My Great Big Comforter Hunt

I have had my present comforter for at least 5 years....I am ready for a change. Since I have pink, light blue, and beige in my wallpaper (which I will never change...too much trouble); I have a rather small pallet to choose from. Since I have had pink and beige comforters I figure go for the blue. I had also seen a beautiful one from the corner of my eye somewhere while shopping with my daughter Gabby.

So yesterday, day after Christmas, I set out, coupons in hand, with a list:

I took my camera to document my search and if I can get this blog to insert the pictures the way I want them (a big if) you can shop along with me.

First picture Penny's....Chris Madden Comforter, shams, bed skirt Original Price $420 reduced to $199 minus $25 coupon.....this is looking promising and there are at least 4 king size in the store.
They also have some curtains that go well that can be ordered.

Next Picture Belk's candidate.... $249.....shams and bed skirt extra....have $25 Belk coupon and $15 gift card

I did explore Steinmart and Walm

art as well but did not take pictures....their offerings were not worthy to be in the running.

Please let me know which comforter YOU think I should buy!

Food Addictions

While on the subject of additions.....I have, in the past, been a self confessed trashaholic. No, that does not mean I am a dumpster diver although I have been known to lurk around a dumpster I have not yet been tempted to dive in.

Back to food....a trash-a-holic is someone who loves "trash" otherwise known as Chex Party Mix. My hubby (don't you love that 50'd word) makes the world's best trash....lots of real South Carolina pecans (none of those artificial nuts for us). I have been known to eat my way through a gallon a day.

Our son (guess which one) had his Dad make him a full batch (six times what is shown in the photo above) to take to Taiwan when he went on a mission trip a few years back. His plan was to just eat trash instead of risking eating Tai food that might include eels or guts or some other unknown quantity. Great plan, huh? Except he ate it all on the 17 hour plane trip over there.

On with my trashalog....my mother-in-law, Cathrine the Great, entered a local recipe contest a few weeks ago. She came home with the blue ribbon for her lemon meringue AND (pay attention here) a sample of Cranberry Snack Mix. Oh my goodness....it was BETTER than the original TRASH I'd been gobbling....I mean snacking on.

So....now I have a new addiction....that is how an addictive personality works, folks!

WARNING: ADDICTIVE; DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

Okay, so Big Mama is a fun blog to read. I loved the ugly sweater contest and the Boo Mama's tour of Homes; but she has gone too far. At least twice she has mentioned her addiction to Pathwords so being the follower I mean leader that I am I went straight to the sight....well not straight to the site because you have to join Facebook to play....but I was only momentarily (okay so it took an hour) delayed by the process of joining and figuring out how to play.

Now I am a full blown addict. I think it is genetic. I love word games, Scrabble, crossword puzzles, so I was predisposed to become a pathwords junkie. After all my mother played Scrabble and did crossword puzzles.....while she was pregnant. (okay so she wasn't pregnant with me but you never know when you are adopted what kind of addictions are lurking in your jeans (I mean genes).

As a side note, I kept wondering why otherwise normal friends (that's you Dianne G. Debra, Karen, and Mel) kept inviting me to join Facebook. I mean I am 65, not 15 why would I join? Now I know....they are also game addicts.

So take my warning seriously....unless you have hours to waste (I mean spend) in improving your uh....vocabulary....don't even start.

Ode to Burney

This sweet little old lady was given to me by a dear friend, Burney Byrd. Burney is one amazing woman; and a good friend to have.

She has given me numerous yards of cloth for my quilting, enabling me a to a stash of cloth. (Quilters are supposed to have yards and yards and yards of cloth stockpiled for any quilting emergency....being cheap, I only buy what I need for a project and then I check the habitat store first.) Burney supplied 90% of the Christmas remnants I needed for this years Christmas Cards,ie....fabric postcards.

She also does ALL the decorating for her church's senior citizen luncheons each month. That means she has tablecloths and decor for every occasion.....St. Patrick's Day....4th of July....even Veteran's Day.

She also takes her dog to the local nursing home to visit the patients. This requires bathing Katie and sometimes a costume for what ever celebration they are having. If I am ever in a nursing home, I hope there is a Burney to bring a dog for me to pet!

Burney is also the 911 of choice for a nearby family who has more emergencies than the emergency room. 2 AM..... they call Burney......5 AM call her back if need be.... and she hasn't cut her phone line or changed her number yet!

