Colorado Flooding

No doubt everyone knows the huge floods we've had here in Colorado last week.  I thought the rain would never end.  My area of town was not much affected but whole towns were completely devastated and roads washed away.  I have been on the university's alert system for sometime now and my phone kept buzzing with alerts all through Wed; Thurs., Fri. constantly, I was terrified!

 I heard the chinooks and black hawk helicopters for hours on end during the daylight hours once it stopped raining flying into the mountains to rescue and help evacuate people.  The national guard used our municipal airport (1 mile from me) as a home base and as I was making my way home last Thursday from work there were 2 national guard humungous vehicles driving through flooding waters at the street I usually turn on to go home and was quickly diverted to take another route. The street flooding there was probably up over my tire wheels.

My neighbors and I kept a keen eye on the irrigation ditch that runs by our buildings and the 2 lakes ABOVE us bracing for what might happen.  Fortunately for us none of the waters broke their boundaries.   Being a horse lover I included this photo along with a link to:  Photos of Colorado Flood

 And look at  this great clip:  Broken Hearted Piano Man
 
Love and prayers to all those affected, displaced and unfortunately lost, my heart goes out to everyone.  And a HUGE THANKS to the National Guard, they have been our heroes and angels in this most devastating time in all my years in Colorado.  We love you!

All kinds of Grasses for all kinds of uses

I'm wrapping up the Online Sellers scavenger hunters theme for last week (always behind I know...) which was grass.  My last post I could only think of grass, as green grass, in parks on lawns and walking on it.  I hadn't even thought to explore the larger picture of different grass types and purposes of said grasses. Did you know there's 37 types of ornamental grasses alone?  And dried grasses are soft and pliable and are easily woven into soft baskets, hats and handbags?  And one of the most commonly used grasses to make wicker is sea grass, which is especially durable.  I had no idea so I went on a scavenger hunt to see if any of my fellow Online Seller scavenger hunters had any of these sorts of items.  And look what I found at KatzzsKloset.  Not one, but two delightful wicker baskets.  So stop on by Online Sellers and visit all of us to see what treasures you can find!

Small Round Mini Kitty Wicker Basket              Vintage Chicken Woven Wicker Basket

                                         

For the Love of Grass

I feel like I've been in some time warp or something and haven't been doing anything with the scavenger hunters on Online Sellers.  I also haven't been minding my own store. In fact I have almost given up the whole selling/blogging/social networking scene.  Burnout maybe.  I have, however, been busy cleaning out my garage a few mornings a week and had 3 huge pickups from some local charities.  Now you might wonder why I don't list the items on my store, well, the stuff was mostly clothing and I don't really want to deal in clothing.  I still have a ton of electronics, but no time to test them to see if they work, so they'll be going as well. Sure, it would have been great to see if I could make a little money off all this stuff, but I just wanted it gone.  I may still have a garage sale to see if I can get rid of the tons of books, CD's, DVD's I still have. I figure as long as I can get my car back in the garage by winter it's no rush right now.  The Online Sellers scavenger hunter theme this week is grass.  So far the grass here has been staying pretty green with watering help as we've not had much rain.  And it's very lovely to walk in your barefeet.  The days are hot and summer is in full swing.  Le Petit Marche doesn't have any grass or anything to complement grass, but nothing  enhances a nice lush green yard than flowers so in that vein I found this lovely gardening book Designing Beds and Borders at Eccentric Thrifter.





Many of the scavenger hunters have gardening books and perhaps picnic items that would be nice for a picnic on a lovely green grassy lawn.  Some come visit us!

Violet, Minty Green, and Puppies! Perfect Spring Partners

The last 2 Mondays we've had snowstorms, depressing for sure.  But today it is 70F and I'm happy as a clam out of her shell.  Went for an hour long hike yesterday and another lovely walk around the lakes today.  The Great Blue Heron is ever present now and I just love watching him stalk his fish in the lake. I love listening to the bullfrogs doing their "froggy" things and the ducks doing their "ducky" things at the lakes when I go to bed.  Finally, spring has arrived!  And what says spring better than the colors violet and minty green?  And new puppies!   These were/are some of the themes of the scavenger hunters on Online Sellers recently that I've missed due to this and that.  I found this lovely pair of violet Tinkerbell PJ's at Nancy's Doll Closet.  Very cute! 


