the leaves in the yard (yet again) so I didn’t ask him to mess with the tree. I think the fresh air did him good, even though it was chilly.
Deb, I am sorry the trip was a short one. It is so hard when someone is hurting and there is nothing we can do. Or at least it seems that way.
Phyllis, busy time with your friends. I am not sure when we will get together as a family. It gets more complicated each year it seems. I just go with the flow. I haven’t started my shopping. Only have ideas from Sarah. And my girls are no help. I thought gift cards might be an option, but not so sure.
Renate, it is hard sometimes to think ahead for purchases for what you might need. Hope there aren’t any regrets. What kind of cuts did you get?
Well, I need to get back to the ornaments. I am watching a holiday movie and that is keeping me company. I also made a pot of tea to warm up, so I am good for a while longer.

Good morning~
Not holding out much hope for this message to go through, but I'll try. My previous attempt brought me to a page with a bunch of technical gibberish and something about the MB being deadlocked!
Anyway, I've read up on how everyone has been doing and how you've all kept busy.

Deb~Thinking of you both and hoping your broken hearts heal a little more each day. Wish your time away could have been a bit more.

Phyllis~Glad you had a nice time with your company. Glad you get a little break (time wise, if not work wise) before your next gathering.

Pat~As usual you're tackling a little bit of everything! Hope you get that cord fixed so you can mark something else off your list. I'b sure the Village will be lovely when it's all light up.

Gramma~Super cute card!!

Renate~Glad you found some files. Are you enjoying your machine?

Hi to Joanne, Karen and Kathy and anyone else that may stop by.

This was my shopping weekend with my sister so we were over on the western part of WI and into MN. A bunch of malls, shops, Mall of America, etc. I bought a ton of stuff, some needed and some not. I would prefer to leave it all piled on the floor rather than dealing with it! I am off today and tomorrow and had high hopes of getting a lot of things done. Off to a slow start! Have a great day!

Jess

Good morning .. we came very close to having some light snow during the night, but it moved further north, so we only had light rain. I am good with that.
Worked most of the evening on the ornaments. I am having to make some adjustments which will be ok, but throwing me off. I don’t have the die for cutting the paper strip to make the rosette and my alternative plan isn’t working. But it will be ok.. I guess. Going to try to take a picture today of the finished one.
Living room is almost finished and hopefully Jim will get the tree up for me today. He is working from home this morning and this afternoon, he is going to the eye Dr to see if they can get the messed up Rx figured out, then to get his new glasses and to MVA to get his license renewed.
Meanwhile I am going to work on the living room and dining room, trying to finish them up. I also have some items upstairs that need to be consolidated into the donation boxes, which I would like to haul off tomorrow. I just keep bouncing from one thing to the other and it is NOT working.
Renate, there are 37 buildings in the cabinets. I will try to post some pictures. I don’t use any of the fke snow in the display, so it isn’t as pretty as it could be, but it is nice enough all lit up. Jim figures one more leaf cleanup for the year. Oak and sycamore are still dropping. Love my trees for the shade in the summer, but the leaves can make you crazy in the fall/winter.
Jess, sounds like you had a good weekend shopping. I did a little cyber Monday shopping yesterday. Took care of one item for youngest dgd and a small one for middle dgd. I have got to get a plan for gifts together.
Hello to everyone else, Deb, Phyllis, Gramma, Joanne. I am going to hope this posts.