Over and Done!

Hello, my dear friends!  I write this post with both happiness (we had a totally AWESOME Christmas over at my sister and brother n' law's house) and with sadness (my grandma only has just under 2 days remaining with me before she zooms off into the sky towards her home in College Station, TX.)  We have had soooooo much laughs and good times to last a life time.  She was my best gift this year and I will cherish her forever.  :0)  I love you, Grandma!!  And thank you so much Aunt Penny and Uncle Jeff for making it possible for her to visit me this holiday season.

Where do I start?  Barbara's house was all decked out in Christmas lights and good cheer.  Her food was absolutely DIVINE.  We had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pickles, salad, potatoes, pecan pie, and so much more!  We practically had to be rolled out of the house to the car to go home.  It was also on the way home that I got my last shots of Christmas lights in Barb and Jay's neighborhood.  It was pretty decked out!  I'll have to remember that for next year.  :0)

My neat-o brother-in-law Jay played "Santa" and handed out all kinds of goodies to us all.  My grandma felt bad, though, as she got gifts but didn't give any.  I told her, yes, you did.....she paid for Barb and Jay's gift (she, of course, wouldn't let me pay our half!) of stationary and pen items that everyone needs on a daily basis.  The crazy thing is....Barbara and Jay got US almost the SAME items!  Isn't that rad?  :0)  We also got a mini-dvd player that runs off rechargeable batteries.  And clothes for Frankie.  Slippers and a new purse for me!  So many things, I can't possibly mention them all.  I will say right now that both my sis and bro-in-law and mom and dad in-law were very generous in giving us both checks, too.  I was just absolutely astounded at the generosity!!!  If I live to be a 140, I'll never be able to pay everyone back for being so nice with us.

I took loads of pics and videos that I will share some here with you, my friends.  Hopefully Blogger is working better and will let me upload the videos.  We shall see.
Here we go....our Christmas in pictures!

Barbara's Christmas tree.  Isn't it a beaut?????

Frankie and his mom.  Aren't they cute? :0)

Here is my grandma.  The lil' stinker had her eyes closed!! 

The beautiful table.  Very festive with its red and green plates!

Let's eat!!  From L to R: Jay, Barbara, Grandma, Frank Sr. and my dear hubby hammin' it up for the camera up front, Frankie!!

We even had a feline dinner guest!!  :0)  Barbara and Jay have 3 beautiful kitties.  Here is one of them.

Kitty enjoying her gift of a cat nip square!  :0)

We're all full and happy now!  Look at that turkey....just a plate of bones! What cannibals we were!  :0)

 Here is a little video of a light display in Barbara and Jay's neighborhood.  I hope that Blogger cooperates and uploads it right.  Just recently we have had such a time with our Internet being really slow.  Maybe everyone is on because they are home for the holidays?  Who knows!!

I hope you all had a great Christmas no matter what you did!  And from my family to yours....have a safe and happy 2011!!!!

God Bless You All!!

Merry Christmas, My Friends!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  I am so very thankful to have such great friends.  Both online with the blog and Facebook and off-line with my in-laws, my grandma, my dad, Gina and numerous other family and friends.  I've never been involved with such a big network of people who have done nothing but offer me love, help and support this past year.  I wish I could say thank you personally to all of you, but my friends list is over 1,000 and it's impossible for me to say thank you to you personally.  So to everyone:  THANK YOU SO MUCH AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!! 

I don't know if I told you yet that I now have an official hearing date to get my disability benefits.  The hearing will take place January 29, 2011.  I am so totally freaked out.  I will be going up against an administrative law judge alone with just my lawyer, whom I still have NOT seen face-to-face.  She is really great with mailing me stuff and calling, and I already have heard from her twice since I was notified of the hearing date.  She is getting all my recent medical records and also my bariatric surgery appointment records and neurosurgeon records.  I hope everyone cooperates and sends what they need to to my lawyer.  If anyone has gone through a hearing and feel like telling me what your experiences were, I'd love to hear it.  If you don't want to leave a public comment, email me at: missyschranzrn@gmail.com. 

And if that weren't enough, January is the month I start all the testing for the bariatric surgery!!  December isn't even over with and already January is almost booked back to back with appointments for me and my husband!  Yikes!!!  But I have made a pact with myself that for today and tomorrow, I'm not going to think about or be worried about the above projects.  It's Christmas, and I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest!!!  We are going to my sister-in-law's house for Christmas and is so totally a kick butt cook!!  I love her cooking and so does my husband.  Thank you, Barbara for having us and my grandma.  :0)

I can't believe my grandma's time here is almost up.  She will be leaving Dec. 29th, which is the date of my psychology examination for the bariatric surgery.  So my in-laws will be driving her to the airport.  We have had sooooo much fun and laughs, I can't begin to even tell you all the fun we have had.  At first I thought it might be hard to see her and she would remind me too much of my dear mom in Heaven, but I was so glad to see her, it wasn't hard at all!!  She keeps calling me "Cindy", but that's OK.  She did that when Mom was alive, too, so I'm used to being called my mom's name.  :0)  I will be sure to get photos tomorrow of our time at Barbara's, whether Granny likes or not!

