I Can't Function Without My Zune/Music!!! World Wide Zune Breakdown

I have a Zune.... that is my source of music.... Last night I listened to my music all evening as I finished taking down my Christmas decorations. The battery was low of course and as usual, I plug it in to recharge through the night. This morning I woke up to a totally frozen Zune - it wouldn't do anything, it wouldn't even shut down to restart, or hook up to the software on the computer. I couldn't worry about it this morning because I had to get to work. When I came home it looked like it needed to be charged. I hooked it up to the computer and it charged until the Zune screen came up and it totally froze again. Luckily I purchased a 2 year extended warranty that takes me through 4/2009 - at least I am covered.

I purchased my Zune through Dell Computer and was working with them because I purchased the extended warranty through them. The poor technical guy on the phone had no idea what to do with it and kept putting me on hold to find out. It ended up that I needed to go directly to Zune and work with them. I ran out of time because Brady was coming back home and I needed to get to the airport. (side note -- Happy dance my baby is coming home - LOL -- I missed him so much. My home is just not the same without him.)

I decided my Zune issue would have to wait until after the New Year.

Jason called me this evening and let me know there was a TOTAL melt down world wide on every first generation Zune. Oh Joy!! At least I am still under warranty. If you are interested and are experiencing the Zune melt down - here are the articles.

I guess it is back to the good old CD player until my Zune is working... Yuck!!!

'Zune 30 Midnight Meltdown' Angers Music Lovers

- While the rumor mill is focused on Apple developing a larger-screen iPod touch, the blogosphere is churning with angry reports about frozen 30GB Microsoft Zunes.
Discussions board like ZuneUser.com, ZuneScene.com and Zune.net offer first-hand accounts of the problems with Microsoft's music player. It seems the Zunes reboot, then freeze once the status bar reaches 100 percent.

Some are calling it the "Z2K" problem, playing off the infamous Y2K bug that many thought would throw the computing industry in chaos at the beginning of the century when dates changed from 1999 to 2000. That's because the problem seems to have started at exactly midnight PST Wednesday -- the first moments of the last day of 2008.

A Fix That Fails
Microsoft wasn't immediately available for comment on what observers are calling the Zune 30 Midnight Meltdown. But the forums are ablaze with complaints and demands for updates from Microsoft.

"I had my Zune docked on its iHome ZN9, charging, and all the sudden I hear it start whirring as I'm sitting here at the laptop. I looked up just in time to see it restarting itself at exactly 12:00 midnight, watched the loading bar, and then the freeze. Great. WHAT is going on!?" VS Venom Shot wrote on the Zune.net forum.

Meanwhile, a Zune.net user named Dmodegirl claims to have solved the problem. She said the Zune needs a "hard reset" and suggested using a small screwdriver to pop off the plastic shielding where the Zune cable plugs in and remove the two screws on either side of the plug.
"Pop the cover off and locate the battery plug at the top left corner of the Zune. Using your screwdriver, pop the cable connection halfway off, and do this to the other plug on the right side," she wrote. "Wait three seconds, then push down the right connector and then the left battery connector. Your Zune should start up immediately. Press the backing of the Zune down (make sure headphone jack is aligned) and put the screws and cover back in place."

Some users reported success with this method, but when they plugged their Zune back in to charge, it froze again. Others were concerned with trying the hard reset for fear of turning the Zune into a fancy paperweight. Still others are hinting that Microsoft should compensate Zune users with a free Zune Pass.

A Black Eye for Zune
"This problem is something that never should have made it out of testing. I've been with the Zune Pass since day one and I'm seriously looking into other devices and services due to this. We at least need some kind of acknowledgment or statement from MS that clarifies the issue and puts in place a plan of action," a user named Furious Mittens wrote on the Zune.net forum.
Those comments aren't something Microsoft wants to hear. Indeed, frozen Zunes after the holiday shopping season is not welcome news, according to Phil Leigh, a senior analyst at Inside Digital Media.

"Microsoft has got to close the ground on the iPod, and the only way to do that is with a superior product," Leigh said. "It takes time to recover from something like this. First impressions are important for new buyers, and this is a bad first impression."

Microsoft blames leap year glitch for midnight lockup of Zune players

Owners of Microsoft's older 30-gigabyte Zune music players experienced failures today after a leap year glitz caused them to lock up at midnight Pacific time. Users said the units spontaneously rebooted and then froze during the start-up process.

