...will not be the first since my father's death. Therefore, it will be better than this Christmas was. I put on a Santa hat Xmas eve, and wore it all Xmas day, hoping it would inspire some degree of Xmas spirit. Alas, no worky. I was just sad, people. Sad, sad, and sad. It was nice, the travel was fun, it was great to see everybody we saw, we survived financially - I have no complaints. Just...sad. ( Read more... )

356 Santa(c) Rob Wilke

DreamGuy and I were a good hour into his extended family's annual Christmas gathering before I said my first "Merry Christmas." I guess it's about time, huh? Christmas is this Thursday. Yep, time to get with the program. ( Read more... )

Wow. I can't believe this holiday is over. It flew by! My sister and her three kids plus a friend arrived Wednesday night. The gathering time for Thursday got even yet earlier this year - 10:00! So the turkey-timing was dodgy and I ended up putting it in at 2:30 in the morning, getting up once to baste, then falling asleep and leaving it in the oven an hour too long. Still, it came out fine and was delicious.( Read more... )

So we were sitting down in front of the television tonight, eating the grilled cheese sandwiches I'd made after my first dinner attempt went up in smoke. DreamGuy had the TV on CNN or something with Ron Paul blathering away. I grabbed the remote and switched to a station showing old Andy Griffith shows. Ahhh. Much more relaxing and enjoyable to me. The episode of Andy Griffith was the one where a goat got loose and they thought it ate some dynamite. Edited to add: The episode was called "The Loaded Goat." The whole episode is online here.

During the commercial, I kept hearing this bleating sound. I got DreamGuy to mute the TV so we could listen. It was the strangest sound. Maybe it was a crow injured in the yard? Some other critter? We went out to investigate. And like me, you are not going to believe what we found outside our fence in the back yard.


Meet Rambo, or as I call him, Lambo!
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What else is there to say? I'm starting the year in typical fashion, up crazy late. Time to crash. Hope you and yours have the happiest of new years!

I said goodbye to Holidailies a day early. One more day to up my entry count. W00t!

I'm all turned around with the weeks all broken up by holidays. I had to stop and think - is today Friday? Or Saturday?

I've been a busy little bee. I didn't mean to miss another day updating, but I got all sucked into all kinds of little projects around here, and just didn't get back to the computer. Truth be told, I figure I've met my Holidailies quota by having posted 20 entries during December, which is the informal benchmark they give on the Holidailies site. Anyway! One of today's projects was to do another baked brie for a party this evening. I went the extra couple of steps and did those little leaves around the sides. I was quite impressed, but I think I was the only one. I'm not much of an artist, so the fact that I could make a piece of pastry look like a little leaf was quite the accomplishment for me. ( Read more... )

Dig my new lime green robe with hot pink monogram!
It matches the box holding my new TomTom. Whee!

It's been a super nice Christmas around here today. I was up most of the night dealing with the turkey, changing the water every half hour or so to "speed-thaw" it. I put it into the oven around six. It came out around ten, and while I was dealing with the drippings to make the gravy, DreamGuy took the masher to the potatoes which were reheating on the stove. Once I had the gravy finished, I took over on the potatoes. They still needed a good bit of mashing, and I decided my new stand mixer ( a gift from the generous DreamFolks) would be the way to finish the job.( Read more... )

DreamDad's got a gun....
Of course, the gun is NOT loaded!

It's been another lovely day. We crashed last night after our whirlwind weekend, and while DreamGuy went off this morning to enjoy a busy day at his shop, I stayed home and...did a whole lot of nothing. I had gotten all confused about our gathering plans with DreamGuy's family, thinking we were having our big dinner this evening. DreamMom told me that we were just opening gifts and having a light meal tonight, with the big meal on Christmas Day.

