From This Side of the Pond

This, That, and the Other

2012-02-13T07:18:00.013-05:00

I have lots of little bits and pieces to share today and since I know you're waiting with bated breath I'll dive right in.

I had my first lesson with a local photographer on Friday afternoon. We're starting at the very beginning since that's a very good place to start. Did you know there was math in photography? Nobody told me there'd be math. I really enjoyed the lesson and felt like my brain hit the engage button....it's been on idle for a while now. He left me with a couple of pages of notes which is a good thing because even though my brain engaged it still feels a little bit rusty. He also left me a small assignment to complete before my next lesson which I'll probably try to incorporate into the February photo challenge.

Speaking of the February photo challenge...was there a prompt yesterday? Yes, yes there was. I know I said I like to follow the rules but I took a pass on Sunday's word-'inside my closet'. I recently cleaned and reorganized my closet so it's actually quite tidy at the moment. You'll have to take my word for it though, because that felt just a little too personal to put out there.

Even for me.

ahem.

Back to the weekend...hubs was in Turkey on business last week and returned home Friday evening. We may have opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the fact that he has no work travel scheduled for the next month. Whoohoo!

'They' said we'd have some snow Friday night into Saturday but we awoke to what was really just a dusting. It spit a little off and on all day but nothing accumulated. The temps however, plummeted over the weekend. I guess February felt the need to remind us we shouldn't get too comfy with the milder weather we've had so far this winter.

We carried on with our Saturday plans which included driving closer to the city to attend a big dog show. We've got the fe-vah. Puppy fever to be more precise and its sweeping thru our house. Hubs especially has been stricken, but it's contagious you know. We have a Gordon Setter who is the sweetest thing on four legs and we're in love with the breed.

Look at that face. Setters in general have lovable personalities and that's my #1 criteria in a dog. We knew there'd be a lot of Setters at this particular show and we hoped to talk to a breeder or two.

You don't see a lot of Gordons around and it was so much fun to see a whole gaggle of them. I know a bunch of dogs are not called a gaggle but there are so many long legs in this bunch the word seemed to fit.

We're pretty set on another Gordon but we've also toyed with the idea of an English Setter. Hubs says he'd like one of each-an English, an Irish, and a Gordon. Uh, I might be crazy but I'm not that crazy!

The Gordons are black with tan markings but the English have varying coats. This guy is black and white which in dog speak is known as blue belton. Gorgeous. And guess what today's photo prompt is-'blue'. There ya go.

Anyway, we did meet some breeders and we'll likely put our name in for a puppy to arrive late summer. Gives me time to get my head around it.

We had our 'Valentine dinner' on Saturday evening. Actually we eat out most every weekend but we designated this one as our Valentine dinner because Tuesday doesn't sound as romantic as Saturday. We had a long lovely meal and talked our way thru five courses while the wind whipped outside and snowflakes danced in the moonlight.

Yesterday afternoon we went to see a movie-Safe House. Holy moly it's intense. And there is mucho violence. Can I ask here why parents feel the need to bring their ten or twelve year old child to a movie that has been rated R because it is inappropriate for a ten or twelve year old? Why?? I had a knot in my stomach watching this one and I wondered if they did too. Or if they didn't? Either way it's a problem.

Today I'm heading to the doc's office for some 'jabs'. In England they use the word 'jab' when they're prepping you for an immunization. fyi-if you tell a child they're going to have an immunization they might not catch on right away but if you say jab they pretty much catch on immediately. Anyway, a while back I mentioned some fun plans we have in the works for later this spring and I need the 'jabs' in order to carry on with the fun. Three jabs in one visit. Happy Monday!

Sunshine on My Shoulders

2012-02-11T15:27:00.007-05:00

Y'all know I don't blog on the weekends, but I also like to follow the rules. I'm posting a picture for Day 11 of the February photo challenge, just like the rules say.

Are there rules?

In my mind there are rules.

I didn't take this photo today but I did take it recently so I think that counts. Today's prompt-'makes you happy'. As soon as I saw that one I knew I would post a picture of my favorite thing-sunlight on water.

From the smallest puddle to the widest sea, the twinkle of sunlight on the water speaks right into my soul.

All About Self

2012-02-10T00:01:00.003-05:00

Continuing with the February Photo Challenge-today's prompt is 'self-portrait'.

Does anyone over the age of 25 really enjoy taking self portraits? First of all, it requires a coordination I'm not sure I possess. Secondly, they're usually super close up. No thank you.When I'm in a photograph I like to adjust 'things'...the angles, my chin, my hair...that's hard to do when you're taking a picture of yourself. Hubs took a picture of me in Central Park that was a close up of my face. Goodness, are those lines around my eyes always there?

I'm no quitter though, and I'm determined to see this challenge through to the last day of the month. Enjoy your weekend everyone...

'In every corner of our life, to lose oneself is to be the gainer; to forget oneself is to be happy. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

A Door By Any Other Name Is Still A Door

2012-02-09T00:01:00.021-05:00

Today's prompt for the February photo challenge is -'front door'. I need to tell you we've had more than a few. I know a lot of people who've lived in the same house all their married lives but we are not those people. We've opened many doors to many houses we learned to call home. A door is just a door. It's what's behind the door that's home.

Door Number 1...this door opened to newly wedded married life.

Our first together home.

Just us.

An ugly couch and a TV sitting on a wooden crate. Behind this door we learned to manage our money, our time, and our expectations. We learned to make plans.

Opportunity knocked on this door and led us to Door Number 2. A rented townhouse while we figured out which end was up in a brand new city.

We did.

Door Number 3...our first 'house'.

Kids signing papers for what felt like gobs of money. A messy back garden transformed into a small slice of paradise. Fun neighbors. Time for some grown up furniture.

A baby on the way meant a whole new kind of bliss.

We learned to make room for more love.

We carried that with us to Door Number 4...another house.

Far from our roots. A door behind which just-us became just-us-three. Better than bliss. It was here we learned how to love in 3-D.

We struggled to find Door Number 5.

Insane real estate markets in Northern NJ. Always. Especially in the late 1980s. Interest rates above 10%. Add to that a crazy commute.

Then. A ray of sunshine.

Just-us-three became a family of four. Complete behind this door. We learned the well of love never runs dry.

We welcomed a move.

Door Number 6...breezes off the Bay. Crab feasts and water skis. Ballet and music. Kids on the backyard swing. Home. Let's never leave. This is bliss.

Behind this door we learned about growing pains and bedtime prayers. How to pick a crab and ride a bike. How to grow up girls.

Behind this door we discovered the current of life can flow suddenly fast round an unexpected bend. We learned its best to grab an inner tube and hang on for the ride. We learned to never say never.

Which brings me to Door Number 7...the one where adventure called our name.

We walked thru this door and never looked back. It was the door that led us inside to a whole new outside. The door to a world of people and places and opportunity we had never considered. It was behind this door a family grew rock solid together in the game of life. Cemented. We learned to stamp all that is behind this door onto our hearts.

We left door Number 7 open just a crack.

We like to look behind it now and again.

But we walked on through Door Number 8.

Behind this door is an empty nest. Just us. Still learning. Like a long time ago only different. Behind this door are full hearts. And our tapestry of door upon door.

Love is in the Hodgpodge-Volume 65

2012-02-08T00:01:00.014-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! I'm so glad you're playing along today. Don't forget to add your link to the bottom of my post so friends can come a-callin'. Here are my answers-

1. What is something you are loving right now?

Conversation hearts.

Just keepin' it real people.

2. Paris, Venice, New York and Rome are considered four of the most romantic cities in the world. Of the four, which one would you most like to visit?

Well now. This one is tres difficile. Or molto difficile depending on which city I choose. It won't be New York because as much as I love NYC when it comes to romance France and Italy rule.

I am in love with Paris. I'd like an apartment on the Champs Elysees with those wonderfully tall windows where I could throw open the shutters and let the magnificent light in. Paris is all about the light. It's a city made for strolling and sipping champagne. Plus everyone is speaking French which, let's face it, makes even a grilled cheese sandwich sound like something more than a grilled cheese sandwich.

But Rome. Roma. Italy.

I've said it a time or ten here that Italy is my happy place. Paris may be about the light but Italy is all about the air. The air is intoxicating. Dreamy. Romantic.

And then there is the water. Venice. Spend a few hours in Venice and you understand why people fall in love there. Or remember why they fell in love way back when they were just a couple of crazy college kids.

The thing is, I've been to all of these cities and my memories of times spent there are muddy-ing up the waters and make choosing just one impossible. I seriously don't care. You could put me on a plane, not tell me which of the three we were headed to, and I'd be happy no matter where we landed.

3. Are you a romantic?

Yes. Hopeless. I walk thru life wearing rose colored glasses most of the time.

I still believe in fairy tales.

Hubs has to add a gentle dose of reality to my dreams now and then which I can appreciate. I also appreciate that he can be counted on to make a romantic gesture when one is called for...he's got a bit of the romantic in him too.

4. What's your favorite love story made for the Big Screen?

An Affair to Remember, Love Actually, Sweet Home Alabama...those are three of my favorites. You can't expect me to answer with only one when I've just told you I'm a romantic, can you?

5. Everyone loves Pooh bear and friends....which character are you most like and why? Click here for help in answering this question.

According to the quiz I'm Kanga-'You are warm and loving and great with children. People know not to misbehave around you or they'll end up in time out.'

It was sounding good until that last bit-ha!

6. What's the best chocolate something you've ever eaten?

When we lived in Maryland hubs used to get me a decadent, sinfully rich, chocolate cake for my birthday every year. He had a baker make the cake especially for me (see question #3) with a delicate raspberry filling. It was iced with the most scrumptious chocolate ganache I've ever tasted. He has tried his best to get bakeries everywhere we've lived since to recreate the concoction, and while they're all delicious its not quite the same.

I will say that the bakery here in our little town does come awfully close.

7. Share a favorite quote about love.

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."

Henry David Thoreau

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm using my random thought today to post my February photo challenge picture. Today's prompt is 'sun'. I took this picture during our Sunday afternoon hike-

We've been to Highpoint many times, but on Sunday we hiked a different trail and stumbled across this observation deck built into the woods. I know I shouldn't take a picture looking in to the sun but there was no way around it in this instance and I kind of like how it turned out. Here's what you see from the deck-

In my mind, sunshine was one of God's very best ideas.

A Hodgepodge of Pictures and Words

2012-02-07T00:01:00.007-05:00

Before I post the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge I'm going to sneak in my February photo challenge picture of the day. Picture of yesterday actually, and the prompt was 'dinner'. Hubs was not home for dinner on Monday evening so I made myself a salad. Do you really want to see what I ate for dinner? Regardless of your answer, here it is-

Tuesday's prompt is 'button'.

I gotta tell ya, some of these prompts are straining my creativity but I refuse to quit. I contemplated taking a picture of my navel (you get it, right?) but thought that might be too much after the salad photo so I went with this one-

I took this picture on Sunday afternoon after a long uphill hike. I know there are shadows and the light is all wrong but my pup was worn out and needed to rest in the shade. She is cute as a 'button' though, don't you think?

And now, what you're really here to see....the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer the questions on your own blog and then hop back over here tomorrow to share answers with the rest of the internets.

1. What is something you are loving right now?

2. Paris, Venice, New York, and Rome are considered four of the most romantic cities in the world. Which one would you most like to visit?

3. Are you a romantic?

4. What's your favorite love story made for the Big Screen?

5. Everyone loves Pooh bear and friends...which character are you most like and why? Click here for help in answering this question.

6. What's the best chocolate something you've ever eaten?

7. Share a favorite quote about love.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Saturday. In the Park. I think it was the 4th of July

2012-02-06T09:06:00.000-05:00

Not really. It was the fourth of February but that Chicago song replayed in my head the whole time I was writing this post so I had to put it out there. And there are more than a few pictures in this post but I believe I told you I have a new camera.

Hubs and I have managed to drop kick the couch slouch habit we sometimes have on winter weekends and have spent many hours out of doors enjoying the very un-winter like weather of 2012. It's still on the cold side here but so far snow has passed us by. We'll all just pretend October's snow madness never happened.

Back to Saturday.

In the park.

Central Park.

I love this place. What a magnificent thing to have in the middle of an enormous city. We spent the day walking and talking and people watching.

Well some of us did. Some of us spent the day harnessing every ounce of hunting prowess she posseses to stalk squirrels. The lawns are fenced off in the winter months to allow for reseeding so I think the squirrels knew they were safe.

They taunted her mercilessly but still, she persevered. She worked so hard she needed a coffee break.

I think my backyard hawk may have followed me here.

No matter the season there's always something to catch your eye in Central Park. There's beauty all around...

and then there's this-

a man wearing spring loaded shoes?

There was also this-

I was super pleased with myself for capturing this girl in mid air. I'm not sure why she was in mid air high above several levels of concrete steps in Central Park but she landed without incident and more importantly, I figured out the sport setting on my camera.

We bought a hot dog from a vendor because pretty sure that's the law here and then we watched two grown men blow bubbles.

They were amazing.

They asked for money to 'keep doing what we're doing'.

Can you make a living blowing bubbles?

We threw some $$ in their hat. The sun shining high in a bright New York sky makes one feel magnanimous.

We strolled along the edge of the park near Columbus circle and as we were walking a young man came along beside us and commented on hubs hat. Hubs was wearing a baseball cap from our girl's university, a small school in South Carolina. The young man was with a group of three young women and another young man and in that small world kind of way that happens to us everywhere we go, they were all graduates of that same university. They're a few years older than our girls but have mutual friends via sorority connections. We talked about our shared love of shrimp and grits, Main Street in Collegetown, and weekend fun in the Big Apple. Stuff like that always makes me smile.

After a long leisurely day in the park we headed to the car and look...we got bargain priced parking today!

We paid the ransom and headed for home.

Six more weeks of this sort of winter?

I'll take it!

Strike a Pose

2012-02-05T11:11:00.007-05:00

One of the reasons I wanted to try the February photo challenge was so I'd have practice time with my new camera. Naturally I've put some rules in place for myself, one being that I want the pictures to have meaning. In other words, I don't want to take a picture just for the sake of taking a picture, but is that the point of a photo challenge? Or is the point to try to interpret the prompt in some sort of creative way?

How's that for a peek inside my head?

Today's prompt is- '10 am' and I have to say this was hard. I considered not taking a picture but the rules say take a picture a day and I always follow the rules so I took a picture.

At 10 am hubs and I were eating breakfast at our local diner. Here's what you see as you walk through the door-

No I did not have cake for breakfast.

Photographically speaking it is not a great picture.

Is that even a real word/phrase?

I took this picture with my old camera, the one that fits in my purse. It felt too awkward (even for me) to pull out my camera with the big lens. This photo was taken at approximately 10 am so it does meet the requirements of today's prompt, and I need to get back to the Superbowl now so there you have it.

Who watched the halftime show?

Who thinks Madonna has not so much as looked at a piece of cake in the last fifteen years?

We're about the same age.

Technically she's even a couple of years older than me.

Rest assured I have seen my share of cake.

Watching her cartwheel across the stage kinda makes me wish I hadn't.

It's not stalking when it's for a photo challenge

2012-02-04T17:17:00.004-05:00

I normally don't blog on the weekends but I'm participating in a photo challenge this month so thought I'd hop on and add a picture. Today's prompt is 'stranger'. At first I thought that might be a little creepy, taking pictures of random strangers, but since I spent the day in Central Park I have more than a few from which to choose. I'm going with this one-

A mime.

Stranger or strange, er.

Either way it works for me.

The hands of time

2012-02-03T09:35:00.006-05:00

"Nae man can tether tide or time."

Robert Burns

I wonder if my favorite Scottish poet was channeling his inner middle aged mom with an empty nest when he wrote those wonderful words?

Today's photo prompt-'hands'

Would you like a bag for that?

2012-02-02T13:48:00.005-05:00

I've been thinking about this whole photo prompt thing and to be honest I don't think I'm going to be very good at it. Not that I can't manage to get a picture taken, it's more like I can't manage to get a picture taken without talking about it. So, I'm going to play along with the challenge and post a picture but more often than not I'm also going to talk about the picture. It's who I am.

Today's prompt is 'words'.

Oh dear.

Take a picture of words but then don't use words? You can see why I'm struggling can't you?

I had a fun morning with my women's club. The program was all about heart health and the speaker was excellent. So excellent in fact that I hit the gym before going home. No time like the present, right?