Microsoft says the problem is related to a leap year bug and has issued instructions on how to fix the lockup.

Reports are worldwide and filled popular Zune discussion boards. Some were using their players when it occurred, like a user named Chuck who posted on a Zune fan site called onlydarksets (http://www.onlydarksets.wordpress.com/):

My wife and I both have zune 30mg … and were both listening to music at about midnight when both, almost like a script, stopped playing the music, returned to the zune logo screen with solid white bar, and froze. Both batteries died in about 2 hours … recharged one over the rest of the night, but all I got was the same frozen screen."

Same thing with a user named Tina, who posted: "I just got a zune yesterday and I was playing some music and all of a sudden I went to a different song and it just froze and I’ve tried reseting it and I’m currently waiting for the battery to die, but I don’t think its even on because the music menu is faded."

Others woke up this morning to find their Zunes useless. The issue appears to especially affect the 30 GB Zune models.

Microsoft issued the following statement:"Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year.

"That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on.

If you're a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

"Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support)."

In a seemingly coordinated crash, 30GB Zunes across the world seem to be failing, frozen on startup, in what some have snarkily called Z2K or Z2K9. The device can't be reset, and the best efforts at troubleshooting seem to point to an issue with the latest firmware.

Reports of resets, and then the Zune being frozen on startup, started surfacing overnight. You can find threads in several forums. Note that all the forums are busy, and slooooow to load, at best.

I have to emphasize, this appears to only be occurring on the first-gen, 30GB Zune. It seems the issue started to happen as devices passed midnight locally across the world, though times don't seem to be exactly synchronized. One can imagine a "wave" frozen Zunes moving across the planet.

Z2K makes sense as a moniker for this: the theory that immediately came to my mind because of the seeming synchronization with midnight was that this was the first leap year since the 30GB Zune was introduced. Others have come up with that idea as well. It has also been reported, though unconfirmed, that older firmware does not have the issue.

There are troubleshooting links on Microsoft's Zune set, here, but I have to repeat: you can't reset the device, and it seems to be a firmware issue. It's probably best to wait for a Microsoft response.

However, due to the timezone differences, there's no official word from Microsoft yet on why Zunes with the newest firmware have frozen. Let's be honest though: the Zune has had enough problems trying to gain market share against the iPod. This can only hurt.

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My user name is: think2bfit

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Over all if your goal this year is to lose weight, get healthy or be on a fitness plan... there is no better FREE tracking tool then SparkPeople. I hope you will all take advantage of this wonderful service. It's is fun if you join in the message boards and track what you do daily. Good luck in having today be the first day of a new healthier you!!

Motivational Monday - Resolutions

The Message: Resolve
by Elder Joe J. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy- New Era, Jan 1998,

Want to improve yourself? These lessons from the life of young Jesus can help turn anyone into a pillar of strength.

I recently conducted an informal survey where I asked 150 young adults to list three resolutions they felt would help them to become more successful and happy during the new year. Almost everyone in the survey (98 percent) included a resolution to increase the level of his or her spirituality. Two out of three indicated they would like to improve their social skills. Half indicated a desire to increase their level of physical fitness, and half wanted to grow intellectually. Everyone indicated a desire to improve. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). You remember that following his resurrection the Savior rhetorically asked his disciples, “What manner of men ought ye to be?” He then answered his own question, “Even as I am” (3 Ne. 27:27). There is only one verse of scripture in the entire New Testament that tells us what the Savior did to develop himself during the span of years from age 12 and his experience in the temple, until he began his formal ministry at age 30. The verse consists of just 14 words. Count them:
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). In other words, the Savior increased or developed in the same areas indicated by those included in my poll:
• Intellectually (in wisdom and knowledge)
• Physically (in stature)
• Socially (in favor with man)
• Spiritually (in favor with God)
I am convinced that if we make and keep resolutions in these four areas, we will have a happier and more successful new year and every year for the rest of our lives. Consider the four areas already outlined. I Resolve to expand my intellectual horizons. I will increase in wisdom.
This year, commit yourself to read good books—not just when you are attending school, but throughout your life. Some people learn to read but don’t read. At some point in our lives, we learned to read. But are we reading? Are we growing in wisdom?

In addition to making a resolution that we will read only the best in print, it would be very beneficial if now we resolved not to watch even one R-rated or NC-17 movie, or television shows with questionable content. That may sound extreme, but I assure you that much of our future happiness and success depends on it.

