An Outstanding Last Minute Gift Idea for Readers

If you have readers in your house, undoubtedly books or bookstore giftcards are always favored presents.  I have always loved getting books that someone has specifically chosen for me based on my likes and interests or because they loved a story and wanted to share it with me. 

I wasn't paid to gush, I am not trying to sell you anything or win a contest, I just flat out LOVED THIS BOOK!  I know there are many horse lovers and parents of young horsepeople that follow this blog and I merely wanted to give all of you a hint for a fantastic gift:

Eclipsed by Shadow: Legend of the Great Horse

I am not going to get into all of the details because a simple click HERE will take you to my wordy and drool-covered review at my book blog, One Book Shy of a Full Shelf.  I almost never rate books a "5 out of 5", but this book could have gone 10 out of 5 for me very easily.  It is extremely well written by a knowledgeable horseman and has already been compared to the Harry Potter series for the adventure and fantasy.  It's one of those books that will pretty much appeal to everyone, whether they love horses or not.  Let me know what you think..

Feeling the Love

I am so grateful for those lovely readers who have commented and emailed me regarding that last post/rant/scream.  You are wonderful!  It is amazing how much a simple "you're not alone in how you feel" or just plain "you're not alone" can mean to a person ~ to me.  Thank you all so much for being there.

I'm actually feeling a tad bit better and poor Mr. MoonCat is like a little kid about sparkly decorations, so we're going to get with the program and try to cheer it up around here.  He is of the opinion that I will feel even better if I have pretty things to look at.. (If you have seen Chevy Chase's movie "Christmas Vacation", you'll have an idea of what Mr. MoonCat's vision of decorating entails....Mine is closer to the Charlie Brown version.)

Of course, my agreement to go ahead and decorate has now spawned arguments about the tree.  He wants a GIANT tree

while I would prefer a smaller, more manageable tree. 

His theory is that we have a giant ceiling in the great room so we should have the GIANT tree.  My counterpoint is that the big tree will cost 3 times that of the one I like and just because we have the space, doesn't mean we need to fill it! 

Plus, I have a vision of the tree sitting in the lower-ceilinged corner with goodies all around it ~ off of the floor where lions and tigers roam.  I have an old corner tv stand that we're not using similar to the one below:

I think it would be really cute to put the lighted Christmas village on the shelves behind the glass doors.  (It will be much, much safer for the little villagers to be ensconced behind the glass ~ we have large monster kitties that roam freely in this home!)  My stand isn't as nice as the one above, but I think it will do ~ for now... hint, Mr. MoonCat... I like the one above..

So what do you think?  A 12ft-ish tree or a more modest, manageable, magnificent tree of about 4 or 5 feet sitting on a pretty stand with a village nestled below?  Whichever way we go, you know it'll have to be made secure from the ferocious felines...

**Are you getting the impression that everything we do around here comes back to the critters?  How will it affect them?  What kind of destruction and havoc can they wreak?  Gotta love 'em or else....

Christmas Shopping in July

I am one of those people who like to have their Christmas shopping done by, oh say Halloween?  I hate the last minute rushing during the holidays.  It drives me nuts.  I want to be able to enjoy myself (and let's be honest, buy things for myself since I'm not having to shop for others at this time of year...)  Hello sales!

So I have been spending a lot of time shopping creatively online lately.  Being home with Mom makes it hard for me to run around and find the things that I want for my family and friends. 

Today I'm looking at knives on a neat site I just found called The Knife Depot.  Mr. MoonCat and Dad are both most likely going to end up with something sharp and pointy in their stockings.  ~ Good thing neither of them pays much attention to what I write on a daily basis.  If you are on here today, you're getting sticks...sharp and pointy sticks..

For Mr. MoonCat, I'm looking at a folding knife like this one:

Pops is probably going to get a pocket knife similar to the one below:

 

 

Mrs. MoonCat is most likely going to get this beauty:

  

The handle is made of 100% post consumer "Paperstone".  Practical and pretty - I must have it. :)  See how easy it is to get off track when shopping for gifts for others.  But in my defense...today's my birthday.  So look to the right to see what I'm getting myself.....he he

 * A little vocabulary lesson ~ I do enjoy words after all: 

• knives is the plural of knife
• knifes is the act of stabbing or knifing someone

Just so you know....

  

A Day of Rest..Finally

Bugsy demonstrates how to relax

I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas. We did, but I'm staying home today. Not getting out of my jammies either. Our last two days seemed to be all about rushing from one place to another.

Even though it was extremely hectic, we ended up having a really good time with family and friends. Dad and I actually had fun doing his last-minute shopping, we were quite speedy and successful! Mr. MoonCat and I were able to visit with our dear family friends and eat way too much good food. Mom was feeling a little better and we had dinner with her in her hospital room. The food was pretty dang good, even her diabetic meal was appealing. She enjoyed unwrapping her presents and is anxious to get home and get sewing as I bought her a new bobbin winder among other things.

After we left Mom, we had to take care of the horses & critters at the ranch. Dad was going to be late so we didn't want him to worry about rushing home. We ended up really rushing ourselves as we had made a date with my best friend & her someday (soon I hope) hubby to see Avatar in 3D. The two of them hadn't seen it yet, but their kids had and of course, loved it. We don't spend near enough time with these two so we jump at the chance when we are all able to be in the same place at once.

I'm really glad I got to see this film at the theater instead of just waiting for the DVD like we do on a fairly regular basis. It is one that is definitely meant to be seen BIG. The 3D version was great also, but to be honest, it hurt my eyes at a couple of points. Usually when everything was going by at full speed. The 3D did really make the spectacular scenery POP. We caught several things that we missed when we saw it the first time. We did get to sit in the middle of the theater even though we got there a bit late. It seems other people were running even more behind than we were.

I'm really happy that our friends saw it with us. We were all yakking about it afterwards and they both got the same messages we did when we first saw it (see my first post HERE ). It was funny that Greg said the very same thing I did about the majority of the people in there would probably miss the points. I've really enjoyed the replies and some of the discussion that this has brought about. The biggest deal is that is a movie very well worth seeing at the theater with the ecological theme being icing on the cake for me.

Now on to New Year's.........................

Green Aussie Sheep

I am horrible at keeping track of things. I won this fabulous prize package destined for my nephew at Halloween and am just now getting the post done about it as I get ready to wrap his gifts. Please forgive me Sally. I was tickled pink to have been drawn for this little board book "Where is the Green Sheep" and coordinating book bag. My nephew and his father are very into sheep and the little dude is learning the love of books. Isn't it darling? Sally generously offered to embroider nephew's name on his bag for me. I think he'll love it for Christmas. Thank you so much Sally!

Since winning, I've also found nephew a little sheep ornament and a piggy bank that I am painting green to match the one in the book. I love finding presents for the loved ones in our lives, especially when I can keep it centered on a theme. Every year I get or make everyone an ornament of some kind that I put their names and the year on.

Be sure to check out Sally's blog, here. Lots of crafty Aussie goodness and a great sense of humor on the side.