Evil Almond Bark

Hello. My name is Fran and I am a sugar-holic. They say admitting your problem is the first step. I hope it works. I made some fabulous sweets for Christmas. Unfortunately, they happen to be sweets that I love...crave...lust over. I don't even need to melt the bars of almond bark to eat them. Hell, I will eat it whole. Doesn't even matter. And I used 4 packages of almond bark in making different treats. As of 6 o'clock tonight, if these sweets are not eaten, they will be thrown away. I cannot handle having them in the house. Having sugar in my body changes my entire personality. I feel really sorry for alcoholics and drug addicts. It takes control of you. Your body craves it. And I hate the way it makes me feel and act. Yet I can't resist it.

I am back on my diet. I still have some more poundage I want to lose. And I really have no trouble staying on it as long as I don't have almond bark laying around the house. One desert for Dick doesn't temp me. Plastic containers of almond bark in various forms kill me.

Everyone is warming up their own lunch. Dick finished up the shrimp and grits. I made chicken and dumplings last night. Chris, Linley and Julianne are having that. It may be a "take us out to dinner, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!" night. Okay Dick? I know you read this.........

I have found myself wanting to pack up some Christmas stuff. I can tell it is only a matter of time.

We got some snow yesterday and last night. Everything is pretty and white again. We need a new layer every few days.

Chris and Linley are heading for Freeport after they eat. Chris got some money for Christmas and it is burning a hole in his pocket. LL Bean built a new fishing and hunting store next to their huge store and he is looking for fly fishing stuff. I think I will pass on this trip. I need to go check out some things in Auburn, but I don't want to go to Freeport.

We got a Christmas card today from some sweet friends that live in North Carolina. Dick went to college and was roommates with "Peanut". Peanut and Mrs. Peanut are from a part of Georgia that I was born and lived for part of my childhood. Peanuts mother was my first grade teacher that I still love her to this day. I wish we all lived closer to each other. It was great to get their pictures! And I must admit that when I read that Peanut was 50, I was shocked.....until I realized that Dick is 50. Of course I am a little bit down the road.......but not too far from it. But the important part is that "I" am not there yet! Or Mrs. Peanut!

I guess that is all I have right now. I will try to post later tonight. Tootles.

Snowmobiling!

Xmas 2007 001, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Chris looks like trouble!

Snowmobiling

Xmas 2007 003, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Snowmobiling

Xmas 2007 005, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Snowmobiling

Xmas 2007 002, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

The Sledders

Xmas 2007 013, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Grace Darling

Xmas 2007 016, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Isn't she precious?

View from Golf Course behind House

Xmas 2007 017, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

View of House from Golf Course

Xmas 2007 023, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Back of our House

Xmas 2007 026, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Our House

Xmas 2007 027, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Jamie & Lesley

Xmas 2007 024, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Jamie & Lesley

Xmas 2007 025, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Julianne Sledding

Xmas 2007 041, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Chris Sledding

, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Jamie Sledding

, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Lesley Sledding

Xmas 2007 049, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Lesley was definitely catching some air!

Julianne, Jamie & Christopher

Xmas 2007 064, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Dick took lots of pictures of these three and this is the only one with their eyes open!

Jamie, Lesley & Grace Darling

Xmas 2007 061, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Me & Darling

Me & Darling, originally uploaded by frannycakes.

Hey Yall! It is so hard to believe that Christmas is over. It seemed to take so long to get here, then it was over before we knew it! Jamie and Lesley flew into Manchester on the 21st. Their flight came in on time, but they had to wait at least 30 minutes to get one of the two gates that US Air has at the Manchester Airport. It seemed a little bit ridiculous to me. We got home around 3 am. Everyone slept in. Saturday was Jamie's 26th birthday! That is hard to believe! Twenty six years ago he came into our lives after a fun, relaxing 16 hour labor. We carried him home on Christmas day. He was definitely one of the best Christmas presents we have ever received. Saturday night we took him out to dinner. Afterwards we went home and opened birthday presents. Happy Birthday Jamie! I love you!