We cannot justify mentally shifting into neutral and failing to exert our efforts to progress intellectually. Whether or not you are in school, the challenge is the same. We should continue learning throughout our lives.

My father-in-law was a real inspiration to me. He was the 12th of 13 children of a very poor immigrant family from Switzerland. After he had finished elementary school, he, like many others in his time, was encouraged to drop out of school and learn a trade. Then one day he met Mr. Hicks, the new school teacher. Mr. Hicks asked, “Albert, are you coming to school this year?” Albert explained that he was not planning to. Mr. Hicks said, “Well, why don’t you come for three or four days and see how you like it?”

Albert came, and his future life was dramatically changed for the better. He said this new teacher didn’t just answer the questions. Instead he would write on the chalkboard the titles of the books where they could find the answers. A thirst for learning developed in Albert that was never quenched. He was a hard-working farmer, providing for a large family. But when I came to know him, I hardly remember his being in the house without a book in his work-worn hands. He would circle words he didn’t know and write their definitions in the margins. He was a real student of history and the doctrine of the Church. Although he never had the opportunity to attend school beyond the eighth grade, he read much more than most college graduates. He not only learned to read; he read.

We should not waste time reading anything but that which would be uplifting and instructive. There is a lot of frivolous, useless, and morally destructive literature in print that falls far short of that with which we should spend even a minute of our time. Remember the scripture “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118).

I Resolve to preserve and strengthen my physical health.
It is impressive that more than 160 years ago the Lord revealed a health code, the Word of Wisdom, that can make all the difference in how we feel and perform. With good health, we can be happier and more successful. Without it, we are curtailed in almost every other way.
Follow the do’s in the Word of Wisdom. Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains. Discover that a meal does not have to feature a meat dish in order to be enjoyable.

Then resolve to completely avoid the don’ts—tobacco, alcohol, and addictive stimulants, coffee, tea, and drugs—and you will be blessed in a multitude of ways. What an improved society we would live in if the whole world were to make a similar resolution.

Adequate rest and physical exercise are also important. Get the blood circulating and give your major muscles a workout. An appropriate amount of time and effort spent in exercising will help you to be more effective in all other areas of your life.

There is also a great value that can come to the early riser. Years ago my wife and I were driving with President and Sister Marion G. Romney. Along the way, President Romney shared some of his personal experiences when he was first called to serve as a General Authority in 1941. He felt he needed some advice, so he went to Elder Harold B. Lee, a new member of the Quorum of the Twelve. He asked him how to be a successful General Authority. Elder Lee answered, “Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested, and then, in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day.”

President Romney said to me, “From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works. Whenever I have a serious problem, or some assignment of a creative nature with which I hope to receive the influence of the Spirit, I always receive more assistance in the early morning hours than at any other time of the day.”

You can have a similar experience in your own life. You can change, even if you consider yourself a “night person.” Set the habit in 21 days. When it comes right down to it, it is a matter of strong resolve and “mind over mattress.”

I Resolve to be a true friend and to become more socially acceptable to people of high standards.
Learn to be the kind of person with whom others of high standards enjoy associating. More than 50 years ago, Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People (New York: Simon and Schuster). Among his suggestions that are equally valuable today are these time-honored principles for making friends:
• Become genuinely interested in other people.
• Smile.
• Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
• Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

The Lord expects us to do the best we can with what he has given us. After we have done what we can to improve our own traits and appearances, we need to forget about ourselves and think of others and their needs.

Rather than working so hard to find Mister or Miss Right, work harder to become Mister or Miss Right and you will more likely have the social life and marriage you desire. Your challenge is to resolve to love everyone in the appropriate way. The full expression of romantic, physical affection is designed for you and one other person only, inside the bonds of marriage.

I Resolve to grow spiritually. I will increase in favor with God.
We must resolve to overcome as much as possible the sin of human pride. Pride causes us to become overly concerned as we compare ourselves with others about how intelligent we think we are, the brands of our clothing, to what organizations we belong, on which side of town we live, how much money we have, what our race or nationality is, what kind of car we drive, what church we attend, and on, and on, and on.

Someone calculated that no less than 30 times throughout the Book of Mormon, the cycles of prosperity and peace were destroyed, principally by human pride. Your opportunities, your relative prosperity, and our stratified society make overcoming inappropriate pride a genuine challenge.

