Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The Day After

Our live tree downstairs in the family room.
It's decorated with bows and fox hunting horns.
Well, okay, this year I did add a Starbucks coffee cup!



This is another live tree. It's upstairs in the hall.

It was a bittersweet morning earlier. My folks left at 9:00; the kids left yesterday at 3:00. I now have an empty house. And I have to admit, it's been hard getting back into the swing of things. The last few days have been chaotic, hectic, out of control and blissfully wonderful! Mom, Brandi and I snuck in an extra day of shopping Monday. I took them to The Shoppes at Friendly Center in Greensboro. We had been to Friendly Center the week before but didn't get to hit the Shoppes because it had gotten too late. The place was awesome.

Christmas could not have been nicer. Sometimes I think my family misses out because there are no "little ones" anymore but - - - NO! We do just fine with all big people! As usual, my folks (mom) were out of control. Mike and I got the most beautiful antique jelly cupboard! I will treasure it. You all have no idea the impact my parents have had on making this house a home. It's my deepest desire to share it with as many of you as possible! They also treated Mike and I to a new Dell printer/fax/scanner/copier WIRELESS machine! I LOVE IT!!!! There is no USB cable from the machine to my computer AND Mike's desktop is "connected" as is the laptop!!! I can now lay in the bed and send something to print downstairs in the office! How lazy is that? How lazy am I??!! I am all over the technology! We were all treated wonderfully and many memories were made. I have tons of pictures to share! I've included two at the top; these are two of the three trees we have up. The third is a "twig tree" on my front porch. I'll get more photos and post them as well. Oh, and we attempted a family photo on the front steps of the house; the dog made it a little difficult but we finally got a decent shot! I'll upload that to my computer and share it with you, too! Reasons to come back and check things out on the Mineer homefront.

I'll use the rest of this week to try and find my grove again! Check back soon!

I hope each of you had a blessed Christmas surrounded by friends, family and loved ones. I love each of you dearly - Joyce


Friday, November 16, 2007

And yet...another Friday



Good afternoon friends!




Not so much to report...it's been a terribly quiet day "at work" and I needed to take a break from the uneventfulness. I even took my lunch hour to go to Lowe's to see if I could find the "rose-tinted white" Martha Stewart paint I'm on the hunt for. No luck. They do sell MS paint but they did not offer that color. It is a few years old so maybe it's been discontinued. I plan on checking K-mart over the weekend...that is if I can walk after Michael and I do our scheduled run on Saturday. We're supposed to do 8 miles! Yeah right - 8 miles! Wish me luck and say a prayer won't you?? They say it's all in your head. Personaly, mine's all in my "trunk"! Ha!



I met an old friend for lunch yesterday. Jane and I used to work together at Northgate Mall; Jane's still there and hanging on. Boy, our conversation was enlightening. Many changes have taken place at the mall and not all for the better. I hope the center turns around. The best thing that could happen would be for it to be sold. It's never good for anyone or any retailer when a major shopping complex "goes dark". I'm hopeful things will get better for that group. Jane looked just like Jane! We hadn't seen each other for about a year and a half. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her; and the hour (+) went by way too fast. We promised to stay in touch and get together again soon. I know we'll make the effort.


Excellent news on the "original homefront"... My uncle and his partner have gained employment in New York and will be moving on. They've been trying for months to make their way north as that's where their hearts are and where they really want to be. This means my folks will be leaving the house on the bay and return to Springfield - as early as next weekend (at least for my mom). Mom's literally been counting the days until she can get back home. They've never lived at "the big house" full time so the last 6 months have been a real experience for them. Mom did not like it so much. She loves the house and the area but it's simply too quiet for her taste...and she misses work. I'm sure once they get back and settled in Northern VA mom will make arrangements to go back to work. I want her to do whatever makes her happiest. Selfishly, I'm REALLY glad they're going home! It's been very strange going back there every month and not having the folks there! We'll be getting back to our normal routine soon - we're such creaters of habit! AND, it'll be great that the boys are in NY - - Mike and I will have a place to travel to!


I don't have any pictures uploaded yet of the remodel that's going on in my bathroom but I wanted to check out how to post pics on this blog. So, I've added a picture of Jess and me from this summer! Isn't he wonderful? I love him dearly. He's been a friend for a very long time...


Enjoy and know that I'm thinking of each of you - Joyce




Monday, November 12, 2007

Welcome to my world!!

Hello friends! I hope you've found me! I've been a blogger for about a year now at Yahoo 360 but recently learned they're doing away with that service! Since I use Google as my "go-to" search engine, and my friend Cathy has a blog on this site, I decided to move my on-line journal here to blog spot!

This is my test run to see how the site works and how many "views" I get. I have LOTS to update you on so check back for a list of current events at the Mineers!