I stopped at the supermarket afterwards to pick up a few things, and so far this is riveting I know, but stayed tuned because I'd like your opinion about something. I take my own bags when I grocery shop, something I became accustomed to doing while living overseas. In fact, I still carry some of those same tote bags which just so happen to have words on them-

The black bag has the M & S logo on it and if you ever get to the UK definitely pop into your local Marks and Spencer. You'll thank me later. The tan bag we bought in the gift shop at Dover Castle one icy cold December day. Is it silly that shopping bags are able to send a memory washing over me in a way that makes me wanna cry? No? Good. Because they do.

Anyhoo, this reminded me of something I wanted to ask my blog peeps. As you know I spent a week with my daughter1 in the DC area. She resides on the Maryland side of DC and we did a lot of shopping while I was in town. When I shop here in NJ I get credit for bringing my own bags to the supermarket-.05/bag. Not a lot but I actually prefer to use my own bags because they make lugging the groceries in to the house much more manageable.

When I shop for clothes though, the store provides a bag. This was not the case in the Maryland suburbs. We bought a pile of things at a lovely women's shop whose name I won't mention here but it doesn't matter because its apparently an across the board policy for this particular county, and the salesclerk asked me if I wanted a bag. Seriously? At first I thought she was joking because we had a lot of items. A lot. They were a work wear type of clothing too, and not inexpensive. We're not talking t-shirts from Old Navy, although I think I'd probably want a bag for those too. Most people don't want to carry their newly purchased clothing out of a store in their arms. It seemed absurd to me and the sales clerk appeared embarrassed to ask but she had no choice. She said she'd have to charge me for a bag. Granted the charge was .05/bag and I said charge away but I found it ridiculous.

I know that most of Europe has been on the reusable bag kick for groceries for many years now in an effort to reduce waste and I don't have a problem with that. In this particular US county the monies collected go towards some sort of water quality funding program but it just felt icky to me. I'm all about reusing and reducing when we're able but I also feel like I've just paid taxes on the clothing I bought and should get a bag to carry it home. What say you?

A picture is worth 1000 words but I still need words

2012-02-01T17:50:00.005-05:00

Remember how I got a brand new camera for Christmas? I've used it a few times but I really need to play around with it on a more regular basis so I'm not so clumsy and one dimensional in my picture taking. The camera is bigger than the old toss-it-in-my-purse-and go camera I was using before so I have to think differently when it comes to taking pictures. I have a few very exciting 'things' coming up this spring that will provide excellent photo ops (oooh, mystery!) and I need to become more comfortable in using my camera before those 'things' get here. I like a little mystery on my blog...it's what keeps you reading, right?

Anyway, I've booked a lesson with a local camera guy. I told him I have a blog and enjoy using photos as a jumping off place for all my many words but that pictures are not currently the focal point. He says he can change that.

He can't.

I feel pretty confident in saying words will always be my thing. Pictures do however, help tell the story, and if I can take better pictures to go with the words then I'll be happy.

I noticed a link on Kathy's blog for a February photo challenge and thought I might give it a try. I'd love to do one of those year long picture a day challenges but I'm thinking a thirty day challenge might be the way to go for now. Actually its only 29 days since its February...I can do 29. Some days I may just pop the photo onto my blog and call it a day but I'm hoping there will also be days where a photo will lend itself to words. I think we can all agree I have a lot of those. This post kind of makes my point.

If you're interested in playing along you'll find the link with the photo prompts here. Today's prompt is 'your view today'. It only seems appropriate to post a photo of the view from my kitchen window. I probably take at least one picture a week of our back hillside as it is ever changing and full of life. Hubs and I have nicknamed it the DMZ because once you start looking its hard to peel your eyes away. The hill is steep and when we bought the house I wondered how I'd like that, but hubs and I agree it's our favorite thing about this place we call home.

The hillside changes with the seasons and we see the sky turn every shade of pink and orange when the sun rises over the mountain. There are birds of every size, shape, and variety from the most delicate of hummingbirds to the majestic hawk. My hawk as he is known here.

There are woodland creatures...rabbits and squirrels, chipmunks and groundhogs, even the dreaded possum. There are larger creatures too...a mama fox who makes her nest on the side hill and births a litter every spring. We love to watch the deer who regularly trek across the hill as they feast on the wild plants that grow there. And then of course we have the bear. There really is nothing quite like seeing a 4-500 pound bear stroll across your back yard. I haven't managed too many pictures since the sight of one tends to throw me into a tizzy but I'm determined to be calm, cool, and collected next time and get some better shots.

Okay, I said something about a picture. Here you go-my view on the first day of February which felt a little bit like the first day of April...

but still looked like February.

The End.

You're welcome.

A taxing Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 64

2012-02-01T00:01:00.020-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the party today. Be sure to add your link to the bottom of my post and then go visit the neighbors. After all, that's part of the fun! Here are my answers-

1. It's that most wonderful time of the year...tax season! Do you complete your own returns or farm that job out to the professionals?

If you told me I had to do my own return I'd probably curl up in a ball and cry. Just this week I submitted our UK return. No, we don't live in the UK...haven't lived there in almost three years in fact. Why yes, we do still have to file taxes there. Something to do with something, something or other blah blah blah. Good thing accountants are on hand, right?

Got that one in just in time to begin our US organizer. The tax fun just never ends around here. At least I only have to complete the organizer and thankfully someone else does the actual math.

As a side note-I'm not voting for anyone who thinks we need to pay more taxes. I could rant here but I'll refrain.

2. This next question comes from Kansas Bob....he posed it in response to something I asked in an earlier Wednesday post and I asked him if I could add it to the Hodgepodge someday. Today's the day....

Which do you think has changed you more-love or pain?

Love. Its made me brave and given me a safe place to land. I haven't had a lot of pain in my life.

3. Tangerine Tango has been named color of the year for 2012. Your thoughts? Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet? If not, will you be adding this color to your life in someway in 2012? If you're not sure what tangerine tango looks like click here.

Personally I love the color and I do have a splash of tangerine in a painting in my guest room. The room itself is mostly neutrals with brown and tans in the bedding so the bright colors in the painting help give the room a lift. I wouldn't want it all over my house and don't think I'd do a wall this color but there is something about it that's energizing. You'd find it in my closet, mostly in the form of scarves, but I also have a couple of sweaters in this shade and they lift my mood when I wear them.

4. Are you a collector? What do you collect and does it get admired, used, and/or dusted regularly?

I collect pottery which I've written about on my blog before. You can see some of it pictured here. Another small thing I quietly collect are sheep. The only people who buy these for me are my hubs and my girls. There's a story behind how this got started but I'm not going to share. Essentially, they only mean something if they're from my family so I don't tell people I collect them because you know how that goes...all of a sudden you're inundated with all things sheep. My girls put two super cute things in my stocking this year. These are measuring cups-

and this is soap-

The black one smells like licorice and the white one like vanilla- love!

5. February is National Heart Month...besides a green salad what is one heart healthy dish you like to prepare?

One of my favorites would be fish grilled in a foil packet with lemon juice, thyme, oregano and some veggies-usually onion, zucchini, and red pepper. So easy and delicious!

6. When was the last time you had car trouble?

Coincidentally you will find me sitting in the dealership on this Wednesday Hodgepodge morning. There's a lovely waiting area with fresh coffee, comfy chairs, a zen like atmosphere and free wifi. Its almost like home.

Nothing major is wrong (knock on wood!), just an annoying light on the dash that keeps blinking saying my tire pressure is low, which its not so likely a sensor needs replacing.

Ha-listen to me sound like I know what I'm talking about.

As long as they've got the car they're also checking out my key/doors because every now and then when I hit the unlock button only the driver's door unlocks. Since this is something intermittent they'll probably have to take the door off. Or not. I have no idea. Which is why I'm here. As a bonus they wash the car before I leave the lot and that makes me happy.

7. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Is that a good trend?

I'm always pretty demanding of myself. I expect a lot from me. Sometimes I let myself down but I forgive myself and repeat my favorite verse...

" The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

That bold emphasis is mine but its worth emphasizing.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Do they have beefsteak dinners in your part of the country or is that a Northern NJ phenomenon? I haven't seen them other places we've lived but when we moved back here we'd notice signs from various fundraising groups advertising beefsteak dinners. We didn't know exactly what they were until two Christmases ago when friends invited us to their home and he promised to make an authentic beefsteak dinner. Essentially it's filet of beef that is marinated in olive oil, garlic, and some seasonings for several hours then slow roasted to a rare or medium rare state. Vegetarians look away.

Next its sliced and heated in a pan of melted butter and then served on white bread. Yes it has to be white bread. Firm healthy wheat bread doesn't soak up all the wonderful juices like old fashioned white bread does.

Pretend we didn't read question # 5.

Hubs has talked about that meal ever since and this past Saturday those same friends caved to his pressure and invited us over for another beefsteak dinner. I was kind of afraid it wouldn't live up to the memory, but rest assured it did not disappoint.

And yes, my random thought is about a meal.

Happy Wednesday!

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 64

2012-01-31T00:01:00.004-05:00

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. You know the drill (if you don't click the HP link on my sidebar)...come back tomorrow and share your answers with fellow internets. Everyone's welcome to join the party!

1. It's that most wonderful time of the year...tax season! Do you complete your own returns or farm that job out to the professionals?

2. This next question comes from Kansas Bob...he posed it in his response to something I asked in an earlier Wednesday post and I asked him if I could add it to the Hodgepodge some day. Today's the day....

Which do you think has changed you more-love or pain?

3. Tangerine Tango has been named color of the year for 2012. Your thoughts? Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet? If not, will you be adding this color to your life in some way in 2012? If you're not sure what tangerine tango looks like click here.

4. Are you a collector? What do you collect and does it get admired, used, and/or dusted regularly?

5. February is National Heart Month...besides a green salad what is one tasty heart healthy dish you like to prepare?

6. When was the last time you had car trouble?

7. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Is that a good trend?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Happy Trails

2012-01-30T07:43:00.013-05:00

As you may have noticed, my hubs has been doing a lot of traveling recently. Big trips. Long trips. In fact he has been away three out of four weeks this month. Missed two full weekends at home. Yes, technically he can make up those 'lost weekends' sometime during the year but let's be honest...he probably won't. Oh maybe a day or two but he has vacation to use plus, when you're away from your office for two weeks you kinda need to get back to the office. Which is where he is this week. yay!

Although hubs has traveled for work all of our married life this month has been way more than the norm. While its exhausting on many levels he enjoys interacting with people in countries around the world and handles all the coming and going better than most. It sounds exotic to some people and often times I guess it is. Here's a dinner he had last week in Mexico City-

Those are grasshoppers on that taco.

Mmmm?

All this to say that in spite of his around the world travels, at heart he's still a Tennessee boy who likes nothing better than a walk in the woods with his best girl and his dog. We don't live far from a stretch of the Appalachian Trail and we've been wanting to hike the bit that's nearby.

When we lived in NJ 20 years ago we used to take our little girls to the trail. Are they just too adorable or what?! Course we never got too far because somebody always conked out en route to the top, but we tried.

Sigh.

Back to present day...it was cool yesterday but also bright and sunny so we took advantage of that and hit the trail. As we were pulling out of our driveway we saw these vultures on our neighbors rock.

I know they're part of that whole circle of life thing but I gotta say I'm not a fan. I was hoping their presence wasn't some kind of omen. Who thinks I've watched The Jungle Book a few too many times?

To access the wooded portion of the trail you first have to cross a large open field. As we started across we heard gunfire and decided we should see where it was coming from. Wouldn't want to accidentally be mistaken for a deer now, would we?

Turns out it was a local gun club holding a 'frozen toes' event in the next field over. They were shooting at targets so we relaxed. We chatted with them for a few minutes and I think hubs would have been happy to hang out there all day but we had a mountain to climb. Literally.

One thing you should know about Northern NJ-its rocky.

Very rocky.

The trail thru here is also rocky.

And steep.

And my knees are not what they were at 30, that's for sure, but I persevered...

We made a couple of stops on the way to the top...

Someone needed a break.

And we needed to take a cheesy picture.

Everybody needed to check out the beautiful views...

Totally worth the jello legs.

And spending a day outdoors with this guy?

aka the mountain goat....

...still makes me happy.

Accidental Winter Camping

2012-01-26T00:01:00.016-05:00

The questions on my blog yesterday sparked this memory. The Hodgepodge is its own form of therapy because I'm pretty sure this is a memory I'd successfully blocked.

Way back when, I was a girl scout leader for Daughter2's troop. Once upon a time we attended a camp out on a gorgeous warm spring day and although we were booked into a cabin for sleeping, the girls clambered to switch to the platform tents instead. Me, being the great outdoors woman that I am, said okay. It was April and we were in shorts all day long. The sun was shining and some of the girls even got their feet wet in the river.

Flash forward a few hours to dinner. We ate with some of the other troops in a central location and as we were eating the weather began to change. We decided to gather up our belongings and head back to our tents which involved a bit of a hike in the suddenly deep, dark, scary and slightly wet woods. Now that darkness had settled in the girls were ~~terrified~~ unhappy at the thought of being spread out into several tents so we piled everyone together into just two. There weren't enough cots so I, being the great outdoors woman that I am, said I'd sleep on the floor because I can stand anything for one night.

Or so I thought.

The rain that started off as a sprinkle had suddenly turned into a downpour and it was lightning in that spooky, Friday the 13th sort of way. Next came the winds. I can honestly say I have never in my life been outdoors in winds like these.

Have you ever slept in a platform tent? For those of you who aren't in the know, the tent is tied to the platform all the way round, but there's still a gap of several inches where a little bit of light gets in and a whole lot of wind. At one point I seriously thought the tent was going to lift off the ground ala Dorothy in Oz.

It felt like we'd been in our sleeping bags for hours when a couple of the girls awoke and were sniffling, aka sobbing. My co-leader and I said reassuring things like, ' Just close your eyes and before you know it, morning will be here.' One of the girls asked me what time it was and I made the gargantuan mistake of looking at my watch. I replied, 'Almost morning-try to go back to sleep'. The other leader said she knew better than to ask for the precise time since she figured if it really was almost morning I'd have said it.

It was 11:55.

Not even midnight.

Oh dear.

One mom had taken her daughter to the car to sleep early on in the evening. We should all have done the same but have you ever been so cold you can't even entertain the idea of moving even when you know you should? Pretty sure that's how people die in the woods.

I slept that night wearing every article of clothing I'd brought with me. I tucked my knees all the way up to my chest and pulled my fleece over them and shivered and prayed. When I woke up I was literally frozen in that position. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to unfold my legs. I told my co-leader that I had never in my life been that cold and we both said the air had that same feeling it gets when it snows. It was the middle of April and had been 85 degrees the day before so no way did it snow.

We peeked outside.

Hello white winter in April while I'm sleeping on the floor of a platform tent in hurricane force winds. We learned later that there were tornadoes spotted in our county. It was kind of like The Perfect Storm except we weren't at sea and of course there was no George Clooney.

I bet right now you're wishing I'd been your daughter's troop leader.

And I don't know how much time you've spent with tween girls but wet, tired, hungry, and frozen does not a happy camper make. Pun intended.

Everyone involved in this little weekend still speaks to me.

Just sayin'.

I'm not sure they've ever camped again but we are still friends. Nothing bonds you to someone quite like a shared near death experience.

A Giant of a Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 63

2012-01-25T00:01:00.015-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...come join the party! Answer the questions on your own blog or fb page then add your link to the end of my post so friends can visit. Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. The NFL playoffs were held this past weekend and this year's Superbowl will feature the New York Giants versus The New England Patriots. How do you define 'patriot'?

A person who whole heartedly loves his/her country and demonstrates that support in word and deed.

2. What's something in your life right now that feels like a 'giant'?

Sorting out the details regarding daughter2's living/working/grad school arrangement for next year. In this case, next year begins the first week of May when we will need to move her personal belongings along with some furniture (not yet purchased) to an off campus apartment (not yet located) with a roommate (not yet confirmed) while she begins the job hunt and takes a couple of grad classes beginning in June. Thankfully Daughter2 is on top of things and is the one reminding me about deadlines and payments. fyi-when you have kids in uni, and especially kids wrapping up uni, there are always payments.

3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18?

Skinny, suntanned, and nervously excited at living away from home in a college dorm. Trying hard to stay true to myself. Only getting that wrong sometimes. Loving the taste of independence. Most of the time.