One way to combat that problem is to resolve to read the scriptures daily. Within the pages of the Book of Mormon, there are 3,925 references to the Savior. It really is another testament that Jesus is the Christ. If we started on the first day of January and read just two pages of the Book of Mormon each day, by September we would have finished the entire book.
Another way to increase your spirituality is to really pray and not just say prayers. There is a big difference. Learn to pour out the real in-depth feelings of your heart to your Heavenly Father, rather than merely going through the form of saying about exactly the same trite words and phrases you have become accustomed to using.

It will take energy and effort to keep these resolutions. I pray that we will do this so that we can increase in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man. In so doing, we will become happier and more like the Savior every day for the rest of our lives.

Day after Christmas and Saturday Snow

Aaaaahhhh!!! Christmas Day is over - that wonderful, festive, spiritual, gift giving, family centered, loving day has come and gone. I truly love this time of year. I enjoy the feelings of love, the excitement of parties and gift giving, the sacred thoughts of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the anticipation of Santa Claus coming. If we could really live in the season of Christmas each day throughout our lives - how wondrous that could be. To have daily devotionals, daily thinking about our Savior, daily being kind to others, daily reaching out to family members in love - can we do it? Can we spend the year of 2009 giving love? I'd really like to try to keep these feelings all year long. I Love Christmas Time!


Friday morning, bright and early - I'm not kidding - I was up at 3:55 am getting ready to drive to the airport. I checked the flights and weather to see if there would be any delays for Brady's flight to Salt Lake City. Everything looked fine and Brady started to stir at 4am. We dressed and got ready, heated up waffles and syrup for breakfast, loaded my cleaning supplies in the car and Brady's suit cases and left our home by 4:30 am. The goal was to be at the airport before 5AM - with his flight leaving at 6:10 and avoid being late for the flight.


There were crowds but not too bad. It took us about 20 minutes to get through the Southwest line and check in the luggage and get an escort pass for me. The lines were not bad through security and we made it to the boarding gate with 15 minutes to wait before they started to load the plane. Everything worked out great - because we got up at 4am and left early.


When I came back through the terminal the line through security was huge. Oh, I am very glad that we missed that mess.
I had planned on going directly to the business customer I clean - Compton Transfer. The sign on the door last week indicated that they would be closed Dec 25 and 26, so I thought I would clean them right after dropping Brady off. I got there and started emptying the garbage cans and glanced at their sign. They must have changed it because it said they would be opened the 26th - darn.. they were working!! I told them I would clean it on the weekend during the holidays - normally I clean on Monday nights (used to be Tuesday). So I left and decided to come back later that night because there was a storm headed in on Saturday. I was kind of sad that I couldn't do it that morning because my first house of the day was just up the street from Compton. I headed home for a couple of hours.
Friday was a very long day. I cleaned my first customer Bonnie and then headed up to Becky's. It's harder when the kids are out of school - because I have to clean around the families. Since I missed Becky's house on Tuesday due to huge amounts of snow, I did a full clean on her house. I started at Bonnie's at 8 am and left Becky's at 4:30 going full speed all day. I decided to go to the bank and then straight to Compton. It took a while to get out of the area by Becky's because I hit the roads the same time all of the skiers where coming down the mountain and traffic was really backed up - along with work traffic starting at 5pm. I didn't get to Compton until 5:30 and worked until around 8:30pm. It was a very LONG day and I was tired and achy. But at least I am done for the weekend - a time to rest.

I was TOTALLY lazy all day Saturday. It was a VERY snowy day.

Here is the story from KTVB:

A powerful winter storm smacks the Treasure Valley with another four inches of snow. The snow will continue into the evening before eventually changing to rain around midnight. There could also be sleet mixed in this evening. Up to five inches of snow is expect in the valley today and up to eight inches in the foothills. Wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour are expected out of the southeast. That will cause areas of blowing and drifting snow and reduced visibility.

There is also a winter storm warning in effect until 5 p.m. Sunday for the west-central and Boise mountains. Snowfall is expected to accumulate eight to 15 inches in these areas. There will also be areas of blowing and drifting snow and reduced visibility. Snow may mix with or change to rain the the lowest valleys on Sunday. The snow is expected to taper off Sunday. Travel should only be in an emergency. If you must travel, have a flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of emergency. Driving conditions treacherous.

So far, this has been the third snowiest December on record in Boise. The National Weather Service says Boise has received 19.5 inches to date and the snow continues to fall. Six inches of snowfall is a normal December in Boise. We have surpassed the third snowiest December which was 19.4 inches in 1924. However, there is a long way to go to reach the record. In 1983, Boise got 26.2 inches in December and the record was set in 1884 with 36.6 inches of snow.