And then for minty green I found this lovely set of 4 Green Leaves Picnic Table Weights at Katzz Kloset. 










And for puppy, I found this lovely Hallmark Pet Gift Set Photo Frame and Heart Tag at Eccentric Thrifter.      

Stop on over at Online Sellers and see what you can find to give  your spring a jolt, there's lots of fun items in every scavenger hunters store!

Hairy Goings On

It's been a few weeks since I've been here, so many themes have come and gone on the old ESN.  We pretty much collectively have jumped ship and are now over at Online Sellers.  So I've been there a bit trying to learn the ropes and get my foot in the door so to speak.  I'm also trying to get used to the new job, easier said than done and I'm exhausted when I get home and have no time for the computer, blogging, or listing any new items in my store.  Sure, I only work 5.5 hours a day 4 days a week, but they are the longest days ever, have you ever had a job like that?  When I saw the job advertised and the hours were 10:30 - 4:30 I thought, YES, that's for me!  I thought that when I got up in the morning I'd walk around the lakes (as is usual anyway) do a little Zumba, then get ready for work.  Well, I have found while all this is well and good and fun, I find my eyes staring at the clock at noon and saying to myself "are you kidding me???? I've only been here for 1.5 hours!!!!!"  Then at 4:30 I'm leaving like everyone else, it's rush hour and I feel I've been there since 7:00am.  I certainly need to change my attitude, the work is not hard, although a bit of it quite unpleasant, and the people are nice enough (even if a little "to out there" for my personality) and it's close to home so I should just give it a real shot and be content that I in fact have found a job so easily and it's close to home right?  Okay, I'm finished venting!

Well, now that you know what I've been up to I decided to buckle down and get back on the scavenger hunter's bandwagon, and last week's theme was "hair".  Le Petit Marché has a lovely deck of Spa Cards with over 50 recipes for relaxation and rejuvenation.  And your hair in excellent condition of course, is part of being relaxed and rejuvenated.  I don't know how many recipes in the deck are for hair but I found one for "Bay Laurel Hair Repair" which boasts that it can improve scalp health.  And with these ingredients I can see why it would work not to mention smell delicious! The recipe contains avocado oil, tea tree essential oil, rosemary essential oil and lavender essential oil. So come on by and see if the spa deck is for you!

The Spa Deck - 50 Recipes for Relaxation and Rejuvenation

Bad Weather Driving

Really, more snow, are you kidding me?  The 4th day of our "official" spring we got dumped on good.  My neighbors doxies had a heck of a time to find a clear place to do their business, poor girls. We'll we're thawing out now and it's not too cold and the sun was shining today so that certainly helps the mood.  Last week's theme for scavenger hunters at ESN was "driving".   I hate driving in bad weather, oh, I can handle snow okay, it's the ice, black ice and other drivers (I am an excellent driver!) :)  Today the roads were dry, all the snow stayed where it belongs; on the places that need to get green.  And now I have a new job (yes, again.  If I'm not working I'm looking for work, they are usually temp jobs that I get so the cycle is pretty constant) but the drive is like 8 minutes away so no worries if there's bad weather.  Le Petit Marché doesn't have anything in the store to help with your driving, but we do have a few pretty little things to help in your dreams of driving the ultimate machine.  Take a look at these miniature beauties!

Hot Wheels 1971 Ford Torino Limited                  Hot Wheels Corvette 50th Anniversary

And my pal over at ESN; Eccentric Thifter has these bookmark cars for the car lover. 

Set of 7 Highsmith Collectible Cars Series Bookmarks

So dream big and rev your engines!  You can imagine a heck of a drive with all these cool selections.

