Snow day.....

Jake, Chrissy and I went for a walk today after the big snow.....the sun was blinding Jake! We ended up with 14 inches of snow!

and this is what our neighborhood roads look like!

pretty creek that runs at the entrance to our neighborhood

Creeks always look so cool in the snow......

the snow was swallowing Chrissy up but she was having a blast running through it.

I loved how blue the sky was today

We ran into Jenny and Harley the pug...........

When I came back from our walk, I shoveled the driveway. See, that's Johnny's car on the left, the white one........and that's mine on the right, with the driveway all clear! And then I came inside! well, part is true........I didn't shovel his side because he was driving the Expedition so he'll park in front of my car. I was just too worn out to shovel anymore.

Hope you enjoyed the pics.......click on the pics for a better look...especially the one with the pine cone.

later..........

It's snowing...

**here is an updated pic.........same shot, about 6 hours later. We have measured over 11 inches now

and it's cold

and it's really coming down heavy now

and it's beautiful....

later....

Blogging.....

My very first post was in June 2007

I have put up 469 post

I have never done a giveaway

I will do a fabulous giveawy on my 500th post

I am currently waiting for our 8 to 12 inches of snow to arrive

later.......

A good laugh........

here in Richmond, VA we do not get very much snow. We sometimes go the entire winter with not even a flurry. Sometimes, one or two inches....and once in awhile, a good 3 or 4 inches. But even those are rare. More rare is a "big one". We had a really big one in 1996 and in 2000. Then this past December we had the "big one"! Out on our deck, we measured 15 inches.
So now tomorrow, we are expecting another big one! they were saying up to 6 inches....now it's 6 to 10 inches.........and again, we are on the line to get over 12 inches! And I am excited.....crazy excited! I love it. There will be one downfall to this one........the very cold air that is coming with it. We are supposed to only get to 23 degrees on Saturday. That is def not temps we are really used to during the day...only at night.
So you Northerners.....have a good laugh on us! And you Southerners, ya'll know what we're talking about. Below is a funny email going around our area and the best part.......it's all true!! haha....
later...........

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch and every meteorologist in town, Richmond is going to get a nice snowfall this weekend … up to a foot, some people say. The snow is supposed to start as early as Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday.
In case you're new to Richmond, let me tell you how we do it here.
Someone somewhere says snow is coming to Central Virginia.

We Richmonders start paying attention.

Someone says it's coming to Richmond.

We Richmonders really start paying attention.

Someone brandishes the word "accumulation."

Done. Finished. Over. We who call Richmond home all-out lose our minds. In the case of this snow, it happens like this:

Tuesday morning: The word "accumulation" is used.

Tuesday afternoon: Accumulation confirmed. All weekend plans put on stand-by or out-right canceled.

Tuesday evening: First trip to supermarket for bread, milk, wine, beer and cookie dough.

Wednesday morning / afternoon: Calls around town for sleds begin (for the record, Richmond.com is one step ahead. No one has them; Pleasant's is expecting a shipment on Friday).

Wednesday evening: Local news does a story about the run on supermarkets for bread and milk. Second trip to supermarket for extra bread and milk, plus frozen pizzas and non-perishables, because you never know.

Thursday morning / afternoon: Spend workday obsessively checking the forecast. More calls for sleds. Search online for sleds, but decide against them because you can't believe how much sleds actually cost.

Thursday evening: Meet friends out for drinks or dinner because you never know when you'll get out again. Realize you forgot to buy bagels. How could you forget bagels? Third trip to supermarket.

Friday morning: Alternate staring out window for snow and consulting forecast for exact snow start time. Cancel the rest of weekend plans.

Friday afternoon: Weather.com reports that it is snowing in your area. Run to window. Spend at least one hour yelling at weather.com because it is clearly not snowing. Ask boss about company inclement weather policy. Complain about said policy. Wait an hour; ask boss if company is closing early.

Friday evening: Fourth trip to supermarket on the way home for last-minute necessities, like chocolate and fancy hot cocoa. Alternate staring out window and watching local news for exact snow start time. Watch the Closings scroll to see if your work is closed on Monday, because you never know.

Friday night: Snow finally begins. Call/text all of your friends and family to see if it's snowing in their area and to make sure they're OK in the storm. Update Facebook status to reflect snowfall in case you missed anyone. Order pizza so you don't have to break into rations too soon.

Saturday morning: Marvel at snowfall. Fling pets / children into the snow so they can marvel and so you have pictures for your Facebook page.

Saturday afternoon: Drive or trudge to nearest hill and attempt to sled on a cookie sheet/shower curtain/trashcan lid/pool float.

Saturday evening: Meet friends for out for drinks or dinner to celebrate snow.

Sunday: Eat leftover pizza and stare out window, watching snow melt. Obsessively watch Closings list. Feel happy when the county you once lived in announces closing and then sad because you never became a teacher and now you have to go out, clean off the car and then go to work tomorrow. Plus you've got all that bread and milk to eat.