4. Coconut-mashed potatoes-vanilla ice cream-mayonnaise...which white food would be the hardest to give up?

Coconut is one of my most favorite flavors so I'd have a hard time with that one. Since mashed potatoes aren't on my diet I've essentially quit eating them which is a crying shame because truly they are a near perfect food in my book but whatever. I eat them only at the holidays. Course if I came to your house and you served them I'd use that as an excuse to indulge too.

I'd probably miss vanilla ice cream the least, not because I don't like it but because ice cream isn't something I crave. Mayonnaise is tricky. I love mayonnaise even though I dole it out like its gold since its related to the mashed potato in terms of my diet. Who besides me thinks I've overthought this question? Who besides me is now craving a piping hot serving of mashed potatoes?

5. Describe an incident or a day you remember as being the coldest you've ever experienced.

Two things popped into my head and y'all are not surprised I'm going to share them both are you? Actually, I started typing out the details to one of these incidents and decided its a blog post all its own so I'm sharing that one tomorrow. Suffice it to say it involves camping...there was sun, sleet, wind, rain, hail, snow and a tornado. Did I mention I was camping? And was responsible for a group of girls? You know you're curious....come back tomorrow. Don't you hate it when bloggers do that? In my defense, it's more words than you have time to read here today.

The other 'coldest ever' day for me was standing atop the platform of the Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps. It sits high above the village of Chamonix and we were there the week after Christmas in 2007. We were bundled up in all our ski gear and warm boots but it was positively frigid.

To get there you ride a cable car up the literal side of a mountain, over a glacier, and up and up into the clouds until you feel like maybe there isn't enough oxygen in that cable car for you and the 69 peeps jammed in there with you. At least that's how I was feeling.

If you look very very closely at the picture you can just make out the speck that is the cable car.

You step out of the cable car and into a tunnel and from there out into the ice cold, and I do mean ice.cold.air.

The views are stunning, some of the most incredible I've ever seen. We lived to tell about it so that's good.

6. You're hosting a brunch....what's your favorite dish to prepare and serve?

If it's more of a breakfast then I love to make a sausage and egg casserole. If I want it to feel more like a lunchy brunch then I'll make a hot chicken salad, also delish. I am a huge fan of brunch.

7. How do you combat negative thinking?

I blast music.

Seriously, just ask my girls. They still talk about the time they got in my car and as I turned the ignition they nearly went thru the sunroof. The music may have been a tad loud. I must have been doing some serious attitude adjusting that day.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My hubs brought me home a really unique and thoughtful gift from Korea...

It's a hand carved stamp with my name written in English and Korean. It came with a little ink pad and carrying case.

The carving on the outside of the stamp is The Lord's Prayer, written in Korean.

Thanks hubs! Go-mah-woa/고마워

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 63

2012-01-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Don't forget to come back tomorrow so you can link answers with all your friends and neighbors. See you there~

1. The NFL playoffs were held this past weekend and this year's Superbowl lineup will feature The New York Giants versus The New England Patriots. How do you define 'patriot'?

2. What's something in your life right now that feels like a 'giant'?

3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18?

4. Coconut-mashed potatoes-vanilla ice cream-mayonnaise...which white food would be the hardest to give up?

5. Describe an incident or a day you remember as the coldest you've ever experienced?

6. You're hosting a brunch...what's your favorite dish to prepare and serve?

7. How do you combat negative thinking?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Be Vewy Vewy Quiet

2012-01-23T07:02:00.012-05:00

Jet lag is not a pretty thing. Especially when you've spent two weeks on the other side of the world and as a result your days and nights are upside down. Hubs arrived home Thursday morning and spent the weekend trying to right his internal time clock.

He'd been in Singapore and Korea since early January and was fully on their time. Figuring out the difference requires higher level math and its too early for that this morning. All I know is he left Korea at 10 am on Thursday and arrived here at 9:40 am on Thursday. Huh?

When he travels he sends me pictures like this one...

And these....

I think the term 'live' is a temporary state of being for these imprisoned frogs. Hubs said there was a gentleman behind the cage who 'fixed' them for you. Don't ask.

Is this building incredible or what?

There's actually a pool up there...

I feel a little bit jealous until I see him sound asleep on the couch for most of Saturday and then hear him wide awake at 4:30 am Sunday morning asking in a loud clear voice, 'Wanna have some coffee and go for a walk?' A walk? Seriously? Its pitch black outside, not to mention freezing cold, and let's not forget about all the critters that are out and about at that hour.

We know this for a fact because we see their footprints all across the freshly fallen snow that greeted us when we awoke Saturday morning. Or in hubs case, the middle of the night.

This was our first snowfall since the crazy snowvalanche we witnessed back in October, and thankfully this one was much gentler. We probably got about 6 inches and its the icy kind which is not my favorite but at least hubs was home to clear the walkways.

We did the usual dinner out on Friday night, I caught up on laundry and we hit the supermarket too. We watched the playoffs (Go Giants!) and made chili and took care of some paperwork and looked at our calendar for the next couple of months. Nothing too exciting but its good to have him home.

His travel calendar this ~~year~~ month is ca-razy. I can't predict the future but I'm pretty certain his will include more napping. I'm okay with that...it just so happens naps are one of my love languages.

Capital Fun

2012-01-19T01:06:00.000-05:00

I have a few thoughts about my week in DC that I'd like to put somewhere and conveniently I have a blog so here we go-

1. I drove down to DC last Tuesday. It takes me a little over four hours if I don't stop to have lunch with old friends in Annapolis, in which case it might take seven. What can I say...I'm a fan of the long leisurely lunch.

2. If the sun is shining when I approach the Bay Bridge connecting Maryland's Eastern Shore with the Annapolis area I feel a tug in my heart that words cannot describe.

Its a combination of the beauty and the memory. We lived in this area for nine years before moving overseas and we still feel its pull.

3. There is one heck of a lot of traffic in and around the little piece of land perched between Maryland and Virginia known as the US capital.

Holy moly.

My daughter gets around mostly via public transportation but even that can sometimes be exhausting. She has it down to a science but you can't control track works, breakdowns, bad weather, or rude people. I do love city life but it requires an extra measure of patience to live and work there every day.

4. My daughter works in the heart of the city so Capitol Hill Staffers are everywhere. Most are young, often still fresh faced from university, some even still in university working as interns...all of them speaking with great authority on any number of topics, but primarily politics and the Presidential campaign. Oi. Does anybody listen to anybody? Does anybody think for themselves or do they just spew out what they've heard other people saying? Does anybody fact check?

Just wondering.

A crowded train is not your personal platform. Between the metro operator who, given her issue with braking, must have been a learner driver, and the opinions being broadcast as the gospel truth to anyone and everyone within earshot by the 20 year old metro rider, and the oatmeal we'd had for breakfast, daughter1 and I were both feeling a little bit queasy on our commute to town.

5. Speaking of people spewing out opinions, here's mine. Hey, it's a blog not a crowded car on the DC Metro so I'm in the clear. I'm a person who is definitely interested in what's going on in the world but I'm just not sure politics is something to aspire to. I think we're best served by people who've had a full life outside of the political arena. People with ideas about how to make America better while staying true to the ideals outlined in our Constitution. People who have ideas, but who also have a handful of practical solutions to put those ideas into practice. They can do this because they've been out living an extraordinary ordinary life. I think we need more people coming to DC on a temporary basis to do a specific job before returning to life outside the Beltway and less people making politics an actual job.

Politicians working, living, and socializing 24/7 with other politicians is not necessarily a good thing.

Stepping down now...

6. On Friday I drove myself out to the 'burbs to meet up with a friend from our England days. We started out in a cafe with the intention of having a cup of coffee. Five hours later we were still sitting in the exact same spot, but we'd had lunch and used up almost all our words. My England friends are in a category all their own.

7. On Sunday daughter1 and I attended church together in the town where she volunteers as a Young Life leader. I also got to meet the couple who more or less run the YL program in that area. Is it wrong for me to say I love that there are adults looking out for my girl? My girl who is an adult herself but who still benefits from the wisdom and guidance of caring older adults in her life? Somehow that feels very right to me.

8. After church we drove a bit further out into the Maryland countryside to spend the rest of the day with hubs sister, brother in law, and their two boy children. She fixed us a delicious lunch and we gabbed and Daughter1 made fun of us with our multiple email/password combinations and we made fools of ourselves trying out Just Dance on the Wii.

Okay, some of us made fools of ourselves.

Some of us must be practicing the game while her small boy children are at school. Ahem.

And then of course some of us are naturally graceful plus spent thirteen solid years in ballet so can make it look easy. I have some pictures but you won't be seeing them here. I promised.

9. Daughter1 had the day off on Monday and even though it was rather Arctic like in temperature she was a good sport and traipsed across the Mall with me. We took some pictures outside the Washington Monument and you can see the flags blowing in the 'breeze'.

Yeah. Arc-tic.

10. The monument has been closed since the earthquake happened last August. It had just reopened prior to the quake but was damaged again on the day so needed further repair. My daughter showed me video of people in the Monument when the quake happened.

Pieces of the ceiling were falling and that thing was shaking and swaying like you would not believe. NOT where I'd want to be in an earthquake if given an option. Which of course you're not, but YIKES!

11. We walked a bit more before popping into the Museum of Natural History to warm up. Since we were there we scooted on up to the second floor to see the Hope Diamond. Any day's a good day to see beautiful jewelry, right?

12. Aaaaannd we walked some more. Lots of walking in DC which is one thing I love about city life. We decided to check out the National Building Museum since Catherine over at Time and Tide mentioned it in the Hodgepodge last week. Neither of us had been before and its an interesting building dating back to 1887.

The four story atrium surrounded by enormous Corinthian columns is absolutely beautiful and has been host to sixteen Inaugural Balls. We walked thru several exhibits that tell the story of how DC was built, how the neighborhoods have grown and changed, and the origin of some of the city's most recognizable symbols. There is some really lovely architecture in this city and we enjoyed browsing around this historic site. The fact that it was warm inside didn't hurt either....just sayin'.

13. I drove back home on Tuesday. It was pouring down rain and so foggy I could barely make out the Bay as I crossed the bridge. Trust me...it's easier that way.

linking to Thursday Thirteen today

Here She Is....the Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 62

2012-01-18T00:01:00.018-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you're playing along today. I've been out of town for a week and am not quite back in the blog groove just yet. What that means for you is that I'm not as wordy today as I normally am. You're welcome.

Be sure to add your link to the bottom of my post and see what other hodgepodgers have to say. Here are my answers-

1. A new Miss America was crowned on Saturday night-did you watch? If you were a contestant what would your talent be?

My daughter and I watched and were kind of disappointed in the top 5 this year. My talent? Ha-there's a reason why I was never in a pageant.

2. Do you have houseplants? Real or fake?

I do have houseplants, real ones, which I challenge on a weekly basis. I'm kind of like the 'Jillian Michaels' of the plant world-I make them work to stay healthy! Hubs says when a plant gets moved to our master bath it knows its in trouble. In my defense we do travel a lot. I'm not a big fan of the artificial so even though my plants have a near death experience at least once a month they don't actually die so I keep at it.

3. When you were in school did you speak up or were you more of the hide your face, avoid eye contact, and pray the teacher didn't call on you type of student?

I will be truthful and say I loved school, did my homework, enjoyed taking tests and, while I didn't do any of that crazy arm waving nonsense, I was happy when the teacher called on me.

4. Next Monday marks the Chinese New Year....what do you order when someone suggests Chinese food?

My favorite is crispy duck but it has to be prepared just right...otherwise something spicy, usually chicken in garlic sauce.

5. How would you define a miracle? What would it take for you to consider something a miracle?

An extraordinary occurrence that could only have happened thru God's supernatural power. The stars in the sky, the ocean, and the incredible way the human body works are a few things that never cease to feel miraculous.

6. What's your favorite Disney song? If you're stuck you'll find a list here.

Feed the Birds-Mary Poppins

7. I should have __________yesterday.

'worn a hat'

I know that's kind of a lame answer but I was outside most of the day and it was cold and windy. Plus did I mention I've been traveling and my brain still hasn't caught up with the rest of me yet?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My daughter and I had so much fun watching this video last week. I'd seen it posted over on Boomama's blog a few days before Saturday's Miss America pageant. It's the opening number from Miss America 1988. My daughter could not get over a) the dancers b) the hairspray c) the contestants and their matchy matchy hairstyles and Barbie cake dresses and d) the camera technique when the shorter girls were introduced. I dare you not to smile...

Hodgepodge Questions-Vol 62

2012-01-17T00:01:00.012-05:00

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Everyone is welcome to play along...just answer the questions on your own blog and then come back here tomorrow to link answers with the rest of the world.

1. A new Miss America was crowned on Saturday night-did you watch? If you were a contestant what would your talent be?

2. Do you have houseplants? Real or fake?

3. When you were in school did you speak up or were you more of the hide your face, avoid eye contact, and pray the teacher didn't call on you type of student?

4. Next Monday marks the Chinese New Year...what do you order when someone suggests Chinese food?

5. How would you define a miracle? What would it take for you to consider something a miracle?

6. What's your favorite Disney song? If you're stuck you'll find a list here.

7. I should have _____________ yesterday.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Live from the DMV

2012-01-15T08:42:00.015-05:00

That would be the DC-Maryland-Virginia region of the country, not the Dept of Motor Vehicles in case anyone is confused. I've been on a fun little mini holiday this past week, hanging out with my daughter in Washington D.C. Inside shopping malls in Washington D.C. might be more accurate, but it's all been fun. We like to shop and spent most of Saturday doing just that. In fact, I think I may have accidentally treated her to a new winter work wardrobe. I'd only planned to get her a couple pair of nice trousers for work but when you are this adorable every single thing you try on is adorable too. She has a job that requires a certain level of dress and since this is her first winter in the big city she truly did need to update her closet and it was fun to help.

Every good shopper knows you need a break to rest your feet now and then so we sat down on a bench in the mall to have a cup of tea and watch the world go by. As we sat there talking we noticed three men in suits walking closely behind two teenage girls. I don't mean that in a creepy way. The message they were sending was more like 'come too close and you'll regret it'. The 'suits' were wearing lapel pins and ear pieces and we knew right away they were Secret Service. Really, who wouldn't notice three men walking around the mall in suits in the middle of a Saturday afternoon?

Daughter1 said maybe it was one of the Obama girls so really subtle like, ahem, she followed them into Brookstone. She had her trusty phone camera at the ready and I texted her not to get arrested. She's used to my paranoia so she just laughed and was back a minute later saying it definitely was not a member of the first family. We could see the 'suits' placed in and around the store entrance and we knew it was somebody. Naturally we felt an urgent need to look at pillows in Brookstone. Come on now, you know you'd have done the same. Once I got a look at the face of the 'dad' with the girls I knew it was Eric Holder (US Attorney General). I imagine the Secret Service has to spend a lot of time doing stuff like this, traipsing around a mall in a suit on a Saturday afternoon. I imagine too, if you're in that line of work, a boring day is also a very good day.

After our little escapade we went to see a movie-Beauty and the Beast. Don't judge-we weren't the only people over the age of 8 in the theatre. That movie was a favorite in our house back in the day and it's every bit as good 20 years later. We picked up on a few of the little details we didn't notice way back when and decided even a cartoon set in a small French village makes us long for the provincial life. I love the message in this tale as old as time. Belle loves books and she knows that what's on the inside of a person matters most. We might have sung the songs all the way home....

'I want adventure in the great wide somewhere...I want it more than I can say...'.

Sigh.

Daughter1 and I agreed we have a whole lot in common with Belle.

That Girl

2012-01-12T16:06:00.009-05:00

I'm spending a few days with Daughter1 who happens to live in our nation's capital. You didn't think I just pulled the Hodgepodge questions out of thin air did you? When daughter1 was a little girl her Christmas list was full of pinks and purples and baby dolls and 'spinning' dresses. This year she asked for a new mattress and an external hard drive. Who is this child?

Because she has a full time job and I don't we decided I'd come down and be available for the mattress delivery and then we'd have some fun girl time too. Earlier in the day I'd taken the Metro into downtown so we could meet for lunch. I got to see Daughter1's work space and meet her boss and a couple of her co-workers. I looked at her desk, so organized and professional...I watched her swipe her ID badge to open doors and I listened as she gave me directions for walking around this huge city. I looked at my daughter and registered the white blouse tucked into dressy trousers and the four inch heels on her teeny tiny toes. For a minute I flashed back to her clomping around the house in my old highheels and her favorite dress up item which was a slip that belonged to my mom. Sometimes practice does make perfect.

