What's been happening...

Hello all,
Here is what's going on...it's Thursday night and there is nothing and I repeat nothing on TV to watch. Currently I've got it on the Jersey Shore. It's embarrassing to admit, I know. I wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV but no...I can't believe these people are paid to be on TV and we treat them like celebrities.

Anyhoo...
What's really been going on is not really much of anything. Work and work.

Last weekend was Craft Weekend with my sister. This month I went to her apartment. It was fun but with a 5 year old and an almost 2 year old under foot, not much crafting was done. It was fun to be there with her and her family. I love hearing Auntie, Auntie, Auntie.

I cast on for a scarf for myself in this awesome pink yarn called James C. Brett Marble Chunky. I'm suing size 10 needles and cast on 50 stitches. Since the weekend, I've gotten about 14 rows...not a lot but it is taking shape.

Other things that I've finished is a "greeting card" book. As many of you know (ha ha...many of you is probably consists of 2) I love sending cards and I could probably open a small stationery store with all the cards and papers I have. The problem was is that I would put them all over the place and not know what I have in stock. So I had to come up with something. So I took a plain white 3 inch 3 ring binder, used scrap book paper to pretty it up and then used sheet protectors to divide the categories up. I'm pretty proud of it. I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner. And as soon as I finished it I was looking at a Better Homes and Garden (I think) and there on the beautifully colored pages was my card idea. I will post some pictures when the camera is charged.

Other then that not much fun stuff done.

Oh wait, I wrote 2 letters this week. That's part of my New Year's resolution.

So I guess I've done some things.

Well I got to go there kids on Jersey Shore are drunk again...this is really getting interesting. I have to concentrate on who is sleeping with who.

Until later...thanks for stopping by the Nook.

No! I'm not dead

Ever hear those news flashes that so and so was dead and then like 20 minutes later their rep comes on and says that they are in fact still alive and well. Well, I don't have a rep (I'm not a famous blogger or a famous anything), but here I am alive and well.

I know that it's been a while but I've been in a funk. And there was Christmas.

Since we've last spoken I've had a couple of things happen. One, at my main job, my hours were cut and my pay was reduced. 3 of us had our hours reduced and the entire company had their pay reduced. I know we should feel "lucky" because 5 people got laid off. And by laid off I mean that they are never to return to work at our company. So, trying to find a benefit in this, I worked out a schedule with one of the others and every other weekend I have a four day weekend. No, don't get me wrong, that doesn't suck, but..........

Well that was three months ago and here I sit. Money is starting to get a little tight. Not were me and the kitties will be living out of the car, but I'm starting to feel the pinch.

So let's talk about some possitive things.

As always at the beginning of the year, I make out my resolutions and right about this time of January I've already giving up. Well, hopefully, this year I can have a little more "stick with it" in me.

So I'll share some with you and perhaps that will make me "stick with it" better.

There is always the obvious: Lose weight. Now I have to admit, I'm really needing to do this, but on the other hand one of my other resolutions is to cook and bake more and try new recipes. So...deliemma.

Blog more, write more real letters, send birthday cards, organize my house, go to church on a regular basis, and knit on a regular basis.

Also, my sister has decided and I think it's a brillant idea that once a month we get together and craft. Each month we will switch location. This month she is coming here. I'm sure that we'll add some classes and maybe some shopping. But, while we talk all the time on the phone, we don't always see each often. So that's one to add to the list.

My "post college" roommate and I have decided that we need to get together once a month too. Once she got married they moved to Vegas. They have moved back but getting together was a priority. Now it is.

I at this time of year, I usually reflect on that despite the troubles in my life, I am truly blessed in many, many ways. I am surrounded by friends who I love like family. We always have great times and help each other through the tough times.

That and setting up my new calendars. That's my favorite thing to do. But that's another post.

As for the weather here in central MN...there is snow....lots of snow. I bought a snowblower last night off of Craigslist. I will be using it today or tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to use it. It's also cold here. It's supposed to get colder too.

I hope that all of you had a great fall and Christmas holiday. I also hope that your New Year is blessed.

Talk soon (this time I mean it)

Nelle!

No title...

I have no title for this post because I don't know what I want to say. I will start by numbering the one hundred million crazy thoughts I have in my head. We will go to ten as fast as I can.

1. The leaves in my yard are up to my ankles. I have raked until my back aches. Wow my fat ass is really out of shape. I have 15 bags of leaves and that's just the front yard. I like to do the work though. I guess that's the joy of being a home owner. This is one of the times that I wish a I had big strong strapping man to help out. Well, it's not the only time. There are lots more and none pertain to the house. That's not the case and I'm left to do it all by myself.

