Christmas Behind-the-Scenes

I know I referenced an idea I had for gift wrapping. Well, here is a picture of how it turned out. It's grosgrain ribbon (which I adore) and a red jingle bell. I did some with red 1-inch grosgrain ribbon, too.

Also, about food. I've started this thing of taking pictures of my plates of food. I know it's very strange, but here is a picture of my Christmas breakfast. This is pretty close to my dream breakfast: country ham and cheddar biscuit, honey and butter on a biscuit, and butter and blackberry preserves on a biscuit.

Here is my Christmas Day dinner plate: honey glazed ham; one of my mom's wheat yeast rolls; the two dishes I made: warm pineapple salad and hash brown casserole; and my mom's cranberry/apple dish.

The Johnsons do a really cool thing for Christmas Eve food...it's sort of like football food. Ham and rolls, dips, sweets, but enough to fill up on. I love it! I made one of Granny June's recipes. Here it is.

Mississippi Sin
1 loaf Italian bread from the bakery section of the grocery store.
1/3 c. chopped onions
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. chopped ham
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c. chopped green chilies
8 oz. Cream cheese
Dash Worcestershire sauce

Slice off top of bread and hollow out. Mix all ingredients and pour into hollowed-out bread. Put top on bread; wrap in foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Use crackers or chips to dip. After an hour, I find that I have to unwrap and take off the lid of the loaf and let it bake about 10 more minutes. At this point I just lay the lid on the baking sheet next to the dip, and I also put the pieces I dug out on the sheet too. They're delish for dipping!

Christmas Catch-Up

First, there was the Dugan Christmas the Saturday before Christmas. We got together in M'boro this year at Grandaddy and Mom Glenda's house.



The next day was the Family Christmas at TPOM. I didn't get very good pictures of the performances by my brothers-in-law at this event, but I did get a good shot of AbiLyn with her Papa.

Monday before Christmas was Cookie Night with the Johnsons. They've done this every Christmas since Mackenzie was little, and I think this may be the first year I've remembered to take my camera.




Christmas Eve we gathered again at the Johnsons' house. Here are just a few of the pictures.





After we left the Johnsons' house we headed to the lake for a first-time event. My family tried having Christmas Day at the lake, and it was really nice. David and I were able to go straight there Christmas Eve night and stay until the day after Christmas.

Notice

I promise I will have a full post-holiday rundown with pictures up here in the next day or so. We got home yesterday and de-Christmased our house, and I haven't had my camera until today, so anyway...excuses, excuses, I know!

Until tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

I am so happy to be off work now and all settled in at the Johnsons' house! We will hang out, eat yummy finger foods and dips, watch Mackenzie and Taylor open their gifts, and run out at the last minute to Wal-Mart or K-Mart for absolutely no reason.

I adore Christmas Eve with my second family!

Here Comes the Sun...Doo do doo doo

Yesterday was December 21...the shortest day of the year. It's behind us now. The days will only get longer. The sun will stay out a little bit more every day.

I am always glad to say farewell to the shortest day of the year!

Sad Day

On Valentine's Day 2006 my husband absolutely blew me away when he surprised me with a 30-gig iPod video. I LOVE my iPod. It and my phone are the two electronic devices I can't live without. I know where it is at all times.

Unfortunately, I think it may be dying. Granted, I have been very rough with it. It's been dropped countless times. I have had to completely wipe it clean and restore it at least once. It's been connected to multiple computers as I've moved from one job to another. Through it all, it's been a trooper. Well, it's not holding a battery charge very well, and I feel like it's the beginning of the end.

I just went to the Apple store, and a new one is $249. Come on, little iPod. Hang in there!

Christmas-ness

Oh, and we're having a lovely Christmas season, by the way!

Last weekend I went with Mom and Dad to Franklin for the Dickens of a Christmas festival. It's so much fun. Historic Franklin is such a neat little storybook kind of place, and when you throw in carriage rides, and people in costumes, and carolers, and kids playing the violin, and handbell choirs, and water goblet players you start to feel like you're in a movie. And I haven't even talked about all the darling shops that are open. After the festival Dad wanted to go try out Cajun Steamer in Cool Springs. I had the delicious crawfish etoufee with cheese grits, and it was the perfect finish to a cold, overcast day.

