Happy things

Thanks to all who replied to my ramblings yesterday.  It seems that a lot of you have strong feelings about distracted drivers, and what constitutes a distraction.  I'll follow up on a few of the thoughts in another post.   But for now- let's cover a few fun topics!

Look what I got!  Nancy Knight from Texas surprised me with a fruitcake a few days before Christmas.  I send people things all the time- and this time, I was the one getting the package!  I opened it to discover a fruitcake, along with a note that this is a recipe she has been making for many years.  I was thrilled!  What a surprise!  I was like a little kid- my poor husband had to keep listening to me tell people that a customer sent me a fruitcake!

Now, truth be known, I have never liked fruitcake.  What I liked, was the fact that Nancy sent it to me.  But it didn't look too bad, and I thought I'd give it a try.  Well, let me tell you.... Nancy has changed my mind about fruitcake.  It's all gone, Nancy... down to the last piece! 

My late father in law grew up in a bakery.  His family owned it and all the kids did their fair share- cracking eggs, loading the truck, and when he was older he made deliveries.  He grew up on day-old baked goods.  He and all of his brothers were "dunkers".  They dunk their baked goods in coffee.  I guess they started that to make the stale baked goods more palatable.  But later in life, they kept dunking- even if the cakes were fresh.  And he loved baked goods with "substance".... fruit and nuts and things like that.  He loved Christmas Stolen and fruitcake.  AND... his birthday was December 20th so he was on our minds.  As my husband and I enjoyed Nancy's fruitcake, we reminisced about how much Dad would have loved it.  It was a good memory.

Here's my wagon!  I showed a picture of my sons putting it together, but a few people asked me what it looked like.  Here it is!  And it's a beauty!  The sides unlatch and fold down- like a baby crib.  And there's a little tray that I can use for my tools and gloves. Best of all, it's really heavy duty.  I can drag bags of sand or soil around without help.  This is so funny- I'm 55 years old and my kid got me a wagon for Christmas!

Thanks to so many of you who commented on my last few posts.  This is a good place to tell you that I TRY to reply to everyone who comments by sending them a personal email.  If you are a "no reply" commenter, I can't respond.  Some bloggers don't let people who don't have emails in their blog profiles enter giveaways.  I would never do that.  You are ALL welcome to enter my drawings.  And I respect those of you who don't want to have your own blog or don't want to post your email.  I still love having you as a reader.  BUT--- if you enter a giveaway and don't have your email address public, be sure to check back around the time of the drawing because that's the only way you have of knowing you won.

I have more posts in my mind- more to come this week.  I'll be posting a new giveaway, pictures of knitting projects, recipes, and I'm starting a new quilt.  And I STILL haven't shown you pictures from our drive cross country a few months ago.  I'll never be at a loss for something to blog about.  It blows me away that so many people read this blog.  As long as you keep reading, I'll keep posting.