Eyebrow check

It's been 1.5 years since radiation.  Long enough that I don't obsess about my eyebrows anymore. Yes they are very thin and grow funny but I have hairs there which is fantastic.  It was a 50/50 proposition that they would come back in the radiation field.  But they did.  They are white...but they are there. Logan still colors them for me and keeps them even colored which is nice.  What I haven't done yet was wax them.

Yes I have plucked.  Yes I have even tried shaving the strays off.  But plucking them hurts...bad.  Some of the area is still kind of numb but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to pull out a hair. In fact, it is a very strange sensation.  One that I don't look forward to often.  What is really bothering me is all the blonde hairs that grow like crazy.  Peach fuzz?  Maybe. Whatever you want to call it, it is a mess.

So last night, I decided it was time.  I have a little tub of eyebrow wax I use.  I heated it up and at 11:00 pm, I was brave enough to...bite the bullet.  I figured if it hurt too much, I could always take some pain medication and by all means, sleeping off the discomfort is also attractive.  Plus when I wax, my skin is red for several hours so sleeping alone is a great activity for those times.

I started with the uni-brow situation.  Piece of cake.  Then the left eyebrow then the right. I decided to place all the wax before ripping it off.  But I made my right eyebrow the last rip.  I put the wax on extra thick hoping that would make it easier to get off.  And it was.  I took a deep breath and pulled. It wasn't as uncomfortable as plucking and with one quick jerk, all the wrongs in the eyebrow world were gone!   I was left with smooth, hairless under arches!  No more unruly eyebrow strays!  I'm so glad I have conquered this....and that it is something I need to conquer.  Because eyebrows are important!

Blast from the Past - Kings

One of the really cool things that caught my eye in Buhl Idaho is the fact that they have a Kings Discount Store!  For those of you who aren't familiar with Kings or have a connection, it was THE store we went to growing up.  We used to do regular shopping there especially at the holidays.

So last time I was in Buhl, I had time alone one afternoon that I could go explore my curiosity in private.  I walked in the door and just about got blown over remembering how exciting it was when I would go as a little girl.  Similar to the Kings of my younger years, there is a smell.  I can't tell you what it is.  It isn't bad or isn't familiar but...distinct.  There are white adjustable shelves with goodies on them.  On the left were racks of clothes.

I am pretty sure I was quite obvious and odd and my jaw was slack and I know my eyes were really excited.  I went up and down the aisles.  Looking at craft supplies, kitchen stuff, Christmas stuff.  I found a few things here and there to put in my little Kings shopping cart.  It was quite a shock to me that it was so familiar and yet so different.  I guess I sort of expected to find the things I found so exciting when I was young.  Shiny bright ornaments, boxes of tinsel, gift items for loved ones.  I hoped to see old time tinsel light displays on the lights down the street.  But alas, the products were different and I am in a different town.  But it was still fun.

Fritz shared with me that Kings originated in Burley Idaho.  I think he is only mildly amused by my fascination with Kings. I'm glad I got a chance to go see it, over the holidays none the less, and take a trip down memory lane.   If they still used price tags with the store name on it, I would buy gifts for everyone and leave the tags on so you knew you were part of my childhood experience memories.

Happy Holidays!

It is tough for me to believe it is the holiday season.  It seriously seems like it should be like July. But alas, the snow, cold weather, Christmas carols and the hustle and bustle snap me into reality.  Since coming home from Idaho, I jumped into action as I was hostess of the annual Christmas Eve party.

We had a small group this year as Mars and John were not feeling up to coming.  But Mom and Chuck came into town.  Jennie was in town as well as Philip and Tiffany.  We had a delicious ham dinner with all the trimmings just as tradition requires.  I even pulled together some cookies (including my 4th batch of sugar cookies in December) for us to enjoy.  After our dinner, we visited and then did our white elephant gifts.  It is always amazing that people get something they can use or fit them.