One more thing....Burney was "green" before being green was cool. She will take your old magazines and recycle them to who ever would enjoy them most. There is a financially handicapped elderly lady who walks to Burney's to pick up magazines so she can have something to read. If it is a golf magazine, not to worry, Burney will find a golfer looking for a magazine. (She will also take your old clothes, shoes, etc... and give them to someone who they might fit or might like them.)

So give a shout out to Burney Byrd....!

Ode to Michael

This is my sweet oldest grandson Michael Curtis Chapman.
He is eating his favorite breakfast, pancakes and bacon.

This child is so grateful and cheerful; he inspires me.
His living situation is not the greatest but you'd never know it.
He is excited by EVERYTHING! Seeing his cousins. The Christmas tree on the top of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building in Columbia. Harry Potter movie on television. Seeing his aunts Beverly and Pattie at the Cantata at his church.

And his prayers will melt your heart. "Dear God, please help Mama and Daddy sing well in the Cantata and have a good weekend while we're here at Nana's."

What other ten year old prays for his parents to sing well and have a good weekend?

Thank you Lord for this special boy who has given me joy every minute of his life. Please protect him and never let him lose his enthusiasm and innocence.

Nana

It's a Holly Jolly Christmas

Last night we took three grandchildren to Hollywild near Inman, SC. (Go on lin e for directions).

Curtis and I had been with our daughter Gabby and fam a few years back and we thought the other kids would like it.

We had figured out to go by the feed store and buy feed for the reindeer to take with rather than buy there (small amounts/high prices). So we were "loaded for deer" as they say.

We didn't know that Zebras and mules also love the sweet feed and peanuts in the hull. In fact Mrs. and Mrs. Zebra and Mr. Mule stuck their heads way far in our car.

Lord, Change MY Attitude

Yesterday I went to get my "mammies grammed". My appointment was really for today, but I had to be in Florence for my Quilt Guild's Christmas meeting and luncheon so I decided to go to the mammography center early and beg them to take me.

To be truthful, I originally planned to do a little acting. As in " Oh, No! my appointment is tomorrow....I must have gotten mixed up.....could you please go ahead and take me today so I won't have to drive ALL THE WAY back over here again tomorrow. "

BUT GOD convicted me that would be deception. (He really knows how to hit the nail on the head, our God does.)

SO I walked in, friendly lady who has been there for the last 25 years.... no longer there...replaced by mammogram Nazi. I explain truthfully the situation (appointment tomorrow...another appointment at 11 am could I please have it done today???)

After taking my insurance card, medicare card, and mammogram orders she assures me I will have to wait behind every patient who does have an appointment.....

OH, NO....what AM I doing....I am complaining! THE very thing God nailed me on when he told me to go buy the book I read an ad for while I was waiting for my mammogram. LORD, CHANGE MY ATTITUDE by James MacDonald.

You know it is so EASY to see a bad attitude in others (ie....Mammogram Nazi who almost put lady with cancer in tears who came in trying to get an appointment for a mammogram.)
When it is right there staring back at me in the mirror.....

In this economic downturn (recession, whatever) it is SO easy to start whining about the land of the free and home of the BRAVE. The Lord, MUST want to smite us all and take us back to EGYPT for a little Slavery Pyramid Building 101.

Here we are in the most prosperous Christian nation ever on earth.....and we are complaining.
So let us all.....examine ourselves.....are we guilty???? Are we chiming in on the negativity channel when people start murmuring and complaining.....Lord, help me do better....help me speak up for YOU and be a reminder of how blessed we all are instead of adding my five cents with more complaining.

How about you.....are you on the Train headed for the Wilderness because you are seeing mud instead of stars? Please pray for me to get off and stay off that train and see God's blessings that are all around me!

Donna's Psalm

God you are my one and only
I can wait....it will be worth it
There is nothing you cannot
Provide for me
My life is safe in your hands.

Devil, you and your demons
Pursue me and my family
but we know you are
powerless
and your curses
come to naught!

God is the one and only
creator and redeemer of this world.
There is nothing He can't do
No one he can't or won't save
if they call on Him.

You are the only
help I need, God
I dwell in your loving arms
and I am safe forever!

We think we humans
are such big deals
we are not...we are nothing
All of us together cannot
thwart you God.

There is no amount of money]
that can buy us or save us
No human strength enough to
sustain us
Only you God can provide
all that we need FOREVER!