I had my camera with me and after lunch I was hoping to play tourist but the weather did not cooperate. Instead I wandered into the most fabulous little bookstore in Dupont Circle that daughter1 had recommended. It's called Kramers and I could easily have pulled a mattress in there and spent the night. I love little bookshops. I bought a travel book or three and, as a little gift for my daughter, a collection of short stories written in French. Because when you live and work in a city you need to make sure you still have beauty in your life.

We rode the train home together and went out for a lovely grown up dinner where we solved most of the world's problems. We came home and put on our pjs and laid on her brand new plush mattress and watched all the Miss America contestant videos. We laughed ourselves silly.

She's in there still, my little girl with the golden blonde curls and the gentle spirit. The girl who makes the breeze feel warmer and the sun shine brighter even on a gray wet January day.

The Amazing Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 61

2012-01-11T00:15:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the fun today. Be sure to add your link to the bottom of my post and then go visiting. Here are my answers-

1. Lake Superior University has once again banished a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English in 2012-

amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, ginormous, trickeration and thank you in advance.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen.

Well, I love to use the word ginormous so not that one. I'm going with occupy because I'm beyond sick of it.

2. Are you easily embarrassed?

I think I used to be but I've learned to laugh at myself more easily as I've gotten older.

3. what is your go-to snack?

This time of year it's a clementine. I think its one of natures most perfect foods. If I don't have fruit in the house (which is extremely rare) then I'll opt for pretzels. Not very exciting I know but a handful of pretzels takes the edge off of hunger pangs and is just enough to keep me from going for the M&M's.

4. Have you ever been to Washington DC? if not do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most like to see in that city? If you have been what's your favorite site?

I've been to DC more times than I can count. Growing up I had an aunt and uncle who lived in the Virginia suburbs and I know I was there a time or two as a kid. When hubs and I were newlyweds we spent our one year anniversary in the city. We were living in Richmond at the time so an easy trip. Before moving to England we lived in Annapolis for 9 years and popped in to DC often. Currently my Daughter 1 is gainfully employed in DC so yes I've been to our nations Capital.

My favorite site is The Vietnam Memorial but I also love the monuments at night.

5. sit ups-planks-lunges-squats-which one do you hate the least?

I'll pick lunges but I think it's safe to say I hate them all.

6. What's a small act of kindness someone did for you that you've never forgotten?

I remember a lovely woman in my bible study group back when my kids were small who was always so encouraging to me in my parenting. I had car trouble one week and she went way out of her way to come and get me. Small kindnesses mean a lot.

7. Have you ever been a blood donor?

No. I haven't really had an opportunity in recent years and when I was younger I never weighed enough to be a donor. Now that we've lived in England we're ineligible I think.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am loving this beautiful rendition of the song Hallelujah...the singers are Norwegian and I don't think I'm misusing the word when I tell you they're 'amazing'.

P.S. and Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 61

2012-01-10T00:15:00.008-05:00

Before I dive into the questions for this week's Hodgepodge I want to add a little p.s. to the post I wrote on Sunday. I so appreciated all the comments and emails that were sent. Women are complicated and interesting and want to make a difference in the world or at least in their own little corner of planet Earth.

Motherhood is a never ending but ever evolving role. When our kids are little we can pretty much predict when they'll need us because they always need us and we recognize its a 24/7 proposition. Adult children need us too, but their need isn't 24/7, nor is it something we can plan around or schedule...therein lies the challenge. You suddenly find yourself with lots of time on your hands. Except when you don't. You could throw 100% of your energy and focus into a new pursuit or an old dream, but that little voice in the back of your head and deep in your heart says you better keep a chunk in reserve. How do you use your time and talent and energy outside the arena of wife and mother and still remain, as one of my friends said, 'interruptible'. Mothers everywhere are nodding their heads in understanding at the weight of that word.

My husband is my biggest cheerleader and would say I should pursue whatever in this world I want to pursue. He means it too and encourages me to do exactly that on a regular basis. I'm here to tell you that's easier said than done. The words 'mom' and 'available' are tangled up with one another long before that baby takes her first breath and will remain so until the end of time.

I could go on and on and oops, I have, but I think some of you are just here for the questions to this week's Hodgepodge so I'll move along. Be sure to come back tomorrow and link answers with all the other internets out there. Here ya go-

1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English in 2012-

amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, trickeration, ginormous, and thank you in advance.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Go here to read more about how the words are chosen.

2. Are you easily embarrassed?

3. What is your go-to snack?

4. Have you ever been to Washington D.C.? If not do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most want to see in that city? If you have been, what's your favorite site/attraction?

5. sit ups-planks-lunges-squats...which do you hate the least?

6. What's a small act of kindness you were shown that you've never forgotten?

7. Have you ever been a blood donor?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Unwritten

2012-01-08T17:01:00.012-05:00

I dropped Daughter2 at the airport today. Okay, I didn't drop her, but rather I escorted her to the check in counter where we discovered they'd changed the terminal for her flight. I then insisted on accompanying her on the tram all the way around the airport to the correct terminal where I stood and watched and waved and smiled as she inched her way thru security all the way up until she was out of sight. Oh I am too much for my girls sometimes.

Sometimes I'm even too much for me.

My kids grew up navigating airports without a parent in sight in countries where they didn't speak a word of the language. Obviously my 21 year old is quite capable of handling all this on her own and even though she ~~would prefer it~~ wouldn't mind if I dropped her off at the curb she humors me and allows me to walk her ~~as far as the law allows~~ to security.

Tonite my two children are in their own apartments in two different states, my husband's in a country halfway around the world (all the way? around the world) and I'm here at home. Welcome to mid-life. I don't know what I imagined life would be like when I got to be the age that I am, but I do know this isn't it. I guess I never thought much past 30 but here I am, way past 30 and still with a lot of stuff to figure out.

My husband says I think too much. He's partly right but some of who I am has been there since birth and isn't going to change now. I'm a thinker and I always have been. Hubs can set a goal, figure out steps 1-10 needed to reach that goal and BAM, done. I quite often can't get past setting the goal. I want that end product but something gets lost in the all important middle. I start thinking and then I think some more and then I set ridiculous parameters and say things to myself like -after x is over I'll do y... tomorrow...next week...this summer...soon. Before I know it its 2012 and what in the world did I actually do in the past year towards making my heart's desires a reality?

Am I lazy? A procrastinator? Afraid? Incapable? Not sure what the right answer is but I do know I want to follow the advice I give my own children and not let life sail by without having some say so in how the boat is sailed.

Last year was hard. It was too busy and we were on the go non-stop, and of course we were all dealing with my niece's very serious health crisis, but even on top of all that it was hard. For the first time in my life I felt unproductive. There's no doubt that plenty happened around here in 2011, but I couldn't shake the feeling I was swimming beside the boat just trying to get a hand on the stern so I could climb aboard. In 2011 life pushed me along in a very swift current as opposed to me setting the pace.

Maybe we don't get to choose the pace.

And maybe there are too many metaphors in this post but I think you know what I mean. At least some of you do. Some of you reading here are at a stage in life where your days are ordered by the needs and demands of the under ten set and your only option is full steam ahead. But some of you are like me, in the middle of your life but not sure what to do now that you're here.

I'm going to write more.

Maybe not more on my blog but definitely more the old fashioned way.

On paper.

With a pen.

The way I used to write.

Back when the words spilled out of me and I couldn't catch them fast enough.

I'm still going to blog because I love it but I'd like to try my hand at other kinds of writing too. I told my husband I'd like to try writing 1000 words a day and he said get busy. See what I mean? He hears a goal and he's already on step one. His first thought is DO. I'm still thinking about it. He also said if I'd started writing 1000 words a day back when I first said I wanted to write more I'd have ten books written by now. That is a sad but possibly true statement.

I've never had an anthem before but I'm embracing this one in 2012-

How about you? Are your arms wide open this new year?

Empire State of Mind

2012-01-05T08:05:00.016-05:00

I know I said something about writing posts with more substance and less 'here's where I was yesterday' sort of content but here's where I was yesterday-

In my defense Daughter2 doesn't go back to uni until this weekend so we're still ringing in the New Year.

We trekked into the city late yesterday afternoon to meet up with a co-worker of my hubs. We got there a little bit early because I was determined to see the tree before it comes down on Saturday. We parked near the restaurant then took a cab over to Rockefeller Plaza. In warmer weather we would have walked it but whoa!

Can you tell it was just a little bit chilly? And breezy? Still fun though...we hung out in the Plaza for a bit and then ducked into a restaurant for a glass of wine and a warm up. It was 20 degrees in the city yesterday so we kinda needed it.

Before heading over to meet our friends we made a quick stop in Bryant Park. A beautiful tree and an outdoor skating rink were set up there too and this is such a pretty little spot very close to the NYC Public Library.

We were only eight blocks from the restaurant but we jumped back into a cab because did I mention it was 20 degrees?

One of the things I love best about my hubs is his ability to make friends wherever he goes. It makes for a very rich life. This particular friend/co worker lives in Brazil but he and his wife have been on holiday in The Big Apple so we were excited to meet them for dinner. Another one of hubs work peeps and her hubs and daughter also joined the party and since they know lots of great spots to dine in the city we asked them to choose the restaurant. They did not disappoint.

Korean BBQ. The restaurant was situted in 'Koreatown' which is a whole street (maybe more?) filled with Korean restaurants and shops. You always hear about the Chinatown and Little Italy sections of NY, but there are streets tucked all around the city that are dedicated to different cultures and ethnicities...it's a big part of what makes NY such a fun and interesting (and let's not forget tasty!) place to explore.

Back to the BBQ...it was a dining 'experience'. There are BBQ restaurants all up and down this particular street but we ate in one called Wonjo. Our reservation was for 7 PM on a Wednesday evening and you could barely get in the door. It was absolutely packed and they're open 24 hours a day! You know a place is good when it's full of the local folks eating there too.

The room was a little warm since essentially you have a BBQ happening at each table...our friends informed us its best to eat here in the winter. There's a hole in the center of your table topped with what looks like a grill grate.

Once you've made your entree selection your server removes the grate and then someone suddenly appears out of nowhere with two enormous baskets of smoking hot coals. I did take note of the emergency exits upon being seated because I'm a mom and that's how I roll.

Your server grills your meat in front of you and while you're waiting for it to cook you taste all the wonderful little side dishes they've placed before you. I wouldn't want to be a dishwasher here. We were a table of eight and there must have been about twenty little bowls to sample.

So interesting and delicious, there wasn't anything I didn't like. Big surprise there, right? My favorites were the eggplant and the pickled daikon which is a type of radish that tasted a lot like cucumber. There was also a little dish of salted oil to dip your cooked entree in and I could have put a straw in that it was so good.

A couple of people at the table opted to try something besides the BBQ and they chose Bibimbap. This is a signature Korean dish and its kind of like a rice bowl topped with meat, vegetables and a fried egg. Also delicious!

I love this city. There is something about being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle that is so energizing. It's hard to put in to words but I do kind of see why New Yorkers sometimes feel like they can rule the world. Even in 20 degree temps!

New Year New Hodgepodge-Vol 60

2012-01-04T00:01:00.019-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the fun in this brand new year. Be sure to add your link at the end of my post and then hop around and see what everyone else is saying. Here are my answers-

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

hard

swift

full

Hmmm. I don't think I'll expound right at the moment but I'm thinking there's a blog post brewing in there somewhere.

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

I love shrimp and am not particular about how its prepared...my favorite is probably steamed in Old Bay seasoning with spicy cocktail sauce for dipping. Peel and eat shrimp eaten at a picnic table beside the water on a sunny summer day is pretty close to perfection in my book.

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so, when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

It's getting there. Daughter2 and I hit The Container Store yesterday for help with some re-organizing. I outgrew my holiday storage bins about two Christmases ago and have been stashing decorations here, there and everywhere...it was past time for more boxes. Plus, who doesn't love The Container Store? Something about that place makes me ridiculously happy and daughter2 would say the same.

Hubs took the outdoor lights and wreaths down on Sunday and we got the indoor garlands and bows down on Monday. The trees will be undecorated and back in the basement by Friday. I really enjoy my trees in the week between Christmas and New Years Day when life is quieter and there's plenty of time for being still.

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

Not anything that falls into the horror category but I do love a good mystery. I have an extremely vivid imagination and don't really need anything to add fuel to the fire.

5. ice skating~sledding~ skiing~snowboarding...of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

Definitely not snowboarding. I lack whatever form of coordination is required for that sport. I'm going with skiing...I love the mountains, fresh air, and ski towns...

...especially those nestled into the Alps with their honest to goodness fairy tale charm.

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

Not a hideout per se but my younger sister and I spent a lot of time setting up Barbies under the great big tree in the corner of our backyard. Actually I think the tree was on our neighbors property but this was back in the day before everyone seemed to have fences so it was sort of a communal corner. The tree branches were high and leafy and made a perfect canopy for playing house, dolls, or dress ups.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

The water...I do my best thinking there.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We tried a new salad last night and I have to say it might be the best salad I've ever eaten. I found the recipe on a blog called Just Cook Already. Apparently this recipe is an adapted version of the original served in an Arizona restaurant called Chelsea's Kitchen.

The 'leaves' are brussel sprouts that have been peeled so you don't use the hard bitter core. Before you haters turn up your noses you really should give it a try. The leaves are combined with dried cranberries, dried blueberries, crumbled bacon, almonds, and shaved Parmesan and then topped with a light citrusy mustard vinaigrette. The only bit that's a little time consuming is peeling the sprouts.

It helps to have a daughter in the kitchen acting as sous chef.

This salad is so fresh and pretty and positively scrumptious. I served this as a side to roast chicken but will definitely fix it as a main for a light meal some evening. Click here to get the recipe.

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 60

2012-01-03T00:01:00.014-05:00

Volume 60. That's a lot of random, isn't it? I still enjoy writing and answering the Hodgepodge and as long as I can say that I'll keep it going.

Here are this week's questions, the first in a new year. Answer on your own blog and then come back tomorrow to link your post and see what the neighbors are saying.

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

5. ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Easing into a New Year

2012-01-02T07:26:00.022-05:00

First things first...I haven't been on my blog since sometime last week so happy new year! I feel like I should say something deep and profound in this first post of 2012, but to be honest I just don't have it in me today. I'll get back in the blog groove soon but for now I want to linger in the post Christmas haze. Or laze if you want to get all technical.

We've had a week of walks in the woods and naps on the couch. We rang in the new year with homemade fondue and movies at home. Hubs and I were both awake at midnight much to daughter2's surprise and delight. Well, surprise for sure, but I like to think she was also delighted.

We've watched football and cooking shows and spent an afternoon browsing the shelves of Barnes and Noble. Fifty degree weather on the first day of January was all the motivation hubs needed to get the outdoor lights down. He rewarded himself with a spin in the little red car which most years doesn't see the light of day in January.

Daughter2 is home for another week and we've made a few plans which include fun things like dinner in 'The Big Apple', more shopping, trying some new recipes in the kitchen, and finishing a jigsaw puzzle we started after Christmas. It also includes not so fun things like a trip to the Social Security office for a replacement card and taking down the tree decorations.

Hubs has crazy travel coming up this month and he especially needed the down time we always seem to find at the end of a year. We both needed time to lay low and enjoy the gift of very un-December like weather.

I've taken lots of pictures in an attempt to figure out my new camera. We've trekked thru the woods to the top of our backyard hill and watched the hawk fly and the wild turkeys scatter. The forest is what our bird dog likes to call her happy place.

We've stood beside the quiet calm of our little town's lake and gained a new appreciation for the phrase, 'busy as a beaver'.

I should be this industrious in the new year.

In the month leading up to Christmas my blog was a little heavy on the 'how I spent my weekend' type of postings and a little light on substance. That's okay because life was busy and I'm going to be kind to myself and let me off the hook.

There is something about a new year that fills me with hope. Hope that I'll be better disciplined and less wasteful of the gift of a single hour. Hope that I'll make fewer excuses and log more hours in the gym/pool/countryside. Hope that I'll serve more and want less. More kindness, less irritation. Hope that I'll pray more and worry less. Hope that I'll seize the moment and be more intentional about how I spend my time and live my life.

