January Dinner Party

Well, the January dinner party is over! Saturday night I entertained several guests.....Kelly & Adrian helped me to celebrate with Jack & Colton as Jenny turned 30.


Kelly is the consummate decorator, so I asked her to handle the tablescape .... here's a glimpse of her handiwork:

she even used Scrabble letters as placecards.....isn't that fun?!?

here is a photo of the fully loaded table:

menu for the evening: Cracker Crumb Chicken Cordon Bleu, Sauteed Broccoli w/Corn, Salad, Rolls, and Grasshopper Torte for dessert.

Happy Birthday Jenny! It was so fun to celebrate with you!

Piano

When I was little, I took piano lessons. I hated the lessons, but did enjoy playing. I still occasionally would sit and pick out songs as I was growing up, but didn't really play all that much.

Recently, I decided that hobby is one I'd like to pick back up again. And so the search began for a piano - not that I really have space for it, but I wanted to play a real piano rather than a keyboard.

I put some feelers out with friends from church and found a lady who was willing to give me a piano that she had been given! Best information I have is that it is from the 1930s and originally was a player piano. Today, piano movers brought me the piano!! Now, this heavy oak piano resides in the corner of my room. I need to have it tuned and a few minor repairs made, but I am very excited about picking up my new hobby!

Holland

Jordan posted this article today. I agree with her assessment that this article speaks to life in general and it hit me square in the gut as I continue to struggle with how my life is supposed to look now.....'cause it sure doesn't look how I thought it would and desperately wanted it to.


WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Quotes

two quotes I recently rediscovered....posting them here for posterity:

Insist upon yourself. Be original. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson (American lecturer, poet and essayist, 1803-1882)

Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it. ~Jules Renard (French writer, 1804-1910)

Christmas Party Cookbook

Because I am a geek like that, I have created a cookbook with all the recipes from my Christmas party ..... much easier to share with everyone than sending recipes piecemeal.

I'm happy to send a pdf to anyone that is interested.....just leave me a comment with your email or send me an email directly -- my email address is the same as this blog url at gmail.

Dinner Party

One of the things I love to do is host friends and family in my home. As such, I am making a resolution of sorts to have more people into my home in 2008. To this end, I am committing to myself to have at least one full table dinner party (6 or more people) every month this year. I will try to take photos, post menus, etc each month.

Plans are in the works for January ...... stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are again.....January 1 of a new year! It is really hard to believe how fast 2007 flew by. There was really nothing earth shattering about the year, but there were a few highlights.

I'm still hoping and praying that God will reveal His will more clearly for my life as I enter 2008. And that along the way, He will draw me closer to Him and will extinguish any doubts or fears I may have about the paths along which He is leading me.

Merry Christmas!

One more day....

Only one more day til Christmas vacation. This week has been truly crazy:

• Staff meeting - where I unexpectedly had to make 3 presentations, rather than just 1.


• Revenue distribution - 1,000 checks generated, 1,500 pages of owner detail to print, fold, stuff and mail.


• Board meeting - presentation of budget and constant tweaks and changes over the past two days to get the slides exactly perfect. Not unexpected, just a little stressful.

Now, I can relax a little and try to wrap up a few more loose ends tomorrow....then I'm off til January 2!! My parents are coming in tomorrow and we'll spend the next several days hanging out as a family - doing a lot of nothing much, but spending good quality time together. A quick trip thrown in to visit a good friend and some down time to un-decorate my house before heading back to work to start the true craziness....closing December and preparing for the audit!