2. On the stove right now is some homemade chicken noodle soup that I made a couple of weeks ago. No it's not been in the fridge this whole time, I froze some. I even made the stock from scratch. I know for all you foodies reading this you are saying "big effing deal". Well, for me it was a big deal. The Pioneer Woman I am not....yet.

3. I'm am just finishing my first Crown Royal and ginger ale. Not my first ever, but my first one of the night. YUM!

4. A friend brought back some delicious dark chocolate from Italy and I am TRYING to not eat it all at one time. Thanks, Jason!

5. After raking I came in and cleaned out the refrigerator and washed all the little plastic dishes that contained just a couple of scoops of something wondering that I had made weeks...months ago. Why the hell do we do that? Why don't we just throw it away instead of saving it and saying to ourselves "no, I'll eat that this week." Whatever.

6. I'm a little concerned about my job.

7. I'm a lot concerned about my job.

8. I love my kitties. Mostly because they love me. I love to feel their little warm bodies tucked in tight next to me in bed. It's very reassuring.

9. I'm really glad that I took my knitting class again. I love my teacher Barb and I really did have a brain fart. I don't think that I could have even cast on by myself.

and finally,

10. I went to the Farmers Market today to buy some bread. A couple of weeks ago, I was there and found a woman that I know, but now really well. She makes the best breads. When I shared with her my fear of making bread, she said just "try it. It's just bread" When she answered me what she didn't know is that I didn't mean just breads. I have a stack of recipes half why up to my knees that I want to "try". Everyday I pour over my favorite blogs for recipes. I print them, sigh and say...I'm going to make this and then I don't. I don't want to have a ton of desserts or sweets around the house (see #1 and the big fat ass reference), and it's hard to cook for just one person. I want to have people over for dinner but can only seat two people at my table at a time. The simplest words, "just try it" have taken a great weight off my shoulders. Thanks, Karen. I'm going to....

Talk to you all later. Time for a fresh cocktail and the Real Housewives of DC reunion.

Fall Ball

Good morning, all.

Now don't be so surprised that I'm up this early and that I'm blogging so soon after my last post. I told you, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf,

I actually just wanted to send out a cosmic "Good Luck" to my MN Twins. Playing ball in the fall is a dream every year for ball players. Hopefully, we will be playing into November.

I get to watch the game live today for the first time in our new stadium. I have my "uniform" all picked out.

Now to work before I get fired.....

Memories vs. Reality

I'm starting this post without naming it, because, quite frankly, I don't know what direction it will take. I see that it's been a month since my last post. I know that I promised last time that I wouldn't wait so long in between. I have however been somewhat busy. Also, they blocked blogs at work so unless it has a dot com at the end I can't get it. Which is good, because I'm supposed to be ummm working. It's is at work that I get ideas for blogs. Since they haven't taken away my pen and paper, I'll have to start jotting notes the old fashioned way.

I drove through the country the other day where I grew up. While it is only probably 45 minutes away, I haven't been back there in several years. It was a cold, rainy day and the fall colors were at their peak. As I drove past houses and farms I was struck by how much things had changed. Some homes were only slight different but some were...for lack of a better word, just sad. For example, growing up I rode the school bus for 1 hour on the way to school. Along the bus route was a large cattle farm. This family had several different farms, including one big operation where the "main house" was. The grandparents rambler was there as were two small rentals. One was the home of my best friend. I loved to go there. It reminded me of the farms you saw on TV. All the buildings on all of their farms were painted the same color, a goldish yellow. You knew whose property you were on just by the color. Everything was well groomed and prestigious. I was sort of envious. Fast forward 25 years. I was shocked to see the condition of the buildings. All were in desperate need of paint. There were no cattle present. It made me sad and I wished that I hadn't driven past. I liked my memories better then reality.

As I continued down this country road, I drove by the cemetery where my mom is buried. Our family headstone is one of the closest to the road and you can read our name quite clearly. I didn't stop as I was on some one else's time schedule. I haven't been to visit her grave for many years and I felt guilty.

I continued up the road about 1 mile and saw the house that I grew up in. It was sold to a member of our family and I was very pleased to see that they had taken great care of it. I didn't stop there either.

I wondered if this little visit would have been lost on me if I went back more often? Would I have been hit with such guilt and nostalgia?

It feels like fall...

Hello everyone!