Hope is good, essential actually, but if we want the things we hope for to become the things we have, then action is required. I don't know about you but I'm hoping this new year is action-packed.

"Start by doing what is necessary; next do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." St. Francis of Assisi

A traditionally traditional Christmas recap

2011-12-29T10:10:00.005-05:00

Posting my Christmas recap feels a little bit like asking people to come over to see my vacation photos, but what's a blog for if not to talk about yourself? Actually having Christmas pictures on my blog from the last two years came in handy when we were trying to remember how the garland wraps around the banisters and where we'd moved the green chair in order to accommodate the tree and where we needed to hang the outdoor wreaths.

Everybody gets in on the fun around here~

We have a tradition of spending every other Christmas with my family and every other Christmas with hubs family. In all the years we've been married this is how it's been with the exception of just two Christmases we decided to stay in England. We trekked to the states from the UK four Christmases in a row and decided that airport crowds and hassle and then shuffling from pillar to post once we got here made it hard to remember the meaning of the season.

And I'm sure one year in the not too distant future we'll create new traditions as my girls marry and start families of their own. But we won't talk about that today because this year both girlies were exactly where they should be-tucked sweetly in to their own beds upstairs. Well, tucked sweetly onto an air mattress on the floor upstairs because we had us a houseful.

Daughter1 has a grown up job now so she didn't get home until Friday evening. If you have kids living away from home you know exactly how wonderful it feels to have all your little chicks in the nest. There is nothing better. We all got busy Christmas Eve day with last minute meal preparations, wrapping, and tidying. My big sister, brother in law, and niece drove up with my mom later in the afternoon. I tried to keep dinner low key in the work department and had a roasted turkey breast and rolls, broccoli salad, and lots of snack type sides.

We made something called Grinch punch which was delicious and very Grinch-like in color. I have punch cups that match my bowl but at Christmas time we always drink punch out of the cups Daughter2 and I collected on our many trips to various German Christmas markets thru the years.

We went to a 9 PM candlelight church service and afterwards the girls opened one gift as tradition dictates and that gift is always pjs. I'm going to see how many times I can use the word 'tradition' in a post.

Here's another one...the picture on the steps. Seemingly patient on the outside but inside it's a whole 'nother story.

I think we may have started a brand new tradition. ahem.

Christmas morning we had stockings and our traditional sausage and egg casserole for breakfast before my brother and sister in law arrived to join the party. They were followed by my little sister, brother in law and five year old nephew.

He may have been a little bit excited.

Apparently Mrs. Claus was a very good girl this year because Santa surprised her with a brand new camera. Course I don't know how to use it but no worries...he also arranged for a lesson with a local photographer and soon I'll be tossing out words like aperture and shutter speed with the best of them. I'm going to try not to annoy my family too much with all my picture taking but I'm not making any promises.

We always do snacks and punch on Christmas afternoon and this year we added an outdoor fire to the festivities. I think when we host that will be a new tradition.

These girls got all crafty and made some fun Santa hors d'oeuvres. A little labor intensive but super cute and tasty. Dinner was ham with all the trimmings and literally dozens of cookies for dessert.

It was a good day.

There were stolen kisses-

a few surprises...

a little Christmas cracker silliness...

and a whole lot of smiles...

My favorite thing?

That's easy...

"It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. The humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart." ~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer

Ringing in the Hodgepodge Vol 59

2011-12-28T00:01:00.013-05:00

I'm currently (still?) drowning in a sea of sheets and towels which is what happens when thirteen people come to stay. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. I'm going to dive right into this week's Hodgepodge and save my Christmas recap for tomorrow's post.

Remember Christmas?

I still want to post some thoughts and pictures for posterity and I'm sure right now my girls are laughing at the word 'posterity'. We watched some old family videos over the holidays and apparently I uttered that phrase every time we pulled out the camera...'Now we have it saved for posterity.'

Who really dislikes seeing themselves on video?

Actually, it's not the seeing I mind so much as the hearing. Yowza.

A-ny-way...the Hodgepodge...here are my answers. Add your link to the bottom of my post and then go say happy new year to others who are playing along today too.

1. Share something you loved about your Christmas day.

We spent Christmas with my family this year and I love to see the cousins all together. It doesn't happen nearly often enough so when it does it's special.

2. You get to put five items in a time capsule to be opened in 100 years, what items would you choose and why?

an ipad loaded with music and a few popular movies...I think its safe to say technology is only going to move faster.

a cell phone which I imagine will be viewed with mouths agape, much the same way my kids look at me when I tell them our phone used to be attached to the wall but had a cord that was 25 feet long. I guess you could say it was 'mobile'-ha! You had to actually dial it and if there was a 9 in the number you were calling that dial had to go allllll the way around. If the person you were trying to reach wasn't home the phone just rang and rang and rang and if they were talking to someone else you got a busy signal, sometimes for hours. Technology isn't all bad. Just sayin'.

my blog bound into a book for a look at everyday life in the year 2011. Hearth and home, faith, motherhood, leisure and world travel. My blog covers all of that, right?

a complete outfit...blue jeans, my suede boots with the cute heel, a sweater and scarf, a fun bag and some casual jewelry. We think these items look great now but I'm pretty sure that's what we thought when we were wearing scrunchies and shoulder pads back in 1980.

a Starbucks mug and menu...we are a culture obsessed with coffee and it would be remiss not to mention it.

3. What do you like on a cracker?

I have a favorite cheese ball recipe I like on a cracker. Daughter2 put it together this year for snacking on Christmas afternoon. I must add that this girl has been quite the cook since arriving home from uni for her winter break. I'm a little bit spoiled with her in the kitchen and am wondering if she really needs that last semester of college?

4. Do you make resolutions? How'd that work out for you this past year?

I do think about my life and what I want to accomplish or improve. Most years I do put some of my goals in writing.

Last year's goals? I guess I'd give myself a C+. That's what's so great about a new year...it's another chance to get things right.

5. What's a song or song lyric you'll associate with 2011?

What Faith Can Do by Kutless

"...I've seen dreams that move the mountains

Hope that doesn't ever end

Even when the sky is falling

I've seen miracles just happen

Silent prayers get answered

Broken hearts become brand new

That's what faith can do..."

6. How will you ring in the new year?

We don't have any special plans at the moment. I think it will be just the three of us here on New Year's Eve since Daughter1 had to go back to work this week and will ring in the new year with her honey. We will likely keep it low key, maybe make fondue for dinner which is always fun and then watch movies and see the ball drop on tv.

7. What is something you look forward to in 2012?

Daughter2 will graduate from uni in May and that's pretty exciting. Mostly though my thoughts are completely focused on my niece and I look forward to the day she beats leukemia and her excellent health is restored.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My sister has a birthday the day after Christmas and even though we have no less than fifteen kinds of cookies in the house we still needed an extra special something to mark the day. Since my sister collects pigs daughter2 baked these cupcakes which are just too adorable.

We found the idea on Pinterest and the recipe suggested pink wafer cookies for the ears. We used pink bubble tape instead which was super easy to work with and could be cut with scissors.

Happy New Year to you all!

Happy Hodgepodge Questions Vol 59

2011-12-27T00:01:00.016-05:00

I hope your holiday was grand. I've had a houseful of company and still need to write my Christmas recap, but in the meantime here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Come back tomorrow to link answers with the whole wide world.

1. Share something you loved about your Christmas Day.

2. You get to put five items in a time capsule to be opened in 100 years, what items would you choose and why?

3. What do you like on a cracker?

4. Do you make resolutions at the start of a new year? How'd that work out for you this past year?

5. What's a song or song lyric you'll associate with 2011?

6. How will you ring in the new year?

7. What is something you look forward to in 2012?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Five Things Friday on Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-22T20:45:00.008-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve Eve...we have been baking and wrapping and shopping and talking. Always lots of talking with Daughter2 in the house which makes my heart so happy. Tonite Daughter1 joins the party and my little family will be complete.

The weather has been ridiculously warm and un-December like around here. I'm not complaining, just reporting the facts. Its supposed to turn colder tomorrow, just in time for Christmas, but there's no snow in our forecast. That's okay with me since I have family that needs to get here.

Daughter2 got home a week ago and has been the queen of baking. So far she's made eight kinds of cookies...here's a peek at some of them-

Last night for dinner she fixed The Pioneer Woman's recipe for spicy lemon garlic shrimp. Let's just say it might be a little bit hard to return her to university in January.

Finally, I'm posting our Christmas card picture here, without our names of course because this is the internet. I pray you feel the peace and joy this season brings and know the love God brought to earth in the gift of his very own Son.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15

The Gift

2011-12-22T00:01:00.013-05:00

'To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Today is a big day for our family. Today my 17 year old niece will receive a stem cell transplant from a randomly matched donor we have never met and most likely never will. I haven't written a lot about my niece's story because its not mine to tell, but not writing about it doesn't mean it hasn't been on our minds every single minute of every single day.

Many of you have emailed that you are praying and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. The prayers of friends and family and those of perfect strangers from all corners of the globe have meant so much to all of us, but especially to my niece and her parents. Her strength and faith have inspired us all and if you knew her in person I'm sure you'd say the same. She is so dearly loved.

When my niece and her parents learned the donor was living in Europe they dubbed him 'Nigel' and the name stuck. Essentially all we know about 'Nigel' is that he is a healthy young man. A healthy young man willing to interrupt and rearrange his life the week before Christmas in order to have his cells harvested, placed on a flight across the sea, and given to a courageous young girl who has traveled a rough and rocky road to be ready for this day.

'Nigel' was identified as a potential match through the bone marrow donor registry a couple of months ago. Once it was determined he was healthy and willing, and that he met the specific medical requirements, a transplant date was set. Originally the procedure was scheduled for early December but my niece developed pneumonia and the transplant had to be postponed to a date just three days before Christmas. Today.

I don't know what 'Nigel's' normal week is like but I assume he probably has a job, friends and family, and like most people this time of year, a very full calendar. Being a donor meant he had to interrupt what I'm sure was a busy week before Christmas to have his stem cells harvested.

And so we wait some more. Our hearts are overflowing with love and gratitude for a stranger we call 'Nigel' and his extraordinary gift. We have prayed for 'Nigel' for many weeks now, for his own good health, for his employers to be understanding, for whatever in his life needed rearranging in order to make today happen. I wonder if 'Nigel' has felt the prayers of so many who have been lifting him up these past many weeks? I like to think so.

I pray God continues to bless the giver.

And I pray He blesses the sweet special girl to whom the gift is given.

'Twas the Hodgpodge before Christmas

2011-12-21T00:01:00.028-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge. I hope this week finds you enjoying time with friends and family as we celebrate the gift of God's only Son. Be sure to add your link to the bottom of my post and then go spread Christmas cheer to some of the other Hodgepodgers playing along today. Merry Christmas!

1. Are you cooking Christmas dinner? How many will be round your table this year? What are we having?

I'm cooking Christmas dinner but will have lots of help from my girls. My sisters, niece, and my mom will pitch in too and we all like the kitchen. There will be 13 for dinner and we're having baked ham, cranberry salad, pineapple stuffing, scalloped potatoes, brussel sprouts with pancetta and garlic, marinated green beans, and an assortment of Christmas cookies for dessert. We usually have a big breakfast on Christmas morning, punch and hors d'oeuvres in the afternoon, and dinner around 6. I'm also cooking the Christmas Eve meal for eight and the day after Christmas meal too, since that happens to be my sister's birthday. She collects pigs and I've put daughter2 in charge of making some super cute pig cupcakes we saw on Pinterest.

2. What is one must-have Christmas cookie in your house?

In my house everyone has their one must-have which means we do a lot of baking. If I can only choose one I'm going to say buttercreams which are really more of a candy than a cookie.

They are deliciously rich and sweet...little balls of butter and sugar, each one carefully dipped in melted chocolate. My entire family would revolt if there were no buttercreams at Christmas.

3. Santa likes a glass of milk with his cookies-do you? What kind of milk is on tap at your house-skim, almond, soy, full fat (Gasp!)

In our house Santa drinks skim milk. So does Mrs. Claus.

4. Time magazine recently named its Person of the Year for 2011. This is the person the editors believe has had the greatest impact, for better or worse, in the past year. This year they chose 'The Protester'. Your thoughts? Who would you name person of the year for 2011?

This was tough. My personal opinion is this-I think this distinction should only be given to the person/persons who have impacted the world for good. Let's not give any more media attention and recognition to those who have done the opposite. Don't they get enough publicity? I glanced at Time's list of candidates and all I can say is thank goodness they didn't select Kim Kardashian or Charlie Sheen.

How about our Navy Seals? Or Gabriel Giffords...a person who triumphed over tragedy, whose husband stood beside her and declared his love and support from outer space. Let's acknowledge people doing what is good and right in the face of overwhelming odds, not people making disasters of their lives or countries.

5. December 21st is National Flashlight Day...when was the last time you needed a flashlight? Did you know right where to find one?

Hubs needed a flashlight just the other evening...when it rains hard the fuse on our outdoor light blows and he has to climb behind some shrubs to reset it. We have a spot in one of our kitchen cabinets reserved for flashlights so I knew right where to find one. The bigger question around here is always-'Does it work?'

6. candy canes...yum or yuck?

I like candy canes crushed in a hot cocoa mix or used as a stirrer for a cup of cocoa but I'm not a fan of just eating one right out of the package.

7. What Christmas carol lyric means the most to you?

As a stand alone lyric, a line from O Holy Night-

'He appeared and the soul felt its worth.'

Think about it.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We spent this past weekend in Chicago. A high school friend of daughter2's tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony on Sunday evening.

Since my girls both attended high school overseas they don't often have a chance to connect in person with friends from those special years. Several of Daughter2's high school pals were at the wedding.

They came from five different states and had not seen one another in a long, long while, yet there was not a single moment of awkwardness when they laid eyes on each other again. The bond kids form with one another in a shared ex pat experience is strong and life long and hard to explain.

When I see these 'kids' I picture them standing in the kitchen of my UK house, lounging on my sofa during a Thursday night Young Life club, or walking down the high street of a quaint English village.

Daughter2 and the bride played Adelaide and Sarah in their grade 8 production of Guys and Dolls. They sang a duet called 'Marry the Man Today'...

...and she did.

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 58

2011-12-20T00:01:00.022-05:00

I've more or less dropped the ball on the photo challenge but will hopefully get back in gear later this week. And I was going to post my Christmas card photo over at Kimberly's Korner yesterday, but my computer ran out of black ink just before we left town so I wasn't able to scan the card.

Left town?

Yes indeed we did go out of town the weekend before Christmas. You're not really surprised are you? What that means is I now (still?) have loads of catching up to do both here and in real life, but especially in real life so for now I'm going to post this week's questions and move along. Come back tomorrow to link answers with all of Santa's helpers-

1. Are you cooking Christmas dinner? How many will be round your table this year? What are we having?

2. What is one must-have Christmas cookie in your house?

3. Santa likes a glass of milk with his cookies. Do you? What kind of milk is on tap at your house-skim? almond? soy? full fat (Gasp!)

4. Time magazine recently named their 'Person of the Year' for 2011. This is the person the editors believe had the greatest impact, for better or worse, in the past year. This year they chose 'The Protester'. Your thoughts? Who would you name Person of the Year for 2011?

5. December 21st is National Flashlight Day... when was the last time you needed a flashlight and did you know right where to find one?

6. candy canes...yum or yuck?

7. What Christmas carol lyric means the most to you?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Home for the Holidays

2011-12-16T00:26:00.000-05:00

I'm going to pass on Friday's photo challenge since the prompt is 'hippo' and I haven't a clue. It's also time for the annual Holiday Blog Tour of Homes hosted by Kelly's Korner and Nesting Place so I thought I'd join in there today instead. I love to see all the different ways people decorate their homes for Christmas. Grab a cuppa and come on in...

We had the idea that we might hire one of those lighting companies to do the outdoor lights this year since hubs back has been giving him fits. Ha- when he saw the quote it was his heart that nearly gave out. I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you the estimate but it was ka-razy!

We don't do a lot of outdoor lighting plus we have a rather large gap in our landscaping thanks to losing a huge tree during that insane October snowstorm. fyi-If you've never visited my blog before you should know that I have trouble posting pictures without a lot of words to go with. ahem.