Driving conditions on area roads remain hazardous. Most of them are covered in snow and that has proven to be very misleading to drivers! Idaho State Police dispatchers say troopers in the field were reporting that many people were driving too fast for the conditions because they didn't realize beneath the snow was a sheet of ice, and that's the case in most areas!

A look out the front door of my house.

A look out the back door. Too bad you really can't see the snow falling and falling all day. At least 4 inches - snowing - snowing - snowing all day.. It's amazing! After hearing my mail being dropped into my mail box, I looked out and felt so bad that I didn't have my side walks shoveled. I decided to get after it and visited while I helped my elderly neighbor Howard shovel his sidewalk as well.

A picture of my snow covered house -after shoveling the side walks. It's a winter wonderland.

A couple more pictures of the snow. I know it is not as much as when I lived in Salt Lake City or Pocatello or even when I lived in Logan Utah. I think I am becoming a light weight - due to all the mild winters here in Boise Idaho. This is very unusual and the drivers are pretty scary and the roads have been down right bad and icy. Rain is forecasted - I wonder what will happen when everything turns to water - will there be flooding? It's officially crazy weather.

I'm very happy I killed myself on Friday so I can stay home and off the roads during the storm on Saturday. Hopefully but Monday the roads will be dry and easy to travel on. I hope as this storm travels east that everyone in it way will be safe!

Dec 22, Monday Night Party at my Sister - Chris' House.

My big sister, Christine has a dinner each Christmas season and invites our family over to enjoy the evening together. I am always glad that she takes the effort to prepare a nice dinner for us and host a party where we can get together and visit. This year her dinner theme was Mexican fiesta. She prepared Tacos, chicken enchiladas, bean/avocado dip, and lime-aid to drink. Justin, her oldest son also prepared a tray of bean enchiladas. I brought chips and salsa and a relish tray. There was a ton of food.

Chis and Kurt (her husband), Justin and Shaun (her sons) were there along with Shaun's girlfriend Whitney. Brady and I came to enjoy the festivities with their family. Their home was beautifully decorated, she does a great job too--it must be a family thing :-)...

Kevin, their other son is currently on a mission in Serbia (kind of a scary place to be). The Lord has really watched over and is protecting the missionaries there from the unrest in that area. At one point they had to leave and go to Croatia because of the civil wars going on. They are back in Serbia right now. Recently they have been very sick because of a bacteria they ingested (like drinking bad water in a mountain creek).. I don't know the name of the sickness but they have been pretty sick. We pray for them and know our leaders will keep them safe, along with Heavenly Father watching over them as they serve their missions faithfully.

I forgot to take my camera to take pictures. Kurt took pictures and will email them to me - soon I hope and then I can add them to this post.

At the end of the dinner we opened presents. They gave me this REALLY cute nativity and you know how I LOVE nativity sets. It is now set up in my bedroom as I continue to work on having a nativity in every room of my house during the Christmas season.

The box for this set looks like a nativity. How cute is that??

When you open the box it has all of the figurines - oh, the faces are so cute!! You put the top on the back of the box and the box actually becomes the stable. I LOVE IT!! Thanks Chris!! Definitely something I will cherish forever!!

It was a great evening spent with our family. After opening presents we played Apples to Apples -- it is always so much more fun when there are so many people playing. We laughed and laughed. It was fun!

Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day turned out really nice and relaxing. On Christmas Eve, Jason and Sharon came over and enjoyed the evening with Brady and me. One of our traditions is having a night of snacking for dinner. We have a meat and cheese tray with rolls to make sandwiches, we have a cheese ball - actually the one I love is a crab cheese ball from Albertsons and squeeze cheese with a tray of crackers, we had a relish tray, chips and salsa, and an array of all of the goodies we have made or have been given. We had eggnog, hot cider and punch with ice cream in it. There was a ton of food to snack on throughout the evening. We had a nice fire roaring in the back ground to set the atmosphere.