A warm January day....

***update....I appreciate everyone's suggestions...so great having a network of friends here in blog land. It seems that she may no longer have fleas as we can find no evidence at all. I know they leave little black what ever's on the animals skin.....her skin is just white as snow. I think either she is having dry skin or something. I'm taking her to the groomer next week so we'll see what she says too. Again...thanks everyone! I just love my blog friends....later......

65 degrees in Richmond, VA today and they are predicting a large snow storm on Friday for our area. And get this....I am as excited as an elementary school kid!

My Chrissy girl has never had fleas in all of her 10 dog years. A puppy visited us in November and she got fleas and we cannot get rid of them. She had a bad reaction to Frontline, the vet gave her a pill guaranteed to kill all fleas within 2 hours.........we have given her this twice! She has been bathed in flea shampoo and is now sporting a lovely flea collar. (and it really doesn't go with her snazzy pink flowered collar)  And still, she bites at fleas!

any suggestions?

later......

What is love....

On Friday night after a little shopping, Johnny and I went to grab some dinner at Chili's.

we both ordered a big salad. I went with the lime shrimp and he went with the grilled chicken. There was something in my salad or the dressing that just burned my mouth up.....I don't know if it was seasoning or what but I could not eat it after only 3 or 4 bites.

Johnny switched salads with me......

that's love.....

later.......

Puzzles.....

I love to work puzzles but I only do them in the winter time....and only after the holidays. That's when my dining room table is not in use.

This one is made by Buffalo games....very colorful and has nice sturdy pieces. I found it at Target.

So now I'll be obsessed with this for the remainder of the winter...it will make it fly by!

later........

My other project....

Everyone was doing these wreaths during the holidays. I wanted to but I just didn't have the time. So first off, I ran a line of glue around the top where that little doo hickey hanger thing is....

Then Jake opened up a wire clothes hanger for me...he's so sweet. He just does whatever I ask him to do! And I started threading the ornaments onto the wire hanger. I bought these ornaments from Lowe's after Christmas when they were something like 60% off.

I really love the rich, deep browns and golds. I think this will look pretty sharp in my living room next Christmas where I do my gold tree.

Then I bought these beautiful ribbons from Michaels....after Christmas and they too were on sale.........2 for a buck!

Jake formed 2 hooks on each side and then just hooked them together. I have draped this ribbon on it but haven't really decided how I'll inter twine it yet...also, apologies for the really bad picture but I took it in my craft room on a gloomy day. Will get a better picture by Christmas :)

later............

Project 1.......

I did a couple of projects when I was off work on Monday

the first was to paint the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room with the chalkboard paint.

As you can see, I have this thick doorway as that's the wall that my kitchen pantries are on. I've never known what to do with this area...it's really too small for anything so I thought the chalkboard paint would be fun....and I know Maddox will enjoy it! (please ignore the dust under the dining room table...umm, I was just too busy doing "projects")

I put a coat of tinted primer on first.........

2 coats of chalkboard paint and 24 hours of drying time and we're all ready for messages.

I'll post my other project tomorrow. And I still do not know what happened to my pound cake but I will try again this weekend so I'll let ya'll know

later........

Need recipe help please..........

I have used so many recipes from Pioneer Woman and absoutley everything I have cooked has come out delish....perfect....yummy, every.single.time!

except today! I made her pound cake and OMGosh...I can't even believe how it turned out. It's so disgusting looking.......it's all liquid like, looks like no flour was even in it!!! I have re-read the recipe, I've re-checked my measuring cups and I cannot for the life of me figure out what went wrong.

I did not bring my eggs to room temp but she didn't say they needed to be, only that it was best.

Should the Sprite have been flat?
has anyone out there tried the recipe?
I'm going to try and make it again tomorrow......any hints would be very helpful. thanks....

later.......

Some things never change.....

Our front and back staircases were in desperate need of painting. We figured it would be best to get that done before they installed the new carpet last Friday.

Now...I do all of the painting around here. It's the one job Johnny boy does not like. BUT...I will not paint the stair wells as it involves more time on a ladder than I prefer. The back staircase is 2 stories so there's no way I'm doing that. So Johnny agreed to do it and let me tell you...he did a crap job on it! So today, I went ahead and put a second coat of paint on the front staircase, that wasn't too bad. But I just cannot do the back staircase. I'm going to have to hire someone and one of my friends from high school let me know on FB today that her son paints. So I will be calling him.

Sometimes I like to look back on my blog and see what I was doing a year ago. Well, guess what...I was painting! haha...it was the dining room.

No pics on this post...I'm just too tired to even get up and get my camera. I'm watching the Ind / Balt game and not doing anything else.

later.......

Delurker Day....

I didn't know it was today.......so if you're a lurker, come out come out where ever you are! I would love for you to just say hi..I promise, you never have to again! and plus, I lost a follower! I hope it wasn't something I said......

later.....