As we talked this out on the phone, I found myself feeling incredibly cranky, and I started talking kind of stupid. You know, stupider than usual. It's hard to describe, but what actually happened was I got all obsessed during the conversation about what I thought the plan was, and the various differences between that, and what the plan actually was. I kept going back over it and over it. "OK well I thought we were having dinner tonight. OK so I don't need to do the potatoes and gravy until tomorrow? OK well I was just washing the potatoes because I thought it was tonight. So we don't need the potatoes tonight?" I know it had to have been incredibly irritating to poor DreamMom. I didn't quite understand it myself. Until I hung up the phone and stood up, and my knees went all wobbly. Blood sugar: 55. Yeah. ( Read more... )

OK yall help a sister out here. I am wrestling with a decision and it's a toughy. Well it is, and it isn't. Hence the wrestling (DOH). The front porch kitties have gotten out of hand. First there were two, then there were three, and now there are five and maybe more, coming around for grub every night. They fight and yowl and raise all kinds of ruckus. That, I can live with. But they're getting super aggressive, and that sucks. Even that, I could live with. But Beau is losing his ever-loving mind. He's an indoor-only kitty, and having all those cats just outside the window is making him a little nuts. The trapping and fixing would be fine for the first couple or three, even if expensive, but as noted, they just keep coming. I think the worst thing is that they are spraying around my front porch, and it's starting to smell seriously nas-tay out there. Weigh in after the cut...( Read more... )

Crack factory!

Alright, well that's done. Whew! I was so tired when I got home earlier this evening, I wanted to just crash. I did nod off for a few with the dogs on the sofa, but as DreamGuy was going to bed, I got up another head of steam, and got my holiday baking pretty much done. It's not like I had much choice. If I wanted to take baked stuff to people in Atlanta, it was now or never. So I did, gosh I am not sure, about eight batches of Christmas Crack (posted the recipe 2 days ago as "Home Made Heath Bar Candy"), and three batches of candied pecans. Tomorrow morning, I will finish packing it all up into gift tins and bags, and it'll be ready to go. Some is going to folks here, and some will come to Atlanta. The house smells delicious!( Read more... )

At work, I keep running into this little communication problem with my boss. We get lots of pressure from above to move things out at the end of the month. All the reporting is done on a monthly basis, and my boss's boss watches our statistics like a hawk. I have these huge things I'm working on, with thousands of pages of stuff being submitted in just the past couple of weeks. I can't even get it all indexed, much less examined, considered, researched, and worked into a revised final report, by the end of this month. So imagine my horror when today, after weeks of hearing, "Just keep plugging at it," I heard instead, "So, do you want to do a final report, or present it in a meeting?" Obviously he was talking about something that would happen soon. How soon? That would be tomorrow. Yeesh.( Read more... )

I can't seem to find the cable end connector to hook my printer to the USB cable on my new computer, or to the old computer for that matter. I need to print some recipes out for a friend who's over here helping me around the house today, so I'm posting them here in order to pull them up and print from DreamGuy's computer. They are my absolute go-to recipes for the holidays. I hope you can find a way to try them out. They're easy-peasy, use basic ingredients (OK except that pasta salad) and everybody loves them. I'll be back later with the recipe for Beth's Candied Pecans, but here are the first three of the four I wanted to share...( Read more... )

It was a weekend full of merry-making. We started Saturday evening at the local forum meet and greet, and it was a kick to match names and faces. From there, we went to the great annual Christmas party thrown by our friends, Tom and Amy. Tom is the manager of DreamGuy's store, and one of the most interesting people I've ever known. Great stories to tell. I need to Google "couch potato" and see if his name really comes up like they tell me it does. He's a local DJ specializing in jazz, and every year, he heads up to his music room and starts spinning old 45's and 78's for the crowd that crams into the room. No pictures from that part, but I did make a little movie of some carol-singing. Last year, folks got too drunk too soon and the singing never happened. Everybody really missed it, so they jumped on it around 10PM this year, and it worked out just fine, as you can see.



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This is how the sky looked as I left the salon this afternoon. Of course!

I realize in preparing to write about hidradenitis suppurativa that I have actually written very, very little about it, here, or anywhere. I talked a little about why last time, and reading things like I read today online only reinforces my inclination to "come out" more about my experience with this disease. Gotta run. Back later with links.( Read more... )

Foggy morning commute.

Oh, the power!( Read more... )

How can it be that Thanksgiving is next week?????