Traveling Is An Adventure

The theme last week (falling behind I know!) for the scavenger hunters at ESN is travel.  I love to travel although it's getting tougher these days what with all the lines, security and scary stuff going on.  I think I'd still rather fly though than take a cruise, those cruise lines are having a heck of a time recently!  I like to think I spend my money on experiences; so worth it when you think of the cuisine, rich cultures, scenery and people you get to experience.  Even traveling around the USA you can experience such things, although not as drastically as visiting another country.   I've had my fair share of visiting other countries and experiences, still lots I want to visit but not so sure I'll get the chance.  Scotland is at the top of my list (Hi Colin!) :)  and there's a slew of other places too.  But if I don't get those chances I guess I will content myself with being an "armchair traveler". If you're planning a trip Le Petit Marché has this cool Travelon Travel Easier Wallet that has many compartments for tickets (or your self printed tickets), ID/Passport, currency, etc. with a long cord to wear around your neck.



 Maybe you are an armchair traveler, or there are certain places you would like to see and visit.  Sirocco's Curios has this lovely book of 100 of the Worlds Most Beautiful Paintings that could help you in planning your next trip. Or if you're not going anywhere you may just enjoy looking at all the lovely paintings.                                         

Movies on a Snowy Day

There is nothing more fun than hunkering down on a snowy day to watch movies.  With popcorn and hot chocolate and a warm blanket.  We had such a day here yesterday, but not nearly the storm we were informed we were getting.  But still, an excuse (since I did my food/wine shopping after work on Friday in anticipation of the "snowstorm of the  year").  I didn't really watch a movie as I was busy here on the computer with stuff, but I did have a movie on in the background on a cable channel that I had seen before.  A bit sappy I suppose, but "The Wedding Planner" is a fun movie with the lovely Jennifer Lopez and hunky cute Matthew McConaughey and the gorgeous doe-eyed Bridgette Wilson-Sampras.  You guessed that the theme for the scavenger hunters at ESN this past week was movies.  Le Petit Marché doesn't sell movies, but lots of folks do at Ecrater Stores Network, many of them have quite a variety of VHS tapes if you still have a player (I don't!) and others have DVD as well, like this classic film from Siroccos' Curios.  I love Alfred Hitchcock stuff, they are always nailbiters!

                                   Alfred Hitchcock "The Lady Vanishes"  

So head on over and visit us for your movie needs.  Everyone is also preparing for the spring and Easter holiday so you never know what you may find that you just have to have!

Office Friends

I've been a bit busy, well, not really, lazy is more like it and I'm blaming it on the weather as I don't do well in gray dreary days and snow, I get quite lethargic and my television becomes my best friend when not at work (me, not the tv, although I guess it's working too).  So I've not done my last post for "office" and then before I know it the new theme for us scavenger hunters at ESN for this week that is ending is "friends".  So I'm going to combine the two and I'm flying by the seat of my pants here at the moment as I try to get my creative juices flowing, because I feel good! The sun is shining, the snow looks less threatening and it's not too cold out.  I actually went for a hike this morning around the lakes, as sloppy and slippery as it was, quite a good workout though. Many of the scavenger hunters have all kinds of neat office stuff that is functional, not office decor like I posted last time. Eccentric Thrifter has all kinds of neat stuff.  Look at these few items:

Accodata Binders in Blue                                                         Bankers Box Storage

             

All of us who have ever worked in an office had friends there as well, heck, we spent the majority of our days with these people, you had better be friendly!   So as friends, I'm sure we all got little gifts for their birthdays, anniversaries and just something fun to add to their office (or cubicle) to  make it more welcoming (or give them something to play with when they got bored, like the wind-up airplane and the balsa wood airplane cutouts I got for my favorite aerospace engineer).  If you have an office friend or any friend who loves Norman Rockwell, they will love these prints from Katzzs Kloset.