No I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I am still here. I'll tell you why I was away for so long or at least one excuse. I told myself when I started this blog that I didn't want it to turn into a bitch fest, an open forum for me to be snarky and mean about people in my life or if shitty things were happening to me at the time. To tell you the truth, I had quite a bit of that going on in my life for a good portion of my summer. Not to go into details, but...I had a falling out with a person that I volunteered with and now it's quite impossible for me to go back to that activity while this person is still involved. I would like to send out an electronic F.U. to this person. So there it's done!

On to better topics...

As I sit here I have most of my windows open and there is a chill in the air that I look forward to feeling all year long. I love fall. I smell that one of the neighbors is having a fire. It's not my crazy neighbor who burns his garbage in his fire pit. Thankfully. That's a story for a different time. This summer has been hot and somewhat miserable here in central Minnesota so the change in temperature is very welcomed. I heard some geese fly over the other day. Everytime I hear their honking I stop whatever I am doing and just listen. It's one of my favorite sounds in the world.

Things are progressing slowly on house projects. I did take a couple of days off last week to clean and tackle my project list. It was awesome to cross things off the list. All the moving boxes have been carried in to the house. They aren't all emptied but we are getting there. I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel.

For my step-sisters' 40th birthday, they wanted to go skydiving and needed a group of ten to get a discount. So, on August 21st at around 5:30 pm, I put my foot on the step of a plane that was flying at 11,000 feet and jumped head first out of a perfectly good airplane. It was awesome!!!! I would highly recommend everyone to try this at least once. I believe that I'll be doing it again. It was the biggest rush I have ever had. Some one described it to me as "air-gasm" and it really was.

Well, that sort of catches you up on what I've been doing. I know it seems like not a lot. But don't forget I work two jobs and that keeps me pretty busy. That and I still managed to drink some beer from time to time. The sound of a beer can being cracked open is another favorite sound of mine.

Until later,

Thanks for stopping by Nelle's Nook.

Here I go again...

Well, it's been a while since I've posted (again). I keep telling myself that I should do it more often and then one thing or another creeps into my life and boom it's been weeks and weeks. Often I don't blog because I don't think anyone will want to hear what I have to or even scarier I won't have anything to say. My friends think that I could write a Minnesota version of Sex and the City. Let's face it, I could with probably a lot less sex. I have a great, wonderful, funny life and yet I edit myself here because I want to this to be a blog that doesn't offend anyone. I can't just right about the characters at the bar where I bartend, or the the crazy nights out with friends where we drink way too much and talk way to smart. I think that I thought that this would be a way to explore the other sides of me. On my "bucket" list is to write a novel or at least publish something. Maybe this way I can work on my creative writing skills. I guess I'm not sure.

Recently, I've been I've been spending a lot of time reading blogs about letter writing. For those who follow me (ha ha), you know that I love to write letters and receive them. This too is a hobby or interest that I have let go because I felt like I didn't have anyone to write to. I'm going to try and change that. The Missive Madame, 375 letters, the Letter Writing Alliance and a letter a day are all good blogs. You should check them out.

So what have I been doing...well I am slowly working on unpacking the never-ending stack of boxes since moving. I am ready to just throw the rest of it away instead of unpacking it. The house has a long list of to-do's, including having the bat guy come out and rid my house of bats. Good thing was that he didn't find any (I had one - that's another story which includes me hiding in the bathroom and calling a friend to come and get rid of it - proud moment). I have curtains either to buy or make. I hoping to find some vintage dish towels to use in cafe style in my back entryway. There is painting to be done, flowers to plant, lots and lots of things. I know that is how it is with every home owner. I'm not complaining. I just wish I had the funds and the time to make some major progress. I guess I've only lived here from 3 months but patience isn't really one of my virtues.

I am in the middle of helping to plan and pull off another city festival. Did I mention that before? I am on the board of directors for our city festival which includes a pageant, parade and food fest. It's very rewarding yet challenging to work with all the personalities involved. Sometimes I wonder why I do it and I am sure my friends, who have to listen to me vent (bless you) wonder the same thing. Then I think, I don't want to miss out on doing something fun that brings a lot of joy to a lot of people. I guess part of it is that I want to be part of something big and we are. We throw one heck of a festival.

I like to think that I'm challenging myself to find more sides of me, to make my life rich and full (even more then now). Maybe even to make new friends, you know who you are. Maybe that's why I write this blog. Hopefully, I'll have time after the festival to figure out how to post some pictures.

Until then, be patient with me and keep stopping by Nelle's Nook. Who knows what I'll say next.