Earlier in the evening when I came home from work and set up the food, Brady and I watched a couple of movies while we waited for Jason and Sharon. Brady and I started the evening off with Robin Hood with Kevin Costner, then Frequency and when they came we watch The Island. We opened a couple of presents, Jason and Sharon opened new PJ's to relax in through the evening and Brady opened a magic 8 ball. Then we opened Apples to Apples and played that game until it was time for bed. We had a really great time. We ended up going to bed about 11PM. Jason and Sharon slept in Brady's room and Brady had to sleep on a blow up mattress and sleeping bag in the TV room, in hopes of catching Santa as he came down the chimney. The cookies, and carrots (for the reindeer) were set by the fireplace hearth as we waited for Santa to arrive.

The morning arrived early at 6AM so that we could open presents before Jason and Sharon left for work. Brady was NOT ready to get up and was kinda grouchy - that darn teenage hormone!! Oh well.... we proceeded with opening presents.

Most of the time he wouldn't lift up his head to let me take pictures. He never did get out of his sleeping bag and opened each present lying on the floor.

Ha, Ha... I got a picture.... Just to irritate the teenager in him... Boy the hormones were raging this week. We kinda got on each others nerves... I feel the teenage coming out - quicker then I want it. I shouldn't joke with him because he will just get mad. He likes to do his own thing and doesn't like to be bugged by his Mom... But with only us two living in the home... I have to talk to someone which bugs the crap out of him. He prefer I keep quiet and leave him alone most of the time. I does NOT like being told to do chores. Oh the joys of having a teenager. Normally he is not like that at all, but I think he's going through some major hormone swings.

Anyway... He received new Scriptures since he set is at the seminary building. I purchased them at Seagull book and had them print his name on them. The first set they tried to get me to take was horrible, blurry and was iffy on the gold leafing. I refused them and they had to do it again. This set was better but not as good as I excepted it to be. I felt bad that they had ruined a set by doing such a bad job. I hate to be mean, but I want this set to last through his mission.

He received a docking station for his iPod. Also, 3 long sleeve shirts (2 he didn't like and have to be taken back), 2 sets PJ bottoms, 2 pairs Levis, a 2 GB flash drive he needs for school, a pair of Vans shoes.

Our family also received a new computer that we had before Christmas - but is considered a Christmas gift.

We also received a 42" flat screen TV. I ordered it from Walmart on Black Friday (on-line) and had it deliver. It was a great deal at $599. I was extremely happy. It was hard to go back to our tiny 27 inch TV after Jason moved out and took his 37" flat screen. I just love this TV and the great deal I was able to get - not to mention I didn't have to actually go into a store to get it - on black Friday was even better.

The other games our family opened for Christmas was Scrabble and Monopoly.

Jason and Sharon had a great Christmas too. I spoiled everyone! I didn't' take to many pictures and enjoyed the morning.

Jason received a hair cutting system, a quilt, Vans shoes, and a folding table. I didn't let him take mine when he moved. He had mine in his room, where he would sit and draw all the time. Jason loves to draw and to the chagrin of his mother, he would like to become a tattoo artist.

Jason wanted a griddle. He gave me one for my birthday this year and totally loved it. Now he has one of his very own. Jason is a great cook. I always loved it when he would cook for us.

Sharon got a cute shirt with a small black vest, a light blue coat vest (light weight) with a white long sleeve shirt underneath, and another shirt. She also wanted her own set of Twilight books. It took a while for me to decide to spend the money - but I did and she was thrilled. I wanted a dutch oven to go with my emergency preparedness stuff. My mom gave me this beautiful one. I am excited to cook with it this summer. It will be nice to have an oven to cook in during a disaster. I need to get charco briquettes in my storage now.

My mom also gave me a Ped-Egg which I just LOVE! Thanks Mom!!

This year the present for my brothers and sisters (Chris, Cindy, Lyle and Richard and Mom - Zoey) was geared to emergency preparedness. I gave each of my brothers and sisters a hand crank/solar radio and a hand crank flashlight. The really cool thing about the flash light is that it came with an adapter like a car lighter socket that you can plug in your cell phone charger and charge your phone by hand cranking it. Communication is a huge thing when you are in a disaster and now you can have this tool part of a 72 hour kit. I am also going to have an adapter in my kit for my Zune so that we can listen to music and books on CD during a disaster - because we will be able to keep charging it by hand. I hope they liked what they received from me. It's good to be prepared with things that will make any emergency a little easier.

That is a small glance of our wonderful Christmas 2008! We have been VERY blessed this year! I hope everyone recieved all the blessings they wanted. Most importantly being surrounded by family and friends.

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!

Don't you love the ice cycles on top of the photo? I love ice cycles, it reminds me of when I was young. I haven't seen those baby's for quit a long time, living here in Boise, Idaho.

