Jewelry from China

First of all, yes we survived the storm last night.

There was awhile that it was a tad scary, listening to the wind howling, the transformers blowing and lighting up the sky, with no power it's very quiet in the house. But we survived. However there are still people out there without power. Apparently, 14,000 people lost power last night. A blogger friend asked me if we live in Canada. No. Indiana!

Anyway, on my Rainy Day Boots post I said I'd tell you about "Jewelry from China".

And on the Shopping Trip (before Thanksgiving) post

I said I'd tell you about this picture.

Well, inside those gift bags that my Sister is holding, are pendants for necklaces. They were all different shapes. Each one of us on the shopping trip got one. And they were all made from our Mom's china. This is the china that she used to serve every holiday dinner on. That we always complained about because she refused to put them in the dishwasher. UGH...washing all those china dishes.

Who knew it would someday be turned into jewelry. I wonder how many times I've dried this pendant! After flipping someone with the towel....ouch. My Sister sent one of Mom's plates to this lady, who broke it into pieces and made these pendants for us. And to think of the trouble we would have been in if we would have broken one of those plates! Thank you Mom. And thank you Sister. It was my Sister's idea and her and Mom went together and bought these for us. What a wonderful keepsake.

Years and years ago, my husband bought me this bracelet at a booth at the Cincinnati Flower Show and I have always loved it. It's also made from china. I never ever thought of having a piece of Mom's china made into jewelry though.

I think it's a wonderful idea for a unique gift. And I have contact information from the lady that made the pendant, and she said I could share it with you.....however......

Keepsake Jewelry

Lois E. Miller

www.vintagekeepsakejewelry.com

or

e-mail

lemiller45@gmail.com

The bad news - It's too late to get something made from your own china before Christmas. The good news, she has a lot of pieces done that she is willing to e-mail pictures of to you. It's something to think about for next year or for Birthdays, Bridesmaids gifts, etc. She also has Santas and snowmen and such.

Anyway, that's the story of the "Jewelry from China". See, told you it wasn't going to be what you expected. Was it?

Cindy Bee

No power....

This is a continuation from my last post....

about the weather.....it's turning into a storm! I am without power as I type. My neighbor across the street has power though :-) Thank you neighbor. Look closely and you can see a huge limb that was at the bottom of our driveway. The snowflakes are big and wet and they are weighing everything down.

I had ordered a pizza a little after 5:00 and we lost power a few minutes after that. I didn't realize how bad it was outside. I had to figure out how to open the garage door manually! We are so spoiled.
I was just starting to decorate for Christmas, when the power went out.

Be safe if you have to go to work tonight.

Cindy Bee

Rainy Day Boots

So.....when we went shopping at the outlet malls, I didn't buy any Christmas presents, but I did get a good deal on some boots....for me. Three pair to be exact!!!! These are the Rainy Day Boots I bought.

Do you like them?

It has rained FOUR days since I bought them a week and a half ago. (see the wet bricks)

It woulda been gloomy had I not bought these boots!

It's been POURING! So I've been having a lot of fun, walking through puddles!

Splish-splash! Wearing my new boots everywhere...I haven't had rain boots in years.

We even went and got a latte' together.

I wore them today to the nursing home (or therapy home. It's where my MIL is recovering) This lady at the 'home' today did NOT like them and she told me so! I told her I am bringing color in my life because color makes me happy. She smiled. Then I said...and if I didn't wear these boots today, then we wouldn't have had this conversation, and you wouldn't have smiled! She smiled again. Bigger. I think colorful boots secretly makes her happy. I told her I was going to put colorful dots all over her slippers!

And when I come out of the nursing home.....WTH!

I gotta get home and get my other new boots on!

Laawww people...this weather all in one day!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

Time to snuggle in with dog and crochet!

Cindy Bee

Tomorrow - Jewelry from China....it is not what you think.

The weekend before Thanksgiving

Every year, the weekend before Thanksgiving, this group of ladies

(Vickie, Gloria, Me, Theresa, seated-Ashley, Mom)

go on a shopping trip. It's usually an overnight trip to Ft.Wayne, IN.

However, last year Mom said she was not going to go with us anymore. And this year Gloria said she wasn't going to go. They just don't have that many Christmas presents to buy anymore, not like they used to, and they are not interested in shopping all weekend.

So, as we are discussing this year's trip, Ashley e-mailed everyone and said, "since it's all about family, and not really about shopping, what do you say we go up to Michigan City and shop at the outlet mall and stay at Blue Chip casino?

So that's what we did. We all went to the Lighthouse Outlet mall.

Miss Gloria thinks she is a Princess.

After shopping, we went to a harbor type restaurant and ate.

One tradition that we have had going for years is this: We have a friendship ball and every year the person that got the ball the previous year, brings it back and gives it to someone in our group with a gift inside.