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Another photo (in the sunshine!) of my new toy

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And a Fall Into Reading update - my original post here listed 18 books. My list has been somewhat rearranged as I've looked closer at the some of books. Several of them I tried to read, but just couldn't get into. I've also added several others along the way. So, here is the wrap up:

done:
The Last Disciple...Hank Hanegraaff/Sigmund Brouwer
Cocktails for Three...Madeleine Wickham
Emily Ever After...Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

done - not on the original list:
The Last Sacrifice...Hank Hanegraaff/Sigmund Brouwer
Finding the Love of your Life....Neil Clark Warren
Skin...Ted Dekker
Fast Women...Jennifer Crusie
Map of Bones...James Rollins
Cosmic Christmas...Max Lucado
Unafraid...Francine Rivers

started, couldn't get into it, abandoned:
The Historian...Elizabeth Kostova
Cold Sassy Tree...Olive Ann Burns
The Thief Lord...Cornelia Funke
The Navigator of New York...Wayne Johnston
Red House...Sarah Messer
Valley of the Dolls...Jacqueline Susann
Shopaholic & Baby...Sophie Kinsella
Bergdorf Blondes...Plum Sykes
Family Trust...Amanda Brown
Everyone Worth Knowing...Lauren Weisberger

still to go:
Over Her Head...Shelley Bates
Hope of Glory...Nicole Petrino-Salter
Tuesdays With Morrie...Mitch Albom
A Bend in the Road...Nicholas Sparks
Walden and other writings...Henry David Thoreau

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I may not make it to post much over the holidays, so from my home to yours, hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Welcome to My Home!

>

BooMama is hosting a holiday tour of homes today......




























my living room:



















close-up of the snowmen on top of the TV:



















some favorite ornaments through the years:

























I'm more of a snowman girl, but I've got a collection of Santa's also - these are on the desk in my office. Several of these came from my grandma -- see the santa in green? The writing on his pedestal is 1908 Germany. Don't know if he is really that old (probably not) or a representation of Santa from the turn of the century.




















Some Christmas books I've enjoyed my whole life! Feel Santa's Beard is from my first or second Christmas and is falling apart because it has been "loved on" for so many years!


















my guest room - Santa's comin!



















my favorite Christmas blanket: a snuggly down snowflake throw from Target several years ago

























of course - the Texas flag stays in place....decorated with a metal snowflake/jingle bell garland




















This photo didn't turn out the best -- it reads "Flakey Friends Welcome" and hangs in my guest room. Thanks for visiting my home decked out in holiday style!

Party Pics + an early Christmas present

Sorry it's been so long.....crazy week. So, as promised....here are party pics.

at the beginning:

and the leftovers:

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my Phillip-in-law went with me today and I got myself an early Christmas present - a new Dodge Durango! I actually got a really good deal on a fully loaded 2007 -- the owner's wife had driven it a bit, so there are a few more miles than were on my Mazda 626 when I bought it in 2000, but it is still new (and did I mention fully loaded?) and I made a pretty good deal, so I'm happy.

Another success!

Another Christmas party come and gone....I'm too tired to try and upload photos tonight, so that will come tomorrow.....just wanted to give the headcount.....

To recap past years:

2001 = 5
2002 = 15
2003 = 29
2004 = 30
2005 = 43
2006 = 36

and drumroll, please......

2007 = 52

The crazy thing is that I can think of about 20 others who have come in recent years past who didn't make it this year and at least a handful of others who I expected but didn't make it. The numbers are getting crazy high (helped along by the 12 kids this year - whew, that was nuts), but it is sooo fun.

Dishes are washed and drying....the few leftovers are put away, and I'm headed to bed.

Today is the day!!

It's finally here!! Today is party day!! I'll post some photos later tonight.....

Soup-Tacular

BooMama asked for soup recipes....though I'm not that much of a soup eater, here are several of my favorites. If it would actually get COLD here, I might be more inclined to whip up a batch of one of these!

Black Eyed Pea and Sausage Soup (I don't like b-e peas as a general rule, but this is a way to get your Jan 1 good luck in!!)

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups frozen black-eyed peas (about 1 ½ 16oz packages)
3 (14 ½ oz) cans beef broth
1 (14 ½ oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano (undrained)
1 (16 oz) jar chipotle flavored salsa
½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Cook sausage in oil in large Dutch oven, stirring until it browns. Remove sausage, reserving drippings in pan. Add onion, carrots, garlic, celery, bell pepper; sauté over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in sausage, peas, broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes. Stir in salsa, salt and pepper; simmer 10 more minutes. Yield 10 cups.