Yes, I wished for it and boy did we get it!!!! Lots and lots of snow. Beautiful white Christmas snow. The first couple of days I really enjoyed it. The nice thing about Boise, Idaho is that when we get snow, it doesn't last too long on the roads because we have such mild weather that it usually melts rather quickly.

HOWEVER....... Not this time. The temperature has been cold which equals to really icy roads. I have been driving around pretty good until today. I've been able to get to each house that needed cleaning with slow and steady driving. Last night when I was leaving my sister's house (she had a family dinner/party for Christmas) it was snowing pretty good. I took it slow going my usually 25 miles an hour and arrived home safely. This morning they said we received 4 inches that were not forecasted for and that meant the snow plows did a terrible job cleaning the roads.

I had to clean Mab's, my customer for a party she is having on Christmas eve. She lives in Eagle and I decided that instead of driving the back roads, I would take Eagle - which is a main road that you drive 55 MPH on. It was totally packed snow covered, so I drove up to 35 MPH and made it OK. She lives on a hill and it was slow going but I made it there. The problem was getting back down the hill. It was totally ICE! I basically had NO traction and slide down - but I was safe, I didn't run into anything.

I was off to my next house that was up on the foothills and they live on quite a steep incline. As I drove from Eagle to Boise, the roads were HORRIBLE. I slide right through the intersection at one point... again I was safe. As I continued to drive, I just decide I would give them a call to see how the mountain was. We decided that I wouldn't clean it... which I hate because that equals no money when you are self employed. I headed back home on the terrible roads.

My life is much more important then money... I feel guilty in not being able to clean them before Christmas day... I hope to be able to make it Friday - if the roads are better. Who knows??

Here is a snap shot of my back yard. Lots of snow - sticking on the trees... It's beautiful as long as I can drive safely... I'm ready to call uncle and wish it away..

We do have a white Christmas and it is forecasted to snow everyday this week. I always get a little worried when Brady has to fly to SLC during bad weather. Mostly that he'll be able to make there and home again with no problem. We've been praying all week that it will work out with no problem... Along with my safe traveling while I work.

As you may have guessed... I have been busy, busy, busy.. cooking up a storm.. Trying to get goody plates delivered to all those I love. Christmas certainly is a BUSY time of the year. I'll rest next week - LOL!

Recipe for M&M, Kissed Pretzels

Recipe for M&M, Kissed Pretzels

Last year for Christmas I received some of these from a neighbor and I thought I would give it a try. I kinda made it up - from what I think she did. It worked out and was sooooo very easy and they are really good.

You will need:

Pretzels

Kisses

M&M's (it probably would have looked better with Christmas M&M's but the store I was shopping out didn't have anymore)

I lined my cookie sheet with alminum foil and filled the sheet with Pretzels. Then I added a Kiss on top of each pretzel.

My oven was preheated to 300 degrees and I put in my sheet of Pretzels and kisses for only about 4 minutes. I touched a kiss and it was ready to melt. I took out the sheet and added an M&M on top of each kiss, pushing it down into the Pretzel. I let them cool and they are done.

Very easy, yummy and it will be a great treat to add to my plate of goodies for my neighbors, customers and friends. If you have done this before - let me know if I am doing something wrong or can do it better. I have always loved chocolate covered pretzels - this seemed easier and not so messy...

Recipe for Brownies and Chocolate Frosting.

Recipe for Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (room temperature)

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

4 eggs, beaten well

1 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix butter until smooth. Add 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa and mix well.
Add 4 eggs that are beaten well to mixture. Add 1 1/2 cup flour and 2 tsp vanilla and mix well.

Put mixture in a 9" x 13" in pan. I grease my pan with Crisco and then powder with flour so it will not stick to the pan, then I add the batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Take from oven and top with 1 lb. miniature marshmallows. Bake in oven for 3 minutes. Let cool 1 hour.

Then top with chocolate frosting.

Here is the recipe I use for chocolate frosting.

1 stick or 1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder (recipe calls for 2/3 cup but that is too chocolaty for me)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter is at room temperature and mix until smooth. Stir in cocoa and mix really well. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk. Stir in vanilla.

Add frosting on top of the marshmallows. Smooth frosting and you are done!

This is my sister Cindy's recipe... I love it when she has these made anytime I come to visit. They are very rich and so yummy! Enjoy!