Copy Cat........

I follow a lot of blogs.....and they are all just wonderful. One of them talked about how your house isn't as cheerful after taking all of the Christmas decorations down....and she's right. I do leave my snowmen up in the kitchen. But she showed how she had done her fireplace mantle with candles and snowflakes. So I decided to copy her. I've always heard that copying someone is the most sincerest form of flattery...right? And I so want to give her credit but I can't for the life of me remember who it was. If anyone out there knows, let me know so I can give her credit...because she inspired me to re-do my mantle for the remainder of the winter.

I didn't know anything about mercury glass until I saw it on some blogs. And wow...loved it! So I've collecting a few pieces. Johnny gave me the tall, fat candlesticks for Christmas. The 2 tall slender ones I got at Target on clearance after Christmas. And the 2 little ones I bought on Saturday on clearance at Pier One....along with the star. I think it looks pretty festive for the remainder of the winter. (click on the picture below and you can't see the mercury glass so much better)

later.....

Last night......

Last night was a wonderful night here in the Delaney household......it's no secret that we are major Cowboy fans. And most of you know, it's been like that for as long as I can remember.

I can also remember the last time we won a playoff game and since that was 13 years ago, it was a sweet victory last night when they stomped all over the Eagles.

So now we look forward to next weekend when we face the Vikings and Brett!

later.......

New carpet....

this is what we woke up to this morning...just beautiful but just a dusting~ Click on the picture to make it bigger...and then notice the sun coming through. Pretty cool!

Bucky and Tyler thought I should have gotten red carpet...I can at least tell them the padding underneath is red!

I love the color..and please ignore where I forgot to finish painting around that outlet!!

the sofas were in the living room while they laid the carpet. When they finished, Chrissy girl had to go get each of her toys and take them back into the den. Dogs...they are funny little creatures!

here's the new carpet...it's a very light gray.
We also had the front and back staircase done in the same carpet.
so glad to have that finished. We had ordered the carpet back in November but put it off until after the holidays.

It's cold here...but then again, I think most of the US is cold. My SIL in San Antonio said it was 30 degrees there today. That's so crazy....that cold in South Texas!!

Tomorrow's the big day........COWBOYS VS EAGLES! Oh my....I can't wait!!

later....

5 years.....

Today is a special day

Today we found out that our mom is 5 years cancer free

isn't she beautiful.....

later......

Answers...

just to answer a couple of questions...

*I do think it matters as to whether you brown the meat for the stew. When I used to not brown it, we all thought it wasn't as tender. So I think by browning it, you seal in the juice and it helps to make it tender. This may or may not be true but I think it sounds good.

*I have no weight loss goal this year...probably the first time since having mah babes! My BMI is in the normal range and my doc told me in November that my weight was fine and healthy....I love her! So I'm just exercising to stay heart healthy and keep that cholesteral good.

*The dress form that we gave Jacquelyn for Christmas came from Pier 1

I hope everyone is staying warm...it is sure cold here!

later...

Recipe..

here's the recipe for the beef stew.....because my friend Lily girl asked :)

I buy my stew beef from Costco. It is the most tender that I have found. I split the pack and freeze half.
I then cut the beef into more manageable bite size pieces and coat them in Bisquick. I never use flour just because I think Bisquick is better. Brown them in some oil....and salt and pepper while browning.

throw into the crock pot with some potatoes, carrots and onions.
Mix a package of McCormicks beef stew seasoning with water.....pour in and fill the rest of the way with water.

It is yummy to eat over rice or noodles. Sunday night I had no more rice so Johnny and I ate it over biscuits.....and it was yummy!!

hope you enjoy
later.......

Monday....day 1

well here we go again......back to trying to lose some weight.
I came home from work today and did the treadmill. Then I did Wii Fit....after that did some of the fun Wii games. Then my son and I played Mario Brothers on the Wii.

Have you seen commercials for this new dance game for the Wii? I think I would love that one......I just love to dance!

If working out can be fun, I have no problem with it. So we'll see how this goes.

later....

Pictures....

I finally got around to framing those black and whites that I did of the kids. I hung them in the blank area over the TV. Jake's not crazy about his pic so I'll be re-doing his.

Notice I didn't post anything about new years resolutions....I've done them before, didn't keep them, felt bad about them so I'll just skip it this year and try to do better in everything! haha...nothing specific, just everything.

So framing and hanging those pics could count......no more procrastination!

Happy New Year everyone...

later....

Babeee it's cold outside....

my old girl Chrissy...she's not enjoying the cold too much.

awesome new crock pot

apples, oranges, butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and reg surgar...mmmm...what? the holidays are not over until Monday!

beef stew....

It is 30 degrees right now but with wind chill...17! yikes!
If you belong to Costco, you probably saw this cool crock pot. I think I'm really going to use it a lot. Today I put beef stew in 2 of them and apples in the other.
Hope it turns out good!

later...