Sunday I spent the day making Christmas treats because on Monday night my sisters and AbiLyn came over to watch White Christmas. We drank hot chocolate and ate sweets and tried (rather unsuccessfully) to string popcorn for the lake Christmas tree.

The rest of the week has been fairly normal with work and trying to get on top of all the food prep and the very little gift buying we have to do. I also got inspired in Franklin last weekend to get more creative with the embellishment on my wrapped Christmas gifts. I'm pretty good at gift-wrapping, but I'm always a little disappointed in the way my bows look. It may be because I've been using the same bag of bows for about five years now. However, I had an epiphany at work yesterday, and I think I may have a darling little idea. We'll see. I'll post a pic if it's a success.

E-mail Conversations

Being that I belong to a family with a high percentage of females, any get-together requires planning. Planning for food, specifically, but also times, guest lists, etc.

My sisters and my mother and I have these long email conversations with each other about nearly every family event. Sometimes my dad jumps in, too, but it's usually us four ladies. We go back and forth, "replying to all" all day long. Even though it's for something as mundane as what food everyone's bringing to a family night, I enjoy the days that we have these conversations. It's nice to know that my sisters and mom are out there, and we're all thinking about the same thing. It's comforting in a strange, computer-y, sort of way.

Ma'am

Note to the perky girl on the phone at Papa Murphy's:

I am not a ma'am. Ma'am is what you say to your mother or her friends or your grandmother or your aunts or your pastor's wife. Don't say it to me. I'm not even old enough to be your mo...oh, wait.

Nevermind.

Picture-Worthy Weekend

So this weekend may take the prize as my favorite weekend in a very long time. It began with dinner at Camino Re Al with my family and the tree lighting on the square in M'boro. I don't have any pictures of this because I forgot my camera (argh!), but we had a blast! It was delightfully cold and Christmas-y out.

Saturday morning David woke me with the news that it had snowed. I said, "No way, you're telling me a story." He said, "No, really, look out your window." Wow! the ground and the rooves were covered with a thin layer of snow...on the first weekend in December! So, we got to go pick out our Christmas tree in the remnants of the snow on a crisp, clear, beautiful day! Perfect! We even got a discount on our tree! Here's some pics of our decorated house.



After we left the tree farm we went to eat lunch at Miller's Grocery. It was delicious as always. I had the pork chop with macaroni and cheese and broccoli casserole, and David and I split a piece of hummingbird cake. Here's some pictures.



After Miller's David and I scurried home to get our tree in the stand and lights put on it. Then he headed out for a gig, and I started decorating the tree.

Last night I went to the Oaklands Candlelight Tour of Homes here in Murfreesboro. If you've never participated in this event I strongly urge you to do so. It's really fun if you're a nosy parker like me who loves to look at houses and how people have them decorated. Basically, the candlelight tour is a fund raiser where you buy a ticket to tour seven or eight historic homes in the downtown area of Murfreesboro. A church is usually part of the tour and you also get to tour Oaklands Historic House which is decorated for Christmas the way it would have been in its heyday. The homes and the church are usually within walking distance of each other, and you just wander from house to house. I went with Mom and Dad and Grandaddy and Mom Glenda. We had a great time.

This afternoon we went to see AbiLyn and lots of other little friends in Bethlehem Treasure, the Christmas musical at TPOM. Everyone involved did a fabulous job, once again. Kudos!

Team David

Forget Team Edward or Team Jacob...I'm Team David.

It's a rather cold evening here in Middle Tennessee, and I just got home from an impromptu visit with family at my parents' house.

David and I have an electric blanket on our bed that is rather old and works better once someone has laid on it or some weight has been applied to it.

Well, I just walked in our bedroom, and my husband has all the extra bed pillows spread out on my side of the bed, so it will be warm for me when I get in it. (I won't dwell on the fact that he may have done that so I wouldn't terrorize him with my ice-cold feet.) They're even arranged neatly and orderly.

I love little thoughtful everyday kindnesses like that. I'll take one of those every day over a huge, bigger-than-life gesture once a year any time.