If you read last year's shopping trip post, you would see that I got the ball, with a necklace inside. This year I gave the friendship ball to Mom with a note. The note said she can keep the ball, for good, and put it on her Christmas tree as an ornament to remind her of all the wonderful Christmas shopping memories.

I said the ornament was special, just like her. We also gave her a necklace. The necklace had a mouse on it. More on that later!

After eating, we checked into our rooms and there were more surprises to come. More on that later too! (I'm trying to not bore you with too long of a post)

So, while Vickie and Ashley were winning money, playing roulette (I think that's what it's called-it's the game that you can put money on numbers like "red 9"!) My Sister and I were checking out the people.

We thought we saw Tony Bennett!

naaah, not Tony.

We thought we saw Rod Stewart!

naahh, Not Rod.

We had a lot of fun people watching.

Mom & the Princess

stayed in their room and played Dominos.

This was the view from our room.

And this castle type building was across the pond, and road, and we were wondering what it is?

And this was the view in the lobby the next morning! We should have drawn a tatoo on his face!

Cindy Bee

Join the Granny Bees for some Christmas fun!

HEY! Do you have plans tomorrow? No! Then join us at the cabin for Christmas.
Yes? Then cancel them! Why? So you can join us for Christmas at the Cabin!

Bring a craft to work on, learn a new one, or just come sit a spell and chat!

Saturday, November 26, 10 -6
Sunday, November 27, 11-5
In Kokomo, IN @ 119 Kinston Road...right down the street from the Seiberling Mansion.

THEN - at 6:00 pm on Saturday

the mansion will be lit up for Christmas. There will be Christmas carollers, people dressed in period clothing, cookies, and Santa Claus! There are luminaries all around the place. For a minimal fee, you can tour the mansion. It is BEE-YOU-TEA-FULL! It is. (My Shug and I got married there. What? I know I've told you that a hundred times....I'm gonna say it again.....I love it there...why? Because my Shug and I got married there! See, I said it again!)

jOin US! HavE sOme FuN! RelAx! MaKe soMeThing!

Peace,
Cindy Bee

I'm afraid to title this American Greed - Part II - but I will!

Well everyone, I'm a little bit overwhelmed by the American Greed post. I've never received that many comments and gosh-darnit it had to be when I decided to blow off steam. Here's what happened....I was sitting at my laptop looking at blogs and watching the news. A young man was on the news, and I probably got about half of the conversation because I was reading your blog instead of paying attention! Apparently, he works at Target and he decided to get a petition signed because he was upset that he had to go to work on Thanksgiving Day. Target opens at midnight, therefore he had to be there before midnight. I found out later he got 190,000 signatures and it made national news. I mistakenly thought they were going to be open during the day, but they weren't. However, a lot of other establishments decided to open ON Thanksgiving Day and it made front page news in our paper today.

I was not talking about not shopping on Black Friday. That's what Black Friday is all about. I was talking about not shopping ON THANKSGIVING...or any holiday.

There were a lot of places open today, ON Thanksgiving. More than ever before. My concern is if we continue on this path, Holidays and families will be forgotten. They almost already are.


We went to see my Shug's Mom tonight at the rehab facility. I'm thankful the people at the therapy center were there taking care of her, and I appreciate them. I appreciate all of the people who work in professions that require them to work Holidays because of the sick, or because our safety is at stake. And here's the thing....you don't have to work at a store, a restaurant, a hospital or a fire department to have to work on holidays. I remember a story my cousin told me one time when they farmed and raised pigs. She would take care of the babies being born. Well as luck would have it, one of those "damn pigs" started labor on Christmas Day and she spent hours out there with those piglets instead of inside with her family.


I think we are all on the same page when it comes to Holiday's. We are all grateful for people who work in service places such as hospitals, fire departments and such. But at the same time we feel sorry for those that have to work and are not with their families. And let's not forget our servicemen and women. And shopping is not a necessity on a holiday.


Now, lest you see me out shopping and call me a hypocrite!!! I do go out on Black Friday. I do not go out on Thanksgiving Day. And that, again, was the point I was making.
My Sister and I started shopping on Black Friday 20 years ago. But at that time we didn't 'get it'. I had gone through a divorce right before the Holiday season and I was very down. VERY down. She was away at college, my Brother just moved about an hour away and it was a hard time in my life. She came to my apartment the day after Thanksgiving and we went shopping THAT AFTERNOON! We walked around looking for all of these deals we heard about and they kept looking at us like we were from outer space and said, "That was this morning." She did, however, win a HUGE stocking full of fun stuff! The next year we went early. Then we started looking at the ads and we finally 'got it'. You get up and go early in the morning. We never wait in any line days beforehand. (I think it's stupid - I did however wait in line a couple of hours one time to get tickets to a John Mellencamp concert) My Sister and I always go to Penneys to get the Free Disney Snow Globe to add to our collection. From that point on we wander around aimlessly with our coupons trying to find something we might need to buy. It's more of a social thing for us. We see people we haven't seen in years, or just see once a year, and we chat. We laugh and make it a fun day together. We don't get mad, we don't yell at clerks, we don't push and shove. My first job was working at a department store, so I treat clerks with respect.