Late night cookie making with Philip

Cookie Tower - Sugar, Mexican Wedding Cake
Cookies, Ginger Cookies, and chocolate pretzels

Mom carving the ham

Philip and Tiffany

Jennie and Me

Because Jennie doesn't have a car in Utah, I drive her back to her Dad's house when we are done.  It has become a fun thing for me to see her Dad's house all decorated.  I might tease how over the top it is but I also admit it is very festive and fun.  I hear it is so popular, people come every year to see the lights on their house.

Christmas morning, I got up and made some breakfast.  Mom and Chuck joined us for waffles, sausage, and fresh fruit.  After that, we opened our stockings. Another tradition we do.  We all get stocking stuffers for each other and open them on Christmas morning.

Philip and his stocking.

Chuck is digging clear to the toe

Mom showing off her beautiful necklace

After all the festivities, Mom and Chuck decided to head back to their cozy hotel.  Philip was happy doing his own thing, so I took a much needed nap.  What a nice and decadent thing to do on Christmas Day!

In the afternoon, we headed over to my cousin Dave and Jamie's home for dinner with Dad's side of the family.  We had a full house there and were thrilled with the news that my other cousin, Ryan got engaged to his girlfriend, Heather.  We couldn't be more excited!!

Me and Dad

I've been off work since I went to Idaho.  I've been enjoying relaxing, seeing Philip as he is available, and doing volunteer work for the Best Friends Animal Society.  I have a few more days off and I am enjoying every minute.

For New Years, I am headed to the annual McNak party.  I'll post more about that later.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas (can I say that these days?? haha).  Have a happy and safe New Years celebration too.

Idaho Candy Making Party

I decided to kick off my holiday vacation (Yippee!!) with a trip to Idaho.  Fritz and his family had a few traditions they invited me to join.  I've not been in Idaho since October.  Since then, it had become winter!  Not as much snow as Utah but it is just as cold.

One of the gatherings I was invited too was the Candy Making Party.  We went to Fritz's sister's house.  She had her house decorated so cute and festive.  Every room had a special touch which was really fun.  Everyone brought the makings for whatever candy they were wanting to make.  I'm not a big candy maker but Fritz requested Peanut Brittle and Chocolate Covered Pretzels.  So I let my fingers do the walking and found some recipes online.

I started with the Peanut Brittle.  The recipe I found was for microwave preparation.  Weirdest recipe I've encountered but it did its thing.  The problem was getting it spread in the pan before it started to set.  And it was like hot molten lava!  So we ended up with very thick globby Peanut Brittle.  I decided to press it down with wax paper and a pot holder.  Not a good plan.  The wax melted slightly and stuck to the peanut brittle.  Fritz's Mom, Betty suggested I put it in the freezer and see if I could peel it off after it cooled.  That helped some but I offered it as "buyer beware".  Haha.  The chocolate covered pretzels were much easier and came out just fine.  The only thing is they take awhile to set so they were a little messy before we cleaned up.  We also had frosted ginger bread cookies, peppermint bark, peanut butter balls, and fudge.

What was really nice and fun was spending some time with Fritz and his people.  His family is fun to be around.  You can tell there is tons of love between them and they really value their time together. I feel pretty lucky to be included in such a fun tradition.

Betty, Terry, and Karla (Fritz's sister)

He is always looking so serious!

Me, Karla, Betty, Laurie, and Armela

Armela and Matt (Fritz's son and his wife)

We all divided up our goodies and came home with a great assortment of treats!  What fun!

Playing with Kitties

Nola's kitty passed just a few weeks ago.  It is incredibly sad.  But she was feeling brave enough to and wanted to head down to the Best Friends Animal Society to check out some kitties and have some kitty time.

The really cool thing about BFAS is they have cat rooms where the kitties are allowed to mingle and people can go in and interact with them.  Nola is partial to adult cats.  So we spent time in there.  She had 2 kitties she liked.

This is Endo.  He was about 6  years old and is a big lover.
Certainly thinks he is kitty royalty.  He sat so pretty.