Thanksgiving 2009

My parents were lucky enough to be able to go to Florida this year for Thanksgiving, so my only dinner was with my wonderful in-laws. We had quite a spread and a wonderful day together visiting and hanging out and EATING! Here are some pictures.
Mackenzie and her Momma

Getting ready to sit down to dinner
Taylor with her Dad
The spread
Butter in the shape of a turkey...adorable!
David and Me
Taylor in her PJs enjoying some dessert. She's sitting on her stool. As the baby of the family she still has to sit on a stool at the table.
Haha.
My father-in-law at his post (in the recliner with the paper)
David and his Momma

Obsession

Can you tell I've been rereading the Twilight books? My post titles are down to one word...like Stephenie Meyer's chapter titles. I didn't even notice it until a few minutes ago.

Summary

Yesterday turned out non-eventful, by the way! It was a good day from start to finish.

Let's see if I can catch you all up on any interesting things I've done since Halloween. The Halloween party was fun. David's band did a great job as always.

The next weekend AbiLyn spent the night with us on Saturday night. We went to Chili's and Best Buy and the pet store. She was so funny in the pet store. She wanted to look at ALL the animals...even the rats and the snakes and the mice. Yuck. And in Best Buy...wow, too many buttons that she wasn't allowed to push. It drove her (and me) a little crazy. We had fun, though. She is so incredibly sweet and adorable.

Last weekend Liz, AbiLyn, and I went to Chattanooga to see my "little" cousin (he's a senior in high school and taller than me) in his school's production of The Fiddler on the Roof. It was amazing. They have a beautiful auditorium, and the cast and orchestra did an amazing job. I did not feel like I was at a high school production at all. Asa was the constable, and he did a fabulous job. It was a little weird seeing him be the bad guy and throw a punch. He was very intimidating. It was so nice to get to spend some time with my aunt before and after the play. We had dinner at Tony's and dessert at Rembrandt's since apparently my sisters and I can't cross the Hamilton County line without going to the art district.

Saturday Mom and I spent the day in Nashville again. We went to Cheekwood. It was lovely. The main reason we were going was to see the Faberge exhibit they have there. Since we did the play Anastasia in high school I have been fascinated by the story of the Romanov family. Maybe that's why I wanted to see this collection so badly. Faberge was the court jeweler to the Romanovs, and it was very interesting to see pieces of art that were their gifts to one another.

Mom and I ate lunch at Cheekwood at The Pineapple Room. After that we went to The Hill Center. We had spent a little time here a couple of months ago, but Mom had been dying to really expore it, so we did. I had one of the best cookies I've ever eaten at Provence. It was 2 of the most delicate, crumbly sugar cookie hearts with raspberry jam in between. I could have eaten a dozen...but I only had one.

That brings us up to this weekend, and it's going to be a good one! I'll report later.

Eggshells

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:6-8

I don't know why, but I'm up and at 'em this morning. I've been feeling just sort of yuck for about two weeks now for some reason, and this morning I actually feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so why am I nervous?

I tend to do this.

It all started on Sept. 11, 2001. I vividly remember that morning before all the poop hit the fan because it was astoundingly beautiful. I was a newlywed with my first job out of college. I got up that morning, and while I was getting ready I was praying, "God whatever happens today, you love me and have given us all this gorgeous day." I walked outside to clear blue skies, and a light autumn breeze. In my car on the way to work I would hear the news that would change so many lives irrevocably...even mine a little bit.

Well, many more times since then (but thankfully never on that scale), I've had the feeling that pieces were all starting to fall into place only to have them tumble apart again. So, when I start feeling positive and upbeat I also start to feel like I have to walk on eggshells. That's when I claim the verse at the opening of this post. We even sang a song of this verse in youth choir, so I'm singing that as I get ready this morning. Nothing about fear comes from God. If it doesn't come from God, there's only one other place it can come from and that being has no right to bother me.

(Bible Note: the English major snob in me still loves the King James Version! I also have The Message on my nightstand, but nothing matches the beautiful language of the KJV.)

I'll try to post later today or tomorrow about what all I've been up to. I know I'm slacking.

Happy Halloween

Here's an interesting post to read about Halloween in this part of the world. It has become one of the only times of the year that I meet more people in my neighborhood than the ones right next to me. This year, we're actually going to a party (for the first time since my sisters and I threw one about ten years ago), so we won't be home, but I normally so enjoy handing out candy and chatting with my neighbors.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween, no matter how you choose to celebrate it!