Seriously, this day has just turned into a fun tradition for us, but it does not take away from family time. It adds to it. And really, that's what it's all about. Family.



Peace,


Cindy Bee

Cheri - I knew what you meant....it was hard for you to leave your family to go to work. Even though you didn't want to work on Christmas day, you did so with a caring heart.

Susanne - Did you write a book on Handmade crafty stuff? A lot of us are Handmade kind of peeps....how do we get a look at this book? (and you are right about the flu. I've had it the last two years on Thanksgiving weekend!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mmm mmm, look at this golden brown turkey I cooked today, with stuffing!

Have you ever had persimmon pudding? yum...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

I pray everyone drives safe and has a wonderful day.

Peace and Love,

Cindy Bee

American Greed

I think it would be funny if the stores that open on Thanksgiving Day were boycotted.

And I'm just going to say this out loud.

If you shop on Thanksgiving Day,

YOU

ARE

GREEDY,

YOU don't care about family,

and YOU don't care about other people's families.

Every time we buy more junk, we vote.

We vote to keep stores open on Holidays.

We vote to keep sales clerks away from their family on Holidays.

We vote to inspire corporate greed.

When is enough....enough?

Cindy Bee

Life...

What my life is like...

What I want my life to be like...

Seriously.

Cindy Bee

Happy Koala's Crafts

I would like to introduce you to

Happy Koala's Crafts

She is my cousin's wife from Japan. You remember when I asked you all to pray for them during the earthquake? Well she is great with scrapbooking crafts and makes beautiful cards. And she has decided to start a blog.

Please stop by and say Hi!

Cindy Bee

Keep it Simple....and Smile :-)

Last night I went to a very swanky affair....I was hesitant to go from the beginning. Simply because....well, I have a lot going on, I don't have a job at the moment (I was representing an organization I am currently 'on leave' from) and the fact is, I am just not swanky. I'm a jeans and "Keens" kind of gal. I mean...this place had real towels in the bathrooms, Not paper. I had no where to spit out my gum! I couldn't spit it out in the trash can because real towels were in there! Do swanky people not have trash? I wadded it in a paper and tucked it in my purse. My hobo bag. Not my little clutch. They had little bottles of mouthwash, in the bathroom, to gargle with.... I took one!

Look at all this stuff, just to eat with! Lord have mercy. When I went into the bathroom stall, I quickly pulled out my phone and sent a text to my Shug. "OMG!" I said, "Country bumpkin meets fancy schmancy. Going potty talk later live u." That was the exact text. I always make mistakes when I text. I meant love u.


And I'm sure someone probably wondered why is she taking pictures of her food! Well just look at it! That's why? Those are mashed potatoes under that asparagus. I ate every bite. OK I left a couple of bites of the meat. And thank the Lord for small blessings that the lights were low, because that meat was not cooked medium well, but it was yummy anyway.

Not a very good picture of the centerpiece, but it was beautiful. Not my colors, but still....beautiful....and creative.

I asked Becky, what's the silverware for above my plate? "Dessert." Creme' Brulee'....Decadent...sinful....close your eyes and moan with every bite good. That football was even yummy.

1500 people were in attendance. Everyone, that was/is anyone in our state was there, including our Governor. I saw a lot of people there I knew. Ex-bosses, ex-coworkers, ex-bible study friends, our Mayor (I knew him when he was just a punk). The event was to honor our town. The town I've lived in since I was 5 years old. Our town that rose up from 19% unemployment a couple of years ago. We were actually listed as number one in the nation for unemployment for awhile, running neck in neck with another small town in our state for first place. Unemployment is still an issue, but it's not 19%.

The creme' de' la creme' of the evening....not the creme brulee'......but Terry Bradshaw....the speaker. He used to be a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, years ago. Won four Superbowls.

LISTEN TO ME....

If. you. ever. get. an. opportunity. to. hear. Terry. Bradshaw. speak. GO. Do not stay home because you are busy, not working, and just not a fancy schmancy person. GO.

Points he made during his speech.

"Did you wake up this morning, pop open your eyes and suck in breath?" Then be happy. You get another day. Some people don't.

Smile, you never know who you are going to meet. People look better when they smile.

Keep it simple. The best football plays that won the games were the simple ones. (he would know!)

Keep it simple. (oh ...did I already say that?)

He said something like.....What is it with all of this left-wing right-wing bickering? They don't have a clue what's important. Cancer...divorce...loss of a loved one....Now those are important life issues. Get over your differences, stop bickering, move on and make a difference in the world. Smile. And keep it simple.