Sunday, Dick got the group up at 5:30. He had made reservations for them to go ride snow mobiles. They drove up to Rangeley to pick up the snow mobiles at 8 am. They had a wonderful time! I stayed home to run to the grocery store and take care of a few loose ends. Dick had requested Shrimp and Grits for dinner. My mom has the most delicious recipe for it, so after shopping I came home and started dinner. When they got home, they showered and took a short nap. Then they were ready to eat.

Since Jamie and Lesley had to leave early on Christmas Day, we decided to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. So Sunday night I put out the packages after everyone went to bed. I had planned to put all the presents under the tree as I wrapped them, but when Julianne realized what I was doing, she got upset and didn't want me to do that. She wanted to be surprised by the presents. I thought by the time you were 20 you didn't do that any more. Evidently not. So we put them out as usual. Some piles were bigger than others because some people would not give me a list or even an idea of what they wanted for Christmas. I hope that getting some money helped that uneven situation. We put things away after all the presents were opened and rested a while. Then they got up and headed outside to sled down the hill behind our house. Jamie and Lesley worked on a track and had them going airborn! The pictures speak for themselves.

We had our Christmas dinner that night and played "Apples to Apples" and had a great time. We were all tired and everyone went to bed pretty early. Sunday, Dick and I drove them to the airport. We got there in time to get some lunch from the McDonalds. I have never had McDonalds for Christmas lunch before. I was sad to see them go. We really enjoyed their visit.

"Grace Darling" is my new grandbaby! She came to see us for the first time. Having a puppy around is exhausting! This little girl had lots of energy and kept us on our toes. She loved Christmas ornaments! As a matter of fact, she loved them so much she ate some! I would see this white streak run by and she would have Santa Claus in her mouth heading for a private place to devour him! She loves to cuddle and being that I love to cuddled, we were made for each other. I have missed her since she left. Weezie, on the other hand, was near a nervous breakdown. She is somewhat relieved.

I am trying out a new way to post my photos, so bear with me. Hopefully this will be easier than it has been in the past. Hopefully.

I will talk to you later! Tootles!

Yes!!!!!!

Hey Yall!!! I have about a minute to let you know that Julianne got an early Christmas present! She got accepted at the University of Maine for the Spring Semester!!!!! Yes!!!! I am so excited for her. Even better, they invited her to join the Honors College!!! Needless to say, we are all very happy for her.

School starts the 15th of January, so we have a lot to do.

I just wanted to share her good news with all of you!

Christopher made it to Maine today! And half of his luggage made it with him. Oh well, at least he made it! We messed around Portland long enough today and the airport ended up calling us to see if we were still around and to come and pick up the luggage.

We are getting snow as I type. We are supposed to get a sizable amount from this little storm.

That is all for now....Tootles!

Hey yall! It is cold up here in Maine. Snow has been coming down since early this morning. Dick plowed the driveway around 1:00 and had to do it again around 6:00. For the past couple of hours, the snow has turned to sleet. We don't like the sleet. Keep snowing, if you must. The temperature has actually risen to 18 degrees from the single digits where it was for most of the day.

Friday night, we went to see the Boston Symphony performing their holiday concert. It was very good. They were performing at the Augusta Civic Center. We went to Panera Bread to eat beforehand. I wish that particular Panera was as good as the one in Portland. For the second time in a week, they forgot to put the chicken on Julianne's salad. Not really a big deal, but somebody back there is not paying attention. I got the grilled chicken salad with apple chips and pecans. Friday, I had 5 pecan halves on it. On Monday, I had to ask for just a few more apple chips. It only had 3 on it and 2 were crushed. But it was a nice night.

Saturday, I made my menu's out for the holidays. I made a list, then rearranged it according to the area. That saved so much time! And I would have probably been out of there in less than 45 minutes if there had not been a million people in the grocery store also. I think it probably look 2 hours. But I have most everything I need, except for some fresh veg's I will get later in the week.

Chris flies in on Wednesday and Jamie and Lesley fly in on Friday night. Grace Darling will be making her first flight! Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. I can't wait to see them all.

Julianne has a final tomorrow at 10. I hope the class is rescheduled because I am not sure I want her driving to Augusta that early. Surely it will be....Surely.