Alrighty then. Next week it is. I made reservations for my sis & her family today and got a good rate & room. So that's done. And I braved the wilds of The Summit in Birmingham to visit the Williams-Sonoma store for some turkey brining supplies. In years past, I have chosen various methods by which to complicate the cooking of the turkey. This year, it's brining. And it's all The Pioneer Woman's fault. So there. ( Read more... )

Finally, the little Christmas tree.

Alrighty, then! Just in the nick of time, and I'm talking six minutes, my great big load of cases all settled. I had a dozen of them, one was a duplicate, so eleven cases all on basically the same issue, and it's just been like pulling teeth to get this settlement together. But as of this moment, the signed documents have been received at my office and faxed off to Atlanta for approval. Can I get a big HALLELUIA and A-MEN!

Whew.( Read more... )

It's taken me too long to fire up this entry - the month will be over in about six hours. But every time I log in, I see the bunch of comment spam sitting there, and I am compelled to go through the laborious process of deleting it, adding the IPs to the banned IP list, and then rebuilding the site. Rumor has it that my site will be updated soon. Stay tuned.

So Thanksgiving! I really did find myself counting my blessings. It was so good to have my sister and her husband and kids here (15, 11 and 5). My favorite thing about having the kids spend a couple of nights here is getting to see their adorable sleepy faces first thing in the morning.

And it's always good to spend a little time with my parents. I don't see them nearly often enough, and especially in their presence, I am reminded of how well and truly I am loved.

My BestGalPal was here with her husband, and that was a very special treat. Again, I don't see them nearly often enough. Having them here reminds me again how blessed I am with the love of long, resilient friendship.

Last, but certainly not least, my DreamGuy was here with me. His family was in Augusta, Georgia having a good time of their own, and I hope being with his "other" family kind of filled the void of missing his "real" family. I don't think he's ever spent Thanksgiving away from them before. He was my rock, as always. In our five years together, he has truly become my closest family.

When last I wrote, I didn't have a turkey, and I really had no idea how I was going to pull off dinner for 11 with no hot water. But my reliable friend got that straight, and I got the very last big turkey at Mal-W@rt, and thank God it defrosted just in time to make it into the oven around 7:00 Thanksgiving Day.

My prep work in the days leading up to Thursday paid off. The squash casserole was done, the potatoes were cut, boiled and mashed, and the green beans were cleaned and trimmed. My sister and I put the sweet potato souffle together Wednesday night and got it baked. BestGalPal brought exquisite desserts: chocolate bourbon pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and a glorious dulce de leche cheesecake drizzled with bittersweet chocolate. DreamGuy's mom's dressing cooked up perfectly out of the freezer.

Sadly, the gravy wasn't as magical as it has been in years past. I think I didn't cook the roux quiet long enough, as the gravy tasted like doughy dumplings at first. I adjusted it with a serious helping of pungent turkey drippings and a dose of turkey broth and it eventually came around, though I had to run it through cheesecloth to get a few lumps out. Not my best gravy by a long shot, but it came out OK in the end.

Since I hate mushy green beans, I found a new way to cook them. I browned sesame seeds in a little oil, then added some ginger, and then tossed in the beans. I added soy sauce and a ladle full of broth, and covered them for just a couple of minutes. They were bright and crispy and tangy and delicious. So, add rolls, cranberry sauce, and drinks, and we had a great dinner. Even if I did forget the creamed corn (sorry I had you make that special trip to get it for me at the last minute, DreamGuy, and thanks for not hating me all day for it!).

BestGalPal's hubby is a musician of some repute in Atlanta, and we amused him before dinner with our annual rendition of The Thanksgiving Song. I've decided I need to reduce that thing to writing. My little niece and I also did a song she and I wrote when she was about five called "Why, Oh, Why?" Then after dinner, BGP's hubby picked up a guitar, and we did a few songs he knows, and a few songs I knew, and I believe we closed with the much-dreaded American Pie by Don McLean. I say "much-dreaded" because DreamGuy always gets so frustrated with this tune. It's too long, and I'm known for getting all turned around between the first and second parts of the various long verses. I had the words this time, though, and I insisted that we do the choruses double-time, and it was over before he knew it. I think.

