AGAIN with the cold!?!

Ok, there is a reason I moved to Florida.  It has everything to do with the weather.  It's FLORIDA!  I mean, duh...

And yet, they took great joy in pointing out this morning on the news that it was, in fact, WARMER in BISMARCK, ND than in ORLANDO, FL!  What is UP WITH THAT????

Evidence...

And, can I add, it was 34 when I started to take the picture, but it was dark in the house, so I had to do some adjusting of the lighting... during which time it warmed up a degree.  (I think it's cuz my hand was on the thermometer... no wait, the thermometer is out on the patio.  Ok, never mind...) (Also, it was 8:03!  NOT pre-dawn or anything like that... pre-dawn I was snuggled under multitudes of blankets in my bedroom, waiting for my space heater to do it's thing...)

This is how I deal with the cold....

A nice, big pot of homemade tomato/cabbage/misc veggie soup.  YUM!

This is how Kyle deals with the cold.  (He is too manly to actually FEEL the cold, mind you... but he does make SOME concessions...)

WINTER Chucks.

Here is how the horses deal with the cold.....

And yes, that IS frost on the poop pile.  So much for the "spontaneous combustion" theory...

Sabrina?  She snuggles up in a blanket(s) on the couch with a mountain of tissues, boxes of various over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, and juice.  She also FORBIDS picture taking while in said state...

That, there, is FROST on my truck.  Which I specifically parked down by the barn so it would get the early morning sun and I wouldn't have to scrape my windows.  Cuz I live in FLORIDA and I don't OWN a scraper...  (it was still early and the sun hadn't hit it yet, but by the time I was done all my chores, it was nice and toasty warm, thank you for asking!)

Oh, and in case you noticed, that IS my shadow taking the picture, but I am NOT Gigantor.  I AM wearing my super warm, super thick, super quilt batting filled AXO coat.  That scares my horses.  But they will get over it.  Just about the time it warms up and I quit wearing it.

The Proposal

Christmas Eve was a special night for the Buffaloes (and nearly Buffaloes...)

We headed over to Indialantic for our annual Santa Sighting.  The Indialantic Fire Department has been running Santa on their trucks for 30+ years.  Back in the early days, Rod got to be Santa!  

On the way over, we stopped down by the river (since we were a little early and it wasn't dark yet...) 

While down there, we caught sight of somebody else enjoying the river scene!

Kyle and I were trying to get a good picture of him, when out of the corner of my eye, what should I see????

You have to squint....  Here, this might be easier to see...

Yup.  He got down on one knee and everything!  I almost missed it, didn't have time to focus my camera or move so the tree was out of the way or anything!  But at least I got a picture.  Rod was videoing, but something happened and it didn't take!  Silly camera.....

And this was the result...

She was a LITTLE overwhelmed...  

It really IS a beautiful ring.  

Of course we have the obligatory Santa Sighting photos....

All-in-all, a successful evening!

AND MORE EXCITING STUFF - HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONI!!!

2012 Commit To Be Fit

This is what I will be working on for the next month...  

COMMIT to 4 - 5 workouts a week of at least 20 minutes 

COMMIT to staying well hydrated. Drink at least half of my body's weight in ounces of water. (Did you know that being dehydrated causes your body to produce stress hormones that actually STORE fat?)

COMMIT to getting plenty of rest. Lack of sleep also produces the body to produce those same darn hormones that store fat.... it is a vicious cycle.

COMMIT to reducing stress - you got it... same stress hormones are released. Find time to do something I enjoy each day. It is an easy task once you put your mind to it.

COMMIT to telling myself each day what is GOOD about me, what do I love about ME?? 

COMMIT to eating healthier - Sabrina and I are using The Good Mood Diet.

COMMIT to dry skin brushing EVERY day! It is SO good for my body! 

COMMIT to sticking with it for the full month of January.

Happy New Year!

This is what New Year's Eve Day looks like at our house this year...  Jim and Sabrina hung out with us for most of the morning (Jim put the new toilet seat on and did a deep clean in the bathroom - he should come home more often!  LOL)  Sabrina and I did a mini-marathon or HoeDown Showdown.  She doubled her usuals and did FOUR sets.  I did a set of 10.  And am wearing my "I did it" HoeDown Showdown t-shirt I earned at Safety Harbor last year to celebrate.  

Rod went out and mowed the little pasture and now I think he's out mowing the front yard/pasture.

Pretty good pictures - taken with my iPad Touch.....  Not bad!

I'm researching alkalinity in the body.  

The fun just never ends around here!  I'm off to WalMart (with the rest of the hordes) to pick up the things I forgot last night so we can stay in and have some fun stuff to nibble on while watching some of the dvds Santa brought us.  Jim and Sabrina are going to a big party... Kyle might head over there too.  So it will probably just be us old people here...  LOL  That's ok, more fun stuff to munch on!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

My Little Patient

Tuesday morning I took Rod to the doctor to get a couple of skin cancers on his arm taken off.  Usually I stay out in the waiting room (cuz I'm a pansy, that's why!) but this time I got brave and came in.  (I brought my Kindle and my new iPod Touch just in case...) 

My brave boy did well.  Our doctor (he's a Nurse Practitioner) is such a great guy.  VERY personable and encouraging.  We've seen him now for about three years and have been very pleased.  He has taken several skin cancers and fatty tumors off Rod over the years and really cares about limiting the scarring etc. 

Anyhow - some before and afters.....  (no blood!)

Yes, after surgery I took my darling to Steak and Shake (and then to the mall to get a replacement part for his RC helicopter...) 

All pictures taken using my NEW iPOD TOUCH.  Thanks again Mom and Dad! 

There will be MORE blog posts in 2012 since I now have a way to take pictures and upload them right to my computer WAY easier than with my camera!  Woot!

Nearly Ready

We are nearly ready for Christmas!  Mostly we are just waiting for our elves to get here...

Tonight they are in Cincinnati, waiting to pick up a USPS load to bring south to Florida.  (several stops along the way...  you know, Santa never just comes straight somewhere... gotta stop and make lots of drops...)

Here's our tree!

Can't wait for our guys to get home!

Cookies!

It's so fun having a girl in the house!  The boys were never really into baking cookies and all the other little Christmas things....

When I got home from work today - this is what I found in the kitchen...

She was busy making sugar cookies and cutting them in cute Christmas shapes.

Then they decorated them!  (Kyle helped for a little with that one...  well, he decorated, and then he ate... LOL)

Aren't they cute???  

Evidence!  Flour!  She was working hard!

Oh, and here's the status of the Advent Calendar.......

Oh!  And we got a great little box full of Christmas presents today!  They are under the tree!

Thanks!!!  

(Sabrina was BEYOND excited to see one for her!!!  We have the BEST family!)