Monday I will be making cookies, brownies, candy and zucchini bread. I might even be excited about it tomorrow. Maybe..... Saturday night I put two casseroles in the freezer. Maybe I can whip up something up something else to freeze. I just love to freeze stuff!

I guess I better go......I will talk to you later! Tootles!

Slip Slidding Away

Hey Yall! First of all.....I am sitting here watching the Real Housewives of Orange County. People! Get a life! Yet, I still sit here and watch it......

We got some more snow this afternoon. I had headed out to the post office, Fed Ex, Goodwill (of course!) and then Walmart. After going to the post office and Fed Ex, I realized I should have done ALL my shopping on free shipping sites! That little realization will be filed away for next year. I almost didn't go in Goodwill, but I am glad I did! I found 5 bottle brush Christmas trees! They were in a bag together with some other things that I don't want and will donate back. The bag was a whopping 99 cents! I also found a box of Shiny Brite ornaments that were pink! 59 cents! The bottle brush bag also had some glittered snowflakes in white, gold and purple. I did great for less than 2 dollars. Then.....on the Walmart. I didn't want to, but I had to. We had a couple of gifts to buy for from the Wish Tree at Dick's office. And Walmart was the place I needed to get all these things from, plus I had a couple of food things to get. I do not want to go back in there again until after New Years. Too many people! Every check out was open and backed up into the store. It took forever to check out. And then.....when I got to the door to go out, it had started to snow while I was shopping and the parking lot was covered and my car was covered and I started to panic a little bit! I don't mind driving in the snow in Dick's truck. But I have never driven my car in the snow. I fishtailed twice before even getting out of the parking lot! That only added to my anxiety. So I drove very slow out of Auburn and towards home. Once I turned off the highway, I panicked again. The roads are up hill then down hill. And the road was covered with snow. Again, I took it slow. I did fine until I was coming down the hill to turn into the neighborhood. I was going very, very slow, but I must have hit some ice or something and turned sideways on the road. There was a truck behind me that slowed also and thank goodness no one was coming from the opposite direction. I got straightened out and slowly entered the neighborhood. I wish that I could go slowly to our house, but you have to get a good start there to be able to make it up the hill. Last week, I started spinning halfway up and had to back down and get a running start. I will be a pro at all this before long. Or else I won't leave the house. I may stay home tomorrow. Hmmmmmmm.

It just hit me a little while ago that next week is when the "children" come home! I need to make a good grocery list so I won't have to go while they are here. I plan to make some casseroles and freeze them. And we have some sweets we need to make. I should be making that list instead of blogging, but you know who my loyalty is to.......

My eye lids are getting heavy so I better go and head to bed. I will talk to you tomorrow! Tootles!

Wednesday's Post According to Frannycakes Rules

Hey yall! I realize that this post will be dated for Thursday, but I started it on Wednesday. Does that count for a post a day? Of course it does in the Frannycakes rule book and of course we play by Frannycakes rules when it comes to her blog. So there. It counts!

My man is home. Dog tired but home. Already in bed and sawing some logs.

Today I wrapped and wrapped. I finished wrapping everything that was left to do. Then I packed up some boxes to mail tomorrow. I got together my addresses for the the things that will go Fed Ex and put address labels on the things that go snail mail. I finally finished around 8 tonight. I have gone over the "master list", you know the list....the one where you have everyone listed and you make sure everyone has a gift and that all the "children have about the same amount. Yeah, that one. I still need some things for Chris. Help me Bo Bo! I need some suggestions from you.

Maine sure is pretty. We got another couple of inches of snow last night. Today it got above freezing for a few hours. It was just long enough so that now we have ice on the back porch. Great.

I guess I better go on to bed.....talk to you later! Tootles!

Happy Birthday Lesley!

I forgot to wish Lesley a Happy Birthday on my blog! Bad Mother-in-law! I did send her a present and give her a call on her birthday though! I hope you had a wonderful birthday and we can't wait to see you at Christmas!

Finally....An Update!