Norman Rockwell 3 Girls in School Checkup         Norman Rockwell Classic Adventures

                                                                                         









Come on over to Ecrater Stores Network and shop the shops there for all your office and fun things for yourself and all your friends! 

Sometimes Your Office is Your Home

An odd title for a blog post I suppose, but "office" is the scavenger hunters' theme this week at ESN and it occurred to me that back in spring of 2002 I spent more time at my office than I did at home.  Not because I was so busy with work, but my house was on the market and there were so many showings and week-end open houses that I pretty much took up residence in the "shop".  You see, my office was in a large area of the interior walls of a college football stadium, in the "PC Repair Shop".  I was the only woman in a shop of about 8 guys and my office was in the back, and they all worked at the repair benches that ran along the walls.  While their areas looked very much like work areas, mine looked like an apartment, small fridge, clothes hanging from the pipes overhead and my dogs beds and food dishes, with wooden pallets as doors on my modular unit to keep the dogs with me, as the rest of the area was wide open space with shelves and tools of the computer repair trade. So, if your office is going to become your home for awhile you may as well be comfortable right?  Decorate!
Le Petit Marché has some really nice collectible knick knack sorts of things if you should ever find yourself living in your office for awhile  Here is but a few examples to liven up your "office apartment".  These are geared towards guys, but girls love motorcycles and boats too!

Hand Crafted Motorcycle Replica Model   

                Handmade Metal Model Sail Boat

Even Dolls Need a Nice Jacket for Snow

Well, finally Valentine's day is over and it seems no one is worse for the wear.  My boss forgot to make reservations at a nice place so he and his wife had pizza at Old Chicago's, nothing says I love you baby like a pizza I guess.  I was home alone and had a petite steak with butter and red wine mushrooms and sweet potato fries, NOW that was a dinner! :) And we had snow, which is the theme for the scavenger hunters at ESN this week.  We only had about an inch down here but it flurried for some hours and was quite nice to be inside so I had time to look for wintery, snowy type items to finish up this weeks theme.  I found this really nice item at Nancy's Doll Closet, it's for the American Girl Doll or any other 18 inch doll.  Perfect for snowy, cold wintery weather!

Pink Toggle Jacket for American Girl Doll

Nancy also has some really cool winter boots that would go nice with this little winter jacket, come visit her store and all the other great merchants at Ecrater Stores Network for all kinds of goods that will delight you all year long not matter what the weather!

Let It Snow... Somewhere Else!

I have a great sweatshirt with a picture of a grumpy old chickadee or sparrow or some kind of angry looking bird with a pile of snow on his head with swirling snowflakes around, and the caption is "Let it Snow  Somewhere Else".  I'd say; my sentiments exactly except I can't complain much, we don't have any snow down here and the northeast is getting hammered along with parts of Minnesota and South Dakota and probably lots of other places I didn't see on the news.  It's just bitter cold here, around 22F at the moment.  The scavenger hunter theme this week at ESN is "snow", very appropriate for many areas in the nation right now.  I myself was finished with winter after our first snow back in umm, well, whenever it was.  It's time to start thinking of retiring to a warmer climate....I know Christmas is over but Le Petit Marché has the cutest little snow globe, and Christmas is just 10 months away already.  So have a look, it might just be something you'll need for next Christmas.  It's from "Things Remembered" and it plays "Jingle Bells".  And who knows, in the dead heat of summer, you might like a little Christmas snow to look at and enjoy!

Things Remembered Musical Snow Globe

The Love Just Never Stops....

I for one am just about all out of love and hearts for this month of February, and it's still a week before Valentine's day, which February is all about; love, hearts, cards, flowers, candies and a whole lot more.  But at least today is the last day of the scavenger hunter theme of "love" at Ecrater Stores Network.  And one of my esteemed fellow store owners is all about love, I mean it really.  She is Embroidery Fashions Boutique.  She embroiders love all over her tee shirts, aprons, caps, cotton canvas bags, you name it.  Her items love fishing, love pasta, love my big sister, love daddy, love bingo, love hunting.  I bet she can embroider love on just about anything!  Here are a few of my very favorite items that she carries.  And if you still need a Valentine's day gift for someone visit the rest of the merchants at ESN, many of them have great gifts for this special day.