Trying Something New

I grew up in a family that used fine china. We didn't use it for every meal, but it didn't take much for an occasion to be considered special enought to break out my Mom's beautiful wedding china. So, naturally, when I got married it was very important to me to choose a beautiful china pattern, and I actually wanted people to by me my china for gifts. I was not one of those brides who said, "No, I'd rather have something practical like a mop." I can buy a mop with my own money. I probably wouldn't ever spend money on nice dishes if I didn't get them as a gift.

I was adamant about the fact that we would use our china. Well, we haven't. I even have plenty of it, so I've decided that David and I are going to try something new. At least once a week we're going to eat in our nice, beautiful dining room off our lovely wedding china. I already set the table for us in the kitchen for supper nearly every night. This will just be a different location and different dishes. I won't be able to stick these dishes in the dishwasher, but it's only two of us...it should be no problem to handwash the few pieces we'll get dirty.

Bested by a Two-Year-Old

Who would have thought a jigsaw puzzle would spawn more than one post?

On most Monday nights David and I babysit AbiLyn and Lex while Liz and Eric play volleyball. Well, this week David was diligently trying to finish the puzzle while I was in the den with the babies watching a movie. Well, Lex meandered into the dining room to check on "Da-bid". He picked up a puzzle piece but then dropped it. We halfheartedly looked for it but couldn't find it. David just kept on working on the puzzle.

When Eric and Liz got there, Eric jumped in to help David with the puzzle. They got it finished except for one piece. The missing piece Lex had dropped. Liz checked his diaper...not there. She handed him another piece to see what he would do with it. He handed it to me. Before it was all over four adults were on our hands and knees looking all over my dining room floor for a puzzle piece. I got a flashlight, and we found it behind the china cabinet. I think maybe it got kicked back there or something.

It was just so funny how everything came to a grinding halt while we looked for that stupid puzzle piece. All because a little two-year-old innocently picked up something and dropped it...but he's such a darling little two-year-old.

Work in Progress

Last winter, while David was on strike, we began working jigsaw puzzles for fun. Well, when everything went back to normal, we slacked off. We've had this puzzle on our dining room table for about six months. You can see we're down to the starry sky. It's been that way for about three months. I've gotten disciplined about it this weekend. I'm working row by row from the bottom up. I have the pieces sorted out into groups by shape, and I'm trying every possible piece in each spot until I'm done. I've gotten about three rows done this weekend. By the end of this week I should be done, and I can't wait. It's my favorite puzzle we've done.

Even in My Dreams

I'm so focused on the fact that I can't have any Diet Coke that last night, in a dream, I went to McDonald's and got Diet Coke without even thinking...and felt horrible about it...in a dream.

My, My, How Things Have Changed

Do you remember when you were a little kid and you had something on the weekend you were looking forward to? For me, it was always a slumber party. For the boys, well, I don't know what little boys get excited about...digging in the mud looking for worms? Anyway, that week was the longest week in creation. Every day seemed to drag by, and Friday, well, it was the worst day of all. By lunchtime you were wound so tightly that sitting still was an absolutely impossibility.

As we aged to the tween years, it was a youth rally or party or sleepover. In junior high, my best friend Chassidy and I would pass notes to each other in the hall between classes. In almost every single one there was a comment about that weekend's youth event and how we couldn't wait.

In high school I would get myself so worked up over travelling to basketball/soccer tournaments or cheerleading camp that I would literally be sick to my stomach the morning of leaving.

Today, I'm beside myself with excitement. Seriously, I'm looking at my clock every two minutes, twirling my hair, crossing and uncrossing my legs, etc. Want to know why?

Tonight, I'm going straight home, as is David. We're putting on jammies and having chili for supper. We'll probably watch an episode of Studio 60 on DVD (birthday present from Carla), go to bed and read a chapter in Eclipse, and be asleep by 9.

Wow.

Yikes, It's Thursday!

I missed some days. I knew I was missing some days. I'm just out of anything to post about. Maybe tomorrow, or later today.

It wouldn't be October without a hand full of pumpkin goop

David and I carved pumpkins last night, totally on a whim. Here are some images from that attempt.