Hey yall.....sorry I have been away so long. I have been mentally busy trying to figure out what to buy who and what I need to get done so we can have the required Norman Rockwell Christmas. And to make it a Norman Rockwell Christmas, there will be stress involved and Frannycakes and stress do not make a good combination. I have been faithfully reading all my blog friends posts! I never fail to be amazed at all of you. Thanks for posting faithfully! I am going to try very hard to post every single day this month. Once my kids get here, I will be overflowing with post topics! They keep me entertained and I will let their antics be your entertainment.

I will start with the weather here at the north pole......we have not gotten above freezing in a couple of weeks. Actually, we have not been near 32 degrees in a couple of weeks. We still have snow on the ground. A lot of snow because it has not melted since the first snow and snow has fallen since then. We are supposed to get more snow tonight and tomorrow morning. And then some more over the weekend. Do I sound like I am tired of it? Well, I am not. I love it, I love it, I love it!

I am listening to my Ipod which is hooked up to the stereo right now. Guess what is on right now? The Chipmunk's singing "Jingle Bells"! I love the Chipmunks! Dick downloaded some Christmas songs on my Ipod for our Christmas party last year. On MY Ipod! Not that I don't like Christmas music. But I do want to pick out my own music. So now when I listen to it, I get some of "his" picked out Christmas music mixed in with my music. At least Josh Groban isn't on there. I'm sorry....I know most everyone loves Josh......but I can't stand him. Sorry.

I have pretty much finished my shopping except for a couple of items. And once I figure out what to get, it should be easy to get them. And I will be finished. I did a major part of my shopping on the internet this year. Easy as can be. I can do it in my sexy flannel pj's sitting in the recliner with my new favorite drink, Diet Mountain Dew! But enough for that picture you probably have embedded on your brain now.....I still have some wrapping to do and I need to box up some things to have shipped. Hopefully I will be able to get this done tomorrow.

Julianne and I are going over to Auburn tonight to pick up some gift bags and then we are going out to dinner. Thank you Dick! He left this afternoon for a quick one day business trip and the girls are taking advantage of the situation. Of course, we will be making a quick trip to the TJ Maxx, Dollar Tree and grocery store. I am not really sure how to make a quick trip to the TJ Maxx, but that is my plan.

I guess I should go and finish my vacumming. I vacummed the downstairs and did the baseboards. I need to go upstairs and do my room and bathroom and hall. Julianne will have to do her room and bath. I always feel so much better when I get this all done. I will dust later tonight. I have to go out to dinner you know!

I will talk to you later! Tootles!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

I can hardly believe that my baby brother is 40 years old! Wow! Imagine my surprise when I talked with our parents last night and they told me you were going to be 42! I really was shocked by that! Tommy, I think you need to check your birth certificate. You might be older than me. If your own parents don't know your age, well, something is up with that!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday today! I love you!

Snowy Day II

Just when I thought Blogger was a nice thing again it is refusing to let me download pictures again. I have some new snow pictures and I will continue to try and post them throughout the day. Curse you Blogger!!!!!

It is still snowing outside and the forecast for today is for snow. Julianne had class today, so she has already left for that. The roads are plowed so she shouldn't have any problem. Dick used the snow blower when he got home last night. He did the driveway and patio in the front. Then he plowed a walk way out back for Weezie and shoveled the back porch again. That was three times it got shoveled! And I need to do it again. Weezie actually went out this morning, walked in the yard where did plowed for her and came back on the porch and did her business. That's my girl! Two treats for you!!!!

No new news for now.....I will try the pictures a little bit later. Tootles!

Well hells bells.....I let it get dark before I took new pictures. So....I guess I will have to take pics tomorrow morning when it will STILL BE SNOWING!!!!! So I guess I will be able to give you a good idea of how much snow we actually got.

So what have I been doing today? I know you all are waiting to hear. Well, I enjoyed the morning knowing that I was not able to go anywhere. So every time I woke up this morning, I rolled back over and went back to sleep. That felt good. I did get up around 9, bundled up and went downstairs to get me my coffee. I then proceeded to watch the Today Show and catch up on my blog reading. There are some talented people out there!