Duck Hunters Love Redheads and a Good Blow     Cotton Canvas Love the Beach Bag 

                           

Get Your Love On!

Hey everybody, it's February the month of "love", which is also the scavenger hunter theme this week at ESN.  I personally can't speak much to love, oh sure, I've been in love, I've even been married thinking that being married meant love.  Well, I'm good at getting married, staying married proved to be a far more daunting task than what I seemed to be able to deal with.  But I love a lot, things like flowers, and freshly mown grass, a blue sky that never seems to end, animals of all kinds, especially puppies!  Love is an excellent wine, an exquisite meal of your favorite dishes (or comfort food!) Love is the perfect set of kitchen knives! Really, to make the perfect meal you have to have, and to love, the perfect set of kitchen knives.  Honestly.  Le Petit Marché doesn't have any knives or love to sell, but I do have some lovely fashion/costume jewelry that can help you love the way you look for a night on the town in this month of love and hearts.  Put a couple of these lovely cloisonne bangle bracelets to accent any outfit.  I have many color schemes and you can wear one, two, three or more and make a bold statement.  Come on get your love on!

Cloisonne White, Red and Green                         Cloisonne Red, Green and White

                                                              

 

Hearts in February, but Lavender is Nice Too!

Well, February is here already and this weeks theme (I missed Monday) at ESN is "hearts".  Plural.  Go figure.  I've a bad cold at the moment so I'm a bit of a cranky pants, but I'll give this hearts thing a shot.  As everyone in the world knows (whether celebrated or not) St. Valentine's day is February 14th.  A big deal for the merchants here in the US.  Flowers, chocolates (in heart shaped boxes of course), stuffed animals of every sort and color holding a plush heart saying silly things like "Monkey Love", "Bee Mine" (on a pink and black bumblebee of course).  Lacy red and white, pink and white, black, red and white, the color scheme is endless; lingerie in heart shaped patches where the sun don't shine.  Then there is the "greeting card" aisle in the grocery (or anywhere you shop for cards) where it looks like the "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre" took place.  It drips in reds, pinks, whites and tons of humans pouring over cards to find the perfect one for their valentine.  I don't "do" Valentine's day, as I don't have anyone to get all silly over or he me.  Maybe I'm jealous.... ahh, nope!  The Farmer's Almanac suggests giving your sweetheart a lavender plant, that way she can enjoy it indoors then when the weather warms she can move it outdoors and enjoy it there too.  Now, that's for me! But for those who are in search of something "hearts" for your Valentine, Le Petit Marché has this adorable

Heart Shaped Glass Crystal Dish With Lid

You can fill it with those cute little heart shaped candies with the silly sayings on them.   Many of the ESN sellers have a lot of heart stuff in their stores, but if your Valentine is a crafter, she may very well enjoy this lovely crafters book from Bargain Express.

Great Works of Heart Craft Book Hardcover Leisure Arts Memories

I bet it's got some stuff you can make with lavender in there too!  Check out all the ESN merchants for your Valentine's day shopping, never know what you might come across!

All That Sparkles Isn't Gold

To finish up this week scavenger hunter theme at ESN I have chosen this lovely dish from Sirocco's Curios.  It is a shimmering amber marigold color with a slight green tint.  And as you can see it has hues of pink and a light gold, but look how it sparkles and shines! A lovely Fenton piece to add to any room's decor.  Sirocco's has many fine dishes and other collectibles so be sure to visit his store and all the other great sellers at ESN. 