Chicken Noodle Soup (I know, there are 10 million CNS recipes out there - I pretty much hate them all....but I LOVE this one from my aunt)



4 large chicken breasts
4 T margarine
¾ C chopped onion
8 oz fettuccini
6 C chicken broth
2 small boxes chopped broccoli
1 t salt
1 lb Velveeta
6 C milk



Boil chicken in enough water to have 6 cups for soup. Sauté onion in margarine. Combine chopped onion, chicken, and broth. Bring to a boil. Add uncooked noodles. Cook 5 minutes. Add broccoli and cook 4 minutes. Add salt.


Warm milk with cheese to melt. Add chicken mixture. Makes large pot of soup. Serve with crackers. Freezes well.





Skipperlabskovs (Danish Sailor's Stew)



4 T margarine
1 lb. ground meat
3 C chopped onions
6 C boiling water
6 peppercorns
1 small bay leaf
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1 T salt
6 lg potatoes, diced
Parsley for garnish



Melt margarine in large pot. Add meat & onions; stirfry 10 minutes until meat is browned. Add water and spices (put bay leaf and peppercorns in a tea ball); cover and simmer 30 min. Add potatoes, cover, simmer very slowly 2 to 3 hours or until potatoes cook down to mush. (The Danish way is to keep the pot on the back of the stove most of the day.) Remove tea ball and serve.





Cheddar Chowder



2 C water
2 C diced carrots
1 t salt
2 C diced potatoes
3 C chopped onion
3 t pepper



Combine above in large kettle; boil 10-12 minutes. (Do not drain)



3 C margarine
2 C milk

3 C flour

2 C grated cheddar cheese



Melt margarine in microwave. Stir in flour; heat and stir until smooth. Add milk; cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add grated cheddar; stir till melted.



Then, stir cheese sauce into the boiled vegetables that have not been drained. Add 1 C cubed ham or bacon bits, if desired.



Enjoy!!

Better.....

Amazing what a little sleep will do for you.....yes, it is still the middle of the night, but I woke up calm and couldn't go back to sleep, so I thought I'd let you know that I'm doing much better.....thanks for the prayers!

Prayers

Normally I refrain from writing emails or blog posts when I am unusually emotional. Tonight, I think I might need your prayers just to make it through the night.

I don't really want to go into details for the whole internet, but suffice it to say, my tear ducts got going tonight and I can't make them stop.

The Menu

So, looking back into my archives, I realized that it's been a while since I shared with you the menu for my annual holiday party. So, for you new readers, here it is (red indicates I've already made it for this year):

1. party weenies
2. sausage balls
3. sausage dip
4. crab dip
5. corn dip
6. homemade salsa
7. veggies / ranch dip
8. banana bread
9. strawberry bread
10. zucchini bread
11. fudge
12. peppermint bark
13. puppy chow
14. sugar crisp chex mix (see a funny post about this from last year)
15. forgotten cookies
16. missouri cookies
17. haystacks
18. almond tea
19. apple cider
20. coffee

Yes, I make everything myself and from scratch. Thank goodness for rubber gloves - as many times as I washed dishes this weekend, my hands could be in terrible shape!! It takes some skillful planning to get everything done, but it is so worth it!

Go Eagles!!!

Abilene High beat Southlake Carroll today!!!! Here is the link to the DMN article. And here is the link to the ARN article.

The Eagles are headed to the quarterfinals now!!

So exciting!!!!

It's coming.....

It's that time again.....if you are in my area, you are invited! Mark your calendar, then contact me and I'll give you the particulars on location....

70,000

While driving home from my friend Kelly's casa tonight, my little 2000 Mazda 626 turned 70,000 miles old. It has been a very good car.....but I think it is time that I let someone else love this car.

I'm pretty sure I've decided what I'm going to get as a replacement, but I'll wait to share it with all of you until I can post photos of my Christmas present to myself! I can tell you that it will be larger than my car and able to carry many scrapbook supplies and treasures found from flea markets and yard sales.