Grandma got me a gorgeous new camera that takes beautiful pics and videos.  At the end of this post I will put up new pics of Jack and some videos of our light tours around town.  They turned out so well!  I hope you enjoy them.

I got so many cute comments about the picture I selected for "Wordless Wednesday."  To clear up confusion, the picture is of MY MOM and NOT me.  We got lost in San Diego finding our hotel and when we finally did, she let herself into our room and went right for the bed!  Too bad she didn't like the GPS.  She wasn't going to take orders "from some voice in a box."  Ah, gotta love her!

We got a gift certificate from Frankie's brother and his family (THANK YOU so much, Doug and Patty!) and with it we got a web cam.  So I signed up with Skype and now I need people to talk to!  My dad and Gina will be talking to me with the web cam next week.  That will be so rad!  So if you have Skype, look me up!  My user name is: missyschranz.

OK!  That's enough, don't you think?  I hope you all have fun wherever you go.  You deserve it!!!  Here is my pictures of Jack and the light videos:

 

Jackie has started a habit of sleeping with us every night.  I don't know why I got him a kitty bed!  He doesn't use it (only rarely)!!  We also had him groomed. I love how soft and smooth he feels and he has NO fur mats, either.  It ain't cheap, either.....$55.00 plus tip, but it is sooooo worth it!

"Mr. J."

Well, I tried and tried to get my light videos to upload and they just won't.  I don't know if it is a problem with Blogger, our Internet or the computer.  So here's two pictures I took of some light displays we saw in town.  :0)

For all you "Pooh" fans!  I love Pooh, too!

God bless you all!
Until next post,

PS.....You still have time to enter my chocolate giveaway!  It ends Dec. 30th and you can find the post in my archive under "Another Giveaway."

TGIF!!

Howdy, my dear friends!  I hope this post finds you all happy and in the holiday spirits.  I'm getting there...I've already received two early Christmas gifts from my husband and Grandma!  Aren't they sweet?  I got a massage with heat pad and that feels oh, so good!!  I have a hard time coming off of it!!!  My hubby couldn't have found a more perfect gift!  He probably is tired of me constantly asking for a massage....LOL!

My grandma got me a wonderful digital camera.  It has 10 megapixels and works much faster than my old one.  With the old one, I had to use rechargeable batteries and they would only last for about 5 minutes before you could take another picture.  NOT a good camera for fast -paced sports activities!!  This camera solely takes alkaline batteries and those lost so much  longer.  The camera is called "Insignia."  I used the camera all day yesterday when we were out and about, and the batteries are holding strong.  I can even take several videos of the lights and show you my new camera.  OK---here we go!!!

I just love Christmas, don't you?  I love praising the Lord for this is His day always.  Christmas has become so commercialized, hasn't it?  Kids want all the latest toys and adults want the latest electronics.  When I was kid, I got mostly clothes for Christmas and toys that didn't require batters that run, but your IMAGINATION!!.  What happened to those days of yesteryear?  Sigh.  Here's another video:

The Shutterfly photo book I posted yesterday was actually FREE for me, I just had to pay shipping and handing.  Shutterfly paid the rest.  Because I got the new camera, that deal came with it!  How sweet!  I've loaded it with pictures of my mom, dad, hubby and me as a memory book to use when I feel down.

Having Grandma here has been a blessing.  Just like old times, except we are in Phoenix instead of Yuma.  And my mom's not here for us to be the "Three Muskateers."  I feel bad that my legs and back are NOT cooperating and we can't really do much but ride about and look at lights.  She says she is having fun and having problems with her back, too.  This morning I woke and and took that first step and my leg hurt so bad I thought I broke it.
Then, as I walk on it, it gets a little better.  I had to cancel the pulmonologist due to I couldn't walk into the office.  Literally!  Now that is pretty bad!!

I will be getting more pictures of me and Grandma (who cares if I'm fat? I've come to accept that and more on to ways to get thinner.)  And who knows when I see Grandma again?  I'll post those as soon as I get them.  :)  Tomorrow I have to work on my application for state food stamps and medical insurance.  Oh, fun!  I'll just use what I had for last year and copy that.  Nothing has changed with me, unfortunately!!!

I have a hearing date for Social Security Disability....January 29th.  I have yet to see me lawyer and she said I don't really have much evidence, but wants me to go so they can see me in person.  I am a pathetic sight.  I'll take my walker, my medical records and the the truth.  My lawyer says that if I get disability, then I would qualify for Medicare in two months, because I've waited almost two years anyway fighting my case.  So we shall see.  I just don't want to lost my medical insurance.  Please pray for me!!!

Last but not least, don't forget to register for my giveaways!  I'm got on on the post page "For Chocoholics" witch ends soon- December 18th at midnight.  And the new one on the post page "Another Giveaway."  That one ends December 30, if I remember correctly.  It's wonderful chocolate and makes excellent stocking stuffers.