There was only the slightest bit of family drama, when my father started to lose his temper over my sister using a curse word at some point. He huffed and he puffed and my sister stormed out of the room and my father threatened to get up and leave. Tension, tension. I don't remember how we diffused all that, but somehow we did, and all was well after. Later, my sister told me that our father has a way of making her feel 10 again. I know exactly what she means - I feel the same way when I see him get "that look" in his eyes. It's hard not to feel a sense of total panic, given what "that look" used to lead to in our younger days. Not pretty. Even when it doesn't go that far now, just having those old feelings stirred by "that look" is so unpleasant. It felt good to debrief about this with my sister later that night, sitting on the front porch in the rocking chairs.

My parents stayed through to Saturday, and took me and DreamGuy to a totally non-turkey dinner at Outback Steakhouse on Friday night. Watching my father negotiate his meal reminded me of the food craziness I grew up with. The man is a horder and protector of his food, by God. He will not share. And he puts away massive quantities, all by himself. I can really see where I got the deep-seated "never enough" feelings about food when I am at the table with him.

In fact, he was already talking about how he was going to protect THE FOOD on Christmas Eve from one of my brother's adult stepsons, a notoriously big eater. My parents have a tradition of putting on a big traditional Lebanese spread on Christmas Eve, and that's when we have our family Christmas. Especially in recent years, my father has given up cooking it himself (I always brought the tabbouleh) and he now orders the food from a local Lebanese restaurant owned by a family friend. You'd think he was bringing home gold buillion bricks. He actually takes a great portion of the food and HIDES it in the kitchen, disguising it as other things so it won't be recognized by casual perusers of the pantry and fridge. He puts out dribs and drabs of each item, barely enough for those present to make a meal from. If an item runs out, he pretends there is no more, though we always know better, since we have recently made finding his hidden stashes of food part of the annual Christmas Eve family tradition.

And don't even THINK about asking for a plate to go. There will be as much, if not more, of everything that was served, still hidden carefully away at the end of the meal. In normal families, I think the mom would be running around fixing plates for her children to take home with them, as most moms do after big family meals (and as most people do after a big family meal, don't they?). After we are all gone, my father will dig into his stash and have several impossibly huge meals from it until it is gone.

OK, this is sounding really pathological and critical now, and I had no intention of getting into all this weird stuff. But there you go. Weird family stuff for your reading enjoyment?

I hope all three of my loyal readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Now comes the big slide into The Holidays. Eeegads. Already!

Thank you for reading.

Late on Christmas Eve, very late, I stepped out onto the front porch and took in the cold night air. I'd not had time to check the mail earlier, so I walked across the frosty grass to the mailbox. The sky was clear and full of stars, and it was quieter than I'd ever experienced it here. The brisk winds of the day had settled to complete stillness. The usual hum of traffic was conspicuously absent. As I walked back to the porch, it struck me what I enjoy about late, quiet times like these. Everybody else was asleep, the whole world seemed to be asleep, but I was awake and I got these few extra moments that all the sleeping people were missing. Bonus time.

Christmas Eve was really nice and relaxed. I cooked a pot roast, and we had a bite of supper, then went out for a nightcap, then back home to open gifts. DreamGuy got me a great compact stereo which I'll set up on the table where the Christmas tree sits now. On Christmas Day, his mother showered us all with gifts, and we had a delicious meal of turkey, ham, and all the trimmings. It was great to visit with DreamGuy's sister, Jules, and her new husband, to whom I shall refer henceforth as The Dentist.

This morning greeted us with a really nasty mess in DreamGuy's kitchen. We'd let the dogs stay in for the night, and they were, shall we say, unwell. I awoke to the sound of DreamGuy gagging in the hallway, and sprung from a dead sleep to shoo him away and clean up. It's got to be all downhill from there!

Now I have a few quiet moments at home, and soon I'll be doing my last minute chores and packing to leave for Atlanta. Christmas will extend through the entire weekend, with my sister and her family on Saturday, and my brothers and their families on Sunday.

I'll catch you on the flip-side. Thank you for reading.