I posted this picture of my front staircase the other day-

Here's my Colonial Soldier all decked out for the holidays standing guard in the foyer. Ordinarily he's quite serious and doesn't wear a big red bow. He's one of my most favorite keepsakes from our years spent living in England-

My house has high ceilings and a somewhat open plan which makes taking pictures a little bit challenging. Or it might just be my lousy photography skills but whatever, it's hard to find an angle that isn't awkward.

This little snowman sits on a half wall between my foyer and family room...he says Willkommen. Allow me to translate-that means Welcome in German. My talent for languages is impressive, yes? A tea light sits in his back but I couldn't capture him lit. I bought him at a Christmas market in the old walled city of Nuremberg.

Our main tree is in the family room. I'm still tweaking my mantle but so far I like it-

I bought new brass stocking hangers this year and also new stockings from Pottery Barn-

They refuse to hang with their toes aligned which only bothers me a little bit. I'm thinking if I put something in them they'll straighten up. As much as I'd like to obsess about this I just don't have the time.

I like to take a picture of my family room from the upstairs bridge looking down. It's not really a bridge but I don't know what word to use...it's the piece of hallway that connects our Master bedroom to the rest of the house. This portion of the hallway is open on both sides so you can look down into my family room or the main foyer.

If you look really closely you'll see my pup curled up in 'her' chair.

We have a second tree in our sunroom and because this is the front of the house you can see it from outside. I took this picture thru the glass doors looking in from the living room.

Our living room is not actually all that lived in but the sunroom is maybe my favorite room in the house.

I changed things up a little bit this year with my Snow Village. In the past I've had it on top of my kitchen cabinets but a. it's a pain to get it up there and b. hubs thinks it might be a small fire hazard with the way the chords are put together and c. you cannot see every adorable little detail in the buildings at that distance. Look at these little skis that sit in the ski rest at the Smokey Mountain Resort-

Normally I put my nativity set on the side table but since that's home now to my Snow Village I moved the nativity to the coffee table. I actually really like it here-front and center.

We've had this nativity set since our first married Christmas-1984. It has only suffered one casualty in all that time and that's Joseph. The original broke somehow and I found a replacement that kind of fits. Hubs says this Joseph has a bit of a pituitary problem but I don't think it's too noticeable.

Moving on (told you I like words)...I have three glass jars on my kitchen island year round and I like to change out the contents with the seasons. Right now I have red, green, and gold jingle bells and small ornaments in the two smaller jars and a candle surrounded by cinnamon scented pine cones in the bigger jar. I always have a lot of candles around here. I don't think a house can ever have too many candles, case in point, my kitchen table-

and one of my favorites in my family room-

I bought this basket filled with pine cones, gold beads, and blue fairy lights at our women's club auction one year-

My dining room is navy blue and white so it sits on my server beside my German pyramid. I know some people think a dining room is wasted space but I'm not one of them.

Thanks for stopping by today...since this post is kinda long I think I'll wrap it up with one of my favorite nativity scenes-

Wishing you a Christmas filled with JOY!

Ring the Bells

2011-12-15T00:01:00.004-05:00

I'm happy I joined in the December photo challenge over at Susan's blog. My brain is swimming these days and the photo prompt gives me a jumping off place for a blog post. Today's prompt is 'silver bells' and instead of a photograph I'm sharing a video. If you've never heard Casting Crowns version of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day then you've missed something beautiful.

The words to this old hymn were originally a poem written by Longfellow following a serious injury to his son and the tragic death of his wife. As the story goes, the Civil War had started and that, combined with his personal tragedies, made him wonder if he'd ever know peace again. On Christmas Eve, 1863 he sat down to write a poem. As he listened to the bells ringing over and over again he recognized that God isn't dead, that as long as there is Christmas there is the promise of new life. You can read more about the history of the carol here.

I love the old hymns and in general don't like them messed with but this is one I think has been made better by a haunting melody and Casting Crowns beautiful clear sound.

Dashing thru the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Volume 57

2011-12-14T00:01:00.017-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you took the time to play along today. Be sure to add your link at the bottom of my post and in the spirit of Christmas go visit your neighbors and leave some comment love. Here are my answers-

1. Do you put Christmas decorations in every room of your house? If not, what rooms do you decorate?

We have some sort of decoration in most rooms of our house but I keep things pretty simple. The family room, dining room, kitchen, and sunroom are the main rooms decorated, and since I have a lot of house guests in December I usually add small touches to the bedrooms and bathrooms too.

2. If you could visit one of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) which one would you choose and why?

All of the above. Okay, I know that's not a choice but these are all countries I want to visit. Hubs has been to all of them but Iceland and even went ice diving inside the Arctic circle on a trip to Finland. I stayed at home and prayed he didn't have a heart attack because someone had to.

You sit in a steamy sauna then walk out to the ice in your birthday suit and then drop down into frigid water through a hole cut into the ice.

I guess if I must choose I'm going with Sweden because we have friends who live there. Or Norway for its stunning scenery.

3. What does the word faith mean to you?

I think all of us exercise faith in a multitude of ways on a daily basis and have been doing so pretty much since the day we were born. I could insert examples such as air travel, the brakes on my car, or the surgeon preparing to operate. For me though, the heart of faith is best summed up by one verse in the book of Hebrews (1:11)

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

It's been a tough few months around here as we have watched my niece battle cancer. I cannot imagine walking that road without faith. Faith is what allows us to find joy amid life's trials. To know peace when there is suffering. To feel hope for tomorrow.

4. You can go back to your childhood for one day...what day and age would you choose?

I'm going to pick a day that my siblings and I all remember. I was in the fourth grade and my dad had come home that fall after spending a year+ in Vietnam. Sometime later in that school year my sisters and brother and I were picked up early from class (which never happened) and my parents took us to Philadelphia to see the Ringling Brothers circus.

I guess in today's world that doesn't sound like such a big deal but in 1969 it was huge. My dad didn't throw money around and one of the things that stands out to all of us about that day is the way my dad seemed to love buying us anything we wanted. Snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy...these were all big treats to us and he just kept them coming. I think we all remember this day though, not for what we got, but for how we felt. My dad was a Marine and kept his emotions close to the vest most of the time. On this day he wore his heart on his sleeve.

5. When did you last have 'punch'? If its not too much trouble share your favorite punch recipe.

Probably last Christmas although there was a punch served at the party we attended on Friday. I'm not sure what was in it but it had cranberries floating as a garnish and they were so pretty. We always have punch on Christmas afternoon while we're snacking on appetizers. It's so simple and delicious:

one large can of pineapple juice

one jar of cranberry juice

one 2-liter bottle of 7-up

Combine and serve. I usually make an ice ring to keep it cold but regular ole ice cubes work too.

I saw a recipe on Pinterest for something called Grinch punch that I want to try on Christmas Eve...it looks so pretty and is the color of the Grinch. Click here to find the recipe.

6. Do you fill stockings at your house? Are stockings opened before or after the bigger gifts?

Everyone in my family would agree that stockings are our favorite part of Christmas morning. We fill them to overflowing and a few gifts always spill over into your chair too. There is always a tangerine (clementine) in the toe because there just is. Up until about 15 years ago my mom still filled stockings for her four grown married children and their spouses but in more recent years we each buy a stocking stuffer for our siblings and then the four siblings fill my mom's stocking.

As far as when they are opened, in our house it's definitely before the bigger gifts. We have our Christmas morning routine down pat and we do not deviate from that routine. Ever. I hope my future sons in law are reading this.

7. What takes your breath away?

When my daughters say something deep and wise, when they see a need and act on that need. I feel a rush of pride and amazement, not that they are smart and compassionate, but just that they are so grown up and thoughtful and see the world in a way that I admire.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm using this space today to post my picture for the December photo challenge. Today's prompt is 'decked hall'...

Fa la la la la.

Dasher and Dancer and Hodgepodge Questions-Vol 57

2011-12-13T00:01:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be clever and incorporate my picture for today's photo challenge into this week's Hodgepodge questions. Today's prompt is 'reindeer' and I had to search high and low to find one around here.

This pretty little Villeroy and Boch ceramic box was a hostess gift from a friend in the UK. At Christmas time I set it beside the sink in Daughter2's bathroom because its proportions fit there and its coloring matches my paint.

What does that have to do with this week's Hodgepodge? See question #1. And then answer question # 1 and all the rest of them too and don't forget to come back tomorrow so we can all link up for a holiday Hodgepodge party.

1. Do you put Christmas decorations in every room of your house? If not every room, what rooms do you decorate?

2. If you could visit one of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) which one would you choose and why?

3. What does the word faith mean to you?

4. You can go back to your childhood for one day...what day and age would you choose?

5. When did you last have 'punch'? If it's not too much trouble share your favorite punch recipe.

6. Do you fill stockings at your house? Are stockings opened before or after the bigger gifts?

7. What takes your breath away?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

That Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-12-12T00:01:00.007-05:00

It's Monday so let's talk about Christmas, shall we? Who has a to-do list as long as their arm this week? Who thinks blogging is a good use of their time anyway? I knew I wasn't alone.

Our weekend kicked off with a Friday night Christmas party at the home of one of hubs co-workers. Four of the party go-ers spent the night here afterwards which was fun...we had a leisurely breakfast before they all went on their merry way Saturday morning. After they left hubs and I may have accidentally on purpose indulged in big lazy naps and movie watching for a large chunk of the afternoon.

There I go again, making good use of my time.

Actually I could make the case for a good nap any day of the year, but especially in December. I felt like a new woman on Sunday and I'm pretty sure that's due to my Saturday afternoon siesta. We did manage to squeeze in a little wrapping and card writing too, and by we I mean me because hubs only wraps under duress. Plus he had places to go and people to see which is really code for work, so on Sunday he headed to his home away from home-aka the airport. Don't feel too sorry for him though because he's in the fairy tale village of Heidelberg.

Without me.

Which might make me sad except one of us has to be home to collect this little cutie pie from the airport in a couple of days-

Okay, so that's a picture from a long ago Christmas past but seriously, is she the cutest thing ever or what? Daughters coming home from university for the holidays makes me supremely happy. Especially daughters who love to bake and have worked in retail where they learned to tie beautiful bows.

I truly do have loads to tick off my list today so I will leave you with a picture of 'something sticky' which is our prompt for today's photo challenge....

Isn't that mitten bowl cute? I make several batches of this Christmas Chex Mix throughout the month of December. It's easy and delicious and completely addicting. We usually take a bottle of wine to our party hosts but I also like to package this up in a festive container tied with ribbon and a Christmas ornament and voila...a fun little hostess gift.

You can find the recipe online but it's Christmas so I'm saving you the trouble-

8 cups cereal (I use 3 cups each of rice and corn chex and 2 cups cheerios)

2 cups salted peanuts

2 cups pretzel sticks

1-12 oz. bag of red and green m & m's

1 lb. white chocolate

Combine the cereal, peanuts, pretzels and m & m's in a large bowl. Melt the chocolate and pour over cereal mix to coat. Dump it all out on some waxed paper to harden. Enjoy!

Away in a Manger

2011-12-10T15:29:00.014-05:00

For the past several Decembers I've traveled with a group of friends to Christmas markets in one charming German city after another.

The market stalls are loaded with vendors selling amazing food, jewelry, scarves and, my personal favorite, beautiful handcrafted Christmas decorations. There are so many choices it's hard to know what to buy. Occasionally our decisions were based on luggage space which is sad but true.

I have brightly colored nutcrackers, delicate glass ornaments, a small hand carved nativity and, one of my very favorite souvenirs, a German pyramid. The pyramids come in several different sizes but mine is four-tiered with six candles around the bottom tier. When you light the candles the paddles on top of the pyramid slowly turn.

I chose this pyramid because it held all the pieces of the nativity story. In the center of the bottom tier you'll find Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus in the manger. All around this scene are the intricately carved camels and kings.

The two middle tiers feature shepherds and their teeny tiny sheep...

And on top of it all is where you'll see the sweet choir of angels...

I can almost hear them singing.

"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." Luke 2:7 (NIV)

This post is linked to the December photo challenge hosted by Susan...today's prompt-Away in a Manger.

Santa Claus is (still) comin' to town

2011-12-09T07:02:00.000-05:00

Has Santa always been controversial? When I was a kid I didn't know anyone whose family didn't include Santa as part of their December celebrations. Well, other than my Jewish friends but they got presents for eight days straight which always made us just a little bit envious.

My own parents didn't go overboard. I mean my dad never donned a red suit or climbed out on the roof to ring sleigh bells but he did love the excitement of Christmas morning. And my mother stayed up til ridunculous hours getting our stockings filled and making sure everything would be just so when her family descended the stairs at o'dark thirty. I think most mothers would agree that Santa would be nothing were it not for Mrs. Claus.

In recent years it seems there is much discussion about the influence of Santa...the commercial side of Christmas has definitely been amped up a hundred fold since I was a kid. I do know that as a child I never confused Santa with Jesus. We heard the real Christmas story at Christmas time (and throughout the year) and were taught the importance and real meaning of the day. Santa Claus was something else and we understood this.

We knew we'd go to church at Christmas time. We went to church every Sunday and Christmas would be no exception. Besides I loved church, especially in December. As an adult the Christmas Eve service has become my favorite part of the holiday. Even so, the excitement that built as Christmas day rolled around, that sense of anticipation my siblings and I felt, is something I will never forget.

I remember going to bed on Christmas Eve feeling like my heart might burst. It was full. I felt a special measure of love on Christmas Eve for the sister with whom I shared a room. Oh we may have argued on other days but never ever on Christmas Eve. We were giddy with excitement and whispered across the space between our twin beds long after the lights went out. We'd tell each other that the sooner we went to sleep the sooner it would be morning. And somehow, in spite of ourselves, we would sleep.

I remember waking while it was still dark. My older sister would come into our room and the three of us would creep not so quietly into our brother's room to wait for the street lights to go out. It felt like hours and it may have been. We weren't allowed to wake our parents if the street lights were still on.

My mother took such care in wrapping our gifts and she still ties beautiful bows. We each had our special places in the living room and knew right where to look for our stockings which were, and still are, our favorite part of the day. Once those were finished we'd have a big breakfast before opening other gifts. The morning seemed to stretch on forever.

I don't remember my parents using Santa as a means of keeping us in line. He was more the jolly character who came quietly in the night and left happy childhood memories in his wake. While there are one or two gifts that stand out, the thing that bubbles to the surface of my heart when Christmas comes round is the sense of belonging to a family who loved me unconditionally.

I'm fairly certain a metaphor could be inserted here.

We've carried on similar traditions with our own girls at Christmas. One year hubs had taken the girls to the mall for some last minute shopping. We knew Daughter1 no longer believed in Santa (these thoughts are never said aloud) but Daughter2 had nary a doubt. A reporter from the local newspaper was there and he stopped them for an interview. He asked Daughter2, 'How does Santa get all those presents down your chimney and into your house?" Hubs could not believe his ears. Was this reporter going to ruin Santa for Daughter2 just days before Christmas? She was considering his question for a moment when out of nowhere Daughter1 piped up and said, 'Well, he climbs up on the rooftop and....and...he just does...it's really kind of magical." Problem solved. By a ten year old.

I found a few pictures from that long ago December day. I'm linking them for today's photo challenge since the prompt is 'Santa Claus'. Daughter2 needed to talk to Santa and Daughter1 went along with it in the name of sisterhood and make believe.

Christmas, 1998

Daughter1 is perfecting that thing tweens do with their eyes that parents dislike. She is sitting quietly but inside she is shouting-Do NOT take my picture with Santa! I'm too grown up for this.

Santa doesn't think so...

He asks Daughter1 what she wants for Christmas while Daughter2 tries to calm her nerves and remember her list. (Daughter2 always always has a list.)

She succeeds.

I love this Santa...he takes his job seriously.

And I love these big little girls, who at ages 8 and 10, loved Christmas and Santa and each other. They had imaginations as big as the sky and it was there they tucked Santa once Christmas Day had passed. These big little girls loved Jesus too. Still do. He lives not in their imaginations, but deep in their hearts...on Christmas and everyday after.

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." Luke 2:6-7

A Mery Christmas Tale

2011-12-08T07:25:00.024-05:00

Once upon a time there lived a family, a mom and dad and their two darling daughters, who grew up and lived in their own apartments in two different states far away from their parents home and hearth. I know that's sad but don't worry, the story has a happy ending.