OK, my leg is killing me so it's time to get it up.  Jack agrees too....talk a look at the cute picture I got of him with my new camera:

Man, WHERE can I get a life like his?  It just isn't fair!!  He doesn't do laundry or house cleaning or cooking.  But he looks at you with that face and I'm taken in again!!!  I love you, Jackie!!

Hope you all have a good weekend!
God bless you and yours.
Until next post,

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!

Howdy, everyone!!

Hope you all are having a very happy Christmas season!!  I sure am, with looking at all the pretty Christmas lights and having my grandma here with me.  We are having so much fun, talking about old times and laughing at all our silly adventures.  Here is one of the pictures of some of the pretty lights:

I never dreamed how many lights and ornaments on the houses in Phoenix.  They certainly have outdone themselves!!  Grandma, my hubby and I have had so fun going around town shooting videos of all the pretty decorations.  I'll show you some in future posts.  Right now, though, this post is all about:
                              ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!!!
It's another premium chocolate giveaway, where 5 winners get two big bars of chocolate supplied by Bloomsberry chocolate.  They sent me a sample to try out and let me tell you, it is chocolate at its finest.  It's made of decadent milk chocolate and also deep, dark chocolate (which is good for your heart!  A good health reason to eat chocolate!!)  It was created in New Zealand, but now it has been tantalizing tastebuds here in the USA.
The bars are wrapped in paper of all kinds: humorous, holidays, ect.  Here is what the two bars that I got looked like:

They offer so many wrappings, there is something for everyone.  And the chocolate is absolutely decadent!!!  Wanna win two bars?  Follow the rules below:

1.  You MUST be a follower of my blog via Google Friends and/or Network Friends.  Please let me know in the comment section that you are a follower of mine.  I will follow you back! :0)

Optional:  You will get two additional entries  if you do this one thing.  Please add in separate comment that you have done this.  Thanks!
1. Visit their website and tell me which design you like the best.

That's it!  That's all you have to do.   I hope I get a better turn out than the last giveaway, which is still in progress.  Just go to my archive and poke on the post "For Chocoholics."  You can enter both giveaways at once....so go for it!!  This giveaway will end December 30, 2010.  My first giveaway will end December 18th, 2010.   Sorry, NO P.O. Boxes and continental USA only.

I'll post again soon!  Hope you all have a blessed and happy day!!
God bless,

It's A Holly Jolly Christmas!!

Howdy, fine friends and a family!!

I hope you guys and gals are having as much fun as I am with having my grandma visiting us from College Station, Texas.  I haven't seen her since my mom died in July 2008.  We have done nothing but giggle and catch up way into the night.  Almost as if we were teenagers again!!  We have remembered all the funny things my mom did as a little little girl and have laughed our little butts off about it.  I wish my mom were here with us to have as much fun as Grandma and I are having!!!  Knowing her, though, she would have been having her own brand of fun up in Heaven!!

Nothing much going on so far, this first week. Jackie has been an absolute HANDFUL by wanting out every time the bedroom door is open or when when the hall gate is open.  I've yelled at the poor kitty so much this week I'm surprised he hasn't wanted to pack his bags and head for the hills recently!!!!

I finally got two pictures of my grandma and me and my grandma and my husband.  Wanna see my handiwork.........here is my grandma and I:

Don't joke too much at me as "jobba the hudd"....Man I wish I would lose a lot by Christmas!!

And here is my hubbster with Grandma.  Aren't they a cute little pair?  Here they are:

So far, all we have done so far has been look at Christmas lights.  Oh, man, have they had so many lights to be hold!!  A few days ago we went to the west valley and the lights twinkled so brightly, we barely knew which way to look.  I took the camera with to capture all we could could on one session.  I'm so glad I have a great camera to capture both photo and video with sound.  You just can't beat it!!!  Here is one of four series .  Enjoy it!!

 

Hope you enjoyed the videos of our Christmas light night out.  We will we be posting more to come.  Hope you all have a great holiday season and spend time with all those of you whom you love the best!!

I know Jackie is having the time off his furry life by having our guest in town.  Everything morning he takes the opportunity to skittle out the gate and out the doggie door.  Poor Frankie has to go after him in his bare feet and grab him back inside. I don't like him going outside due to he has no front claws and he is so curious, I'd be afraid he'd wander too far away from home and I'd lose him!  Although he has an ID chip implanted, I just don't want anything bad to happen.  And I just spent $55 on his grooming and he loves to roll around in the dirt!  What a cat!!!

 PLEASE JOIN OUR BUBBLE CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is our first giveaway and only 4 people have signed up so far.  So please, sign up for some free chocolate.  I would greatly appreciate it!!  All ya gotta to is go to over to "archive" list and pick on "For Chocoholics" and follow the instructions.  That's it!!  Not so hard, is it?  Please help me out!!!

Already, this is it for now.  Hope you all have a great day and have fun Christmas shopping.  Also have fun signing up for the chocolate contest!!!!!

See ya next post!!!

God bless ya!

  (Thanks, Gina!)