Are you breathing? Then make a positive impact on other peoples lives and in this world. Don't know what you want to do with your life? Ask God. He'll tell ya. He has to. It's his job to listen.

Keep it simple.

Love your family. Tell them you love them. They are the ones that will be holding your hand on your death bed. Not your friends. In the end, it'll be your family. (he wasn't saying to not love your friends, his point was so many people now a days don't take time for their family.) Pick up the phone and call your parents, your kids, your spouse, and tell them you love them.

Did you live through the day? If so, then you need to think of one positive thing that happened to you today, that you are thankful for, before you go to bed. How simple is that to do?

I am thankful that I was invited to this dinner. I am not a big-shot. I'm a nobody really in the scheme of things for this town. It was invitation only. But gosh folks, I was important enough to someone else that they invited me to attend. I'm thankful for that.

I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to put on my big girl panties and go to a swanky affair. Not because of the swank. I would have been just as happy in jeans.

Not because of the people, even though I enjoyed getting re-acquainted.

Not because of the Big-Whigs. I'm not easily impressed with who's who anymore. I had a ticket to go to the reception after the dinner and I opted to go home instead. Why? Because I have a loved one at home waiting for me. I'm thankful for my Shug.

Here's the thing. I'm thankful I was invited to this event because I NEEDED TO HEAR IT. You see, I went to the Doc yesterday because of this Burning Mouth Syndrome. It is awful. My mouth tastes like shit pretty much all the time. All.the.time. He thinks my problem is stress, hormones, lack of sleep, and vitamin deficiency. He told me to start taking care of me. His exact words. Guess what? I'm going to. Then after hearing my doc say that, I attend a motivational speaker/dinner, not even realizing what I was going to hear. Coincidence?....don't think so. Just two weeks ago I wasn't planning on attending either of these things. The doctor or the dinner. Someone higher up knew I needed this.

Sometimes folks, we just need to hear the positive.

Somtimes we need a whole day of it. We need to be hit over the head with it. We need to be told to

Smile,

Keep it simple,

Make a difference,

and love others.

Are things any better today than yesterday? No...I still have Burning Mouth Syndrome.

It. could. be. worse.

My MIL is still in a therapy center. (and she is a negative person when she's well, let alone ill)

I still have a lot of stress, but you know what. If things don't get done today, there is always tomorrow. And if I don't have tomorrow, I ain't gonna care that it didn't get done :-)

I'm gonna beat this stress and get well again.

And if it doesn't get done on your time schedule, then sorry, but it's My time. Not yours! (yeah I seriously just got a phone call from someone...who had a whole list of things for me to do. I'll try, I say. Smiling. No promises. I have a list going, I'll put you on it. Not on top though. I'm on the top of that list! It's MY life. You have yours and I have mine!)

And I'm going to think positive.

Don't even try to ruin it for me!

Do Not Get In My Way.

My question for you is this....if you do not take care of you....how you gonna

Smile,

Keep it simple,

Make a difference,

and love others?

And if you get a chance to hear Terry Bradshaw speak. GO! He is an animated, hold-your-attention, kind of speaker. I actually paid attention to the entire speech. Every single word. My mind did not wander. I had fun.

Do something fun today.

Be thankful.

Tis the season...

Smile,

Cindy Bee

Deer Hunting with my Dear!

On Sunday, my Shug decided he was going deer hunting on our property and I said, "I'm gong with you." I was way overdressed. I thought I'd get cold when the sun went down. It was nice out, but very, very windy.

In our woods across the road from our house, you can see one of his tree stands.

He warned me when we crossed the road I had to 'NOT SAY A WORD!" And follow him....

because we have to walk around the area...blah blah blah....because the deer will smell me.

So imagine me not yelling when I saw this!!!!!! And how did he not step on it. It was right on the path.

GGGAAAAHHHHH!!!!! When I first looked down, it was stretched out all the way across the path like a stick. A BIG stick! But when I saw it, it curled all up and opened it's mouth and hissed at me. I was waving arms and yelling (in my head! not out loud of course) for my Shug to come to my rescue. But he kept on walking and went on up in the tree. When I get to the tree I showed him the pic on my camera. I think I also gave him 'the look'.

He sits waiting patiently...

while I take pics of our beautiful land.

and our house across the road...

and when I asked him to take a pic of me...

I got 'the look'! By the way, I didn't have a gun. I wasn't really hunting. I just wanted to go for the scenery.

Look at the amazing size of this tree. I'm standing on a limb!

After about an hour, of picture taking and texting (don't tell my Shug I was texting!) I decided to leave. Mr. Snake was STILL THERE!!!!! I have no idea what kind it is, but I do know there are very few poisonous snakes in Indiana.

So City Farmgirl Rebekah, what shall I name it?

Cindy Bee