As with most of life's small details mama was in charge of the family's Christmas card each year. In spite of her babies growing up when she had her back turned for a minute, Mama still wanted to include them in the annual family photo card. She knew it would be silly to have a family Christmas card photo without all family members present and accounted for so way, way, way back in late August she had a brilliant idea.

Her whole little family would be together for a fun filled weekend celebration of baby girls 21st birthday in early September. Mama knew this was her window of opportunity and she seized it. She also knew this Christmas picture would be taken in warm weather under sunny skies so in a fit of creativity Mama decided to add just a splash of the meaning of the season to the photo. She purchased wooden letters from the craft store and painted them a cheerful Christmas green. She even remembered to haul those painted letters through three states to the birthday celebration. Sometimes that whole 'remembering to follow through' part of a great idea is where Mama drops the ball but not this time. No sirree, she was on top of her game.

Let's recap-it was September. Christmas was still more than three months away yet Mama had her whole family together, dressed in non-clashing clothing, smiling for a photographer (okay, brother in law) under sunny blue skies, holding holiday letters she had painted herself. Mama rocks!

The seasons they go round and round and now it's early December. Mama spends hours perusing various and sundry websites to find the perfect template for her photo. She discards all those that are too busy, too wordy, and too tacky until she finally lands on one that is just right. The color scheme matches her family photo to a T and the wording is simple. The photo is the star which is how she likes it.

She ever so carefully enters her text onto the backside of the card template, checking each and every letter as she goes. She reads it back over and over again to be certain there are no errors because a spelling error in the Christmas card might just send mama right over the edge. She hits enter and she smiles.

A week or so later her cards arrive in the mail. She tears open the box, anxious to see how it all came together. She has company in the house though, so she only has a minute to glance at the package and she is happy. It looks beautiful and her carefully thought out plan has come together.

The hubs comes home. She cannot wait to show him the card and as soon as he has greeted their guests she calls him into the other room to see her handiwork. He takes one quick glance and pronounces, 'The word Merry is spelled wrong."

Wait, what?

What did he say? A spelling mistake? That can't be. No no no. Mama had checked and rechecked and triple checked her spelling before hitting enter. She looks at her pretty card again. Mery Christmas.

Mery? Really?

AAAAGGH!!!!

The only teeny tiny bright spot here is that the mistake is not hers. The mistake is on the front of the card in their template. Mama thinks she might cry but instead she sits with her company who are family, and they talk about big serious things going on with people they love and Mama regains her perspective once more.

She calls the printer the very next day and they are apologetic and kind and they give her a full refund and tell her they will give her free expedited shipping and 50% off a new order which makes Mama mostly happy. Since the error was in their template she can't just reorder the same card. She has to choose a new card. Under pressure. So she does. Actually Mama does some of her best work under pressure.

And so a new card will come and it won't be her first choice but the wishes it holds will still be the same. And Mama won't have a picture for todays photo challenge whose prompt was 'stamped and addressed cards' but she will have joy in her heart anyway. Because Christmas is coming, and when she thinks about a baby born in a manger over 2000 years ago she knows that a less than perfect card is not such a big deal.

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child." Luke 2:4-5 (NIV)

Grandma Got Run Over by the Hodgepodge-Volume 56

2011-12-07T00:01:00.031-05:00

Gosh Wednesdays roll around quicker and more often in December don't they? If you are ducking some holiday chore like baking or wrapping or cleaning then welcome! And if you're one of those super organized, plan ahead, never procrastinate, have Christmas shopping done in September types, well I guess you're welcome too. Actually everyone is welcome in the Wednesday Hodgepodge...here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. Will you be hosting any house guests between now and the end of December? Does that thought make you happy or crazy? Do you do anything special to make your house guests feel welcome? How long should a guest stay?

Will I be hosting any house guests? Do you know us? We pretty much have a steady stream of house guests around here and for the most part that makes me happy. We enjoy having company and most of our visitors are not here for more than an overnight or a weekend. Hubs brother and sister in law were here last night on their journey south and on Friday night we have three or maybe four or possibly six of hubs co-workers spending the night. We're all attending a Christmas party in our neck of the woods which, as the hubs likes to say, is just south of Canada, and since these co-workers all live closer to the big city it makes sense for them to spend the night here. We're hosting my side of the family for Christmas this year so thirteen relatives of various ages, sizes, and temperaments will be here for two, three, or four days beginning December 24th.

As far as making things special...I like to put a little gift bag in their room or at least water and a snack. I make one nice big breakfast and we usually get bagels from The Best Bagel Shop in NJ (literally!)...

Mostly I try to relax so my guests feel like they can do the same.

How long should they stay? I think I'll plead the 5th since potential house guests read my blog and I don't want anyone to feel like they're not welcome to stay as long as they like. They're not but I like them to feel like they are.

2. Walter Elias Disney was born this week back in (Dec 5) 1905...what's your all time favorite Disney movie? Here's a list in case you're struggling...and yes, you have to pick one.

Y'all know I'm not good with the whole 'one' thing, right?

I'm going with The Parent Trap.

3. What's the last thing you purchased that you realized was a mistake after the fact?

I had trouble with this one. I'm not really an impulse shopper and I think buyers remorse is usually associated with impulse shopping. Four houses ago we purchased a couch and love seat that was just eh once we got it in the house. We lived with them for several years anyway.

4. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done online?

Hmmm...more than 50% but less than 90%...math was never my thing.

5. Amaryllis...snowdrop...poinsettia...your favorite winter blossom?

Snowdrops...we had the sweetest little bed of snowdrops off the patio in our UK house...the weather could be a bit dreary there in the winter and these precious little flowers would bloom wildly in spite of that. Seeing the snowdrops pop open meant spring was not so far away. I don't have a photo but you can click here if you've never seen a snowdrop.

6. What is one thing on your personal wish list this year? I think we all want peace on earth so let's make this an actual item.

I want a new ski jacket but hubs informed me that was no fun and I should just go buy one for myself and he'll come up with his own surprise. I would love a fancy camera. Not too fancy because we all know technology isn't really my friend, but one that allows me to zoom without the picture going all blurry would be nice.

7. If you could only use one word today what would it be?

Hope...that word has become our theme song around here since August.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Using the random space today for my Day 7 photo challenge picture...today's prompt is 'wreath with a red bow'...

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register." Luke 2:1-3 (NIV)

Candy canes, cocoa, and questions of course

2011-12-06T00:01:00.027-05:00

Before I post the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge (because who has nothing else to do besides hang out online??) I'm going to share a fun little gift idea I found guess where? Ha! Pinterest of course, home to a gillion great ideas.

I have overnight house guests arriving tonite and even though we're family (or maybe especially because we're family) I wanted to make a little gift bag filled with Christmas cheer. We won't see this particular branch of the family tree over Christmas so I put a couple of little goodies into a bag and also added a couple of homemade items.

One is a cute Snowman canister full of granola. You'll find the recipe here and I'm seriously addicted. It is di-vine! The other homemade item is a container of peppermint cocoa mix. So cute if I do say so myself and really simple to put together. You layer the ingredients in a 1-quart clear container, add the directions for serving, and voila-a yummy comforting chocolate treat.

You'll find the recipe here but the layers are powdered milk, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, mini chocolate chips and...get ready for it...today's Photo Challenge Prompt...'a candy cane or five'.

Actually this recipe called for 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint and I had about 20 of the mini candy canes in my pantry so I used those. I put them in a baggie and enthusiastically pounded them with the back of a spoon. Pretty and therapeutic!

Now on to this week's questions...I know everyone is busy but you need a break from the shopping and the wrapping and the baking, right? Here ya go...be sure to come back tomorrow and link answers with all of Santa's elves.

1. Will you be hosting any house guests between now and the end of December? Does that thought make you happy or crazy? Do you do anything special for your guests to make them feel at home? How long should a house guest stay?

2. Walter Elias Disney was born this week (December 5) back in 1905 ...what's your all time favorite Disney movie? Here's a list in case you're struggling...and yes, you have to pick one.

3. What was the last thing you purchased that you realized was a mistake after the fact?

4. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done online?

5. Amaryllis-snowdrop-poinsettia...your favorite winter blossom?

6. What is one thing on your personal Christmas wish list? I think we all want peace on earth so let's make this answer an actual item.

7. If you could only use one word today what would it be?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The Magic Hat

2011-12-05T09:06:00.022-05:00

We had a fun busy weekend that felt as full as Santa's sack on Christmas Eve. I have a sneaking suspicion this post will feel that way too. Friday night hubs and I had planned to knock out a little shopping, but he called on his way home from the office and asked if I wouldn't prefer a glass of wine and a lovely Italian meal at one of our favorite restaurants instead.

Why yes...yes I think I would.

So we did. And it was fun. And not totally unproductive in that I think we do need to just stop the madness every now and then and enjoy what's right in front of us. It was a lovely evening, much lovelier than any mall or shopping center on a Friday night three weeks before Christmas could ever hope to be.

We each had a fairly long to-do list for Saturday which included baking and decorating and a trip to the hardware store and then another trip to the hardware store and maybe a third trip to the hardware store, but we also penciled in a fun midday break. Our little town has some German roots and in early December they host their own version of a German Christmas market.

Oh, it makes me so homesick for my other life. This is the first year I haven't been to a picturesque little European market since 2003. Sigh. Such happy memories of times spent with friends and daughter2. Big sigh.

Our little market makes for a pretty good substitute. We met the very lovely German woman who started the market ten years ago and she knows a thing or two about what's needed to make small town New Jersey feel like a charming German village for one weekend in December. For starters you need a beautiful setting...

add vendors manning stalls selling handmade German smokers...

lots of wonderful food, a few thousand of your nearest neighbors and of course some Christmas music to keep it all festive.

Consider this next photo my entry in the Christmas Photo Challenge for today. Our prompt was 'something warm and tasty' and stroopwafels definitely qualify.

If you've never tried one you must...they're a Dutch treat, waffles made from thin layers of batter with a caramel-like filling.

Set one atop your steaming cup of coffee and the center gets gooey and even more delicious. Know what else is delicious?

Gluwein in a specially designed mug...this is key if you want your market experience to be authentic.

And now I must say a word about the hat. I jokingly call it the magic hat because whenever hubs wears it we make new friends. It's like a magnet. As we made our way thru the crowds he was stopped over and over and over again and asked about his hat. No less than five people took his picture. Several were German and they told us about their childhood homes across the sea and how it came to be that they were eating bratwurst and sipping German beer in the New Jersey countryside.

Hey, even Santa needed a closer look...

The hat is special. It was purchased several years ago in a teeny tiny town in the Austrian Alps, this one in fact-

The wonderful little shopkeeper insisted he take the edelweiss pin to make the hat complete and so it began. He started adding a pin most everywhere he traveled and now that hat is chock-a-block full of flags and emblems and memories. A very special keepsake.

Is this post long? Sorry. I told you our weekend was full. Besides all of the above and a whole lot of decorating in between we also managed to squeeze in two parties, one on Saturday night and another on Sunday afternoon. The Sunday afternoon gathering is an annual event held at the home of hubs former boss.

She and her husband raise money for a local food bank at this event and its possible her hubs walked a llama thru their gorgeous family room. He and my hubs are like two peas in a pod. Not literally of course because her hubs is uber-uber tall, but in spirit? They are so kindred.

Thus concludes the weekend. You are welcome.

Sit a Spell

2011-12-04T19:08:00.009-05:00

I don't know what it was like at your house this weekend but our place was hoppin'! We seem to be decorating in fits and spurts this year and even though we decorated two trees the weekend after Thanksgiving, the main tree was minus its top until today.

During the month of December I'm participating in Susan's Christmas photo challenge. Yesterday's prompt was 'the Christmas tree' and today's prompt is 'presents wrapped under the tree' which, let me tell you, was a bit of an incentive to get it all together! Okay, maybe not all together but at least the tree bit. I'm still going to cheat a little though, and post a two for one deal because a. there are only so many hours in the day and b. Christmas will be here in three weeks. Three weeks? Wait, it's December?? What happened to November?

Is your tree up? Decorated? Real or artificially beautiful? Glitter and bling or homespun happiness? I think the soft quiet light of a Christmas tree at night would make my list of favorite things.

"You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."

Luke 1: 31-33 (NIV)

You want lists I got lists...

2011-12-02T07:43:00.020-05:00

I'm participating in Susan's December photo challenge which you can read about here. The idea is to take one photo a day between now and Christmas that goes along with each day's word prompt. There are many wonderful photographers out there in the blogosphere, but sadly I am not one of them. I love pictures and I take lots of them, but I'm not a skilled photographer and I don't have a fancy camera. Today's prompt is 'a list'.

I might have a list or ten around here. Lists of menus for the many meals I'll be preparing over the holidays, grocery lists to go with the menu lists, lists of gift ideas, lists of gifts bought, lists of cookies to be baked, a Christmas card list...there's more. I do love me a good list. That being said, when you consider my lame photography skills I don't think taking a picture of all those lists would be very exciting for my readership. Ha.

As opposed to all these words I've written explaining myself. ahem

So here's my list.

In photo form-

I have a luncheon to attend today and I'm bringing a starter. There will be about 50 people at the luncheon and not a lot of oven space so I opted for something cold. These are the ingredients you'll need to prepare mustard-dill tortellini skewers.

Adorable German Baker Smoker is optional.

He needed to be in the picture I think.

Now I could put the actual list of ingredients and the steps to follow written in list form on my blog today but it's easier to direct you to the source-Southern Living. You'll find the recipe here.

I've made this recipe once before in the summertime and it's delicious. I think with its red, white, and green color scheme it works for a Christmas party too.

Hope you check many things off your list(s) this weekend! It's not too late to join the photo challenge... hop over to Susan's blog and add your link.

"But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God." Luke 1:30 (NIV)

A day in the life

2011-12-01T10:25:00.010-05:00

The first of December and the blogosphere is full of posts about decorating and recipes and holiday plans. You might be expecting to find a post related to the season of Christmas here too. Sigh.

Today I give you a peek inside my logistically complicated world. I am doing my absolute best to drive our investment advisor bonkers all because daughter2 turned 21 in September. When your baby turns 21 all sorts of paperwork needs to change in order to keep things legal like. Essentially 'her' account can no longer include 'our' name even though it is 'our' money going in. And coming out...mustn't forget that! Pesky tuition.

I have exchanged no less than ten phone calls and fifteen emails with the investment people trying to get the new account set up correctly. They need a letter stating blah blah blah. They need eighteen forms signed. They need a copy of our utility bill. They need they need they need. They need her SS card. That one seems like no biggie, right? Ha! In our house that's a biggie. Where is that darn card? Daughter2 thought she had a copy but alas, she kept the receipt end and tossed the actual card. Learning curve people. I thought I had a copy so yesterday I trekked to the safety deposit box with my fingers and toes crossed but no luck. She could go get a new card in between student teaching, studying for exams, and completing end of semester projects and papers, except she is in South Carolina and her birth certificate is in NJ and her passport is in DC. Plus, she's under a lot of pressure at the moment and it's highly unlikely spending an entire day in the SS office will do anything to make that better.

Investment people say they can accept a couple of other docs in place of the SS card but do we have those docs? No sirree. Daughter2 can also fax a pay stub to them but daughter2 is in class and can't be given this piece of information. And does she have a window in her day today to do this? And do I have a bajillion other things to be doing besides going thru tax returns and file cabinets in an attempt to find something suitable? Do other people with young adult kids have the same issues? I feel like a part of ours is due to the fact that we are spread out into three different states. I think my girls should just move closer to home, what do y'all think?

I know we'll get it sorted eventually. I also know there will be a few more phone calls and emails exchanged before we do but its December and I am determined to capture a bit of the Christmas spirit around here today. Susan is hosting a little December photo project and I am going to join in on the fun when I can. The idea is to take one photo a day for the next 25 days and post it on your blog. She has a prompt for each day which you'll find here. I may not get to all of them but today's prompt is something red and I think I can manage that one.

It seems only appropriate to include this sweet little ornament Daughter2 made for me when she was in kindergarten. Which was yesterday. Makes me forget my aggravation and remember all that is precious in this world.

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." Luke 1:26-27 (NIV)

Greetings of the Season from the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 55

2011-11-30T00:01:00.013-05:00

I see Volume 55 and I think AARP and speed limits. Since I can't seem to tie either of those two thoughts into the Hodgepodge today I think we'll just get on with the questions. Be sure to link your own post at the bottom of mine and then go visit some of the friends and neighbors who have also played along today. Here we go-

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so, about how many will you send this year? How do you display the cards you receive? Or don't you? (gasp!)