Fenton Carnival Glass Bon Bon Dish

A Little Sparkle for Drab January

Although we've had as dry a January as possible doesn't mean outdoors is pretty!  Brown, gray, bare trees, kind of gloomy I'd say, except for when the sun shines which today it has, but we've had this huge band of hanging low gray cloud cover most of the week.  But I shouldn't complain, there's parts of the US that are getting the weather we're used to.  Although we need the moisture badly I'm really glad we've no majorly huge storms... yet...!

With that said, the scanvenger hunter theme this week at ESN is "sparkle".  I think a while back we had "twinkle" and at that time I gave a bit of a grammar English lesson on synonyms etc. , so I will spare you the repetition and just launch into what Le Peit Marché has that sparkles in the store.  One item is this lovely The Sak Black Shoulder Bag, the perfect bag for an evening out at a club, or fancy dinner as it is adorned with sparkly, shiny spangles.

Le Petit Marché also has some sparkly, glittery and twinkly heels, mules, slingbacks, so stop on by if you're looking for something to make your drab January sparkle!

Girls Who Love Horses Wear Horse Dresses!

Horses, that's the theme for the scavenger hunters at ESN this week and it ended Friday, and the new theme will be announced tomorrow, but sometimes some of us are a bit late in keeping up.  I have noticed however, that many scavenger hunters wrote about the "horse" theme this last week, wonderful takes on the theme and the items featured, wonderful!  And in that vein I have found the most lovely dress at Nancy's Doll Closet for the American Girl 18" doll that is just about horses!

American Girl 18 Inch Doll Horses Dress 

Isn't this the cutest horse dress?  It shows running horses and has a ruffled hem.  Your girl would love to have this dress for her American Girl doll especially when watching the wonderful film "Secretariat" running and winning the most important horse races of all time!

Git Along Little Dogies....

After suffering the horrible blow of the Bronco's losing to the Ravens I am back on track to concentrate on more important things than football, as if there is anything more important than football!  But with my dignity intact and my sorrow for Peyton Manning and all the other guys (I'm still really mad at Champ Bailey though....) I am moving on.  And the theme this week on scavenger hunters' is "Horse".   I love horses!  As a young teenager I took riding lessons on a beautiful palomino named "Barney Britches" and rode him in horse shows.  I was taught proper english riding, not western, so no barrel races for me.... I remember one show there were 34 competitors and I was chosen as one of the top 8!  I didn't win anything but I was competing with adults and a lot of them couldn't believe I made it that far.  It was very cool!  Unfortunately, eventually boys took my interest away from riding horses and it's now been a very long time since I've been on a horse.  With my track record with men, I should have stuck with horses, I'm sure the love affair would have lasted much longer! :)

I'm silly I know at my age, but I still love the film "The Black Stallion", and "Hildago" is also a favorite. 

Le Petit Marché doesn't have any horse items in our store, but I do have some cowgirl boots that are pretty cool and colorful.  A young girl would need these if she participates in cow herding, a busy and arduous task. Young orphaned calves were referred to as "dogies" back in the 1800's. There are songs and films depicting "Git Along Little Dogies" from as far back as about 1937 with the likes of the great Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnett, Gene Autry, Gabby Hayes and others.  The song is a balled with a shrill: "Whoopie Ti Yi Yo".  Check one of the cool videos out on youtube: Git Along Little Dogies
And this one from the Kingston Trio,  Kingston Trio cool pics and the song... Nice of you to visit "pardner". :)

Cimarron Cowgirl Boots in Black, Purple, Lime Green

Go Broncos!

Tomorrow the Denver Broncos will be playing the Baltimore Ravens in a playoff for the Superbowl.   In the last game with the Ravens, Broncos won 34 - 17, in Baltimore.  I must say, we are all quite happy what Peyton Manning finally accomplished after his first 3 disastrous games.  But hey, the guys got to know each other, made nice, and actually figured out what to do about the plays and before you knew it none of us here in Colorado could miss a game, and the Bronco's were on their way.  The playoff game is at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver tomorrow, 1/12/13 at 2:30 p.m. MST. 