Then we had some time with Fantine.  She is FIV positive so she can't be
in the larger room so we went in an adoption room to get some 1:1
time.  She is absolutely beautiful and quite a talker.  She chirps which is really cute.

She really bonded with Nola.  Looks like love to me.
Although I would love to see Nola find a kitty and BFAS is a great
 place to get one, she isn't ready yet and flying a cat across the
country sounds nuts.

Fantine's personal add photo.  Hubba Hubba.
 I hope she finds her perfect home.

I've been in the adoption center a few times and keep seeing the tail end (pardon the pun) of the kittens I helped in the Nursery come out for adoption.  This past week, Mojave came through and I got to hold her.  She is an orange tabby and the biggest sweetheart.  It was all I could do to leave her there and walk away.

Mojave in the nursery.  I bottle fed her and fed her at a weening kitten

Mojave in the cat room at the Pet Adoption Center

My girls continue to be sweethearts but they are shy with others.  I guess they prefer me to others.  They are comfortable enough with Nola to come out which is nice and an improvement over the years.  Here are  a few photos.

Baby loves  my felt box. 

Such a  pretty girl

Sissy wishing she was invisible.  She is a big lover but only has eyes for me.

If it fitz, I sitz

Spontaneous painting with strangers

The weekend in the middle of December found me with a holiday spirit and not much planned.  So I decided to use a coupon I had and go to a Paint Nite.  You might recall I've done these a few times in the past but this time, I went by myself.  I got to sit with about 75 strangers!  But I had a great time.  I was highly motivated by the painting of a Snowman and knew exactly where I wanted to put it.

This is a more advanced painting than I've painted before.  And keep in mind, I have zero painting skills.  But she walked us through it with patience and easy terms....and a huge sense of humor which I appreciated.

Getting started with scratchy coverage.  Looks complex but it was easy.
The motto is if you feel stressed, have another drink!

Here he comes.  Check out that expert shading!

Selfie to prove it is mine.

Drying sideways.  I'm very happy with him.

Me with my painting.  Cute frame as well.

I had a great afternoon and was pretty happy with my painting.  I hung him in my bedroom and he is very fun and festive!

Beautiful snow storm

When Nola comes to visit, we make a list of things she would like to do while in Utah. That helps us stay on the same page and use our time effectively (that sounds like a business discussion!!).  One thing on her list was "SNOW".  When she got here, Utah looked alot like September with leaves and brown landscape but almost as if she ordered it, Sunday night and Monday we got the "storm of the decade".  It snowed all night, all day, and all night again.  I live on the benches of the mountains so I tend to get mroe snow than the valley.  We got almost 2 feet in 24 hours.  It was so  much snow, the plows didn't get to all the streets.  It was absolutely beautiful but also put a kink in our plans for the last day of Nola's visit.

Instead of spending the day out and about, we decided to stay in and kick into craft central.  I'm so glad I had a decent stock of supplies.  I have a little felt pile to make ornaments and crafts with and Nola thoroughly enjoyed diving into it.  She planned out  some cute ornaments and we jumped into it immediately.  I finished them up after she left and I didn't get a photo!!  But they were cute.  We made birds and Christmas Trees with sequins and beads.  Nola also had some other projects that needed finished up so we got those done too.  She is so crafty.

Philips waiting for a haircut.  Until then, he is sporting a "man bun"

We did have reservations for dinner at The Roof so we did venture downtown for that.  We got there safe and sound and were lucky to get a seat right in the window.  It was too snowy to see a sunset but it was only a few minutes before the temple lights came on.  Words just can't describle the amazing view of the temple.  It really is a grand building.  Especially when lit up.

After dinner, we stopped in the lobby of the Joseph Smith building.  You are literally right next to the temple lights.  We decided to go have a peek.  Because of the snow, the temple as almost deserted except those of us brave enough to venture out.  It is really rare to walk around without major crowds.  But tonight was different and we had a beautiful time.  Nola took some fantastic photos.

Certainly another fun tradition.  It was beautiful and worth venturing out.