Definitely. I love Christmas cards, both the sending and the receiving. I especially love the cards with a photo enclosed. Our friends and family are scattered far and wide so I enjoy seeing how everyone has grown up during the year. I'm not a letter hater either so go ahead and brag on your kids to me because I truly don't mind. Call me nosy or call me curious or maybe just call me a blogger.

I have a cute little card holder I keep on my kitchen desk and that's where the opened cards go. I'd like to do one of the cute displays I've seen on Pinterest but haven't had a chance yet. We send roughly 100 cards and receive about the same.

2. When do kids become adults?

Interesting. My girls are in their early 20's so I guess they're adults. Okay yes, they're adults. Sigh. Sometimes I like to pretend they're still 8 and 10. I'm a mother, what can I say? My girls are independent, thoughtful, compassionate women I am proud to know.

I'm not sure chronological age is always an accurate measure of adult-ness. I know plenty of people who left their 20's behind a long time ago yet they still manage to have lots of growing up to do. I think we reach adulthood, hopefully in our late teens and early 20's, but the process is started much earlier. We need our parents to be parents and nudge us in that direction all along the rocky road to being a grown up.

Its not easy making your babies stand on their own two feet when what you'd really like to do is swoop in and make their way easy, but how are they to become adults if we don't let them test the waters? Have confidence in the children you've raised (staying on your knees doesn't hurt either).

Did you come here for advice today? Sorry-it just kinda spilled out onto the page.

3. Does your 'beauty regimen' change with the seasons?

How many people do you think will begin their answer to this question with the phrase-"Beauty regimen? What beauty regimen?" More than a few I suspect. I guess the biggest change for me is in hydration...winter means slathering myself in lotion a couple of times a day and upping the moisturizer on my face because the indoor heat tends to really dry out my skin. I also apply lip gloss in abundance because chapped lips=ewww.

4. What's something you like to eat that might cause another person to turn up their nose?

I love picking crabs and the process does involve a little bit of the gross in that you have to scrape off the lungs and some gooey mush before getting to the good stuff. I also love escargot cooked in a garlic butter sauce, mussels in white wine, and grilled octopus. There are people who turn their noses up at that but I say they don't know what they're missing.

When I was a little girl I went through a phase where I put ketchup on my rice. I don't do that anymore but I know it did kind of disgust my fellow diners.

5. Gloves or Mittens?

Depends on what I'm doing...gloves for winter walks, driving around town and of course for just plain style...mittens for playing in the snow. I can wear either for skiing. Mittens are supposed to keep your hands warmer but I'm a little dorky with a ski pole so for the safety of everyone around me gloves are probably the better option.

6. What's the longest queue you've ever been in? Was it worth it? Queue=line but doesn't queue sound so much nicer?

The longest queue I've ever seen was the one at the entrance to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Seriously it went for miles. Or kilometers. Whatever-it was long! We were with a tour group going thru the museum and I recommend that to anyone considering a visit. We bypassed the ultra long queue and pretty much went straight in.

The longest queue I've had to stand in was probably outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Christmas Eve. You had to get there early in order to get inside and in spite of arriving at a ridiculous hour the line was still wrapped around the block. Was it worth it? It was St. Paul's Cathedral on Christmas Eve...of course it was worth it.

7. Besides Christmas, what is one thing you are looking forward to this December?

Hubs, daughter2 and I will be attending a wedding later this month. We know the bride and her family from our years in the UK. She and daughter2 went all the way from grade 8 thru high school graduation together. They also spent quality time bonding in scouting and Young Life so we definitely want to be there for her big day. Daughter2 is excited because a few friends from high school will also be attending and she hasn't seen any of them since her last Christmas in England which was 2008. I love weddings, even those that fall the weekend before Christmas in a city famous for its crazy snow.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I mentioned last week that hubs made a deliciously creamy wild rice soup as a starter to our Thanksgiving meal. Several people asked for the recipe so I'm posting the link here-

It came from the November issue of Family Circle magazine and I would definitely make this again-it was wonderful.

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 55

2011-11-29T00:01:00.001-05:00

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge...see you back here tomorrow to share answers.

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so about how many will you send this year? How do you display the cards you receive? Or don't you? (gasp!)

2. When do kids become adults?

3. Does your 'beauty regimen' change with the seasons?

4. What's something you like to eat that might cause another person to turn up their nose?

5. Gloves or mittens?

6. What's the longest queue you've ever been in? Was it worth it? Queue=line but doesn't queue sound nicer?

7. Besides Christmas, what is one thing you are looking forward to in the month of December?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Happiness Is...

2011-11-28T09:09:00.002-05:00

Years ago there was a cute little Peanuts cartoon that featured Snoopy hugging Lucy with a caption underneath that said-'happiness is a warm puppy'.

Do you know what else happiness is?

It's a day spent outdoors...

with little girls all grown up still walking arm in arm

on a beautiful blue sky day.

Happiness is sweethearts...

both the young and the 'not so young'.

It's an afternoon movie and a game of cards around the kitchen table.

It's bowling balls and laughter.

Happiness is daughters and a day set aside to give thanks.

It's a football game...

won in the literal last minute of play.

Happiness is a red velvet cupcake and a million dollar smile...

It's fathers...

and sisters...

and family...

and yes, happiness is most definitely a warm puppy too.

Full.

2011-11-25T07:57:00.012-05:00

Thanksgiving might be my favorite day of the year. It definitely ranks right up there anyway. We had our usual feast with the addition of a wonderfully creamy and delicious mushroom soup the hubs added as a starter to this year's menu.

We woke up to beautiful sunny blue skies that stayed with us all day. Sunshine makes even the best days better.

So does pie. Daughter1 baked our traditional well-loved angel pie and Daughter2 made the pumpkin. She added a fancy crust this year.

Everyone hung out in the kitchen mixing and stirring and washing dishes...doesn't it seem like you wash the same mixing bowl ten times on Thanksgiving morn?

We watched bits and pieces of the parade and a lot of football. After dinner and dishes we dragged ourselves out to the firepit. Someone was in all their glory here...just sayin'.

When the fire burned down we moved from the outdoor couch to the one indoors for the traditional 'kick off to Christmas' showing of Home Alone. We've seen it at least 20 times but an iron in the forehead never gets old.

It was a day for full stomachs and full hearts. I hope yours was the same.

Thankful for all you Hodgepodgers-Vol 54

2011-11-23T00:01:00.014-05:00

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge. I'm thankful you joined the party today and every Wednesday...you all help make blogging fun. Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. Let's start with something controversial...dressing or stuffing? What's it called in your house and what's included in your recipe? cornbread? oysters? sausage? chestnuts?

In our house we use both terms but I guess if we're getting technical it's dressing. My mom used to 'stuff' some in the turkey and make a tray to go beside but I've never 'stuffed' a turkey. I make a cornbread dressing and if I were to tweak it even a little bit my family would rise up in revolt. It is my favorite part of the meal.

2. Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?

I try really hard not to compare. This has gotten easier with age although sometimes I have serious Martha Stewart envy. Not the person so much as the talent. She definitely has some serious skill. And a staff. Hmmm...maybe that's the part I really envy.

3. When was the last time you were in an airport?

Ha-if you read here regularly (and I'm sure you all do, ahem) then you know I kinda live at the airport. I was there last Sunday on a returning flight from my daughter's collegetown. I was back there again last night collecting daughter2 followed by a trip to the train station to collect daughter1 and her boyfriend. For all its many hassles transportation is still my friend.

4. What is the one dish that must absolutely be included in a turkey dinner?

See #1. That being said, if I make a turkey for a meal other than a holiday (which is pretty rare) then I might skip the dressing. In that case mashed potatoes would be my must have side with a roast turkey dinner.

5. What Christmas song do you dread hearing?

Santa Baby by Madonna or anyone else really...not a fan.

6. If someone approaches you and asks for money do you give it to them? Do you drop money in a 'tin cup' that belongs to a person on the street? Do you have a specific charity you support at the holidays and/or year round?

Yes. Just the other night a man asked me for money at the airport. We were on the tram together, headed to the parking lot, and there were five of us in the carraige. He was neatly dressed and politely explained that he needed $11 for a bus ticket to get to his daughter's home. She was supposed to pick him up at the airport but had vehicle issues. The woman beside me was nervous-her first time to the big city. The two gentlemen in the carraige with us remained frozen. I forked over $8 which was all I had. Was this a scam? Perhaps. Did he want the money to buy something besides a bus ticket? Perhaps. But I don't need to know that. I feel like I'm only responsible for how I give, not for what he does with it.

If I have it to drop in a hat/tin can I usually do. I don't pull out my wallet in a situation that feels like my personal safety might be at risk and hey, most of the time I don't carry cash so this particular gentleman was lucky I had a piddly $8.

We support World Vision, Samaritans Purse and Young Life on a regular basis...these organizations all work to bring hope to a hurting world.

7. Share a favorite Thanksgiving memory.

They're all favorites. The menu doesn't change much and we typically have some assortment of family members round the table so what's not to love? Some that stand out in particular are the Thanksgivings spent in England. As you know the Brits don't celebrate this holiday-ha-but one year I made Thanksgiving dinner for hubs whole office and that was alot of fun. They were most interested in the pumpkin pie and my sweet potato casserole. One dish was more savory than expected and one more sweet. This was discussed in great detail and with much enthusiasm.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Question #2 brought this song to mind-

'You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His'....don't forget it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pin.ter.vention

2011-11-22T07:15:00.025-05:00

If you're looking for the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge you'll find them here.

A couple of bloggers are hosting a pin.ter.vention today. The idea behind the party is to post some of the things you've seen on Pinterest that you've actually made.

Some folks on Pinterest are what you might call serial pinners. That is, they pin for the sake of pinning, pretty much eveything they see. And that's okay but my pinning philosophy is a little bit different. I use Pinterest as a bulletin board/file cabinet for things I definitely want to try or that provide inspiration. You can follow me there by clicking here.

I've actually made quite a few things courtesy of Pinterest. I'm adding photos here but you'll need to visit my Pinerest site to get the actual links. That's one of the things I love most about Pinterest. You add the photo and the original website link just magically appears...no more wracking my brain to remember where I'd seen a decorating idea or recipe. Here are a few of my favorites-

This adorable cake I made for Daughter2's 21st birthday in September...I wrote about it here.

Super cute shark cupcakes, also for Daughter2's birthday celebration since she is a bit of shark expert.

My birthday is just a week after hers and my Daughter1 very cleverly looked at my style board on Pinterest and bought me a sweater and scarf I'd pinned there. She even included the picture from my board so I'd know where she got the idea. It was at that moment I decided I needed to start pinning great purses and jewelry in case hubs needs shopping inspiration.

I have three food boards-one for appetizers (Let's Get This Party Started), one for mains and sides (Cook's Corner) and one for sweet treats (My Sweet Tooth). I won't post pictures of everything I've made but here's a sampling-

Oven baked ham and cheese sliders for a book club party-definitely a keeper!

Banana cupcakes with peanut butter icing and butterfinger sprinkles-yes please.

A wonderful autumn-y apple cake with apples we'd picked from a local orchard-

Two appetizers for two different tailgates-both were well received-

Pretty champagne cupcakes with champagne icing for a sorority reunion weekend...our colors just happen to be pink and white and these were so light and delicious

I've also made homemade granola, a honey mustard dip, a coconut chicken main with apricot sauce, fabulous buttercream icing, and the veggie pinwheels. All were recipes I'd make again.

I especially loved these apple tea lights I used as part of a fall gathering and I've tweaked some of the centerpieces and front porch decorating ideas I've seen to fit my home and style. All this to say I think Pinterest is one of the more useful things on the internet. I find inspiration and motivation to try new things in so many areas of my life plus a way to organize a lot of what just floats around inside my head.

If you're not there yet and need an invite please don't hesitate to email me. I'm happy to share the pinning love.

Thankfully there are still questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 54

2011-11-22T00:01:00.009-05:00

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the Hodgepodge now, would it? Here are this week's questions...in between the supermarket run and the turkey prep be sure to hop back over here tomorrow to share answers.

1. Let's start with something controversial...dressing or stuffing? What's it called at your house and what's included in your recipe...cornbread? oysters? sausage? chestnuts?

2. Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?

3. When were you last inside an airport?

4. What is one side dish that absolutely must be included in a turkey dinner?

5. What Christmas song do you dread hearing?

6. If someone approaches you and asks for money do you give it to them? Do you drop money 'in a tin cup' that belongs to a person on the street? Do you have a specific charity you support during the holiday season and/or year round?

7. Share a favorite Thanksgiving memory. If you live in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving share a favorite memory associated with food.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

To-do list? What to-do list?

2011-11-21T08:15:00.008-05:00

Anybody else need to be doing something other than blogging this morning? I thought not. Go ahead and enjoy that cup of coffee before you take a deep breath and dive into your to-do's that should have been done. I'm not the only one am I?

I need to clean out my frig to make room for the various and hundred sides we prepare for our Thanksgiving meal.

I need to clean out my pantry to make room for the many ingredients needed to prepare those same sides.

I need to clean. Period. Or 'full stop' as they say in England. Sigh...they even make punctuation sound like something special.

I need to catch up on laundry that has accumulated due to our travels. What travels you ask? Well, I think I mentioned that my hubs was in China last week. He arrived home late Friday night to an empty house since I'd flown to South Carolina on Wednesday. Daughter2 had some minor surgery scheduled for Thursday and needed her mama close by. Or her mama needed to be close by...whatever. When daughters need me I scrap my to-do list and go, even if it is exactly seven days before a holiday that requires at least three days of cooking.

Her surgery went well and she is recovering nicely. We spent the weekend in R and R at my sister's house since she conveniently lives in collegetown. So thankful for my sister...she has a heart of gold.

I got home late last night. Okay, it was 9 pm but my kids can attest to the fact that 9 pm is late for me.

We seem to be on the go around here all.the.time. Full stop.

Today will be shopping and cleaning and a little bit of cooking in preparation for daughters arriving home tomorrow night, one with a boyfriend in tow. I am looking forward to the weekend which I'm gonna say officially begins around here tomorrow since hubs is taking the day and rest of the week off and my girls will be here.

Just writing that last sentence makes my heart happy.

Off to clean, cook, and count my blessings now...wishing you a week full of love and gratitude!

...they are precious in His sight...

2011-11-18T08:19:00.003-05:00

Ever thought about participating in Operation Christmas Child sponsored by Samaritan's Purse? You'll find details on their website but essentially it involves filling a shoebox full of little goodies to be sent to a child in need somewhere in the world. They ask for a $7 donation with your box to cover the cost of shipping and if you pay this online you'll get a bar code to print and attach to your box. This way you can track it and see where in the world it ends up. There are collection sites all around the world and you can find the one nearest you by visiting the Samaritan's Purse website.

I finished my box up last week so I could drop it off at church on Tuesday morning. You're able to choose the sex and age category you'd like to buy for and I chose a girl, aged 10-14. My box included a pink toothbrush and toothpaste, a pink soap dish and a bar of soap, a purple washcloth, candy, stickers, an inexpensive pink watch, a package of colored pencils and a sharpener, a fun little notebook, a mini etch a sketch, and six pair of cute socks. You are limited by what will fit inside a shoebox. I also added a photo of our family with a note which is optional.

I have thought and prayed often about the recipient of that little shoebox jammed full of 'stuff'. I think about my own daughters too. I think about what makes them smile and how much love is showered on them all year round but especially during the holidays. So many friends and relatives who show genuine interest in their lives and plans, their hopes and dreams...dreams that can easily become reality with some hard work and perseverance. Can the same be said of the little girl who gets this box? I think about the fact that we get a free toothbrush every six months at the dentist and how I toss them in a drawer for guests without giving it a second thought. I think about a purple washcloth bringing a smile to a young girl's face.

I love the season of Thanksgiving...it is my favorite holiday of the year. I like the time we spend focusing on all that we have as opposed to all that we want. While the shoeboxes are intended to be a Christmas project we fill them during this season of gratitude. Adding toothpaste to a Christmas box certainly helps put things in perspective for me at what is now the most 'commercial' time of year.

It's not too late to fill a box...collections run through Nov. 21st and even if you can't participate this year maybe you'll keep it in mind for 2012. Somewhere in this world a child will smile.