Author: susan

Passing It On 0

Passing It On

When I was a child we played a game called, Pass It On. You may remember it too. One person whispers something in your ear and you pass it on to the next person. By the time a simple phrase has reached the end of the line it sounds like something totally different. It was fun. Passing it on isn’t fun when it comes to depression.

Expecting a Granddaughter 0

Expecting a Granddaughter

Today I’m not reviewing anything but am writing about how happy I feel about expecting my first granddaughter. The baby is due on May the 20th so it’s getting really close to time for her birthday. Our family has a lot of birthdays to celebrate in the month of May. This will be a wonderful addition.

Her name will be Cecilia Marie and she will be called Ceci. Her Daddy is my second oldest son who is a teacher. Her Mom has the same name I do, Susan. This is their first child and it’s my second grandchild. I have a grandson who is eleven.

Grandchildren are so very special. My grandson has been such a wonderful part of my life. I’m expecting my new granddaughter to be like a gift from heaven. It was so much fun planning a baby shower for her and selecting lots of pretty pink items.

I raised three sons and one daughter so am very pleased to be getting another girl in our family. This new little baby girl will be dearly loved by her grandparents, parents, aunt and uncles. I hope she will always feel that love as she is growing up.

I’m very anxious to meet my granddaughter, Cecilia.

Trees and Ice 0

Trees and Ice

On January 12th we had a terrible ice storm here in Missouri. In our whole area, most trees were badly damaged from the ice. It’s very sad to take a drive and see all the broken limbs. Now and then you see a whole tree that came down.

In our yard we have three large shade trees and a very large pine tree that are severely damaged and have to be chopped down at a considerable expense. There are very large limbs all over the yard and our home suffered some damage as well.

We built our home in the early ’70’s. I planted all the trees. It breaks my heart to look outside and see this mess and know that we will soon be without so many trees. We will only have one large shade tree left. It will have to be pruned a lot because of all the jagged breaks.

The large pine tree was planted 33 years ago when my oldest son brought home a sappling from school on Arbor Day. I have spent a lot of time thinking about that occassion and all the times I’ve picked up pine cones and used them for crafts. I also used the pine needles to mulch a flower bed.

I have seen a number of bad ice storms in the many years that I have lived here but have never seen so much damage to trees. Our house can be repaired but nothing will ever replace these treasured old trees.

Christmas is Over 0

Christmas is Over

Christmas is Over
Christmas 2006 was a wonderful event at my house. Three of my four children and their families came home for the holiday. Our home was filled for three days as we ate, visited, watched movies, ate, opened gifts, ate, played games and ate some more.

My daughter was the last to leave this morning and the house seems very quiet since she has been gone. I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open but I have lots of memories of the past three days to savor for the rest of my life.

I’m sad that my oldest son and his wife are so far away and weren’t able to make the festivities this year but I did enjoy the rest of the family. Everyone was in a good humor and I think everyone appreciated the gifts they recieved. My most precious gift was that of being loved by those I love.

Christmas Memories 0

Christmas Memories

I’ve been thinking about some of the past Christmases that I have experienced as I prepare for this coming Christmas. I have some very good memories that I will always treasure. My favorite Christmas of all was in the fifties when my dad returned from the war in Korea on Christmas Eve, just in time to go to midnight mass with us. I was so glad to see him.

Another Christmas that I remember well is the year my brother recieved a Lionel Train set for his gift. My dad built a large table for it in a room attached to our garage. We were all so excited to watch the train go around that track. As I recall though, none of us was allowed to operate the train. That was disappointing. It was still a wonderful gift that we all enjoyed even though it was for my brother.

I also felt really good about the Christmas when I recieved my first watch. It seemed like some kind of passage for me to recieve a watch…….as though I was on my way to adulthood. I was actually around 12 years old.

As a mother these past 39 years I have enjoyed every Christmas watching my children open their gifts one by one and seeing the happiness on their faces. In the past 11 years, it has been exciting to watch my only grandson open his gifts. He is always so excited and appreciates his new toys.

In 1990 my father passed away on December 23rd. I always have some very sad feelings on this day even after all these years. I was a real Daddy’s girl when I was a child. As a young woman I went through a period of intense anger toward him because he was an alcoholic. When I got older, I realized he had really difficult problems with depression and anxiety, as well as some anger issues. I know now that he was ill and I have forgiven him for the pain he often caused members of the family. I loved him so much…..he was my Daddy!

My brother David and I have already celebrated together sharing gifts and dinner. We had a wonderful time visiting and being silly. We finished some last minute Christmas shopping together and it felt really good. I have the best brother in the world.

In a few days my family will all be together again to celebrate and share the joys of Christmas. I hope you all enjoy December 25th, whether or not you believe in Christmas.

Blood Diamonds 0

Blood Diamonds

My Husband and I go to the theater every weekend to see a new movie. Yesterday we saw the new Movie, Blood Diamonds. It stars Leonardo Decaprio. I can see why Leonardo has been nominated for a best actor award by the Golden Globes. He did a terrific job. The whole movie was excellent.

I’m wondering if this movie will have any effect on the sales of diamonds. It was so very sad how many people profit from the pain of others in the diamond industry. I can’t imagine women giving up their diamond rings and other jewelry though. Women have decreased their use of real fur so you never know what can happen.

Selling Avon Products 0

Selling Avon Products

On October 31, 2006, I signed up to become an Avon Representative. Although I haven’t been selling Avon Beauty Products long, I have certainly been enjoying it.

Avon is a wonderful company to work for. They have so many products these days. It keeps me on my toes remembering all the various products that we offer.

Avon has make-up, fragrances for both men and women, jewelry, toys, bath and body products, gifts, decorations and more. They are well know for their reasonable prices and high quality.

You can find all of this at my Avon Website. I sell Avon Products online as well as locally. It has been a great new adventure for me. You could also sell Avon products. If you’re interested please contact me. I can highly recommend working for Avon.

Snowbound 0

Snowbound

I really do like the looks of snow but it can cause a lot of problems when we have a large Winter storm such as the one we had a few days ago in the Midwest.

We received about two inches of ice followed by eleven inches of snow. It was beautiful! The trees glistened in the sunshine when the storm was over. Everything was covered with a thick blanket of white…..including our cars and our driveway.

My husband and I are senior citizens and he can’t shovel too much at a time so we still haven’t dug our way out. I’m afraid to walk on the ice and snow for fear of falling, because I had a bad fall several years ago. I did pull on my boots and walk a while this afternoon. I slid a few times but didn’t fall. I overcame my fear!

I guess being snowbound isn’t too bad as long as you have food in the house and electricity. We have plenty of food and only lost our electricity for about six hours during the night. Being snowbound feels almost like a vacation. When my children were young and school was closed due to snow, they had a vacation from studies and it feels the same to me now.

I never thought my first review would be about being snowbound. I suppose writing about my experiences is a review of sorts. You can be the judge of that!

Welcome to My Review Blog 0

Welcome to My Review Blog

I’m a senior citizen and have tried a lot of products, eaten at a lot of restaurants and used many different services in my lifetime. I will be sharing some of my experiences, opinions and comments about many of these things.

I’ve also recently started selling Avon Beauty Products to supplement our retirement income. I will be reviewing some of their products with you and sharing some of my Avon experiences with you.

I hope you will frequently add your comments to my blog so that I don’t feel as if I’m talking to myself. ha! I will attempt to post new comments and reviews as often as possible so please be sure to check back and see what’s new.