After my shower, I bundled up and went out to shovel the snow off the porches and walkways. Poor little Weezie needed a place to do her business! If we don't shovel her a place, she will go right by the door! Of course 9 out of 10 times she goes by the door anyway when there is snow out. Somehow it just makes us feel better knowing she is going 1 out of 10 times out in the yard. And it is true what they say. Beware of the yellow snow! And brown too!

It looks like we are having a Christmas party here on Saturday night. Nothing like last minute getting it together. We have someone catering it, so I don't have to do that. But that added extra cleaning and decorating and other little things have to be done by me. I tried to get some of the serving stuff cleaned up and ready and candle holders ready to go.

While I was doing all these things, I had The Closer on TNT on the TV. I have never had the chance to watch it before and had heard good stuff about it. They were having a Closer marathon today. TNT must have known that we were snowed in. There is a special new 2 hours Closer on tonight. I can't wait.

I guess I need to go and get busy on something else. Like make a grocery list for the soiree.

Tootles!

Snowy Day in Maine

As you can see, we did get snow last night! And it has not let up since! I took these pictures about an hour ago. I will try and get some more posted as the day goes on so you can see the changes in amounts that we are getting. It is really coming down now.

I wish you were all here to enjoy it with me!

Let it Snow!

In the words of Jed Clampit, "Weeeee Doggy!" We have been waiting for the past few days for a forecasted winter storm. Up until now, we were supposed to get 12 to 14 inches. Now they are forcasting 12 to 20.....and possibly more! That makes me cold just thinking about it. But I am excited! If you have never been in an area where snow falls like this, you really should experience it. And I know most of the people that read this have never seen anything like it. It is absolutely beautiful. Now I realize that I won't have to go out in it unless Juliannes class is not cancelled. And I hope it will. If it is not then I will go with her and drive her back. That should be interesting!

Dick is home. I am glad. I missed him. Julianne and I went to Wally World this afternoon to pick up some supplies. Not storm stuff.....toothepaste, shampoo, face wash, etc. I put two 2 liter bottles of diet Mountain Dew in my buggy. Now that might qualify as "storm stuff". I have become addicted to that stuff! I crave it. But back to the story.......Everybody and their brother was in there like when a hurricane is threatening. Actually, the hurricane rush is worse. But this was pretty bad. We left there and stopped in at the BBQ place to get Julianne and Dick dinner. They informed us that today was the last day they would be open. He is closing that restaurant and will be doing catering from Richmond. I guess he had no idea what this was going to mean to me. Many, many times I have stopped there on the way home to pick up dinner for Dick at the last minute. He always loves BBQ! Now what am I gonna do? There is nothing else that fills the bill. Hells bells.....I guess I am gonna have to cook.

I have pretty much put a new sofa on the back burner. Thank you for your concern. I do have other things that I need to concentrate on right now. Not necessarily things I want to concentrate on, but need to. And that is no fun.

I guess I better go. I am exhausted thinking about all the things that I need to do so I guess I need to go on to bed.

Tootles!

Baby It's Cold Out There!!!!

Winter has arrived! The temperature at this very minute is 12 degrees. Yes, you read that right. 12 degrees. My friends and family who are reading this are just shaking their heads. We are supposed to start getting snow Sunday night. Dick changed his plane ticket so he would get home a little earlier tomorrow. You never know how this kind of weather will affect the airlines and we don't want to take any chances.

I have had a wonderful day. I got up around 7. The wind was blowing so hard it sounded like the siding on the house was blowing off. I am not even exagerating! I got up, got my coffee and vegged in front of the TV and 'puter. Sometime during the morning, still in my pj's, I decided to go upstairs and finish wrapping the gifts that I had gotten. Around 4, I made my way back down. I have all the presents wrapped. Not all are purchased, so if you want a present and you usually get one you had better tell me what to get you! Got it? Cause I know two boys that have next to nothing under the tree. Christmas is going to be so sad for you!

Julianne and I watched a Christmas movie. We are still in our pj's. I did just get finished with a shower and have returned downstairs with pj's back on. You know it is a good day when you stay in your pj's!

Can't think of anything else that is happening....just wanted to let you know that winter has arrived at the Jackson house!

Tootles!