I saw on the news that the Ravens were going to come a day earlier so they could "acclimate", okay, but just a day??  Good luck guys!  We don't have any air here, at all!  Bring those oxygen tanks! Perhaps I am being a bit smug, but geez, we need this so bad, and if we can take advantage of sea level persons, uh, well, why not?

So tomorrow, since it will only be about 15F in Denver, with wind chill about "who knows what", players on both teams will be freezing their "everythings" off (I know it gets bitter in Baltimore too, but at least they have air and humidity...) I will be an ardent fan in my sweats and no makeup (oh God no!) with my low class box wine and nachos (and a veggie tray, for health reasons of course)  watching the game from start to finish, lying on the couch without any multitasking in between!  A true, blissful, and yes, GUILT FREE day indeed.  Go Broncos!! 

Baby Bath Set

I'm going to wrap up the scavenger hunters theme at ESN of "baby" with this fun little American Girl Dolls-Baby Bath set from Nancy's Doll Closet.

American Girl 18 inch Dolls-Baby Bath Set 

The doll and tub itself are very cute and pink, my favorite color!  The tub holds water too.  Any little girl would love playing with her "baby" in this tub and perhaps along with "big sister" American Girl doll.  All the other scavenger hunters on Ecrater Stores Network have pretty much taken care of all the "onesies" and other baby clothes out there so I was lucky to nab this adorable item to feature! 

It would make a great birthday present for your daughter, granddaughter, niece or any other little girl needing a gift of a "baby".  Visit Nancy, she's got the most awesome collection of American Girl stuff, and so much of it.  And be sure to visit the rest of us and see all the magnificent items we carry.

2013 Babies

The theme this week at ESN "Scavenger hunters" is Baby.  I suppose one could take the word and use it in many ways like "hey baby" or in the song "Santa Baby" (I love Madonna's version, sexy!), "that's my baby", "there goes my baby" and then compound words like "babysitter", and "crybaby". 

And then there's the noun "Baby", meaning one newly or recently born, and that goes for any species.  In the human realm I just happen to know 3 women  that are pregnant at this very moment.  And interestingly enough, I work or did work with all three of them, and their due date months are Jan., Feb., and March.   Two of them know they will have boys, the third did not want to know and she has also chosen to have a "water birth".  Perhaps she's chosen that because she's beginning to feel as large as a whale..... okay, that was a bad joke, but I chuckled anyway... :)  All I know is she is doing it in the hospital in a warm water bath.  I've heard of it before, and I wish her luck.  It will be the first child for all 3 of these women.  So with babies of 2013 on their way  Le Petit Marché has  this lovely little bear should the 3rd woman have a girl or if any of your friends have a baby girl this is the perfect gift.   Come on by Ecrater Stores Network and checkout all the other fine baby items all the store merchants carry, there's some really cute stuff!

Adorable Plush 4 Play Stuffed Bear

Another Year, Another Chance....

I hope everyone had a great holiday whatever you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa or whatever it may be.  I'm grateful to be here for this new year, I look at it as another chance to get myself all sorted out, restart, recharge and get moving more, learning more and being more engaged in my dealings with others.  I started out 2012 pretty good I thought, I quit my one job last January that got to be very demanding and unrewarding and I suffered major burnout.  I did, however, worry that one part time income along with my pension would be enough so I learned to live simply as possible and be frugal.  Then I got a sweet job for the summer in a real estate office, so I learned some real estate stuff, helped with small projects and had the time to read 6 books to boot!  I went back to university in October to work my 6 month temp job that I've done since 2004 and I'll be there until April, then...!  Look for some other fun job for summer.  The possibilities are endless!  And I do enjoy keeping busy and I do enjoy being with other people. So I'll see what 2013 holds for me, can't wait to get it going.  Happy New Year everyone!  Let's hope for some world peace, and pray for non violence in our communities.  I don't know how much more of this we can all take before we destroy ourselves!  Stay positive and be kind to one another! :)  Please enjoy these lovely Peace Lily flower photos.