We are now into another time of year where a daily battle takes place in many houses - the temperature on the thermostat. Luckily for me, it's just me and the cat...whatever I say goes and he has no say no matter much he may try ;) lol.

Also luckily for me, this has never been a battle in the houses I have lived in. It was comfortable growing up, then my ex and I always agreed on a temperature which was great! I keep it right at 68 during the day and when I'm sleeping, I turn it down to about 65. In the summer I try to keep it around 73 or 74. I just like to be comfortable - not freezing or hot. Not to mention trying to save money! lol

In the off chance you haven't heard yet, the Guardians made quite the signing Tuesday afternoon! We signed 1B Josh Bell to a 2-year $33 Million deal! I'm excited to see what he can bring to the team!

All of a sudden I'm ready for March to roll around so they can get out to Phoenix for Spring Training! If I'm being honest, it's not just for the baseball. It's also because after the end of this month I have no more use for the cold weather and am ready for sun and 70s again lol.

Almost $81,000! Thank you so much from WQMX and NEOPAT for helping us raise all of that money for military families in the area! It's such a fun weekend for us too, hanging out in the lobby getting donations and watching as more strands on the tree outside get lit up. I enjoyed seeing families come by to see the reindeer Friday afternoon. I got to the station right as Santa and Mrs. Claus were leaving, but that would've been great to see all the kids coming to get pictures taken with them as well.

Again, thank you so much for your help, and how about we do it again next year? :)

Now that my siblings and I are all North of 35 in age, we decided several years ago to quit buying Christmas presents for everyone. There are two exceptions: we will still buy things for the kids, or for each other IF we say EXACTLY what we want.

It's so nice and a lot less stressful this time of year doing it this way. I have virtually no Christmas shopping to do. I don't spend my time worried about what I am getting someone that they don't already have or don't need, etc. Also, my bills for the season aren't much different than they would be in any other month. My parents will still buy a few presents, but it's a lot less than it was even 10 years ago.

I have come to realize that I don't really miss the gift giving either. If you DO have Christmas shopping to do - good luck and have fun!

Over the holiday weekend, I went to see Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. I thought it was a great movie! First of all, it's a mystery AND a comedy in one! My two favorite movie genres :). Daniel Craig is back as Benoit Blanc to investigate the crimes. He and the rest of the cast including Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Edward Norton and others are great! Even Angela Lansbury and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar among others make cameos! At times you are guessing what has happened and at others, I (and other people in the theater) were laughing so hard we almost fell out of our seats!!!

I really enjoyed the original, however in some ways I like this one even better :). One thing I thought was sweet was the dedication of the movie to Angela Lansbury in the end credits. If you're looking for a good movie to check out, I'd definitely recommend it! It's final day in theaters is Tuesday November 29th, and then it begins streaming on Netflix December 23rd. 

So after the two outrageous snow storms we had last year and getting stuck on my street almost right in front of my house, I was tired of doing the thing depicted in the picture above. I went out Friday afternoon and bought a snow blower! My mom went with me to see if we could fit it in her SUV to get it home...but nope! 

So, we're at Home Depot at Chapel Hill and not sure how we're getting this purchase back to my house. They didn't have any rental trucks available at the moment. Luckily, this really nice guy stopped by. At first to see if we could get the snow blower in my mom's car, but then he offered to take it for us in his pickup to my house himself!!! We are so thankful for his help!

Big shoutout to Tim from Akron for taking time out of your day to help us out...that was so nice and much appreciated!!!! Not sure what we would've done without you :). Have a happy holiday season!

It was two weeks ago that I talked about picking up the leaves in my yard. Well after passing over a few BEAUTIFUL 70 degree days to do it, I FINALLY picked up my leaves Tuesday afternoon!

It was sunny and around 50 degrees. I wore my coat and was plenty warm. As I said, I just used my lawn mower to mulch them and then spread them around the flower beds in the backyard. So simple! Just glad I got it done on a day where it was still somewhat decent to be outside!

This will probably make you think I weirder than you already do. I have STRANGE dreams sometimes, and they can be funny!!! 

Once, I dreamed that I had a werewolf tied to a chair in my basement. Another time, I dreamed that I was at baseball fantasy camp with a teacher of mine from middle school, run by Don Mattingly in Australia. One day after camp was over, we were driving all over the place looking for the best Mexican food in all of Australia!! lol

My latest happened just yesterday! I was at the zoo just hanging out on a bench. Out of nowhere, the tigers got into a huge fight and then a gorilla got involved! These tigers and gorilla broke loose and many animals escaped! Then there was a HUGE explosion! In the chaos, an orangutan sat down next to me. I leaned over and said to him/her "A lot going over there, huh?"...and I woke up.

I have no idea where they come from, but I do remember many of my dreams. They provide me with many laughs! Sweet dreams :)

Now don't get me wrong. I love what I do - it's my dream job! I work with and for awesome people. Even still, short holiday work weeks here and there are very nice. This week being Thanksgiving, it's a three day week and I'm looking forward to this weekend already!

On Wednesday afternoon, I'll be with my Dad, my three siblings and their families. One lives in California, so he and his family don't come East all that often. Then on Thursday, I'll be with my Mom, Aunt, Uncle, and one of my cousins. I guess one thing I'm thankful for this year is that I'm having Chinese on Wednesday and turkey only on Thursday!!! hahaha

Happy (early) Thanksgiving and have a great week!

I went with my mom on Thursday afternoon out to Medina for a specific reason. She wanted to get some wool socks made from Alpaca wool. So, we stopped by Majestic Meadows Alpaca Farm just North of Rte 18. She got a couple pairs and DANG!!!! Those socks are warm!

If you are someone (like me on occasion) who's feet get cold no matter what, I suggest giving these a try. A good stocking stuffer idea perhaps???